What Happens To Your Blog If You Move Away?
by Matt on May 26, 2010 in Blogging, Guest Posts
(This is a guest post from Ed Walker, a journalist with Media Wales in Cardiff, Wales, UK who setup and still runs the community news site, Blog Preston, for Preston, Lancashire, UK.)
Hyperlocal blogs are all about location and are generally run by people who live in the area they seek to serve. But what happens when you’ve built up a local blog and move away from the area?
I don’t think many of us would stay in an area just to keep up a local blog. We have relationships, job opportunities or other reasons for moving to pastures new. Building up a hyperlocal site takes time and dedication; you build a community around your content and, to a certain extent, yourself, but what if you’re not there?
I started up Blog Preston to act as a hub of community news, views and information in January 2009 for Preston, Lancashire, UK. I’d had the idea for a while but finally sat down one cold Sunday afternoon and got it started.
In November of 2009 I was offered a job in a different part of the country, and being 23, ambitious and wanting to further my career, I had to take it. But what about the hyperlocal site I’d created and had decent traffic coming to? It seemed such a shame to let it become tumbleweed in a Google search.
Throughout the time of Blog Preston I’d always been keen on getting guest contributors and giving them the chance to air their views about local issues. So, I turned to the community I’d built up to find someone who could take on the day-to-day running of the site.
Step forward the lovely Lisa who took on the task of filling the blog with content. She brought a whole new perspective to the role as I moved to Cardiff, but I still kept in touch and kept a watchful eye behind the scenes on how the site was doing.
I found myself impressed by the content Lisa was producing and the different angle and direction she was taking. As a parent and living in a different part of Preston she had a different take on things. And this was good. It brought a new direction and energy to the site, not to mention a new audience.
However, after five great months she had a change in circumstances and couldn’t commit the time to continue with the site. I spent a few weeks wondering what to do with Blog Preston. I’d tried with someone else and found myself back again without anyone to manage the site. Should I just give up and accept it wouldn’t be kept going?
Enter Andy Halls and Joseph Stashko, two budding student journalists at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. I studied there myself and had come into contact with Andy and Jo after they wanted to setup a hyperlocal site called MyPreston. I gambled: I offered them the chance to join forces – using the established name of Blog Preston – and in return they would take over editorial of the site.
It’s been a hit. With more people on board we’re able to produce more content, and their fantastic live blogging of the general and local election results in Preston brought us national praise. Having them running the show frees me up to focus on long-term opportunities and the potential to monetise the site. I’ve always been able to spend time working with my web designer friend to improve the look of the site.
But, I come back to that winter’s day in January 2009 when I set up that site. Often hyperlocal sites are a one-person band, but keep an eye on what you’re going to do in the future. Who would run your site while you went on holiday? What if you had to move away? Once you have a successful site, people start to expect content and you will feel like you have a duty to keep going. Make sure you’ve got a plan for your hyperlocal sites in the future – even if you’re not around.
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Great post. I think about this often. Whereas I have no intentions of moving soon, it is definitely a possibility and thinking about how much work I put tin to the site, I can’t think of anyone else that would be even half as committed.
Terrific post! I was a one-person newsroom and found myself in the same predicament. With no succession plan, I ceased publication for the sake of preserving the product’s brand.
You offer excellent advice. I’m retweeting the hell out of this post!
Great post Ed.
Before Joe and I had even set-up MyPreston, we were already thinking months and even years ahead in regards to contingency plans. Who would run the site whilst we were home for the summer? And who would takeover the reigns when I graduated?
Hyperlocal blogs take so much effort, time and nurturing to get going, to let them go would be such a waste.
I hope Joe and I can do a worthy job at Blog Preston.
Wonderful Post Ed…Things have to be properly planned before you move out things so that there would be no chance of missing!!!
Thx for the comments, folks, and totally agree – thanks to Ed for an excellent topic and guest article.
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Great post Ed.
Before Joe and I had even set-up MyPreston, we were already thinking months and even years ahead in regards to contingency plans. Who would run the site whilst we were home for the summer? And who would takeover the reigns when I graduated?
Hyperlocal blogs take so much effort, time and nurturing to get going, to let them go would be such a waste.
I hope Joe and I can do a worthy job at Blog Preston.