Part of me is scared to write this post. I think it’s the part of me that sat in a college class and listened to a “real journalist” tell us that if we wanted to get a job we needed to be a little bit paranoid. But the Internet (hack, gag, blogging, but I prefer to use the all encompassing term “The Internet”) is different. There is no such thing as exclusivity, and the only security you have is to do it better than everyone else. If you’re like that old media part of me, you might wonder, why I would want to share my keys to perceived success? The short answer is: it’s not as easy as it sounds. I have seen tons of people try, and fail, at the Internet, because it’s actually hard. It takes an insane amount of self motivation, a serious competitive spirit, a very good self image, and a ton of time. If you feel like you may be lacking in any of the above areas, don’t even bother.

The principles I am about to lay out are obviously inspired by my work in media, but really it’s the same for a brand or anyone using “The Internet” as a tool. Chances are you are starting to realize it may actually be important in the future and the changing scope of the world, and here’s a secret, that’s part of the reason I am writing this. It’s kind of important to address things people are interested in and seeking out on your website. So here are 7 basics to think about.

1. Have a thick skin

This is literally the number one, most important part of doing anything creative on the Internet. If you are doing it well, you are putting yourself out there in a vulnerable manner. Perhaps expressing opinions that not everyone is going to agree with. And unlike the safety net of a printed magazine/newspaper/book, where some one has to be REALLY motivated to complain by including, and not limited to, writing a letter/email or making a phone call, on the Internet all they have to do is press comment. So people will say some nasty things about you. You will have to come up with a coping mechanism for this. For me, it’s laughing at them and their usual absurdity, for others it’s self assurance and the belief, “at least they are reading.” Finally a third method is to realize that most hate comments are from trolls who actually don’t care and are just trying to make themselves feel better. Sometimes a comment will hit too close to home, and it’s easy to get bummed (it happens to the best of us) but just remember, if you let it stop you, they win.

2. Set deadlines for yourself

One of the biggest differences between the online world and the print one is there are no tangible deadlines. Anyone who’s worked for a magazine/newspaper knows you live and die by deadlines. But if something isn’t finished on time for the web, no big whoop. Put it up when it is. However, this can be a constant downward spiral, eventually leading to the end of your site all together. One of the best tricks I’ve found for self-inflicted deadlines is specific content for specific days. Obviously I am not the first or only one to realize this, as most successful feature-style sites you’ll visit boast branded daily content. This serves the previously stated purposes of a deadline, and it also works well for generating traffic. There is a reason TV stations have been putting shows on at the same time, and the same night each week for so long. It works for people. It gets in their heads and gives them some needed structure as well. So implementing it in your website is a no brainer. I’ve also found it helps immensely as far as “coming up with ideas” is concerned as well. One word of caution about the daily branded content though: If every day is basically the same thing with a different name, you aren’t doing it right.

3. Give credit where credit is due

The Internet is all about collaboration and interaction. I know people who claim to never read other blogs because they don’t want to be too “inspired” by someone else’s thoughts. I definitely  can appreciate this, and I think to an extent my number one concern when deciding what to post and what to say is what’s inside my head. But on the off chance that I do find something somewhere else and get an idea from someone, I always link back. Always. Not only is it good for your SEO, but it helps build relationships that are invaluable with other “bloggers.”

4. Give a fuck

The biggest problem with many major media sites is they are trying to do too much. I don’t mean, posting too much stuff, but rather producing print, tv, and who knows what all else to make up for the “economy” (or just because that’s what they do.) So historically the attitude is that web content is secondary. While most media outlets now realize the value of their online presence, they are still trying to sell a magazine, (that’s actually another issue all together.) What I am trying to say here is everything you post on the internet directly reflects on you. A lot of people tend to have a lackadaisical attitude about things because “it’s only blogging” but blogging has gotten me to where I am today (I do this for a living.) And yes, I have put some questionable stuff up, but the nice thing about the Internet is it’s a learning process and you can test things and get almost immediate results. If something doesn’t work once, you don’t have to do it again.

5. Transparency is key

Sometimes on the Internet you will make mistakes. You will post something you shouldn’t have, or something that is just stupid. But the biggest and most regrettable mistake I’ve made is pulling something down. I’d like to say it’s only happened once, but no, I’ve made it again and again and again. All of the linked posts were removed for different specific reasons, but the gist was someone’s feelings got hurt. After some thought, or time, they went back up. It’s never my goal to hurt people, and as long as you are not being malicious in your post, the rule I find is good to abide by is this: Never remove anything unless it’s factually untrue. The fact that you can actually and quickly fix your blunders is one of my favorite things about the Internet. But if for some reason you do decide to remove a post, a good solution is to do another post explaining why. While 90% of people would probably never notice it’s gone, I feel like it adds a level of legitimacy to own up to your mistakes. And that legitimacy is what can set you apart in an overly crowded market.

6. Update, update, update

Not every post is going to be a groundbreaking piece of journalism. Sometimes something quick is fine. As long as you are balancing your site with regular, quality pieces, the smaller stuff is good too. If you want to gain and retain traffic, you honestly need to update your site daily, if not more.

7. Just because it’s there, doesn’t mean you have to do it

If you know anything about me, then you can probably figure out the “it” in question is social media. This is honestly a separate post topic (one that I don’t really want to write), but I just wanted to touch on it here.  People all to often get so overwhelmed with social media that it hurts more than helps. Twitter, facebook, stumbleupon, digg etc etc etc. There are so many social networking outlets that it’s a full time job just to keep them all up to date. In my opinion, you are better off concentrating on your site, using only the social tools you find the most effective and using them well, than trying to do a half-assed job at everything. The fact is, if you are doing good stuff, other people will do the work on social media for you. That’s the whole magic of it.

Phew, I think that’s at least the tip of the iceberg. So now, let the interaction begin! Because being honest, the measure of the success of this post is how many views it gets. And the more comments, the more views, so please weigh in.

The Internet is fucked. I’ve just decided that it’s a lost cause. Of course the problem is pretty soon it will be all that’s left in media, so if any writers, photographers or filmers hope to have jobs in the future, it’s time to have some standards.

As the purveyor of multiple low-to-no budget boutique websites, I hate to say this, but stop giving your content away! This weekend I had a videographer send me a video for possible publication on AWS. I checked it out and emailed him back saying I would love to use it and would like to get additional assets to make it really strong. Of course this morning when I check the message boards (a bad habit I can’t seem to break) I see he’s posted a link to the video, the same video he wanted me to publish, on what is basically our only competition.

I get it. People are impatient. They want to get famous and see their name in lights, but would you rather be published on a site with theoretical standards, or a site where any one can post anything? The thing people have to realize though, is the reason many websites fall into the low-to-budget category is why bother spending money, when you have to compete with something like YouTube? It’s just not worth it. Why pay if you don’t have to? And since everyone seems to have this “gotta have it now” attitude, its almost impossible to have any standards of quality on the web.

Last week the wake community suffered a casualty of the economy and the state of print media as The Standerd pulled the plug. The high-quality photo-heavy mag had already stopped paying for photos months ago, and it really came as no surprise that it didn’t last. Of course I immediately sent out emails trying to get whatever content I could out of it. I got an email back from one of my favorite wakeskate site contributors, Gavin Jocius, who happens to be in grad school studying media, confiming exactly what I am talking about and my greatest fears.

“I was reading ‘The Long Tail’ for one of my media classes. In it, the author mentions Tim Wu of Columbia University’s notion of ‘The exposure culture.’ It reminded me of AWS.com and the Standerd, i.e., in today’s digital realm ‘exposure’ has become a substitute for currency. It is much easier to get people to send stuff for free because of the exposure that they get. Many online magazines can get good content for free because of the exposure culture that fuels the Internet. The days of getting paid for freelance work are long over….IMO. Enter the era of the ‘exposure culture.’ In the future, we will all be famous to 15 people.”

Because wakeskating is new and small, and there aren’t a ton of publications about it, its easier to see this happening, but it’s obviously going on everywhere. I don’t expect people to stop posting videos on YouTube, and obviously if you are just starting out, you have to come up with a way to get your name out there. But if you are doing something good and worthwhile, you should try and get paid for it, or at least give it to someone who needs the help and you want to support. Otherwise we’ll all end up having to sort through a ton of crap just to find something remotely worthwhile.