Content Networks and Storefronts
Back in May 2006, I wrote that content networks are the new blogs. With all kinds of great information out on the web, I posited that people would start needing aggregations of content. Though many of us on the web know how to roll our own collections of reading material, the general public doesn’t want to go through all the work. Content networks cover more than just blog networks, and there are a few other ways to slice the pie than just thinking about blogs as ad platforms. Here are some quick thoughts about content networks and storefronts.
Content Networks
On one side of the equation are content networks. These include things like Weblogs Inc, Gawker Media, and some of the other larger media creations. They include new offerings like Stowe Boyd’s /Edgewards (congrats, Stowe). In a way, Alltop can be seen as a content network (though it is mostly an aggregator pointing to the individual sites. Even I had a stab at it back in 2006, with the help of Kevin Kennedy-Spaien and Whitney and Becky and Megin and some others.
I continue to believe there are some great opportunities for content networks. I think that most of the models are trending towards ad platforms, and that’s okay. It’s what people know and understand, and people are making decent money doing it. Others are just gathering good stuff under the same banner so that others know where to find it. But there are other models.
Storefronts
Another way to use content is to help people market a product. Some people use this as part of their effort to do affiliate marketing. For instance, there are review sites built essentially as a means to sell products. There are also coupon sites, blogs, and other web platforms built just to sell things.
I believe there’s an opportunity here for bloggers. I think that well-crafted custom content would be a much better way to sell products and services than typical ads. More than half of what Copyblogger and Problogger teach you pertains to being able to write great content.
There are a few ways to implement this. It could be towards the sale of products or services, such as an affiliate marketing model. There are many blogs who trade great content for potential affiliate sale revenue.
Another model is as a lead generation tool, such as what Corante and Beeline Labs have successfully executed several times. In those cases, the sale isn’t direct and related to the site. It’s more a matter of creating a marketing funnel, where there’s a conversion point, and then the leads become actionable for business.
You could say that [chrisbrogan.com] follows the lead generation model. I do get some business from my website for CrossTech Media or for just speaking gigs. Mostly, I write to inform, share my explorations, and give you some potential new tools to consider.
I plan to investigate affiliate sales a bit more over the coming months, but not necessarily on this website. And in all cases, I think disclosure if what is most important when mixing a content site and a sales site. I don’t think they go well together naturally.
Disclosure: Still The Important Part
It’s a little tricky for bloggers. Are we disclosing our relationships? Are we spelling it out when we have a professional relationship with some product or service that we’re talking about? Does your audience know your stance? Seth Godin posted his position on this. I recently added a Disclosures section at the bottom of my About web page, so that you’d know where my most likely biases are. (By the way, if I missed something that I should disclose there, just point it out and I’ll add it).
I believe that if you’re blogging about how great a product is, AND you’re trying to sell some of that product, you might mention that relationship. In creating my Disclosures section on my About page, I opted to spell out the relationships I have with companies who’ve given me something to review.
In most cases, I’ve been lucky, because I’ve reviewed products that I really like, and I enjoy what they can do. When I get to the situation where someone sends me something and it’s not really all that and a bag of chips, what I’ll have to do is be fair and honest in that reporting. That might upset the company, and might cause a problem for the marketer who sent me the product, but if I don’t do it that way, the negative impact is this: I’d be telling you about a product that I wouldn’t endorse.
(By the way, do you think all the products endorsed on TV are actually appreciated and used by the celebrities? I think we have an opportunity here as bloggers to be a bit more open about it).
What’s Your Opinion?
Content networks like the ever-expanding TechCrunch and Giga Omnimedia empire are one thing. Storefronts that convert from content like FastForward or Daily Candy are another.
What do you think about either of these models? Do you see the benefits? Where are the risks?
The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.
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American Express is OPEN
It’s interesting to see an implementation of content networks the way I first envisioned them in May 2006. I recently heard from Federated Media’s James Gross about American Express’s OPEN Forum. Basically, it’s a project where AMEX through Federated has a blog area that aggregates interesting business content, with the mindset of gathering a conversation in a sponsored area. Mentioned as a place to find insight from business experts, it’s essentially a way for AMEX to spread its brand across some select blog content (with the bloggers’ permission).
I asked James what the plan was:
The primary goal was for OPEN to start identifying, curating, and participating in a media landscape that was constantly changing. They had done a lot of work with other publishers, but it was always on the publishers domain and like most microsites, tended to be lightly trafficked and not converting people to the OPEN forum. Not to mention, with what we call, “the de coupling of media” surveys were finding that most SMBs were using blogs and other forms of social media far more than major publishing brand’s SMB sites.
It’s interesting to me, because it’s the other way around from how we perceive our blogs. I think it’s definitely a way to build a content network that would be more useful to end readers. It’s not that we don’t want more traffic to our blog, but that there are ways this content can be made more useful to end readers, by being curated by others in interesting ways. That’s why we use Creative Commons. That’s why we use RSS. It’s the plan.
James says,
Our goal was to bring together leading experts in an engaging experience at the OPEN platform itself. Thus, any of the authors work that was picked up on other blogs, social media engines like Digg, StumbleUpon, etc., would all give credit back to OPEN as being the keeper/facilitator of the conversation. In the new world of media, these trackbacks and links provide a new form of Brand Equity for OPEN. This again drives home the point behind the OPEN brand that they are here for Small Businesses to make their life better and grow their business.
I think this is a project to watch, among others, and I think it’s worth thinking about how your media might work against a certain brand. What’s your take?
Check it out here.
