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A new online content-brokering service is promising journalists guaranteed payment within a month and the prospect of gaining access to a £4bn a year industry.
Content Cloud aims to connect the content-marketing industry with journalists, photographers and other content creators.
It was launched today by Progressive Customer Publishing (PCP), which like Press Gazette is part of the Progressive Media group.
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According to PCP managing director Dan Davey, the UK content marketing industry is estimated by the Custom Content Council to be worth £4bn this year.
And he said it is growing fast as a variety of different companies seek fresh, interesting content to drive Google search traffic to their websites.
Davey said Content Cloud aims to create an "online marketplace that allows brand owners to commission content directly from creatives, whether for a new marketing campaign, a blog post or a newsletter". He said that Content Cloud will help "level the playing field, opening up content marketing for businesses and brands of all sizes".
It has a focus on specialist business to business communications and already draws on journalists working in 115 different subject areas across the Progressive Media group.
Any journalist can sign up to Content Cloud by providing a brief biog, details of their specialist areas and at least three examples of their published work.
Publishers can only commission content when they have sufficient credit paid in, meaning writers and photographers are guaranteed payment.
Once a piece of work has been completed, the commissioner is invited to give the content-creator a rating which can be seen by other publishers (but not by other journalists or the general public).
Publishers can commission content by contacting writers directly, or by advertising a piece of work and inviting bids.
Journalists can also use an “ideas board” function to invite commissions from publishers.
There are no set minimum or maximum rates set for work commissioned via Content Cloud, but Davey said he anticipates typical fees being somewhere between £250 and £400 per thousand words.
He said: “Once your piece has been accepted there’s a 30-day guarantee on payment, that’s big positive for journalists. We recognise that payment is an issue across a number of sectors.”
He said that a number of content publishers, ranging from small firms to multi-national organisations, have already signed up to commission work via Content Cloud.
Content Cloud promotional video:
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