Real Talk NY is the premiere blog for the latest in new music, fashion, and hip hop culture. Created by Nigel Degraff, the site is a part of the Rawkus network and averages 30,000 unique visitors a day, raking in over 18 million hits in a little under two years.So what is his secret to success?

Nigel sat down with The Urban Blogger and gave the inside scoop on what made his blog successful as well as tips on advertising and advice for the new blogger.

How long has your blog been up and running?
The site was started on blogger in August of 2006. I had been working at Pfizer in the document services office and was out of a job due to outsourcing so I had some free time on my hand and started my blog. I was still in college too

When you first started, what was the focus of your blog and has it changed since then?
When I first started I imagined the site just being about me expressing my thoughts on various topics, hence the name, “Real Talk.” But as things went on I focused more on having news and posting video clips and pics from concerts.

You mentioned when you first started you were on blogger, when did decide to move to wordpress?
I made the decision to move to wordpress about a year into things. I wanted more flexibility and to host the site myself. I noticed the bigger blogs were using wordpress and it looked more organized

Your site has great numbers (about 30,000 uniques daily) how did you take your blog from a a few hundred hits to millions of hits? What was your marketing strategy etc?
The question every person makes sure to ask me, how did I get the hits in such a short period of time with no money behind a major marketing plan. Well you have to be consistent and you have to have something unique to offer. Most blogs have the same exact news, some will just post it first, but it is still the same news. So I feel you got to do something unique to stand out. I had a lot of my own video and pictures from major events that helped build traffic and plus I was consistently updating the site 24/7. You got to try and build good relationships with other blogs and comment on other blogs when your first starting, and promote anwhere you can online, myspace, facebook, The Urban Blogger community (Not on RealTalkNY I will delete it).

Is Real Talk NY a single person operation or do you have a team of writers?
I do most of the posting as you can see if you check the site. Most posts are by Nigel Degraff. I do have people on the team that help out with posting like Prince Joseph (TX), Ali Kohzad (Cali),Samir Saddiq (Album reviews), Micheal Partis (NY, Editorials), Bari (Editorials), and Heather once in a while. But the bulk still is me which is a hassle. So I am looking to add people for consistent posting. I was trying to holla at you but you out of my price range, you trying to make a brother go bankrupt

Well, I always say if you don’t know your worth, someone will put a price tag on you. We could have negotiated.
I don’t know Necole you trying to buy some Gucci of me

[laughs] So what exactly are you looking for in a staff writer?
People that can post consistently at set times during the day so I don’t always got to be near a computer. Someone that’s on top of Hip Hop culture and new music. I already got like 40 emails I need to go through. I just hope people are not expecting crazy money.(like Necole)

When you were first starting out, what blogs were around at that time and where you inspired by any?
When I first started I heard about Concreteloop and their stats looked crazy to me. They definitely inspired me to keep working hard and showed how big a blog can get. As far as Hip Hop there was Nahright and a few others. But none of them impressed me, I always thought these people aren’t doing anything I can’t do. Even looking at AllHipHop and Sohh I thought that what they are doing isn’t impossible for me to do

Did Sohh and Allhiphop have blogs back then or is that something they started recently?
Before I even started the site I met the owner of AllHipHop Jigsaw. I was asking him how to get started with a site. He was like I should get started with them. So I hollered at them but they only wanted me as a photographer. And after a while it became pointless to me since I wasn’t getting paid and not doing anything more than taking pics. I worked with them a few months, while I had RealTalkNY going. But got tired of going to events that ended up flopping and having to pay for a cab home. I figured I might as well do it for myself. But I respect everything AllHipHop has established and their longevity. I saw Jigsaw the other day and he gave me props on my site, so I know they check the site out.

You turned a hobby into a career. How do you make money off of your blog?
Well my first year I probably lost money when I factor in all the equipment, cab fare and hosting. But then I did a deal with the Rawkus network in August 2007 and started making some real money

What equipment are you referring to?
Video camera, camera, tripod, laptop

Since you brought equipment to make your site pop like you wanted it, what type of investments would you recommend for the new blogger?
RealTalkNY was built a regular camera. I did video interview with it, took pics and even recorded audio from phone interviews with it. So just start off with that and you cover all the basics. I was ghetto as hell, I interviewed Sean Kingson with a regular camera and held it in my hand for the whole interview. The video still got over 100k views on youtube

Back to advertising, where do you make the most revenue?
The money I make is from Rawkus controlling some of my ads, like the top header and a side ad. I make some side money with google adsense (if you have no traffic you should not expect a lot), Blogads, Textlinkads, selling ad space, and taking money to feature artist. Adbrite was good for a while then fell off hard. Amazon affiliates wasn’t making anything for me

So do you advise a beginning blogger to start off with google ads or do you think they should just focus on content?
I suggest you might as well start advertising from the start. Just don’t make your page flooded with ads to the point it slows down the page. People will be annoyed and won’t come back. So start with adsense and adbrite and let the pennies add up. Just put the ads up and dont check your account everyday, and one day you will just get checks in the mail. I set mine to get a check when it hits a hundred and kept on blogging

Some people peg bloggers as the new radio and television personalities? How do you feel about this and do you think it will take over traditional media like publications etc?
Things hit the blogs before anything else these days, from music videos to songs. I will post a music video and see it premiere on 106th and Park a week later. It’s to the point where TV shows are now reporting news from blogs and blogs are getting their own shows. The integration between television and the Internet will only continue until they become one That’s why every TV station promotes their website now. Blogs are the new way to get your news. Its easy to read and quick to be updated. All the big sites are now incorporating blogs into their system.

So with that being said, Perez Hilton is negotiating an A&R deal through Warner Brothers, how do you feel about that?
Good for him, milk his blog for all its worth. I think they just gave him the deal because of his name. I don’t know if he will make any great business moves, but who knows. I don’t check his site so I don’t know how music oriented it is. Seems like it’s more about gossip, so why would he be an A&R? Again I don’t know what past experience the man has or his capabilities so if they want to give him a deal they must have some good reason for it.

I honestly think the label is looking at it in the same way a radio station has the ability to break an artist. Perez Hilton gets millions of readers a day to his blog. When he endorses an artist, he sends millions of people to their myspace page or website to check them out or what have you. So in a traditional sense, when people are pegging blogs as the new media it makes a bit more sense when you look at it that way.

The question is will that lead to album sales. We got artist with millions of myspace friend not selling.

Yes, if you take in consideration that study that measured Myspace friends against blog posts. More blog posts = higher album sales

Not sure how valid that is, Fat Joe had a lot of blog post with this 50 beef he had.

I don’t think it’s fair to measure the blog posts centered around Fat Joe as they weren’t meant to promote Fat Joe’s album. They were revolved around a beef.

Rick Ross didnt have that much and came in number 1

That is true but I think at the end of the day you are underestimating the impact that blogs have. You know, someone sent me an email recently and said “I just went out and brought Erykah Badu’s new album. I haven’t seen one video from her on television, I haven’t heard her record on the radio but I went out and brought that record off of what I saw on the blogs”. And that right there is a beautiful thing…What are some of the lessons you have learned about the blogging game since you started?

If your going to do it you need to make sure you are always updating your site. Your readers are very impatient and will get at you quickly if you start slipping. You should start with no expectations make money, because most likely you won’t for a while everybody has the same news so try to be first and do some unique things. People react quickly to any changes and will make sure to voice their opinion, so you always got to keep an open ear to the readers and let them know what’s going on

What is your prediction for the future of blogs?
I think everybody will have a blog and there will be a few that stand out and get all the hits. All the major sites will have blogs, at least the ones that don’t have one already. The future of blogs will be ad networks that group together the best blogs and run ads on them. So the future will be a company like Rawkus, taking the best blogs and bringing them under one umbrella

Where do you see Real Talk NY in five years?
RealTalkNY should be doing big things and I don’t think you should compare it to other blogs. Cause really I do alot more then other blogs. I actually go out to events and take my own pics. I do my own interviews etc. So I hope to incorporate more originial ideas on the site and branch into other things. It’s weird because some events don’t allow me access but give access to sites that don’t get half the traffic so its important to brand your name and get it out there

Speaking of, have you had any ground breaking interviews?
I don’t know if I would call any of them ground breaking. The biggest interview was easily 50 Cent. You don’t see any blog getting a video interview with an artist that big. I feel over the last few months the site has been getting a lot more recognition. Getting interviews with artist like Lupe Fiasco, Soulja Boy, Fat Joe etc. It’s always great to interview an artist that actually visits the site like Bow Wow, Estelle etc.

Any closing advice that you may not have covered?
My advice is simple. Pick a niche and stick to it. Be the first or one of the first to post every major news story and give your opinion on it but nothing to major. Then work on promoting and adding unique features to the site. Unique content can also be editorials, give your random thoughts on things that people can relate too. I see a lot of sites compare what people are wearing or ask who would they rather tap [laughs]. Just something that wont be seen anywhere else but your site. Like I do a Saturday night vixen post. So when will you be RealTalkNY’s saturday night vixen?

Nigel Don’t start… Anything else?

Don’t expect to get interviews for a while, but when you get your traffic up start contacting marketing companies like Cornerstone and ThinkTank for interviews with some artists. Go to local concerts and sneak you camera in, network and make business cards. Even if you have 5 people a day visiting your site, present your site like its getting millions. And always remember, one thing with the internet is, it is not always about the traffic but how you present your site.

You can contact Nigel at RealTalkny@gmail.com

Check out his Urban Blogger Profile

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