Dan Cote with YourLocalBlog.com

Dan, thanks for doing this interview with me. Can you share a little bit about the inspiration that went into creating YourLocalBlog.com?

The genesis of the concept for YourLocalBlog came about in late March 2008 when I realized there were no blog networks designed specifically for hyperlocal content. There were local blog directories, and plenty of local blogs, but there was something missing – maps! So the next step was to figure out how to utilize Google maps to make it easy to navigate local blogs.

In addition, we knew that blogs are a powerful business-building tool, but that local businesses were by and large not utilizing blogs because there was no easy way for their target customers to find them. Blogs might make it easy for businesses to sell their wares across the globe, but there was no local blog network that made it easy for businesses to connect with local customers. The local business blogs that existed were basically floating out in the blogosphere on networks that were built around topic, not location.

By November 2008 we began beta testing the website and at that time it was called www.YourCommunityBlog.com. The website continued to be refined and received a major redesign during the last 4 months of 2009. With a new design and a more descriptive domain name, www.YourLocalBlog.com launched on January,11 2010.

How do you see local blogs playing a role in this hyperlocal revolution?

There are many different ways hyperlocal is being approached – news aggregators, physical location check-ins (Foursquare, Gowalla, etc.), even Twitter allows you to indicate your location. Facebook is considering entering the location game but they first have to get a handle on their privacy issues. On the other hand, local blogs are a secure way to talk about your community. It’s more secure than letting the world know exactly where you’re located at any given time. I personally don’t want to be socially stalked. I think a better way to approach location is to write about the places you’ve been to or seen, not let the world know where you are at any given time. Of course, you can turn off geolocation on mobile devices, but there are still serious privacy and safety issues to consider.

I see hyperlocal blogs as one piece of a much larger hyperlocal landscape.

What types of services is your company focusing on that might be different than say blogger.com?

Blogger.com is built around topic not built around location. Our bloggers can indicate the location of their blog. Businesses that blog may simply indicate the location of their storefront and in doing so they are able to reach out to local customers. A local chamber of commerce can create a blog to talk about the local community and talk about local events. Additionally, users on our network can easily geo-tag their blog posts onto both the global stories map and their individual stories map.

We’re also currently beta testing the best design for a coupon system that would allow premium bloggers to display their coupon or ad on free blogs within a 50-mile radius. This would encourage bloggers to subscribe to the service and give businesses a very convenient, affordable way to promote special offers to their community.

Do you guys have a specific geographic region for launching YourLocalBlog.com or can anyone anywhere do it?

The Map is global, so anyone anywhere can start a new blog and add it to the map or add an existing blog to our network.

Instead of focusing on specific geographic areas, we’re going to start targeting specific types of users that would find the most value, such as Realtors, small businesses, local organizations, professionals (lawyers, doctors), etc.

Do you have any type of monetization models that will help local bloggers make money for their hyperlocal blogging?

Bloggers will primarily make money by promoting their business in a more effective manner to their local community. They could offer ad space on their blog if they’d like, but this is really not the focus of our approach.

When someone becomes a premium blogger on our network for $20/year, their coupon/ad will automatically appear on the free (non-premium) blogs within 50 miles. So it’s a very inexpensive way to distribute their coupons/ads and get people to read their blog. This type of local advertising is more relevant to readers because it is locally focused. They might see an coupon/ad for a local pizza place and be interested in reading about that restaurant and want to find out more about the people who operate the business on a more personal level.

How is technology going to reshape the future in regards to hyperlocal?

I believe technology is going to play a major role in helping people get better connected with their local communities. Hyperlocal websites will help people discover the people, places and businesses in their local area. It will empower people to find and connect with others who have similar goals and interests. Local businesses will develop and maintain online presences that reach out to their local area. Local events and stories will make a splash even if the local media outlets don’t choose to cover an issue. I believe local news will become more focused on user-generated content from local residents. The emergence of hyperlocal media will most likely transform local newspapers and TV stations as well. You can already see the evolution occurring when you see Twitter quoted on CNN and their use of video (iReports).

Best local blog you have read in the last month?

The Hand in Hand with Haiti blog at www.YourLocalBlog.com/hhh is quite inspiring. It’s a blog for a church in St. Petersburg, FL that has been very involved with helping a local church in Haiti that was badly damaged in the earthquake. They’ve used their blog to share their story with their congregation. So they’re using their community blog to help a community that’s a thousand miles away.

What advice would you offer new local bloggers getting into the hyperlocal blogging game?

The toughest thing when you start blogging is to help people find your blog. That’s what great about our network. It’s easy to find it because it appears geographically on a map. Even if you’d rather use WordPress or Blogger to utilize their features, you can still add that blog to our map. Also, make sure to syndicate your blog content out to Twitter and Facebook. For example, twitterfeed.com allows you to automatically post your blog content to Twitter. And Facebook also allows you to import content from an external blog. Hyperlocal bloggers shouldn’t ignore the massive Facebook and Twitter audiences. Your blog provides the perfect homebase for your long-form content, but don’t forget to syndicate it to the large social networks because that’s where your readers are.

What keeps readers coming back to a blog again and again?

Entertaining, relevant content. Even if you’re starting a blog to promote your business, you shouldn’t really sell – you should share. After all people do business with people they like and trust. A blog is a great way to build this relationship. So talk about the things you’re passionate about.

And make sure it’s easy for people to receive updates. Add a Feedburner email subscription link to the sidebar. Lots of people don’t really understand how to use RSS, but everyone knows how to enter their email address for updates. So everytime you make a post, it will be delivered to your readers and they’ll be reminded of your blog.

Any last comments or messages for our readers?
If you’ve already got a hyperlocal blog, add it to our blog map! It’s a great way to drive traffic to your blog. We’re going to be reaching out to hyperlocal bloggers over the next few months, so our map/directory is going to grow into a great one-stop resource to easily find hyperlocal blogs based in any area of the world.

Visit www.YourLocalBlog.com today to get started.