A Notice from BlogCatalog’s CEO
Yahoo recently announced that it was evaluating the possible sale or closure of MyBlogLog. For us, the BlogCatalog team, it serves as a reminder that any company that is complacent runs the risk of dying. This fact is made more poignant given that MyBlogLog was one of the most innovative social media networks of the past decade. In many ways, they were ahead of their time and were the forefathers of many features that we are see on social networks today.
Eric Marcoullier and Tod Sampson, MyBlogLog’s founders were inspirational to the BlogCatalog team, as they laid the groundwork for much of what we originally created. At the time of the Yahoo acquisition, many thought that Yahoo had acquired the “future of the web.” The announcement by Yahoo, therefore, caused the BlogCatalog team to seriously reevaluate the value we deliver to bloggers and their readers.
After much critical thinking the BlogCatalog team decided that it was important to transform BlogCatalog and launch a completely “new experience for bloggers and their readers.” While most of the current functionality will remain in some form, the new BlogCatalog will seek to achieve what MyBlogLog failed to do.
While MyBlogLog’s initial and highly successful strategy was to create a distributed social network, it failed, after coming out strong, to deliver readers and bloggers with real value. BlogCatalog will take this step by launching “Reader,” a distributed syndicated network of blog content selected and controlled by the user.
Reader turns traditional RSS on its head. Research has indicated that most regular web users don’t know what RSS is, nor do they use it, nor do they care. Many don’t know what a blog is, though they know they should be getting content from blogs. Reader solves this gap in technical knowledge.
Reader enables consumers, regardless of skill level, to receive published content of interest to them whenever, wherever and however they want it.
Reader enables all readers to quickly and easily find blog and article content. Its intuitive design is created to appeal to geek and non-geek alike. At its core Reader is an elegant, beautiful and simple to use platform, one that is inspired by the philosophy of “less is more.” Look for Reader’s launch this May.
Other Changes
BlogCatalog will soon announce a new partnership with an innovative and forward thinking blog Toolbar Company. A new BC toolbar integrated with Reader and BlogCatalog’s current series of widgets will offer bloggers dramatically improved metrics about the tastes and preferences of their readers. These analytics will help bloggers tailor their writing to their reader’s interests.
To expand our member’s reach, BlogCatalog will tear down our walls so that members and readers can more fully connect their BlogCatalog accounts with their other social networks. We believe that your data should be portable. And it will be.
A New Platform to Connect Bloggers with Brands
For bloggers who may suffer from writer’s block, and those who are interested in receiving offers and working with major brands, the BlogCatalog team is excited to announce a new site that will connect bloggers with major brands and PR firms. The new site, humbleopinions.com, will revolutionize the way brands and bloggers connect. To get an early invite, visit humbleopinions.com and ensure your spot by signing up.
Humble Opinions takes the traditional brand/blogger relationships and turns it on its head. The traditional model of directing bloggers to write a certain way or not write at all isn’t respectful of bloggers, their blog readers, or consumers, nor does it do justice to the brand. There has been a shift of power away from the brand and to the consumer. Many brands have been destroyed by not paying attention to this trend, and those who fail to adjust to this new shift will no longer be around in 5 years.
HumbleOpinions.com provides an empowering platform for bloggers, to basically say, “If you want us to write about your brand, then, this is the kind of brand you need to be. You need to be an honest brand. A brand that accepts constructive criticism and feedback. And when you do that, and connect with us, we will become your raving fans.”
Humbleopinion gives Brands a platform for reaching out to bloggers who are interested in connecting with brands, and receiving test products, concert tickets, restaurant invites, promotional items and more. Bloggers are a key part of the mechanism for delivering and distributing news that impacts what’s spoken about a product; ultimately affecting consumer purchasing decisions and that it’s really a two way street of communication between bloggers and brands.
Other Changes Provide New Opportunities for Members
We, at BlogCatalog, are always looking for products that will provide you with opportunities or enhance your skills as bloggers. Toward that goal, you may have noticed, that just recently we launched 2 new products.
One is, FriedEggs.com, a micro blogging and news platform with a difference; where you can expand your micro blog post to more than 140 characters. If you want to share breaking news quickly we call it, “what’s cracking?” – FriedEggs.com is a platform for you to do just that. You can share the relevant news that’s occurring in your home town, your college, city, at your church, or whatever it may be. FriedEggs provides you with another platform to get the news out there and drive traffic to your blog.
We have also recently launched CauseParty.org. As a company we take doing good for the world very seriously. Leveraging and harnessing the power of the blogosphere to make a difference is a primary driver. CauseParty.org takes BloggersUnite, one of our most successful initiatives, into the real world, where if you’re a blogger or a reader, you can host a CauseParty. For the month of March, we are hosting a causeparty where the cause is “Soles & Dollars for Haiti”. Instructions on how you can become a CauseParty organizer and really make a difference are at CauseParty.org. We are working with SolesforSouls, a nonprofit organization that does amazing things by delivering shoes to those people who are in most need. So, we have organized with them where we collect the shoes and SolesforSouls will be providing the boxes which will be used to ship the shoes to Haiti. We have other CauseParty events planned this year.
We have a lot of changes in process. We are not complacent. So, while MyBlogLog may or may not stay around for awhile, we have extended a hand to Yahoo, to take over the service. In the event that they shut the doors on MBL and its members, the team at BlogCatalog wants to make sure that you have a friendly, pro-blogger home. As such, we have integrated an easy way for you to port over your MyBlogLog data to BlogCatalog. Once your blog is approved, go to your Account Settings and click to import your MBL account details. It’s as simple as that.
I would love your feedback and look forward to answering any questions. Contact me with an email to tony (at) blogcatalog.com.
Tony
Source: TonyB
