This post is a bit or a personal update for those that know me and for those that do not yet it will make a good start.

I have been trying to get a US VISA for a long time and it finally came through on Tuesday. This has taken 2 years work and I am more than a little pleased.

While I did not know I was going to get my VISA know I had hoped that it might come through and I had bought a ticket to SXSW in the hope of coming. Flights yesterday were remarkably cheap so I hopped on a plain and am now in Austin.

I have had a great time working with Luke running Influence People and social media monitoring events around the world and while he is a great guy and I liked working with him ( would recommend him to you) I will not be running more events with him. Luke will be running more events so please do look at www.oursocialtimes.com/ for all the up coming events.

So what will I be doing?

- http://theaffiliatemarketingawards.com/ are coming up soon

-I have been consulting with VigLink  for a while and there seems to be a great fit so I will be doing lots more with them. I very much like working with Oliver Roup and the rest of the team over there. I love working with a company which helps publishers make more money in a very positive way. If you are at SXSW and would like to talk with me about VigLink please email me murray at company name dot com.

-Running the 2 blog clubs and opening an LA blog club

-My Online Marketing book is coming out in April – buy your copy on Amazon http://www.amazon.co.uk/Online-Marketing-Manual-Murray-Newlands/dp/0470973846

-I have a publisher for my book http://www.howtomakeablogbook.com/ which needs some additions before coming out later this year

-I have a book deal for a book about blogging for small business

-I have some other plans which I can not tell you about just yet.

-Getting a US driving licence and all the other stuff that moving countries entails.

-After 2 years of deliberately being single I might try and find girlfriend.

So as you can see lots happening please do be patient if I do not get right back to all your emails.

I would also like to say thank you again for reading my blog and all the great emails you send me.

Murray

The days of auto blogging are not finished yet… however simply putting up a blog so you can make cash fast and on autopilot are well past and will never return…

Over the past two years there have been virtually millions of blogs created for one simple reason, to create additional income from the internet. One such method that was used is “Auto Blogging” and it is starting to get very popular with many of the fortune seekers online…

What I will say right now so it is very clear to all… The internet gold rush is over, where you could simply throw some text on a blog site and start making money from just about any niche market you like, it just does not happen any more.

However there has been a shift into what is called auto blogging where you can place your blog on virtual autopilot and make money. So the question is, do these Auto Blogging programs work?

To answer this question honestly I would have to say “NO”, with nothing more than scraped content from sites like EzineArticles, RSS feeds,Video from Youtube and some of these systems allowing you to grab content from Yahoo Answers.

And for the unfortunate marketer who believed the hype and big claims of these people selling their auto blogging programs, there was nothing but disappointment all round.

Auto Blogging Had Lost Its Effectiveness

And to prove a point on this, just look at the forums online that are talking about auto blogging and you will see what I mean. These programs were offered with out any real substance or support to those that got involved, so they were simply left to fend for themselves until it all failed. Especially when the search engines started to change to defeat this form of blogging and they were very effective in doing so.

You Might Want To Grab This Free Report On The Top 13 Mistakes Bloggers Can Make.

Auto Blogging Had To Evolve

What needed to happen to make auto blogging viable for all those involved was that the tools and resources had to evolve with the search engines. You could no longer rely on the quick links from social bookmarking sites or using reciprocal links which were really no more than link farms.

Then you look at the blog itself only to find that they were nothing more than “Spam Blogs” which offer no value to the reader at all.

Auto blogging had to change in not only supply of unique quality content but in the way they were using links both inbound and internally to manage the blog. Even pinging your blogs over time has needed to change, simply because the methods they thought were effective were simply getting them banned from the search engines.

So Has Auto Blogging Evolved Enough

Well if you listen to these two marketers it has, Jason Katzenback and Jason Potash are about to release a new auto blogging system which has been named the “Blog Blueprint” where you can actually get access to the tools if you are looking at getting involved with auto blogging as your online marketing strategy.

It is a course divided into seven modules with pdf e-books and videos to compliment each of the modules as well as some of their most powerful tools that they have used to market online over the last five years.

Will this course be successful? Will it help people make it online with their blog? Only time will tell… However, you might want to get their free report on blogging mistakes because this report will show you what mistakes to avoid whether you are a auto blogger or not. See Top 13 Auto Blogging Blunders.

Community Manager Job at Brandwatch

Job Title: Community manager
Location: Brighton
Nature of position: A permanent role, initially part time, with the potential to become full time
Company description:
Brandwatch is a technology company based in Brighton. We monitor what social media says about companies and their brands, products and customer service. This means we track what people are saying on the internet in their blogs, forums, news pages, tweets, etc and then allow our clients to understand, monitor and reply to the comments that are relevant to them. You can find out more at www.brandwatch.com

Role Description
We are looking for someone to help manage our online brand, someone to encourage and thank our online supporters, try to win over our online critics and, most of all, tell people who are seeking information about social media monitoring about Brandwatch.
The main tool for the role is our own Brandwatch tool. The community manager will use it to track mentions of Brandwatch and of social media monitoring in general. With this tool, the community manager will then:
 - identify those people who support Brandwatch, thank them and build an online friendship
  – tell the rest of the Brandwatch team what are the current important topics within social media reporting, how well we rate and what kind of questions are being asked
 -Contact people interested in trialling social media monitoring and suggest using Brandwatch and pass these opportunities onto the sales team.
In addtition, this person will be expected to learn about the existing and planned functionality of the Brandwatch tool and pass general feedback to the team about what is being said, by whom about Social Media Monitoring. We would also like them to manage our membership of online communities like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Skills and attributes required
We are looking for someone with a 2:1 degree or better (or equivalent), preferably in one of the Arts or Humanities, who is an active user of social media (whether on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc.) and, preferably, who has some experience of either journalism or customer support. Being able to speak and write in another European language (especially German) would be an advantage.
As communications are central to this role, we are looking for someone with outstanding written and verbal communication. We would also need them to have practical experience of social media, e.g., through their own blog or active Twitter, Facebook, etc. account.

Salary and benefits
This will be a perfect opportunity to join a cutting-edge technology company, working with a world-class application to contribute positively to all aspects of the business.
The full time equivalent salary will be in the range £18,000-£22,000 p.a., pro rata for the amount of hours worked. The range depends on the prior experience of the candidate.

How to apply
Please send an up to date cv with cover note to jobs at brandwatch.com with the subject ‘Application for Community Manager.’ The cover note should include specifics on why the candidate is interested in social media (including what social media they currently use) and a few paragraphs (maximum of 200 works) on how they see companies use social media for their brands in the next few years.
Please note: absolutely no recruitment agencies should contact us about this role – you would be wasting your time.

Brandwatch COO Bryan Tookey an interview

Tell me about Brandwatch?
Brandwatch monitors social media. Using our own crawlers, our own data storage and a flexible and user-friendly front end, our clients can track what is being said about them across social media (blogs, news, tweets, forums, videos, etc.) And if our clients don’t have the time to use the Brandwatch tool themselves, then we can analyse the data for them and report back what is being said and by whom.

Why did you chose to work for Brandwatch?
A combination of admiration for Brandwatch and a desire to be closer to the social media revolution.
The story began about 3 years ago. I was working for Google but looking for more of a challenge and Giles [Giles Palmer, Brandwatch CEO] and I, got talking. Although nothing worked out then, I kept on being reminded of the power of social media and the quality of user generated content. So when Giles approached me earlier this year and said they were looking for a  COO, I checked out the  Brandwatch product, looked at the competition and knew it would be the right move.

What do you see the as the challenges in working in social media monitoring?
I should go for a pithy repetition of data, data and data, as we do need to provide data that is relevant, data that is near-real time and data that is comprehensive. But I actually think the bigger challenge in this nascent sector is getting the balance between great product and great marketing. I look at Radian6 [a competitor] and see that they are bigger, but in all the side-by-side comparisons Brandwatch has a superior product . In these tests Radian6 suffers from worse coverage, too many irrelevant or duplicated mentions and not enough real time results, but they have great sales numbers. Whether Brandwatch can up our ‘presence’ at the same time as keeping our product as number 1 is the challenge I most look forward to.

Where do you see social media monitoring going?
Here are my three predictions: social media monitoring is going to become bigger, it is going to move towards responding and not just monitoring and we will see the market split with some clients wanting a highly functional complex product and others wanting an easy-to-use less functional version.

I think social media monitoring is going to get bigger because more people will use the internet to express their opinions and actions and, moreover, more people will seek out those opinions in order to make up their minds (e.g., whether to buy a product or not). And this will mean companies have to track these opinions.

I think companies will not just want to monitor, but also to respond to these changes as social media can act as a new revenue channel and as a way to manage their Brand. I see a surge of online-community managers emerging to encourage the supporters of their brands and try to win over the detractors. This group will quickly be expected to show results (conversions, ROI, change in sentiment, etc) and so I hope tools like Brandwatch’s will help them achieve this. With this in mind  we  recently upgraded our online tool to help users engage with their customers and there are more innovations in the pipeline.

My final prediction is that the market will develop both into a high end segment with customised tools and CRM-plug-ins, often supported by specialist media agencies, and a more basic product that is easier to use than any tool currently out there, with slightly less functionality, and mass market rates.

What is next for Brandwatch?
For the near term, Brandwatch are concentrating on providing the best quality data and increasing how easily users can respond and engage with clients. We are also seeing a growth in customised dashboards for our larger, more ambitious, clients.
In the medium term we are looking at how to make the direct self serve model work as smoothly as possible.

And in the longer term?
Hmmm, the long term is harder to foresee – ask me again in a few years.

How are you going to avoid being wiped out by Google?
Good question, but I am not sure how likely Google are to produce a full social media monitoring tool and if they did, how successful they would be at it.

Social media monitoring is not as interesting for Google as maintaining core search and fighting major battles in the mobile space and operating systems. So there is no reason to suppose that they will chase hard in this nascent area of technology.

They are big enough, of course, to fight multiple fronts, and so Google could decide to launch a full and free social media monitoring service as a minor (for them) project. But here they do not have as great a track record as you might think. Products like Google check out, Orkut, Google tv ads (or newspaper or radio ads) and Froogle and its successors have all failed, often because Google did not put enough resources behind them.

That is a bit optimistic don’t you think?
However much I wish to dismiss Google’s interest, you are right and I have considered what would happen in the event that Google take social media monitoring seriously. One possible outcome is, of course, that they would buy the company with the best technology  and I would like to think that that is Brandwatch. But say they overlook Brandwatch or build the tool in house, then we would face a free and probably very good product. In this case, we would concentrate on serving the top end of the market, the media agencies and the most sophisticated customers. This much like web analytics programmes like Omniture and Coremetrics survived Google’s purchase of Urchin and subsequent relaunch as Google Analytics.

What is one thing not a lot of people know about you?
There is little record of me being a roustabout on a drilling rig in the North Atlantic for 6 months. This was my first job after university and the lack of evidence is because today’s social media platforms were not around then for me to post about it and even if they had been, the internet did not quite stretch to a rig anchored 50 miles North East of the Shetland Islands.
 

Who would you like to communicate with?
We are always interested in hearing from potential clients and social media experts. We can really help out the former (even if they don’t take our Product) and love hearing about the experiences and enthusiasm of the latter.
 

How can people reach out to you?
I am on twitter (bryantookey), or they can email me, I am bryan at brandwatch.com. Or just try posting a blog and see how quickly my Brandwatch-radar picks it up.

Social Influence Benchmark Report by www.StrongMail.com

StrongMail recently released its inaugural Social Influence Benchmark Report, which shows that branding campaigns should be targeted to Twitter and blogs, but sales campaigns would be better served by email marketing and blogger outreach.

The report covered the following sharing channels: email, Facebook, Twitter, blogs (blogger, WordPress, personal links and embedded badges) and “other” (Myspace and Bebo).

Content Sharing and Extending Brand Reach

In what will likely be surprising to some, email proved the most popular method of sharing content, with 86% using that as their preferred sharing method.

However, once shared, the percentage of information to go viral was much higher on non-email channels. Email was re-shared only 41% of the time while Twitter was re-shared 1837% of the time. More interestingly, “personal links” (i.e. embedded links for blogs) were more viral than Facebook.

How can these results be used by brand marketers?

If you want to grow your brand awareness to reach new audiences, you should encourage your brand champions to Twitter and blog about your messaging.

Conversion from Clicks

When it comes down to whether recipients actually converted (bought something, signed up, etc.), email marketing was the highest performing channel at 36.8% with blogs and badges at 20%.

How can these results be used to generate sales?

If you want to drive sales, you should start by launching an email marketing campaign and then encourage your audience to forward the email to a friend or blog about the message rather than tweet about it.

Careful Conclusions

While the report showed that the conversion of traffic from Twitter was low, it was a percentage and did not attribute back to final numbers or value of sales, nor does it take into consideration the long-term value of that outreach.

What can be concluded is that by carefully targeting your campaigns to different customer types who are able to share your messages via their preferred method, you can increase both brand reach and sales.

StrongMail Influencer

This data was collected from millions of share activities that took place on the StrongMail Influencer platform during Q3 2009.  StrongMail Influencer is a viral marketing tool that can be integrated into email campaigns and websites to encourage people to share via their preferred social media channel. Featuring in-depth reporting on share activity and conversions, Influencer enables marketers to identify and remarket to their top influencers.

StrongMail influencer helps marketers to:

• Identify the “key influencers” within their customer base.
• Target key influencers with socially enabled email campaigns.
• Track the performance of socially enabled email campaigns to enhance targeting, incentives and optimise for enhanced branding or ROI.

This is not a paid review, and I have no commercial connection with www.StrongMail.com.

Word-of-mouth marketing uk

What is word-of-mouth marketing anyway?

See Word Of Mouth Marketing

I have been doing some research for some forthcoming posts and I kept coming across this term word-of-mouth marketing in different contexts so I did a little research into it and wanted to share what I found.

My take on word-of-mouth marketing is that it is being used to cover a multitude of disciplines from inbound marketing to email marketing to twitter marketing and even field marketing. ie anywhere you are face to face (that could be a digital face) with consumers and anywhere where they are communication about you / your brand. Here is what some other say:

Wikipedia

Word of mouth is a reference to the passing of information from person to person. Originally the term referred specifically to oral communication. (literally words from the mouth), but now includes any type of human communication, such as face to face, telephone, email, and text messaging.

Word-of-mouth marketing, which encompasses a variety of subcategories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, cause influencers and social media marketing, as well as ambassador programs, work with consumer-generated media and more, can be highly valued by product marketers. Because of the personal nature of the communications between individuals, it is believed that product information communicated in this way has an added layer of credibility.

Microsoft says:

Word-of-mouth marketing: How to get customers to do your selling
By Douglas Gantenbein

In Summary:
• Word of mouth generates sales in a cost-effective way.
 • People don’t spread the word for pay or favors — if they love your product, they’ll do it for free.
 • Invite people to discuss your product or service through company blogs or other communication methods.

I got the tag list for this post from Andy Sernovitz’s site http://www.wordofmouthbook.com/, well he wrote the book on it.

If you are a blogger and you have not signed up for a Twitter account yet, you are missing opportunities to gain new readers and increase your hits.

Twitter has a search function. I use it often to find people who are interested in the tight niche about which I blog. I have had great success with this. I can literally search the world over (at least the part of the world on Twitter) for people who mentioning key phrases that pertain to my niche. I assume if they are tweeting those key phrases or words, they might be interested in my blog content.

I spend a little time studying their tweets, and if I think they’re a match and would be interested in my blog or have something to contribute to the conversation, I follow them. Sometimes, I re-tweet their tweets or if they have a blog, I’ll check it out.

I assume a few things while marketing my blog via Twitter:

1) If I create interesting, beneficial content, people will want to read it.

2) Some of these people use Twitter.

3) Half the battle is finding my audience. The other half is retaining it.

4) Frequent searches of key phrases can’t help me find the audience that will be responsive to my blog and my attempts to market it.

-jen

Tell me about your Blog?

My blog is Cinema Juice and is a blog about movies. I utilize this outlet to voice my thoughts and opinions on what’s happening in the film industry. Casting updates, new trailers, upcoming films; I cover it all.

My aim is to bring a fresh perspective to the industry’s current contemporary cinema. Building an audience would also be nice.

What was your first blog?

Without the slightest ounce of exaggeration, Cinema Juice was my first blog. I’ve started up different accounts on WordPress and Blogger, but never quite got around to actually making a post. But now I know what it feels like to be a blogger, and quite frankly, it feels good.

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?

Being somewhat of a newbie blogger myself, many of those in my position would refrain from giving advice. Fortunately, I’m not one of those people.

I recommend doing the following: Write. Advertise. Write more. The look of your blog, as long as it doesn’t leave the reader’s eyes hurting, can wait until later. Writing quality posts and getting the word out about your blog is the first essential thing on your to-do list when starting out.

Be genuine, and engage your readers when they comment. You’ve heard it a million times, but if you do these things, you’ll build up an audience in no time.

What do advertisers do that you wish they wouldn’t?

To be frank, not much at all. When I visit a website or blog that is littered with advertisements up and down the page, I don’t blame the advertisers, I blame the owner of the place. I took the time to visit their page, and they blind me with information on how to lose weight. Not nice.

What do bloggers do that you wish they wouldn’t?

The above. But also those incapable of being persistent and patient. You’re not going to  hit the jackpot in a week. Give it a few months, work at it, and success will come your way.

Where do you see growth in the blogging field?

Personal blogs. They are much more of a treat to read than any other type of blog.

What new ideas are advertisers coming up with to take advantage of new
trends?

Twitter. I needn’t say more.

What do you do to improve the world?

Now? Not much, but I plan to be a writer. I hope my future work will shine out the best in me and others.

What do you do that is green?

I recycle, but I dare say, that is all.

What is one thing about you that not many people know?

Many of my readers don’t know that I am still in high school. Many of my friends and family are unaware of my writing.

What’s your favorite book?

I’ve got a penchant for fantasy books. I’ve read just about every children’s fantasy book on the market right now. And yes, that includes the seventh Harry Potter book. Some of my favorite authors include Brian Jacques, Jonathan Stroud, Christopher Paolini, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and J.R.R Tolkien.

I’m also an avid reader of poetry. The works of Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, Langston Hughes, and Emily Dickinson in particular.

What is on your iPod?

Oh goodness, just about everything, old and new. Though rock & roll is my favorite genre.

What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace,
forums, etc)?

Blog: http://cinemajuice.com

E-mail: cinemajuice@gmail.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/cinemajuice

How do you prefer to communicate?

Contact me in any way that is convenient for you.

Who would you recommend, and why?

Each of the following contributed to my inspiration to begin blogging about movies on my own. They are fantastic movie blogs, each of which I highly recommend if film critique is an interest of yours.

http://themovieblog.com

http://filmschoolrejects.com

http://cinematical.com

http://filmjunk.com

The following movie news sites are great resources as well:

http://comingsoon.net

http://cinemablend.com

What is one thing people can do for you?

Stop by my blog and throw your two cents in. Comments are warmly welcome.

Movie Blogger and Cinema Blogger at Cinema Juice

Tell me about your Blog?
Well, I write very different blogs. But my main focus at this point is on a controversial one. Although it does not meet with a lot of rejection when presented, yet it inspires blushes that makes chatting about it somewhat too cautious. However, the acceptance it receives is completely amazing and unbelievable. I guess by now you are wondering what this blog is all about. Anyway, one more thing, it is one of the reasons I am happy to be born in this age of openness through the aid of technology. So, join me to read and welcome to Erotic Fantasies.

What was your first blog?
As regards this particular blog, it was initially created to focus on my first manuscript for a love-story novel which is gathering ‘byte’-dust in my hard drive now. But I quickly diversified it into general fictional writing when I thought the initial plan was boring. So, the first blog for erotic fantasies is titled ‘The 3 Way Lust’. It was a hit short story that inspired me to push on.

What is the biggest tip you would give to a newbie blogger?
Just as it goes, writing is a window to our hearts. It is enough trouble to think let alone putting fingers to key (no more ‘pen to paper’ as that is so 18th-century-like). So I would encourage a newbie to crackle on. But my best advice is to develop a niche to blog on. This is because blogging is better when subject-focused and that way, it is also easier to talk about or found by fans.

What do advertisers do that you wish they wouldn’t?
Well, my blog isn’t commercial (not yet). So I am not minding advertisers. But on the other hand, I would that they make ads snappy and focused too to relate to the hosting blog.

What do bloggers do that you wish they wouldn’t?
Hijacking of others’ subject or feeling theirs is just the only best.

Where do you see growth in the blogging field?
Freedom of expression and access to contributing and reducing capitalistic madness. And that is reflected at the cross-section of people who are blogging now; mums, dad, employed, unemployed, students, free-lancers, self-employed, government workers and officials, even presidents. Blogging is surely the new media and the traditional media already knows that. Hence they also have taken it on board and even paying or offering incentives for people to blog.

What new ideas are advertisers coming up with to take advantage of new trends?
The London Bloggers’ Meetup (LBM) which I am a member of has had various sponsorships from big names/chains for our meeting this year; all thanks to Andy Bargery (@abarge). It can only mean one thing: they reach more people through escalation method of bloggers writing about them for their different readers. So that’s a great idea.

What do you do to improve the world?
Live in it. Haha! It is confusing these days how and if the ‘damn’ old hag called planet is improving or retarding. What with the new theories of emission, recycling, etc. They are boring and I am not subscriber to ethics or routine, real, invented or artificial. I go about London on a bike not because I want to be ‘green’ (I am black- haha!), and I burn electricity only when I need to not to improve the world but because I think it should be common sense not to play a CD and watch a movie at the same time. An example is I don’t own a TV, or other gadgets, my laptop is a TV, CD/DVD player, Radio, MP3 player, etc. So for me, it’s about common sense. So, ask yourself if you need that mp3/iPod while you have a mobile handset with over 12GB storage capacity on it.

What do you do that is green?
I don’t think about it and as said above, I am not interested. Criticize me if you may.

What is one thing about you that not many people know?
Ah! I wasn’t expecting this. Ehm… most people don’t know that I have any problems at all.

What’s your favorite book?
Ironically, the Ancient & Modern – Church of England hymn book. I don’t practice any religion though.

What is on your iPod?
I have never owned an iPod and would not.

What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums, etc)?
Email; godwys @ godwyns.com,
Blog; www.eroticfantasies.wordpress.com ,
Facebook; www.facebook.com/godwyns
Twitter; www.twitter.com/godwyns
Linkedin; http://www.linkedin.com/in/godwyns
Brightkite; http://brightkite.com/people/Godwyns

What events do you go to?
Mainly social networking, bookclubs, blogging meets, support groups

How do you prefer to communicate?
Depends on the context. Most of the time, I will prefer not speak on the phone but do email. Otherwise, I suffer from text-rithis. Send me a text if it is urgent.

Who would you recommend, and why?
Ahh! Tough one. I normally am awful with special regards. I see everyone as equal regardless of what they do. But on recommendation, it will depend on what’s in need. This is why network a lot. Different people for different issues.
Go for 10 people plus
@abarge – has excellent connections; grab him if you can
@anniemole – has read almost all the fictional books in the world and know London underground. A sure guide in matter of fictional and underground stuff
My CEO at work – friendly but stern
My friend @yiannopoulos – has the brain of a supercomputer(me think) and tweets a lot.
Twitter – excellent blogging mode and instant access to those you probably wouldn’t have.
Georgina – a former colleague who understands everything and never ever show anger or raise her voice
Ruthy my friend – chill and calm and easy
Lynn Herrick – photographer per excellence
Mark – a retired priest in the interpretation industry who is friendly to all and knows a lot
You of course – Murray Newlands; ah! Too curious and surely would know much
Eroticfantasies – for imaginative pleasure and real fascination of ecstasy.

What is one thing people can do for you?
Make sure they check and confirm that what they are going to ask or tell me is relevant.

Freelance bloggers are a new breed of writer with a classic set of skills and challenges. Just as freelance writers of the last century worked as writers and reporters for hire to the best publications and the highest bidder, so do freelance bloggers post at multiple sites on an array of topics.

A freelance blogger can turn copy around, making quick work of a slow news day. One advantage the freelance blogger has over a freelance writer is that the seeds of the stories are delivered to their inbox. While there have always been public relations and story pitches from the outside, a freelance blogger often has the latitude to choose from dozens of stories in an RSS reader as the beginnings of a post. Another advantage is the availability of photos through the creative commons license on photo hosting sites like Flickr. This means that freelance bloggers don’t need to work with freelance photographers and that creatives are available as long as credit is given.

Freelance bloggers do face challenges, though. The AP recently issued a statement saying that they would charge several dollars per word if bloggers quote over 5 words from an AP article. While there is plenty of other news out there, that does take out one of the major news sources for article reference.

Another major challenge freelance bloggers face is finding work that fits with their niche. Blogging forums and job boards like FreelanceBlogger are great ways to not only find sites looking for bloggers but to also make known what kind of blogging you like and want to do to see if you, as a blogger, are a good fit with what a given blog site is looking for.

In the end, freelance blogging is a great way to make sure your voice is heard, pick up extra income, and be part of the newest form of journalism and creative writing: Freelance Bloggers.

Freelance bloggers, blogging jobs, blogging job board

Scott