I’m a huge WordPress fan, I’ve used Blogger a fair bit, but I’ve never got round to really trying TypePad – however I’m suddenly tempted after reading about their Journalist Bailout Program.
All you need to do to enroll is to send them your last piece for a broadcast magazine, newspaper or broadcast journalism venue, and for a limited time you’ll get:
- A free Typepad Pro account. (Usually $14.95 a month)
- You get enrolled in the Six Apart Media advertising program
- They’ll promote your new site on Blogs.com
- And more…
You could see it as sarcastic, or just an attempt to grab publicity, but I think it really is more than that. If Typepad manages to secure a few trained and talented journalists (and their updates says they’ve had a flood of submissions), then they have some new quality voices to promote their service.
Blogging as a whole will always benefit from new voices, regardless of where they come from. But some ex-journalists may add some more legitimacy in the minds of those still trying to deny it’s a mainstream media source.
The only slightly depressing thing is that evidence predicts the majority of those signing up will play for a bit, make a couple of posts, and then lose interest. But those that persevere long enough to start getting value from it will be welcome additions to the blogging world.
