Tag: blog tips

3 Simple Ways to Know If You Are Posting Valuable Blog Content

It’s time for another blogging tip!

We have already talked about one cool strategy for busy bloggers. I want to extend that conversation by making it easier for those new to blogging to discern if what you are posting is valuable and high quality.

For the record, I am not one of those who think you have to post every day, not on social media and not to the blog. Wasted time is like wasted money, so I will not post or recommend posting just for the sake of posting.

We are not doing all of that.

What we are doing is posting consistently enough to be present enough to serve our audience.

Whenever we post, we want to add value, and adding value only means educating, inspiring, or entertaining your people.

  • Educational
  • Inspirational/Uplifting
  • Entertaining

A fourth category could be Edutainment – Educating through entertainment. Thank me later.

To do this would mean that you must be deliberate about the content you publish.

What does this mean for blogging?

To be deliberate means to have an intentional and purposeful focus. It is the opposite of being fake and posting just to post. It means posting what is important to you and what is helpful, inspiring, or educational to others while somehow making sure it ties into your brand.

I published I am Soul on December 20, 2017. This was intentional, as December 20 is my late mother’s birthday. She was alive then, and I wanted the book to be a dedication because she had been through a lot that year.

I know value is a big buzzword these days, and sometimes it can sound so complicated, but it’s really not all that deep. Posting content of value means you are posting what will uplift, educate, or entertain. Some examples include:

  • Creative writing (poetry, short stories)
  • Promotion for Indie Authors
  • Posting a think piece on a hot topic
  • Sharing some life lessons and experiences (as it is relatable to your brand)
  • Posting a review of a book you read
  • Posting something funny

Blogging doesn’t have to be a waste of time, especially if you are not getting paid to be here. Suppose you are making money from your blog or using it as an author platform to connect with readers. In that case, you definitely don’t want to waste your time publishing ten posts a week that doesn’t add value to your life or the life of others.

Choose a few days a week you want to post and make sure you are entertaining, educating, or inspiring us.

That’s it.

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One Cool Strategy for Busy Bloggers

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Blogging takes up a lot of time and staying consistent, whether that’s blogging once a week or every other day, isn’t easy.

But it could be more manageable.

Republish Your Content

Who says you can’t share the same content again? Whether that is an interview you did, a radio show, or a blog post, every once in a while, you can reshare an older post by rescheduling it to republish.

Even though it is an earlier post, it can still apply to the current time. For instance, if you wrote about Juneteenth this year, you can reschedule that post to publish again on Juneteenth next year. Between this year and next year, you would have met more readers and gained more views. It will also surprise you to see how many of your current readers did not see the post the first time around.

Go through your blog posts and choose a post that resonated deeply with your audience you feel is relevant enough or important enough to repost.

Using myself as an example, Thursday, I republished a Throwback Thursday Jam by Minnie Riperton.

First, you will need to edit the post. I prefer the classic editor because it’s easier for me.

Next to the published label, click on edit and change the date and time to the day you want to republish the post.

Once you have chosen your new date, click ok and schedule.

I will not republish this video because I already did, but if I were to keep it this way, this post would publish again on August 2, 2020, at 12a EST, and new people will see it.

The first time I posted this song was back in 2017, and when I republished it last week, it received more views from people who had not seen it.

It reminds me of publishing in that your book is always new to the people who have never read it.

Your post is always new to the people who have never read it.

You can also share some of your older posts/articles on social media. People who don’t know you and never read your work will probably become new followers of your blog for more value.

I have found some cons to doing this, I must mention. If you are blogging on WordPress (which is the platform I am always referring to since I blog here), I caution on reposting blog posts that have been re-blogged a lot. The republished version will have a new link meaning that backlinks to your article that someone may have shared with their audience on their blogs won’t work.

A backlink is a link created when one website links to another and is suitable for SEO or search engine optimization. This is why I said you could also share the posts as many times as you want on social media without reposting it. In this way, you can edit the post and share it without breaking the original link. I would also recommend avoiding reposting too much. Fresh content is always preferable.

Don’t have time to blog? If you have been blogging for a while, you possibly have tons of content sitting right there to republish and it only takes about ten minutes.

Note: Republishing is easier and more effective if you have built up an archive of posts. You can’t repurpose content if there’s no content.

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7 Reasons No One Follows Your Blog

I haven’t written a blog post about blogging in a while. I slowed down on that because I could be, you know, writing.

Today, I am not writing. I am enjoying this good weather and stealing this downtime for a quick blog post. I hope these tips /reminders will be useful for any new bloggers out there.

You Don’t Have a Follow Button.

I have spoken heavily on this in the past, and it’s still true today. I still find people whose blogs I want to follow, but I can’t because there is no follow button. At this point in life, with COVID and all, few people will stop to go on a scavenger hunt to find where your button is. If you are blogging on WordPress, go to your Dashboard > Appearance> Widget > Follow blog. Place it somewhere near the top (not at the bottom), so it is noticed.

You Don’t Post Enough.

I am sure I probably post too much (sorry fam), which can have repercussions, but not posting enough is also not good. Not only will people not be interested in following you, but those who follow you may forget you are there, meaning that when you post, they aren’t even reading. People are forgetful, and it’s a lot going on in the world right now. I am not the person who thinks people should blog every day, but I think the posts should be consistent enough to keep the blogger memorable and the people engaged.

You Don’t Respond to Comments.

Social media isn’t about followers anymore, so much as it is about engagement. Responding to comments is one of the easiest ways to engage with your audience and other bloggers. Commenting on someone else’s blog is also a simple way to gain a follower. This is the power of networking. When someone comments on your blog, don’t just like their comment, reply! And respond not to get the follow, but have an opinion on the topic. Give your feedback some substance and add it to the conversation.

You Post Your Blog Link in the Comments Asking for a Follow

This is tacky and unattractive to other bloggers. Leaving a comment that is only a link back to your blog, followed by “please follow my blog,” makes you look desperate and turns that blogger off. I am much more likely to subscribe to someone’s blog who just left a real comment on my blog or liked my post than I will someone posting a link back to their blog in my comments. If you think this is mean, then you have not been blogging long enough to come across spammers and trolls. How do I tell the difference between you, the real blogger, and a spammer if you are both spamming me?

Please, don’t do this.

Your Content is Not Interesting To Your Readers

Sometimes it’s just the basics, such as not posting anything valuable for your audience. One lesson I learned in life is being relatable and making connections with people based on a common goal or interest. I think blogging and social media is the same way. No man is an island, and no man knows it all. Therefore, while I have my way of seeing things, I think it’s necessary to allow room for diverse thoughts and differences of perspective. To me, that shakes things up and makes it fun. It also provides room for learning and growth.

I don’t want people to walk on eggshells around me, and I’m not walking on eggshells around anyone else. Yes, I’ve had some heated debates on this blog, and I am pretty sure some people hate my guts, but those same people also know me the better because of it. I think some of the best friendships develop from a difference in opinion because people are not all the same, and when each person can bring something different, I think it creates a good balance.

To make a long story short, people don’t want to follow a boring blog.

Your Blog is Hard to Navigate

Making things more accessible to people is the best way to encourage them to stick around. If your blog is hard to navigate, people might not want to follow you. Everything should be easily attainable from your follow button to your widgets to your pages. Beyond this, be sure your blog is easy to read so dark colors with dark text that is heavy on the eyes is a no-no (keep in mind the visually impaired too), and consider a modern, updated look. If your blog looks like it belonged somewhere in 1998, I will be less inclined to follow. I suggest using WordPress because WordPress offers some neat free themes and widgets, is already optimized for mobile, and powers thirty percent of the internet. WordPress is a powerhouse for building websites and blogs, and I am not being paid to say this.

You Are Not Sharing Your Post on Social Media

I would leave this at six, but we might as well squeeze in one more. Another reason people may not follow your blog is that you are not telling them about it. Social media is the new word of mouth. The easiest way to draw attention to your posts is to share them to your social networking sites, whichever you use. I almost always share with Twitter, but I have shared it with my Facebook page too, and now and then, Instagram. Be sure to let people know about your excellent recent blog post. You will be glad you did. Closed mouths don’t get fed. Open your mouth.

I hope this is helpful to someone out there and if it is, let me know in the comments. Do you have any useful blogging tips for us? I would love to know. I want to improve my blog too! Also be sure to check out more blog tips on the blog tips page here.

Enjoy your weekend people!

Blogging and Time

One of the many complaints I hear from new bloggers is concerning time. Blogging takes a lot of time. This is true and time is a very precious thing. How we spend our time is a big deal. What you spend time on today can directly influence your day tomorrow or weeks and months ahead. These days, I don’t have a lot of time to blog and I am not mad about it. I have shifted my perspective on a lot of things, one of them being better managing my time. The PBS Blog is still growing and there are new subscribers daily even if I don‘t blog daily and engagement is decent. My posts are shared daily. All of this from not blogging. I am wasting time just talking about it, actually. I am sitting here writing a blog post when I should be doing laundry.

Define Your Purpose

What are you using your blog for? Do you plan to monetize your blog? In other words, get paid for blogging? Do you intend to keep your content free? Are you using your blog to reach more readers? Build an audience? Are you an author blogger or business blogger? Authors use blogging a bit differently than business bloggers. (I recommend Anne R. Allen’s book The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors) How are you using your blog to your advantage? This question is important because it will determine how you spend your time. Define your purpose for blogging. Don’t just say because you like to write or something vague like that. Be specific. Why did you start a blog and where do you want it to go? One thing I love about Dr. Boyce Watkin’s emails is that he has a clear purpose and everything goes back to that. His thing is Financial Literacy and by the end of every email you know that.

Your Purpose Can Change

Your purpose may also change as you grow and that’s not a bad thing. I didn’t know what I was blogging for when I first started. It took a couple years for me to figure that out and to narrow it down. I am here to connect with readers, black history buffs, to coach new bloggers of the WordPress platform, and to build with Independent Authors. Everything I do on this blog will ultimately go back to one or all of those points. I will either be writing, offering information on black history, giving out blog and writing tips or supporting Indie Authors. Everything I do must be consistent with these things. You may say, “but you didn’t say poetry and certainly you write poetry on this blog!” Truth. I also host a yearly poetry contest and I also didn’t mention inspiration though I am always offering words of encouragement. But this all falls under one of my core points.

Connecting with Readers

Poetry, Short Stories, Creative Writing pieces, Music, Testimony, e.g.

Black History Buffs

Black history articles and little known historical facts

Blog Coaching for New Bloggers of WP Platform

Blog Tips

Supporting Indie Authors

Book Reviews, Promoting / Supporting other Authors, Writing Tips

Build a Schedule

I cannot speak enough about being consistent and having some kind of schedule can help with that. If you think this is unnecessary, then you should probably reevaluate why you’re blogging. Personally, I don’t want to do anything that does not provide some kind of value. If I am incorporating anything in my life whether it’s a blog or a new diet it had better give me a return in some way. For this to happen consistency is necessary and having a schedule can help.

Consistency doesn’t mean every day. Consistency just means regularly. This can be once a week or once a month. (I wouldn’t recommend once a month. I’d try for at least once a week) You don’t have to blog every day but you do have to know what you intend to get out of it. Again, what’s your purpose? Everything will go back to your reason for blogging in the first place. How you blog, your blog schedule, and your content will all come from why you are here. Once you know that, you will be able to build a schedule around this purpose and decide how much time you want to spend blogging. Consistency builds trust, trust builds value and value builds support.

Decide Exactly How Much Time You Want to Spend Blogging

If you are reading this post it probably means you are short on time to blog. You may be too busy to blog regularly but you do want to keep connection with your readers. Once you know why you want to blog and you have created a schedule for your blog, decide how much time you want to actually spend blogging (which should be a part of your schedule). If you only want to spend two hours on your blog just spend two hours on your blog! If it takes longer than two hours to draft a post, save it for another day. We will still be here.

Choose a Time to Offer Support Only

Schedule some time toward supporting other blogs. This is good because if you support others, others will support you even when you are not blogging. Supporting others can take 2 minutes or 30 minutes depending on the kind of support you’re offering but it doesn’t have to be grandiose. Supporting other bloggers can be as simple as liking their new post or sharing it on social media. It can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. Since we are talking about managing time, you may be thinking:

“But EC, I don’t have time to spend on my own blog and now you’re saying I have to spend time on someone else??”

Firstly, you don’t have to do anything and secondly, I know and I get it. I must also admit that I need to spend more time on other blogs too. I don’t have as much time as I used to for blogging but supporting others, even if it’s just to retweet them, is something I squeeze in. Stephen King said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.” Likewise, if you don’t have time to be supportive of someone else blogs, why should anyone support yours? Choose a time (even if it’s a few minutes) simply to offer your support to someone else’s blog. Don’t mention your own blog and please don’t leave your blog link in their comments. That’s spammy and disingenuous. Make this time specifically about others and not you.

I read something once on Instagram the other day that applies nicely to this: “You don’t build a business. You build people and the people build the business.” I don’t know who said it but I’d like to apply the same to blogging: You don’t build a blog. You serve the people and the people build the blog. This blog is made up of people. I didn’t build this, the people did. YOU did.

Have you grabbed your copy of Even Salt Looks Like Sugar yet? Have you reviewed Even Salt Looks Like Sugar yet? What are you waiting for?? Grab your copy now and leave an honest review when you’ve finished reading! CLICK HERE.

Blogger Tip 01 – How to Resize Images inside your WordPress Media and SAVE STORAGE SPACE..

Very good post from Chris on resizing your images to save storage space in WordPress so you don’t have to upgrade. No use spending money we don’t have to spend. I’ll be doing this tonight. #Winning

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

Have you been using images that are VERY LARGE, and/or, PNG Format?

Have you been reblogging and noticed how LARGE, some folks make their images?

Result

Running out of space in your WordPress Media Storage and thinking about paying for more?

Unless you are displaying your own images / photos, and WANT to have them full size

Before you spend any money, go through your Media Storage images and reduce their sizes

You might be shocked at how much longer you can work with the storage space you save.

Step 1:

Select an image and click on it to see it’s size (width x height in pixels)

and

how much it ‘weighs’ (i.e., how many KB or MB it is):

Step 2

My example has already been adjusted, but you can see it’s size and weight

To reduce them, click on the Edit Image button shown under the image:

Step…

View original post 127 more words

The First 300: How I Reached 300 Blog Followers in 3 Months

blogging

I don’t know what it is this week but I’ve been in a blog subject type of mood. Every article post idea has been about blogging. Could be the excitement still emanating from my radio show feature with Annette earlier this week –listen here- or it could be the excitement over reaching the 1,000 subscriber mark (and the crowd goes wild…. or not), but I thought I’d share my first experiences as a new blogger two years ago.

I started this blog in 2014. This post’s conception was thinking back to the early days, where I praised reaching three hundred and four hundred followers. It was fun! I even monitored the international support I received, and I was really excited about it, and I suppose before we get into it, gratitude is the real first bullet-point. My focus was on my own growth, and I celebrated that increase regardless of how other bloggers were doing.

My first blogging experience with The PBS Blog, specifically, got off to a good start, and I managed to reach 300 followers in my first three months. Here’s some of what I did. Will it work for you? Possibly, but everyone has to find their own way eventually. These points are just here to give you a start and some encouragement.

1. Resurrect Old Writings

When I started this blog, I was still blogging on WordPress under a different account. The name of that blog was A House of Poetry (you can find my silly post about cheating on that blog with The PBS Blog here), and it was a blog dedicated entirely to poetry. The thing is, it didn’t go anywhere, and I wasn’t committed to it. 

When I started this blog, I started by transferring many of my published poetry from the old blog to this blog. I also tore into some old poetry books, rewrote some older poems, and added them to this blog. My goal was to introduce myself by showcasing something I knew was a strength: poetry. Every day I published a new poem, and the faucet was on.

  1. Get Organized

I knew I could not survive too long by publishing only poetry. I had already tried that, and it didn’t work.

I got organized and, admittedly, a tad bit crazy, but I’ll speak on that next.

I decided to incorporate some features into this blog. I decided to publish three posts a day, all covering three different themes: One poem, one article or creative writing piece, and one quote.

Every day I published these to attract more than one kind of reader. Some people liked the poetry most, others the quotes, and others the written piece. I was on the road to creating variety with my blog, which is what I wanted. Many people say to have a niche, but that has not worked well for me. What I needed was quality content and to better connect with others.

  1. Consistency

As I said, I got a little crazy on this blog.

I was publishing three posts every day, six days a week. I knew I could not keep up this momentum for long, but I felt it was essential to initially establish a presence, so I tried to achieve consistency. Beginnings are difficult and challenging, but character is critical for blogging, which is developed by consistently producing valuable and relatable content.

Even if you post once a day or even once a month, it can make a big difference.

It’s important to remember my first experience with blogging was not this blog.

“If at first, you don’t succeed, dust yourself off and try again.”

I have had two blogs before this one. With this blog, I have learned how to stay true to myself while incorporating my passion into something relatable to other people. Preach art all you want, but people need to feel and relate to what you say to truly understand it since people rarely give ear to what they do not understand.

  1. Persistence

Posting a lot does not mean that I was getting feedback. All of these beginner posts got anywhere between zero to five likes and no comments. I was not sure how to engage, or what it meant to produce quality content. I knew that I had something to say and that I needed to get a good foundation under me as a beginner. What it helped me to do was to be humble. I learned to always respond to comments and to rejoice at whatever growth I got. Ten likes were golden, and because of this experience, it still is. I even take the time to open every email notification of a new like or comment. I know which of you will like what based on your like habits! Yes, I’ve gotten to know you better too.

  1. Networking

The most effective strategy was networking, or as I like to call it, the bonding process. The posting was not, and I do not think it will ever be enough. My first time seeing real feedback was when I started to follow other blogs, comment on other blogs, share content from other blogs, and interact in challenges. This is when I saw real growth. I noticed one hundred followers in one month, then another hundred, and then another. I noticed that I was getting one hundred followers a month, and by the end of my first three months, I had a lovely three hundred under me.

  1. Building

I am not sure if there is a standard with blogging, but three hundred followers were mine initially. For a long time, I considered ending this blog. Over time, I decided it may be worth keeping. As I made this decision, I also had to consider building. The building meant paying attention to many technical things I had not paid attention to before, tags, content, images, social media sharing, and networking.

No longer was it sufficient to post anything, now I had to consider a lot of background work that may help build a more significant blog. In the beginning, it was posting, the equivalent to getting myself out there, but now, if I was to continue to grow, I had to continue to do more than just post. I had to consider how important blogging was to me and how much time I was willing to dedicate to it. Now it was about more than just posting; it was about doing the work.

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Here’s to another one thousand. Maybe someday, all of this work will pay off, and I will be writing and blogging full time. Here’s to endless possibilities. Cheers.