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When You Just Can’t Write
Blogging It’s coming to the end of the year. Family demands are going to exponentially increase. Work commitments are largely unchanged. Pressure mounts. Caffeine intake quadruples. Words … fail … Actually, as yet I haven’t had the words not come but I have admittedly had a few close calls. Hence this week at my own blog I have been writing about how to come up with blog post ideas. Here and now though I want to share with you ...
Continue readingThe Secret to Getting More Done
Blogging Michael’s excellent project management post got me thinking about projects I have worked on that have gone well and others that were, um, less than fantastic. The core differences I think are things that many bloggers overlook in their own projects. Take a look at these factors and see if you agree: Priorities – Many bloggers I see fuss over the design, or think all they need is one front page Digg story, etc. In fact, like any ...
Continue readingPull Quote Plugin for WordPress
WordPress Plugins Collis from FreelanceSwitch introduced me to this fantastic little plugin. I first noticed it when he let me know my new post had been made live and I saw these really cool pull quotes. After I got a little over-excited I investigated to find the plugin he had used and installed it on my own blog. How the plugin works, and the clever thing that makes this so special, is rather than just being a CSS trick it uses Javascript to style your text ...
Continue readingChanneling Your Interests for Fun and Profit
Blogging Sometimes I have to pinch myself, being paid to blog is that good. I get to work from home, surf the web for my job and make some great friends. Who wouldn’t love chit-chatting about things that fascinate and energize us and get paid for it? In one week I get to write about all sorts of topics that interest me, everything from productivity and technology to writing, marketing and of course blogging tips right here. There are things to ...
Continue readingShady Services and Faking Social Proof
Blogging Recently there have been a lot of subscriber count inflating scams going around. It seems people are so desperate to boost their perceived value they are willing to display artificial numbers to get it. Yes, subscriber counts do offer social proof and provide a perception of quality, but they are not a replacement for real authority and valuable content! Certainly not worth paying a dollar per fake subscriber like some services are charging. If ...
Continue reading5 Items Your Blog Sidebar Must Have
Blogging As a blog consultant I do a lot of critiquing. You can see some of the public critiques here. Surprisingly, some of the most common mistakes happen in the sidebar. I think the reason is when people are in “blogging mode” they focus on content, content, content. Yes, the posts are vitally important, but as readers we have become accustomed to looking in the sidebar for certain items. When they are not there, well, we feel lost. Here ...
Continue readingShould You Edit or Delete Old Posts?
Blogging When you look back in your archives, do you smile or cringe? Have you ever deleted or edited an old post? Do you think it is ok to go back and edit posts or should you do a new post and relate to the older one? It’s an issue that I can see both sides on, on the one hand you might see some posts as clutter or even bad for the blogs image, on the other hand I don’t think I would ever want to delete a post. If you do delete a post, at ...
Continue readingWriting for Freelance Blogging Gigs
Writing When a site owner is looking for a blogger to write for them they have the following criteria in mind: Can they write original and interesting articles for the topic? Does their style suit the property and audience? Are they able to write all required types of content? Will I get more value back than what I pay out? The first three points all cover the craft of writing. If you can show ability in your writing samples then the job of getting the ...
Continue reading10 Steps for Absolute Beginner Bloggers
Blogging What is the absolute first thing that a new blogger should do? Here is a list of what new bloggers tend to do: Sign up at Blogger or WordPress.com Post a “Hello World” message Join a blogging forum and ask for a critique Write 10 posts then run out of energy Seem familiar? It is so easy to get caught up with the initial rush of enthusiasm and just start posting like crazy then burn out. Each blogger needs to find their own voice and ...
Continue readingEver Consider Your Own Products & Services?
Promote your blog My blogging friend Yoav left the following comment on my blog saying that we should develop our own products: People are #1 but product is #2. You can have a 1,000,000 page views a day and do well with advertising, but why advertise other people’s product and make 1% of the money. Make a product and get a 100%. I think it is a concept worth exploring. Most bloggers focus on ads or selling affiliates products. How many actually have a ...
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