I have recently accepted a position of ‘Contributing Writer’ on an up-and coming New York based blog, My Trending Stories.
Never fear, my loyal readers… my dedication to viCARIously Speaking, and you, comes first. Until financial compensation is discussed, I will continue to post all original content here, first. My Trending Stories is simply a conduit for getting my previously posted stories out to a larger audience.
If you would like to be extra-super supportive, please go to http://www.mytrendingstories.com and give me a follow. I will, most likely, be in the ‘Entertainment’ section. My first post was ‘As Marshmallows Attack’, and had a decent reception by way of view counts.
Thank you, first and foremost to you my dear readers, my foundation.
~Cari~
Hey I was looking for info about My Trending Stories today when I came across your blog entry. I received an email from them (I think…the email looks a little weird), but thought it was spam. So this is a real thing? The email didn’t have a header or anything and only asked for me to contact them at manager@mytrendingstories.com. So this is legit and you’ve been posting there? How has it been?
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Yes, it is a real site, however it is fairly new and they are still working out some bugs. So far, I have only posted once due to the difficulty of using the site.
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hey, I received an invite from them too and was at first interested but after checking them out I find their content all over the place and of varying degrees of quality. It looks like they just randomly send out a standard form letter to various blogs ( I got a second identical invite after declining the first one). I’m skeptical! lol
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PS just my own opinion of course! Hope it works out for those who try it out!
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I am skeptical as well. I have posted once – I dislike the category choices, and there a lot of bugs that they need to work out before I waste my time uploading again. My initial invite was a canned email as well, but after engaging with them, I am definitely conversing with an actual person. We will see!!
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good luck Cari! hope it will work out for you!
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I’m glad you’re taking the time to post about your experience! They actually contacted me via instagram, since my email wasn’t listed here but my other account was.
Knowing that you work with a person is nice. I may give them the time to talk to me about it before I decide one way or the other.
Good luck to you for sure!
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I was contacted via Instagram as well!! I have now started receiving a weekly newsletter from MTS with a lot of great information, which is nice. The last time I attempted to post, it deleted my content because of the picture pixel requirement – I haven’t tried posting since. Maybe I will try again today? I really like the fact that I can upload previously posted blog posts – getting my stories out to a bigger audience. Good luck if you choose to go with MTS! Thanks for the comment!!
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I’d absolutely try again! Keep us posted on your journey 🙂
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I received a direct message as well this morning in Instagram. It’s an invitation from them. And thanks for this post, I am convinced that it is legit. Are you promised with payment, though?
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No, there is no compensation “at this time”. The only reason I decided to give them a try is because I was offered to post content that was previously posted on viCARIously Speaking. I am still having problems posting, at this time. I attempted to post a couple of days ago, and still received error messages regarding the picture pixel requirement, even though it was well within their guidelines. I received an email from MTS that they were very concerned and were wanting to work with me – I just haven’t had the time to mess with it again. Good luck if you decide to accept a position with them! Please take my experiences at face value – I hope that MTS can be become what they are trying to envision: a compilation of great bloggers.
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I accepted their offer. I am actually excited to work with other people. And it’s a good opportunity for my blog to grow 🙂
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Absolutely! And good luck! If you are able to figure out the picture issue, please let me know. 😉
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Okay! I’ll do 🙂
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Hey. Now, I’m having problems with uploading my article picture.
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I gave up, lol. If you figure out how to upload, let me know. I felt like I was wasting too much time, only to receive an error message. Good luck!!
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I know, right? I think I’ll just message them about this.
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I think I can help you.. have you checked the FAQ file?
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No – like I said, I kind of just gave up. I will have to check out the FAQ file though. Thank you!!
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No problem! 🙂
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I just got The Email, too. I was searching online to see if this is legit. We’ll see . . .
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I’ve given up on MTS. Too much time wasted on “glitches”. I hope it works out for you!
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They contacted me via Instagram today too and the message was not complete so it looked like a scam. This post and your responses to others were very helpful. Thank you!
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Thank you for your feedback and the other comments it’s very helpful, still wondering what i should do as well! Keep on sharing!
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Thanks for reading/commenting! I still have yet to submit another post to MTS. Between life and the bad taste in my mouth regarding my last attempt(s) at posting, I haven’t had the want or need to try again. Maybe once life slows a bit and I get a wild hair, tee hee. Please share your experience, if you decide to start contributing! Good luck!!
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I’ve been talking to someone at MTS too (I guess once you’ve passed a certain number of e-mails, you actually get to talk to an individual). They may yet turn out to be a great go-to blogging site, but for the moment, I have a lot of misgivings about them. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
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Honestly, I haven’t attempted to upload another post since the last time I fought with the picture pixel requirement. I am way too busy of a person to work so diligently on posting (because it isn’t just a simple copy and paste), only to have the content deleted because of a glitch in their system. I also share your same sentiment regarding misgivings of the company. As another commenter posted, “the content is all over the place and of varying degree of quality”. I do not like the category selections – it makes it very difficult to post in a forum that, I feel, will appreciate the type of content I am wanting to post. Good luck if you chose to utilize MTS. I would love to hear all about your experiences. And thank you so much for taking the time to read/comment!
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I got one, too, but I’m definitely all about free marketing. I have one question, though. For those of you who successfully posted something, did you see any rise in your stats on WordPress? I’m happy to make the effort, but only if there’s sufficient return.
Thanks very much for posting this and keeping the conversation going!
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While I have only posted one article on MTS, I did see a small influx of readers/followers on viCARIously Speaking. I honestly don’t think that I can contribute that necessarily to the MTS post. The post about MTS on WordPress, however, seems to have attracted an audience.
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Funny but true!
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Thank you so much for this post! It was very helpful in my inquiry of ‘My Trending Stories.’
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Congrats. Like you, MTS contacted me after ‘discovering’ my blog. While not exactly having the same cache as say a HuffPo, I thought another platform might be useful and whether or not it’s due to exposure on their site, I do seem to have experienced a slight bump in blog readership since I posted to their site. Here’s to future success for all contributors. ღ
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I too got a recent email from them saying they’d discovered my blog, but I’m such small potatoes I have been VERY skeptical. After reading your post and your comments I have enough confidence to explore it a little farther, so I appreciate the time you’ve all spent here educating your fellow bloggers. Thank you! One thing I’m going to look at very closely is what their terms and conditions are regarding copyright. Someone else on another site says that they hold full rights to everything posted on their site, and if true I’ll have to think hard about that. I’m not sure I want them to be able to use my material any way they want without checking with me. We’ll see what they say about this.
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Hmmm.. you bring up a very interesting topic, that I too will have to research a bit more. The thing that attracted me to MTS was the fact that I was not required to post new content. My initial thought process was that I would continue to post on viCARIously Speaking, then repost for additional exposure on MTS. I always have added the caveat to each of my (two) posts. Would this affect this possible copyright condition? If you receive more information, please don’t hesitate to share! Thank you for reading/commenting!
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Another update – I was able to successfully post another article yesterday on MTS. It seems as if the issue with the pixel requirement for the picture has been resolved. As far as the amount of views – an inconsequential number, if you ask me, although I do promote posts on viCARIously Speaking via FaceBook and Twitter. I still do not like the category choices and the site does seem a bit “busy” for my liking. Also, MTS makes it near impossible to have followers – they require a complete profile to be set up for a follower, instead of a simple email entry with WordPress. If in the future compensation is discussed, then perhaps I will dedicate more of my time to MTS, but for now, I am content with posting on viCARIously Speaking. I am still eager to hear all of your experiences with MTS – keep ’em coming!!
~Cari~
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Today I was invited to join the “My Trending Stories” team. Would you share your experiences with them so far? Is the site one you would recommend joining? Anything you can share would be greatly appreciated.
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Thanks for your follow! If you read the comment thread on this post, it will give a bit more insight on my opinion with the MTS site. I have only posted twice, but I don’t plan to in the future. The content is all over the place, seems to have an overwhelming religious theme, and I haven’t seen any sort of return on viewers/followers. It is near impossible for someone to follow you as a writer on that site – a complete profile is required, so it only allows other contributing writers to follow, not anyone like here on WordPress. Actually, I have seen more interest inthis post on viCARIously Speaking, lol. Good luck if you do decide to be a contributing writer. Perhaps start your own “experience with MTS” post?
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Congrats on the new writing gig.
Pat
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To those who are still following the thread on this post… I have posted my third pre-posted article on My Trending Stories. Let me tell you, they have worked out a lot of the bugs in regards to posting. I was able to do so with very little effort, to include the photo upload. I only have one follower on that site, which is pretty damn good considering I have only posted 3 articles. Three, lol. If anyone would want to be a dear and attempt to follow me on MTS, I would so very much appreciate it. Especially those who have accepted contributing positions as well. My husband attempted to follow, however it appears that you need a full blog contributor profile to do so. Or, my husband is blog-challenged, lol. I would love to hear any updates that you might have! Thanks for reading!!
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I started an account but there were so many bugs I couldn’t be bothered. I am trying to grow my audience and get my work out to more people. I still have the account but haven’t decided what to do about it! Would you mind if I emailed you so we could chat about it? Seems like we’ve had similar experiences! 🙂 Thanks so much ! 🙂
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Sure thing! You can reach me at vicariouslyspeaking@gmail.com or through the messenger app on the viCARIously Speaking Facebook page. Look forward to speaking with you!
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Cari, what are your thoughts on MyTrendingStories up until now? (Just want an honest opinion, not a MTS employee XD)
I’ve been there for the better part of the year, but the community there doesn’t feel as lively and involved as WordPress or Reddit. I’ve posted maybe 20 articles, and no one could be more bothered. Plus, people are a bit more isolated, because very rarely does anyone respond to questions.
How has your experience been?
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Hello! I have only posted three articles on MTS, and don’t plan on doing so again. The content is all over the place, for an individual to “like” an article that you posted, they have to create a MTS account, and you hit the nail on the head – the community is not involved. At all. Great concept, but extremely flawed. I will just stick to WP from here on out.
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