Brave Bloggers in Burma

Whether you call it Burma or Myanmar, the stories coming out of that region have been compelling. Many of them were only possible because of bloggers - "amateur" writers and reporters who have literally put their lives on the line to get information to the rest of the world:

The bloggers held out as long as they could, and if there is ever a monument to the heroes of the Saffron Revolution it should certainly feature a statue of a skinny boy in a T-shirt and thick glasses hunched over a computer and a digital camera.

Now they're fearful, hunted. These young people who have remained in the country have gone underground and are sleeping in a different place every night. They're finding it harder to communicate, as the military regime has turned off the Internet. The London Times has an article worth reading to remember what the stakes can be in this line of work.

A Smart Use of Blog Search Optimization

You can find a lot of advice on the web of incorporating common search terms in your blog to help drive traffic. That's fine, if seeing a parade of uninvolved bodies is what you seek. But if you're a writer, you want to engage people. However, the advice can still stand: incorporate search terms. Just do so in a way that makes sense for what you write.

In my food blog, I've recently found an uptick of of traffic coming in from web searches. What surprised me was that they were all for a product called Vacuware. This device is a system for storing food in a container or bag and then removing all the air to preserve it better. I had reviewed the product, but then I had reviewed many products. Yet people kept coming in for this one.

I went to the Vacuware site to see if there was a new model. Instead, I noticed something about seeing the infomercial. The company was pushing its products on television, and some number of people were going to the web to look for reviews - like mine. In fact, I just did a Google search for "vacuware" and "review." My blog listing was literally the top match.

This wasn't good for Vacuware: I had panned a bad feature that they had admitted to me had serious shortcomings. But it did help me me realize how to write what would normally fit on my blog in a way that uses advertising and other aspects of popular culture to drive more readers. Find what's happening in the world that connects to what you you cover, and then anticipate what an audience will need and search for. In my case, I didn't know about Vacuware's television campaign, but I could have and then asked to see a review unit as a result, figuring that someone would want to know whether the device worked.

I set up the headline in the blog entry when I first wrote it to improve searchability. It says "Review: VacuWare Fresh Food System." I wasn't adding search tags at the time, but I'm going back to add some to those reviews, at least: vacuware, system, review, product, vacuum, and storage.

The idea isn't to become the literary equivalent of a prostitute, but to think from the view of your intended audience and anticipate its needs. That helps you provide what they want, which means they'll be heading to your site.

The Business of Blogging - Stream of Micropublishing Consciousness

Many writers are interested in starting blogs: to bolster a "platform", interest book publishers, or connect with an audience. But how about to make money? BusinessWeek has an interesting article on blogs that have made it big, and it has a number of lessons for writers:

• Write for love, not money. Well, maybe love is a bit strong, but write something you feel a connection to. Most of these bloggers didn't go into a particular area because they thought it would lead to bucks. They wrote about something they wanted to write about, and the audience found them.


• Be patient. Most of these bloggers spent time developing their sites. They didn't generally see overnight success. Instead, they kept working and interest built over time.


• Audience is everything. Yes, you want all the marketing tips to make your blog huge, but the biggest tip is having content. If you do, and it's something that some group of people connect with, then you and the audience will find each other. The most important type of marketing is having something customers want.


• Monetize after attracting people. When you start a blog, don't worry about selling ads. It's clutter, and no one is going to be interested - and you won't make anything, because you don't have the traffic. Wait until you've actually got something going.


• You're in the fashion business. No matter what the topic, people are looking for both content and entertainment. Any oddball topic that takes off shows that a good part of the blogging business has to do with fad and fashion. Keep an eye on the business practices in fashion-based industries, whether clothing designers or consumer electronics. Learn that you need to keep things fresh and be ready to experiment with the next idea.


• You're in the information business. Fashion, in the broadest sense, is a big part of a blog, but people are motived by the particular expression of ideas. They don't care about your personal takes on the world. They want something that relates to them.


• Give readers a way to take part. These bloggers give the strong sense that it's important for readers to have a conversation. Read comments and email, respond to them, and even come up with ideas that will encourage more interaction.

An addendum: these blogs are examples of micropublishing - small ventures by most commercial publishing standards, and they're run by the people who write them. I'm becoming more convinced that micropublishing is the future in this industry. Look at this story from Forbes. Even as the tech companies do well, the tech media struggles because advertisers have found that specialty blogs, search ads, and more general media do far more for their businesses. Are you developing your niche publishing plans now, or are you waiting until lack of ads drive your current editorial clients out of business and force you to find an alternative?

Bill Would Offer Shield for Bloggers

This is an important story for journalists in the U.S.: CNet reports that a Congressional bill would offer a reporters' shield for bloggers without them having to be associated with a traditional news gathering organization. That would help strength the protections of writers and their sources that becomes particularly important when you may not have the backing of a well-funded client for a traditional assignment but are effectively your own publisher.