It's All a Matter of Perspective

Guest Bloggers: Roadkill on a Three-Lane Highway

Holly Jahangiri — Tue, 15 May 2012 04:05:28 +0000

They call it the suicide lane for a reason: it’s the intersection of big, shiny metal objects traveling 40+ mph in opposite directions – legally.

Lisa asks “Is Your Blog A Two Way Street?” and while Jan answers that he hopes it’s two ways with six lanes in either direction, I’m just hoping traffic flows both ways.

I guess a lot of folks start out thinking, “Build it [the blog] and they will come.” I started out thinking it was easier than firing up notepad and revamping my static HTML web site whenever I wanted to freshen up a bit. Yeah, of course, I’m an attention wh—er, eager to attract readers and fans like anyone else, but I’ve always thought it was a two-way street, and the comments shouted by passersby as I stand in the suicide lane, waggling white-gloved fingers in a confusing display of pseudo-traffic-direction, daring them to hit each other is half the fun.

Naaah, would I do that?

Y’all don’t get to hit each other. Not till you’ve donned the inflatable Rock ‘em, Sock ‘em Robot boxing gloves, anyway. Don’t want any bloggers harmed in the making of this little farce.

Lisa discusses several options bloggers have, now, for comment systems. I’ve tried several, but have always returned to the barebones system built into WordPress, myself. Still, you might be thinking about adding Disqus or Livefyre or some other commenting system to your blog, and Lisa brings up some of the pros and cons you ought to consider before bothering.

Be sure to read the other posts in this series:

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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.

Guest Bloggers: Dreaming Big, Millionaires of the Future

Holly Jahangiri — Mon, 14 May 2012 03:36:08 +0000

We all want to sleep our way to wealth. It’s the lazy person’s ultimate fantasy: Go to bed, do absolutely NOTHING, and earn a “passive income” online. Wake up to million-dollar checks pouring through your mail slot, flooding your entryway – wait, there’s a problem with that scenario. Too many checks in the entry, and you can’t get out the front door to enjoy your neighbor’s envious admiration of the Lamborghini gracing your driveway. Never mind how you’re going to afford the gas for that sweet little ride at $4/gallon – that’s tomorrow’s dream!

Of course, Jamie Northrup has an interesting twist on this one – he ponders how he’d spend that million ON his blog, if he won the lottery! Man, he must really love that blog…

How To Spend a Million Dollars on a Blog (Jamie Northrup)

Of course, the astute reader, reading between the lines, will immediately pick up on the real theme of this post. Talk about saying something that’s been said a million times – but saying it in a fresh, original way! When you are doing what you love, it doesn’t seem s much like “work.”

Of course, daydreaming aloud about how to spend the million bucks you don’t have – while telling the world which domain name you want, before securing it for yourself for a mere $12.99 – that’s just… risky.

Why the Young Generation is attracted towards Blogging?

I’m not sure who these mythical young people are – or where to find them. But based on this post, I should think there are a lot of vibrant coffee houses (the cynic in me says “bars” and the optimist says “student unions”) full of young bloggers seeking discovery, fame, and fortune. As I read, I picture “The Bill Gates Blogger“ (eager to earn his fortune); “The Lady GaGa Blogger” (with a voracious appetite for fame); “The Mark Zuckerberg Blogger” (determined to be his own boss) – read the post and see if you can identify any other blogging types!

I also imagine what it must have been like to come to the “Land of Opportunity” where the streets were reputedly paved in gold, and any man could become a millionaire – if only he worked “hard enough.” And I think back to a time when the Internet really was a place for sharing serious academic research and satisfying that burning curiosity, that thirst for “more experience” and knowledge that will cool the “boiling blood” of youth. This phrase is bothering me, for some reason – “hot blooded” might be a bit feverish, but add gross hyperbole and I’m seeing blood cells popping like poodle in a microwave.

Made YOU cringe, didn’t I?

My personal favorite is #6. Blogging gives us all a unique opportunity to meet others from all walks of life, all over the world, and find out what they really think – without a layer of politics in between them. We won’t all like each other, but we may reach a better understanding and empathy that would have been impossible thirty years ago.

I think that #8 is actually one of the drawbacks of blogging – most bloggers really need to get out more. For one thing, pasty pale skin that looks like it’s just crawled out from under a rock, like Gollum, is not attractive. But more importantly, life experience is “out there.” It’s not online. You have to go outside and play, sometimes.’

If ever a topic begged for an infographic, it’s this one. I’m not really sure about the answer to the title question, though – you’d think the young generation would want to start its own new trend, since according to this Infographic, blogging originated in the “Dark Ages.” You know, the early 1990s.

Flowtown – Social Media Marketing Application

Be sure to read the other posts in this series:

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Guest Bloggers: Strategy and Pulling It Out Your—Ear Canal

Holly Jahangiri — Sun, 13 May 2012 22:17:27 +0000

Writers generally fall into one of two buckets (no, I’m not referring to the mop-bucket after an all-night, writer’s block-induced bender) – the “Planning Plotser” or the “Seat of the Pantser.” Some just naturally take to the world of outlines, while others prefer to wing it – often flying without a net. Which you are probably depends on a combination of factors ranging from anxiety level to boredom threshold to adrenaline addiction. There’s no “right” or “wrong” way, here, unless your way isn’t working out well for you. In that case, you might try walking a mile in another man’s moccasins – just avoid the water moccasins, because their bite can kill you.

Obviously, if I were working from an outline, you’d never have gotten that random bit of zoological trivia, and you might die on your next river-rafting venture. You can thank me later.

Blog Schedule and Design The Hidden Strategy Revealed (All About Blogging) (SRIKANTH THATTIKOTA)

I remember getting all caught up in the notion of blog-as-ezine and needing to set up an editorial schedule, post daily or at least three times a week, never post anything shorter than 200 words or longer than 600 words, never post between midnight and 3:00 AM (it’s like feeding the gremlins – the trolls come out then and they’re huuuuuungry), never post between 2:00 PM and 3:47 PM on a Thursday or a full moon or any day containing the letter “r”… you get the picture. Stand on one foot, say “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and if it sounds good, hit “Submit.”

The thing about “blogging rules” is this: we made them all up and imposed them on ourselves.

Write well, write when you have something to say, and give other people (besides yourself and people you have to bribe) some reason to come back. Then let them know you’re there, encourage them to subscribe to updates (in whatever way will make it easiest for the laziest among us) and let your readers decide if it works for them or not. Stress less, write better.

I really do like the main point of this post, though. See if you can figure out what it is, and let me know what you think.

Don’t Let Google Updates Get You Down Here’s How To Recover After The Penguin Update (Jeremy Ruggles)

The Internet is a zoo; bloggers are the zookeepers. And Google is like China, giving us the Panda. Well, loaning us the Panda. For a price. We all secretly want the Panda, but there are so many strings attached it can make a blogger’s head spin around like Linda Blair’s in The Exorcist. If we don’t behave, we get Penguins and a cold shoulder. Brrrrrrrr. Penguins are cute, though, too. And nothing like a penguin for scenting out anything that smells fishy.

A “Google Slap” is apparently what happens when a blogger does something bad – the Panda ties him over sharpened bamboo sticks while the penguin smacks him across the face with an icy, raw mackerel. Some of those things include:

Repeating yourself and saying the same thing over and over again ad nauseum
Crapping links all over the place
Having irrelevant stuff on your pages (I resent this one – who is Google to judge what’s “relevant” on my blog?)
Stuffing yourself on keywords instead of turkey, you turkey

…and some other stuff that Jeremy goes into on this post. Apparently, Brian’s going to have to keep these contests running forever, now that he’s started this folderol, or Google’s gonna slap him hard.

If I read Jeremy’s article correctly, and understand it completely, I think he’s saying that Penguins, like Pandas, are my friends. Well, I could’ve told you that. They hang out in all the best places – they’re always prepared, because they’re always dressed in their tuxedos!

Be sure to read the other posts in this series:

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Guest Bloggers: Social and Anti-Social Media

Holly Jahangiri — Sun, 13 May 2012 14:49:28 +0000

4 Good Reasons To Join Topical Facebook Groups (Missy Diaz)

Missy approaches the topic of Facebook Groups with unflinching optimism and gives us four legitimately good reasons for joining them – but misses the obvious: link spamming 50 groups that allow it is a great way to improve your metrics if “# of Facebook Likes/Shares” is on your radar. I hasten to add that even if you approach it with a healthy dose of jaded cynicism, it doesn’t invalidate any of the points Missy makes. After all, in a world of information overload, a certain amount of jumping up and down and screaming “Lookit, lookit! Look at me!” is almost a requirement, if you want to be heard. If you can do that and add value, conversation, and networking to the mix, then Missy’s right – topical Facebook Groups are something you really ought to look into. For the reasons she says – not for the one I just gave you, here.

A few more key take-aways from this one:

A partner is like a puppy. Just don’t let him eat your Peeps unless he brings the chocolate and graham crackers.
Facebook Groups are like a rack – they elongate you until they’re a good fit. If not, limp away – life’s too short as it is.
Garbage in, garbage out. Only Missy says it nicer.

Those may not be your key take-aways from this post, but now you see how my mind works!

How Online Social Relationships with Other Bloggers Helps in your Blogging Career? (Himanshu Kumar Das)

Himanshu Kumar Das demonstrates the truth of the proposition laid out in his title – right from the first paragraph. Nurturing one’s relationship with the blog host is a good way to keep the door open for future guest blogging invitations. That said, unless your name is Brian Belfitt, you can pretty much skip straight to paragraph two.

I love how bloggers often toss intriguing little post-worthy nuggets into their own writing without realizing that they’ve buried the good stuff – the original stuff, the stuff that hasn’t been written to death, the stuff that makes readers sit up and go “Hmm…” – in the midst of all the tried and true. One such nugget: “We all are competitors but no one is acting here like professionals. Everyone is present in groups, forums and always active, anytime ready to answer queries by other. I feel a small world here surrounded with you helping peoples and this world seems much better than outside professional world.” So why is that?

If you think about it, bloggers have more reason than other professionals to be competitive – there’s no guarantee of a paycheck, let alone a paycheck every two weeks. But the real question isn’t just “Why do bloggers, who are all competing for visitors and sales, tend to help each other out and up for free – and why are they so generous with the little upstarts that come along behind them?” The more important question may be, “Why isn’t the ‘professional world’ more like this?” and “Is there anything we can do to encourage creativity, collaboration, and friendly competition in the offline world?”

When I read point #2, I’m reminded of the old adage: “You can find the answer to anything on the Internet – so long as you don’t care that it’s accurate.” There’s a lot of misinformation on the Internet (that doesn’t rise to the level of “fakes and cheaters” discussed later in this post). Learning to distinguish between facts from primary sources and opinions or regurgitated information from third- and fourth-hand hearsay is a critical skill everyone needs to develop as the Internet becomes inextricably woven into the fabric of our daily lives.

Anyway, back to what Himanshu Kumar Das is saying about the importance of having a robust network of friends – “No man is an island.” No, wait – that was John Dunne who said that.

Be sure to read the other posts in this series:

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Guest Bloggers: Grammar Karma, Rejection, and Playing Nice with People or Panda

Holly Jahangiri — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:52:27 +0000

Everyone asks me, “Aren’t you entering the Blog Engage contest this month?” The answer is n—er, probably not. I’d rather let others have the fun, this month. I’m working on a couple of short stories, starting Chinese lessons next week, taking up a new hobby – painting – and, of course, working. There’s a point at which new things to learn and do energizes you, and a point where you just run out of steam and hit a wall with all the momentum you’ve built up. I’d rather take a break before I break my nose on that wall! Now, be sure to read my previous post and the contestants’ entries over at Blog Engage (if you hadn’t noticed, each heading is a link). They’ll be grateful for any “button dancing” (let your fingers dance across those LinkedIN, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ buttons across the top) and comments you choose to share with them. If there’s one thing they all have in common, it’s that they’re eager bloggers in search of a broader base of readers who will do more than say “good job” and flit over to the next post.

So, without further ado, I present…

10 reasons why I will not accept your guest post? (Abhi Balani)

There’s a funny little quirk to writers’ karma that goes, “The minute you criticize someone else’s grammar in public, your own will go to hell in a hand basket, in an equally public and humiliating fashion.” I hate to pick on poor Abhi – his post contains excellent cautionary advice for bloggers who are desperate to shop their backlinks by slapping their “guest posts” on others’ blogs. All I’m going to add to this is, “Before you criticize another man’s grammar and spelling, proofread. Fix it. Proofread again. Fix it some more. And when you think it’s perfect, get someone who doesn’t give a rip about your feelings to proofread it again and tell them to be brutally honest.” Just make sure they know the grammar of whatever language you’re writing in – for example, don’t ask me to edit your Hindi. Mine is atrocious. Don’t trust Word to do your dirty work – Word is, at best, a flagman on the three-mile stretch of construction zone that will reduce a grown editor to tears and strong drink.

Don’t RUSH. We bloggers are all so impatient to publish. It is the self-publishing model of the modern age. We don’t even need vanity press – just the press of a button.

But enough on that.

Abhi’s tone in this piece might sound a bit harsh, but anyone who has been inundated with spammy guest post “offers” (often nothing more than crappy ads masquerading as “posts” for which a non-existent “person” expects the blogger to pay) knows it could be harsher still - and still be fair. I’m sure there are a few big-name editors and New York publishing houses cheering along on this one. Read the guidelines, if a blogger takes the time to post some for you! Learn to spell and craft a simple sentence. And all the other stuff Abhi advocates here.

If you want to be viewed seriously as a guest blogger, avoid the ten things Abhi discusses in this post. Including the unnumbered #6. I’m sure that my exceedingly strict and excruciatingly correct middle school English teacher would be proud and pleased to see my name linked to anything on diagramming sentences. I’m sure she thought I was much more intent on zapping classmates with the rubber bands from my braces.

One of the things Abhi and I have discussed, recently, is this weird blurring of any distinction between “content,” good writing, quality images, and advertising.

If it’s an ad, the “guest blogger” wanting to place the ad should be willing to pay. Tip: If it contains spammy backlinks to a sales page, it’s an ad. The blogger who publishes it does not pay the marketer desperately hoping to place it somewhere. In fact, he should probably avoid it altogether, unless…
If it’s a well-researched, well-written, original post, the blogger should be willing to pay. Tip: If it does not contain self-serving, spammy links, it’s an article. Writer does not pay to publish it, and blogger should not assume writer will fall all over himself for the “honor” of having it published. Unless blogger is Brian Clark or Seth Godin. But then they understand what it means to be “professional” and can actually place a dollar value on writing and editing.
If everyone’s broke but friendly, work out a mutually beneficial arrangement, agreeable to all, and call it “barter.”

Blogs used to be personal things, written by one’s self and maybe a few like-minded friends. Now everyone wants to run a magazine.

Blog Comments Or Social Shares: Which Can Bring Your Blog On Top? (KrisEdison)

This is a nice, balanced article on the usefulness of comments and social sharing. There’s not much to quibble with, but I’m not entirely sure I know, yet, which Kris thinks will benefit my blog more. I’m not sure anyone knows, really – but he fairly discusses the benefits of both, in terms of blog promotion and SEO. I suspect that Kris has a greater affinity with writers than with business bloggers, and given that would lean towards… well, you go read it and leave a comment. Which one do you think is more important?

This is one thing I’ve noticed with blogging – it’s tough to strike the right balance between authoritative and conversational. It’s tough to give advice without being preachy or sounding hypercritical and bitchy. Some bloggers go so far to avoid this that they fall into the trap of the other extreme, writing bland posts that refuse to take sides or express strong opinions. “Whatever you think is best, probably it is. This is just my opinion, one of many, and so on, etc.”

This post gives food for thought and avoids preachy by being marginally unopinionated, but in this case I think that’s a reasonable place to be – given that without promotion, there can be little interaction, and without interaction, there’s not much point in promotion.

Next up… some social media and blog promotion advice!