Hello people... I am new to the blogging world.... Still in alpha stage I am now working on my new gaming website. For now, what i intend to do is to put latest news articles around the world of gaming, tech and hardware. I want to put a news release on my site as soon as it is out. But the problem is that i dont know much sources. I dont want to stay tuned to some other news providing websites as this will always keep me behind them. So i want to know that is there any specific thing i can do about that, like mailing to company for newsletters or anything else... I also want to maintain forums, so news should be related to everything like tech,hardware,software etc. Besides creating news articles, i will be designing a new theme for my website. Any suggestion regarding the features or sections i should introduce in my site to make it successfull... like community features or anything else that attracts gamers and techies.... Thanks in advance...
You could try and convince some of them to give you exclusive rights to release latest news about them, but to do that you would have to have one helluva reputation and be established already. Apart from that you're mostly going to have to settle for regurgitating the latest news and writing it in a way thats better than most others doing the same.
Good advice That's the reason why bloggers have to blog about something they do have a passion for or niches where they can find many daily news.
Interesting advice to feed a blog with content indeed but if he wants to build a SEO friendly site he will have to create fresh unique content.
I dont think so that my blog is gonna successful if i wait for some other site to post and then put it in my own words. You are right pipes that i should take care of writing and i will...... @Gavenecko What do you do?? I mean are you already a content poster or just replied watching the thread. I need some good game review writers and the time is the major factor. Convince me that you can review a game within 1-2 days of its release and you are hired. Also tell me your rates and i want to read some of your articles.
Do you play games ? If you do it should be pretty easy to know the game makers and who to contact to be on their mailing list. If not , a little market research will tell you who to contact, and what news to post. Not to be unhelpful, but it seems that you asking us how to research the niche you decided to blog about. That's not really the way it works.
^^ Yes i do play games and have spend most of my time on PC just playing games. Thats a positive as well as a negative point for me. Positive, as i can carry my whole experience of gaming into my gaming site. Negative, because now i feel that i have wasted a lot of time in gaming. If i could have utilized it in learning some language or something, then i should have been a good developer like many experienced users at DP i see daily. Now i had made my mind to finally do something which will help me earn for my living. My friend is carrying the designing part so i am readying up my sources to keep updated. I am active on some of the forums and have already bookmarked some companies press release pages. Then i thought that people at DP might have something to suggest that i am missing. As i said i am not experienced bloggers and with the blogging world grown so big, i thought of consulting the DP members who have always encouraged me a lot. Hope this should clear out what i mean to say... There's also one more thing that obliged me to start this thread. I was regularly checking the EA's press room and there was no updates. But i saw a great news on some other blogs which is about the release of crysis 2. That was a big news and left me scratching my head thinking that how the hell those sites got the news before it was even published in the press room??
OK, I understand. All sarcasm aside, I know where you are coming from. This is how I did it. Since you already play and know games, you have a good insight into the industry, and who the main players are. The first thing you want to do is join every mailing list from all the major game manufactures and designers, including the console makers, Summits, and Conventions. If there is not a mailing list sign up, look at the contact information and find the person that is most likely to handle Press, Marketing, or Promotions and send them an email asking to be "Put in the loop" of all future press releases and product information. Make it clear that you would like all promotional media..images, promotional videos, contests, free downloads, etc. Second. Your blog has to be able to back all that up. You will get some responses, but some of the major players may ignore you completely. They will eventually take notice of you if you make the other guys look good. That means...sometimes you have to do a little bit extra, above and beyond what is sent to you....search the video sites to see if there is a promo and include that in your post, or designate a spot in your blog for a daily video....a good place to find embeddable game trailers is Game Trailers.com. USE VIDEO ! You cannot promote entertainment with out it. Remember that press releases are open season. It doesn't matter where you see them, you can repost them on your site. That is why they are made..for distribution. Use your passion for gaming to enhance your posts. Add an opening paragraph before press releases, or if you have played the game, add a personal review after the press release. The better the design of your blog, and the presentation of your posts, the more others will want to be on it. That means making each post complete with photos, videos (if applicable), purchase link (use your affiliate links) for the game and all related products (like soundtracks) and social links for the game maker (Twitter, My Space, Facebook, Etc). Make it clear on your blog how to contact you, and submit press, and edit your template to make sure that you Authors Bio box is at the start, the end, or in the sidebar of your blog, with a contact email and something about your gaming preferences...maybe even what consoles you have. The other thing I started doing is asking people for review copies. Just ask them. At first, you may only get a response from some of the smaller companies, or you may not get "Featured Releases" right away, but like I said, if you make them look good, the others will want to be on it too, and after a while you won't have to ask, you will just wake up with free stuff in your mailbox and people will start asking you to review games. Make sure you follow all the game manufactures and designers on their social networking profiles, sometimes they will post up some gems that others may not be following. I broke a few big stories and contests this way just by looking at my My Space inbox. Always be nice and cordial in your emails, and send a thank you email anytime anyone sends you anything by mail. At first people may want a little more than normal...sometimes even borderline what would be considered private advertising, but in the beginning, do it. This does not happen over night. You have to stay with it, and keep improving the presentation of your blog. You are going to need a bad assed design...you can't half step a gaming, or music blog. You can't beat the large game companies because they have their own media (ie: Universal, Sony, Etc), but if you keep it in your head that you can beat all the other little guys, an even some more established ones that don't own anything that do the same thing as you...you can rise above.
Thanks a million man... I found many new ideas through your post.... One last thing... Every news item will contain a banner image... Where do you suggest to get some nice and creative gaming and tech related images without any hassles of copyright. Till now i have been searching them on google but its really hard to find unique images...For instance like your avatar image..... Do other blogs always make their own images or searching and copying is ok ???
You are going to have to ask for images with the press. Most people are smart enough to send them, but some are not, or won't take you too seriously at first and send out garbage and expect you to make something out of it. Also people will send you all types of files , MS Word, PDF, and even flyers and flash emails. If it is sent as press and promotion, you can use it. Make sure you have all the necessary tools to extract the information. Snag it, is a good tool to have. You may want to check the websites of the companies, many of them have a press section with releases and images, but they are not always updated in a timely manner, that is why you want to be on the mailing list, and follow social networking profiles. You also have to remember that stuff comes from all over the world, in different time zones. Many times you can beat the competition to the punch because most people are on a posting schedule. as you make a name for yourself and some credibility, you will see people send you stuff in advance and tell you not to post until a certain time. You can set your posts up in advance so it goes up right at midnight, or what ever the stipulation is. Most companies distribute promotional images with their releases. Even if you don't get them, they are out there. Sometimes you have to be able to tell the difference between an authorized press photo, meant for distribution, and unauthorized ones. In the beginning to stay safe, I would ask for them, or check the website for a press section. I routinely grab images from artists, and promoters websites if they don't send them, but I have gotten permission to do so previously. And I make sure to save at least one or two promo photos in case I need to use them in the future for a related article. The video game industry is a little more organized and promoting games is big business. I would think that images, and screen shots would be made readily available. Generally, if your are on a companies press list they don't mind use of authorized photos to help promote the product. If you have to give credit, give it. But it is a fine line...you can't always be sure, and you don't want to use images from other gaming websites. A lot of times, if you have a contact within the company they will just direct you to where the images, or video trailers are and tell you to "Have at it". You are almost always safe using the box cover for the product, and logo. It only get sticky using screen shots. Remember, there is almost always a game trailer. A box cover, logo, and video is good presentation. As far as using outside images for aesthetics or design ? To avoid any hassle and get professional quality, I usually buy them from a photo site like Getty Images. Images make a blog, so you have to have them.