Thank you for your patience. This is a dream that has been in the works for a while now, and it’s finally coming true. We’re going to do some awesome things together!
I’m launching the site in the next couple of weeks which leaves a buffer for us to start writing. My expectation is that everyone contributes at least one article a month, although the frequency of your contributions is completely up to you.
I’m primarily looking for news and reviews of PC/Console/Tabletop/Mobile Gaming, Technology, Men’s Fashion, Women’s Fashion, Food, Travel, Geek Culture, TV & Film, Politics, Finance, Relationships and more. For style/content, think USAToday meets Nerdist meets GQ.
We have an amazing and diverse pool of over 300 contributors ranging from all of the major traditional media outlets, both print and on-air hosts, to Olympic athletes, tv producers, teachers, online personalities, doctors, lawyers, and more. Not everyone knows how to use Word Press or is completely familiar with writing on the web (versus print), so I’ll be taking the time to follow up with each of you one on one with suggestions and will also be creating how-to guides with all of the questions I receive. If you don’t know how to do something, please first try a Google search. If you can’t figure it out after a few minutes, shoot me an email. I’m still learning things myself!
The first step:
Login with your user ID and change your password.
http://www.luvitorleavitt.com/wp-admin
If you need me to send you a reminder email, please get at me.
Update your profile with a professional 2-5 sentence biography about yourself, and a profile picture.
The second step:
Write your first article. It must be evergreen (a timeless piece such as “best places to hike in XXX,” “Top ten XXX movies,” “Review of XXX”) with a minimum of 500 words of original content. You’re granting me the exclusive use of this content and agree not to repost it elsewhere without my permission. Include a photo that you have the rights to use (you took it yourself) or have permission to use (product image from the product site), and the photo must be properly attributed within the content editor. We are using AP down style. Please make sure to quote your sources as appropriate and save the links you used in your own copy on your PC.
The third step:
Upload your article into Word Press and link your sources. Click Posts, then Add Post. You’ll want to select the appropriate category, and add some tags. Save as draft.
Go back in to edit your article. Inserting an image into your article isn’t the same thing as a featured image. Featured image is the image that is displayed on the homepage and in the category pages. If you have only one image you can use the same image in your article and then upload it into the Featured Image section. Please make sure to correctly attribute your image – You must have written permission to use images that aren’t your own from the image’s copyright holder and you must forward me that email. There are many websites that offer free images. A couple examples are Wikimedia Commons and Pexels. I’ll be creating a more in-depth guide on this.
When you are completely done with your article submit it for review. This is how I’ll know it’s ready for me to edit, and we can get your ads placed before publishing.
The fourth step:
Sign up for Google Adsense. This is how you will get paid.
https://www.google.com/adsense/start
For many this will be the biggest technical hurdle. If you don’t already have an Adsense account you’ll want to link it to a website you own. It’ll ask you for your URL and give you a code that you can insert into the header of your site. Once you have your Adsense account registered, you’ll then be able to create an ad code that we’ll then use here on my site for your articles. If for whatever for a reason Google reject your application, I’ll have to manually make an ad for you under my own name and will be able to pay you the same rate, minus $5 dollars for every $100 for the time it’ll take me to do the manual payments and bookkeeping.
On average Adsense pays a $7 CPM, plus or minus a couple dollars depending on the specific content and how attractive it is to advertisers. That means is for every 1,000 views one of your articles receives, you’ll get $7 for one ad. With two ad blocks in your article, it’ll be double that so $14. So if your article gets 10K views, with two ad blocks you’ll make $140. 100K views and you’ll get $1,400 paid directly from Google.
For comparison, sites such as Cracked, Gizmodo, Wired, and Tech Crunch pay a flat fee ranging from $50-$300 per article but you can never make more than that. The article might generate a million page views but the company takes all the profit and doesn’t pay their writers a livable wage. By using Google Adsense here, you will continuously generate money from your writing year after year and be able to far surpass those small flat fees.
You’ll need to generate an in-article ad code, which we can then insert into your article. Click my ads, then content, then ad units. Click new ad, then in article native. Give it a name, then submit. Copy that code and save it in a text file.
For a 500 word article you can insert your ad twice, once a third of the way down in between paragraphs and another time two thirds down in between paragraphs. I’ll be creating a guide how to do this, and may need to walk some of you over the phone one on one. Please be patient. I want to make sure you will be paid before publishing your work!
This is an example of what an ad on your article might look like. Google determines what ad to serve to each reader based on the content of the page and their internet browser history.
The fifth step:
After we have your Google Adsense code I’ll edit and publish your first article. You’ll want to share it on all of your personal social media networks. I’ll be sharing your work from my verified Twitter with over 140,000 followers (@David_Leavitt) and also on my Instagram (@DavidLeavitt) with a story that swipes up to the article. Down the road I’ll please ask your help to build our site’s social media profiles (@LuvItOrLeavitt), which will in turn be able to promote each writer’s work better so that you’re all paid more.
You’re free to contribute as much as you want but until I get to know you individually, your submissions won’t be published automatically. I’ll be spreading out your content as I deem appropriate. Once I’m familiar with your writing and I don’t have to edit you much I’ll grant you the access to publish at will. That means you’ll be able to write more timely news pieces on trending topics and not just evergreen content!
Each week I’ll send a mass email with some ideas and tips to improve your performance.
Thank you for your patience and understanding. As the site grows I’ll be able to hire more editors instead of doing it all myself. I’ll ask my current contributors if they’re interested in doing that before hiring someone outside. I look forward to working and growing with you!
