Guest Blog Posts: Good P.R or Free Content?

I’ve been thinking a lot about guest blog posts lately. I used guest blog posts often in the past. For FWJ’s third anniversary we unveiled guest blogger month where each day featured another guest posting. I also had a “FWJ Idol” contest where a dozen bloggers competed for a slot on the blogging team here (and Terrece won!). I was called out for stocking FWJ with free content and I was a little angry. Don’t people understand guest posts aren’t the same as writing for free? It’s good public relations. It’s a way to get our names out there. I’m not hurting writers, I’m helping them. Right? Believe me, I didn’t sleep well for a long time after getting called out for stocking FWJ with free content – even if it was a contest and even if I had good intentions. I thought about it long and hard.

I also wrote a few guest blog posts at a couple of very famous blogs and wouldn’t have even thought about asking for money. For me, that was very good exposure. If the big name probloggers are soliciting guest posts that’s not the same as writing for free, right?

Maybe some others might not agree with me, but guest blog posts are exactly like writing for free. Someone is asking writers to blog for them without offering compensation. Writing. For. Free.

Guest Blogger or Free Content Writer?

Every day we express outrage over the ads on Craigslist. How dare these scammy people promise exposure to those who write for them! How dare they take advantage of writers that way! How dare they offer low wages or promise exposure!

How is this different than writing a blog post for free?

Now, I understand favors for friends, we all do that. I wouldn’t ask my friends for money to help them move or paint their family rooms. I even wrote a friend’s newsletter because she’s a good friend and I don’t charge good friends. I won’t put out a call for content without paying writers though.

Has writing guests posts become the new “it’s good exposure” scam?

What is the difference between the Craigslist guy looking for someone to blog for free and the random blogger who is looking for guest bloggers, any guest bloggers to, well, write for free? Why isn’t it good P.R. or good networking to write for some website guy, but it’s considered paying one’s blogging dues to write guest blog posts?

Are writing guest blog posts good P.R.?

I suppose it depends on the blog. I mean, it’s a different thing to write for an unknown newspaper for free than to write a free article for Cosmopolitan, right? Nowadays, I still guest blog a bit but I won’t charge my friends or I’ll make it an even trade. I also pay for guest posts here at FWJ, it’s not hundreds of dollars but enough for me to feel like I’m not taking advantage.

Here are some things to consider when writing guest blog posts:

• Who are you blogging for? Is it a top blogger with a well-trafficked blog? If so, the exposure might be worth it.
• Are you doing a favor for a friend? We all do favors for friends.
• What are you getting in return? What are you really getting in return? Who is benefiting? If the blog doesn’t get any traffic, you’re not doing yourself any favors.
• What is the other blogger getting in return? Is he getting traffic and revenue thanks to you?

What are your thoughts about guest blogging? How is it different than “writing for free?”

What Have I Done for You Lately?

I regularly receive emails from bloggers asking me to promote a new service, review ebooks, donate to their contests and post affiliate links. Many of these requests are from very popular bloggers who I haven’t heard from since the last time they had something to promote.

I also hear from friends who haven’t had the time to chat or email in years, but now they’re wondering if there isn’t something to this making money online thing or they’re out of work and wondering if they should write.

I don’t mind helping. I enjoy promoting products I feel are a good fit for this community and I like helping my friends. I especially enjoy promoting books and ebooks from members of this community. However, the words “friend” and “relationship” indicate a two way street. I’m not saying anyone owes me anything, but sometimes I wonder about the people who only contact me when they need something.

If you’re looking to reach out to bloggers for help, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Contact your blogging friends every now and then to say hello and not because you need something.
• Become a part of the other blogger’s community. Build relationships with others and join in the conversation, they’ll be more likely to check out your product or service if you’re a friend or productive member of the community.
• When that same blogger reaches out to you for an interview, ebook promotion, or just to say hello, don’t blow him off.
• If you haven’t spoken to a blogger in years, you may want to take time to reconnect before asking for favors.
• There’s a difference between networking and using.
• If you see your blogging friend at conferences or networking events, make a point of saying hello or inviting him or her to a meal or cup of coffee. You don’t have to buy, but it’s nice karma to reach out.
• Even if you don’t have time for lots of chit chat and small talk, say hello on Twitter or Facebook now and then.
• Link to the bloggers who help to promote your stuff. It’ll make them at least feel as if you appreciate their efforts.

I know blogger outreach is important for promotion and networking. I’m all about it. For heaven’s sake, stop only contacting people when you want a stumble or ebook review. We’re all busy people and don’t always have time for online socializing, I get that. If you contact your blogging friends for other reasons than promotional requests they’ll be more likely to help you out.

I Think Blogging is Making Me a Little Lazy

While writing up a shopping list the other day, I took notice of my handwriting. I used to receive many compliments on my penmanship. Nowadays, unless I take the time to write slow and neat, it’s rather sloppy. My online writing has gotten sloppier as well. While there’s no excuse for typos (which I’m famous for!) and bad grammar, I notice that my writing has definitely gone downhill since I began blogging. Because it’s more casual, I tend not to pay as much attention to my writing. The problem is, my formal writing is suffering from my bad habits. I have to fight to avoid some slang words and, also, to keep my tone from being too conversational in my formal writing. I never really thought about it before, but it’s on my mind now.

Have you noticed a change in your writing since you began blogging?

Blog Wars: Should You Engage?

I have many faults as a blogger.  For example, I forget to proofread my work. My post and run strategy has resulted in many typo laden posts. I also am passionate about certain things – to a fault. It’s probably insecurity but ever since I was a kid I felt as if I had to defend myself to anyone who doesn’t “get” my point of view. My biggest problem isn’t in defending myself though, it’s finding the restraint NOT to defend myself…if that makes any sense.

The beauty of blogging is how you can say whatever is on your mind. Unlike newspapers and magazines, bloggers don’t have to use words like “alleged” or fill in the “W’s”. We say what we feel and sometimes that upsets people. Some bloggers even post their opposing views on their own blogs, which is another beauty of blogging. What isn’t beautiful is when words are taken out of context or things that are posted that simply aren’t true. When two passionate bloggers don’t see eye to eye it can sometimes get ugly. While there’s always room for disagreement and discussion,  I think there’s a difference between a cross blog discussion and an all out blog war.

I have a hard time not taking the bait in these situations. It kills me not to respond, especially if I feel someone didn’t get what I was trying to convey. I’ve engaged in blog wars and it’s never pretty. It’s not pretty for me and it’s not pretty for the other guy. It’s not just me either. Every time I see bloggers go tit for tat it just looks like a bunch of pettiness.  Here’s the anatomy of  a blogwar:

1. Blogger A posts
2. Blogger B posts rebuttal
3. Blogger A rebuts the rebuttal
4. Blogger B spends hours at blogger A’s blog looking through past comments and posts to find something to prove he truly is the man and Blogger A sucks just like said.
5. Blogger A posts rebuttal
6. Commentators come out on both ends in support of each blogger
7. The same three anonymous trolls commentators who come out every time there’s negativity start dredging up all Blogger A (or B’s) past sins.
8. Commenators report on every comment at the other blog giving a play by play hopping to cast the other blogger in a negative light.
9. Bloggers respond again.
10. Each blogger visits each other’s blog but pretend not to
11. Blog war dies down.
12. Two months later blog war looks petty and childish – on both ends.

Silly, right?

Before you engage in a blog war, consider this:

1. Stuff posted in anger reads like stuff posted in anger. Better not to respond until you’ve had time to calm down, think things through and decide if all the uproar is worth it. If you must write something, then by all means do so, but save in draft instead of publishing. Chances are, it when you go back a day or two later it will look like a bunch of silliness.
2. There are no winners in a blog war. People remember, especially the people who don’t like you or what you do. Every time your blog is nominated for an award or top ten list, every time you’re interviewed or your blog is in the spotlight, the same couple of people (usually anonymous) will dredge up the past. They’ll remember every little petty bit of silliness and throw it in your face every chance they get.
3. Your readers eventually get tired of the whole thing. With the exception of the aforementioned trolls, the majority of your community doesn’t care. They don’t come to your blog for negativity (except the trolls, they totally dig it). They come to learn and share.

I guess some people feel this sort of thing is fine. I find it wearying. Before letting your passion get the best of you, go for a walk. Clear your head. Wait a couple of days. When you revisit, you’ll probably think it’s a lot of pettiness too.

FYI to our readers…

First of all, sorry no job leads the last few days. As some of you may have noticed our site crashed. Deb explains this in another post. Secondly it would appear that many posts were lost in the crash. Including all the posts in the recently started how to get a job as a blogger series including the resources for new bloggers and our look at what a b5media editor looks for in a blogger. Bummer. However, Deb and me found them this morning and re-posted. The only downside is that all your comments are gone which we apologize for. Servers can be a pain.

Is there any good news? Well, because I haven’t been able to post job leads for a few days, you’ll have a bunch to choose from…

As soon as I get a chance to get them posted. Stay tuned

On Being Taken Seriously as a Blogger: Why it Doesn’t Matter What I’ll Be Wearing

Deb’s note: This was posted before our server crash this week and had over a dozen very thoughtful responses. I apologize all the comments were lost in the move. Feel free to add your two cents once a gain.

I work hard be taken seriously as a blogger. Not a female blogger. Not a mommy blogger. But a blogger. I want people to read my words and find what I say useful. I don’t want to be seen as a gender or a role.

That’s why I’m always annoyed when “top blogger” lists come out. Not because I don’t feel top bloggers don’t deserve recognition but because inevitably folks start wondering why there are no women on the lists and then top lists of “female bloggers” come out. So there are “top bloggers” and “top female bloggers” but does it really matter?

I’m not a massive feminist. I enjoy the company of men. I even think I can learn from many of them. Though I think women have to work harder at this to be taken seriously, I like to think men can learn something from us too. I hope that something isn’t that we’ll all be dressing pretty for all the upcoming blogging conferences.

Which is why this post at BlogHer kind of got my jeans in a gather.

The post, entitled “Tide and Tim Gunn Want to Know What You’re Wearing at BlogHer This Year” touched a nerve. I mean, isn’t BlogHer supposed to breaking down barriers for women bloggers? Aren’t they supposed to be helping to drive away this silliness? How are we supposed to be taken seriously when we have to worry over whether or not we’re flying to Chicago with the right essentials in our suitcases?

Now, I do get it. Sponsorship is important. I’m all about corporate sponsorships. I think it’s terrific that more brands are reaching out to bloggers. I even get that we need to promote our corporate sponsors with advertisements, contests and heavy promotion. This doesn’t bother me. I’ve put my head together with others for many-a brand promotion strategy session. I would think though, it would be poor marketing to have a “what are you wearing” promotion among women who wish to be taken seriously. Yes, we can look fashionable and should look our best. Is this what we want to take away from BlogHer though? Laundry, fashion and Tim Gunn?

A couple of years ago when I was contributing to Performancing, we put together an end of the year awards promotion. The team wanted to do a “Best Looking Female Blogger” and “Best Looking Male Blogger” category. I was vehemently opposed. “Blogging isn’t about looks” I told them. “You’ll set us back years.” Eventually they agreed.

BlogHer is out of my budget this year, but I assure you, if I was going the last thing on my mind would be what everyone else is wearing. I want to learn. I want to network. I want to enjoy and discuss. I don’t want wonder if I’m wearing the right shoes with the right dress or if I’m accessorized correctly.

I’m sorry BlogHer. I heart you, I truly do, but you didn’t win me over with this one. If you want the women who blog to be taken seriously make it less about the clothes and more about the content. You’ll win every time.

Blogging & Online Writing Gigs for May 20, 2009

Our list today is still low on decent telecommute gigs, but there’s more than earlier this week.

Job tip o’ the day: Two words for you – BE NICE. Some people think nice is a boring word sure, but in the realm landing gigs it’s good to be nice. This is basic networking 101. When you’re nice, clients will recommend you to other clients, friends will share job leads with you, and people won’t talk smack about you online (well, not as much) and your online presence will stay healthy. Of course there is the flip side – read When Do You Stop Being Polite?

Anywhere gigs:

About.com is always looking for writers. Interesting topics available to apply for currently include things like; coffee/tea, teen advice, sugar free cooking, San Francisco, flea markets/garage sales, and more.

Environmental Website Writer (Telecommute)

Parenting Site Seeks Games/Tech Blogger

Real estate escrow company – escrow blogger

Bloggers Needed in the Online Financial Industry – ad looks oddly like some others around lately, can’t tell if it’s legit, so be careful.

Review Writers for Teen Entertainment

YourDictionary.com is seeking a freelance writer to create web articles on topics pertaining to grammar, words and ESL. YourDictionary is part of a team of sites which include LoveToKnow.

Location specific:

Director of Media Relations – Linfield College, Oregon

SOCIAL MEDIA NETWORK/INTERNET SAVVY INTERN – MADISON, NJ – intern, but paid.

Food/Restaurant Blogger – Village Voice Media- NY

Food Blog Editor – Village Voice Media- L.A.

Content Partnership Director for New Blog Site – NYC

Writer for Web Content, SEO, Blogs etc. - (Ft. Lauderdale, I-95 & Cypress Crk. Rd.)

Seeking Writer with Education or Parenting Experience - (Redwood City, CA)

Fashion writer – Los Angeles, CA

Temp. FT Web Content Assistant with the National Wildlife Federation – Reston, VA

Web Managing Editor – Donald W Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism- Phoenix, AZ

Publishing Consultant - Brooklyn, NY

Web Site Programmmer/Builder Veggie Van Organization – Santa Monica, CA

Writing Gig with Blerp.com – (Chicago)

Nerve.com Seeks Editorial Interns - (SoHo) – small stipend, but it’s Nerve so perks apply.

Web-Savvy Social Media Manager – NY

Client issue: make sure you’re not paid in oddball funds

Here’s a situation I haven’t run into before. I’m sure many writers have, but luckily this issue has escaped me; until now that is…

1. First of all I took a gig with a somewhat promising blog client. The editor I had to report to was cool, the blog was my style, it seemed all good. Then:
2. The editor that hired me quit immediately and the new editor they hired was the world’s biggest pain. She peppered her emails and posts with flowery, wordy, annoying to the max wording. For example, she always called the writers things like deary and the most bestest of friends (OMG).
3. I got fed up and quit. BUT I did turn in my contracted work first and they used it.
4. The client put my pay into a PayPal account back in December 2008. Not my PayPal account mind you because they misspelled my email.
5. I emailed (in December) and for some reason they couldn’t get it fixed. No one seemed to be able to get my $ into my actual PayPal account.
6. I emailed the old annoying editor who also had not been paid and was of no help.
7. Finally in April I decided to email every single day until they paid me, hoping that by being annoying, I’d maybe get my $. Up til then I’d been emailing every week.
8. Finally one of the blog owners emailed in Mid April saying “OH SO SORRY” and said she’d send a check asap. Nothing.
9. I emailed again. The owner says, “I just had a baby and was busy.” Um, ok. That would be a decent excuse if my payment wasn’t already 5 months late. I had a long labor with my son, but really, not 5 months. Geez.
10. So amazing beyond amazing I get a check the other day. Guess in what sort of funds…? That would be Canadian. Since I’m in the U.S. the exchange rate is not currently in my favor and I’d lose part of my money if I cashed it.

I don’t care if a client owes you $20 or $200 not paying you is the lamest damn client deal ever, and it’s so annoying because I’ve never had this issue in other types of work. Writing appears to be the only career where clients feel it’s a luxury to pay you or not pay you for the work you’ve done on a whim. Not all clients of course, some are great, but all in all writers run into this too often.

Long story short – SUPER obnoxious client, but there’s a lesson here too. Before this, I never even thought to check and see what sort of funds a client will pay you in. If you’re in a different country, you should make sure you’re going to get paid say the $50 they owe you in actual U.S. funds. I know I will from now on for sure.

Have you ever had clients try to pay you in funds that lower due to the exchange rate?

Are Your Favorite ProBloggers Becoming Too Big for their Britches?

At South by Southwest some of my friends and I joked about certain high profile bloggers who traveled with an entourage or couldn’t take time out of their busy schedules for meetups or to shake hands with the people who followed them all these years. As I’m watching blogging evolve, I’m wondering if some of the well known professional bloggers aren’t getting too big for their britches.

It used to be:

• You could sit in a blogging lounge and chat with a room full of bloggers, some big, some small, and it was all good. The more famous bloggers were happy to share tips and ideas and genuinely wanted to know what you were working on yourself.
• You could email a blogger and he or she would take some time to respond. Now many bloggers can’t be bothered to respond to email.
• You could ask a blogger to do an interview and he or she would be happy to oblige, now they want to know how much is in it for them.
• You would find your favorite bloggers on the social networks chit chatting with the commoners. Now? Not so much.

I hope this doesn’t come off as bitter, because it’s not. I’ll even go as far to admit that sometimes it takes a while to get to my email – though I do answer everyone who writes. I am disappointed that as many bloggers make a name for themselves they forget the people who helped make them what they are – their community.

I don’t think I’ll ever be as huge as some of the other bloggers out there,  but I’m going to make a promise to you right now:

I will always have friends, but never an entourage. I will never be too busy to say hello. I will continue to respond to all my email, though it may take a while. (Except if you’re spammy.) And finally, if you were always supportive of my efforts in the past, and even helped me with some of my endeavors, I will not blow you off if I ever become “famous.”

That is all.

Blogging for a Living: Are Things Looking Up?

A year ago, it was normal to see blogging jobs offered for $5 a post and lower. Much lower. Now we’re coming across ads for bloggers paying upwards of $10. Many are $25 per post or more.

Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty of low payers, but they don’t seem to be offering jobs that last. When you think about it, just about all blog networks are lowering their wages and laying off bloggers. The jobs offering the most stability and the highest wages appear to be those for businesses and individuals.

Why Are Things Changing?

I don’t know for sure, but I have several theories. Keep in mind this is only my opinion:

Many Blog Networks Bit Off More Than They Could Chew

Many of the blog networks showing the most promise hired hundreds of bloggers all at once. As a result a few things happened:

• Too many blogs to promote at once: Even the networks with the best of intentions can’t adequately promote 300 blogs at the same time. Not without a huge support staff, and that takes money.
• High turnover rates mean blogs that don’t find a voice: Network bloggers are expected to handle the majority of their own promotion in order to bring in traffic. Also, many network bloggers have to rely on traffic bonuses to survive. Soon they realize the ends don’t justify the means and they move on. With blogs changing bloggers each month readers get confused. The blog loses its original voice and personality. As a result, many blog networks are turning into nothing more than content mills.
• Not enough traffic and revenue coming in to pay for such a large group of bloggers: Blog networks start out with the best of intentions. They’re sure they’re different, that they’ll succeed. However, Google Adsense isn’t enough to support a blog network. If you’re going to hire a bunch of people at once, you better be sure to have a means to support them.
• No standout blogs: Many bloggers join networks in hopes of being the next Darren Rowse or Liz Strauss but this rarely happens with indiviudal blogs, let alone networks. Because networks don’t pay so much, they don’t attract experienced bloggers. When bloggers don’t have experience, they don’t really know what it takes to propel a blog to the top of the genre.

Now more bloggers are realizing they can make the same money blogging on their own, or they’re setting their sites on higher wages. Bloggers don’t want to be paid slave wages and they want to make a name for themselves. They don’t want to put in 50 hours of work each month for $50 in return. By not accepting low wages, clients are forced to raise their rates. Read more

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