b5media Reorg
Every now and again, an idea comes along that makes a lot of sense. For us, as we neared the 20 blog mark and looked forward, it was obvious that a “flat” structure simply didn’t make sense for readers. As they read down the list, how would Cooking Gadgets compare with Ensight or Flightnest and Cellphone9?
The Story
So we created “channels”. For readers, this allowed them to see other blogs similar to what they already enjoyed. If you liked Play Girlz and video game stuff, then FPS Rantings was likely something you might want to take a peak at as well type of thing.
Behind the scenes, it also made growth much more organic. We put in place Channel Editors such as Aaron Brazell, Ingrid Diaz, Christina Jones, Arieanna Foley, Jon Watson, Hsien-Hsien Lei and others to effectively find the best bloggers in their channels and areas of interest. This was a great decision for us, because it meant the founders didn’t need to do crazy amounts of work interviewing new bloggers, picking names and working on designs. The system continues to work really well.
But channels were always about readers. Helping them find the right content for them. As we grew, though, we found that we were running into the same problems as before, particularly amongst two channels: Lifestyles and Women. The ideas for the channels were right, but what ended up happening was that anything even vaguely feminine went into Women and everything else went into Lifestyles.
The Reorganization
So, we have reorganized the channels. We dumped some, merged others, split others and created a bunch of new ones. The change has been live in the sidebar since yesterday, but here is the new structure in brief, and the Channel Editor for each channel:
Arts & Crafts: Christina Jones
Beauty & Style: Christina Jones
Blogging: Jeremy Wright
Celebrities: Arieanna Foley
Entertainment: Arieanna Foley
Family & Relationships: Hsien-Hsien Lei
Home & Dining: Christina Jones
Personal Development: Ingrid Diaz
Science & Health: Hsien-Hsien Lei
Sports: Aaron Brazell
Technology: Jon Watson
Travel and Culture: Christina Jones
Video Games: Ingrid Diaz
Writing & Literature: Ingrid Diaz
The Future
We realize that right now this isn’t ground breaking stuff. It’s not going to make the front page of the NYT or anything. In the short term, it should let some users find better content, which is a good first step. It’s not the last one, though. Expect to see more channel-specific functionality and tools over the coming months, because we believe the channels have the potential to create really, really powerful communities.
So watch this space, but not so closely that you freak out if nothing happens in the next 4-6 weeks, k? ;-)
Update: We’d also love your feedback. Did we get this right? What would you have done differently? It’s always a challenge to organize 100+ blogs in a way that makes sense, and we know we have some unique blogs that don’t quite fit into any real structure (Flightest anyone?). We love feedback, long as it isn’t too frisky ;-)
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The Conversation
Oh Jeremy. You ARE my channel editor. Cool. I wasn’t sure I had one. :P
There’s probably not too much anyone could have done differently, and I totally agree with the direction here. But I do have a couple of (non-frisky) questions…
1) Did you do any formal(ish) market research into readership crossover? Ie, do you now know that one segment is reading this blog, this blog and this blog? And that another segment is reading that blog, that blog, and that blog? What did you base your decisions/changes on?
2) And when you say that “the channels have the potential to create really, really powerful communities”, do you have any plans to do anything more with those communities outside of blogging?
I think you have the potential to build some world-leading stuff here and I’m interested in finding out where you’re headed.
B
[…] Yesterday, b5media announced a Channel reorg, something that the observant will have already known, since the new channel line up had already been in the sidebar for 24 hours. (What are channels? Check the far right sidebar.) […]
Since that list is too damn long and you guys add sites daily can I ask what the total number is now?
last time I counted it was 115. List is too long but as JW said in his post a few days back we’ll be working on new ways of presenting it in the coming weeks.
113 according to the backend admin system :)
Hey b5ers, I just wanted to say hi and great work on your channel reorg. You’re clearly trying to make a successful business out of sharing quality content and providing meaningful contact with those who visit you. From what I read, it’s clear that you’re succeeding at both.
Thanks, Jeremy, for calling me up and shooting the breeze. It was great to meet you. I’m impressed with the b5media network and see it as an example in many ways for Know More Media to follow. We watch your progress not out of paranoia (we and you have such distinct blog topics from each other as to effectively negate any claims to being competitors anyway), but rather out of curiosity and an eager desire to learn from what you’re doing. We’ve already learned from great feedback you’ve given us before and look forward to more in the future.
Congrats on the successful restructuring and I wish you the best with your efforts here.
Seems to be the logical move, especially if it will lelevl out traffic between channels.
And maybe SuccessfulBlog, Ensight and Problogger could also move into the official b5media WP theme just so they won’t dillute the branding.
Best wishes to all! I kept telling Anne that writing wasn’t a “Lifestyle” LOL Glad to see it has it’s own little niche.
[…] I’ve taken on a new channel at b5media as the editor of the newly created Family and Relationships Channel. It’s a natural fit because one of my blogs, Play Library, belongs to the channel and family and relationships are what life’s all about anyway, right? So basically, my two channels at b5media encompass all of what makes life worth living: science, health, family, and relationships. […]
[…] I’m pretty happy because I’m pretty much done with the alpha phase of this project. This is sort of like building a house in that the first phase involves pouring the foundation and framing the walls and roof. Basically roughing the thing in. At this point, we are able to maintain the entire b5media blogroll that is visible on every blog and when we launch a new blog, it only requires a “flip of the switch”. In fact, the technical side of the reorg announced a few weeks ago was as a result of the data and manipulation of this system. […]
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