How to not build a science blog network

Blog networks provide readers an interesting place to read a variety of interesting articles, or other media. They can be win-win for everyone. Technically, they are relatively easy to make with the current generation of blog authoring software. It’s the human side that takes time and work. Here’s an example of how not to go about recruiting contributors for a blog network.

E.W. Scripps is a publisher of newspapers, television, and comics. In the last quarter of 2010, their profit was $25.6 million on revenue of  $220 million. Compared to 2009, their earnings from television more than doubled (thanks to 37% increase in gross revenue from political advertising), but profit from newspapers dropped 26% on a 2.7% slide in gross income on a 5.3% drop in ads. — In the face of this, they are pushing more into the web, and blogs, in a big hurry. One of their new project is a new space science blog network. The new blog network they launched today is “Space Times News.”

“Scripps is a very well-established media name with properties across the U.S., and a growing presence online unrelated to their geographic footprint. Their ability to promote this new site is unequalled,” says John Wilpers, the Global Blog Coordinator for Scripps.

Mr. Wilpers says this is his approach to finding/recruiting bloggers:

I have a team of 25 interns and associates who scour the web looking for the very best bloggers in the world blogging about a topic, in this case space. We have a range of criteria we use to narrow the hundreds or thousands of blogs down to roughly 200 semi-finalists. Then myself and my deputy blog coordinator dig deeply into each of those semi-finalists to deliver to the editors of a particular project, in this case the space team, two to four dozen of the very, very best blogs.

Once the editors of the team have had a chance to review those recommendations and give us their first choices, we do even more research to be able to write a very personal, unique invitation to each blogger so that he or she knows we really do admire what they are doing and want to give them and their “brand” exposure on a major media website. (The best bloggers often get blast requests to allow sites to scrape their blogs and they almost always reject those requests.) What we offer in exchange for their content is massive exposure to a new and qualified audience to get their thoughts and work out there in a big way.

Let’s see what Mr. Wilpers’ personal message looks like. Here’s part of a note he posted on 22-Feb, two days before launch, in the blog comments of David Dickinson, who writes AstroGuyz:

Some good news for you, I think.

At Scripps Newspapers, we have spent a long time looking for the best astronomy and space blogs in the world, and your “AstroGuyz” blog is one of the most thorough, intelligent, wide-ranging and engaging blogs about popular astronomy that we have ever read, and we’ve reviewed thousands of blogs!

But what really makes “AstroGuyz” stand out from the bazillion space and astronomy blogs we’ve read is a combination of several unique strengths working together…

Here is what our primary researcher had to say in his initial assessment of your blog:

“David is a delightful spirit writing creatively and excitedly about all things space, but focusing especially on astronomy and telescopes and discoveries. His categories are great: Do It Yourself Astronomy, Observational Astronomy, Real Science, Astro News, and Astro Culture. He writes regularly and very well. An undoubtedly wonderful blog.”

You also “talk” to your readers in a smart, friendly, comfortable style. Reading your blog is like having a conversation with a real space pro who’s sharing his insider knowledge with us over a cup of coffee…

You and the 19 other Space bloggers we are approaching are the first non-Scripps employees to see it! We are officially launching it on Thursday, the 24th [of February, today].

The end of the 1,300 word solicitation includes a clause licensing the blogger’s copyright:

If you would like to partner with us, we will need your permission to republish your full-text feeds and point back to your blog for comments. We also need your permission to enhance your headlines but only if we think we can improve the wording for SEO purposes. Finally, we need your permission to repost your photos…

The process is very simple: If you reply affirmatively to this e-mail, that will constitute your acceptance of the details as outlined in this invitation and in the brief FAQ I can send you.

A similar solicitation was sent to Scott Maxwell, who writes Mars and Me:

Some good news for you, I think.

At Scripps Newspapers, we have spent a long time looking for the best astronomy and space blogs in the world, and your “Mars and Me” blog is one of the most fascinating, unique, strangely compelling (like a chapter book or ongoing series), you-are-there type of blogs about space, and in particular, Mars that we have ever read, and we’ve reviewed thousands of blogs!

But what really makes “Mars and Me” stand out from the bazillion space and astronomy blogs we’ve read is a combination of several unique strengths working together…

Here is what our primary researcher had to say in his initial assessment of your blog:

“This is incredible! A daily diary of driving around Mars. Seriously! Where they go, the troubles they experience, the stuff they see. And written in an engaging diary format that makes you want to keep up with their lives and see how they handle this amazing experience. Great photos, too.”

You also “talk” to your readers in a smart, friendly, comfortable style. Reading your blog is like having a conversation with a real space pro who’s sharing his insider knowledge with us over a beer or cup of coffee…

The last minute, shotgun approach to attracting talent was unsuccessful. The 19 solicitations Mr. Wilpers mentioned, including these two solicitations sent just short two days before launch, were unproductive. As a of the day after launch, no bloggers were willing to have their content syndicated in full. Perhaps the interns Mr. Wilpers used to craft the flattering, personalized messages may not have hit the right chord. Perhaps the flattery seemed insincere. Perhaps the two-day timing was too tight. —  So at launch, Space Times News is repurposing public domain content from NASA, and posting short excerpts that link to other blogs.

Building a serious blog network involves soliciting many potential bloggers, with subtlety, research, and authentic outreach.