That's What I'm Talking About

Everyone likes to have their work validated. Whether it be with sales, visitors to a web site, or a simple pat on the back, it always feels good to know that someone appreciates what you've done. In my case, it came from an article by Mark Cuban the other day.

See, sometimes I think that I just ramble incoherently on this blog. I think I'm making a point, but I'm not sure if people reading it see what I'm seeing. After my last post about my business doing a 180 I kind of felt like that. I said:

I have found an extremely successful niche. The collectibles news that was once thought to exist to promote the buying and selling of collectibles has now become far and away the most popular area of the site. I've come to find out that collectors value getting their news from an average collector. They value my honest (and unbiased) opinion. I realized that I could capitalize on this by adding a newsletter, RSS feed, and a mobile site...and that I could make money off of the advertising.

For years the only way to get collectibles news was from magazines like Tuff Stuff and Beckett. Both of whom work closely with all of the collectibles companies and tend to give a very biased view of the industry - one that results in all parties making the most money. Many times this isn't always in the best interest of the collectors, although they'll never admit it.

I hope that one of the things people took away from it is the value of unique and unbiased news. I THINK that's one of the points I made there but I suppose the whole thing could have been taken as me rambling about how my initial business plan failed and I stumbled upon another way to make some coin.

That's why I felt a little more sane after reading Mark Cuban's post the next day entitled Blogging vs Traditional Media - This time its personal. Cuban says that:

Traditional media has become almost exclusively corporate while blogging remains almost exclusively personal

which leads to:

Bloggers drive blogs, share price drives traditional media. Blogging is personal, traditional media is corporate.

Which is exactly why blog readership is going up, while traditional media is consolidating, if not contracting. Traditional media goes to work, bloggers live their work.

That's what I was talking about! Even though I didn't say it as eloquently as Mark did, it's what was churning in my head. People can tell what your motivation is. Although, at the end of the day I am still trying to make money, I really do care about the collectibles industry and more importantly I care about the well being of a collector.

I am not a writer for Beckett who only writes about collectibles because that's where the check is coming from. I don't pretend to care and then punch out at 4:59 and forget about my job until 9:01 the next day. I really do care. I'll stay up all night writing an article because I WANT to, not because I need to. I didn't choose sports collectibles because I thought it was the best business opportunity in the world. I chose sports collectibles because I saw a business opportunity in something I loved to do. Big difference.

And that's why it works! Thanks for the pat on the back Mark.