Baby, You're a Niche Man (that only makes sense if you pronounce it "nitch," which apparently is wrong.)

My impression from this week's annual SIPA conference (I know, who asked me) is that niche publishers like us are in a perfect position in the world of microsites, blogging and SEO. Each of these things has to do with deep subject area expertise, the ability to make sense of what's going on, and to talk about it in an articulate and speedy way. You need to look no further than this blog as an example of what I am not talking about.

When newsletters came along, they were the fast, unaffiliated, irreverent, and cheap alternative press. Now bloggers have that same feel. Bloggers are the new newsletter publishers, and newsletter publishers don't need to make nearly as a dramatic retrofit as many in the media in today's Web environment when it comes to content. We operate in the niches. That's where we excel. And when we write, we don't think about it but we spew key words like baseballs in a batting cage. (What does that even mean?) And who better to oversee a microsite than a niche publisher? We're built for this!

We have a great deal to learn from the technology and Web experts -- the real experts on the cutting edge -- but we have all the raw materials we need. Our challenge, and I think we can handle it, is to be very open minded about our business models. Given their experience with advertising, that's where broad market publishers have an edge. The willingness to take chances and experiment is paying huge dividends from the stories I heard at the Mayflower. Even the ones I heard about niche publishing.

Finally, a big thanks to Ed Coburn of Harvard Health Publications, Patti Wysocki, consultant, Janine Hergesell, Kati Fritz, Harry Baisden and all the SIPA volunteers for their hard work on another stellar event. Feel free to use this blog to add what you learned or what you feel about the event.