WordCount » tech tools for writers

Out with the old, and in with the new (computer)

Michelle V. Rafter — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:53:45 +0000

If all goes well, this will be the last blog post I write – on my current office computer.

I’ve used this eMachines PC for more years than I care to remember; it’s been at least five, maybe closer to six. A new hard drive and a few other essential upgrades have kept her alive and kicking through hundreds of deadlines, dozens of Twitter chats and four blogathons.

Early in 2011 I started feeling like I was driving a horse and buggy after everyone else had moved on to a Model T. The old PC was slowing down (and yes, I know, that’s a sure sign of imminent hard drive failure). Some mornings I waited minutes – minutes! – for Outlook and Chrome to open. I resolved that before the year was over, I’d upgrade. Besides, I reasoned, how could I sample the software and apps I write about if my computer couldn’t handle them?

Then I got busy with deadlines or vacation or something I had to do for my kids and put it off.

Finally – finally – on Dec. 31, I made good on my promise. After some research, consulting with my in-house tech team (husband and son) and visiting several area computer stores, I bought a new computer and monitor. It’s shiny, super-fast set up I’ll say more about in another post.

Switching computers isn’t as easy as unplugging one machine and plugging in another, at least not for someone like me who hasn’t leaped entirely to using web-based software. Before I can use the new machine, I’ve got to upload Word and other programs I use regularly and transfer hundreds of megabytes worth of data files. But by this time tomorrow or Thursday, I should be all set.

Say what you want about New Year’s resolutions – it’s great to know that even though it took 365 days, I made my goal, and as a result, I’m starting off 2012 at a blistering pace.

Oh, and my resolution for 2012? Not to put things off to the last minute.

What are your resolutions for 2012?

Get paid to tweet

Michelle V. Rafter — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 13:00:00 +0000

If you’ve mastered Twitter, how can you make money from it?

There’s no one answer. Some journalists have cashed in indirectly by using Twitter to find sources for stories, or to find and follow publications or editors who they’ve subsequently pitched story ideas.

There are more direct ways to make money from Twitter too, including getting paid to live tweeting news events, meetings, conferences and other happenings.

I recently got my first assignment to live tweet a meeting, and shared my experience with April Choi, a freelancer for Ebyline, and a fellow Portland, Oregon, writer. In a Q&A that was originally posted earlier this week, Choi and I talk about how it went and how freelancers can get similar gigs. We also discussed Twitter chats and other ways writers can make money from social media.

Here’s the beginning of the Q&A:

You recently got paid to live tweet AARP’s annual conference for SecondAct. How did you get the gig? And how did it go?

I’ve been a regular contributor at SecondAct, Entrepreneur Media’s website for people over 40, since April 2010. I blog twice a week and write features and slideshows. I originally pitched attending the AARP convention, called Life@50+, for material for future blog posts, and my editor liked the idea. A few days before the conference, she offered to pay me to live tweet the conference. The original plan was to write a dozen or so tweets a day. I ended up doing a lot more – and she increased the compensation.

Do you have any advice for other freelancers who are looking to get similar gigs?

Know your way around Twitter. Live tweeting is reporting in real time, you have to have the mechanics of hashtags, RTs, etc., down cold because you’ll be working fast. If you’re tweeting news, follow generally accepted journalism practices. Approach publications you already work with first because they’ll be more familiar with what you’re capable of doing than someone who doesn’t know your work.

Read the entire post here: Freelance journalist Michelle Rafter on Finding “Tweet” Success

Poll: What web apps do you use for your freelance business?

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve be invited to speak at the American Society of Journalists and Authors 2012 writers conference next April in New York.

Last year was my first ASJA conference, as a member and as a speaker. I moderated a hands-on blogging workshop that was lightly attended – they scheduled us for a Sunday morning on the last day of a three-day event. But the people who showed up loved it so much they stayed three hours, and a dozen absolute beginners left with brand new blogs registered and live online.

At ASJA 2012, I’ll be talking about tech once again. This time, the subject is web-based apps for writing or running a freelance business. The session will take the form of a panel discussion, with experts talking about the latest and greatest for research, writing and getting organized.

Here’s where you come in. To make the panel as useful as possible, I’d like to find out what web-based software freelancers use now, and what they’d like to use – if they knew enough about it.

Please help me by taking this short poll. If you’ve got suggestions for other apps we should cover in the ASJA panel discussion, please leave them in a comment. Likewise, if you know a tech-savvy journalist or app developer who’d be a welcome addition to the panel, please let me know by leaving a comment.

I’ll share a summary of what people picked in a future post. And I’ll share names of the panelists as we get closer to the conference.

Take Our Poll

Big 3 social networks create press rooms for journalists

Michelle V. Rafter — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Social networks have become an increasingly important resources for journalists, in everything from reporting stories to promoting their work.

The Big Three online networks – Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn – realize this, and over the past few months have created or beefed up beefed up journalist resource pages on their respective sites.

Here’s a quick look at the journalist resources each offers:

1. Twitter is the last of the big networks to create a journalist resource guide, Twitter for Newsrooms. You can also follow the official Twitter for Newsroom hashtag, #TfN. Twitter for Newsrooms has 4 sections:

#Report – Includes tips on search, finding sources and using Twitter’s mobile app.
#Engage – Includes a glossary of common Twitter terms, suggestions for effective tweeting with examples of how some high profile journalists (Katie Couric, Melissa Bell) use the service, and how to customize your profile so you’re easy to find.
#Publish - Information on Twitter add-ons you can use for a variety of purposes, such as embedding your tweet stream into a WordPress blog; downloadable logos (great for blog posts), and rules for how to display the Twitter logo in print, online or on air.
#Extra – On deadline, can’t get Twitter to work or need other help? This is the place to come for media, technical and other assistance. It’s also the place media organizations can find third-party Twitter apps to help them do content curation and moderation.

2. Facebook earlier this year hired Mashable’s former community manager Vadim Lavrusik to act as the company’s journalist program manager. Lavrusik has written posts on media industry blogs, including this one on Harvard’s NeimanLab blog about how journalists can better use Facebook. Other resources on the site include:

Press Room – Includes links to company press releases and the official Facebook blog.
Contacts – Includes downloadable logos and images; and forms for interview requests and a PR contact email address (press@fb.com), though no names or phone numbers.
Subscribe to Lavrusik’s Facebook feed – Because he regularly shares tips for using the service, I’d also suggest subscribing to his Facebook feed.

3. LinkedIn has had a journalist resource page for some time – and for a long time shared a post I wrote about how journalists can use LinkedIn. The company reorganized its journalists resource page in recent months, no doubt in anticipation of the additional reporters who started covering the company after it went public. The new LinkedIn Press Center features:

LinkedIn for Journalists Group – Join this LinkedIn group for journalists to read company news and share tips on using the service with other reporters.
Resources – LinkedIn’s public relations staff has compiled a list of suggestions for how journalists can use the service to follow trends, find sources including crowdsource, tie their LinkedIn and Twitter accounts, follow industry news and more.
Getting past “No comment.” – Here’s an interesting tip I’d never thought about before, shared by the company’s publicists: “If you’re looking for background info or comment, LinkedIn Company Pages will show you current and former employees and how you’re connected to them. LinkedIn Advanced People Search can also help. Type a name into the “Company” field and select “Past” on the drop down menu underneath.”

You can find out more about how journalists, freelancers and other writers can use LinkedIn in writer Susan Johnston’s new book, LinkedIn and Lovin It, which will be out next week. (I’ll update this post with the link once the book is published.)

Here are other posts I’ve written on how writers can use social networks:

Back to school means back to work

Michelle V. Rafter — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:00:24 +0000

When the school doors open this morning at 8 a.m., I don’t know who’ll be more excited, my fifth grader or me.

I work from home, so summer break means the tranquil work space that’s all mine nine months of the year turns into activity central, with my fifth grader, two college-aged kids and their friends up and around all hours of the day and most of the night. No wonder I’ve turned into a morning person, it’s the only time it’s quiet.

Back to school isn’t just a date on a calendar for students. It also signals the end of summer, when people return from vacation ready to plunge into new projects and start planning for next year.

As we head back to work after Labor Day, here are a few things freelancers can do to get ready for the rest of the year:

1. Research new markets. If you took it easy over the summer, finished working on some months-long projects or lost a client over budget cuts, it’s time to find out what else is out there. Good places to investigate: professional organizations such as the Specialized Interest Publishers Association, which represents subscription newsletters, and the American Society of Business Publication Editors.

2. Send letters of introduction. Some editors would rather receive a letter of introduction than a pitch. In a LOI, explain who you are, what you specialize in, the type of writing or other work you’re seeking, why you’re qualified, and a summary of your relevant experience. Make it concise so the editor doesn’t have to scroll too far to get to the end.

3. Send queries. If your New Years resolution was to pitch some new-to-you publications but you haven’t yet, now’s the time. Just make sure what you’re sending is appropriate for the publication you’re querying. Read more on what to do to make sure editors get back to you.

4. Follow up on queries. Don’t let your queries fall into a black hole. If it’s been a couple weeks and you haven’t heard anything – less time if your pitch is time sensitive – follow up by email, or if you know the editor, by phone. Let them know that you’re wondering whether they received your query and if there’s any additional information you can send them about the idea or yourself.

5. Attend a conference. Nothing gets the creative juices flowing like going to a conference or seminar. There are a handful of great writing and media industry conferences taking place this fall; here’s a complete list.

6. Clear out your inbox. I love an empty email inbox as much as the next person, but it’s an easy thing to let slide if you’ve been preoccupied with deadlines. Be ruthless; ask yourself, do I really need this? Can I get this information somewhere else if I need it? If you can’t part with old emails, at least consider saving them in an archive folder or to a back-up hard drive so they aren’t cluttering your inbox, and taking up space on your computer.

7. Toss old notes. Check to see what policies the publications you write for have about holding onto old notes: some require three years, others longer. Once you’ve past the expiration date, shred them.

8. Update your LinkedIn profile. I interview recruiters all the time and one thing I hear a lot these days: you have to be on LinkedIn. If you aren’t, create an account and fill out your profile and work experience. If you have an existing LinkedIn profile, make sure it includes your most recent freelance gigs. It’s also important to include your skills and specialties, since publishers will search for those terms when they’re using the service to find writers. Here’s more on how writers can use LinkedIn.

9. Give your blog a makeover. Is your blog stuck in 2009? Maybe it’s time for a makeover. Maybe all you need is a few new WordPress plugins to make it easier for readers to leave comments or subscribe to your blog feed. Maybe you want a whole new look and feel. Here’s a great list of WordPress themes, plugins and more.

10. Change your email signature. Got a new column, book or blog? Link to it from the sign off you use on your outgoing email messages. Don’t use an email signature? You should. Here’s some tips for what to include in an email signature.

11. Update your headshot. Spring for professional photos if you can. If you can’t, at the least change the photo you use on Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Followers like it when people change up their online appearance.

12. Try a new social network. If you normally hang out on Facebook, sign up for Twitter, Google+, Tumblr, Storify or another social network. Not sure whether a new network is worth it? Read more about how writers can use Twitter, why you should check out Google+ and how easy it is to get started on Tumblr.

Tips for running a successful freelance business

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:00:00 +0000

You could be good at writing, blogging, graphic design or translation. But what does it take to parlay those skills into successfully running your own freelance business?

Organization, discipline, fearlessness and technical savvy.

Those were just some of the characteristics cited by successful freelancers who participated in last week’s #wclw chat on building a freelance business.

The chat drew equal numbers of beginning and experienced freelancers, none of whom were shy about asking questions or sharing advice. Here are the highlights:

Challenges to starting or running a freelance business:

@jenwillis (Jen, a Portland, Oregon, freelancer since 1999): Making ends meet in a challenging economy.

@teachwhatisgood (Kate, from rural Illinois, a blogger on parenting and faith looking to do more freelancing) I’m just beginning to venture out and don’t know where to look to submit articles.

@SaraLancaster (Sara, a website content writer working on her own since 2008) It seems to change over time. Right now I think my challenge is staying inspired. Hard to work alone every day on similar projects.

@Liz_Sheffield (Liz, a Seattle freelancer on parenting, health and wellness) Narrowing my focus rather than going broad and trying to write on every topic for every possible market and media format.

@siljahurskainen (Silja, a Finnish freelance writer living in California and starting a freelance business) Getting started with the freelance business in this new country of mine. Everything’s new!

Sticking to a specialty:

@Liz_Sheffield How do you know how to specialize when your area of expertise is kind of broad, like parenting?

@MichelleRafter (That’s me!) I’ve always believed that specializing is the way to go as a freelancer. You provide added value to pubs you write for. Parenting isn’t too broad, lots of writers specialize in it.

@teachwhatisgood And if you focus on the parts of parenting that mean most to you, it helps with focus.

@MichelleRafter Another reason to specialize is because you can develop close ties with editors so they take you with them when they move to a new job.

Connecting with other writers:

@SaraLancaster I’ve tried a few co-work spaces and definitely do my best to attend networking events, etc. I’m slowly figuring it out.

@MichelleRafter I’d definitely suggest connecting with other writers in person or online. Freelance Success is a great online writer community. FLX has weekly newsletter with info on pubs that work with freelancers, online message board, pay rate database, blog and more.

@jenwillis FLX rocks! I’ve been a member since 2006, and I’m writing a market guide for them right now. The weekly market guides are good. I rely more on the online forums to share info, ask questions, etc.

@MichelleRafter There are other online writer groups as well, including UPOD, run by David Hochman, a very successful LA-based freelancer.

@SaraLancaster Networking is tough, but once you find a rhythm things will snowball. Just have to stay at it. It’s like the gym!

Tracking the news:

@siljahurskainen To get the broadest possible view of American life, what newspapers, tv channels, sites would you recommend for a foreign writer? Hope my question wasn’t too off topic, but for me as a foreigner starting my business it’s definitely one of the important ones.

@MichelleRafter For broad view of American life, try USA Today, New York Times, nightly newscasts on national & local TV, NPR.

@jenwillis That’s a tough one. Off the bat, I’d suggest Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, and your local free weekly.

Where to find out about publications that work with freelancers:

@jenwillis I’d like to know which pubs are still buying first North American serial rights (FNASR) at decent rates, rather than buying all rights for increasingly less money.

@teachwhatisgood Where to find them and how to submit. I looked at nine publications one day recently and found NOTHING about submission policies.

@MichelleRafter Some of my go-to sources for freelance jobs are LinkedIn Jobs, JournalismJobs.com, Mediabistro and ProBlogger.com.

@jenwillis Agree on JournalismJobs.com; that’s where I found out about the fellowship I’m on this fall.

@MichelleRafter For where to submit, look at the “About Us” or “Contacts” page on a publication’s website for names and email formats. Also, many publications post writers’ guidelines, or will send them to you if you email and ask for them.

@jenwillis Sometimes you just have to call or email an editor to ask about submissions guidelines.

@SaraLancaster When I started I used Writer’s Market. Helpful if you want to write in mags or enter creative contests. You pay for Writers Market. Online version has updated requirements. Makes it convenient and you’re not bidding against other writers.

@MichelleRafter My best source of work has been through ex-colleagues at websites, newspapers or magazines where I previously worked or freelanced. That’s why I’m such a big believer in networking and using sites like LinkedIn, Twitter, FB, Google+ to do it. I would say in the past two years, 99 percent of my freelance work has come through personal connections.

@teachwhatisgood WOW! I guess the goal is to get to the place where you have connections! ;-D Not there…

@MichelleRafter Or it could be that I’ve just been around so long! If you have a good experience with a publication, ask the editor to write a LinkedIn recommendation. It’s a reference all can see.

Connecting with editors:

@siljahurskainen I struggle with the shyness, too. That’s often the biggest obstacle and I really need to get rid of it.

@MichelleRafter Channel the same energy you use to track down and talk to sources for dealing with editors. They’re just people. Sometimes you have to pick up the phone or hit “Send” anyway and the shyness or fear goes away.

@jenwillis Acting fast can overcome nerves. I interviewed a famous author last week and didn’t give myself time to think before I called.

@siljahurskainen Moving to another country sure helps! You feel so stupid all the time that there’s no time for feeling shy.

@jenwillis I wrote a story for The Writer about telephone anxiety and learning how to reach out to editors.

Staying organized:

@AuntyJuJu1 (Julia, a part-time education reporter for a metro St Louis newspaper who wants to do freelancing) Lists, lists and more lists!

@jenwillis Email folders for each story, and calendar reminders. For bigger projects, I set up a Scrivener file on my Mac. I also have a whiteboard on the wall that I can use for jotting down notes and mapping project schedules. Here’s the link to Scrivener for Windows.

@teachwhatisgood Just read that anyone who did NaNoWriMo last year and had their account validated gets a 50% discount on PC Scrivener file.

@MichelleRafter Q3: For editing work, I create a spreadsheet for every step of manuscript production and write in date when that phase of work is done.

@Tia_Bach_Author (Tia Bach, a book author and freelancer) I still like paper and have projects and to-dos listed in a notebook. I also love email folders.

@MichelleRafter I’m also a big fan of Outlook. I color code everything and put interviews, due dates, meetings, etc., on it. I also think it’s important to maintain regular office hours, whether for you that’s 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., etc.

@jenwillis Regular hours have been a challenge for me. Some interviews can only happen at night, weekends, etc.

Editing your own work:

@MichelleRafter I usually edit as a I go. But sometimes it works better to write through a first draft, then going back and edit.

@SaraLancaster I sometimes hire other freelancers to edit my work.

@teachwhatisgood Do you ever have other people read it?

@MichelleRafter I don’t have others read my work. Sometimes I switch between Word and WordPress and see things in latter I didn’t catch. My other advice on editing: have The Associated Press Stylebook handy and read good writing. Both help with writing and editing yourself. It’s also helpful to let a piece rest overnight & read it in the morning with fresh eyes.

@Liz_Sheffield My husband is my best editor for the feel of a piece, and helps identify what I might have missed.

@jenwillis I often read my work out loud. That’s another good way to catch errors or text that doesn’t flow.

@SaraLancaster I use my husband for editing, too. We both work at home so that helps.

Archive and The August 2011 #wclw Chat

You can read the complete transcript of the July 27 #wclw chat on TwapperKeeper, a Twitter archive service, at TwapperKeeper/hashtag/wclw.

Tune into the next #wclw chat, where we’ll discuss everything you ever wanted to know about blog post comments. The chat takes place on Aug. 31 at 10 a.m. Pacific time.

Here are other posts I’ve done on starting a freelance writing business:

Should writers use Google+?

Michelle V. Rafter — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:27:05 +0000

Although I’ve written about technology for ages and among of my friends and acquaintances I’ve got a reputation as a tech geek, I’ve never really been an early adopter.

I’m more like a late early adopter. LinkedIn already had 5 million users by the time I signed up in September 2007. Twitter had been around close to two years by the time I joined in December 2009. I can’t remember when I signed up for Facebook, but it was definitely after my two oldest kids were experts.

But that was then. Social networks have become vital research and reporting tools for journalists and freelancers, so that when a new one comes along it’s smart to check it out sooner v. later.

That’s why this week found me digging into Google+, Google’s latest effort to beat Facebook at its own game. The online network is still in wide beta testing – meaning you have to get an invitation to try it. But some industry pundits are calculating that close to 10 million people are already on it.

Using Facebook has been a problem for people who wanted to separate their private lives from their work. The only options were either creating a separate fan page for your freelance work or small business or give up and accept friend requests from work colleagues and mix business with pleasure.

Google+ solves that problem by letting users create groups called Circles so they can share work-related updates with work friends, family updates with family, shop talk with fellow hobbyists and the like.

Will Google+ take off? It’s way too soon to tell. Right now the biggest topic of conversation in my Circles is Google+. However, I could definitely see using it for my freelance business to:

Exchange instant messages instead of email with an editor to tell her I’m finished loading a story into the publication’s content management system
Hold a video chat with the group of writers I edit
Track sources
Read articles in newspapers and magazines
Do a video chat for the WordCount Blogathon (I just thought of that, now that’s a good idea!)

But a lot of those things would replace social networks and other tech tools I already use. So the big question is, is Google+ good enough to make me change my ways?

See for yourself. Here’s a post I did for SecondAct.com on Google+ – maybe it will help you decide whether to open the invitation that’s sitting in your inbox.

Google+: Testing the Waters

Are you using Google+? If so, I’d love to hear your initial reactions. Please leave a comment, especially if you have tips for how journalists and freelancers could benefit from using it.

Working with WordPress: themes, hosts, plugins & more

Michelle V. Rafter — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Just when you think you’ve learned all there is to know about WordPress, a friend turns you onto a great new plugin for the popular blogging software or your hosting service crashes for the umpteenth time and you find yourself desperate for a new one.

We addressed all those issues and more in last week’s WordCount Last Wednesday writer chat with guest Ron Doyle, a Denver freelance writer, web developer and WordPress expert.

For those of you who missed it, or tuned in but didn’t bother to take notes at the time, here’s a cleaned up version of the conversation. Tweets have been edited for length and clarity. Because of some mysterious wonkiness on Twitter during the chat, some tweets didn’t make it into #wclw saved searches on Twitter, TweetChat or TwapperKeeper, which means a few juicy tidbits may have slipped through undetected. If you’ve got additional recommendations for hosts, themes or plugins, please leave them in a comment.

1. Advantages of a free self-hosted WordPress blog

@rondoylewrites – Free is great, but control is better. With a self-hosted WordPress website or blog, you have total control. With self-hosted WP.org sites, you can control the design, monetization, and analytics. By contrast, WordPress.com doesn’t allow ads, Blogger.com has limited design options, etc. Most importantly, with a self-hosted site you never have to worry that the parent company will go out of business. But, to be clear, something free is better than nothing at all!

2. WordPress themes

@rondoylewrites – Themes are like outfits, everyone has their own style preferences. When choosing a theme, try to pick one with a child/parent theme framework. WordPress parent/child theme frameworks let you make customizations that can’t be undone by updates. Basically, you install two themes, the parent and the child. Then, you make design tweaks to the child. When the developer updates the parent theme you don’t have to worry about losing your customizations. Most themes do not have a parent/child option. Hybrid, Thesis and Genesis are very popular examples of themes that do have the parent/child framework theme. My favorite WordPress parent/child framework is Hybrid by @JustinTadlock. His code has superpowers. Thesis and Genesis are other very popular examples of the parent/child framework theme. Genesis is a solid framework, but it’s $79. Theme Hybrid is free.

@jenwillis - I’m using the Atahualpa WordPress theme. I don’t know if it’s a parent/child theme.

@rondoylewrites - Unfortunately, Atahualpa does not have a parent/child framework, but newer versions do (sometimes) save your tweaks.

3. What to look for in a hosting service

@rondoylewrites – For a WordPress site, your host must have MySQL and PHP5 capabilities. WordPress is content management system (CMS) and all your content and settings are stored in a database (MySQL), so find a host that uses MySQL. PHP is the programming language that pulls information from MySQL. Beyond MySQL and PHP5, I highly recommend going with a host that uses a Linux server instead of a Microsoft server. My favorite web hosts:

I recommend all of those web hosts because of their price, features, and compatibility with WordPress. My new top favorite for environmental reasons is Green Geeks. They’re affordable and (use) zero CO2. One last thing about hosts — be sure to pick one with a great control panel. That’s why GoDaddy isn’t on the list.

@jenwillis – FatCow is supposedly very green and offers good customer support. Plus, it’s inexpensive.

@teachwhatisgood - I’m hosting with iPage and so far things seem to be going well.

4. Recommended WordPress plugins

Plugins are one of the big perks of self-hosted WordPress: little packs of code that add special functions. There are literally tens of thousands of plugins! Almost all of plugins are free. Typically only custom plugins cost money. Some of my favorite plugins:

AntiCaptcha (security)
All-in-One SEO Pack
Blubrry PowerPress (podcasting)
Contact Form 7
Hetjens Feed Redirect , redirect requests to the main or comment feed of the blog to Feedburner or a similar service
Google XML Sitemaps (SEO)
Qoate Content Expiration, replaces anything you want with a custom message after an expiration date
What Would Seth Godin Do (WWSGD), shows different custom messages to a blog’s first-time and returning visitors
Image Widget — everyone should install this one — I think it should become standard feature for WordPress. It lets you add images to your sidebar without knowing HTML, which is very handy
For stats tracking, I used to love WP.com Stats, but its replacement, Jetpack is super buggy. Now I strongly recommend Google Analyticator or Web Ninja Google Analytics.

@teachwhatisgood - I like Broken Link Checker. It helps me keep on track of any links that are not working.

@pjnoonan - What about apps to add Facebook and Twitter live feeds to your blog?

@rondoylewrites – I don’t recommend the Facebook and Twitter widgets that display live tweets, updates, etc. Not a fan because they use scripts that slow down your site. Better to maintain separate conversations, in my opinion. But connecting to Facebook and Twitter with Like and Tweet buttons is awesome.

@michellerafter - For polls, I like PollDaddy, which you can manage from WordPress or from PollDaddy.com. My new favorite is Editorial Calendar, which adds an editorial calendar to the WordPress dashboard you can use to easily schedule posts. Love, love, love it.

You can read more on WordPress here:

Save the Date: Next #wclw Chat is July 27

Just getting started freelancing, or wondering how to take your writing business to the next level? Join me next month when the subject will be the basics of running a freelance writing business. Tune in July 27 at 10 a.m. Pacific time. Use the #wclw hashtag to join the conversation.

Got a writing or blogging-related subject that would make a great Twitter chat? Let me know. I’m scheduling WordCount Last Wednesday writer chats through 2011 and would love your ideas.