Blog Writing Tips from the World’s Most Famous Authors
You know me, I always encourage you to experiment, to learn new things, to reinvent yourself, but sometime the wheel doesn’t not need to be reinvented. Sometimes the best thing to do is to learn from the experience and wisdom of our “elders”. Such is the case of today’s blog post. Instead of sharing some of my own tips with you, I’ll leave you in the company of some of the world’s most famous authors and only interpret their teachings in the art of writing.
Easy reading is damn hard writing.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret.
Matthew Arnold
It’s easy to get lost in words and ideas. It’s harder to keep your writing concise and to the point, to make it clear and easy to read. Focus on getting your ideas across, to your readers, in their most natural form. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Matthew Arnold both agree on this.
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Free PDF eBook: Corporate Blogging Guide by Blogsessive
As promised a while back, I’ve finished editing the Corporate Blogging Guide in PDF eBook format. So, today I give you the chapters you’ve had the chance to read online plus a whole new chapter (8. Technical aspects) and some bonus tips to guide you in your corporate blogging adventures!
How to download the eBook?
In order to download the ebook, all you have to do is to subscribe for free to Blogsessive’s RSS feed (if you haven’t done so until now) and you’ll find the download link at the end of each article in the feed.
eBook preview and contents
Here are two screenshots of the book’s cover and the contents page:
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Halloween Special: Don’t be afraid to blog!
Happy Halloween folks! As you might have noticed, Blogsessive has changed its “clothes” on this special occasion. Don’t worry, the nerd will be back tomorrow, when Dracula “leaves the building”.
Now, since this is a special occasion, the topic for today’s article has been inspired by a comment I received on part 6 of the Corporate Blogging Guide:
I think we all start our blogs worried people might not like us and when they do, we don’t want to change for fear of losing readers. I’ll take experiments to stagnation any day.
David Walker
The moment I read David’s comment I knew he made a really good remark. It is fear that keeps us in place. It is fear that keeps us from “spreading our wings”. We abide all the rules and all things that we know for sure will work and hope to be the next blogging “rockstar”. But, do you really believe those “rockstars” we all follow are there because they are copycats? Because they follow rules? Or might it be possible that they are the ones creating new rules? Might they be the ones revolutionizing the concepts?
Do you want to be a better blogger? Then…
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Corporate Blogging Guide (5): Blog Editors & Editorial Policy
Depending on the type of corporate blog you’re targeting, you can then put together an editorial team. To make sure you correctly appoint those in charge of content generation and blog management, you need to consider the following criteria:
1. Criteria to help build the editorial team
The future bloggers needs to be/have:
- Experts in the filed they are going to cover;
- A good communicator, able to manage potential communication crises arising from dialogues and feedback generated by the blog;
- Concise, clear and explicit when they express themselves, as they will not target only those who are in their turn experts and are acquainted to the field’s jargon;
- Believable and genuine in what the provided information is concerned;
- A human touch and a pleasant manner of writing;
- Ready to face a reduced level of privacy in their lives, at least in what the online world is concerned.
2. PR department involvement
Most communications through the corporate blog usually abide by the general public relations policies within the company, thus it is strongly recommended that your blogger(s) work together with your PR department. Their collaboration helps:
- abide by the general communication tone imposed by company standards;
- prevent or, if needed, manage possible communication crises;
- develop the bloggers’ communication skills and ability to generate valuable content.
How to make your blog and tweets work together like a charm
Tweetmeme buttons, plugins to show latest tweets on blogs, Twitter accounts linking to the owner’s blog, new posts being tweeted, and blog addresses and twitter links in signatures. If that’s not enough, I don’t know what else would show that blogging and tweeting go hand in hand for tons of people. If you think of names, blogging and microblogging, you kind of see the connection. If you think microblogging appeared later, you’d think much of the blogging knowledge is applicable. But how can you be on both platforms and make them work individually and as a team?
1. Spot the similarities
Blogs and Twitter are of the same species. They come from the world of the social web where the same rules apply. You know, give before you ask, be nice, share relevant information, never, ever, ever limit yourself to broadcasting, be conversational, help out. It’s not rocket science and it’s definitely not new. To make it more clear, here’s the example section: comment on other blogs before you expect comments – or – retweet before you expect your followers to retweet your 140 characters of content.
Catchy and interesting content is crucial for both. If your blog post is a big hit, make your tweets the same. “New blog post + link” won’t make a lot of people click. “Star Trek is real! We can all now teleport! + link + Fresh from the blog” might work a lot better.
They both need frequent updates. If you’re planning to create a blog and never post after the first time, you’ve failed. If you’re planning to get a Twitter account to say hi and have a cool button on your blog without ever doing anything more, you have failed. People expect updates from both bloggers and microbloggers.
Both need monitoring. You need to check responses, reactions and trends to be on top of your game. And if you’re blogging and tweeting right, that will take a whole lot of time.
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The Blogging Alphabet (Creative Exercise)
Let’s play! Today’s post is a fun, creative exercise that I’d be happy to complete with your help through the comments section. What is the exercise about? Blogging tips, of course.
This post is part of the change I wish to bring to Blogsessive and get closer to you folks, your needs and thoughts!
What I will do: Using the ODD letters (A, C, E, G, I, K, M, O, Q, S, U, W, Y) of the English alphabet I will list 13 blogging tips, each in a sentence starting with that letter.
What you could do: Share your tips and views by completing the sentences starting with EVEN letters (B, D, F, H, J, L, N, P, R, T, V, X, Z).
I’m sure that each and everyone of you has something to share with the community, so let’s get creative!
The Blogging Alphabet of Blog Tips
A. Acknowledge the latest trends in your area of blogging. Always stay up to date, informed.
B. …
C. Connect with other people, with bloggers in your niche. Offer help. Network. Friends are some of bloggers’ greatest “assets”.
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How a Great Backlink Can Make You An Instant Success
A few weeks ago I was driving down the highway. It was late at night and I was tired. The radio was starting to put me to sleep. Suddenly a song come on that woke me up – I could not believe what I was hearing. The song was that bad.
I am no expert when it comes to music. The last time I played an instrument was in grade 6 music class. It was the xylophone – I simply had to hit a a couple keys with a wooden mallet whenever the teacher pointed at me. I do not know anything about timing, rhythm or beat. But I do know how to listen to music. I know what music should sound like.
What I heard on the radio was not music – it was painful noise. No rhythm, no beat and the singing was nothing more then a girl squealing forced rhymes. I listened to the whole song just to find out if it was some kind of joke. Would the DJ admit that it was something his 5 year daughter composed and asked daddy to play on the radio? But at the end of the song the DJ only said, “… and that was The Shaggs”
Three Formulas for Sparking Conversation
A year ago, I wrote about creating reader-engaging posts. In that article, I discussed the benefits of creating posts that got your readers involved. Now I want to point out some techniques and formulas content that will keep your readers talking, on and off your blog.
For your content to truly be great, you don’t want people just reading it. You want people discussing it. However, many bloggers struggle to create “conversation-worthy” content. What is the magical formula to sparking discussion?
As it turns out, all you really need to spark imagination is a little imagination. While there are many ways for you to draw in readers, it is the creation of discussion that will keep them here. Here are some formulas for creating comment-worthy content every time.
1. Be Entertaining
Half of the readers of blogs on the internet do not actually focus on educational value – they focus on entertainment. If you can get people to have some fun while still learning your lessons and understanding your primary message, then people will start talking about your content. Here are some example entertaining headlines:
- 23 Reasons Your Content Reminds me of my Moldy Sweater
- An Open Letter to the Makers of My Horrible Couch
- Blogging: Better than Freshly-Baked Sliced Bread
Double Your Readership with a Fantastic Introduction
Your introductions are not that great. Sorry to be rude, but you could be getting ten times the readers if you only wrote better opening paragraphs. If you’re wondering how this is possible, consider the opening to this post. How did I grab your attention?
Your blog could have the most informative content on the internet with a design that blows others out of the water and still not get a lot of readers. The reason for this is that your introductions just aren’t sucking readers into your content. You need to get them hooked on your posts, right from the start. To do this, you’ll need to pull a few tricks out of your sleeve.
Five Sure-Fire Introduction Formulas
The Hypothetical Situation
Imagine this: you come across a blog post that assumes you have $5,000 to spend on a start-up website, and asks if you think you’d blow it on the wrong things. Sounds like you’re interested in your budgeting now, huh?
The hypothetical situation is great for drawing attention from specific types of readers. It takes some imagination to put yourself in the shoes of readers, but once you’re there, they’ll follow you wherever you take them.
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Do you know what Blogging Consistency and Frequency are really about?
Yesterday, Syed Balkhi published one of his best posts lately: “Consistency & Frequency Are The Ultimate Downfall of Blogging“. While Syed was probably looking – as he stated at the article’s end – for a bit of controversy, he actually managed to create a very thoughtful post that made me write a follow up, something I rarely do.
Blogging “Experts” always preach that you must be consistent with your blog, and you should post frequently.
This is how Syed starts his article, making it clear where he’s going to hit, the famous “Be consistent, write frequently” blogging tip. While he makes some very good statement on consistency, I would have loved to see a more detailed explanation of what should be understood by “being consistent with your blog”, and since I did not find those, I’ll share my views in this article.
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