Before Bahar Gidwani of Index Stock Imagery opened his blog Dimdump, Alan Meckler, the CEO of JupiterMedia (publicly traded; Jupiterimages is a division of Jupitermedia) had started a blog called "Internet Media Commentary". The blog is not entirely dedicated to the Picture Business (Jupiterimages is only a division) and actually started already in December 2003. However, after the acquisition of Comstock and recently of Thinkstock (July 29, 2004: Link 1, 2 and 3), there a some more entries regarding the Stock Photo Industry.
Meckler writes in "BUILDING A NEW NETWORK" (August 26, 2004):
Little did I know when we made this acquisition that it would start Jupitermedia on an exciting journey into developing a large network of image and graphics sites. Since the June 2003 acquisition, we have acquired numerous digitized image libraries and recently purchased Comstock Images and Thinkstock. More acquisitions are on the way.
Which brings me to the word NETWORK in the title of this post. When we entered the business fourteen months ago, I was told that the selling of images and stock photography was "locked up" by Getty and Corbis. This reminded me of television history. When Rupert Murdoch started to put the Fox Network together I am sure he was told that the television network business was "locked up." Of course we all know that today the Fox Network is the equal of if not better than the CBS, ABC and NBC networks.
And now Jupiterimages has become the third great image network along with Getty and Corbis.
In "STOCK IMAGERY CHANGED BY THE INTERNET" (July 29, 2004) he writes:
Now Jupitermedia is going to further evolve the stock imagery business beyond what Getty has accomplished, much like Wal-Mart was able to better K-Mart and a host of other discounters in the past 30 years.
[...]
Our company is right in the middle of grabbing chunks of a $2 billion industry. I will report in future posts on how we are fast becoming the Wal-Mart of stock imagery. A hint: lots of our success is coming via the use of our community sites and our massive base of unique visitors. As I said --- stay tuned.
We definetely do not want to comment the Wal-Mart or K-Mart theory. But it´s surprising to experience how different blogs with the same topic can be. One speaks to a theatre, the other one to an audience of colleagues, as a sort of an undergoing investigation... . But take a look at it for yourself.
PS: Alan Meckler recently was email-interviewed by Steve Rubel (Blog: "Micro Persuasion. Steve Rubel on how blogs and participatory journalism are impacting the practice of public relations") in "Alan Meckler: Few Blogs Will Generate Money", June 03, 2004:
MicroPersuasion: You are the first and one of the only public company CEOs who blogs. Why do you feel CEOs should blog? Which CEOs do you wish would start blogging?
MECKLER: I do not necessarily feel that CEOs should blog. I have chosen to do so in order to get out the message about doings at Jupitermedia. Also I feel I have an interesting perspective on media so I enjoy providing observations.
[..]
MicroPersuasion: What's your view of the blog vertical business model that Nick Denton's Gawker Media and Jason Calacanis' Weblogs, Inc. have developed? In some ways they're emulating what you created with Internet.com way back when. Business 2.0 reports Denton pulls in $250k per year. Not too shabby for blogs.
MECKLER: Very few blogs will be able to generate money. Within the Gawker and Weblogs Inc. empires one will find a handful of blogs that can generate income. Therefore I am not a big fan of the concept as a way to make big income.
[..]
MicroPersuasion: Finally, what lessons can you share with CEOs who want to start blogging?
MECKLER: Writing even once per week can be a chore. I have to really think about the fact that I should be posting. Therefore, if one sees posting as a burden, stay away from starting a blog.
[© Interview and courtesy of Steve Rubel]
