July 28, 2007

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Interview #6 - Allen Stern - CenterNetworks.com

 With nothing to fear, Allen Stern, the man behind CenterNetworks, is moving into a crowded market occupied by TechCrunch, GigaOm, and Mashable. Really cool stuff.

1. For those of us who are unfamiliar with you, could you briefly describe who you are and what you do?
My name is Allen Stern and I have been online since 1990. Started with Compuserve, Prodigy, AOL, BBS, Mud’s, etc.I have worked on both the client-side and the company-side of the Internet and have managed products in the $20 million dollar range. Currently I run: CenterNetworks, a social media blog; HTMLCenter, a web development help site; and Revlayer, a revenue generator for blogs and Web sites.

2. You are a great case study of succeeding in a crowded niche. What key factors have led to your successes?

You are very kind, thank you. I think the keys that helped grow CN were joining the conversation and writing about hot topics. You can find my comments on all of the social media blogs. I try to add value to the conversations other bloggers start. This helped me grow my name and as site visitors clicked to CN they found out about our site. Also, I tried to write daily on hot topics and add new insights from my diverse background. I was unknown in the social media space when I launched CN.

3. Have you considered narrowing CN’s niche? Which ones and why have you or have you not pursued them?

I have talked about this several times with my friends. We are working on some changes for CN that will roll out this summer. Should be an exciting time as we attempt to move up to the big leagues with the likes of Read/WriteWeb, Mashable, TechCrunch and GigaOm.

4. How important do you consider building relationships with up-and-coming entrepreneurs to be? Is someone likely to succeed in what you do holed up in the house?

I enjoy learning about new products and services. I hope that the entrepreneurs find my insights beneficial. Overall, relationship building is critical for any business and for a blogger wanting to report on news, it’s ultra-critical. As for success factors, getting out there and demonstrating your app is important. Most of us do not have Internet celebrity to help us grow our apps, we need to pound the pavement (both virtual and physical) instead.

5. What have been some of your biggest frustrations covering emerging startups?

Trust and honoring your word. I am not sure if the other bloggers actually help the startups or just report on them, but I spend countless hours a week actually providing free consulting. So when a startup sends me an email to write about them, I spend time giving them tips and advice (outside of any CN post) on how to improve. Then they decide to work with other bloggers. This is a good bit frustrating.

6. On the flip side, what have been some of the most rewarding times with CN?

The answer for that is easy. The most rewarding element has all of the people I have met. No matter what happens with CN, my startup, or their blog, startup, whatever, we will still keep in contact.

7. What words of wisdom do you have for someone wanting to jump into a niche that is dominated by one or more heavy hitters?

Get in there! What are you waiting for? The longer you wait, the tougher it is. And remember this saying from the Honeymooners, “Be nice to people on the way up, because you will see the same people on the way down.” Just because a “heavy hitter” is in the lead now, does not mean that they will in a year. So get out there and give it a try! Better to try and fail than never to have tried at all.

Thanks for great interview Allen and best of luck to you in all your endeavors!