The Blogger Interviews: Matt Brown
Monday morning brings another blogger interview and this week we’ve been talking to one of London’s most prolific bloggers, Matt Brown of Londonist. Matt is someone I’ve known for a couple of years now and have worked with on some clients projects too. He’s a genuinely nice guy and can often be found supping a glass of red wine at the London Bloggers Meetups. I would hazard a guess that he and the Londonist crowd are more often than not the last to leave at the end of an evening too.
If you haven’t read Londonist before, shame on you. It’s one of the best multi-author blogs on London and in fact, one of the best multi-author blogs full stop in my humble opinion. If you want to get the best out of London then check out what they’re up to. The fact that Matt has been working on Londonist for over five years tells you he knows a bit about both blogging and London. Who better then to try and glean a few blogging tips and tricks from.
So over to you Matt, tell us more about the world of Matt Brown, Londonist and how to be a better blogger…
1. What’s your blog called and what’s the URL?
Londonist and the URL is http://londonist.com
2. What’s your blog all about ( in 20 words or less)?
London, and everything that happens in it.
3. When and why did you start blogging?
I personally started blogging in June 2005, although Londonist itself dates back to October 2004. I joined the team of bloggers on Londonist as I wanted somewhere to share my love of London. I’m not sure I’d even heard of blogs back then – I just discovered this fantastic site where people like me were writing daily about London life and wanted to be part of that.
4. Which blog platform do you use?
Movable Type 4.
5. Can you give an example of how blogging has enriched your life?
Over the years, writing or Londonist has given me an excuse to visit all kinds of weird and wonderful London locations. I’ve spent the night in a haunted plague pit beneath London Bridge. I’ve waded through the sewers near the Olympic park. I’ve strolled along the Tube Lines at Leicester Square at 2 in the morning and had tea with the Lord Mayor. And I caught a lung disease after clambering to the top of a disused church steeple. If that’s not life-enriching, I don’t know what is.
6. Are there any blogs you recommend reading and why?
Diamond Geezer is among the best chroniclers of the city in any media, and his amusing rants about PR companies are also a blogging treasure.
Ian Visits is another essential read for anyone interested in London’s history and heritage. I feel a little guilty only nominating these two, as there are so many other superb bloggers out there, especially those covering very local issues.
7. What three tips would you give to someone just starting out in blogging?
- Be on Twitter/Facebook too – these are invaluable tools for helping to grow your blog.
- If you’re going to be edgy, be aware that you’re just as prone to the libel laws as any journalist (what people say in the comments section is also your legal responsibility)
- Don’t think too hard about it…just get going and prepare to experiment with styles and stories as you go along. Five years on, I still learn new things about blogging every day.
8. If you could change one thing about your blog what would it be?
Well, we can change more or less anything we want now that we’re no longer so tied to our ‘parent blog’ Gothamist, and we’re in the process of making some exciting changes right now. Beyond that, I don’t want to say more right now.
9. What is the key to getting readers to your blog?
I’m really proud of the way we involve our readers in creating the content. For example, we have a Flickr pool where readers can leave photos of the city (almost 100,000 now), which we then use (with full credit and link-back) in the stories. The photographer gets a wider exposure and our blog looks that bit more beautiful – everyone’s a winner.
We also ask for reader suggestions (via Twitter and Facebook) when compiling posts about what to do at the weekend, what to do cheaply in London, etc. We’ve also used crowdsourcing to compile interesting maps of London (for example, we attracted a large audience of elderly readers – not our usual demographic – when we plotted a map of World War II rocket attacks, mostly based on reader information).
These and countless other examples are at the heart of our relationship with our readers, and I think this is why our audience has grown so much in recent years.
10. And finally, why do you come to the London Bloggers Meetups?
I like the mix of people. At any given meetup you’ll meet a mixture of social media professionals, marketing and PR types and people who blog for the sheer fun of it, with no commercial angle whatsoever. Everyone has something valuable to contribute and I’ve learnt a lot from some of the people there.
Great interview.
I think Matt is right that Londonist does a great job involving readers in various ways, especially through Flickr, allowing photography fans a way to get their photos out there.
But perhaps he is a little too modest when it comes to answering “What is the key to getting readers to your blog?”.
Surely, it’s the fantastic, up-to-date content that Londonist keeps pumping out throughout the day, every single day, that is the biggest factor?
Wow, thanks Tom. And long will it continue.
Something that Matt doesn’t mention (because he’s far too modest), is just how many of London’s bloggers have been involved with Londonist at one point or another. He was hugely supportive when I first started blogging, and to many other young bloggers in London.