How to Capitalize on a News Story

Every few days, there’s a news story that the entire country seems to be simultaneously be googling. Usually the story has to do with a celebrity, a scandal, or a tragedy (and sometimes all three). If you’re a blogger, you can really capitalize on almost any kind of news story out there – if you’re smart about it. And it isn’t always about beating the clock.

Image: www.sxc.hu

Let’s face it. Unless you’re the TOP website for you niche, re-posting a news story isn’t likely going to bring you much traffic…and really, even if you are one of the few websites who writes about your specific subject, most people will go to a website like the Times or Washington Post before they go to a blog. Unless you’re the very first to break an important piece of news, the amount of traffic you’ll drive is limited.

So what’s a blogger to do? Get creative! Here are some ways to capitalize on a news story and really increase your pageviews:

• Include your opinion.

If you have a strong opinion about a topic, especially if your view goes against the norm, post it on your blog. For example, I write for a video game website, and one of the major stories this past week was about a new gaming addiction study. Most websites either reported a re-hashing of this news story or talked about how wrong the study was. My opinion was very different and fresh, so even though I posted my story and opinion a few days after everyone else, it still drove traffic.

I do want to caution you, though – don’t take a viewpoint for the sake of driving traffic. Yes, pissing people off does mean that you’ll get some pageviews for a few days, but people can smell a phoney a mile away. Plus, when you can’t back up your opinion (and face it, it’s hard to back yourself up if you don’t truly feel that way), people won’t respect you or your site – and they won’t be back ever again.

• Find a fresh, creative angle.

If you try hard enough, you can take just about any popular news story and make it relevant for your website, no matter what the topic. You just need to get a little creative! A good example of this is my post about Kal Penn. Penn’s not a freelance writer, but I wrote about his story is a way that was relevant for freelancers. More importantly, the post I wrote was unlike anything else anyone was writing on the subject, so it got attention. Be creative and find an angle on a general news story that works for your niche!

• Be comprehensive.

People love it when they can go to one source to find all the information they need about a topic. For the first few hours, that might be the Associated Press or a major news outlet. However, if you can keep a post updated as news breaks and include a running list of links, quotes, etc. on the subject, you’ll catch people’s eyes. Remember to remind them to check back throughout the day as the story unfolds.

This isn’t just true with breaking news, either. Any popular subject becomes popular if you have some kind of comprehensive list. For example, taking you back to the video game website again for a moment, one of the most popular post on this site right now (written by a friend of mine) is A Comprehensive Look at the Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 Trailer, which goes through the video second by second. That post has over 300 comments (and its still growing), which is definitely 10+ times more comments than posts usually get on that site, and the traffic was even better. Comprehensive is good.

Image: www.sxc.hu

• Interview someone.
  

If you can get an exclusive interview with someone relating to a super-popular topic, you’ll drive traffic. It isn’t always easy, and you should respect people’s privacy. For example, it’s poor form to continuously try to contact the family of someone who has died for a comment, in my opinion (though there are tons of journalist who will do it for the “scoop”).

Remember, you don’t always have to have the top dog when it comes to an interview. For example, the lead star of a popular new movie might be next to impossible to contact. What about his make-up artist though? Or, if there’s some kind of major crime, the police cheif of that city probably won’t have time to comment. Can you find a psychologist who’s an expert on the subject and ask for analysis-type comments? Network, network, network, and you’ll find tons of relevant people to interview.

A Final Note: Social Networking/Bookmarking

Speaking of networking, I have one final note. When you DO have a great new post relating to a really popular subject, use social networking and bookmarking sites to promote it while the topic is still hot. I like Twitter, StumbleUpon, and Reddit the most for all topics, though there’s also Digg, MySpace/Facebook, del.ici.ous, Technorati, and tons of other places to promote your work, include niche networking sites specific to your topic. Don’t be afraid to get the word out that you’ve written something interesting.

Like what you’re reading here? Sign up for Allison’s One Prompt, One Product weekly newsletter.