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Reality TV blogger Ashley Majeski tells us about how she got started in blogging and the opportunities it’s created. “It was random”, she says after watching an episode of ‘The Bachelor’ and her friends telling her she should write down all the quips she makes during the show. So she did. After googling her way through the startup process, Ashley began to figure out how to blog and how to have a business mind while doing it.
Ashley Majeski from The Ashley’s Reality Roundup
Since she started writing at age 13, through to college where she covered sports and school activities, it seems Ashley has always had a pen to paper, only now it’s a keyboard but her drive has never dulled. She got an internship with the magazine Us Weekly and it was there she fine-tuned her writing toward celebrity journalism. Modeling her site after celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, Ashley narrowed her focus down even further to reality television.
So, you have your blog…now what? How do you get readers? Ashley says that while trying to figure out this very question, she discovered a niche of readers with the show ‘Teen Mom’. Every time she would write about this show, her hits would dramatically increase. Eventually, even some of the stars from the shows she was covering would read and generate even more traffic. Ashley quickly became the subject matter expert in reality TV, answering questions and fielding calls from major news outlets looking to her and her sight for information on the shows.
For Ashley, her blog has opened many doors, a far cry from the days of “googling her way through it”. She cautions however that this business is “ridiculously hard to get into” and once you’re in, you walk a very fine line between writing about people to poking fun at them. She says she never intends to be negative, rather she’s had the most success with keeping things positive.
Now people are reading your blog, can you make any money with it? Ashley admits she was spending all of her time working on the blog and decided to try her hand at making some money with it. She began to put ads on her blog and with a few key interviews with major news organizations, her readership skyrocketed and she started to see some positive cash flow. Ashley had developed a strong business mind when it came to managing her blog.
Ashley recommends using a self-hosted blog, meaning make sure you set up your own website with your own domain name because eventually you will be able to post your own ads on your blog page.
One of her favorite article’s was when she was working with the New York Post for a character on Teen Mom and it was picked up by outlets all over the country and it started the storm and because of the story it forced MTV to comment on the future of the show. Ashley thought it was interesting to show how one story can have such a strong impact on our world.
She enjoys having reality TV stars contact her to post articles on their lives and how these people feel connected to these reality stars. And she’s able to help people to connect with others who they’ve found value in. Ashley says in order to run a good blog, you have to be very consistent because people lose interest fast and so many other people are doing blog-writing now-a-days. “Always be prepared to work.” Always be willing to ask for help and always give help when you’re asked.
When becoming a blog writer, it’s important to make a distinction for you blog. Whether your blog is a for-fun blog or a for-profit blog because the strategy is entirely different. A for-fun blog is a blog where you’re writing just for your own pleasure and a for-profit blog is a blog where your build readership and create things to sell. Sometimes people post ads and in some cases they are trying to sell a product.
One of the biggest mistakes Ashley has made is being to brutal to some of the reality TV stars she’s written blogs about and she’s learned from her mistakes by being more light-hearted in her writing and does not resort to attacking a person’s character. Her recent goals are to expand her writing to include more reality television. All of these people say they are looking for love, but really they are looking for fame. Ashley says the best reality TV show to watch now is the Bachelor.
Ashley believes that success is doing something you love to do every single day and that other people care about it. She thought that if she could have picked any career this is what she would want to be able to do. Success means you’re happy and Ashley is definitely happy.
To follow up with Ashley, go to www.theashleysrealityroundup.com or www.twitter.com/theashleysrr
Engaging Discussion Questions:
- If you could write a blog on any topic, what topic would you choose?
Links to Great Stuff:
- The Ashley’s Reality Roundup – I apologize for the mistake in the podcast where I said the name of the website wrong, but for those of you interested in following up with Ashley Majeski or learning more about reality TV shows like the Bachelor and Teen Mom, please visit www.theashleysrealityroundup.com
- Welborn Media –
Success Quotes:
“Always be prepared to work.” – Ashley Majeski
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