No details yet, but I’m really excited about working on it.  I think Eric knows this, but if not he’s going to learn quite fast that I don’t quit at something once I start.  Also he’ll learn that although sometimes I get enthused during brainstorming and love to create lots of drafts, the final product I bring to the table is always of the highest quality, even if what we’re working on is essentially an experiment.

The problem Eric and I were facing with creating a content-based site is that, well, we both have them.  You’re reading mine right now.  Creating fresh content with any degree of frequency is a monolithic task, however we brainstormed and came up with an idea that is going to let us create interesting material in an efficient way without sacrificing quality.  That’s all I’m going to disclose for now, you’ll have to wait to see the project (if you’re a subscriber here or to Marketing.FM, you’ll be the first to know more details).

Here are a few things I’m excited for on this project in particular:

Project management in an unstructured setting

Eric and I have both worked on formal web development projects during our professional careers from start to finish, however I’m curious to see how we work on a “volunteer” basis – we’re going to be collaborating and certainly will both be devoting time on our own rendition to the site to make it a success.  I know our energies play off each other, and I think he’ll do well to bring balance to the equation.  Hopefully some of it will rub off on me – it’s not that I’m unbalanced, it is that I tend to have a lot of raw creative energy.  I get better at directing it everyday, it’s an ongoing process and I think Eric is a positive influence on me in that regard.

A new avenue to apply my creative promotional ideas at-will

Right now my creative ideas have to be approved, except for my blog and as an artist.  It’s funny because I come up with ideas for real world problems while working on blog content or writing music (my mind works best while focused) which then I turn around and apply professionally.  I’m looking forward to having a new open-slate for ideas because the site concept is 100% creativity-driven.  With each new area in life I dive into it is all about developing fresh patterns in cognitive development.

Learning from a talented peer in a complementary industry

As the title of this post suggests, I think it is important for everyone – no matter where you are in the business food chain – to partner up with one of your peers as a learning experience and and make something you find interesting.  Find someone who fills in the pieces you’re missing and just go.  Figure it out as you move forward, don’t second guess.

New ideas to share with you at The Future Buzz

This idea may succeed.  It may fail.  The point isn’t either of those two, it is to learn – and I will share all learning experiences (and maybe even metrics) with you as we go forward.  Even if it’s a smashing failure – we will have a compelling story to share, and I know every single reader here is interested in that.

A different kind of challenge

Each web application, blog, community site, or marketing campaign I work on is exciting because while I can hypothesize, there is no way to 100% accurately predict the outcome.  If it was, it probably wouldn’t be much fun.  Even though we do have some proof of concept, I’m excited for the problems that arise so we can work through them.  Solving problems creatively and coming up with unlikely solutions is a fulfilling experience in itself.

Other things I’m looking forward to with this project:

• Studying the analytics and growth from a project that is designed to spread 100% socially
• Targeting a more mainstream audience than I do here
• Seeing how far a simple idea can go
• Branding a new site from scratch
• Getting more efficient with content generation

Your call to action

We’re all connected to each other intimately, and if you’re not using those connections to make real action happen, you’re missing out.  I hope you’ll start something like this too – large or small, win or fail, it doesn’t matter – it is all about the learning process you’ll have together.  So in reality you’ll win no matter what, because you’ll grow.  Find a friend, start a project.

Post image provided by Shutterstock.com, royalty-free subscription stock photography and vector art.

Find A Friend, Start A Project is from The Future Buzz, a Blog Covering Digital Marketing

The 7 phases Facebook is going through:

Phase 1. Harvard only.
Phase 2. Harvard+Colleges only.
Phase 3. Harvard+Colleges+Geeks only.
Phase 4. All those above+All People (in the social graph).
Phase 5. All those above+People and businesses in the social graph. (Robert notes Facebook is moving into this phase now)
Phase 6. All those above+People, businesses, and well-known objects in the social graph.
Phase 7. All people, businesses, objects in the social graph.

(Interesting they are moving into phase 5 when there is still much wrong with the site as is, but perhaps this explains why they aren’t bothering to fix the little things – they’re focused on big picture.)

While Facebook tries to be all things to all people and Twitter enjoys the media spotlight, it’s worth highlighting a strategy many have been using successfully for years:  let the big players fight for the masses and quietly build something focused and specific.  Mainstream sites, products and apps can never be as compelling to niche groups as those with a specific focus.  Funny enough, the fact that Facebook was able to go mainstream is due entirely to this.

Niche evolves into mainstream

As someone who joined Facebook at phase 2, (5 or so years ago while in college) I’ll note it was a pretty special thing back then as a members only network.  You needed an active .edu address to sign up.  They were a walled garden with a purpose – connecting college students in one place.

Creating the college-only network The Facebook (it was called The Facebook at inception) was a huge idea and a perfect example of a viral product.  College students at the time were some of the most connected people on the planet – everyone had email, AIM, web access, and cell phones.  So when a private network was created just for them, it spread between students like wildfire.  It was such a sweeping phenomenon, it was as if one day it didn’t exist, and then overnight being on Facebook was the norm.

If you were a college student you had to have a Facebook page.  If you didn’t, you were viewed as an outsider – at that point in the network, there were outsiders, something necessary to make a network exclusive.  Creating a walled garden was actually a smart move for Facebook during the initial build.  It made students feel like they were a part of something only other students were a part of.

If Facebook had tried to start as the network they are now, it would never have caught on because they now appeal to everyone, which is actually appealing to no one (they can only do that now because they’re big).  Launching as a college-only network was interesting to a hyper-connected and specific group.  We were connected digitally in college before Facebook – but there was no consolidated place for college students as a group to gather on the web, just lots of fragmented destinations.  It was brilliant in it’s simplicity, and even better was the fact that its users were happy to market the network, since it became incrementally more useful with each new user (Metcalfe’s law).

Giving up ownership of a sought-after niche
After a very short period of time, Facebook had locked up the college demographic, there would have been no sense competing with them – everyone was on it.  It would have been extremely difficult if not impossible to create a groundswell large enough to shift those millions of students, globally, to a different network.  Besides, there was an unspoken respect for Mark – he had built something amazing “for” us, and he was also one of us.  But he has bigger dreams for Facebook than being a college-only network, and so it moves on in that fashion.

College students and younger demographic groups constantly seek things which define their generation.  It is ingrained in our society.  And, any time a site gives up niche for mainstream – especially in a situation with a demographic prone to rebellion, it creates a wide-open opportunity for a new, focused solution.  There is no network purely for college students any longer, at least one which has branded itself strongly enough to be referred to as such.  A few motivated kids with some programming knowledge and social ties could build and spread a new solution for their needs, positioning it for their generation.  Getting 20-somethings (or even better, 18-19 year olds) to rebel is simple enough.

General-interest networks are mildly interesting at best
As a mainstream network, Facebook isn’t really interesting anymore.  We’re all already networked on the open-web, and those little tools in Facebook are far better in product-specific platforms and apps.  Flickr is better for photos even though Facebook has a ton.  Email is better than their direct message feature.  FriendFeed is better at lifestreaming.  Many of the apps do not work consistently, especially the ones that are actually useful like RSS apps.  Twitter is more compelling than Facebook, especially when I see how far messages can go in that network (have any of you seen your messages ReTweeted in Facebook?).  I will take a tool box over a pocket knife any day – do one thing well.

Other samples of mainstream vs. niche

Social news

Digg started as a site for tech/geek news – it has evolved into far more than that and certainly has gone mainstream at 33 million visitors per month.  Many of the early users have stuck around because Digg offers something compelling for dedicated users:  power within the network.

Reddit has stayed small by comparison and the audience still feels more niche, even if the subject matter is diverse.  Also, it seems as if several Digg users have defected to this network, which is a natural occurance when things get too big – many prefer more intimiate communities.

Microblog/lifestream

Twitter started by appealing to early adopters/bloggers/ultra-connected individuals just by nature of the product, but is now catching on with all types of people.  It’s really useful and a great social experiment – I hope they can turn it into a good business.

FriendFeed appeals to everyone with a diversified web presence and is mainly used by early adopters/RSS lovers.  The clean, logical layout appeals to usability conscious people and social media power users.  This is a smart strategy because ultimately they’re the ones who will help catapult them into popularity (go join if you’re not there).  FriendFeed, at under 1 million VPM could be viewed as mainstream, but when compared to Twitter it still feels small.

Marketing industry

Advertising Age is is a great example of a mainstream publication that has also connected itself with hundreds of niche sites.  They chose to merge with ToddAnd’s Power150 list ranking the top marketing/media bloggers.  It’s a big win for them – good linkbait, positions them as an arbiter of the niche, and helps bridge their monolithic outlet with niche-specific content.  I am surprised PR Week has not done something similar for PR-focused blogs.

Max Kalehoff has a fantastic marketing blog where he shares insights and opinions from his unique perspective with thousands of marketers monthly.  As a subscriber, not only do I get all Max’s best thinking, but he goes the extra step and takes the time to respond to comments I leave, one of my favorite elements of niche blogs.

Tech industry

The Inquistr is a strong model.  Check out the site – they write on mainstream items and tech/web content.  Literally everyone blogs about the web industry and/or tech, the niche is insanely crowded.  But their strategy  is simple – mainstream content gets far more traffic than tech and they’re using that to their advantage to funnel subscribers.  And the tech content is actually quite good – they have Steven Hodson as a writer amongst others (kudos to Eric Friedman for noticing this).

Louis Gray on the other hand is really focused on speaking only to a specific audience – early adopters and those fluent in tech and communications.  Louis also has several smart people submitting guest content regularly, which benefits both the writer – exposure to a new audience – and Louis’ community (we get to interact with them).

Encyclopedia/reference

Wikipedia is the all-encompassing, human-powered Encyclopedia that is surprisingly as good as any professionally edited product.

Urban Dictionary is a niche product for slang terms – they could evolve it in any number of directions but have stayed focused and true to what they’re doing, and at nearly 3 million visitors per month, it’s a hit.

Music

MTV.com has music news for mainstream, mass audiences who want generic, formulaic music.  They write the same things as any pop-culture, or general interest magazine would about music.  If you’re a music fan, it’s safe to say you don’t read what’s on that site.

Filter27, an electronic music blog written by Sotek (who has an incredible ear for good music) provides news, links and samples to unique and compelling electronic music you otherwise might never have been exposed to.  He’s talking to a specific audience, doesn’t dull it down, and shares only the best stuff – unmissable to those into the art.

E-commerce

Amazon is the 800 pound gorilla for ordering just about anything under the sun.  They target lots of markets and sell a diverse selection of products.  But like Facebook, they started as a niche (selling books) and grew to the monster company they are now.

Think Geek only targets, you guessed it, geeks.  In their words:

ThinkGeek started as an idea. A simple idea to create and sell stuff that would appeal to the thousands of people out there who were on the front line and in the trenches as the Internet was forged. ThinkGeek started as a way to serve a market that was passionate about technology, from programmers, engineers, students, lovers of open source, to the masses that helped create the behind-the-scenes Internet culture.

Pros/cons of going mainstream vs. staying niche:

Pros for going mainstream/mass appeal

• Ad revenue
• Large scale influence on your industry
• Traffic/links
• Media exposure
• Sharing your product/community with a wider audience is good PR for the industry you are tagged to
• Lots of objective input from users possible via surveys
• A big player might buy you out (although if this is on your list as a reason to build a startup, don’t build it)

Cons for going mainstream/mass appeal

• Current user-base may revolt (isn’t the same network they signed up for initially)
• Focus of site is potentially lost
• Monetization other than ads is tricky
• Attracts spammers
• Addition of too many features ruins core use
• Risky – might not catch on
• Nimble competitors can pick at your herd
• Customer service does not scale
• Reliable subjective input becomes time consuming
• Can fall out of favor quickly

Pros for staying niche/focused

• Potential strong monetization due to highly relevant products/services tied to topic (pound for pound, good niche sites produce more revenue than unfocused)
• Tighter feeling of community – everyone knows each other
• More meaningful interactions
• Few spammers
• Difficult to sway users away from a good community
• Content is better
• Users can be actively involved in decisions, reliable subjective input is easy to get
• Search traffic that does find you is relevant
• Strong branding potential
• Ability to define yourself as an authority for something specific

Cons for staying niche/focused

• Less impressions to sell advertisers, however more relevant impressions should appeal to smart companies
• Smaller staff (or even single-person owned) means you wear lots of hats (IT, marketing, SEO, design, server admin)
• May or may not provide full-time income
• Growing traffic takes time
• Cutthroat competition (depending on niche)

Conclusion

If you’re dreaming of building a startup and dream big, study Facebook’s initial path:  an ultra-targeted product to a group of highly connected, vocal people.  But before you decide to go mainstream, remember you don’t have to in order to have a profitable or hit product, and there is potentially even more power in staying focused.  Having a passionate community of 100,000, 10,000 or even just 1,000 raving fans who you can learn from, interact with directly, and build relationships with is a more fulfilling position to be in than ruling a monolithic empire of mildly interested users.

Related posts from The Future Buzz

77 Insights From More Than A Decade On The Web, Daily

Marketing Insights From Digg And Reddit

The Two Kinds Of Web Popularity

Related posts from around the web

The age of Facebook vs. MySpace: February/March edition (Techno//Marketer)

Redesign Revolt: What Should Facebook Do Next? (Mashable)

The Human Network: The Social Economy is Influenced by How We Communicate Online & Offline (PR 2.0)

Facebook’s Path To Ubiquity And Thoughts For Your Next Startup is from The Future Buzz, a Blog Covering Digital Marketing

• Tell stories that have meaning locally
• Unite small communities
• Provide community calendars and event listings
• Bring hyper-local issues to light
• Provide ads for relevant local businesses

Unfortunately, many hyper local papers are dying off instead of evolving.  It doesn’t have to be this way.

What if, in addition to the above mentioned traditional items offered by a print publication, local community news organizations could serve to:

• Build the local community and make it stronger
• Provide a way to unite community members and give them an amplified voice
• Connect people hyper-locally in a meaningful way
• Create an interactive calendar anyone can add to
• Create ongoing discussions between real members of the community
• Create monthly polls, gather feedback and put change into action
• In addition to reporting, let real people tell their own stories to the community

New web technologies offer the ability to easily do all of this and so much more.  Yes, print is dead/dying.  But, the people smart enough to evolve their brands and take advantage of new tools can create something even better for their local communities.

If your local community newspapers are merely shrinking in influence or closing their doors without trying anything new, it presents a huge opportunity for you to step in and create something better.

I’m not talking about a shut-gun approach here, this should not be something built by people miles away in Silicon Valley.

For this to have meaning and work hyper locally it needs to be done by someone who lives in the community, has a passion/understanding of the community, and wants to lay the groundwork for the evolution of the traditional, print community newspaper.

Doesn’t picking up a newspaper from a box or stack outside a restaurant seem outdated and irrelevant?  Locally, the organizations that enable community building and two-way communication, embracing tools that are less wasteful and far more useful will be the winners of tomorrow.

Related posts:

Newspapers Still Have Much to Learn About The Web

Startup Idea:  A Social Network/Web Service Connecting Bloggers with Public Relations People

Social Media and Artists:  A Natural Fit

Are Local Print Community Newspapers Dead? is from The Future Buzz, a Blog Covering Digital Marketing

The current solution

ProfNet is a great service for the PR industry.  If you’re unfamiliar, ProfNet is (quoted from their site):

“An online community of nearly 14,000 professional communicators, ProfNet was created in 1992 to connect reporters easily and quickly with expert sources at no charge.  We now provide this same free service to other professionals looking for experts, including:

•   Academic Researchers
•   Authors/Screenwriters
•   Bloggers
•   Consultants
•   Corporate Researchers
•   Financial Analysts
•   Government Officials
•   Industry Analysts
•   Meeting Planners
•   PR and Marketing Professionals
•   Publishers

In action, it work like this:  journalists put a query out, seeking something specific for a story (interviews, experts, products, etc) – it is then distributed to thousands of communications professionals simultaneously via email, and matches are made.  This is all done through email addresses or ProfNet inboxes (I am guessing most of the interaction here is email). 

I use ProfNet daily as a communications professional, and while I do notice some blogger requests coming through, it is made up mostly traditional media people using and interacting with the service.

This may be to the fact that it is a very web 1.0 type of service, and (probably) has not had to radically change in years (I’ve only been using it for more than 2 years, and it seems the same as when I started). 

It does work great – but…

The service was created in 1992 and was designed to connect PR folk with traditional media.  It works wonderfully for that, and is an extremely useful service for PR people and journalists alike.  When the service works best, it’s a win for everyone – plus I have used it to make some fantastic media connections.

The question is this:  is something that was designed to connect traditional journalists with public relations people the right solution to connect bloggers and new media content creators with public relations people?  

It feels like to me there could be a niche solution, geared specifically toward connecting bloggers and PR professionals.  Do you agree?  Seems like a great startup idea to me.

As a public relations professional, I’d highly consider subscribing, especially if there was a wealth of bloggers seeking content to connect with on the service too. 

Bloggers are constantly seeking out fresh content within their niche, and PR people have clients that are experts or have news in that niche.  There are so many unmade matches in the blogosphere that are potentially great stories for bloggers and their readers, and opportunities for businesses to reach potential new eyes.

A new approach is needed for wide adoption of this type of service in the blogosphere

Perhaps a new system could work to better bridge professionals in both these fields.  I know these kind of connections are traditionally a personal networking game, where bloggers and PR people have to do the legwork manually (which is why services like Twitter are a great way to interact).

But, the best startups throw “traditional” out the window and reinvents the rules.  It just feels like there is an opportunity here to do something specific to bridge content creators like bloggers with people who are sitting on tons of content and want to get it out there.  It could even bring traditional journalists into the mix.

There are such amazing new social and connection tools available to connect people on the web.  This current service doesn’t use much of the networking tools, rating systems and crowdsourcing techniques that startups in other industries are taking advantage of to connect with each other.

I have a layout in mind of how this network could be executed properly to have mass appeal for both bloggers and PR people.  Unfortunately I’m not at a point yet that I can embark down the road of creating startups.  If you’re a venture capitalist or web entrepreneur by all means take this one on (you can always contact me for consulting).

Startup Idea: A Social Network / Web Service Connecting Bloggers with Public Relations People is from The Future Buzz, a Blog Covering Digital Marketing