The Wardman Wire

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Darren Rowse over at Problogger has a fascinating post about how his blogging has progressed from a single blog on the Blogger platform, to starting blogs on his won domain, to running a network of a large number of blogs in collaboration with others.

Two Three principles stand out for me from Darren’s article:

• If you don’t keep moving you may be swamped by the evolution of the blogosphere.
• Equally importantly, it is important not to try to move too quickly and be spread too thinly - that is a very effective way to burn out.
• That - unlike some other fields - it is important to stay “on the frontline” if you are a blogger, no matter how far you go.

The last point is important for two reasons. Firstly, it is necessary to keep up with a ferocious rate of change - Darren’s “business” is evolving through a generation each year. Secondly, blogging is the marketing of a personal brand - and that needs to be tightly controlled.

For me, the article has crystallised a couple of questions.

So what am I going to do?

This blog is quite young - less than 2 months - and is progressing reasonably well, but I have identified a couple of obvious steps. These will both use material I am generating anyway, and avoid cluttering up The Wardman Wire

Rather than different subject areas, I am going to be starting two blogs using different media that will build on audio and video clips I have been hosting on The Wardman Wire.

• One for videos and clips videos that I find interesting.
• The other for snippets of programmes that I pick up from the radio.

Why start two new blogs?

There are several principles driving this move - even though it is perhaps sligtly too soon after starting The Wardman Wire.

• There is very little extra work involved, as I am already creating 80% of the material I will be using/
• Starting small is an excellent principle with blogs - they take a long time to gain any visibility at all.
• If I choose to move towards making a small income from these blogs - to pay for the hosting, and perhaps for some of my time - then it will save several months to have a platform in place.
• In my case, I have also been looking for a couple of new media projects, that will keep my skills up to date for the day job.

In short, it is a no-brainer for me at this point.

And for Political Blogs in the UK?

I have posted previously that I think that the UK Political Blogosphere is being held back by so many leading blogs using inflexible platforms.

Here are a couple of conversation starters that you may wish to discuss in the comments below:

Potential of Groups Blogs

We have a couple of good groups blogs around - Harry’s Place and Pickled Politics spring to mind, but nothing that is remotely as influential as the main political blogs in North America - for example Daily Kos. Perhaps the only UK Political Group Blog with a major place in it’s constituency is Slugger O Toole in Ulster. I’d also identify the Brussels

Potential of Bloggers working Together

In the UK, the political blogging scene feels like an “online Westminster Village”. I have written about this before. It seems to me that the blogging scene could (maybe should) be more varied.

Perhaps that would help us address the most strategic political question in this country - participation, particlularly at a local level.

What are your thoughts?

Tags: Darren Rowse, problogger.net, problogger, politics, political blogging, growing blogs, business growth, blogging entrepreneur, group blogs, blog networks, blog network, daily kos, local politics

[tags]Darren Rowse, problogger.net, problogger, politics, political blogging, growing blogs, business growth, blogging entrepreneur, group blogs, blog networks, blog network, daily kos, local politics[/tags]