Trade magazine Blogger & Podcaster Magazine is expanding into advertising with their own blog advertising network.
The Blogger & Podcaster Network (BPN) will target “the B,C,D & E listers who have smaller and often more niche audiences.” Blogger & Podcaster have retained investment bank The Riderwood Group to obtain expansion funding for the network.
Those signing up to BPN will get promotion in the mainstream media through The Blogger & Podcaster Guide and revenue from advertising and other revenue generating services.
The obvious comparison for the network is Technorati’s recently revealed advertising network. Although both target the long tail, BPN would be one of the most different pitches I’ve ever seen in 6 years covering this space. To be a part of BPN you have to be listed in The Blogger & Podcaster Guide which costs $5 a month due to a new deal with USA Today (it was previously $49.95/ month). On top of the advertising opportunities there is also an affiliate program for selling memberships to the guide, pretty standard fare. This is where it gets very interesting: members will have “access to healthcare.” Exactly what level of healthcare provided wasn’t specified, with Blogger & Podcaster simply saying that “this is a big issue for bloggers/podcasters looking to leave their day jobs and go full-time.” Ultimately the devil will be in the detail but immediately every US based blogger who blogs for a living is going to want to look at whatever they are offering; even if it’s a basic healthcare package it’s a whole lot better than having no healthcare coverage in country that (unlike most of the rest of the western world) does not provide universal healthcare.