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Blogging Encouragement Tips

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I’ve been neglecting you. For the last two weeks, my attention has been on building a new blog called The SMB Collective. This project, officially 14 days old tomorrow, has been consuming me and proudly so.

If anyone remembers my trials and tribulations to launch this blog with no prior experience, it was painful. I launched this second blog and first post with three pages in less than eight hours — from scratch — a blank screen.  For those who knew me back when, this is a laudable accomplishment! Why?

  • Blogging takes perseverance, and blogging takes confidence. There’s a definitive need to disengage from fear. If you back up your blog, you can get it back. Experiment with themes, design, plug-ins and more. Stick your neck out and try something new once a week or faster based on your comfort level.
  • Blogging voice is as fleeting and illusive as a butterfly seeking non-existent nectar. Now that I see the quantity of content bloggers are putting out, I also am noticing a fluctuation in voice. Where I’m going with SMB Collective is down an educational path to provide current topics relating to small-and-medium businesses’ daily life. By gathering experts, screened by Twitter engagement, each with distinct capabilities into one blogging community, I’m hopeful our voices will offer rich perspective that can help solve and address small business problems with solid solutions.

(I think what I just said there was more oriented to goals/objectives versus voice? I’m thinking to get to voice you need to state blogging objectives.)

  • Blogging takes time! Managing a collection of writers/bloggers and guest authors is nothing short of time consuming. Last night, I had no idea it would take me 2.5 hours to upload three posts with links I had to find, images I had to include, bylines I needed and more. Basically, that was time needed, but not budgeted.
  • Never regard blogging as a chore. When you don’t feel “it,” then don’t write. Anyone who blogs understands what I mean by “it.” For writers, it’s the inspiration from a Sun Chips bag or Gap logo that provides great fodder.
  • Embrace failure as a teachable moment. As adults, failing is so much harder to handle/manage. Although a time waster, it’s necessary to fall flat on your face so you can pick yourself up with less inhibition to try it again.

So, these are my tips to keep the blogging thing going and growing. What else might you add?

Twitter Roundup — What Every New Blog Needs

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Credit: https://simonnemichelle.files.wordpress.com

I just registered as an official hash tag, and a new blog called SMB Collective is in the works. This post is inspired by the mission for SMB Collective to be educational, supportive and bring global perspective on a variety of topics for all small and medium business owners. Within that tier one audience is the newbie blogger, and this information is for them/us.

(Background on the formation of #SMBChat can be found and .)

I asked several tier-one tweeps and blogging communities, including #SBT10 and #BlogChat, what they recommend every new blog needs. 

(For your information #SBT10 is at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesdays hosted by primary ring leader of WordPress premium theme, Headway. I thank Grant for teeing up my question on Twitter yesterday to help garner this fodder.)

The Twitter Tweep Round-Up

Following is the roundup of everyones’ suggestions varying from previous posts and video to someone’s brand new post and other tips on plug-ins and strategy. What’s neat is the interpretation of the question and thus the varying insights and expertise:

  • I’ll begin with a few suggestions of my own (knowing my first blogging attempt is deficient in many of these aspects) — each blog needs a good back-up plan, whether Back-Up Buddy or something else. Analytics are necessary to identify posts most popular with highest traffic. A plug in that allows the emailing of comments is required (not here yet); and, I like New England Multimedia’s blog yesterday (see below) with the plug in Michelle uses, called Comment Luv (it enables a blogger’s previous post to present with a posted comment elsewhere). Lastly, RSS is important; people need ways to subscribe to your blog.
  • was the first to respond. He said every blog needs (for starters) an about page with a picture; a widget for categories; e-mail opt-in; social connections (I believe that means ways to follow, repeat on Twitter, Facebook, etc.); and, threaded comments.
  • Amy Howell with claimed she was a newbie and tossed this question off to who added a blog post written a year ago in answer to my question. In spite of her tee up to Mark, Amy added links, promotion of others, imagery, and use of humor as her recommendations for new blogs.
  • Mark W. Schaefer’s from July 2009 offers tongue-in-cheek serious counsel from his friend John Bottom, a gifted B2B marketer in London. They both agree “good, original content” is all that’s needed. Mark says be consistent with personal passions and interests; focus on one broad subject area so as to not confuse your readers; be interesting, useful and entertaining.
  • Jon Buscall, who resides in Sweden and owns , shared a link to a YouTube he developed featuring WordPress plug ins and a bit more.
  • of storytelling fame shared these tips for every new blog — A great title that relates to the business if possible; an about page that describes what’s in the blog for the reader as well as giving a little info about the business as it relates to that; a services page that describes what’s offered, whether via e-commerce or brick and mortar; a contact page that has every way imaginable to get in touch with the business and the people behind it; a contact form should be there, too; a story page (you knew that was coming right?). While they’re not prevalent yet, they soon will be. This is where the emotional connections between business/brands and customers are going to be cemented.
  • , a B2B marketer who runsa well-respected blog,  , pondered a bit and suggested a PLAN (for content and promotion) and key plugins like All In One SEO Pack and Subscribe2 are required.
  • asked if the question referred to WordPress and if so she recommends getting a good theme; one that is SEO friendly (she uses Thesis), and get Akismet for spam management. Calls to action should be positioned clearly and above the fold (because you’re blogging for a reason). Include the RT button as well as Like/Share on every post.
  •  Several people who surfaced as a result of my at-large question suggested I feature Doug Stewart’s blogging tips for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and they are . Doug tweets from Oklahoma. I just met Bruce Serven yesterday, and he recommends “perseverence” for any new blog or blogger.
  • My new PR friend from The Netherlands offers his number-one recommendation as great content –“that really crushes it!” and a good measurement tool as a close second. (I like that he’s always using “crushes.”)
  • , a regular contributor here, took the question directly to heart and ran off to write a brand new post with her recommendations and five best practices for beginning bloggers. She said it was too much to fit into multiple 140s on Twitter. Love that, Michelle! If you tap in to her piece, she suggests images, make the ask, KISS, title, and keywords.

Because these are so valuable, and the content I find is also valuable on , I’m providing the links they gave me on Twitter for . Because these suggestions by WordPress Beginner are important, I’m sharing nearly the entire bulleted list right here, so everyone can link quicker. If you’d like to see more from these guys, I encourage you to follow them on Twitter and peruse their blog. These guys rock. (Hey, can you help me design my next blog?)

Must Have WordPress Plugins for Every Blog (extracted from WordPress Beginner, and they say “We recommend these plugins for any new blog or existing blog. There are more plugins that would need to be added based on the niche and your needs. But for any generic blog, this should be a good list to start with.”)

  • – comes installed with your WordPress by default. All you have to do is get an API Key to activate it. It prevents your blog from comment spam. Read our .
  • – This is an ultimate necessity for your blog if you want to have any chance of ranking high in search engines. All-in-One-SEO Pack allows you to add unique meta description, keywords, and titles to each page of your blog and blog posts. ( for the Recommended Settings and tips.)
  • – When running a blog you need to allow your users to contact you. This is the best free contact form plugin to this date. It makes everything easy. (An alternative to this plugin is a paid plugin known as which is extremely feature rich.)
  • – This plugin lets you make backup for your blog’s database as often as you need. You can set this process to be automated and have it deliver to your email or a safe spot in your webhost. By having this plugin, you can always stay on the safe side because if anything goes wrong, you have the latest backup in your possession. If you want to get a full backup of your WordPress site, then a commercial plugin known as is the BEST option.
  • – A plugin that allows your users to subscribe to the comments, so they will be notified when the next comment is posted. It helps your user to stay updated with the discussion and keep the activity going on your blog.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU for everyone who contributed to this crazy “crush” of tips from peeps strictly on Twitter. I LOVE Twitter and all of you. What did we miss in this SMB Collective?

 

That Blogging Voice

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What's Your Voice?

Apparently, “voice” for bloggers is the Holy Grail. To get there as a newbie, you need:

1. Confidence you know what you want to say

2. Ignorance of others’ critiques when you’re having an off day

3. Knowledge about where you’d like to be one day (a few goals are good)

4. Patience and perseverance about design and techy back-end crapola

5. Strength of spirit to plug away as frequently or infrequently as you like

I had a stressful summer as is typical around my life as a working professional and mom. I struggled to manage time with travel, family and a reduced work day. The blog suffered.

Not only wasn’t I posting as regularly, I wasn’t feeling it either; yet, I pushed to post.  A few remarks (see number two above), and my confidence shattered to the point of almost throwing in the towel.

Rather than quit, I wrote (what some called by best post) “Blogging Takes Confidence,” a heartfelt rendition to share I was not on top of my game. Buoyed by support from that post, I am again compelled to tackle the world.

What’s changed?

  • My child is back in school.
  • I’ve regained four to five hours in my work day.
  • My desk is (relatively) clean again.
  • My brain is de-cluttered, and my countenance is calm.

So what is this “voice” thing?

Merely, voice is the confidence to believe what you’ve got to say has merit; to know the criticism of others is not intended to derail you but to help you get over a natural hump or two; it’s the ability to find a diamond in the rough and share it with the world from your own perspective and, well, I think that’s right?

Blogging Takes Confidence

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This post is as much for me as it may be for you.

Blogging takes confidence. This list below includes several circumstances and what I know from experience helps make that confidence grow upward instead of into the dumps:

  • The recognition to spot a stumble with content and how to get ahead from that confidence-lacking position.
  • The ability to hear, process and get beyond the somewhat-negative commentary implying that “you suck” at this blogging thing and should hang it up.
  • The strength to read and take inspiration from the massive amounts of content being generated by others in the blogosphere and on social networking that put your feeble attempts to match that to shame.

If anyone is anyone who is a blogger who had to start somewhere, I bet any of the above has come to fruition. Indeed; for me it’s true. And, let’s not forget – we are our own worst critics.

And, so, these tips below are as much for me as they may be for you:

  • Blog with confidence and believe that you have something to say today.
  • Hear, process and determine whether to take action about others’ negative comments who at heart are critics not intending to derail you.
  • Read the blogs you subscribe to, comment there, and become inspired from peer bloggers’ inspiration. It’s OK to adopt a topic and fashion it into one of your own with a new perspective.
  • Be true to yourself. If your editorial content is more about reporting on a wide variety of topics, there’s a reason for that. Perhaps you come from the agency world of public relations (ahem) where knowledge about a breadth of topics, industries, companies, and concerns navigate your ship.
  • Know that it’s commonplace to stumble on voice because no one has the perfect voice every day they blog. It’s OK to craft a simple, short post chock full of emotion about one topic or another. It’s OK to struggle with what to write about today and then recognize that maybe today is not a good day to write.
  • It’s very OK to wonder if anyone is reading these words, and then it’s OK to be pleasantly surprised when someone provides a comment (whether positive or slightly smarmy) verbally or on e-mail because that is an indicator someone is paying attention.
  • You’re not to worry about the dag-gone back-end of the blog because that, too, comes with experience. You will persevere on the technical insides of your blog (Jayme) because learning does not happen overnight (Jayme).
  • When you’re having second thoughts about blogging, look around. Are you in balance? What circumstances have your inner balance off kilter? This can be your children, your finances, summer, and a house under construction, clutter, or lack of “me” /”you” time. Breathe, and focus on you.

So, blog with confidence, people, and know that that is exactly what you’re charged to do. Being a thought leader or expert comes with time.

I’d like to thank Macali Communications, Kevin Donnellon and Christina Rampersad for providing the inspiration for pushing this blog forth.

What expertise can you lend to we less-than-a-year bloggers to keep on truckin’?

A-Lister Bloggers: New Print Feature Writers?

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I get inspired by the amazing talent of the A-lister bloggers (at least in my book) to day-in and day-out craft thought leader social media content. How can this much provoking copy be created and most of it not begin to sound the same?

You know, there are only so many dresses on the rack; eventually, you’ll see another woman with the very same dress walking ahead of you on Michigan Avenue. (You get my drift, guys!)

Segue to the daily newspaper suffering from the demise of advertising, subscriptions and fewer journalists. It got me thinking about feature sections and pull-out special sections of the daily newspapers I read. Don’t you think these pages are chock full of a lot of nothing?

Here’s the brainstorm. A newspaper should contract 2x/week with some hot tamale bloggers and publish a new feature section with content that resonates a whole heckuva lot more than what print subscribers are paying for.

Here’s my list who can fill the queue; who else comes to mind?

  • Jason Falls, , who is so prolific and wordy hot that I shake my head and marvel.
  • , who launched 12for12K and has numerous awards as a Canadian blogger and is also of the set.
  • , , who has become a B2B social media thought leader with his lively and thoughtful community.
  • who pens a daily storytelling blog with a roundup of what’s going on across the 2.0 world
  • David Meerman Scott of and a keen author of public relations blended social media works.

These gentlemen are noteworthy in their leadership in this social media space. I’m sure they’d appreciate your attention to tell them so, too.