Outside.in/[your nabe]—An Excellent Tool for Neighborhood Bloggers

Spence Lean is a Mobby award-winning blogger for his hyperlocal blog: Baltimore City’s Past Present and Future. As Spence says below, we met at The Mobbies’ award ceremony, and he tracked us down to tell us how much he loves our core site because it helps him write posts.  We had never isolated this use of the core site—an invaluable resource for bloggers researching a neighborhood—but it’s clearly a great idea!  So, we asked Spence to share how he uses the site with our community, and he wrote the below. Thanks, Spence!

As a neighborhood Blogger for Baltimore City I’m constantly looking for information on all four corners of the City and everything in between. When I do Google Searches for those neighborhoods one of the first things that always pops up is an Outside.in link to the neighborhood I’m looking for information on. I click on the link and I see newspaper articles relating to the neighborhood I’m looking for or posts by other Bloggers. More and more often I come across my own posts on Outside.in now that I’m one of the Bloggers whose posts appear on Outside.in. Thus, Outside.in markets my Blog and attracts traffic to it and every little bit helps. I met Jared Ranere at the “Mobbies Awards” which the Baltimore Sun hosts for Bloggers which my Blog won for the neighborhood catagory and it was great to place a face with Outside.in. Thanks, Outside.in.

Do any of you bloggers out there use Outside.in in a similar way?  Tell us about it!

Nov. 19th: Miami Blogger Happy Hour

We’re doubling up next week!  After Tuesday’s happy hour in Phoenix, we’re heading to Miami.  The more input we can gather from bloggers the better, so this is a great opportunity for Miami’s scribes to tell us what you want from the upcoming Outside.in for Bloggers.  You’ll also get to meet other bloggers, share ideas, war stories, successes and failures.  If you’re writing about Miami, you are most definitely not alone, so take advantage of it.

And as always, the first round is on us!

Here are the details:

5:30pm-7:30pm Tuesday, Nov. 19th

Mike’s at The Venetia (555 NE 15th St.)

It officially ends at 7:30 because I have catch a flight back to Brooklyn, but you don’t have to leave just because I do.  Stick around and pow wow for as long as you like!

Nov. 17th: Phoenix Blogger Happy Hour!

Phoenix bloggers, get ready!  The outside.in happy our train is coming to your city.  This is your chance to pick our brains, have your voice heard as we develop our next service for bloggers, and have a free drink. (The first round is on outside.in.)

We’ve already met bloggers in Chicago, New York, and Baltimore.  It’s been tons of fun so far.  In spite of the varied goals and styles you all have, some common ambitions ring true.  We’re here to help you achieve those ambitions, and events like these help us understand how to do it.

We can’t wait to hear what’s on the minds of Phoenix scribes.

Here are the details:

6:00pm, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009

The Rose and Crown

628 E Adams St (Hertage Square)

RSVP in the comments for a chance to win some outside.in shwag. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter (@oibloggerhq) for updates leading to the event!

Free Time is Bloggy Time: An Interview with Mike from The Fresnan

Mike from The Fresnan is a self-described nerd who just loves the city where he lives and uses his blog as a way to share his love with others not hip to the awesomeness that is Fresno. He’s been blogging about his hometown, Fresno, CA, since the summer of 2007. Next up in our new series featuring local bloggers, Mike tells us about how humor earns traffic and how Twitter can inspire blog content below.

Why did you decide to start blogging about place?

I was writing a blog that covered everything from national stuff, to pop culture, screenwriting and sports, I also had a hockey blog and a wiffleball blog. I asked myself “What am I most passionate about? Something sort of unique to me?” And the answer to that was Fresno. I love my city and felt there was a gap I could fill in our local Internet community. And Fresno is fairly easy to make a mark in if you’re passionate about something, even blogging and podcasting.

Where do you find inspiration and story ideas to keep generating content?

Fresno’s music scene, for one; it’s underrated by the rest of California and Fresnans, for that matter, so that really pushes me to be one of the people helping that music scene gain some more traction. Also, little things in Fresno that may be quirky or not talked about enough—or if there is something going down in the neighborhood that the mainstream media is slow to get to or aren’t covering all angles of. I like to touch on those when I can.

What is the biggest challenge that you feel as a blogger?

Lack of time, revenue and contacts. If I had to pick one though, it would be time. Of course, I have to work a day job and that takes up the bulk of my week, then I have a house and young family to take care of, so that leaves little time for blogging. Most of my free time is spent doing bloggy things, almost all of my previous hobbies have been put on a dusty shelf. I’m additicted and can’t go to bed without doing some sort of post. I feel like if I don’t have something new posted for the next day, everyone will call me a lazyass and stop reading for good.

Are you monetizing your content? If so, are you part of an ad network?

Yes I am, but not very well. I have one link that pays to be there and I have an ad banner that’s part of Typepad’s ad network, but they don’t even come close to covering the cost of the blog. So I really just do it for the love of it. But it sure would be nice to make enough to at least buy a dinner once in a while or even cover the cost of going out to see bands play (I like to have a few beers, you know).

What is the most popular blog post you’ve written and why?

The biggest one to date is a post I did about a couple stores closing in Fresno’s newest outdoor mall, River Park. I did a part joking, part serious post listing ideas on how to “save” River Park. These ideas mirrored the same ones we, as a city, have been throwing around for years on how to save our original (now near lifeless) open-air mall: Fulton Mall (the first one in the country). The joke was, this newest mall (in the evil sprawling suburbs) may one day have the same problem as our downtown urban mall. Some people got the irony and some people thought I was serious—it was awesome. The post tripled my traffic that week and everyone I ran into for the next few weeks wanted to talk about that post.

What sort of social media tools do you use to spread your content?

I use Myspace and Facebook a little, but I mostly use Twitter (follow The Fresnan here!). That’s where a lot of people are now and it’s easy to write a quick little headline to get people to come over to the blog. Twitter can also help you gauge what people are talking about locally and give you post ideas.

How often do you work on your blog?

I work on it at least six nights a week, two to four hours a night. I schedule most of the posts to publish during the workday because that’s when more people are reading. I will also post something as soon as I write it if there hasn’t been a new post in a while—I like to keep them spaced out and let each post have its little time at the top.

What words of wisdom as a seasoned local blogger would you give to someone just starting a blog?

Be consistent by posting regularly and not venturing too far from whatever theme you’ve established. Always have your this-might-make-a-good-post sensor turned on, especially when you’re out and about around town. Pick something you know and you enjoy talking about, even if it’s something it seems everyone is blogging about. The fact that you’re passionate about the topic and have your own geeky angle will help you quickly get respect in your community.

Thanks for the interview, Mike! Let’s get Fresno on our blogroll! If you’re a local blogger, submit your site and email us to be featured on the sidebar or in an interview!

Blog Your Way to Expert Status

Why blog? Other than having a creative or intellectual outlet for yourself, and an inspiration and medium to express your opinions or knowledge, HOW TO: Become an Expert in Your Industry suggests that blogging can help in your efforts to become an expert in your field. No matter what your trade—PR, journalism, music, teaching—creating a blog can help get your voice heard and help you build a rapt audience. Having a smart blog can help set you apart in your field. As Susan Peyton, Managing Partner of Egg Marketing & PR, says:

“when your goal is to be recognized as an expert, you need to always keep learning, and to constantly share that expertise.”

Teaching something helps you know it better, and writing a blog, engaging with readers, and being challenged on your points (via comments or on other blogs) is a great way to solidify your influence and confidence in your area.

Do you find that since you’ve been blogging, that more people look to you for your opinion? Are you more respected in your field?

A Blog is Like a Garden: Interview with Erica Reitman of FIPS

Here’s the first in our series of interviews with local bloggers. Erica Reitman of F*cked in Park Slope, (or FIPS for the tender hearted out there) writes a snarky, fun blog about her neighborhood—in our own backyard—Park Slope, Brooklyn. FIPS is rockin’ one of our storymaps and she’s long been a part of the outside.in blogger network. We asked her some questions about her site and she has some wisdom to share below, including how indispensable an RSS reader is, how to beat blogger burnout, and how her blog is like a garden. Don’t be surprised if you laugh out loud a little.

Tell us about your blog.

FIPS (URL maybe NSFW) is a local comi-culture blog about the quirky, awesome neighborhood I live in, called Park Slope in Brooklyn. The area has a rep for being the spot where rich, former Manhattanites come to breed—and that’s partly true, but there’s lots of other types of people here as well. I started the blog with my friend Benjamin, but he’s a “Breeder” himself, so he’s mostly on daddy duty these days. I’m also lucky enough to have a rotating group of awesome contributors, who manage to make my life *slightly* less consumed with blogging with their awesome takes on the neighborhood.

When was your blog born?

My Blogiversary is actually coming up next month! It was right after Thanksgiving in 2008. We wanted to do a “soft launch” at a time when we figured no one would be around, because of the holiday. We thought we could get blog up, post for a couple of weeks and then try to get the word out. Well, 6 hours after we went live, Curbed found us and that was the end of that.

Why did you start blogging about place?

I‘m a writer, but I’m also seriously lazy. So blogging for me was mostly about setting up a mechanism in my life that would force me to write every day. Left to my own devices, you’ll find me on the couch, riveted to some crappy reality TV show, or mindlessly surfing the internet. My blog grounds me and ensures that I have a little bit of writing in my life every single day.

FIPS really came about because my friend and I were looking for a blog to do together, and we loved the idea of sharing responsibility for posting. I actually think it was Benjamin’s wife who came up with the idea that we should do a fun, snarky, tongue-in-cheek blog about our neighborhood and when we started talking about it some more, we both knew that this was it. Voila…our blog was born.

Where do you find inspiration and story ideas to generate content?

Basically, my Blogging Executive Assistant is this little gem of a helper named Google Reader. I read a ton of blogs and always try to stay on top of what’s going on, and there is no possible way I could do this without an RSS reader. It kind of blows my mind when I meet people who don’t use RSS readers…they have totally changed my online life for the better.

We also have a couple of very active local forums, so I always like to poke around in there and see what people are talking about.  And after awhile, I think most people will find that if you include a means on your website for people to get in touch with you (and HELLO? You really should), your readers will start emailing you tips and scoop about whatever you are writing about. Other than that, I think the great thing about local blogging, is that most of the bloggers tend to live in the areas that they blog about. So, of course, as you experience and live in the neighborhood yourself, you start to find that there are ideas around every corner.

What is your biggest challenge as a blogger?

NEWSFLASH: Blogging takes a long friggin’ time. It will take over your life. There’s just no way around it: it’s a huge time suck.

Are you monetizing your content?

I’m not monetizing my content, per se. Though I’m starting to think about other ways to use the brand I have built around my blog for other money-making ventures. Brand is something I’ve always paid attention to, and I think its been extremely helpful in establishing our presence. FIPS has a definite voice and attitude, and because of that, I think people are starting to formulate ideas in their heads of what, exactly, a FIPS reader might be like. This was intentional, and I hope, a big part of why we’re able to take things beyond blogging and make money in other ways. We’re about to roll out a new ad program with some local businesses, and I have received some major freelance work (and even my current full-time job!), all due to the traction I managed to create with FIPS. 

As for ad networks, I applied to Blogads way back when, and aside from a “we got your email” initial level of contact, nada. You out there, Blogads?? FIPS gets mad traffic, yo!

What is the most popular post you’ve written and why?

Hard to say what the most popular has been, but we did do a 4-part “undercover” series on our local Target that got quite a bit of attention. It will be hard for anyone who does not live in Brooklyn to believe, but our local Target store TOTALLY SUCKS, and we thought it would be funny to go in there, shoot some video and try to figure out why. Best of all, I know for a fact that we got Target’s attention, because according to our stats, they were spending a lot of time poking around our site and reading everyone’s comments.

Do you blog about your personal life or just stick to reporting?

I think I take a “combo meal” approach to the personal stuff. I do talk about *some* things in my life, though I guess they tend to be the more innocuous details, like our dog Oliver. I definitely think it is a very personal choice to decide to share or not to share, so everyone needs to do what works best for them. Once something is out there, it’s out there, so I really have learned to think twice before I click that “publish” button.

What sort of tools do you use to spread your content?

I’m really all about Twitter. I’m on Facebook, but in all honesty, I kind of hate it. I forget who said it, or where it came from (maybe from the SXSW conference last year), but someone said that Facebook is like the mom jeans of social media—and I totally agree. I mean, my dad and my mother-in-law are on Facebook…that, alone, is an indication that it’s gone too mainstream. Personally, I’ve gotten much more out of Twitter and the relationships I’ve built with people there and I really just like it better. I’m definitely a Twitter addict.

How often do you work on your blog?

On FIPS, we post on every weekday, so I’m working on my blog, ALL the time. It never ends. I take the weekends off, but I have to post on Mondays, which requires looking around for something to post on Sundays, so yeah…I don’t even *really* take the weekend off. My blog is just a fun side-gig for me so I also have a full-time job that requires a lot of my time and attention. I definitely should pre-schedule posts, but I just never get caught up enough to make it happen.

Do you have any words of wisdom to give to someone just starting a blog?

Make sure that you love the $^%@ out of whatever you decide to blog about. If you want to do it (and do it well), you are going to have to spend a bunch of your time on making your blog badass. So you better be sure that you really dig what you’re writing about, otherwise you will burn out before you can say Google adwords. 

Having said that, if you DO find something you love, and somehow manage on a wing and a prayer to put together a killer blog, go for it. My blog has opened up opportunities for me, both personally and professionally, that I honestly could have never dreamed of. Stay committed to it and just keep on keepin’ on—because there will be times when you feel like throwing in the towel. But that is just the universe testing your will. Your blog is kind of like a garden…the more time and effort you put into it, the more it will grow. Yeah, winter will come around and it will snow and all your flowers will die, but just hang tight and spring will roll around and everything will be blooming again (ok, that metaphor is making me want to puke too, but I’m just trying to prove a point here).

Oh, and also: stay out of comment wars.

Thanks, FIPS! If you’d like to be a featured blogger yourself, drop us a line. And get your blog in our system, while you’re at it!

*image via wallyg on flickr*

Great local blogs win Mobbies in Baltimore

Earlier this month, the Baltimore Sun hosted The Mobbies, awards for local blogs in their area. You can see the winners here, on one of the Mobbie-winning blogs itself, Inside Charm City. Congrats to all these great local blogs!

Are any other cities celebrating their local bloggers? Let us know in the comments if you have an award-winning blog or know of a city championing blogging!

New York Blogger Happy Hour

Join us for an informal blogger happy hour on Thursday, October 29 at Rebar in Dumbo from 6-7:30pm! Connect with other local bloggers writing about place in New York, and put a face to a URL.

RSVP in the comments and we’ll pick someone at random to get a sweet outside.in messenger bag!