There's nothing about me at the front of the site because I have a slightly different intention than the usual blogging thing. I'm trying to establish a toehold as a food columnist here in the UK after 15 ghastly years in advertising, marketing and new media. I use blog software to publish work in progress or speculative stuff. I do this because it’s simple, fun, it gets me feedback and keeps me motivated. Because I'm writing features in traditional length and style, though, I don't invite standard 'comments'. I’m trying to write stuff that’s good enough to stand alone rather than to kick off a public dialogue. I get a lot of kind and encouraging emails and putting out a regular email newsletter disciplines me to write something new, consistent and to length every couple of weeks - especially when the commissions are a bit thin on the ground.
Still a marketing tart at heart, I promote the site in London through postcards in foodie shops and a few cool restaurants. That way, in a small, metrocentric country like the UK, I can guarantee to hit most of the influencers.
The ‘subscription’, though it’s free, has two purposes. I’ve always felt that less techy users feel like they're really 'getting' something when it drops into their mailbox and, of course, the subscriber list helps me keep track of who's reading me. I don't make any money from the site, subscription or syndication but I use it as a sort of playground/portfolio and it helps me get paid work and increase my profile.
After years of making a living bullshitting to businesses about the new media, I'm really excited about what RSS is doing to the way people consume journalism. It’s the sort of wide-eyed media democratisation we all got so excited about back in the day - but this time it’s really happening.
I don't think the print media have the faintest idea what's coming but, I figure, whatever the media look like in the future they're always going to need people to write good stuff and people are always going to want to read about food.
RSS means that we can all access the syndication model. I think what I’m trying to do is provide a traditional syndicated column specifically for RSS – not, perhaps what most people would regard as a blog.
And, no, I still haven’t worked out a way to make money from it but it seems like the right thing to do.
Thanks for reading,
Tim