This morning I met with an enterprising young man named Ken Yarmosh, owner of a DC-area technology company called Technosight. He contacted me after reading a press release I sent out last week. Ken visited my business and personal blogs and wanted to talk to me about some of his ideas.
Ken is well-versed in the technical side of the web, and I am a staunch blogging advocate and online marketer. We both know there’s gold to be dug in Washington, D.C., and it would be a shame to let it sit there unmined and unspent. Ken suggested that we develop seminars for various organizations and sell the idea of blogs and the importance of building and maintaining a web presence. I’ve always wanted to do something like this, but sitting down face to face with someone, putting our heads together, and coming up with a solid plan was just the impetus I needed.
Ken and I are both enthusiastic about what we do for a living. In fact, we were talking loudly enough at one point that another customer in the coffee shop overheard us. She came over, introduced herself, apologized for eavesdropping, and asked if we’d be interested in speaking to some people she works with about blogging.
It was a great morning. 
We envision offering a few free seminars to gauge interest, then offer courses in web development, business blogging, and online marketing. Blogging is a very inexpensive way to market a business and build relationships with existing customers, but many businesses are resistant. We want to change that. For non-profit organizations, a strong online presence is a cost-effective way to attract potential donors and increase grant opportunities. Washington, D.C., is filled with public policy organizations and other non-profits that don’t have blogs.
Ken Yarmosh and I have all sorts of ideas, but the key is sitting down, coming up with a plan, and getting things done. I’ll keep you posted.
Addendum: A blogger gets rich. Jason Calacanis, founder of a blog network called Weblogs, Inc., just sold his company to AOL for $25 million. Speechless.
Other bloggers talking: BL Ochman, The Angel Blog, Bloggers Blog, Blogspotting, Jeff Jarvis, Jeremy Wright, Micro Persuasion (and here), Business Blog Consulting, The Blog Herald…
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October 6th, 2005 at 6:23 pm
There may not be much money in it, but there are lot of people running little blogs in DC — mostly personal — but some with small business potential, especially in the arts/food/sports areas, that may be interested in strategies for broadening their bloggings reach in the DC market. There is a ocean of niche blogs in this city, but I think they have trouble finding ways to get attention. The more people who read blogs generally in this large Metro market, the better it is for all, I believe.
October 10th, 2005 at 2:21 pm
Washington DC Metropolitan area. You can read La Shawn’s take on the meeting over on her blog. If you are interested in hosting one of these seminars, please contact…
October 20th, 2005 at 1:29 am
It may be more accute in the DC area, I don’t know. But as far as personal/niche blogs go, I think it’s hard for them to get attention anywhere. Much of the problem, in my opinion, is that of the millions of blogs on the web, most readers generally tend to turn to a small handfull of really big brand name ones - no matter what in particular it is they are looking for. There are usually a couple of really good, really big blogs for each mainstream topic. Past that, competition is fierce and readership is sparse. Plus, unless you are an established, bonafied expert on your topic or in some cases topics, there is a natural lack of trust that drives people away. As for bloggers who just post whatever comes to mind such as myself, 20 or 30 random hits per day is doing pretty well. So naturally, there isn’t a lot of marketing potential in that. I tried google ads for almost a month and made 98 cents.
October 20th, 2005 at 10:11 am
Thanks for the comment, John, and for being a faithful reader of TLA.
Bloggers must differentiate themselves in the market, which is why specialization is important, particularly for the business blogger.