On joining blog networks: Be careful what you sign up for

Posted by scoop on September 28th, 2006 in Blog basics, Business Blogging, Tips |

Times like these, we see probloggers all over the ‘net. Different topics have different bloggers making reviews or talking about their personal experiences and sharing their views on different matters and issues. There have been listings of jobs for bloggers and maybe some of them I have only noticed a year ago. In any case, there are different kinds of blogger jobs and there are different conditions that you have to consider.

Some blog networks want you to be an exclusive blogger for them. Some people are fine with this arrangement. If you think that you would grow in such a network, why not? Or maybe if it’s just for a limited time only anyway, why not go for it? Maybe you could risk it if it’s just for a few months. I have seen some fellow bloggers who are under some exclusive contract and because they are compensated well for it, it was a pretty good arrangement for them.

Some other points to consider before signing up for a blog network:

• Work from home? Or is there going to be an office of sorts?
  There are bloggers who work in an office. You probably find it hard to believe but… it happens. What is the more suitable arrangement for you? If you are someone who doesn’t like working in an office environment, it’s definitely not your thing.
• Output
  How much work do you have to do? Can you choose your topics or are they assigned to you? Would it be 500 word-long blog entries everyday? Or maybe 100-word long blog entries each time you post? Maybe three posts a day? There are blog networks that ask you to post at least one entry each day. It really depends…
• Compensation
  How much would they be paying you for your output? If you think that they are asking you for too many blog entries and they are not going to pay you well enough, considering your knowledge and skills, it would probably not worth it. Aside from that, consider if it’s a fixed salary or will you share the revenues or is it flexible enough for you to choose whichever you find more to your liking or if it’s a win-win situation for you and the blog network.
• What happens to your blog entries?
  Here’s a tricky one. Will all your works be exclusively available only on the blog network’s site or could you re-publish them on your personal blog? What would you choose to happen to your blog entries? Take them down from the blog once your stint with the network is done? Or if you have been blogging prior to joining a network, would you like your previous entries to be excluded from the network’s newly acquired blog (or soon to be acquired, whatever the case is).

Think about everything before you say “yes” — you wouldn’t want your blogging career to be shot immediately. Oh and before you proceed to really thinking about problogging, read what Mosey has to say about finding quality writers.

[tags]pro blogging,blog networks,wordpress,blog entries,blog templates[/tags]