Blogging 101Tips for Christian Bloggers
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I read through hundreds of post on blogging and post the best here. I do the digging so you don’t have to.
10 Universities Offering Free Writing Courses Online
Posted by admin and filed under Blog ContentWhether you are a current writer or looking to break into the craft, formal writing courses can help you hone your skills. If you don’t have the money or the time for a campus-based course, there are plenty of universities that offer free writing courses online.
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (mit.edu)
No registration is required.
2. Utah State University (usu.edu)
No registration is required.
3. Open University (open.ac.uk)
No registration is required.
4. University of Utah (utah.edu)
No registration is required.
5. Western Governors University (wgu.edu)
No registration is required.
6. Purdue University (owl.english.purdue.edu)
No registration is required.
7. Steven Barnes’s UCLA Writing Course (lifewrite.com)
No registration is required.
8. News University (newsu.org)
Registration is required, but it is free.
9. E-Zine University (ezineuniversity.com)
No registration is required.
10. Wikiversity (wikiversity.org)
No registration is required.
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Brian Clark at Copy Blogger gives a list of ten headlines outside the common headline formulas you see over and over, and add some new blood to your attention-grabbing arsenal. Read about the ten headlines here
Blogger or Mind-Reader? Six Ways to Give Your Audience Exactly What It Wants
Posted by admin and filed under Blog ContentKeep coming back here (it is best to subscribe) to find the best of the best blogging tips.
Skellie is a regular writer for ProBlogger. Get more unique blogging tips at her blog, Skelliewag, or subscribe to her feed.
ProBlogger readers are absolutely spoiled when it comes to great articles about coming up with post ideas. But what about thinking up the post topics your audience has been craving?
In this Problogger post you will find six strategies you can use to determine exactly what kind of posts your audience wants to see on your blog. Read Six Ways to Give Your Audience Exactly What It Wants
Hundreds of Resources for Finding Content for Your Blog
Posted by admin and filed under Blog Content
Check out this post by Lorelle:
Blogging is great fun. It’s exciting. You start out with great ideas, full of motivation and inspiration. After a while, though, you run out of steam. The muse isn’t so amused any more and you start hunting for content, things to write about.There are two aspects of finding content for your blog. First, it is to find the inspiration that generates original content on your blog. This can come from a variety of sources. Basically, it can be a news story, fellow blogger’s post, an interesting web page you stumbled across, something a friend said, or anything that interests you enough to research and write about it.
The second aspect is to find links. Click here to read full article.
#1: Leave comments
When you leave a comment on someone’s blog it creates a link back to your site and is a great way to be the first step in building a relationship with the blogger. Almost every time you leave a comment, someone will visit your site. Be sure that you’ve got to have something to add or it is considered spamming comments (very rude).
2: Participate in forums
Visit forums you are interested in and join in relevant discussions. Include your blog address in the signature. Please do not just show up and say “Hey, visit out my blog.” Establish credibility by participating in discussions.
3: Email other bloggers
When you’ve written something you feel good about or feel is relevant to another person drop them a line and tell them about it. Don’t do it to get a link, do it without expectations. Share only your best and relevant posts. Include a summary of your post and why they might be interested.
4: Submit your site to relevant blog directories
There are thousands of blog directories. Most directories allow you to submit your site for free. It’s very easy.
5: Join a Meme or Carnival
Memes and carnivals are a lot of fun and easy writing prompts to get your creative wheels turning.
Need More? Read This.
Ann Kroeker recently wrote 10 Way to Deal With Bloggers Block:
Sometimes ideas are rumbling around in my brain’s gray matter, but I can’t seem to capture them and put them into words. When I try but can’t seem to compose a meaningful post for my readers, here are some productive ways to keep mentally, creatively, and spiritually “active”–and often, quite often, as soon as I employ one of the ideas on this list, I’m able to generate a satisfying and perfectly usable post:
- Read Scripture. I’ve already shared my Psalter/Proverbs devotional method, but there are many ways to dig into the Bible and let it inspire you. There’s nothing like a good dose of Truth to get some ideas flowing.
Skellie from by SkellieWag has written a manifesto for defeating blog clutter. Blog clutter is the stuff your readers really don’t need, and it serves mainly to get in the way of your content and other vital information. Your content and important pages are the signal, and blog clutter is the noise. You can enhance the first by cutting out more of the second.
The 50 tips in this article will help you unclutter your sidebar, your footer, your posts, and your blog as a whole, and in doing so, enhance the simplicity and usability of your content-centered blog design.
Wayne Smallman really likes StumbleUpon. So much so, he made a list of 5 essential things you ought to know about StumbleUpon…
I’ve only been on StumbleUpon since May 2007. And in that time, I’ve attracted some interesting friends and reviewed some interesting, funny, informative and sometimes amazing websites and ‘blogs.
What makes StumbleUpon unique amongst the other social bookmarking services is the extended dialogue you’re able to create out of reviewing a website or ‘blog.
Internet entrepreneur Caroline wrote about her blog commenting strategy. This effort brought in almost 700 direct visitors resulting in a large growth of RSS subscribers.
Her goals:
1. Grab the attention of the readers
2. Grab the attention of the blogger
3. Develop my personal brand
4. Create some backlinks
The steps:
- Create a Hit-List for Early Commenting
- I Mark all Blogs Using Top Commentator Plugins
- I Mark all Blogs Using a Do-Follow Plugin
- Place New Blogs in My Hit List for Testing
- Re-Rank & Purge Fortnightly
- Go With My Gut Instinct
I created a hot list on my Blog Bridge RSS reader. This way my favorite blogs to comment on will be in one place for a quick viewing.
Read Do You Have A Blog Commenting Strategy? for the details.
From ProBlogger Blog Tips: Six Tips for More Creative Blogging
Creative lapses are one of the biggest blog killers out there. Every blogger spends time staring at a blank screen searching for inspiration at some point, and few niches provide a steady stream of juicy news on which a blogger can instantly provide outpourings of captivating opinion.
Over time I’ve managed to develop a routine and a set of habits which seem to reliably spark my limited creative abilities and help me avoid those desperate moments of inspirational emptiness as I imagine my page hits plummeting as my blog dries up. Read the full post
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- Are You Prepared for Self Control? (Have You Ever Had One of Those Days?)
- Did You Lose It With Your Children Again?
If you’re thinking about becoming a part-time web worker, these posts from AnyWired should help introduce you to this way of working (and living)
Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb
Posted by admin and filed under Blog ContentCheck out this post from Copyblogger:
Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb
One thing that blogging and good copywriting share is a conversational style, and that means it’s fine to fracture the occasional rule of proper grammar in order to communicate effectively. Both bloggers and copywriters routinely end sentences with prepositions, dangle a modifier in a purely technical sense, or make liberal use of the ellipsis when an EM dash is the correct choice—all in order to write in the way people actually speak.
But there are other mistakes that can detract from your credibility. Read the full article.
(from: Five Grammatic Errors that Make You Look Dumb)
How to Build a Somewhat Successful Blog: 16 Lessons I Have Learned
Posted by admin and filed under Blog BuzzCheck out this post from How to Build a Somewhat Successful Blog:
My blog has almost 4000 subscribers via RSS and email and a few thousand visitors a day. And over these last 12 months I’ve learned a thing or 17 about blogging. Some of these 17 lessons may be of use for you even if you are not a …read article
(From: How to Build a Somewhat Successful Blog: 16 Lessons I Have Learned)
If you already started a blog at Heartofwisdom.com email me your current email addresses ASAP with HOW Blogger on the subject line. I need to be able to email you announcements.
Leave a comment here to tell others about your blog.
If you want to start a blog go here.
Check the new Feevy on the side bar for super blog tips!
Be Extraordinary: How To Tap Into Your Amazing Creative Power
Posted by admin and filed under Blog ContentCheck out this post from Blogging Bits:
Unlike what you may think, creative thinking is not solely for other people.
You can also be creative. The only requirement is that you make an effort to be creative.
(from: Be Extraordinary: How To Tap Into Your Amazing Creative Power)
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“Blogging 101” - 5 new articles
- How to Write Magnetic Headlines | Copyblogger
- Blogging for Christian Writers
- Blogging Tips for Beginners
- Five Grammatical Errors That Make You Look Dumb
- Technorati Tip: Improve Your Authority
- More Recent Articles
- Search Blogging 10
How to Write Magnetic Headlines | Copyblogger
Posted by admin and filed under Blog Headlines
Check out this post from How to Write Magnetic Headlines:
Your headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader. Without a headline or post title that turns a browser into a reader, the rest of your words may as well not even exist.
Here are some interesting statistics.
On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece.
(from: How to Write Magnetic Headlines | Copyblogger)
There is not a lot of blog aimed specifically at Christian bloggers. Writer Interrupted created this Carnival of Christian writers to introduce you to you posts from editors, authors, and readers all focusing on writing. Enjoy the rides!
Carnival of Christian Writers #1
Carnival #2 November 2006
Carnival #3 December 2006
Carnival #4 January 2007
Carnival #5 February 2007
Carnival #6 March 2007
Carnival #7 April 2007
Carnival #8 May 2007
Carnival #9 June 2007
Carnival #10 July 2007
Carnival #11 August 2007
Carnival #12 September 2007
Carnival #13 October 2007
Carnival #14 November 2007
Carnival #15 December 2007
Submit to the Carnival of Christian Writers.
In the links below you’ll find links to a series of posts by Problogger written with beginner bloggers (and ‘Pre’ Bloggers in mind. It unpacks the basics of blogging and a lot of the decisions and strategies that you’ll want to consider when setting up and starting a blog.
Blogging Tips for Beginners
Introductory Posts
- What is a Blog?
- 23 Questions for Prospective Bloggers - Is a Blog Right for You?
- How to Choose a Niche Topic for Your Blog
- Choosing a Blog Platform
- Choosing a Domain Name for your Blog
- Blog Tools
Tips for Writing Content for Blogs