BusinessBlogAngel

Writing with confidence - project confident writing

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

Practical Tips For Business Bloggers: Introducing A New Series At BizBlogAngel

There's nothing like blogging about something to get it clearer in your mind. 

Now that we've convinced ourselves (and hopefully you too!) of the merits of writing a blog series, branding posts and creating a product that's going to have a long shelf-life Claire and I couldn't wait to launch our new mega-series.

It's called Practical Tips For Business Bloggers... and yes, it'll do just what it says on the tin :-)

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UPDATE: 06/06/08 - 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

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The series is aimed at business bloggers who:

• are just getting started
• have been blogging for a while, but always wondered how to (x, y or z...)
• are always looking for ways to improve their blog

And if that sounds like you, read on.

Cardinal Business Blogging Sins - is writing off-topic a no-no?

OK... so what excuse can I find to post a picture of our new puppy on my blog... um... tricky...

You see, the majority of visitors to this blog are here to find out about blogging for business or social media marketing - not to see pictures of puppies - no matter how cute.  Puppies are off-topic.  So does that mean I shouldn't post the picture?  Well, you tell me...

Is off-topic content always a cardinal sin?  Or are personal posts ok?  Does it depend on other factors? If so, what are they?

While you ponder these questions, enjoy the above pic of Sgt. Pepper - a super-charged, 19wk old Heinz 57 rescue pup who 'came home' to us just last night.  (Click to enlarge it.) I'm not a mum, but boy do I feel like one today - knackered, sleep deprived and totally blissed out!

What are your business blogging goals for 2008?

Although January can sometimes feel like a slow month, it's also a time when our thoughts naturally turn to our goals, dreams and ambitions for the year ahead, to the things we resolve to do or intend to set out and make happen.

I know that we've all got our own ways of thinking about goals, resolutions, intentions but I'm guessing most of us will be spending some time this month thinking about where we want to be by the end of this year.

And if that includes the plans for your own business you want to be asking yourself this:

What are your business blogging goals for 2008?

5 blogging mistakes that are so last year

           

Prologue: We don't claim to be blogging saints round here (though Claire is, of course, a blogging angel).  Although this post was drafted a little while ago we couldn't post it until we'd done a little bit of blog housekeeping ourselves... Well one thing we do believe in is being willing to take our own blog medicine:-)

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It's a funny thing about the New Year, isn't it?  A few weeks into January and suddenly 2007 seems like an eternity ago.  A time that's over.  Things that we've let go.

And all of a sudden things that are dated 2007 can look just that: dated, tired and over.

And yes, that includes your business blog.

This is the perfect time to make sure your business blog is bang up to date - and that you're avoiding these 5 blogging mistakes that can keep you stuck in last year.

Joanna 'Confident Writing' Young - My Secret Weapon & Success Story!

OK, truth be told - in her role as Business Blog Angel Team Blogger, Joanna (left), had prepared 2 posts sooner than that last one - it was me that held them up because I wanted to finish something else I was working on before they went out.  Seems reasonable doesn't it, but it was taking ages to do.  Fortunately for me, Joanna is a stickler for regular and consistent posting and she took the initiative and wrote an alternative post which she knew we could publish straight away.

Now that blockage is removed, I feel the urge to share a few random thoughts with you. Since I haven't written here (other than my Holiday Greeting) since October 12th this may ramble on a bit, but anyway... staying with Joanna for a moment...

Getting back to blogging

Happy New Year everyone!  I don't know about you but I'm still getting back into the swing of things after the Christmas and New Year break and working my way through the gloom that can be January in Scotland...

We've got a few goodies lined up for you over the next few weeks including some back-room stuff on new products and services that Claire is working on.  All will be revealed soon :-)

Meantime here a few suggestions that might help you get back into your stride if you haven't blogged for a while:

What do you do when you can't think what to blog about?

I’m sure you know the feeling.  It’s time for some blogging.  Maybe it’s your scheduled day to post.  Maybe it’s been a little while.  Whatever the reason, you know today’s the day to get back to the dashboard, whip up a quick post and hit the send button.

Except when you look at your blogging “to do” list – nothing grabs your attention.  When you look at some half-finished (half-baked?!) ideas in your drafts folder – you can’t find the energy or motivation to dust them down and finish them off.  You’ve a library full of useful links that you want to share – but suddenly can’t think of any way to add value to what a thousand other bloggers have already written.

And so you sit.  Prevaricate for a bit.  Surf the blogosphere to see what others are writing about.  (Only makes it worse: how come they sound so chirpy?)  Make another mug of coffee.  Surf a bit more.  Hope the inspiration will strike.   Feel the weight of the “must blog today” pressing down on your shoulders.

Sound familiar?  Well that was me this morning, until I remembered the only sure-fire way I know to get writing and blogging again.

10 ways that MyBlogLog can help you blog

I’m a big fan of MyBlogLog.  Now that I’ve got my identity crisis sorted out (and can happily flit backwards and forwards between my Confident Writing self and the Blog Angel Team Joanna) I’m re-remembering all the things that I like about it – and all the different ways that we can use it to help us blog.

As preparation for this week’s post I started jotting down a list of the things that MyBlogLog has helped me to do – and some of the ways that other I’ve seen other people use it.   

I’ve come up with ten so far – but I’m sure there are more…

Make the most of RSS: how to take care of your feed

I’m guessing most of you will have an RSS feed for your blog.  Who wouldn’t you want one?  If you're a Typepad user, then a feed comes as standard. RSS feeds are a simple, effective way for your readers to follow your blog without having to check for updates – and for you to see how many people are subscribing.  (Not to mention the warm glow of satisfaction as you watch your subscription numbers moving up.)

But feeds don’t just take care of themselves.  It is possible to damage or even break your feed – which means that people will stop getting your updates or find themselves unable to ‘grab your feed’ when they first stop by your site.

A healthy feed is a vital part of a healthy blog.  And taking care of your feed is part of good blog housekeeping.  Which means you really need to know how to:

• keep an eye on your feed
• take emergency action if things go wrong
• avoid problems in the first place