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While the Iron is Hot
Thanks for a post loaded with wisdom and know-how.
As a tech-challenged, novice blogger, reading this today couldn’t have been more timely. At this point, finding my voice, I’m taking in a lot of information and advice and trying to bring it all together. There’s so much to learn and put into play!
You’ve helped me intelligently sort through at least some of the how-to’s and why-to’s.
Everyday posting while managing my practice seems overwhelming. Your tip to schedule posts is something I need to get into doing. It might alleviate the anxiety some. Stopping by your blog frequently is something else I need to be doing.
Regards,
Meg
Just thought I'd suggest another tool that's worked quite well for me: Zemanta (http://www.zemanta.com/). It basically suggests links, pictures, tags, etc based on the content of your post.
One more idea. (I dont think you covered this).
Have a few posts held in reserve. Write whenever something excites you but keep some things back to use in a dry spell or when you are on holiday or just too damn busy with life. This allows you to maintain your frequency (and your readers:)
Establishing a disciplined rhythm seems to be the biggest Dip right now for me, (but I've got faith).
One tool I found to be useful to me is: unplugging from everything for a small amount of time & just chilling. Meditate or walk or workout or go out with a friend, or start a conversation with a barista at Starbucks (remarkable people often). Turn your gaze upon Mother Nature: she's very inspiring and mind-clearing.
Structuring the day is another good tool. I love Google Reader, but it can be a real Hoover. So allocating chunks of time and turning off notifications (50 minute increments works for me).
Stream-of-consciousness (or speed-writing without self-editing) is also a good way to get things out. (You can always edit later, but you create *now*.)
Skitch is great, but I'll have to check out Picnik.
Great post here, Chris. Makes me realize how much better I could be by practicing good *blogging hygiene*.
I'm glad you mentioned an editorial calendar. It is standard procedure at magazines and newspapers, and most all-print writers are quite familiar with organizing their workflow this way, but too many bloggers haven't heard of the concept (they just know that there's GOT to be some way to organize their idea/post flow.)
I also recommend the concept of "zero-ing in" on a topic. For example, I tell travel bloggers that a broad overview of, say, Paris, is a nice post, but you can also get tons of posts and blogging mileage if you zoom in to those little details and nuggets that make a place special. Post about a single great baguette bakery, a single Paris Metro line that has interesting stops, a single piece of music that you heard in a Paris bistro that added to your enjoyment, etc.
Here's an example from one of my travel blogs: a post about a small brewery near my former home in the Netherlands - nothing earth-shattering, but was fun to write and literally gave a flavor of the region: Dutch daily life: swing by the brouwerij (brewery.)
Viewing something through a restrictive "soda straw," rather than looking at the the big picture all the time, is the "staff of life" for a writer/blogger.
Even if I am relaying the same information as another blogger, you will never mistake me for that other blogger.
Cultivate a distinctive voice and imprint it on every post, every headline, every Twit or… (insert your chosen form of digital utterance here). But you already knew that. I re-read every post to check the voice as much as to check its spelling before hitting “publish.”
I like Sheila's point about zeroing in on topics. Hmm. Maybe there's a part 2 to this about WHAT to put into the blog post.
Phil - stream of consciousness writing is definitely a way to get unstuck and rolling along. I love it. Definitely something I should put into my mindset for the follow-up post.
Thanks again, everyone.
One addition: if you're a Windows person and you want to compose offline, I'd highly recommend Windows Live Writer--I'm a geek who likes the source view at times, but with Live Writer you can actually see how it'll appear online while you're still offline. Basic image editing and embedding of things is much easier than with a separate batch of tools. More on the new release is here .
I have to nominate Windows Live Writer as a seriously usefun (useful + fun) timesaver too — being able to use HTML snippets is a big advantage, as are the multiple other benefits. The best blogging software I've used yet.
If you're on Firefox, I highly recommend at least giving vertical tabs a chance for much quicker browsing. I write more about this here:
» http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/4-f...
thanks for an insightful and useful article. i am about to start a blog and this is just the kind of information i need.
James
I especially liked what you wrote about using a google calendar for editorial scheduling. I will try this out.
Ulla
Lots of great information in here. I have lost posts because of loss of internet connection at times, so I try to write mine in google docs, or at the very least, save them in there when I can before I hit the "submit" button on the blogging platform I am in.
Similar to skitch another free tool that has helped me a lot for screen grabs is: MWSnap: http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html
Great information. In addition to your savvy advise on scheduling your posts, I'd like to suggest that traffic show most people read blogs on Mondays which should encourage bloggers to apply your tips over the weekend primarily.
I look forward to reading your next article.
Carmen.
In case some don't know, Skitch is Mac only. For Windows users like myself, Jing is fantastic (and free).
Keep it up.
For me, as someone who currently blogs sporadically, I can remember the days when I was focused on "brand-building" and concerned with growing an audience - it quickly became more of a chore and was far removed from "why" I started blogging in the first place.
I write for myself, and if other people happen to come along and agree or disagree with me, then that's fine too.
Gone are my days of trying to make the front-page of any site, as that's only a day or two of internet "fame" - and my realization that the other 98% of society doesn't even care about it anyhow has kept me in check for the last year.
I still enjoy reading your thoughts and you do seem to put an extra amount of effort into what you publish.
Derrik's comment has now *made* me go and look at zemanta...
Rgds
Muvar
Don Dodge has a good post on the Live Writer features: http://dondodge.typepad.com/the_next_big_thing/...
I am also trying to comment more other other people's blogs. I would have a hard time, however, writing 5 comments a day. My current goal is one per day.
Thanks for the article - it's a great resource.
Your Blog Post Goals are timely reinforcement about the purpose of blogs and what I aspire to as well.
Keep blogging on blogs!
Great post. What might be an interesting follow up would be to literally break down the components of a blog post from font size to headers to headlines to intros to closing remarks. Are bolded headlines throughout a post more pleasing to the eye? Is a particular font better? Sans Serif, okay? Should you ask people to comment at the end of every one of your blog posts? You get the idea. Keep up the nice work.
Please check this link http://rotavacx.com
It can help you more than most sites because it has some cool visual search tools. You’ll find what you need in seconds.
I work in/with social media, its my life. But blogging doesn't come naturally to me. I know all its wonderful benefits but I'm stuck. Should I keep trying or give up?
Business blogs (this is how I call blogs from a CEO or other high-ranking companies' authority) do not necessarily have to be updated frequently. It can be as rare as once per month (in my opinion posting once per month is the minimum frequency for a business blog) - if posts are very frequent, a CEO can come out of post ideas, have no time and other negatives that keep you out of the blogosphere.
In fact, this is a complicated issue. I even wrote an entire e-book on this topic - "The New Rules of Business Blogs". You are welcome to check it out in my blog at www.positioningstrategy.com. Please feel free to post it on your blog or pass the e-book to whomever you believe might benefit from reading it.
Thanks again for your blog.
Excellent information! I just discovered your blog this morning and am slowly making my way through it. A couple of additions I'd like to make to your tools section, which I have implemented with my clients with great success:
- Evernote - free note-taking tool with great screen capture tool built in, and a perfect way to organize blog post ideas, snippets from the web, photos, passwords, how-to lists (including my instructions for how to do a blog post, add images, etc.). I raved about it here.
- Windows Live Writer - slick, free, easy way to create blog posts and pages, and even see the theme as you're typing them. You can save drafts offline or online, and manage multiple blogs. It even has a couple of nice effects for images (photo paper, polaroid, drop shadow) and will automatically put the images in the directory you specify in the setup. See my post about it here.
ламинированный паркет 8f
паркет 7j
~jon
Thanks,
Mark Smith
http://www.healthinsuranceinfo.org/
Thanks,
Andrew Jacob
http://www.stream-max.com/
I admire the valuable information you offer in your blog. A very good article. It can help more bloggers or site owners to get free traffic from social networking & book marking sites. Very interesting information.I look and learn and learn and look. I am grateful for your sharing.
Thanks,
Peter Parker
http://www.streamline-alliance.com/
thanks,
Jack Lee
http://www.streamline-markets.com/
I'm going to check out some of the tools you mentioned later on this eve.