Tag: Directories

4 Things you must do before hit publish!

Paul
Creative writing class-fine arts center (40269...

It’s all about the readers!

I’ve not been one to say this much, but if your read my blog you know I care about my readers.  I’m not saying that I will make your jaw drop most of the time but there are times that I think a blog post and want to help others when it comes to writing your own.  In this article we will discuss some basic writing ideas that I’ve come to realize and want to share with you.  I’m sure others have said something similar but I’m hoping to make it more understandable for the common reader and writer.

Before we can start talking about writing and blogging which to me are the same exact thing, some others might think of them differently.   I wanted to at least ask you some questions that we will be exploring in this article.

  • Why are you blogging?

  • How to come up with a topic!

  • Know your Audience

  • Is there a Length limit?

  • What are you trying to accomplish?

Who Influences YOU?

FOCUS ON ONE QUALITY BLOG!(Affiliate Link)
Guest post on related high quality blogs.
Collaborate with social-media savvy bloggers.

In all things you do FOCUS on RELATED collaborations!

Quantity Equals Failure. Success Focuses on Quality!


When you started blogging did you think you should have more than one blog, I did. I even tried that in the last year but I found that I didn’t get any more money than when I was blogging by myself.  I love to read what Gail writes about on her blog when she does because I get the most insight into how to blog just a little more.  I must admit, I need to start having more RSS feeds and expand my reading to even more blogs.  I have started to create a bigger list of blogs that I think I will enjoy to read on a weekly basis and this is my hope that I become a better blogger for you and others.

Writing Topics

Having been blogging for a few years, I’ve come to understand that if you don’t use the right topic, no one will come to visit your blog or read your blog post because it just doesn’t interest them to click.   Some bloggers have done some great topics Like Shevonne, who writes about her new phase of life.   She tries to get the reader involved and make them see that their is more to her than just about blog posts.    If you read her blog post you will see that she actually does a great job at drawing the reader and making them think about their own life and what phase they are in.   It is more engaging to the reader to actually have something to relate to whether it be on a blog or in person.  Find a Topic and start typing, it really doesn’t have to be a big blog post but it helps if you let your mind wander and keep it coming.

Try to limit the Length of Post!

 250 is enough
A long post is easier to forget and harder to get into. A short post is the opposite. 

Problogger

This isn’t always going to work when it comes to writing those blog posts.   I usually like to keep it under 1,000 words per post but I’ve found that sometimes, the more you write about a subject the more you will want to add to it.  Sometimes, you need to experiment and see what your readers will read and what comments you get from them.  I’ve even tried that with some of my latest blog posts but that isn’t always going to work for you and you should figure out what the sweet spot is for your blog.

Be Youself!

Trying to imitate someone is nice, and some may consider that flattery.  I don’t know if it is me or if your here just to because your found this article interesting.   Nothing can change who you are and who you will become, so just writing about a subject without at least adding your own flair of personality will not get you any where in getting people involved.   People want to connect with you and see your flaws and your personality more than they want to read a HOW TO or reviewing an product.   I’ve found this to be very true, if all your doing is just reviewing products, you may never see the true potential of revenue but if your connect with your readers in a blog post they will come back again, and again just because they want to see what else that makes you human!

Summary of the Post!

I’ve given you a lot to think about when you write a blog post and I am sure this isn’t going to be a
n easy article to digest but if your follow these rules then you will become a better writer and thus you will have people come to your blog more and more.   After all, if your writing about anything, you are wanting to connect with your readers in one way or another and that is the main reason for blogging for me at least.   Topics are only one way to engage the reader to come back time and time again.  I write to connect with my readers and If you liked this blog post please feel free to share it with your friends and family.   I’d love to hear your stories and comments because that helps me find out what I am doing wrong or what I am doing right.

If you like this post, feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed or Subscribe to my Email list.   I send one out every time I publish a blog post, so you can keep up to date on what is going on my website.

Paul Sylvester

Related articles

Is your Blog half empty or half full?

Paul

Are you blogging and nothing is happening?

Let’s face it, having a blog doesn’t always mean you going to get the audience that you expect. I might not be the perfect example for blogging but it is what everyone is wanting to have a blog. Getting past the noise alone can be a very hard process. You never know who will read your blog or who will comment. That alone could make or break your blog writing ability. I don’t mean that it would actually break your blog or anything of that nature, but I am talking about who comes to your blog and why.   This is the reason why some bloggers blog and others journal, each to its own.    Some like to just write down their thoughts and others are looking for the lifetime of knowledge.

Blogging isn’t really about money!

Some bloggers want to make money and others like me want to build a community.    It’s not that your blog is half empty but you should consider your blog as being half full.  Your probably trying to figure out what you need to blog about but you really should be searching for what you want to blog about and not thinking about the money.  Although I would be amiss if I didn’t at least want to make money blogging.   My goal however is to do something that I love and that is to write.   I might not have a lot of writing skills but I will learn and adapt.   Adaptation is the key to a good blog at least in my case.  Knowing that is one part of a bigger picture some would say.

Finding the Time to blog!

This is another facts of life, for some it is easy to find time to blog and for others well just say they need to blog at all hours of the night.    It is actually just personal preferences when to blog, but just because you blog doesn’t mean you are going to make a dent in who will come.   It however does mean that you can work hard and expect to make money.  So here are some points that I am going to work on:

  • Work with other bloggers — Having seen how this can help me, I will be collaborating with other bloggers to become a better blog.

  • Work on my blog — I’m am going to rededicate myself to making this a better blog.

  • Making money —  Hey I didn’t say I wouldn’t want to make money but that is something that is going to be secondary to creating a better blog.

  • Helping others — If you need help creating your own blog or setting up your blog then you can contact me and hire me to help you in creating a good blog.

Paul Sylvester

Related articles

Intro To Podcasting : Part 3

Paul

Amber MacArthur and Leo Laporte Image via Wikipedia

This is where it gets interesting!

Have you ever wanted to know why celebrities like Leo Laporte dedicate 5 mins to talk about a certain product.   This is what everyone would call Word of Mouth Advertising.   If you have not read my other two articles this would be a very good time to review them:

As you can see there is a lot to talk about and not very much time to talk about each and everyone.   This tutorial is more or less going to be the outline for those of you who would want to monetize your podcasts and bring in even more revenue.   It isn’t easy making money but you have to consider the impact of the recommending a product or service and how your audience will take it.

Making Money from your Podcast!

Like I was talking about you don’t have to be approached by any company.   You can make money just by asking readers to go to a special URL.   These URL are quite easy to do and can be done using a .htaccess file on the domain of your choice.  Some ideas about making easy URL redirection links are:

There is some debate whether this is moral or not.   I can not say because I even know that your aren’t trying to hide it just make it easier for the listeners to go to a site through your affiliate link.   I am sure someone out there will remind me that this has been abused in the past.   I would argue just because of it being used wrongly in the past doesn’t mean every site or podcast is doing it maliciously.   I will say that it is far easier to say a simple URL then to have a complicated URL for podcast listeners to remember.

You don’t need paid sponsors!

When I say that I mean it, if you already have accounts with affiliates like Amazon or Hostgator then you can star making money.   This is essential a free way to make without having to find sponsors to pay.   You do however have to be careful which ones you recommend and advertise on your podcast.  Some important things to consider is:

  • The length of the podcast

  • No more than1 affiliate per 30 mins

  • Recommend products you use all the time

  • Always do research on your product or service before hand

In my final tutorial we will discuss the pro’s and cons of Paid versus Free podcast hosting and which one fits you and why.   These are all hard questions that you will need to answer before you can actually start to podcast.   Until then . . .

Paul Sylvester

 

 

Related articles

Write the blog post that you want to read!

Paul1 Reply

ERMETH was one of first computers in Europe wh... Image via Wikipedia

Finding the Inspiration?

No one wants to write about something people would not want to write less alone come visit your blog.   Sometimes the only way to get inspired is to visit other blogs to get inspired.   It can be a difficult process to some but others it is easy.   It however depends on your writing ability and how you approach a topic.   We’ve all had those times when we need to come up with an idea and expand on it.  A lot of times when I write a blog post, I don’t come up with a title until I have wrote the post.   This is something that I have learned to do because it helps me find a good blog post name.   This is one of my tips for those who want to know how to blog.   I will give you several tips to help you

How Do I get Inspired?

I am sure some of you are wondering how I get inspired.   I am going to give you some important tips to blog and finding your topics:

  • Always think about Blog titles anywhere you go — This is something I always think about whenever I do anything from chatting with friends to working on someones computer.   I ask myself, “Is this a good blog topic?”, If you answer yes then you should write it down to use later on.

  • Dedicate so many hours a week to blogging — This is another important factor because without work you will not make any new readers come to your site.  I usually try to give myself an hour or two a day to write a blog post but some people will probably be different depending on how fast you type and what you write about.

  • Guest Blog — This also helps you get inspired and also brings you more readers to your new blog.  I want to bring more readers to my blog and I might decide to guest blog even more to bring more people here.

  • Find your passion — If you don’t have a passion, your readers will not see it and it will not draw more people to your blog.   The readers are coming to your blog for one reason or another.   That first impression can make or break you, so always right about things that you enjoy and know.

Don’t get Burned out!

This is also something that important to me and others.   I however don’t have a good way to prevent some blogs from having blog burnout.   I’d love to hear how you get past this little problem and help others get past that problem.  I know I have had that in the past and would love to learn new techniques to prevent that in the future.    How Do you prevent it?

Paul Sylvester

Related articles

Intro to Podcasting Part 2

Paul1 Reply

Station building and one of the towers of Mota... Image via Wikipedia

What is old is New Again!

In my previous post about podcasting, I talked about What is Podcasting and why you would want to podcast. These are some important questions that you must first want to answer before you start podcasting. It is one of the most terrifying things anyone could do but the most enjoyable after you do start podcasting. You can become an expert in your own right but just because you are podcasting doesn’t mean you know everything or to ignore the little guy.  You can learn at lot from other podcasters in your field or area.  It isn’t that you need to be afraid of the other guys but you should at least be working together and bringing other followers to your podcast.

How to Podcast!

Everyone who ever wanted  to podcast should do their research.   I happen to have done some research on the subject and also was part of several different podcasts.   Some of my most memorable podcasts were:

As you can see these are just a few of the podcasts that I was part of.   I really enjoyed them and I wanted to help those who wanted to start your own podcast.   The setup that Mike Smith has is something that only grows from the passion and dedication of his love of community.  It however is not the bare bones to say the least.   He has bought this equipment one piece at a time and you should really start off small and work your way to big.   So what are bare essentials?  It is just these things:

That is the Bare minium you will need to start podcasting.   It however isn’t going to be expensive but it will be time consuming.   So as you can tell some of this is going to be optional but others are required to podcast.   Most of this is just what you feel is needed for your podcast.  If your looking for an in depth article you can check out the how to podcast tutorials.   They give you some excellent advice on what it is required of you to podcast.

The Purpose of Podcast!

It isn’t hard to understand why anyone would podcast but if you are curious as to the purpose of podcasting, well I will explain it to you.   Before we had computers we had radio stations and before we had radio stations we had a campfire.   As you can see, we are always want to connect to other people through spoken words because it makes it more personable and real to us.   We all want to be a part of a community to learn something new, so that is where podcasting comes into play.   We can be driving our car and listen to a podcast like an audio book, and not be around a computer.   It seems more and more people are doing this while driving, and less and less listening to the radio.   I must say a good podcast keeps me driving for hours without having to turn the station.

Are you going to be a podcaster or are a podcaster.   I’d love to here your experiences.   Feel free to leave a comment and tell others how you got into the business of podcasting!

Paul Sylvester


Related articles