WordPress PR Newswire and Experts Directory

In March ’22, I shared a tweet that gained a lot of interest from people in the WordPress community. So as a follow up to that Twitter conversation, here are my notes to shape and refine what the product could entail. Comments with your insights and feedback are deeply appreciated.

As a side note, sharing this post is me officially “open sourcing the idea.” If you endeavor to build this website I fully support you and look forward to participating as a community member both as a creator and a publisher.

Product Overview

A WordPress PR newswire-type site network of Publishers that cover WordPress topics. Syndicates Creator content submitted by category to interested Publishers.

  • For Creators: This group includes both people creating content as well as businesses that create WordPress products and services.
    • Creators submit weekly(?) content including title, link, short description, category, and author.
    • A directory of Publishers with profile information on what content they accept, topics they cover, how to submit, and what format they want submitted content in.
  • For Publishers: This group includes the people aggregating and reporting on WordPress news, features, tutorials, product reviews, and more. Publishers include blogs, podcasts, video channels, and curated newsletters.
    • Publishers subscribe to content by category.
    • Publishers receive a weekly(?) digest email containing all aggregated and verified content for their selected topics.
    • Opt-in to a Directory of Publishers. Populated with their profile information and shown to the Creator members.
  • The WordPress Experts Directory:
    • A list of credible and verified human beings that can provide insight and commentary on WordPress topics.
    • Sources would be tagged by their subject matter expertise and availability for different types of content
      • Written content (provide a quote or comment)
      • Podcast (with or without video)
      • Creates Paid Content On Your Topic
      • Webinar
      • Live Events
      • In-person Speaking oOpportunities
      • Twitter Chats and Twitter Spaces
  • Other Potential Features:
    • A curated list of WordPress Influencers with their contact information to be made available for sending swag, offering free product trials, and other collaborations.
    • A curated list of WordPress Publishers that allow guest posting with their unique requirements for accepting content.

Tech Under the Hood

  • Use Paid Memberships Pro to handle:
    • User registrations
    • Profile fields
    • Member directories
    • Newsletter list join (two list types)
    • Email sending member-to-member
  • Use Newsletter Glue to handle the newsletter aggregation/digest
  • Choose a forms builder plugin to accept submissions for:
    • New content to syndicate
    • New request for SME collaboration

Inspiration Products

Loosely model the “Quote Request”/SME comments for Creators after https://helpab2bwriter.com/.

The Earliest Loveable Product

The “smallest” version of this is a spreadsheet that gives granular access to Creators and Publishers (tabs for both sides).

  1. Set up a ConvertKit Landing Page for Publishers to join
    1. Custom fields for content categories of interest
    2. Sends data to a Google Sheet via Zapier
    3. Publishers are added as “View Only” to the sheet
  2. Set up a ConvertKit Landing Page for Creators to join
    1. Custom fields for SME topics and opportunity availability.
    2. Sends data to a Google Sheet via Zapier
    3. Creators are added as “View Only” to the sheet
  3. Set up a ConvertKit Landing Page for Creators to submit categorized content.
    1. Sends data to a Google Sheet via Zapier
    2. Need an automation that looks at a Google Sheet and pulls in submissions. This might have to be manual weekly.
  4. Set up a ConvertKit Landing Page for Publishers and Creators to submit  request  submit categorized content.
    1. Sends data to a Google Sheet via Zapier
    2. Need an automation that looks at a Google Sheet and pulls in submissions. This might have to be manual weekly.

Critical Decisions and Questions

  • Is this a free service? How would this be monetized?
  • What are the community guidelines?
  • How do we “approve” members?
  • How do we maintain the integrity of the submissions?
    • What is high enough quality to be included?
    • Who will verify that the content actually aligns with the selected category?
  • What day of the week or what frequency would Publishers like to receive their syndicated newswire content?
  • What frequency would a Creator like to be sent requests for content collaboration?
Kim Coleman

Kim Coleman

Hi! I'm Kim Coleman, an internet entrepreneur from Reading, Pennsylvania. I've been working with WordPress for over 15 years. In 2011, I founded Paid Memberships Pro, a complete plugin for Recurring Subscriptions and Content Restriction with 100k active sites. I'm currently working on our new product, Sitewide Sales.

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