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Talent Is Everything, and Location Is Only a Time Zone

Six Reasons Why RebelMouse Is Remote-Only + Why It Works for Us

RebelMouse is a global team that has no central office. We create our own office culture right from our laptops, which are proudly distributed across the world.

When RebelMouse first launched in 2012, we had a fancy office in New York City's SoHo neighborhood. But in 2016, our founder and CEO Andrea Breanna made the decision to close its doors, and none of us have looked back since. Becoming a remote team has ironically brought all of us closer together, and it's opened up the doors to hiring even more people from around the world. Many clients will hop on calls with us and say, "When I'm on a call with RebelMouse, I feel like I'm talking to the whole world." And it's true, too. We take great pride in how well we work as a fully distributed team that doesn't let location or time zones hold us back from building a great product and excelling as a fluid creative agency.

Here are six reasons why we choose talent over time zones.

1. We Can Offer Round-the-Clock Support

Our CMS is based on a centralized model. This means that — unlike decentralized alternatives, such as WordPress and Drupal — our updates are deployed all at once to every site we power. As soon as we catch wind of a vulnerability or bug to fix, the patch is pushed live immediately once it's available. And thanks to the nature of our remote team, this level of support is also available around the clock. So even when a client is asleep, there's a Rebel somewhere watching their site's performance and monitoring its security.

2. Overbearing Office Walls Are Broken Down

Working in an office can put you in between more suffocating walls than the average employee realizes. Aside from unavoidable office politics that no one likes to deal with, many office-based work environments promote a clock-watching culture. After all, if an employee doesn't sit at his or her desk for a certain amount of time during their shift, it must mean they aren't performing, right? And let's not forget how most of us can't wait to escape the shackles of our post toward the end of a work day.

Conversely, our team is built upon a foundation of trust that propels every Rebel to go beyond what's expected of them, on a schedule that fits their lifestyle. We operate based on results, not regulations.

3. We Have the Ability to Travel or "Work from Family"

Being part of the digital nomad community means that as long as you have a laptop and a serviceable WiFi connection, you can work from quite literally anywhere. Anything from the beach to the jungle to the coffee shop around the corner will do. But on the flip side, remote working means you also have the freedom to create an office around your family. We have plenty of Rebel parents who get the best of both worlds — a job they love, and the flexibility to stay home with their children or drop them off and pick them up from school every day.

4. We Find Talent You Would Never Find Locally

Even offices with multiple locations don't have the talent pool that all-remote companies do. At RebelMouse, we're so lucky to open up every position to the entire population of Earth. Because our talent searches span the globe, we're able to find amazing individuals who would never have hit our radar if we were confined by any one location. It's helped make our product what it is today.

5. It Promotes Becoming a More Open-Minded and Creative Learner

With a global team, not only are you constantly exposed to new languages and cultures, but you get to see how other people around the world approach workflow. Being able to blend these different backgrounds together makes every one of us open to new ideas within our own team and for our product. Working with so many different people takes a certain amount of creativity and flexibility, which is reflected in not only how we work, but also what we create.

6. We Get to Live a Life That Prioritizes Happiness

This is probably the most important perk of having a remote, global team. Each one of us has plenty of goals for RebelMouse as a company. We're all working toward a level of success that we know is inevitable given the quality of the work we do. But more importantly, before anything else, we make sure to prioritize the people, places, and things that bring happiness to our personal lives. We move mountains to protect them. And we believe that our combined happiness will directly impact our dreams for RebelMouse.

Here's a little more from the Rebels themselves on what makes remote working a joy, and how working with a global team helps them put their happiness first.

Rebel: Thekra Dwairi Location: Amman, Jordan

I have two kids I can take care of, stay close to, and always be around. They've gotten used to my own workspace, have somehow learned how to stay calm during calls, and they even call themselves "Little Rebels." :D

My kids are a little older now since I started at RebelMouse (3.5 and 1.5 years old). This means I'm sending them to a nursery for seven hours a day, which gives me the freedom to work from my couch at home or a cozy cafe nearby. I can then pick up my kids and spend some quality time with them, and RebelMouse gives me the flexibility to schedule my work hours around that. I have the time to give them a bath and cook a quick meal, which, trust me, no other office job lets you do anything remotely similar so easily.

-Thekra

Rebel: Maithra Jadhav ~ Location: Bangalore, India

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I don't like to be put in a box! I am an artist and a coder. I like QA, and I like sales. When I applied to RebelMouse, the job description said, "Roles are boring, we are fluid," and it spoke to me. I am amazed by the diversity and efficiency at RebelMouse. The efficiency comes from extremely helpful team members and managers.The trust and the small acts of appreciation rejuvenates my energy and dedication.

-Maithra

Rebel: Amanda Branquinho ~ Location: Goiânia, Brazil

It's always fun to work! You always want to make your clients happy because you're happy, and you want them to be, too. RebelMouse understands and respects the differences between people. It's the reason why we work so well across many countries. We value the differences. When it comes to RebelMouse, I have never been so proud of being on a team like I am here. I have all the support that I need. People really care about how you feel and it truly feels like family.

-Amanda

Rebel: Elisabetta Torretti ~ Location: Barcelona, Spain

I can spend more time with my family that is 1,400 km away. I can easily work from there whenever I visit them. A stronger company culture means higher motivation for its employees, and increased focus and productivity. Better work-life balance and better health!

As long as you have WiFi, your location doesn't matter!

-Elisabetta

Rebel: Lika Nikanorova ~ Location: Russia

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To me, being a remote employee means:

  1. Working from bed (I'm writing this from my bed)
  2. I don't have to wear stupid office clothes (I hate wearing shoes all day)
  3. I don't lose time getting to an office (I hated going to an office in the rain/snow/heat)
  4. I get a salary in USD ($) instead of my nation's currency
  5. I don't need to take days off when my kids are sick (office managers typically don't like this)
  6. I get to be flexible with my working time
  7. I'm able to plan my round trips without impacting work
-Lika

Rebel: Anne Burns ~ Location: Austin, Texas

Being office-free for three years has truly been life-changing. I recently married a partner who shares my wanderlust, and we've worked all over the planet — from Hawaii to the Swiss Alps! I particularly value that my coworkers trust me to do what I need to do, and it makes me even more motivated. I also love that I can work during times when I know I am operating at 100%. I am one of those crazy morning people!

-Anne

Rebel: Christiaan Myrberg ~ Location: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

I've been working remotely for over four years now, and it's easy to echo the statements of my colleagues because they're all correct. How can you argue with flexible schedules, the ability to work from anywhere, and the freedom to travel the world? (Remember: Experiences over possessions!) But there's something else, something intangible, that really hits home for me above all else: Being able to work remotely means that I'm trusted.

Building a world-class company with a lean team — from the ground up, no less — is no easy feat. And when I joined RebelMouse over a year ago, I got to help stoke the passion that keeps the fires roaring here. But you can't build something successful if you don't trust every member of your largely unsupervised team to do what's right for both themselves and the company.

These days, I don't travel as much. Instead, I decided to move my permanent office (home!) to paradise instead. Sure beats driving to and from an office every day.

-Christiaan

Rebel: Francisco Lavin ~ Location: Chile

For me, I love having the flexible working time. I was able to change my working hours to start around 5 a.m., which has been very productive for me. Most importantly, it allows me to spend more quality time with my kids in the afternoon.

-Francisco

Rank Higher With Keyword Suggestions and Search Volume Data

Take the guesswork out of your search strategy

The art of search engine optimization (SEO) can be tricky to master. A lot of publishers adopt a trial-and-error method in hopes that their strategy happens to align with Google's fickle algorithm. At RebelMouse, we take a proactive approach to SEO, pairing the tools and best practices already available with our proprietary search technology that's designed for keyword wins with every publish.

Writers are already tasked with the responsibility of creating quality content that's shareable, searchable, and monetizable. Ranking high in search is a key factor that makes growth in all of these areas possible. This is why we've taken the guesswork out of choosing the perfect keyword or search phrase to get you onto page one of Google.

In our latest update, we've expanded our proprietary search functionality to include recommendations for keywords that are of high value. Through the creative usage of APIs, we ensure writers and editors on our platform are armed with the right information when optimizing their content for SEO.

When typing in a search phrase to target in our Entry Editor, users will now see suggested key phrases appear:

In the example above, the drop-down list is suggesting phrases that are already performing well on Google. The number next to each recommended phrase is its monthly search volume. This helps you determine which phrases are easy to win, or perhaps too competitive to strategize for, on an article-by-article basis.

At RebelMouse, we premiere game-changing product updates like this weekly in our pursuit to improve our platform and fuel growth for our clients. If you aren't publishing on RebelMouse yet and want to take advantage of features like this, request a proposal today and let's get started.

If you're already publishing on RebelMouse and have questions about this update, please email support@rebelmouse.com or contact your account manager.

Note: This update is currently in beta, but will be available on all RebelMouse-powered sites soon.

A PSA to Brands: Control Your Context

Resonate with your audience the right way

Programmatic Advertising Is a Gamble

For years, brands have relied on display ads and programmatic levers as a cheap and easy solution to spend large portions of marketing dollars. But the major frustration with programmatic advertising has always been the lack of control and transparency on where ads actually show up. And as banner blindness spreads, ad-blocking technology becomes more prevalent, and subpar or broken sites crop up at increasingly high rates, programmatic advertising will only become more expensive, unsustainable, and a huge risk.

According to a recent study from Integral Ad Science, when your programmatic ads happen to show up in high-quality environments, it could lead to a 30% lift in brand recall. But on the flip side, when your ads appear in low-quality environments, the consequences can be brutal: Ads in low-quality environments were perceived 74% less favorably, and even harshly, compared to the same ads seen on high-quality sites. Overall, users were four times less likely to think a brand cared about them after seeing the brand surface next to inappropriate content. Finding your ad in poor-quality environments creates a stronger impression among audiences, and it's not the kind of impression you want. Plus, it means that your paid marketing needs to work harder to boost your brand reputation, convert customers, and do damage control.

It's Time for Brands to Become Publishers and Take Control

As a brand marketer, you need to reclaim ownership of where and how your messaging shows up. One key way to control your context is to become a publisher. According to NewsWhip, 70% of people would rather learn about a brand through content than through ads, and 68% feel more positive about a company after engaging with the brand's content. And it's a good time for brands to go all in and create an advantage with content, too. Now, more than ever, page performance matters for audience reach, retention, and revenue. Google, along with Facebook, have explicitly made page speed a factor in search results and News Feed, while site visitors will quickly leave a page that takes more than three seconds to load. Media companies that have survived in the past with broken sites now feel the consequences of their low-performing properties due to their inability to provide solid returns to advertisers.

As a CMS platform and creative agency, RebelMouse partners with brand teams on best practices and innovative ways to build content experiences that will break through and resonate with audiences. For example, our work with United Airlines has produced a better-performing site and helped them beat out media companies to win travel search phrases for organic audience growth. Our partnership is a key reason why United Airlines' content now drives the most web engagement in their industry.

Choose Your Media Partners Wisely

If you plan to rely on media partners to place your messaging, then be selective and spend on the right context. Build direct relationships with quality publishers that prioritize the user experience and know how to pair editorial with premium advertising (in particular sponsored content) to maximize eyeballs and engagement for brands. RebelMouse powers a tight ecosystem of quality publishers, like PAPER Magazine and Motherly, that have built valuable, new media properties. We can connect brands into this network of quality sites to execute premium and effective campaigns at scale.

Build for the Future

Moving away from the inefficient world and disadvantages of programmatic advertising and creating a sustainable content marketing strategy is not easy — it takes organizational commitment, patience, and the right technologies. If you're a brand marketer, reach out and learn how RebelMouse's full-stack content marketing solution is ideal for your growth into a publishing powerhouse. If you're a media company and sell premium advertising, guide your advertising partners on how to build mutual value on your site when they're tempted to blindly toss marketing dollars on cheaper impressions.

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30 Days Post Launch: Understand the RebelMouse Growth Effect

We're giving you a glimpse into our power to fuel swift growth

For sites with heavy traffic, or even new media companies looking to spark viral growth, page speed is a do-or-die factor when it comes to building audiences and revenue. Publishers big and small are on the search for a CMS that will set them apart in a saturated ecosystem, and this means making strides on site, search, and social. Usually this translates into shelling out big bucks for custom CMS builds or heavy developer costs on other options like WordPress.

At RebelMouse, we've simplified the open web:

It Starts With Speed: We power some of the biggest new media companies to date, and their PageSpeed Scores rival big-name, legacy publishers.

Speed Brings Search Success: Prioritizing site performance gives us the keys to Google's SEO roadmap and, in turn, accelerates the search ranking of RebelMouse-powered sites. Our proprietary search technology prioritizes key phrases with every publish.

Accessible Content Encourages Engagement: Since our sites are quick to load and even easier to find, they're also naturally shareable across all social platforms. Plus, within our Entry Editor, creators can identify influencers to build organic reach before the article has even gone live.

Intuitive UX Builds Loyalty: Our CMS is an editor's dream toolbox. We create sites that look dev-heavy but really only require a few clicks. Publishing as a mobile-first platform, we offer personal user experiences that are collaborative and increase time on site.

Modern Monetization Secures Stability: Easy-to-use ad integrations provide more opportunities for revenue for publishers without sacrificing the experience of readers. Our pageview methodology has secured a sustainable content lifecycle.

The Data Speaks for Itself

But don't just take it from us. Here's a look at actual data from sites that switched to RebelMouse from other CMS platforms, just 30 days after launch:

At RebelMouse, we focus on the metrics that matter. We live close to our client's data through custom-built Google Data Studio dashboards. This allows us to identify key growth trends and adjust strategy for our clients when needed.

A lot of publishers are just getting started in the competitive digital landscape, and RebelMouse is the perfect launching pad. Here are some data snapshots from publishers who started with zero traffic, 30 days after launch:

So, how much can you grow? We support web properties of all sizes, and can even host hubs of entire content networks. For example, DanceMedia has been a wonderful partner of RebelMouse for close to three years, and in this time they've built out a healthy network of RebelMouse-powered properties that surge together around viral content. They went from a collection of scattered sites to an intelligent, self-growing site network in no time:

Launch on RebelMouse and Grow

Check out the rest of our data-focused case studies here. Experience growth on your site and social channels, too. Request a proposal today and let's start growing together.

Turn Casual Visitors Into Loyal Subscribers With Newsletters

Extend your content with a winning email strategy

For publishers, the effort that goes into creating dynamic, quality content isn't a short-term game. The goal is to always convert casual visitors into committed subscribers. This means content must not only be quick to load, but easily accessible across all platforms.

An email newsletter is a great extension of your site's content that puts the experience back in the hands of readers. After all, users prefer to read and consume content on their own time in familiar interfaces, like Gmail. Data shows that 81% of small and medium businesses rely on email as their primary customer acquisition channel. It isn't just a great idea for small businesses either — 49% of consumers say they wouldn't mind regularly receiving a promotional email from a brand they like.

But what makes a successful email campaign? According to Campaign Monitor, these are the averages you want to be seeing:

While these benchmarks may seem low at first glance, the remarkable upside to email marketing is its ability to reach a targeted audience. The users that are willing to take the extra clicks to interact with your campaign are more likely to take further steps to continue engaging with your brand. This makes content strategy around emails even trickier. Content creators need to ensure they're curating the right content for emails to maximize audience attention.

At RebelMouse, we recommend a newsletter strategy that breathes new life into your most relevant and popular articles to increase the consumption of even more content. Here's how it works.

A Winning Newsletter Strategy: Axios

RebelMouse is proud to have launched some of the biggest new media companies to date, including Axios. The news publisher has mastered the art of the newsletter, shattering industry standards with their daily email updates. According to Nieman Journalism Lab, out of the 10 million unique monthly visitors that visit their site, Axios has 1.5 million non-unique subscriptions across all 19 of their newsletters.

One way Axios is able to do this is through their daily campaigns, Axios AM and Axios PM, which feature the latest top stories of the previous 12 or so hours. Here's what's unique about their daily emails:

  • You Don't Have to Click Every Headline: Each story is summarized so the reader doesn't have to leave their email interface to get the whole story. There are, however, CTAs that allow you to go in-depth on a topic, share it to social, and/or read supplemental content. This strategy allows readers to spend more time reading the email, clicking through only when they're already engaged with a subject.
  • The Newsletters Are Stored on Site: Axios features its "Newsletter" section in the top navigation of their site. It's there that full browser versions of every email are archived and available to read at any time. This means page views and traditional web traffic data can be captured on newsletter content.

Replicate This Content Flow on RebelMouse

RebelMouse's CMS makes creating a newsletter content workflow like Axios easy to create and maintain. Our Entry Editor has functionality that can turn any post into a newsletter. So whether it's crafting daily, weekly, or even monthly emails, each newsletter can be created to replicate the experience of an article page.

By converting a RebelMouse post into a newsletter, you'll automatically get a browser version and a post permalink for the article. This means you can capture page view data and keep an easy-to-read archive of every newsletter in a dedicated section, very similar to Axios' method.

Modernize Your Email Strategy With RebelMouse

RebelMouse's Newsletter dashboard makes it easy for you to set up and manage your newsletters to keep audiences engaged with your content. We offer out-of-the-box Mailchimp, Sailthru, and WhatCounts integrations so you can customize the frequency of how often you contact your subscribers, and we make it easy to maintain your third-party email groups, lists, and template designs.

If you want to update your email marketing campaigns to grow a more loyal readership, request a proposal today and let's start working together. If you already publish on RebelMouse, email support@rebelmouse.com if you need help setting up your newsletters.

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