Kent Fischer, and education blogger for The Dallas Morning News, wants to build a “blog on steroids.”

In just six months, he has become a successful beat blogger with thousands of page views each day and plenty of comments from dedicated users. Now he realizes that he must take his work to the next level to keep growing and innovating on the Web.

Fischer’s idea for combing beat blogging with database reporting might be the future of beat reporting on the Web. Essentially it’s a micro-site, niche publication that will be the premier source of information related to his beat on the Dallas Independent School District.

Fischer says his biggest triumph with beat blogging was getting himself blogging. He went from “blog ignorance” to wanting to develop a blog on steroids in six months.

What has been the return on investment for his blog? Could his editors justify making him a full-time blogger? Fischer thinks the key is selling his blog to specific advertisers. He runs a niche blog, and he thinks they need to target niche advertisers.

Listen to the interview for details.

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