This is a really interesting New York Times profile on Jared Eng, the guy behind the immensely popular celebrity gossip blog Just Jared. While I don't follow the site regularly, I'm certainly aware of it -- but I had no idea the guy running it was a 28-year-old Chinese American guy from Queens: Nice-Guy Bloggers Needn't Finish Last.
In a web landscape littered with mean-spirited gossip sites, Just Jared has earned a massive audience and a lot of celebrity cred by building a "snark- and judgment-free" breath of fresh air. And it has paid off. Just Jared regularly beats out some of the biggest sites in traffic -- and is earning seven figures:
With the money the site brings in, he moved out of his parents' house in Queens three years ago to a two-bedroom condo on East 29th Street, which doubles as his blogging bunker. On a recent weekday, Mr. Eng politely asked a journalist to take off his shoes before giving a tour of his spotless home, which felt the opposite of lived-in.Say what you will about the celebrity gossip game. I admire this guy because he basically chased his dreams, followed his interest in pop culture, and s doing what he loves -- and earning a pretty serious living. While we're in relatively divergent genres, for a blogger like me, that's pretty inspiring.
Inside, he has two laughably large computer screens: one monitoring his blog and overflowing e-mail accounts; the other, even larger, streaming the latest paparazzi photos and hundreds of Twitter feeds — favorites include Kanye West's college-age stylist (@claycassius) and John Legend's girlfriend (@chrissyteigen). A 50-inch television, mounted a few feet away, was paused in the middle of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
The site's revenue comes almost entirely from display ads, from prestigious advertisers like MTV, NBC, Coca-Cola and Disney, to lesser-known diet and coupon brands. He makes enough to support five full-time employees, including Mr. Eng's brother, Jason Eng, 33, a former hedge fund trader who is now the company's chief executive.
"We've grown this into a real, viable business," said Jason, the oldest Eng brother. He declined to disclose the site's earnings, except to say, "This year we're easily going to gross seven figures."