Yesterday was the first day in our mini-series on how to become a Families.com blogger. If you missed that all-important first post, check it out here. Otherwise, read on!
Today we are going to cover the five mistakes that if you make them, you will almost certainly get fired for doing so. I wanted to make it clear just what you could and couldn’t do, so you can decide right now if this job is right for you. All of this info is covered in the handbook you receive when you get hired at Families.com, of course.
* Not reaching your monthly quota of 20 blogs. This is fairly self-explanatory. As a Families.com blogger, you sign a contract that you will write 20 blogs per month. If you don’t fulfill that requirement, you will be fired.
* Posting more than three blogs per day per topic. To keep content fresh, Families wants new blogs put up every day, versus ten new blogs in one day and no more new blogs for two weeks. They have limited the amount of new blogs per topic per writer per day to three. This is a rather dumb way to get fired, but unfortunately, it happens.
* Writing for a competing online publication. Again, this is in your Families contract you sign in order to blog with Families. If you are writing at Families about pets, and then also post for Website XYZ about pets, why should the readers come to Families to read your blogs about pets, if they can read the same ideas by the same author at a different website? So yes, this will definitely get you fired.
* Plagiarizing. You would not believe how many people get fired for that this one. Incredible, I know, but true. If you can’t write your own stuff, please don’t apply. Lisa doesn’t take well to plagiarism, for obvious reasons.
* Constantly turning in error-riddled blogs. Lisa is a sweetheart, this is well known, but even she will only go so far. If you consistently turn in blogs filled with mistakes and errors, even after she sends you corrections and points out the mistakes to you, she will eventually fire you. This one isn’t as cut-and-dry as getting fired for plagiarism or posting more than three blogs a day–this is something that Lisa does on a case-by-case basis. She doesn’t have the time to babysit every blogger, and she isn’t a substitute English teacher (yes, you should have stayed awake all those years on those boring English classes–now you’re in trouble!) Truly though, the cleaner your blogs are, the happier Lisa is. Which is always a good thing.
Still think this may be your dream job? Hey, you haven’t even heard the good parts yet! Stay tuned to tomorrow, where I cover the positives of blogging for Families–flexibility and freedom!