Say Hello to Say Media and Say Goodbye to Typepad as We Knew It

Ben and Mena Trott, founders of Six Apart, the company that makes Typepad (and Moveable Type) yesterday announced a merger with advertising company Videoegg to form a new company, Say SAY Media. 

Here's an excerpt of the announcement I received via email:

"Today we announced our intention to join forces with VideoEgg to form a new, modern media company called SAY Media. This new company will continue Six Apart's mission to make creators like you more successful. It will continue to help you create powerful and engaging content, and grow and monetize your audience. And it will continue to leave you in control.

"Nothing in TypePad changes today, and SAY Media will continue to provide support to TypePad subscribers, and evolve the TypePad platform. You can choose to take advantage of our strong relationships with marketers to monetize your blogs, or you can keep your blog ad-free."

The announcement has caused some degree of confusion and no small amount of concern among Typepad bloggers, for this reason: Say Media is a "media" company, not a software platform company, which is what SixApart is (was) at its core.

Even though 6A developed an advertising arm, I suspect most Typepad users didn't take advantage of it. We just wanted a simple to use blog that was ad-free. We didn't need all the bells and whistles offered by Wordpress, just a place to share our experiences, express our passions, and build our small businesses. 

Now, that has changed.

Common sense says, if you're a "media" company, you're no longer a "software platform" company. You may have a platform, but you're intent has changed. Thus, the business model changes along with it. Let's put it this way, I will be hard pressed to believe you can do both well. While I didn't see it coming, looking back, I guess this has been part of Ben and Mena's vision for some time. 

To my point, the Say SAY Media site tells the story. They want "passionate, independent media creators." 

How many of you qualify? I know I don't, unless I misunderstand the meaning of the term, which I don't think I do based on this quote these quotes from an Adweek article reporting the merger... 

"Say Media expects to lose some subscribers to the Six Apart blogging platform. Its main focus, Young said, is in those that hope to build media businesses, rather than regular people who write a blog for fun."

And this...

"The absorption of Six Apart gives the company the added reach of the latter's Movable Type and TypePad blogging software. Say Media plans to use those ties with content creators to foster the growth of independent media properties it can package to advertisers."

And this...

"The kinds of people we want to work with are emerging media personalities."

You know I have always focused on how Typepad can be used as an easy to use publishing tool for small business. It became that too. Now, not so much. 

With the advent of Wordpress, maybe the handwriting was on the wall. Maybe Ben and Mena are to be commended, not only for their extraordinary vision in creating one of the world's first blogging tools to be used by the populace, but for seeing that to contend against WP strictly on a blog-to-blog, component-by-component standpoint was fruitless. There was too much at stake to lose by playing that game. So, they changed the game. 

But, what may be good for Ben and Mena may not be good for the thousands of Typepad users who have no intention of becoming media moguls. Time will tell. 

I will say this...I bet Matt Mullenweg is smiling. 

PS: The Adweek article compared SAY Media to Federated Media and Glam Media. That puts things in perspective. It is what they are, but with its own blogging platform. 

Comments

[Teresa boardman]

I exported mine to word press a few months ago. it is easy to do but the photos have to be added manually so it will be some time before I launch it. Please back yours up.

[Paul Chaney]

Good advice Teresa. Yes, migrating is a hassle. I'm holding out on making any changes at the moment, but will back up the data to be sure.

[nataliepo]

Hey there! I'm Natalie, a TypePad Product Manager. TypePad will stay the stable, lovable blogging platform that it has always has been. (Yes, lovable. That's what it is to me!)

It's true that we're heading in a different direction than the pure blogging-software company that we have been, but it's been because of listening to bloggers' wants and needs to be successful at blogging, whether that's through greater distribution of their content, or through more opportunities to be paid to do what they love. Working as a new company with the VideoEgg team will bring benefits to bloggers of all platforms -- even beyond TypePad or Movable Type.

I've been at Six Apart a long time, and I've worked with a lot of bloggers and publishing houses using our software. We've considered our motto to be "We help bloggers succeed", and that purpose still stands true.

If you have any more questions, though, you can send me an email, and I'd be happy to answer them: npodrazik@sixapart.com.

[Paul Chaney]

Thanks for the feedback Natalie. My greatest concern is whether the platform will continue to be supported and improve, so I hope you're right.

However, allow me to voice an additional concern. My focus over the years has been on advocating for Typepad as a tool for small business use. For some time now, Typepad has cast itself in that light. Will that emphasis continue, or, if as I'm reading and hearing on the SAY Media site, will the emphasis completely redirect to a focus on those who wish to be "emerging media personalities?"

[Paul Chaney]

Actually, Natalie, there is yet another concern. It's not that the platform will be maintained, even upgraded, but that the platform will be upgraded to suit the needs of the "media" business. That may very well coincide with the needs of those of us who don't intend on taking advantage of the benefits resulting from the merger, but who want an easy to use blog platform. On the other hand, it may not. It's too early to tell at this point, but I won't be surprised if and when the rug is pulled out from under us. If that happens, then I'll have no choice but to bail. If the concerns of a long-time user and advocate mean anything, then I hope SAY Media takes mine into consideration.

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