What to Write or Blog About
The most challenging part of keeping the content flowing and fresh on your website is discovering new things to write about. It’s certainly frustrating to gear yourself up for a day of web writing, only to have your mind come up blank.
Read, Browse, Get Inspired
Ideas can come from everywhere. Take a stroll through your twitter feed and see what others are talking about. Click on the timelines of some facebook friends and see what catches your eyes. Browse other blogs and websites and see what strikes your fancy.
I am not even remotely suggesting you copy someone else’s work. But the more you read and engage, the more inspired you are. It could be a single line you read elsewhere that you expand into a full article. It could be a funny quote that your mind picks up on and fleshes out. It might be a picture that suddenly brings a anecdote to mind. Ideas are everywhere, you just need to allow them to come to you.
Related topics are another fabulous source to really enhance your webpage. It adds value to your viewers and helps build your reputation. A blog about water as a wonder drink can also branch into high water foods, such as tomatoes and watermelon, that provide nutrients as well as hydration on hot days.
Don’t Repeat Past Content
I’ve seen it done many times. A post from a couple years ago reposted as new in an attempt to give it new life. Not only is this a cheat for your readers, it could devalue your search engine ranking. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t post a brief update and include a link to the original post.
Linking to past posts helps keep the visitor engaged in your site, and often prompts them to browse through other content in your vaults.
Pinterest also allows you to build a post around a pin. You might have to explain to your reader how to view the pin, but it’s a great source to build some content and also allows you to cross market two platforms. If your article has a photo, you can also pin it, giving you another marketing outlet. This can increase your audiences on both ends, and helps solidify your sense of branding. It’s win-win, so pin-pin!
3 Red Flag Practices of Marketing Scammers
It often surprises me how focused people become on earning the number one page rank results on search engines. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need for page rank, but the obsessive desire to be number one often opens the door for predators and unscrupulous practices.
When to Walk Away from a Marketer
It’s easy to get lulled into promises of high traffic and high ranking. The fact is, most of these companies may actually deliver on what they promise. The trouble comes from a consumer who doesn’t really understand what type of service is actually being provided.
Obscure Keywords:
Less than professional marketing or seo companies will offer to give you first page ranking with a particular keyword. Take a close look at this keyword. While it’s true, you can do a search of that keyword and discover your website popping up on the first page, you must ask yourself a simple question. “Will my potential customers be using this keyword?”
Using obscure keywords lowers competition on that phrase and makes it much simpler for a marketer to improve a page’s ranking. However, there is no value in being number one on a search term that nobody uses. It’s a deliberate attempt to mislead the client. In other words, it’s a swindle. Take a little time to look up the proposed keyword and decide if it’s really going to help your seo efforts.
Paid Traffic:
Traffic takes time and dedication to build. Be wary of a sudden surge in comments and traffic, especially if the sales volume isn’t there. Websites like myLot and micro job sites allow marketers to post simple penny jobs to force traffic or comments to a site. They may offer a couple cents per comment, they may offer a few pennies to sign up with an individual email address, or maybe just to like or tweet something.
The website owner usually has no idea the increased traffic or comments are actually bought and paid for. They are hoaxed into believing the miracle marketer is driving traffic to the site. Reports showing individual (and completely valid) email addresses or ip addresses are used to confirm the so-called results.
Plagiarized Content:
Never, ever publish content without proofreading it first. There are some very basic indicators that the content is not original. You don’t even need copyscape to check it. Try typing the first sentence into a search bar and see what pops up.
When you see unusual words that interrupt the flow of the reading, it could be a duplicate. Article spinners randomly adjust various word within a page. For example, child might be changed to youth, minor or juvenile. If enough of these word are changed, the content will likely pass copyscape. That does not make it original.
Plagiarism is not just the actual words, but the intention. Changing a few words around and replacing others is still infringing on copyright. While many articles may use the same research or ideas, the structure should have a sense of uniqueness. Duplicated content may take a while to be discovered by search engines, but once it’s flagged, not only could your website be banned from search engines, you could find yourself in legal troubles.
In the end, it’s your money and your reputation on the line. The old adage rings out loud and clear when it comes to marketing and seo companies and the promises they make. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Always on the Learning Curve
I tried something new today. It thrills and delights me to try new things, because I honestly believe that’s what drives the human core. It keeps us fresh, thinking and stimulates the brain.
The other day, I came across a site called Blurb. Have you heard of it? It’s an absolutely fascinating site that allows the member to print and publish all manner of books.
I’ve done several photo books via Shutterfly over the years. The quality is good, but it can be a little pricey, mostly due to cross border shipping costs. So I plunged in and created a photo book on Blurb to give it a try.
I take my pictures very seriously. My camera and I are often drafted for events and occasions. My annual Year in Review photo books are now tradition. So I’m always a little hesitant to try something new.
But Blurb appeals to me, because it’s also a place to publish and sell print books. I love this idea. I browsed through an assortment of novels, poetry collections and recipe books. The price to print and publish is relatively low, so it’s a good resource to keep in mind if I ever get around to writing a novel.
I took a couple days and fashioned some of my more artistic and dramatic photos together with some poetry to create a starter book to test it out. Now it’s just the agonizing wait for shipping to see if they live up to what I’m accustomed to. However, once I did a little research and read some reviews, I felt much more confident that Blurb could deliver on quality.
Nevertheless, I did something new. If you’d like to take a look at my book, here’s the preview link. Let me know what you think.
So, what will you do that’s new today?
Word Blunders: Effect or Affect?
The battle for grammatically correct content seems to be never ending. Words we use in every day conversations stump us when we type them out for the screen.
The effect of these common blunders affect the character of our message.
Words that carry the same linguistic properties can stump even the most seasoned professional. In some instances, the meanings are quite close. Affect and effect are a perfect example, since their meanings are intertwined.
Affect: This word means to have an effect on something. Yes, really. No wonder we have trouble keeping these two straight. However, I can give you some help.
Affect can be used as a noun or a verb, but it usually involves emotion or some sort of change.
“She was deeply affected by his eloquent poem.”
In the context of that sentence, affect clearly refers to an emotional stir. Affect can also refer to an influence or impact.
“Roses affect her allergies.”
In this context, affect is implying the influence that the roses will have to someone with an allergy to them.
Effect: This word is most frequently describing a consequence. It’s the end result of some other action.
“His reckless actions at the track had a big effect on his family.”
In the above example, it’s easy to see that effect is not referring to emotion, but the consequence of the deed.
“The proposed changes are scheduled to take effect next month.”
In this case, effect is used to describe the anticipated result and its potential occurrence. Again, note the lack of emotional context. Effect usually has a sense of being solid or absolute, more factual than emotional.
Memory Aids
It’s all good and well to read and understand how each word is used. But when you’re on the spot, it can be tough to remember which one you need. Here’s a little help.
Affect = Affection. Affect is most commonly used in terms of emotion and influence. Since affection is an emotion, it’s a good word association to help clear your thoughts and bring you to the correct spelling.
Effect = End Result. An effect is usually something final. The end result or anticipated end result. When you are looking at your use of the word in writing, think about “special effects” used in movies to help you remember the spelling. A special effect is used to create a final onscreen result.
If all else fails…
If you still find yourself stuck for which word to use, by all means, use a synonym.
“She was deeply moved by his eloquent poem.”
“Roses aggravate her allergies.”
“His reckless actions at the track had a big impact on his family.”
“The proposed changes are scheduled to take place next month.”
I came across this blog post which is written with non-profits in mind, but I think it applies to everybody. Extremely well written and full of valuable information that just about everyone can put to good use.
The following is an excerpt from the newly released Social Media for Social Good: A How-To Guide for Nonprofitsand was published in the September 2011 edition of Fundraising Success Magazine (@frsuccess). However, do to word count constraints the content below is not in its full entirety. In the book, this section (taken from Chapter 2) is twice the length seen below. Just a FYI. 🙂
11 Qualities of an Effective Social Media Manager
Despite all the buzz about social media, the reality is that your social media campaigns are only as good as the human being(s) behind them. Going “viral” on social media sites is extremely rare, and instantaneous success is a myth. Being an effective social media manager is both an art and a skill. Some personalities are more inclined to be successful at managing and inspiring online communities, but the vast majority of practitioners will…
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