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Associated Press Charges Now By The Word

You need to watch this video to understand the changes that the Associated Press is making in how writers on the Web can use their content. You can view the video blog that contains their new rate sheet at the Search Engine Guide blog.

What is very scary to content writers and bloggers is that if you use even just 5 words you will now need to pay $12.50 just as an example. Here is the Associated Press’ new rate sheet:

5-25 words $12.50

26-50 words $17.50

51-100 words $25

101 to 250 words $50

250 words and up $100

The Associated Press is also rolling out a special content tracking program and is clearly posturing itself to start raking in the cash if you use any combination of words that just might appear in one of their content piece titles or articles.

Seems like they should get something if they create the content right, but what if the article title was “Obama pushes health care” and you just by accident, without even reading their piece, use the same words in one of your blog posts. Are you going to want to click to PayPal to pony up the $12.50 when they send you a bill via email?

The Internet is changing our world, just look what it has done to travel agents! Now, you book your own ticket and hotel online and sometimes hotels even let you bid on their rooms. The world is way different in that regard and traditional travel agencies have had to cope with these changes. Some have gone out of business and some have focused on niche travel needs.  

The news media will also be having a major adjustment just like the travel industry did. They will need to look to new ways to provide value and cover their expenses. Personally, I don’t feel that what the Associated Press is doing is the right approach. I think for people such as myself and the speaker in the video it smacks of “old school” and a “death grasp” for cash.

I don’t begrudge a writer fair pay for creating a newsworthy piece but how we get our news is no longer through the traditional news mediums. It is time to brace yourself for big changes in the world of newspapers and magazines as well as online content in the very near future. You may end up not getting a paper on your driveway but have to subscribe to see your news online.

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Twitter is For Us Big Kids!

This past week on August 6th, Twitter and Face weathered denial of service attacks. Although Facebook did not go down entirely, Twitter was hit hard. What I found out from this attack is just how much I depend on Twitter for news and information exchange.

Twitter is not just like an instant messaging program, although newbies when they first interact with Twitter  equate it with instant messaging. It is more like a hotline to news and topics much like the old pre-Internet water cooler routine. With Twitter you are tapped in automatically as news happens. You get to hear it online first instead of from a news media resource. The people who pass the news on Twitter are usually eye witnesses and/or participants. Take Michael Jackson’s death. It was on Twitter before it was even reported on TV or the radio.

Here’s another example, Ashton Kutcher film star and Twitter Poster Boy had an emergency plane landing on August 6th with fire trucks all around. Not only did he tweet about it, but then offered a special password to all Twitter followers to meet up with him at a specific New York City at a club and get half priced drinks on him to celebrate life. It was a close call that Twitterverse heard about as it happened.

Twitter has forever changed the way we interact with others, promote ourselves, get news and information, and share the same. Twitter is not the medium for kids as recent report stated that the majority of Twitter users are business professionals between the ages of 34 and 52, so don’t think this is another “My Space” thing. Twitter is for us “big kids”.

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New Social Networking Program

We’ve rolled out a new program on our website this past week. You can review our program and pricing online.

Due to the interest in social networking and the number of clients we have who are interested in growing their presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Naymz, Tagged, and others, we have created services that help you get started fast.

With our Social Networking Made Easy program, we’ll set up eight platforms for you for $190. We particularly like: Facebook, LinkedIn, FriendFeed, Twitter, Plaxo, Naymz, Tagged, and Xing. All you have to do is to send us your resume and photo and we’ll do the rest. If you don’t have an up to date resume, you can arrange for us to interview you by phone for $40 to make it even easier.

Many clients will be ready to take over from that point, but some clients need more help. For this special type of client we offer social networking mentoring by the hour and our Executive Social Networking program. In this special program we will actively work your two selected networks (sorry not Twitter we have a separate program for Twitter), to help to grow your following and to provide value to readers.

Now’s the time if you have thought maybe you want to do social networking to take charge and hit the ground running with our ala carte social networking set up and update services.

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Blog Posts Should Never Be Website Content

We’ve been hit with a real flurry of activity of website owners pretending that they want blog writing done, but we have to supply the content as Word documents and they have no online blogsite and a website that is under construction. I have to say that this smells to me like a client trying to get website content at a blog post price.

Yes, I know that some people like to do things on the “cheap” and it seems like a good idea, fool a quality blogger to write for you at a super cheap price when website content costs a whole lot more. But, I would like to explain why you should never use blog posts to build your website content.

1. Blogs are derivative works.  When we write a blog post, we find an article online on a news site, we read it and then put our own unique spin on it. Sometimes using our own point of view for the piece or a conglomeration of thoughts from other web news articles compiled into our own unique content. The content is unique but really not what I would consider suitable for website content.

2. Blogs being a more conversation medium than web pages. Blogs are also written in a different style and tone. Blogs are written in a more casual tone. Website content just sounds different when you read it aloud.

3. Blog writers, due to the market, are paid by far less money than web content writers. You will get what you pay for in this area. Although the content will be just fine and really even great for your blog, I would not recommend that a blog piece be passed off as authoritative website content or for that matter even as informational content on your website. Blog posts should stay as blog posts.

4. Website content is typically optimized for specific keywords and is written with a call to action and marketing language. This type of writing would be very boring for a reader to read on a blog, but is appropriate for search engines and a more sanitized selling message that is typically used on a corporate website.

5. Blog content needs to be timely to cater to readers and encourage interaction. Website content on the other hand should have more staying power and not speak to events that have passed or ask the client for input as there aren’t comment links on web pages as there are on blog posts.

Additionally, blog posts should not be used as Link Bait articles for similar reasons.

We are not fooled by clients who try to contract for our blog services and really want inexpensive website content. If you need website content don’t ask for blog posts. Get what you should have for your specific need. In the long run the extra money you pay for website content, that is created for this special need, will serve your site better in the long run winning you customers and communicating confidence in your products and services.