Cursing as celebration: why and how we swear on the Offbeat Empire
This issue has come up for years — does anyone remember “Motherfuckergate” back in 2011? — and our response is generally the same: foul language has been a part of the Offbeat Bride brand since before the website even launched. The copyeditor of my book, Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides, was flagging foul language all the way back in 2006. Ultimately, if you’re uncomfortable with swearing, Offbeat Bride just isn’t going to be a great fit for you. That said, we DO have a very specific way we generally use curse words…
Is social media sharing the new commenting?
As a publisher, I’ve always prioritized toward comments because it’s content that I “own.” Yeah, someone else wrote it, but I own the pageviews (and the related ad sales)… and in exchange, I bear the responsibility of keeping those conversations in-line with my brand. Hence, our stringent commenting policies because I believe VERY strongly that if your website’s full of assholes, it’s your fault.
That said, it’s started to sink in that readers aren’t coming back to blog comments… and really, social media shares are more valuable for me anyway. Here’s why…
See it, click it: the follow up
This post I wrote six months ago may be the most important thing I’ve written all year. After we stopped publishing new posts on Offbeat Families in September. Then traffic and revenue then went UP… and it’s all because of shares on Facebook. Content recency is OUT. Content relevancy is IN.
How to make sure you eat when you’re working a wedding
Something that we all see come up time and time again on Offbeat Bride are questions about feeding wedding vendors: when should it happen? Is it something that’s expected? How can vendors make sure it’s understood that they are human beings and need food while working an 8-12 hour day?