Startups Stack Exchange Archive

How do I get writers for my media site startup?

I want to start a media site that posts articles on almost every topic be it Technology, business, sports movies, music,food etc… I have almost finished working on site, and now I am in search of writers, bloggers, journalist. i tried contacting many on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter but no luck till now. How do I get the writers join me? Do I need someone like cofounder who actually have founded internet company and knows how to get the things done? I wont mention the site name as I dont want to promote my site here, however you can ask personally if you want to see.

I know I have asked too many questions above but understand what I am trying to say.

Answer 1450

Pay them. Honestly the best thing you can do if you want to start attract a following is getting a few good writers with a few leads on good stories. If you have content no one else does and it is interesting and compelling then you will start getting followers fast.

I tried starting up a similar idea mostly focused in the area I live but it flopped because I wasn’t ready to invest in paying the writers well and was looking for volunteer authors to partner with me.

As for the co-founder and the other specifics feel free to ask them in different question a little more clearly and we’ll try and give you a response!

Answer 1568

First drop the every topic bs. That is never gonna work unless you have a few million dollars.

Pick 1 really niche and small topic topic you know very well about and know a lot of people in that area. If you have a few topics like these thats great, choose the one with the lowest news sites available. (Examples of topic are: strategy game coding in Java, engineering projects in minecraft, jewelry fashion, bootstrap on X platform)

At this time no one will work for free on this project so you need to establish a mini brand and some traction to be seen as an interesting project.

Write the first 5-10 news/articles yourself and send it to friends, communities you know that will be interested. Make them quality, not just copy pasting from other websites. If they are good quality, nonprofessional writes who want to contribute will be easier to convince.

Do not move to another topic unless you become the topic you chose.

So if you chose “Bootstrap on X platform” when you are google’s and everyone elses top pick on that topic, you may start moving to other topics. Here is a good order I recommend in this example:

  1. Bootstrap on X platform
  2. Bootstrap on X,Y,Z platform
  3. All of Bootstrap
  4. Web design frameworks
  5. Web design in general
  6. Client side coding……

Answer 1571

Do not offer it as something they are doing to promote your site.

Instead, offer it as a free and convenient “blog” site for them to write about stuff they like. Then they can tag their posts with whatever the different things you’re trying to cover are all about.

I would spend some money on google ads to position your blog site, and also start writing myself about the various issues. You have to be comfortable enough using your site before others will use it.

Don’t listen to all the nonsense about paying writers, people like writing, don’t spend your money paying people to write.

Better yet, pick some niche area (mouse trapping? moon rock collecting?) and write about that too. Then people looking at that weird stuff that nobody else is writing about will find your site, and a small amount of word will spread.

Also, don’t be shy about your site - link to it in the question, or at least on your profile page here. Nobody minds - its what i did, anyway.


All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.