Posts tagged: Blogging

Blogging For Money? The Feed Pauser Plugin Offers You (and Your RSS Feed) a Second Chance

December 6, 2009, by 2 comments

With more copywriters business blogging for bucks (say that three times fast), and people now accessing streams of information more or less instantaneously, the dangers of the WordPress “Publish” button loom large.

The WordPress "Publish" button may not be your friend

Mis-type a word in a headline – or entirely blow your first paragraph out of the water with a half-assed edit – clicking Publish immediately places that post in your RSS feed , saving it for all to see and marvel at (for eternity).

It’s embarrassing when you do it on your own blog. But potentially expensive when you do it for a client.

The Feed Pauser plugin (WordPress only) helps solve this problem by delaying the Publish –> RSS cycle a user-specified amount of time.

In other words, set it for ten minutes, and you’ve got a whole ten minutes after publishing the post to correct any mistakes.

The post shows on the site, but isn’t placed into the RSS feed until your grace period is up.

Those headless posts you mistakenly send? Those half-finished drafts the world is never meant to see? Those headline typos?

Feed Pauser offers you a second chance to fix them, and like all great solutions, it does so simply and elegantly (no affiliation or financial interest on my end).

Regret is a powerful thing, especially when your own work is the source of it…

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The Blogging Universe (If It Were a Cafeteria)

September 29, 2009, by 5 comments

I’m not sure if this seems funny because it’s really hilarious or because I’m jet lagged beyond belief and posting it from a Dubai hotel room at 3:45 am.

Either way, kudos to Scott Baradell (though we’re thinking “gossip” is wholly underrepresented).

media_httpfarbadarellcafescaled500

The Leaner Copywriter Underground, and One Writer's (Satirical) Approach to Recession

December 10, 2008, by 9 comments

Only a minute or two for a little stream-of-consciousness here dear readers, but I wanted to welcome you to the new, pared-down theme surrounding the Copywriter Underground’s content.

Call it an overdue change of hairstyle – a new, minimalist look & feel reflecting my somewhat slimmed-down approach to work.

And yes, I’m suggesting it’s a trend.

After all, the words I generate these days spill out onto the screen of a simple text editor. I’m carefully managing my online time to waste less of it. And looking hard at a significant shift in my target markets.

It’s also a reflection of my admiration for the minimalist approach to copy (a result of “growing up” – at least in the advertising sense – during the Fallon/McElligot era of direct-but-smart print ads).

It might even reflect the difficult times, where those with the resources to engage in conspicuous consumption are finding themselves reticent to do so.

Satirizing the Recession

While I was forming this post in my head, I stumbled across a wonderful Garrison Keillor essay, and admit to having a soft spot for essayists in general.

Essayists and poets might tread the ground closest to copywriters in a purely stylistic sense (an assertion sure to generate disagreement among poets and essayists), but in this case, Keillor launches his work with a satirical poke at corporate bean counting, illuminating the wide gap between what companies do in recessions and what writers do:

I have bad news. In the midst of the worldwide economic meltdown we are experiencing these days, I have taken a hard look at revenue from this column and find that I am earning but a tiny fraction of the $6.5 million I had projected for 2008, which leaves me no choice but to impose aggressive cost reductions, including a 75 percent reduction in writing time and the elimination of editing. I apologize for the inconvenience. And I thank you for your patience.

Enjoy your day (remembering to slice away those parts of it that simply don’t serve you). I’ll be back soon with more from the slimmer, trimmer Underground.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

I Teach Blogging: Does This Stuff Really Work?

October 22, 2008, by 9 comments

I’m teaching a blogging class – see how easy this stuff is?

The JEDI blogging class

The JEDI blogging class

Bloggers Facing Growing Risk of Lawsuit, Free Blogging Media Law Class Available

October 6, 2008, by 3 comments

A new NPR podcast covers a topic of interest to at least some of the Underground’s readers – the rising risk of lawsuits aimed at silencing bloggers.

The podcast player should appear below; if not, simply click here and play it via NPR’s page.

One of my ongoing engagement marketing projects is an advocacy site aimed directly at a major multinational corporation – one with a distressing tendency towards intimidation lawsuits.

My background in journalism and prior study of media law means I’m confident I’m not breaking any laws, but that’s small comfort when a multinational’ legal team comes after you simply to shut you up.

There’s even mention of a free, one-hour long media law course for bloggers (developed in conjunction with Poynter), but I couldn’t find a link. Maybe tomorrow.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

Building Company Blogs: What Should You Charge?

August 18, 2008, by 10 comments

I’ve pitched blogs to several business clients. And just closed a deal (finally) for an advocacy blog/microsite.

It’s not easy. Businesses don’t necessarily believe a freelance writer can write coherently about their business or their industry.

And then there’s the question of money. Blogging often pays poorly, and businesses have a lot of marketing options.

Still, it’s being done. And today’s copywriter is ideally positioned to handle the whole project (instead of letting some agency rake off all but a pittance).

The Wall Street Journal Independent Street blog outlines a Florida-based company selling blogs to businesses (note their rates & their process):

The company brainstorms “hot topics” to blog about with its clients and then its search-marketing-experts-slash-copywriters write “keyword rich” posts on those topics, says Danielle Leitch, executive vice president. The ghostwriter also embeds relevant links in the posts and lets clients review the posts before they’re published.

MoreVisibility charges clients about $500 a month for one weekly post to about $2,000 a month for daily posts. It also charges a one-time fee starting at $2,000 for setting up the blog. The company manages blogs for about 20 businesses, Ms. Leitch adds.

Want to bet their “search-marketing-experts-slash-copywriters” are working for peanuts?

If you’re already blogging – and you’re good at it – then why not scale your revenues by offering businesses a Blog in a Box? (Because I’m a friend to all copywriters, I’m giving that idea away free.)

Basically, make it as easy as possible – the client’s only decisions should revolve around “how much” and “how do you want to pay me?”

Blogging is hardly the highest-paying gig in copywriting, but there is something to be said for that steady, reliable stream of money – especially if you’re new to the game.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

Blogging From the Grave: George Orwell Diaries Blogged 70 Years After They're Written

July 31, 2008, by 3 comments

George Orwell may be dust, but it appears Web 2.0 technology has improved to the point where even the dead can blog:

The Orwell Prize is delighted to announce that, to mark the 70th anniversary of the diaries, each diary entry will be published on this blog exactly seventy years after it was written, allowing you to follow Orwell’s recuperation in Morocco, his return to the UK, and his opinions on the descent of Europe into war in real time. The diaries end in 1942, three years into the conflict…”

The rich comedy opportunities aside, this could introduce a new crop of people to an interesting writer (whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair). Blogs are simply powerful electronic publishing platforms, and this promises to be an interesting publishing project.

The posts begin on August 9… 1938.

Keep writing (even after you’re dead), Tom Chandler.

Corporations Still Struggling With Corporatespeak In Blogs

July 12, 2008, by 4 comments

Business blogs are failing because they don't say anything

Business blogs aren’t exactly booming — at least according to Ken Magill in a Direct Magazine post, where he cites a Forrester report documenting rapid decline in business blog growth:

Business-to-business blogging took a nosedive this year, mainly because returns on corporate blogs haven’t matched investment, according to a recent report by Forrester Research.

…the number of new corporate blogs has dropped sharply in the last year and a half, according to the report, with 36 companies launching them in 2006, 19 in 2007, and just three in the first quarter of 2008, according to Forrester.

The problem? Corporations repeatedly fall victim to their inability to escape boring, meaningless “corporatespeak.” In fact, Forester’s report speaks to the traits required to successfully engage customers:

Successful corporate blogs “talk openly with an authentic voice,” and are “humble and honest,” two traits that run counter to many corporate egos, said Forrester’s report.

Ouch.

For corporations – who often see blogs as yet another pipeline for corporatespeak (or showcases for preening executives), the ugly truth is this: customers and prospects want useful information or thought leadership, and they’re not getting it. (And yes, they need it coherently written.)

Some organizations have shown excellent returns from blogging (like Patagonia’s Cleanest Line), and the benefits of engaging with customers (binding them to the brand via shared passions and values) are significant.

If I were Absolute Ruler, I’d immediately recruit a good writer, slap a new job title on them (like Corporate Content Writer, though if it were me, I’d negotiate for “Content Czar”), and point them at the Internet.

Imagine the ROI of a good writer – working for a tech company — who was engaging with customers, prospects and media via blog, twitter, social networks, flick’r, YouTube, IM, eNewsletter, etc.

You don’t have to imagine it, of course. Look at what Scoble did for Microsoft.

One of the hidden truths of Web 2.0 is this: the need for copywriters who can communicate in a personable, engaging fashion is far greater than the supply.

Sadly, corporate America hasn’t realized it yet.

Keep writing, Tom Chandler.

Guess I Didn't Want to Work For Free Badly Enough

April 9, 2008, by 20 comments

Copywriters are being asked to write for little more than the exposure, and many are apparently saying yes. If we value our work so little, why should our customers value it more?

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