Poliblog Perspective

I posted on Friday about a competition to design banner ads for the Wardman Wire, and the political blog aggregator sites which I run:

I’m after a set (6 total: 3 of 468×60 and 3 of 125×125) of complementary banners for promotion of this site - The Wardman Wire .

and

I’m busy, so if someone (who is a political blogger) can come up with a decent set of (static or not too much animation) banners for the following sites: www.politics-england.co.uk, www.politics-scotland.co.uk, www.politics-europe.co.uk, www.politics-ireland.co.uk, www.politics-wales.co.uk .

We want more information

The Thunderdragon

dropped me an email with a few questions about the banners I am looking for for the Wardman Wire. I’ve posted detail here about the banners for the politics-**** sites, so I’ve posted the answers for this site here:

>What sort of thing are you looking for for the Wardman Wire banners? Banners are easier to design the more is known. For example, what do you want them to convey?

I’ll take these 2 together. I’m looking for 468×60 banners and 125×125 buttons that I can offer to other sites to use to link back, either in articles or in sidebars.

Continue Reading »

I’m experimenting with the Wordpress plugin WPAds for rotation of banner ads on The Wardman Wire (under the header). It seems to work well, and gives me the following:

• Limit on total impressions for each ad.
• Weight ads to appear in different proportions.
• A count of number of displays of each ad.
• It has taken about 10 minutes to set up.

At the moment I’m playing with a banner I display for this site which I use elsewhere. Displaying a banner for this site on this site makes me look a bit of a whompa, so I nicked one of the 18 Doughty Street ones temporarily, and Christian Wolmar is worth drawing attention to. I’m sure they don’t mind free advertising.

Cartoon courtesy Dave Walker.

Want some free advertising?

However, I need more variety, so here are a couple of FREE offers:

• If you’re a political blog that I’ve expressed admiration for in the past (or you are confident that I will like your blog) and have a 468×60 banner ad handy (that is less than 15kb in size), send a copy over to mattwardman AT gmail DOT com and I’ll put you in the mix while I’m playing. If you have a 125×125 button, send me one of those as well - as I’ll be playing with that in the future and the sponsors aren’t biting currently.Ones I receive by Sunday lunchtime will be in the mix all next week, as I am away. They’ll all be in on an equal weight basis.
• I’m busy, so if someone (who is a political blogger) can come up with a decent set of (static or not too much animation) banners for the following sites, I’ll give you 5000 ad impressions for you own site (half on mattwardman.com in a prominent position, half on my other political sites - see the “Wardman Network” in the sidebar). Maximum weight is 15kb per advert. I’m looking for ads that show the different nationalities but also show that they are a family of sites.I am after a 468×60 banner and 125×125 button for each. Flags or maps are obvious, but leeks, roses and John Bull etc. are all fine. Use your imagination if you are interested.I’ll also do four runners-up prizes of 2000 ad impressions. If I get lots of ads I like I’ll increase the number of prizes.I am away next week so ideally I would at least some in by Sunday.

  The list of aggregator sites that I am after banners for: www.politics-england.co.uk, www.politics-scotland.co.uk, www.politics-europe.co.uk, www.politics-ireland.co.uk, www.politics-wales.co.uk

Wrapping-up

Also, I would welcome any comments and views on how it works.

Currently it doesn’t seem to like Internet Explorer, for example.

Tags: wpads, matt wardman, free advertising, political blog, 18ds[tags]wpads, matt wardman, free advertising, political blog, 18ds[/tags]

This year I wrote a chapter for Iain Dale’s 2007 Guide to Political Blogging. My chapter is entitled “Starting a Political Blog: Things to Think About.”

This is the introduction to my article (excerpted):

We have all done it - slogging round a no hope street in a no hope constituency in the rain in November on a Saturday or Sunday morning, when we should be at home in bed with our breakfast.

Then, at the last house in the last street, our finger is bitten without warning by a small, homicidal, dog that can just reach the letterbox when it stands on its hind legs.

Writing a blog contains many of these experiences - both the enjoyable and the frustrating. In this article I have focussed on the early days of writing a blog, and on the things you need to know at that stage - through the lens of political campaigning.

My point is that - just like running a political campaign - running a political blog has lots of boring practicalities; there is a lot of “nouse” involved. I have covered some of these practical topics on The Wardman Wire, such as The Google Black Hole, My 21 Tips for Starting a Successful Blog and others.

A New Blog…

However, I am a touch frustrated that some of the articles that take quite a lot of work vanish off the front page quite so quickly, so I am starting a new blog over at www.poliblogs.co.uk/blog/ for some of my coverage of “how to blog”.

…Needs a New Name…

I have a post over there asking for suggestions as to a name. Here are a few of my ideas:

• Ars Politica - I like the double meaning of blogging being an art not a sciences and politicians (as well as political bloggers) being “arses” by definition.
• Wardman Wisdom - a bit pretentious, but the continuity of the name is good.
• Wardman Wheezes - picks up on how well your blog does will depend on the marketing you do as well as the material you write.

The blog is attached to the First directory of Political Blogs in the UK - which is at www.poliblogs.co.uk, and is due for launch in mid-late September.

What do you think about the names?

…And a New Tag Line…

The tag line for the new blog will be “The Nuts and Bolts of Political Blogging”.

…which I have borrowed from my new book

This is the same as the title of a FREE E-Book about Political Blogging that I will be launching at around the same time.

On Holiday Next Week

I’m on holiday next week (from Monday), and there will be several guest bloggers posting here. I’ll introduce them in a post this evening.

I will also be clearing the blog to give proper coverage to several questions that have come up recently and form an interesting cluster around the influence and authority of blogs.

• The Decision of the Press Complaints Commission to regulate newspaper websites.
• The Campaign by the Institute of Health and Safety to get rid “Health and Safety gone mad” stories.
• The Place of Blogs in Public Relations.

Two of my guest bloggers are a Health and Safety Officer, and a Public Relations Consultant.

This year I wrote a chapter for Iain Dale’s 2007 Guide to Political Blogging. My chapter is entitled “Starting a Political Blog: Things to Think About.”

This is the introduction to my article (excerpted):

We have all done it - slogging round a no hope street in a no hope constituency in the rain in November on a Saturday or Sunday morning, when we should be at home in bed with our breakfast.

Then, at the last house in the last street, our finger is bitten without warning by a small, homicidal, dog that can just reach the letterbox when it stands on its hind legs.

Writing a blog contains many of these experiences - both the enjoyable and the frustrating. In this article I have focussed on the early days of writing a blog, and on the things you need to know at that stage - through the lens of political campaigning.

My point is that - just like running a political campaign - running a political blog has lots of boring practicalities; there is a lot of “nouse” involved. I have covered some of these practical topics on The Wardman Wire, such as The Google Black Hole, My 21 Tips for Starting a Successful Blog and others.

A New Blog…

However, I am a touch frustrated that some of the articles that take quite a lot of work vanish off the front page quite so quickly there, so I am starting this blog for coverage of “how to blog”.

Continue Reading »

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