Do you concentrate on capturing your readers attention within the first few words? I try..I know the first few words are very important. Usually if it doesn’t grab me, I do a quick scan before I abandon the entire post.

Have you ever looked at your own RSS feed in Google’s reader. No I forget to look at my reader, I opt for email, but my blog is apart of my yahoo feed.

If not, subscribe to your own blog. I do.

Natural Woman’s last blog post..Freedom of Speech, My Asterisk*

I hear you. When blogging is a part time “hobby” (if you can really call it that), it is difficult to read everything you subscribe to, plus get your daily work done, your family taken care of, and live life away from the computer.

Titles catch my eye, but if the first line in the RSS feed doesn’t “match” the title, I often won’t read it.

Hi Deb, or should I say Debbie Yost?

I just left your blog. Thank you for the link. That was a great post about “exposing yourself”, and a good title and first line. The post kept my interest all the way to the end. You’ll have to let me know when you start freelancing, so I can read more of your writings.

Hi Hunter,

The photo credits do take up some space, so all the more reason to concentrate on the title as well as the first line. I disregard the photo credits, and do read what the feed shows.

I agree, some authors do a little (or a lot) of rambling before they “get to the point”. That’s why when I tell a story, I try to edit it down so as not to lose my reader’s interest. Web surfers and blog readers want answers “NOW”. Time is important to them.

Cosmo’s sales are dependent on those titles. But, if the articles don’t deliver, readers will soon “catch on”. (Same as with blogs)

Welcome Joshua,

That’s a great point you raise about subscribing to your own feed and being able to catch problems.

I visited your blog, and will be back later to read more, It appears you have some fascinating articles. See you soon!

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I’m going to experiment with putting the pics part way through the article instead.

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