Discussions
What's The #1 Thing Between You & A Better Blog?
Posted by DaneMorgan • 9/03/08 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: bloggers, blogging, blogs, getting better, improvement, success
What do you think is the number one thing you need to learn to do to be a better blogger and or have a better blog?
Is there something you know you need to do, but can't make yourself do it?
Something you can sense you need to learn, but you just don't get it?
Maybe it's something you think you need, but don't know what you need to do to get it?
What is it you think you lack that would make the difference to allow you to progress to the next level?
[NOTE]
TO: Those that either have already figured it all out and couldn't possibly improve, and those who "do it for themselves" and don't care about improving.
Wonderful! Awesome. I am genuinely thrilled for you. Congratulations! You Rock!
But this thread is neither for, nor about you. Please let those who have some improving to do respond to this one.
Thanks! 
[/note]
[PS]
Cool. The Title edit thing really works! Rock on BC!
[/PS]
User Comments
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I don't have a bog.
edit: damn, I hate that new edit function.-
Don't you look silly now that I can correct my tittle?
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Anyway, with my blog as a hobby ... I find the more popular it gets the more work it means for me. So, not sure I want it to be more ... if you know what I mean. Maybe I need to know better how to manage my time or something.
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Nothing. My blog is absolute perfection, and nothing is keeping it from greatness. Long live the autoblog!-
I guess your reading skills are what makes you such a stupendous blogger.
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Hell Yea its my reading skills. Look jerky, we all have the goal to be a better blogger. Being a blogger is a serious art, and it is clearly evident that you, my minimally hung friend, is man who takes their blog seriously. If I sat around chafing my lower region like you, I too would be able to produce such an interesting article on the "contract" that bloggers have with their readers. What a deep inquisition Rousseau. Marketing is indeed enticing thanks to you.
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And your prose too, it would seem.
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oooo good one. I see your marketing skills really help with your responses.
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Yes, and the stalls at podunk middle school seem to give yours that special something extra as well.
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ah. I get it. I am a janitor. At a middle school. Wow. You got me.Ouch. Oh man, I am going to reevaluate my purpose.
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yeah, Janitor, that's surely what was meant.
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I need to learn how to edit my php files without screwing everything up.
Oh by the way Dane I take it you meant blog?? Right LOL Hahaha you are quick tonite LOl
I see you already fixed it ROFLMAO
Truly was hoping you could answer the problem of my blog for me-
Learning PHP is a tall order for some folks Wendy. The best approach is to take a simple PHP script and go to PHP.net. There you can search the function reference. Just look at the code and find a function something() possibly with stuff inside the () and possibly not. do a seacrh for "something" and it will tell you what that function does.
DO NOT try this with something like WordPress at first because many many many of the functions there are custom functions, that are defined in the include files. Start with some little script that relies mostly on the inbuilt PHP function library. -
You hit the nail right on the head when you stated learning php is a tall order.
What I do before I edit anything is copy the working php code to Notepad and then work on the code.
If it screws up then I copy and paste the old one back and take it from there.
Muffed things up too many times to do it differently.
Thanks for the link Dane
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I think, as far as blogging goes, that I need to be a little less mechanical and formulaic in the way I go about things.
When I first seriously got into this blogging business, I did a lot of research, looked at what worked, how things were done. And that's stuck with me. Which is good. But I sometimes feel like I'm trying too hard to meet certain standards with my blog, and in so doing not being very genuine.
I've been trying to loosen up a bit and be more, you know, casual about things.-
Paralysis by analysis. It's an often fatal disease not just among bloggers, but among many other people who seek to do something more than the general run.
The ONLY way past it is to insist that you publish a certain amount of content BEFORE you allow yourself time for tweaking.
Make a commitment to post at least 500-1000 words. Then and ONLY then allow yourself to tweak to your hearts content for a couple hours. Put a timer on it. When the time is up, you STOP and post some more content!
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The number one thing that keeps me from taking either of my blogs to the proverbial next level is a deep seated desire to start over from scratch.I'm not sure if it's laziness or fear of failure or another dynamic at work. I would like to become a student of someone who knows what the heck they are doing when it comes to promotion ie. marketing. You can create mountains of quality content but if no one knows about it it's an exercise in futility. You can read article after article and try this and that when it comes to marketing but I would prefer to actually be enrolled in an online class and complete assignments. Hopefully, whoever would be teaching me would have developed a curriculum that cuts through all the guff and drills me in the basics.
I like research and writing. I have zero interest in all the technical end of things and would much rather have someone else fiddles about with upgrades, plugin incompatibility and fixing broken-ness. It's just not my thing and doing any of that makes me as irritable as all get out.-
I'd say you are in the same boat as thewriterspulse, but with promotions instead of content. You write great posts, and plenty of them.
Make yourself post some promotional comments, list at a few directories, submit some guest posts (which you ought to love), submit some original articles to artical directories... THEN and only then allow yourself to post some new content.
And for the love of some entity, TAKE IT EASY and follow orders. -
Yes boss. Following orders, bookmarking thread and signing off now.
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Time, I can't sit in front of a computer all day and blog, I actually have to educate young minds....and now that school has started there is less time as I put in a full day then a full night at home -
@DrowseyMonkey and @kat822
Have you ever tried writing 2-3 posts at once and scheduling them to post out across the week?
Also consider compiling list posts which can be assembled quickly, and are actually very popular. And have a few ready to pop up when you don't have time for a regular posting.-
yeah am beginning to do that, I have two in the wings right now thanks for the advice
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Sometimes I have a couple of posts ready to go. That's not the problem I have.
My problem is visiting bloggers that visit me...keeping up that relationship. I have over 200 who comment off and on and keeping up with them all got to be too much, so I cut back. Of course when I did that my readership/comments when down.
I enjoy the interaction but in a personal blog you have to keep up the relationship with others ... which I enjoy ... it's just it can be a lot sometimes. So...I've cut back. -
Ahhh....
No solution to that of course. relationships take time and 200 relationships, even fleeting ones, take a LOT of time.
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sigh...I thought you'd have some secret for me.
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I'm stepping out for a bit, but I'll be back and will reply to all posters! Don't think I ignored you if I don't answer right away.
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BTW,
TimeThief has a nice series going at her blog on becoming a better blogger.
Part one can be found at:
onecoolsite.wordpress.com/2008/07/11/how-to-become-a-better-blogger-1
Good stuff, and there are five installments ready for reading right now. -
i believe the #1 thing is to have the heart/passion to writing articles. You will be able to produce the best quality if you put your heart to it. At least that's my belief.-
Cool. And do you have your passion?
Given that is there some secondary aspect that you believe would make you a better blogger if you could improve it?
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Pick Winning Lotto Numbers and purchase a ticket.-
And then.... Pay professional writers to do the blogging for you???
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Maybe be free from having to earn a living and so have more time to blog? -
Dane, Shame on you! I have never ending content within that I needn't have any desire for someone else to write for me. They can write their own blog. Thank you.
Madame X, Exactly, I would be free to stop thinking about everyday matters that include money. -
But have you thought of all the time you could spend on the beach while those hired pencils sweated content out for you?
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No, that is how you think.
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Not sure if I should feel bad now or not....
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Hugs
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My job.
I doubt that you have a solution up your sleeve for this one, but with a well-more-than-full-time-job, freelance commitments, and a child to raise, keeping up with six blogs and a webzine isn't very realistic. Each one represents something different and I don't want to let any of them go to narrow my focus, but my traffic is like a roller coaster, ranging from dozens when I've let a blog gather dust for a few weeks to thousands when I'm updating and promoting...and back again.-
Yeah, letting go of some is the only thing I got. And what I've done. I'm seriously cutting back on VRE.
But then I used to put up a lot of crap that's a lot easier to let go of. I'm shifting to a smaller base of increased quality.
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Hummm, Well first I would like to get a better grip on html
and then more into the design. I like some of the newer things going on in blogs I visit, but have no idea how to do them or where to even get the information on how to.
Time is another factor. Just getting enough time to sit and read a sentence and understand it without the phone ringing or something else that distracts. Being dyslexic it takes me a few minutes longer to grasp something. Maybe earplugs..haha-
Well, for the HTML and design stuff, practice, practice, practice. Hit w3c.org and there are a lot of good free tutorials out there.
For the other, turn off the phone ringer and let the voice mail get it when you are working.
And I really don't understand dyslexia. I mean I get the concept, as far as the explanation, but I don't "get" what it would be like. That said, there are text to voice and voice to text tools out there and a few free ones now that are actually quite good. I use a couple of the speech to text tools myself to do some of my "writing". Have you tried any of these to see if it helps with productivity? -
@Dane:
I use w3c.org a lot. It really has helped me.
I was more into thinking of going on a lifetime vacation where there are no phones.. lol... I can't really turn it off I do something that is sorta like a "emergency answering service" I get the message and then get it out to others. So even my earplugs wouldn't be a very good idea!
The kind of dyslexia I have. I see letters backwards and interchanged. In fact it is easier for me to read words written backwards then normally.
I have had it all my life and have learned to deal with it, but it keeps me one step behind others in reading something. I have been tested and found to be quite intelligent and can ace any test if I am allowed the few minutes extra time it takes me. And this is also why I haven't been able to play an instrument by reading music. I can somewhat by ear tho.
I have tried some of the "text to voice" before, and it was slower then I am..lol..but I haven't looked into any recently. So maybe I will do that..Thank-you! -
Cool. Yeah, there have been some real improvements in the class of voice recognition and speech synthisis recently, might be worth another look.
But it also sounds like you are moving right on through your personal challenges and making it happen. That's awesome, and often produces something better and stronger than someone who didn't have the hurdles to overcome.
Hey, ever thought about doing a blog on how to cope, overcome and work through the challenges that come with dyslexia to help others who haven't dealt with it as well? Or who are not as far along the path as you? -
Actually yes I have thought about it, but don't feel like I am an authority on the subject. Some are much worse off then I am! It is something to think about down the road though, when I am not working a full time job and have more time to play! I will look into the newer voice recognition and speech synthesisers' programs. Thank-you!
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I would improve on my writing skills. I'm usually so scattered and bursting at the seams with thoughts, that I usually take too long to get a point across, and tend to be all over the place. -
have you joined Tiffany's writing group here at BC? Lot's of good writers in there with advice and help, and some of the writers here have blogs that will really help you with developing your writing skills as well. And most of them hang out in Tiffany's group.
www.blogcatalog.com/group/writers-and-writing -
Actually, I hadn't seen that, thanks for the recommendation.
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No problem. I KNEW I'd get to recommend some groups in this thread. Hoo-AHH!
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"What do you think is the number one thing you need to learn to do to be a better blogger and or have a better blog?"
Does not apply. I am already awesome.-
Congratulations
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I think the best is to be transparent and not just always base in your own opinion. We bloggers should also consider others opinion or welcome other ideas even if it is an opposing thought.
Also keep your cool and don't bash too much about yourself. Remeber NOT all can accomplish what you've accomplish, instead of basing why not help others how you obtain it.
Just an idea. Nice topic sir.-
Are these things that you struggle with in your blogging?
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Hi Dane!
I am brand new at blogging. I just put up my blog last week. I have been studying blogging for 8 months by reading up on it and, more importantly, looking at established blogs on the Net.
Please correct me if I am wrong but I feel that to be successful you must be:
1. True to your "mission statement."
2. Be true to your readers
3. Most importantly, be true to yourself.
I will try and follow those three rules.
Thanks for hearing me out!
JB-
Well, yeah, though I might express it a little differently.
Blogs are a personal medium, and with that in mind it's usually going to serve you to be personal and be real.
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I'm still working on optimizing my blog for search engines. It's already four months and I only get about 150 hits from Google everyday. I'm beginning to wonder if it's really possible to get 1000 hits from Google in as short as 4 months. (Although most of those people who claim they've grown their google traffic to 1000 daily, are non blogging/internet related blogs.) I'm still a firm believer that the best traffic are those coming from search engines.
Other than search engine optimization, I think I have to work some more with time management. I'm having a hard time dividing my time to attend to all my blogs, my work, my girlfriend and myself. -
How many blogs are you running these day, man.
Yeah, you're in a tough niche. I get no where near the traffic to my marketing blog that I do to some of my niche blogs. Health related topics are rally good for lots of traffic.
But don't forget that with the right offerings, a blog can do quite well, financially with relatively little traffic.
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Creativity and imagination.
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Hmmm... There are a couple of books out there on this topic. One is called, I think, "A Whack On The Head" or somehting similar. But the brain is just another muscle. How you train it is how it works. Try just taking two unrelated things and generating a list of ways you could relate them as an exercise.
I'll look around later and see if I can find any more specific resources for ya.
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I think with anything there is always room for improvement. As for me I'm constantly learning more about css & html. I really do need to learn more about seo though.-
seobook.com is a great place to start. Arron Wall speaks in ways that beginners to the field can understand, and hw deals in a lot of practical application, not just theory.
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I think if I could learn CSS I'd be able to do more with the blog. Also need more time (who doesn't?).-
Well, I can't help you with time, but, of course the w3c.org has the specs on what different css directives do.
I use a program called htmlKit htmlkit.com to do all of my coding in. two things it does that would help with this is give you a preview pane to view the result of your code. So you can play with css and instantly see the results as you go.
It also has a plugin the has all of the css directives available to insert with one click. Just playing around with a page and changing the css code to see what happens can teach you a lot. -
awesome stuff, Dane - thanks very much.
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I think a blog stands between me and a better blogger-
Which blog is that?
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I simply don't understand what you mean, sorry.
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Technology. I don't have the time to maintain my own site. I know I'd have more traffic on my own domain rather than on blogger. But I'm not a designer, and I'm hindered by not knowing HTML and the other things needed to keep that going.
What I DO know is content, and web navigational structure.
So I try to keep the design and technology simple through Blogger, and then focus on my strengths-- good solid, regular content.-
But there are TONS of free themes out there for WordPress and Movable Type....
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My problem is marketing, I want readers, but I hate the marketing side of it all
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There is all kinds of marketing. For instance, do you suppose that what I'm doing right now is marketing of a sort?
And if you love writing, one of the best marketing practices you can follow is giving away content. Post articles to Article directories, and as guest posts. Link them back to your blog to various posts.
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Time, time, time and more time! I don't even have a real job but I just can't find the time to update/research/promote my blog as much as I'd like to.-
Don't have any clock stretchers, unfortunately. Two things you can do are to plan your time and make sure you are maximizing it, and outsource the more menial stuff, and the stuff you least like doing yourself. This assumes of course that your blog is generating revenue, or that you believe it can with the extra efforts.
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Focus. Sometimes I'd like to write about many subjects at a time and I ended up writing nothing! XD So, I often do rely on impulse to get things done instead! -
That's a fairly common experience.
One thing to try is to use the draft feature that most blogs have.
If you have five ideas write one paragraph about each idea and save them as separate drafts.
Then pick one and write a full post an publish it. Often, simply getting something written down on an idea will allow us to let go of it long enough to focus on what we need to do NOW.
And sometimes that first paragraph with provide a catalyst to the full post.
Either way it's better to get one idea published, than have ten locked up inside until you ose them.
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Good ideas, will have to look into them further, ty!
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Time-I only blog at work. Between caring for my kids, running, belly dancing, and dating (not all at same time!), I don't have time to cuss a cat.-
You could carry the cat along with you on your runs and cuss at it.
For that matter, you could take a small dictation recorder with you and work out your posts, or even turn it into a podcast feature. "The daily run" blogcast, where you share your thoughts on a few topics as you think them through. I often have great ideas when I go for walks. (I don't run ).
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When I first started blogging, I was aiming to post at least every other day, but here lately I'm lucky if I post once a week. So my improvement would definitely be on updating more often.-
This has always been a problem for me as well. I have so many ideas and I try to run with too many of them at once, and they all end up being neglected.
For many of my niche blogs I would write three to five posts at a sitting and schedule them. This way each time I wrote I built more content than I would use right now, so that if it took me some time to get back to the next writing session there would still be posts going out.
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A better design. At first I tried to make my blog look like the rest of my website, but I couldn't quite get it to work propperly.
Then I've played around with a few different designs, and even the one I've got now I'm not entirely happy with.-
You know, the design is really secondary, beyond making sure people can navigate it and SE's can find it, and aggregators can list it.
Some really ugly blogs are extremely popular can successful.
You can always keep playing with the design, but make sure you are adding content too.
And don't try to force your blog into the design of a static site. Having a different look from the site as a whole can call attantion to this part of the site as special.
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I just recently started my blog and I think that I'm in the same boat as others are. CSS, PHP, HTML, all are kickin' my arse. Knowing this would really help me become a better blogger because I would spend a lot less time on researching problems. I know just enough to get me in trouble.
I actually bought a theme because it stated that I really wouldn't need to know all of that, but that is not the case. There are still things that I am trying to figure out because I can't seem to get an answer on their forums. I've stumbled around the internet trying to find help, but it's been difficult.
I am learning a lot on BC though. It's amazing how much info can be found here. So, I think probably being a part of this community will also help me to become a better blogger. -
Try to devide and conquer. As long as you are adding good content, and the design doesn't prevent people from reading it, there is REALLY no hurry on the design.
Pick ONE thing you'd like to tweak with your design at a time, and go slowly. Just don't feel like you have to have a complete, smokin design to have a good blog. Let the blog grow over time in terms of design.
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It has to be better content - we've 15 founder writers all focusing on health, inspiration, travel, food and books - the content saw is sharpening and its about to get interesting...
www.gosmelltheflowers.com-
Not sure I understand. The first part sounds like you mean you need better content to have a better blog, but the second half seems to be saying that you have good content.
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Time.-
Not enough, agreed!
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Well, time is what it is. We all have the same twenty four hours each day, and we all have to (GET to) decide what to do with ours.
I know I spend less time on blogs since my kids were born, but that's the choice.
Just be sure to MAXIMIZE the time you do allocate to your blogs, and you can still succeed even with less time spent.
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A better design! My two wordpress blogs need working on and its down to me in about 3 hours a week (if im lucky) to sort it out. I want more time in the week! I want a time machine!-
Take your time on the design. Focus on the content. Tweak your design just a little bit at a time and "grow" it toward what you want. As long as it doesn't interfere with your content, it's okay.
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I dunno, what do you think?
Personally, if I were to think really hard it would be that I get blogging burnout a little too often.-
DON'T let some blogging "guru" set your schedule. I've had blogs I consider successful that posted once a month, and others that needed daily posting. It's down to what the blog needs and what YOU want to put in.
So avoid burnout by doing the amount that feels right to you, and then just a occasional bit more frequent, just to push your personal levels. SLIGHTLY push, not violently shove.
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I struggle with the thought that I want to entertain my readers, or inform them, and my need to just write whatever comes into my head. My blog was private for a long time, and I don't have a huge number of readers, and I dno't get that many comments, but so what? I am not trying to sell anything. I want people to get the general idea that my un-traditional family is pretty normal, and maybe they will feel a pull towards adoption, but I don't try to actively push an agenda. I see a lot of blogs that do, so maybe I should create a commercial blog and a more private blog? I don't know. Interesting to ponder...-
Blogging is personal. If you aren't doing it to make money, don't be afraid to break convention. If you ARE doing it for the money, never forget that breaking convention is the first step of every new convention. Be bold and do what seems right. Then look at the results and if they are not what you wanted to achieve, and ONLY then, try something a little different.
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Perception. really I can only present my art the way I want,t he way I make it. Some hate it and some love it. Like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder.-
There is nothing wrong with that.
Think of ONE person who DOES like aht you offer. when you blog write your blog posts for THAT person.
This is called targeting, and the goal is to speak directly and powerfully to those who are going to be interested. Forget those who won't.
You'll operate with less traffic, but with more of everything else. -
I know of several friends, family and art buyers who regularly visit and seem to enjoy my blog, so yes, I would say a specific target audience
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I need to seriously loosen up. I get so caught up in presenting information correctly, precisely, and concisely - that I end up sounding like a flippin' encyclopedia.-
Well, if you are writing for librarians or researchers, that's fine. Otherwise, learn the language and the use of it for those who are interested in your writing. Then talor your writing to capturing those people. Don't be afraid of encyclopedic writing if that is appropriate. If it isn't, then think about what style i appropriate and use they to it's full advantage!
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Definitely finding the time to do everything I want to do with my blog.-
Well, same advice as to the others who've mentioned time. I know it can be in short supply, but managing it effectively is too, and you can see the payoff there.
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i'd say getting the login and password to dave barry's blog for starters.
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Well, same advice as to the others who've mentioned time. I know it can be in short supply, but managing it effectively is too, and you can see the payoff there.
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Sorry, posted that to the wrong place.
Your problem has more to do with how good a thief you'd like to be than how good a blogger you are.
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I'm very new at blogging, so there are many things that need to improve. The biggest challenge of mine at this moment is my location. I live in a beautiful location, deep in the woods, surrounded by nature, too deep for any sort of high speed internet. Yes I'm in the dark ages with dial up, knitting entire king size afghans while waiting for one page to load. Some days I have time to run out and catch me a wild turkey barehanded. I've got enough time to pluck, singe and butcher before the "blog updated" notification blesses me with its presence. I thought about running to town to the local library, and I will do that as soon as my personal loan comes through for a tank of gas. Sigh-
Guess what?
I'm out in the boonies on dial up too.
12 miles to the nearest town, that's NOT on the map. Not even cable TV available here. My nearest neighbors are all farmers with BIG farms.
But I actually ran an adult blog network for some time, and a money making one at that.
Learn to use the tools you have to your advantage, avoid image heavy and video, and you can do just fine on dial up.
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Dane-
I, of course, am the reason my blog is not it's best. I began writing because I wanted people to know exactly who I am and what I do. The problem is other people are involved in my world and I worry about how they feel when I put their business out there. Many times I have to be careful what I say because I do not want to reveal too much, making me the ultimate hypocrite to my original goals.
Oh and I complain a lot. -
Well, share your feelings about the things and people around you.
You can share how you feel about someone without necessarily sharing their specific actions, thoughts and such.
And, of course, remember the nature of the relationships involved. You know what would be a violation and what would not. Not violating your relationships is not hypocrisy, it's just right. -
Thank you for your insight.
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Dane, sounds like we live in a carbon copy location. You know you live in the redneck woods when you spot a deer with a dog collar on the road...really...no joke..I saw one and I only had one glass of tea!
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Never seen deer with dog collars, but there are 12-16 here on the property. They will stand in the tree line and watch me have my morning smoke. If I wanted to take one of them, it would be so easy... Buy my wife says if I want to hunt I have to go elsewhere, those are HER deer.
A number of possum that I see in the yard most evenings
Big turkey flock too, though they take off at first notice of me.
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An endless amount of time. I would blog all day if I had nothing else to do. That seems like an AMAZING way to live! -
Design(Simplicity), Cleanliness and Content.. that is what makes a better blog.
I'm just trying hard to make my blog better but i don't have any idea with those scripts and i'm just stuck somewhere.-
It's all a matter of braking it down into small chunks. There is a lot of tech out there and a lot of different ways to do different things.
Instead of critiquing the whole design at once, focus on one single design element you would like to improve/simplify/make unique, or whatever. Look for ways to accomplish that one thing, and ONLY when that is done move on to the next thing.
This will grow your design into something that works, and because each step builds on the last things tend to work in harmony and feel less forced. Also because you are dealing with ONE script or even one small portion OF the script, it is easier to keep track of what it is doing. So you'll learn bout this aspect in incremental steps and build you knowledge to be able to handle more complex changes down the road as well.
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... #1 Thing Between Me & A Better Blog?
Difficulty in writing for a domestic & international audience which could range from a patient, physician, investor or government official.
Do not have the luxury of becoming to informal or conversational, but rather informative.-
Hi axiomww,
You know, the thing is that even writers with a professional and highly educated audience tend to overestimate the needed level of writing formality.
The thing is that even these people appreciate some one who can clearly and concicely cut through the clutter and write plainly and simply. Some one who can get the idea through in simple langauge without making them really think about it is a rare treat for them.
There may be exceptions to this rule, but I've never met them. I bet after a day in court and reading legal documents, even most lawyers would appreciate reading a writer who wrote clearly, simply and plainly while still capturing the essence of the topic.
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My biggest difficulty lies the combination of a lack of feedback and a personal distaste for self-promotion. I'll do it, every once in a while, but it always makes me feel like a jerk. I know that I won't get feedback without visitors and I won't get visitors without promotion, but I can't get past the block on tooting my own horn.-
Is your stuff crap? No? Then it's worth promoting. period. I really have never understood the idea of self-promotion being distasteful. We actually do it all the time. Ever try to get a girlfriend (or boyfriend)? Ever go for a job interview? Ever try to make a friend?
At the deepest level even when we recommend other things we are engaged in self promotion because if the person does not first buy US, they can not buy or recommendation.
All of that said, who said self promotion had to be "go visit my site because I'm cool." I have not posted a single link to my blog in this entire thread, but don't for one second think it isn't self-promotional.
The absolute BEST form of self promotion is simply giving. Zig Ziglar said that we get what we want in direct proportion to how much we help others get what they want, so helping others IS a form of self promotion.
A few other ways to self promote without feeling like you are self promoting.
Write up five blog posts on your blog's topic, but don't publish them. Instead compile them into a pdf report with links to related articles for further reading on your blog and upload it to every file sharing/ebook/archive site you can find that lets people downlod the stuff for free. Then post links to the thing in forums where people who read what you write hang out.
Write an exclusive blog article and give it to another blogger to publish on their blog.
Write some blog posts an publish them to forums that cover the same topics you do. Or to social networking sites. You can even publish an article to your stumble upon page, doesn't HAVE to be a bookmark.
Sign up for things like twitter. When you do, announce your posts to your list. Those people signed up to follow your tweets because they WANT to read what you write. Why would you deny them what they want?
Get over the self promotion hang up and the feedback thing will take care of itself. You'll be getting plenty.
What if Edison invented the light build and then left it in his basement because he felt like a jerk telling anyone about it? Of Ford? Or the Wright brothers? or Aunt Jemimah? Or Little Debbie? Or... You?
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