USA Today is about to get behind blogs/podcasts in a big way. Blogger & Podcaster magazine will be launching a guide (think TV Guide for blogs and podcasts) in partnership with USA Today which generates 10,400,000 unique visitors at USAToday.com. In addition, the Blogger & Podcaster Guide will be published in the print version of USA Today, reaching an additional 5,200,000 readers.
I believe this is an awesome opportunity to get your blog/podcast out to mainstream America. In any case, you can try it out free for a month and let your results be the judge of value.
Through an exclusive partnership agreement with the Blogger & Podcaster Guide, my readers are able to get a month free (regular price is $49.99). In addition, if you find value, you will get 20% off the monthly fee (you’ll pay only $39.95 per month and can cancel at any time) for the online guide and 25% off the print fee (Regular price is $195 a week, and you’ll pay only $145). You can cancel at any time and there is no obligation.
To get started with your free listing:
- Go to www.bloggerandpodcaster.com/usatoday.
- Select “New User” and go through the 6 step registration process.
- In “Step 2″ be sure to enter ‘Thinkingserious’ in the Coupon Code box under “Option #4″. If you don’t enter this code, you will be charged the regular price.
Following is the information you should have handy when you are registering:
- Blog/Podcast Name
- Website URL
- Brief Description (Print only): You can have 75 characters total — including spaces & punctuation — between your URL and description.
- Detailed Description (400 characters max — including spaces & punctuation — between your URL and description.
- RSS Feed
- iTunes Feed (Podcasts only — Not mandatory): For info go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html
- Up to 10 keywords related to your blog/podcasts (Not mandatory): Used for search and placements as relevant material on USAToday.com.
- Logo/Album Art (Not Mandatory)
The launch is Wednesday, November 7th, so if you want to be in for the launch be sure to enter your registration ASAP. It takes about 5 minutes if you have your materials prepared as mentioned above.
I hope this opportunity brings new levels of success for your blog/podcast.
Please share your experiences in the comments.
Thanks for the support for the USA TODAY project. It’s important that our industry recognize the significance of the USA TODAY involvement in opening up their massive audience to bloggers/podcasters at a fraction of the price they typically charge. As an example, the smallest classified ad you could run 1x in their print edition costs $268 (or $324 on Fridays)…and for usatoday.com, where our guide will be both on the front page and embedded within relevant content, it would cost thousands of dollars just to get started. Being able to access this audience for under $50 per month (with unlimited click-throughs and trackable results no-less) is a tremendous value for those serious about building a monetizable audience. Frankly, its a big risk for USA TODAY. At the end of the day they’re hoping that bloggers/podcasters will support this effort and with volume they’ll be able to keep prices low, while still making it viable for them. If we can make it worth their while, you’re going to see them (and likely their laggard MSM brethren) get even more behind the industry, which will be a beautiful thing for us all. So take advantage of the free trial and if it works for you, know that your continued support will be doing more than just helping yourself.
Larry Genkin
Publisher
Blogger & Podcaster Magazine
http://www.bloggerandpodcaster.com