Max Gladwell

We sit down with Green Options founder, David Anderson, to learn more about his green media empire…in the making.

Full disclosure: We guest blog for GO Media, most often on Sustainablog.org, but we have no financial interest in the company. And we receive no compensation for our work. The latter could be one of the secrets to GO Media’s early success. Though they pay most of their bloggers, people like us are willing to write for free in exchange for airing our ideas on their platform. (So there are no hard feelings.)

Green Options (the “go” in GO Media) is an impressive network of green-focused blogs with something for everyone: moms, activists, policy wonks, entrepreneurs, foodies, cleantech buffs, and your everyday greenies. Though it’s centered in San Francisco, the organization is highly decentralized with a network of editors and contributors, all using various forms of social media, communications, and collaboration tools to get the job done as efficiently as possible. They’re taking advantage of the dramatic reduction in organizational costs that Clay Shirky describes in Here Comes Everybody. It’s not quite Wikipedia, where it’s a total free-for-all, but it’s vastly different from the way publishing companies have traditionally been managed.

David Anderson is the guy at the virtual helm in San Francisco. He afforded us seven questions to pick his brain about this new breed of media conglomerate.

1. How did Green Options/GO Media get started?

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, Shea Gunther and I started Green Options as a single blog in early ‘07. We had funding from my father with a mandate to start GO while I worked in the background on my original business idea, a lead-gen platform for home energy decisions. After a few months, Shea moved on to other blogging pastures, eventually starting Meatspace Tees.

Although it would eventually get finished (we spun it off and called it Renewzle), at that point, my lead-gen platform was progressing slowly (apparently I thought electric utility rate schedules would be simple to integrate in a web app). To keep GO from stagnating, I saw the need for a more flexible brand that could meet readers where they are–in niche topics–and the GO Media blog network was born.

2. What are your goals for GO Media in terms of its broader business objectives? Is there a social/for-benefit aspect to that mission, or are you just trying to get rich?

Most people working in sustainability would probably say that if it’s possible to do good and get rich at the same time, that’d be ideal, but the reality is that most true green businesses are still small enough that they’re more concerned about reaching profitability. If anything, we ran GO in the the early days too much like a non-profit, with idealism at the expense of revenue and true sustainability.

Since pivoting into a blog network, we’re finally in a position to make a measurable impact on the conversation, and as long as we can financially sustain this positive contribution, I’m happy. We’re always looking for better ways to optimize that ‘impact’ variable.

3. How many blogs are in the network, what are they, and what type of growth trends are you experiencing?

GO Media is 15 blogs across 3 channels: News & Opinion, Family & Lifestyle, and Business & Technology. The biz/tech blogs drive our highest traffic, with more loyal audiences in family and lifestyle, and a mix of both assets at work in news and opinion.

4. What is your general blogging strategy? Is there a specific approach or formula you take in adding a new blog to the network?

I’m not much of a blogger myself, but our great managing editor Clayton Cornell has evolved what Jeff and I had going into an incredible, decrentralized blogging education program for green enthusiasts and professionals looking for an outlet. By blogging across our network, these people can reach many more people with quality information than if each of them started their own blogspot blog. Three of our blogs are also imported from pre-existing owners, including Sustainablog, Jeff’s baby.

5. What are some of the broader trends you see in commercial blogging? How has the blogosphere changed or evolved since you started GO Media? Has this been positive or negative for GO?

Conventional wisdom says: economy bad = less advertising. We’re optimistic that the economic uncertainty simply means advertisers will migrate from print, outdoor, and TV to platforms with a measurable impact, namely CPC, CPL, CPA. CPM brand advertising isn’t dead, but you have to overcome banner blindness and generate clicks. Though still arguably better than traditional outlets, we don’t yet do the best job in maximizing value to advertisers. But we’re working on ad capabilities that can deliver reader attention in targeted, unobtrusive ways.

Semi-non sequitur: The intersection of the trend towards measurable marketing and nascent sustainable markets is why I think Renewzle is poised to help push clean energy into the big leagues. But solar installations are a complicated purchase, and standard lead generation practices (i.e. for mortgages) actually hurt the buying process, and therefore the industry. It takes care to help consumers find their own solutions. Web technology can deliver the positive consumer experiences that will drive the transition toward sustainability. And from the looks of things, timing will be critical.

6. How should someone approach Green Options about becoming a regular blogger or doing some guest blogging? What type of people do you look for in GO Media bloggers?

From our “write for us” page:

The network model gives us great flexibility for experimenting with almost any subject, but for the near term, we’re most interested in recruiting green professionals, graduate students and experienced freelance writers with expertise on the following topics:

• Green Business (entrepreneurial and corporate perspectives)
• Green Building (with a focus on regional approaches and differences)
• Green Home Remodeling
• Green Home and Family (cleaning, body care, and other products, family projects, etc)
• Environmental health/wellness
• Food (all issues, including vegan, vegetarian, sustainably-produced meat, recipes, agriculture, etc)
• Eco-fashion
• Renewable/clean energy (also with a focus on regional approaches and differences)
• Transportation
• Activism (many topics)
• Environmental Politics
• Greenwashing
• US Regional and Local Perspectives (local news/features)
• International Perspectives (for a US audience)

If you’re interested in writing for Green Options Media, please email the editorial team (editors@greenoptions.com), and put “Writing for GO Media” in the subject line. Please introduce yourself, and your background/experience. Also attach or link to writing samples that can help us get a sense of your voice and style.

Actually, experienced freelancers tend to feel undervalued in the system that our business model supports. Most people aren’t used to getting a couple hundred bucks for jotting their thoughts down. Also, those writers that support themelves in our system generally spend a fair amount of time building their audience. Bloggers have to build that from scratch, especially with so many decentralized brands. What our editorial model gains in flexibility, it partially gives back in visibility.

7. What’s next in terms of growth, new blogs, and new features for GO Media?

It’s a secret. But if we make it through this downturn, watch out.

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