Is Content King?
Every time I start to think about what I’m going to blog about next I make more and more realizations about my blogging. This has become especially more true since Google made the big slap that I feel like I’ve really reexamined not only what I’m blogging about but what I’m reading.
And here’s a big reality check for me… I hate obvious sponsored posts. Several of the people that I have been reading for quite sometime I finding myself annoyed with trying to dig for their real content.
What’s more interesting here, the posts that I’m noticing that bug me the most come from PayU2Blog. A quick glance at a person’s blog let’s you know who they are blogging for and combine that with what I know is currently in the PPP marketplace and it’s not hard to pin point where assignments are coming from.
But, I find to be the most irritating is something that PPP strictly enforces.
Interim posts.
Yes, put something real between all of that crap your blogging about. I’ve mentioned before that I find the PayU2Blog assignments spammy but now that I’m out of that loop, I’m seeing it more and more.
So to help those who have allowed their blogs to become over run with sponsored posts, here’s some places where I like to find good content to write about:
Mashable: Very interesting! Keep yourself up to date with what’s happening in social networking.
Bloggeries: Great forum, get registered and start talking. Dig through past articles to find good food for thought.
Your local news: What’s happening in your part of the world?
Your household: Remember the good ol’ days when you blogged about your life and people were interested? What are you doing other than sponsored posts?
Politics: Next year we’ll be voting for a new President here in the US (woohoo, party time!). What are your thoughts (or lack there of) on the campaigns? Do you care who’s President and are you even registered to vote?
Blogs: There are several blogs that give me food for thought to write my own opinions on topics they bring up. The bonus: trackbacks! Not only am I learning something, gaining new content for my own blog, but getting a link back.
Read Daily Blogging Tips, Blog Oh! Blog, and Lorelle on WordPress as a start to new great blogs!
Seriously, I’m not trying to be an income drainer, keep taking your sponsored posts. But for heaven’s sake, bring back the content too or it won’t be long before I’m hitting my “unsubscribe†button in my feed reader to ditch your spam.
Technorati Tags: Blogs, Sponsored Posts, Spam Posts, New Content, Find Content, Feed Readers, RSS, Unsubscribe, Mashable, News, Household, Politics
December 5th, 2007 at 6:21 pm
yes, i finally got my dot.com blog ranked, it was a pr3, for about two weeks, until i added the stuff to submit it to ppp. bang! pr0! grrr… i don’t do payu2blog but i do smorty and ppp sometimes. i have to work harder on the interim posts too, i know i do.
my main blog is muffin53.blogspot.com but i am trying not to do paid ads on that anymore. that’s why i did the dotcom blog in the first place.
smiles, bee
December 6th, 2007 at 3:33 am
Hiya Katy!
As someone who has not taken up the whole ‘pay me to blog’ thing I am glad someone has finally brought this to light! I have lost count of the blogs I have stopped visiting because they only post about things they are being paid to. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against it and if it’s something they choose to do then that’s great. It just gets a bit painful for the visitor when half of the blogs you visit daily are all being paid to post about the same darned thing *lol*
I’m enjoying discovering your site and find myself agreeing with many of your opinions :) Love it!
Hugs,
Jo
December 6th, 2007 at 9:44 am
I’ve wondered about my blog now because I have to do the “sandwich” posts inbetween PPP. I hate that. But my readers assure me they understand and I try to make sure my “real post” for the day is at the top of my blog.
Thanks for the suggestions!
December 6th, 2007 at 10:12 am
Bee » I’m surprised that you’d buy a .com for the sake of paid blogging but not for your main blog. There are many benefits to having your blogs on a .com, you may want to consider having your main blog on one as well.
Interim posts are so important. If you have a niche on your blog, find the right thing for your interim posts and run with it. If you don’t have a niche, share something about yourself… people seem to really like that!
Jo » I’ve noticed you lurking around. Nice to see a comment from you!
Yesterday I unsubscribed, with a very broken heart, to several blogs I used to enjoy reading. It so irks me to see that a blog is no longer a blog but just sponsored posts. :\
Glad you find yourself agreeing with some of my opinions, that’s always makes a fun read for me on other blogs. Have fun diggin’ through old posts. LOL
Tori » Remember every time you write that “sandwich” post why you started your blog. I’m sure it wasn’t to get paid, that’s an added bonus. Your visitors come to your blog for the original reason, not for your sponsored posts so be sure to give them the same ol’ stuff they always loved before. Once you remember that alone, it’ll make for better posts.
My best advice for these posts is that it’s OK to make more than 1 post per day. And if you think of something to write and don’t have a minute to sit down and write the post, jot it down in a “blogging notebook” so that you remember the subject of a blog posts later and can fill your blog back up with the “you” that people started visiting for!
December 6th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
[...] Is Content King? [...]
December 11th, 2007 at 4:40 am
I try to do short paid posts if I can – which makes PayU2Blog a good one for me. They’re great also in that you can write about anything, as long as the link is in there somewhere. They’re the ones I manage to make personal – well, most of them, anyway. “business valuation” is a definite challenge… lol
Also, after the Google slap, I tend to think “Google, bite me!” every time I log on to PPP, and take on as many as I possibly can! I don’t take kindly to being… what’s the word… muzzled???
The “interim posts” may well be just as painfully boring as the paid ones…
December 14th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Stine » Sounds like you have a good flow for your posts. The problem for me though is that I wasn’t receiving any topics with PayU2Blog that I could turn into something my own. I have to have a true interest or passion to a site to be able to get a good post out of something. Most of what I was being assigned where things I never dared to think about writing.
From what you’ve said here, it seems as though you’ve got the right blend of sponsored and interim. That’s much better than most people are doing and if you can maintain it, more power to you. That’s not always easy to do.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:18 am
Hi Katy
Here’s irony for you: I found your blog through your sponsoredreviews.com advertisement. I recently signed on with them, and was looking for paid assignments.
As to the content of paid to blog posts, I agree with you. I’m planning to take assignments that fit in with the niches of my two blogs, and if the subject can’t be integrated into my normal conversation, then I don’t bid. I know that’s going to drastically cut my potential income from paid reviews, but I’m hoping in the longer-term readers will appreciate that.
I was a bit sore this morning though because a company whose service I just reviewed put up another blogging opportunity, and it’s something that fits with my blog perfectly. But I decided to pass because it’s too soon after I wrote about them, and I don’t want to turn into their evangelist:-)
December 20th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Damaria » I can see how you’d find the ironic. However, I’ve been very selective about who I’ve hired to blog about me just because I want someone who can make a post about me fit seamlessly.
Seems to me you have the attitude towards paid blogging that I want people to have. While I don’t mind if your blog is sprinkled with paid posts, I don’t want to see several of them in a row and dig for the original reason I visited the blog in the first place.
This post, inspired by a friend of mine, is meant for those who do not put a limit on how many sponsored posts they’ll take and how they do not pertain to the original content the blog offered.
February 13th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
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February 13th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Thanks for the kind words about my forum. We work hard to make it a fun place for bloggers to network and share knowledge. Seems to be working well.
Thanks again and hop to see you around soon :)
February 13th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Rob » You’re quite welcome. I enjoy jumping in there from time to time. While I mostly lurke about, there’s useful information there.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
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May 16th, 2008 at 7:23 am
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