I had a chat with Andy Seidl of MyST Technology Partners today. Andy has a web service called blogsite. This is a package deal for marketers that allows them to tap into syndicated searches and blog content, blog themselves, and syndicate their own content. Further, Andy provides read-outs on technical quality (broken links, etc.) and whether you are blogging frequently enough. All of the syndication features are available for the do-it-yourselfer in various web services such as technorati, pubsub, feedster, and findory. They can be tied together using feedreaders and blog posting software. A lot of work for the neophyte. Further, neophytes have a hard time maintaining blog frequency.
The nearest competitor I can find to this type of service is the new sponsored content blogging service recently announced by Paul Short. He wants to blog for marketers to the tune of $20–25K per month. Is this a blogging replay of “Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel” (the children's classic of man vs. machine)?
The basic premise behind Short's service is that he will offer an independent voice that knows how to blog and handle reader feedback. He also understands the technology infrastructure (servers, web services, etc.). Well, if a blogsite can handle the technology infrastructure piece, Short's value add essentially comes the independent voice and handling reader feedback? Essentially, the value-add of a PR firm.
Blogsite seems to partially level the playing field between a standard PR firm and someone like Short. Blogsite has not yet automated the task of using technorati, pubsub, and the rest, but a lot of that work is not hard and easy to learn. Further, it is unclear to what extent the blogging community that uses advanced and somewhat idiosyncratic services like technorati is really the target of most PR agencies, so connecting to these services may be irrelevant anyhow.
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