The Writer’s Well

Just say no to a blogger’s union. There are already plenty of union options for bloggers ( I belong to a freelance writer’s union, but there are also small business options and creative professional groups you can join.). Joining a union won’t magically give you benefits, earn you more money or make you a better, more sought after blogger. What it will do is tank a versatile free market online and defeat the very principals and practices that make the web strong. For example, I pay for benefits out of pocket like any other freelance business. I could use the health option provided by my union at a sightly reduced rate but the discount isn’t that much and you get less services, so I go with a private carrier as a business.

Other bloggers who know more about unions and how they work have made more valid points against a union than I ever could:

From Scalzi, published writer and blogger

From Cyndy, freelance writer and expert in Web 2.0

From the Daily Whim

and from Gawker, who said it best:

We are about as pro-union as possible (particularly in this day and age) and even we find this to be a remarkably stupid idea.
…
Jesus Christ. LABOR UNIONS ARE TACTICAL ARRANGEMENTS TO DEAL WITH MANAGEMENT, YOU UNEMPLOYED SADSACKS.

I agree! If I wanted to work in a unionized, stuffy, regulated environment I never would have started freelancing – I would have stayed in corporate hell. I say let’s make a coalition against the blogger union idea. Or if someone already has, point me to it so I can put a “hell no, we won’t join” type of banner on all of my blog sites. If you also wrote against the union idea, leave your link in the comment section for all to see.

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UPDATE 2009: 451 Press has closed it’s doors as a paying blog network. However, the company has left ALL articles online from past authors, removed author access to the articles so the authors can’t remove them, and taken all author NAMES off of the article. 451 contract stated that they could continue to use your content with credit to you in perpetuity (which is a terrible contract clause, by the way, authors). It also stated the author could use their content elsewhere after a certain period of time. Taking the names off is in violation of that contract, as is prohibiting access to the posts to authors (and thus making future use difficult).

Update: I was contacted by some of the powers that be at 451 Press, who informed me of some changes in the last month that may alleviate some of the issues below. It seems they have now automated their payment system, including the payment tally. This means that for the first time last month all bloggers were reportedly paid on time. That’s a huge step in the right direction, and I wanted to make sure it got mentioned. Now, if the automated tally system works as well, paying bloggers the correct ad revenue for all types of ads, bloggers, do let me know so I can take 451 off the hot list.

Update: Further updates can be found in the comment section of this post, as I receive them. 

• • •

According to this self-released press release, 451 Press has proclaimed themselves the largest blog network. What they aren’t saying is that they have the highest turnover rate of any other blog network, with bloggers leaving in droves, and the worst pay rate and payout record.

Many bloggers at 451 are lucky to see pennies on the dollar, in spite of signing a 40% revenue share agreement. Even on months when page views for the sites double, triple or quadruple with skyrocketing unique hit counts and ad impressions the bloggers are lucky to get paid at all, and the company is ever ready with excuses as to why the stats are great and the pay is low.

451 has also been consistently late with monthly pay outs, not to mention the fact that they rarely come through with contest winnings and pay for placement ad rate revenue, with some bloggers waiting as long as 7 months or more for a simple $20 a month share of a paid placement ad on their site or their share of contest winnings. Recently, the powers that be claim to have addressed late payment issues, however; the ad payouts are still generating dissatisfied reports from current and former bloggers on the network.

451 has also garnered a reputation for locking bloggers out the moment they say they’d like to quit, offering them no chance to take their writing with them, even though the contract clearly states that the writers own the rights to their work after 30 days at 451 Press. This has been an issue with several bloggers who have left on both good and bad terms, though I must give credit to 451 for reaching an amicable agreement on my content with me when I quit a few weeks ago.

They offer a writer’s forum, but at the first indication that the writers would like to publicly discuss the lack of payment, the pay structure (currently Ad Share, but with rumblings of a change to CPM soon), the high turnover, the use of spam writers to generate filler without a writer’s knowledge, accusations of plagiarism by some of the spam filler writers, and more the forums are edited and shut down, ending open and frank discussion.

All in all I’d say 451 Press has behaved as a blog network that treats its writers like so much disposable garbage, and my recommendation is to stay away until or unless they sort out these issues. If they do sort out these issues (as in, have several months of solid, on time payment and resolve the outstanding other blogger beefs), do let me know so I can update this entry.

End note: Those of you who read this blog will note that I was writing for them myself for several months not too long ago. I thought they showed great promise, and liked the full rights to the author language in the contract, as well as the 40% ad revenue share. In the end I left because of the forum practices outlined above, after giving them every chance to change for the better. I personally did not experience the low pay issue, though I did experience the late pay issue. It’s too bad, really, because as a young network they had such unlimited potential to grow and a stable of great, eager bloggers to draw from.

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Welcome our next guest blogger, bringing his Blog Marketing know-how all the way from the UK. The blogger behind Brit Music Scene and Pop Buzz UK, Dave has marketing advice with an international flair.

Blog Marketing – A definite learning curve.

When I started writing Pop Buzz UK, a network blog for 451 all about the British Pop Culture scene, I was so wet behind the ears, I really didn’t know what I was doing. Although I’d been writing a personal blog for a few years, blogging for money was a whole new concept to me.

It’s a learning curve, and everyone makes mistakes in the process of learning. The thing is to pay attention to those mistakes and get better at your craft as you progress on the journey from rookie to pro blogger.

When I started, I thought traffic would come easily, if I just wrote some articles, updated when I could about what interested me, and then I’d be sorted. But after a month of very low traffic and consequently revenue, I realised I’d have to do more. And here is basically what I’ve learnt over the last 9 months and counting.

First of all, I started paying a lot more attention to SEO, and instead of just writing a simple title; I’d play around with it, and start looking at keyword phrases. To go along with that, I made sure the keywords of the story I was blogging about were placed liberally throughout the articles. Traffic started increasing immediately.

Spurred on by this, I started looking at which stories were getting the views, and trying to blog more about those sorts of stories. The readers will veer your blog in a certain direction, and I found celebrity stories to be pulling people in more than any other. You can’t then ignore everything else in your niche, but to not listen to your readers is a grave mistake in my view.

That was Google sorted but I knew I needed more. Next, I signed up for a few of the tracking services, including Technorati, making sure I inserted tags in each post. I’m just about to break in to the top 10k but it’s taken a long time. There were also directories that I felt my blog fitted in to, such as Britblog.com, which I then signed up for. This is an ongoing process, as almost every day I hear on the grapevine of another social networking or directory site. You have to keep at it, or you will lose momentum.

I was getting reasonable traffic by this point, but I needed something big, so I went after the Digg crowd. I struck lucky, with 2 consecutive stories hitting front page, and bagging me 20,000 visitors on each of those days. The problem was the traffic went as soon as it came. It’s still a worthwhile activity though, because even now, I see some traffic coming from Digg and Netscape from the search facility, months after the blog entry was published.

This month has been my best yet for traffic, and I’ve put it down to a combination of 3 things. The first is Harry Potter mania, which I have used for my benefit. I’ve put about 20 blog entries up about the whole saga during July, and it’s bagged me some great traffic. If there is a huge story or event going on which you can spin in to your niche, do it, do it well, and do it hard. Next was my late discovery of StumbleUpon, which I am now using to it’s full potential. Not only is it a great tool to get random readers to trip over your blog, it also works as a kind of social network. And last but not least is Google images, which I am now getting hits from by making sure my picture titles and descriptions are the best they could be.

The one thing I haven’t really done with my blog is go and comment on other blogs in my niche. Which writing this now, I can see is a mistake. That’s the next thing on the agenda, and I’m sure it’ll help get my name and blogs out there even more.

In conclusion, my advice is to learn as you go, from bloggers more knowledgeable than you, sites like this one, and personal experience. What works for some, may not work for others, and it’s finding the right blend of content, SEO, commenting and social networking which works for you. I started a new blog for b5 this month called Brit Music Scene, and using everything I’ve learnt, I’m already getting levels of traffic there that took me 4 months on Pop Buzz UK. That says it all.

Dave Parrack

If you have questions you can email Dave directly for more advice.

Tags: marketing your blog, blog marketing, pop buzz uk, brit music scene

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Today’s guest blogger in our Grass Roots Edition of the Marketing Your Blog Series is KD Griffin of Watching CSI and Celebrity Weasel. Let’s hear what she has put into practice to market her blog:

Grassroots Marketing and the Entertainment Blog

Be a Fan First
This may sound simple or rudimentary but lots of people start blogs (especially those they hope to monetize) because the subject matter is popular. Don’t do it. Fans can smell a fraud a mile away. Fans of 24 know what Jack Bauer ate for breakfast. If you don’t they’ll know it.

What is that you actually like? Obsession with Revenge of the Nerds might sound weird and obscure. Okay it is weird and obscure but if you like it there are others who like it.

Your enthusiasm and dedication to the subject matter will create an environment for success. You won’t have to struggle to blog. You’ll thrive in it.

Hang Out
Fans typically congregate in chatrooms, message boards and on other blogs. Bloggers should too. Don’t have an agenda when you start out. This is why it’s nice to blog about something you’re already invested in. You’ve done lots of the work.

Hang out for at least a month-maybe more depending on the temperament of the group. Smaller more focused groups may require longer for you to get your street cred. This may sound like a lot of effort. Don’t worry it will be worth it. These people will be your readership for the life of the blog. The courtship shouldn’t be quick.

Really become involved in the community. Participate wholly in discussions. Have a point of view. Everyone won’t agree with you but they’ll respect you and know you are the real deal.

Never Underestimate the Power of a Signature
This sounds so simple. Perhaps that’s why bloggers often miss step but you MUST put your blog in your signature. You don’t have to do it for every fan group but I can’t think why you wouldn’t.

During the second of blogging for WatchingCSI.com I added my signature to a board with thousands of member. Towards the end of the season I was posting to this board almost every hour. It accounted for about 25 percent of my traffic that month.

You don’t have to explain or announce your signature. In fact it might be irritating if you did that. Just slip it in there and keep moving. Remember people already respect you and they’ll want to see this groovy new sight.

Blow Your Own Horn
This is tricky and can be easily overdone. Bloggers should only do this super fantastic posts. Say you’ve got an exclusive interview with George Lucas. Remember, this is for your super special post. If you are calling attention to your blog all the time readers will ignore you and your posts will eventually get a spammy feel.

Connect With Fandom Leaders
Network with other bloggers, board owners and moderators. Add other interesting and informative blogs to your blogroll. Reference fan boards and blogs as sources for spoilers and news. This will make them aware of your blog and create a relationship of mutuality. In turn they will begin to reference you and use your blog for source material.

I’ll think you’ll find these tips useful and effective. WatchingCSI.com is less only four months old but because I am a respected fan and a blogger, I’ve developed a solid readership.

Finally, just have lots of fun.

Feel free to email KD if you have any questions about her marketing tactics.

Tags: marketing your blog, blog marketing, market your entertainment blog

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Our guest blogger in today’s installment of the Marketing Your Blog, Grass Roots Edition is Jaime M, from Fiction Scribe:

Blog Marketing – One Person at a Time

What is the best kind of kind of advertising? Word of mouth. There is nothing better than having talk about your site going around because a.) people tend to trust personal recommendations more than the odd billboard or commercial and b.) the advertising grows exponentially.

Yet, I had none of this in mind when I set out what has been the best blog marketing move I could have made for Fiction Scribe.

When I set out to do my first interview, I had a few unpublished writer friends and that was it. However, people like to know other people who are like them, and I knew a lot of aspiring writers looked at my site. Thus, I emailed my friend, whose poetry I love, and both set myself up as an interviewer as well as advertised her writing site.

I did a few more interviews with friends, which helped me figure out what worked and what didn’t as far as interviewing went. I didn’t get a lot of comments on the interviews, but I kept on anyway. I moved on to going to sites of people I didn’t know who wrote about the same things I did and began sending out interview questions.

Eventually, I talked to the right person – a published author who had a lot of other published author friends. I suddenly had access to a lot of people I could interview who were already published and could thus add credibility to my site. From those connections, I got even more connections to people they knew, and so on.

I truly knew I had done well when I was looking through publishing companies’ websites and saw a link to my site highlighting an interview I had done with one of their authors.

Imagine, for a moment, how many people – especially writers – look at a publisher’s website.

If you’re worried about your traffic, marketing your blog, or getting an ‘in’ with people in your niche, try interviewing. Even if you only start with your friends. Develop questions that really make the interviewees think, and they’ll be talking about the interview to all of their friends. They may even send you email addresses of other people they know in your niche who would be willing to do interviews.

You’ll get to know plenty of people, and your blog will get noticed.

Tags: marketing your blog, grass roots blog marketing, fiction scribe

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Our first guest blogger is Meleah Hawthorne of Melevision and MommaMiaMeaCulpa fame.  She started blogging fairly recenlty in the blogging scheme of things, and took to the marketing aspect of blogging like a duck to water. She already has a legion of devoted fans who have her on their daily reads link rolls, and can drive traffic to a blog with one sentence.  How did she do it? In her own words:

When it comes to marketing my own blog, there are a number of strategies (most of which I found right here) that I have found helpful. I signed up for Technorati, an internet search engine focused on the world of weblogs. I employ hyperlinks, into the signature line for all of the online forums that I belong to.  Then, I joined a few blogging communities.

 

But, it’s not enough just to sign up on these sites, or have your blog or website posted in MyBlogLog. Nor is it beneficial to just surf, click and run. You need to aggressively participate within the blogging communities. Stick around, and contribute.

 

These few, simple tips have really paid off.  I landed in a blog community filled with really talented, smart, supportive and entertaining bloggers.

 

There is significant value placed on the content of your material. Consequently, it is best to find people that write about the similar topics. I am a personal blogger, writing about every day life. So, I looked for other bloggers that spent the day waxing philosophic or talking about life’s daily up and downs.

 

One reason for my success is because I work at it. I found other blogs that I really like.  Ones that I knew l would want to visit all the time. I joined their communities, I sent them messages, I added them to my blogroll, I commented on their blogs, and I read every word they write.

 

My blog started out slow and small in a dark little corner of the internet. Only my family members or real life friends even knew I had a blog. Eventually, after joining, signing up, and spending an undisclosed amount of time on the internet, my blog started building readership. Maybe it is because I update constantly. Maybe it is because I really do read every blog and comment on a daily basis. I don’t comment, just to comment either. I only comment when I have something insightful to add, or if I am moved by a particular piece. (Sometimes it can take quite a few hours a day to read and comment on all of my favorite bloggers).

 

After a few months as an active participant in the MyBlogLog community a few of them asked me to guest post on their blogs. This, in turn, translated into increased readership.

 

Some of the MyBlogLog community members partake in an online dodge ball sort of game, called “memes” or “tagging” and the giving of “awards” to fellow bloggers they like. These sorts of gestures are flattering, as well as add track backs, and links back to your own site. But they can be like having homework!

 

It has all been worth the work I put into my blog, and connecting with others. As previously stated, I ended up meeting some fabulous people with amazing blogs.  I would have never found them, and vice versa had it not been for the total obsessiveness which comes hand in hand when you belong to a community like MyBlogLog.

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In the continuing series “Marketing Your Blog”, we’re going to be featuring several individual blogs and how they have found marketing success. We’ll be hearing guest posts from a variety of bloggers in all stages of blogging, from beginners to blog veterans, and how they have marketed their blogs and netted results. It’s your chance to see blog marketing practices in action on a variety of blog types. Keep your eyes peeled, we’ll be hosting the first guest blogger in the Marketing Your Blog series this week.

Tags: marketing your blog, blog marketing

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Did you know that giving something for nothing can up your hit count on your blog? It can. I’ve touted the benefits of social networking and social bookmarking. I’ve mentioned participating in social arenas like forums. All of these help your blog by promoting not only links, but online friendships. Taking your online friendships one step further can do a world of good in promoting your blog. Plus, all it costs you is the amount of time it takes to write a well written blog post and a short bio (you should have a short bio prewritten and saved on your computer to be tweaked slightly for just such an occasion – it will save you time).

The concept of taking your online friendships one step further is simple – be a guest blogger. Take stock of all of your online friends and colleagues. Which blogs do you read regularly? Of those blogs, which ones have an audience that you don’t already cater to? Those blogs should be first on your list of blogs to guest blog for. Once you’ve narrowed it down, do a bit more analysis. Try and choose a blog from an online friend that has a decent readership. A Technorati rank of 20,000 or less is pretty decent readership for an average blog. If you can get a guest blog spot on a Technorati 1000 blog, even better.

Once you’ve chosen your potential guest blog, contact your online friend. You want to approach them about reciprocal guest blogging – have them write a post for you, and you write one for them. There is a certain protocol with this. You each submit a text file with your blog post to the other for posting on your blogs. The text file should already have the necessary links, images and other aspects it needs included. The piece should have a title, and be credited to “Guest Blogger soandso” within the first line. At the end of the piece, include the guest blogger’s head shot, if applicable, and short bio in italics. In the bio, there should be a link back to their blog. There will be a reciprocal credit, head shot, bio and link from them back to you on your article.

When writing for someone else, you should be professional and thorough. Be sure to cite all sources and credit all images. You are a guest on another blog, so the last thing you want is to be the cause of any legal backlash over your entry. Be sure to check back periodically after your guest post is published. You’ll want to be on top of any comments that might need to be answered on your post. Remember that each comment answered is another chance to get your link out there through this experience.

If you want to extend the concept of guest blogging even further, you can do a guest blog circle with several blogs. Choose wisely, mainly blogs that highlight different aspects of your expertise, and others expertise, and have a decent ranking. Keep the participants of the guest blogging circle an even number, and go to the trouble of linking to every post in the circle at the bottom of every post made. Guest blog circles are slightly harder to pull off – it is always easier to work with two people than a group – but well worth the effort. It helps if you all come up with a loose theme that can apply to a diverse topic set. It will make the circle more coherent.

Marketing your blog can be fun if you make it a social event. Guest blogging can increase your traffic and cement an online friendship or working relationship and you haven’t spent any more time than you already would have writing a post. It also gives you a mental breather. It is nice to write about something else than the norm. You often return to your own blog refreshed after a nice mental break, which makes your own blog posts have fresh spark.

Tags: Marketing Your Blog, Guest Blogging

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Certain blogs can attract products to review and acquire press passes for their niche by getting on the target company or organization’s list of press organizations. There a few things that will help you do this: writing quality blog articles, getting legitimate hits, being a known blog for a while (“while” being a subjective amount of time that varies according to whatever company or organization you are targeting) and having a decent page rank on Google (3 or higher) or being ranked by Alexa or Technorati in the top tier blogs. Assuming you have two or more of the subjective criteria to be perceived as a “legitimate blog”, or that you belong to a well known blog network that meets the criteria, you can give yourself a little boost by using an old fashioned marketing technique: the press release.

If you work for a blog network (451 Press, b5 Media, About.com, and others), ask your blog network administrators if they will provide you with an official logo to use, and if they are OK with you generating press releases about your blog. If you are a lone blogger, you should create a logo (if you don’t have one already) to use as the header for your press release. Most often press releases are submitted online these days, so color is OK, but the logo should also translate well into black and white in case you are able to get a newspaper or other print publication to pick it up.

Create a template you can use over and over. Your blog network may have a press release template they prefer you to use already. Having the template makes future press releases easier and faster to create. You can use any word processing program like Open Office or Word to create your template. Your press release template should be no more than two pages long. One page is better, but two pages maximum. People in general have a short attention span, and editors not only have a short attention span, they are pressed for time. You have limited space in which to grab their attention.

Every press release should be newsy in tone. They are often released as a news item, so use them sparingly. Limit yourself to using the press release when something newsworthy happens on your blog, or when you write a newsworthy article about a current event. The first press release is the easiest: it is often used to announce your selection as the editor/author of your blog. This gives you an opportunity to write about your blog and what it talks about, as well as to toot your own horn professionally as an editor. After that, you would use the press release as a marketing technique if you were covering breaking news, attending a conference, putting on a webinar (web based seminar or class), hosting a contest online – you get the drift.

When an editor gets a press release, they often have to trim it for space. Write it accordingly. It should be a multi-level approach to whatever news item you are writing about. The first paragraph should give a summary of what will be detailed in the press release, and the first paragraph should include a link to your blog entry for more information. After that, use the next paragraphs to detail the idea. The least informative paragraph should be the last one. It is the paragraph most often chopped off for space by editors. You want to write a complete press release, in case they have room for the whole thing, but at the same time write it assuming they may not.

Every press release should include the following:

• A header, with logo, that gives the company name if applicable, blog name, your name, media contact information (this would be your blog network media liaison name, if you have one), media street address (again, this would be the blog network official address, if you have one), date, press release title, and a legitimate phone number.
• Opening paragraph that acts as summary of what is to come, and includes live links for more information.
• One paragraph for each point you want to make about your blog or event, not to exceed two pages.
• A closing paragraph with a last chance pitch to your readers.
• Active language and action words. Never write in a passive voice for a press release. You are writing to inspire people to check out your blog or event. Your words should spur your readers into action. The more interesting it is, the more likely more news networks will pick it up.

You can submit your press release to the media department of your local or national newspapers, weeklies, and magazines that relate to your topic. You should also submit it to the free press release outlets online. Many of these offer to “upgrade” your press release placement “for a fee” – ignore that. If you write a good press release, if will get picked up without needing this kind of boost. You can submit it to PRWeb, i-newswire, Press Release 365 and many other news wire services online – just do a Google search for “free press release submission” and see how many pop up.

Tags: Marketing Your Blog Press Releases

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I mentioned earlier in the week that certain sites like DIGG, Fark and Wikipedia had their own set of rules for their use. These rules fall under the general umbrella of “netiquette”, or how to behave online. DIGG and Fark are fantastic ways to get the word out about an article, and an article that is featured on DIGG or Fark (or any one of a number of similar sites) can get so many new readers it crashes your server. Because of this, some people think it is OK to DIGG their own work.

In fact, submitting your own work to these sites is considered a big no-no. DIGG and Fark won’t ban you for it – they don’t have to. Their communities of users will eventually flag you as a spammer and start clicking the “bury it” button to move you to the bottom of the pile. It’s a self policing effort to keep marketers and spammers from abusing the system, and it is surprisingly effective.

Another practice DIGG and Fark and similar sites frown on is the “click circle”. This is when you ask others to submit your work for you, then get a group of the same people to continually DIGG your articles. This one takes a little longer for the communities to spot, but eventually it becomes obvious when an entire blog network, for example, or other internet group, consistently DIGGs their own set of articles by certain authors and sites. This is usually handled by either actively seeking out those user names and burying anything they submit, or by an actual complaint to the community powers that be.

Wikipedia is its own animal. If you submit your own articles as reference work, you can get banned from Wikipedia. What’s more, an entire community can get banned. Just look at Suite101 – they encouraged their writers to spam Wikipedia by posting their own articles as legitimate entries. Not all of the writers did this. Knowing that it was not a good practice, only one or two writers took them up on the idea. In the end, it didn’t matter – Suite101 as a whole article network has been banned from Wikipedia for spamming – none of their authors can edit or add entries.

It boils down to common sense, really. Your marketing should never be intrusive, and it should never go against the grain of a site. If a site has a community philosophy of knowledge like DIGG or Wikipedia, it goes without saying that they want the knowledge to be as unbiased as possible. That immediately lets you know not to post your own work or create click circles. If you belong to a blog community like b5 Media or 451 Press, not following netiquette can hurt more than just you – it can result in a site wide ban like that suffered by Suite101. Being considerate applies to the community you want to post to, and also to the community you post the articles from.

Tags: Marketing Your Blog Netiquette

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