Archive for the Category »New To Blogging «

20
Jan
Blogs – Free vs Paid – Is One Better?
Barbara Swafford

Money Wallet Cash 175 Blogs Free vs Paid Is One Better? When we start blogging we often ask ourselves which way to go.

Should we set up a free blog? Or, bite the bullet, and pay for one?

Unfortunately we don’t know if we’ll enjoy blogging and may ask ourselves, “Would it be wise to put out the money for a blog?”

But on the other hand, if we don’t, might we have regrets?

It’s a tough call.

Today’s Lesson

As I was reading John’s Top 5 Crash and Burn Blogger Mistakes Which Keep You Poor by John Hoff of WP Blog Host, he answered this question perfectly. His response is:

A free blog is ok if: All you care about is your content. Free blogs are good if you want someone else to take care of all the security issues, upgrades, etc. If your only goal is to write and you don’t care much about making money and turning your blog into a business, a free blog is fine.

A free blog is not ok if: You want to turn your blog into a business; want full control of the design of your blog; your mind is telling you that you’ll upgrade to a self hosted blog one day down the road; etc.

When I started blogging, I researched what the big name bloggers were doing and noticed they had self hosted WordPress blogs.  I followed their lead and did the same.

That decision costs me just over $100 a year.

For me, I feel it was a wise choice, however, it’s may not be right for everyone.

What say you?

Today’s Assignment

Do you have a free or self hosted blog?

What was the deciding factor for you?

Any regrets?

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Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, New To Blogging  Tags: , , , , , , , ,  93 Comments
20
Sep
Write Responsibly Right From The Start
Barbara Swafford

photo of publish button from WordPress blog edit screenMost of us still remember those first days of blogging.

We believed no one would be reading our first attempts at blogging so we either envisioned an imaginary audience or proclaimed “we’re just writing for ourselves and for our friends and family”.

However, when we hit the publish button on a public blog, strange things can happen.

Search engines find our words and offer them up for those who are searching online.

Today’s Lesson

When I was rereading my Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 3 – Content: Is Good, Good Enough, Lorelle left a comment that make me think.

She said, in part,

I just referenced one blogger in an article I published who came back to say that it wasn’t a fact, he was just talking out loud and assumed no one was reading his blog. As an expert in the subject, I took his words seriously. Now he says he will put in a disclosure statement when rambling.

You never know when someone is reading and paying attention. Write accordingly.

That’s fabulous advice.

When we blog, we often don’t think about who is reading our blog other than those who leave a comment.

We often don’t think our mentors or those whom we admire may silently be taking in our words.

And, if we’re new to blogging, we certainly don’t think someone may link to a post, claiming we’re an expert on the subject.

Because we’re not seeing past that which we believe is the case, we often forget how what we write could affect others.

How what we write not only gets found, but creates our online resume.

It’s time to ask, “Who is paying attention to your blog?”

Do you know?

Do you care?

Today’s Assignment

Is there someone “out there” you wish would be reading your work?

If you knew they were, or if you knew they would be linking to your posts, would you be writing differently?

Raise your hand and share your thoughts.

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Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, New To Blogging, Writing Tips  80 Comments
04
May
Who Said “Blogging Is Easy”
Barbara Swafford

blogging challenges

When I look at this photo, it reminds me of blogging.

The probloggers stand on top of the steep mountain, and the wannabes are still climbing. If we could see the complete picture, we would probably see some who are just getting ready to make the climb. Their challenges will be many, but if they play their cards right, they’ll have a lifeline to help them along the way.

Blogging has it’s share of challenges. Challenges many aren’t aware of when they make the decision to start a blog.

Today’s Lesson

When I look back to my beginning days of blogging, I didn’t understand what I would be up against. In many ways it was probably good.  If I had known what I was getting myself into, I may not have started a blog. Fortunately, the challenges were spaced out and I could conquer one before meeting the next.

Listed below are challenges I faced and I’m guessing I’m not alone.

1) Coding.

I had no concept of what HTML or CSS coding was, nor why I needed to learn it. As time passed I realized knowing coding is a necessity.

2) Staying motivated to write

In the beginning, I had so many topics to write about, I felt I could fill a book. Unfortunately I didn’t realize I’d have dry spells or days when I would lack the motivation to write.

3) Finding and/or designing the best theme for our blog

I changed my theme fairly often during the first six months of blogging,  but when my readership began to grow, I felt it was necessary to stick to one theme so as not to confuse my readers.

4) Time.

Time has to be my biggest blogging challenge. With so much to love about blogging, it hard to stay away from it. My biggest struggle has been finding a balance.

5) Blog Maintenance

No one told me I’d have to spend so much time behind the scenes tweaking things, Unfortunately if we don’t, we may find our blog isn’t performing like it should when visitors show up.

6) Building Readership

Writing to an imaginary audience worked well when I first start blogging, but I didn’t start a blog “talk to myself” nor to see my name published online. Learning how to get others to come and visit my blog left me scratching my head for some time.

7) Engaging in Social Networking

We hear it said over and over. We need to “get out there”. I was a little slow grasping this concept, but learned it’s a necessity in order to build our reputation and to gain recognition in blogosphere.

8.) Building Community

When I started visiting other blogs, I often observed an interaction between the author of a blog and their commenters. Sometimes it appeared they have developed a friendship and I noted they were also frequenting each others blogs. I decided I wanted that, too. Although building community is another time consuming aspect of blogging, it’s the most rewarding part of blogging for me.

9) Learning and applying SEO (search engine optimization)

This is something I KNOW we all need to do more of, but where I often fall short. Writing search engine optimized material changes the way I write, and I often forget to consider it when I’m publishing. Not getting found by search engines means our blog will experience slower growth and for bloggers who hope to make money with their blogs, search engine traffic is vital.

Whenever we hear “blogging is easy”, anyone who has been blogging for any length of time knows better.  The actual writing of blog posts may come easy to some, but in order to embrace the complete blogging experience, it’s often a steep climb.

Today’s Assignment

What do you feel are, or have been, your biggest blogging challenge(s)?

How do you approach blogging challenges?  Do you meet them head on or do you procrastinate?

I often find other bloggers become my life line, what do you think?

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Photo Credit: ground.zero
Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Lessons Learned, Networking, New To Blogging  46 Comments
24
Apr
Does An Ugly Blog(ger) Stand A Chance?
Barbara Swafford

Good Day Class,

Today we are honored to have David Wright of Blogger Dad as our substitute teacher (guest writer). He will be covering a subject many of us may have thought about, but we normally don’t discuss.

Since this is a longer lesson than normal, I ask that you take your seats as I turn the classroom over to David.

Welcome to the BWAB classroom, David.

The floor is ours.

ugly-blogger cartoon by david wrightDear Ugly Bloggers,

Oh wait, I’m not saying YOU are ugly, but you are being judged by your appearance.

Yes, it’s true.

Sure, the story of Susan Boyle has people suddenly waxing introspective about first impressions and pretending they don’t judge others on appearances.

Yeah, right.

But trust me when I say this, just because one Ugly Duckling has blossomed into a swan, nothing has changed. Don’t count on any rush to suddenly celebrate the average or unattractive among us. It isn’t going to happen.

Whether we like it or not, people form instant opinions based on our appearances. Studies have shown that our ideas of beauty transcend culture and may even be hardwired in our genetic makeup. Just like my love for Cookies N’ Cream ice cream.

Today’s Lesson

Fact is first impressions matter.

That goes for both the first impression your readers have of you and your blog. If either is ugly, you might want to reconsider your online strategy.

At this point, you’re probably wondering, who are YOU to give advice to ugly bloggers?

I know this will surprise my legion of readers (all 10 of you) but… I’m not a good looking guy.

At best, I’m average. I’m roughly 100 pounds overweight and I look like Kevin ‘King of Queens’ James, a guy you probably won’t find anytime soon in People Magazine’s ‘Most Beautiful People’ issue. It wouldn’t be so bad to look like Kevin James, since I tend to write funny stuff (actual reader experience may vary), except I look like Kevin James if he were about to pick up a car and throw it at you. According to my wife, I tend to appear very intense and possibly homicidal.

“WELCOME TO MY BLOG, JERK! NOW GO AWAY.”

That’s not the image I want to project on my friendly parenting blog.

Fortunately, I’m a cartoonist, so when it came time to start a blog, I decided to draw a friendlier looking version of myself. I would highly recommend becoming a cartoonist. Then you can draw yourself however you like. Heck, you can make yourself a 20-foot robot with rocket blasters on your arms and nobody would be the wiser.

blogger cartoon by david wright

    1) Don’t post a photo of yourself. Not every blog NEEDS to have an author’s photo. Be a little mysterious. In fact, wear a Zorro-type mask. Nothing says mystery like a Zorro mask.
    2) Post a photo of yourself with a bag on your head. Note: not a plastic bag.
    3) Try to capture your best feature. If this happens to be your big toe, then use a photo of your big toe. Make the photo black and white and people will think you’re “artistic”.
    4) Post a photo of yourself as a child. People will find it endearing. Unless you were also an ugly kid. In which case, post a photo of another child.
    5) Post a photo of your pet. Unless you have a Chihuahua. Nobody wants to see photos of Chihuahuas.

For the most part, we can’t help it if we’re unattractive. However, there’s no excuse to have an ugly blog. None.

While I won’t run away if you look like Quasimodo, I will run away if your site style pre-dates Google. I’ll also run away if, your logo is text on top of a huge gradient color bar, your color scheme celebrates all the wonders of the visible spectrum, you have more ads than content on your front page, you have flashing, blinking or scrolling text or images, or you use the Comic Sans font ANYWHERE on your site.

What to do if you have an ugly blog:

    1) Check out WordPress.com for some more modern themes than what you’ll find on Blogger or LiveJournal.
    2) Host your own blog, install WordPress or Joomla and choose from thousands of free or premium themes.
    3) Hire someone, like a cartoonist (ahem) or designer to create a new logo or customize your blog.
    4) Customize your color scheme. You can find tons of inspiration at sites like these: Colour Lovers and Color Scheme Designer

I’ll close on a serious note to keep in spirit of this blog’s usual thought provoking quality.

While I can joke about it now, I found it hard growing up as a fat teenager. I was doomed to a life of exile from most of my peers and it was rough. However, I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything, as they made me who I am. Because of my isolation, I blossomed creatively and became an artist and a writer. Some of my favorite artists, comedians and writers are not particularly known for their good looks.

It’s not easy being unattractive in a world where the media obsesses on and celebrates beauty.and damns anything short of perfection.
If you feel that your image will get in the way of people getting to know you or your work, by all means, don’t post your picture.

Rise above expectations and let your words define you.

Today’s Assignment

1) Do you think an unattractive blogger should post their picture?

2) Do attractive looking bloggers have it easier in blogosphere? If so, are you more easily swayed to subscribe to their blogs based on their looks alone?

3) Does a well designed, well written blog outweigh the fact the blogger is not posting their picture?

Raise you hand and share your thoughts.

Does An Ugly Blog(ger) Stand A Chance?David Wright is a cartoonist at I Draw Comics, a blogger at Blogger Dad writes about creativity and interviews other bloggers with Sean Platt at their online studio, Collective Ink Well, and can also be found on Twitter.
Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Branding, New To Blogging  55 Comments
17
Apr
What Susan Boyle Can Teach Us About Blogging
Barbara Swafford

If you haven’t heard of Susan Boyle, you will. She’s been deemed the latest YouTube / internet musical sensation. Her debut on “Britain’s Got Talent” has received over 16 million hits on YouTube in less than a week.

Susan’s story has been discussed on CNN, Fox News, CBS Early Show, The Today Show, Anderson Cooper 360, Bill O’Reilly, Twitter and FaceBook just to name a few. For those of you who haven’t seen the video, it is a “must see”.

Although YouTube disabled the embedding of the video, I am able to share it here, courtesy of Daily Motion, .

NOTE: This is the 7+ minute video of Susan’s performance. To capture the full power of the message, I urge you to watch it from beginning to end. I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

If you have a problem watching the video here, click on this link

Today’s Lesson

If you watched the video of Susan Boyle, you see how things aren’t as they appear. Let’s face it, we often have preconceived notions based on our first impression.

Blogging is no different. As bloggers we learn we have a matter of seconds to entice our visitors to read our work and/or to subscribe. In the blink of an eye, if visitors to our site don’t like what they see, they’re gone.

But, what about a blogger who is new. A blogger who is making their debut? Are we, as fellow bloggers, giving them a chance?

When Susan Boyle told Simon Cowell (of American Idol fame) she would like to be as popular as singing sensation Elaine Paige, the audience laughed, rolled their eyes and snickered.

What about new bloggers who dream to be the next Darren Rowse, Dooce, or Steve Pavlina? Are we rolling our eyes at them? Snickering or laughing behind their backs?

The Susan Boyle story and video pulls at my heart strings in such a way, I can’t stop watching her performance.

It drives the message home that first impressions are often deceiving.

It reminds me how we should never underestimate the potential of a new blogger either.

They too, have a dream and need a chance.

Today’s Assignment

Have you ever rejected a blog, only to find out later the author was a diamond in the rough and is now on their way to stardom?

When you started blogging, did you worry the first impression you were making wasn’t good enough?

How did watching the video of Susan Boyle affect you?

Care to share?

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To receive updates on Susan Boyle, check out:
Susan Boyle
Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent
Fans Of Susan Boyle
Britain Has Got Talent – Susan Boyle FanSite

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Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Lessons Learned, New To Blogging  40 Comments
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