Full time blogging- day 1
Today is the first day of the rest of my life. OK, that’s a pretty old cliche but like many of them it rings true in this case. I should start off by thanking all of the good folks who have reached out since the announcement went live that jkOnTheRun has joined the GigaOM world. The outpouring of thanks and well-wishes has been monumental and very touching. The great community here is one of the major reasons that Om Malik wanted us in his family so rest assured you played a big role in this for us.
Since today is my first day as a professional blogger it makes sense to share some of the thoughts I have about how I will approach this. I am a heavy mobile tech user and that will not change as that is who I am at the basest of levels. Today started like any other if you count getting 150+ emails overnight normal. It seems I heard from everyone I know about the big GigaOM deal and it’s been great.
My early morning routine has changed since I picked up the iPhone 3G, and I feel it’s for the better. The first thing I do each morning is catch up with my email followed by tracking my RSS feeds for items that interest me that appeared overnight. The iPhone 3G has become my go-to device for those two chores because it handles it so well. Even with the deluge of email waiting for me this morning I sped through them all on the iPhone in just a short time. I responded when necessary and spun through the rest with ease while sitting in my comfy chair in the living room. True mobility at work. I then opened up Google Reader on the iPhone and hit my RSS feeds. The iPhone interface that Google has developed for Reader is masterful and I was able to spin through hundreds of items in short order. I tapped the star for items to save for later or tapped the article title for those I wanted to read right then. Google Reader for the iPhone opens the article inline when I do that so reading quick items is much faster than on the desktop version. It is simply masterful how they have made this mobile version work. I was able to spin through things quickly even though I was reading more items inline than I usually do because so many of them dealt with our deal with GigaOM. I am amazed at how big this news was considered in the tech world.
Once I finished my RSS feeds I got me a bowl of fresh fruit for breakfast and made the commute to the office. Even though it was pouring rain, a gift from Hurricane Dolly, the commute to my office took 10 seconds. That’s the joy of blogging full-time. 
Speaking of Hurricane Dolly, where did that come from? I’ve been so heads down with this blog deal that I totally missed it was coming! This commute is the real beauty of being a blogger. I will be assessing how my change in work affects my current technology strategy and I will share that process with you over time as it unfolds.
I have been a reader here for a long time now and am super excited for you. This sounds like great news, and I am excited to see just what you can do as a full-time blogger, especially since the blog and podcast were already great to start with.
Now that you have “full-time” the sky is the limit! Keep up the great work and congrats!
Welcome to the world of full time blogging
Yeah the commute can be a pain.
Steve, last100.com
Congratulation on joining with gigaom, but what i don’t understand is the part of the full time blogging, you mean you work 4-8 hours per day and you only work on your blog and nothing else? Because I don’t know if any blogger could survive with 9000-10000 visitors per month. Don’t want to come off like an negative comment, I just think people should not make mistakes when they go “full time or pro blogging”. I receive about 150.000 to 170.000 page views per month and I still am struggling with going pro, that means leaving my work and do blogging for living if you know what I mean.
Anyways I am happy to hear the news
Without getting into any details we are now employed by GigaOM for blogging full time. And our traffic is a little bit bigger than the numbers you mentioned.
Will you be getting the new hardtop C70 convertable then James?
Seriously though, congratulations!
I already check this page multiple times a day with you guys only working part-time. If you’re creating content all day, I may become a full-time blog reader.
Congratulations! I am very happy that you and Kevin are realizing your dream.
Sellout! Sellout! Sellout!
Hey, I’m just repeating what your HTC Advantage just emailed me as it watched you use the *iPhone 3G* instead of *it* for your AM routine. I KNEW this would happen. So I repeat: “Where is your HTC Advantage now, Kendrick?” HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
>>>Will you be getting the new hardtop C70 convertable then James?
You fool. He’ll be getting a SMART CAR now. You expect him to change his Fiendish ways?!
Congrats, James. Was wondering when this would finally happen for you guys. Well-deserved.
greg
I am fascinated that you seem to prefer your phone for your morning tasks. Why would you choose to read e-mail etc. on a tiny screen when a large screen is feet away? Is this part of your evaluation of your phone or do you really prefer the small screen?
Again I try to warn an uninterested and slumbering world of the Kendrick Threat!!
http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/james-kendrick-is-a-cheap-sell-out/
Hmm, now that you guys are working for the man, it all seems so obvious. I mean, Om likes to use a cartoon caricature of himself on his blog, and well, so you do guys…it all makes sense now.
did you go poopy too? what did kinda of cereal did you have? brush your teeth yet?
*yawn*
Congratulations to both you and Kevin, James! I am very jealous of your commute.
Jason, I agree Google reader for iphone is very well implemented and great on the road, but I still prefer a laptop or tablet pc with larger screen at home. What aspect of iPhone makes you use it over 2710p to read rss?
did you go poopy too? what did kinda of cereal did you have? brush your teeth yet?
*yawn*
Posted by: Principial | July 23, 2008 at 09:24 AM
so does this mean the site will become more professional now? no more stupid blogs about burritos & coffee houses?
hopefully so, because i have been losing great interest in this site recently as James really seems to post alot of “filler” material. i have always been use to Kevin doing that.
Posted by: Akin | July 23, 2008 at 09:19 AM
Hmmm, same lack of capitali(s)zation, posted minutes apart, both trolling comments yet different names? How strange, it’s like it’s the same person but it can’t possibly be because the names are different.
You know, one thing that typifies the guys here on JKOTR and also over at GBM, and indeed most of the commentors on both sites, are the maturity and good humo(u)r of the particapents and I know of few other forums where the jerk ratio is so low. By all means make comments about how you feel about the site but Kevin and James do nothing to deserve ill mannered and immature comments, especially from those who can’t even give a real name.
Congratulations to you both. I have enjoyed your blog for two years and am glad you guys are being rewarded properly.
now that you are no longer with big oil, how are we going to get thous real world experiences and effectiveness, usability, challenges, etc. of all these devices?
btw i now see thous comments and i have to say that i did love very much the cereal post and would like to see more personal posts like it on different topics, a lot of us using advanced mobility are also human and would relate.
I agree with solomon, hopefully you guys aren’t going to be like the tom cat whom you have snipped and then spends all day on top of the TV staring at you… instead of testing the latest traffic aware GPS routing via an all too familiar run to Fedex to get the latest shiny shiny they wouldn’t leave at the door (and don’t we all know that mad rush) you guys will be introducing new characters here since you’ll now know your Fedex delivery agents by their first names right?
Congrats! Hopefully someday we will all be able to do this and ‘retire’ from the Man’! haha
I too agree with the comments above. Why should we care about your cereal post? It seems as if Om picked JKOntherun for a staff and not the site itself. So are you both getting health benefits? I know you dont want to disclose but I think it is very misleading to say you were purchased.. It seems as you were aquired to work for Om. So I think the post should be JKONtheRun now employed by OhMedia?
Excellent. Congrats. Happy to hear the commute is short and I hope the view from the office is awesome.
I have to admit that this change concerns me greatly. One of my favorite aspects of your blog was your job with big oil, and how it forced your devices to succeed on their merits. I would love to see over the next few weeks a progression of how you can adjust your new routine to still provide valuable field testing. I am happy for you and your new commute, but I remain concerned that you have just become a less demanding mobile user.
Congrats for both of you.
Like Mark and Solomon, I’m concerned about your mobile experience and your unique consumer/candid point of view.
But you don’t live in Silicon Valley, it’s a relief
Paul, we were purchased and no, we will not disclose the terms of the deal. It’s just not done.
Ok so I was right you became employees of Om Media. Looking at Kevins post it clearly states they are providing you with benefits therefore becaame employees of Om. Shocking since many sites who get purchased never get health benefits..
Either way congrats on your new employer.. For me I wouldnt have sold my time to blog for someone else as you become a slave to the ads! Om is going to expect clicks and pageviews. If you do not provide that you will be eliminated.
Paul, the slave to ads is far worse for independent bloggers than those who do it professionally for folks like GigaOM. Believe me, we’ve been doing that for years and it’s very tough.
For those concerned about you giving up the Big Oil job and not being able to “field test” devices, I will freely offer up my services to test any devices that you want to send me (I’ll even sign a NDA) to try in “the wild”.
Check out Byline in the App Store you will love it!
All I can say is Congrats and keep up the great work you’re doing
must be nice to have wives willing to take over “wearing the pants” in the family while you guys get to write & avoid having to get real jobs. my wife would never do anything like that for me.
i know a few columnists & like they say in the industry “itza lazy living”. but thats also why the journalism field dont get paid the big bucks (except for the few notables, which are more celebrity than actual journalists i.e. Barbara Walters).
it’s something i had considered doing in my later years, but personally have issues being viewed as a “slacker” by my fellow peers. i have managed to get a few articles printed in national magazines but it doesnt really count since it was related to my real job.
@TeraBracet I’d love to be a slacker when I grow up. PS I’ve never met a professional blogger who worked less than 40 hrs/wk.
So what happens to JK’s forays to Starbucks?! Would Om consider that slacking? (If so, he grabbed the wrong guy! Ha!) Good luck.
Congratulations to what seems to be a great development for you guys! You have been giving us top quality information for a long time now, and I am happy to see that this is paying off for you. Keep up the good work, and my best wishes for future success!!!