Welcome back! Remember when we discussed writing about what you know? Well, today we’re going to discuss where to get new ideas. The answer? EVERYWHERE. Today’s tip is: Keep a Blogging Notebook.
A blogging notebook, also known as a blog fodder notebook, is a small notebook that you carry with you at all times. In this notebook, you will write down ANY ideas that occur to you that have even the remotest thing to do with your blog topic. Have multiple blogs? Try a divided notebook of some sort. Don’t want to carry anything that big? Use those little stick-on tabs to divide up a moleskine notebook or gregg-ruled pad. If you only have two blogs, use the notebook from the front for one blog, and from the back (backside of the pages) for the other.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome back! Today’s tip is all about creating pathways to your blog: Use TrackBacks.
EVERY time you reference another blog in your post, you should use trackbacks. EVERY time. The only exception is when a blog does not allow trackbacks, or you simply can’t find the trackback data.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome back! Today’s tip is another e-mail tip. Add a “send via e-mail” link to your posts.
Adding a “send to a friend via e-mail” link will allow people to send your posts to others who might find them interesting. This is great way to increase viral and social marketting. It’s as simple as adding a little bit of code from a service that provides “send via e-mail.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome back! Today’s tip is a carry over from an earlier one. Use FeedBurner.
Use FeedBurner (http://www.feedburner.com) for your feeds. Feedburner allows a lot of tracking options. They track the number of readers of your feed (updated, up to the moment), the number of click throughs to specific entries, and a plethroa of other statistics.
Not only does FeedBurner allow for tracking, it also allows you to add things like “add to del.icio.us” links, and “e-mail to a friend” links, greatly increasing the opportunity for social and viral linking.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome back! Todays tip is about posts. Use a recent posts plugin.
Using a recent posts plugin allows you to highlight your recent posts on every page. This way, people who are viewing an individual entry page can see the topics (or subjects) of your recent posts, and be able to click directly to them. I suggest highlighting the latest ten posts, although if you have limited space, highlight at least the lastest five.
The reason for using this plugin is, very simply, keeping people reading on your blog. Increase the time people spend on your blog, increase the likelyhood of them clicking on ads, participating in discussions, or just generally reading more content.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome back! Today’s tip is all about meta! Use meta tags… keywords, description, and whatnot.
Meta tags are one of the cornerstones of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). A strong meta keywords tag, and a strong meta description tag are imperitive to your SEO technique.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome back! Today’s tip is, sign up for news alerts from Google, et al.
Google News is a great method on keeping up with what’s going on with your blog’s topic, in mainstream media.
Signing up for some Google news alerts will keep you aprised of the latest info out there. You can set up a news alert on pretty much any topic you desire, and on specific media sources. Go give it a look.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome back! Today’s tip goes right along with this series. Write a series.
Writing a series is a great way to get return visitors to your blog. After all, chances are, you might be coming back to catch this series, regularly.
Not to mention, a good series is a great way to get links back. Plus, it’s a great way to promote your blog on other blogs – in comments. Something like: Assume a blogger was discussing monetization tips. In comments, “Oh yes, I wrote a [link]series[/link] about monetization. I covered everything your talking about, plus SEO techniques, etc… You might benefit from some of the tips in it – specifically, ____, ____, and ____. Check it out and let me know what you think. (If you consider this a spam comment, feel free to delete, but I’d appreciate you letting me know, so I don’t do the same in the future.)”
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome Back! Today’s tip is still about e-mail. Offer e-mail subscription to your blog posts.
This is different from a newsleter. In a sense it’s like RSS, via e-mail. Your blog posts will be sent via e-mail to anyone who signs up. This enables people who don’t understand RSS to receive your posts in a syndicated format, each day. Some services send each one, as it’s posted. The majority of them – and the one I reccommend – send out a single e-mail each day containing all of your posts from that day.
Read the rest of this entry »
Welcome back! Today’s tip is full of news (and I’ll bet you’re getting tired of these cheesy introduction sentences). The tip? Start an e-mail newsletter.
Ever been a member of an e-mail newsletter? They’re often full of tips that don’t make it into the regular blog. Newsletters also are a great place to feature posts that you think should get more attention.
Read the rest of this entry »
