Wednesday, May 27, 2009

FAQs About Me | Can't you please save this blog?

Part of an occasional series about yours truly.

Q. How can you just let Gannett Blog slip away on Oct. 1?!

A. I haven't given up the notion that someone will start a blog or blogs to replace this one. The main reason I set such a long lead time was to help midwife (midhusband?) an orderly succession. I've proven the market, and the income potential. Without even really trying, I've been on schedule to pull in $15,000 in my first year. With more effort, someone could double that.

Gannett Blog has always been a project around citizen journalism. I showed that if you develop original content, and ask people to pay for it, they will! Now, the test is whether any of the thousands of readers pick up the baton.

Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write gannettblog[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the green rail, upper right.

14 comments:

  1. But Jim, who will hire personal security to challenge the powers that be at our annual meeting?

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  2. I hope several new blogs spring up about this company. We need to hear more from the business-side. We also need a couple blogs dedicated to the big properties like USA TODAY, Detroit and Phoenix. There should be enough ex-Gannett employees around to contribute. This company has a long and dark history. Now is the time to expose some of what is really happening beyond the scenes.

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  3. Spending more than 10% of one's blog income on blog-related security is not good. Hopefully if someone takes over the blog they'll hire a COO to bring sanity to the expense line.

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  4. 5:52 PM Do It!
    YES WE CAN!

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  5. 538 and 697

    Give it up already!

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. Rather than fracturing readership, why not turn THIS blog over to someone, Jim?

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  8. 9:34 am: Thank you for asking.

    Unfortunately, there are myriad privacy issues involved. And the security and privacy of my readers has always been my No. 1 priority.

    For example, if I handed the blog to someone else, they might then pass it to Corporate or some other party that doesn't share that philosophy.

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  9. you don't know anyone that would do this that you trust.

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  10. 9:33 am: People change. What if I had not recognized the danger signs of undue stress on my psyche, and did something that caused harm to all of you?

    Assignment editors: This -- the strain on bloggers -- is an important story worth pursuing.

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  11. Assignment editors ... what year do you think it is? 1952?

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  12. Jim - Sorry to see you Go. Totally understand the reasons. Have you given thought to parsing your work? For example, the "special sections" of "confidential" posts for select audiences consumes perhaps, what, 15 percent of your time? Does it, therefore, generate 15 percent of your revenue? I hate to sound like a Gannett exec axing her staff to keep her bonus, but I'd wager the majority of us read the general posts unless we're affected by the "confidential" sections. Seems to me we could keep a great guy (you) if there was some way you could find a different center line more palatible to your liking.

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  14. My initial reaction and thought is that you are throwing in the towel due to your lack of experience. It's not just original quality content, succeeding and earning a living on the web takes more than fancy words.

    For starters you should have enlisted the help or hired someone familiar with website development. This can be really inexpensive or free if you are willing to spend time learning yourself. A website is not a build it and they will come, it requires marketing and an eye for trends to keep the kids happy. With these two things in place you could easily bring in more than $15,000.

    There is a reason the big news sites online are visited frequently and it's not because of the caliber of writing that's done. It's frequency of updates, readability by the target audience, layout concepts, marketing work, advertising, advertisers, and the list goes on.

    Good luck with whatever you try to do next.

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Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."

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