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The Top 5 Uncommon Timesavers for Bloggers/Writers (Plus: Video of Me Kissing a Hairy "Coo") Greetings from a jazz bar in Sardinia, Italy! If you’d like to see what I pack when I also hit cold weather like the pelting rain of Scotland — while still keeping it under 20 lbs. — check out my recent post on Gadling here. The Monica grape wine here is excellent and a new taste for me. In the spirit of trying new things, I wanted to share a few tips for the would-be bloggers/writers out there (that’s you at some point). Here are five timesavers to save you grief and suffering: 1. Is it Technorati rank? No matter how good your material is, too much of it can cause feed-overwhelm and unsubscribes. 3. 4.

Separate brainstorming (idea generation) from synthesis (putting it all into a flowing post). 5. Fear is the enemy of creativity. [Originally posted late last week at Problogger.net]— If you didn’t like this post, perhaps you’ll like this video of me kissing a hairy “coo” in the Scottish highlands: Most Popular Posts on this Blog: 5 Free Blogging Platforms You Might Not Know About. You Just Published a Blog Post. Here Are the 14 Things You Need to Do Next. How To Add Google Calendar in WordPress: Easy Step by Step Guide. Google Calendar has come most popular and highly effective tool for managing schedule, sharing events and integrating with other Google services like Gmail. This tool also comes with pretty smart features that easily organize everything around you. It is very easy to integrate Google Calendar with WordPress site. Here in this article, I have mentioned step by step guide to add Google Calendar in WordPress.

Let’s Begin #Step 1: To add Google Calendar to your WordPress site, all you need to do is install Google Calendar plugin in your WordPress and activate it. #Step 2: After activation, go to Calendars. Now, all you need is to connect the plugin to your Google Calendar. #Step 3: To create and provide Google API Key, on the calendar setting page you’ll find a link of Google Developers Console. #Step 4: From the top right corner menu, click on “Select a Project” and choose “Create a Project” option. #Step 5: A popup will appear, where you need to give a name for your project.

10 Important Reasons Entrepreneurs Need to Take Blogging Seriously. How the heck do they do it? You know who I’m talking about. I’m talking about those successful entrepreneurs who get tons of business and engagement online. Sure, they hustle just as much as you do. They attend the same networking events. They seem to have much more business than you do. So what’s the difference between you and them? They’re probably blogging. If you’re an entrepreneur or solopreneur, you have probably heard of content marketing, right?

Blogging is one of the most-used and effective content marketing tools at your disposal. Here’s some stats for you: ● Marketers that use blogs get 67% more leads than those who don’t If you’re an entrepreneur, you need to consider how you’re connecting with your audience. One of the best ways to do this is by blogging. Many business owners overlook the potential rewards that blogging can provide. This post is going to give you ten benefits that blogging can provide for your business. 2) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Houston Brand Management: 7 Online Tools To Make You A Better Blogger. Brand recognition was simple in the days when television gave marketers a captive audience. The key was keeping your name and cute jingle in front of enough people, often enough.

These days are no more. Consumers can choose what they will view and when, and don’t appreciate invasive marketing. The challenge for Houston businesses is getting customers to choose to look at you on their own. What unique value does your business bring? Adding Value in Houston Brand Management One of the most effective ways to develop your brand today is through blogging. Effective and consistent blogging isn’t easy to maintain, though. 1.Hubspot’s Topc Generator Sometimes the hardest part of blogging is coming up with a steady stream of topics. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Build Your Houston Brand, One Blog at a Time Blogging is a vital component of your Houston Brand Management strategy.

For help generating content and maintaining your company’s blog, Contact Us. 7 Tips for Writing that Great Blog Post, Every Time. Image Source Your blog is probably one of your company’s most valuable marketing tools. You use it to build trust with your customers, generate leads, educate consumers, and build brand awareness. So, if a reader tells you your blog’s content quality is poor, that comment will probably make you cringe just a little. The best company blogs are engaging, deliver value, and align with the company’s business strategy. The content you develop for your blog will help you deliver a consistent brand message. It’s often challenging to consistently publish valuable and engaging content.

. #1. If you are selling to decision makers in the publishing industry, write a blog post that targets their specific needs. The H2 Real Estate blog does a great job of developing content that helps potential homeowners learn more about the community where the available homes are located since this is usually an important issue for homeowners. #3. . #6. . #7. 10 Things You Need To Know Before Starting A Blog. Image credit: Caio Resende/StockSnap. So you want to start a blog? Nowadays anyone can create a blog in a few simple steps. Blogging is an incredible marketing tool and can even become a great source of income. However, if you would like to build a successful and profitable blog, you need to set yourself on the right path. Here are ten things you should know before you jump into blogging. Blogging takes time and effort Before getting started, ask yourself why you want to start a blog.

It requires a lot of hard work and takes a long time to grow your audience. Successful bloggers are patient enough to keep working on their blogs for a long time. WordPress.com, Blogger, Medium and Tumblr, these blogging platforms are all free and very easy to use. If you want a cool web address, more design flexibility, larger storage or more monetization opportunities, a self-hosted WordPress blog is still the best bet.

It is crucial to decide what you write about and stay focused on that niche. Move over Mumsnet: All hail the dad bloggers of Instagram. How to Write a Blog Post (That Actually Gets Read) Blogging lets you teach, inspire, and engage an audience—even drive traffic to your products—at scale. It gives individuals and brands an accessible way to share their voice. But that same ease also makes it hard to stand out, especially on an internet where it’s estimated that over 2.73 million blog posts are written every day and video seems to be the biggest crowd pleaser. But that doesn’t mean the blog post is dead.

The fact that you’re reading one right now is proof. It just means you need to take a different approach if you hope to rise above the noise. So how do you make sure the time you spend on a blog post is time well spent? The short answer is to look at crafting a blog post more like how you would creating a product: You come up with an idea and validate it.You source the materials you need to produce it.You package them up in a pretty way.You market your product to the right audience.You track the results and try to improve them over time. Here’s why: Anyone can write. Step 1. The Many Faces of Blogging - Read Write Respond. Flickr photo shared by mrkrndvs under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA ) license Just as there are many different blogging platforms, there are also many different ways to blog.

Some break it down into different tasks or unpacking why we blog. However, we often overlook what actually constitutes a blog in education. To make sense of these possibilities, I have broken them down into seven different types that help to develop a deeper appreciation of the possibilities that blogging enables: flickr photo shared by mrkrndvs under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA ) license The most obvious place to start with blogging is as a personal space. For a range of personal blogs, check the extensive list of nominees associated with the 2015 Edublogs Awards. flickr photo shared by mrkrndvs under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA ) license In some ways the blog as a portfolio is an extension of the personal. Here are some examples of portfolios: flickr photo shared by mrkrndvs under a Creative Commons ( BY-SA ) license.

Quality Digital Products Every Blogger Should Create. Podcast: Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging. How to Create an Editorial Calendar for your Blog Yesterday I challenged you to come up with at least 10 blog post ideas for your blog. Today we’re going to take those ideas and begin to form an editorial calendar around them – specifically we’re looking to create an editorial plan for next week on your blog.

As I share in this episode this something I resisted doing in the early days of my blogging but having started to do it a few years ago it transformed my blogging on many levels so if you’re yet to do it I can highly recommend you give it a go. In Today’s Episode You can listen to today’s episode above or in iTunes or Stitcher (where we’d also LOVE to get your reviews on those platforms if you have a moment). By the end of this challenge you now should: know what you need to createhave some starting points for each posthave a plan of when you’ll create each post Tools Mentioned in this Episode and Related Reading Here are the editorial calendar tools I mentioned in today’s episode:

Three ways to structure your blog posts for more engagement - Brad Blackman Art. If you’ve already set up an editorial calendar for your blog and you have planned what content comes out when, the next step is to write it. I know. This can be overwhelming. It’s hard enough choosing what to write about. The first thing you have to do is just start. Thank you, Captain Obvious, you say. I know. But once you’ve started, there are some frameworks we’re going to talk about in a minute that will help you structure your writing so it makes sense.

Once you have your rough information down and you’re ready to give it shape, whether you are writing a blog post, a book, or even a presentation, there a couple of ways to structure that information so that it makes sense to the audience. The Term Paper The first structure is probably the most well-known. I will never forget Dr. I used this formula all through high school and college, and it worked. This format is kind of stiff and formal so it doesn’t always lend itself to blogging, but it works really well for presentations. How to take your book blog to the next level | Children's books. With blogging becoming more popular than ever, many people find it hard to get past the initial beginner stage with so many blogs trying to do the same thing. Here are my top tips for building your blog after you’ve set it up: 1. Set clear objectives Take a piece of paper or a notebook, and write down five things you’d like to achieve with your blog.

Once you’ve got your five things, expand on each by thinking when you’d like to achieve them by, how attainable they are, and how you’re going to know when you’ve reached your goal. 2. Dedication is a key skill you need in order to build your blog. 3. One of the things I love most about blogging is being able to think up new ideas that haven’t been done before, and being adventurous with the content I create. 4. There are so many other bloggers that are very helpful and friendly. 5. Whilst you’re working extremely hard, don’t forget to have fun along the way. Good luck! Find out more on LucyTheReader’s blog Queen of Contemporary. Make Money Blogging: Everything Beginners Need to Know to Launch a Successful Blog.

When a person commits to start blogging on a regular basis, they can easily become overwhelmed with all of the decisions that need to be made in such a short amount of time. Aside from thinking up high quality articles that are sought out and well received by its intended audience, bloggers also have to think up domain names, web hosts, themes, plugins — and that’s just barely scratching the surface. The last thing on most bloggers’ minds is making money. As a matter of fact, according to a 2012 survey of 1,000 bloggers performed by Blogging.com, 81% never even make $100 from their blogging. If you’re in it for a quick way to make cash, you’re definitely in the wrong field. But just because the vast majority don’t turn a large profit doesn’t mean that it’s physically impossible to make money blogging, either. According to that same survey, 17% are able to sustain their lifestyle and/or support their family solely from their blog’s income.

Interested? How much success has he found a blogger? Here Are the Top 5 WordPress Plugins You Must Use For a Better Blogging Experience. Image Source Bloggers who use Wordpress, beginners or pros alike, always face one question - what are the best plugins to use to optimize the performance of your website? WordPress has over 40,000 plugins - most free and some premium so it’s understandable that the choices can be endless and as a result, confusing. Another thing to keep in mind is that not all plugins are reliable or even that good. Some can actually slow down your website, while others create conflicts with other plugins. If you’re not that well-versed with WordPress or are a complete beginner, you can spend the whole day just configuring one plugin and still find that it doesn’t function the way it is supposed to.

Under such circumstances, it becomes essential for you as a blogger to know what plugins will be most efficient for you. One way you can go about doing this is trying and testing out a variety of plugins - but not everyone has that kind of time or even expertise. This plugin needs no introduction. Down the Rabbit Hole: The Hate Filled Underbelly of Blogging. If one thing has been proven in advertising through the new millennium, it’s that the age old saying is true: there is no such thing as bad publicity. While celebrities have already lived by this rule for decades, there are a group of creators who have only recently discovered the dizzying pull of bad publicity... bloggers. Yes, those sleek blonde ponytailed writers of the midwest have now become both the hunters and the hunted. At the center of this witch hunt-y circus is a woman named Alice. Back in 2009, the world was a brighter place. Obama had just been inaugurated, Adele won her first Grammy, and Britney made her breakdown comeback official with “Circus”.

It was entirely possible for anyone to have their 15 minutes of fame on the Internet, and many did. This strange era that fell in-between the death of MySpace and the birth of the iPhone was also beginning to usher in a brand new kind of career industry: blogging. Of course snark sites are nothing new to the Internet. 14+ Tools for Bloggers : Social Media Examiner. Are you a busy blogger? Looking for new, unique tools to help you work smarter? The right tools will help streamline and improve your blogging. In this article, you’ll discover more than 14 tools to help bloggers quickly, efficiently perform common tasks.

Discover tools bloggers can use to streamline tasks. Listen to this article: Listen now: Play in new window | Download #1: Source Free, Quality Images A picture is worth a thousand words. With Unsplash you get access to a bank of 50,000+ free-to-use photos. Use Unsplash to source free, high-resolution professional Creative Commons images. If there’s nothing suitable on Unsplash, Foter allows you to choose from a whopping 229 million images. Foter’s scale and ease of attribution are both phenomenal. . #2: Compress Images to Improve Page Load Speed The load speed of a page is a key ranking factor. Here’s how: just drag and drop your image, watch it compress before your eyes, and then download it. #3: Do More With Screenshots #5: Run an SEO Audit.

The Future of Work and Learning 2: Chatbots. How to Be a Blogger - How to Make Money as a Blogger. What Makes a Comment? – Read Write Respond. Tools to Help You Optimize Blog Headlines and Content. 17 Lies Expert Bloggers Love To Tell You When You Start Blogging. 3 Fantastic Tools for Beginner Bloggers in 2016. 10 Steps To Becoming A Blogger. What Blogging Has Become. There's More to Life Than Blogging & Social Media. 9 Reasons Why Teachers Should Blog. The Global Search for Education: Our Top 12 Global Teacher Blogs - What are the Best Ways for Teachers to Engage Their Classrooms in a Global Conversation? | C. M. Rubin.

6 Top Ways to Make Money Blogging in 2016. 7 Popular Blogging Tips That Don't Always Apply. 15 Outstanding Tips for Blog Writers from Popular Bloggers. How To Create Great Content For Your Blog – Q&A, Part 2 - @ProBlogger. 39 Blogging Tools to Help You Work Faster & Write Better — Life Learning. Super Niching: The Dirty Little Secret Of Successful Bloggers Everywhere - @ProBlogger. The Beginner's Guide to Successful Business Blogging: 6 Steps for Blogging ROI. A Must Have Guide on How to Evaluate Apps for The Classroom. How to Create Great Content For Your Blog – Q&A, Part 1 - @ProBlogger. The Best Blogging Advice You’re Not Taking. Advanced Ways to Promote a Blog Post on Social Media. You have a Class Blog – Now what? Blogging in The Classroom: How to Get Started. 6 Tips for Quality Student Blogging. Tips for Choosing a Classroom Blog.

7 Super Simple Blogging Tips You NEED to Know. The Newbies Blueprint On How To Create A Blog. 13 Platforms To Turn Your Blogging Skills Into Freelance Writing. 14 Ways To Make Your Blog Get Real Attention - In Photos: How To Make Your Blog Get Real Attention. 8 Reasons Why Your Blog Posts Are Hard to Read (And How to Fix 'Em) Thinking of Quitting Blogging? Here's How One Blogger Turned it Around - @ProBlogger. The Best WordPress Plugins of 2015 – 30 Pros Reveal Theirs. 10 Tips to Become a Blogging Rockstar and Succeed at Business. Blogging for Staff Professional Learning. Beyond LiteracyLink: Spring's Symphony Unveiled. The Hot New Education Trend That No One is Talking About.

Have LinkedIn and Medium Killed the Old-Fashioned Blog? 5 Reasons Publishers LOVE Bloggers. Ultimate Guide To Writing a Blog Post People Will Definitely Share. ReconfigurEd. - Blogging as an essential literacy for contemporary learning. 13 Warning Signs That Your Blog Design Stinks (And How to Fix It) In Defence Of EduTech. Session 28: What is the Educational Value of Class blogs, wikis etc. Blogging Tools. Bloggers Boot Camp, 2nd Edition > 1 The Niche > What’s Your Name, Private? : Safari Books Online. How to Set Yourself Up for Classroom Blogging Success. Blogging #TCEA15 with @Evernote and @Postachio.

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