Clyde Smith

Summer 2011 Update: All World Dance

My main web project is now All World Dance: World Dance News and I've stopped almost all work at my other websites, even the ones I just do for fun, like Asheville Fashions.  The transition to this point was a bit unpleasant cause I hate to neglect things and I hate to give up on great ideas but, at some point, you gotta focus to make something work.

All World Dance launched back in April and it's really starting to take off.  We are now at 10,000 unique monthly visitors.  My short term goal in terms of traffic is to get to 25k uniques by the end of the summer if not before.  At that point I'll be able to apply for some ad networks that I think would be appropriate for the site.  For now I'm using Google AdSense and that's doing well enough to keep it in play but I ultimately want to move up in the world!

Currently all that traffic is due in large part to Google, so we can only hope that continues.  However we periodically get a boost from folks posting links to Twitter and Facebook when we've covered them and that's been a really positive part of the site's development.

Another positive piece of the puzzle is the slowing growing circle of Facebook friends and Twitter followers.  In particular, the Facebook page has attracted some really interesting individuals who also reveal the global nature of All World Dance's audience.  Though the U.S. readership is biggest followed by Canada and the UK, we've already gotten the most global audience I've had for any project to date, especially in the early stages.  Though having a global audience can be problematic for advertisers in the early stages, I believe we're setting the stage for a really big presence online and I like being global!

If you need to touch base regarding All World Dance, please hit me up at:
clyde(at)allworlddance(dot)com

Summer 2011 Update: Writing at Hypebot

As I've previously indicated, I'm now primarily working on All World Dance and Hypebot.  I'll discuss All World Dance separately, cause it's starting to take off, and mention a couple of things about Hypebot here.

I've been writing about the music industry at Hypebot, especially web and marketing aspects, for over two months.  I still feel like I'm settling in to some extent but overall it's going very well.  I'm getting to focus on areas that interest me and that I want to understand more deeply which will, in turn, feed back into the writing so it's definitely headed in a positive direction.

Currently there isn't a separate list of my posts on Hypebot so I've been maintaining a list at Flux Research.  I'm also getting links to posts up on Flux Research's Twitter account and Facebook page.  Since not much more is happening at Flux Research, those are practically now just notices of my Hypebot posts.

If you want to contact me about Hypebot related stuff, please hit me up at:
clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com

Update: Asheville Fashions, Flux Research, All World Dance

It's been awhile since I've updated and a lot has changed.

Buried Quotes has been sidelined and Asheville Fashions has become practically a monthly hobby publication.  However, I'll keep posting there for fun and to keep a minor connection going between life in Asheville and my web publishing.  I don't think Buried Quotes will be back anytime soon.  The project relied on the fact that I wasn't writing fulltime and had time to read a lot of different things all the way through.  That's not possible now that I'm back in action!

I recently relaunched Flux Research with a focus on Web Business Models as my core web publishing project.  However, I kind of scared myself off that wanting a quicker response and feeling like I need to know more to do that project.  I'm all for learning on the job but it felt like the curve was going to be a bit too slow.  So I've refashioned it into a hub for my business writing.  I'll still post occasionally about business models and also include links to my business writing in a category called Clyde Smith Writing.

I'm also now a staff blogger at Hypebot, the leading music industry blog, and am keeping a page with links to my post at Flux Research called Clyde @ Hypebot.  Heading forward that's going to be the primary focus of my business blogging.

My biggest web publishing project is now All World Dance: World Dance News and it's off to a strong start.  It's really my return to the dance world, though I've previously blogged a bit about hip hop dance at Ill Moves, and it just feels right.  I can tell when I'm promoting it that I'm fully behind it and I'm getting ready to take such activities to a new level.  Over the next week I'll have a press release out and a mobile web app in action.  And that feels great!

So, the best laid plans get flipped when necessary.  Web business types are calling that a pivot and says it's a good sign when one knows how to pivot well.  Hopefully I'm becoming expert given my growing experience!

Asheville Fashions Officially Launched!

I'm excited to have finally launched Asheville Fashions, a blog about Asheville fashion and street style, though my wack flipcam skills are exposed in this first post of a couple in downtown Asheville.

But, hey, you gotta start somewhere!

Buried Quotes Reboots, Asheville Fashions Next!

Finally figured out all the pieces of Buried Quotes.  It ultimately meant giving up my initial idea, adapting it to the designs and algorithms of our web/tech overloads and may have resulted in an even better project.  Same basic concept but with less hassles and improved access!

Next up: Asheville Fashions!

netweed Revival in Progress

I'm starting back to work on netweed, my first major website, by cleaning up a lot of details and re/building the Hip Hop @ netweed section.  Hopefully that will clear the way for work on expanding The Paper Plant section of the site when Mr. D-J is ready!

Here's more on what I'm currently doing:

Hip Hop @ netweed Update in Progress

 

Buried Quotes Back in Action

A side project I've played with for a bit, Buried Quotes, is now back in action.

I just enjoy doing it.  Check it out!

Looking Back on My Career as a Hip Hop Web Publisher, Pt. 1

I ran multiple hip hop related sites for the last five years before selling the two big ones and putting the others on hiatus.  A couple of these sites provided info services (press releases, new album reports).  Though the press release site was often disrespected by hip hop bloggers who would link to articles at other sites that were simply press releases with a writer's byline added, it got plenty of traffic and links and was one of the ones I sold.  The albums site rarely got linked to from people who I know were using the service but had a core following that kept up closely with the site.

Since shutting them down I've been hearing from folks who now realize that, under the new owners, the press release site will never be what it was and they now see that nothing like that exists anymore.  But the strongest response was to shutting down my new albums report whose core audience was devoted but never linked out.   That lack of links and acknowledgement was part of the problem keeping it smaller than it should have been and limiting possible income so that I was doing that one for less than $1 an hour by the end!

As I debated shutting that down, I got multiple comments and emails from people who thanked me and encouraged me to keep going but never really supported the site.  One guy even said he used it every week as a source of info for his site and praised it highly.  I searched his site for links to the albums report and found none at all.

I did get a couple of people saying they would link to me and help publicize the site but it was too little, too late.

I'm not saying these were invaluable services to the world but they were solid professional services for a niche audience that mostly took without giving.  At some level, it gives me a perverse pleasure to see their after the fact responses but mostly it makes me sad.  More importantly, it's a reminder to support and appreciate the things that one finds important or even simply useful in the world because when those things are gone, I'm starting to see that they're rarely replaced.

New Year's in Asheville (2010 to 2011)

Spent New Year's in downtown Asheville.  Encountered a surprisingly clueless bartender at the Thirsty Monk but I was glad to finally check out the bar.  Ended up at the Lexington Avenue Brewery where we saw Sirius.B along with a lot of really cool and friendly people who danced a lot.

Nice way to begin 2011!

Asheville Rising

Here we go.  College Textbook News is no more,  All World Dance is preparing for a January launch and netweed lurks in the background, always ready for action!  Oh, yeah, Cultural Research will also play a role in 2011.

At this point, I feel like I'm a week behind which isn't bad at all.  That could change but things are finally falling into place.

"Next week will reveal all," states the Magic 8 Ball.