Why do you want to start a blog? Starting a blog can be achieved in 30 minutes or less but you need to decide what you are trying to achieve with the blog you are creating. Are you doing it to gain recognition in a specific field you are involved in? Are you trying to lend your experience and advice to others? Want to create a forum where people can share ideas and interact? Or are you starting a blog for your new business and you want to gain a little advantage over your

Blogging has very quickly become the easiest, most cost effective, and most popular way to market yourself or your business. But with so many bloggers out there how can you compete? Well, first of all, you’re not exactly in competition with anybody else when blogging. In fact, you should be feeding off other bloggers in your field to help lend credibility to your own blog. Secondly, you should be more focused on building your blog viewership than outdoing your “competition”.

You’ve probably heard a lot about blogging since the birth of the world wide web. It’s very likely that you have read many different kinds of blogs posted in different forums on a variety of different topics. You are reading one right now, so chances are you have a good idea of what a blog is. It’s also likely that the meaning of the word has changed for you since you first heard about it. Blogging today is not as limited as it once was at its inception. It has taken on a who

Avoiding plagiarism is a big deal when it comes to blogging. Blogging has quickly become a popular way for small businesses to help index themselves in a search engine and a way for them to lend credibility to their business by producing knowledgeable (and sometimes not so knowledgeable) articles about their business. Then there are other bloggers who just want to have their voice heard. It’s one of the fastest growing mediums for writing, due to the ease of access, but it’s

Having writer’s block may seem like a simple annoyance at first. You write things on a page and erase them because you don’t like what you are producing. Then you repeat the process until you find yourself staring at a blank screen for what seems like hours but, in reality, is only 10 min. The problem is this continues for days, sometimes weeks and you do not know how to overcome it. It may snowball into a panic when your due date is looming compounding the writer’s block. Be

WordPress is one of the most popular and powerful content management systems available. It’s extremely easy to use and you can use it for almost anything from photography to its more popular use, blogging. WordPress is not only free to get started but offers free support, free themes, free plugins, and more. Used on countless sites and seen by millions each day you’ll also be surprised to know that it is not only free but you can actually use it for earning money online. 1. W

What makes a blog good, and what are the blogging mistakes to avoid? Blogs and Vlogs are everywhere. Celebrities have them, chefs have them, personal trainers and fitness coaches have them, even your lovable aunt with all those cats has one. But, what makes a blog good? That may be in the eye of the reader. The reason blogs are so popular is because there are so many topics to be explored and things that need to be said. 1. The Sound of Crickets True, there is something to be

Blog linking can be tricky if you’re new to it. If you’ve been digging into your blogs and investing some time in your search engine optimization, then you have probably heard about follow and no follow links. However, what follow and no follow really mean for your blog or website, and which you should choose, may not be so clear. We’ll break down each one so that you can make the right choice for you. Blog Linking Basics Linking, whether you are linking to another site or yo

Guest blogging has many benefits. Below I have listed a few of the perks of being a guest blogger. 1. Gain Followers and Build your network When you guest blog, it is a given that you will gain followers and traffic to your own blog. These new followers will open new opportunities as they follow you down your blogging journey. Loyal followers are your best avenue to getting your message out and increasing your subscriber list. 2. Build Your Network When you guest blog and d

Chances are you are sitting on a goldmine of amazing posts that haven’t gotten the attention they deserve.  The longer you’ve been blogging or if you’ve only recently established some prominence then that’s probably even truer. Don’t let all that great content go to waste. If your current posts are earning subscribers and getting positive responses then chances are your previous ones that didn’t get the same attention will also get a welcome response.  You may even be able to

A blog doesn’t have to use flowery language or even be grammatically correct for that matter. In fact, an easy to read blog is typically in a list form. They are succinct. The writer picks a strong topic and writes several key points about the topic to either back up their opinion or to instruct readers on how to accomplish whatever How To or DIY task they are writing about. In the interest of being the “Practice what you preach” vs the “Do as I say not as I do” variety, I’m

Blogging, as with any style of writing is hard to control. You never know when the mood may strike to write a great blog. This can be a problem especially when you are trying to establish a name and an audience. Consistency is one of the keys to success when blogging. Luckily there are a few tricks I’ll share that will help you meet your blogging goals while still allowing a little flexibility for those times when writer’s block hits or your schedule gets hectic. 1) Writing w

Every writer has their own process and style.  But every now and then we hit that creative brick wall commonly known as writer’s block.  That’s when you really have to start brainstorming to get the wheels turning and the creative juices flowing.  Whether you’re stuck for this week’s blog topic or you feel like your blog is in a rut and you just need some fresh ideas to get it turned around; you’ll want your brainstorming to net something solid.  Here are some tips to ensure

Attention-grabbing titles come in many forms. Sometimes we can focus so much on the content (which of course is important) and justify that if we get that right who cares if the title is a flop. The truth of the matter is that your title for your blog is just as important as the content. If you don’t have an intriguing title that draws people in they will never get to the content of your piece! Let’s talk about what makes a strong and appealing title to draw more readers to y

Drawing subscribers to your blog or company website can seem like an overwhelming task at first. You put up the content, you manage the content, and you know the content is awesome. But, where are the subscribers? Getting your site or blog out there by building your subscriber list doesn’t require a team of social networking gurus and it doesn’t have to take forever to see results. There are some easy tips to get your audience subscribing and you thriving. Here they are: 1. M

One of the most important things you will do as a blogger is building your blogging reputation to increase views. One of the easiest ways to do this is by linking other relevant blogs to your article. Linking to an established and credible blogger isn’t enough to build your viewership. You want to drive traffic from their blog to yours. You need to be sure the blogger you link to is aware you are promoting their blog because they may choose to post a link to your blog in retu

Advertising can be expensive, especially for a small business just starting out. The overhead is just not there to allow for expensive advertisements. Before the internet and social media platforms, this could be a huge problem for a small business. Luckily that is no longer the case. With myriad social media platforms out there for businesses to be on, advertisement seems all too easy and more cost effective. What’s the harm in going out and trying this cheap form of adverti

Depending on what your focus is and what you hope to get out of your blog there are different strategies that you can take to set and reach your blogging goals. There are many different reasons that someone starts a blog. It may stem from just needing a creative outlet to an addition to a company page. But, regardless of the reason behind it, there is usually an expectation of what you want to achieve. 1. Blogging Exposure Most bloggers post on some type of public forum. They

Deciding on and keeping up with any type of blogging schedule can be difficult. However, it can be even more difficult planning your blog if it isn’t your bread and butter. There are a lot of different ways that you can plan your blogging to reach success and a lot of that depends on your personal style and what your ultimate goal is. 1. Process We all know that you don’t just sit down at the keyboard and start typing away only to finish 30 minutes later and then post within

Now that you have decided that blogging is a good path for you, the big question is, what’s the best platform to use? There are a lot of great options available so it is important you know the pros and cons so that you can choose the best blogging platform for you and your blogging needs. Before you begin looking at different options there are some basics that you need to think about now. Why do/did I want to start a blog? What do I want to accomplish with my blog? How much t