Are you ready?

You may have ideas for blog posts lined up. But that’s not what I’m talking about.

If you’re going to devote extra time to blogging that means you’re taking time away from other things, either from other work or your non-work life.

To minimize the extra pain that comes with blogging every day – and a lot of people entering this year’s blogathon have indicated they want to blog more than they are now  – here are some suggestions for doing it all, at least for the next 31 days.

At work:

1. Schedule blogging time – I could spend hours on a blog post if I let myself – and sometimes I do. But since I’m running this thing, blogging too and have work commitments I can’t ignore, I need to make every writing moment count. I’m devoting the first hour of my work day to the blogathon – what can I say, I’m a morning person –  and when time’s up, I’ll move on to other things.

2. Schedule blog posts – I’m actually writing this post on April 24 to get a jump on things. Before the weekend’s over, I expect to have a plan mapped out for what I’m going to post every day of the blogathon. That way I won’t be faced with sitting down at the computer one morning with no idea what I’m going to write about.

3. Write fast – There are times to linger over a post. This is not one of them. Sometimes good enough is good enough, and this is one of those times. I’m not going to skip adding links or images. I’m just minimizing the time I spend finding just the right word or phrase. Part of writing fast is jotting ideas down when you get them – especially if “jotting ideas down” means going to the computer, laptop, iPhone or whatever you use and roughly out an outline, getting the lede or cutting and pasting some links so you can come back later and finish.

4. Keep it short – Blog posts don’t have to be long to be good. Sometimes a bite-size nugget of truth is all you need. A blog post doesn’t have to be one set thing. It could be a couple thoughts on something in the news, a list of links, a recipe, photograph, poem, snippet of overheard conversation, or a quick review of a clip you saw on YouTube (with the link or video included of course). Here are some more tips for writing short.

5. Pre-publish – The blogathon might be about blogging every day during the month of May, but that doesn’t mean you actually have to write every day. I’ll be using the pre-publish feature on WordPress to pre-write posts for weekends – because really, who wants to work on weekends?

At home:

6. Clear the decks - Right now my non-work to-do list includes a couple things I want to accomplish before the blogathon takes over my life. That includes registering my youngest for summer camps and finalizing details of our family’s summer vacation – activities I’d know would get pushed to the back burner if I tried to do them in May because of the extra blogging I’ll be doing.

7. Makes plans - This is sort of related to clearning the decks. Plan dinners, plan errands (all the better to do a bunch during the same trip), plan outings, plan free time (you’ll need it).

8. Ask for help – In my house I’m in charge of breakfast, lunch and dinner, but this month, I’m alerting the troops they’ll be doing some of the heavy lifting when it comes to meal times. Ditto for laundry and other household chores.

9. Let things go – Some tasks I’m attacking ahead of the blogathon (see above). Others I’m letting go until after May. I really want to get flowers planted in pots I put on the back deck during summer. But if it doesn’t happen until June, oh well; it probably won’t be sunny here until then anyway. And no one will notice but me.

10. Stick to healthy routines – When the stress is on, it’s easy to drink too much coffee, work too late, drop going to the gym and go out to eat or pick up fast food. I know – I’ve done all of that. Not this time. The more stress you’re under, the more important it is to stick to healthy habits – it’ll show in your energy level and your work. I learned that last year when I interviewed a management consultant who’s trained world-class athletes, CEOs and other top performers for this CBSMarketWatch.com story. OK, I may still drink too much coffee. But there’s no way I’m missing workouts or yoga – they’re my treats to myself for a job well done.

In that case, welcome to the madness.

We crazies will be blogging every day during the month of May in the 3rd annual WordCount Blogathon. It’s our annual exercise to get pumped up about blogging. It’s not too late to join us; you can register here. (A few people have had trouble with the registration form – if that happens to you, leave a comment here and I’ll get the sign up information to you manually.)

Blogging every day is a commitment, but it doesn’t have to be a grind. The key is how you approach it.

This year, I’m all about making it as easy as possible.

In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say if you’re doing the Blogathon, you need to cheat.

Cheat as in take short cuts.

Here’s how you can cheat your way into blogging every day:

Beg – For last year’s Blogathon, we started an official Guest Post Exchange day, where writers asked someone else to swap guest posts – or they exchanged posts with a writer friend who wasn’t in the Blogathon. We’re doing the same thing this year on Tuesday, May 18. But why stop at one? If you really think you’re going to have a hard time posting every day, get someone else to share the burden. Susan Johnston at The Urban Muse Writer uses guest bloggers to cover days she’s away on business or vacation; in fact, she’s even got a link to guidelines for guest bloggers on her front page. We’re pretty flexible on the rules here at WordCount Blogathon headquarters – if you can cover more than one day in May with guest bloggers, more power to you.

Borrow - If you run your own blog but also blog for pay elsewhere, why load yourself up with extra work? On the days when posts from your paid blogging job are running, put up a short post on your own blog pointing to it. If you wrote it and it’s running somewhere, that should count, right? Now that I’ve got a twice-a-week blogging gig at SecondAct.com, that’s what I’m planning to do.

See an interesting post on someone else’s blog? Borrow it to do a post on your own. I don’t mean copy and paste that person’s post onto your blog – that’s not ethical and as someone who makes my living writing, I’d never suggest stealing someone else’s work. But there’s nothing wrong with being inspired by someone else’s idea and then putting your own spin on it. It’s accepted blogging practice to write about your reaction to someone else’s post. You could include a sentence or paragraph from the post you’re writing about in your own – but always with the proper attribution and a link.

Steal – Look through your old blog posts and steal your own ideas. Is there a post you could follow up on because of something that’s happened since then? Is there something you wish you’d written better? Redo it. Are there posts you could group together because they’re all related to the same topic? Write a theme or “best of” post based on them. Look at the next paragraph and you’ll see this post is actually a theme post, because I’ve listed other posts I’ve written on blogging. Tune in later this week and you’ll see another post from me on how “best of” posts can save your sanity.

Here are some other posts I’ve written about blogging:

In case you’re just tuning in, the Blogathon is an exercise in community blogging, where writers with blogs commit to posting every day during the month of May.

This year, everyone who participates is eligible to win fabulous writing-related giveaways valued at close to $800, including classes, coaching, resume makeovers, software, e-books and more.

As of April 24, we’re close to 50 participants, but I’m still hoping to get more before May 1. Participants get cool badges for their websites to let the world know what they’re up to. If you want to join us, sign up here.

If you’re participating in the Blogathon, there are some events you should know about. Put them on your calendar so you’re ready when they roll around:

April 26 to 30 – Check in here all week long for posts on how to get ready for the Blogathon. I’ll be writing about how to come up with ideas for posts, how to clear the decks so you have the time you need for extra blogging, how to cover yourself when you need a day off and more.

May 1 - And they’re off! On the first day of the Blogathon, I’ll run a complete list of participants, which if you’re joining us, you can copy and put up on your own blog.

May 3 - I’ll sift through information writers provided in their registration forms to come up with a picture of how many people are joining us for the first time and how many are returnees, and all the reasons why people are crazy enough to blog 31 days in a row.

May 8 – On this and every Saturday during the Blogathon, I’ll showcase some of the week’s most interesting posts from Blogathon writers.

May 10 – NEW! WordCount Blogathon Group Blogging Day #1. For the first time, I’m inviting everyone to write about the same thing. The topic: The 10 blogs I can’t live without. Write a post about your favorite blogs – how easy is that? Make it short, make it long, include screen grabs, or not. The fun part is know we’re all in it together.

May 18 – Official Blogathon Guest Post Exchange Day. Look at the list of particpating bloggers running May 1 and ask someone on it to swap posts with you. Or exchange posts with a friend, that’s fine too. The point is to write on someone else’s blog that day, and have them write on yours.

May 24 – NEW! WordCount Blogathon Group Blogging Day #2. Another opportunity for everyone to write about the same thing. Only this time instead of me picking what we write about, someone else gets to come up with the theme. Submit your suggestion by May 9 and I’ll pick the best one and announce it on May 10, on the first group blogging day. Good times.

May 31 – You did it! The WordCount Blogathon is over. Back to your regularly scheduled programming. But wait, there’s more…

June 1 – The official WordCount Blogathon wrap party on Twitter. We’ll congregate at 8:30 a.m. PST at hashtag #Blog2010 for a fast-paced discussion of what we loved, what we hated and what we’d do differently next time. Plan on 30 minutes, though I’ll stay for an hour in case anyone else wants to.

Feeling lucky?

You could be one of the big winners in this year’s WordCount Blogathon.

To mark the event’s 3rd anniversary, I’ve lined up some fabulous giveaways for writers who commit to blogging the entire month of May.

Thanks to some awesome sponsors, more than $1,200 in prizes will be awarded to randomly selected participants at the end of the WordCount Blogathon:

• NEW! (Added April 29) KnowledgeWebb subscription - 1 year subscription to KnowledgeWebb, affordable training for everyone and anyone working in content. Their motto: Don’t sweat the tech! Value: $129.
• NEW! (Added April 27) Blog/Website SEO Review – Custom analysis of your blog or website from Internet marketing specialist Spork Marketing. Spork’s Jason Lancaster will analyze more than 50 aspects of your website or blog’s design and structure to create a report on what’s working, what’s not and suggestions for 10 easy fixes to make it more search engine friendly. The winner must agree to publish a post about the review process, either on their site or on Spork Marketing’s blog. Value: $500
• One admission to TV and film blogger Jane Boursaw’s popular class, Blogging for Passion and Profit, Premium level. Value: $250.
• A one-hour “Get Unstuck” laser coaching session with Marla Beck, life coach for writers, good for writers looking to take on more meaningful assignments, overcome writer’s block. Value: $185.
• One hour of resume writing service from Danielle Buffardi of PenPoint Editorial Services to overhaul your old resume or start a new one from scratch. Value: $125.
• Hot off the presses, The Urban Muse blogger Susan Johnston’s new e-book, The Urban Muse Guide to Online Writing Markets, with information on 40 online writing markets that buy freelance articles, as well as samples of successful query emails and a glossary of writing and web terms.
• A copy of Simple Task Timer, time tracking software writers can also use to schedule projects, produce productivity reports and generate invoices. Value: $49.95.
• One hour of writing, editing or business coaching from WordCount Editorial Services (that’s me). Value: $125.
• Starbucks gift card - Preferred fuel for bloggers! Value: $25.
• The Associated Press Stylebook 2009 – New, paperback edition, shipped directly to you from Amazon.com. Value: $12.89.

To be eligible, all you have to do is sign up for the blogathon and blog all 31 days. Winners will be randomly drawn and announced on June 1 during the real-time WordCount Blogathon wrap party – watch here for more details.

To sign up or learn more about the blogathon go to the official WordCount Blogathon page.

In addition to a chance to win fabulous prizes, all WordCount participants receive a free badge to place on their blog to let the world know they’re part of this wonderful group – that’s it at the beginning of this post.

A big shout out to WordCount Blogathon sponsors for making this possible:

• Jason Lancaster and Internet marketing specialist Spork Marketing.
• Jane Boursaw, freelance writer and blogger at Reel Life with Jane and a whole lot more.
  Marla Beck, life coach for writers.
• Danielle Buffardi of PenPoint Editorial Services.
• Susan Johnston, freelance writer and blogger at The Urban Muse.
• Alex Garrido, author of Simple Task Timer.
• Ron Doyle for designing the participant and sponsor badges.

If you’re a company that makes products or services for writers and would be interested in sponsoring the WordCount Blogathon, please contact me here.

If you’re new to these parts and wondering ‘What the heck is a blogathon?’ let me enlighten you. The blogathon is group commitment by a steadfast band of writers from all over to blog every day during the month of May. The fun starts Saturday, May 1 and doesn’t stop until we’re all blogged out on Monday, May 31.

If you’ve participated in the blogathon before, welcome back.

This year we’re kicking things up a notch – several actually. In hopes of improving your blogathon experience, we’ve added:

• A blogathon registration form – Fill it out to put yourself on a blogathon mailing list for weekly updates, pep talks and announcements. You’ll find the registration form live now on a special WordCount Blogathon page on this site. By registering you’ll also get the…
• Official blogathon participant badge – …designed by my main man Ron Doyle, the wiz behind the redesign of this blog, my business cards, letterhead and Twitter background page. Display it on your blog to tell the universe you’re a blogging fiend, and proud of it.
• Daily themes – Stuck on what to write? This year the official blogathon headquarters staff (i.e. yours truly) has come up with a cheat sheet of sorts, a slate of weekly topics you can post about, thereby offloading some of the pressure to come up with original material every single day. Watch for more information on this before the blogathon gets under way.
• Giveaways – Sorry, you’ll have to stay tuned for future announcements about the fantastic writing-related products and services I’ll be giving away during this year’s event!

We’re also bringing back some oldies but goodies from last year, including an official guest-post exchange day, where you pick a blogging partner and agree to trade posts on the appointed day. We’ll also share what we learned during a blogathon wrap party on Twitter the day after the blogathon is over, which is Tuesday, June 1.

Speaking of Twitter, you can follow Blogathon-related activity using the hashtag #Blog2010

Approximately 45 writers participated in last year’s blogathon. This year my goal is to coax at least 100 writers into joining. Think we can do it?

For more information or to sign up for this year’s blogathon, go to the WordCount Blogathon page.

Whether you’re taking the plunge, or just thinking about it, sign up for the WordCount RSS feed to see all upcoming blogathon-related announcements.

But it’s one thing to resolve to start blogging, and another to decide what to blog about.

Many writers hit on a blog topic right away. Some have had an idea rolling around in their heads for a while. Others have a book in the works – or at least a book proposal – and have heard the drill about a blog being a good platform for book promotion.

But what if none of those scenarios describes you. How should you decide what to blog about? Here are a few ideas:

Write about what you know. Think of the areas you specialize in as a writer. Is there one nook or cranny of your work you’d like to explore further? If you blog on the same topic you write about, the leftover bits and pieces of research you’re done for stories can serve as starting points for blog posts, a nifty time saver.

Write about what you want to know better. Some writers use a blog to research areas they want to learn about to better develop pitches for magazine,  newspaper or website stories. I did this myself when I came back to freelancing two years ago after a long hiatus and needed to get up to speed on what had been happening in the tech and media business while I was away. After researching topics like podcasting and content aggregators for blog posts, I successfully pitched stories on the subjects to publications I’d started writing for.

Write about a popular topic. Some writers use blogs as revenue-generators rather than just for marketing or research. If you’re counting on income from advertising networks such as Google AdSense or BlogHer, or from selling e-books, online courses or other products and services you want to maximize the traffic coming to your blog. The best way to do that is to pick a topic with broad appeal to draw in as many people as possible. The more people who visit, the higher your page views and the more you’ll make from ad networks, or the greater the likelihood you’ll sell products.

Consider how much you like a topic. Good bloggers post on a regular basis – daily, weekly, multiple times a day – as a way to keep readers coming back for more. To post consistently you need a topic you’re passionate about v. a topic you feel like you’ve already done to death in your other writing. There’ll be days you won’t want to post and if you’re already in a love-hate relationship with your subject matter, it’ll make it that much harder to muster up the energy to blog.

Find a niche that’s not too crowded. You don’t want to be the 20th or 200th blogger writing about parenting toddlers, backyard gardening or U.S. politics. If you are, it’ll that much harder  to come up with interesting new takes on the subject, and to get your posts to show up high in search engine rankings. On the other hand…

Find a niche with a few well-known blogs. ….You don’t want to be the only person on earth blogging on about high school wrestling in Arizona or outsourcing for small businesses. It’s nice to have a couple other blogs related to whatever it is you’re blogging about so you can form a loose affiliation of bloggers who can function as each others’ cheerleaders, guest posters and sounding boards. If a couple of these are also high profile blogs run by magazines or newspapers  all the better for you – they could notice you and link to your blog, which will increase traffic. Or you could become a frequent commenter and end up being invited to write guest posts.

Avoid the ‘random musings’ blog. It’s OK to use a blog as a journal or diary, something you do more for yourself than the general public. But if you’re blogging and you want the world to know – and come visit – it helps to let people know what to expect. That means avoiding what I call the “random musings” blog, where one day you write about your struggle with writer’s block, the next your vacation to Whistler, and the next a great recipe you discovered for skirt steak. One successful writer/blogger solved this problem by splitting the different subjects he was interested in writing about into their own blogs. Now his main website links out to each blog, so if readers want to track his cooking blog, they can subscribe only to that one, and readers following his other blogs can do likewise.

If you’re a writer who blogs how did you decide on a topic to blog about?

Last year close to 50 writers participated in the blogathon. In addition to putting up a list of all participating writers on our respective blogs, we had an official guest post exchange day and a real-time wrap party on Twitter to discuss what we loved, hated and learned.

Here at WordCount world headquarters, I’m already hatching plans to make this year’s blogathon the best ever. Already in the works: an official button participants can prominently display on their blogs to show the world what they’re doing. And once again we’ll have an official guest post exchange and a real-time wrap party.

I’d like to take it to the next level – but what is that exactly? Contests? Prizes? Guest posts from editors? Pre-blogathon posts to help you plan how to blog every day in the month of May without going crazy or stopping everything else you do?

Since this is a participatory event, I’d like to hear from you. Whether you took part last year, think you might this year, or just want to have a say in things, I’d love your input. Please take the following poll to let me know what new things you’d like to see this year.

And don’t forget to check back here regularly for more WordCount Blogathon 2010 updates.

Some are enjoying it, and others finding it harder than they thought it would be. Some are getting creative – Sue Dickman devoted last Saturday’s blog post to making Wordle images from keywords on her blog, A Life Divided. Others have come up with clever ideas for standing features, like the Molecule of the Week feature Sarah Webb started for her blog, Webb of Science.

Since this is a self-directed experiment, all experiences are OK since they lead to better blogging skills and insights, which is the point of blogging on a regular basis anyway.

To keep things interesting, I’m declaring May 21 to be the official Blogathon Guest Post Day. Blogathon writers are invited to ask another freelancer to write that day’s blog post. Likewise, blogathoners should write a guest post on someone else’s blog. Depending on how you want to work it, you could swap posts with the same person, or trade posts within a larger group. I’ll also leave it up to you whether you trade guest posts with blogathon writers. Just have fun.

If you’re up for the challenge, make sure to extend an invitation to a prospective guest blogger early enough to give yourselves time to discuss what they’re going to write.

A few guest post housekeeping things to think about:

• If your guest blogger has a head shot or other picture of themselves in digital form, ask for a copy so you can run it with their guest post.
• Ask your guest blogger to write a short bio, or write one for them, to run with the post. Include links they might want  to their own website, blog or Twitter ID.
• If you’re writing a guest post somewhere else, write a short post on your own blog so your regular readers know where to find you. Blogs like WordPress let you create a sticky post to put at the top of your regular blog posts. Or you can create a small text box and run the information at the top of your blog’s left- or right-hand sidebar.
• As an example of what a guest post looks like, here’s a post I did earlier this week on the American Society of Business Publication Editors national blog.

Mark your calendars for May 21, and happy blogging.

Several freelancers have signed on after having read about the blogathon on Twitter – welcome! It’s not too late to join us. Just leave a comment on this blog or email me at michellerafter (at) comcast (dot) net.

* * *
I sat in on some great discussions of the future of news and the role journalists and bloggers can play in it at the 3rd annual BarCampPortland yesterday at CubeSpace, the shared work environment on S.E. Grand Ave. It was a lively discussion, which I plan to expound on this week. Until then, you can read what John Hill, a journalist who works at The Columbian in Vancouver, Wash., thought about it in his blog post, called How hyper is your local?

I did a quiet launch in September 2007 and had my grand opening on New Year’s Day, 2008. After six months and 100 posts, here’s what I’ve learned:

♦ I enjoy blogging, now more than ever. It’s introduced me to a widening circle of fellow writers who blog, as well as online media and social media entrepreneurs who I wouldn’t have known otherwise.

♦ Blogging is rewarding in and of itself, but it’s been financially rewarding too. The subject of this blog is how digital media is changing freelance writing, so I had to taught myself Web 2.0 tools to write about them here. I’ve taken that knowledge and used it to pitch close to a dozen stories to three regular clients.

♦ Blogging can get you noticed. Paula Berinstein, producer of The Writing Show podcast, recently interviewed me for a segment on how to write short. Another freelancer interviewed me recently for a story about writers who blog that’ll appear in an upcoming issue of the American Society of Journalists and Authors‘ (ASJA) newsletter. I’ve also sold rights to a post on tips conducting great interviews to be published in an anthology for new writers this August by Great Lakes Literary.

♦ I’ve reconnected with reporters and editors from previous jobs or stages in my career.

Want more lessions learned from another writer and blogger that’s reached the 100th blog post milestone? This 100th anniversary post from Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta42, a content marketing, custom publishing and search firm, has really good advice about how to structure a blog.