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18
Feb
The Top 10 Signs YOU Are A Successful Blogger

This is a guest post from my friend Alan Jobe,  a reader, writer and publisher whose Libdrone’s Thoughts and Musings blog is a witty and eclectic blend of posts on topics such as #socialnetworking,  blogging and living with bi-polar disorder.

 

The Top 10 Signs YOU Are A Successful Blogger

 

  1. You welcome and encourage comments because you know that most successful blogs are conversations.
  2. Whenever something interesting or funny happens to you,  you think about ‘how could I make this into a compelling blog post?’
  3. You try very hard to always be honest with yourself and with all of your readers and commentators.
  4. You make real efforts every day to get to know other people,  both in and out of your niche, with a broad range of perspectives to inform your point of view.
  5. You understand what your strengths and weaknesses are and spend your time wisely, and know how to find and ask for help and get it when you need it.
  6. You try hard to always be gracious with every commentator.  You try to reply to most every comment. You understand that when someone leaves a deep comment–that is they comment on an older post that has scrolled off your front page or at least scrolled down from first view–you get that it came from someone who may well have sought out this particular piece. You always return deep comments.
  7. You have long mastered the art of writing something meaningful in 300–600 words.   (Though you could be a successful blogger in some niches, on some platforms and with some audiences writing shorter pieces or focusing on images, videos, music or other forms that are not writing articles.) You also know that it’s very bad idea to post articles that are much longer than these guidelines, though you’re experienced enough to know when to occasionally exceed this limit.
  8. You understand memes and avoid tagging your friends with someone else’s really lame meme (7 Things About Me is  SOOO old), while having good judgement about passing on interesting and unusual memes that are a good fit for your audience.   You also know how to fall back on formulas like Top Ten Lists  when you need an idea for a new post.
  9. You know that when you set out to do a formula,  you may be best served by sticking with the formula, even if it means padding your article just a touch. (Would you have been as impressed by the Top 8 Signs?  or the Top 9 Signs? Would Google?)
  10. You keep your sense of humor when things go wrong and don’t hesitate to chime in and say you have egg on your face when you do.

Alan Jobe is the author of Walking Down The Avenue,  an introductory guide to Empire Avenue,  the popular social networking stock market game.

 

About the Author Alan Jobe

Alan Jobe hangs out with other sharp people all around the interwebz. He's been online forever (in bear years) and publishes Libdrone Book Reviews http://libdrone.info. His introductory guide book for Empire Avenue is http://WalkingDownTheAvenue.com.

Category: blogging  Tags: , , ,  125 Comments
10
Feb
The Button Dance

Hajra Khatoon calls it “the button dance.” That sounds so much more charming than, “Like me, vote for me, share me, +1 me, Tweet me, Luv me…” Clickety-click-clack-clack. The button dance. Your fingers dance lightly on the keys, in an intricate, contrapuntal, frenzied frolic reflective of the synapses firing in your brain. Random As and Es and R, S, T, L, Ns become words. Words become partners in a line dance of sentences, sentences align in well-choreographed paragraphs. Paragraphs whirl around the page in an intricate and beautiful dance. Please, please – do the button dance.

Or you could just stomp on this big ol’ +1 sucker once or twice with your meaty middle finger, and help me win a cool $250 in Blog Engage’s February Guest Blogging Contest:


Excerpt: Beware of drive-by guest bloggers offering to write free articles for your website. You may say, “But I’m not a writer. I can’t turn down free content!” You know that you need fresh content to attract buyers, and guest posts seem like an answer to all your prayers. Free? Even better. But when a writer appears out of nowhere, offers to write you unique posts – exclusively yours – in exchange for a backlink or two; remember that “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Your rich, overseas fourth cousin, seven times removed, did not just die and leave you a database overflowing with free PANDA food.

For the rest of my contest entry, go read Drive-by Guest Bloggers: The Dangers of Spun and PLR Content. If you like it, there are a few more buttons, there, for your fingers to dance with.

My friend, Abhi Balani, also does the button dance – and would appreciate a few readers to join in, there, too. Gosh, it’s a regular party in the blogosphere!

Got a button dance going on your blog? Why not leave a comment? (After you’ve exhausted yourself dancing, there’s an open bar, lots of chairs, and people who will be happy to take their turn on the dance floor – just tell us where the hottest parties are, down below!)

About the Author

Holly Jahangiri is a professional writer with over twenty years’ experience in technical writing, freelancing, fiction, poetry, and editing. Writer, wife, and mother, Holly is the creator of Trockle and the instigator of the Puppy-Guppy Rebellion.

Category: action needed, holly jahangiri  Tags: , , , , ,  31 Comments
01
Feb
The Joys and Pitfalls of Guest Posting

Oh, the Irony!

My guest post on Blog Engage, this month – “Drive-by Guest Bloggers” – is about the dangers of accepting guest posts from unknown writers without at least doing a little due diligence to make sure those writers exist and aren’t just using kitchen appliances to mix up bits of Internet flotsam and jetsam to feed the hungry PANDA.

Blog Engage founder, Brian Belfitt, has known me for years. His first and last experience with me guest blogging on his site did not end well. We had a disagreement over in-context text links (e.g., Infolinks, Kontera) – with me claiming that in-context link ads constituted an unauthorized derivative work and demanding he delete my post. He did – quite promptly. The real irony is that my guest post on Blog Engage, this month, highlights a problem with a different kind of derivative work – that produced by article spinners – and how it is sometimes used to trick unwary bloggers into accepting poorly written content with spammy backlinks. Worse yet, that “poorly written” content could actually contain multiple copyright violations.

So, here we are – Brian has shed the in-context text link plug-ins over there at Blog Engage, and has given the whole site a spiffy new make-over. It is now faster and easier to navigate, with enhanced and improved “community” features. Brian has pulled the blog, the social sharing site, and the forums together into a more cohesive whole.  He has graciously kept the door open and the welcome mat out (I was shocked to learn that I even still had an account on the WordPress back-end, after all these years!) and probably thought I was a horrible ingrate, last year, when the in-context text ads were gone and he was offering over $1000 in prizes and I still wouldn’t guest post.

I had other posts and other things to focus on. And then Brian and I got to talking about that, and he showed me this picture of him dressed in pink:http://www.blogengage.com/blogger/sponsor-me-as-i-run-for-the-cure-with-cibc/ I was still protesting the whole “pink” business, but there’s something incredibly charming about a man wearing pink in support of kicking breast cancer’s butt. I resolved then and there to write him another guest post. But then I got sucked into the Surviving the Blog Contest (something I never intended to enter, but was determined to win, once I did). And one thing led to another…

I never did get around to writing that guest post.

Until my friend Abhi sent me over to read Brian’s announcement of February’s Guest Blogging Contest. Eh, well, I was going to do it anyway – might as well do it in February, in the hopes of earning the prize.

How you can help:

Go read my entry:

Drive-by Guest Bloggers: The Dangers of Spun and PLR Content

Read and help me promote it! (And please, email me when you do – it would really help me to count up and keep track of the points, though this isn’t required, by any means.) Points will be awarded as follows:

The Points System

  • Tweets, 50 points per tweet up to a max of 150000 points
  • Linked In Votes, 50 points per vote, up to a max of 150000 points
  • Facebook Likes, 50 points per tweet up to a max of 150000 points
  • Google Plus, 50 points per Plus up to a max of 150000 points
  • Engages at Blog Engage, 100 points per Engage (vote) Unlimited points
  • Comments on Blog Engage Guest Article that provide value, 30 points per comment unlimited points
  • Comments on Blog Engage Story Page that provide value, 40 points per comment unlimited points

Come over to Blog Engage and “chat” with me! (No “good post” comments – remember, “add value” – tell me why you agree or disagree, how the information was helpful to you, ask questions, share your favorite stories about the topic…)

Here are the generous sponsors who have made this contest possible:

HomeAway Holiday Rentals

Business Blogs

Guestblogit

ivinviljoen

SEO and SEM services
Wholesale Greenhouse Supplies
Hydroponics Equipment
Greenhouse Equipment
Greenhouses
Garden Gifts
Gardening Articles
SEO Agency UK
Deal of the day

Please visit them when you get the chance – encourage them to keep sponsoring such fun contests!

About the Author Holly Jahangiri

Holly Jahangiri has decades of experience in tech writing, freelancing, fiction, poetry, and editing. Writer, wife, and mother, Holly is the creator of Trockle and instigator of the Puppy-Guppy Rebellion.

Category: blogging  Tags: , ,  34 Comments
28
Jan
Feeling Lighter Already!
chilis-lighter-choicesThanks to Klout Perks, I had a better excuse for not cooking on a Friday night than “Not tonight, honey, I’ve got a headache.”

With a $15 gift card from Klout Perks, to try Chili’s new “Lighter Choices,” it was a great excuse. (Add to that the free chips and salsa you can get, just for checking in on Foursquare, and it was one of those “offers you can’t refuse.

We also ordered cheese fries – I tasted a few, and they were good, served sizzling hot in a cute little cast-iron skillet.

chilisJust scan a QR code on the menu to get all of the nutrition information instantly, if you have a smartphone.

You can see that the Healthy Dining selection isn’t shabby – nothing boring about Chili’s new Sweet & Spicy Chicken (shown above) – yes, that was my dinner, and it was even more flavorful than you might expect of a 670 calorie restaurant meal. Everyone who knows me knows how much I like hot peppers – so if you say "habanero,” I’d better at least taste it or I’m going to make fun of you for even mentioning it.

NOT that it burned my lips off, by any means, but the chicken had a nice, tangy heat to it. It might be too much for those who like everything on the mild side, but if you enjoy something a little more flavorful than biscuits and gravy, you’d probably enjoy this entrée just fine. The meat itself was tender, though not especially juicy or flavorful in its own right. It had a slightly springy texture to it, most likely from being frozen or processed. I’m not sure that I’d have enjoyed it much, without the additional flavoring of the spicy, citrusy glaze.

Side dishes included rice and steamed broccoli. The broccoli was very lightly steamed and a bit too well-dusted in salt and pepper – I like it that way, but if I were watching my sodium intake, it would not have been a plus. The rice was fine, but even with a confetti sprinkling of corn and colorful sweet peppers, it was quite bland. I left it, and relieved my son of his steamed broccoli, since it would otherwise have gone to waste. His was just a bit overcooked, so I’m not sure if they intentionally give it a lighter steaming on the Lighter Choices dishes, or they were just in a rush back in the kitchen. I prefer it barely steamed – just enough to bring out that lovely, bright green color and make it slightly tender and moist – but can add my own salt and pepper at the table. 

My husband and son had steak and ribs. My son’s getting a bit spoiled; he likes Omaha steaks and dinners at Fogo de Chao. He orders his meat medium rare, and expects to get it with a “warm, pink center.” He wasn’t disappointed here, and ranked it highly on the “would you order it again?” scale. Yes, he would. I didn’t steal a taste, but it looked wonderful. The ribs on my husband’s plate looked tender enough to fall off the bone, and he enjoyed his dinner, as well.

Service was prompt and attentive, despite its being a busy Friday night. The gift card turned out to be a nice way to entice us back to Chili’s – it’s been a while. I’m sure it won’t be that long until our next visit!

Review

About the Author

Holly Jahangiri is a professional writer with over twenty years’ experience in technical writing, freelancing, fiction, poetry, and editing. Writer, wife, and mother, Holly is the creator of Trockle and the instigator of the Puppy-Guppy Rebellion.

Category: product review  Tags: , , ,  24 Comments
28
Jan
It’s All About Perspective – or Is it?

Perspective, as I understand it, is the way we look at everything – from our lives to all the little things that we cherish and hate. We can have either a positive – optimistic – perspective, or a negative – pessimistic – perspective about how things are going to happen.

All of us have different perspectives. Our lives depend on it. For instance: if you think your life is interesting, then your life will be interesting. Or, if you think your life is boring, then it will be boring.

Expectations are our predictions for what will happen in the future, and they are influenced by our perspectives. If you expect the future to be exciting and good, then it will be.

Our perspectives and expectations determine what we do and how we do it. For instance: if you have a positive perspective, then you will not give up on a failure (because you expect to reach success eventually). Let me give you an example from my high school experience: I used to score very well on exams that I expected to do well on. My expectations were positive because I studied or I listened and took notes. If you have good expectations for how you are going to do, it will really help you to improve your performance.

Perspectives

As humans, we tend to become fixated on a certain perspective, when looking at a topic. Changing your perspective or view point (when looking at an issue) is not hard. You just have to try to do it.

You need to be able to change your perspective. For example: If you are a writer, you need to be able to look at an issue from various viewpoints and be able to write on all of them. Are you a blogger? If you are, here is a question for you: Have you tried posting from a side that you disagree with it? For instance: Now, among bloggers, there is a lot of debate going around about the length of posts. If you are a supporter of writing long posts, then try supporting the other side – writing short posts. Think like a person whose perspective is opposite to yours. Being able to look at things from different perspectives also helps you to choose the better side of an argument – and write more persuasive arguments for you own side.

If you hate your job, think about why you hate it. Is it the hours? Is because you get paid less than others? Is it because you hate your boss? Before you get sad or angry about it, just realize that there are at least 100 people in this world who have worse problems. There are worse bosses around the world than yours (be thankful that you didn’t get one of those). If you are unhappy about your salary, then think about a 100 million people around the world who work just as hard as you but get a lot lower salary. Think about it.

What do you hate? Why do you hate it? Try to look it from another perspective. Then, it will be easier for you to dislike it less; maybe you will even find reasons to like it! When I started out with blogging, I really hated spending so much time on marketing or networking (spending time on social media), as there are so many ways to do it. The reasons were simple: I didn’t have much time back then; I didn’t have enough motivation to do it; and I thought it was really a waste of time. But, as time progressed, I realized the importance of marketing one’s own content and networking with people. And I started to work on it. I changed my perspective on both of these activities. And I used a couple of tricks to do it:

  • Dagaloo, a twitter-powered Social Media Game, helped me to increase my motivation to engage with others (basically, to score in this game, you need to network with others).
  • I used social media metrics to motivate me to take action and improve it (although I didn’t want to worry over it because worrying over it will cause more trouble than good).

Do you have a positive outlook?

It is important to have a positive outlook on life. Back when I was blogging with my old blog, I didn’t really have a positive outlook for my blog. I did have great expectations. But, I didn’t reach those expectations since I didn’t blog consistently. That’s also the reason why I started a new blog (And I do have a positive outlook; I have taught myself not to worry over traffic number or subscriber count. I realized that worrying over your traffic numbers will do more harm than good to you. Yes, do think about it. And take action over it. Worrying actually demotivates you a bit and may even take up a lot of your time). Right now, I am happy with what I have. And you should be too. And strive harder to achieve your goal (both of these sound contradictory, but they are really not). You need to be happy with what you have and strive at the same time to get to your goal.

The Key

The Key is to be patient. Try to be versatile in your perspective. Have a positive outlook in life! Be optimistic. If you try harder, you can accomplish it. Also keep high expectations with what you can do! Thanks for listening!

About the Author Jeevan Jacob John

Jeevan Jacob John is a young blogger who blogs about networking, marketing, social media and traffic generation. He tries to come up with new analogies and perspectives to make it easier for others to understand and apply. Find him at his blog - Blog Networking 101.

Category: holly jahangiri  33 Comments
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