Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Bored with blogging? Get inspired

When words are too hard, start with an image

Studies show that art inspires creativity. Images trigger your subconscious mind:

Images are powerful. Great art arouses emotions. You can use images to trigger your imaginative mind state.

Explore Pinterest, or use an image editor to create images.

Mind maps help too:

A mind map helps you to become more creative and innovative… (and) develop unexpected ideas. Whenever you run out of ideas, or your thinking is stale and predictable, create a mind map.

 

Discover additional ideas to inspire blogging.

 

 

Lost heart with blogging? Here's how to regain your motivation

The thing is, you’re always building and growing your blog. If you haven’t set goals for your blog, do that now. You may have many goals but focus on one goal at a time. Your current goal might be to gain ten new subscribers to your email list each week, for example.

Big tip: use baby steps.

Build your blog: use baby steps

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and a successful blog isn’t built in a day either. Your blog will grow over time. Create a list of three things you need to do to achieve your goals with the blog, then schedule your three things.

Why three? To avoid stress. There are always things you could do with a blog, but very few vital things you MUST do.

Let’s look at how to grow your blog.

 

You're a content creator: manage your business with an app

Save your sanity: manage your content calendar(s)

I primarily use Google Sheets (part of Google Docs) to manage clients’ content calendars. Not only do many clients use already use Sheets, you can collaborate with them on calendars easily.

Other content calendars, including my own, I manage in ClickUp, which is an excellent calendar and client management tool.

Blogging apps to manage your finances and track your hours

The web abounds with invoicing and time tracking apps for freelancers, including Reckon, and Harvest. Most have a trial period, so try several.

Read the article.

 

Blogging for income: niches, audiences and more

To begin your journey to an income-generating blog, you need a blog topic, as well as your special slant on the topic. With luck, it will be a slant which is unique to you.

Blog topics can be divided into “niches”, that is into sub-topic areas which interest a small segment of the population. You can divide almost any topic into niches. Brainstorm ideas.

Dogs for example. That’s a big topic, with many niches: dog food; dog training; show dogs; specific breeds… For the topic of cooking, niches could include diets (Paleo, vegan, etc); barbecues; bread baking…

When you’ve chosen a niche, you need to consider your special slant on the topic. A slant is a viewpoint; a twist. It may come to you naturally (your opinions on the niche will be unique), or you may need to think about your slant.

Read the article.

 

Blogging income: can you make money with a blog?

Make money blogging: start your blog TODAY (you can always flip it)

If you want to make money blogging, start now. Today. The sooner you become familiar with the process, the better.

Start today, even if you’re uncertain of your topic and slant. (Read about freebie starter blogs below and why you should create one…) The more willing you are to experiment, the more likely it is that you’ll be successful.

In the distant past (from around 2000 to 2004) you could toss up a blog and make money without much effort. I did that, as many others did. At one point I had hundreds of blogs (no, I’m not kidding). It was a simple process: I’d get an idea, create a blog, and monetize it.

I sold most of those blogs—the ones which earned an income. Others never made a cent, so I allowed the blog to lie fallow and didn’t renew the domain registration.

Read the complete article: it's the start of a new series.

 

Blogging: is your blog making money for you?

Many bloggers create a blog without a clear idea of how they’ll make money from their blog. They want to start making a blogging income after their blog is “established.”

It’s a chicken and egg conundrum. What comes first? The blog, or the monetization? I suggest that the monetization MUST come first. If it doesn’t, it often won’t happen at all.

Get an idea, create a blog, and develop a blogging income

Several of the writers in that blogging Team Up group had tried blogging, but they got hung up on the blog’s niche.

We decided that the niche didn’t matter, the monetization did. So they chose a monetization method that they could implement immediately: they’d create something.

Read the complete article, Blogging Income: Create A Product And Sell It In 24 Hours.

Can You Still Make Money Blogging?

Want to make money blogging? You can. Around the world, hundreds of thousands of bloggers do it. That said, there are pitfalls.

Back when I started blogging, in the late 1990s (long, long ago, in internet terms) “blogging” was considered nerdy and weird by anyone who’d heard of it. Few had: dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster made “blog” their term of the year in 2004.

Then blogging became mainstream. Around 2012, everybody and his dog (I kid you not) decided to make money blogging.

Read the complete article, Make Money Blogging: Write, And Get Paid, But Avoid The Pitfall, here.

Improve Your Blog Instantly: 5 Quick Blogging Tips

Blogging tips: spend five minutes on your blog every day

As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. So schedule a quick “check my blog” task in your daily task list. When you schedule it, you’re more likely to do it. If you don’t do quick checkups, you’ll forget about blogging for days and even weeks at a time.

Let’s look at some simple five-minute blogging tips.

1. Create lists for everything related to your blog

Lists are key to ensuring that you make your five-minute daily blogging sessions count. I keep my lists in a paper daily planner, but use any tool for your lists which you regularly check.

Read the complete article here.

 

WordPress User? Here's the 2015 Theme

A new year means a new WordPress default theme for WordPress bloggers. Twenty Fifteen is waiting for you, in your dashboard.

Here’s what it looks like.

I’m a huge fan of the default WordPress themes. Over the decade or so that I’ve been a keen WordPress user, I’ve tried many, many commercial themes. Some were wonderful, others not so much. Hassles of various kinds (slow updates to the theme, updates which broke plugins) ensured that I went back to the default. I’m all about the content, not so much the prettiness or enhancements.

Twenty Fifteen looks amazing — it’s mobile-focused, and responsive — and I can’t wait to try it out. I’ll test it on one of my WordPress blogs, and if I like it, I’ll use it for the others.

The WordPress 4.1 update is waiting for you in your dashboard:

Version 4.1 of WordPress, named “Dinah” in honor of jazz singer Dinah Washington, is available for download or update in your WordPress dashboard. New features in WordPress 4.1 help you focus on your writing, and the new default theme lets you show it off in style.

Have you prepared your editorial calendar for 2015?

If you haven’t done so, install 4.1, and create your January calendar. Remember that you can create as many draft posts as you like. I always create drafts, right in the Editorial Calendar plugin. With your drafts prepared, and ready to go, you’re never left wondering about what you’ll blog about.

Happy 2015. :-)

Blogging Workflow: a Great Template

A great template makes blogging easier. You have a strategy and method to follow. In Power-write Your Blog: 5 Ways to Beat Blogger’s Block, I gave you some great ways to beat blogger's block.

Now you've beaten your block, check out the template in this post, How to Use Evernote as a Blogger | Michael Hyatt:

"Set up a blogging template in Evernote. There are certain components that I want to create or collect for every blog post. "

If you use Evernote (you should), you can blog anywhere. I already have a blog template, but I'll be using Michael Hyatt's going forward.

 

Blogging: Turn Your Blog Into A Home Business

Got a blog? Whether you have or not, you've heard a lot about blogging. These days, blogs are everywhere. Since it's not trendy to call your new online publication a "blog" nowadays, you probably don't even know that many of the sites you visit are blogs. 

I've been blogging since around 2000. Firstly I blogged for fun, as an experiment. I thought it amazing that I could type an article, and within minutes, have that article read by people all over the world.

In the past decade, my love for blogging has never waned. I have well over a hundred blogs now -- indeed, if I cared to count, I'm sure the tally would reach 200... Most don't need any attention. They've been set up for a purpose, and they serve that purpose well.

So, let's take a quick look at how you could turn a blog into a home business.

1. Decide What You'll Sell 

To be viable, your blog must make sales. Nothing happens until you sell something. You can choose: to sell advertising from your blog; to sell a product or many products; or to sell services - your own services, or those of others.

If you choose selling services, make a list of the services you and/ or others will be offering from the blog.

2. Decide How You'll Get Traffic

Four or five years ago you could rely on RSS (Really Simple Syndication, your blog's automatically-created newsfeed) almost completely to get traffic to your new blog. Those days however are long gone. 

Make a list of ways you'll get traffic.  

3. Plan Your Content

Your next step is to plan your blog's content. Don't omit this step. Most bloggers stop blogging because they run out of things to say. 

So write down your topics, and make a list of five to ten blog post titles for each topic. Your topics will become categories on your blog.

4. Schedule Content Creation and Marketing Into Your Day

If you want to turn your blog into a great home business, you'll need to blog every day. 

When will you blog? Early in the morning, or late at night? Schedule at least an hour a day to work with your blog. During this time, you'll create content, and will market the blog. Schedule the hour into your day, and keep to your schedule.

I love blogging. There's never been an easier way to create your own home business.

Resources
Blogging for Dollars Blog -- a blog's a powerful tool, and it's a lot of fun too. 

Lazy Rich Blogger -- discover a step by step route to blogging success.

Image credit

 

Blogging: It's Not About the Blog

I wrote this editorial about blogging in Fab Freelance Writing Ezine over a year ago. I'm posting it in response to queries writers have had about their blogs. 

Blogs became mainstream in around 2004, so by now every writer either has a blog, or feels guilty because he doesn't.

In my chats with writers however, I've come to realize that many/ most writers interpret the instruction to "Get a blog!" or claims about what blogging can do for their writing career in a very limited way. They think their blog is about blogging.

Your blog shouldn't be about blogging per se, and when you blog, it's not about the blog. If that makes sense. :-)

Your blog is just a tool.

It's what you do with it that counts, and if you feel that "blogging doesn't work" it's invariably because you've either had no specific goals for a blog, or tried to get one poor little blog to do too much.

It's very common for example to see writers' blogs which are about everything and nothing at all. One post is about a movie the writer saw, the next is a discussion about brands of coffee, the next is about what the writer is currently writing, or trying to write…  

An "everything" blog can work, but it must have an overarching theme.  For example, in his "everything" blog humorist Dave Barry covers miscellany, but the blog's theme is sly humor. Every post in Barry's blog has just one goal – to get a laugh.

Blogs are endlessly useful, and you can make blogging work for you, and there's just one thing to remember – it's not about the BLOG, the blog is just a tool to help you to achieve a goal.

Got a goal?

Get  blog

A blog can help you to achieve just about any goal you care to set.

Want to write a book? Start a blog.

Want to make money? Start a blog.

Want to get people to buy your articles/ ebooks/ writing services? Start a blog.Want to change jobs and get a better job with more money? Start a blog.

When you think in terms of goals you want to achieve, blogs can help you to achieve way beyond your goals.

Got blogging skills? Put them to use

If you're a blogging writer, you have skills you can sell. Tomorrow's issue of Fab freelance Writing Ezine discusses the mysterious and profitable career of the ghostblogger.

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial:

Ghostwriting is essentially writing anonymously. Someone wants you to write a book, or an article, or a blog, and you do it under their name. No byline for you. :-) You're writing for someone else, using their ideas (sometimes), and writing in their voice.

Ghostblogging is becoming hugely popular. Businesses and publications see the worth of blogs, and because they don't have the skills in-house, they hire a ghostblogger.

A word about terminology: "ghostblogging" or "ghost blogging"? I prefer ghostblogging – ghostwriting is usually written as one word, but you'll see references to "ghost blogging" on many sites. Which term you use is up to you. Google searches for either turn up much the same results.
 
Who ghostwrites blogs?
Some writers fall into ghostblogging, others look for ghostblogging jobs.

One point about hunting for these kinds of gigs: if someone's advertising for a ghostblogger, they're generally not willing to pay very much. As with other kinds of freelance writing jobs, the best ones aren't advertised.

Read the rest in the issue, which is out tomorrow.

Enjoy. :-)

Discover the secrets of highly-paid writers: free each week

Want to make great money writing? Discover the secrets of high-selling, highly paid writers, for free. Each week, Angela Booth's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine is delivered in easy-to-print PDF format.

Join the thousands of other writers who are using the information to change their lives. You'll learn how to write, and how to sell. Angela's been writing for 30 years, and shares her knowledge with you.

Back when blogging was new...

This post, "boring” is underrated", made me smile, and remember...

I remember when a guy landing a well-paying job just on the merits of his blog, was considered big news.

I remember when a girl landing a book deal just from her blog, was considered big news.

I remember when Robert Scoble blogging on behalf of Microsoft was considered big news.

I remember when Gawker or Techcrunch making $10K a month on advertising, was considered big news.

Good times. :-)

Enough sentimentality: onward!

If you've just started your blogging journey, congratulations. Prepare for your life to change. And if you've been blogging for years, think about how far you've come.

As a writer, your blog is the center of your writing universe. What plans do you have for your blog? Where will your blog (and you) be in five years?

Share your thoughts in the Comments.

How to Make the Most of Your Blog

A blog is a powerful tool for a writer. Unfortunately, few writers make the most of their blog.

I receive questions about blogs and blogging every day. My responses can be summed up in a couple of sentences: "Create goals for your blog. It doesn't matter what those goals are, as long as you have them."

Your goals for your blog are your destinations. Without them, you won't get anywhere.

I've written extensively about blogging. Here are some links to help you to make the most of your blog.

* Blog - 3 Hidden Benefits of Blogs for Writers

Want to blog? Many writers are hesitant about blogging, until they start. Then they realize that a blog can super-charge their career.

Why are blogs great for writers? Simply because your writing career depends on both your writing proficiency and speed. Yes, speed - if you can write fast, you’ll win many more writing jobs than writers who are slow.

* How to Make Money Online by Writing a Blog

Want to make money from your blog? You can - within days. Here are three easy ways to a quick income.

Here’s an important tip: any blog can be an income generator, but you’ll make more when you think of ALL your blog’s content as being helpful, especially the products you advertise.

For example, if you have a dog training blog, then think about your readers. They own a dog, and they want to take care of him. So find products, both useful and fun which will help them to do that, and you’ll make sales.

* Pro Blog - Get Paid to Write Articles

Do you enjoy writing articles? If you do, you can make money online as a professional blogger. Here’s how.

* Take the Blogging Fast-Track: Blog Your Writing Career

Want to build a profitable writing career? You can, when you take the blogging fast-track. Discover how in this article.

Let's start by defining "blog." A blog has often been called an "online journal," which is very misleading. Essentially, a blog is an instant publishing tool, which anyone can use to get their message out across the globe within minutes, via RSS.

* Freelance Writing: Make Blogging Work for You

Do you blog? If your answer is "No", start blogging today, because if you're a freelance writer and your name doesn't show up in Google, your credibility is zero. Here's how to get the most from your blog.

There's more to blogging than you think. Forget considering your blog an online journal: your blog is a professional tool.

Blogging makes a great home business

Many bloggers blog full time in their blogging home business, and earn a great income - much more than they could earn at a job.

Discover how you can make money blogging, with Angela Booth's blogging bestseller, Blogging for Dollars - blogging is fun, and profitable.