Being TechCrunch with Knowledge
Back in April I wrote Being 37signals for Free and it was easily the most popular entry so far this year on the site due to the emotions that a company like 37signals brings up and also the fact that it asked a question that many people themselves had been wondering. Fast forward to last week and TechCrunch reports on a Basecamp alternative that can be hosted and its creator has cited my entry as inspiration for getting the wheels moving. I think that’s pretty cool. It would’ve been better if there wasn’t a need for people to write entries to inspire others, but if it happens then it happens and who am I to complain? In any case, I thought I would do another entry similar to the 37signals one, but this time focusing on TechCrunch (TC).
TC is a great success story. Started a little over a year ago, the site has reached levels of traffic that most of us could only wish for after 5 years of working on a site. The site is frequently updated and seems to have the break on news stories before anyone else. So how do you get like that? Well it takes a lot of different factors to all fall into place and the sad thing is it doesn’t seem to be many of the qualities that we are ourselves work so hard to attain on our own sites. In my mind, what will make a site successful is:
- Quality content
- Fresh content
- A strong voice and personality
- Ability to get the word out on your site
- Knowledge of the topic
The great thing about the web is that anybody can start a site and work to become an expert in whatever genre they choose. TC tackles the Web 2.0 space and many would argue has become the definitive resource for all Web 2.0 news. The problem is that TC isn’t always accurate with its dissection of products. In fact, many times it’s a bit too obvious that the product/service/site that are being written about haven’t really even been reviewed at all. For example, in this entry on FleaFlicker the original copy spoke of the great AJAX work in the FleaFlicker application. Looking at the screenshot you can tell the application has nothing to do with AJAX at all, but is actually a Java applet running.
So I figured something about the site/company had to revolve around AJAX and I went to the site, took the time to setup an account and did a mock draft and guess what? It’s the same Java applet as the one that is shown in the screenshot and it took me 90 seconds to go through the trouble to discover that. Rundle pointed out the error in the entry and his comment was deleted and the entry changed, but I guess that’s another story for another day. The point is, TC has been able to become one of the stops to go for Web 2.0 without ever really being a knowledgeable resource. Would it be possible then to achieve TC status and make a claim for yourself as an expert in the Web 2.0 field?
Brian Benzinger over at Solution Watch probably writes the most indepth reviews of Web 2.0 products anywhere that I have seen, yet his traffic can’t compare to TC’s. Brian unfortunately doesn’t get the scoop as fast as TC and therefore isn’t as frequently updated as TC, but even if he did get the scoop he would be hard pressed to continue producing quality content on his own and pushing it out on a more frequent basis.
The lesson to be learned from TC is that most users love content on a frequent basis. The numbers behind TC, Engadget, Gizmodo, BoingBoing and other frequently updated sites don’t lie. The more unique, fresh content you can produce the better your chances of success. Unfortunately, for many who live at a higher standard this doesn’t play out too well. It doesn’t always have to be accurate and you certainly don’t have to be an expert in the field to be successful, but you do have to give the impression of quality.
Have a strong voice and don’t be afraid to promote you great entries. Don’t run around thinking everything you do is link-worthy, but if there is something you truly believe deserves recognition then don’t hesitate to spread the word. You will find a lot of TC entries make it to the frontpage of Digg and if anyone has ever had their site on Digg you know what kind of boost that presents. Also don’t think you just have to promote to an American audience. Reading the comments on TC there are many Asian-based comments which makes me wonder if they ever purposely did any marketing out in that region. If so it’s a brilliant move.
Finally, treat your readers, audience and peers with the respect they deserve. You don’t have to like everyone and many people will disagree with you, but at the very least show them respect. There are times when people have lost the right to get your respect, but if those times never occur don’t think you are better than the next person because of numbers that you can produce. Mark Fusco has been arguing with me on my site for over 2.5 years now and although we butt heads and don’t see eye-to-eye I respect him more than anyone else around because he gives it to me straight. Yeah, there have been times I have called him names after reading something he wrote, but after the cooldown period I read it again and try to understand where he is coming from. He’s earned my respect and kept it.
So if you want to build a TC the tools are right there in front of you. If you want to build your own unique experience the tools are right there in front of you as well. Just remember though that popularity doesn’t make you an expert and never gives you the right to look down on others.
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[...] Scrivs [...]
By usmediaweb» The CC Anthology » Being TechCrunch with Knowledge on July 10, 2006 1:45 pm
Well said Paul, its better to get your facts straight then to write on something you know very little about, and get it all wrong. Especially when you have a large, possibly influential audience. I guess as the saying goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
By Aneil Weber on July 10, 2006 1:56 pm
The big difference between Solution Watch and TC is that Brian is an extremely tech-savvy person, and can explain — in depth — about the technologies a particular company uses. If you run a technology blog, that’s the only way to be or else you’re just throwing buzzwords around and faking it.
By Mike Rundle on July 10, 2006 2:24 pm
But you see if faking it means people are going to pay $10k/month to advertise on your site isn’t it better to fake it?
By Scrivs on July 10, 2006 2:42 pm
That’s the unfortunate other side to this equation. Many bloggers feel that building their site up organically through solid analysis is the way to get big, but some sites disprove that theory.
By Mike Rundle on July 10, 2006 2:51 pm
Name me one site that has done it through solid analysis and has achieved the success of TC, BoingBoing and others.
By Scrivs on July 10, 2006 2:53 pm
Yeah that’s what I’m saying, there is this huge gap between what bloggers think will put them in the ranks of TC or BB, and what *will actually* put them up there. Just like with real-life business, in order to be at the top you have to do more than just work hard, you have to know people and have good timing.
By Mike Rundle on July 10, 2006 2:56 pm
And talk about sex.
By Scrivs on July 10, 2006 2:57 pm
Aneil: It’s interesting how many people don’t catch the errors or blantanly bypass them. We all make mistakes in our entries and its’ good to have an audience willing to correct them and it’s sad to see when corrections are viewed as slandering or trashing the person. In that same token, it’s like writing about 9rules in your entry and not linking to us ;-).
By Scrivs on July 10, 2006 4:11 pm
I just want to point out that your entry inspired me to release activeCollab as open source project, not to start working on it. I had the working demo with some basic features already implemented when “Being 37signals for Free” was published. Plus I had older version on my localhost that I used to manage my personal projects for about a year.
Btw, ” TechCrunch reports on a Basecamp alternative” link is wrong. It points to “FleaFlicker is a Better Fantasy Sports Site” entry.
By Ilija Studen on July 10, 2006 4:24 pm
Scrivs: Not done intentionally, but its fixed now. Thanks for the heads up…err i mean trashing ;-)
By Aneil Weber on July 10, 2006 4:40 pm
Hey Illija,
Thanks for the clarification and fixing of the link. I do think going Open Source provides more opportunities for ActiveCollab assuming you can build up a community around it that is willing to help and support your endeavor. Best of luck.
By Scrivs on July 10, 2006 4:43 pm
On that activeCollab / 37signals note, it looks there is another competitor now: http://www.clockingit.com/
The power of a Scrivs post!
By Aneil Weber on July 10, 2006 6:12 pm
Scrivs, thanks for mentioning me! I started reading the post thinking, “This should be interesting…”, and then I saw my name! Thank you very much and I really do appreciate your comments.
I have been on vacation the last 2 weeks and unfortunately only had an hour a night to respond to email and try to squeeze in a couple small posts. But I’m back now and ready to get back in action again :). Thanks!
By Brian Benzinger on July 10, 2006 7:46 pm
There will always be a part of me that will believe in success through the slower growth of knowledge. It comes down to the person, I guess it’s what you are happy to do and you take what success you get as a result of that. Isn’t there a saying about power corrupts and abosulte power corrupts abosolutely and link this with pride comes before a fall and I think you are summing up a lot of this bigger cases and the egos behind them. I believe in karma and karma online has a nasty bite.
By karmatosed on July 10, 2006 7:58 pm
In my opinion you need to be able to stand behind what you are posting about for you readers. If they question a statement or just ask a question you need to be able to answer or get the answer. If you are just blowing smoke and just have a big pipe so everyone hears you are really misleading your readers.
BTW….I agree Brian runs a better blog just because of the thoroughness.
By Dennis on July 10, 2006 9:42 pm
“Name me one site that has done it through solid analysis and has achieved the success of TC, BoingBoing and others.”
dpreview.com?
By Ben Richardson on July 10, 2006 11:30 pm
‘Being 37signals for Free’ link in first paragraph still points to a wrong location, actually it points to this same page :)
By Hüseyin Tüfekçilerli on July 11, 2006 4:49 am
Increasingly with the size of the internet it is more a case of “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”.
By Eddie Sowden on July 11, 2006 5:49 am
[...] I recently read a post by Paul on Wisdump that really got me thinking about how misleading some blogs are yet seem to have the power of the people behind them. Is that because of their voice, their stature, connections, writing style…I think the ladder is the case and it has to do with buzzwords. But just throwing the buzzwords out really doesn’t give your readers the meat they are coming for; you need to give them some substance to go on. This is why I believe that it is extremely important that you have a good understanding about your subject matter when you post so you are able to expand on the discussion and answer or have the ability to get an answer to a question that your reader may have. That is what I think TechCrunch and others are missing. [...]
By Does TechCrunch Have Substance? - DENNISBULLOCK.COM on July 11, 2006 9:26 am
I would love to write a blog like that, but the amount of time it would take to get anywhere close to TC status is way more than I could ever handle. Maybe, just maybe…. a group blog could do it? :)
By Montoya on July 11, 2006 9:48 am
[...] The truth is out there. We don’t really care about quality. We want fequently updated content. [...]
By chartreuse (BETA) » Blog Archive » Tuesday Morning Remix (Bond Girl Edition) on July 11, 2006 10:58 am
[...] In today’s ScrivsTyme my entry on TechCrunch and Basecamp were discussed a bit and the question arose of why we haven’t seen any FeedBurner alternatives yet. Let’s face it, some of us feel more secure about our data when we get to host it so why isn’t there a hosted FeedBurner alternative? I believe Mint has a plugin that track RSS readers, but no matter what I do Mint kills my database. [...]
By A Hosted FeedBurner Alternative » Wisdump on July 11, 2006 4:39 pm
[...] And before you think, “Nah, no reason to do sell my soul,” consider these “everyday” scenarios: Anil Dash (Movable Type blogger) advertising the fact that 60% of the fifty most popular science blogs use MT, Paul Scrivens (CEO of 9rules) pointing out an error on TechCrunch and simultaneously promoting a similar blog, Solution Watch (which is part of 9rules, of course), and Darren Rowse featuring a post published over at Peformancing while plugging one of his older posts on the same subject. [...]
By blogHelper » Shameless Promotion 101 on July 12, 2006 6:27 am
[...] Be willing to disclose and correct mistakesIf you make a mistake, disclose it and update your post accordingly. Do not do as Paul Scrivens claimed TechCrunch did, i.e. delete a comment highlighting the error and modify the post without telling anybody. [...]
By What is Good Blogger Etiquette? | blogHelper on August 9, 2006 9:28 am
[...] I think any “tech” websites and blogs that did not see the initial implications of this feature when it was first launched, and reported this in a positive light, should drop out of everyone’s feedreaders. Features without opt-out and customization are always a bad idea, regardless of the context. Writers in the world of tech who don’t know that are only halfway useful. [...]
By Christian Montoya » Weighing in on Facebook and YouTube on September 10, 2006 5:48 pm
[...] Being TechCrunch with Knowledge » Wisdump Excellente analyse sur le succès d’un techcrunch … qui n’est pas toujours au fait au niveau technique … mais qui est considéré comme la référence en la matière 2.0. [...]
By Shoob » Blog Archive » links for 2006-12-26 on December 26, 2006 12:25 pm