Notes on Techmeme's new sponsorship model
There's a new area on the right side of Techmeme labelled "Techmeme Sponsor Posts". It shows the latest blog posts from three companies who have chosen to sponsor Techmeme for the next 30 days.
This is the first sponsored material of any kind on Techmeme. Though the usual ad options have been available from the beginning, I wanted to introduce something new and fitting for the kind of sites I run.
I think the model introduced here is great for Techmeme. First, readers are presented with posts from companies who understand Techmeme's place online and want to engage its readers. It's great for the sponsors basically for the same reason: sponsored posts are a natural extension to the mix of news that keeps Techmeme's readers paying attention. And it definitely serves the future viability of Techmeme, which can't live indefinitely on my personal savings!
More on the sponsorship model: The way it works is simple. A sponsor's blog feed is polled every few minutes, the latest post of which appears in its assigned slot (first, second, or third).
Advantages of this approach over banner advertising are numerous. "Click-throughs" can lead to the visitor browsing, commenting on, and even subscribing to the sponsor's blog. And a sponsor has direct control over what appears on Techmeme simply by posting.
For about a year, I've had discussions with some really savvy and noteworthy people about this idea (most recently on the Gillmor Gang) and the enthusiasm has been nearly uniform. Update: Most of these people plus many others have offered their thoughts on their blogs today. I've found the response overwhelming in fact. So instead of linking to everybody here, as I originally planned, I'll link to Techmeme's roundup instead.
Final notes: First, I want to thank my first group of sponsors, and do so in more detail here. Second, new potential sponsors should visit this page for details. Finally, I'd love to read any reactions so please email me or post something if you have anything to add.