Re-purposing & Syndicating Writers’ Work

A presentation by Alison Yesilciman, founder of Media Cooler Innovations, explains the online tool that helps freelancers syndicate their new or previously published content. This may be a way for writers to re-purpose some of their existing work and reach out to publications beyond the boating industry. With MediaCooler.com a freelance journalist can showcase and sell content to publishers around the world. Writers set the selling price and retain all of the rights to the work. The online marketplace brings editors to writers work and manages the business process.

This is the fifth BWI educational webinar made available through the support of Dometic Marine.

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BWI’s series of educational webinars now numbering five is posted on this site for viewing by members and others from the industry with interest. Click on the “webinar” tab on the homepage for access to all of them.

Included are “How to Start a Blog for About $10,” presented by Kim Kavin; “Drive Traffic with Social Media” by Diane Byrne;  “Conducting Successful News Events & Product Introductions” by Alan Jones;  “Writer Contract & Legal Issues” by Milton Toby, chair of the Contracts Committee for the American Society of Journalists and Authors; and “Repurposing & Syndicating Your Work” by Alison Yesilciman, founder of Media Cooler Innovations.

All of the webinars have been made possible by sponsor Dometic Marine, a supplier of dedicated systems and equipment for recreational and commercial boats.

Writer Contract & Legal Issues

This webinar addresses legal issues with a focus on contracts, specific clauses in contracts that affect writers and how to address them, concerns such as establishing legal liability corporations, copyright protection, and more. It was presented December 15, 2011 by Milton Toby, writer/attorney/head of the Contracts Committee for the American Society of Journalists and Authors. This was the fourth BWI Educational webinar made available through the continued support of Dometic Marine. (Listener note: there is an audio gap of about 2 minutes approximately 40-minutes into the presentation.)

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BWI’s series of educational webinars is now posted on this site for viewing by members and others from the industry with interest. Click on the “webinar” tab on the homepage for access to all of them.

Included are “How to Start a Blog for About $10,” presented by Kim Kavin; “Drive Traffic with Social Media” by Diane Byrne; and “Conducting Successful News Events & Product Introductions” by Alan Jones. The first three were made possible by sponsor Dometic Marine, a supplier of dedicated systems and equipment for recreational and commercial boats.

Plans for the next webinar focusing on journalists legal issues is tentatively scheduled for September.

This webinar is designed to bring writers and vendors together to improve press coverage of new marine products and boats. The idea for the presentation emerged from a meeting of the BWI Directors where concern was expressed over the high volume of news conferences and product introductions at boat shows making it difficult for writers to participate and glean all they needed from marine manufacturers

Subjects included in the outline of the webinar include:

- The need to keep presentations brief, focused, factual, useful, and if appropriate, quantitative.

- Learning to test the concept from a reader/subscriber perspective and ask, “Is this helpful or interesting?”

- Writer preference for take-away formats – paper releases, flashdrives, or other packaging to best disseminate news.

- The practice of handing out “chotzskies” and if so, what’s appropriate?

- A reminder to focus on video and how to prepare to “be recorded.”

- Honoring appointments and allowing enough time for reviews or tests.

- When enough information is enough and how to minimize the “marketing speak” for better results.

BWI Director, commentator, and columnist, Alan Jones, lead the webinar based on long-term experience of reviewing and writing about boats, new products, and the boating and fishing lifestyles.

Conduct Successful News Events & Better

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“Drive traffic to your site with social media,” covers using Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, how to create and best use accounts with each social media site to promote a media outlet you work for or your own company, plus how to gauge whether your efforts are working.

The webinar is conducted by Diane Byrne, one of the best-known and highly respected yachting journalists worldwide, who founded MegayachtNews.com in 2007.

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A webinar designed to bring writers and vendors together to improve press coverage of new marine products and boats, is planned by BWI for June 29 at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

The idea for the presentation emerged from a meeting of the BWI Directors where concern was expressed over the high volume of news conferences and product introductions at boat shows making it difficult for writers to participate and glean all they needed from marine manufacturers. Better planning as well as plain-speak lead to effective presentations.

BWI’s LinkedIn member forum produced suggestions from more than 20 writers on the best ways to get mindshare for new products. In addition to show-based conferences, the writers offered suggestions and critiques of destination press trips, hands-on boat tests, and product reviews.

That input led to the outline of the webinar:

- The need to keep presentations brief, focused, factual, useful, and if appropriate, quantitative.
- Learning to test the concept from a reader/subscriber perspective and ask, “Is this helpful or interesting?”
- Writer preference for take-away formats – paper releases, flashdrives, or other packaging to best disseminate news.
- The practice of handing out “chotzskies” and if so, what’s appropriate?
- A reminder to focus on video and how to prepare to “be recorded.”
- Honoring appointments and allowing enough time for reviews or tests.
- When enough information is enough and how to minimize the “marketing speak” for better results.

BWI Director, commentator, and columnist, Alan Jones, will lead the webinar based on long-term experience of reviewing and writing about boats, new products, and the boating and fishing lifestyles. Jones is the executive editor for Boating World Magazine and a contributing editor for Sea Magazine, a photographer and videographer. He has served as a judge for NMMA’s Innovation Awards and has been recognized by BWI seven times in the annual writing contest.

BWI Active and Supporting members are invited to the webinar. Other vendors with interest in attending this free program can sign up through this link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/159740849.info@bwi.org.

The American Boat & Yacht Council is reaching out to the BWI membership with the offer of free tuition for its educational webinar series. Says BWI member Ed Sherman, who also serves as ABYC’s Director of Curriculum Development and Delivery, the first two offerings will be: “Shipping Boats Overseas…..What You Need to Know” is set for Thursday, April 7 at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time (register at https://cc.readytalk.com/r/j3ywgso5fn7g); “Marine Fire Investigation… How NFPA Guides the Investigator” scheduled for April 27 also at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (register at: https://cc.readytalk.com/r/ryv7ywymbu91). BWI members need to identify themselves as such when registering.

Upcoming Technical Webinars will include “Basic Electrical” with Kevin Ritz on May 12 and “Lead Acid to AGM Battery Conversion” with Dwight Escalera on May 25. The regular rate for an ABYC webinar is $49 per site with unlimited live access to that site for ABYC members; $69 for non-members, which includes an opportunity to view the recorded webinar for an additional 30 days at no additional cost. Check the ABYC Education Calendar at www.abycinc.org/calendar/index.cfm for additional description and registration for webinars planned in later months.

BWI’s first educational webinar, “How to Start a Blog for About $10,” was conducted by Kim Kavin, the former president of BWI and the owner of the Charterwave and BoaterMouth websites. It is sponsored by Dometic, leading supplier of dedicated systems and equipment for recreational and commercial boats.

The webinar covers domain name research and selection with Google tools; domain name registration and forwarding with GoDaddy; basic WordPress blog software setup; and introductory WordPress features, such as photo uploads, video uploads and widgets.

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