Jamin Hegeman

SXSW: Does Your Blog Have a Business?

—

by

Jamin
in

Note: These are my notes from this panel, and are not edited very well.

How do you turn a blog into a business.

Zeldman: ALA 14 million page views a month. Because I worked in advertising, I didn??????t believe in advertising. By putting content out there, I found an audience.

Shaun: started web site in 2000. Followed k10k. really got in touch with designers. Was in the right place at the right time. Built a community around my blog. Found my own needs. Poll on my site was essential. Identified like-minded people with similar needs. Polled his site to see if others had similar needs. It was the community that decided what the product was.

Rice: likes accidential entreprenuership. Blogging to scratch the need to hang out with friends. Technologies of ego. Blog is hybrid pop culture and tech place. Not afraid to be an asshole and break the rules. Important to teach people about the process. Blog is a portal for me the human and me the brand. The biggest part of a blog is its accessibility. Engaging with the community.

Phoebe: blogs allow you to test your market. A set of powerful tools to use to as modules as you see fit. Extended into other businesses in ways not imagined.

Passion as driving force.

Zeldman: just wanted to express himself, not become a web celebrity. Only if 5 people came, that was pretty cool. That was a high. Watching that grow. It was going to get bigger because it was something that provided value. Pick someone you want to kill. Pick someone you think you can do better than.

Shaun: Mint has been such success, that he??????s had to turn down clients. Blogs are personal things. Some backlash to payment. But you pay for value.

Rice: I love it when people tell me I can??????t do something. All alone, and your passion is what drives you. This is a shot in the dark. And sometimes it comes around. There is no plan.

Phoebe: Can??????t release myself from having involvement with the product. There is a lot of passion. Naturally want to fix something that seems to be broken. A lot of times I??????ll do things to fix something, and not necessarily think about the money.

Blogging enables greater google search results.

We want to make money, but it??????s going to hurt at first, because you??????re not. Rice.

Shaun: with Mint wanted to be able to support those people.

Zeldman: perhaps innapropriate to have your personal opinions on a biz site. Put content out there, and keep putting content out there. And people will find you. Probably you have to focus on something to build an audience.

How To articles are good.

All these good ideas. It??????s executing the ideas that is challenging.