Michael Stelzner: “You’re not a blogger, you’re a publisher!”

Some of the biggest names in new media came together as a panel at last week’s BlogWorld LA 2011:

• Leading podcaster and author Mitch ‘Six Pixels of Separation’ Joel;
• Social Media Examiner founder Michael Stelzner;
• Deanna Brown from Federated Media; and
• Lisa Stone from BlogHer.

Pictured: Deanna Brown of Federated Media (PIC: WebProNews)

Their informal chat around all things blogging and new media resulted in the quartet letting loose with numerous tips, ideas, observations and opinions. Here are some that I managed to get down before the conversation quickly moved in another direction!

• The issue around new media today is less about new empires and more about the fall of old ones.
• Today’s new media ‘empire of one’ needs diversification of revenue.
• Being part of a community of publishers or bloggers is important: (Brown: “The packaging of what you do is important”).
• Don’t think about the business opportunity first, focus on what you’re passionate about.
• “Get up every day and do what you love” (Brown).
• “Would you like to sit next to you at dinner?” Joel posed to no-one in particular.
• Know what your readers want. Survey them!
• “Come together and create a movement” (Stelzner).
• Advertisers should think of bloggers as ‘talent’, says Deanna Brown. “Bloggers are content creators with influence.”
• Don’t let people box you in as a blogger – “Your opportunities are outside the box” (Brown).
• “You need your own shingle” (Stone).
• Stelzner: “You’re not a blogger, you’re a publisher!”
• “We (BlogHer) don’t care how big a blog is, we care how good it is” (Stone).

This session certainly reinforced a lot of what I was hearing throughout the conference around how blogging is giving way to broader multimedia content creation and distribution.

My initial thoughts on that subject can be found here: The One Big Thing I Learned at BlogWorld LA 2011.

Further reading:

Are you a blogger or a content creator?

Making the most of your influence