There is a very interesting post today from Technorati reported on here: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/state_of_the_blogosphere_2008.php It provides evidence that blogging is slowing down, with only 1% of blogs updated in past 7 days, and 94% of blogs idyl for 3+ mo’s. Given those figures, perhaps one consideration for future journalist bloggers should be content – as in actually providing some!

I had an interesting discussion with an actor friend that offers some insights on the discussion of students and what they are being taught. This actor friend talked about managing his brand as an actor. He described his view as having two hats, his actor hat, where he was always looking at the practice of craft, and enhancing the art of acting, and his business manager hat, where he becomes responsible for managing the brand that he is, and making sure it provides his artist side an income.

I was immediately struck by how everything he said applied to journalism. When I look at the star journalists of today, it is easy to see that they are truly managing their brand well, independently of their outlet. As a journalism school graduate myself (a long time ago) I can say that there was nothing on marketing or business management of yourself in either the J school, or in the acting school curricula of the time.

So the 5 points for any person considering their future in journalism are the same as for managing a brand. Consider your consumer – what is their need state and what is the intersection between what they want and how they want it. Differentiate – define what are your branded differences. Clarify – Make it very clear what you offer. Extend – leverage your brand into related growth areas. Energize – a “mature” brand still needs to feel fresh and new.

So, last Saturday I went to the Future of Journalism event in Brisbane (and spoke on one of the panels). Contrary to my usual practice, I didn’t live-blog the event – panel-based events are notoriously difficult to blog. Here, then, are some reflectio…