How NOT To Get Your Web Project Covered on The Next Web, with Editor-in-Chief Zee M. Kane
There are only a few technology blogs that “make the world go round” and The Next Web is one of them. Started as an off spin from the Amsterdam-based The Next Web conference in the Netherlands, The Next Web blog has become one of the best tech blogs you can follow. The Next Web’s fast growth into one of the world’s 20 biggest blogs according to Technorati is due in no small part to its Editor-in-Chief Zee M. Kane.
Mr. Kane has guided The Next Web into a blog you’d gladly see in your Twitter stream, Facebook newsfeed or RSS feed. The Independent listed him as one of the top ten most influential Twitter users in the UK. The geek that he is, Kane uses a nice and short .me domain name for his personal site, Zee.me, where you can find all his contact information, including his Twitter profile.
Why would you contact Mr. Kane? Oh I don’t know, maybe to get your web project featured on one of the biggest blogs in the World? Since a lot of you have, are or will be trying to get some editorial love from The Next Web, I decided to have Zee explain how he writes and how you shouldn’t try pitching him in the first of our 3-question-4-me interviews.
What does your daily writing routine look like?
Honestly my current daily routine involves very little writing. As we’ve grown I tend to spend most of my time focusing on what our team of editors & writers should be covering and what we shouldn’t and working on ways we can continue the grow the site at the pace we have been.
There are probably at least 3 things you WOULDN’T advise a startup to do if they want to get on The Next Web
Here’s a few:
- Don’t send news round to all the blogs at the same time. Make a list of your favorite sites, and give each 30 minutes to respond. If your first choice doesn’t respond, send it onto the next. Of course, make sure TNW is first 🙂
- Don’t make your pitches long
- Don’t come at us from multiple angles: twitter/facebook/different editors etc. Just drop us an email at tips@thenextweb.com, we’ll see it in seconds and decide whether we’re going to cover it or not.
- Don’t send us links to your previous coverage on other blogs. People think doing that helps us decide that we’re going to cover it…quite the opposite. We don’t want to regurgitate news. If you have a new feature that no one else has covered yet, come back to us then
- Don’t full your pitch with buzzwords. Just tell us what you’ve got and what it does. Practical info beats scene-setting narrative – we can add that.
What would you advise web startups about choosing a domain name?
It’s a tough one. I would say, if it’s a consumer product, to make it sound cute (and i use that word intentionally) and memorable. I have a thing for .io domains i must admit but .me domains are wonderful for personal projects. I don’t necessarily mean projects that are about the person creating the site (like in my case) but also projects that involve personal interaction on some level… although I’m sure you know all of this already. Again, I know it’s not scientific…but cute and memorable will get you far.
So we’ve learnt that Mr. Kane likes cute and memorable and that our pitches to him should be short and sweet. Now I do hope you use this information and use it on your next .me project! 😉
