MediaWhiz Blog: Archive

21 Surefire Tips for a Successful Blog Launch contains a lot of good information on how to kick things off right when you put a new site live. The tactics described are all good, but I think the philosophy is even more important than the specific tips.

With most NFL teams the first 20 or so plays are scripted — this helps the team execute and takes advantage of planning and practice (unless you’re the Cleveland Browns). I think a web site launch is the same way. I certainly have a ‘new site trust building’ checklist that I go back to time and time again, and I always follow this step by step get out of the sandbox plan on a new domain (with slight variations each time).

Anyway, my favorite tips were #5 and #10 (I think they get overlooked a lot):

5. Offer an email version of your RSS feed.
10. Include tons of outbound links in your posts.

Read the entire article here.

Readers, Performancing has just launched their blog ad network called Performancing Partners.  For publishers this is a great way to supplement your income.  For advertisers its a great way to get your message on influential blogs. 

These ads differ from TLA ads significantly.  Performancing Partners features graphical banners complete with impression tracking, click through data, etc.  The one feature between the two ad systems is the flat rate monthly pricing.  This is great because your ad will run for a full 30 days independent of a flood of traffic or impressions.

Techcrunch, Problogger, and Weblogtoolscollection all have nice overviews of the system.   Check it out for your self and let me know what you think and how it could be improved!

Andy showed you how to give your site the best chance of digging out of Google’s sandbox.  Now Chris Pearson gives you a little motivation to get the shovel out and start digging because here is what can happen to your traffic if you are willing to work. 

LBB readers, by way of apology for and explanation of my slow posting lately, I’d like you all to be the first to know about my new company:

It will be launching in less than a month, and the team and I have been working around the clock on it.

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We have just released our newest TLA tool…

The Blog Juice Calculator

It’s a fun tool that allows you to compare your blog to other’s based on: rss subscribers, Alexa, and Technorati rank and links.  This was Marie’s first TLA link bait project and she did a great job!  Check it out and let us know what you think.

PayPerPost’s VC funding stirred up quite a bit of controversy around the blogosphere. Calacanis said:

Mike Arrington had his best moment to date in an interview with the smarmy PayPerPost.com, which recently raised money to create a platform which allows advertisers to covertly pay bloggers to shill for advertisers (note: you can disclose you’re using the platform–no one has that i know of). It’s the worst, most evil idea to hit the blogosphere to date, and that fact that venture capitalist are rewarding it is pathetic.

At ReviewMe we are going to bypass this entire problem (opportunity?) and require that bloggers disclose posts that are paid reviews (in whatever way they are comfortable with and that is appropriate for their blog’s audience). These sort of disclosures are very common in all forms of media. Business as usual (for us, at least).

Oh yeah, and one other thing, to Calacanis and all other would-be preachers–you are aware that this exact thing (sans disclosure) has been going on for years in your evening TV news, right? Of course, we know the ReviewMe bloggers will hold themselves to higher standards than the MSM.