Disqus - Latest Comments for Dedej

Re: 7 Examples of White Feminists Failing Hard At Intersectionality

Dede @ Clutch — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 18:47:05 -0000

Hi Sis,

Thanks for your comment. We rarely do this format - and we are not Essence or MN in terms of traffic and popularity - so therefore - in order to pay for content like this - we have to have SOME articles that offer this format. 98% of our content is single page - but for content such as this article - that is a 'list' format - this suits us best.

I hope you understand - and won't let the format of an article - and a way for our smaller website to earn revenue to produce more original content such as this stop you.

Best,
Dede

Re: African American Esotericism

Dede @ Clutch — Tue, 11 Aug 2015 00:01:32 -0000

Great discussion! I can't wait to pick up my copy. Thank you Erik for interviewing Professor Finley!

Re: CurlyNikki Gets Backlash for Featuring White Woman with Natural Hair

Dede @ Clutch — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:47:26 -0000

Thanks for supporting the site daily! It means more than you can know. I tend to stay in the background a lot and not talk about the ups and downs of running the site. But, I plan on doing editor's letters soon - just to introduce myself to those who are new to Clutch and haven't been with the site since 2007.

But, I have full faith that Clutch, the team and I will be just fine. ;)

Dede

Re: CurlyNikki Gets Backlash for Featuring White Woman with Natural Hair

Dede @ Clutch — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 16:30:09 -0000

this was such a sweet response and I can't say thanks enough for taking the time to write it!

Honestly, it's all in the air - I don't plan on selling or leaving Clutch for a few years - and I want to make sure if I do leave Clutch is in the right hands and mind frame.

On other revenue streams - you are totally right - and I plan on doing that soon.

On the galleries - YES - I know everyone hated the click galleries - and I though the scroll was better - and at this time - it's the only solution we have - when another becomes available that works for us - believe me I will make it happen.

Thanks again for such an encouraging post - it means a lot :)

Dede

Re: CurlyNikki Gets Backlash for Featuring White Woman with Natural Hair

Dede @ Clutch — Tue, 01 Jul 2014 15:42:05 -0000

Sadly I have to agree to a point. I started Clutch almost 13 years ago and been online for over 7 years - and I have to tell you IT IS HARD to run an online website and try to grow at the same time. I don't know about Nikki's struggle - but for me monthly ad revenue is an issue. We run 100% on advertising - so when traffic is not stable or increasing - in depth content is decreasing - as well as unique and upcoming voices/features on the website - because we simply can't afford it.

When your server bill is almost have of what you make - running an online site is more of an extra hobby than a real business. And if we try to get more page views some people say "click bait" or they don't want to scroll to go through the galleries - when those galleries keep this website up and running.

For me - I don't want to sell Clutch - but I am almost 35 years old now - and the instability of owning a content website is getting tiresome.

And for everyone that states - don't sell to the white man - well the "white man" is the only people that have ever approached me to invest or buy the site for a price that it's worth.

Sigh... I could go on... but it's draining to talk about.

But, thanks to everyone who continue to support Clutch and me - cause I have to say it's a daily struggle....

Dede

Re: Which Eyebrow Style Looks Best With Thick-Framed Glasses?

Dede @ Clutch — Thu, 20 Mar 2014 14:44:52 -0000

Very Cute!

Re: Homeless Ohio man's radio voice makes him web star

Dede @ Clutch — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 09:48:12 -0000

What a blessing!

Re: Great News for Startups: comScore Offers FREE Analytics

Dede @ Clutch — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:12:48 -0000

This is dope! So on it!

Re: Standing Ovation: Angela Benton named one of the Most Influential Women in Tech

Dede @ Clutch — Sat, 08 May 2010 00:25:29 -0000

I am so happy to see this. Most people don't know this but Angela is one of my closet friends. I am SO SO SO proud of her. To see her growth from 2007 to now is beautiful. She is one of the most sharpest, prettiest and "I don't play games!" woman I know.

She has taught me so many lessons since I have known her - whether she knows or not. Just being around her and talking to her makes you step up your game not one level but three. I can type forever about this girl but all I can say is if you think what she has done so far is great just get ready for what she has planned next.

Like Jay-Z says ---"So with or without any of your involvement, we coming for all of this, respect my conglomerate" -- She's SO Ambitious.

Love you girl!

Re: Apple Finally Shuts Down Lala

Dede @ Clutch — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:21:46 -0000

NO! I am too mad. Lala is one of my fave sites. I have all my old school gospel collection on the site and I love listening to all type of music. It has lots of rare and hard to find tracks.

Re: The Global Grind and The Practice of Content Scraping

Dede @ Clutch — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:30:02 -0000

I am happy this is being covered as well. I have been a victim of Global Grind's scraping for years. I actually reached out to GG's past owner about this two years ago. I asked him to remove feed and after he tried to school me on RSS feeds and fair use 200 word limit rule (which I didn't need schooling on) -- he removed my feed and I am pretty positive he did. But as soon as he left the company (or stepped down) it happened again and they started scrapping.

It seems like they went down the list of every site big and small and set up their feeds and starting scraping - without knowledge or permission. They also set it up like you the publisher/blogger is submitting your links to them - which is not true. They need to understand - our sites are our businesses and they pay our bills, site fees and our writers - and to just disregard that to take content we put time and money into and not rightfully pay or get permission or do a correct link back --- when you have funding and we do not - it's not cool and just wrong.

About two days ago when this story dropped I emailed GG and called them out on Twitter through my personal account and someone got back to me in less than 30 mins and removed my feed and content. I am thankful and I hope they don't try this mess again.

How about hiring some writers or setting up real content partnerships or content syndication deals. Help the community and sites you have taken from for such a long time. It's a shame and that's why I don't support GG and won't until I start seeing some major changes

Re: HoneyMag.com Parent Company Reports $6.7M Net Loss

Dede @ Clutch — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:09:08 -0000

I hate that Clutch has been brought into this. But, Chris as the founder of Clutch - we are not stagnant. Our google traffic reports 200K+ plus 475-610K pageviews per month. We have had major growth over the last two years.

I wish Honey the best and I agree their is a space for them. But, to play down my growth with no funding and REALLY hard work is not the look. Clutch will triple and has tripled our revenue in the last two years. All without one cent. Thanks for including me and Clutch in this discussion- but please make sure you are correct.

Re: Apple Tablet Rumors: The Breakdown

Dede @ Clutch — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:07:40 -0000

I gotta have this.

Re: Black Media, Instead of Mimicking Blogs Why not just Acquire?

Dede @ Clutch — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:44:38 -0000

So true. I am not sure a lot of them get that though. But, still this is a great article and truthfully a lot of us would be very open to this idea. If they don't we will all do something together soon and give them a run for their money. JMO

Re: Audio: Interview with Vibe’s Chief Content Officer Danyel Smith

Dede @ Clutch — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:43:55 -0000

I agree 100% with Veronica. Though it is a void in print, it doesn't seem smart to try to fill that void at this time, especially with the host of popular online portals covering it so well. I would think they would at least wait until the rocky times in print are over or worked out before launching something else in print.

The Twitter question by Angela is very on-point. Most of us that work online [and live and breathe online as well] find out about things right as they happen or few moments after.

Example: Lala Vazquez cuts her hair like Cassie - we know via her TwitPic and post immediately - by the time "The Most" in print gets it it's old news and I could care less about their take when I heard 10 takes from online destinations already. Now, take that same scenario and do it for "The Most" online - it's faster, shows they are relevant and are up on what's happening in the world of entertainment/gossip. But as Veronica stated, it's about connections.

If I love the way Sandra Rose writes or Natasha from YBF I am going to go hear her take on news and gossip daily cause I like the way and tone she reports [ you also have to remember we as black people pick favorites easily. Almost like picking sides]. And for me it makes me want to give her my traffic/impressions over Vibe cause I know she started out of love and to fill a void as well and she came up from nothing to something online.

I do think the print industry is overly protective and defensive when it comes to this conversation and I really think they need to just let go and let change happen. Print will always be here - true. But, in our demo we are not buying mags like that. So if your audience is not supporting you like they use to via buying a print magazine then you have to find a way to keep them and whether they want admit it or not - it's online. I think they are getting caught up in paper and the money that comes from print ads [ understandable but not proactive and smart].

It's also VERY funny to me how most print executives/employees look down on "blogs" - "oh they are just a blog" - but they are on our sites daily and we are their feeders for content and ideas. Now, they have to become one of us and they still want to bring a print mind state into a very different game.

I would think advertisers would know better. Yes Vibe is a tried and trusted brand/outlet, but the [the advertisers] have to know they get more brand visibility, campaign results, feedback and ROI when advertising online. But, that's another issue via the multicultural black agency/media planner.

My two cents....

Re: The New Global Grind…Not so much about You

Dede @ Clutch — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:19:33 -0000

I kinda have to agree with "It's Ova Hova". I am just disappointed that Russell keeps throwing up redesigns that are not helping with what he really wants to do with the site. I do think they are surrounding themselves with people who say they "get it" but truly don't.

One of the main issues with GG and Russell I see is they think they audience cares about celebs more than the content. The celebrity bloggers are cool, but I don't think that is what will bring folks to the site and will keep them there. Yeah, it's a perk, but not what a lot of people care about - IMO.

I think they need to do some deep research on their audience wants and needs and start to implement after truly getting it. Also, I really wish they would not use dark colors like the Black on the home page - it makes sites so depressing to me. They have a lot of space on the bottom of the home page too.

I cringe when I see people with sites that don't know how to connect with their audience or know how to present content in the proper way for their audience to connect to it. I think GG and Russell is looking at anyone they think has a "hot" site and copying and trying to implement their strategies and if they dont' know by now, it's not a good look and won't work.

Re: Bob Johnson Speaks on Urban Television (Part 1)

Dede @ Clutch — Sat, 02 May 2009 02:51:01 -0000

Yup - I am in Atlanta too - he went to Morehouse right? Not sure though.

I don't really like widgets - I presonally don't use them on my site, unless it is something I had to post. But, most publishers I know don't have widgets on there site. If you do see them they are on blogs - but I can't say I have actually clicked any. Also lots of publishers don't have a place on their site for it, unless its in a post. I can't and wont place a widget on my site the need is not there and my design of my site don't allow for it.

The only widget I have put on my site was a CNN Electorial WIdget for he election last year and that was a post on our daily news blog and I knew my audience wanted it. And if you notice, one these publishers grow and get a professional designed site - the widgets get dropped.

Since we are talking about it - I would love to know how our demo uses widgets, as well as a report from bloggers that have widgets - meaning do the ones they use or are placed on other sites really bring in traffic. Any research on this?

As for your platform using them [widgets] - I have never seen a widget for a video site so I don't know how they would work (meaning a video based site - with a widget with links to drive traffic back.

The one thing that comes to my mind is why would I place a widget on my site to drive traffic to another site - for me it has to be two reasons - it's a online friend that I want to support and help or I LOVE the sites content and want to share it with everyone, but even then I wouldn't put a widget I would just present it to our readers.

In my opinion a widget does not bring any value to my readers. Also for me - if I don't like the content - then I am not going to put it in front of my audience - it's like I would be cosigning or supporting a product I am not in love it or back.

Articles on Widgets:
http://www.businessweek.com...
http://chiefmarketer.com/Ch...

My advice is get the design and content together, as well as get your traffic to a point where you have a big following then introduce the widget - cause they seem to only work for sites with a big following and the big sites are not using them to drive traffic - they are creating them as add-ons for their advertisers to help them (the ad client) to get visibility for a campaign or application - but if you are using this for brand visibility and traffic - I honestly don't see this strategy working.

Also, I hope you are not thinking of this widget as a affliate or ad network - meaning if a publisher puts in on their site you pay them or something. Cause that sounds kinda different and different in a bad way. Your target "Premium Publishers" will see this coming a mile away and it won't get any traction. In this day and age when publishers get approached by companies trying to do this daily - you won't get your foot in the door before you hear "no thanks".

Traffic and visiibilty can't be bought ---well it can for a little while --- but if the product is not where it needs to be when they show up you risk the chance of them never coming back or giving your brand the time of day again.

I'm no expert though...really...

Re: Bob Johnson Speaks on Urban Television (Part 1)

Dede @ Clutch — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:09:06 -0000

Thanks again - cool. I actually know Stanley with Broken Curve/Dime Wars - great guy! But, that is not what I am looking for either as a viewer and new media enthusiast. Basically, I want a full network online that is high quality of shows for our demo/audience. I think no one has tried to do it on a high quality level and actually try to work with directors/writers/producers like Mara Brock Akil, Chris Rock and others all at one time to bring there ideas and shows to a specific online channel - meaning like a black HULU. If you look at their model - it's shows and clips from shows - I would love to know if they cancel a show like “Girlfriends” or "The Game" I know It will be picked up or still run online only. That is what I would like to see.

When you say "widgets" do you mean that the video is embeddable on other sites? Or are you saying that a viral widget showing the content from the site that lives on other sites to direct traffic?

Stanley is just trying to get any content in there - yeah it's cool content - but not what I would be checking for. Same for Africast - cool - but nothing something I would go crazy over. The outlet needs to be something that will cause a crazy following and in my eyes bringing new and old successful shows will get things rolling quickly and create quite the following.

Re: Bob Johnson Speaks on Urban Television (Part 1)

Dede @ Clutch — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:07:03 -0000

Thanks for responding! That's great to see but "Africast" is not what I am visualizing when I think of a black HULU. The concept is great and I will support, but the quality level is not there yet. Also, I don't see if pulling in to many visitors mainly because of the content and the design. I think if someone comes up with a quality site with a great design and user interface with new pilots that Hollywood wouldn't pick up and shows that got cancelled such as Girlfriends - it will do very well - very very well.

Re: Moguldom Media Group, more than just Gossip Blogs

Dede @ Clutch — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:19:57 -0000

Great feature! I had the pleasuring of meeting Marve and she was very sweet and sharp. Congrats to Moguldom and their team :) Also, I happy that the rumor of them not being black is put to rest.

Re: Bob Johnson Speaks on Urban Television (Part 1)

Dede @ Clutch — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:11:19 -0000

One thing I see among lots of old media heads is they stay aligned with old media companies - such as Essence and Ebonyjet instead of new people that are new and next up.

I would think they should do a black or multicultural HULU (www.hulu.com) - that would be the best move. Or go back and get black shows that were very popular - Girlfriends, Martin, and other new pilots that can't get picked up by mainstream and support them and bring them on. That would bring lots of fans and respect in my opinion - but I am not a TV head - so I don't know...

Making people pay for streaming videos for anything - no go.

Also, I find it's interesting to say it's open to all how can do the "rate card" - but most small/mid size publishers wont be able to afford it. Also, it's not that easy to get sponsors - ad agencies like old media - only want to work and back established brands or publishers - so this seems like the same ole with the same 5 brands with money. But, I will support and see what happens.

Re: Real Black may Own ALL your Ad Inventory

Dede @ Clutch — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:17:12 -0000

just crazy....

Re: How Not to Run Ad Network

Dede @ Clutch — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:34:18 -0000

Great..Cause I hate conversing with know-it-all's. But, thanks for trying to drop some knowledge. I do appreciate that.

This was fun! (cheese and a wink)

xoxo, Dede

Re: How Not to Run Ad Network

Dede @ Clutch — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:59:33 -0000

@ Black Ad Guy - you have truly made my day! LOL - thanks so much.

Well - thanks so much for your comment and response. One thing I can assure is you wont see my resume there (kinda spoiled) and I will do everything in my power to try to keep my online family off there as well. See - that's the difference here - I like to educate and uplift those going through this mess.

As I stated earlier - I am with an agency - Black Rock Digital. As far as your recent ad buy - no worries there. If someone or a brand doesn't recognize me or my brand - then the lost is not mine. I can pretty much only speak for myself - but I would rather continue to keep my current lifestyle and goals/mission for Clutch/Cullen then to get an ad buy from someone or a brand that is questioning it or it's potential.

The sad thing here Mr. Ad Guy is why you are boasting your most recent ad buy - there are others out there that could benefit from it. As for "pretty" and happy Dede (that I am - thanks) I am happy to stick in there for the long haul.

I just hope your resume doesn't cross my desk one day - cause - I wouldn't wanna test that out - cause my client roster wouldn't want old thoughts and ways on my team making outdated decisions.

But, seriously - if you wanna talk to me - it's dsutton@clutchmagazine.com. (wink, wink)

As for my family - Nova, Afrobella, BlackWeb, Gina, Brown Sista, Black and Married with Kids and others - don't worry - you will get there with or without them. Don't compromise yourself or your mission for some money.

Re: How Not to Run Ad Network

Dede @ Clutch — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:36:48 -0000

Also, if you are talking about Adgroups ...lol - we have all been there and done that. Not an option.