Archive for category Blogging
5 Quick & Dirty Steps to Eliminate Blogger’s Block
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on April 12, 2010
“What Should I write about? Who would be interested in what I know?” I hear this a lot when entrepreneurs start being active on their blogs. They are all experts in their field of interest but somehow they assume everyone else is too.
I used to think that but soon I found out that many people, for instance, failed to understand the importance of SEO for their websites. For those who still don’t know – SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
So bloggers, here’s my technique – feel free to share it and apply it in your work:
1. Pick a subject, any subject you feel you know best or can easily research it; preferably some kind of problem lots of people are confronted with. Describe in 2-4 sentences what the problem is.
2. Identify your audience. In other words – who are writing this for? Who are the people affected by this problem?
3. How can the problem be fixed? List all tools, techniques, methods, links, people, resources, etc. that can help solve the problem. Be succinct with your list but give enough information that everyone can understand.
4. Create the list in a bullet form (people love lists) with links to the each resource.
5. Write a brief conclusion with the benefits of solving the problem “your way” and leave it open for comments and/or questions.
What do you think? Try it out and let me know if this method works for you.
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10 Ways to be a Better Blogger
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on January 26, 2010
After you create your blog post ask yourself the following 10 questions:
- Is your copy on point and describes accurately your message?
- Is it interesting and makes your readers want more?
- Is your blog post under 250 words?
- Does each sentence have a “Twitter” like structure (i.e. 140 characters or less)?
- Can you spot titles easily on your copy?
- Is your blog post message credible and expert like?
- Do you have clear “Calls to Action” throughout your copy?
- Do you have a conclusion?
- For the “scanners”, can you make your post even smaller than it is?
- Do you speak your reader’s language (in other words – do you cater to your audience)?
The point of good writing is knowing when to stop – L.M. Montgomery
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Blogger – Make it Easy on Your Readers
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on January 25, 2010
Commenting on blogs similar to yours is one quick way to promote your own blog/website. I discovered this a while back but wanted to beef up a bit my own blog before jumping on the “comment on other blogs” wagon.
Although a lot of them are very well designed I found it hard to write about some mistakes I kept on seeing on other blogs. In fact I have learned a lot.
The most important thing to remember is this:
Scan not read
People do not have the time to read a whole lot now-a-days (unless they are really interested in a particular subject) so “Good bye Reading” and “Hello Scanning”. In order to capture attention you have to create breaks in your text such that the human eye can easily scan, stop and read small bits.
10 Steps on How to Protect Your WP Blog Against Hijacking
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on January 6, 2010
Sometime towards the end of 2009, a Syrian hacking team hijacked my blog and changed the theme to always display their information. Founding their logo in poor taste and not appreciating their action in the least, I immediately decided to take the appropriate safety measures and make my blog more secure.
Here are the steps I took in order to accomplish that:
Step 1 – Always Backup your files
This is your very first line of defense. And it’s always a great idea to keep a fresh copy of your installation files and a backup of all your posts. Check with your hosting company to see if they offer automatic backup. Do this task on a weekly basis – it only takes minutes if not seconds (depending on the size of your blog).
It is also a good idea to store your files in 2 separate locations (see this article for good backup procedures)
Step 2 – Immediately Change the Admin Password
Make sure you know the email address you provided for the “admin” account. This is where you’ll receive the new password. Login and change the password to something a bit more complicated than your pet’s name. Remember and use a combination of numbers, special characters, lower and upper case letters. For instance – Fluffy is a very weak password while fLu55Y$ is much harder to guess.
Here’s a link on how to reset your password http://codex.wordpress.org/Resetting_Your_Password#Through_phpMyAdmin
New Year Resolutions for Bloggers
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on December 30, 2009
2010 is just around the corner, and we’re working on our new years resolutions! Here are some ideas for bloggers out there that want to start the new year with a bang!
Article published on UX Booth by David Leggett on Decmber 29th, 2009.
How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on December 27, 2009
When I decided to start blogging I did not know anything about WordPress, themes, etc. so, for all of you new bloggers out there I decided to write a tutorial which will show you how easy it is to set up your own blog.
Step 1: Find a Theme for Your Blog
Go on line and search for WordPress themes and find one that you really like. There’s a ton of free resources out there. I use a WordPress Theme called Fusion.
Other FREE sources can be found here: 100 Amazing Free WordPress Themes for 2009
Download the files onto your hard drive and proceed to the next step.
WordPress 2.9 Scheduling Problem
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on December 21, 2009
I just upgraded to Wp version 2.9 and already encountered one problem – 1 scheduled post missed the scheduled time. Without going into details of why this happened, here is the fix that worked for me:
http://www.semiologic.com/2009/12/21/wp-2-9-three-bugs-and-how-to-fix-them/
If you have this problem, please post your fix.
Are You Blogging to Me?
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on December 7, 2009
“Building quality content without marketing is like locking Shakespeare in a room to write for himself” – Michael Grey, SEO Expert
Content without marketing is nothing.
See the 5 Golden Rules of Blogging
You write like a pro but you’ve got no idea what you should do so people flock to your blog and read your unique pearls of wisdom. Is that you Blogger? I know that’s exactly what I was worried about for a long time. Well, I’m here to give you some shortcuts so you don’t have to go through the pain and aggravation I had to endure.
First of all remember this:
The more you try to sell your blog and convince people to follow you, the more you will encounter their resistance. People buy you first, your expertise and the experience you so eagerly display in your posts.
How do you get them to like you? Simple – give, give and when you are done give again. People love free stuff and when they see your willingness to help and provide resources others are charging for, they will not only like you, and they will follow your posts.
Great article how to establish trust online.
So, before you do any type of promotion, start thinking about the things you can offer for free; resources you know you can offer to potential visitors.
To help you out, here’s my list:
- FREE 30 minute consultation on (insert your own text here) web design, SEO services, marketing critique, etc.
- Answer and help people find solutions on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, etc.
- Offer a free report, eBook or whatever else you have in your expert panoply.
- Organize a contest and offer a free book to the first 5 people what post significant comments on your blog for the next 30 days. Don’t forget to post the results at the end of the contest.
- Write for other blogs and give your honest opinion about the topic at hand. Just commenting “Thanks that was a great post” will not make you too visible and will not convey that expert aura you are after.
In a way, you are already promoting your blog but you are not really engaged in direct selling at this point. The more detached and nonchalant appear vis-à-vis your scope of getting more traffic to your blog, the more people will appreciate and want to come back for more.
Also, although many blogging experts advocate the “create a controversy” approach, I tend to “navigate” towards a softer approach and command attention through my willingness to extend a helping hand rather than criticize and spew controversial remarks.
Do all these things for several months and you’ll see significant improvement in your traffic numbers. Guaranteed.
From Zero to Power Blogging in 3 Days
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on November 27, 2009
After lots of online and offline research I came up with a schedule for those who want to blog successfully and even make a living out of it.
Day 1 – The Groundwork
1. Install a custom WordPress theme for your blog
Although the web is full of blogging platforms, I believe WordPress is still the most powerful blogging platform with awesome versatility.
Resources:
18 Alternative Ways to Use WordPress
Free WordPress Themes from Smashing Magazine
Free WordPress Themese provided by Free WP Themes
Top WP Themes
The 5 Golden Rules of Awesome Blogging
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on November 19, 2009
Whenever you sit down and decide to write for your bog always communicate in plain language. Anyone who traveled to a foreign country knows that speaking the native tongue is much better that using a translator or a dictionary.
In the land of the web, things are no different. Learn the “native language of the web” and all the web surfers will read and understand you better.
5 Rules of Blogging
Here are the 5 Golden rules to harness the power of a good blog post:
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