Comments on: What Blog Networks Look For in a Writer?

By: L. L. Woodard

L. L. Woodard — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:58:12 +0000

I’m suspicious now of people who ask for custom blogs on their topic. While I can understand the desire, there are many factors to be considered, I would think, when choosing a blogger. Sometimes I think the person/people are just trolling for blog ideas/content.

Anyone else with this feeling?

By: Erik Hare

Erik Hare — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 19:54:51 +0000

My blog exists for my fan base and as a part of my portfolio. It looks lousy because the Author’s Den platform was never intended for blogging and it is, indeed, lousy. I don’t care.

I have seen the various social networking sites, and I have to say that I simply don’t understand why anyone is excited about them. My hunch is that any gain you get from that is ephemeral.

To me, quality work stands on its own. It’s a bear editing my own stuff (especially stuff I never print) so there are mistakes. That’s my biggest concern, not the rankings stuff.

If you do get into the stuff like dig, well, that’s the way it works as a biz, I guess. To me, the long haul has to be about saying something. That helps the other parts of your career as a writer, too.

Not to brag, but I think 200+ hits a day is a good fan base that might help me do something some day. I hope it’s good for something.

Now, if I can only figure out why I got so many hits last night (and on Sunday) out of the blue …

By: What You Can Learn from Three Recent Guest Posts by Me — eXtra For Every Publisher

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 02:38:07 +0000

[...] Over on Freelance Writing Jobs, a blog I highly respect, Deborah, put up a post entitled “What Blog Networks Look For in a Writer?” [...]

By: Micah

Micah — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:42:47 +0000

This is inspiring since I just started my blog. Good information about taking the initiative. Thank you.

By: Camera Obscura

Camera Obscura — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 01:10:44 +0000

Oh wow, the old “work hard” lecture, never heard that before. Zzzzzzzz……

By: Robin

Robin — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:48:07 +0000

I have a topic that I would like to see covered on your blog about blogging. If someone is new to blogging, and has started his own blog that he’d like to get out there and drive traffic to, what are the top five or so things he should do?

Deb, could you cover this in a post sometime?

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:52:40 +0000

Kim/Del — I also applied for the divorce blog and was a bit flustered with the need to custom write two samples. It turned out to be a waste of time for me too!

Appreciate the tips though!

By: Shell

Shell — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 19:59:08 +0000

I find many clients want samples relating to a specific topic they’re posting about, this in particular applies to article writing and, unless people are willing to pay writers for their time and effort, it can in fact be a waste of time for the majority of people applying.

It makes good sense to just shortlist applicants and then choose a select few to write an article or send in similar work. Some clients want 3 or even 5 samples, which seems way too much in my opinion. Can you imagine 500 applicants sending in 5 samples at a time, what a waste of effort!

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:31:49 +0000

Does anyone have experience or worked with Gurucountry? Is it good, bad?

By: del

del — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:43:38 +0000

Kim, I know what job you’re talking about. I agree, pointing someone to your website/blog where you have samples is much easier on us who have to apply (writing up specific samples for each ad takes up a lot of time). Just curious, though…how do you know the person they hired is less qualified? I’m only asking, it’s not me!

Thanks for this guest post, David. Since I just started with one of the blog networks, this helps me know what I need to do to be successful.

By: Kim

Kim — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:18:00 +0000

My advice for blog networks is to not waste our time asking for writing samples initially. I made the mistake of doing that for some divorced womens blog that was posted here last week and it was such a waste of time after they ended up choosing someone less qualified. Just ask for samples for those you are seriously considering. It’s tedious enough having to send out multiple applications on a daily basis.

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:49:00 +0000

This might just be specific to the network that I work at, but we generally look to our readers for new hires. We’ve got a lot of people reading the site, and some of the commenters are very active and thoughtful, and we decide to pull from there for the most part. It creates a nice “family” feeling for us, and it keeps our community active.

Passion is something I can’t stress enough. Often, we’ll get people applying who are looking for just a way to make some money, and since we’re an independent network, we can’t support that. If you’ve got the passion for the material, though, we’d reward you later on. If that’s not there, it’ll be really obvious once you start working.

By: Amy Derby

Amy Derby — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:47:17 +0000

David,

Thanks for the enlightenment. I’ve recently started enjoying blogging more and more, and I’m already blogging for corporate clients. I’d never considered blogging for a network until very recently, so I was very happy to read these tips here.

By: Deb

Deb — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:37:15 +0000

Kathleen – Most blog networks are open to suggestion. I switched one of my blogs to a network once and it’s working out well. You have nothing to lose by trying.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:27:07 +0000

What a great post! Thank you for sharing this information.

I have a question (and I hope it doesn’t show how new I am to blogging ): Is it possible to switch a current blog over to a blog network?

For example, if I apply to or contact a blog network and they are interested in hiring me, is it possible that they would use my current blog or would I typically be starting from scratch?

This, of course, is assuming that the network is interested in my subject matter.

Thanks!:)

By: Eun Jung

Eun Jung — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:44:33 +0000

These are great tips. I’m still learning how to blog in a sense. You’ve mentioned things I never thought of as a way to promote myself to potential employers. Thanks for the ideas.

By: Richard

Richard — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 13:23:09 +0000

I have my own blog, and I’ve found that what gets comments is when you blog on current topics. Think of a blog as a miniature column.