BlogWritingCourse

For the next few months, we’ll be featuring some of our best posts from the Blog Writing Course archives.  If you are new to our blog, then you will enjoy the opportunity to catch up with the terrific tips and tricks we’ve shared with new bloggers over the years.

BlogWritingCourse.com wants to help you get started in the big, wide open world of blogging.  We know it is daunting to chart new territory, so we would like to be your free guide.  The main things that keep people from blogging are:

Time Constraints – “I hardly have time to put on socks in the morning.  How can I possibly add blogging to my list of to-dos?”

Perfectionism – “What if I’m not good at blogging?”  “What if nobody reads my blog?”

Lack of Know-How – “Where in the world do I start?” 

As far as time goes, it is true that blogs don’t write themselves, but you might be surprised at the way blogging begins to blend in with your schedule.  I find that it takes the place of some of my aimless web surfing, and wasted channel surfing.  Instead, I am focusing my energies onto something I actually want to be doing – – sharing my thoughts. Blogging can be therapeutic, as well, and just might take the place of that useless “worry time” you have built into your daily schedule!

If you have read any blogs lately, you will also come to realize that no one is a perfect blogger.  Even the most successful bloggers with huge audiences have off days where almost no one visits their blog or leaves gushing comments.  And you can’t become a successful blogger without plenty of practice and plenty of mistakes.  So if fear of failure is keeping you from blogging, just go back and check the beginning posts of some your favorite blogs.  You will probably be surprised at how far they have come since their first blogging attempts.

With all the information on the world wide web about blogging, lack of know-how shouldn’t keep anyone from stepping into the ring.  There are blogs about blogging, articles galore, and step by step guides to getting started.  And thanks to BlogWritingCourse.com, there is even a free blog writing course that will guide you gently and easily into the blogosphere, and help you figure out exactly how to begin. 

Starting a blog is a worthwhile goal, and we’d like to help you achieve it, so why not sign up today?

For the next few months, we’ll be featuring some of our best posts from the Blog Writing Course archives.  If you are new to our blog, then you will enjoy the opportunity to catch up with the terrific tips and tricks we’ve shared with new bloggers over the years.

So, you have somehow managed to exit the rat race, eh?  No more rush hour traffic.  No more rushed lunch hours.  No more rushing home after work to spend a few quality moments with the family before dropping exhausted into bed.  No more rushing…period. 

So what are you going to do with all that extra time?  Well, if you are a smart home businessperson, you will want to spend a large part of that time marketing your product or service.  Word doesn’t always travel quickly or easily about a dedicated home business, especially if it is in its fledgling stages.  So one of the best ways to speed along the process is by trading in your rat race for a good mouse (connected, of course, to a good computer). 

Internet marketing is something anyone with basic computer and internet skills can succeed at.  Your first job, of course, is to create a web site that is well designed – – meaning it it pleasing to the eye, easy to navigate, and clearly describes the products and/or services you offer.  Unfortunately, most home business owners go this far, and then stop.  Their website is a static placeholder in cyberspace, with little if any regular updates. 

A frequently updated website can be the key to making your home business stand out above the rest.  Website updates tell potential customers that you are engaged with them, and are interested in helping your business evolve to meet their needs.

One of the best ways to keep your website relevant and engaging is by writing a blog.  Not only can a blog update your actual and potential customers of news and information about your home business, but it also provides an easy avenue for customer feedback via the blog comments feature. When customers are able to not just read, but interact with promotional content, they are more likely to spend more time on your site, which is exactly what you want them to do!

Another important feature to include with your blog is the ability for subscribers to receive updates by email.  This way, you don’t wait for customers to come to you – – you go to them!  In this way, your blog can become an ongoing promotional effort for virtually no cost. 

If the idea of blogging your home business sounds a little “far out” and unachievable, we would like to help. We are offering a free blogging course for anyone who wants to familiarize themselves with blogging before jumping in with both feet.  Then, when you are ready to take the plunge, we invite you to sign up for our eight-week Blogging 101 course, which will guide you every step of the way through creating and designing your blog, writing your first content, and growing your audience. 

By taking one or both of our blogging courses, you will be doing all the groundwork necessary to create a blog that will make your home business stand out, and keep you out of the rat race for as long as you want to be!

For the next few months, we’ll be featuring some of our best posts from the Blog Writing Course archives.  If you are new to our blog, then you will enjoy the opportunity to catch up with the terrific tips and tricks we’ve shared with new bloggers over the years.

Have you ever wasted valuable time reading a poorly written blog?  Maybe the title was catchy, or had a tag word that pulled you in, and you took time from your very busy life to read what was essentially virtual birdcage liner.  I’m thinking that there should be an official complaint service for that.   When people get gypped out of their money, they have recourse.  But time is money, right?  So if I put my hard-earned time into reading a boring blog, I want to be able to protest my loss.

I mean, what if there really were a "Better Bloggers Bureau?"  Don’t you think people would put a little more thought into what they blogged about?   If they knew that they could be reported for a dull business dinner story, a useless list of links, a regurgitated TV show review…would they write it?  Probably not.

Unfortunately, as bloggers, we’ve all had posts that could probably get us on the BBB radar, but there are specific things we can do to help us not waste our reader’s precious time:

• Know our audience.  Who is your blog aimed at?  Although we may envision the whole world wide web as our oyster, realistically our scope has to be narrower, especially in the beginning.  By understanding our target reader, we are able to cater our writing to their interests, and keep them around for the long haul.
• Know what makes good writing.  Doesn’t matter the medium – - books, magazines, newspapers, or blogs – - good writing is good writing.  We all recognize it, but we don’t all exercise it. But the good news is you don’t have to have a Ph.D in literature to be a successful blogger.  You just have to read a lot of blogs, and find out which ones you enjoy, and which ones made you fall asleep on your keyboard.  What is it about each of the interesting blogs that brings you back for more?  What do they have in common?  Those common threads of interest are the keys to helping you keep your blog off the BBB list.
• Know your limits.  If you haven’t taken a single course in botany, you probably aren’t the key candidate for an informational blog about gardening.  The blogiverse is savvy…they know an imposter when they see one.  Even if you adore Japanese culture, you probably shouldn’t dedicate a whole blog to it if you’ve never even set foot in Japan.  It’s cliche, but true – - WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW.

One of they key ways to keep yourself off the Better Bloggers Bureau database is to find out everything you can about blogging.  Do your research, and avail yourself of the wonderful courses Getting Ready To Blog and Blogging 101. Your blog doesn’t ever have to be a waste of anyone’s time – - especially yours!

For the next few months, we’ll be featuring some of our best posts from the Blog Writing Course archives.  If you are new to our blog, then you will enjoy the opportunity to catch up with the terrific tips and tricks we’ve shared with new bloggers over the years.

When I was a little girl, there were few things that could make my pigtails bounce with joy more than getting a letter in the mail addressed to me.  It made me feel so important and valuable.  It didn’t even really matter what it was, or what it said – - it just mattered that someone had thought of me enough to write.  (Although I’ll admit there was an extra little pigtail bounce when I saw the letter was from my grandmother, because that usually meant there was a crisp new dollar bill inside.) Years of junk mail have dampened my excitement over heading to the mailbox, but I still get a little thrill when I open the mailbox door and find an honest-to-goodness letter with my name on it.

Come to think of it, bloggers have a lot in common with little pigtailed girls. The biggest part of the excitement of writing a blog, is knowing that others are going to read it.  And the only way to know what other people think of your writing is when they take the time to leave a comment.  Do you remember on Andy Griffith when Barney would finally  do something right, like remember to lock the jail door, or remember to put his bullet in his pocket?  Andy would get this proud look on his face and tell Barney he was doing "fine" work.  Barney would hike up his pants grin and nearly knock his ear out of joint with that sideways grin of delight.   That is pretty much the sum total of how a blogger feels when a reader leaves a comment on his blog. He or  she is not only proud that what they wrote mattered to someone, but is inspired to continue writing.

Commenting on a blog can be sort of like rolling a snowball down a hill.  It motivates the writer to interact with his readers and write more blogs, which in turn, brings about more comments.  Even more importantly, when a blogger knows she has readers, she is apt to raise the bar in terms of her content.  Posts get better, and more readers are drawn in.

For new bloggers, commenting on someone else’s blog has an additional benefit.  It gets you noticed.  Let’s say you are starting a blog about 80′s music, and you are also a regular reader of the Bangles Buff blog, the Duran Duran Devotee blog, and the Aerosmith Aficianado blog. By commenting on these blogs often, and using your blog url in your comment, you are making the writers aware of your similar interests, and hopefully they will stop by your blog to check it out, and maybe, if your blog hits the right 80′s "chord" with them, they will even add you to their blogroll!  And so on, and so on, and so on….the snowball keeps rolling.

Commenting is just one of the many things you can do to grow your blog readership.  To find out more information on starting a new blog or building a better blog, sign up for one of our blog courses today.  There is no better time to get the blog rolling!

Until Next Time,

October is often associated with goblins, ghosties, and ghastly ghouls, but for a new blogger those things can seem tame compared to the idea of having to write something in code for your sidebar or header.  But learning a little HTML actually isn’t all that frightening.  It’s like going through a haunted house in the daylight…once you see how it’s all put together, you realize you had nothing to be afraid of.

A lot of times, in fact, when you want to create a widget or button for your sidebar, you don’t even NEED to know code.  Both Blogger and WordPress have dozens of sidebar gadgets that are already coded for you.  All you have to do is click and choose which one(s) you want, then decide where you want it situated on your sidebar, and voila!  Instant widget.

Other times, you want to add an off-site button or widget, though.  For instance, you might want to add your Facebook profile badge to your blog sidebar.  Or maybe you have a favorite forum you visit and you want to share it with your blog readers.  Chances are, most of the sites or networks you want to promote already have their buttons and badges pre-coded for you!  All you have to do is copy the code, create an HTML gadget in your blog sidebar, paste the code there, and click “Save”.  Voila again!

There ARE a few instances where you might want to create text or image links on your sidebar, but don’t have the built in code handy.  Our Blogging 101 course includes a handy resource for guiding you through the basics of HTML coding for blogs, if you ever need it. 

See?  That wasn’t so scary, was it?   In fact, it’s almost too peaceful around here.

That’s much better.

We all read blogs.  They give us instant access to information, insight into other people, and provide multiple viewpoints on specific subjects. But sometimes, reading a blog just doesn’t cut it.  Sometimes, you realize YOU are the one who has something relevant to add to the online conversation.  In those cases, starting your own blog may be exactly the thing to do.

But the world of blogging can be intimidating – - especially if you have never written anything online before.  Where do you start?  What tools do you need?  Is it even safe???

For people asking themselves those kinds of questions, BlogWritingCourse.com has created an introductory blogging course.  Intro to Blogging is a free, automated, online course that will teach you the basics of blogging at your own pace and from the comfort of your own computer. 

There are a series of videos, short readings, and interactive exercises which you can take over a week or so, taking perhaps a total of two hours.  During this time, you’ll discover:

- how easy it is to blog

- what the basic lingo (vocabulary) is

- some basics about online safety

- whether blogging is something for you or not

Don’t let a lack of knowledge intimidate you from starting a blog or even taking a blog writing course. We’ve laid out all the basics for you in our free course. And, if you complete the course and decide that you really want to do more than think about writing your own blog, we have a subscription-based, 8-week follow up course, Blogging 101,  that will guide you every step of the way through setting up a new blog, writing quality posts, and drawing traffic to your blog.

If you have something to say to the world, don’t settle for being a blog reader.  Now is your time to sound off and share your voice with the rest of the world!  Time to start blogging!!

Social networking fascinates me.  In fact, I’m not sure if I even like social networking so much as I am absolutely captivated by it. I certainly find randomly updating the world with little tidbits about my own life to be an incredibly boring prospect…so I would honestly rather find something more meaningful to do on a social network.  Cue…

Google Plus. Or Google+. Or even just G+ as I feel sure it will be soon lovingly nicknamed.

If you have been following all the “Buzz” (their word, not mine) about G+ you realize that it is WAY more than just another Facebook.  It is a catch-all communication tool between a human being and all the other human beings on the planet. (okay…maybe just the ones who happen to have a computer and an internet connection and a clue about how to use those two things…but you get the gist)  With G+ you aren’t limited by who is and isn’t “on” a specific social network.  You get to pick exactly what info to share, exactly who to share it with, and exactly how you want it shared. 

And the fact that you get to choose what you want to share also means you aren’t limited to 140 characters or even ANY number of characters.  Which leads you to realize that G+ might just be your new blogging outlet!  I mean, think about it…

1. you want to write a blog
2. you take a blog writing course to teach you what to say in that blog and how to say it
3. you register for a Google Plus account
4. you start blogging…simply by creating a status update in the form of a blog post
5. you have a built in audience…those circles you’ve created in your Google Plus network
6. you get immediate feedback on your blog
7. the world keeps spinning and you are now a bona fide blogger

Could it be any simpler? Or easier? 

Like I said…fascinating.

If you are in the early months of your new blog, then you are likely still enjoying the writing process and getting your ideas “out there.” But unless you are growing your blog following, then your blog is still acting more like a private diary than a weblog. 

So, how can you build that all-important factor for your blog….a readership??

Become a Follower

The best and most effective way to build your own following at your blog is to follow others.  That means finding other people with similar blogs and common post subjects.  How do you accomplish this?  Make use of some terrific tools already available to you on the web…

• Technorati blog search
• Google blog search
• WordPress search

When you follow other people with similar interests, and make thoughtful comments on their blogs, they are very likely to return the favor.

Become a Socialite

Blogs aren’t the only place people hang out these days, you know?  When you see the percentages of people on Facebook and Twitter you realize that this “social media thing” might be here to stay for a while.  So, it is important not to overlook these destinations when seeking out new followers for your blog.

Search Facebook groups, pages, and public profiles for others who are interested in your blog subject.  Avail yourself of the advanced Twitter search features that can let you know instantly when someone is Tweeting something of interest to you. 

Then, get into the conversation!  This isn’t the time to be a lurker…make yourself heard on these groups and via Twitter.  And anytime someone mentions their personal blog in a status update or a tweet, be sure to check that out too!  And definitely don’t miss out on the opportunity to link to your blog from your updates.  There are even services that let you update your Facebook and Twitter accounts automatically each time you publish a new post.

Become a Self-Marketer

We’re sort of trained from birth to not “toot our own horns” but in the world of blogging, this truth does NOT apply.  You want to avail yourself of every possibility of growing your blog following, and you want to be creative about it.  That might mean marketing your blog by:

• linking to it in your email signature
• linking to it in the signature of every web forum you participate in
• joining and participating in Yahoo Groups that deal with your blog subject, and also adding it to your signature there
• adding your blog URL to your business cards
• adding it to your Facebook and Twitter profiles

You have things to say – - things that deserve to be heard.  It’s time to get serious about creating an audience for your blog!!  For more information on building traffic for your blog and other great helps in getting a blog from zero to successful in eight weeks, register today for our Blogging 101 course!

One of the questions bloggers face when opening a new blog is whether to use a hosted service, such as Blogger, WordPress.com, or Typepad…or whether to host the blog themselves at their own domain.  I usually recommend that first-time bloggers get started with a hosting service.  This option requires much less technical know-how and you can have a blog up and going in ten minutes or less. But there are some instances when choosing a self-hosted blog is probably a better idea:

• for business blogging
• for a non-profit
• for people wanting to monetize their blog (with advertising, etc.)
• for anyone planning on selling their blog in the future

But even if you aren’t blogging for monetary reasons, you still might prefer the customization options that a non-hosted blog provides. Before you make your final choice, let’s do a little comparison between the two:

If you are looking for a simple, free, and no-hassle blogging solution, then a hosted blog is always a safe bet.  But if you have bigger plans for your blog, want more control over your blog contents, or are blogging for business reasons, then a self-hosted blog may be the best option for you. 

To learn more about hosted vs. self-hosted blogs and any other aspects of getting a new blog up and going, register today for our Blogging 101 course!!

I’d jump up and down and click my heels but I’m too exhausted.  That’s because I’ve been working long hours to get our revamped Blogging 101 course ready to go.  And now it’s finally ready, and you are in for quite a learning adventure!!

If you have been looking for a comprehensive, easy-to-use, and affordable introduction to blogging, you have found it.  Blogging 101 is a fully automated 8-week online course that covers everything you need to know to plan, start, write, and build an audience for a brand new blog.

The eight units of Blogging 101 (which can be completed in less than eight weeks, if you choose) include:

1. Introduction to Blogging (all the basics for the beginning blogger)
2. Laying Your Cards On The Table (blog titles, platforms, and start-up instructions)
3. It’s All About Me (blogging safety, “About Me” pages, and blog design)
4. Build That Content and Make It Snazzy (writing quality posts, commenting, and adding media)
5. It’s The Little Things That Count (sidebars, widgets, categories, and static pages)
6. Mi Blog es Su Blog – - Building Community (growing a readership, blog promotion, and blogrolls)
7. Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained (more blog promotion strategies and monetizing your blog)
8. Looking Back and Looking Forward (tips and strategies for continuing to grow your blog after the course)

For only $25, you receive access to the Blogging 101 course for eight full weeks  as well as downloadable links and resources for you to keep as long as you want.  This is an incredible bargain, and also makes a terrific holiday gift for the wanna-be bloggers in your life!!

If you’d like more info on the course, head over to our Blogging 101 page where you can even check out lesson samples,  or just go ahead and register and start blogging today!!