Problogging

Feb

Blogging For Companies - Are There Common Practices In Place? Photo by Vangelis Thomaidis

This question came into a LinkedIn group I’m a member of and so far I’m the only one who bit with a response. I know you’re not surprised. I’m expanding slightly from my answer there and really just musing aloud.

I’m not sure there really IS a common practice, judging from the very wide variety of pitches that flood my inbox every day. However it does seem as though there are some common practices beginning to develop over the last year or two. There are so many different ways of bloggers and companies working together, depending on your goals and desires, that I hesitate to answer.

Using Bloggers for Outreach and Awareness Campaigns

There are very good ways, very bad ways and a whole bunch of stuff in the middle. I can help you craft a blogger outreach program to help spread the word if you’re interested. Are you looking for reviews? Sponsored posts? Content driven articles on other websites? Content production created for YOUR website?

Reviews and Giveaways With Bloggers

Basic guidelines – Reviews are generally free, however most bloggers require one of whatever the product is in order to provide an accurate and well-rounded review. Giveaways – about half and half on bloggers charging for giveaways…usually the larger websites will include giveaways as part of a larger promotional campaign effort (banner ads, newsletter mentions, tweets, feature slider placement,etc) and that will be a paid-for package (ie you give the blogger/website money).

What is Sponsored Content and How Does it Work?

Sponsored content for either their site or your site is also usually paid and can be anywhere from $40 to $500 bucks or more depending again on the size of the site, quality and experience of the writer, etc. Most bloggers who write a sponsored post for their own site will require that the post be in their own words of course – advertorial in nature. If you are hiring content production for your own site that would give you editorial control of course, as well as generally rights to reuse and repackage the content (which you would NOT get if the posts go on other websites). So you have to consider rights as well.

So these were just the basics I hastily typed out in the forums off the top of the my head, but it made me think – What ARE our common practices as bloggers? Do we have any yet? I know what I tend to do, but I wonder now that I’ve put all that out there – what does everyone else do?

Feb

Thinking Through Your Blogging Business Steps

By AngEngland | How tos, Problogging

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Have you marked your steps towards blogging as a business? Photo by Lewandowski

“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.” ~Proverbs 14:15

When bloggers begin to look for ways to increase revenue and income online it can be a tough road when you don’t know who to trust. There is SO MUCH out there – some ok, some good and some out-right horrible. What it means for those who want to take blogging beyond “personal outlet” and turn it into a business is that some common sense business principles must apply. Here are some thoughts.

Read Every Blogging and Writing Contract Very Carefully

Are you writing for someone else? You should have a contract. If you weren’t given a contract, run away. Quickly. If you were given a writing contract, READ IT. Carefully. And then read it again. Be sure to clarify any confusing points, especially when it comes to your rights.

Ask Yourself What Rights You’re Willing to Give and at What Cost

If you are ghost-writing content for another site, and your name is not on it, you should be charging a premium price. That is freelance copyrighting. Not “blogging”. If you get your name on it and a brief bio and even a link back to your website, that may be of value to you so you could consider charging a lower price. If the client is taking full rights and you are giving them the rights to the content forever, you would want to charge more than you might if you were able to reuse the content in print or on your own website in the future. These are all considerations you should be aware of before agreeing to a certain price.

If it Talks Like a Business, It Should Act Like a Business

I’m just sayin’. If you call yourself a professional blogger or say that you want to turn this into a business, than do not treat it like a hobby. If you want to blog for personal enjoyment, by all means, do so. Just don’t call it a business if it’s not. And by all means – if you’re calling it a business, please, please, please act professionally. This means your speech. Your financial dealings. Your disclosures. Your dealings with clients and other bloggers.

Of course, sometimes these things sneak up on us – that’s what it means to give thought to your steps. When you find yourself in the position to accept advertising, or begin using affiliate links in your posts, you’ll need to think carefully to your steps. Think of yourself as a business from dollar $1 and you won’t find yourself stumbling in the future. Step wisely, dear friend, and the prudent path will be before you.

Feb

Problogging Session Notes – Blissdom 2010 Recap

By AngEngland | Conferences, Problogging

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This session was presented at Blissdom 2010 on Saturday afternoon with @AlliWorthington, @BarbaraJones, @kimmoldofsky, @AudreyMcClellon, @SSmirnov, @nancydsmith

Earned media – traditional – not paid. via pitches and open.
Paid media – Content that is paid, sometimes video, articles, campaign, consulting, etc.

Sometimes one thing leads to another. Just because an opportunity doesn’t pay, doesn’t mean it won’t lead to something else. Think of everything as an evolution and as a stepping stone.

You need to be YOURSELF when you’re blogging. Working with the PR rep about the best possible way to reach your readers might be.

Nancy – Paid Media – If I am paying you I am giving you talking points. The content is MY choice. You’ll get talking points and you can’t stray from your talking points.

Alli – “Rock what you got – find your own way”

Real life meet-up to host a party for a brand. Paid content, sponsored posts, etc.

Nancy says – we’ll need to know the Return on Interest. There are things that are valuable – influence over readers, a new segment that can be of value to tap into and raise awareness to, reach, etc.

In a focus group – prior to the event. Nancy got enough insight to feel it was worth the price of admission. If you offer something special to the brand like an event meetup, a focus group, etc

Have a case study ready – Barbara says “what was the objective. What was the solution. What was the results” We wanted to do this. We did this to get there. And this was the result of the campaign.

EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO SHOULD HAVE METRICS ATTACHED TO IT

Companies are looking for a social media footprint – a social media mom. Can you do a twitter and a flickr and a facebook and your blog AND youtube. Overall knowledge. Overall reach. Everything counts beyond the traffic number on your one blog post review.

Invest in your strong relationships with companies and social media folks, etc. Sometimes these PR companies they are still lobying and pioneering these recommendations and trying to convince the others of the importance. THEY are the ones that are fighting for you. Don’t make them look bad when they have been putting their necks out for you.

When you reach out to PR’s be specific. Not “Hey I want to review your product and here’s what I’ve done in the past”. Mention the brand, your plan, what you have in mind.

Build a resume for yourself in terms of your social media footprint. Prove your worth. Expand what you have out there and your reach.

Be aware of who you are speaking with. The PR is usually not the person who has the budget. ASK THEM who the right person is to talk to for a paid media campaign if you think you have something of value to offer.

There’s always a way to make money for good ideas. It should feel full and integrated and robust. When pitching an idea make sure you present a complete overview and be prepared to wait to hear back.

With a paid content the product has to be vetted and approved. You can’t say whatever you want (Angela’s Note – Watch for future posts on treating your writing like a business. Writing for money, whether you are generally a blogger or not, makes you a FREELANCE WRITER or copywriter…know what that means and entails!)

Present an honest and balanced viewpoint. It’s tone. Don’t go to Twitter and post some passive-aggressive rants. Nancy keeps a list of the vindictive and purposefully hurtful. A negative is totally ok – it can be a helpful post even with negatives or “things they could be improved upon”.

Everything that you do online creates your digital landscape.

Angela’s Note – I think this was a really important session that left some things out because it was SO MUCH information to cover. I’m working on a post in my “Blogging by the Book” series with some additional pro-blogging tips. I was glad at the end to hear Alli remind everyone to READ THEIR CONTRACT and look it over carefully. Web content writers are used to checking out what rights, if any, they retain. Most of the bloggers that I have talked to personally, are NOT. That’s not a bad thing – just an area to be aware of. It’s also one of the reasons why on Untrained Housewife I do not take any rights from a writer at all. Because I AM so aware of these issues.

Anyway – more on all this is to come, as well as additional Blissdom session recaps. So if you aren’t subscribed yet, put your email in the sidebar widget on the right!

Dec