[vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]This is the first post in our new #FF Feature series that will appear every Friday and highlight why we think that you should follow one of our favorite Twitter users. With the amount of prolific users out there this could take some time…which is excellent news for you![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]This week, we’re taking at look at @MarcellusDN, the Twitter-based component for a great website called Marcellus Drilling News which has been sharing the latest news since 2009.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_custom_heading text=”How @MarcellusDN can save you time” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:30px|text_align:left|line_height:32px” google_fonts=”font_family:PT%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
The site’s editor Jim Willis combs over news stories each day and pinpoints stories from Marcellus and Utica with the greatest interest to landowners, those in the industry and those who follow the industry just for fun.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]And just in case you aren’t familiar with the amount of coverage the industry receives each day, Mr. Willis breaks down the benefit of having news in an easy-to-digest format:
“All you have to do is scan and spend a few minutes reading the stories that catch your eye to stay up to date. The value for you? Jim spends his time each morning sifting, filtering and condensing so you don’t have to. Hey, Jim just saved you two hours a day!”
The best part (yes, it gets better) is that there are no less than FIVE ways to get the most recent news. Website, email, RSS feed, Twitter and Facebook.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_custom_heading text=”Q&A with Marcellus Drilling News” font_container=”tag:h3|font_size:30px|text_align:left|line_height:32px” google_fonts=”font_family:PT%20Sans%3Aregular%2Citalic%2C700%2C700italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]
Marcellus Drilling News receives 40,000 unique visitors per month – which is quite the achievement for any blog and one we hope to one day match. We sat down with Jim (which really involved email correspondence) to learn more about the blog and his inspiration to create it.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row animation=””][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]Q: What inspired you to create Marcellus drilling news?What inspired me to start it? I guess a combination of things. One is that I noticed XTO Energy (now Exxon Mobil) signed a lease with landowners in the Deposit, NY area for millions of dollars. That caught everyone’s attention. I started to hear, via press accounts, about natural gas drilling, and hydraulic fracturing.I started digging and researching, and that’s when I decided I would share my findings, and opinions, in the form of a blog on the topic. So MDN started as a hobby–the confluence of my passions–writing, technology, and politics. But my hobby has now become much more.Q: What are some statistics about MDN?Stats are always changing, but most recently the MDN blog receives about 40,000 unique, different people a month visiting, and those 40,000 people show up nearly 70,000 times (visits) during the month. And they click to view around 150,000 pages. All of that during a 30-day period of time.Q: What are some common questions you get about the blog?People sometimes ask me about the criteria I use to include an article on MDN. My answer is: I look for stories and news that landowners would be interested in.People also want to know if I’m (a) a paid representative for the drilling industry, or (b) a landowner who stands to make big money from drilling. The answer to both is no! I do accept advertising on MDN, and some of my advertisers are from the drilling industry, but they don’t control the content and stories I post on the site. No driller has ever tried to influence my coverage. I do own a home with 2/3 of an acre of land. Even if drillers signed up my entire subdivision, (very doubtful), I wouldn’t make enough money from signing a lease to even go on a vacation. So, I don’t have a vested monetary interest in the drilling issue.Marcellus Drilling News is a timely, informative blog that provides several ways to keep current with everything happening around the industry. Questions about the blog? Send an email to Jim at [email protected].[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
