Archive for the Category »Writing Tips «

Aug

With bloggers wanting/needing to crank out new articles on a regular basis, how to accomplish that can be a real feat. to schedule a blog post or not

Some bloggers are organized, use a blogging calendar and know exactly what will be published when.

I admire their organizational skills.

Today’s Lesson

I don’t plan my posts.

In fact, until just a few hours ago, I didn’t know what today’s lesson would be, so you might say my lack of planning was the motivation for this post.

I like to write when the mood strikes and when a topic moves me. Unfortunately the two aren’t always in sync.

If I see a story on the news, it may be the basis of a post.

What you shared in your comment may be my topic of the day.

Or maybe I see a photo or a post by a fellow blogger.

Surfing online gives me ideas, as does reading.

Unfortunately I never know where my next idea will come from and although it might be easier if I was organized and knew in advance, I’ve come to enjoy this spontaneity.

What about you?

Today’s Assignment

Do you plan each of your posts? Have a blogging calendar?

Or are you like me and fly by the seat of your pants?

Care to share?

Photo credit: Double Happiness

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Writing Tips 88 Comments

Jul

Blogging Pet Peeve Number One

Barbara Swafford

One of the biggest gripes bloggers have is how their visitors do not read their posts.

It’s maddening.

After all, we meticulously craft our posts, carefully choose each word, spend time adding SEO (search engine optimization), tags and the perfect picture(s), ensure we’re providing value, double check to see if the words are spelled correctly and are grammatically correct, only to find out our visitors are skimming.

Some visitors will even rat themselves out by leaving a comment which doesn’t make sense.

We know they didn’t read our words, but yet we enjoy those comments.

What’s a blogger to do?

Today’s Lesson

With many bloggers blogging part-time, writing posts for their blogs AND making time to visit other blogs can be challenging.

Time must be cut somewhere, so it’s often done while they’re reading/skimming the blog posts of others.

So, what can we do?

Accept it.

If we know our posts are being skimmed, why not make it easier for a visitor to do so?

Here are a few suggestions:

Write shorter posts
Use bullet points
Use photos or white space to break up the verbiage
Ask questions at the end which don’t “test” to see if the visitor read our post, but instead are relevant to the content.

Take your reader’s time constraints into consideration and they may reward you with a comment.

Today’s Assignment

If you had a choice to have a visitor read your post or leave a comment, which would you choose?

Do you have any other tips on how a blogger can improve their chances of having their posts read in their entirety?

Care to share?

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Comments, Posting, Writing Tips Tags: Blogging, Comments, SEO, Writing Tips 114 Comments

Jul

If It’s Free, Does It Have To Have Value?

Barbara Swafford

Unless it’s a membership site, the information shared in blog posts is free.

Free to read. Free to benefit from. But not free to copy.

Over the years I’ve read ~~hundreds~~ thousands of blog posts. Some contain personal stories, some have helpful hints and some I read to show support for the blog author, even when I had no interest in the topic.

Thinking about the blogs I read and what I take away from them, I wonder….

What do our readers do with the information we share? How do our words affect them?

Today’s Lesson

For me, I’ve experienced the following:

Some blogs/posts:

Made me laugh
Made me cry
Taught me about important issues such as Down Syndrome, and GMOs (genetically modified foods)
Saved me money
Made me say “WOW, this bloggers is extremely talented. Their future is bright”
Inspired me to share the information on Twitter and/or Facebook
Made me doubt my original beliefs about a topic
Saved me time
Got me more organized
Made me think about my priorities
Helped bring me closer to my goals
Answered my questions of “how to…” or “why”
Made me ask, “Why is this blogger giving this valuable information away for free?”

On the flip side, I’ve also read/seen blogs/posts which had me thinking:*

Should this (usually personal) information be shared online?
Who cares?
I believe this information is incorrect. (poorly researched).
Obviously this post has been written to entice visitors to click on links and/or buy.
I don’t get it.
If I could read the small font and/or actually see the ~~poorly chosen colored fonts~~ printing on the dark background, this could be valuable information.
Where’s the content?
That’s it?
I believe this information has been plagiarized/copied.
I hate these flashing banner ads. *click off*
Who is writing this blog? Where’s the “about me” page?
This information is WAY over my head (obviously I am not their target audience).

Turning the tables back on me, my goal for this blog is to:

Share what I learn about blogging, good and bad.
Entice you to think about a variety of blogging issues.
Inspire you to blog responsibly.
Help you improve your blog/blogging experience via hints or tips.
Invite you to comment and share your thoughts, which in turn, can help others in their blogging journey

What about you?

Today’s Assignment

What do you hope your readers will gain from reading your blog?

Do you feel you’re accomplishing that?

Or do you publish what you want and say, “You get what you pay for.”?

Care to share?

*P.S. I realize with many of these blogs, I am not the target audience. What is written and how the site is laid out is done so for the benefit of those whom the blogger is attempting to attract.