Blog Archives
Blogging for Charity
Blogging This time of year often prompts people to look inward. We make resolutions and take stock of our lives. For bloggers, many of whom are already writing regular posts about their lives and thoughts, this time of year can be overwhelming. At some point you just get sick of thinking about yourself. I mean, in theory. If you’ve arrived at that point, I suggest taking an alternate route. Rather than continuing to blog about your hopes for the new ...
Continue readingCelebrity blogs
Around The Blogosphere Though of course merely being famous doesn’t automatically qualify you to blog, there are some celebrities out there whose blogs are actually fantastic. Here are three celebrity blogs I regularly check when I need inspiration, or just a bit of a laugh: Neil Gaiman Gaiman writes books, films, and the popular Sandman comic. His blog is filled with well-written accounts of his day-to-day life, as well as things like red carpet walks seen from the ...
Continue readingFace blogs versus house blogs
Blogging Blogging is still a new art, and that means there are some exciting decisions you can make for yourself. One of the biggest is deciding who you’re writing for. I’m talking about something more fundamental than identifying a demographic: I’m talking about deciding whether you’re writing for yourself or your readers. If you’re writing for your readers, then your blog is like your face. You use it to communicate with the outside world, ...
Continue readingSlow-paying clients
Making Money I’ve written before about what to do when you have a client who doesn’t pay you. The situation I’m in now is a little different: I have a client who does pay me, but it’s invariably late and I always have to send several emails before I get a response. (For the record, it’s not Kevin!) In some ways, constantly late payments are worse than a one-time default on a payment. Every month I get angry and depressed, feeling that my work is ...
Continue readingThe holiday juggle
Personal Sometimes you wind up having to blog on a holiday. I, for example, have a Thanksgiving deadline today for which I am totally unprepared. Fortunately, I am always happy to hold myself up as an example of what not to do, so learn from my mistakes and never, ever do the following: Wait until the day of your deadline to post your work. As I try to post this, my internet connection is experiencing small technical difficulties, probably because all my ...
Continue readingShould you take the job?
Making Money I was recently “interviewed” by a friend who’s just starting out in her freelancing career. Specifically, she was curious about some of the ads she’s seen looking for professional bloggers. On the off-chance any of my readers are in the same place, I’ll share with you what I told her when she asked whether she should apply for some of these jobs. Do you have ideas for it? I try not to turn down jobs just because I’m worried I won’t ...
Continue readingFive ways to relax and have fun already
Writing Whether your blog is professional or personal; whether it’s about football, knitting, your weird coworkers or your inner turmoil, you should be having fun. And we all know that there comes a time in the life of a blog when the fun gets hard to have. Blogging starts to seem like a chore, and you begin to wonder whether it’s worthwhile to continue. When that happens, take a break, take a breath, and try some simple exercises designed to invite ...
Continue readingAll things in moderation: Controlling your comment forums
Blogging Maybe you’ve got two regular readers. Maybe you’ve got two thousand. Blog readership varies dramatically, but one thing is certain: as long as you have more than one reader, you’re bound to find something they disagree about. Vehemently. Angrily. Passionate debate can be a great thing for your blog. If people are worked up in the comment forums and discussion is flying back and forth, ten comments a minute, then it means you’re doing ...
Continue readingTips on interviewing
Blogging You hear a lot of criticism of bloggers and their lack of accountability. (I notice that a lot of this criticism comes from print media, who fear us as they fear the hordes of hell.) It’s true that many blogs are just our personal opinions: they’re op-ed pieces rather than research papers. However, if you want to support your opinion (and maybe spit a little in the eyes of those media moguls), quotations, expert opinions and full-blown ...
Continue readingAre you being read?
Promote your blog One great thing about blogging is it can mean instant gratification. Write a post and immediately your readers are chiming in with comments. But what does it mean when one post receives few or no comments? Are comments an accurate reflection of how many people read your site, how well-written your posts are, or the interest level of the topics you choose? No, no and no. People usually comment if they have something to say; they may love your ...
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