Every Web 2.0 entrepreneur knows press releases are an outdated phenomenon. It’s something from a different era, when print media were more important than digital media. Nowadays, entrepreneurs blog to get their corporate word out. Scoble and Israel started to preach this evangelic with their Naked Conversations manifest and since then, almost every start-up has been taking their advice for granted.
Yet not every entrepreneur gets blogging right. Some just post articles that look a lot like those old-fashioned press releases or use every possibility to plug their product. To inspire and help these corporate bloggers, I’ll interview Yakov Sadchikov from visual search engine Quintura (my review here) – his corporate blog managed to get links on TechCrunch, Techmeme, this blog, and many other important tech news outlets.
Sadchikov started his blog to keep the tech industry informed about the developments surrounding the Quintura business. But he also wanted to inform market observers about the latest developments and investments in the Internet, media, and technology business of Russia and its neighboring countries. This combination turned out to be a golden one.
Three stories on Techmeme in one week
“In general, the company releases a new service or version once every several months”, Sadchikov mailed me, “this is when we can do a marketing and PR push. Between those releases, the blog is an effective tool to keep in touch with the market. For instance, during the first week of August, three articles from the Quintura blog were featured on the Techmeme homepage. As a result, we’ve welcomed new blog readers as well as new web publishers who were interested in our product, the Quintura site search”.
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Quintura’s recipe for successful blogging
Luckily for us, Sadchikov was willing to share his recipe for successful corporate blogging. “My advice for start-ups would be to select a segment and write regularly about news in that segment. Make sure it could be of interest for the industry and not only for company observers. The stories must be relevant for a wide business audience.” When Sadchikov has finished an interesting story, he emails it to influential tech bloggers. Because he posts relevant news, many tech bloggers seem to appreciate his work. He basically is TechCrunch’s man in Russia.
Sadchikov: “Some major tech blogs regularly elaborate on the stories that were first posted on the Quintura blog.” Like TechCrunch. Erick Schonfeld based his article about the biggest tech IPO of 2008 on this story. And Arrington found out about Google’s weird outdoor campaign by browsing on the Quintura blog.
So how many hours does Sadchikov spend on blogging?
When I talk to start-ups about their blogs, most entrepreneurs tell me they don’t have time for building a solid corporate blog. But Sadchikov proves this doesn’t necessarily have to be true. He told me he only spends half-hour a day on the Quintura blog. Talking about return of investment…
Take another look at your blog
Sadchikov’s story is extraordinary and I realize he has the privilege of operating in of the world’s most interesting and booming Internet markets. But I encourage you to take another look on your corporate blog. Think about how you can make the news appealing to a large crowd. Hunt for scoops in your niche. And if you have one, don’t hesitate to email it to me.
Further reading
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