Duck after Mama Macaroni
July 11, 2011 in Pasta & rice
Before I get to my recipe for today (it contains bacon beware meatless Monday pristas!) I want to dish up something that may not be easy to swallow: food blogging quality. So I may need to duck after I have written this, but speaking out is often a dirty job and somebody has to do it. I usually pass the interview stage and get to do the job so here goes dears …
First a bit of background: my daughter and I own a business that produces television shows and publishes recipe books. However, at the heart of the business is brand marketing which means whatever we do is geared at positive branding for our clients who … you’ve guessed it, market their brands. We specialise in food brands – big food brands not the local or regional salad dressing manufacturer or fruit seller. If you open your grocery cupboard and fridge/freezer, you will find at least thirty food brands in there we helped build. As a basic requirement for our jobs, we need to know brand marketing and be able to spot consumer trends – not set them, Miranda. Spot them! So we spotted that consumers spend more and more time online and we tracked this trend and realized that within a few years, digital and online is poised to become an advertising mainstay for consumer brands. Can you thus imagine our consternation and lack of understanding at the prospective clients’ negative attitudes when we approached them to buy into and become part of our website-cum-blogs? They were mostly sceptical, but more than a handful flatly stated that local food websites and blogs are not of the standard that they want their brands be associated with. They’ll wait, was the general outcome. We had to pitch our concept to almost a hundred and fifty brands before we managed to reach our target: five advertisers on our website. Those are awful stats and especially if you compare them to our other successes: usually we would pitch a concept to (say) five potential brand advertisers and at least three would buy into the concept. Those ‘other successes’ would be generating advertisers for our television shows or recipe books, of the most expensive marketing concepts to execute …! With that in mind, we could not quite understand their objection in investing a fraction of that cost into a website or a blog.
Now, several months into writing this blog, and spending most of my time on spotting the trends in this realm of ours, I get it: those big brand advertisers are right to wait and see if the overall standards of local food blogs and food websites will improve. Although I only mention local, this is not to say that you don’t also get horrifically blah food blogs elsewhere on planet earth, but advertisers – yes, those multi-national brands stuffed in your fridge and grocery cupboard and even those other big ticket brands you drive and sit on and bathe in – are only concerned with returns on investments in the countries in which the brands are marketed. So even in big International brand business, local is a crucial buzz word. Therefore it’s important to determine why we write our blogs and my spotting revealed a few reasons:
It’s a hobby for fun, a little ego-stroking and a bit of freebies (if this blogger is also competitive, views and visitors and hits become serious emotional triggers)
It’s a passion for food and sharing (plus a bit of the above)
It’s personal brand building to enhance another business (these bloggers market their restaurants, food styling, photography, direct selling agencies, their own food brand, enhance their CVs and have some or all of the above)
It’s a serious, strategized budding future online business
Of the above, the bloggers who do it for a future online business generally deliver the best content in terms of creativity, images, writing and originality. They understand that in today’s virtual realm, giving is the new taking. They understand that they need to deliver (give) great content to get visitors to dwell on their blog or website (take their time). Why? ‘Cause they know that big, serious brand advertisers want to see their brands in publications or domains or spaces that deliver on quality, originality, integrity and credibility.
Here is what any blogger who wants to make money need to know: big brand advertisers sneer at proposals from volume flashers. Those are the folk who brag about hits and unique or absolute unique visitors to their blogs or websites. All that your dazzling volumes ‘tell’ the advertiser is how well you may be doing in search engine optimisation or how hard your host is pushing your blog, nothing more. If you do not enjoy mostly local visitors and good dwell times with low bounce rates on your blog or website, advertisers immediately realize how little you know (or care) about hard-core brand marketing and the quality offerings of your work. Needless to say, advertisers who want to create name awareness for their brand may benefit from high volumes to your blog. But established big brands (read really big budgets) need more. They need visitors to sit and engage in your blog or website (and their brands) for longer. They want the content of your blog or website to improve the usage, frequency, loyalty, added value, word-of-mouth-referral rate and trial of their brands. Every big brand has a competitor and they want users to switch from the competitor brand to theirs. They want non-users to try their brand and they want to get into bed with likeminded bloggers and website owners. Serious bloggers and website owners understand that image and the creative and strategic standards of a brand’s ‘bible’ are sacred to the advertiser and these are the bloggers who toil and invest and work on their content and deliver credibility and integrity. They are investing in their blogs’ longevity and financial sustainability.
One of them (in my opinion) is Nina Timm – her images are superb and she invests time, money and effort into them, she makes her recipes her own (meaning she does not lift them and just add a link to the website where she lifted it from like other lazy bloggers), her blog has a voice (she writes about family fare) and she networks and promotes her blog constantly online, on radio and wherever she gets an opportunity. She does not take advantage of her blog space on food24 by punting advertisers on that space and is serious and devoted and honest and transparent in her dealings with freebies and the odd advertiser on her other blog.
On the other hand, bloggers with a passion for food and people and living who blog as a hobby and to still the hunger for sharing, deliver superb content. It may not always be the sharpest images and in focus and the recipes may not be perfectly written, but it’s from the heart. And the enthusiasm and joy and passion with which they write are infectious. I never miss a post from Janice Tripepi. She is (in my opinion) the most authentic and honest home food blogger we have in South Africa. May her blog live long and hard and continue to deliver buckets of joy and authenticity to our screens. And so I have other brilliant blogs to commend for simply sharing and having very little covert motives and social modus operandi: Scrumptious (hell yes!), Pink Polka Dot, Sous Chef and many others.
From a marketing perspective, the blogs that fall in the category of personal brand building are the ones that (often) fail to market themselves or boost our collective advertising sales. There is one local blog clearly established to market the services of the blogger that consistently delivers other people’s content and I suspect it is to drive traffic her way so that other areas of her life may blossom – like her profession. This is not to say that these folk are doing anything wrong, no. In this case it is just important to know that although you cannot copyright a recipe, websites have rules, terms and conditions and legal notices that bind us to a specific behaviour model. You may (usually) not use a recipe from another source as is. You can only do that with the origin’s knowledge and permission. Just adding a hyperlink to the origin is not enough. You cannot copyright a list of ingredients but the methodology is another person’s intellectual property and you have to change the words while still giving credit to the origin. But what does this have to do with quality content? Using other people’s work stops creativity and progress in its boots, that’s why! At the heart of blogging lies the sharing of recipes and food ideas but in the absence of legalese for bloggers, it’s professional and ethical (and may even be a legal requirement) to request permission to use another’s work as is or if you change it, to site the origin of your inspiration for a re-worked recipe. And of course, the less you rely on other author’s work, the more creative you are and the better (hopefully oh, dear!) your content will be!
Point is good bloggers delivering great content know that great food is more than just writing, following (or cribbing) a recipe. It shows intent, training and experience, good taste, an eye for detail and technique, and above all the selection and quality of ingredients (Like Janice). So long story short, good food blogging asks for good food and all it entails including (above all) good intent - even if it’s with financial gains in mind. There is nothing wrong in wanting to earn a living, it’s just wrong to harm the greater ideology and its supporters in the process.
The big issue is that regrettably, we are a society that seems to insist on rewarding low stats and believe me if you reward low stats, you will continue to get low stats. Sometimes posts so poorly and transparently self-serving make it to their blog space’s home pages and the big main pages elsewhere on the Internet. Some days it is so bad I have to field calls and emails from fans, friends and possible advertisers with negative comments. Not a single one of those posts would ever have seen the light of day in a magazine or a publisher’s office. Why are they ever posted as a yardstick of what our local blogging is about? They should simply be there on the latest posts feed where they will be read and enjoyed by some but not be held up as the heros and she-roes of local blogging brilliance. There is room and a need for all sorts of quirky and poorly-written blogs. But not as the poster kid for bloggers …
From a marketing and image perspective with a view to attract big bucks advertisers to food blogs, only blogs with the very best of the best content should hit home (pages). It’s obvious to even the most unenlightened that if a post is featured and promoted all over the site, it gets the visitors regardless of the content. And if this indiscriminate promotion of poor content continues, food blogs will never enjoy solid brand advertising support. And here I also dare say (may as well go all-the-way) that the gushing comments some bloggers place on some really bad posts are just so transparently ‘scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours’. Girls, time you realize that quality comes before quantity when it comes to visitors and your own integrity as a blogger. Besides, a polite-but-true evaluation of the post will not only show your ethics but if it’s interesting to boot (instead of just gushing over rubbish) you will attract more visitors who will be curious to meet you!
Just believe me that Content is King if you want to attract serious fans and followers who will dwell longer because they find value if what we offer and also just believe that they will be followed by advertising money, bucketsful of the stuff. You are free to ask me how we can improve our content and how we can improve our income from big brand advertisers instead of greedily and gratefully grabbing the meagre offerings of expedient smaller budget brands (of late) who buy bloggers privately. We all know who they are and we all know who falls for their offers. Just believe me that Cash is also King and if that’s what you’re playing for, it’s easy to keep your eye on the ball: deliver great content. And if food hosts want to attract big brands with big budgets, they need to hear that only the best content should be promoted and if there are too few of those posts, then great content must be generated from partners like magazines.
So keeping my eye on the ball here is my content for the day but I should just tell you there are at least sixty recipes for mac ’n cheese on food24. That is astonishing as there are only 5 basic ingredients in this recipe (mac, cheese, eggs, seasoning, milk) and there could only be two cooking methods, bake or free-form. Oh well, this is blogging … to share. Here is my little version and it has a multi-lingo voice: homely, family, delicious, easy, versatile. The name is derived from the first full sentence my son could speak: Mama Macaroni … enjoy!
Mama Macaroni
In advance, I apologise if you feel offended at reading this. But you be the judge as to what content you are posting and if you want to debate my opinions and plea for better quality content, then email me at annemyers@mweb.co.za The sole intent with this post is to improve and I will gladly enter any action or debate with a view to improve. If I have made an incorret statement, please correct me in the comments below or by email. I wil immediately set it right. I have lots more to suggest to make our blogs significantly improved and pleasurable. Not only just to get visitors.
tandy.sinclair said on July 11, 2011
very interesting Anne!
Sous-Chef said on July 11, 2011
Thank you very much for the mention and the compliment. Being a relatively new food blogger I would welcome any advice on how to improve writing the recipes. I do try to put the ingredients in the order of use, but I know I give the instructions as if I’m talking to the reader. Not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing? I’m working on improving my pics, my folks bought me a new DSLR camera when I was overseas and I’m still learning how to use the damn thing!
As I say, any tips you can give would be gratefully received.
janicetripepi said on July 11, 2011
Thank you for your kind words Anne. Perhaps I am one of the fortunate people of the foodie world. Italians really DO cherish their food and as such no ingredient or recipe is deemed to be too extravagant for, putting it plainly – food=love and that’s that. I have spent many hours thinking about why I blog and if I should be approaching this from a more ‘business mindedness” hunna hunna hunna and have always landed up with the same answer – I just love cooking and feeding people. It doesn’t really go any deeper than that and I am very grateful that I can choose to cook my meals according to my fancy! A position of privilege for sure. I love sharing my recipes and am well aware that they will please some people and not others and have been influenced by some sh#t hot cooks that lifted me out of the deep dark garlic-less, herbless butterless world of food that I grew up with …. It’s really great to get this feedback and I shall have an extra little skip in my step today! Have a goodie Anne xxxx jan
ninatimm said on July 11, 2011
Anne, I feel honored and grateful all at the same time and like Jan, I will be walking a bit taller today, even if it is just for today. Thank you for taking the time and effort to write this article and in the process helping all of us……blessings!
potjie said on July 11, 2011
Bad quality is not restricted to blogs, if you look at the quality of some newspaper and magazine articles you wonder how they ever got published, and that was written by people who got paid for it, unlike a lot (maybe most) bloggers.
Are big brands really unwilling to be associated with blogs because of the quality of blogs, or are they unwilling because they have no control over what bloggers write, especially the bloggers that don’t make money out of blogging and thus don’t have advertisers to answer to, it is after all a lot easier for me to say that product X of company Y is the worst tasting whatever that I have ever eaten, than what it would be for the person who is making money out of company Y.
This said, I don’t disagree with you that there are blogs (mine included) which are not of professional quality, even though these people don’t have professional camera equipment, or even the writing ability to ever be published, they still love cooking, and want to tell the world about it, and yes a bit of ego-stroking is probably one of the reasons why we write, but that is also the reason why most chefs cook, or not so?
Even though I don’t agree with everything you have said I still want to cook with you.
Bad bad blogger
Potjie
pinkpolkadot said on July 11, 2011
I am honoured, Anne! Thanks a lot for the mention. I love cooking and I enjoy blogging, but never know whether I am doing it right. Feedback,like this, especially from you, is highly apreciated! I will welcome any suggestions, negative or positive, that you have to improve my blog.
pinkpolkadot said on July 11, 2011
Did you see this: http://mg.co.za/article/2011-07-08-going-to-the-blogs
Juno62 said on July 11, 2011
Dear Anne, thank you very much for your kind words. They are much appreciated. Jane-Anne.
JustChef said on July 11, 2011
I love your recipes Sue. I like the fact that you write them as if you were talking to me over the phone! I hear your voice giving me instructions when I make them! Sometimes I wish you’d add a “ok, time for a sip of Merlot” in between LOL
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
Dear Jane-Anne, your blog is as solid as a rock and makes me glad to be a fellow blogger. Based on today’s response, I will continue tomorrow …
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
Hi Pinks my darling, no thanks required, just you keep doing the things you do it is from the heart and true and authentic and loving and just brimming with integrity and it SHOWS. Thanks for the link to the article – strange co-incidence…I read it immediately and felt hugely gratified, must say! Love to you xxx
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
Seriously now, Potjie. Two wrongs do not make a right and the quality of newspaper and magazine articles are irrelevant to the issue of raising blogging quality.
Bloggers know very well upfront already that they do not get paid for writing so that is not an argument nor should it be an excuse for ugly work with little or no integrity.
Offering advertising space for sale does not mean one is endorsing the product or brand, Potjie. However, the rub of willingly accepting a freebie is that there is a tacit expecation that you should endose the product and speak kindly about it and of course, Calvyn for what he is, causes you to gush at the product. Of this system, the most annoying thing for me is that the people who accept the freebies usually suck at writing good copy. So we who read the damn reviews usually cringe while those who may perhaps have been tempted to try the product or service or restaurant, are often put off by the shoddy association. And that is a fact, remember it is my job to know these things, darling! It is called focus groups and that is a group of volunteers who talk to us about stuff like this. We film it and we use it as measure of efficacy after campaigns. Good marketing is not hit and miss, it is usually haarfyn uitgewerk and the response and reach monitored intensely afterwards.
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
Just ran out of space … and futhermore, of course, bloggers blog because they love food and they boost the ego and there is a lot of stroking. My plea is for integrity and honesty and a system whereby management of these domains prmote blogs who really, really take care to deliver great content and stop promoting blogs with bad content but instead, rather offer then assistance and guidance in improving their content. What is wrong with that?
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
Nins, your blog today is a poster for content. It was carefully thought out, wonderfully presented, an authentic recipe and credit given in the correct and enitcal manner. THAT is why you are one of my personal blogs of note and in whichever way I can, I will acknowldge and promote you and your integrity even if you quote hits as vistors LOL! In the Great Scheme of Life, those things don’t matter: intent is the key to a better world for us all. Love and hugs, xxx
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
Dear Jan, I hope you had the little step all day long – it is the least I could do for the smiles and warm fuzzy feelings your blog has given me and others. Please girl, when you are in my side of the world, let’s hit it! Beeg hug and love XXX
Sous-Chef said on July 11, 2011
Aw thanks JustChef…..your cheque is in the post!
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
It’s the heart that matters when it comes to content, Sue. Believe me, good intent shines through what we may consider as ‘poor’ content. Email me directly (see post above for addie) and I wil help where I can, if I can, gladly. XXX
HealthyVegetarianFoods said on July 11, 2011
Dearest Anne-thank you so much for this lesson, i am new to blogging and any advise or tips from an expert like yourself is most welcome. Once again thank you very much it is highly appreciated. Regards usha
Zabwan said on July 11, 2011
I first read this post this morning, and have come back to re-read it several times.
Don’t know what to make of it, Anne, parts seem quite mean, after all, so many bloggers are just blogging because they love to cook, and swop recipes, and get feed-back from others. They really don’t care about big-brand names or freebies, etc. And leaving comments that are encouraging to new cooks/bloggers surely can’t be considered ‘gushing’?
I realise that you and some others run their blogs as a business – I do not have the time, or training to do so (wish I could). But does that mean I should quit? I put huge effort into writing as perfectly as possible, trying new recipes, some original, some inspired by others, and taking as good photos as possible within my circumstances.
I’m puzzled….who were you are getting at?
fritzbrand said on July 11, 2011
Excellent post in my view, I think it’s high time someone spoke up. I am fairly new to the scene, and I’m sure I have also made mistakes, but I am trying to build a decent blog over time and any help/pointers would be much appreciated.
In the last few months I have become rather disgruntled with how things work here at Food24. I have sort of stopped hanging out here.
If all blogs were on their own they’d get the attention and followers they deserve. But whenever someone aggregates them like this, promoting them to a MUCH bigger audience, there needs to be at least some criteria and “rules” that the content needs to adhere to, and some transparency on how things work.
Not blowing my own horn here at ALL, but I really try hard to post decent quality content and it really feels iffy seeing my posts ignored and others that I believe to be of way lower quality getting promoted.
I sometimes feel like the posts aren’t being “judged” fairly, and that some level of favouritism or personal grudges are involved
I would love it if the Food24 would actually let us know how they go about picking post to promote, and what we can do better. In the end the better the content is that we produce, the better the content is that they show to their visitors so it’s a win win situation.
I’m really not trying to step on any toes here, just trying to air my views on how we can improve.
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
Hi Zabwan, its not about you or your blog. And most certainly not about robbing amy emthusiatic blogger of joy and passion. It’s about delivering content that would attract respect and acknowledgement – the very reason why we cook, after all. Go well and contiue to enjoy writing your blog – it’s a great one with a definitive and authentic ‘voice’ and we enjoy reading it.
ilovecooking said on July 11, 2011
Thansk for your sweet comment, Usha. We live, we learn. xxx
JustChef said on July 12, 2011
You have the correct spelling of my name, hey Sue? Wouldn’t want to delay my cashing it in LOL
PS: So is that a yes for merlot sipping?
Zabwan said on July 12, 2011
Thank you for your reply, Anne – still a bit puzzled though
ilovecooking said on July 12, 2011
Hey Fritz, thank you for your comment. I dealt with it in this morning’s post and have taken it up with food24. It seems an issue with at least 12 bloggers who eamailed me with the same issue and although it sounds a few, written complaint usually represent the tip of the iceberg with many more bloggers possibly harbouring the same thoughts and insecurities. I wil keep you posted on my future posts but for the record, your blog DESERVES loads and loads more attention and besides, you are one of the FEW male bloggers we have. You should really be encouraged, not discouraged! Keep doing it – you do it well! With a clear voice of your own. Have a great day and week, regards, Anne
fritzbrand said on July 12, 2011
Hi Anne
Thanks so much for your reply, I was wondering if I am being a twit here. Much respect for having the courage to speak out.
I am behind you all the way
women24ed said on July 12, 2011
Hi Anne and bloggers! Thanks for the post… better out than in as I always say. I’m writing up a response now and will blog it on the Food24 Ed’s blog later this morning.
ilovecooking said on July 12, 2011
At last … you are alive! Was getting a tad worried ’bout your well being. Check an email sent to Caro this morning with more comments.
women24ed said on July 12, 2011
Sorry honey, I have been scandalously poor at getting back to you… but I have also been overseas for the last month.
But I’m back now. We can also talk in person at Vinatics on Wednesday night. x
ilovecooking said on July 12, 2011
Ahhh – a bright light at the end of the tunnel as I soo not like meeting new faces …. jay! Yes, long talk. Hope the month away was a holiday and not a recce mission??? OK bi now talk tomorrow I am SOOO deep in the thick of it with my real job just a second ago bought nearly 7 figures’ worth OUCH of gear and Apple Macs hope it was wise decision as it was made soooo quickly! xxx
ilovecooking said on July 12, 2011
I did receive an email with your other comment. Clearly you “get” it now my darling???
women24ed said on July 12, 2011
Right! Post up… http://blogs.food24.com/Food24ed/food24-bloggers
Please let me know what you think, guys. We can only fix things if you talk directly to us.
women24ed said on July 12, 2011
Ha, not a recce at all… more a tour of Germany rollercoasters!
Zabwan said on July 12, 2011
Thought you might have, was too chicken to leave it up…have had repercussions. so…lightbulb, thanks