Entries from January 2008 ↓
January 31st, 2008 — blogging
For the Daily Blog Tips writing project, I wrote an article - how to increase RSS Readership
It was hard to choose 3 articles, but these where 3 which stood out
Absolute Guide To Losing Readers - how not to blog and write. Have been guilty myself of some of these problems. Looks a promising blog
How To make your post more attractive using photos. - Photos can definitely help. This is a well thought out tutorial on how to incorporate photos onto your blog. One cautionary note, sometimes it is possible to overdo the photos.
How to Write Scannable Content by Daniel at Daily blog Tips. Simple but effective advice. Getting the right amount of white space is crucial for any blog.
January 29th, 2008 — blogs
Starting a blog is hardwork. You spend several hours writing articles, generating a design, then you look at your stats to see a measly 3 or 4 visitors (and one of those is yourself). It is during the first few months that the majority of bloggers give up. It is a shame because if you can get over the initial difficulties, the slow progress of your blog can be expedited as you build up momentum. This article is based on blogging, but the importance of momentum can also be applied to other aspects of our lives.
Where do We gain momentum From?
1. Enthusiasm to Write
The more we get absorbed in a project the more knowledgeable and enthusiastic we can become. If we take a break of several days, it can be hard to get back into the flow of writing and creating content. If you get into a routine of writing an article everyday, this creates a rhythm which helps your writing. Sometimes it can feel hard to think of new titles, but if you really get into a niche it is surprising where inspiration can come from.
2. Cumulative Effect of Links
In the beginning, we may need to spend a lot of time generating interest and getting links to our blog. This can be through commenting, networking with other bloggers and writing guest posts on other blogs. These tasks can create a steady stream of traffic, but in the beginning it feels only a trickle. However, the more time we spend blogging, the more inbound links that are created. Although these links may have a small individual effect; they become more significant as their number increases. It is like adding a new pebble to a collection each day. Initially, the pebbles seem very insignificant, but over time the collection becomes quite impressive.
If you persevere for long enough there comes a stage when even if we did no more self promotion, there would be a constant flow of external referrals.
3. The Tipping Point.
In the beginning, it is necessary to promote our blog; if people tell you differently they are either lying or very lucky. However, if you can get to a certain level of subscribers and regular readers, there will be sufficient interest for others to promote the blog for you. If you blog is good enough people will start linking without asking. It is at this stage that the blog really generates its own momentum. Also, as you become more successful you generate many favourable advantages. For example, people may be willing to write guest posts. People will look upon you as an authority in your niche. Continue reading →
January 25th, 2008 — Increasing Traffic, blogging
(This post is part of Blogging Tips - Group Writing Project)
When I first began blogging, I didn’t give much priority to RSS readership (partly because I didn’t know what it was :)) but now, increasing RSS readership is one of the main goals for my different blogs. These are some methods that have worked for me; I’ve placed them in a rough order of usefulness. None of them are quick and easy; for them to be effective it is also essential to be able to write good content. If you would like to suggest other methods please add in comments.
Guest Blogging
Probably the most effective way to increase RSS readership is to write guest posts for well established blogs. Recently, I wrote an article for Pick the Brain - 6 characteristics of happiness. With 11,000 subscribers you do get a good return in terms of traffic and boost to RSS subscribers. It is hard work because the articles need to be of a high quality. Also don’t just write 1 guest blog, if you keep guest blogging it creates a cumulative effect and you will become better known within the blogosphere. This personal branding is quite important. - If you keep appearing on top blogs people will want to subscribe to your own. Another benefit of guest blogging is that the article will often rank highly in google, I now get a steady stream of traffic from old guest posts. Therefore, there is a cumulative effect from guest blogging, the more you do it the more powerful it becomes. Zen Habits is an example of a blog which made extraordinary growth in RSS readership through guest blogging.
Commenting on blogs
Commenting on blogs is a slow but steady way to increase your readership. When leaving a comment I try to say something worthwhile because this will make people want to find out more about the commentor. If you just leave ‘nice post’ it is hardly suggests enticing content on your own blog. A good question is whether to leave your URL on a comment. I’m often in two minds about this. For blogs where I regularly comment I don’t put a signature as it might start to irritate people. However, for new blogs, I do often leave a signature or even link to relevant blog post -it helps to create a higher click through rate. Traffic from comments may be low, but the traffic is highly targeted and these are the most likely people to subscribe.
Tips for Commenting
- Choose Popular and / or relevant blogs and try and get in early.
- Use Google Blog Search for your keywords, this helps find new blogs. (I often search ‘Economics’ on google blog search for my economic blog.)
- Say something useful
Continue reading →
January 25th, 2008 — blogging
Just a quick suggestion to enter Daniel’s Daily Blog Tips writing project.
The subject this time is about writing a tutorial. The topic can be on any theme but should concentrate on giving useful advice. I will write a tutorial for writing on here soon.
There is also a first prize of $300, but the real benefits of writing project is the scope for gaining new RSS readers and finding new blogs.
January 24th, 2008 — Increasing Traffic, social bookmark sites
I have used various social bookmarking. In my own experience I have had a much better experience with Stumbleupon than Digg. These are some of the reasons I prefer Stumblupon to Digg. I would be interested if people have a similar or different experience.
1. Stumbleupon Rewards the Best Articles
Stumbleupon seems more democratic. You can submit a good article to digg but it can fly off the new section as quickly as you submit it. Generally stumbleupon is better at picking up on good articles. At digg everything counts on the 24 hour window after first submission, and your network of friends. At stumbleupon it seems less important who are your friends and most stumbles I receive are good quality. Spam doesn’t seem a real problem at Stumbleupon.
2. Stumbleupon doesn’t ban the best sites.
Many times I have seen my favourite sites getting ‘banned’ by digg, usually because they are ‘too successful’ Examples that come to mind include Pick The Brain and Copyblogger. (true sites can come off the banned list, but it can take a long time)
3. Stumbleupon has more Positive Pages.
It seems that on Digg stories that do best are the negative ones. See article at We The Change on Digg At times, the negativity can be overwhelming. When browsing the internet, I like to see some positive stories and articles of inspiration.
4. Stumblers Like Stumbleupon
Whenever I goto Digg the top stories seem to be complaining about Digg, which I find completely uninteresting. At Stumbleupon you aren’t bombarded with articles complaining about rigging of Stumbleupon e.t.c.
5. More Diversity of Interests
Stories that do well at Digg tend to be fairly narrowly focused on a small number of aspects. Stumbleupon enables a greater diversity of topics, it is also easier to choose the topics you are interested in. If you like topics like self improvement or minority interests you will find greater coverage at Stumbleupon. Continue reading →
January 22nd, 2008 — blogging
I began this blog last March, it was initially a blog about writing. But, there seemed a natural connection to blog about blogging. Therefore, I spent quite a lot of time blogging about latest trends in blogging, commenting on other blogs, getting links e.t.c. I did everything a good blogger should do. But, for the effort it seemed to give little reward in terms of traffic and earnings. Therefore, I decided to reorient the blog towards a more specific blog of writing / productivity and internet marketing.
These are some of the reasons Blogging about Blogging is not so easy.
Perhaps the most competitive Niche on the Internet.
I think the blog about blogging is one of the most common types of blogs. It is natural that bloggers should want to blog about what they do, but the result is that there are many blogs saying quite similar things. Therefore, there is competition for traffic, readers and advertising.
Low Click Through Rates
In my experience there is little money to be made from Blogging about blogging, especially if you rely on popular programmes like Google Adsense. Of course people like John Chow show that it is possible to do very well; but, his blog is unique and distinctive. Personally, I have found a much better return from blogging on other subjects like Economics, Cycling, Self Improvement and Mortgages. These blogs are related to products so advertisers are willing to pay more. Also, there is less competition from other bloggers, it seems easier to break into the niche. In terms of hourly pay blogging about blogging is by far the worst. Interesting Problogger, Darren Rowse suggests that his earnings are higher from blogs about digital photography rather than Problogger. Continue reading →
January 9th, 2008 — writing
Writing is a very important skill, which will have significant bearing on your job, personal life and capacity to earn a second income. Whatever your motivation for writing, there is nobody who cannot become a better writer. These are some practical tips that will help you become a better writer
1. Aim High
To improve our writing we need to make it a goal. If we do not care about improving our writing, nobody is going to do it for us. Whatever your current standard, make a sincere effort to improve different aspects of your writing. If you give a priority to this target, there is no reason why you cannot improve.
2. Learn The Art of Simplicity
There is an oft used phrase ‘less is more’ With regard to writing this is particularly relevant. If you can make the same point with less words then this will make you a better writer. Good writing should be effortless to read; it shouldn’t be complicated and take time to decipher.
3. Practise.
If you want to be a better writer, the best thing to do is regularly practise the art. Through regular writing you will become more fluid in your command of language. If you are daunted by the idea of writing 1,000 words, start off with writing 200 words. By writing little and often you will gain increased confidence and assurance.
4. Don’t Aim for Complete Perfection
It may sound paradoxical, but to be a better writer we may have to accept less than perfection. The reason I think this is important is because when we expect perfection from ourselves we become a very slow and ponderous writer. Whatever we write doesn’t sound right, because we know it could be better. This insistence on perfection is the wrong way to begin writing. Start off by allowing yourself just to write, later you can go back and you will be able to improve on your first draft. Also, if we aim for complete perfection we will be very sensitive to any criticism; and this will be a deterrent to our writing. Continue reading →
January 6th, 2008 — writing
Making the most of Time
The great difficulty that we face as writers is the lack of time.
It is easy to think - If only we had the luxury of retiring to a cottage in the Mountains then all our writing difficulties will be solved. However, it is not just about how much time we have, but, how we use it. To maximise our potential as writers we need to make sure we make the best use of time; if we don’t have enough time, we just have to create some extra time.
Some tips for effective writing practises
Dedicate half a day to Writing.
A full day of writing seems quite an onerous task, but, if we give 3-4 hours of writing we can get into the flow of creative writing energy without being overwhelmed. When we are in the right space, writing comes more easily. We should give these time slots a high priority; when we write we should avoid getting distracted by things that can wait for another time. If we are writing articles, don’t just do one at a time; often when I get into the flow of writing I find that the next 2 or 3 articles come quite quickly. Leave the uploading of articles to your site for another time - perhaps in the evening, when you are too tired to write.
Know What to Say.
Sometimes the hardest thing about writing is knowing the direction to take and what to say. Always keep a list of titles that you would like to write. When you sit down to write, this gives you a good choice of things to write about. If the title is a little vague write down a list of 6-7 key phrases which will make up the body of your writing.
Writing Without Inhibition
When you sit down to write it is important that you try to write without expecting perfection at first attempt. It is worth seeing the first draft as a place to put ideas down; this means you have the confidence to write down quickly. Sometimes, if we are highly concentrated, this form of quick writing may actually be quite effective. There is greater power in our writing when we can write - without long pauses to daydream or worry about we should write. Of course we will check, edit and delete where necessary. But, it is important to have something to edit with first. If you are a slow writer, practice writing quicker - just as an experiment and see how you get on.
Continue reading →
