We founded Shiny Media as three freelance journalists back in 2004 and the sites were born out of a passion for the internet and a belief that established publishers just weren't making enough of the medium. The early sites were launched because we loved blogs, we wanted to write about things that interested us, and we couldn't find sites like Shoewawa and Shiny Shiny to write for.

So we created those sites ourselves, and we quickly realised that we were on to something. We'd never set up a publishing company before, and there wasn't a UK blogging business template we could follow, so a lot of what we've built up has been learned along the way.

And we've certainly learned a lot since those early days of freelance. We now have a whole team of writers (eleven in house and many more freelance), some of whom have been with us since the very beginning. Fashion journalist and blogger Gemma Cartwright joined us back in November 2004 to start Shoewawa and The Bag Lady and now heads up our entire fashion team, bringing her own successful site, Catwalk Queen, with her. More recently, we have hired two more staff members this month, including Duncan, a staff writer on our oldest and biggest blog Tech Digest and Matt who joins us as an account manager, supporting our growing commercial team.

Revenue is going up month on month and traffic has increased 26 per cent over the last 12 months. So it seems 'rumours of our death' to paraphrase Mark Twain have been greatly exaggerated.

We read the article on Tech Crunch UK and the many comments below the feature and we thought we should respond to them here.

About Shiny Media

Shiny Media is the UK’s leading commercial blog publisher. We now have 40 blogs which between them attract around 3.5 million visitors each month (August 2007 figures).

Our key blogs are

TechDigest – 440k
ShinyShiny – 312k
Shoewawa – 230k
Catwalk Queen – 246k
The BagLady – 165k
Bridalwave – 180k
CorrieBlog – 102k

The overall number of uniques doubled between Feb and August 2007.

Brands who have recently advertised on our blogs include Marks and Spencer, LG, Nokia, Sony, Philips, Dyson, Gillette, 3 phone network, Ask.co.uk, Electronic Arts, Sky, Navman

For the latest information about Shiny Media visit www.shinymedia.com

For more information about advertising on Shiny sites email info@shinymedia.com or call + 44 207 400 6724

For any other queries about Shiny Media including possible commercial relationships or enquiries from other blogs or the press email ashley@shinymedia.com

So, having been plying YouTube with my mis-named One Minute Video Reviews for a few months, my *ahem* talents have been recognised, and I'm going to be on the BBC. Their new Sunday morning show, Something for the Weekend, features a lot of cooking, and a little bit gadgetry, which is where I come in.

I was on last week, talking about the Motorola jacket and some MP3 goggles. Imagine my horror when Tim Lovejoy ignored all that amazing technology, preferring the Dr Who Cyberman helmet. No taste.  So, this week, I'll be talking about the TV favourite 'Toys for Christmas', and will perhaps make a few more appearances before it ends in December.

So, there you have it. Shiny Media creating the Stars of Tomorrow. Watch out Strictly Come Dancing.

Check out the Original Cyberman helmet review here:

Our Shiny Media survey may not constitute the most fun you've ever had online, but if you spend five minutes of your life answering our questions you might just win yourself a:

Toshiba 9-inch Portable DVD player
Nokia 3220 - Orange - Star Wars Special Edition Mobile Phone
Creative MuVo TX 256MB Music Player(eight of these to give away)
Sony 1GB Bean music player (we've got four of these to give away)

Go on! - it won't take you a sec and we'll love you forever.

Click here to take survey

[Non-UK readers: Sorry - it's not open to you. It's nothing personal, we promise!]

Well I always hoped that going on tour would involve being ferried around the US in Lear jet. Ahh well. Anyhow almost as good (well nowhere near as good actually) is the Shiny Media PR tour.

In March Katie and Ashley are lining up a series of dates when we are going to visit UK PR companies and host discussions on blogging, new media in general and Shiny in particular. So far we have lined up ten companies, but if any other PR companies want to book us in to give our little presentation to their staff contact Ashley here

Shiny Media is a London-based pico-publisher. That’s a bit like a nano-publisher or a micro-publisher, we just think pico-publisher sounds cooler. We have been in business since August 2003.

What we do - Produce high quality blogs written by supremely talented writers that cover niche areas that people in real publishing choose to ignore.

What are blogs? – Choose your own definition, but we reckon they are news-oriented sites laced with a heavy dose of editorial opinion that are updated frequently. They differ from real websites in that they are quicker to publish stories, able to link to loads of other exciting stuff on the web and generally are a whole lot more fun.

Tech Digest - We started our blog-odyssey back in 2003 when we launched Tech Digest, the first gadget site aimed at Europeans and Brits rather than Americans. Since then Tech Digest has developed into a bit of a monster with page impressions topping half a million a month. We can also boast a devoted readership that reads like a who's who of consumer electronics journalism, PR and marketing.

Shiny Shiny - In March 2004 we launched Shiny Shiny, the first ever gadget blog written by and for women. Within a week, USA Today was raving about the site while International Herald Tribune was on the phone curious to discover who was delivering this unique perspective on technology. Since then the British press have also taken note and Shiny Shiny has been featured in The Guardian, Vogue, Time Out and many other places. It has since been widely imitated but never bettered.

Games Digest - After reinventing women's technology journalism, the Shiny group signed up the UK's leading games writer, Simon Munk, to offer a completely geek-free take on gaming. Games Digest is not only seen as an authority by many in the UK consumer electronics industry, it is also the only games blog that many in the industry understand.

Digital Jukebox - A recent addition to the Shiny stable, Digital Jukebox has the latest on everything from the latest MP3 players to the hottest music download services.

Mobile Digest - Another successful site that rounds up all the latest mobile phones

We also have plans to launch six new blogs before March 2005

If you are a company with key messages you want to communicate to your staff, customers or indeed anyone online, corporate blogging is an easy and cheap way of heightening your profile. Shiny Media has just signed up its first two corporate blog accounts and is available to work with other clients

Chris Price has been a freelance journalist for the best part of a decade now. His work regularly appears in nationals like the Daily Mirror and The Guardian as well as specialist titles such as Digital Home. As Shiny Media’s Commercial Director, he ensures that the blogs are not only top notch, but that the cash keeps rolling in too.

Katie Lee has been exorcising her years spent at What Laptop magazine by penning wasp-ish put downs and wickedly delicious puns for the likes of The Independent, Stuff, Marie Claire and, err What Laptop. She combines her role as Shiny Media’s Editorial Director with that of Editor of both Tech Digest and Shiny Shiny.

Another freelance veteran, Ashley Norris is Shiny Media’s Creative Director. When he is not wandering around in a Noel Coward-esque smoking jacket supping endless Cappuccinos, he attempts to come up with ideas for new blogs.

Simon Munk – Another freelance journalist of many years standing, Games Digest Editor Simon writes about consumer electronics, and naturally enough, gaming for a host of national newspapers and specialist magazines.

Gemma Cartwright – The latest addition to the Shiny Media team Gemma, who edits Shoewawa, has actually been blogging for over five years and is the brains behind the award-winning Catwalk Queen website.