Barely four months after launching its own blog, Hellomagazine.com* is inviting readers to “become official hellomagazine.com online bloggers“. I spoke to Online Marketing Manager David Witcomb about the detail behind it:

Why the decision to move into reader blogs so soon after launching the first hellomagazine.com blog?

Our sister site hola.com has a few reader blogs – http://www.hola.com/blogs/ and some have had positive feedback from users. So, hellomagazine.com decided to dip its toes in and see what type of bloggers we could find.

What do you plan to do with the blogs – will they have distinct identities or form a community?

I think they will probably have a separate community area, but will have a consistent design.

What are the commercial considerations in moving into blogs?

I think the launch of our own blog and the move into community-based blogs is a way of making our readers get a bit more involved in the hellomagazine.com brand rather than any initial commercial considerations. These are always on the table, and we are looking into ways of commercialising potential blogs.

Are there any other magazines you think do blogs particularly well – either by readers or journalists?

I like to read the journalism.co.uk and e-consultancy blogs every day. The Guardian set of blogs are also done well. The nme.com blogs are great for new music and mp3’s.

Has the Hello! blog Stilletos at Dawn lived up to expectations?

Stilettos at Dawn was certainly a test, and we get a loyal following every day who want to catch up with Sapphire [Carter-Brown]’s latest tidbits. It’s showing us we can branch out into other areas, without losing our commitment to quality.

Do you plan to make any other moves into user generated content or online community?

I can’t reveal any plans but we are certainly investigating that direction.

*Hellomgagazine.com is part of the larger HELLO! brand, but contains completely separate content to the weekly magazine. The site also syndicates celebrity news to Yahoo! UK & Ireland, Lycos and MSN UK via news widgets.

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