What Do You Know? A Bid

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m following Jeremy’s example and auctioning myself off as a blogger for rent. I’m pleased to announce that Paul Edmond has lodged the first bid. We’re off and running. Alternately, Paul’s going to get a good deal.

Jeremy’s doing well–he’s up to US $650. We discussed potential outcomes for our auctions. I pointed out that if he made more money, this strategy is still a novelty, but if I made more money, it might be an emerging marketplace. Regardless, I assured him that if we’re successful, the next guy will make more money than both of us.

The author of Blog Your Way raised some interesting points. I wanted to address a couple of them here:

How are Darren and Jeremy going to draw traffic to the blog? This is what the winner wants, exposure for their company’s product or service. Having a blogger on staff is great but readership makes it worthwhile. I do not see this issue being addressed.

The description for an auction works Like any advertising. You don’t necessarily explain how you’re going to address a problem–you just ensure the buyer that you’re going to. Our descriptions are long enough, I think, without going into the details of traffic building. After all, that’s where our expertise lies (though it’s hardly a dark art).

The posts Darren will create will include company news, events, tips and tricks about products/services along with industry news and opinion pieces. Although the specifics are nice this is a loaded area, depending on the industry the winner is in. Are the tips and tricks something the winner will have to provide or is Darren going to test out the product or service and come up with these? What if the company doesn’t have any news to report? I hope Darren is not in a position where he has little to work with.

Blogging isn’t magic–it’s just a particular form of writing. As such, the content will come the way it does for my other writing work–through a combination of my own research, conversations with staff and the company’s existing marketing department. I blog for several of my clients, and it’s usually a combination of these things.