"Roundheads and Ramblings"
the difficulties of blogging
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Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2011 10:21 AM
Here are a few more ideas from The Blogging Bookshelf. Try these to make your blog more attractive.
Blog Design/Appearance • Add or remove pages from your navigation menu(s). • Update the copyright date in your footer. • Add or remove other things to your footer. • Do some research to see if you need a terms of service or privacy policy page. • Sketch ideas for a new logo. • Examine your tagline. Does it accurately convey what your blog is about? Is it ambiguous at all? Should you add some keywords to it? • Find new social media icons for your blog. • Rearrange the widgets in your blog’s sidebar(s), or get rid of widgets if necessary. • Go and take a better avatar photo of yourself. • Browse theme/skin/design directories, either to use or just to get ideas. • Try out a new theme on your blog. • See how your blog looks in different browsers. • Spend some time just looking at the design of your favorite blogs. What are some good ideas you can steal borrow? • If your theme/design allows it, try a different color scheme on your blog.
Planning • Plan out what posts you’ll be writing and publishing in the next week/month.
• Do some keyword research using the Google AdWords Keyword Tool (free) or Market Samurai (not free). This is useful both for coming up with blog post ideas and for deciding what exact keywords to use for a topic you’re going to write about. • Brainstorm a big list of something. This can be post ideas, new blog ideas, product ideas, or anything else. • Plan a contest on your blog. What will you give away? How will you promote it? How will you choose the winners? • Create and/or analyze your goals. • Make a list of blogs you want to guest post on. • Make a list of guest post ideas. • Plan out what you’re going to do tomorrow.
• Make a list of your favorite blogs in your niche. Make it a goal to personally connect with the person behind each blog.
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Posted on Friday, August 12, 2011 4:41 PM
Is your blog beginning to look a bit shopworn and tattered? Are you (and your readers!) tired of looking at the same old images? Could the page use a new coat of paint? Let's take the next few days to consider ways to improve your blog. Most of these suggestions will take no more than 15 or 20 minutes, and the changes may improve your traffic flow.
• Find the perfect stock photo for a blog post, ebook cover, etc. • Rewrite (or start rewriting) your "About" page. • Look at your "Contact" page. Add a contact form if there isn’t one already. Add links your various social networking profiles. Answer any common questions. • Proofread a few already-published pages or posts to make sure you didn’t miss any typos. • Brainstorm blog post ideas. • Write a short, non-epic blog post. • Look at your most popular posts (either by page views or by comments). See if you can figure out why those posts are the most popular. What do they all have in common? • Outline a “personal” post, where you talk more about yourself yet still convey useful information related to your topic. A great way to do this is to tell a story where you learned about something in your niche. • Go back to older posts and create links to newer posts. • Create a My Guest Posts page. • Write a guest post guidelines page for your blog. • Start writing a “My Story” post about how you came to be involved with whatever it is you’re blogging about. • Write a blog post asking for feedback or ideas about something (blog post ideas, direction of where your blog should go, etc.). • Create a poll. • Make a list of general topics you haven’t covered yet. What are the “holes” in your blog content?
I am grateful to Tristan Higbee over at the Blogging Bookshelf for these suggestions. Look him up!
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Posted on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 7:05 PM
Many of you will remember that Helen visited here with her favorite pirate Jesamiah Acorne back in July. I've asked her to come back and talk a bit about how her blog tour went.
I have a vague suspicion that writing a book is the easy part. Getting
sales is much harder work, especially if you are a self published author.
You have produced a well written, entertaining novel and you are
now glowing with pride as you see it appear on Amazon. Next comes the waiting
patiently for Amazon to alter the pre-order
here box to add to basket. This
may take a while, a lot of finger-drumming, several rude words and a couple of
e-mails to Amazon (if you are lucky you might even get a reply!)
The big mainstream publishers do not seem to have this problem; I
suppose they have the weight and power of numbers of books in print behind
them, but for the small time author we are akin to a loan voice crying up the
Amazon without a Paddle.
What was particularly frustrating for me, my UK publisher had
closed in March and I had already planned a summer Blog Tour for my Sea Witch books. A little matter of not
having a publisher, however, was not going to stop me!
I terminated my contract, asked for my files back, and signed up
to a reliable assisted publishing house in Bristol UK, SilverWood Books. My
intention: to get back in print as soon as possible and to go ahead with the
Tour.
The files were never returned, so my old unedited copies had to be
re-edited, typeset and prepared – thanks to the heroic efforts of Helen Hart
and her team at SilverWood, and my wonderful graphics designer, Cathy Helms of
Avalon Graphics, we made it. The Sea
Witch books were in print by July 1 and a month long Blog Tour
started with a bang (a broadside of cannons I suppose, seeing as the Sea Witch novels are based around
pirates and nautical adventure.) On July 2 I appeared on Jessica
Hasting’s Laugh, Love, Write,
followed by the delightful Amy Bruno’s Passages
to the Past – and then this fabulous blog of Carolyn’s I was off, hitting
the ground running.
For almost every day (except weekends) somewhere on the Internet
my books were being reviewed, discussed, advertised – and marketed. I had the
task of visiting each Tour Post, responding to comments and doing my bit by
linking to Facebook and Twitter. It is great fun but hard, hard work.
I had completed several previous Blog Tours with my historical
fiction books which are published in the US by Sourcebooks Inc – but even knowing
(sort of) what I was doing, this Tour was nothing like I had expected. For one
thing, the organisation involved is very demanding. You have to keep in touch
with the bloggers, ensure the posts are made, follow up any comments with your
own – answering questions, saying thank you. Post links, be generally present
etc.
I was lucky enough to have one of the ex-members of staff from my
defunct gone-bust publisher willing to initially help me. Samantha had
organised the setting up of the tour in February, neither of us aware that the
company was about to go belly-up, that she was to lose her job and I was to be
without a UK publisher. Sam had all the details backed up on her own computer,
so I followed her initial enquiries with an explanation of what had happened
and asked whether anyone would be interested in carrying on now I had decided
to re-publish the Sea Witch Voyages
myself.
The enthusiasm, support and eagerness I received was overwhelming.
I have an advantage over most self published authors in that I am
already well known. My Historical Fiction books have received attention on the
review blogs – I even made it on to the USA
Today Bestseller List with Forever
Queen (US edition of A Hollow Crown)
and I have quite a readership following. The Sea Witch Voyages were a different matter, however. They are a
series of nautical adventures with a touch of supernatural fantasy, based
around the pirate Jesamiah Acorne and his girlfriend (later his wife) the white
witch, Tiola Oldstagh. By the spring of 2011, thanks to the not very impressive
track record of my collapsed UK publisher, the books were on the verge of
hitting the rocks and sinking without trace, as was my writing confidence.
This Tour was to be the make or break (sink or float?) for my
pirate and his adventures – and my career. If the result was not encouraging I
was prepared to wind my writing up as a lost cause. Self confidence is a
difficult thing to maintain.
Some of the review blogs were keen to have an interview in the
form of questions and answers, a couple wanted articles about myself or my
books, all of which took time to compose. Other blogs posted a simple review –
and the books had to be sent out in the first place. I had a few copies from
the previous publisher, but postage – considering many of these review blogs
are in the US and I am UK, was expensive. Quite a few bloggers accept PDF
electronic copies now, which is a much easier way of sending novels for review
purposes – but self published authors take note – many bloggers want to see the
quality of the book itself, its design, layout, the general “feel” of it. Plus,
several blogs offer giveaway copies as prizes, which the author is often
expected to provide. In all, I reckon I have notched up at least £200 in
expenses.
Will I gain this back via sales? I have no way of knowing until
the next round of royalty statements. I will need to ensure that I follow up
the Tour with getting on with the next WIP (a fourth Sea Witch Novel), leave comments on the blogs where I was a welcome
guest and maintain contact on various sites, including Facebook and Twitter. To
sell books you have to market books, and Social Networking is an art in itself,
one I find enjoyable – but it eats time like a hungry Hour Monster.
So was my month long Virtual Book Tour worth the cost and effort?
Put it like this – there is now quite a buzz on the ‘Net about a
certain pirate called Jesamiah Acorne; I have a ship load of new followers and
fans, and as the saying goes, ‘From little acorns mighty oak trees grow.’
All I have to do now is be vigilant, tend the seedling, and
nurture the sapling…. Watch this space.
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Posted on Sunday, April 10, 2011 9:30 AM
Readers also want to know how to go about making money from a
blog. Here is a typical question:
Congratulations to all of you for starting and maintaining successful
blogs. I'm sure this question has been asked a million times, but how does
someone get the word out on their blog and monetize it?
My first response was this:
There are many different approaches to establishing your blog.
It all depends upon your goals and the topics you are writing about. I'm going
to skip lightly over your question about monetizing a blog, because I've never
attempted that. I know that a few people blog directly to make money and
are successful at it. Those folks, however, already have a huge blogging
audience before they start carrying ads and making money. Your worthwhile
material comes first. Getting readers comes next. Once thousands of
people read you every day, you might be able to get rich. Until then,
however, I would put that goal aside and concentrate on building a good blog.
Another writer agreed with me:
Trying to monetize a blog with ads is a big mistake, especially when
you are starting out. You are only going to make a few pennies for your ads
while the advertisers make a bundle. The other thing those ads will do is
irritate your readers. Pop-up ads are the worst type to use because they
interrupt the reader from your content and they will drive your readers away.
The best way to "get known" is, as Carolyn and many others
have said, is good interesting content. Publishing your best trafficked postings
to article directories like EZineArticles.com and ArticlesBase.com.
Good advice is to be patient and write good articles. Distribute
them. When your blog is well established you can think about compiling an
anthology, selling it for smart phone applications, and you'll be on your way
to a much better income than pennies for advertising.
If, however, you are determined to try to turn your blog into a cash
cow, there are several things you need to understand. First, almost all
bloggers who expect to make money from a blog will fail. They fail because they
are amateurs at marketing and half-hearted in their efforts to monetize their
sites. You can't just put up one little ad in a corner somewhere and hope
readers will click on it often enough to generate a cash flow. You will have to
choose the products you advertise with care, so that they appeal to your
specific readers. Don't try to
sell sporting goods on a writing blog; try pens or computer software instead. Be sure that what you
advertise is reputable and of high quality. If your reader buys a pen that doesn't write from your site,
you will receive the brunt of his anger. In that process you may end by losing a reader.
Be sure you have thought
through your business plan. This
is particularly crucial if you are planning to sell your own books through your
blog. You can't sell items until you have figured out the details of accepting
payments ( PayPal may be the safest and easiest method). You also need to look into shipping
methods and costs, and the tax laws of your state. You may need to incorporate
your business and file regular quarterly tax reports.
Even the host of your blog is important. If you choose a sponsored blog, you need to know how much
control the host will give you
over your postings. Don't try to sell items on a blog if you do not own the URL
of that blog. WordPress is a good choice; I would avoid Blogger because of the URL
issues. I use a paid hosting service that lets me sell items through PayPal,
but I cannot use ads provided by Google's Adsense. The arrangement suits me, but it may not
suit you.
You can't run your blog as a business if you are
computer-illiterate. You will have
to be able to use blog publishing software and social networking sites. You must understand such things as HTML
coding, RSS syndication, SEO (search engine optimization) tagging, pings, and
trackbacks. And if those terms mean nothing to you at this point, you're just
not ready to monetize your blog.
All of those warnings bring us back to the original point. For most people blogging is NOT a way
to make money. Like bobbing for apples, you may end up with nothing but a face full of cold water. It is, however, a
great way to get your name out there. Many publishing companies now insist that
their authors have blogs because a great blog provides a potential reading audience for the next
book you write. In the long term, your blog may result in increasing your
income, but it will probably be a catalyst, not a direct revenue source. |
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Posted on Friday, April 08, 2011 9:03 AM
I'm taking the weekend away
from writing to participate in some "giving back." My favorite
charity is MidSouth Lions Sight and Hearing Service. We provide necessary eye care and hearing aids to people who
fall beneath the poverty line — all absolutely free. This weekend we are
inviting Lions from all over our four-state area (AR, MS, MO, and TN) to come
to Memphis, tour our facilities, and learn what they and their clubs can do to
help our efforts. While I'm
leading tours, serving meals, and answering questions, I 'm going to let you listen in on a couple of
conversations that have been going on in my Books and Writers Group on
LinkedIn.
I've had several questions
recently on how to get started in blogging. Here's one example:
Lately, I've had several people I should start a
blog. Right now I'm doing some setup thoughts to start the blog on http://www.bookiejar.com .
Great company and a great staff - awesome site with 800 readers. We are putting
our e-Books there and enjoying the networking. Any ideas or tips on how I
should shape my blog? Content that most people
would enjoy seeing from a women with two decades of
experience in publishing?
I answered her e-mail this way:
The best way I know to start a blog is to
start. My first efforts were sincerely uninteresting, but I kept at it
until I started getting some comments that let me know what my readers were
interested in. In my case, they wanted to know how and why I chose
self-publishing after several books with established publishers. Once I
addressed some of the lessons I learned along the way, readership
blossomed. I just checked the figures on yesterday's blog and discovered
that it received more hits in 12 hours than my entire blog got in the first two
months.
I have found that one effective way of gaining
readers is to do a guest blog for people who are already fairly well
established on the blogging scene. When I started, I offered my services
to several writers whose work I enjoyed reading. Most were delighted to
allow me to appear as a guest on their blog. Their readers read my
article, clicked on the links I provided to my blog, and came back if they
liked what they saw. That's why I've seen my numbers soar.
Then other readers chimed in. Nina wrote:
There's a ton of great information on my blog, www.howtoblogabook.com,
on how to get going with a blog. Although it's geared to blogging a book, the
sections/posts on driving traffic will interest you. Plus, I've been posting
information along these lines most recently. Ezine article marketing is a great
idea. I've used this successfully, but I go a step farther and use an ezine
article distribution service called Submit Your Article ( http://www.submityourarticle.com/affiliates/idevaffiliate.php?id=1930). This gets me placement in many more ezines and many more links. Also use
whatever social networking opportunities you can drum up--commenting in groups,
posting your newly published posts to LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter using
services liked HootSuite.com. Twitter is a great way to get blog readers.
Ronald added the following tips:
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Blogging is great fun but also a lot of work. Best advice is, first of all, to stick with it. It takes a good 6-8 months
before you gain a foothold. My first 5 months I only averaged 40-400 readers a
month and now, 15 months after my launch, I am seeing 5000-7000 unique visitors
a month.
·
Consistency with regular postings on same days
of the week helps.
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Publishing in article directories also helps,
but wait 48 hours before you deliver a recent post to a directory so you retain
first search engine ranking for the article. Also best to rewrite it a bit.
·
Add photos relevant to your topics. People like
pictures; as the saying goes, "a picture is worth a 1000 words."
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Weave in current news topics and be relevant in
your discussions or posts.
·
Publish your best trafficked postings to article
directories like EZineArticles.com and ArticlesBase.com
I would add one other
point. You can produce great
content, have an attractive blog design, and write regularly — all without
attracting a single reader. The real
key to starting a blog and keeping it going lies in your ability to connect
with your potential audience. You
will need a network of social interactions. Think of your blog, not as a monologue or a lecture, but as
one side of a conversation.
Read other blogs —
lots of other blogs. Google <your topic> plus the word <blog> to
find others who are talking about the things you are interested in. Follow the
ones you enjoy reading. Comment on their content as frequently as possible. And
when someone tries to open a conversation with you, respond to comments and
emails quickly. Readers will come back to your blog again and again if they
feel they know you as a person.
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