I think I am starting to figure out how this all works. I’m getting BubbleLife News every day in my email, which beats the doorstep because I can read it whenever and wherever I want.
Lo and behold, each community has a news website, too! And, BubbleLife has editions for 65 communities in the DFW area. What I discovered is that the news is updated all day long on the website and then, only the new articles from the last 24 hours go into the email newsletter. I’ve got to admit, it’s sort of a cool way to stay in-the-know. I totally need this in the North Pole.
From what I can tell, this really smart dude here named Jeff Farris (the leader of the pack) built the BubbleLife software on his own. It works like a news search engine that rounds up local articles. The editors highlight interesting people and stories while the neighbors and local merchants contribute the latest and best stuff.
Finding your local news is easy, but let me tell you how to share your news, no matter have big or small. You can be part of the news without burning down the house. Isn’t that a song?
First things first—find your online newspaper:
Bulletins:
This is apparently an all-new feature for BubbleLife. Now, hold on to your hats, because to me it looks like free classifieds. Looking to sell toys your kid has outgrown? Have a prayer request? Having a garage sale or need a babysitter? Want to share your band event, real estate listing, sale at your store, or share a flier about your dog (or elf!) that ran away? Think of it like this: it’s a bulletin board just for your neighborhood. Look for the green button on the front page of any BubbleLife website and tack up your news!
Calendar:
Remember, calendar events are news, too. Look for the green button on the homepage and post your event there.
iReporter:
Here, anyone can be a neighborhood reporter and get published—even an elf! So, all you amateur journalists, food critics, bloggers, PTA peeps, communications peeps, PR agents or sports reporters, look for the green button on the right-hand side of the front page that says “Post an Article.”
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Keep the article local to your community.
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Keep it non-advertorial. Don’t let your post feel like a boring press release. Readers wants something interesting and love to read short articles about interesting people and what’s going on around town.
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Write original content and use original photographs. You don’t have to be a professional at either one, but they don’t want any copy/paste plagiarism or photo-stealing— that will put you on Santa’s naughty list.
Sarah Griffith, the BubbleLife business editor, has the ultimate control and she keeps her eye on all of the submissions. If you want to get your news out, post it here. If approved, it hits the newspaper website and then the email newsletter.
BubbleLife Connect:
With a BubbleLife Connect account, you, your organization or business gets a directory listing inside a neighborhood. Think: modern day yellow pages.
While most newspapers have been trying to figure out digital news, BubbleLife has been figuring out what local merchants and businesses really need. BubbleLife Connect is packed with promotional tools to help you market your business or organization.
In BubbleLife Connect, you can also post content like you would to iReporter, but there’s one big benefit. By posting through Connect, you have the ability to share your post further by distributing it to additional BubbleLife communities. Just be careful how you write it, because even articles posted through Connect have to make it through Sarah!
They won’t say it, but I will—it is local marketing in a box. You can get an account now if you want at www.bubblelife.com and get ready to kiss Constant Contact and HootSuite goodbye!
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post. I am going to wrap my head around BubbleLife Connect and tell you more then!
P.S. To check out some of the other spying shenanigans I've been up to in the BubbleLife office, click here.