The One Where I Get A Bit Misty

August 4, 2015 By Dave Konig Leave a Comment

Last week’s announcement about the EMSBlogs.com Network shocked a few people… as I had expected. It also apparently confused a few people… so let me just set the record straight right now…

EMSBlogs.com Will Continue To Exist And I Will Continue Blogging

very sporadically

So Don’t Think We’ve Died Yet Because The Best Is Yet To Come!!!

No… really… don’t be sticking the fork in us… ’cause we’re not done.

Really.

A few of the other bloggers have also shared a few thoughts and some extremely kind words on the subject, which I’m going to share here because that’s what bloggers do:

The Flobach Republic said his goodbye
EMS Basics is excited for the new digs, and honestly with the great content he produces there and at Lit Whisperers they are deserving of the very best digs on the internet
Bob from The EMS Patient Perspective took the stroll down memory lane to EMS Today 2011… back when the network was less than a year old and I had the good fortune to have the time to attend such wonderful conclaves to meet awesome and inspiring people in EMS… like Bob
The EMS Artifact knew the cat was out of the bag but he let it fly anyway with a very very very true observation

I really appreciate all of the blog posts, the Facebook comments, and the private e-mails and messages. All of them have been supportive, gracious, and kind. As a blogger, craving feedback is natural… so when you get it (especially when you feel you’ve been starved of it) there is a certain sense of satisfying accomplishment… even if it’s from a Troll, which is why they tend to thrive.

EMS Artifact really nailed it though when he wrote:

Thank you also for taking steps to keep the network running, although I’m sure giving up actively running the network is not easy. It’s never easy to let a labor of love go to other hands, but sometimes it’s needed.

It’s true, this wasn’t an easy decision or something easy for me to do… but it’s not about me. None of this has ever been about me. I know it is hard for people who don’t quite know or understand me the way others do… but it’s very rarely ever about me in pretty much everything I do now.

This has always been about the Emergency Medical Services. It’s been about sharing ideas, debating “best practices”, and every now and then having a good chuckle or blowing off steam in a rant. It’s been about improving ourselves through communication, about keeping the focus where I thought it belonged (on EMS as opposed to the other disciplines that add EMS on as a secondary aspect), and it’s been about trying to effect change for the better. Afterall, anyone who’s read The Pride of the Hills: A Vollie’s Memoir (okay, yeah, that link is about me) knows who it’s REALLY about.

None of that is going to change. The big change is that someone else with more time (and probably more talent) will be handling the back-end stuff and at some point there’ll be a new banner and some fresh theme paint. That’s it. Really.

Thanks again for the shout-outs, comments, and feedback… it really means a lot more than any of you can even realize.

Be well… have a muffin… and I’ll blog to you soon…

The Future of the EMSBlogs.com Network

August 1, 2015 By Dave Konig 1 Comment

Five years ago today I brought what would become the EMSBlogs.com Network online. The start was a bit rough, but after a few days pounding away I was happy to announce on August 9, 2010 that it was officially in Beta… and then I promptly left and went to Celebration V in Orlando Florida because I am the absolute BEST planner ever!!!

/sarcasm

Five years is a long time, especially in blog years. Five years for a network? It’s darn near ancient… but yet it isn’t. This is a blog post that I imagined writing one day. Most versions of it concluded that the blogosphere would live on without us, that EMS as a profession and an industry would continue to evolve minus that little corner of its universe, and that you’d be able to find me in the other places I tend to frequent before bidding everyone a tearful farewell.

This version is actually vastly different than what I imagined for there will be no swan song sung here today.

Over the next few weeks the EMSBlogs.com Network will be joining other blogs under another network. Without boring you all to death with details, it boils down to it being about time… or more specifically the lack of it.

When I first started the network I had enough free time to provide the support and help needed to get it started, get new bloggers onboard as well as up and running, maintain the site, and ensure the platform was stable. Over the years we’ve had a slew of brute-force attacks, spambot sieges, and a few successful hacks that have required some relatively intense (for someone who’s primary job is not in IT) back-end work. It worked out, and while there were issues I was usually able to resolve them in 36-48 hours from the start.

Since the day I started this network, there has been interest in it from others. Yet I felt very strongly about two things. The network needed someone to understand the importance of the work bloggers do and in understanding that needed to remain as independent voices from the traditional EMS trade media who, in my opinion, had gone astray with trends and diverted their focus away from EMS itself. If it wasn’t one thing, it would be the other that I had felt they lacked and besides… why? I had the time to do it and everything was going pretty swell.

Last year I unexpectedly lost a lot of that free time. My ability to not only provide support but to actively blog diminished immensely. Something that would have taken a day now takes around a month. This is no way to have a blog network run, and definitely not the way I wanted this blog network to be. I strove from day one to be better than the other blog networks in support, content, and in revenue sharing with the bloggers. Lately I was finding it hard to say that we were better than the rest through no one’s fault but my own.

Allow me right now to say THANK YOU to all the bloggers who have ever blogged there and all the readers who have ever wandered across the EMSBlogs.com Network. Without all of you, none of this would have gotten anywhere or made the impact that it has on EMS.

So when the opportunity appeared again to have someone else take over the technical aspects and the administration end of the blog network… well… I took it. I took it for three reasons:

This was something I could no longer do the way I want it to be done
The people taking over understand the importance of the work we do
The blogs would remain independent of the traditional trade media and continue as the upstart new media outlet it was originally intended to be with the focus remaining on EMS

I know you’re probably wondering what this all means to you, beloved reader. It actually means very little other than the fact that there may be a day you won’t see the network while DNS settings change over from the migration… but we’ll be back. There will be fresh themes, prettier pictures, and even more dynamic content that will be designed with the mobile setting in mind because, as I predicted on an EMS Garage episode way back, the internet consumption has moved to a more mobile platform. All the content you will read continues to be the opinions and intellectual property of the individual bloggers. Not much will change… except there will be a new header because…

EMSBlogs.com is coming under the First Arriving Emergency Services Network.

Stay tuned… it’s gonna be interesting.

Promise… and ya’ll know I don’t make promises I can’t keep.

Be well.

On Blog Networks: Pros And Cons

October 7, 2009 By Dave Konig Leave a Comment

Recently I’ve been involved in a few different discussions about Blog Networks, and both their benefits and the disadvantages. To be honest, I find it a little surprising that people are doing things now that are so… 2006… but whateva. In the interest of full disclosure I have been offered spots in quite a few Blog Networks on different topics, but I have only participated for a very short time on only one. That participation was over 3 years ago, but even with the amount of time that has passed it seems that there has not been much change to how they are run.

What Is A Blog Network?

A Blog Network is really a group of blogs that cover a variety of topics under one banner. A great example of a Blog Network (and where Blog Networks need to go) is B5Media. Another example of a Blog Network from a technical perspective, although they probably wouldn’t consider themselves one, is CNN who puts many blog voices under one banner.

Traditionally a Blog Network provides the technical support needed to create a blog, and the blogger provides the content that populates it. With the increasing popularity and stability of WordPress MU, Blog Networks have become another option for the average publisher to expand their presence on the internet with basic technological knowledge.

The Pros Of A Blog Network

Potentially increased visibility – By joining with other bloggers, there is the potential for you to increase your visibility. Compelling content is what draws readers in. Someone else’s compelling content of today can bring readers to your own compelling content of yesterday and tomorrow, bringing you extra exposure and new readers
Not bearing the sole burden of content – By not bearing the sole burden of content, a huge weight is lifted from your shoulders to stay fresh and relevant. The lessened demand leaves more time for family, friends, and of course Mafia Wars
The possibility of earning revenue without the hassle – This always seems to be the biggest pro that bloggers sign up for. Earning money is not as easy as throwing an AdSense block in your sidebar. Today it requires time and effort for effective sales in advertising. With the Blog Network handling the sale of ads on your blog and sharing the revenue with you

The Cons Of A Blog Network

Potential loss of visibility – If you haven’t already established a blog, this probably won’t matter for you since being at zero visibility means there’s only one way for you to go and that is up. Established bloggers need to realize that by jumping off their own blogs they are essentially starting all over again. Sure you’ll be able to announce to your readers that you’re moving, but the links that you have built up over time that the search engines use are going dead. They don’t automatically follow you to your new endeavor under a new domain. Some bloggers make a bigger mistake by bringing their domain with them, which will result in those backlinks going to an Error 404 page on the network or worse… to irrelevant content
The burden of higher quality content is higher – Sure you are part of a network, but what will make you stand out? Obviously you’ll need higher quality content than the next blogger in order to continue being the authority as you have been in the past
The Loss of Copyright – This is the absolute biggest reason to stay completely clear of a Blog Network. You write it and they publish it with their Copyright notice in the footer. This is less of an issue if you are a blogger who is getting paid for both a) content and b) performance. What I mean by that is you are getting paid a set amount per word/post and ontop of that getting performance or “traffic” bonuses. The working MO of Blog Networks is to offer you an ad revenue share based on the number of unique visitors or pageviews that you get. Some Blog Networks will even set a “minimum” performance level (which is usually some ridiculously high number) before they will include you into the ad share. Think about it… if they sell two ad spaces on your blog and collect the revenue but you don’t make their minimum “performance” level they are keeping your percentage… and the rights to the content you created
The Loss of Being Able to Determine Your Own Advertising – There is a reason that the FTC has made changes regarding blog advertising. An advertiser appearing in your sidebar isn’t just an acknowledgment of payment, but it can be inferred as an endorsement. So for arguments sake let’s say you have a bad service experience at oh… I don’t know… a motorcycle repair shop. You blog your disgust and how unfairly you and your bike Betsy were treated. You move on to other things, and then one day an ad appears in your sidebar for that very same motorcycle repair shop. Like contextual advertising, you have lost your ability to control who is cashing in on your reputation

What Every Blogger Should Know Before Signing Onto A Blog Network

READ THE FINE PRINT – As with everything you do, be sure to READ THE FINE PRINT, especially with Blog Networks where revenue is dependent on performance. The devil is always in the details…
Think About The Long Term Effects – I am a big believer in the revenue possibilities along the long tail. Make sure something you create today for them and not being compensated for is something you can use later on for yourself to generate revenue in case they cease to exist
Effects On Your Personal Brand – If you join a Blog Network you will surrender a bit of your Personal Brand that will be replaced by the Network Brand. In some cases this may good and in others it may be bad

Whether you decide Blog Networks are right for you or they aren’t is ultimately your decision. I think much of it depends on the entire reason you started blogging. Please, just go into it with your eyes wide open and both the benefits and disadvantages to both you and your readers in mind.