Bjorn Larsson mediates a bunch of bloggers. Well, these are not your average Joes; they are founders of some the city’s most coveted blogs. Introducing Flavorpill’s Sascha Lewis, Engadget’s Peter Rojas and Gothamist’s Jake Dobkin.
Peter Rojas – who recently sold Engadget to AOL - talks about niche media and the power of sincere content. “Don’t dumb it down. Give it to them straight.” He also emphasizes the importance of advertisers really understanding the content of the site and that this synergy between niche content (editorial) and niche products (advertising) is a winner. The audience loves this because it introduces new niche products to them.
Sascha’s site Flavorpill publishes eleven email magazines, covering art, books, music, fashion, world news, and cultural events in six cities. He talks about the new dynamics between media, ad agencies and clients. “Things are mashed up more, there is more collaboration and media agencies have become more flexible. That concept of church and state is over.”
Sascha also claims that online media is a lot more flexible than offline. If something is not right, it can be taken down instantly.
“Flavorpill offers a hybrid of different services and has enabled clients to feel closer to us because we are more flexible.”
On maintaining objectivity and integrity as an editorial publication?
All bloggers – whose companies have excelled because of their exceptionally high quality content - unanimously concur “good content is hard.”
Sascha: “The integrity of the editorial process and the intrinsic brand essence is the foundation of our company.”
Gothamist’s Jake Dobkin concurs “Having accurate information, having it work, and selling it is still difficult.”
Their advice to us: “Identify the sites that are most fitting with your clients, and work with those clients and sites to bring synergy. Remember that blogs are popular because they are good.”
Killer comment of the session: “The web is a messy place. Need to embrace that mess.” Sascha referencing Wired’s editor, Chris Anderson.
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