We are proud to announce the launch of the BlogBurst Rewards Program! The Rewards Program adds financial compensation to the long list of BlogBurst benefits for participating bloggers. You can find details about the Rewards Program here. The short version is that we are using a leaderboard-based rewards model that is easy to understand and directly tied to performance. There are some rules for participating in the program so be sure to read the FAQ for details.
With the BlogBurst Rewards Program in effect, top bloggers on the leaderboard can make thousands of dollars during the course of year. This program will continue to grow as the service achieves new levels of success now that we are out of beta status. Stay tuned for announcements around new publishers, new partners and new exposure opportunities to bring your blog to mainstream audiences around the world.
Sincerely,
The BlogBurst team at Pluck
Great idea guys, but one quick question: If you’re not in the top 100, how can you find out where you’re ranked? I think it would be good for people to be able to see how close they are to cracking the Leaderboard. (If this is possible, let me know, I wasn’t able to find it in the workbench)
Thanks!
Well I feel I have been rather led up the garden path. I’ve seen my work appear for no reward in the Houston Chronicle and USA Today for many months. All the while there has been dangled the carrot that there will be payment after the beta period. My blog appears within the top 100 on the leaderboard but the FAQs now reveal that payments will not be made to bloggers from outside the USA.
Paul
Good call there Max. Let me see what we can do about getting that updated this quarter.
I am some sad and disappointed. I guess that my blog is among the leading 50 blogs in the leaderboard but as I am from outside of USA, I cannot get anything. I wish you could solve this problem very soon. Really, it is disappoiting.
I second the motion for either a larger leaderboard or just a simple number in our account somewhere to indicate our placement.
How is the leaderboard ranking determined? The workbench shows ‘post views’ and ‘total views’ - which of these is relevant and what’s the difference?
Not that anyone asked, but I think it’d be rewarding if everyone who participates could cash in - each post view gets a penny or something - rather than just the top 100 blogs. Being bloggers, I think we all understand the power of the long tail and how powerful it is…
Please allow us to clarify around payments to bloggers outside the US: this is a temporary situation.
There is a fair amount of additional complexity around tax laws to navigate when providing payments to individuals outside of your home country. We are simply not yet in a position to make this happen for non-US bloggers. It came down to a simple choice of delaying the program or moving forward with an understanding that we would expand world wide as soon as we can put all the pieces in place.
Although it is still kind of early to make a date commitment when the payments will flow internationally in addition to the exposure you are already getting, but we will commit to having a clearer date for international Rewards as we head into the end of this quarter. More news forthcoming.
I can not believe that you can not pay non-US bloggers. I have a hard time understanding this especially when the payments are being made electronically via paypal. The bloggers outside of the US are the ones who are going to have to worry about claiming their own income. I can understand Corporate US tax laws can be complex but what do you expect when a company is dealing with an international community. I believe Blogburst can pay the bloggers as promised and figure out the proper tax laws by the time such papers have to filled. After all you are talking about a list of 100 people and of those 100 how many are international. I think the right thing to do is, if Blogburst is still having trouble with the complex international tax laws, it should set aside the money that was promise to us in an account until tax issues are figured out. Everyone on the top 100 should get paid or no one gets paid.
For those of us way down the tail who do not discuss sports, politics, or consumer goods but instead try to tackle more arcane subjects in an interesting way, the big problem is getting anyone to notice. The handful of people who read my blog enjoy it, but there is no obvious way to bring it to the attention of your media subscribers.
Are there any mechanisms you have in place or planned to get us little guys some exposure? Otherwise, that leaderboard of yours might as well be on the far side of the moon.
I think this is a great way for Public Relations professionals to get their clients to start writing a blog about their particular niche market what ever it is. Being on the leaderboard in any subject doesn’t matter, as long as you’re in the top 100!
Let me second Razib’s comment: it’s really too bad you couldn’t include other countries in this roll out. I’m in the top 100, and live in Canada.
I suppose I should selfishly add that all other nations and their tax laws aren’t created equally. It’s easier to deal with international payments to Canadians than, say, Kenya. I know, because I do it both ways quite regularly.
Regardless, the exclusion of foreign blogs from the payment scheme but their inclusion in the Top 100 is a bit bizarre. Not being paid obviously eliminates all of the motivation to participate in this program.
Hey all -
We’ve addressed the compensation issue with non-US bloggers.
Please see here:
http://www.burstblog.com/2006/11/09/international-blogger-rewards/
We obviously want this to be fair to all of our bloggers and will be working to make this an amazing opportunity for everyone involved.
OK, I’m preparing to be amazed.
Paul