OFFICIAL LIVEBLOG - Your burning questions about the BlogHer Publishing Network

Session Description:  Join the BlogHer Publishing Network team, Jenifer Scharpen, Jenny Lauck, Gina Garrubbo and Lisa Stone, and learn how to make the most of your membership, if you already are a member. Plus have the opportunity to ask your burning questions, whether you're a current member or not. Get an behind-the-scenes look at how the network works, why our policies work the way they do, and even how the recent FTC interest in bloggers affects and doesn't affect us all.

 Agenda:  
-Meet the BlogHerAds Team
-A Little Herstory
-How BlogHer Works with Advertisers
-Your Questions Answered

Every blog in network is being curated by team of editors.  
Jenny Lauck introduces BlogHerAds team with photo snapshots on screen.

Where are the women bloggers....?
In 2005 the BlogHer founders pulled together the first conference.  Did a post-conference survey, found people wanted more conferences, and for longer than a day.  Also one place where we could come together and find out what women are doing.  BlogHer site was thusly developed.  Portal design to show the world where bloggers are.  Also they would like a better business model than Google Adsense.  

Jory, Lisa and Elisa therefore formed the kind of ad network that they as writers would want to join.  Within publishing network, there is a revenue share.
Community guidelines include no advertising in editorial material. This was an attempt to get credibility for bloggers.   

Slide - BlogHer's Network is large and influential community.  BlogHer is publisher for the largest number of blogs by women with 2,500 blogs and growing.
Women are shifting time to social media.  Advertisers are seeking the BlogHer community, which is a very powerful group.  

Gina Garrubo, blogher's executive vice president.  High CPM is due to Gina.  BlogHer advertising sales have grown 10X since 2007.  
Together we are unique and powerful.  BlogHer enables brands to reach the most influential and engaged women on earth.

Gina - Members of ad sales team stand in audience.  Sales team is very proud to represent blogher voices.  Take the time and care to pursue advertising relationships with Fortune 500 companies and brands that fit with our community.  Long-term sales cycle can take more than a year.  Social media is new and competition exists.
Quality and trust is everything, so blogher is a leader in professional standards.  The blogher community's expertise and guidance via review programs and sponsored conversations is respected and valued.
Advertisers expect BlogHer to be as buttoned-up as largest media organizations.
BlogHer's editorial guidlelines are critical for new and repeat business.
Quality and trust are key with these fortune 500 companies.  
Ad network is highly regarded for editorial standards.  
'The Jennies' help recruit the voice of the blogger.  How we conduct ourselves is critical for repeat-business.

Lisa - One of the reasons Lisa loves working with Gina is that she is a fantastic listener, which is the job that BlogHer is in.  They try to listen as hard as they can.  Let's talk a little bit about what the FTC is up to.

BlogHer's guidelines will help us keep growing. BlogHer's high editorial standards and oversight policies are designed to grow reach and revenue for your blogs.
THe FTC has issued draft guidelines that will make BlogHer's guidelines the gold standard for blog publishing.
The FTC requires clear separation of church and state.
The FTC requires disclosure, which builds trust with readers and advertisers.
The FTC seeks to clarify advertiser and blogger responsibility and liability re: anecdotal versus factual evidence.
These are journalistic standards.
Because BLogHer AND our sponsors already review and approve every BlogHer Review before it goes live, we have the ability to catch any unsubstantiated claims.
Together, we can leverage BlogHer's market leadership to grow revenue-generating problems.
There is a difference between anecdotal and scientific evidence. You cannot say something as a blogger writing an advertorial stating scientific evidence unless you can prove that.
BlogHer has an oversight process. You can do both things on your blog, you just have to disclose.
Because blogher already reviews posts to get around issue with substantiated evidence or not.

Don't know when FTC guidelines will be approved, assuming they will be enforced strictly.  There are lots of companies that are very eager to continue to work with women in social media with these guidelines in place.  Most important relationship is the one with the readers.
Every community is going to have to figure out their own publishing standards on their own.  BlogHer knows what they feel is reasonable and appropriate.

Your questions Answered, Content.
Audience - For those of us who have personal blogs and provide personal opinions, do we now have to go back to our archives and put disclaimers on past posts?  What do we have to do when this passes?
Lisa - Products that you as a consumer have tried and discussed.  Lisa is not a lawyer.  As a publishing company, advice is that if you are giving your unpaid, unsolicited opinion, add a disclaimer on site.  Also, make sure that disclaimer is in top 768 pixels of the blog space.  It is a good idea for someone to get trained in what substantiated evidence is.  BlogHer is working on a series of posts on understanding the difference between scientific and anecdotal evidence.  Even if it is unpaid, if you are talking about products, it smart to protect yourself as a publisher.  Lisa recommends to CYA.  Extra cautious. 
Audience - www.theblacktortoise.com Suggests anyone giving food/drug advice, put a disclaimer on there.  If anyone needs advice, she is a lawyer, and is willing to answer questions via email (accessible through our website).
Lisa - What to do when you've been paid to do a review.  Recommends doing it separately, place your endorsements and advertorial content on a separate section of the blog.  Compensated can mean product or money. 
What do you do with your archives?  It's important to code a blanket disclaimer that would appear on every page.  Personally would recommend moving forward separating the content.  For people with archives like this, if you decide to establish a new policy moving forward, say so in your disclaimer. 

Audience - If you want to monetize a blog, don't accept those samples which are basically free advertisements.
Lisa - Mentions Blog With Integrity Project (via mom-101 and Susan Getgood)

Audience - Creating  marketing business out of blog, struggling with scenario where she gets clients and sometimes and mentions them on her blog.  

Gina - In regards to giveaways and products.  When you write about them for free, it can really backfire attempts to develop advertising.  Why should someone buy advertising when someone is writing about your products for free?  If you write for free you'll never get the money.  Really good advertorial writing deserves to be paid for. 

Audience - Mentioning different approach to book reviews that she does.  She gives no guarantee of a good review, so she doesn't view it as need for payment.  It's a service, not advertising. 

Audience - Will the FTC guidelines be retroactive.  What happens when someone violates them?  What will the consequences be?
Lisa - No one knows when they will be approved.   Behaving as if they are already in place.  No idea if they will be retroactive.  Recommends a start date for full disclosure.  Repercussions/Penalties - The FTC may assess liability based on a writer's failure to disclose, and also failure to substantiate claims that would require scientific evidence if it were an advertisement.  Must be the true opinion of the writer.
Gina - Spent 14 years in television, and the FTC policed heavily.  Her guess is that FTC would go after the marketer as opposed to the blogger. 

Audience - If you're looking to develop a disclaimer, looking at patient blogs is a good place to start.  www.thebuttercompartment.com is her blog, and she has all these policies.  Develop a going forward date.  Include an updated date at the bottom of any static page. 

Audience - If you're new to all of this blogging and whatnot, what is it that you can do besides just putting the ads on your site to participate in the community? 
Jeni - If you've written a great post, let the blogher ads team know. 
Jenny - Lots of review opportunities are coming in.  Not just straight up product reviews, also share your story programs.  Contact Jenny@BlogHer.com.  If you've written a post that you're proud of, you can cross-post it on BlogHer.com.