Pathfinder Day
‹#›
My Blog As Media Company…
How do I scale?
How do I grow my blog’s media footprint?
How do I widely distribute my content?
How do I monetize?
What works for me and my master plan?
SOURCE: 2011 SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS: BLOGHER SAMPLE, N = 1,143
© 2011 SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS SOCIAL STUDY BY BLOGHER, INC. CO-SPONSORED BY KETCHUM,
‹#›
Everyone starts at the beginning…
‹#›
2005: What the ?????
‹#›
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHm-VsPF6Lw
2011: Winner!!
‹#›
http://vimeo.com/18753607
Ree Drummond Photography: Then
<insert image>
June 2007. GRODY.
‹#›
Ree Drummond Photography: Now
<insert image>
June 2011. Yummy!
‹#›
Who You Are
How Many Years Have You Been Blogging?
7+
Number of bloggers
5-6
<1
3-4
1-2
-
5
10
15
‹#›
Who You Are
Which Topics Do You Blog About?
Travel
Number of bloggers
Home/Garden/DIY
Fashion/Beauty
Food
Health/Wellness
Personal/Life
Parenting/Family
-
5
10
15
20
25
‹#›
What Are Your Top Priorities For
Developing Your Blog?
Top priority
Nice to
Important have (not
but not #1 a must)
Scale blog/Online reach
24
10
1
Monetize the blog
20
9
5
Get a book deal
6
11
11
Getting on TV or Radio
5
11
16
Get local press
3
13
11
…What #1 priority didn’t we ask about?
‹#›
My Blog As Media Company…
How do I scale?
How do I grow my blog’s media footprint?
How do I widely distribute my content?
How do I monetize?
What works for me and my master plan?
SOURCE: 2011 SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS: BLOGHER SAMPLE, N = 1,143
© 2011 SOCIAL MEDIA MATTERS SOCIAL STUDY BY BLOGHER, INC. CO-SPONSORED BY KETCHUM,
‹#›
Content IS EVERYTHING

Always…start with the content

Define your site: Mission? Purpose? Goals?

Think big: What does success look like to you?

Quality: What do you care about most?

Storytelling?

Photos?

Video?
Exercise:
Madlib
…how about least?
‹#›
May 2006:
I started “One of those blog things.”
Title:
Confessions of a Pioneer Woman
‹#›
I started my blog on Blogger, the platform of the only blog I’d
read to date.
I had it up and running in ten minutes; the address was
reedrummond.blogspot.com.
I christened my blog “Confessions of a Pioneer Woman” as a
nod to a nickname given to me by friends when I married a
cowboy and moved to the country.
Twenty minutes later, I freaked out because I’d put my last
name online and I’d always heard you should never put your
last name online or you’d get murderd.
So I changed it to pioneerwoman.blogspot.com and called it
a day. I wanted to live.
‹#›
I started by posting photos of my kids.
‹#›
And my dog.
‹#›
And our trampoline.
‹#›
And the scenery around the ranch.
‹#›
Slow and steady
• Traffic grew slowly and steadily from day 1
• I posted every single day
• Readers told their friends, sisters, mothers,
and Orkin men
• No ads, no sponsors
• I’d just lived in the country for ten years and
had a lot of things I had to get out
‹#›
Seven months after I
started my blog,
I posted my first
cooking tutorial:
“How to Cook a Steak”
‹#›
‹#›
Months later, I spun off the
recipes into a completely
separate cooking blog/URL
because I clearly had no clue
about growing a web property:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks
‹#›
‹#›
Eventually, I united
Confessions and Cooking
under one roof, then added
PioneerWomanPhotography&
P.W. Home and Garden
‹#›
‹#›
‹#›
‹#›
‹#›
‹#›
‹#›
In Early 2002 The Following Things Happened
to Me
- I was "Let Go" (AKA Fired) From My High Powered
Job
- Someone wiped out my Bank Account buying stuff at
Eastbay and Harry & David
- Had No Way to Pay for My Massive Student Loans
(but had a great closet, seriously)
- I Lived 2 hours away from all my friends
- My Dad Died
To Put it Lightly.....LIFE SUCKED!
‹#›
ButI also
inmarried
Late
2002
an Adorable Tech Geek
‹#›
Who Suggested
I Start a Blog To
Talk About My
Crazy Shopping
Adventures
‹#›
So in 2003..
The Budget Fashionista
Started from a Love of
Fashion and a Lack of Cash
‹#›
In the beginning....
-People thought I was crazy to give up a career to
pursue a "hobby" .
-My biggest fans was my husband, my mom, and a
woman in Detroit, MI.
- I would write about my shopping adventures
(which I still do to this day) and my obsession with
Isaac Mizrahi's line at Target and DSW
Shoewarehouse.
- I thought no one read or cared what I was doing
Until The Associated Press Called and My
Life Changed Forever
‹#›
2006
Ballantine/Random House Published my First Book
‹#›
100 International,
National, and Regional
Television Segments
‹#›
A Star Studded 5th Anniversary Bash
‹#›
Me Now...
•
‹#›
Scale: How do you reach more people
with great content?

SEO

Social Networks

Syndicators (e.g., BlogHer.com)

Link Exchanges or Round-up Posts

Carnivals

Shake Your Tail Feathers
Exercise:
Read
“How to Build Blog
Traffic”
by Elise Bauer
‹#›
Link love
‹#›
Giving Link Love Back
‹#›
Make it fun
‹#›
Blog…Day In, Day Out

Writer's block
Exercise:

Links and memes

Time management, organization and
delegation
Start by
forgiving
yourself!
Read
Hippie In
Heels…
…and then
Amy Turn Sharp
‹#›
Yes! Spend Money On Your Site

Development costs

Contributor payments

Design work

Constant growing and changing

Creating time to write (e.g., the laundry
factor)
There’s just one rule: SPEND MONEY WHERE IT
MAKES THE MOST SENSE (HINT: Content :)
What are your strengths? Where should
you hire help?
Exercise:
Read “When
Should You
Design Your
Own Blog,
And When
Should You
Hire a
Professional
Designer?”
By Lorelle
‹#›
Time Management: Use the Quality
Content Filter
Let’s discuss the tipping point where each of
the following important opportunities will
negatively affect your Web content:

Conferences and networking

Book deals

Speaking engagements

Social Networking that doesn't work
‹#›
Getting Paid For Great Content
• What makes sponsors want to work with you and
your blog?
• How to value your time– and have the conversation
about the value of your time with potential sponsors
• Publishers, ad networks and sponsored content
• Disclosure and transparency: How to monetize in a
way that's pro-content, pro-community
Read:
“So, You Want to
Have a PR-Friendly
Blog? 7 Tips For
Making It Happen”
by TheLittleHenHouse
Read:
Read:
blogwithintegrity.com/
Professional Blogging
for Dummies
By Susan
Getgood
blogher.com/whatare-your-communityguidelines
‹#›
Press

How can you get more press coverage?

Go local techniques

Go print techniques

Be accessible

Again…Shake Your Tail Feathers!
‹#›
‹#›
‹#›
TV and Radio

Nobody's good at this at first
Exercise:

Why and how to practice

How to prepare for your appearances

What to wear

Makeup
Read
“TV Interview
Make-up Tips:
Look as good as
you sound”
Posted by Scott
Lorenz,
Westwind
Communications

Value for your blog
‹#›
Your Kitchen Cabinet

Great readers

Blogging colleagues

Time management
‹#›