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Welcome to the liveblog of the BlogHer Food '10 panel "Vocation - How Bloggers Work with Brands and Media: Advanced Techniques to Professionalize Your Blogging."
Here's the description:
The business of blogging has never been more complicated…there are a myriad of ways to use blogs to earn income and promote your career. These include advertising, freelancing, social media consulting, food writing, recipe development, photography or styling gigs, becoming brand ambassadors or spokespeople, hosting giveaways, reviewing products, becoming ghost-bloggers, working directly with brands on sponsorship or marketing campaigns, managing social networks, creating multimedia…the list is long. Bloggers act as both editor-in-chief and publisher of their online media empire. This session will deal with how to diversify your professional blogging and how your blogging can enhance your profession. Get down to business with Jaden Hair from SteamyKitchen.com, Georgia Pellegrini, Anupy Singla from IndianAsApplePie.com and David Leite from LeitesCulinaria.com.
How Bloggers Work with Brands and Media: Advanced Techniques to Professionalize Your Blogging
Georgia Pellegrini: How do you break into professional and paid blogging. Let's start with Jaden - how did you first approach blogging?
Jaden Hair: I have never approached a brand. Opportunities have come to me because of my philosophy: I see brands and PR agencies as my clients. So many bloggers hate emails from PR agencies and then they bitch about not having enough money and wanting to monetize their blogs. Steamy Kitchen is a business. PR companies are my clients and making my blog more than a personal journal was my goal.
A high end cookware company approached me early last year, and sponsored me throughout my book tour. I wasn't sure how to price myself - we're all new at this blog as business thing. If you're a photographer or a writer - you know how much you charge for an hour. But as a blogger - how much do you charge? Do I charge for my shopping time, etc? I didn't know.
I asked too little for my first sponsor - they agreed to my price right away. The next sponsor, I doubled my rate. Next time I doubled it again, then doubled it again. Keep asking for more until you're met with resistance.
Moderator: David, do you have advice for a newbie blogger?
David Leite: Apologies to any cookbook publicists out there. I'm old, I'm fat I'm not going to have a long career so I wanted to go on the Today Show. I approached every single producer, sending book and note after book and note. I finally found an advocate who was half Portugeuse (the book is Portugeuse fare) I corresponded with another producer for 6 months. Be funny, charming, warm and nice to be around. Make great food. No one wants to beat awful food.
I realized after I went on the show that I am my own brand. My book and my website and perhaps a future line of products falls under me. Raise your hand if you have copywriter the name of your blog (1/4 room raises hands) I recommend that the rest of you get the name of your blog copywriter. How many versions do you have of your website? 2 (few people raise hands) 3? (even fewer) 4? (almost none) I have many copies of my site. Protecting yourself and your brand is very important. I have 5 different URLs for my website so no one else can use my brand for a porn site.
Question from the audience: Are all those URLs active?
David: No, they are all forwarded. I've been on radio and they will say leitesculinary.com - no one can remember that. I changed it to lcwrites.com - easier to remember.
Georgia to Anupa Singla: You have a background as a reporter. Any advice?
Anupa: I appreciate being on this panel because it made me think more about my brand. My brand is that I am a reporter - first and foremost I am a reporter, especially in Chicago. I was also a business reporter for a long time. What I offer to people is honest, critical, and my philosophy is not to take anything for free. If I get something, it's full disclosure. When I'm done testing it, I give it away or back to the company. I write
