

The rise of "retail blogs" - jbenz
http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2008/12/the-rise-of-ret.html

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jwesley
I think retail companies becoming more media oriented will be a big trend.
Rather than buying ads on popular blogs, why not hire a talented writer and
turn your own website into a media platform? For the cost one person's salary
you could potentially develop a amazing community around your industry and
product offerings. Makes a lot more sense than trying to buy attention one
click at a time.

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brandnewlow
And THIS, I think, is the real problem facing newspapers.

Last month I sat for informational interviews with a handful of small business
owners in a neighborhood I was thinking of starting a web site in. When I
asked them if they were interested in advertising, their first response was
sometimes, "but we have our own web site."

Gotta have something really special you can offer them.

That's why I like what Techmeme does, selling Feed space on the homepage.
Clever.

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stanley
It feels a lot less forceful, and if the information being provided is
generally useful then they are more likely to have return visitors who will
eventually evolve into customers.

