A decision I can’t make without asking you guys
By Stefan Constantinescu on Sunday, May 20th, 2007 at 4:30 PM PST In Blog Updates
Ring Nokia (NYSE: NOK) began on November 19, 2006
Here are my stats as of yesterday:
- 377,520 visitors
- 524,761 page views
- The average visit lasted 2 minutes
- The most popular blog post is the Nokia N800 unboxing photo gallery
- 6 countries are responsible for over 50% of my traffic:
- United States: 21.30 %
- United Kingdom: 10.55 %
- Finland: 7.21 %
- India: 4.18 %
- Netherlands: 3.79 %
- Germany: 3.53%
- I have an average of 796 subscribers starting from the first day I switched to Feedburner (2007.01.24) to today.
- That average goes up to 908 if I only take into account the past 7 days.
Why am I telling you this? I got an offer to blog, full time position.
The site: intomobile.com, they’ve been around since March and want me to help them grow
The pay: same as what I’m currently making with Helio (don’t ask me for a specific number)
I have spent the last few days relaxing, trying to clear my head, because this is a descision that will change quite a number of things:
- RingNokia.com will be forwarded to IntoMobile.com, all my blog posts will be transfered to their servers and this website will officially be gone.
- I will be blogging about everything mobile, not just Nokia. This is something I’m looking forward to since I can’t express what the perfect cell phone would be like if I don’t see what the other big players are up to.
- I’m no longer a lone wolf, but a part of a team of bloggers. I’m still going to be publishing rants and editorials however.
I started asking my friends what they thought about this, everyone supports me, but then I remembered that I would not be where I am right now if it wasn’t for you guys. You have been with me from the start, you’ve seen my blogging style transform with time and you even got a glimpse into my personal life.
Not including you guys in this decision would make me feel like a sell out, so I’m asking everyone and anyone who reads this blog to comment on this post.
Should I do this? I certainly want to, but hearing it from you guys would make signing this contract a hell of a lot easier.
Edit: I maintain full creative control of my blog posts. Sorry if there was some confusion regarding that. I specifically brought up the recent PC World debacle and was told that no one will ever ask me to edit my content, regardless of our sponsors. If I’m going to be writing at IntoMobile, I’m going to keep my usual writing style.
Stefan,
Even though you got off to a great blogging start with an immediate following should tell you something about yourself. YOU are worth listening to and reading. In a short time you have built a name and a reputation that no amount of money should compromise. Things will be fine in the beginning because you would be increasing their readerships. But then soon you would have to change your tone or whatever. I say that to say this… stay where you are loved and appreciated. If its offers you are looking for be patient and something better will come along. If you choose to take this offer, make sure its on YOUR TERMS and not theirs.
Whatever your decision, you know you are backed by the Mobile Diva!
Just a side note. Will intomobile send you to CES and all the other great events you have had the oppourtunity to attend? Will they foot the bill? Will you still be invited if you are working for them and have all these fantastic oppoutunities to meet so many people in the business? Just some food for thought.
One other thing to consider, what do you want your business card to look like at the next big industry event you attend?
Cybette (and others) had this good point: The devil is in the details. Make sure you know in what kind of deal you would be entering to. If it feels right, good. If it doesn’t, negotiate different kind of contract and terms of a partnership.
And finally..never accept the first offer..:)
I really like your blog and style.
As someone put it, doing what you love and be paid for that is a true blessing.
However please be careful to still own and remain true to your passion and its online expression. For that I am not sure a move to intomobile is the best, as better offers (Nokia, are you watching?) may come if you’re a bit more patient and, more important, there is a clear risk to dilute your current blogging/online Karma (with nokia and your readers) by moving into the blogger team of intomobile.
If you still decide to move on, I’ll be following you (but only if there is a RSS for your intomobile posts). I don’t need another mobile engadget…
Others have probably said this already, but I am not sure if you want to jump to a company that has been around for two months (and in a very competitive area on top). I would stick with Helio – I think they probably can give you much wider experience, one that also looks better in your CV than “blogger aka pseudo-internet-journalist for a site that went under”
and keep blogging independently and with passion.
For the information of most commenters, IntoMobile has been around for a while. Prior to earlier this year they were SymbianWatch, and changed to IntoMobile to adopt a more broad overview, as opposed to directly Symbian.
I am someone who is subscribed to dozens of mobile and nokia related blogs, but I had never heard of intomobile before you mentioned them here.
Do you realize what a publicity job you are doing for them by asking this question?
As someone else said here, your brand is probably worth more than theirs.
If I were you and if I were thinking of a way to use what you’ve got to make money, I wouldn’t do a sellout. I would try to leverage this website instead.
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