Was coaching a client this morning - teaching her about the technical stuff, showing her round the admin interface and talking about effective blog writing etc. when the topic of 'what to write when you don't know what to write' came up.  I immediately thought of a brilliant post on this topic which Joanna Young wrote on this blog.

Coincidentally, I also had an email from Karen Swim of Words For Hire with a secret mission all to do with Joanna...

Joanna has just moved house to the west coast of Scotland (where I imagine her view is similar to that pictured.) As a result, she's been offline for some time. As Karen pointed out, for a prolific blogger like Joanna, a week or so offline must feel like an eternity - and Brad Shorr, Karen and a couple of other blogging/Twitter friends, Robert Hruzek, Daniel Smith (link to follow) have come up with a lovely idea: to welcome Joanna back to the blogosphere with a collection of posts on her various friends' blogs featuring our favourite posts from her Confident Writing blog. I've raved about Joanna on this blog several times and clearly I'm not alone in recognising her greatness. It speaks volumes that virtual friends want to do this for her.

Anyway, I've had a good rummage around her blog and have opted to highlight the last post she did before she went offline simply because it features a whopping 8 posts from the archives all about what to write when you're feeling stuck. So...

"Welcome back Joanna - we've missed you - we love you - you are the mutt's nuts!"

8 From The Archives To Help You Free Your Words by Joanna Young  at Confident Writing

Last month, I promised an new article on Twitter... I've still not got around to it, but I've just opened up the latest issue of the SubHub Insider: Publish for Profit newsletter and found a great article on that very topic. This isn't the first time I've borrowed an article from SubHub.com - and I'm sure it won't be the last... well, they produce great content and I've checked and they dont mind provided I link back to them. So here it is:

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Twitter - The Smart Way
by Mark Ramskill, SubHub.com

Twitter - http://twitter.com - is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to post regular updates (otherwise known as 'tweets'), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.  Updates are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have signed up to receive them.

The aim of this article is to give you more of an idea about how to use Twitter (and by association other micro-blogging services, such as Pownce or Jaiku) for following and engaging with the world's top bloggers and top websites.  I call this 'Smart Twittering'.

First, to get you up to speed, it's worth checking out the Twitter in Plain English video below, from the folks over at Common Craft.  This will give you a general outline of how Twitter works and is most commonly used.

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So, Why Should I Use Twitter?

Twitter is used by many thousands of people as a way of keeping in regular contact with their friends and family.  This, as i've found rather quickly, can tend to get a bit tedious, plus other sites like Facebook do this kind of thing so much better.

Where Twitter excels (and this is the main reason I use it), is as a great way of following and engaging with, in real-time, the world's top bloggers and top websites (Seth Godin, Mashable, Techcrunch, DoshDosh, BBC, CNN etc), all of whom use Twitter constantly.

Twitter is also extremely valuable as a way of posting, sharing and recording your own ideas and links, as you have them / come across them.  Think of it almost as sharing your notepad.

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Other Advantages

• Twitter helps you cut down on newsletter and RSS clutter and gets information in front of your eyes with more immediacy (if using desktop applications, such as Twhirl - more on this later)
• Shows you as a keen follower/adopter of the latest tools and apps, to your peers and general website audience
• Helps you to engage more quickly and interact more freely
• Helps you get your name known with those that matter

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So, how do you get started?

Here's the Steps I Recommend:

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1 - Sign Up With Twitter at http://twitter.com (I suggest using your name as your twitter account name)

Next, you need to find some worthy people (use the twitter search). Click 'follow', once you're on their pages, to follow their 'tweets' / posts.

Here's some suggestions to get you off the blocks:

• Problogger: http://twitter.com/problogger (hugely popular blogging blog)
• Mashable: http://twitter.com/mashable (blog reviewing all that is web 2.0)
• Seth Godin: http://twitter.com/SethGodin (marketing God)
• Scobleizer: http://twitter.com/Scobleizer (web 2.0 commentary)
• Jowjang: http://twitter.com/jowyang (senior social analyst at Forrester)
• Kevin Rose: http://twitter.com/kevinrose (Digg founder)
• Andy Beard: http://twitter.com/AndyBeard (web marketing blogger)
• Maki, DoshDosh: http://twitter.com/doshdosh (blogs about making money online)
• Rohit Bhargava: http://twitter.com/rohitbhargava (social marketing guru)
• John Chow: http://twitter.com/JohnChowDotCom (also blogs about making money online)
• BBC Technology: http://twitter.com/bbctech
• TechMeMe: http://twitter.com/techmeme

and of course, me:

• http://twitter.com/ramskill

Claire: "and me! - purely in the interest of 'gender balance' you understand" :o)

• http://twitter.com/BlogAngel

It's worth checking out the top friends of those i've listed above as well.

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2 - Sign Up With Pownce at http://pownce.com (works in a very similar way to Twitter)

Again, search for noteable people, visit their page and add them.

There's no point following the same people in Pownce as you're following in Twitter (this will only cause post repetition, if you're using a desktop app to follow and post to both Twitter and Pownce together), but you may find that some some people are on Twitter and others are only on Pownce.

The main reason for using Pownce is to increase your general web visibility.

Claire: "I much prefer the Pownce interface. Find my profile here: http://pownce.com/ClaireRaikes/."

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3 - Download Twhirl Desktop Client from http://www.twhirl.org

Twhirl makes it really easy to follow and post to both Twitter and Pownce.  This downloadable desktop application works kind of like an instant messenger, whereby as soon as anyone you are following posts, their post appears in your desktop client and also flashes up in a small bubble on your screen, for quick and easy reading.

Without Twhirl, I wouldn't be able to use Twitter or Pownce in any kind of truly useful way.

Once you've downloaded Twhirl, add both your Twitter and Pownce accounts in your settings.  You can then post a message within Twhirl and it will appear on both sites.

As well as using Twhirl to follow and engage with others, I suggest using the app almost like a live bookmarking and 'brainburp' service.

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4 - Don't forget to tell others that you have a twitter and Pownce account!

Post it on your website or blog, post it on your Facebook page (if you have one), email your friends/collegues etc and get people to follow you.  Don't forget to list your Wwitter and Pownce accounts on any other social sites you use (most of them have functionality to show links to your other accounts).

That's it.  You're set!

If you want to post to other sites, such as Facebook, tumblr, LinkedIn, Jaiku etc (i'm on most of them), simply set yourself up with an account at http://www.hellotxt.com which allows you to post once, and spit out to multiple sites at the same time.

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Conclusion

Hopefully, i've given you enough information to fuel your imagination and make you want to get started with Twitter and its associated apps and services.

In this new web 2.0 world, immediate access to information, and easy engagement with those that post it, is a necessity.  Twitter, if used smartly, helps you do just that!

There are some great pointers there from Mark - certainly plenty to get you started. However, I think there's still more to say about how to use it to best effect and to address those awkward questions that no one really wants to ask publicly, like 'who cares?' that you've just finished writing your new eProgram or are drinking your third cup of coffee of the morning.  So, rather than promising another article that'll take weeks to materialize, how about I get a few Twitterers together for a discussion which I'll record and post in due course. If you'd like to be involved, send me a private Tweet!

Related Article: Microblogging: (eg. Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku) - small, but is it perfectly formed?

I haven't really being saying much about social bookmarking here at Business Blog Angel, have I?

It's the classic small biz 'issue' of spending so much time working 'in' your business that you can't find the time to work 'on' your business, and rightly or wrongly, maintaining this blog always takes second place to client work.  BUT, if you are a business blogger and you are not yet using the wealth of free social media tools to promote your content, then you are missing out on a lot of the power of blogging for business. I'm talking now about social bookmarking, social networking, blog directories & communities and micro-blogging.

Given that there is so much I want to share with you, but so little time to devote to writing a series on the subject, I'm thinking that a webinar or teleclass series might be the way to go, but in the meantime...

I've recently started including the ShareThis widget on clients' blogs as part of our Enhanced package - either as a Feedflare courtesy of Feedburner (so it appears above the "Posted by..." line on the blog as well as in the feed), or as a 'widget' (so, in Typepad, it appears after the "Posted by...." line).

Previously, I used to select a few individual Feedflares eg. Stumbleupon, Digg, Email This etc. but if you want to give your readers the widest choice then things very quickly start to look cluttered and confusing.  ShareThis allows you to provide 30+ social media links from just the one link so you can see why I've changed tack on this one.  Having said that, another social bookmarking site and alternative to ShareThis is SocialMarker which provides over 120 sites to submit to, so even better perhaps... I've not used SocialMarker yet, but first glance suggests that unlike ShareThis, they do not provide an option to post to Twitter nor to email it to a friend.

Now whilst Twitterers may be a small group amongst the web-using masses, pretty much everyone uses email right? So surely, including an 'Email this to a friend' option has to be a priority doesn't it? I was pondering that question just yesterday and lo and behold, into my Inbox this morning drops a very interesting email from ShareThis. Here's an extract:

"Knowing the sharing activity on your site can give you some insight as to what your most popular content is and how your visitors are sharing. We feel that it's important to listen to your visitors, and they have a lot to say. We wanted to share with you some information involving overall sharing activity around the net."

Sharing Activity

Interesting huh? I'm going to ask ShareThis how Twitter fairs in this analysis, but in the meantime, I guess the message here is, if you are using Social Marker, you'd do well to add an additional 2 options for Twitter and Email. Or perhaps you know different... click on the 'Comments' link below and leave yours - we're all ears...

There is no doubt that Twitter is a seriously powerful weapon in your social media marketing arsenal. Over the last couple of days, I've seen some great examples of how people are using Twitter to not only network, promote their business activities and attract traffic, but also drive more sales.  In the last hour, as a direct response to a couple of Tweets that caught my eye, I've bought a product I didn't know I needed(!) and been inspired by Robert Hruzek to take up Liz Strauss' 25 Words of Work/Life Wisdom Writing Project challenge.   

I'll write again about Twitter, but in the meantime, here's my attempt at those 25 words:

Oh The Shame...

"Do as I say, not as I do";
these words float shamefully around my brain
as I fail
to Twitter, Stumble, blog and podcast
consistently.

Given that I'd not posted for ages - and this is my second today - I'm inspired to do another...

London Bus

Picture source: http://www.freefoto.com

Sometimes I blog like a London Bus -
insofar as you can wait ages for one to turn up
and then two come along at once.

If you want to join in with this project, you'd better be quick - Liz has set a deadline of 'by July 19th'.

I can barely believe it's been over a month since our last post! I see I've started a few posts along the way, but they're still languishing unpublished in my Typepad account.  To break the silence, I'm simply going to plug just a couple of business blogs which have recently had the Business Blog Angel treatment. Please drop in on them and leave your comments and encouragement - I know the owners will be chuffed to bits if you do. 

SueTrinder.com

Sue Trinder & Associates

Transforming communication at work.

Click image to enlarge.

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Diary of a Property Investor

The PropertyMadeSimple Blog by Peter Stanley

Everything you ever wanted to know about property investing.

Click image to enlarge.

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Are you business blogging yet?  Click here to discover why you should be...

This is going to be a short post - but an important one.  I'm going to introduce you to a tiny, easy to use piece of html code that will help you blog for business. 

It's this: <hr>

It stands for horizontal rule and it does just that.  It draws a horizontal line across your page.  And with that line you create a footer, a space 'below the line' where you can add comments, links and information that you want to share with your readers, but that doesn't fit naturally in the main part of the post.

It's one of the most useful things I've learned in the last six months, and it's changed the way that I write my business blog.

Blog writing is all about conversational, engaging pieces that create rapport with your reader, that build a sense of connection.  It can feel awkward sometimes to add in the information you need to get across, like a service you're running at the moment, or where to find out more about a product you're offering. 

The footer is the ideal place for this kind of material, keeping the post free for the chat and the friendly conversation.

Here are some of the things I've dropped into my footer:

• Polite requests to subscribe to a feed
• Information on who I am, or who a guest author is
• Links to other posts I've written on a subject (a great way to keep readers for longer)
• Reminders about a theme for the month or a series I'm writing
• Information on a special offer that's running
• My signature (name + strapline)

The beauty of this bit of code is that it's so easy to use.  Just go into 'edit html' view.  Add the code:

<hr>

And that's it.  You've got a horizontal line.  If you have material you use time and again (like 'subscribe to the feed' or your signature) you can cut and paste the html code for the whole thing, store it in notepad and drop it in each time you reach the end of your post. 

Really, it couldn't be simpler!

Have you discovered the joys of using a footer in your posts?  What kind of ways do you use them?  How do they help you promote your business?

This is Part 7 of the mini-series Showing Off Your Content, part of the Practical Tips for Business Bloggers programme at Business Blog Angel.

Episodes to date include:

Intro: Showing off Your Content
Part 1: Should I Have A Welcome Post On My Blog?
Part 2: Use Bold And Bullets To Break Up Your Posts
Part 3: Break Up Your Posts With Quotes
Part 4: One Simple Programme That Can Save You Blogging Time
Part 5: "Continue Reading" With Style
Part 6: How Do I Format Links?
Part 7: How A Footer Helps You Blog for Business

If you'd like some practical coaching assistance with formatting your blog - either fixing something that's gone wrong or keeping yourself right in the future - you can now book business blog coaching sessions with Business Blog Angel Claire by the hour. 

Follow this link for more details and to access to the booking calendar.

So now you're convinced of all the good reasons to link out to other blogs and posts.  You've gathered your articles, blogs, addresses of useful sites... but now you're stuck.  What do you do now?  How are you supposed to do it?

Isn't there a trick some people use to format their links?

Well yes, there is, and yes you do need to spend a few minutes formatting your links.  Otherwise when you drop them in they'll look kind of ungainly, like this:

http://www.businessblogangel.com/bizblogangel/2008/05/5-good-reasons.html

Luckily Typepad and other blogging platforms will do most of the donkey work for you - although there are a few additional things it's worth thinking about to make sure you're getting the maximum impact from your links.

How To Format A Link: Basic Version

1. Type in the words for the site or article that you're linking to.  It might be the name of a site, the title of a blog, or even a particular blog post.  As an example I'll take Practical Tips for Business Bloggers - a post from the archive here.

2. Highlight or select those words using your mouse, then click on the picture of the link in your dashboard. (It'll be a picture of links in a chain, like this.)

3. When you click on it a pop up window will open, asking you for the URL you want to link to. (If the window doesn't appear, check that your pop-up blocker is set to allow pop-ups or 'scripted windows' from Typepad.com.) Add the URL you're linking to there.  You can type it in or (more likely) copy and paste it. Then hit OK and...

4. Hey presto, you're done!  Your text now shows up (in draft) as underlined, and when you publish your post it'll have the link built into it, so when people click on it the link opens up to the site.  In my example Practical Tips for Business Bloggers now looks like this.

More Tips on Formatting Links

That's not quite the end of the story I'm afraid.  There are some other things you'll need to think about when you're linking out. 

One is how you want the link to open.   

There are two main options.  One is to leave it as it is - which takes your readers to a different site (unless they're experienced web users and know how to use tabs so they don't lose their place.)    The other is to format the link so it automatically opens a new window without your reader doing anything.  This means if they go away and look at the site you're linking to they won't lose track of where they started (your site).

This is the option Claire uses and recommends.  It is particularly useful if your readers and visitors are not experienced web users. 

To create the 'open new window' effect you used to have to use a little bit of code.  Typepad users will be pleased to hear that this is no longer the case; now you simply have to select 'open in a new window' in the pop up box, but for the sake of those of you not using Typepad, here's an old post explaining how to have a link open in a new window.

The last point is to preview and test your links. 

It's really easy to cut and paste the wrong URL, to forget to paste the URL in at all, to have an address with two lots of http:// at the front (which means it won't work). You don't want to point people to the wrong site or use a link that won't work.  Of course you can test them after you've published but you will save yourself a lot of bother if you check before you post.

To do this you need to go into preview mode. (The links won't work when you're in drafting mode.)

Make sure you're in "draft" status (ideally you should have this as your default anyway to prevent you from accidentally publishing before you're ready).  Click save to save your work up to now (it's often when I go into preview and check that I find I lose work, so save first to avoid this happening).  Then click on preview.

Now your links are 'live', so click on them to open up the pages you're linking to.  Do they go where you expected?  If not, go back and repeat your steps.  (And preview and test again as a last step.) 

If they're okay, you're ready to publish and away you go.

Postscript: I realise these formatting details sound kind of time-consuming and a little off-putting.  It will take you a little time to begin with but it is worth getting the formatting right, and it really is worth putting the effort into linking out - to get people to come back. 

And once you've been doing it for a while you'll be linking and formatting your links without a second thought.  Just like putting a full stop at the end of the sentence or a capital letter at the start you'll soon be working links in naturally and easily - an easy and automatic part of the way you run your business blog.

This is Part 6 of the mini-series Showing Off Your Content, part of the Practical Tips for Business Bloggers programme at Business Blog Angel.

Previous episodes include:

Intro: Showing off Your Content
Part 1: Should I Have A Welcome Post On My Blog?
Part 2: Use Bold And Bullets To Break Up Your Posts
Part 3: Break Up Your Posts With Quotes
Part 4: One Simple Programme That Can Save You Blogging Time
Part 5: "Continue Reading" With Style
Part 6: How Do I Format Links?
Part 7: How A Footer Helps You Blog for Business

If you'd like some practical coaching assistance with formatting links on your blog - either fixing something that's gone wrong or keeping yourself right in the future - you can now book business blog coaching sessions with Business Blog Angel Claire by the hour. 

Follow this link for more details and access to the booking calendar.

Note: This post was blogged using Digg's 'blog this' function.

The "continue reading" option is a great way to keep the front page of your business blog tidy and easy to read.

[Actually I'm feeling a bit bad about writing this post, because on my own blog (Confident Writing) I've got out of the habit of using it.  Which means I've got a mixture of short and long posts on my front page, and more scrolling required than is sensible.  Hmm.  Maybe writing this post will get me back into good habits.]

There are a few points to bear in mind though when you're using the "post continuation" function to make sure you get the most out of it, and provide your reader with the best possible reader and visitor experience.

1. If your post is very short - under 150 words - it's not worth splitting it.  Even if it's split into three paragraphs at this length of post the paragraphs will be short and your reader can scan the whole thing in a minute or so.  There's no point asking your readers to click something else just to get the last 50 words.  It's liable to bug them.

2. Build anticipation.  Think about a good ending to the first screen that will make your readers positively itch to click on to the continuation screen.  (Like a cliff hanger at the end of a soap opera.)  Claire's a master at this - you'll get some good ideas by browsing through the archive here.

3. Create good quality posts so your readers will be delighted to click that one extra link and read what else you've got to say.

One way to develop and improve your blogging technique is to watch out for what works for you when you're surfing the web and reading other blogs.  Here are some prompts that might get you thinking about the way you construct your own posts and make best use of the continuation function.

Do you ever come across posts where you can't be bothered to click on 'continue here' because the first couple of paragraphs are more than enough? Do you ever feel cheated when you do click the 'continue here' and find there's not much more?

Are there other blogs you read where you're itching to see what follows on?  What makes them so readable?

Getting into this reader mind-set can make a big difference to the way you blog.  It'll help you create a site that's an interesting, easy and enjoyable experience for your readers. 

And that's something which is guaranteed to keep them coming back for more.

This is part 5 of the mini-series Showing Off Your Content, part of the Practical Tips for Business Bloggers programme at Business Blog Angel.

Episodes to date include:

Intro: Showing off Your Content
Part 1: Should I Have A Welcome Post On My Blog?
Part 2: Use Bold And Bullets To Break Up Your Posts
Part 3: Break Up Your Posts With Quotes
Part 4: One Simple Programme That Can Save You Blogging Time
Part 5: "Continue Reading" With Style
Part 6: How Do I Format Links?
Part 7: How A Footer Helps You Blog for Business

Don't forget to subscribe to the feed to make sure you catch the rest of the series.

If you'd like some practical coaching assistance with formatting on your blog - either fixing something that's gone wrong or keeping yourself right in the future - you can now book coaching sessions with Business Blog Angel Claire by the hour. 

Follow this link for more details and access to the booking calendar.

I've got a post coming up in the 'Showing Off Your Content' series on how to format links, but before we get on to the how it's maybe worth spending a few minutes on the why.

I know a lot of people feel awkward about linking out when they first start to blog.  And at first glance it does seem kind of counter-intuitive. 

You want internet visitors to stick around on your site: to read about your business, learn more about what you do and what you're about.

You want to position yourself as the 'go to' expert in your niche.  So surely the last thing you'd want to do is provide links that point away from your business blog, towards the work of other people? Right?

Wrong.  Although it seems strange at first, the opposite is true.  Linking out will help you attract and retain visitors to your blog.  Here are 5 reasons why:

• Links demonstrate your authority and credibility as someone who's aware of good materials and interesting articles, someone who's not afraid to showcase the work of other professionals

• Links to credible sites are highly valued by your readers and site visitors.  If you consistently point them towards good stuff they'll come back to you in order to find more. (Conversely if you link to irrelevant or poor quality sites it reflects badly on you as the person who sent them there.)

• Links lead to links: as you start to link out other people will repay the compliment and link back to you.  This helps to boost the profile and authority of your blog and will bring your new readers.  (This doesn't mean link exchanges though.  Remember the point about credible links.  Focus on providing quality resources for your readers and allow the links back to follow organically.)

• Links bring you readers.  Most bloggers will check out who's linking to them and come by and visit.  They might come back again, subscribe to your feed, or leave you a comment.  That's how the conversation and connection begins.

• Links are the start of a conversation, a dialogue, a relationship with other business bloggers.  Over time this can lead to friendships, business initiatives or business partnerships

The last one is probably the most important to me.  It makes business blogging easier - really, a whole lot easier - as it turns into an interactive experience with comments, conversation and the fun of human connection and exchange.  If you don't link you're less likely to get visitors, to have folk link to you, to get to know new bloggers and business friends.  Your motivation is likely to dwindle and if you're not careful you might soon end up with a dusty, cobwebbed blog.

How does that fit with your experience? Does linking out make your blogging life easier?  Or do you think it's more effort than it's worth?

Photo credit: Blunight72 on Flickr