tips

There are 33 posts tagged tips (this is page 2 of 6).

How to Be a Great Guest Blogger

What makes someone a great guest poster?

Great guest bloggers know the blog they want to write for. They know the content published, the niche the blog aims for.

This doesn’t mean you have to camp out for weeks studying the blog. Start by reading the About section on the blog. Is this even a topic or niche you would have something to write for? Have you got something in mind that the blog owner will want to post?

Read back entries. Skim headlines for anything connected to what you plan to offer as a guest post. What has already been written about the topic? Do you have a new thought, a fresh angle? If so, this is a great thing to let the blog owner know when you submit your proposal.

Plan ahead and make sure your site (the place you choose to showcase your writing) is actually putting your best foot forward. Are there typos? Do all your links work? (You don’t want them to find a broken link because you moved a post – or a broken image file). What do you say about yourself? Do you have an introduction to who you are and what you are doing?

How can you interest blog publishers in the posts you offer them?

You submit a proposal for the post you want to write. Have your idea ready, have the whole post written or at least planned out. If this blog doesn’t want it you can find and ask other blogs who would be interested in the same content. But, if this blog owner is interested you want to have the content ready to send as quickly as you can.

Before you rush to send your post make sure you agree to terms with the blogger.

Ask when the post will be published, if the blogger has a schedule (most will).

Set out what you would like when it comes to an author bio and any links in the bio or the post itself.

How long or short should your post be?

Do you need to include an image? If not, can you get the chance to ok the image which is used with your post?

Do they have rules about using extras like text in bold or list posts?

Do they want to set the title themselves or will they be using whatever you send as a title?

Will other content be run with the post you have written, are they posting their own links or creating an introduction to go with your post?

Don’t spring any surprises on the blog owner once your post has been accepted. You also don’t want to find yourself surprised. Try to think ahead and… if you do get a surprise about how your post is used, keep calm, take a break away from the computer before you send off a note to the blog owner.

What is guest post etiquette?

Proofread your post, more than once. The blog owner won’t be impressed if they have to fix typos.

Ask the blog owner how they want the post sent. Some might prefer HTML or plain text. Some will want it as an attached file and some will want it in the email itself.

Keep your author bio short and don’t use more than two links. Pick smart links: your best source for showing your content and your most active (non-personal) social media account.

Don’t use too many links in the content of the post you write. Two is a nice amount. Three is less acceptable. Over three links will probably not sit well with the blog owner at all. Even if they publish the post they aren’t so likely to agree to more.

Afterwards… Promote Your Post!

Don’t sit on your laurels once your post has been published on the blog. Now is the time to promote your post. Get readers, bring in traffic and show the blog owner you have some pull, some regular readers and social media clout.

If you bring them traffic they will be far more interested in working with you again, and again.

Also, don’t abandon your post too quickly. Check for reader comments and answer them. Provide more information or just chat and use the post to build your own social network and bring people over to read more of what you have written. (This is why it’s a good idea to keep writing in the same niche/ topics where you want to build up your own authority).

A day after the post is up send the blog owner a note. A thank you note. Include any statistics you have about the post traffic. Ask for feedback from them. Ask if they have any ideas they would like worked on for a future post. There could be ideas they have not had time or resources to create a post about themselves.

You could become a regular contributor if things work out. But, watch your time management and don’t over commit yourself. Don’t undo what you have started by missing deadlines.Accept the work you know you have the time, energry and knowledge to complete.

None of these have my personal recommendation but they are a place for you to start looking for sites that want your content.

How to Approach Blogs Which Don’t Want Guest Posts

Pay attention to a site which does not accept guest posts. Don’t send them a guest post!

Chances are, a site which specifically does not want guest posts has been flooded with spam offers and they are fed up with the whole thing.

If this is a site or blog you really do want to write for, approach them through their blog comments. Do not offer them a guest post. You could also find them on Twitter and other social media (choose one they are actively using).

Begin by giving them real comments on the posts they have. Offer some ideas, tips, insights you have. Keep it light and neutral.

Make sure every communication and comment you have with them is typo free and use spell check.

Make sure you include a link back to your own blog (a place where your content is showcased). Let them find you.

After some time and several comments you could suggest an idea for a guest post relevant to their niche and offer to write it. Use your common sense and don’t end up sounding like just another spammer.

This way you are not one more half-assed idiot offering them a ‘free’ (typically irrelevant) post for their blog.

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Uncluttering your Blog: Keep your Clutter Bug in Check

Clutter builds up on your site quickly if you stop working on it. Each time you add something new to your blog, in the sidebar, the footer or the menu and header – stop and think about it.

  • Is it necessary for your blog readers?
  • Does it say something about yourself and your blog that you actually want to say?
  • Could it be moved to a subpage of your blog and not really be missed?
  • Is it slowing down the load time and, if so, is it worth it?
  • Have you located it in a way which it’s function is easy to understand?
  • Don’t keep any broken links, including images.
  • Consider moving archives, link lists and categories/ tags to their own subpage.
  • Condense and prune your tags and categories. Use a general category for things which don’t fit into the main theme/ topic of your blog.
  • Consider using plain text links rather than image files, widgets and etc.
  • Downsize and/ or double up when giving your own links to be followed on social networks.
  • If you run ads, limit them to ads which are actually performing well.

Tidy Up Your Blog’s Sidebar

Focus on your readers. What are you keeping in your sidebar for yourself? What do you actually read and like to see in a blog sidebar when you read another blog? Let that be your guide to deciding what to keep on your own blog sidebar.

Work out the most important thing in your sidebar and on your blog.Create a list of everything in your sidebar – list them in order of importance. If you have more than ten things choose a few to be voted off the island. See if you can limit your blog sidebar to 5 or fewer items.

Remember, less is more. Put away anything you want to keep but don’t really need on your sidebar. Use features like pages and even your footer to tuck and tidy away extra items.

More to Read

Street Photography: Fashion Photography of the Ordinary

I see a lot of street photography when I look at photographs and sites that interest me. But, I never really felt they were interesting photos until today when I found the photos from Vivian Maier, vintage street photography.

Looking at those ordinary people from the 1950s was fascinating. I started with one photo and then clicked for another and another and another. Soon I had spent 20 minutes looking at street photography. I was surprised. Then I realized, street photography is like creating a snapshot of our lives, a time capsule that can be opened any day.

Without knowing the people I could see the character and the role they played in life. Seeing their background was more important than it seemed at first. The background shows other people, fashion, buildings, products for sale, and so on. Without seeing a date on the photograph you could guess when the photo was taken and where (in a general way).

I have new appreciation for modern street photography and street photographers now. We don’t have time machines so we have to record our own history as we live it.

 

Street photography gives us a look at ourselves, in our current time and (with vintage photos) our past.

Horror Writers are Nice Girls Too

Writing horror is a unique experience. I have written horror and self published my horror writing. People have given me good feedback but I’ve yet to write something I feel really good about. So, I’m amateur horror writer. Still working on it.

I like the drama and the challenge of putting the things that really do scare me into words which will show someone else what really is scary. I don’t get scared by typical things: fictional monsters, serial killers and so on. No, the things that scare me are real and everyday like debt, job interviews and bumble bees that fly into my hair and keep buzzing around close to my head. The horror of deciding to hope the bee finds it’s own way out or risking getting your fingers stung while you try to get it out (before it stings your head or face) is a very real thing and something I have experienced.

It’s the real things that are scary, horrifying. Not the made up monsters. The only time a made up monster becomes frightening is when we talk ourselves into believing they are real, or could be real. It’s reality that really is the stuff of nightmares.

As a writer, I think writing horror makes you learn “show don’t tell” more than any other genre. An over narrated horror story will flat-line, fast!

The Women of WordPress and Women Blogging

women blogOnce upon a time women formed groups to find each other online. Now, there are a lot of us wandering around, developing websites and blogs but the main groups for women online are about Mommy bloggers.

Not every woman is a Mother and not every woman wants to focus on her family when she’s thinking about writing, creating, maintaining and promoting her website. But, we all want to learn how to do it better. Many of us like to learn from other women. I do.

I can learn from anyone but there is a nice feeling to find out the person who wrote the tutorial I’ve been reading or the book I picked out at the store, is a woman. Someone who is likely to see things the way I do myself, someone who has a similar perspective to myself.

WordPress Book Writers, Tutorial Makers, Web Developers and Site Designers

Women of Blogger (and Beyond)

Groups for Women Bloggers

How to Find Penpals (Pen Pals)

My sister phoned, asking me how to find penpals for her 9-year-old daughter. This wasn’t completely out of the blue. I still have a box full of penpal letters I received all the years I wrote letters to people around the planet. I’ve got coins from other countries. I’ve got postcards too. But, I haven’t really looked at any of it for years.

I stuck with it for several years. I even met the man I ended up married to through penpal writing. That’s a long story. Now I’m looking for the next generation to start up with letter writing, finding friends by mail.

When I wrote my first penpal letter it was going to someone working in a factory where they canned pineapples. My Mother had picked out the address from the back of a can we bought at the grocery store. “Do you want to write to someone in Hawaii?”

So we sent a letter to that address. I got a reply back. I wrote to “Sushi” for years, though we never met. We wrote as we grew up, we wrote as she got married and had children. I didn’t get married until much later. At some point we stopped writing. With only one of us married and having children we just had less in common to write about.

The next time I wrote to someone it was from a penpal zine. This was before the Internet. The penpal zine was pretty cool really. I don’t know who started it (and there was actually a few of them by different people). It was created as a booklet, photocopied and stapled together. Inside were listings from people all over the world who were looking for penpals. Some of them wanted to write to people from specific countries. Most of them seemed to be from the US or Australia. Each person wrote a bit about themselves, who they wanted to write to and gave their mailing address and age.

Find penpals for young people

Find penpals of all ages

Safety Tips for Penpal Exchanges

  • Never go anywhere to meet a penpal (for the first few times) without an adult.
  • If a penpal writes something rude, or anything a kid shouldn’t be sending – tell your parents, a teacher, or another adult who can help you.
  • Don’t accept or send photos your parents wouldn’t approve of.
  • No one should be asking for your email password or your phone number. Don’t give it out.