Ask your questions on #IndiOne & #IndiPR here.

My question: Will the intelligent indi robot or whatever mail the bloggers who have applied and are shortlisted for a campain only, or will it mail any blogger whom it thinks is a nice fit for the project? Since we are required to either accept or reject a proposal quickly, its better to know this.

Is there industry-wise categorization and notification? I want to be notified about new press releases on alternate/energy projects. Is this possible? 

Also, press releases are one of the most boring documents on earth. Can we add our creative touch by removing long paras, adding more content, images, etc. to make it humorous or interesting? 

Ideally, you should. Press releases are just product notifications/new launches. Not all press releases are accurate, and hence one should scrutinise and verify the details of it themselves- because bloggers are  responsible for the content they put on their website- not the PRs. I've caught few fraudulent activities by certain tournament organizers that are sponsored by Lenovo, Asus, etc. and that's usually started by scrutinising press releases. In other countries, tech press releases are usually product features, specs and maybe a youtube video and invites if any. In india, its "he said" and "she said" as if the marketing team invented the thing. 

At the moment, you'll receive notifications for every Press Release that's uploaded - assuming you have subscribed to IndiOne alerts. In time, we'll make the notification system smarter!

From the IndiOne FAQs - "Although you can just mirror the article with a simple covering note, it is important to understand that you could be rated higher by clients for extra effort."

Do backlinks have to be do-follow?

Yes you can tailor the press release to suit your blog. You can also include parts of the press release in articles that you are writing for example, if you are talking about a renewable energy source on your post you can add exerpts from a press release that does the same thing.

There is no categorisation. Part of the excercise on IndiOne is to choose the ones that fit your blog. For example if someone is talking about a renewable energy source for an automobile. It can be relevent to both energy and auto bloggers and even lifestyle .. such things are hard to categorize and people may miss stuff. So its easier for you to chk the site everyday and skim through the press releases and find the one that you can write about.

Hey TS...Back links are really up to you. I guess people prefer one over the other whenever they publish. So its your choice.

One important question, I saw the 3-4 opportunities and randomly clicked one and applied ( assuming i  can apply for multiple )So for example I clicked on that futurecrux.com and applied but actually i wanted to apply for the movie rating thing

Any way I can cancel my existing application and reapply for a different one?

Why do you need worry about cancelling right away? The IndiOne overview clearly says that you can always "cancel" even after getting shortlisted for the application.

You have to choose carefully as you can apply to only one project at a time. This is to ensure everyone in the community gets a fair share at writing for projects. If you are not shortlisted then you can apply to another project or if you complete the existing project after being shortlisted you can apply to another one. You cannot cancel as the Automation system will be processing your application.

Also to clarifiy further, Once shortlisted we have added an option for you to decline the project if you have made a mistake in any way. If you are not shortlisted it does not matter as the AITE will release you automatically to apply on other projects.

Sorry for being naive but can anyone tell me what exactly is IndiOne and how to mpnetize my blog with it? Everything looks confusing and not many details are available. Pls guide.

It's simple, you do some promotional post and then you get paid for it. Choosing which brand or product or press release to promote is upto you, and choosing you as a promoter would be upto the automated system (plus the paying guy folks I guess)

Hey Shravan, Just apply for a project that suits your blog on IndiOne and follow the emails we send you after that. There are both free trials and paid projects so participate in both types and soon you will be able to consistently monetize your blog.

The bot will take exactly 12 hours to shortlist? . 12 hours is strenuously long time for accepting an application. For instance, I have already published my post on one of the Press releases, and am awaiting moderation by the bot. What if I don't get shortlisted by the bot, then all efforts will account to be in vain?

The bot will not take 12 hours to shortlist. It will be done much sooner. The extra time is given because if someone declines the project after being shortlisted due to some reason, the automated system chooses the next blogger in the queue. This is in place for contingencies.

Thanks for your apt response. Is there any limits on the number of bloggers shortlisting for each PR, which the bot considers? Further, for the free trials, is there a number of bloggers application limit adhered to by the bot presently? What I am thinking is the bot will shortlist only x number of best blogs out of y applicants. Here, x being the number of blog posts the company has paid for. Am I correct?

Also suppose, there are 10 blogs which have applied for the same "free trial" PR, and all their blogs are relevant to the PR category (nature). Will the bot shortlist all 10 of them or just the best limited number of them?

Well, its been more than 12 hours for my application, I haven't received a notification from AITE. I noticed that now even the PR I applied for is gone and replaced by new PRs. But in my projects I can still see the old PR I applied to, if the bot didn't shortlist me atleast I should be freed from that PR to apply to a new one right? I am not even freed yet by the bot. Is this a glitch? Please lemme know, feeling confused. 

Hey Abhishek, unfortunately you won't be able to apply for another project for about 24 hours - this is the time the engine needs to check if anyone declines or fails to accept. We're currently working on improving this so you won't be stuck for too long!

Thanks Renie. I did complete that project though, the AITE took 18 hours approx. to send me the Accept/Decline mail. Hope it would be improved in future. 

Anoop, we understand, but i clicked on it by mistake. so for first few days can u take off the rule and allow self cancellations so that we can apply for others?

I didnt know about the one application only rule :(

@Abhishek - Free trials have only 5 slots at all times. For paid campaigns there could be anywhere between 5 - 500 slots.

@ Karthik - Its impossible to change such stuff on the automation with the AITE while projects are being added in real time. Basically everything has changed so go through the demo etc carefully before applying again.

Will the brands be willing do something extra besides press release- may be a sample review unit or an interview opportunity with CXO etc?

Can we use competitor brand names in the post- like do a comparison of new product with existing competition products?

Approx how long the  Free trial period will run (or in other words, after how many free posts or after how many months we should start to expect paid opportunities?

Hi Shrinidhi,

At the moment The system allows only press release and this is only the first version. In later versions we will be doing the whole gamut of content writing including creative, reviews etc. For now we are starting slow so people can get used to the system and its functioning before we scale our services.

The post is really up to you to decide as to how you want to design it for your readers. For example if you have a review site and you choose a specific press release to take on, the only useful information that you can provide are reviews. So its fine to write one.

At the moment the plan is to run free trials for around 60 days. Basically during this period we are hoping that bloggers and clients can have a foundation on using the system. That doesnt mean there wont be any paid engagements before that. We are expecting a few.

If the same thing is going to be done for reviews, can we have an option to opt out payment? I can't speak for many, but it is a conflict of issue for those who take reviewing work very seriously. I am sure it shouldn't be a problem, provided the one who sends the unit do not have any condition that changes the outcome of a review whether it's a good or a bad product. 

Hey TS .. You can choose to write about any press release listed on IndiPR on your own without even going through the system. you could use them for anything from thought starters to a blogpost that is compiling a lot of data from different sources like a top ten list or something. If you choose to just pick stories on your own, the payment etc will not come into play.  One of the primary reasons as to why we are launching this with start ups is that we thought this could help them go a long way (esp. free trials) in getting some publicity for their brand.

Having said this, When we launch the feature for reviews it going to have a different set of algorithms altogether. We will need to include delivery processes etc. We will be doing our best to manage that well. At the moment its simple press releases to ensure people can understand how to work with the system first and then we forge ahead.

@TS also .. the brands only upload their press release. They cant edit or do anything to change the views of a blogger. Its part of the terms and conditions when they sign up. This system is built for a massive audience and things must be as simple as possible for us to get in as many projects as we can and close them quickly .. hence the 72 hours :-)

Great! (no question at the moment except why 'report spam' button at https://www.indiblogger.in/indione/? )

ha ha .. We are offering free trials so we thought some nincompoop might just upload whatever and so we added that button.

 hee heee...yes possibly someone can upload as such. Hope that button won't misuse. BTW, IndiTeam suppose to moderate the uploaded one first and then it shall come to Bloggers’ access screen or vice-versa for further handling na…(correct me if I am wrong) .

I declined for a shortlisted project which I felt didnt suit my blog

I thought of applying for the movie recommendation engine, but the Indione PR release page is empty.

Where has everything gone?

Projects will disappear once the application process is done with (roughly 12 hours). I think there are around 3 projects right now..

A thought just popped into my head .. you guys can write press releases for your blog.. That would be cool :-)

You mean write a press about our blog and submit to indiPR? 

This thought came into my mind too in the morning then I remembered the 'Report Spam' button available to bloggers on IndiPR. I knew then what would be the result of my blog's PR. 

You can't create an account on IndiPr will personal email ids  and I guess not many would be having email ids on their domain.

Great. I will float a Dummy company in Panama or British Virgin Islands and submit a Press release explaining how enidhi.net is the greatest blog in the world and how this Panama based company gave it "best blog of the world" title :)

Hey,

I wasn't shortlisted for the Project I applied to but it shows Existing Projects(1) and does not let me apply for any other Press Release saying the Existing Project must be completed first. 

Hi Poonam, So for the first 24 hours there is still a chance you could get shortlisted. so th system rleases you after 24 hours. although can you tell me which project so that I can check?

The birth of Awww

Hey @anoop , sorry for bombarding u with so many questions (some are repeat i guess :P)

I declined the shortlisted mail  . So now i see 4 projects, but i am still unable to apply for any as it says 1 under my projects

Does it take 12 hours for it to get released from my projects section before i can reapply for something else

Its been more than 24 hours. still i am unable to apply for any other project though I have declined the shortlisted mail

right now there seems to be no listings available though.

Karthik, could you check this again when there is a new listing? That shouldn't be the case, you should be able to apply for a new one after declining another!

I applied for the birth of Awww yesterday morning around 7. I was expecting an email about the shortlisting. Didn't get one. Now when I checked my projects, it says 'time elapsed, you didn't accept soon enough'. I didn't know I had to check the my projects tab. Can I reapply now? 

Hey Nandhini, you should be able to apply now.

Did you receive an email saying you were shortlisted though? That email will have links to accept/decline.

The "Accept" can be done ONLY from the email, not from anywhere else on website. I think this needs to be corrected though. Why not have an option to accept/decline on IndiOne page too, once someone is shortlisted!

I didn't receive an email Renie.' This message 'time elapsed, you didn't accept soon enough' was my only confusion.

I accepted one, and status of my project says not shortlisted but still I can't apply for new project it says I cannot apply until u Complete ur previous projects.. How to apply for a new project now?? 

You can't apply for a new project till you accept and submit a blog-post or decline the project (not sure about the decline part though). I got shortlisted, and clicked Accept in the email, then submitted my blog-post. After doing this, I am able to apply for new projects. (though so many older projects are not visible to me on IndiOne page. Not sure why, may be their time-period got over)

So I'm approved for the Kailesh Kher Cricket Press Release.

What addition should I do apart from the press release? Can I write about the match? Where should it be, on top or at the bottom?

Where do I insert the covering?

Anoop, Raised a ticket -  #17586

Please respond!

Replied!

I think we should be allowed to participate in more than one PR at a time. For me, the process is working well.

Duly noted! Lets see how this plays out in the next month or so. we will adapt accordingly.

How much time do we get to accept if shortlisted? I clicked on the Accept button just now but I'm being told that I did not accept soon enough and the offer is elapsed :(

The mail came thirteen hours ago. 12 hours is the most?

Yes the first stage is 12 hours for applications - Second stage 12 hours for accepting/rejecting - third stage - 48 hours to write and submit. So that wraps up the 72 hour cycle.

Can I submit a post I did for IndiOne to Indivine?

Yes, sure you can!