Don’t ask me how I ever missed the company called Word of Blog but I miss it I did! Thanks to Derek Anderson, via Fred Wilson, for bringing it to my attention.
Word of Blog is very simply the single most important company I have seen in the social shopping or web badges space. Apparently, Word of Blog is a side project of Matt Turck’s and some developers. The company got some press back in the second half of 2005. Here’s what some folks wrote about it:
- Fred Wilson: Word of Blog (AUG 23rd, 2005)
- Fred Wilson: Word of Blog - Continued (OCT 13th, 2005)
- Deborah Elizabeth Finn: A simple (and free!) solution: Word of Blog (SEP 16, 2005)
- Emily Chang: eHub Interviews WordofBlog.net (OCT 11, 2005)
- Yvonne DiVita: Smart Man Online: Matt Turck of Word of Blog (MAR 23, 2006
Here’s the FAQs page from Word of Blog
For some reason, Word of Blog has dropped off everyone’s radar screens. Probably because it was a side project and the founders of the web site have other more pressing responsibilities. Nonetheless, the fact that it has gone into hiding should not fool anyone into mistaking its importance.
I can not overstate my excitement. I believe that were Word of Blog built-out properly with enough funding that it would become one of the most valuable web properties in the web2.0 space.
Read some of the articles listed above to better understand the potential business model of sell-side advertising. In simple terms, Word of Blog is Widgetbox for web badges but with a huge revenue model waiting to be tapped. Widgetbox on the other hand, despite its excellent design and execution, does not, imho, have a high-growth revenue model. At least nobody’s explained it to me convincingly yet.
Were someone to build Word of Blog to the same high standards as Widgetbox they would have a very, very valuable web2.0 property. I dare say that a Word of Blog web badge sell-side advertising web service might just end up being more valuable than all the current crop of social shopping website put together.
Bold words indeed. If you are in the social shopping space, it would be wise to take a look at what Word of Blog has created. Keep in mind that this is an Alpha version side project. Imagine, if you will, what it would look like if it had the funding of Kaboodle, StyleHive, ThisNext or StyleFeeder? All of these social shopping websites have beautifully developed and sophisticated technologies, amazing people, and excellent PR results. Unfortunately, none of them has shown a viable business model. Word of Blog is the answer to the riddle of the business model question.
I look forward to speaking with Matt Turck and learning more about his plans for Word of Blog. I will keep you posted. (To see an example of a very simply web badge I created through Word of Blog, check-out the The Blogging Times badge in the right-hand sidebar or check-out the Kinky Friedman badge in the blog post above)
