BlogHer07 in Chicago from the Day Two: Breakout #7 Session Business of You: Professional Blogging: Art and Commerce.
The other side of the professional blogging coin is looking at the business ramification of making money with your blogging. This session will cover the things to consider and that you may regret if you wait to long to address: copyright protection, tax ramifications, managing personal vs. paid-for blogging, your site policies, and blogging ethics.
Nina Smith - moderator (who blogs at Queercents and BlogHer)
Kelly Erb (who blogs at TaxGirl over at b5media and Tiny Treasury over at 451Press)
Denise Howell (who blogs at Bag and Baggage)
Liz Gumbinner (who blogs at CoolMomPicks and Mom-101)
Kelly - What are the consequences of people who are beginning to make money from their hobby blog? (Feel free to email her your questions at TaxGirl.)
The difference between hobby and probloggers. Income matters to the IRS. Deductions for hobbyists - you can only use them up to your income, what you made that you. But if it's your real job, you can take a loss - carry forward your deductions. What is your profit motive? Do you care about the money, then you're pro. If you're just having fun and making some money on the side, then you're a hobbyist.
Must have a profit 3 of 5 years then you are a professional. That's the way the IRS sees it.
Liz - Advertising, ethics and policies
There is a difference between a personal blog and a blog that you're trying to make money on. Are you selling out on your personal blog if you run ads? People are coming for your story, not editorial content on products. On cooking, political, etc. blogs, ads may be a better fit. Think about starting another blog to make money from.
Is the integrity of your voice worth the money (or little bit of money) that you're making? Is it affecting your voice on your personal blog. Does the paid post or advertising fit on your blog? Will it turn off your readers?
Denise - Intellectual property issues, licensing models
Licensing is a two way street. Licensing your work on Creative Commons. WIll you let people use your content for just an attribution and a link? Or should you limit it? Do people need to ask permission and should you care?
Decide how much permission you want to give people to use your content and pictures. Pay attention to the intellectual property considerations around your work. Enforce it.
Commercial use is any blog/website that has ads/Google Adsense, from a small blogger to ABC News.
Question: Copyrighting photos if you don't use a Creative Commons license. Do you need to register with the US Copyrighting Office?
Denise - It's not necessary, but if you do register you can be awarded statutory damages for illegal use.
Question: Should I incorporate if I'm starting to make a little money as a blogger?
Kelly - It depends on your circumstances. For taxes it doesn't help much, but if you incorporate and are self-employed, you can deduct your health insurance at the corporate rate.
Also, an incorporation (if there is more than one of you, like a group of mommy bloggers) health insurance companies will consider you a group and won't have the problem of pre-existing conditions, won't make you go through a physical, etc.
Publishers and other companies will take you more seriously if you are a LLC or S corporation.
Denise: Incorporation won't give you special liability protection, except if you are selling a product for someone else that goes south, you are protected somewhat.
Comment: Group insurance, PEO (professional employment organizations) will help you set up health insurance for the self-employed.You could also use your local chamber of commerce.
Question: Creative Commons license - what becomes our recourse when I am scraped?
Denise - You could sue the guy, but it's hard to find out who these people are. If you don't know who they are, file the lawsuit as a Doe, and do discovery in the lawsuit - subpeona the ISP, get the info from social media sites that they're a member of, etc.
Kelly - Go to the ISP and ask for it to be taken down.
Denise - DMCA - digital millenium communication act - makes the ISP takes it down if you can demonstrate that it's your content.
Creative Commons license, you are permitting other uses. But no matter what US copyright will protect you.
What to do when someone steals your content? Great post for what to do if you are scraped. Also, make sure if you use Feedburner to apply a Creative Commons license to your feed.
Question: If I excerpt, am I violating copyright?
Denise - There's no steadfast rules on how much content you can use someone else's content. You should be commenting on their content, no replublishing other's content. Make sure it's small amounts, use commentary and education, links, etc.
Questions: What should bloggers think about before joining an ad network? What other things are out there besides using ads to monetize your blog?
Liz - the authenticity of your voice - are you going to compromise it? Will you tick off your readers (ask for what they don't like and do like.) Are you running so many ads that it looks like a billboard? How do you feel about it?
Even so, running ads give your blog a professional status especially if you're part of an ad network, like BlogHer's or using BlogAds.com.
Do the ads fit in with your content? Can you turn down an ad if you don't like the advertiser - you need right of refusal.
Kelly - You'll get a 1099 from your ad or blog network when you make more than $600. If it's lower than that, you need to keep track of it - write it down a piece of paper. Only report money you've received (for example, if you haven't met your payout threshold).
Liz - If you're not making that much money from the ads, take them down. You're worth more than that. Don't give away free real estate on your blog.
Question: Opinion vs. defamation
Denise - opinion and satire is not defamation. Stretching the truth will get you in trouble. Disclaimers on your site that it's humor or satire will help. Talk to a first amendment lawyer to have them draft something for you.
Question: Companies hiring bloggers to work as their marketing department. Should they be independent contractors? Should they have liability insurance to cover these workers?
Kelly - Most bloggers will be independent contractors. It's about control. Are you expected to come in at certain times? Are they buying you equipment to use? Then you maybe an employee.
I'm a 1099 blogger on 451Press and b5media. It's the manner in which you do your work - at home, when you can fit it in, in your pajamas, etc.
Denise - Liability insurance - requiring them to blog under contractual obligations - protects their company.
Question: Advertising on personal blogs. What blog topics are ads not acceptable?
Liz - Some people hold mommy bloggers to a higher standard. Some feel our work is supposed to be hidden since we're mothers. If we have ads, some people accuse us of pimping our kids. I don't feel that way at all.
Some people feel that blogs are personal journals and shouldn't make money. Your blog is what you decide it is. If your content is good, people won't care that you have ads in the sidebar.
People assume that blog advertising is always for big companies like McDonalds and Walmart and it upsets them. But with services like Blogads, it's often a way to help the little guy, and give small businesses a voice that they couldn't ordinarily have.
There will always be a group of people who remember the good ol' days before the blogosphere became commercial. Then those folks will form another community. There will always be people who don't like it, but I don't care.
Question: Is the name of your blog protected under copyright law? Should I trademark it? What is the expense.
Denise - It's trademarking for your blog name. There are registered trademarks and there are marks you gain rights to just by using it - service mark. Trademark law is very murky. The person who stole it, was it on purpose to steal your content?
Kelly - Someone took TaxGirl and was using it on message boards for talking about STDs, bands, clubbing, and bongs. Others took it to talk about taxes. Kelly wrote to the tax people and asked them to stop. She also put a page on her site to explain about her trade name, who she is, and about the "other TaxGirl."
Denise - You should consider trademarking your blog name.
Also, find an accountant and lawyer to handle some of these matters. Find how much it will cost, then make an educated decision to do it or not. Get some free info before you get in trouble. Lawyers give out free advice all the time.
Question: Photographs and copyrights - if I'm using a news site's photographs, even when I link to their photos (inline link) and attributing to them, am I violating copyright.
Denise - You have to attribute, link to the photo as it is shown on their server, you should be o.k.
Question: Can you register a blog name on your own? How do you file for copyright?
Denise - You don't have to register your content to be covered by copyright. Also, registering your blog posts at the copyright office, isn't straight forward. You can put a month's batch of posts and register them as a compilation.
Consult with a copyright lawyer. Decide on the most effective thing that makes the most sense to you.
Lawyer for trademarks - you will save time and money using a professional. Trademark registration is fairly low cost to have someone else do it.
Kelly - If you think you know what you're doing, then do it on your own. But you could screw it up and cost yourself more money.
Denise - Marty Schwimer at SchwimerLegal.com - email him for answers to your questions.
Comment: Organizing yourself - should I have a seperate bank account to keep track of my earnings and expenses?
Denise - "Doing business as" accounts, getting an AMEX card with your blog name, etc.
Liz - Paypal can serve as your blogging account to keep things separate.
Question: Rights on your content - writing for other sites. What are you giving up when you write for other people?
Kelly - You can negotiate your contract on usage rights, so you can reuse your content for a book in perpetuity. What are you comfortable with? Ask, it can't hurt.
Denise - Negotiate to have joint rights.
