Yes, I greatly dislike it when she’s right. I almost didn’t share this one with everyone, but grrr…..why am I so honest sometimes? And she makes me LAUGH!!!!! Men don’t take away my man card for sharing this one. Remember to follow her on Twitter as well
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Blogging Tips: It’s NOT your content.
It’s not your Content
by: Ronovan
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.
Blogging/Writing Tip: Use Animated Gif’s Wisely.
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.
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.
3 Writing Tips: To Know When to Stop Writing…for the day…and how.
3 Writing Tips: To Know When to Stop Writing…for the day…and how.
by: Ronovan
When the laptop falls off your sleeping body or maybe when your ‘other’ smashes it with a hammer? Sorry but I just can’t help but think of Yzma in The Emperor’s New Groove every time I say ‘smash it with a hammer’, Eartha Kitt had an awesome voice. I think we all have our own inner Yzma at times. And Eartha Kitt’s voice was purrrfect for the role. (Yes, I just went Adam West Batman on you.)
But when to stop writing is very important and will help you in how to start the next time you sit down as ready as you were when you left off writing the previous day.
1) Leave yourself with ideas.
There is nothing worse than having worked so hard all the previous day only to sit down the next time and have nothing in your head to go with. You need to end your session with a good deal of material in your mind left. This way you will likely be thinking on it while away from your writing area and when you sit down next time you can immediately pick up where you left off and just let the creative juices flow. If you are concerned you will forget something, make a few quick notes to remind you so you have it ready to glance at when you sit down.
2) Stop before exhaustion stops you.
Too many of us just don’t want to stop as those ideas are flowing, but the truth is some of those ideas aren’t going to be very sharp and you’ll have to fix them later, and you most likely won’t be able to really remember what all you did very well. So set time limits and stick to them. Also ending exhausted makes for a weary begin to the next day of writing.
3) Set time limits and stick to them.
You need a break, you need structure. If you are working on a book, blogging, researching, submitting, and living, then you need to set some boundaries. Most people who write a book want to do it for a living. Keep it fun and creative but you need to keep it in check or it will burn you out.
I have been completely wiped out writing, had writer’s block, and just really been a wreck. I’ve written a 30,000 book in 24 hours and was literally unable to function for two days. You have to set limits. For me it was a bit of a necessity at that moment, and maybe I will explain that another day, but I should have stopped, and no, there was no deadline. It was a great feeling to have accomplished something like that but it also made it so I didn’t want to look at another piece of writing for quite some time.
One part of becoming a success at writing is to keep writing, and to keep writing you need to keep it fun both mentally and physically. How do some of you keep from getting burnt out?
You may also be interested in Writing Tips: Working Through Writer’s Doubt…Just Flip it 3 Ways.
© Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-June 01, 2014.
A Nod and A Smile: Southern Culture
There are different customs in different parts of the world. In the South, that is the southern United States, we nod and smile when passing someone in a store, on a sidewalk, in a parking lot, or in a hallway. Visitors or transplants from other areas have difficulty at first wondering if they know the person and are just being rude having forgotten their name. But no, it’s just our way.
Why do I nod and smile, or at least smile? For one thing, I’m a Southern Gentleman, and for another I am acknowledging that upon making eye contact that you are a human being of worth and that I have no ill will toward you. I don’t know where you are from, your history, or anything about you, but for that moment we are two equals who share a clean slate with one another. It’s a greeting and agreement rolled into one meaning that I mean you no harm and I expect to receive the same treatment in return, not the smile and nod.
So if you are ever down South as they say and someone nods and smiles, then nod and smile back and venture onward. You didn’t forget their name and 99 times out of 100 they aren’t flirting…maybe.
Blogger Psychology: Views vs. Likes, Which Satisfies you?
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.
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