if i ran gizmodo
So Nick Denton’s likely looking for someone to blog for Gizmodo. If it were my pub, here’s what I’d do.
- Shift the focus from the gadget to the user. Forget speeds/feeds; think usage and emotion.
- Scrap the single writer thing. There’s too much to cover. Instead, hire (update: or syndicate – see comments) 6-10 different ones. Enable competing viewpoints on products.
- Whatever you do – don’t assign those writers by product categories – assign by lifestyle. One covers teens. Another covers campus tech. Another covers urban hipsters. Another for soccer dads/moms. Another for middle manager types. Another for executive chic.
- Shifting to user / lifestyles will open up channel sponsorship opportunities – wrap the teen market in XBox branding. Wrap the college campus market in Apple branding. Wrap the exec/chic market in Prada or something.
- Distribute the content creation. Use trackback / commenting / whatever to enable people to tell their own stories – the street finds its own uses for things, so let the street tell you what it’s doing with the tech that’s in the stores now.
Etc., etc. The possibilities are endless. (Update #2: what if one of those possibilities was Gizmodo as a _service instead of a publication? See comments.)_