by Sherrie Wilkolaski
I think I have a little crush on blogging. Actually I believe it is a serious crush. My new passion. I’ve fallen in love with writing again, after having been absent from it for quite some time. My writing focus over the last few years have been spent writing marketing, advertising and website copy, mixed in with book cover blurbs and author media kits. My own books pushed to the side, because I am always helping another writer get to the next level.
Blogging has become an avenue for me to burn off the knowledge simmering on my brain and it is making room for new ideas. In a blog I can say what is on my mind, just as it rolls off my mental tongue. Making its way to my virtual paper, on to my assistant and then posted to my blog. Brilliant.
Why do I think blogging is a goldmine?
The proof is in the pudding. Over the last few months I have been dedicated to keeping to blogging 3-5 times per week and the results have been incredible. Website traffic has gone through the roof. It is a simple formula and it can take any author to the next level.
Here are the top 7 secrets to blogging success:
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Select the key words for your website. Do you your research and find the right key words that make the most sense for your title. You don’t need to go crazy, anywhere from 10-30 key words is all you need. Tag your content with those key words with every article.
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Write on the subject matter associated with your key words. It really is as simple as that. It may take you some time, but find your voice.
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Fresh content. Write a new article every day, or at least 3-4 days a week and you’ll be a hit with the search engines. Note: Don’t just throw up anything on your blog. Make sure it’s a value to your audience.
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Blog on the weekends. You’ll be a rock star with the search engines.
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Invite guest bloggers to the party. Blogging 356 days a year can become daunting, so why not invite some guest bloggers to join you in your effort to fill your blog with relevant content. It also helps with cross-promotion, have your guest bloggers provide you with a link back to your site and ask that they let their audience know about their guest appearance.
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Syndicate your blog. Distribution of your content is key. Make sure you have an RSS feed and an email subscription option to your blog. Use your social media outlets to help market your daily blog posts and your content will go viral.
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Track your results with Google Analytics. Monitor the traffic on your site and see what content your visitors are most interested in…then write more of it. Google Analytics is free, take advantage of this great website monitoring tool. If you can afford it, I highly recommend using HubSpot to monitor your in-bound marketing. Their online platform and tools are fabulous!
Blogging is contagious. I've pushed several colleauges and authors into blogging lately and have recieved some pushback. To my surprise, those individuals who were most resistant are now the most dedicated and reaping the rewards.
I’m living a bloggers dream. Not only am I seeing the results in the website traffic. It has rekindled my romance with writing. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Well, only if I was writing in Paris. Cheers!
How often do you blog? Feel free to post your comments below and post a link to your blog to share with our readers.
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*Photo Courtesy of Amanda at Serenity Now
There’s an old saying “you are what you read”. I believe it may be more appropriate to say you are what you write! If you’re like many newly minted authors, your book, when it’s finished, will energize you and most probably change your life and the lives of others as your book becomes a permanent addition to the knowledge tree of original authored works.
This is the age of the author, a new era where people like you and millions of aspiring writers and authors can publish without limits — whether you have a personal need to leave your “life mark” on the universe, a professional need to publish a “book of expertise” to attract more customers, or the desire to finally put to use your classical training as a writer to launch a masterpiece of fiction to the masses. For people of all ages and cultures the idea of some day writing a book has now become a reality. And it’s happening with speed, as countless new titles are being published, reviewed and purchased by readers around the world. The Internet has brought the world to your fingertips where you can write, publish and market your book from wherever you are with a computer and a connection to the digital cloud.
Advancements in print-on-demand, online distribution, eBook reading devices and the way we socialize online with services like Facebook and Twitter has forever changed the way we think about books, where we buy them, how we read them and how they get published. In this New Book and New World of Publishing the opportunity for you to tell your story and do it credibly and affordably has never been more compelling. With a publishing partner to support you and a global marketplace of buyers, you need only be the most relevant to your reader to achieve success as a published author.
Relevance is king in today’s world of keyword search algorithms from the likes of Google and Amazon and other search engines and online bookstores. Think of it as a continuing process of matching the thoughts and actions of your reader with the content in and around your book. From the embryonic stage of idea creation, to the moment a reader begins searching for your book or topic of interest relevance is a factor. The good news is that you can now design and create a relevant foundation for your book that includes a unique cover design, title and all types of content related to your book, whether print, audio or eBook.
Mixed media books are the future, and you as an author can now affordably offer your book to readers in the format they prefer. Some people are always on the go and only have time for car audio, others prefer digital eBooks that they can carry wherever they are and for the majority of readers providing a quality hardbound or softcover book will continue to satisfy their needs. New capabilities that include video and other device driven features are here and there more on the way. Readers have preferences and just like you have your favorite restaurant your readers have his or her preferred reading formats and places to purchase books.
Bookstores are near and dear to many of us who write and read books. They along with other brick and mortar stores will still be with us, but the acceptance and growth of online bookstores is staggering and we are only at the tip of the iceberg! Book buyers around the globe are now in control, they may see your book in the review section of a magazine but more likely they will be searching for a specific topic of interest, reading a blog or seeing an article online that will spark their discovery of your book. Many of these new storefronts are connected to specialized niche content that will interest a very targeted group of readers.
These smaller markets or niches are often overlooked by the old guard publishers because of their size as they need a larger number of buyers to recover their costs. The new book, new world of publishing has created an immense opportunity for books from infinite origins, no matter the size, as the cost of publishing and marketing to these smaller audiences has been reduced. Additionally, writing shorter books on very broadly appealing topics is an opportunity in the new publishing revolution as readers are looking for ways to learn and be entertained in smaller slices of time.
Marketing your book in this new publishing landscape has developed into an incredible opportunity for you and those who are motivated and ready to embrace technology and the Internet. Creating relationships, partnerships and various other forms of communication can now be achieved without ever leaving your favorite chair. By combining traditional marketing strategies and the power of the “Net” the globe is your playing field where only the amount of time in a day may limit what you can achieve.
It is my hope that you are as excited as we are about the future of publishing. You are at the beginning of a journey at a time when you literally have the world by your fingertips. Focus on what you love and pick a publishing partner you can trust to help you to do the rest. We welcome the opportunity to earn your trust in this New Book, New World of Publishing.
Sincerely,
Arthur Gutch
Publisher & CEO
If you are subscribed to our daily blog, you already know how quickly blogging has become essential to social networking. We believe all of our authors should have blogs in order to market and promote their books to the world.
There are numerous reasons why you should be writing a blog. However, one of the key factors is that many people don’t know how to write a blog.
Therefore, this week I decided to give you all a brief and simple blog writing tutorial.
Ready? Let’s start with the two key questions that come up when starting a blog.
-WHO are you writing for?
-WHAT are you writing about?
It is important to focus on the WHO. Who do we want to attract to blog? Obviously, you want to attract your audience and potential readers/buyers of your book. Reaching your fan-base is your main goal. What you are writing about can vary from your book specifically, your genre, what other authors in your genre are doing, etc.
Here are some important things to remember when writing a blog:
- Articles don’t have to be extremely long- most are a few hundred words. Shorter is better—it’s all about putting in the maximum amount of information in the least amount of words. Average blog posts are between 500-750 words.
- Don’t be too sales-focused or talk all about the company and services.
- Make sure the info is interesting and relevant. Readers don’t like boring information. Sometimes adding a personal touch can help so put some of your own POV in.
- Use links. Support your post with links to sites that are contextual to your post.
- Use lists. (Top 10 lists, 10 things you don’t know about the industry etc.)
- Make sure to remember WHO you are writing for and to write like you are speaking to them.
- Make up a catchy headline and use KEY WORDS. (Key words are words that appear often and are the main focus of your blog. These help make Search Engine Optimization easier.)
- Spell check and edit!!
So now that you have finished your quick and easy blog writing tutorial- get out there and start blogging!
Photo by: openDemocracy