You know, its been over a year now since I began working on stuff for blogcatalog. I remember the day Tony bought it; I thought he might have been a little crazy. I mean, I at least read blogs and had a personal one or two of my own at the time but it was all new to him. Nonetheless he embraced it with open arms, and we (the BlogCatalog Team) began cleaning things up and adding more and more features.
I really admire the blind faith of the BC owners, not just in the purchase of the website, but also in myself and Daniel (our lead programmer). There have been many times when one of us will come up with an idea and Tony will just let us run with it, sometimes without even understanding it completely. It’s nice to be in a position where your input matters, even if it’s just a little bit. I think that sometimes just seeing that we are passionate about something, even if he doesn’t agree with it, means that he is going to give us a shot to go in a new direction and that is awesome.
Earlier today I saw that Alexa updated their algorithm. To my surprise we were ranked 816 yesterday. Now I know that Alexa is not the end-all of stats or anything but over a year ago I remember the team looking at the statistics (which were closer to 2 or 3 thousand back then) and setting a personal goal to try our best to break the 1,000 mark in a year. Whether the number they provide is an accurate representation of traffic or not, it HAS been an accurate representation of our goal… constantly taunting us for the past few months as we floated just above 1,000 but unable to pass it… That is until just recently.
The truth is, this past year and a half has been a fun ride. I have read more blogs, and met more interesting people in one year than I have in my entire life. While I do not get the opportunity to sit in the discussions and have small talk as much as I would like, my admin responsibilities have given me the opportunity to at least keep up with the fun topics and subjects each day. I really feel like our discussions are the heartbeat of the blogosphere. If something new gets announced at 2:00pm in the blogosphere I can assure you there will be a post about it in the discussions at 2:01pm.
The bottom line though is that despite all of our hard work, despite the late nights, and thousands and thousands of blog approvals each week this place is NOTHING without the community. I can’t help but ask myself ‘how did we get so lucky?’ because the truth is we DID get lucky. I mean there are THOUSANDS of other websites and social networks out there, backed by more money and with far more advanced features… but the trick with these things… the real million dollar question is: how do you get the people to come and stay? That is where I think the biggest variable in sites like these comes in and it all boils down to dumb luck.
We were lucky enough from the very beginning to have really passionate and helpful members visiting our site everyday. Leaving comments, posting discussions, helping new members… When you have such a strong and friendly community the possibilities are endless. I am truly grateful for each and every person who graces our website and decides to submit their blog to the directory.
Whether they are a new user looking to learn, or an experienced blogger looking to grow readership and share their knowledge, the love that this community has is really admirable.
The truth is, blogging is hard, it is not just a hobby and it takes a lot of work to be disciplined enough and inspired enough to post new entries on a consistent basis. Anyone who takes the time to create a blog, and write, and join a community like this one automatically gains respect from the regulars here. Because we all know how hard it is to be consistent with something like blogging.
One of my favorite parts of the site are the discussions because from the very beginning when I told the team I wanted to make a way for people to communicate outside the shoutbox I remember thinking about what we could do to NOT make it a forum. When we sat down as a team and starting coming up with ideas it was apparent that we did not want to make categories. The problem with most forums is that if you are a technology blogger you got to the technology threads, if you are a mother blogger, you would go to the mom threads. People flock to the areas that they are most comfortable in all the while forgetting the most important thing that we all have in common: We are all bloggers.
And being bloggers says a lot. So we decided to have a free flowing open area for people to talk about whatever comes to mind and that is where the magic happens because now you have a history professor from Florida talking to a stay at home mom from England, to a technology blogger in New York and a 12 year old blogger from wherever and we’re breaking down these social barriers we give ourselves online.
The truth is that BlogCatalog is just a shell, and it is empty without every single one of you who take the time to participate. We (the BC Team) could add feature after feature but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if there is no one here to share it with.
I started this post with the intention of plugging the community blog but it seems as though this post has evolved into something different. You know, Daniel first mentioned he wanted to open our blog up to the community about 6 or 7 months ago. It wasn’t until recently that we have actually done so and I have to say that I am really enjoying the posts that have come through so far. It really is a testament to all the great writers we have out there.
Despite this post’s rambling and lack of direction I hope that I have at least given you some insight into my thought process as I come into work each day.
As someone who has to approve hundreds of blogs a day for blogcatalog I leave you with this parting thought for the day…
People can get their news and information from anywhere; from the television, to the newspaper, to the radio… The reason that blogging is one of the fastest growing forms of news and media has more to do with just the speed of information, it has to do with the voices behind that information. I think that people are bored with just the facts. They want the opinions, they want to hear the voice of the author, and they want to participate in discussions around these posts. If you aren’t doing so already, I challenge you to engage your audience. I challenge you to write your posts not just in a boring standard format but write to your readers as though you were having a conversation with them. Engage the audience of your blog and share yourself with them because from my experience those are the types of blogs that people become attached to in a more intimate nature. Those are the blogs you want to keep reading day after day.
NINE is a 27 year old graphic designer working for BlogCatalog. He is responsible for the day to day administration and new product development. His blog CellRater is a resource for information and news on upcoming cellphones.
The admin has made a terrific contribution to the community, not by being "hands off" with the silliness but by participating from time to time or at least acknowledging the running gags. The idea that you guys are actually interested in us, rather than just the bottom line, makes you a one-of-a-kind crew. You get the inside jokes, you respond to concerns, and you not only ask for input but act on it. That's exceedingly rare in a successful site.
The boards have been a fantastic place to watch evolve over the past year. Keeping the shameless promotion and money-making strategies to their own sections has allowed people who want to talk about blogging and their lives more room to find each other. And look what they've done with it!
Your post was lovely to read. It bears out the impression that I get from your involvement in the community, that you guys are having fun and learning right along with the rest of us. Members really respect you all for what you have created but you certainly aren't on any pedestals!
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