Position Objective
Our goal is to increase the breadth and depth of our written content offerings, serve valuable content to the trials community, increase search rankings and “discoverability”, and generate more consistent traffic flow to the website. We plan to cover a wide variety of themes and topics in order to appeal to everyone in the trials community. Ideally we will publish content to support regular “columns” (similar to a magazine or newspaper), cover trials news, generate opinion/perspective posts, and create feature posts. In order to accomplish these things, one or more bloggers will regularly publish trials-related content on our website.
Responsibilities & Duties
The primary responsibilities and duties in this role include (not limited to):
- Generate ideas for blog posts on a regular basis
- Coordinate with the founder to select which ideas to pursue, which could include ideas from the founder and teammates
- Coordinate with the content manager to schedule future topics in the editorial calendar to publish at a regular cadence
- Perform research and fact-checking as required to support blog post development
- Provide or legally obtain media assets (e.g., photos) to support each blog post
- Write blog posts in Google Docs per the editorial calendar and submit them for editorial review
- Update blog posts based on editorial feedback (when applicable)
- Copy blog post content and media assets into WordPress following editorial review
- Generate meta data in WordPress for each blog post, including (not limited to) tags, excerpts, and feature photos.
- Read and respond to comments posted to the blog and/or social media (when applicable)
While this is not an all-encompassing list, there are several critical requirements for performing the duties of this role:
Brand standards – All content posted on our website must represent our brand in a positive manner.
Writing quality – Every writer has their own unique style, and we wish to preserve that in our blog posts; however, all writing needs to meet some basic quality standards including (not limited to) readability and flow, basic grammar and punctuation (some possible exceptions), spelling, completeness, and accurate reporting.
Use of AI – As discussed in more detail on our volunteer landing page, use of tools such as generative AI to create your blog post content is strictly prohibited. Use of AI to help you generate ideas is allowable, just not having it do your job as a writer. We’re looking for bloggers to generate their own work.
Plagiarism and copyright law – Plagiarism and copyright violations will not be tolerated. Bloggers must have a general working knowledge of copyright law to avoid plagiarism and other copyright violations. This includes all forms of content, including writing as well as photos and any other media. All content shall be legally obtained and in accordance with copyright law.
Journalistic integrity – In addition to everything discussed above, this includes (not limited to) publishing truthful and accurate content at all times, providing disclaimers as applicable (e.g., affiliate links, potential conflicts of interest, etc.), and avoiding slander.
Editorial review – All blog posts shall be submitted for editorial review, which will evaluate posts to ensure that each one meets our standards, including everything discussed above. The editor will make minor editorial corrections as required (e.g., spelling, punctuation, etc.). Additionally, the editor may provide critical feedback if more substantial corrections are required.
Respect and civility – Bloggers shall be respectful to others in their blog posts as well as their responses to comments, including comments that are negative, hostile, or “trolling”.
Impact of This Role
Our long-form written work complements our other channels such as long-form video content. As a blogger, you will have the opportunity to have a significant positive impact on the trials community, the sport in general, and our brand.
Trials community – The trials community is our primary target audience. Since trials is such a niche sport, there are very few trials-specific media brands that provide a broad variety of high quality trials content on a consistent basis. You will be part of a team that seeks to fill that void. Not only will you provide valuable information and ideas in one easy place, you will also be able to drive engagement with the trials community.
The sport of bike trials – Bike trials is a niche sport that is not widely known. Our community is relatively small worldwide. By continuing to expand our brand’s offerings with valuable, discoverable, shareable, quality content we have the opportunity to evangelize the sport to non-trials riders, to energize and strengthen the trials community, and to share ideas that could broaden the appeal of the sport to trials riders and non-riders alike.
Our brand – Providing valuable long-form written content on our website consistently provides a reason for our existing audience to keep coming back and sharing your blog posts with others who might be interested. Through a combination of techniques such as SEO, you’ll drive traffic to our site, which also serves as a hub that links to our other channels. The overall result is that you will help grow our brand as a respected and valued resource for the trials community.
Position Type
Volunteer – part time (unpaid)
Qualifications
Required
- Passion for bike trials!
- Ability to communicate effectively in English (written and verbal)
- Ability to write well-organized, high quality long-form content
- Basic working knowledge of copyright law (e.g., what constitutes “fair use” versus plagiarism, how to use citations, etc.)
Preferred
- Trials rider (current or in the past)
- Experience using Google Docs
- Experience using WordPress
- Experience using social media
- Experience in blogging or journalism
- Experience in using SEO to generate content that drives traffic
Competency
You will be expected to have and/or develop the following abilities and behaviors:
- Solid understanding of bike trials, at least from a general perspective
- Ability to communicate clearly and effectively (written and verbal)
- Curiosity and a desire to learn
- Ability to manage your time effectively
- Ability to work collaboratively as part of a team
- Ability to generate interesting, engaging, compelling written content that drives sharing, dialogue, and action (as applicable)
- Ability to leverage SEO techniques to improve organic growth of search rankings without sacrificing value of the content to our audience
- Ability to perform research, including online searches, participating in online discussions, contacting and interviewing people, etc. as applicable to identify relevant topics and create valuable content
- Ability to develop well-organized and visually pleasing layouts for blog posts that include text, photos, links, and other content as applicable
- Ability to create plans and develop content to form parts of larger themes or series as well as generate one-off posts
Benefits of the Work
In this role you will learn how to publish successful blog posts, or expand your abilities if you already have experience in this area. You will gain experience in writing original long-form content. Each of your posts will be attributed to you (byline), so this position gives you the opportunity to create or expand your body of work. You’ll also be able to link to at least some of your own personal or business website(s) and/or social channels (for example in the footer of each post). By publishing valuable, meaningful, interesting content, you will also build your own personal brand awareness and credibility. If you are (or intend to be) a professional trials athlete, a trials related business or expert, a journalist, or a marketer, this opportunity will provide you with additional exposure and recognition. And of course you’ll have the satisfaction that comes from being part of a team that continues to support and grow the trials community!
How to Apply
For more details about the overall organization, the work environment, how to apply for the position, etc. please visit the volunteer landing page.
