TypePad's Growing Pains
10/27/2005
As blogs become more integrated in business strategies the platforms that we use become increasingly important. As Tris Hussey puts it, "...for many of us blogs are mission critical parts of our marketing, communication and daily life."
On Business Blog Consulting Tris Hussey, Debbie Weil, Paul Chaney and Rich Brooks are discussing the results of what maybe TypePad's too rapid growth; also read what Marianne Richmond at Resonance Partnership has to say. Here's Diva Marketing's story.
Diva Marketing is built on TypePad. I did a lot of research before
choosing six apart's (TypePad's parent company) hosted weblog product. I wanted a simple
interface, easy to use formatting and linking with the ability to
trackback. I also wanted to track metrics. Since I'm a small business,
reasonable cost was on the list too. And I wanted a hosted solution.
I also looked at the company itself e.g., how long had it been
around; what were people's take on the service; was it a pure start-up
or was there a bit of a track record. After reviewing a bunch of
solutions and talking with a few people it seemed that TypePad would
meet most of my needs. I've since recommended TypePad to friends and clients.
six apart has reaped the benefits of being one of the first to market in the blog solution space. However, it has not come without its share of growing pains; and as often is the case with growth that seems not to be planned, it's at the expense of its customers.
Over the past couple of weeks TypePad seems to be playing more like a yoyo. It has gone up and down numerous times without warning. Customers have not been able to access their blog posts (was that a scary moment!), and just yesterday when I tried to pull up the site nothing came up. Nothing. Not even a splash page telling me not to freak.
If we've learned one thing in the blogopshere it's that the Godfather was wrong. Business is personal. six apart as one of the leaders in this emerging industry shame on you for putting customers last. Rich sums it up, "Whether TypePad is going to be part of the solution for business bloggers or an also-ran will be determined by how they respond to their current problems."
This is not a whine session but a gentle wake up or the parade will pass you by message. This space is becoming more competitive by the nano second. Remember the dot com bust and take heed.
Lessons Learned: Growth without a plan that includes customer communications can cost you significantly in terms of good will and lost customers.
Next - If we can only get the pings and tags to work! Technorati what's the deal?
Technorati: sixapart + typepad
