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But Your Blog Has, And Mine Doesn’t

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By Terez Howard

When I was a kid, I always wanted a Power Wheels Barbie car. You know what I’m talking about. It’s one of those cars that children can drive around in their backyards. I thought I would go on backyard adventures in my own Barbie Jeep.

When I begged my parents for one, they said that the cars were too expensive and that I would soon grow out of the toy. Needless to say, I hated that answer and persisted in my requests. But I never got one.

Don’t feel badly for me, though. I was never deprived of anything as a child. My parents were right. I remember passing by those little cars in a toy store once, wondering if I was ever tiny enough to squeeze in one.

In the meantime, I improvised. I took my little red wagon and pretended it was my race car. I took it on many adventures and “drove” it all around my house.

Do the best with what you have

My little story illustrates what you can do with a supposed lackluster blog. I see it all the time. Blogs have super impressive graphics, photos, amazing video, killer content, free reports, e-books AND the kitchen sink. They have everything, and that makes me feel like I have nothing.

But I’m not going to sit around and feel sorry about myself. You shouldn’t, either.

Here’s something you can do when comparisons leave your blog behind others. Ask yourself:

  1. What makes my blog special?
  2. What uniqueness do I have to bring to the table?
  3. How can I use these two things to benefit my audience?

For me, first and foremost, I’m a writer. So, I make it a point to do my utmost to write quality content. What is it for you? Are you best at research, marketing, design, or something else? Whatever your strong point is make it the strongest part of your blog. So, if you take great photos, then include your own original, awesome pictures with your posts.

But what if you want to be that big time blog that has it all?

Take baby steps

You’ll get there, and so will I, for that matter. You are not going to have a flashy blog overnight, unless you pay a pretty penny for it. So take your time to first create a blog rich in high quality content which highlights your strongest qualities.

After you master that, move on to add another aspect to your blog and another and another. Personally I don’t have all the time in the world, and I know that it’s impossible for me to learn a new concept in a few days. It’s not that I don’t have the mind for it; I just don’t have the time for it.

If you’re in my boat, rest assured that you can learn simple html coding and how to edit video content. Just take your time. If you don’t, a rushed, thrown-together product will not get good feedback from your readers or yourself.

Do the best you can with what you have, and try to not compare yourself with others. Instead, learn from the gurus’ victories and mistakes when building your blog.

What do you do to improve your blog?

—
Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas. You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger.

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

4 Reasons You Should Stop Blogging

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By Terez Howard

A couple weeks ago, I got Sisterlocks. For those of you who haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, it’s basically like getting very tiny dreadlocks (like hundreds) in your hair. If you would have asked me six months ago if I would ever make such a permanent decision, I would say, “Never!”

Why not? Locs are not versatile. Locs are not beautiful. Locs are too permanent. Locs are not for me. Those were my excuses, and yet here I am with a head full of Sisterlocks.

What changed my viewpoint? In short, an education.

Stop blogging now!

Blogging is a beneficial endeavor. It gets your business heard on a more social level. It gets your audience to trust you. It makes you appear as an authority in your niche. So, why would you stop blogging?

1. You don’t have the time. You have a life. You are a parent, a spouse, a full-time worker, and you’d like to keep up your hobby. Blogging takes the back-burner.

I am the same way, and yet, I find the time to write. How I do it is with simple scheduling. However, I find that most people will agree that a schedule looks good on paper, but it doesn’t help with motivation. I love blogging because I write about topics that interest me. So, I have my schedule, and I have something interesting to share, which brings me to my next point:

2. You ran out of ideas. You don’t know what to write about. You feel like you’ve covered every single topic in your niche, so you’re ready to give blogging a break.

Been there. Maybe you need a creativity boost. I’m not saying to create a whole new blog, but maybe you need to repurpose your blog. Do you have a tight niche?Do you have a creative slant on it? Do you share information in a way that interests you and your audience?

Take some time to read other blogs, whether they relate to yours or not. Talk to friends and family. Observe your day-to-day activities. Then sit down and write as many topics that come to your mind. You’ll soon have more topics than you ever imagined.

3. You are not a good writer, so why keep up a blog?

Well, you could try some of the editing tactics Jael mentioned last week. You could also hire a professional blogger to write for you.

If those ideas don’t appeal to you, have you tried starting to video blog? Writing is talking with letters. If you cannot string your letters together in an intelligible manner, but you love to talk, try talking to your audience. Uncomfortable with your face? Two words: Audio Podcast.

4. Your blog doesn’t look as nice as other blogs, and you’re ready to shut it down.

I’m no graphic designer. I know as much about html as a newborn knows about pizza. It looks good, but I can’t do a whole lot of anything with it. There is such a thing as a template. Shop for a new template, and it doesn’t have to cost you anything. Of course, if you do hire someone to design your blog, you are more likely to get exactly what you want.

If you just want to tweak your existing look, search for some help. I recently got some help from a fellow blogger with my blog’s appearance. And guess what? She didn’t charge me a cent! Enlist the help of bloggers you know.

Educate yourself

There are more reasons you should stop blogging. But before you indulge yourself and call it quits, educate yourself. See how you can make your blog work.

I became educated about Sisterlocks, and now I wish I would have gotten them sooner. Don’t be like me, wishing you would have solved your blogging problems sooner. Take action.

How do keep yourself motivated to continue blogging?

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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas. You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger.

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Blogging In What I’ve Dubbed The “We Generation”

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By Terez Howard

People born from 1982 to 2002 have been birthed into Generation Me. Unfortunately, my 1984 birthday puts me in the midst of a selfish group.

Lisa Belkin, the Motherlode writer for the NY Times, made this quote: “This generation has been depicted . . . by employers, professors and earnestly concerned mental-health experts as entitled whiners who have been spoiled by parents who overstoked their self-esteem, teachers who granted undeserved As and sports coaches who bestowed trophies on any player who showed up.”

My husband can attest to this behavior. If I haven’t mentioned him before, let me give you this brief introduction: He is the professional violinist trapped in a schoolteacher’s body. His students firmly believe just showing up to class with a violin in its case (no, it doesn’t have to be out or even in good repair) will merit an A. To make a long story short, he’s not like the teachers Belkin mentioned.

Generation Me in blogging?

My age puts me in this generation, but I certainly don’t intend for it to define my character. How often have we seen a blogger only blog about herself. That’s not necessarily bad. We expect for bloggers to tell about personal experiences. But what if she never acknowledges the world around her? What if she doesn’t reach out to fellow bloggers?

That would be a problem. She would be denying her readers of additional resources. She might appear to be a blogger lacking in knowledge because she doesn’t ever include outside information. Most importantly, she would not be affording herself the opportunity to build relationships with other bloggers, relationships that could profit her business.

How to blog with others in mind

Great bloggers read great bloggers. It isn’t necessary that a great blogger is well-known, has a high Page Rank or hundreds of Twitter followers. A great blogger shares helpful facts and opinions with her audience. That’s what a great blogger is according to me.

After you read posts from great bloggers, don’t just turn off your machine and forget about this knowledge they’re so generously sharing. Do this:

  • Make meaningful comments to posts. Bloggers write to help people. Support their conversation with your comments.
  • Respond to a post in on your blog. If you catch writer’s block, this is a sure way to zap it. Take a look at your favorite bloggers’ archives and respond to what you read. Include a link back to that writer’s block-curing post.
  • Retweet. The first two points I brought out take a bit of time. Retweeting an awesome post is quick and shows a blogger you appreciated the time, effort and ingenuity put into a post. This thought includes all forms of social media, Digg it, Stumble it, stick on Facebook.
  • Recommend a blogger. This is a more unseen approach. Most people won’t tell you that Terez told them to check out Successful Blog and all the wonderful professionals writing there. However, a recommendation can go a long way. It gets other bloggers more traffic and possibly more work.

It’s like a boomerang

If you do these things to others, they will do them for you.Other bloggers might not see every Tweet you make about them or realize how many times you’ve recommended them to your friends.But they will recognize you are not focused on yourself.

Whether you’re part of Generation Me or not, I like to think of blogging as the We Generation, not bound by any ages.

How do you promote other bloggers and why?

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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas. You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger.

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

How To Adjust Your Blog According To Your Visitors

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By Terez Howard

I don’t do this as much as I should, but I think there comes a time when every blogger needs to take a trip to Google Analytics.

If you don’t have it installed on your blog, get Google Analytics now. This helpful tool lets you know how many visitors are checking out your blog, where they come from, how long they stay on a certain page and much more. But what do you do with that information?

Personally, I take a look at Google Analytics once per week. The two main points I examine are the number of visitors and where they come from. I know I can and probably should be doing much more with my Google Analytics account. First, in my defense, I plan to. Secondly, every blogger has to start somewhere. We can’t know it all at once. So, you beginner bloggers, this is for you.

How many visitors?

That’s probably a top concern for countless bloggers. We want to see the numbers climb from day to day. If you’re blog is like mine, it looks more like a polygraph chart.

A couple weeks ago, I noticed a trend. Wednesdays and Thursdays got the highest number of visitors. So what?

I thought to myself, What can I do with that information? I decided to put interviews and informational posts on those two days because I think those two varieties of posts would benefit my audience the most.

If you notice one day seeming to have a higher number of visitors than others, then maybe you should revamp your blogging schedule to suit your audience’s needs. Prior to inspecting my analytics, Tuesdays and Wednesdays were what I thought would be hot days. Adjustments were needed, and it wasn’t a strain at all to switch things up.

You came from where?

When I first started my blog, I thought that I would get all my visitors from my business website. The reason I started a blog was to show potential clients my writing style. So it seemed logical that they would be clicking through from my business website. Boy was I wrong!

The majority of my traffic is direct. That means a person types in my URL directly. People that come from my business website ranks seventh. Before that, I see referrals from a couple other blogs (ahem, this one), Feedburner and my e-mail.

This tells me to get involved with more blogs. Promote more information from other bloggers because I just might get more traffic to my own blog. Of course, my sole aim in expressing an interest with other bloggers is not just to benefit myself. Primarily, I want to help others.

Did you hear that? Put others ahead of yourself.

Give it time

If you have a new blog, don’t pay much attention to Google Analytics for a while. It usually takes a couple months until you start seeing any type of routine. Even then, your visitors might seem erratic.

Also, don’t let Google Analytics rule your blog. The numbers might tell you one thing when your gut is telling you another. Trust your instincts and watch how it works. Take risks. If your ideas fall flat, brush yourself off and try something new. Failure is another step to success.

How do you readjust your blog to your suit your visitors?

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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas. You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger.

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Quality Or Quantity – Which Ranks Higher On Your Blog?

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By Terez Howard

You’re probably staring at your computer, thinking what is this girl talking about?  Of course, quality is more important than quantity.

I agree that a high quality post, one that is well-written, well-researched, extraordinarily helpful with a dash of entertainment, is more important than pumping out one garbage, cut and paste post after another.  Every blogger strives to share tidbits of knowledge with her readers, so people make it to the last period of the last sentence in a post.

That said, I think there’s something to be said about quantity.  How often have you come across a superb blog post and you’re dying to read the latest and greatest post only to find the author’s most recent work is from April?  Sigh.

If you really like a blogger’s work, you go to the About page and business website to find some reason why this excellent blog became defunct.  That’s what I do, hoping there is some hidden link to another, updated blog.

Did you ever think the blogger does not consider her blog to be dead?  Maybe she’s thinking that she will return to it when she finds the time.  Maybe she’s procrastinating over her writing skills.  Maybe she plans on hiring out, but hasn’t found the best person for the job.  Maybe she hasn’t realized how much time has elapsed since her latest and greatest.

Quality posts versus quantity

Let’s take a look at these two points and see which one tips the scale.  Please feel free to add to my small list.

If you focus on a high quality blog, you

  • Stand out as an authority in your niche.
  • Feel more focused as a writer, rather than meandering from pillar to post.
  • Are likely to gain a dedicated following because readers expect valuable information.

When you stress quantity, you

  • Will have a wealth of information on your blog quickly.
  • Are likely to gain a dedicated following because readers can tune in often.
  • Get some Google love.

Both have their strong points.  But what do you want more?

Which ranks higher, quality or quantity?

My answer is that both should walk hand in hand.  One cannot and should not function without the other.  When I write, I bring quality to the table by being as resourceful as I can be.  I don’t do as much as others.  My posts aren’t flooded links, tables and video.  (I’m not saying these things are bad; they just aren’t what I do… yet).  My point is: I do my best.

As far as quantity goes, I have a set writing schedule that I can keep up with as a busy stay-at-home mom.  I’m not writing every single day.  That’s impossible for my life.  Once again, I do my best.

Quality and quantity have their places in a blog.  You have to strike a balance that keeps you regularly writing high quality posts.

How do you strike that balance?

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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility.  She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small.  She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Spice Your Blog With A Dash Of Old Bay Seasoning

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By Terez Howard

I didn’t know what Old Bay was until I saw its name on a bag of popcorn in a Virginia Beach gourmet popcorn shop.  (When I reread that sentence, it sounds like the start of a piece of fiction).

But, I’m serious.  I’m from Ohio, and I had never seen it before.  After my trip, I found that my local grocery store’s employees placed the Old Bay seasoning near the fish since the spice is traditionally sprinkled on seafood.  I overlooked it every weekly trip I took to the same store for five years.

So why was Old Bay the flavor of choice for a bag of popcorn?  I’m not really sure.  My husband and I decided that after a sample of this popcorn, we were hooked.  We devoured that bag, and I’ve been craving it ever since.

My point?  Jody’s Gourmet Popcorn got it right.  Jody and her husband, Alan, gave us something unexpected, and we loved it.

Salt, garlic and Old Bay?

This is what I know.  Every recipe I make calls for salt and garlic.  Well, it doesn’t formally call for those spices.  I just cannot imagine a meal without them.  All you knowledgeable cooks, keep quiet!  I know there are ways to spice food without these two.  But they’re my staples, and my family loves them.

When you blog, you have salt and garlic.  You have some general topic, and you create content to support it.  That’s the salt.  You make it unique by peppering it with your personality.  That’s your garlic.  Those are the basics, your staples.  You would not have a decent blog without them.

Now for the Old Bay.  I like to think of this as your own little dose of the unexpected.  I find the most engaging posts I’ve ever read include a little something I cannot foresee.  You can spice up your blog with:

  • A quote from someone famous or not so famous. I read a blog post recently that included a quote from Ernest Hemmingway.  A quote can drive your point home.
  • Results of a study. I find study results to be extremely powerful.  If you’re telling people that they should write more how-to’s, then you could also include how much traffic a blogger has gotten from posting how-to’s.  (You could also conduct your own study).
  • A reference. This can be as simple as referring to a detail someone else made on a blog or in an article.  Link to them, and give your readers a more complete post.
  • A joke. I’m not a comedy writer, but I think most readers are up for a laugh.  A joke can lighten an otherwise heavy topic.
  • A personal story. This one is my favorite things to do because I feel like my life events and blog go hand in hand.  A personal anecdote makes your blog relatable and an enjoyable read.

A little goes a long way

I’m not for drenching a meal in any particular spice.  So, when you are finding your voice by trying to include something a bit unpredictable, don’t over do it.  Every single sentence does not need to be a pun, a quote or another reference.  A dash will do.  Just talk.  Be natural.

How do you dash your blog with Old Bay?

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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility.  She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small.  She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas . You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!