I have always geared most of what I write for an international audience with this blog and my other blogs, do sponsored posts for selected restaurants, other business, and musicians, which I aid in their online marketing, and for charity posts and complaint posts as do get urged by many of the contest joiners to "use my blade" with the powerful reach of my online network, and notably, Twitter does get results. As a #Promonatic, meaning a contest joiner, sadly, some promos and contests do have marketing fails and there have been solutions achieved, as I desire to bring about awareness to the company heads keeping in mind that people do make mistakes, that sometimes things happen, and that it is in the best interest of any company to resolve matters immediately as we are the consumers and contest joiners are vital to sending their message out. And, for the generous companies that do give out prizes properly, I would like to state, thank you so much and do share the joy and opportunity to win online. I do not blog about restaurant issues as I do believe that it is best to talk with the management for any complaints so that there can be changes made, instead of jeopardizing their business with a bad review.
Wielding Power Wisely
#ResponsibleMedia is one of the hashtags of Blogapalooza and with great power comes great responsibility. Note that it just takes one tweet to send a message out to the entire world. Thinking before I write and choosing to post only about the products that I believe in, and what is worth writing about does make the difference.
And, as one of the so-called "mentors" like when many of #Promonatics suddenly became writers to make a tremendous amount of money with Bubblews and now, seeing that my meeting with the marketing of a certain brand has brought about improvements to our sponsored PR posts, I would like state that there are more positive changes that need to be done in the blogging world.
Protecting the Bloggers
And, as one of the so-called "mentors" like when many of #Promonatics suddenly became writers to make a tremendous amount of money with Bubblews and now, seeing that my meeting with the marketing of a certain brand has brought about improvements to our sponsored PR posts, I would like state that there are more positive changes that need to be done in the blogging world.
Protecting the Bloggers
To post is work. We have internet to pay. We spend time posting. We have the reach. All-around, photographer, writer, social media marketer, us bloggers do need to get the rate we deserve. This I state because I have heard lousy feedback on the way certain bloggers have been treated upon being invited. Not enough products or a token to cover for the transportation and the effort made, and not even adequate food? That is blogger abuse.
Not all bloggers are equal. Though I like the fact that this is the case right now, that everyone gets the same kind of loot bag or token, marketing and brands should assess each blogger. It's not just the number of followers, views, but the results, the reach, and the way that the blog posts are written.
And, all bloggers that are requested to post should be compensated, with products or with a token amount. Our free ad space is reserved for businesses of family and friends, what we want to blog about such as a prize we won or a restaurant that we willingly wish to promote, and for charity. If a company starts up and needs bloggers, they ideally should factor the cost of online marketing as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and other social networking sites are not enough - blogs do appear in search engine results and provide that vital backlink.
Leveling Up Blogging Skills
And, all bloggers that are requested to post should be compensated, with products or with a token amount. Our free ad space is reserved for businesses of family and friends, what we want to blog about such as a prize we won or a restaurant that we willingly wish to promote, and for charity. If a company starts up and needs bloggers, they ideally should factor the cost of online marketing as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and other social networking sites are not enough - blogs do appear in search engine results and provide that vital backlink.
Leveling Up Blogging Skills
If we don't get paid enough, there is no motivation, and the results is repeated content as the 'favor' press release might be picked up by some bloggers - and then Google will shoot down the content. These press releases can be placed with a few edits, ensuring that the essentials are there, which are the who, what, when, where, and why, and the how, and then a call to action. Then, each post will be original and greatly aid in the ranking of the blog.
Longer content, more information, testimonials, and more can be done with each post. Blogging is just like talking, and when doing so, it should be done in an engaging and informative manner.
Blogging can be made better by using the free online tools available such as Ginger which is a grammar and spell-checker, Pixlr Expess for editing images and Canva for creating those awesome images for social media posts.
Blogging is a skill. It can be learned. Constant, never-ending improvement. C.A.N.I.
In less than a month after entering the local blogging groups, I have become a Blogapalooza blogger. I am thankful for the recognition and the invite. And, I urge each and every blogger to constantly improve, as that is what I do, learning all the time, sharing the knowledge, and bring about results by working on each post carefully, taking time to share it with the right hashtags, and aiding the companies that do make the time, budget, and effort to treat us bloggers fairly.
Follow me on Twitter @cpdominguez
