The Longest Blogging Day of the Month - the Last Day
I hate last days of the month. Actually, I should have put, “Last days of the month” on my cons of blogging for other’s list. Here is what’s on my last day of the month to do list for today:
Make sure all my blogs have met their quotas: This is presenting a problem this month, because there were two days that my son was with me when he should have been with his dad. I will meet my quotas, but my schedule is off, which bites, because it means I’ll have to double check everything.
Invoice: Every client has a different invoice. I’m actually lucky because a couple of networks I blog for don’t require invoicing. Money just magically appears in my Pal Pal account (bliss). Still, invoicing is a pain. Especially since two places I blog for change their invoice form all the time. I’ll have to hunt down the current ones.
Figure out earnings: I have clients who don’t always pay me what I actually earned. Some clients seemingly slack, and no matter how reputable a client, mistakes are made at times. If you blog for others, you need to make sure you’re getting paid what you’re supposed to. This task can take a while.
Image purge day: With as many blogs as I have, and considering that four are photo heavy, I build up quite the collection of photos each month. Last day of the month, I go through and purge unnecessary pictures. It keeps things less confusing when I’m looking for a particular photo later on.
Yes there’s more.
Read more
Blogs and Images
For many network bloggers there’s no topic more confusing or controversial than where to find images. For many, it’s just a matter of not knowing the legal issues regarding regarding image use. The bottom line? If no one said you can use it, you probably can’t. The problem is, most network blogs require an image with each post. What do you do?
Read your guidelines
Your network should list places with which they have agreements in place, or stock agencies offering free image use. Be sure to properly source and credit the photographer and agency.
No matter how tempting, don’t steal
If you don’t have permission don’t right click and steal the image. Not only can this prove troublesome for you, but your network can take a major hit. They (and you) can get slapped with fines and end up the subject of a nasty and expensive lawsuit.
What Happens When You Don’t Meet Your Quota?
I have a confession to make. For March I’m behind in posting for some of my network blogs. This wasn’t intentional. It’s a snowball effect from an occurrence at the beginning of the month. I won’t go into too many details, but because I spent extra time on one thing, I couldn’t catch up to the others. By the end of the month it’s clear I’m not meeting my monthly expectations for a couple of my blogs. While I’m making a conscious effort to work harder and meet my goals from April., the damage is done for March.
Sometimes a snowball effect is hard to prevent. Still, if there’s no way you can catch up, there are a few things you can do to make it easier on yourself and your network:
- If you can, let your editor know in advance you’re going to be behind for the month. Usually this isn’t such a crises. Your editors should know when you won’t be able to post, however. This way they can bring in help for the month if needed.
- Look for guest posters. Ask fellow bloggers to help you out with a guest post if it’s getting down to the wire. Most are happy to help out as it means additional exposure for their own blogs.
- Do a few quick posts. A video how-to from YouTube, a link to another blog with a couple of lines of analysis, a fun image, anything to keep the traffic flowing but isn’t fluffy.
- Put up a poll, polls are quick to produce and let you know a little about your audience.
- Throw out a quick discussion question and let your community have at it.
- Prepare for the eventually you won’t receive a full paycheck.
Now, if you’re going to be a slacker like me consider this: many networks do penalize you if you don’t meet your monthly expectations. You might only be paid for days worked or lose your base pay and only receive your traffic bonuses. The reality is, you signed an agreement for a certain amount of posts each month. If you don’t meet your agreement, your network is under no obligation to meet theirs. Ask yourself if it’s worth it to you and your wallet to not meet your monthly quota and take your lead from there.
Image: stock.xchnge
Top 11 Reasons Why I Might Quit Blogging & Open A Candy Store
Quite recently my seven year old Cedar said something akin to, “Why don’t you quit blogging and open a candy store instead?” Normally I’d tell you that candy store owner is a bad career choice for me. I barely like candy. However, there are days when the cons of blogging for others does get me down, and on those days, even candy store sounds better.
Deb noted her pros and cons of blogging for others already. I didn’t read her list yet though. I figured I’d write up my own lists and see how closely we agree. I’m starting with negatives because it’s important to note that blogging for others is not for everyone.
Reasons why “candy store owner” starts sounding good:
Read more
Network Blog Compensation - Let’s Break it Down
Probably the most important question you should be asking when looking for blogging work is “how much does that job pay?” You may have noticed many blogging gigs pay less than other forms of writing. There are lots of reasons for this, mainly the advertising revenue a blog takes in may be less than your basic website, and definitely less than most print markets. It can work though. If you know enough about how the compensation thing works for most blogs, you won’t be taken advantage of.
Let’s take a look at what some networks and individuals are offering their bloggers:
Glory
Some individuals or networks don’t want to pay bloggers. Instead they offer “exposure.” They tell you your byline is compensation enough. Until my byline puts groceries on my table, I won’t agree with this. Especially for a blog with little or no traffic. In this day and age, anyone can start a blog. You might as well start up your own and get your glory there.
Advertising Revenue
Some blog networks offer only a portion of the advertising revenue. This can go either way. If a blog receives massive, and I mean massive amounts of traffic, you might be able to get by on revenue. The truth is, bloggers don’t usually stick with networks only offering a portion of the revenue since this only amounts to pocket change at the end of the month. Before accepting a job only paying ad revenue, do a little research. Find out how much traffic and how many page views the blog receives each day and each month, and how much revenue the blog brings in. You’ll also want to see the blogs stats and earnings reports each day to make sure you’re not being ripped off. If the blog network can’t give you this, move on.
15 Places to Find Blogging Jobs
When you’re a freelancer, you’re always going to be looking for work. True, a few steady clients are better than trolling the job boards each day, but it’s not good to have all of one’s eggs in one’s basket either. What follows is a list of places to find blogging jobs:
- ProBlogger Job Board - ProBlogger Darren Rowse has a great job board for bloggers. While you’re there, don’t forget to read his helpful posts.
- Copy Blogger Job Board - Brian Clark recently added a job board to his blog. Most of the ads are geared towards writers, but there are some blogging gigs in there as well.
- Performancing - A wonderful blog community with tips, advice and a job forum.
- Freelance Writing Jobs - Lists jobs for bloggers as well as writers.
- About Freelance Writing - Also lists blogging jobs.
- Craigslist - Lists plenty of jobs for bloggers each day, you sometimes have to weed through the scammy and spammy stuff though.
- Blogger Jobs - List several available jobs each week.
- Freelance Switch - Lists jobs for all kinds of freelancers, even bloggers.
- b5Media - Blogging network near and dear to my heart. Hires bloggers on a regular basis and sometimes even takes suggestions for new blogs.
- Creative Weblogging - Blogging network - not easy to get into and lists a few open gigs on their home page.
- Know More Media - Business blogging network and some of the nicest guys in the business.
- Weblogs Inc. - Successful network of blogs.
- Freelance Blogging Jobs - Lists blogging jobs now and then. Worth a weekly look.
- Indeed - A job search engine, you can find some good corporate gigs here now and again.
- BlogHer - The women’s blogging network also has a job board.
To me, the key to finding enough work to make up a full time salary is to make the job search a part of the job. Right now I have more than enough work to keep me busy and I’m not actively looking. Before this, I took two hours each day to troll all the different job boards and read up on the latest job hunting tips and techniques. If you’re really serious about finding blogging jobs, your diligence will pay off.
Good luck!
Image: stock.xchng
Can You Really Earn a Living as a Network Blogger?
The question everyone wants answered is, "Can you earn a real living as a network blogger?" The answer is, yes and no. Blogging, whether for yourself or for someone else, is what you put into it. Your success is dependent on the amount of time and effort you set aside each day for your blogs. Since most networks offer a base or per post pay plus traffic bonuses, it’s in your best interest to pimp the heck out of you blog and continue adding great content. It’s not necessarily the base pay that will help pay the ConEd, it’s the traffic bonuses. In fact, for a few of my blogs, the traffic bonues pay a lot more than the base.
Yes Virgina, you can really earn a living as a network blogger. The question is, do you have the drive and ambition to see that his happens?
Image: stock.xchnge
Bringing in Traffic from Beyond Your Network
Working for a network is great. Everything you need by way of support is there for you. Your editors and fellow bloggers can always be counted on to come by and comment and link to your posts. If you’re part of a large network, the support of your peers is invaluable, so don’t get me wrong…but wouldn’t you like to expand your readership beyond that of your network?
Spread the word
Don’t be afraid to spread the word about your blog and blog posts. There are ways to do this without being spammy.
- Twitter - I love Twitter for social networking but it’s also a great way to advertise your blog posts. As long as you participate in the conversations and don’t just use it as a way to advertise your posts, people will respond.
- Blogs - If you want to expand outside your network, you’ll have to visit blogs outside your network. See what else is going on in your niche, and participate in conversations.
- Social Media Sites - There no denying sites like Digg, Stumble Upon, Fark, Reddit and others can bring in a surge of traffic, but they can also help with the backlinks and give you a few new daily readers. That’s not to say you should submit every single post to these sites, but if you have a good one, don’t be afraid to toot your horn.
- Email - No, don’t spam people. A link in the signature of email might bring in readers you didn’t expect. My vet is now a regular reader of one of my blogs because I had a link in my email signature.
- Forums - Do visit forums in your niche and participate in the conversations. You don’t have to promote every blog post, but a link in your signature will bring over the curious. In fact, that’s how most of my early blogs began to receive traffic.
- Offer up the link love - If you refer to other blogs in your posts, they’re sure to do the same. Besides, it’s good blog karma. On most of my blogs, I like to offer a weekly roundup featuring different blogs and articles of interest to my niche.
Go ahead and look outside of your network for traffic. Since many networks offer bonuses for traffic and revenue, I’ll even go as far as to say it’s within your best interests to do so.
Image: stock.xchnge
The Importance of Knowing your Niche
I like to think I know a lot about different subjects, but there are very few subjects in which I’d consider myself an expert. Still, when I hunt for blogging jobs there are always some I’m tempted to apply for even though my knowledge is rather limited. I did this early in my web writing career, and here’s why it’s a bad idea:
- When you blog, you have to blog every day. Some networks or clients require you to blog several times a day. Do you really know enough about your topic to write 6 to 30 post each week without rehashing old ideas?
- Visitors to your blog might be experts. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, it can get ugly.
- Other bloggers won’t be so impressed. You want your fellow bloggers to link to you and recommend your posts, not expose you as a fraud.
- You burn out quicker.
- You’ll soon grow tired of your niche. As a blogger for hire, the last thing you want is to be seen as someone who frequently takes on gigs only to discard them a couple of months later.
The bottom line is this: If you don’t know your stuff, it will become apparent. The best probloggers have the best traffic because their readers trust them. Pick a niche you know, and create a bond with your readers.
Image: stock.xchnge
Are You a Chronic Malcontent?
Ever wonder how your employer or editor sees you? As someone who speaks up against people who take advantage of freelancers, I know many of the frustrations we face. I also know there are times when you shouldn’t speak up. Sometimes your network or client needs you to react with patience and understanding. If you’re constantly complaining because you didn’t receive your daily stats on time or riling up the other bloggers because you’re angry over server outages, you might be seen as a chronic malcontent. This may not bode well in your favor later.
Do Something Else
One of the frustrations of being a blogger for hire is how you’re at the mercy of your clients’ technical issues. Rather than complaining in a public forum or the network-wide mailing list, contact your editor directly. Tell her in a calm, rational manner why you’re upset and ask when things will return to normal. Then find something else to do. Post ahead using an offline editor, visit other blogs in your niche, go for a walk or do some research. Make productive use of your downtime.
Something is Being Done
When you find yourself experiencing downtime, understand you’re not the only one who is frustrated. The support team might have to deal with dozens, sometimes even hundreds of blogs and bloggers, and trust me, they’re handling it. The last thing they want is for the network to come to a standstill. Voicing your frustrations in public will only make them upset. Be helpful, not hurtful and you’ll be remembered in a better light later.
Image via stock.xchnge
Your Ad Here
