Wow. This week has been epic. But next week is going to be EPIC. Make sure you come back for some major Epic EPICness, okay? Okay.
Today is the last day of The Blogging Trifecta. It's been a good run. I could give a million (okay, maybe not a million) more tips on blogging. I'm not going to. I think you've got the gist of what I've done and continue to do. So I'm just going to leave you with a few things.
My Best Five Tips:
1. Poach.
2. Be Authentically You.
3. Write Short Posts.
4. Give Back.
5. Make Reading Your Blog Easy.
That's it. If you make your blog enjoyable and fun and easy to read, people will come enjoy it, have fun, and come back again.
What are your top five tips for blogging?
Find Me Online
Showing posts with label blogging tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging tips. Show all posts
Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
What Do I Blog About?
In case you didn't know, Jennifer Daiker, Alex Cavanaugh, and I are blogging about blogging this week. Before we go any further, I feel impressed to share this poster from despair.com.
I LOVE THIS. Sometimes I really think it's true. Sometimes I'm sitting in my writing lair (aka at my lame card table), writing blogs, and I think, "There's no way anyone cares about this."
I worry about the post for days. I edit it mercilessly. I postpone it. Then I finally let it go live, and it becomes my most popular post in weeks.
So. Just know that we all go through the holy-brown-cows-what-do-I-blog-about?
Well, my take on this is simple. ANYTHING.
No, really. You can blog about personal things. Writing things. Outlining. Revisions. Causes. Your dog. Your fears. Even nothing. (Hey, they made an entire sitcom out of it. Ever heard of Seinfeld?) Blog about whatever you want.
The fact is, what you bring to your blog that no one else can bring, is YOU.
Y-O-U.
So let's move on to what the real problem with blogging is. In my opinion, it's not knowing what your purpose is. Let's examine.
Question: Why are you blogging? To get the word out about your book? To meet new people? To build a brand?
*cue personal stuff*
Here’s why I blog. Name recognition. If I held up a blue bag and said the items inside this package go great with milk, would you know what it was? We know. They have a brand. We can sing songs from our childhood about brand names. (Oscar Meyer, Big Mac, etc.) It’s all name recognition.
I want someone to be in a bookstore, browsing books and go “Oh, I’ve heard of this girl.” simply from seeing my name (and/or my title) online. That’s why I blog.
I want people to know me.
Now that doesn’t mean I tell them everything. I don’t name my children by name, or talk about my job that much, or discuss anything too too personal (unless it relates to writing). That’s not what people want.
Have you seen that Seinfeld where George is talking about all his worlds colliding? You can probably separate the parts of your life too. Teacher-Elana. Mom-Elana. Cook-Elana. Sister-Elana. Etc. Well, there’s a Author-Elana too. And that’s who people want to see. I dispel writing advice. I give query letter advice. I give blogging advice.
I let people inside my life. I show them my fears about publishing/writing. This is how friendships are made. It’s how relationships form. Through the emotional. Let people in a little bit. Not much, just a little.
You can share what you like. Things like TV shows and artists and stuff like that. It really only takes one or two things to make you distinct. Me? I talk about dying my hair a lot (Monday, baby!). And Adam Lambert. And Glee and Survivor. Don’t be afraid to do this.
I just want to pause here for a minute. I think this is a truth, through and through. You can disagree. But I think when you're blogging, you’re selling yourself, not your books. And when you stop and think about blogging like this, you should have a million things to blog about.
Okay, moving on. Other things you can blog about:
1. Books you’ve read – this is a great way to show support of the industry. Note that I do not get very many comments on book review days. Doesn’t mean they’re a waste of time – especially if the author of the book knows I’m doing it.
2. Things you’ve learned – I’ve been blogging about outlining recently. Not really giving advice, just things I’ve learned. Topics like this are great conversation starters, and that’s what you want. A place where people feel like they know you and can talk to you.
3. WIP Wednesday/Truthful Tuesday – if you can’t think of anything, fall back on these. At least they’ll help you get your content up for the day.
4. Blog chains – find or form one, and participate in it. For new bloggers, this is a great way to learn how to blog and how to respond to comments.
One more thing: If all else fails, POACH. That's right. If you see something you like on another blog, adapt it to yours. Don't copy word for word (duh), but adapt and give credit.
Okay, I've gone on long enough. Jen, Alex, and I are going to be conducting a little experiment. We'd like as many people to participate as would like. We're calling it The Great Blogging Experiment (yeah, we're that lame) and it'll take place on Friday, September 24. We're assigning a topic, and all you have to do is post on Sept. 24 on that topic.
The point? We'd like to see just how different every post is. We'd like to see what YOU bring to the topic. (Which is YOU, of course.) I'm willing to bet one kidney that there will not be two posts exactly the same, just like there are not two bloggers that are exactly the same.
The topic: Writing Compelling Characters.
Sign up below!
Whew. With all that out of the way, what do you like to read on a blog? What don't you like to read?
I LOVE THIS. Sometimes I really think it's true. Sometimes I'm sitting in my writing lair (aka at my lame card table), writing blogs, and I think, "There's no way anyone cares about this."
I worry about the post for days. I edit it mercilessly. I postpone it. Then I finally let it go live, and it becomes my most popular post in weeks.
So. Just know that we all go through the holy-brown-cows-what-do-I-blog-about?
Well, my take on this is simple. ANYTHING.
No, really. You can blog about personal things. Writing things. Outlining. Revisions. Causes. Your dog. Your fears. Even nothing. (Hey, they made an entire sitcom out of it. Ever heard of Seinfeld?) Blog about whatever you want.
The fact is, what you bring to your blog that no one else can bring, is YOU.
Y-O-U.
So let's move on to what the real problem with blogging is. In my opinion, it's not knowing what your purpose is. Let's examine.
Question: Why are you blogging? To get the word out about your book? To meet new people? To build a brand?
*cue personal stuff*
Here’s why I blog. Name recognition. If I held up a blue bag and said the items inside this package go great with milk, would you know what it was? We know. They have a brand. We can sing songs from our childhood about brand names. (Oscar Meyer, Big Mac, etc.) It’s all name recognition.
I want someone to be in a bookstore, browsing books and go “Oh, I’ve heard of this girl.” simply from seeing my name (and/or my title) online. That’s why I blog.
I want people to know me.
Now that doesn’t mean I tell them everything. I don’t name my children by name, or talk about my job that much, or discuss anything too too personal (unless it relates to writing). That’s not what people want.
Have you seen that Seinfeld where George is talking about all his worlds colliding? You can probably separate the parts of your life too. Teacher-Elana. Mom-Elana. Cook-Elana. Sister-Elana. Etc. Well, there’s a Author-Elana too. And that’s who people want to see. I dispel writing advice. I give query letter advice. I give blogging advice.
I let people inside my life. I show them my fears about publishing/writing. This is how friendships are made. It’s how relationships form. Through the emotional. Let people in a little bit. Not much, just a little.
You can share what you like. Things like TV shows and artists and stuff like that. It really only takes one or two things to make you distinct. Me? I talk about dying my hair a lot (Monday, baby!). And Adam Lambert. And Glee and Survivor. Don’t be afraid to do this.
I just want to pause here for a minute. I think this is a truth, through and through. You can disagree. But I think when you're blogging, you’re selling yourself, not your books. And when you stop and think about blogging like this, you should have a million things to blog about.
Okay, moving on. Other things you can blog about:
1. Books you’ve read – this is a great way to show support of the industry. Note that I do not get very many comments on book review days. Doesn’t mean they’re a waste of time – especially if the author of the book knows I’m doing it.
2. Things you’ve learned – I’ve been blogging about outlining recently. Not really giving advice, just things I’ve learned. Topics like this are great conversation starters, and that’s what you want. A place where people feel like they know you and can talk to you.
3. WIP Wednesday/Truthful Tuesday – if you can’t think of anything, fall back on these. At least they’ll help you get your content up for the day.
4. Blog chains – find or form one, and participate in it. For new bloggers, this is a great way to learn how to blog and how to respond to comments.
One more thing: If all else fails, POACH. That's right. If you see something you like on another blog, adapt it to yours. Don't copy word for word (duh), but adapt and give credit.
Okay, I've gone on long enough. Jen, Alex, and I are going to be conducting a little experiment. We'd like as many people to participate as would like. We're calling it The Great Blogging Experiment (yeah, we're that lame) and it'll take place on Friday, September 24. We're assigning a topic, and all you have to do is post on Sept. 24 on that topic.
The point? We'd like to see just how different every post is. We'd like to see what YOU bring to the topic. (Which is YOU, of course.) I'm willing to bet one kidney that there will not be two posts exactly the same, just like there are not two bloggers that are exactly the same.
The topic: Writing Compelling Characters.
Sign up below!
Whew. With all that out of the way, what do you like to read on a blog? What don't you like to read?
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Leaving Your Mark Behind
Okay, so today is Day Two of The Awesome Blogging Trifecta. Check your parachutes. Jen, Alex, and I are attacking COMMENTS. Be sure to check out their posts/opinions too. (Note: Alex will post on this tomorrow.)
So comments. We all want people to appreciate our words enough to leave a comment. We think it's a sign of our success, a way to indicate the worth of our blogs. But is it?
Quick Answer: YES.
Here's why. If you don't inspire something inside of someone, they won't feel like they need to leave their name behind. And if they feel obligated, it's not the same as genuinely evoking something inside of someone. Those comments you can feel.
So, how do you do that? How do you move someone to comment?
1. Comment--sincerely--on their blog first. I'll admit that my own comments are the first stop for me. I open my comment box and click on your name to get to your blog. I really try to get to everyone. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't. (See Special Note below.)
*small personal aside*
I refuse to feel guilty if I don't make it. Sometimes I don't get on my own blog until 8:30 or so, and the post has been up for 3 1/2 hours, and I'll have 35+ comments. What would your first reaction be? Mine is usually: holy-overwhelmed. There's no way I can keep up.
I might make that an email day, but not everyone has allowed blogger to show their email...and you should. Just sayin'. I might try to work through my comments ten at a time. I do as much as I can before I run out of time and/or I just can't do any more.
One more thing: When I was actively building my blog (and I still am, I'm just not as Nazi about it), I probably left 75 - 100 comments/day, Monday - Friday. I steadfastly refuse to blog on the weekends. I don't read, I don't comment.
*end personal aside*
2. Ask questions. If you give someone something to answer, they might be more willing to leave a comment. I almost always ask a question. Some of you answer it, some of you don't. Either way is fine with me, I'm just trying to give people something to respond to.
3. Share something personal. People read my blog for me, not necessarily what I have to say. (We're talking about "What to Blog About" on Thursday, so stay tuned!) People want to make a connection with another person. I don't want to wax poetic what to blog about here, but consider letting some of yourself show on your blog. I generally get more quality comments when I do this, even though it terrifies me to let you inside my head.
How-To-Get-More-Comments-Tip: POACH. When I was actively building my blog, I had a goal to get to 10 lesser-visited blogs* every week. How did I find them? I poached from other people's comments. You should poach from mine. It A) gives you a new blog that maybe you don't follow and B) if you make an effort to comment regularly on that new blog, they'll probably come to yours.
Tip #2: Visit a new blog every day for one week and leave a comment. Then make an effort to go back at least one/twice a week until they're yours.
Do you have any tips about getting comments that I haven't covered? I know I've asked this before, but what inspires you to leave a comment here, or on another blog?
*lesser-visited blog: A blog that has great content and a great author, but has none or almost no comments. If you're the only one who leaves a comment there, do you think that person's going to remember your name? You betcha.
**Of Special Note: You must only do what you can do. No more, no less. If you don't have time to open a billion blogs and leave a comment, don't. And don't waste a single second of your life feeling bad about it. You can only do what you can do. That's it. I'm merely sharing what I did, and what's worked for me. If you have the time and inclination, you might try it.
Special Note #2: Tomorrow I have a special launch with a killer giveaway, so I won't be blogging about blogging. But you'll wanna be here anyway so you don't miss out of the frawesome!
So comments. We all want people to appreciate our words enough to leave a comment. We think it's a sign of our success, a way to indicate the worth of our blogs. But is it?
Quick Answer: YES.
Here's why. If you don't inspire something inside of someone, they won't feel like they need to leave their name behind. And if they feel obligated, it's not the same as genuinely evoking something inside of someone. Those comments you can feel.
So, how do you do that? How do you move someone to comment?
1. Comment--sincerely--on their blog first. I'll admit that my own comments are the first stop for me. I open my comment box and click on your name to get to your blog. I really try to get to everyone. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I don't. (See Special Note below.)
*small personal aside*
I refuse to feel guilty if I don't make it. Sometimes I don't get on my own blog until 8:30 or so, and the post has been up for 3 1/2 hours, and I'll have 35+ comments. What would your first reaction be? Mine is usually: holy-overwhelmed. There's no way I can keep up.
I might make that an email day, but not everyone has allowed blogger to show their email...and you should. Just sayin'. I might try to work through my comments ten at a time. I do as much as I can before I run out of time and/or I just can't do any more.
One more thing: When I was actively building my blog (and I still am, I'm just not as Nazi about it), I probably left 75 - 100 comments/day, Monday - Friday. I steadfastly refuse to blog on the weekends. I don't read, I don't comment.
*end personal aside*
2. Ask questions. If you give someone something to answer, they might be more willing to leave a comment. I almost always ask a question. Some of you answer it, some of you don't. Either way is fine with me, I'm just trying to give people something to respond to.
3. Share something personal. People read my blog for me, not necessarily what I have to say. (We're talking about "What to Blog About" on Thursday, so stay tuned!) People want to make a connection with another person. I don't want to wax poetic what to blog about here, but consider letting some of yourself show on your blog. I generally get more quality comments when I do this, even though it terrifies me to let you inside my head.
How-To-Get-More-Comments-Tip: POACH. When I was actively building my blog, I had a goal to get to 10 lesser-visited blogs* every week. How did I find them? I poached from other people's comments. You should poach from mine. It A) gives you a new blog that maybe you don't follow and B) if you make an effort to comment regularly on that new blog, they'll probably come to yours.
Tip #2: Visit a new blog every day for one week and leave a comment. Then make an effort to go back at least one/twice a week until they're yours.
Do you have any tips about getting comments that I haven't covered? I know I've asked this before, but what inspires you to leave a comment here, or on another blog?
*lesser-visited blog: A blog that has great content and a great author, but has none or almost no comments. If you're the only one who leaves a comment there, do you think that person's going to remember your name? You betcha.
**Of Special Note: You must only do what you can do. No more, no less. If you don't have time to open a billion blogs and leave a comment, don't. And don't waste a single second of your life feeling bad about it. You can only do what you can do. That's it. I'm merely sharing what I did, and what's worked for me. If you have the time and inclination, you might try it.
Special Note #2: Tomorrow I have a special launch with a killer giveaway, so I won't be blogging about blogging. But you'll wanna be here anyway so you don't miss out of the frawesome!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Blogging Trifecta Explosion!
Okay, so today is Day One of The Awesome Blogging Trifecta. Strap in. Jen, Alex, and I are attacking FOLLOWERS. Be sure to check out their posts/opinions too.
So. Most of us have that little widget with the tiny heads. We judge our worth, the worth of our blogs, on how many little heads we can get in the sidebar. We can't pinpoint why, but we're desperate for more tiny heads.
Have you ever stopped to wonder why? Are we all really just junior high kids with bigger bodies and more money?
Quick answer: YES.
Okay, so with that out of the way, let's examine how the popular kids do it.
1. "To have friends, you must first be a friend." This philosophy (which I'm sure your mother said to you as often as mine did to me) applies to blogging. If you want more followers, follow more blogs. 9 times out of 10, you'll get a follow-back.
2. "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Yeah, we're taking a big of wisdom from Disney today. If you leave sincere comments, you'll most likely get the attention of the blog author. They're most likely go to your blog. They'll most likely follow you.
3. "The pen is mightier than the sword." Dude, if you want more people to follow you, give them what they want. Politicians tell the voters what they want to hear. Popular kids flatter the right people. So it is with bloggers. Give people good content, and they'll be yours forever. (And, uh, for the official record, the same is true in writing. Give readers a gripping story, and they'll read your books forever--and tell their friends.)
4. "If you build it, they will come." Let's face it. Blogging is WORK. If you think followers are just going to fall into your lap, you're wrong. If you think you're going to get a buttload of comments overnight, you're wrong.
It. Takes. Work.
*cue personal story*
It's February 1, 2010. I'm at Olive Garden, ordering desserts for myself and six or seven of my writing buddies. My treat. Why? Because I've just hit 500 followers on my blog.
Look over to the widget. Now back to me. To the widget. Back to me. I have over 1400 now. Just a short seven months later. That's a whole lotta followers in seven months. I felt like it took me half my life and liver to get 500. Why?
Because I worked my freaking tail off. And I didn't stop. All through the winter and spring, I worked. I left comment after comment. I followed blog after blog. I built it. They came. I'm still building it, day by day, post by post, email by email. I don't anticipate stopping.
Building a better blog is work.
*end personal story*
So there you have it. Each day this week, I'm going to leave you with my dirtiest, darkest secret for how I've built my blog into an online platform. I'd tell you not to tell anyone, but hey, I'm posting it on my blog! Tweet away!
Getting-More-Followers-Tip: POACH. That's right. Poach from other people. I have a lot of followers. Theoretically, they're all writers/readers/lovers of books in some way. You should be poaching from me. Click on my widget and let it open up. Then click on each little tiny head and see what links come up. If they have a blog, go to it. Follow it. Rinse. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Who do I poach from? (I have no shame, keep this in mind.) Nathan Bransford. Rachelle Gardner. Pretty much anyone who seems to have a lot of followers (Shannon Messenger, Lisa/Laura Roecker, QueryTracker, The Blood Red Pencil) or who has the same base of followers I want (Candace Ganger, Alex Cavanaugh, VR Barkowski, Talli Roland, just to name a few).
So there. Don't judge me too harshly.
And do you have anything to add? How have you gotten more followers?
**Of Special Note: You must only do what you can do. No more, no less. If you don't have time to open a billion blogs and follow them, don't. And don't waste a single second of your life feeling bad about it. You can only do what you can do. That's it. I'm merely sharing what I did, and what's worked for me. If you have the time and inclination, you might try it.
So. Most of us have that little widget with the tiny heads. We judge our worth, the worth of our blogs, on how many little heads we can get in the sidebar. We can't pinpoint why, but we're desperate for more tiny heads.
Have you ever stopped to wonder why? Are we all really just junior high kids with bigger bodies and more money?
Quick answer: YES.
Okay, so with that out of the way, let's examine how the popular kids do it.
1. "To have friends, you must first be a friend." This philosophy (which I'm sure your mother said to you as often as mine did to me) applies to blogging. If you want more followers, follow more blogs. 9 times out of 10, you'll get a follow-back.
2. "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." Yeah, we're taking a big of wisdom from Disney today. If you leave sincere comments, you'll most likely get the attention of the blog author. They're most likely go to your blog. They'll most likely follow you.
3. "The pen is mightier than the sword." Dude, if you want more people to follow you, give them what they want. Politicians tell the voters what they want to hear. Popular kids flatter the right people. So it is with bloggers. Give people good content, and they'll be yours forever. (And, uh, for the official record, the same is true in writing. Give readers a gripping story, and they'll read your books forever--and tell their friends.)
4. "If you build it, they will come." Let's face it. Blogging is WORK. If you think followers are just going to fall into your lap, you're wrong. If you think you're going to get a buttload of comments overnight, you're wrong.
It. Takes. Work.
*cue personal story*
It's February 1, 2010. I'm at Olive Garden, ordering desserts for myself and six or seven of my writing buddies. My treat. Why? Because I've just hit 500 followers on my blog.
Look over to the widget. Now back to me. To the widget. Back to me. I have over 1400 now. Just a short seven months later. That's a whole lotta followers in seven months. I felt like it took me half my life and liver to get 500. Why?
Because I worked my freaking tail off. And I didn't stop. All through the winter and spring, I worked. I left comment after comment. I followed blog after blog. I built it. They came. I'm still building it, day by day, post by post, email by email. I don't anticipate stopping.
Building a better blog is work.
*end personal story*
So there you have it. Each day this week, I'm going to leave you with my dirtiest, darkest secret for how I've built my blog into an online platform. I'd tell you not to tell anyone, but hey, I'm posting it on my blog! Tweet away!
Getting-More-Followers-Tip: POACH. That's right. Poach from other people. I have a lot of followers. Theoretically, they're all writers/readers/lovers of books in some way. You should be poaching from me. Click on my widget and let it open up. Then click on each little tiny head and see what links come up. If they have a blog, go to it. Follow it. Rinse. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Who do I poach from? (I have no shame, keep this in mind.) Nathan Bransford. Rachelle Gardner. Pretty much anyone who seems to have a lot of followers (Shannon Messenger, Lisa/Laura Roecker, QueryTracker, The Blood Red Pencil) or who has the same base of followers I want (Candace Ganger, Alex Cavanaugh, VR Barkowski, Talli Roland, just to name a few).
So there. Don't judge me too harshly.
And do you have anything to add? How have you gotten more followers?
**Of Special Note: You must only do what you can do. No more, no less. If you don't have time to open a billion blogs and follow them, don't. And don't waste a single second of your life feeling bad about it. You can only do what you can do. That's it. I'm merely sharing what I did, and what's worked for me. If you have the time and inclination, you might try it.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Help A Sistah Out
Okay, so I'm preparing for a class I'm teaching at a conference in a few weeks. It's called "Building Your Blog Into An Online Platform" and I have a lot of ideas, but I'm wondering about a few things. Maybe you guys can help me out.
What questions do you have about blogging? I want to hear from beginning, intermediate, or advanced bloggers. (Let me know what you think your level is in your comment, okay?)
What's the hardest part for you?
What's the easiest part?
What do you wish someone had told you when you started?
What do you want to know now?
Basically, I want to hear your concerns/questions about blogging. I imagine a lot of the attendees will have the same ones.
Thanks, all!
What questions do you have about blogging? I want to hear from beginning, intermediate, or advanced bloggers. (Let me know what you think your level is in your comment, okay?)
What's the hardest part for you?
What's the easiest part?
What do you wish someone had told you when you started?
What do you want to know now?
Basically, I want to hear your concerns/questions about blogging. I imagine a lot of the attendees will have the same ones.
Thanks, all!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Blogging 201
Okay, so I've done a bunch of posts on blogging. Things I think make the blogging experience better for everyone. Well, I'm back after a convo last week with some fabu friends.
One of them asked (and I get this question a lot): "How do you have time to read so many blogs?"
Are you ready for the answer to that? I'm not sure I'm ready to spill (besides my speed blogging method). Instead I'm going to give you some tips that make me READ your blog.
1. Length. I can't remember if I've brought this up before. For me, length plays a hefty role if I'm going to read your blog or READ your blog. You know?
I think you should be able to get your point across in 300 - 500 words. Any more than that, and I'm well, you know.
2. White space. Break up your paragraphs a little. Long blocks of text freak me out. If I see a paragraph that goes on and on like the worst wedding on the planet, I read, I don't READ.
So give me stuff in short chunks. It makes it easier to read quickly, and since I have a million + one blogs I'm trying to read each day, I'm all for getting in, reading, commenting and getting out. Sounds rushed, doesn't it? Yeah, I know. I want to read your blogs, but I also want to read hers and his and theirs...
3. Video. Consider it carefully. I don't post a lot of videos, and here's why. Many times, YouTube is behind a firewall. Number two, they take more time. I can usually read a blog, comment and get out in under two minutes. If your video is longer than that AND it's accompanied by mucho text, chances are such that I won't stick around.
Rude? Definitely. Sorry! Just consider video carefully, and especially the length of the video.
I think that's it for now. Just a few more bloggish things I've been thinking about. While this is not my first opinion column on blogging, what did I miss? What bloggy things have you been thinking about lately? Things you've seen you like? Things you wish people didn't do?
One of them asked (and I get this question a lot): "How do you have time to read so many blogs?"
Are you ready for the answer to that? I'm not sure I'm ready to spill (besides my speed blogging method). Instead I'm going to give you some tips that make me READ your blog.
1. Length. I can't remember if I've brought this up before. For me, length plays a hefty role if I'm going to read your blog or READ your blog. You know?
I think you should be able to get your point across in 300 - 500 words. Any more than that, and I'm well, you know.
2. White space. Break up your paragraphs a little. Long blocks of text freak me out. If I see a paragraph that goes on and on like the worst wedding on the planet, I read, I don't READ.
So give me stuff in short chunks. It makes it easier to read quickly, and since I have a million + one blogs I'm trying to read each day, I'm all for getting in, reading, commenting and getting out. Sounds rushed, doesn't it? Yeah, I know. I want to read your blogs, but I also want to read hers and his and theirs...
3. Video. Consider it carefully. I don't post a lot of videos, and here's why. Many times, YouTube is behind a firewall. Number two, they take more time. I can usually read a blog, comment and get out in under two minutes. If your video is longer than that AND it's accompanied by mucho text, chances are such that I won't stick around.
Rude? Definitely. Sorry! Just consider video carefully, and especially the length of the video.
I think that's it for now. Just a few more bloggish things I've been thinking about. While this is not my first opinion column on blogging, what did I miss? What bloggy things have you been thinking about lately? Things you've seen you like? Things you wish people didn't do?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
More To Consider
Okay, I've gotten a lot of great emails from you guys re: blogging. Thank you! I love reading and responding to them. And you guys are like, writing my posts for me, so there's that too. *smiles*
So I thought I'd share a little bit more. Just things that personally annoy me (like the neonity of blogs) or that I think make blogging harder. And we all know that we don't want our blog to be hard to like or hard to read or hard to comment on.
So consider:
1. Music. Please, don't. I often (very often) have music on already, and I don't want to listen to yours. Rude? Probably. (Sorry!) It's okay to have a player, but set it so it doesn't start automatically. Then, if I'm interested in your music, I can have the freedom of choice to play it myself.
2. Comment verification. I know this can be a tricksy little bugger. If you feel like you MUST use it (I recently took mine off, and have less than 5 anonymous spam comments), please use the pop-up window that already has the word in it.
If you're opposed to pop-up windows for some reason, use the full-page form with the word already in it. Waiting for my verification word to load is annoying. Like, seriously annoying.
Here's how you do that:
1. From your dashboard, go to SETTINGS and then COMMENTS of the blog you want to alter (Hey, I have four).
2. In the COMMENT FORM PLACEMENT choose either "Full page" or "Pop-Up Window."
3. Scroll down.
4. In the COMMENT MODERATION area, choose "Older than [fill in blank] days." Then you can approve all comments on posts that are over a certain number of days old. Mine's set at 14 right now, just because that's the blogger default, I think. That way, if someone is commenting on posts older than 2 weeks, I must approve them.
5. Right below that, in SHOW WORD VERIFICATION FOR COMMENTS? choose "No." Of if you must, say yes, and if you've chosen full page or pop-up window, at least then I don't have to wait for your verification word to load before I can sub my comment.
Easy peasy. And this will make your blog an easier, happier place to leave comments. At least for me.
3. Follower widget. For the love, put it at the top of your blog. I don't want to scroll through a millionty awards to follow you.
What else? I feel like I've dispelled all my bloggy opinions/knowledge, so I think this might conclude this whole blogging series. Me = *panic face* What am I going to blog about now?? Guess I better put on my "What If?" hat.
So I thought I'd share a little bit more. Just things that personally annoy me (like the neonity of blogs) or that I think make blogging harder. And we all know that we don't want our blog to be hard to like or hard to read or hard to comment on.
So consider:
1. Music. Please, don't. I often (very often) have music on already, and I don't want to listen to yours. Rude? Probably. (Sorry!) It's okay to have a player, but set it so it doesn't start automatically. Then, if I'm interested in your music, I can have the freedom of choice to play it myself.
2. Comment verification. I know this can be a tricksy little bugger. If you feel like you MUST use it (I recently took mine off, and have less than 5 anonymous spam comments), please use the pop-up window that already has the word in it.
If you're opposed to pop-up windows for some reason, use the full-page form with the word already in it. Waiting for my verification word to load is annoying. Like, seriously annoying.
Here's how you do that:
1. From your dashboard, go to SETTINGS and then COMMENTS of the blog you want to alter (Hey, I have four).
2. In the COMMENT FORM PLACEMENT choose either "Full page" or "Pop-Up Window."
3. Scroll down.
4. In the COMMENT MODERATION area, choose "Older than [fill in blank] days." Then you can approve all comments on posts that are over a certain number of days old. Mine's set at 14 right now, just because that's the blogger default, I think. That way, if someone is commenting on posts older than 2 weeks, I must approve them.
5. Right below that, in SHOW WORD VERIFICATION FOR COMMENTS? choose "No." Of if you must, say yes, and if you've chosen full page or pop-up window, at least then I don't have to wait for your verification word to load before I can sub my comment.
Easy peasy. And this will make your blog an easier, happier place to leave comments. At least for me.
3. Follower widget. For the love, put it at the top of your blog. I don't want to scroll through a millionty awards to follow you.
What else? I feel like I've dispelled all my bloggy opinions/knowledge, so I think this might conclude this whole blogging series. Me = *panic face* What am I going to blog about now?? Guess I better put on my "What If?" hat.
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