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Writing Online

Blogging Advice Roundup

Just getting started? 21 Surefire Tips for a Successful Blog Launch at Aviva.
But once you get going, you need to keep it good. 11 Tips For Managing a Good Blog Entry at Vincent Maher.
And break it down further! Little Known Ways to Write Fascinating Bullet Points at Copyblogger.

How Insightful Comments Can Bring You Readers

Trying to decide whether you should allow comments or not on your blog? Sometimes they’re a huge pain–you can get spammers, flamers, tweakers, greasers, socs and geeks. But this article at Lifehack.org says that if they’re used and moderated in life, they can help your blog.

On Blogging Like a Man

littlebabycrown.JPGEver wonder about the utter glamour that is professional blogging? And how to blog well enough in order to get paid to do it? A Whole Lotta Nothing has an interesting interview with Joel Johnson, editor at Dethroner, the manly man’s blog.
And here is a related article for you new bloggers (or struggling bloggers) on how to write online vs. print. Keep it scannable, stupid.

5 Signs Your Blog Post Is Going Horribly Wrong

holytrainwreck.jpg1-So as I’m writing this, I’m at my apartment building in Chicago. It’s hazy outside and the Chicago White Sox are playing like crap, which really bugs me. Anyway, I’m hungry for dinner but I’ve got to write this blog post first.
2-Also my feet hurt. Do you ever wonder if there really is such a thing as an attractive yet comfortable sandal? I do.
3-So anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. I think I’m having cucumber salad for dinner.
4-The salad is made with a seeded cucumber, a sliced red onion, some unsalted peanuts and white balsamic vinegar (which I didn’t know existed until recently.) I also like to add salt (because I like salt too much) and a little red pepper.

Read more

I Almost Didn’t Post This (But Then I Realized I Get Paid To)

Amateur bloggers: sick of toiling your minutes away, updating your blog because you’re under the impression that nobody wants to read a blog that nobody posts on? Apparently that’s bull. “Daily posts are a legacy of a Web 1.0 mindset and early Web 2.0 days (meaning 12 months ago!). The pressure around posting frequency will ultimately become a significant barrier to the maturity of blogging. Here are 10 reasons why.” (from MarketingProfs)

How to Switch Web Hosting Providers Without Skipping a Beat

My current provider for my other site is old and rickety, like an about-to-collapse porch swing that somebody is too lazy to take down. I should switch to a fancy new provider, one that automatically provides XML coding for those who want to subscribe to my feed. I haven’t, though, because switching seems like too much of a pain. Dina Giolitto at Absolute Write, though, takes away all my excuses by giving me some tips on how to do it with relative ease.

How to Give and Get Better Blog

Do you maintain or thinking about starting a blog in order to spotlight yourself and your clips?
The Tlog presents tons of blogging tips, like how to promote yourself, how to choose a good name and how to keep your visitors coming back.
Meanwhile, it may be more about quality than quantity (never heard that one before), says Eric Kintz at Marketing Profs. So don’t throw a lot of garbage up on your site just in hopes that more posts=more readers.

Blogging for Journalists

I’m not sure how blogging for journalists would be different than blogging for non-journalists. I guess that journo bloggers are expected not to make up spectacular lies, unfairly malign people, steal artwork, swear or be biased. That’s probably why nobody wants to read journalist blogs. Anyway, for those of you who want to do both, Sree’s newish Blogging for Journalists blog.

The ‘New’ Plagiarism

I don’t suppose the Jonathan Bailey, proprietor of PlagiarismToday would find it funny if I reproduced his entire post below. Anyway, most blogs can’t survive without content referenced from other sites. However, there is a fine legal line between referencing and ripping off:

In lieu of a hard and fast rule, much like the fair use provision itself, we begin to seek out a framework for determining if a reuse is ethical or not. This framework would contain the following elements, many of which are found in the standard fair use provision:
1. The amount of reused content compared to the amount of original content.
2. The amount of reused content in relation to the original work.
3. The frequency with which large blocks of text are used.
4. What is gained by the original author.
5. Whether permission was granted in advance, either through a CC license or direct permission.
6. Whether attribution was provided or not.
7. Other indications as to the intent of the one reusing the work, including excessive advertisements, links to one’s own sites and other forms of profiteering or over the top promotion.

Read on if you are interested in copyright law or just have a blog and want to make sure you’re walking the line.

Habits of Highly Successful Bloggers

Ha ha, silly. There’s no such thing as a ‘successful’ blogger. Every time one is born it quits to go write a book.
But there are successful blogs. Melly at All Kinds of Writing discusses elements–consistency, shyness, laziness, drafts, aesthetics, written language, fresh ideas, vision, absense and diversity–that can make or break a blog.
More on this discussion over at ProBlogger (actually, where the topic originated.)

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