Depending upon what source one references on the web, there are either 40,000 or 100,000 or 175,000 new blogs launched every day. Whatever the real number may be, many of these never make it past a few initial entries before being cast aside into the digital dustbin. While myriad factors likely contribute to early abandonment, Paul Bradshaw of the Online Journalism Blog points to a very specific cause: “There is a moment when the momentum of starting a blog fades, and a new momentum – the regular input from community – is needed to continue.” If speaking with Rustin Banks, CEO and co-founder of TheBlogFrog, he would likely tell you that analysis is right on the money.
TheBlogFrog is the largest integrated network of “Mom Blogs” on the internet, with over 40,000 unique visitors a month and over one million page views. How Banks and co-founder Holly Hamann have accomplished this reach is effectively by teaching people to fish: “We give them tools to make their own networks.” Audience interaction is enabled using a small digital slight of hand; if a blog reader seeks to engage with a community or author, she clicks a “Community” button which opens to a page with the same look and feel of the blog she was reading but with a higher degree of functionality. From here, the user can access several aspects of the original blog while connecting and socializing with likeminded readers. TheBlogFrog will even recommend other publications and communities a reader might enjoy based upon a term search of her own content.
An example of how these tools can enhance a basic blog experience is provided by “Manic Mariah,” who authors a blog of the same name on Blogspot. In recent BlogSpot entries she discussed divorce and child-rearing ideas. This post garnered about a dozen comments directly on her blog, all discussing her experience. Jumping over to her community on TheBlogFrog, however, reveals a more robust dialogue. Here, Manic Mariah has posed scores of questions to her community of 153 people, many of whom answer and subsequently engage one another. As Banks repeatedly mentioned over a sixty minute conversation, these tools are about “aggregating communities,” a model he believes could not only work with Moms but people interested in food, health and fitness, or even politics, pets and parenting.
Today TheBlogFrog will be introducing a new set of tools to further drive traffic and build community in its networks. For a paid subscription of $5/month the company will promote a user’s site so it is seen by 20,000 users a month. Along with this promotion, the site will also provide its paying customers with enhanced analytics on their blog’s community leaders (or super-users). “We can offer insights into statistics,” remarks Banks, allowing a person to know what other blogs are compared similar and what topics are driving the interests of users.
