WordCount » blogging tips

Sorry everybody: WordCount’s November mini-blogathon is a no go

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:00:00 +0000

At the end of May, when enthusiasm for the WordCount Blogathon was running high, I was persuaded by bloggers who’d loved the experience to consider holding another event. I agreed, and announced plans for a mini-blogathon to take place in November.

Time passed. And while I’m no less enthusiastic about blogging, this blog and the annual blogathon, I’ve had to do a reality check.

I adore the blogathon and have met an incredible group of people through it, people who have become some of my biggest fans, and even friends. Some of these people are still faithfully sharing links to their daily blog posts and asking each other questions about blogging on the WordCount blogathon Google Group that was set up for last year’s event.

But the hard, cold truth is that I lose money every time I host a blogathon. Last May, I probably lost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in time I would have otherwise used to take on paid writing or editing work. Not to mention the hours of sleep I lost doing blogathon-related administrative work into the wee hours of the night.

So I had to come to the conclusion that while a mini-blogathon was a great idea, I couldn’t pull it off twice in a calendar year. Not if I wasn’t going to charge people to participate – more on that in a minute.

If you were looking forward to a mini-blogging challenge this month, I hope you understand. And I hope you’ll still pick 10 days this month and blog every one of those days like you would have if the mini-blogathon had happened. Or maybe you’ll really go for it and join NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month, which starts tomorrow and is being sponsored by BlogHer.

And don’t worry – there will be a 2012 WordCount Blogathon. As to the matter of losing money, I’ve already got some changes in the works to fix that. For one, I’m getting some help. I’m also contemplating offering two tiers of registration. One would be the usual free entry level with everything that’s been part of the blogathon in the past – the Google Group, weekly newsletter, etc. I may also offer a second, paid registration level that would come with an ebook on blogging and some other extras.

Thanks for your continued support of WordCount, the blogathon and me.

Happy blogging!

Sept. 28 #wclw chat – How to get more blog comments

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Is there anybody out there?

That’s what it can feel like if you blog religiously without getting much – or any – feedback from readers. Because face it, we all love comments. Part of the satisfaction of blogging is knowing people appreciate what we do.

But getting readers to leave comments can be tough. And you have to be careful what you wish for: the comments you get might not be the ones you want.

The next WordCount Last Wednesday live chat will look at blog comments – creating posts that cry out for interaction, making it easy for readers to leave theirthoughts and tackling the equivalent of blog hate mail.

The chat takes place this Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Use the Twitter hashtag #wclw to participate.

Here’s the agenda for the chat:

10 a.m. – Sign on and introduce yourself.

10:05 a.m. – I’ll ask the following questions to get things started:

What post or posts on your blog receive the most comments, and why?
What’s your best tip for getting more comments?
Do you make commenters verify their ID beforehand, and if so, what do you use?
How do you handle mean, nasty comments, or personal attacks?

10:40 a.m. – We’ll open it up to a general discussion.

11 a.m. – The chat ends.

It’s possible to use the standard Twitter interface for the chat, but you might find it easier to follow along with an add-on application such as TweetGrid, TweetChat or HootSuite. Of those three, my favorite is TweetChat, which you can log into using your Twitter account. You might want to alert followers that you’ll be tweeting more than usual during the chat, and suggest they use Muuter.com to temporarily mute you if they don’t want to tune into the conversation.

If you’re unable to join us, I’ll post highlights from the chat on Thursday, Sept. 29.

Got an idea for a future #wclw chat, or would like to participate as a guest speaker? Send your topic idea or bio to me at wordcountfreelance@gmail.com.

6 reasons your blog is begging for a ‘Greatest Hits’ page

Michelle V. Rafter — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 01:18:32 +0000

Many blogging and social media experts recommend including a page on your blog’s main navigation bar listing your best-ever posts.

This “Best of” or “Greatest Hits” page could include posts that have gotten more page views than anything else you’ve ever done or the posts that got the most comments. Or maybe they’re the posts you’re the most proud of having written. For an example, here’s small business blogging expert Chris Brogan’s “Best of” page.

I had such a page, called “Best of WordCount” on the main navigation bar for sometime. As best of lists go it was no great shakes. As I got ready for the final days of this year’s blogathon, the community blogging event I host every May, I forced myself to create a better one. I think it turned out pretty nicely; see for yourself: the new WordCount Greatest Hits page.

How to Create a ‘Greatest Hits’ Page

In case you’re interested in creating a best of page for your blog, here’s what I did:

I broke down what I blog about into four categories: blogging, writing, freelancing and tech tools for writers.
For each category, I went through everything I’d ever written on that topic and picked out 25 standouts, either because they generated a ton of traffic, got a lot of comments, were on timely – or timeless – subjects, or did a good job of addressing what I felt was an important issue.
I organized each list of 25 posts so they went from very basic to increasing more sophisticated material.
I wrote the subheads, checked the links and the list was ready to go.

Why You Need a ‘Greatest Hits’ Page on Your Blog

Besides driving traffic, there are other benefits from adding a best of page to your blog:

1. In addition to your bio or resume, it’s a great way to introduce new readers to who you are and what you write about. If you use Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook for business, include a link to your “Best of” or “Greatest Hits” page on your social network profiles.

2. Having such a list can help establish yourself as an expert in LinkedIn’s Answers section, or at least help you identify yourself as a journalist who’s written about that area.

3. A quick scan of your “Best of” list can reveal where you’ve got holes in topics you cover on a regular basis, which should help give you ideas for future blog posts

4. Compiling a list of posts on a subject can be the first step toward organizing material for an ebook.

5. If you are planning to write ebooks, you can see what material you already have and what you still need to write.

6. If you’ve been blogging for a while, it feels great to look back and realize how much you’ve accomplished.

In case you missed it before, here’s a link to my Greatest Hits list.

If you’ve created a “Best of” or “Greatest Hits” page, how did you decide what to include, and where is it on your website or blog?

Poll: How can we build a better blogathon?

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 30 May 2011 15:12:04 +0000

The 2011 Blogathon has been a hit on many levels.

The number of people who signed up almost doubled from last year, to more than 200. A number of bloggers are reporting seeing traffic to their sites double, triple, even quadruple. Others are getting more comments on posts than they’ve ever had. Beginners have used the past month to start a blog, bring more structure to their blogging efforts or learn about blogging software. Several bloggers who are also professional writers have had posts picked up by national publications such as More.com and McSweeney’s.

It was the second year I hosted a blogathon Google Group where people could list links to their daily posts for others to see, share their successes and frustrations and ask questions about blogging basics. It was the first year I distributed a weekly blogathon newsletter to recap theme days and share details about upcoming events.

As the blogathon comes to a close, I’m already thinking about ways to make the 2012 blogathon even better. Since it’s is a community challenge, I’d like your input. Please take the following poll, and leave any additional thoughts you might have for improving the blogathon in a comment at the end of this post.

Thanks – and don’t forget to join us for the blogathon wrap party on June 1 at 10 a.m. Pacific time on Twitter. Use the hashtag #blog2011. Everyone who posted 31 days straight will have their name entered into a prize drawing with winners announced at the end of the hour-long chat. I’ll share more details about the wrap party in tomorrow’s post.

Take Our Poll

WordCount’s 101 top posts on writing, blogging & freelancing

Michelle V. Rafter — Sun, 29 May 2011 13:00:40 +0000

On Sundays during the 2011 WordCount Blogathon, I rerun popular posts on subjects that readers ask for.

For the final Sunday of the blogathon, I’m dishing up not only the best of WordCount, but the best of the best – 101 of my best posts on blogging, writing, running a freelance writing business, and social media and tech tools for writers.

Blogging

1. Dear WordCount: How should I choose a blog topic?

2. Simple steps to starting a blog

3. The well-dressed blog post

4. 8 essential reasons to put links in blog posts

5. Write killer blog post titles

6. Dear WordCount: Someone linked to my blog, is that bad?

7. How to get more comments on your blog

8. Driving traffic to your blog

9. A writer’s guide to SEO basics

10. Bad beginnings: 10 newbie blogging mistakes and how to fix them

11. 25 ways to blog every day

12. 25 more ways to blog every day

13. Cheat your way into blogging every day

14. 10 sure cures for blogging burnout

15. Give under-appreciated blog posts a second chance

16. Why writers should blog: it’s not personal, it’s business

17. The long tail of blogging

18. 5 reasons why you should obsess over blog stats

19. 6 ways to find paid blogging gigs

20. 31 lessons from blogging 31 days

21. Should you put ads on your blog?

22. 3 questions you should be asking about your blog

23. A 10-step guide to making time to blog

24. The 500 blog posts that changed my life

25. Best of WordCount: Bloggers’ favorite places to write

Writing

26. Write like a pro

27. 10 great places writers can find story ideas

28. Asking the hard questions: top 10 interview tips

29. 12 insider interview tips from 2 accomplished writers

30. 5 secrets of successful interviewers, or how to get sources to tell you anything

31. A reporter’s convention survival guide

32. 25 tips for better writing

33. Writing basics: the deck

34. Writing basics: the nut graph

35. Writing basics: the quote

36. How to write fast

37. More tips for writing fast

38. A few words on writing short

39. When it comes to writing, economize

40. 7 steps to cutting a story that’s too long

41. How to handle rewrites without wanting to kill yourself or your editor

42. 10 tricks to get the words flowing again

43. Best time management tips for writers

44. The writer as content curator

45. Best blogs for writers

46. First v. best

47. 10 things J. K. Rowling taught me about writing

48. William Zinsser and ‘On Writing Well’

49. Why is ‘Mad Men’ so great? It’s the writing

50. My 5 favorite books on writing

Freelancing

51. Freelance 101: getting started as an independent writer

52. How writers can squeeze more money out of their work

53. 10 ways to make editors fall in love with your work

54. Are you a freelancer writer or journalist entrepreneur?

55. Beat the recession

56. Top 10 blogs for freelance writers

57. Promote yourself through your email signature

58. 10 more ways to promote your freelance writing

59. How to become a niche writer

60. Dear WordCount: What do newspapers pay?

61. Why ex-staff writers make good trade magazine freelancers

62. The freelancer’s guide to e-newsletters

63. How to write, produce and market an ebook

64. WordCount Q&A – One freelancer’s DIY book publishing success

65. How to know if you’re freelance editor material

66. Do you tell editors what you’re doing when you’re not writing for them?

67. Surefire ways to get editors to get back to you faster

68. Why freelance queries get rejected

69. Should writers blog about juicy subjects or save them for story pitches?

70. The race to the bottom

71. The great freelance rate debate continues

72. A guide to hyperlocal news

73. Novice freelancers, instead of Helium, try hyperlocal

74. AOL’s Patch hyperlocal hiring spree – boon or bane for writers?

75. Top 13 signs a magazine is going under

76. Making life work as a writer and mom

77. 10 businesses freelance writers can start today

Social Media & Tech Tools for Writers

78. Writers’ 6 top tech tools for getting work done

79. 10 basic web tools for freelancers

80. Goodbye Google: 8 Internet search alternatives

81. My favorite freelance technology innovation: Track Changes

82. Research This: Del.icio.us and Google News Alerts

83. What freelancers should know about podcasting

84. How writers can use LinkedIn

85. The secret to my LinkedIn success (The Renegade Writer guest post)

86. New ways to uses LinkedIn to find story sources

87. Link your WordPress, Six Apart blogs to your LinkedIn profile

88. Best WordPress plug ins for writers and bloggers

89. WordPress users can add ratings to posts, comments

90. How to use Facebook to promote your writing business

91. How not to out yourself on Facebook

92. Is it OK to friend your editor on Facebook?

93. A writer’s guide to getting the most out of Twitter

94. The use and abuse of Twitter to flog your blog

95. There is no such thing as a dumb Twitter question

96. When one Twitter account isn’t enough (TwiTip guest post)

97. 10 keys to hosting a successful Twitter chat

98. How to fit blogging, social networks into your writing day

99. Social media 101 for a small business

100. A little password protection goes a long way

101. 8 secrets for getting better HARO query results

Dear WordCount: Someone linked to my blog, is that bad?

Michelle V. Rafter — Thu, 12 May 2011 13:00:21 +0000

This is the latest installment of Dear WordCount, an advice column that answers your questions about writing, blogging and running a freelance

Dear WordCount:

I am new to blogging. I found my blog listed on a blogroll last night. I have never interacted with the person and I don’t know how they found my blog. This blog is the first one that I have encountered that has material related to mine. Does the person wants to be helpful? Or is the person trying to benefit in some way? I did notice they have over 80 websites in their blogroll. Is this just a normal part of blogging and what people are supposed to do? I’m also curious what normal etiquette is in this situation. Do I say thanks? Or should the other blog owner have said, “By the way, I linked to your blog?”

Thanks,

Susan

Dear Susan,

It’s common practice to include blogs that similar to your own in a blogroll. A blogroll is a list of blogs that typically appears in a left- or right-hand column on the front page of a blog. People use blogrolls to link to resource they think their readers would find helpful, or to other blogs that cover the same ground they do.

If someone’s included your blog on their blogroll, it’s a sign they consider you legitimate and a part of the community of bloggers who write about the same thing. Be flattered, especially since you say your blog is very new.

“They probably just thought your blog was cool. Blogrolls to me are just a way to tell people what blogs you like,” says Dylan, who like you is taking part in the 2011 WordCount Blogathon.

Turn a blogroll into an opportunity

You could turn this into an opportunity to build up traffic to your own blog, which is another perfectly acceptable practice. Start by reading and commenting on posts written by the blogger who added you to their blogroll. If they respond, build up a rapport so that one day when you write a post you’re especially proud of you’re comfortable asking them to leave a comment. That could lead to swapping guest posts.

Blogrolls fallen out of favor with some professional bloggers for a variety of reasons. In recent months, I’ve cut mine back substantially to a list of essential resources that I think freelance writers should know about. I also minimized it because it’s not a heavily traffic area of my website and I’d rather have people reading my posts than linking out to other places.

Still, blogrolls serve their purpose, and many people still cultivate them. If you’re just starting out and want to establish yourself, a blogroll’s a good way to do it.

Here are some more tips on setting up and using blogrolls:

What is a blogroll (About.com)
Blogrolls – Yes or no? (Success Blognet)
Free tool: build outreach lists from blogrolls (BuzzStream)
Are blogrolls defunct? (Performancing)
Bye bye blogrolls (Fernando Gros)

What do you think: Do you have a blogroll ? Did you have one but dropped it? If you’ve kept yours, have you changed what’s on it?

Blogging tips from the 2011 ASJA writer’s conference

Michelle V. Rafter — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:44:37 +0000

Between talks on interview techniques, getting book deals and crafting the perfect query letter, the 2011 American Society of Journalists and Authors writer’s conference had sessions on blogging – lots of them.

Freelancers heard expert after expert expound on the importance of having a blog to launch or promote a book or establish themselves as an expert on the subjects they write about.

But you don’t need to be a professional writer to take the experts’ blogging advice to heart. Anyone who’s serious about improving their blogging efforts – including bloggers in the 2011 WordCount Blogathon – can benefit from their knowledge.

Here is some of the blogging advice I picked up at the ASJA conference:

1. If you’re not on social networks, you’re behind. If you’ve got a blog, you need to be on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Advice from writer/digital media marketing consultant and conference presenter Carmina Perez (@mogulette):

On Twitter, make sure tweets are newsy and write from your particular angle.
Tweet often but don’t overdo it – more than 20 a day looks spammy.
Focus on one thing “so they know you’re the go-to person for that subject.”
Pay attention to your profile: use keywords to describe yourself and always include the URL for your website.

From marketer Sam Horn (@samhorn_dot_com): Use the 30-30-30 rule: devote one third of your tweets each to pragmatic info about what you do, promoting your work, providing information your network will find interesting.

2. Mobilize your blog. Because so many people use smartphones to read blogs, make sure yours is mobile ready. That doesn’t mean building a different site, just tweaking what you’ve already got, says Fauzia S. Burke (@fauziaburke), an internet marketing consultant. Other tips:

Add new content every day, either new posts or through a widget that displays your Twitter or Facebook feed on your blog.
Don’t use Flash – it won’t show up on iPhones or iPads.
Put navigation links at the top of the site where they’re easy to see on a phone.
Add social sharing buttons or “your site will look dated.” Make it personal “so anyone who comes to your site feels connected to you.”

3. The future is video. At the conference, speaker after speaker stressed how big video has become on social networks, and how much bigger it’s going to be. What should bloggers do about it?

Get comfortable making and posting video to your website or blog.
Create your own YouTube channel, post videos there and link them back to your blog.
Register the “.tv” versions of any domain names you use. If you’re promoting a book, use your own site to practice talking in sound bites so you’re ready when The Today Show calls.

4. Everybody’s turning a blog into a book, or even a TV show. Numerous writer-bloggers at the ASJA conference talked about turning a blog into a book deal. Beth Feldman (@rolemommy), founder of a mommy blogger network called RoleMommy says approach a blog as part of a PR campaign for a book (or other project). Her other tips:

Hire a professional to design your blog.
If you’re a blogging beginner and want practice, blog “where the big fish are” on sites like Huffington Post but write on your own blog too.

I’ll be sharing other writing and writing business tips I picked up at the 2011 ASJA writer’s conference in future posts.

Bad beginnings: 10 newbie blogging mistakes & how to fix them

Michelle V. Rafter — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:00:49 +0000

It’s one thing to want to start a blog. It’s another thing to get things right. There’s so much to think about – what to blog about, how often to post, how to get people to read it what you’re writing – that a lot can go wrong. Here are some common mistakes that beginning bloggers make, and how to avoid them:

1. Focus on yourself. Unless you’re Lady Gaga, nobody wants to hear about you, you, you all the time. Pick a blog topic you’re passionate about, but make it something other people are interested in too.

2. Write about anything. Write about parenting one day, gardening the next, trips, relationships, books and that wild weekend in Vegas with your college girlfriends and readers won’t have a clue what your blog’s about. Stick to your stated subject. If it helps, keep a notepad – or iPad – in your pocket, purse, messenger bag or car so you can jot down ideas related to your theme when you think of them.

3. Pick a generic name. My Daily Musings doesn’t tell readers what your blog’s about – other than you (see No. 1). Pick a name that fits the topic. The only exception: if you’re using as blog as a business platform, in which case, name it after some version of your own name. Add a tag line – catchy, straightforward, serious or humorous – to give readers more information. Use GoDaddy or another domain name registry to find out what blog names are available.

4. Post whenever you feel like it. Letting days, weeks or months roll by without a post is a great way to kill interest – and page views. Readers like consistency. Pick a posting frequency you can live with and keep to it, whether that’s twice a day, week or month. Use Google Analytics to find out when your site gets the most traffic and publish posts on those days. Use an editorial calendar to map out what posts you’ll publish when. If it helps, write posts in advance and use your blogging software’s pre-publish feature to schedule when they go live.

5. Write when you can squeeze in a few minutes. Writing posts whenever you can fit it in doesn’t work because you’ll get busy and put it off – I know, I’ve done it. Pick a schedule that works for you and stay with it. If you’re an early bird, write before work starts. If you’re a night owl, write the next day’s post before you go to bed.

6. Write really long posts. When it comes to blog posts, less really is more. 250 to 300 words is fine. Break ideas into paragraphs. Use bold face subheads to break posts up into section. Include numbered or bulleted lists. According to recent research on online readability, making text easy to read will keep readers hang out on your site longer.

7. Focus on style over substance. I just got back from the American Society of Journalists and Authors annual writer’s conference, where expert after expert stressed creating blogs with original content, including good old fashioned reported news. So use make sure your blog posts are optimized for search engines, but concentrate more on providing new information.

8. Never include links. Links are the way of the web. If you’re making an argument, link out to related material from a news site or more well-established bloggers to show you’re part of the conversation. Link inside to your own blog posts too – it’ll help readers discover material that might be new to them.

9. Run the same types of posts all the time. Variety is the spice of blog posts. Use Q&As, lists, trends, guest posts, roundups and collections of links to stories on a related topic. Record a podcast or video. Share a photo. Surprise your readers – people like surprises.

10. Assume you know what readers want. You might think people come to your blog for your witty repartee when they’re actually there because of your cool photos or daily pie recipe. Why wonder: ask what they want. Invite comments. Use polls and “Open Threads” to draw people in.

2011 WordCount Blogathon is here: Get started blogging

Michelle V. Rafter — Sun, 01 May 2011 07:13:50 +0000

It’s here. The 2011 WordCount Blogathon starts today. Bloggers across the country – and around the world – will be blogging together for 31 days straight.

Based on sign ups – and as of early today there are close to 165 – many of you are blogging for the first time, restarting an blog that had fallen by the wayside, or looking to turn a hobby blog into a business venture.

Whether you’re an absolute beginner or brushing up on your blogging skills, here are tips taken from previous WordCount posts that you can use to make your blog look professional from the get go.

Now, go work on your blog.

Basics

Blog posts

Blog tech

Make money blogging