Posts Tagged ‘blogging’
by Jonathan Bailey on January 11th, 2012
Almost every blogger wants to improve their writing and no blogger is perfect at it. However, the only way to truly get better at writing is to either keep working at it, writing every day for years on end, or to study it intensely in a classroom.
But if you don’t have time to either go back to school or wait for practice to improve your work, there are actually a few things you can do right now, in a matter of minutes, that can drastically improve the quality of your writing.
So, if you’re looking to create better written blog posts tomorrow, here are just a few things you can try to help spruce up and clean out your blog writing habits. Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: blogging, editing, editor, improve writing, writing
by James Dunaway on January 9th, 2012
Building a finance blog is easy. Building a popular finance blog is a lot harder. The Internet is full of them, big and small, and while it is simpler than ever to create one, it is getting harder to be noticed in the sea of sites available – especially in a niche where many will turn first to official financial sources like the Wall Street Journal or MSNBC.
But difficult doesn’t translate into impossible, by any means. You don’t have to worry about competing in the beginning. Instead, what you have to be focused on is knowing how to generate a high traffic site by taking baby steps toward that end. That can be done in several key ways that are less complicated than you might think.
Accept That It Can Take a While
Time is the key ingredient to any blog’s success. You can’t just expect to put up a couple of posts and have everyone flock to see them. There is content to build, and there are connections to make, reblogs to receive andmarketing tactics to try. Even just leaving it there while you continue to add more content will work, but again, it all takes time.
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Categories: Blogging Sense, Blogging Tips, General
Tags: blogging, blogs, finance, finance blogs, how-to, tips
by James Dunaway on December 24th, 2011
You run a blog, and it is great. While it used to be a simple hobby, usually seen more as a personal journal on the web than anything of practical use, there are endless opportunities that come along with today’s blogging system.
All of this includes a great deal of exposure, even if you are just starting out. Changes in search engines have brought the smallest of blogs onto everyone’s radar.
Most of your concern is going to be divided between content and marketing. These two factors will dictate whether or not you are being followed by a large-enough number to make it a business. If you are a freelancer of any description, it could also be what makes all the difference between getting and not getting that dream project. It is your livelihood at stake. Read More
Categories: Blogging Sense, Blogging Tips
Tags: blogging, editorial calendar
by Jonathan Bailey on December 14th, 2011
Pretty much everyone knows that running, if done properly, can be very good exercise and provide a lot of great health benefits. However, since I’ve taken up running in the past year, getting more serious in the last 4 months. I’ve noticed that the physical benefits are only a small part of the rewards.
Running, in particular endurance running, is a mindset more than anything and thinking like a runner, even if you aren’t one, has a lot of great benefits in your life and in your blogging.
So even if you’re not the type to get off the couch or wear running gear, getting into the mind of a runner can help you get the most out of your blogging and out of any other task that requires endurance and perseverance. Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: blogging, endurance, perseverance, running
by Jonathan Bailey on November 30th, 2011
I’ll admit it. I’m not much of a sports fan. I can’t recall the last time I went to a sporting event live and the last time I watched a game of any sport all the way through on TV was about two years ago.
However, this doesn’t mean that sports don’t have a great deal to teach us about competition, cooperation and overcoming obstacles. The truth is that every match, game and event is a contest between talented competitors and the winner is determined by a variety of factors, many of which apply equally well to our every day struggles.
In that way, sports actually are a microcosm for life itself and there’s a lot we can learn from it. However, that doesn’t mean that all of the lessons are straightforward or even pleasant. After all, sports in real life are nothing like sports movies.
So what are those lessons? Here are five to consider as you work to grow or improve your blog. Read More
Categories: Blogging Sense
Tags: baseball, blogging, football, Lessons, losing, soccer, sports, tennis, winning
by Jonathan Bailey on November 23rd, 2011
Blogging is an inherently social activity, just one that happens to be done with millions of other people all across the globe.
As with any social activity, there are social norms that develop and pertain to the way that bloggers interact with one another. These aren’t necessarily laws (though there is some relationship when you look at copyright) but they are general guidelines to help ensure that bloggers don’t needlessly injure one another and work together for the betterment of the larger community.
What exactly those standards are is up for debate. Often times, what one sees as the norm will depend as much on other factors as it does their role as a blogger. But still, there are a few generally-agreed upon norms out there, but they also happen to be very easy boundaries to cross at times.
So what are some missteps you might be making in your interactions with other bloggers? Here are five of the more common ones. Read More
Categories: Blogging Sense
Tags: anchor text, blogging, Comments, faux pas, Links, pingbacks, seo, social, trackbacks
by James Dunaway on November 9th, 2011
Most people think that blogging is an easy job. But what people don’t know is that, just like any other job, it has its own unique set of obstacles and challenges. Blogging may allow you to work at home, which to some people sound like the best deal in the world. But working at home also means you have to be very diligent in your time management. There are far more distractions when you work at home, for example the daily chores at home you need to do or the demands of the family especially if you have children. These are just some of the things that will demand your time and could pull you away from what you actually need to do at work. Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: bloggers, blogging, time management, work, work at home
by James Dunaway on November 7th, 2011
Any niche blog has a good chance of generating a fair amount of buzz. Because it is specified to a single category, it focuses the traffic it brings in and is able to reach a targeted audience much better than more general websites. One great example of this principle in action is the design blog, which is a highly relevant topic in today’s web-centric world.
Over the years a pattern has emerged from successful design blogs when it comes to subject, content and the process of running them. Through these patterns we can learn a lot about how to successfully market on a viral scale, especially with web sharing being a near-constant source of attention in a time when word of mouth has been adapted to provide an incredible source for marketing.
These are some of the best tips that can be learned from design blogs, which you can then take with you to begin your viral marketing campaign. Read More
Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: blogging, blogs, tips, viral marketing
by Jonathan Bailey on October 26th, 2011
Halloween is less than a week away and it’s officially crunch time for all things horror-related. If you celebrate Halloween, there’s a good chance that you are either looking to or already have checked out a haunted attraction in your area.
But while haunted houses and other haunted attractions can be a good and scary time, they’re also businesses. Like most businesses, they need to have a Web presence to promote themselves, pass out critical information and, most importantly, interact with potential customers 24/7. Also like most businesses, haunted attraction sites have a particular style associated with them.
This style is determined by a large number of factors including the nature of the business itself, especially how seasonal it is, what customers are usually looking for in a haunted attraction and the relatively limited number of design firms that work on these sites.
However, in that style there are a lot of great lessons for other webmasters, including bloggers. While this is definitely a broad generalization, as someone who has visited dozens, if not hundreds of haunted attraction websites, not counting the site for the one I operate, I see a lot of things that these sites do right and a lot of things they do wrong.
As such, here are my lessons that everyday bloggers can glean from haunted attraction websites, including both the things everyone should emulate and the mistakes to avoid. Read More
Categories: Blogging Sense
Tags: blogging, branding, design, flash, haunted attractions, haunted houses, Navigation
by James Dunaway on October 21st, 2011
If you take amazing photographs that people want to view the thought of creating your very own photography blog may have entered into your mind, however unlike a standard blog there are certain considerations you will want to take that can help your pics based website gather a loyal following.
1. Make Your Photos The Focal Point Of The Website
When choosing a template for your photography blog you want your photos to stand out the moment viewers enter your pages. By isolating your work you allow your visitors imagination to run wild, soaking in your photos without becoming distracted by a lot of print the moment they enter your blogs pages.
One example of simple is better design for a photography comes from Theme Foundry and their theme titled “Photography” here’s a look at how simplicity shows off an artists work without distracting visitors:
You can also choose to use various photography website builder programs which are offered on “one-click blog creation” services. Typically easy photography blog builders use a portfolio type setup such as the one shown above.
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Categories: Blogging Tips
Tags: blogging, Photography Blog
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