Bigger Bucks For The Blogosphere
Web visionary John Battelle aims to act as middleman to Mad Ave. 博客圈里淘金 网络梦想家约翰•巴特利致力于成为博客网站的广告代理商
Over the past decade, John Battelle has shown a flair for creating innovative media properties.
在过去的 10 年里，约翰•巴特利在打造创新型传媒公司方面大大地施展了才华。
In the 1990s, he helped found Wired magazine.
在上世纪 90 年代，他帮助创建了《连线》 （Wired）杂志。
During the dot-com boom, he launched The Industry Standard.
在网络兴盛时期，他推出了《行业标准》 （The Industry Standard）杂志。
And in late 2005, he published a book on Internet search technology just as Google Inc. (GOOG ) blasted into the stratosphere.
2005 年末，在 Google 公司如日中天的时候，他出版了一本关于互联网搜索技术的书。
Now, Battelle is at the forefront of a movement(1m)1 attempting to answer one of the Web's most vexing questions:
如今，巴特利又在引领着一股新浪潮，他试图回答互联网领域最令人困惑的问题之一：
How do you turn blogging into a day job?
如何将博客当成一份职业来经营？
Millions of people publish blogs and other niche Web sites, but they struggle(2w)1e to make a living from their passion.
数以百万计的人发表博客、创建其他细分型网站，除了高涨的热情外，他们也需要养家糊口。
Battelle thinks his new company, Federated Media Publishing Inc., can be part of the solution.
巴特利认为，他的新公司——联邦媒体出版公司（Federated Media Publishing Inc.）能够解决部分问题。
The Sausalito (Calif.) startup is signing up hundreds of the best sites and selling their ad space to brand-name advertisers such as IBM (IBM ), Absolut, and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ ).
这家新兴公司位于加利福尼亚州索萨利托市，它正与成千上万家知名网站签约，并向 IBM、Absolut 和惠普等知名 广告客户推销广告空间。
Federated Media doesn't own the blogs, as do other blogging networks such as Gawker.com, but it keeps 40% of the ad revenue and gives the rest to the site's owner.
与搞客网 （Gawker.com） 等博客网站不同， 联邦媒体出版公司并不拥有博客网站， 但它能获得网站 40%的广告收入， 其余部分则归网站所有。
"It's kind of like a music label, except we don't control their intellectual property and tell them what to sing," says Battelle.
巴特利说：“这就好比是一种音乐标签，只是我们不拥有它们的知识产权也不知道教人怎么唱。”
Federated Media represents just a drop in the advertising ocean. But the venture is off to a promising start(3m)2.
联邦媒体出版公司虽然只是浩淼的广告海洋中不起眼的一滴水，但它必将会成为汪洋。
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Last year, it sold more than $10 million in advertising for about 90 Web sites.
去年，它为 90 家网站推销出了价值上千万美元的广告位。
This year, Battelle says it is on track(4m)3 to turn a profit and increase sales fivefold.
今年，巴特利认为公司将会走上盈利之路，销售额将增加 5 倍。
On Feb. 5, Federated got a boost(5m)4 by announcing it had signed as advertisers Cisco Systems (CSCO ), Nissan (NSANY ), and Nike (NKE ), and 20 new sites, including video blog Rocketboom.
今年 2 月 5 日，联邦媒体出版公司更上一层楼，它宣布已与思科、日产和耐克公司以及 20 家新网站签约，成为它 们的广告代理商，其中包括视频博客网站菠萝网（Rocketboom） 。
It also re-signed Boing Boing, Digg.com, and a few other larger sites to long-term contracts.
此外，它还与 Boing Boing、Digg.com 以及其他一些大型网站重新签订了长期合约。
"It's a very compelling idea," says Daina Middleton, director of interactive marketing for Hewlett-Packard's imaging and printing group, which is working on an online campaign(6w)2 aimed at graphic artists. "You are able to enter a community of bloggers in a unique way."
惠普旗下的图像及打印集团正针对图像处理专家进行在线推广活动，该公司负责互动营销的主管戴娜•米德尔顿说： “这是个非常引人入胜的创意。你能够以独特的方式进入一个博客社区。”
Battelle's biggest challenge(7g)1 may be managing growth.
巴特利面临的最大挑战也许是如何保持公司增长。
Last year some sites grumbled that too much of their ad inventory went unsold as Federated Media focused on signing new properties.
去年，由于联邦媒体出版公司忙于签订新的广告版块，网站的许多广告位未被售出，有些网站对此满腹怨言。
Jason Calacanis, the former owner of Web Logs Inc., a blogging network bought by AOL (AOL ) in 2005, says the big limitation is that Federated Media doesn't own the sites: "The second you build your client's business past $500,000 a year, they hire their own sales force(8w)3."
网络日志公司（Web Logs Inc.）是一家博客网站，在 2005 年被美国在线收购，其前任老板贾森•卡拉卡尼斯认为， 主要的障碍是联邦媒体出版公司并不拥有这些网站：“一旦你成功地使客户的业务量超过每年 50 万美元，它们就会 建立自己的广告销售队伍。”
Battelle believes the relationships he is building with advertisers will help it clear that hurdle. "Boing Boing is never going to get into the offices of General Motors (GM )," he says. "But Federated Media does all the time."
巴特利相信他与广告客户建立起来的良好关系将为其扫清障碍。他说：“Boing Boing 网站永远都叩不开通用汽车公 司的大门，但联邦媒体出版公司则能出入自如。”
作者：斯潘塞•安特（Spencer E. Ante） 翻译：彭向军
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