Post Updates to Social Networking Sites using your E-Mail (Thanks Posterous!)

By | July 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Imagine! You are browsing the internet at workplace and suddenly come across an interesting piece of information, that you want to post to Facebook.  Alas, Facebook is blocked in your workplace! So what you do?  Posterous – is for your rescue.

If Posterous sounds extremely new to you – checkout their FAQ here http://posterous.com/faq.  It is pretty exhaustive.

So, Posterous lets you post text, images or even videos right from your mailbox.  For instance, to post something to Facebook, set up your Posterous account, send an e-mail to a particular address – everything else is taken care by Posterous.

posterous_post

Keep an eye on this space for a detailed post on Posterous and how it might evolve into a “king-size” Twitter!

Filed Under: Blogging, Uncategorized

5 Truths about Professional Blogging

By | July 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

blogging_truth

Ok, let’s get straight to the point of this post.  Have you ever thought about making your casual blog a professional one?  If yes, then you know that this is not straight forward. I am not going to get into the depths of professional blogging, in this post.  But I will share a few truths about Professional Blogging, that should help you maintain the focus.

There is NO overnight success in Blogging

Different bloggers have different targets.  Some wish to get popular by blogging, some are happy with thousands of readers/subscribers, some want to make money from their blogs… Whatever the target may be – there is no overnight success in Blogging. If you are into serious blogging, I am sure you have a few PDF files on your computer hard disk that claims to earn you $XXXXX from your blogs.  Though possible, I can tell you that it doesn’t work 99.99% of the times.  So understand the truth – there is no overnight success in Blogging.

Content is the King

Nobody keeps visiting a blog, to admire the design and layout.  An attractive and clean design definitely appeals to a first time visitor, but it is the content that brings in repeat visitors and subscribers. Engrave it in your minds – Content is the King! Once you have all ingredients of a professional blog in place, spend quality time on the content of your blog posts.  It can do wonders to your blog!

I strongly recommend you to bookmark Copyblogger.net, a copywriting blog by Brian Clark.  This blog helps you write compelling content, that people will read.

Subscribers are your blog’s Lifeline.  Treat them special!

Treat your blog’s subscribers special.  They are the ones who have shown interest in your blog and waiting for something great.  It can be a freebie, a goodie or a tip that helps them with something.  But make sure you keep them happy and help them get something out of your blog.

Writing Style makes a lot of difference

A blog post is not an article or a research paper.  Keep that in mind when you write.  On an average, I read about 100-200 blog posts everyday and it is not possible to read through the complete text of everything.  I am sure this is the case with most active readers.  So keep your style simple, give a gist of your post at the beginning and entice the reader to continue.

Networking with Bloggers of similar niche is vital

Your blog is never alone.  There are hundreds of similar bloggers, blogging about almost the same topic.  Networking with those bloggers and sharing your ideas, are definitely good for your blog’s health.  Some ways of networking are – commenting on the blogs you regularly read, writing guest posts and promoting others’ content. I am sure this is vital, if you with to succeed as a professional blogger.

I am not yet a blogger, who makes a living out of his/her blog.  But I am sure I will get there.  This post is purely a collection of lessons learnt, during my 8 months of professional blogging.  Share your ideas and experiences as comments to this post.  I would love to hear them all.

Photo Credit: emdot

Filed Under: Blogging

Why maintaining a Blogging Schedule is good for your blog?

By | July 19, 2009 | 6 Comments

bloggingschedule

If you are a part time blogger like me, the biggest challenge you might face is the frequency and quality of posts, while managing with your full time job.  But maintaining a (strict) blogging schedule is good for your blog in the long run. I will show you why, in this post.  Read on!

Search engines start loving your blog

If you are aware of basic SEO techniques, then you will appreciate that the Search Engines take more interest in those blogs or websites which get frequently updated.  It is no good if you post once in every two days, but the content is stale and uninteresting.  There is always a compromise between the frequency and quality.  But once you optimize both, then more traffic from search engines start coming towards your blog!

Makes readers engage better with your blog

We are in the age of information explosion.  People are stuffed with information – through blogs, web sites, Twitter, Facebook and so on.  Also, people who read blogs through their RSS reader are very limited.  Most of them still bookmark sites and visit them at their convenience. So maintaining a schedule lets your readers anticipate new entries and doesn’t disappoint them when they visit your blog.

Creates a sense of commitment

Once you create a blogging schedule and start sticking to it, a sense of commitment is created within.  This is especially good if you are planning to get into professional blogging.  Also, commitment slowly transforms into passion which is definitely good for your blog.

People know that you are blogging

I sometimes visit niche blogs with quality content, but only disappointed to find that the latest post is about a month old.  Though I am tempted to browse through the blog and see what it has to offer me, I don’t feel the urge to Subscribe via RSS.  So maintaining a blogging schedule and thus creating a posting frequency, tells even a new visitor that your blog is alive!

So if you are convinced that maintaining a blogging schedule is essential – then I recommend you to read the following posts from ProBlogger – one of my favorite blogging blogs – with regard to the topic in hand.

Develop an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog

Editorial Calendars and Professional Blogging

5 Ways to ‘Systemize’ your Blogging

How to Develop a Niche Blog Content Plan

What is your Weekend Blogging Strategy?

So what do you think about maintaining a blogging schedule?  Do drop in your thoughts as comments to this post.

Photo Credit: Joe Lanman

Filed Under: Blogging

Get the Best of Twitter – in 2 simple ways!

By | July 8, 2009 | 1 Comment

Twitter is slowly but surely becoming a “Google” of ideas.  A wealth of information and ideas get into Twitter everyday and grasping even 1% of those is a gargantuan task. To better optimize your time and get the maximum information out of Twitter – I suggest you the following 2 simple ways:

Use Twittorati

twittorati

Twittorati is a latest entrant into the array of Twitter based services.  But it is not just all about Twitter! In their own words:

Twittorati tracks the tweets from the highest authority bloggers, starting with the entire Technorati Top 100 and soon including many more of the web’s most influential voices.So if you start following Twittorati, then you can be rest assured to get the best of tweets from the best-in-class people.

I can already see some well known names like – Darren Rowse (ProBlogger), Michael Arrington (TechCrunch), Brian Clark (CopyBlogger), Pete Cashmore (Mashable) – whose tweets are featured in Twittorati.

Thus, Twittorati marks the consummation of Blogging and Tweeting.  In addition to reading the tweets, Twittorati helps you to:

  • Find the Top Links shared over Twitter
  • Find Top Blogs, based on their Technorati Authority
  • View Latest Photos shared around people’s chat

You can also choose to follow Twittorati on Twitter – @twittoratinews

Follow the Twitter AllTop Site

twitteralltop

Alltop is the brainchild of Guy Kawasaki and few more guys.  In their words – “Alltop is an online magazine rack of popular topics”.

In the same lines, Alltop for Twitter, is a magazine rack of popular and latest information from the Twitter world.  It ranges from information about Twitter to information shared on Twitter.

Make sure you bookmark this site and visit everyday – to be rest assured that you don’t miss anything important on Twitter.

I would strongly recommend these 2 resources, to get the best of twitter everyday.  Let me know if you find these useful.  Also, enlighten me with the other ways you may use to keep track of Twitter!

Filed Under: Blogging, Uncategorized