Setting your own news agenda through blogging

By Cathryn Scott

Freelance journalist, PR and blogger at Cardiff Mummy Says

About me

• Post-graduate diploma in magazine journalism at Cardiff Journalism School

• Former editor of The Big Issue Cymru magazine

• Former editor of WM, the weekly women’s supplement at the Western Mail

• Freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The Guardian, Guardian Online, Mail Online, Metro, Daily Express, Natural Health, Yoga magazine, The Journalist, Parentdish among many other newspapers, magazines, and online publications.

• Freelance PR who has worked with Welsh National Opera, Wales Millennium Centre, National Dance Company Wales, Macmillan Cancer Support, Golley Slater among others.

• Freelance lecturer in journalism

• Mother of three!

And now….• Freelance journalism and PR, AND blogger at Cardiff Mummy Says, a lifestyle blog for parents

living in Cardiff and beyond.

Blogging is changing

journalism and PR

A new industry

• Somewhere between journalism, PR and advertising/marketing

• Such a new industry, it’s changing all the time

Bloggers trusted more than celebrities, journalists, brands and politiciansBloggers are the third most trustworthy source of information, behind friends and family, according to an independent survey of UK consumers commissioned by affiliate network, affilinet.

Meanwhile brands languish towards the bottom of the ranking, only just above politicians. Celebrities also ranked poorly.

affilinet Trust Index: Whose opinion do you trust the most?

• Family

• Friends

• Bloggers

• Social media contacts

• Colleagues

• Journalists

• Religious leaders

• Celebrities

• Brands

• Politicians

https://www.affili.net/uk/about-affilinet/press-and-news/2015/bloggers-trusted-more-than-celebrities-journalist

• Consumers were asked whether they trusted the opinions of mainstream media outlets (magazines, newspapers, and online titles tied to a publisher), or independent bloggers/vloggers more, when it came to purchasing decisions, and the bloggers came out on top; 57% vs 43%.

• On the blogs vs mainstream media debate, 36% of consumers said they felt that bloggers did not have to conform to someone else's editorial policy, while 27% felt bloggers were more independent and authentic. Twenty-three percent of consumers felt like they had more of a connection with bloggers, while only 14% said the same about journalists.

• https://www.affili.net/uk/about-affilinet/press-and-news/2015/bloggers-trusted-more-than-celebrities-journalist

Setting your own agenda through blogging

• Don’t wait for the media to come to you

• Get your stories out there now!

Anyone can go viral

• You don’t need to be a big news organisation

• News consumption habits have changed

• Social media and in particular Facebook is the biggest distributor of news

• Good content will get shared

• A social media strategy is essential

• Social media managers

• Set your own news agenda

• Recognise your unique stories – human interest, behind the scenes

• Your unique content that no one else can create

Be your own expert

- Blogging is not just about selling your services

- It’s about creating trusted content that people enjoy, and which means they will keep coming back to your site

- Set yourself up as an expert

- With engaging, informative and interesting content

Sectors that are setting their agenda through bloggingFashion retailers

No longer have to wait for the big magazines to pick their products to feature – they create their own online magazines

Blogging is a huge part of their social media strategy

Topshop

Macmillan Cancer Support Wales

How can you create stories people want to read?

• Be relevant – react to current issues and events

• Be a spokesperson – express how people who don’t have a voice feel

• Be opinionated – but make sure you can substantiate it

• Be knowledgeable – facts, figures, expertise

• Be thorough – the full picture

• Be easy to understand – lose the industry jargon and academic speak

• Be confident – never doubt that you deserve to have your say

Bloggers have different considerations to journalists when writing

• SEO – search engine optimisation. Bloggers can write differently to journalists to ensure their posts rank on Google.

• Follow and do-follow posts

• Disclosure of sponsored material

• Domain Authority (DA)

How to structure a blog post

• Headline needs to grab people in

• But also performs well with SEO

• Balancing SEO versus journalistic/natural writing

• Ideal word length? Don’t be afraid to write long posts

• Sentence and paragraph length – keep them short

• Plenty of white space

• Text aligned left, not justified or centred

• No fancy fonts or colours that are difficult to read

• Subheads

• Hyperlinks

• Photos

Social media strategy

• How often will you post and when?

• Where will you share your post?

• How often will you share on social media?

• Hashtags

• Engage!

• Share other relevant content

How to get started

• Wordpress and blogger are the two main blog hosting sites

• Get a vanity URL – looks more professional

• Hosted or self-hosted

• Spend time choosing a template that looks good and is user-friendly

• Plan content for the first few weeks

• …. although don’t be afraid to just write!

• Know your niche and do what you do, well.

• …but don’t be afraid to try things out

Guest blogging/writing

• Writing for other sites within your niche

• Getting experts in your field to write or you

• Approaching publications with your relevant posts

Thank you!

Cathryn ScottCardiff Mummy Says

cardiffmummysays.com

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