Today, please forgive me for this little bit of auto-satisfaction. The Times of London has published an article two days ago about business blogs, and it's quoting me and my experience. You can read "Downsized to king of the blogs" for free up to September 28. What a thrill to be mentioned by such a respectable newspaper! I'm not sure this article will stop the few Slashdot readers who say I'm a "plagiarist" or a "spammer," accusing me to submit entries to Slashdot to get more traffic, and more money from ads. They probably never realized that Slashdot, and practically all other online publications, need to pay their bills, and are placing ads just for this purpose. The ads on my blog cover my online access costs, but certainly not the time I try to find nearly exclusive news on this blog. Read more...
So here are the excerpts of the Times about my blog -- pretty impressive if you ask me. And I don't even know the journalist, Andrew Heavens, who is free to write within the guidelines of his newspaper. Here is the subtitle of the article.
Two months ago, his reader count broke through the three million mark. When he started blogging, he found 50 references to his name on Google. Type in "Roland Piquepaille" today and you will get just short of 40,000.
And here are the paragraphs about my blog.
Roland Piquepaille started writing his blog "Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends" from Paris when he had some time on his hands after being "downsized" at SGI, the supercomputer company.
"I decided to write about how new technologies were modifying our lives, because there are almost always good and bad things coming from new or unproven technologies… At that time, in March 2002, I didn't have that many expectations. I thought that several people could read my blog and enjoy it."
Two months ago, his reader count broke through the three million mark, with more than 150,000 people logging on every month. When he started blogging, he found 50 references to his name on Google. Type in "Roland Piquepaille" today and you will get just short of 40,000.
The numbers are important for Mr Piquepaille because they have added up to a much bigger personal profile in his chosen field. It is a profile that he has been able to translate into a new business venture as a blogging consultant, helping companies set up their own blogs as platforms for their own executives or as tools for managing specific projects.
As Andrew Heavens is writing, I'm living from being a consultant, not from ads. And the few Slashdot haters I have should read about my publishing process. I have to add they would have never discovered new technology or science fields if the Slashdot editors -- which I don't know -- didn't selected some of the entries of my blog.
I publish only one item per day -- exceptionally two. After picking a subject, either in the press or from a university, I summarize the original document and adds comments, pictures and external references to give the reader a way to forge her or his opinion.
Sometimes a reader is really satisfied. For instance, a school teacher from California recently wrote: "I subscribed to your blog months ago and I must tell you your blog is awesome! I'm a school teacher and reading your blog inspires me because I know that beyond teaching the 3R's we have to inspire students to create--synthesis information--look at the possibilities. Identify a problem, create a solution. I really appreciate that you go into such depth to explain the subjects of your posts, including the all important diagrams and photos. This is fascinating reading and a wonderful resource. Thank you and please, keep up the great work!!!" (You can find this comment here.)
And when Network World Fusion mentions me as one of the top ten bloggers, I feel proud and I think I'm doing something good for at least a few people.
Sources: Andrew Heavens, Times of London, September 21, 2004; Adam Gaffin, Network World Fusion, September 15, 2003
11:59:29 PM
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