TechCrunch and Mashable are probably the two strongest names in technology news blogging today. Both companies serve as a benchmark for many rising star technology blogs such as Pulse 2.0. Everyday I read both blogs. The best part of both blogs was that they each had their own style, niche & strategy that propelled them to where they are today. But today something is happening.
Notice something in the arrows above? Both companies used almost the same exact article title. They’re killing each other’s originality. Let me get into this later. Right now I’ll tell you about the previous strategies versus the present of Mashable and TechCrunch.
Mashable’s Perceived Previous Strategy
When Mashable first started, Pete Cashmore focused solely on writing about MySpace and other social networks. One of Cashmore’s first articles that became instantly popular was, “If You Don’t Have A MySpace, You’re a Lametard.“Â
It was a unique approach to blogging, but it worked. Like many other entrepreneurs, Cashmore never graduated college, but he found his groove and it worked for him. When Cashmore offered Pulse 2.0 to write for Mashable in 2006 and we said no, it was because we wanted to see how much P2 would grow. There was mutual respect in doing that and Cashmore is a great guy. Since then P2 worked with Mashable to promote the Open Web Awards.
Mashable’s Perceived Current Strategy
Mass blog post production. Now Mashable writes about everything happening on the Internet. They have slipped away from their core focus from strictly social network news. For example, one of their last articles was: ABC Launching Upgraded Video Player For Fall Season. This has nothing to do with social networking news.Â
TechCrunch’s Perceived Previous Strategy
When TechCrunch first started growing, Arrington was writing a smaller number of articles per day, but he made sure that it focused on only web start-ups and it was higher in quality. I looked at Techcrunch’s archives from February 2006 and noticed that Michael Arrington only wrote about 61 articles that month. All of those articles focused on startups. When you thought of any kind of web startups, you thought of TechCrunch.Â
TechCrunch’s Perceived Current Strategy:
Mass blog post production. Within the last 22 days, TechCrunch has published over 113 articles about everything happenng on the Internet. In the rare instances where TechCrunch writes about a startup today, it gets mixed in with tons of information that other blogs and publications have already written. TechCrunch is shifting away from their core competency.
Consequence:
The above screen shots are the results of what happens when you attempt to be something that you are not. You try to replicate a model to the point where you beging to think exactly the same as the other.Â
Pulse 2.0 Strategy
Given the constructive criticism I’m giving to both Mashable and TechCrunch, you may ask what makes Pulse 2.0 unique from the other tech blogs? Pulse 2.0 focuses on news, startups, social networks, funding, and whatever we feel like adding. If I see a funny video clip created by 1938 Media, I’ll post it. If Shan can prove that 6 volt batteries do not contain 4 AA batteries in it, he’ll publish that. Pulse 2.0 is a thinktank.Â
If you have any feedback for our current business model, I’d be happy to hear about it.
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