A guest post by David Peralty
Each blog network is very different, but all of them are always looking for talented writers. Having hired a few writers for a variety of sites, and having watched other writers do well in the blogging workforce, I wanted to talk a bit about what a blog network owner is looking for in a writer.
Communication
Take the initiative and contact blogs or companies you want to work with. Blog networks don’t have the time or money to really go out into the blogosphere and find talent. We may post a job opening on one of the many sites available to us, but more than half of the people I work with have been hired due to the recommendations of other people we know, or contacting us and finding out what we need.
If you contact a blog network, make sure you have a strong idea of what you want from the communication. You may not get a job right away, but if you make a good first impression and create a relationship with the company, when a position does open up, you can bet that you will be one of the first people on their list to hire
Results
About a year ago now, we hired someone that responded to our job advertisement, and it wasn’t because he was the best writer, or knew the most about the subject, but what he did have going for him was that he had a list of accomplishments that were very impressive. He made the Digg front page three times in a short period of time and we wanted someone that could produce the same sort of results for us.
Being proud of your accomplishments and sharing them with the world could entice potential employers that you are the right person for their company. If you have made a social media home page, like Digg, Reddit or others, add that as part of your porfolio. Did your RSS subscribers double in a month? Add that as well. As becoming a problogger becomes more competitive, you have to show results.
Passion
You need a drive to succeed. Blogging professionally is a lot like being an entrepreneur or a full time freelancer. Not every person can succeed at blogging for money every month, and so if you want to attract my attention, prove your passion. If you love a certain topic, and you really want to prove yourself, find a guest blogging position, and write pillar articles that are interesting, insightful, and passionate. If you can sustain that passion over a period of time, it won’t take long until you are noticed.
Consistency
Consistency might be a strange addition to this list, but for me, this is the most important one out of all the points listed above. If I come to your personal blog and see that you blog here and there, I probably won’t hire you. If you aren’t able to consistently come up with new content for your blog or blogs, then how can I trust that you will write consistently for my blog?
This goes back to what has been said a dozen times: create a posting schedule. If you have only missed a dozen weekday posts out of an entire year. Put that as part of your portfolio. It shows consistency, and that alone can get you a blogging job.
David Peralty, a full time problogger for the last two years, writes about making money online over on eXtra for Every Publisher.
Please see Deb’s other blogs:
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:23 am
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.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:44 am
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.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:27 am
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!:)
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:37 am
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.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:47 am
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.
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:49 am
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.
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:18 pm
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.
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:43 pm
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.
October 3rd, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Does anyone have experience or worked with Gurucountry? Is it good, bad?
October 3rd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
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!
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:52 pm
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!
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:48 pm
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?
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Oh wow, the old “work hard” lecture, never heard that before. Zzzzzzzz……
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:42 pm
This is inspiring since I just started my blog. Good information about taking the initiative. Thank you.
October 4th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
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 …
March 7th, 2008 at 5:28 am
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?