If you look at the right hand side of the site you’ll maybe notice a Sponsored Feeds block. This is me eating my own lunch while finding a way to pay the bills. This is how it works:
I’m using Newsgator’s widget creation tool (you need a premium account for this) to build a set of aggregated feeds. The feed shows the latest inbound story. Next to the feed, there is an image which the sponsor can have point anywhere they like. Those who are interested can lift the widget and place it on their website – for free.
Clever bit part 1
The exact position each sponsor occupies doesn’t depend on them paying a premium or haggling over sizes of ad block etc. They all pay the same so they all know what I am taking from the site. That’s transparency in action. It depends entirely on when they create content. That of itself should encourage more content production. But it doesn’t end there. Readers like good headlines. Therefore, sponsors need to be at the top of their game when thinking about what that content is going to look like. It means that rather than pushing messages at readers, they can now think about telling stories.
Clever bit part 2
I want content to reach the widest possible audience. Therefore, anyone can lift the widget and put it on their own site, entirely free of charge. Click the Get This thingy and you’re off to the races. It takes about a minute.
No questions, no crazy terms of service, no copyright, no ah-but etc. It’s free as in zero. “Hey, wont’ that drive traffic away?” Nah – they’ve got to come here to get the code for a start and maybe people will hang around and look at other stuff. Oh heck – that means I’ve got to be at the top of my game as well.
Clever bit part 3
All this means that readers are not being assaulted by adverts but presented with more content and links to other content. For me as a content producer, it doesn’t get much better than that.
Future stuff
So the next question is how can I get even more content into the sponsored feed block but without it all disappearing under the fold? For this, I have an evil plan. It will take a bit of working out but I’m confident I can code it. If not then I know a lot of folk who can help out.
Developer note
CODA’s feed is not one but three brought together through a simple Yahoo! Pipe. If you particularly like CODA content, the pipe is free as well.
Endnote
I don’t like using the ‘d’ word too often but I think this is seriously disruptive. It marries content to brand recognition in a way that was previously unimaginable and in a way where everyone wins. I’m happy because I’ve got content and a contribution towards paying the bills. Content producers are happy because they get branded distribution. Readers are happy because they get to consume more content on the things that (hopefully) interest them. Newsgator is happy because it demonstrates a fresh use of their tools and might even encourage a few people to get their desktop tools (which are also free) and maybe try this for themselves (which isn’t.)
Traditional media can attempt to emulate this if they want, but they wont. Why? Because I am making this available at ‘cab fare pricing.’ Most of all, it gets away from the horrific world of banner ads that even the current crop of tech writer super stars haven’t avoided. This kind of thinking is not in their DNA but it is in mine. That’s cool because there is room for both models.
One more thing
Finally, I’d like to publicly express my thanks to the Newsgator people and especially my friend Jeff Nolan for making it happen and Dan Borrego for helping me iron out the wrinkles. To my sponsors – what can I say? You’re taking the financial risk but I hope it encourages you to up your communications game. And to all the folk who have wandered past this site over the last few years, helped me shape content and got me to this point – I couldn’t have done it without you. As Hugh MacLeod might say: rock on.
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