August Blogging Prompts

It's approaching the end of summer. It's hot and sticky. There are things to do, but chances are you don't want to do much of anything. Instead of letting the heat get the better of you, beat the heat! Pour a cold drink, sit by the fan or air conditioner, and write some cool blog posts,

Here are some ideas of what to blog about in August.

Bad Poetry: August 18 is Bad Poetry Day. The idea is to get bad poetry out of your system, so you can write better. There's value in writing poorly (in any genre), whether it's to get bad ideas out of your head to make room for the good ones or to just write bad material on purpose, just because you can, and to have fun in the process

Plus:

August Holidays: August is Family Fun Month, Romance Awareness Month and National Picnic Month. August 13 is Left Hander's Day, August 15 is Relaxation Day, August 16 is National Tell a Joke Day, August 25 is Kiss and Make Up Day, and August 27 is Just Because Day.

August Food Holidays: There are lots of food holidays in August. August is National Brownies At Brunch Month, National Peach Month, and National Sandwich Month. August 20 is Lemonade Day, August 24 is National Waffle Day, and August 30 is National Toasted Marshmallow Day (campfire stories, anyone?). August: 31 is Eat Outside Day, International Bacon Day, and National Trail Mix Day.

Bonus: Fiction writers, you've taken characters out on day trips over the summer months. Time to send them on vacation. No, I'm not talking about taking a break from your writing (although you can do that too). Send them out of town (or even on a staycation). They can have some fun, of course, but something always goes awry on vacay. Throw some challenges at your characters during their "time off" and see how they handle it.

Take you characters out of their normal routine, it will get you out of your routine, as well, and maybe even help you expand your creativity. Have fun!

***

Debra Eckerling is the author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. She's a writer, editor and project manager/goal coach, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. She is an editor at Social Media Examiner. Debra is also a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting and social media.

Blogging and Google Rankings – Do You Really Want to Use that Content in Your Blog Post?

Everyone is working to keep their blogs regularly updated with content. Content is a must. It’s all about content, content, content.

In fact, content marketing is the reigning king.

Because of this, everyone does whatever they can to keep their websites with updated content on a regular basis:

• People write their own posts
• People buy content from freelancers or content mills
• People buy PLRs (Private Label Rights)
• People accept guest posts
• People reprint the content of others from article directories
• People use content curation
• People use newsjacking
• So on and so on

But, is all content the same? Is all content acceptable?

In other words, whether it’s your own content or you’re accepting a guest post, if the article is NOT useful and quality content, if it’s poorly written, if it’s linking back to a spam site, should you use it?

For example: Maybe you agreed to be a hosting site for a service that provides virtual book tours. The content their authors provide for the posts is very poorly written and is primarily promotional. Is it okay to use?

The simple answer is to these questions is NO.

In case you’re wondering what constitutes fluff or ‘poor quality’ content, you need to determine if your content is valuable.

To determine if your content is valuable, you need to answer a few questions:

• Does the content offer the reader useful information?
• Is it engaging or thought provoking?
• Is it controversial (the good kind)?
• Is it entertaining?
• Is it shareable?
• Do you think the content is ‘quality’ enough to appear in the results of a Google search query?

If your content doesn’t hit one of those targets, then it’s most likely fluff.

Okay, what if the content is fluff, but it has ‘good’ keywords in it? Is it okay to publish it then?

Well, it depends on four things:

• Are you blogging to sell something?
• Are you blogging to increase your mailing list?
• Are you blogging to increase your authority in your niche/industry?
• Are you looking to ‘please’ Google and improve your ranking?

With Google’s latest algorithms, keywords don’t pack the same punch they used to. Search engines spiders can get the gist of the entire content. They base ranking and ‘whether they’ll use that post’s link in the results of a search query’ on the overall content, not just the keywords.

In other words, Google can pretty much detect fluff and garbage, even if you have great keywords.

So, back to the title question: Do you really want to publish that content on your website?

If you’re blogging to sell something, increase your mailing list, gain authority, and boost your ranking, then you should definitely AVOID posting fluff or poor quality content to your site.

Poor quality content can easily lower your Google ranking, which will reduce your authority, which will make people think twice about signing up for your mailing list, which in turn will put a damper on your sales.

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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Should Authors Profit from Advertising When it Benefits Their Audience
Creating Images – Simple and Quick
26 Reasons Why a Writer Should Blog


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June Blogging Prompts

Don't let June gloom get you down. Do something to lift your spirits. For example, do some blogging. 

Summer is rapidly approaching and it won't be long til those beautiful summer days start calling your name. If you want extra summer fun time, plan ahead and stockpile some blog posts. 

Here are some topics to write about in June.

Father's Day (third Sunday): Dads like toys and gadgets. What are some great gifts for Dad that are related to your niche. See what you can come up with that's out of the ordinary. You can also so an advice post.

Summer Camp: Kids heading off to camp mean a few things. Parents may have a little extra downtime. Give them advice of how they can spend it. Also, kids at overnight camp will require some fun letters from the parents. Do you have a crazy letter writing idea that adds spark and sizzle to an ordinary letter? Share that with your readers too.

Plus:

June Holidays: In addition to Father's Day, June is Aquarium Month, Gay Pride Month, National Accordion Awareness Month, National Adopt a Cat Month, and Rose Month. June 14 is Flag Day, June 15 is Smile Power Day, and June 18 is International Panic Day (it's also International Picnic Day). Summer solstice is June 21, Forgiveness Day is June 26, and Camera Day is June 29.

June Food Holidays: June is National Candy Month, National Dairy Month, National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month, National Iced Tea Month, National Papaya Month, National Seafood Month, National Steakhouse Month, National Turkey Lover. (Covered all the bases, didn't they?) Also June 13 is Kitchen Klutzes of America Day, June 17 is Eat All Your Veggies Day, and June 22 is National Onion Rings Day.

Bonus: Fiction writers, it's time for a beach party. What do your characters do when they let loose on the beach? What do they eat? What games do they play? Do they tell stories around a bonfire? Give your characters space to have some fun. They may give you some fun adventures to include in your prose or they could be involved in something that they must keep secret. Either way, it'll sure be fun to see what happens. And then use that as inspiration for your writing.

***

Debra Eckerling is the author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. She's a writer, editor and project manager/goal coach, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. She is an editor at Social Media Examiner. Debra is also a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting and social media.

April Blogging Prompts

April showers bring May flowers. They also bring lots of blog posts. 

Here are some things you can blog about this month:

April is National Poetry Month: Write a poem, share your favorite poem and why, give your readers an assignment to write a poem, or all of the above. The celebration lasts all month long. However, Great Poetry Reading Day is April 28.

The last week in April is National Karaoke Week! Share your proudest or most embarrassing karaoke moment, or create a new one to share with your readers.

Plus:

April Holidays: April is International Guitar Month (great for songwriters), Lawn and Garden Month (grow your stories, grow your business), and Stress Awareness Month (share ways for your readers to de-stress). April 14 is International Moment of Laughter Day, April 16 is National Librarian Day, April 18 is Newspaper Columnists Day, April 23 is Take a Chance Day, April 27 is Tell a Story Day, and April 30 is National Honesty Day

April Food Holidays: April is National Garlic Month, National Grilled Cheese Month (Greilled Cheese Sandwich Day is April 12), and National Soft Pretzel Month. Perhaps my favorite April food holiday is National Picnic Day on April 23. Come up with literary themed picnics to share with your readers or take yourself on a picnic and then do some writing outside.

Bonus: April is also National Humor Month. This leads to a variety of possibilities for both fiction and non-fiction writers. Write funny, even if you think you're not. Or, if you are a humorous writer, write in another genre ... just for fun! You never know where words might lead. You just have to play with them!

***

Debra Eckerling is the author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. She's a writer, editor and project manager/goal coach, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. She is an editor at Social Media Examiner. Debra is also a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting and social media.

March Blogging Prompts

Spring into March with fabulous blog posts, designed to help your audience hop into the new season. 

Here are some ideas to get you started.

Spring Cleaning: One of the best things about spring is that you get a fresh, clean start. Help your readers take a fresh angle on a project or offer ideas to help them clean up their home or workspace.

March Madness: Are you a basketball fan? Do you love sports analogies about teamwork? Perhaps you're a food writer, who talks about social restaurant venues. You can also go full-on creative and craft a unique bracket, having nothing to do with sports. These are a few angles for writing about March Madness. 

Pi Day is March 14: Is it a food holiday? A math holiday? Maybe it's both. If you blog in either of those categories, make sure to acknowledge it.

St. Patrick's Day is March 17: Whether you celebrate the luck on the Irish or just love the color green, think of a unique way to incorporate one or the other into a March blog post. 

Plus:

March Holidays: March is Irish American Month, National Craft Month, National Nutrition Month, National Women's History Month, Red Cross Month, and Social Workers Month. National Goof Off Day is March 22, Make Your Own Holiday Day is March 26, and National Mom and Pop Business Owners Day (celebrating small business owners) is March 29. 

March Food Holidays: March is National Celery Month, National Flour Month, National Frozen Food Month, National Nutrition Month, National Noodle Month, National Peanut Month, National Sauce Month, and National Caffeine Awareness Month. American Chocolate Week is the third week of the month.

Bonus: Spring Break is coming. Fiction writers, have some fun and send your characters out on a wild vacay. It'll be lots of fun for you and your characters, and will open up tons of opportunities.

***

Debra Eckerling is the author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. She's a writer, editor and project manager/goal coach, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. She is an editor at Social Media Examiner. Debra is also a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting and social media.

February Blogging Prompts

Hearts abound for the month of February. In addition to Valentine's Day, February is American Heart Month. 

There's a lot to write about hearts, the literal and physical kinds.

Let's try something different for this month's blogging prompt article. Write a list of everything related to "heart," and see what ideas for posts come out of it.

For example: 

• Heart Health (food and exercise)
• Heartfelt (what do you truly believe in)
• Heart-to-Heart (advice to share)
• Heart Shaped (what comes in that shape: candy hearts, cakes, jewelry; what )
• Heart Break (lessons from loss)
• Songs with heart (favorite "heart" song")
• What you Heart (Love) about What you Do
• Sweethearts (love)
• The Color Red

February Holidays: February is Black History Month, Canned Food Month and Creative Romance Month. The third week in February is 3rd Week International Flirting Week. Plus, Random Acts of Kindness Day is February 17, International World Thinking Day is the 22nd, and Tell a Fairy Tale Day is the 26th. 

February Food Holidays: February is Celebration of Chocolate Month, National Fondue Month, National Heart Healthy Month, National Hot Breakfast Month, and National Snack Food Month. Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day is February 11, Drink Wine Day is the 18th, and Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day is the 23rd. Who knew? 

Bonus: February is also the height of awards season, wrapping up with the Oscars on February 22. Whether you are a movie-lover, screenwriter, or a writer of film-related content, take any and all opportunities to write about your award-season movie favs.

Put some heart into your blog and blog with heart!


***

Debra Eckerling is the author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. She's a writer, editor and project manager/goal coach, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. She is an editor at Social Media Examiner. Debra is also a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting and social media.

January Blogging Prompts

It’s a brand new year! I know things have been busy, and that’s okay. Now it’s time to dust off your blog and get back to it.

No matter what the theme of your blog, there’s always something to write about to educate and/or entertain your readers.

Here are writing prompt topics you can use to generate blog ideas in January.

The New Year – Saw that coming, didn’t you? Share your New Years’ Resolutions or offer reasonable resolution recommendations for your readers that are relevant to your subject matter or niche. You can always do both! For example, if you write about writing, come up with a list of writing resolutions that your readers can do along with you. Food bloggers, try this with new dishes. Adventure bloggers, challenge your readers to try similar (safe) experiences and compare notes. For many of these types of resolutions, take photos and encourage your readers to do the same. That way you’ll have pics (and proof) for future blog posts. A resolution a month = 12 interesting and engaging blog posts.

Food and Fun Holidays – I’m not quite sure when claimed and created holidays became so popular, but I don’t really care. They are awesome inspiration for blog posts.

January food holidays: National Soup Month, National Egg Month, and Bread Machine Baking Month (not quite sure about that one).  National Coffee Break Day is January 20. Given how much writers love coffee that alone could make for a variety of different types of posts. Here are some topics off the top of my head: How Do You Order Your Favorite Coffee, Favorite Coffee Break Activity, Best Coffeehouse Writing Spots.

January fun holidays: January is National Hobby Month, which offers a world of possibilities, especially if your blog is on a topic that some people consider a hobby. You can write about how to turn that hobby into a career or the importance of hobbies alongside work. Even better, tell your readers about a hobby you enjoy. Other notable days include International Skeptics Day on the 13^th, Thesaurus Day on the 18^th (what are your favorite synonyms?), and National Handwriting Day on the 23^rd.  

Bonus: Fiction writers, make resolution for your characters. Whether or not you actually share them is up to you. But it’s a fun way to dig into your characters and their motivations.

Blogging, just like writing, should be fun. Come up with ideas that relate to your niche and experience, and you’ll get back to your blogging mode in no time.

***

Debra Eckerling is the author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. She's a writer, editor and project manager/goal coach, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. She is an editor at Social Media Examiner. Debra is also a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting and social media.

Blogging and Google Rankings – Do You Really Want to Use that Content in Your Blog Post?

Blogging is a major marketing tool. Everyone is doing it and for good reason, it’s powerful. But, where do they get their content and is all content acceptable?

Everyone is working to keep their blogs regularly updated with content. Content is a must. It’s all about content, content, content.

Because of this, everyone does whatever they can to post to their websites on a regular basis:

• People write their own posts
• People buy content from freelancers or content mills
• People buy PLRs (Private Label Rights)
• People accept guest posts
• People reprint the content of others from article directories
• People use content curation
• People use newsjacking
• So on and so on

But, again, is all content the same? Is all content acceptable?

In other words, whether it’s your own content or you’re accepting a guest post, if the article is NOT useful and quality content, if it’s poorly written, if it’s linking back to a spam site, should you use it?

For example: Maybe you agreed to be a hosting site for a service that provides virtual book tours. The content provided by the service’s authors is poorly written and is primarily promotional. Is it okay to use?

The simple answer is to these questions is NO.

In case you’re wondering what constitutes fluff or ‘poor quality’ content, you need to determine if your content is valuable.

To determine if your content is valuable, you need to answer a few questions:

• Does the content offer the reader useful information?
• Is it engaging or thought provoking?
• Is it controversial (the good kind)?
• Is it entertaining?
• Is it shareable?
• Do you think the content is ‘quality’ enough to appear in the results of a Google search query?

If your content doesn’t hit one of those targets, then it’s most likely fluff or poor quality.

Okay, what if the content is fluff, but it has ‘good’ keywords in it? Is it okay to publish it then?

Well, it depends on five things:

• Are you blogging to sell something?
• Are you blogging to increase website traffic?
• Are you blogging to increase your mailing list?
• Are you blogging to increase your authority in your niche/industry?
• Are you looking to ‘please’ Google and improve your ranking?

With Google’s latest algorithms, keywords don’t pack the same punch they used to. Search engines spiders can get the gist of the entire content. They base ranking and ‘whether they’ll use that post’s link in the results of a search query’ on the overall content, not just the keywords.

In other words, Google can detect fluff and garbage, even if you have great keywords.

So, back to the title question: Do you really want to publish that content on your website?
If you’re blogging to sell something, increase your mailing list, gain authority, and boost your ranking, then you should definitely AVOID posting fluff or poor quality content to your site.

Poor quality content can easily lower your Google ranking, which will reduce your authority, which will make people think twice about signing up for your mailing list, which in turn will put a damper on your sales.

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MORE ON CONTENT MARKETING

Blogging – 5 Popular Blog Post and Article Formats
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Blogging - 4 Major Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Blog Posts

November Blogging Prompts

Just because the year is winding down, doesn’t mean you can slack off on your blog posts, even if you really don’t have the time. Consistency is a huge part of blogging, so even if you have to write a little shorter the next couple months, just keep to your blogging schedule as best as you can. 

Here’s some seasonal content ideas to get you through November. (I am U.S.-based, so for those in other parts of the world, adapt as appropriate.) 

Shopping: We have Black Friday (shopping day after Thanksgiving), Small Business Saturday (day after that), and Cyber Monday (the Monday after Thanksgiving). However, holiday shopping starts sooner each year.

If you offer a product or service, and you have a holiday deal, post about it on your blog. Most of what you blog about shouldn’t be about selling, but it’s fine to make an exception every now and then. If you have an opinion on peoples obsession with shopping holidays, that’s another way to go. It could be serious, sarcastic or funny, but whatever you write, keep it honest. Stay relatable - that’s how you gain and maintain fans.

Food: November has an abundance of food holidays to blog about, whether you write about food or just enjoy eating. Among others, it’s Good Nutrition Month and Vegan Month. (Funny, it was just Vegetarian Awareness Month in October – I guess November takes it up a notch.) Healthy eating is a great topic to write about as we approach the holidays, even when you write about writing. For example, “5 Food-Related Advantages of Working and/ Writing from Home.” 

On the other end of the spectrum, November 16 is National Fast Food Day. And then there’s National Espresso Day on November 23. Talk about a great stereotypical writer holiday. The majority of writers I know have an opinion on coffee. And I know a lot of writers!

Thanksgiving: There’s a ton to write about regards to Thanksgiving. There’s the history, the food, and of course, the theme of being thankful. The best way to write about a holiday is to flip it on its side. Think outside the box. Brainstorm. Make a list of 10 or 15 things that you can write about in regards to Thanksgiving (or any of these ideas for that matter) and how it relates to your blog or business. Then, take a fun, original approach and run with it!

Bonus: Fiction writers and bloggers, November is National Novel Writing Month. If you are participating, consider writing posts on your progress. If you are not, offer advice and encouragement for those who are. You don’t have to write a novel in November to post about this fun International event.

As previously noted, November starts shopping season. Especially if you have a business website, keep your blog active, so potential customers can find you. 

*** 

Debra Eckerling is a writer, editor and project manager, and the author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages.  She founded Guided Goals, as well as Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. She is an editor at Social Media Examiner. Debra is in demand as a national speaker addressing writing, networking, goal-setting and social media.

   

October Blogging Prompts

At a loss for blogging ideas? One way to engage your readers is with seasonal content.

Whether you write fiction or non-fiction – and if your niche is writing, marketing, or consulting – there’s always something to write about.

One of my favorite things about writing is that you can take one topic and spin it numerous ways, so it reflects your interests and expertise.

With that in mind, here are topics you can use to generate blog ideas in October ... or just use these writing prompts to jumpstart your creativity for your writing.

Autumn – How does the change of seasons impact your business? How does the change of seasons impact your writing? What are some fun fall-specific activities that interest you and how can you share them with your readers? October means football, fall fashion, hay rides, apple picking, fall crafts. There’s something seasonal that relates to your business that you can share on your blog. Do some brainstorming to discover what it is.

Fall Food – When all else fails, seek a food holiday. October is both National Dessert Month and Vegetarian Awareness Month, and there are a host of other daily, weekly and monthly food holidays. Do you write food mysteries or have a foodie blog? Do you write content for a restaurant or edible product? Perhaps you just like to eat…  Check the list and see how to spin it for your specialty.

Halloween – Didn’t see that one coming, did you? (joke) Write about anything and everything Halloween-related from food, décor and costumes (human and pet) to family adventures and activities. Also, most people associate October with the color orange. Fiction writers, interview an author. Share a funny or scary story. Or, even better, tips for how to write one.

Bonus: If you are a fiction writer, you can also use these topics to stimulate ideas for your stories. Send your characters out on an autumn adventures. You don’t even need to use the story in your final manuscript. But let your characters have a little fall fun. You never know where an adventure will take you.

In a perfect world, we have all the time in the world to write our blog content in advance. If you’ve already written all your October posts, just file this for next year. If you haven’t, hope these ideas will get your creative mind rolling, so you can create some awesome October blog posts!

***

Debra Eckerling is the author of Purple Pencil Adventures: Writing Prompts for Kids of All Ages. She's a writer, editor and project manager/goal coach, as well as founder of Guided Goals and Write On Online, a live and online writers’ support group. She is an editor at Social Media Examiner. Debra is also a speaker/moderator on the subjects of writing, networking, goal-setting and social media.

Blogging with Purpose

from collections at Gaderinge.com

Does your blog have a purpose?
And do you always remember it when you post?

If you're trying to raise your author/marketing profile you may think publicizing yourself as a writer is enough. After all, you mention your website or blog URL in your bio box whenever you post or guest post. People can find you, right?

We all know that great content will attract and keep readers but wonderful writing is not enough. Remember the disappointment when the article you labored over and polished to perfection had no readers, shares, or comments at all?  Visitors only return to a blog regularly when it appears regularly and provides helpful information they need.

The best marketers sell by providing valuable information and reports free for some time before they start promoting their own products. The secret of success seems to lie in the communication between author and readers. The most successful guest posts on my blog--and they're read again and again, year after year--are those written by authors teaching or discussing some aspect of writing for publication. If I don't pay attention to that, I'm losing readers and all ability to increase traffic.

The Mobile Revolution
I'm a new convert to checking out emails swiftly on my mobile phone. But if a site takes ages to load, I delete the email and I'm not the only one. In this week's Boost Blog Traffic , Greg Hickman pointed out that for the first time this year, more mobile devices than desktop PCs were accessing the Internet. My teenage students don't have e-readers, they read on their phones. My older friends read on their tablets.

It's worth checking out how well and how fast your site loads on a mobile device and also how easy it is to read. Anyone who finds you must be able to find your email opt-in box and fill it in easily.

Autoresponders
For those of us running sites on a budget, ListWire is a free autoresponder with a good reputation so I shall be trying it out this month and reviewing it in October. So far, I have worked out how to make some jolly little boxes but not how to insert it into my Blogger blog where I have a dynamic views template. I'm trying out one of these flying hover-boxes which once appeared momentarily in a dazzling shade of blue (my mistake) but was never seen again (probably my mistake again. Still pondering that.)

Breaking News
 An email in my inbox this week announced the disappointing news that the Muse Online Writing Conference is not taking place this year but that all registrations will be carried forward to the 2015 Conference.

I have not managed to verify this as yet but am flagging it up as I see people still wondering about how to register. If anyone has any news please post it in the comments.

 You can of course follow my Write a Novella for Publication course in October instead--if I ever manage to get the course ready in time--of course I shall--and if I ever manage to fly in opt-in boxes that work. Not so sure about that--all still in the air.

 And all tips for increasing visitors to my blogs will be gratefully received in the comments below.

 Anne Duguid is a freelance content editor with MuseItUp Publishing and she passes on helpful writing,editing and publishing tips from time to time at Slow and Steady Writers 

Never too Old to Learn New Tricks to Help Your Writing Soar

I am a great believer that we as writers are never too old to learn new tricks to make our writing and our careers soar. That being said I am also aware that some of those "new" tricks may be more difficult for some.

Those same skills that are a must for promoting our work can be absolutely maddening for writers who rather write than do any more techie things needed to connect to outsiders, yet those outsiders are our audience and buy our writing.

I have struggled myself with many fears about the techie world... some days it is a challenge to just open a Google document or sign a contract with an E-signature. I recognize that I needed some added encouragement and instruction so I am taking a course with Julie Foster Hedlund on How to Make Money as a Writer which I am hoping will ease some of my fears about the technical word of promotion and maybe my also fear of success. I need to continue to learn.

Here are  easy tips to get over the fear of technology and get on with the business of writing.

• Educate yourself on the phases of promotion and production that you are most unfamiliar with. Take classes, on-line courses, read books on the matter, and practice.
• Practice. This may seem elementary but if you only post to your blog once a month or to your website infrequently then it may take some time to remember how to do it. Guilty as charged. My website takes me a minute every time I go there because I let it go thinking I have nothing new to promote. Wrong. We always have something we can say at least once a week to reach our audience. Getting onto that site more frequently and taking notes helps to make adding content easier.
• Set Goals. Setting goals will help you to be productive without the frustration. Make the goals for what you need to do or learn reasonable, for instance work on adding images or posting regularly first then go on to adding video etc,
• Get feed back. Ask others to view what you have done to your site and give you honest feedback on how your technical additions work. Do your pages flow smoothly and are they easy to manage? Can your audience go from the home page on your site to the other pages you offer online? If not, they won't return. Ask for help if you can't get your site to do what you want. Consider paying someone more experienced to do your changes if you don't have time. And if it is E-publishing that you want, find sources that make the process run well and can take some of the pressure off of you- the writer. Many writers handle the start to finish of every e-book they write and others don't want to be bothered with some of the formatting and such. Know your limits and find others who excel in what you need assistance with.
• Keep going. Never give up even if you feel lost in the techie world. Writing is the first and most important step to success, and the technical stuff will follow either by yourself with learning or by finding another to help.

Social media and all the technical online expectations of an author increase everyday as the audience needs to continually be entertained and engaged. Now is the time to get on board and add more spark to your self promotion and your presentation of your work. Education and practice will give your work just the boost it needs. Remember we are never too old to learn new tricks to make our writing soar.

Terri Forehand and her husband live in the hills of Brown County Indiana where they own a quilt shop. She writes for children and adults, is the author of The Cancer Prayer Book and has begun designing her own patterns with stories to match with the goal of making her writing soar. Her website is www.terriforehand.webnode.com or visit her blog at http://terri-forehand.blogspot.com

 

Blogging – The 5 Most Popular Blog Post and Article Formats

By Karen Cioffi

It’s a content marketing fact: Blogging is one of the most effective authority building, persuasive, and money-making marketing strategies.

This being the case, it means you need to regularly post content to your blog. It may be multiple times a day, once a day, three-times a week, once a week, or once a month.

No matter what, you need to post to your blog on a regular basis. While I did put ‘once a month’ in the list, to blog effectively you should be blogging more than that. Conservatively speaking, once a week is the minimum.

But, suppose you’re motivated and want to post to your blog three or more times a week. What do you write about? What blog formats can you use? How do you keep it up?

The 5 Most Popular Blog Post Formats

To make life easier, there are certain blog post formats or templates that you can use. Kind of like a fill in the blanks template. These templates will give you quick to follow guidelines and make the writing process quicker and easier. So, let’s get to it. Here are the five most popular blog post formats:

1. The How-to Blog Post

The how-to post is about providing instructions or steps to explain to the reader how to do something and people love them. The post should answer your readers’ question or provide the solution to his problem. In other words, as with all your posts, it should be informative and helpful.

The writing process is standard: address the target audience and note the problem (the introduction); give the solution (this is the body of your post), give the conclusion.

Aside from your post title, the introduction is where you will turn your readers’ attention to interest. This section will motivate the reader to read on.

2. The List-based Blog Post

The list-based format is simply providing a list of things. It may be “10 Steps to a Lighter You”. It may be “5 of the Most Important Opt-in Words There Are.” You get the idea. Choice your topic, create your title, and list the advice or tips.

This post format is another one that people love. It’s easy to read and easy to follow. And, if you scan the articles you read, like me, it’s easy to pick out the information pertinent to you.

When writing in the list-based format strive for organization, sequencing, clarity, and use bullet points or numbered sequencing. Make sure that each step flows into the next logically. You always want to keep it simple for the reader.

Tip: Bullet points should be used when the information within each point has little text. Numbered paragraphs should be used when the points have more text. This article is an example of the need for numbered paragraphs.

3. The Content Curation Blog Post

Before we get into the format, let’s go over what content curation is. In simple terms, it’s using someone else’s content on your site by linking to it. You lead into the source content with your own perspective and ideas. Then add text leading the reader to the original source. You might use: ‘To read more about this, go to . . .’ Or, you might use: To read the original article, go to . . .

The idea is to link to the source article through a ‘more reading’ setup.

The benefit to you is saving time. You don’t have to write a full post, yet you get fresh content that will be helpful to your readers. The fresh content and fresh viewpoint helps increase your authority and helps build you into the ‘go to person’ for your niche.

You do though need to make sure the content is relevant to your site and it’d be a good idea if you leave a comment on the original article’s post.

Another benefit to this blog format is trackbacking. Linking to the original source’s post will bring the attention of the source site to your site. 

4. The Newsjacking Blog Post

The newsjacking blog post format is about making use of headline news within your industry/niche. This type of post is usually timely. It’s very useful if you want to be the one to bring breaking news to your audience.

Another way to use newsjacking is to create an in-depth analysis of the breaking news or simply give your perspective, after the fact. Just be careful not to plagiarize the content. You can reference the news content, but be sure to make the post content your own

You can also use newsjacking with the curation format.

5. The Slideshare or Video Blog Post

This format takes advantage of visual (and audio) content, in place of all text.  This format helps break things up a bit. People love visuals. Adding videos or Slideshare presentations spices your blog up.

Along with adding variety, the visual posts allow you to actually demonstrate tricky topics. For example, when explaining how to use hyperlinks or deep links, it’s much easier for the reader to SEE how to do it, rather than read about it.

Just like the other formats, you do need an introduction explaining the problem and how you can help fix it. Then lead into the video or Slideshare presentation with something like: ‘Watch the video to see how it’s done.’ Or, use ‘Flip through the Slideshare I created to demonstrate just how to do it.’

Here’s an example of a Slideshare post:

Article Marketing – Optimize Your Blogger Blog Posts

Summing it All Up
Blogging is a must if you want to create and increase visibility, readership, leads, and sales. But, simply blogging isn’t enough, you need to know how to blog effectively. Using these five blogging formats will help you keep your blog posts fresh and keep your audience engaged and informed.

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Original article source: http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2014/03/blogging-5-most-popular-blog-post-and.html

Karen Cioffi is an Online Platform and Website Optimization Instructor. You can check out her services at: Build an Online Platform That Works

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I hope you found this information interesting and helpful. Too advanced, not enough, just right? I’d really love to know, so please leave a comment – good or bad.

P.S. If you liked this article, PLEASE SHARE IT!

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Content Marketing - Is Blogging Worth the Time and Effort?

By Karen Cioffi

The writer and marketer must do lots and lots of things to keep their head above the marketing waters. And, those marketing waters are constantly moving. How do you keep up? And, what are the most effective marketing strategies to use?

Since the game is always changing, it’s important to keep up with marketing trends. One useful tool for this is Technorati’s 2013 Digital Influence Report.

According to their new report, which is based on “over 6,000 influencers, 1,200 consumers, and 150 top brand marketers,” blogs are now heavy hitters with consumers. Blogs are regarded as trustworthy, they are popular, and they wield influence over consumer buying decision making.

So, to answer the title question: Yes it is.

To further validate the importance of blogs, the report shows that blogs have more motivational buying power than Facebook (FB). That’s pretty amazing since FB is the top social network brands use to create visibility and develop relationships with consumers. In other words, brands use FB more than other social networks and they put more budget dollars into it than other social networks.

Reviewing the Technorati Report, Social Media Examiner explained that the reason blogs are so influential is because “bloggers tend to be very honest and sincere in their reviews of products and services. They talk about both negative and positive aspects of a brand, and in doing so become a trusted source of information. Trust drives action, and thus consumers look to bloggers before they buy.”

The study also showed that FB cornered 91 percent of brand presence, while Twitter cornered 85 percent.

Another important finding of this study is that over 50 percent of consumers feel that smaller communities offer more influence. Even new sites were trusted over social networks.

Summary of Findings

From this study it would seem that people like connecting with other people, not crowds. They like the personal relationship, the kind of one-on-one relationship that social networks don’t necessarily offer.

While the study focused on brand marketers, the results are applicable to your author or freelance writing site. Knowing that people in general trust blogs and look to them for information along with help and guidance to make purchasing decisions is powerful.

It’s understandable that this information may not be interesting to most. You may not care about knowing which social network is more popular with the heavy hitters or the percentage of marketing budget dollars brands spend on social networking. But, having proof that you’re not blogging in vein should put a smile on your face.

Take advantage of this knowledge. Blogs matter. They’re important and can be influential. Keep blogging!

Article Source: http://www.karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com/2013/08/online-marketing-is-blogging-worth-time.html

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I hope you found this information interesting and helpful. Too advanced, not enough, just right? I’d really love to know, so please leave a comment – good or bad.

P.S. If you liked this article, PLEASE SHARE IT!



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Karen Cioffi, the Article Writing Doctor
Prescription for Your Content Marketing Needs
Content Writing Training for Small Businesses, Solopreneurs, and the Freelance Writer

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The Evolved SEO Marketing – Content Discoverability and Socialization (the top 3 strategies)

By Karen Cioffi

SEO marketing has evolved significantly over the past couple of years. While the fundamentals are the same, it now includes socialization and organic inbound content marketing that promotes discoverability.

Search Engine Watch describes the new SEO as “web presence optimization.” The site goes on to note that it’s “an all-encompassing approach to optimizing an entire web presence for organic search including the website, social channels, blogs, articles and press releases.” (1)

Of the many elements of SEO, there are three strategies that are at the top of the content discoverability popularity list and the ones you should be most concerned with.

The 3 most popular SEO marketing strategies:

1. Blogging with Effective Keywords, Content, and Socialization

One of the basics of the ‘evolved’ search engine optimization strategy is organic inbound content marketing. It’s the process of bringing traffic to your website through discoverable content, such as blog posts.

A major element of your content should be the ‘tried and true’ use of keywords. Keywords will drive search traffic to your website and ultimately drive conversion.

Conversion is the process of getting visitors to become subscribers, customers, clients or say YES to some other call-to-action you have in place.

It’s the combination of effective and targeted keywords and quality content that will produce the results you want. It delivers visitors to your site and motivates them to share your content with their networks.

Part of this optimization process that brings traffic to your site is sharing your content with your own social networks as soon as it’s published.

2. Guest Blogging

Spread your wings. Research sites that are relevant to your niche and that have high authority and query the owner or follow the site’s guidelines if available.

Guest blogging helps you take-it-up-a-notch. This content marketing strategy brings you to the attention of the high-ranking website you’re guesting on and to the attention of that site’s readers.

Guest blogging has a two-fold benefit. It helps you develop a connection with the site owner, possibly leading to other things, and it broadens your visibility.

To make your guest blogging gigs worth the time and effort, you need to create an effective ‘About the Author’ for the end of your articles. It’s important to make the author tag focused on the reader, not about you. Let the reader know what she’ll get if she clicks on your link.

3. Article Directories

While article marketing via article directories has been around a while, it’s still a top SEO marketing strategy.

As with guest blogging, it’s about using relevant keywords that will allow readers to find your article and it’s about writing quality content that other blog owners will find of value and ‘shareable.’ Other blog and website owners will read your quality content and want to share it with their own audience. This will prompt them to post it to their own sites, especially since it’s free content.

And, as with guest blogging, you need to have an effective ‘About the Author’ with a call-to-action, usually leading to your email list opt-in. Make your Bio count. An effective Bio will let the reader know that if he clicks on your link, he’ll get even more helpful information.

Summing it Up

The evolved SEO marketing strategy is all about discoverability and shareability. The means to this end is optimized content that is driven by organic inbound marketing strategies.

In other words, if you write it using optimization strategies (keywords and valuable content) they will come. And, they will share what you’ve written. This will please the ‘search engine powers that be,’ which in turn will give you higher ranking and authority.

Higher ranking and authority = more perceived value and more traffic, resulting in more conversion.

How About You?

What SEO marketing strategies do you use?

Reference
(1) http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2288392/Time-for-a-New-Definition-of-SEO

Like this article? Please share it!

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MORE ON ONLINE MARKETING

Marketing with Newsletters and Blogs – Your own and Others
Book Marketing and Beyond Book Sales: Marketing and Diversification
Email Marketing – Your Opt-in Landing Page

Use Images Carefully - They May be Copyrighted and You Could be Sued

By Karen Cioffi

It’s funny, a couple of months ago I accidentally deleted a lot of my images in GooglePlus. Because of this accident, the images in the blog posts at Writers on the Move were deleted. The grey generic circle took their place.

At the time, I was annoyed with myself and warned everyone to be careful when deleting photos in their Google+ accounts. Using images is an effective way to make our blog posts more engaging. It’s an effective marketing tool.

Well, I recently read two SCARY articles from bloggers, one a PR company, who were sued for using copyrighted images in their blogs without permission. In both cases, it wasn’t done intentionally, but none the less they were sued for a significant amount of money and had to pay.

I don’t copy images off the internet to post on my blogs, at least not that I can remember doing. For years, I’ve used image services like, BigStock.com and buy images when needed. I also use Microsoft Word’s Clipart. And, lately, I’ve been creating my own images, like the one above. I bought the image of the rabbit holding a sign then added the "Be Aware" and background color.

Going back to the articles I read, it was mentioned that even Pinterest could be problematic. Comments mentioned that Pinterest protects itself and if you are caught repinning an image you don’t have the copyright to, you’ll be on your own.

I haven’t read the fine print on the site, so don’t know for sure. It’d be interesting to find out though. I’m thinking of eliminating my boards that could be a problem, like my Around the World and One Day. I love the images on them, but they’re not worth possibly being sued over.

So, should this concern ordinary, run-of-the-mill bloggers?

YUP!

This isn’t just a scenario heavy-hitter sites need to worry about. It’s something anyone blogging with images needs to be concerned about, unless your 100% sure your images are safe.

I’m including the links to both articles because I think everyone should be warned about this. Ignorance of copyright laws won’t save you. Adding attribution or taking the image down won’t save you. It’s time to rethink image use before it’s too late.

You’ll learn a whole lot more from these articles:

"Bloggers Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Pics on Your Blog - My Story"
(Read the comments also for tips on safe images)

"How using Google Images can cost you $8,000"

I love to know what you think of this using images in your posts. And, it'd be great if you share where you get your images from.