The Rugged - Men Live It; Women Love It, a new men's online lifestyle magazine like no other featuring articles on fitness, finance, relationships, sports, fashion/style, tech toys and everything else men love, launches January 2010!
Their target audience is men ages 18-34;
they plan to eventually start competing with larger sites such as Ask Men, Made Man, Spike, FHM, and others in the men's lifestyle niche.
The Rugged is currently looking for writers as well as potential partners/editors in the near future.
*Requirements:
- Excellent English writing skills (grammar, spelling, sentence structure)
- Be able to format an article for the best possible readability. Know when (and when not) to use bullets, sub-headers, etc.
- Be capable of extensively researching a subject and portraying authority
- Engaging writing style (this might include witty, humorous, personal, ability to connect with readers)
- Be able to produce content that generates buzz and is worthy of being linked to.
- One article per week when necessary
- Respond to comments
- Respond to a monthly "Question & Answer" (regarding your expertise) sent in from readers
Topics:
Keep in mind that this is a men’s magazine, not Wikipedia.
Every article should be engaging and entertaining!
A perfect example of what The Rugged is looking for is the publication Men's Health. With that said, they're looking for writers to take on a variety of topics including:
1.) Health & Fitness
2.) Money & Power
3.) Relationships & Sex - looking for articles that are a bit more sophisticated than what you might find in say, FHM. This can be a bit tricky, but if you've ever read Men's Health and FHM you can see the difference in the target audience. FHM targets teenage boys. Men's Health targets men starting careers. The Rugged's target audience is more on par with Men's Health.
{I've read Men's Health Magazine, as they have great articles and wonderful advertising - FHM is 90% filth in my view, although I did enjoy their post on Women's 1960s Vintage Fashion!}
4.) Sports – looking for broad topics here. A bad example would be a complete run down of a baseball game. A good example might be something about the Brett Favre controversy or a hyped up UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) fight. Anything that interests the mainstream and not necessarily specific sports gurus.
5.) Fashion / Style – clothes, hygiene, etc.
6.) Technology – concept cars, smart phones, gadgets, toys, video games, the web, etc. Looking for broad articles covering the juicy stuff, not technical pieces.
7.) Controversial Rants – The Rugged plans to have a section that is purely controversial. The writer's job will be to generate debates among readers - in an educated, witty, humorous, open-minded manner. The Rugged stresses “open-minds” as well as intends on having political debates. If you find it hard to agree with views from more than one news station, then you’re probably not what they're looking for in this particular section.
*Pay:
The Rugged is looking for writers who are interested in developing a long-term relationship. They want great writers and want their writers to stick around. They feel that their pay structure reflects that - base pay, bonus pay, and revenue-sharing. [Pay is negotiable - depending on skills, article quality, and the ability to generate buzz + readership.]
- Base Pay: $3 per 100 words. The Rugged plans to gradually increase this figure, upwards of $10 per 100 words as the magazine grows. Articles will typically stay at around 400-600 words. Although there will also be the occasional 200 word news articles and even 1,000 word pillar articles.
- Bonus: If your articles are hitting the front page of social media sites, it won’t go unnoticed. You’ll be awarded bonus pay for such achievements - upwards of $100 depending on the success of the article.
- Revenue-Sharing: The Rugged wants their success to be your success. Therefore, writers will share a percentage of monthly revenue.
- Additional Opportunities: As the magazine grows, one of The Rugged's first priorities will be to increase the pay and opportunities for their writers. As mentioned, they'll also be looking for senior editors and even community managers in the future.
How to apply:
Email - partner@therugged.com
+ Include the following:
- Name, age, sex, location, and an image of you
- Let The Rugged know which topics you’d like to write about
- 3 sample articles that you’ve written. If your sample articles haven’t been used or published yet, you may be paid for these [if hired]
- Reason(s) you would be perfect for the job - maybe you're passionate about a specific topic, maybe you already have experience with online writing, maybe you know how to use WordPress, or maybe you're good at marketing...
Whatever you think The Rugged should know about you!
