Does Your Blogging Leave a Permanent Mark? Probably so! Photo by Beate W.
“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off” ~Proverbs 23:18
I’ve spent an amazing three days at Blissdom conference this past month meeting and connecting and reconnecting with my amazing women blogging friends and it’s made me remember one of the things I love about blogging. It has permanence. It lasts.
My Motherly Duties Do Not Last
So few things I do as a mother seem to last. The dishes don’t stay clean for more than – yeah, maybe an hour if I’m lucky. The bed does not stay made and the laundry does not stayed washed. My children DEFINITELY do not stay fed. Lol! Especially when going through a growth spurt or two.
But when I blog, I can have confidence that the little piece of my heart that I share with you will have a future. It will last. Even if this post isn’t read today, right now this second. It will be. Read and enjoyed, maybe commented on.
The Blogging Legacy
It’s like another piece in a long-term legacy that collectively adds to my unique contribution to the world. Forever. It’s an amazing feeling when I remember to appreciate it.
On the other hand, it makes me a bit humble. Encourages me to remember what some of the panelists shared at the conference – Is what I’m posting of value? Does it have worth?
If the only way someone had to KNOW ME was through my blog, would it be someone worth knowing? I wonder. What would these words say about me as a person. That I’m passionate. Wordy. Follow a wide variety of interests. Lose my temper. Love my family. Try. Always.
In what ways has your blog renewed your hope? What does it mean to you that you’ll have a future undeniable? Incapable of being cut-off?
Have you marked your steps towards blogging as a business? Photo by Lewandowski
“A simple man believes anything, but a prudent man gives thought to his steps.” ~Proverbs 14:15
When bloggers begin to look for ways to increase revenue and income online it can be a tough road when you don’t know who to trust. There is SO MUCH out there – some ok, some good and some out-right horrible. What it means for those who want to take blogging beyond “personal outlet” and turn it into a business is that some common sense business principles must apply. Here are some thoughts.
Read Every Blogging and Writing Contract Very Carefully
Are you writing for someone else? You should have a contract. If you weren’t given a contract, run away. Quickly. If you were given a writing contract, READ IT. Carefully. And then read it again. Be sure to clarify any confusing points, especially when it comes to your rights.
Ask Yourself What Rights You’re Willing to Give and at What Cost
If you are ghost-writing content for another site, and your name is not on it, you should be charging a premium price. That is freelance copyrighting. Not “blogging”. If you get your name on it and a brief bio and even a link back to your website, that may be of value to you so you could consider charging a lower price. If the client is taking full rights and you are giving them the rights to the content forever, you would want to charge more than you might if you were able to reuse the content in print or on your own website in the future. These are all considerations you should be aware of before agreeing to a certain price.
If it Talks Like a Business, It Should Act Like a Business
I’m just sayin’. If you call yourself a professional blogger or say that you want to turn this into a business, than do not treat it like a hobby. If you want to blog for personal enjoyment, by all means, do so. Just don’t call it a business if it’s not. And by all means – if you’re calling it a business, please, please, please act professionally. This means your speech. Your financial dealings. Your disclosures. Your dealings with clients and other bloggers.
Of course, sometimes these things sneak up on us – that’s what it means to give thought to your steps. When you find yourself in the position to accept advertising, or begin using affiliate links in your posts, you’ll need to think carefully to your steps. Think of yourself as a business from dollar $1 and you won’t find yourself stumbling in the future. Step wisely, dear friend, and the prudent path will be before you.
So, I am not the only one who has been typing up some amazing blogging conference notes from the workshops and training sessions we attended. Here is a gathering of the session recaps and blogging trainings, both here on AngEngland.com and on other websites.
From @frelle – Wisdom Workshop Recaps – She has the notes posted from “What’s Your Story” media training workshop, the “Her Story” Writing Track Wisdom Workshop, and the “Social Media and the Women Who Love it” Wisdom Workshop.
I know there are other session notes out there, so leave a link in the comment and I’ll add the blogging session to our list!
You must live in Oklahoma to vote for me, but you’ll notice that not only was this site, angengland.com, nominated in Best Writing Blog category – Untrained Housewife was nominated for Best New Blog of 2009!! What an honor! Both of my big sites nominated – I must find whomever snitched on me and kiss them.
Meanwhile, please consider voting for me if you are an Oklahoman blogger! Click the link above to find out how.
This is the teaching outline and merged notes from the Blissdom Wisdom Workshop on SEO and Stats that was taught by Kelby Carr (@typeamom) and myself, Angela England (@AngEngland). Thanks to @econemicliving who shared her copy of the notes – the basic teaching outline was created ahead of time, but the Q & A’s came from the audience and helped guide the session outcome!
Writing Good SEO Does Not Have to Hide Your Humanity. Photo by Ivan Petrov
Kelby -Understanding SEO for Bloggers
SEO does not have to mean geeky/soulless. You do not have to choose between writing for humans and computers.
Reasons SEO is important to bloggers
Look at SEO as a different style of writing, just like newspapers, books, TV, radio, etc. are all media with their own styles. Cover basic standards for web/SEO writing: clear, concise, on point, etc.
Ask Yourself: “What Would I Search?”
Go to Google and do a search before you start writing – what comes up is probably what your title should be. (What is this about?)
-Slight tweaking of a phrase can make a big difference
Researching and choosing your keyword phrase (with demo of doing keyword research)
-Ex: mommy blogger, mom blogger: MOM BLOG, top 10 mom blog
(Google – keyword tool –click on global monthly search volume (keep use synonyms checked) – be sure people are searching it.
(Angela’s Note - one of the best features of my ebook is the step-by-step visual guidance on how to do this. If you are “stuck” on this portion of keyword research, or still having trouble applying it to your specific situation, that may be a resource for you to consider.)
Angela – Implementing Human-Friendly SEO on Your Blog
Understand the ABC’s of Web Writing
A – Active Title “No Cutsey” – Start with a good, clear title (should ALSO be title tag next to Mozilla/IE symbol)
B – Bolded Subheading – Use Heading (Angela uses H3) setting vs just bolding
-Subheading for clarity, helps catch the eye
-work some of the words in your title into your subheading
C – Cut Away Rambling Fluff (narrow focus)
Things that help with SEO also help with human readers -(Sub heads – bullets – scan )
Don’t be Afraid to Tailor SEO to Site and Situation - (demo of posting book review to three diff sites)
SEO in Action – Formatting the Post
Tag your photos too – people search for photos- google image search – use hypens between your words – alternative text to increase SEO. Do intro paragraphs for videos and then embed it
From Kelby -Categories = chapters and Tags = index
At the end of post – call to action (what do you think, post a comment, read this) Link to other people
Weave your keywords/title throughout your post – words in title should be in first paragraph
Google pagerank, firefox browser extensions, seaquake, pagerank
Optimize your past posts – will re-index your SEO’s, including your page titles – rework old content
When you repeat posts (Freebie Friday) put more interesting title at beginning (CVS freebie – Freebie Friday)
A Word About Stats and Analytics
Install Google Analytics – look at referral from google (if under 50%, there’s a problem)
Get Clicky – to see what people are clicking on when they leave your site
Take advantage of seasonal content
Social Bookmarking (wikipedia and digg = no follow links)
Curtsey, mom share, propeller, facebook fan page, stumbleupon.com, Hubpages website are follows (This sample from Hubpages includes another example of a round-up page designed to get On-Topic links back to other posts and articles).
Google.com/webmasters
-set preferred domain
-Claim a sitemap (please use rss feed as a sitemap) – not ideal, but a place to start
Angela says: Content attracts, relationships keep
Search WP extension: “redirect” if you’re going to start changing page names
Create HUB PAGE with lots of resources – with links – and put in side bar
People love Top 10 Lists
(Angela’s Notes – I couldn’t take exact transcriptions on this session because my mouth was open the whole time so I hope you’ll all forgive the rather abrupt and “bullet pointed” type of notes. The information is, of course, still helpful I hope. Kelby and I bounced off eachother so much through the session it was hard to note who said what sometimes. For Mommy Bloggers SEO Advice, please check out Kelby’s upcoming book which will have more specifics on SEO tips that WON’T make you sound like a robot!)
This Blissdom Blogging Conference Session was Saturday morning and taught by @JulieCole, @youcanmakethis, @LisaLeonard, @Dooblehvay, @KimbaASPTL, and @JesseKateDesign.
Building a Social Media Community can Help Promote Your Business - photo by Davide Guglielmo
1- Build the buzz
You want people to start talking about it now
2- Be Yourself
Don’t be afraid to be imperfect – just be YOU
3- Be Specific
Sign up for the newsletter; ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT (Go and register, get the free ebook, subscribe to the feed, leave a comment, etc.)
4- Bring on the Bookmarks
Social bookmarking. Put it on product pages and posts, etc
5- Be Appreciative
They don’t have to give you anything – thank them for their trust with their email, etc.
What social media tools have been most important to promoting your business and why?
Kris – Know your audience. We survey our audience quite a bit – surveymonkey.com. When surveying you have a better feel for which social media tools they are using. Their audience = 80% using Facebook vs 9% MySpace. Their niche had a lot of audience using yahoo groups.
How do you manage social media?
She does ALL the social media for the business herself – thinks it’s really important because she wants it to be very genuine and doesn’t know how that would happen if she were outsourcing that work. (Angela’s Note – When I have worked as a personal assistant I usually sort the emails, do the “office tasks” that don’t require the boss’s unique voice. Her advice is spot on, in my opinion.)
Building relationships to build relationships is key.
How much time is the right amount of time?
Kimba – Since my blog is my business I probably spend a higher percentage of time than some of the others. There’s a balance but she spends a couple hours a day on the blog usually.
Caitlin – Social Media for Mabel’s Labels means that social media IS my full time job. Reply to everyone, thank everyone. “It’s all about spreading the love”
Most successful social media campaigns?
Amy – Twitter has been very successful. Has a personal blog too. Contest to name the new bear, etc having the audience interact and have a personal role in what’s going on.
Can you share an experience with unsuccessful social media campaigns in the past?
Caitlin – Transparency is KEY. If someone posts something negative you need to address it personally to THAT PERSON but make it public in that same public space. You can change that situation around and creates an impression about how you handle things. Loyalty is important and vital – small readerships, small businesses, etc. Who knows where they will be in two years.
Network up, network down and network side to side – but NETWORK OFTEN.
“One ad and one giveaway does not a business make.” You have to build up your brand awareness over time through multiple efforts.
How do you find your voice and do you have rules?
First and foremost – a writer and not JUST a toy-maker. This panelist wasn’t afraid to put herself out there as a PERSON in addition to a business.
How do you monitor your business in the Social Media arena?
I had to stop trying to police the internet and put that energy into creating something new and to help my audience.
Google Alerts helps you monitor what others are saying about you. Address what needs to be addressed and leave the rest behind you.
Service selling vs product selling via social media?
Learn to talk about our service more objectively – sell your SERVICE, not yourself as yourself.
Sell yourself as a person PLUS your service.
Add your professional activities on your Linked In profile to build up your online resume.
Renaissance woman (noun)
- a woman who has acquired profound knowledge or proficiency in more than one field.
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I specialize in helping businesses create web content and blog posts that are relevant, engaging and will drive targeted readers to your site. Let's talk about how I can help you build the high-quality web presence you need. On Twitter @AngEngland or via email ang.england [at] yahoo [dot] com.
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