Blogs

I must admit that in the past I was a tad judgmental about bloggers. I didn’t get it. Every blog I’d ever read sounded like a journal entry. I would often find myself wondering ,who were these blog people and why do they think that everyone cares about the minute details of their lives?”

Well, my little sister sends these emails every once in awhile. They started back when she was in college. She sends them to her close friends and family, myself included. They just give a brief detail of where she is and what she’s been up to since the last time she wrote. Back when she was studying abroad they included such detail that I started saving them. I thought, “ she’s going to want to look back on these some say, or maybe I will.” They were more than just a catalog of events, but read more like journal posts. Well, She’d written so many of them that I said she should create a blog. Of course, having such an anti-blog attitude, my suggestion was taken with some skepticism.

When I mentioned the idea to my husband, he said that I should write my own blog. I immediately adopted the role of skeptic. What on earth could I possibly have to say? I mean, sure, a can talk for hours, but I am a horrible typist. I have a the grammar of a 4^th grader, despite the BA in English, and I haven’t tried to put coherent sentences together since I turned in my thesis 7 years ago. Then it hit me. I stopped writing. Not only had the creative writing stopped, but even my journaling had become sporadic. I used to write every single day. I really miss it, even if I never was very good.

So, I have decided to take my own advice. I’m starting a blog. About what, you may ask… well, about taking my own advice. I spend a great deal of time at work, as part of my business, and in my personal life dishing out advice. Every once in awhile I’ll say something, and immediately think, “wow, I should listen to my own advice.” Then, the moment passes. I forget that brief moment of clarity. It is almost as if by speaking the words aloud the woman or women that I am speaking to physically pluck the thought from my mind, place it in their purses, and leave with it. From this point on I will write down my advice as soon as realize that I’m giving it. Then I will figure out where it fits into my life. I will take action. Then I will post it on the internet. Score one point for narcissism.

This is not to say that I will be blogging every day. It simply means that I’m looking forward to finding out what the outcomes of my own advice may be. Perhaps there will even be a few of you out there who have fallen prey to one of my so called nuggets of wisdom and you want to put your two cents in. That would be great too. Often we have the best of intentions. We make a suggestion and we don’t realize that we have just changed someone’s life forever.

This time I’m going to change my own life. I’m going to take my own advice.

Stay tuned…

Lina Williams, Sexy Lifestyle Advisor

Writing for the web is not the same as writing for print. If you are going to be writing content that will be consumed online there are a few concepts that you need to get clear on. By now most people understand
the fact that we don’t read text online in the same way that we read text in hard copy such as a book or a newspaper that we hold in our hands.

People tend to skim online copy very quickly with their eyes.
The Internet is by nature fast moving and bright and shiny. Our brains and eyes move hyper-fast when we are online and if what we are looking at does not appeal to us, we can quickly get rid of it within a nano-second by clicking the next link.

As writers, we need to get in touch with the way our readers engage with our work online so that we can create a product that will be both useful and enjoyable by those who consume it. You want to craft content that makes your readers stop long enough for you to convey the message that you are trying to send. Your words must draw them in so that they can consume your content and in exchange for their attention you must
fulfill the promise of supplying the information they were searching for.

Write for human readers but with SEO in mind.
Another unseen audience that is consuming our content online is the search engines. Since our human readers’ eyeballs are our most important audience we write for them, but it’s also important to keep the principles of SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, in mind as we create web content.

Since many of us learned to write prior to the Internet age, there are a few specific strategies that we can employ in order to be effective at online writing.

• Do Keyword research and write content that focuses on one or two keywords while delivering concise information that the end user is
  searching for.
  
• Link to other related pieces of content within the site that add to topic.
  
• Link out to related authority sites that have high search engine rankings and provide additional information for your reader.
  
• Use images that illustrate your point and break up the text on the page.
  
• Write in shorter paragraphs allowing for sufficient white space on the page to give the reader’s eyes a place to rest.
  
• Use bullets and call-out boxes for the skimmers to grab information quickly.
  
• Use meaningful sub-headers to introduce ideas.

Tips for sharpening the saw:
This is a list of five tips that can help you to improve your online writing skills, but this does not pretend to be an exhaustive list. You’ll want to keep learning and constantly strive to improve your craft over time–’sharpening the saw’ as Steven Covey calls it.

1. Read excellent writing
While it might sound far too simple and obvious, but reading good writing is really the best way to improve your own writing skills. Read widely on diverse topics. Pick authors whose writing style you admire and read several of their books. Get suggestions for good reads from fellow book-lovers, or make friends with your local librarian.

Here are a few blogs that feature both excellent writing and compelling content for writers:

• http://www.copyblogger.com/
• http://www.problogger.net/
• http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/
• http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
• http://www.doshdosh.com/

2. Join a writing group
This can be tricky because a really good, established writing group can be quite challenging to find. You may end up starting one of your own, but find a group of fellow writers of varying levels of skill and accomplishment where you can share your work and get honest feedback on how you can improve it.

There are tons of writing groups online, but I prefer live groups because it gives you the chance to interact with other writers and create real relationships with real people who share your interests. Check out meetup.com to find a local writer’s critique group, or search online writing forums to find local writing groups.

3. Take a class
Visit your local University or Community College’s website to see if they offer an online writing class. It may, oddly enough, only be offered online, but you can find some live online writing classes as well. Other resources for online writing classes include:

• The Education Portal has an article with links to 10 Universities that offer free online writing classes
  

  http://education-portal.com/articles/10_Universities_Offering_Free_Writing_Courses_Online.html

• The Gotham Writing Workshop

  http://www.writingclasses.com/

• Wrter’s Digest University writing classes

  http://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/

4. Hire a writing coach
Working with a writing coach is an excellent investment. If you want to write a book, but you would like to polish up your writing style, a coach can help you to get motivated, get unstuck, create a writing routine that works for your lifestyle, and most of all hold you accountable to the goals that you have set for yourself.

• http://www.writingforward.com/category/writing-help/writing-coach
• http://writingcompanion.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/writing-mentor-coach/
• http://www.genreality.net/ten-reasons-to-hire-a-writing-coach

5. Practice, practice and more practice.
“A writer writes,” as they say. Write something everyday. Set a daily word count goal that you feel that you can stick to, but that will also force you to stretch yourself a bit. Commit to meeting this goal, but don’t beat yourself up when you don’t. Just pick up where you left off. Keeping a daily longhand journal can be therapeutic and help you clear out what’s on your mind so that you can focus on creating good writing.

Keep a blog where you write about whatever inspires you. Write a new post every day and before long you will begin to notice that you are developing a unique style that your readers will come to enjoy.

Additional Writing Resources:

• http://www.webanddesigners.com/20-ways-to-improve-websites-readability
• http://www.problogger.net/31-days-to-building-a-better-blog/
• http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/fifty-50-tools-which-can-help-you-in-writing.html

Motivational quotes to inspire you.

"The mathematics of high achievement--

Begin with a dream.

Divide the problems and conquer them one by one.

Multiply the exciting possibilities in your mind.

Subtract all the negative thoughts to get started.

Add enthusiasm and determination.

And the result will be attainment of your goal."

- Anonymous

For more motivational quotes & articles, check out my blog, Mocha Writes.

It's my birthday month, ya'll (the actual date was the 14th, and I turned 24)!

To celebrate, I'm offering 24% off any copywriting service for the entire month of May to those who follow Mocha Writer on Twitter or are "likers" on Facebook.

• Article Writing
• Blog posts & blog creation
• Press Releases
• Brochure Copy

Over 20 million people have taken up blogging as their new career. According to eMarketer, only 2% do well. Successful bloggers can earn anywhere from $25 to thousands of dollars a month.

If you are interested in making money from home, join the millions of others in the blogosphere!

Want to work from Home? Try Blogging

Hi ladies!

This is a post I recently wrote on my blog. Hope this helps someone:

• Get a fabulous and effective website. By having a design that's professionally created (or at least looks like it), you'll gain credibility- and it's not as expensive as you might imagine. Two options to consider: 1) Use a theme that everyone and their grandma isn't using, or 2) Use a little money to hire a designer to modify an available, free theme.
• Be serious about SEO (search engine optimization). Whatever business you're in, you don't want to spend a lot of time looking for clients/customers- you want to use your time to make money. If you take the time to work on your SEO, your name (or business's) will come up higher in search results; so, when someone is searching for the service/product you offer, they'll be more likely to choose you first.
• Create compelling copy. You want the words on your website to convince others to purchase your product or service. However, it can be hard for you to write about how awesome you are, so you may want to think about hiring a copywriter. He or she can objectively convey why individuals should choose you.
• Convey your brand to others. It's easier to form a brand following when you can "piggy-back on top of an exisiting brand." And with blogging being so popular, gaining recognition is pretty simple- one way to do this is by writing guest posts on other blogs.
• Make a product to establish your authority. Having a product or download shows prospective clients that you know what you're doing. A couple of options: Write an ebook, or provide a free download that's related to your business's experience.

Check out more business and writing tips on Mocha Writer's Blog.

Happy Branding!

As a freelance writer, I help entrepreneurs and small business owners develop their businesses. I do this by writing articles, blog posts, website content, press releases and more.

This month, I have a special going on:

Purchase one service, and get the second one half off!

If this is something that interests you, please contact me at jamiefleming@mochawriter.com, or leave me your email in the comments below, and I will contact you.

Check out all the services I offer, samples of previous work and testimonials from clients on my website, mochawriter.com.

Have a fabulous and blessed week, everyone! ^_^

~Jamie (Mocha Writer)