Can you use reprints?Reprint articles written by others, but you must always obtain permission. All work, from the moment it is written, is copyright and owned by the author, whether it is marked with a copyright symbol or not. Content is not free. You can, however, make reprints interesting and personalised by putting your own 'spin' on the content. Write an introduction to the subject, or comment on the author's opinions or conclusions.
Take care to avoid 'editing' the original article without the author's permission. Avoid articles that have been reprinted many times before on other Websites and electronic publications.
Political Opinion.
Using political opinion on your site can be tricky. People are deeply divided these days and have strong opinions. If you do run a political site, you'll probably want to carve out your own niche. Even then, be prepared for flamers from very different view points. On the other hand, if you can manage to run a site that actually features a somewhat well-mannered debate, you'll have a huge hit on your hands. Be prepared to moderate this type of site.
News Stories.
Your site can become a news source for the latest developments and happenings in certain niche area by providing timely news on topics of interest to your readers. I'm not saying you can be the next CNN or MS-NBC, because that takes building a huge operation. But what you can be is, for example, the CNN of the karate world, or the ABS-News of the bonsai tree hobbyists. What you'll want to do is create a separate section of your site to deal with industry news. Or, devote an entire site to news updates. There are many ways of presenting news:
· As a feature article · As short news clips, with a link to the full story · As news stories, where each item is explained at length
However you decide present the news, make sure you give it your own personal style. Check out salon.com. Has its own style, doesn't it? Now look at drudgereport.com. That's another style. Make yours interesting, personal, chatty, fun, unique, or all of these - just make it yours. Make sure your news is relevant, useful to your reader, and timely. Old news ain't no news at all, it's history! So how do you get news? By: · Subscribe to eZines on your subject or topic · Sign up for e-mail news delivery services · Register to get regular press releases on your topic · Surf the web for new news items · Get news from newspapers, magazines and books · Go to conferences, workshops or seminars and write about what you see and who you talk to
Conglomerating the best content.
If you can make your site into the ultimate content resource on issues related to your topic, I guarantee you you'll attract and retain a loyal audience. Your site will become known as a The Place for anyone who wants information on your subject. For example, Harry Knowles has made aintitcoolnews.com into The Site for movie reviews and advance spoilers. Since you're the expert on your topic, you can evaluate sites and other resources (eZines, directories, books, offline publications) and sniff out the best ones to list along with your rating and opinions. This sort of content is like the old book reports you used to have to write for school. Read up thoroughly on your subjects, then hit the high points of a topic. Or, consider writing a summary of three separate article that have the same theme.
