the state of 45dgree in 1000 words

So, you’ve probably noticed, 45dgree is kind of freewheeling…coasting.. the question begs – what’s the story?

When I launched 45dgree some years ago its mission was clear: it was a photo site I decided to have more control over my portfolio of Motorcycle and Abandoned America images, because I’d outgrown Flickr.

We’re all ears at 45dgree

45dgree helped me reinvent myself as a creative and get work. Being invited to run IronWorks Magazine was a result of this site fulfilling its mission. As 45dgree grew from a content perspective, it earned more traffic. It is funny how things go – the busier I got personally, the more popular 45dgree became and it was a challenge to keep everything up to date, fulfilling my promise of scheduling new content daily.

Analytics showed people had developed a genuine liking to the site and I watched as traffic grew. I liked sharing my images, and so was reluctant to put it down or park it after I was working with the Magazine.  Well all things (good or otherwise) come to an end and so when my position with the magazine ended, I took a good hard look at 45dgree – wondering if it could serve a better, more significant purpose.

Looking at Cyril’s blog (a benchmark of sorts for the VTwin community), I was clear that his was not the editorial direction I wanted to go in. but examining his analytics, I knew that decent traffic could be earned, the trick as always, is monetizing it.

I knew that whatever I was going to do with the site beyond what I was doing at the time – would require I enlist some help – for a variety of reasons: strategy, tech, design, content – as well as for fun, energy and momentum. I really didn’t want to go at it alone. I wanted to collaborate.

Satya Kraus, bike builder and I had been talking for some time, years actually, about jamming on some kind of a creative new media thing. He had been dabbling with KingUp, his version of a creative production/new media company and I had an idea.

An idea!

The creative universe (filmmakers, jewelers, painters, bike and car fabricators, tattoo artists, musicians, etc.) has some exceptional, talented people in it who are off the “radar” for most folks so to speak and don’t actively promote themselves past their own “niche community”.  They are underserved by traditional print media and oftentimes aren’t exposed to cross-over interests and opportunities.

These artists, producers and talents have great stories to tell, wonderful work to share and in most instances, things/services to sell.

Why not create a curated an environment that brings the very best of these talents into one place and allows them to represent themselves in their own genuine manner, using their own words, pictures and motion and sound and expose them to a large audience in an environment that does them justice. Everyone brings their own fan base to the party and we all mix it up in this interesting “salon” of sorts. Its where hot rodders and bikers mix it up and share… tattoo artists and engravers, musicians and illustrators..oh what an interesting world it will be!

Don’t charge the Artists for this service and give them space to tell their story – the traffic this content draws is the “pay” for 45dgree (our reward for doing good).

Take this unique AGC (artist generated content) and allow the artist to link it back to their own eCommerce site, thereby enabling revenue for the Artist,  and the ecosystem supports itself. The artist gets paid and has an incentive to continue investing in the energy required for content creation on 45dgree,

45dgree benefits because of the traffic and aggregate influence and it grows. Noninvasive, native advertising and sponsorship works its way into the picture once 45dgree’s marketing and communications value has been clearly identified and momentum/ traffic/ subscriptions are gained.

First lesson learned:  just because you think something is a good idea, doesn’t mean diddly

Getting artists (tattoo shops, pinstripers or jewelers lets say) organized enough to be able to manage the not insignificant  chore of writing something thoughtful, as well as pairing this writing up with some decently produced imagery – it just isn’t going to happen. It COULD happen easily – but it isn’t going to…getting a shop or an artist to do this is akin to herding cats. They won’t do it themselves and they won’t pay for a pro to come in…even though this investment in content creation could pay dividends.. it isn’t going to happen 99% of the time, or if it does, its not on any schedule, it just kind of boom, combusts!

second lesson: if no one has done it, or dabbled in it, there very well might be a good reason!

LOL, yeah well huh? Myopia is certainly a consideration and unbridled optimism is a mitigating circumstance. Maybe there is a good reason (ya think?) these artists are not well-known past their small community…

Third lesson: don’t smoke your own stuff

Satya and I knew that WE would have loved to have access to a platform for promoting ourselves to a wider audience like 45dgree was gong to offer. Get our words and pictures up online for a lot of different types of people to see, for no cost and in a nicely styled presentation – surrounded by our peers? Yeah, great – sign us up.

Only problem is, we are not typical and our expectations of those around us weren’t realistic. We naively thought just because we can, that everyone would want to….lol, lesson learned.

lesson four: its only a business if money changes hands.

In an economy powered by black T-shirts, stickers, hoodies, caps and barter, real revenue is scarce. The only way you are going to get someone’s attention (as well as commitment) in this day and age is to charge them for subscribing, or give them money for contributing. If something has real value it should be bought/paid for/sold with cash. Businesses don’t run on good will and “hey bro’s”. Good intentions don’t make a business, they don’t pay for server space.

So with all of this learned said: back to the question at hand? What is the story?

I don’t know. I might sell 45dgree, I might revert it back to a personal motorcycle and abandoned industry photography site… I might squat on the URL until I have it figured out….but something is going to happen soon… I don’t want it to freewheel without a clear direction… and thought I’d throw it out to the greater collective to chime in and contact me directly, if they’d like.

If you have read this far, care one way or the other or have an idea – let me know at: steveb @ steveb.biz

I am as they say, all ears….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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