Demand Media Launches Expert Network

Demand Media has made a lot of noise over the past year with its publishing model: the company employs thousands of freelance journalists who produce thousands of search-friendly articles on a daily basis. Now, Demand is looking to cast an even wider net.

The company today rolls out its Talent & Expert Network, a platform designed to attract new content producers. Those producers will likely include grassroots Web publishers and individuals who are experts on particular subjects. These folks might already blog or shoot videos frequently -- but might not be proficient at marketing or search engine optimization.

Demand executives also see the Talent & Expert Network attracting people who may have an expertise in a narrow subject, but have never been drawn to producing content online.

Currently in beta, the network should ultimately bolster the amount of niche content on Demand-owned sites such as eHow.com and LiveStrong.com.

“We believe we’ve found this sweet spot,” said Steven Kydd, evp at Demand. “We have this group of super-talented freelancers. But there are all kinds of super-talented people who have yet to be discovered...but don’t necessarily know how to succeed on the Internet.”

“This is about getting to the next level of experts,” added Joanne Bradford (pictured above), Demand's chief revenue officer. “From chefs to dog walkers.”

Bradford is scheduled to deliver a presentation today at the Conversational Marketing Summit hosted by Federated Media in New York, during which she’ll offer more details on the Talent & Expert Network, as well as Demand’s vision for the future of digital publishing. She plans to emphasize Demand’s portal-esque scale, which she believes many digital agencies don't truly grasp.

“We have proven that we can place the right content in the right place and we can scale,” said Bradford, citing eHow.com’s 60 million unique users. According to comScore, Demand’s properties in total reach 81 million uniques, making the company the 16th largest Web media property.

Yet Bradford believes that to date Demand’s low-cost media model has consumed too much of the conversation among reporters, distracting the market from the company’s sheer size and clout. “We’re so used to defending our position to journalists,” she said. “We need to have discussions for marketers and with marketers.”