Blog Positions: Apply Here

[Originally published on April 19th, 2007]

If you couldn’t tell, The Underground believes in provocative material and having fun.

Revisions:

2-24-10: Rewrote the whole page to make it simpler to follow and setup the direction of the desired blog staff.

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The purpose of this blog is to write about useful information that anybody can use to enhance their life.  My original vision was to have articles on “underground topics” that the average Joe can pick up and use for his life.

As time went on, the blog evolved and our discussion of topics is now more varied than ever.  I am just one man, and to continue this journey by myself will become the online death of me.

To assist with that, the door is always open for new people to join the staff and contribute as necessary.  However, there are various levels of degrees of writing here on the blog.

If you have a fondness for writing, and have interests in the kind of subject material this blog covers, then maybe you deserve to be here. Please look at the roles below first of all and see what type of role you fit in so the Staff can make a decision about you properly.

Potential Role #1: Hardcore Blog Author

1. Your writing skills are superb.  You know how to express ideas clearly and  concisely, and there is no question about what you have written because its crystal clear. The people who ask questions ask it because they are dummies. 🙂  You love to write!
2. Your devotion to the blog is remarkably high. You read the blog daily, and you write at least 2 articles a week. You answer comments in a timely manner (within 24 hours).
3. You are always learning and blogging about what you have learned, or the new skills you have obtained.
4. The topics you write about are not narrow focused, and it covers a wide subject area outside the world of tech.  In short, you are well rounded.
5. Every day you are away from the blog you have a craving to know what is going on.  This is when you know you are hooked.

Potential Role #2: Semi-Hardcore Blog Author

1. Your writing skills are adequate for the job.  People know what you are talking about, and although the grammar may not be perfect, it gets the point across.  A fondness to write is a must.
2. Your devotion to the blog is high. You try to read the blog daily, but if not, then every few days.  You write a blog article once every two weeks. You answer comments in a timely manner (within 72 hours or so).
3. You are always learning and blogging about what you have learned, or the new skills you have obtained, but the amount of items you are learning pales in comparison with role #1.
4. The topics you write about are not narrow focused, and it covers a wide subject area outside the world of tech.  In short, you are well rounded.
5. Every day you are away from the blog you have a craving to know what is going on, but its not killing you.  You try to get to the blog whenever you can.

Potential Role #3: Standard Blog Author

1. Your writing skills are decent for the job.  You write and can hold your ground.  The format of the article is not very important to you, but over time you are willing to adapt and make it presentable. Grammar may not be perfect, but your writing works well for most cases to get the point across.
2. Your devotion to the blog is normal. You visit the blog at least once a week to see what is new.  You write an article at least once a month and you answer comments when appropriate to your schedule.
3. You are always learning and blogging about what you have learned; however, the time invested in this activity is much less than role #1 or role #2.  If you learnt a new skill or idea, you make an effort to write about it, but not all the time. Subject material is relevant to the nature of the blog, but most often not jaw dropping or ground breaking.
4. The topics you write about is just a handful of subjects. You maybe narrowed in a specific area of focus when writing your articles. Your knowledge pales in comparison to role #1 or role #2.
5. Every day you are away from the blog does not create much emotion within you unlike roles #1 or #2.  You try to get to the blog whenever you can.

I expect most authors who want to become part of the staff falls in role #3, which is nothing wrong with that.

Potential Role #4: Sub-Par Blog Author

1. Your writing skills are OK, but it needs work. Versatile and team needs to constantly review your articles and clean it up to make it presentable for the blog. You know how to write, but writing well is a different question.  You are always set to “contributor” permissions, because Versatile cannot trust you to have an excellent article. Your grammar is horrible, and requires extensive hand holding.
2. Your devotion to the blog is downright pitiful. If you visit daily, that would be awesome, but as time goes on the frequency of your visits to the blog is lacking.  It is not surprising that over the course of time, you visit the blog maybe once every few months.  You write an article maybe once every 6 months or once a year.
3. You are hardly learning about new topics or skills to share with the community.  Although your article maybe good at time of writing, your lack of activity on the blog is concerning.  Over time, people start to question why you are even on the staff contributing articles.
4. The topics you write about is very narrow.  You are an expert or semi-expert on one specific topic.  You are not well versed in other subjects, as found in roles #1, #2, or #3.  You are contempt with the knowledge you know today, and don’t care much about improving yourself or the community.  Your knowledge sucks in comparison to role #1 ,#2,or #3.
5. Every day you are away from the blog does not mean anything.  You could be away from the blog for a whole year and act as if it was no big deal.  Going to the blog is only an afterthought, and only because you needed to read an article or someone pushed you to come to the blog.

Note:  Peoples roles can change all the time.  You have the potential to move upward, as well as move downward. Please note that authors who have been identified as role #4 will be deleted from the staff at anytime without warning from Versatile.

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I know what role I want to be. How do I apply?

Simple. Please leave a comment on the blog here with answers to these questions.  I want to keep it public so people can help me evaluate who should really be here:

1) What role do you see yourself fitting?  Role 1, 2, 3, or 4?  Please explain why this role suits you.

2) What type of subject areas do you see yourself writing about?

3) How often do you think you will be writing here on the blog?

4) Why do you want to be part of the staff?

5) How did you discover the blog?

Leave all that information in a comment, and then I will email you and discuss details further to see if you are blog material.

Note: Yes, it is ok to be a blog author today, and then several months later decide you don’t have time or desire to be part of the staff anymore. This is OK!  I have seen 20+ authors join the staff and come and go as the blog has been in activity since 2006.

I hope you like the requirements. Leave a comment please if you seriously want to be part of the staff. Thanks!