January 3rd, 2008 | | 22 views |
I recently discussed horizontal writing with Dean Whitbread, a leading British podcaster, who is involved in a project I’m managing at the moment. Horizontal writing he described as the process of ‘writing across the web’ through comments and posts left on other blogs and sites to drive traffic back to your message/site. There are a myriad uses of the terms ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ (horizontal and vertical marketing; vertical thinking) and they’re as useful here as elsewhere to define a particular, important, process for good blogging. The activity is important for bloggers who want to start making a living from web writing, whether that’s inside an institution/publication, or outside, to promote their own work.
Horizontal writing is then the leaving of relevant posts and links about your subject across the key blogs and sites that are talking about your message. The goal is to drive traffic back to your post. In the current project I’m discussing with Dean, where we are hiring a number of blogger advocates to write about and provide friendly (well-read) critiques of a new online careers magazine and information service for the Creative Industries, www.creative-choices.co.uk, this horizontal writing will become a key measurement of a blogger’s performance as an advocate for the projoect, not only their vertical wordcount. It’s something professional bloggers of the future need to know and get good at, as it will help them find paid employment.
Tags:
blogging,
horizontal writing,
jobs 
