Treat Your Blog Like A Magazine and Take it to the Next Level!

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+ Rodricus Kirby 2 months ago
@Lonnell - Thanks man! You’ll also enjoy the original source article at my blog: http://www.rodkirby.com
+ Lonnell Branch 2 months ago
Dude!!! This is one of the best ideas I have come across all year. Great presentation slides.
+ Rodricus Kirby 2 months ago
Thanks, Thom! Glad you enjoyed the presentation. I appreciate your excellent feedback. Well definitely be in touch!
+ Thom Rigsby 2 months ago
Rod, a presentation dripping with awesomeness indeed! Thanks for posting it as I missed a couple of the slides from my quality viewing position in the hallway outside the packed room. You rocked it man, hope to chat again soon!

@jtrigsby

Notes on slide 1

Let’s look at what blogs can do for us versus what a magazine does. What would happen if you started to blur the lines between the two? What could be achieved?

When you start to maximize some of the techniques magazines use to create value, foster community, and generate revenue your blog transforms into a media property. It’s important to dream bigger than what your blog currently is If you want to take things to the next level. Media properties are brand names that prompt us to take action or interaction.

Source:8 Magazine Strategies that add Value to Your Blog1. “Ask the Expert” (Reader Q&A) – Source: Leadership MagazineStrategy: This was a great technique that utilized an expert in a specific field to answer reader questions in the magazine. The expert can be yourself or you can reach out to someone else (there’s the advisors board idea). Either way it goes don’t just write useful articles, share tips, and resources with your readers . . . become a problem solver. Darren Rowse from Problogger uses his twitter account to connect with his readers and answers their questions on his blog. Great use of social networking!Why is it important?: It’ll increase your expert status a hundred fold, encourage community participation, and adds value to your reader’s lives and not just the blog. 2. Write “List” style articles – Source: Black EnterpriseStrategy: I love the way Black Enterprise creates huge lists of just about anything you can think of when it comes to business. “100 Most Powerful Executives, 100 Best Service Companies, etc.”Why is it important?: The list article is easy to read, adds a ton of value to any blog, and never gets old. Sure, there’s a lot of research involved on the front end, but it’s smooth sailing once you start putting it together.3.Create a Resources Page – Source: Entrepreneur MagazineStrategy: This one is a good one. Share information, tools, links, and other info that helps your blogging community.Why is it important?: It’s a sign that you’re a part of the community too and that you don’t have all the answers. Your visitors will appreciate, care, and respect you more for sharing.

Seek Featured AdvertisersStrategy: Think of it as a “one advertiser to rule them all” type of deal. A featured advertiser should be one main company or brand that can get their message across effectively through every opportunity available on your site. This includes; a written featured article about the company, its products and services, a 1-on-1 interview to coincide with the article, a product or service review, and banner ads across high traffic areas of your site. Essentially you’ll come out from behind the desk as a blogger and into the arena of journalism and entrepreneurship. It’ll take some work, a little networking, and some sales tactics, but once you land that first account it’s all money from there.Why is it a win for you? – You’re able to charge a premium advertising fee depending on your site’s traffic, your online social status, and how much targeted content you can generate for the advertiser.Why is it a win for the advertiser? – It’s simple, less competition for your readers’ attention on your site = more traffic and profitability for them.Note: Create different advertising packages with different price points. Depending on what the advertiser spends will depend on how much, “content coverage,” he or she receives. (Don’t go overboard with the pricing, if you’re a new blogger then you probably haven’t built up a large enough audience to entice big dollars from a major advertiser. Be strategic!)Tools: When you write the featured article, use tools such as twitter search (real-time conversations) and yelp.com (community reviews) to find out what others are saying (only the good comments) about your featured advertiser. Also, try out Blogtalkradio.com (internet radio show hosting) for conducting your interviews, and possibly shooting video for the product or service review. The more dynamic the content the more engaged your readers will be which = an epic win for your advertiser.Get Sponsors for Featured ContentStrategy: When I say featured content I don’t mean your life tips or opinion piece typed articles. The post has have a certain level of marketability. Something that will resonate with readers and be a perfect fit for a sponsor. For example; “Black Enterprise’s Top 100 Entrepreneurs under 40 Sponsored by Bank of America.” Or, “50 Greatest Gadgets of all time Sponsored by Microsoft.” Get it? This featured content becomes less of an article and more of a multimedia presentation as you should incorporate video, audio, and written pieces to drive your main points of view home. It’s a more targeted piece of content than that of the first tip. Where as the latter is kind of spread around with a focus on the advertiser, here, the advertiser focuses on a particular topic.Why is it a win for you? – When you have a Featured advertiser as mentioned above, they will take up all the attention of your readers. However, having sponsors for your featured content easily allows you to sign as many advertisers as you would like since they’ll be attached to specific pieces of content on your blog. Say it with me together kids, “M-O-N-E-Y!”Why is it a win for the advertiser/sponsor? – The first thing sponsoring featured content does is; it gets the advertiser closer to their target market. Trust me; Pepsi’s not going to sponsor a list of the “50 Greatest Kool-Aid Flavors of All Time.” The second thing it does is; it positions the advertiser’s brand as a participant in their market. It shows market engagement and a form of connection to who they want to buy their products or services.Note: Brainstorm and come up with lists or featured stories that would resonate within your blog community. Select a few companies (online or off) who target the same kind of market, put together sponsorship proposals, and be persistent in pursing them. It might also be a good idea to partner with different bloggers and come together for a huge collaborative feature and seek sponsors together. The greater the “market basket” for a potential sponsor, the easier it is to seal the deal for the sponsor seeker.

4 Favorites

NuCERITY.com at NuCERITY.com, favorited this 2 months ago
Lonnell Branch, Business Intelligence Professional favorited this 2 months ago
Tags marketing
Thom Rigsby, Blogger, Marketer, Developer & Consultant at Huntsville, AL, favorited this 2 months ago
Tags media socialcamp property
beth g sanders, Freelance communications at bethgsanders.com, favorited this 2 months ago
Tags blog

Treat Your Blog Like A Magazine and Take it to the Next Level! - Presentation Transcript

Treat Your Blog Like a Magazine
Add Value, Grow Your Community, and Make Money!
By: Rod Kirby
twitter.com/rodkirby
Head 2 Head: The Blog vs. The Magazine
- Gives power of the media to the individual. - Delivers socially piloted news and information.
- Allows constant reader engagement. – conversations are dynamic and occur in real time.
- Traditionally, blogs tend to be either very personal or relate to a niche market.
- Typically informs or educates a specific demographic and target market.
- Generates revenues from subscription memberships, advertising, and sponsorships.
- Traditionally, magazines engaged readers with exclusive content.
Transform your Blog into a Media Property
How do you turn your blog into a “super blog?”
Treat it like a Magazine!:
Create value for your readers.
Grow your community.
Generate multiple streams of revenue.
Oh, and be a super blogger . . .
Create Value
Create an “Ask the Expert” section
- Enriches your reader’s lives.
- Stimulates reader engagement.
- Positions you as a problem-solver and Not just a blogger.
Create a Resources Page
- Positions your site as a destination on the web for tools.
- Increases the chance of linkage fromother bloggers.
Write “List” Styled Posts
- Easy to read and skim through
content.
- Easy to write with a small invest- ment in research.
- Creates “timeless” content.
Grow your Community
Make Subscribing Easy!
Offer subscription links on your homepage, sidebar, everywhere!
Highlight your readers!
Don’t just promote your blog, promote your readers too. Recognize excellent comments and those that make them.
Make your content universal!
Be specific in your topics to your niche, but write for everyone. Make your posts easy to understand, to share, and to converse over.
Generate Multiple Streams of Revenue
Seek Featured Advertisers
Create different levels of sponsorship with varying amounts of created content.
Generate content such as interviews, product demos, reviews, etc. around an advertiser’s product or service.
Get Sponsors for Content
Gives sponsors a way to connect with your audience.
Provides excellent value to your readers and sponsors.
Can easily be packaged with different levels of sponsorship.
Let’s Review!
Have big dreams for your blog.
Take it to the next level by transforming it into a media property.
Create Value by putting your reader’s needs first.
Grow your community by putting your readers first.
Generate multiple streams of revenue by thinking beyond Google Adsense dollars and affiliate programs. Create content that will be valuable for a sponsor and connect them with your audience!
Treat Your Blog Like a MagazineAdd Value, Grow Your Community, and Make Money!
Visit The Success Center – www.rodkirby.com
Follow Rod on Twitter – twitter.com/rodkirby
Friend Rod on Facebook – facebook.com/rodricus.kirby