All Entries Tagged With: "writing"
What Is A Blog?
Many people still do not know what a blog is. As long as this form of communication has been around you would think that business owners would begin to understand. But they haven’t. Especially small to medium size business owners.
It’s makes sense really. You’re busy running your business. You don’t have time for blogging and you’re not sure why you should. Well, that’s understandable.
While you may not know what a blog is today, you will in a few years. I predict that in five years everyone who is online will be running a blog, or they won’t be getting much traffic to their website. A blog is the best way to attract search engine spiders and humans interested in your topic. But what is a blog?
I will attempt to define a blog in terms that you can understand: A blog is a new way of presenting a website using custom or off-the-shelf software that places the latest information on your website at the top and that also allows you to categorize your information according to keywords that are important to you and your target audience.
Does that confuse you? Let me break it down:
- A blog uses special software – You have to have blogging software of some kind. There are various software packages on the market, but the one I recommend is WordPress. It’s free and relatively simple to learn.
- Organizes latest information at the top of the page – Which means the oldest information is at the bottom and if it’s real old then it’s archived on separate pages.
- Allows you to organize information by keywords – Blogs have categories and tags that allow you to organize your information. Categories are usually niche-related words that you can use to organize your blog posts that are related to each other, but which may contain different information. Tags are better for addressing each separate blog post such that you could have blog posts with information about different topics and placed in different categories that share the same tag simply because you mention a certain item in those blog posts even though the focus of the information is different.
- You become a publisher – As a blogger, you have editorial control. You decide what’s important and what the focus of your information should be. You can write, edit, and publish the information on your blog or hire someone to do it for you.
This is a simple snapshot of what a blog is. It doesn’t contain everything you should know or can know about a blog. Consider it an introduction. If you want to see an example of a blog, you’re looking at one now. Blog Content Provider is a ghostwriting services that manages company blogs for a list of clientele in various industries. Our knowledge of SEO and Internet marketing can benefit you as every blog post has the potential to rank in the search engines for your key phrases. For more information about blogging, check out our website.
7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Hate List Posts
An article I found online:
7 Things I Hate About List Posts!
Lists posts are becoming all to common in the blogging circuit. Here are 7 reasons I hate them!
1. They Insult The Intelligence Of My Readers
I mean seriously, are your readers 6 years old? I know people say that list posts are popular because people don’t have enough time to read a full post, but maybe if your posts were unique and entertaining, while being informative your readers wouldn’t get distracted. What list posts say to me, is that you think your readers can only read in 1-2 sentence blogs – please don’t insult their intelligence!
No they don’t. You have to keep in mind that your readers will vary in reading comprehension skill, intelligence, education, cultural background, and a host of other factors that affect their reading ability. Plus, people read lists as time savers. They are busy. If you write long, drawn out posts that take up a lot of time to read then people will pass up your blog and go somewhere else. You may not be insulting their intelligence, but you’ll sure be wasting their time and that’s disrespectful.
2. My Writing Skills Have Little Impact On The Posts Popularity
Ok. I have an ego problem – who doesn’t? I want to think that the reason my blog and it’s individual posts are popular and successful are a direct result of how entertaining I am or because I wowed my readers with my out of this world wisdom. But I can’t do that with lists.
People don’t care about your writing skills. They care about one thing and one thing only: What’s in it for me? Don’t give them what they want and they’ll go somewhere else to find it.
3. It’s Just Compiling – Only Skill I Need Is Googling!
Following on about my ego. This point really bugs me. Lists are just a compilation of things that a blogger has found by searching on the internet while thinking ‘Reckon people would Digg this?’ or ‘I wonder whether this will get people stumbling me?’ The only skill you need is to be able to google.
Wrong. Coming up with a list that is helpful requires creativity and critical thinking. Sure, you might use Google to help you in your research, but if all you do is type a keyword into the search box and re-use someone else’s list then you deserve to lose readers. Come up with something useful and make a list that is a good source or reference and you’ll get a lot of link bait. The skills you need to make a truly useful list are creativity and critical thinking – those are rare skills.
4. Everyone Is Doing Them
I like to think I’m on the forefront with my blogging, doing the things that no one else has thought of. Hitting the thoughts that no one has dreamed of. But I can’t do that by writing lists. Everyone is doing them. They are the norm. Not me, I’m different. I don’t have to follow the crowd!
Perhaps there is a reason everyone is doing them. They work! Why re-invent the wheel when the wheel is perfect for doing what it does? It’s good to be different, but if being different drives your readers away and instead of drawing them to you then you might as well be doing what everyone else is doing.
5. Everyone Was Doing Them Before MeI didn’t think of doing them, so it mustn’t be a good idea. Right? I mean everyone is just followers, they see one or two big name bloggers doing them and suddenly it’s all the rave. I think the fact that everyone started doing them before me is a sure sign that there is no value in them, so why is everyone still doing them? It’s got nothing to do with me being stubborn.
So what? Everyone will likely be doing them even when you stop. All professional football players wear helmets and shoulder pads. There’s a reason for them. You don’t see Brett Favre running out onto the field without his helmet and shoulder pads, do you? Then why shun convention just because other people are doing it? Don’t be contrarian just because. Be contrarian with a purpose. You’ll get a lot more respect and business that way.
6. Everyone Loves Them
And whats the go? It seems like whenever everyone talks about the best way to write a blog post, that the first answer is alway, ‘Do list posts! Everyone loves them!’ I mean seriously, does everyone really love them or is it just an easy way out of putting actual effort into your posts?
Umm, read the response to No. 5. Honestly, the worst list posts in the world are the ones that repeat themselves. That means you have nothing worth saying. In that case, why say it?
7. The Fact That Even Though I Hate Them I Can’t Help Being Drawn To Them!
And when all is said and done the thing I hate most about list posts is the fact that even though I have listed 6 reason why I hate them, I can’t help but be drawn to them. I see how successful they are – if done right. And if I look back at my complaints I can see if I look at the thoughts they could also be taken as positives.
Tom Sinfield is a blogger that is committed to teaching and inspiring other bloggers to step up and become standout bloggers. Visit his blog at: http://www.standoutblogger.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Thomas_Sinfield
This article had so much potential to be a good one. The writer failed to set me up properly for the conclusion. By the time I got to his seventh point, I was ready to tear him a new one. A little humor and making fun of blogging and lists in the previous six points would have set me up. Instead of getting my ire up, he could have made me laugh and I wouldn’t have been ready to shoot him down. So by the time I got to his last point, the irony was ineffective. Don’t make the same mistake. Even if you don’t use lists.
Blog Branding Made Easy
Is it possible to brand your blog in the same way that you brand a business or product? You bet there is. There are three things that go into branding a blog and you should pay attention to these three things:
- Domain Name
- Blog Design
- Blog “Voice” or Personality
First, let’s talk about your domain name. You should give it some thought. Do your keyword and competition research to find out where your niche is. Then come up with a suitable domain name that uses your keyword and that speaks to what your position within your niche will be. The right domain name is one that tells potential customers what you do and how you can benefit them before they ever visit your blog site.
Blog design is another element that speaks to your brand. Does your design make it easy for customers to know what you do? Is it compatible with your website’s design? If not, you should put a little more thought into blog design. The design of your blog can go a long way to make you successful in your branding efforts.
Finally, the personality behind your blog is important. Who do you have writing your blog? Is that person literate and well-versed in your company philosophy? Your blog writer must understand your place in the market. She should be able to communicate your company vision and values in a simple, non-threatening way. Your blog voice, or personality, should be consistent throughout. In other words, if you change writers on your blog often then you might present a disjointed or inconsistent voice and that will turn some consumers off.
Do Professional Bloggers Get Writer’s Block?
I had to laugh. An article in a popular article directory said professional writers get writer’s block for years:
One of the very many obstacles I see people face when trying to really commit to building a small empire of “big buck blogs” is the common obstacle of simply running out of ideas. The very best writers in the world often get writers block for years, so if you are stuck trying to think of inventive ways to restate the same basic points in YOUR niche…you are not alone…
What a riot. I’m going to have to call Stephen King and ask him if he gets writer’s block.
I’ve been a writer for most of my life. I’ve never had writer’s block. Never. And I’m not exaggerating. The most skeptical among you are probably saying, “Yeah, right. Liar!” But I’m not. I’ve never not been able to write. I always have something to say and if I don’t then I say it anyway. Yes, I’ve written a lot of crap that should never see the eyes of man, but I wrote something. Writer’s block is something I know nothing about.
That’s why I laughed. This guy would have you believe that the very best writers get writer’s block for years. Years? I’ve never known anyone to get writer’s block for years. Not even the worst writers, let alone the best. If a writer gets writer’s block for years then they aren’t a real writer. That’s why this article is so deserving of a laugh.
Then there’s the grammar. The writer isn’t five words into this hack piece before foisting upon his readers two adverbs – yes, those dastardly, wicked, evil words from the other side of writer’s block. I hate them. Not only does he include two adverbs in the first five words, but they’re back to back adverbs. Detestable!
Good writers kill adverbs. They’re useless. They seldom make writing stronger. They almost always weaken it. And they don’t belong in the English language. The person who invented them must have been a non-writer, probably a mathematician.
The rules for blogging are no different than for any other kind of writing. If you can’t think of something to write about, a professional writer can help. Most of us don’t get writer’s block. If we do, we have ways of dealing with it, techniques that help jar us out of it and come up with something to write about. And grammar? Yes, we believe in good grammar. No adverbs. Unless they’re really necessary. Like that really in the last sentence. It was really necessary. But I’ve made a lifetime hobby of killing adverbs and I think that’s how you know when you’ve found a good writer.
