Amateur Turns Pro Blogger

An interesting story was brought to my attention today by blogger John Easton.  A popular fan blog devoted to all things related to moleskine notebooks and journals, was recently purchased, turning the blogs creator and author into a pro blogger (vs. it being a hobby blog). 

There's a good interview on the Church of the Customer Blog with the blog's (former) owner, Armand Frasco.  Here's just one of the intersting points made about the distinction between being a fan and the company and how that can affect the nature of the blog:

It's interesting that a fan site is acquired by a company associated with that fan's object of evangelism, but how much does it change the idea of amateur fandom and its authenticity?

A:  Simply put, it was a tradeoff between survival of the blog and the dreaded "selling off". Fortunately we have a happy compromise with Kikkerland CEO Jan van der Lande. With a company that deals with designers and other creatives all the time, Jan is committed to respecting the independence of the blog much like Modo & Modo (Moleskine's previous owner) co-founder Francesco Franceschi. Believe it or not, I don't keep mailing lists and addresses and they have not required me start keeping them either.

As in any other dealings in life, as long as there is honesty (disclosure of ownership and purpose in this instance) mutual trust and authenticity will remain. Our audience is among the most creative people I've met and I don't see anything that would keep them from expressing their art and opinions in our blog and affiliated communities.

Just goes to show what can happen when you blog about something you're truly passionate about and build up a loyal community.