CollegeMogul is growing in every way. Unique visitor numbers are climbing, our staff is expanding and, most importantly, potential content continues to grow with each new person we meet. While this may seem like a good thing, growth introduces a host of new questions about where content can improve. A friend of mine condensed my questions into a simple and telling metaphor: “Is your site a dealership, or a garage?” The question is a crucial one for any blog trying to improve its content.
My friend explained to me that many blogs function like car dealerships: They showcase success stories the way a car dealership showcases a shiny new car. The more successful blogs, however, function more like a mechanic’s garage: They look beyond the shiny exterior to examine what’s under the hood.
Currently, our blog is mostly a dealership, with a lot of potential. We love to showcase the more successful startups because like new cars, they are innovative, they generate buzz, and they inspire. Certainly, the dealership model is a proven one, but it has its caveats. Too many blogs following the dealership model are selling pre-owned cars instead of new ones; they are echoing stories already told around the web, rather than uncovering new and genuine content. One of our major challenges as we grow will be to continue to expand our network of entrepreneurs so we can increasingly break venture news as it unfolds.
Like any good dealership, our site needs to have a garage. Just as we tell the stories of startups that are performing well, we need to examine the startups that are sputtering, or need a tune-up. By looking under the hood and pointing out problems with a startup’s revenue model, SEM, marketing strategy, value proposition, business plan, design, or overall approach, we can provide insights that our readers may be able to apply to their own ventures. Like the dealership model, the garage model has a major caveat: Its performance depends on the mechanics looking under the hood. While we are excited about the tech space, we are still relatively new to it and so is our staff. Our next challenge will be to transform ourselves into a group of mechanics who are increasingly comfortable looking under the hood and writing about what we see. We can do this by continuing to reach out to our existing network to learn about their problems firsthand, not just monitoring their sites and seed funding.
Our final challenge will be to improve how our audience interacts with the site and how they respond to our content by benchmarking engagement. Currently, the average reader on our site spends less than two minutes perusing and does not post comments when they are finished. Should we overcome this challenge, our audience size will continue to grow, but more importantly, we will develop an increasingly engaged reader base which is crucial to our long-term success.
We're looking for more writers...
If you're interested in interviewing successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and networking with industry experts, then shoot us an email to: collegemogul2@gmail.com ...we're actively searching for more writers.
Most posts revolves around startups, technologies, and concepts developed by other people. However, I wanted to devote this post to one of our writers, Chikodi Chima, not only to show how blogging can help form meaningful friendships, but also to exemplify some of his projects that are inspiring and have the potential to shape the era of journalism.
Blogging facilitates friendships and opportunities to meet talent:
Chikodi has not only played a pivotal role in helping College Mogul grow and become what it is today, but has provided me with a source of inspiration and friendship that I'm quite thankful for. Ironically, Chikodi and I have never met. Perhaps that's one of the incredible characteristics of the internet and blogging...they help link like-minded people, facilitate a rapid flow of ideas, and provide platforms that can be used to do remarkable things.
Miles Lennon, the other Co-Founder of College Mogul, originally recruited Chikodi to join our team of writers when we first started. They knew each other because they attended Columbia University and live in New York City. Miles was double majoring in Economics and Mathematics while Chikodi studied New Media and Journalism in Columbia's grad school. (Chikodi is still there and graduating this year.)
However, since our relaunch, Chikodi and I have been in close contact, discussing articles, and talking about new ideas. Funny enough, this has all been through gchat and a few phone conversations. Anyway, without getting too sentimental...it wouldn't have been possible without this blog and the internet since we live in two different cities. Chikodi studies under Ken Lerer, Co-Founder of the Huffington Post:
Last semester, Chikodi had a tremendous opportunity to study under Ken Lerer, one of the Co-Founders of the Huffington Post. I didn't know until about a month ago when he told me and nearly flipped out with excitement and a slight touch of rage, "how the hell have you not managed to tell me this?!?!"
I wish I had the same opportunity, not only because Ken Lerer is an inspirational entrepreneur, but because their class focused on meshing new media and journalism with entrepreneurship. This is a perfect example of how universities are feeling pressure to mold new curriculums that will actually prepare students for the new types of business models, economies, and skill sets that the world now demands. I predict that we'll see more hybrid models like this and new schools that are finally geared towards the future, such as Singularity University .
After I helped facilitated a conversation, Chikodi managed to land a guest post on VentureBeat, a popular blog that focuses on startups and the venture capital that fuels them. Chikodi's post centered on his interview with Lerer, how its important to "take a chance on a counterintuitive business model", and how his seminar helps to inspire students to adopt a similar mindset. Journalism School dean of student affairs Sree Sreenivasan has said that entrepreneurship training used to take place on one day over lunch. But this year, nearly 100 students signed up to take Lerer’s course. Aside from his clout in the news business, many were attracted to the prospect of well-known guest lecturers and the opportunity to devise their own viable online business concepts. The not-for-credit seminar signaled a fairly significant shift in the curriculum of the school toward new media concepts like revenue models for online-only news sources.
Entrepreneurs gave advice...
During one guest lecture, Buzzfeed founder and Huffington Post collaborator Jonah Piretti told students that viral content starts with a built-in social imperative. “You’re not just thinking about the idea, you’re thinking about how the idea will spread,” Piretti said
Students brainstormed new models...
One team — choosing to tackle the journalism question from a new angle — pitched a web agency called Multipedia that would connect freelance reporters looking to sell multimedia content (infographics, videos, audio slideshows, etc.) to mainstream publications similar to existing services like GumGum, Associated Content and Helium.com. The idea is to help news organizations find dynamic, engaging content for their sites while controlling costs — and to give journalists new avenues to showcase their work and get paid.
Then pitched to venture capitalists...
On the last day of class, students got their chance to pitch their own enterprising ideas to Softbank partner Michael Perlis, who told the class, “If you can get to the venture capital stage, you’re likely to be successful.” (Of course getting to that stage is probably the hardest part.)
These are just small excerpts. Check out the full article on VentureBeat.
Constructing foundations for the future of journalism:
Chikodi has immersed himself in new media. Last summer, he traveled to Bangalore, India, to inspire the future of Indian journalism. When I returned to school the next day, many of the children were rightly confused and upset by the violence that had struck their city and made them feel threatened. In response I asked them to write letters to the terrorists, both to channel their feelings and to express them in written form. A brief snippet of this lesson can be found in the video.
We get a ton of pitches at College Mogul, but Chikodi's latest for TechTrotter.org...absolutely blew my mind. With the goal of crowdsourcing funding, Chikodi aims to travel the world to chronicle a journey that hopes to search for "most innovative technological solutions to the pressing issues of our time."
I encourage you to check out his upcoming project, TechTrotter.org.
Are you looking for free advertising space, press coverage, or introductions to venture capitalists for potential investment? If so, check out our elevator video pitch competition on Vator.tv, a social network and media site for start-ups, entrepreneurs, and investors. We've partnered with the funded start-up becasue we share the same goals; to discover great companies and technologies, introduce them to the world, and analyze their models, stories, and impact they may have on you and I.
Are you able to pitch your company in under a minute, or even thirty seconds? Well, you should be able to do it in one sentence. The easiest way to do this is to compare your model to another one (or two if it is a combination) that people already know and understand. Just twist the story to make it specific to your company. You'll likely need a couple different versions if an individual isn't familiar with the other companies. Either way, its important to be able to pitch your start-up in different contexts. The simple reason for this is that people come to understand concepts, models, ideas, or value propositions by examining them from different angles or view points.Continue Reading...
Drupal has won Best Overall Open Source CMS Award for the second year in a row as well as Best PHP Open Source CMS by Packt Publishing. After working at Acquia for the past few months and learning about the Drupal phenonemon, it comes as no surprise. I only wish I knew about Drupal earlier so I wouldn't have wasted time toying with WordPress. WP is a nice platform, and you can build great blogs on the software, but Drupal is able to take content management to the next level. Drupal gives you the ability to build a social network on top of your blog, add group functionality, profiles, blog networks, or build sophisticated social publishing sites.
In partnership with Vator.tv, we have have officially launched our elevator video pitch competition. College Mogul and Vator.tv have recognized that both companies ultimately aim to achieve the same goal of showcasing entrepreneurs and startups. We've teamed up to find the next best college startup company.
Vator.tv is a social network for technology startup companies which gives entrepreneurs a platform to connect with Investors, Acquirers and Media. Likewise, Vator.tv gives Investors useful tools to keep track of companies and industries that interest them, and provides a revolutionary interaction platform to discover the best investment opportunities in technology. We're a big fan of their newsroom that highlights the latest trends in technology and interviews with the latest successful entrepreneurs on the web. If you don't have a profile on their website already, we definitely recommend it. Its a good way to get extra exposure for your company.
As part of the partnership and competition, College Mogul and Vator.tv will provide introductions to three venture capitalist for potential investment to the winning team. As part of the prize, startups will receive press coverage on both sites and receive a few months of free advertising on our site. Below is the information for entering the competition.
Write about your startup, experience, or entrepreneurial lessons learned once a week for free advertising. Shoot Alex an email at collegemogul2 [at] gmail [dot] com
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