Blogging

Reblogging: The How and Why

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , , , ,

If I Reblog someone then THEIR blog article will be looked at instead of mine.

I guess some look at blogging as a competitive thing. Personally, I blog to write and enjoy the company.

First, if you are new to blogging or looking in to blogging as something you want to do, you may want to know what Reblogging is.

Reblogging is when you read the post someone has written and you enjoy it to the point you want to share it with your own readers. If there is a button on the screen that says Reblog then you can click that button and normally type a message in a field that pops up. Then you click enter or send and part or all of the post will appear on your blog with your message at the top to introduce the post to your readers. Some Bloggers even Reblog their own Posts.

Why are the reasons you would ReBlog a Post?

  • You really like an article.
  • An article inspires you.
  • The article is informative for your friends.
  • A friend is on vacation and you want their blog and name to continue to be seen in the community.
  • You want to help a new blogger by sharing their wonderful work with my friends.

Always do an honest Reblog. If you don’t like it, don’t do it.

Now for how to Reblog properly.

What, I don’t just click Reblog?

You can, but if you really want to do it right you need to take another step.

This is what I do when I see a blog article and realize I am going to Reblog.

Step 1

I go ahead and pull up my Posts page in the Dashboard.

Step 2

I click Reblog on the other person’s post and type in something appropriate as to why I am Reblogging the article.

Step 3

After I have Reblogged, I refresh my Post Page in the Dashboard section and there is the Reblogged Post.

Step 4

I copy and paste the Tags from the original bloggers page into the Tags on the Reblogged post, click Add, and then click Update.

Why do I do this?

Sure, by Reblogging some of my Friends that are not the other persons Friends will see it but with the Tags included the article will be in the WordPress Reader for people a second time and maybe draw attention.

In all honesty, in the marketing world, sometimes it takes a person seeing something 19 times before they will take true notice of it or do something about it. No, I’m not going to Reblog a post 19 times. But if you see an article you like Reblog it. Maybe other people will do the same and that’s a few more times it gets passed around and those search engines can find them.

This doesn’t take but a minute of your time, and if you truly enjoy something, then do it. You do two things with your blog;1) You have fun with it, and 2) You provide your Friends with the best and most relevant thing for them you can. Sometimes that best is something from someone else.

That’s all for this Blog Tip.

For  a related article  click here to go to Blog Tip: Links to Blogs and Articles-How To and Why. You will leave this page by clicking the link that is embedded in the word here in the previous sentence.

Much Respect to my Friends and to those passing by.

@RonovanWrites

 

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© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites©.wordpress.com-June 25, 2014.

Blog Tip: Links to Blogs and Articles-How to and WHY

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , , ,

Oh . . . you linked to this other great site for us? Thank you so much. Now I will read things on their page and since this one opened up in the place of your page I will completely forget about returning to read the rest of your article. Have a nice day! Love, your faithfulest follower ever. xox smiley smiley winky winky

There are two thoughts on the idea of how to do links. To have them open up in the current window or in a new one. This will show you how to do it in a new window. This also shows you how to create what is called a Ping Back.

 

But WHY is it sooooo IMPORTANT to some to have links open in other tabs or windows?!

 Image of a Book with a Question Mark

I think you can agree that your blog is the most important blog to you. Sure you LOVE other blogs but you put a lot of time into yours and you want people to at least finish you article before they totally lose interest in you and go off wandering the world of other blogs.

Linking to other blogs in your articles is a GREAT thing to do, especially if they are legit, honest, relevant links. I’ve begun to do it more often lately as I’ve found articles out there that inspire me to write on certain subjects or that just fit what I am writing. I have even went back in and edited an article to link back to another article I found.

But some bloggers want to make sure that when the reader clicks on the link that it opens in a new window.

They want their article to remain there present for them to see and remember. Not something they have to remember to click the back arrow to get to.

What if you have important information later in your article, or a link to something YOU have?

If you don’t know how to link back to a page here are the ‘How To’ instructions. If you do know how, here are the instructions anyway and a reminder of where the box to check for opening in a new window is.

You are in your Posts section of the Dashboard on WordPress (Other Blogging Platforms will be different, but it should all be similar in nature.) and you are wanting to link an article.

Step One

How to Add Link to WPYou need to highlight the words you want the reader to click on in order to open the link. The words can be anything. Notice in a lot of articles you read it says click here to do something. Well the URL does not say ‘here’. They are doing what you are doing now by going through these steps.

Once you’ve highlighted the words you then go to . . .

Step Two

Add Link Button

Click the icon that to me sort of looks like a weird paperclip. It’s circled in red above.

Step Three

Adding the Link Here you paste the URL in from the article or Blog you want to link to in the ‘URL’ field.

Then you click the box next to ‘Open link in a new window tab’.

Finally click ‘Add Link’ in the bottom right corner of the box.

Now when anyone clicks the link in your article a new window will show up to read that article in while leaving your article available to them to read.

You do the same thing when adding a link. an URL to an image. Click the image and then the paper clip link thing. Exact same process.

WARNING!

If you Reblog and the person is just reading in the Reader window the links don’t go to a new window it seems. But if they click on View Original then they work fine.

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 23, 2014.

 

500 Followers-Thank you. Much Respect-Ronovan

Ronovan Blogging , , , ,

When I started this blog I only meant to share my thoughts and writings. I never thought anyone would actually read them. Of course I hoped they would. Who knew that friends would be made in such a short time?

 

I’ve seen this type of announcement on other sites but I’m not good about doing the celebratory thing. This really isn’t MY site any longer. I have overwhelmed that a few of my offerings have actual touched some people, and made some think differently about things. A community does that.

 

I thank you for making our site reach 500 Followers in such a short time. I thought 50 Followers was a lot for me. 500 Followers in this amount of time stuns me. I will have to work harder to deserve such a blessing.

+500 Followers Blog

 

Much Appreciation, Much Admiration, Much Repect, and Much Love

Ronovan

 

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 23, 2014.

Quick Tips: 2 For Basic Blogging

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Quick Tips: 2 For Basic Blogging

by: Ronovan

 

 

1)      When writing an article and you put in images/media make sure to click Preview on the right of the screen before publishing. Sometime what you see in your editing window is not what you will see in the finished article. Do this even for articles without media, just in case.

 

2)      If you put links in your article/post make sure to click the “Open link in a new window/tab” when you go to insert the link. You don’t want people to leave your own article even if it’s just to go to another one of your articles.

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 20, 2014.

 

 

Blogging Tips: It’s NOT your content.

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s not your Content

by: Ronovan

 Featured Image -- 1487

You’re new to the Blog world or even been around the Blog a few times and you wonder “Where are all the people that should be lining up to read my work”. (See what I did there, “Around the Blog….Around the Block. No…I tried. And I have no idea why L. L. Cook J’s ‘Around the way Girl’ is going through my head now.)

Blogging is like a lot of things in life:

  • It takes time
  • It takes practice
  • You have to work it
  • And it takes great patience

 

When I started blogging I just wanted people to read my creative pieces. I didn’t really think about how many I wanted to read it or how I would get them to read it, I just wanted to create and click publish.

 

We like to say we don’t care how many people show up to the party. As long as we put out the nachos in case someone decides to join in we think we’re okay. But we all know we really like to see those faces show up, even those we don’t know. This article is mostly for people who want to increase their readership.

 

I want to say one quick thing. If your home page is where your most recent posts go then here is what might happen. A person goes to the page, reads the top article, then reads all the ones below it. You get one view for all of those read articles. Some people put in a ‘read more’ break that you place in during your posting process to shorten what’s on that page to create more space or they do it to actually force a click to the next page. I personally no longer do the ‘read more’ just because. I’m happy people showed up and try to make it easy as possible.

 

The truth is, most of us have content in our articles that is good. We’re going to connect with someone and we’ll find our niche or group we seem to speak to. But it doesn’t happen overnight.

 

Time

Like I said you can’t bring in hundreds of views of your articles overnight unless you just write some hot button issue and get it out on social networks properly at the right moment. Perhaps hot button is your theme. If so then make sure you do something unique with it to stand out from the crowd.

 

Practice

Getting your format set up just right takes time. I’ve been through several themes for my blog and tested the waters on what I write. I know what will bomb and what will receive some generally decent response for my site. I still don’t mind bombing as long as I have fun and don’t do it too often. I want my readers to know they can always show up and have something good/useful to read.  That is one reason I put out as much material as possible. The other reason…I’m insane.

 

Work it

It’s tough to say this but just putting your content out there doesn’t mean people will show up. You need to do some work and help people find you, in other words, get the ball rolling:

  • Visit other blogs and comment:  You are thinking you barely have time to do your own blog but you would be surprised at the ideas you        come up with by taking a few minutes to visit elsewhere. Blogging isn’t just about blogs, it’s a community of supporters.
  • Link back to other blogs but only if relevant: Don’t just put a link to another person’s blog in your article for no reason. Make it be because it pertains to your article. Honest blogs get honest followers who stay with you.
  • Share in Social Networks: Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Google+ or LinkedIn, whatever your options are use them and share your articles there and spend a few minutes just being at least remotely involved.
  • Tag your articles properly: This one is a work in progress for everyone. You have to look at your work and see what it is and what words best describe it. Visit other blogs similar to yours that are successful and see what kind of tags they use.

 

Patience

You have to be patient. Once things start rolling…they roll. But it will take some time. Just keep working and putting out a lot of content, but quality content.

 

That’s all for this time and I hope there was something useful for you. Just remember that it’s not always about the content or the writing.

 

The only way you will fail is by giving up.

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 13, 2014.

The Sensitive Blogger

Ronovan Blogging, Life , , , , , , , , ,

The Sensitive Blogger

by: Ronovan

 Black Sight

 

You have to be tough to make it as a blogger!

 

I’m not tough. In fact I’m the exact opposite. I’m what you might call The Sensitive Blogger. If you’ve read my work and had interactions with me you may have put together a picture of what I am. I wear my mind and heart on my sleeve. They are both out there for the world to see and stomp on.

 

And sometimes people trip over one or the other without knowing it.

 

When the intentional hurt happens I can deal with that, most Bloggers can. We know there will be people who disagree with us or don’t like our work or are just intentionally trying to pick a fight. They want to be THAT commenter.

 

I can handle that. It’s those blindside ones that make me almost give up. When that happens I turn to typing. I write. Why not turn that hurt into something I can use on my Blog?

 

You get judged at times by history, a history that is not your own. I wrote an article called ‘I’m not THAT man’ recently and I find that phrase works in many areas of life. Before I go on, don’t get me wrong. Something said today was not said in a rude or impolite manner but it caught me off guard and well it’s going to stay with me for a long time and I will question my judgment for a long time.

 

I still feel sick. You know that sick disappointed feeling that you get when you are hurt. My initial reaction was “I give up, delete blog.” Since my accident thoughts turn into actions quickly. I stopped myself this time. I just didn’t want to be known as someone who a person even thought remotely might have been doing bad practice.

 

No, I wasn’t being bad or anything. It was just said that it could be seen as such. So don’t think anything like that. I didn’t post bad stuff, or comment badly to someone. It was just a moment that hit me.

 

It made me realize my judgment isn’t what it should be about things.

 

You probably clicked this looking for tips about blogging. I don’t know if you got anything out of this. But sometimes I just need to write and post something that is just a ‘me’ thing. I don’t know that I’ve ever actually done that until now in a non creative format, but isn’t that what having your own blog is about?

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 16, 2014.

Blogging Tips: Why Isn’t Anyone Reading My Articles?

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Why Isn’t Anyone Reading My Articles?

by: Ronovan

“I must stink as a writer! NO one is reading what I wrote.”

 Irate Man Cartoon

 

Admit it, you’ve felt that way. You may have even actually used stronger language. Go ahead and think about it while I close my eyes and ears…their sensitive you know.

 

 

You have a following for your site and you usually receive a decent amount of traffic and people who like what you write. Then BOOM! Nothing happens for one of your articles. What happened?

 

  1. They didn’t feel your article title
  2. The article blurb they saw in the preview didn’t grab them
  3. The image associated with the article turned them off
  4. The subject wasn’t what they were looking for
  5. You posted at the wrong time
  6. Your writing/content layout needed work

 

Step 1-Bait ‘Em (Grab their Attention)

Just like with a novel at a store or online that first impression is what counts. You need a grabber title along with an appropriate image that is inviting to the reader that matches the title and subject matter if you use an image at all. My advice is to use an image if possible.

 

Step 2-Hook ‘Em (Make them Click More)

You have their attention to read your first few sentences in the preview. Make those first lines count. I have my ways of doing it, and keep working on improving them all the time. Remember it changes depending on the type of article you are writing as well. But you have less time to set that hook and make them click more than someone with a novel in a bookstore does.

 

Step 3-Be Aware/Relevant

I wrote an article called ‘10 Forgotten Male Solo Artists of the 1980s’. Barely any views or likes came of it. I knew I was pushing it with it. I knew it wouldn’t go over well. Why did I know it? Because my readership is interested in writing both how to and reading things I come up with in this crazy mind of mine. I spent a lot of time on the article but I did so because it was fun for me and was just one of the pieces I was putting out for the day. Yes, you can put out material just for fun. Was it informative? Yes, there were bits of trivia, and the video for each year.

 

Just know that when you put something out there that is out of your normal content that you may not receive much success, but don’t be afraid to try it. They’ll come back as long as you don’t keep putting out what your site has been traditionally about.

 

Step 4-Check Your Content

You wrote a relevant piece keeping in line with your site’s theme and still nothing happens. Compare your article with others. Was it useful information? Was it overly long? Were the paragraphs bulky/too long? Did you have too many images?

 

Have a friend read it and give you feed back. Just don’t give up on the article. I’ve had articles where I’ve tried to be too funny in the beginning and that turned people off. I had one very nice article that increased in views once I took out all of these unnecessary images. I had put a lot of time into it but I realized that’s not what my readers wanted to see.

 

I’ve reworded paragraphs to make them flow better and cut other paragraphs into two separate paragraphs or even made bullet points out of the content.

 

Step 5-Know When to Publish

This should be the Step 1 but it is a little bit of an odd one. Some people just look at the times of day to publish. You’ll see different opinions. I like to publish when people have just settled in at work and have checked messages and have a few minutes of free read time.

 

Other things to keep in mind:

  • Holidays
  • Summer weather
  • Sporting Events
  • Popular TV shows

 

I know that on certain holidays, like this past Mother’s Day in the US that my traffic would drop. I didn’t freak out. I know that Father’s Day is coming up in the US so again, traffic will drop for that Sunday. Know your viewers, where they are from, and you will help your understanding of why things happen. There might be some religious reasons traffic drops off and not just on Christmas Day. I know I have readers who come from every walk of life.

 

These have been some tips to help you with your content but mainly to help you understand and not freak out when your traffic drops off every now and then. It’s going to happen sometimes. But if you maintain the trust of your readers you can trust them to come back and more to follow.

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 12, 2014.

 

Flash Fiction: A Writer’s Friend

Ronovan Blogging, Writing , , , , , , ,

Flash Fiction really helps me cut down to the meat of what I want to say.

Ronovan's avatarronovanwrites

If you’ve never written Flash Fiction then you are missing a great opportunity to learn what Literary Agents and Editors are looking for, ‘Show Don’t Tell’.

As writers we make a major mistake when we first begin writing, we look at word count and page numbers. I advise you to either turn off the word count on your program, or put something over it so you can’t see it. And also don’t format for page numbers to show. Just write.

Let the story tell the story. Your first draft is just that, a first draft, a blueprint to be build upon.

Sure the industry looks at word count often but it’s the story that sells. Writing Flash Fiction does something great for your skills. Write a scene as you normally would, then strip it down to under 600 words or 300 words. If you can do this and still convey…

View original post 71 more words

Writing Tips: Short and Sweet Keeps Them in Their Seats.

Ronovan Blogging, Writing , , , , , ,

Some writing is just too long and I won’t read it no matter how good you tell me it is!

 Man in Pain

It sounds harsh but it’s true. And it’s not because you’re not good. There are many types of audiences out there a writer is attempting to engross in their story, article, or whatever other type of writing it may be. Even a research piece needs to keep this in mind.

  • Make that first sentence engaging-If that first sentence hooks me I might keep going and give it a chance.
  • Keep the paragraphs short-Short paragraphs gives me this false sense of not committing to a long read. It also allows me to pause quickly if need be and come back to the article if I have to ‘step’ away for a moment without the idea I missed something or having or reread a long paragraph.
  • If Blogging, give me some visuals-Visuals make for a little something to keep me there and bring me back to reading. It also can help visual people click with your piece and add deceptive length without adding to reading time.
  • If Blogging keep this in mind-You may be the only reading material that some people are engaging in. I have problems reading books now. I can’t commit to it because I know after two chapters I can’t keep going. Blogs, however, give me something I can read and learn from that are quick and to the point. Break the article up into two parts if it is extremely long. That last part is just a suggestion. (But it might bring back people for a second day of viewing to your Blog. Authors keep that in mind too.)

Unless I am familiar with the work of the writer I will often bail if I see those long paragraphs. We aren’t in a Grammar or Writing class where you have to do things just so.

  • We write how people talk
  • We write short paragraphs
  • We use double negatives

If you are Blogging think of Flash Fiction in your article. Just get to the point and get out. Yes, add humor and entertain, but when it comes to the points you are making don’t draw them out.

Short and Sweet Keeps Them in Their Seat.

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 03, 2014.

Blogging Tips: Curious about where your ‘view traffic’ is coming from?

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Blogging Tips: Curious about where your ‘view traffic’ is coming from?

by: Ronovan

 

“I don’t care where it comes from as long as I get it!”

 

That’s the attitude of most or at least many of those with websites, depending on the purpose of the site. If you are just wishing to share your creativity, then this article is not for you. This article is for those wanting to increase viewership and perhaps their online presence for professional reasons or maybe even just curious about where and how people find them.

 

For those falling into the second category, the following I give you in response to the “I don’t care…” comment.

 

“Seriously? Seriously? I can’t believe you thought that.”

 

Empty FreewayMaybe it’s the former data analysis guy in me, yeah, I did that too on top of having been a teacher and other things…cry with me now…okay now on with the show, but I want to KNOW.

 

You want to grow your readership like a web, not a straight line. By straight line I mean with only one source of followers/readers/viewers. This can mean just your friends or family or fellow bloggers. You want ALL of that and more. With a web you don’t depend on one type of viewer.

 

On your WordPress Stats page you can see under Referrers where your visitors are coming from. It may be;

  • Reader
  • Dashboard
  • Twitter
  • Or even a link on another bloggers page.

 

For those who are striving for web presence, you need to know these things.

 

REFERRERS information

You can view this information by;

  • Current Day
  • Yesterday
  • Summaries. Within Summaries you have other time span options.

 

If I click on my ‘All time’ option, which is my entire blog history, I can see that the WordPress.com Reader and Light Traffic FreewayTwitter are basically tied for first place in Referrers with dailypost.wordpress.com and WordPress Dashboard almost tied for third.

 

If I look at the ‘7 Days’ option I see that dailypost.wordpress.com is first, Twitter is second, and WordPress.com Reader is third.

 

I know why dailypost.wordpress.com reader is in first with a huge increase. I started the Writing 101 Blogging University this past Monday and participants post links to their assignments on a certain page for others to click and see.

 

I look at both big picture and little picture to see how things have been and how things are recently. If my Reader response is dying off, I have to determine why. If Twitter is dying, then why is it?

 

Twitter

If you use Twitter you can also see if your Tweets are generating clicks back to your articles.

  1. Go to the ‘gear’ in the upper right corner of the screen, click and then click Analytics
  2. You can then look at each Tweet and see the number of clicks that each resulted in, within the body of the Tweet in the first column, how many Faves you received, Retweets, and Replies. You may also see something that says 4XNormal Reach or some other number. That means you reached that much more of your normal audience with that Tweet due to ReTweets (RT).

 

There are more data options to view but these are the Twitter options I want to look at for our purpose today.

Busy Freeway

This information can help you look at when things happen and what content you put out that either increased or decreased your site traffic. I’m not saying you should write to increase traffic, unless that is your purpose. If that is your purpose then you need to use what you have available to you.

 

If you look at my categories and offerings you will see I am random and just write whatever comes to mind. But some want to keep their site within a certain theme. In the Analytics of Twitter you can even see the interests by percentage of your Followers to see if you are reaching the people you want to reach. But that is for another article another time.

 

Write and create for you and as long as it is honest creativity you WILL find your audience.

(I would have included images of my traffic numbers but they are so much lower than everyone else’s that I didn’t.)

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 08, 2014.

Blogging/Writing Tip: Use Animated Gif’s Wisely.

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , , , ,

Blogging/Writing Tip: Use Animated Gif’s Wisely.

by: Ronovan

The animated Gif’s being used are hilarious at times, but sometimes too many take away from your content.

Just as you want to work on short paragraphs to encourage people to move on and keep their attention you also want to keep from distracting them from what you have worked on.

If possible place them either at the very beginning or very end to introduce a tone or leave the reader with some visual message on the way out.

Man_bowing.jpg
gettyimages © Original Photo by Comstock

The other part of this is that using too many can actually make some people feel queasy or physically ill. They love your content but have to hold their hand over the Gif in order to read.

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 07, 2014.

 

 

Writing and Blogging For Therapy

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , ,

Why did you start blogging? For some it was to create a platform for their writing in preparation for a career as an Author. Others may have approached it as a way to share their creativity or even a cause they have embraced. And yet there is another category, therapy.

There are people who do not have an outlet in their lives to free their minds and souls of what ails them or inspires them. If they try, the people around them look at them strangely or even interfere. However, if they blog, they are looked upon as artists and inspirations. They are accomplishing something!

I’m not really certain as to why I began to blog, perhaps a platform, not a hobby, but most definitely therapy. I have so many thoughts and ideas that I need to get them out of my head and somewhere else.

I wonder if it’s validation I am seeking? But then I am also a person that likes to support and encourage others to push forward. I may see doubt in a specific word but in the body of the work I see hope and potential and I like to share that vision.

You may receive a comment from me every now and then. I only comment if I really feel moved to do so. It may be by the piece posted, or something that just inspires me that this person needs to be talked to, or maybe a personal link that I feel.

Whatever reason you post, it is a therapy of sorts and it does allow for healing in many ways. Just make sure to keep relying on the output of your thoughts and ideas instead of the input of the comments of others to help you know that you are great at what you do. Yes, professionals help you, but I am speaking of those of us who may not be complimentary for other reasons.

Every piece I see in blogs has something to it that I learn from even if it is not my cup of tea so to speak. It might be the most awful piece of garbage ever, but I learned how not to do something. Being honest there. I may not click like on the ones I really do like at times as I have a problem with remembering to do certain tasks at times, but I learned from it. So keep posting, keep therapying, I know I made up a word, but that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? I’ll keep reading, liking, when I remember, commenting and learning. And thank you for helping with my therapy by sharing your own.

Why did you start Writing or Blogging?

 

writing-blogging-therapy This is Kitty you might read about in some of my articles.

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-May 27, 2014.

What’s a Taboo to do? Do you click ‘like’ on Taboo articles?

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , , ,

Speak no See no Hear no Evil Stuffed Monkeys

What’s a Taboo to do? Do you click ‘like’ on Taboo articles?

 by: Ronovan

Wow, that was so amazing but I don’t want people to know I read that. Admit it, that’s come to your mind before. You may have quickly overcome it but it’s been there. I read a very short piece that was sexual I nature but there was no sex. It was hilarious and a part of it was so surprising and different that I was impressed. But if I clicked ‘like’ then people would know I read it AND liked it.

 

What’s a poor introverted gentleman to do?

 

To some of you it’s a no-brainer. “Just click like, you wimp,” you are saying. “You hypocrite, if you like it then like it.” True, very true, every word of it. I usually do end up with the click. But I put a lot of thought into it. One thing it normally comes down to is;

 

Why did the person write the piece?

 

I am not into people who write to capitalize on something, or write to simply draw hits. If then I think the piece was written for that reason then I don’t tend to ‘like’ it. Traffic on one’s site is the important factor for most, although the ‘likes’ are the encouraging nudges.

 

But back to the point, should we be embarrassed? I am of the mind that writing is an art form. If someone brushes letters onto their page and creates a tasteful picture on their page then ‘like’ it. As an artist, and as an author who creates imagery with your words you are an artist, you cannot be embarrassed by things.

 

I am not saying to out and ‘like’ everything that comes along just because you find it amusing. Like it because it brought something to you, be it thought, humor, that ah ha moment, inspiration, whatever it is.

 

And one last thing; in poetry you may be misinterpreting the meaning of the words in the first place. I have poems that have received a few likes. I know the meanings, no they are not weird twisted meanings, but the words could be seen to have different meanings when I looked back at them. It wasn’t intentional, but just happened.

 

Are you embarrassed? If so what types of things embarrass you or what do you do when faced with that moment of “This is incredible!”?

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-May29, 2014.

Click ‘Like’ or Click View? What do you do?

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Do you just click like or do you follow through to view?

 

“Do you love me, do you wanna be my friend?
And if you do
Well then don’t be afraid to take me by the hand
If you want to
I think this is how love goes, check yes or no”

 

Those are the words of a popular country song by the King of Country and Western music in the United States, George

Dog with a big blue bone.
You like me, you really like me!

Strait. What does that have to do with blogging? At least you asked.

 

If you are like me you ‘Follow’ a lot of blogs. Some of you get emails as updates and some sign up for accounts and have what are called ‘Readers’ that show when a new article comes out by who we ‘Follow’.

 

You can click and go to the site and read it, or sometimes you can view the entire offering in the ‘Reader’ or email. See any problems yet? I didn’t think so.

 

Well to turn the song around a bit:

 

Do you view me, or do you wanna be my fan?

And if you do

Well then don’t be afraid to follow to the site

If you want to

I think this is how views know, click view or no

 

I follow all the way to the site, even if I can see all of the offering of the author on my reader. Why? Because it gives the author an idea of how many actual views are occurring.

 

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the ‘likes’. But I also really want to KNOW viewers are viewing what I’ve created. If you’re not a person who has a blog you may not realize we can see how many views or maybe hits our site has each day. Some people thrive on increasing their views and that is understandable because we all want our material to be seen. Some see the views as support of their efforts.

 

I know sometimes a few lines fits on the reader page or you see a blurb and you just know you will like it or even you have a favorite blog site that never fails you, but what do you want personally? Do you want people to read what you put out there or just click like and ignore it?

 

Gummy bear and kids.
I support you, I really do!

Are you a fan or a supporter? Do you like everything your blogger puts out or do you go and check it out and really look at it?

 

The problem here is time. The blogging community tries to be supportive but also must work on content. If all it does was read all the blogs, then there would rarely be any new content put out. In a way I understand the ‘like’ clicking method. You know you will like it, it’s just you don’t have the time.

 

This in a way goes along with another article I recently viewed that prompted me to actually finish this one. It’s called ‘The ‘Like’ Button: Enabler of the inactive participant or Advocate of the introverted blogger?’ by Neha at Forgotten Meadows. I encourage you to read it.

 

Do you just click like as a fan or do you follow through as a view?

 

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-May29, 2014

3 Things Every Writer or Blogger Should Consider

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3 Things Every Writer or Blogger Should Consider

by: Ronovan

 

Blogging isn’t easy. Some make it look that way, and I thoroughly despise them for it. Actually those of whom I speak know who they are and know I love them and just jealous…maybe.

 

I first showed up in this blogger world to share my creations, my stories. Then I discovered I had more to share than that. And I learned that the blogging world was a community and there was support among that community you couldn’t find anywhere else.

 

But I know from the title of this article you’re wondering about actual blogging itself. I’ll share three things today:

 

Cluttered Desk
gettyimages © Original Photo by dumayne

COMMITMENT

“What? Of course I have a commitment to my blog,” you are saying. That’s not where I am really going with this.

 

Problem:

Blogging becomes addictive. You want to put out great content because you want more followers and views on your site. Those numbers are worse than the word count feature on a word document for a writer. You have a commitment to the rest of your life to consider as well.

 

Solution:

Schedule time for your blog work, and time for your author work. Then let it go. Live life or you burn out. How can you be creative if your mind is jelly instead of a big blob of electronic pasta?

 

 

COURTESY

Be polite to those you Follow and those who Follow you.

Problem:

Words carry an incredible amount of weight in social media settings. We can’t put voice

Lit Thanks Heart
gettyimages © Original Photo by Steve Smith

inflection in there so we have to be careful. We also might end up with a lot of people commenting on articles and some may expect some type of a reply or think you are rude for not doing so. Being considered rude for some of us is a big problem.

 

Solution:

Always use positive words, never negative ones. And at least click like on a comment someone says on your article. That may sound like a lot but if Followers are important to you then do it. I do it because I appreciate the fact that someone reads my offerings and then takes the time to comment. To me that is a huge compliment.

 

When you are reading another person’s blog, don’t comment unless it’s encouraging or they are asking for some type of comment. Also don’t assume when others don’t comment on your offerings that they don’t like them. Some people just don’t comment. It’s a time thing for one. We like to read, enjoy, and move on.

 

Don’t let courtesy rule your life though. I have a bad habit of feeling as though I have to read everything anyone I follow posts, here and on Twitter. That’s a lot of reading and very little time for other things, including my own writing.

 

CONTENT

Make your content what you like first and foremost, but don’t be surprised if what you like changes over time.

 

Chalkboard and Lady
gettyimages © Original Photo by Justin Lewis

Problem:

At the same time you need to remember you are putting stuff out there for others to enjoy otherwise you would just keep it on your computer for yourself. But then you also may end up falling into the trap of writing things just to get visitors, views, and follows.

 

Solution:

This is a truth here so keep reading after what I say next. You write a book and you want to share the chapters, right?

  • Break the chapters up into parts. I’ve found that people mostly want quick reads of usually under 600 words or so. Why is word count opposite on a blog article than what we think of for a book? Blogs are quick reads. Using me as an example, I want something I know I can get through quickly or I know my mind will drift. Not because of the content, but because of the length. This isn’t a book in front of me that I know how many chapters I have. This immediate gratification. Some will see word count on their readers in the blogger communities and just skip over those over a certain length unless they know the writer very well.
  • You can have longer word counts if the topic calls for it, but make sure you are being to the point. Readers can tell filler from foundation.
  • Add visual content. It adds a bit to whatever you put out and makes you feel like you have put out more than just a few paragraphs. I’ve found that since I’ve shortened some of my work and had fun with photos, that not only do more people ‘like’ them but I enjoy putting the work out there as well.

Those are just three things to look at for now.

 

Next time around I’ll share three things that make coming up with Blogging content a little easier. But until then, peace out and blog out.

 

Remember, I’m just a comment away. Talk to me here or on Twitter.

 

 

 

© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-May27, 2014.

Blogger Psychology: Views vs. Likes, Which Satisfies you?

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Being a new blogger it may confuse one at times to see more ‘likes’ than ‘views’. And which ones do you really want? I don’t even have a gut feeling on it really because I see the advantage of both and that, I think can cause the confusion. Yeah, I’m a Gemini. I’m not into astrology but being that whole twin thing, I really fight myself by seeing both sides of a situation. So even my opinion below will likely disagree with the ‘experts’ and even myself.

‘Likes’ are a psychological hug or pat on the back for most of us. While ‘Views’ are the way our work gets seen. Some people just aren’t going to click Like for a number of reasons, but they will keep coming back to read what you have to offer and thus View your work.

Am I a pro blogger? I’m not a pro, whatever that really means in Blog World. But I have realized a great many things since I’ve been blogging.

  • Be happy with your Likes, and use that for motivation. Remember though, how many blogs do you read and don’t click but you go back again the next time? I love the Likes because that’s one way I find people who have things to offer that I will Like and most likely Follow.
  • As long as I am getting the Views, then I am getting noticed.
  • Blog to share, not to receive praise. If you fall into the trap of wanting praise you are going to change how and what you blog. You started blogging for a reason; make sure you stay true to that.

These are just a few thoughts from someone who has gone through what a lot of new bloggers are going through now and even some veterans. We all share the same concerns about the numbers game, so don’t think you are the only one. Just keep doing it. Sure you want people to Like your work, but you really did this to share it so people could View it.