As a product of the 80s, I have grown up in a world where if I want to know something, it’s never too hard to find the answer. We’ve all seen an increase in the give-it-to-me-now attitude and with responsibilities and information springing up all around us, none of us have time to twiddle our thumbs any more.

Information has to be easy to find. It has to be concise, while being comprehensive enough to be of use.

As content creators, there is a lot that you can do to make your information more accessible to your internet audience. As you go through these tips, you’ll see how they’ll likely apply to how you hunt for information online.

General writing tips

Keep your Foot on the Gas

Creativity is the key to staying relevant, interesting and fresh online. In order to be creative, you need to spew all your thoughts down without subjecting them to editing. Write your entire article without stopping. Then go back and edit it afterwards.

Start in the Middle

Write the main part of your post first. Your post may not take the form that you initially thought, so you want to leave the introduction and conclusion until the main part of your post is set. This way your introduction grabs your readers’ attention and the post actually matches your introduction.

Do it Everywhere!

As creative beings, we come up with ideas in the strangest of places. When you get an idea, write it down there and then. If you don’t, you’ll forget it and miss out on a potentially awesome post.

Most of us have smartphones now. You may even be using one of the official WordPress apps. If not, you probably have access to a pen and paper. Or a napkin. Or papyrus.

The title

10 Steps to Super Awesome, Attention-Grabbing Post Titles

Okay, so I don’t have 10 steps, but there’s a few good ways of crafting a winning title:

• Put a number in there. I don’t know why, but people prefer ’5 tips to success’ over ‘Tips to success’.
• Use exaggerative adjectives. ’10 killer tips’ beats ’10 fairly good tips’.
• Capitalize everything but your stop words. Stop words are words like and, as, for, to me etc. e.g. ’10 Killer Tips to Improve your Writing’.

Check your Keywords

This isn’t an SEO tutorial, but you need to consider who you’re aiming for with the post and have the right words in your title to make sure that both human and search engines find you.

Writing style

Have Confidence in Yourself

Don’t be cocky to the point of being arrogant, but have confidence in yourself. Know that you write great content and have confidence in your opinion and knowledge. This applies to when you’re promoting your content too!

Humor and the Personal Touch

Don’t be afraid to have a laugh. You’re not writing a textbook – you’re writing short articles and your personal touch will help set your writing style apart as something that is fun and enjoyable to read.

Formatting like a pro

Wandering Eyes

Us internet people are great at scanning and finding important information. However, you can help out your readers by highlighting the most important parts of your post. Think underline, italics and bold.

Ease up on the Punctuation

This is really hard for me because I loathe what I see as the bastardization of the English language, but there are ways you can avoid over-complicating your punctuation without sacrificing good writing practices. For example, use a bulleted list instead of writing one in a sentence using colons and semi-colons.

Since We’re Talking About Lists…

Lists are excellent. They draw attention and display your crucial information in an easy-to-digest fashion. Whether bulleted or numbered, they’ll draw focus to the crown jewels of your post.

Shawty

We’ve all grown up with ‘bigger is better’, but in the internet generation, that’s not really the case any more (great news boys!). Your reader’s attention is fleeting at best. So keep sentences and paragraphs short. The shorter the better. Got it?

Headings

Break your post up into general sections and use semantic markup (that’s h2, h3 and h4 tags to you and me) to give your readers an idea of what’s in your post so they can find what matters to them.

Images

It’s amazing what a little color can do for you. Aim to have at least one image in every post, whether it’s decorative, instructional or to grab attention.

The Final 4-point Inspection

Read It Yourself

Don’t ever publish something that you haven’t read and re-read. It also helps to plan ahead so that you have time to come back to an article a few days later with a fresh mind before it gets published.

Reality Check

It’s fine to be opinionated, but are you driving your point home with arrogance?  Also be conscious of how realistic your claims are. It might be tempting to tell someone they can earn millions by blogging, but it stinks of sensationalism and is a real turn-off. Be confident, even optimistic, but always be realistic.

Fact Check

There’s little that screams “I don’t know what I’m doing” more than incorrect facts. If you start out an article telling me that the internet was started by Mark Zuckerberg in 1995, I’ve already moved on.

The Rules of Engagement

Your readers are your lifeline. Even if you’re not writing to make money, you’re writing so that what you write will be read. So engage your readers in conversation. Initiate conversations with those who share your article. Respond to comments. And invite feedback and questions on what you’ve written (which I’m hoping you’ll realize is an invitation to do just that right now).

Being a blogger in today’s competitive blogging environment can become very stressful for many people. We see so many bloggers claiming amazing earnings and traffic we sometimes wonder what we’re doing wrong as a blogger and how we can achieve better success.

What you have to understand as a new blogger is these members didn’t just start blogging they have been blogging for a long time and have built up a large reader base. When I first started blogging I didn’t make any money and my traffic was very low.

What I want to do today is help you feel better about how your blog is growing and what you shouldn’t be worrying about as a relatively new blogger. Enjoy the list and if you have any questions simply leave a comment below.

1. Making money from the start – Realistically most bloggers will not make huge amounts of money from simply blogging. This takes time, commitment and dedication. I didn’t start making money from blogging for the first year. You have to build up a readers base and gain traffic before you start earning.

2. Getting tons of comments – Don’t feel bad if your articles still aren’t getting comments. Look at the traffic I get here at blog engage and I still get no comments on some of my articles. Getting comments takes time and requires a lot of readers. Continue writing your content, stay positive and with hard marketing your blog will eventually start to pick up.

3. RSS Subscribers – Don’t expect everyone visiting your blog to sign up to your RSS Subscription. This takes time and dedication as well. The readers have to see that you are consistent with good quality work before they put their selves subject to your content in their e-mail everyday. Keep writing quality articles, communicate with your blog visitors and eventually your RSS will start gaining new subscribers. This is a long and slow process for the majority of bloggers so don’t feel bad and keep your head up.

4. Custom themes – When you first start blogging don’t worry about having the biggest or nicest theme. This doesn’t mean use something basic and simple it means don’t buy something custom. You can still find many nice and free templates online. When your blog reader base starts growing and traffic increases perhaps it’s time to move to the next level. When you initially start a free wordpress theme is just fine.

5. Publishing your content on social networks – When you first start blogging don’t expect your content to hit the front page on social networks. Remember your new to blogging which also means your new to the industry. You have to start developing relationships with members inside these communities. To be honest your better off simply signing up, commenting and voting for others before you even submit your first article.

6. Re-tweets on twitter – Similar to getting published on social networks your content will most likely get little or no re-tweets. Again you have to build on your relationships with other bloggers. Try to stick with bloggers that have similar interests to you. This is a great way to build your brand and eventually get some re-tweets from people that follow you back.

7. Being like the other bloggers – I assume you started blogging because you seen someone else doing it and you thought well I can do that too. This may be true and you can potentially be a great blogger but do not worry about being like or similar to other bloggers. Find your own path and be unique. Blogging in the same niche is fine but please bring some originality to the table.

8. Blogging everyday – Please what ever you do, don’t feel obligated to blog everyday. I do however suggest being consistent with your readers. If your going to release content on your blog make sure it’s the same day of each week so your readers have an idea on when to return and visit. Blogging everyday is not needed and should only be done if you want to, not because you think you have to.

9. Don’t worry about what other people think – Like in life you can’t spend your day wondering what other think about you. Be yourself and produce content that you enjoy writing. Do as you wish on your blog, hence it’s called your blog. This is your place to be yourself without having to worry what others are thinking. If this is an issue with you in real life starting a blog may be a huge obstacle to overcome.

10. Don’t worry it will all work out – When you put your all into blogging it will eventually work out in your favor. Your reader base will grow, your organic traffic will start flowing in and you can start monetizing your blog to make some extra income. Take it easy for the first month and focus on branding and marketing.

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Be sure to add me as a friend, bbrian017

Twitter, bbrian017

Thanks,

Brian

When trying to market your blog with blog engage you have to understand how the community behaves and operates. Blog Engage isn’t your typical article submission website. We have real members and real hard working bloggers visiting our community.

What you have to understand is our members treat blog engage in the same manner they would treat their own blog. We respect one another, help promote one another and engage on each others blogs.

Building relationships with members of the community on a personal level is of most importance for your successful entry into our community. We have many ways this can be done and in today’s article I’m going to share a few of them with you.

Adding Friends

As a member in the blog engage community you have the ability to add members to your friends list. When you first sign up this should be something to consider doing. Adding friends allows you to see what your friends are voting on, commenting on and the latest articles they are submitting. Look for members that your familiar with and when visiting their profile you will see an “add bbrian017 to your friend list” option. Simply click it and you are done.

Voting on Articles

Part of building relationships with our members includes voting on their articles. Take the time to visit the upcoming page and see if any of your friends need that extra vote on their article. Simply signing in, submitting content and leaving will not cut it. Be part of the community and help make a change in the blogosphere.

Commenting on Articles

One of the biggest advantages when marketing your blog with blog engage is finding other great articles to comment on. I’ve never had to go outside of blog engage to find an article that interested me in which I wanted to comment on. We have many categories you can sort though to find your niche specific articles to comment on. All our members are submitting quality content so there really is no need to look else where.

Commenting on Story Submissions

Don’t be shy when looking around blog engage. Get involved and start commenting on the bloggers story page right here on blog engage. Sometimes we have something to say but it’s doesn’t qualify to be a comment. This is the perfect opportunity to post a comment on the actually blog engage story page. This also helps build traffic for your friends because other members will read your comment and perhaps follow the link to the blog authors website.

Sending Direct Messages

Sending direct messages is an amazing way to build on your new friendships. Send our members messages about their articles or simply to have discussion or ask them a question. I know many members don’t use this part of our service but we really should be taking advantage of it more often.

For more great blog engage tips make sure to check out this article,

Top five ways to rock the socks off blog engage

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Be sure to add me as a friend, bbrian017

Twitter, bbrian017

Thanks,

Brian

Keeping up to date on everything a blogger needs to do on their blog can be overwhelming at times. In today’s post I want to touch base on some of the things i notice many blog engage member’s don’t do currently on their blog.

The suggestions in today’s article are not mandatory but if your going to be hanging around blog engage I would suggest trying a few of them out and seeing if your blog gets a better response from our members.

1. Start using the re tweet button on all your blog posts. I don’t know how many times I loved an article but was to lazy to manually post it to twitter. It’s so important to add a re-tweet button for the convenience of your members or blog visitors.

2. When adding the re-tweet button please make sure to add your twitter user name in the code set up. There’s two reasons you want to do this.

• You should know who’s re-tweeting your articles. This helps build on relationships and allows you to easily return the favor.

• Every time your content is retweeted there’s a good chance you will gain a few of that individuals tweeter friends if the content is of interest to them.

3. Make sure your blog isn’t over packed with unwanted or useless plugins. If your blog is taking forever to load no one will be returning. There’s nothing worse then a blog that loads so much stuff it affects the overall performance of ones computer. We have a few members like that here at blog engage and at times I don’t even visit because I already know the out come. Long load times and pc lagging.

4. Take a look at your ad placement and ensure it’s not affecting the experience of the visitor. There’s nothing worse then a blog full of ads with little or no content. Make sure your content out weighs your ads. Take it from me you will make just as much money with one ad in the right place as opposed to three ads in the wrong place.

5. Get a theme already! This is one of my biggest issues with most blogs today. You must make your website somewhat original. Get a free theme, make a header and customize your blog a little. You don’t have to go out and spend a lot of money but please do something original. There’s many free amazing looking themes out there. Stop being lazy it’s time for a change!

6. Create an environment that is friendly for other bloggers to comment. Add some plugins that will reward them when they take the time to comment on your blog. This can be done by adding commentluv, top commentators and twitter profile plugins. investigate for more commenting plugins it’s always beneficial to have them installed.

7. Engage with your readers when they visit and comment on your blog. Make sure to follow them back to their blog and post a return comment. This is a great way to build on your blogging relationships and increase return visits to your blog.

8. Set up your RSS feed box with Google immediately. Don’t waste time when it comes to this because it’s hard to get blog subscribers. As time passes you will start to grow your subscriber list and you will be happy you started it early rather then late. I started mine late but I was a complete blogging noob. Don’t be like me get your feed set up and running live ASAP.

9. Continue marketing and promoting on a daily basis. Use twitter, facebook, blogengage and any other social network you enjoy using. When you think you promoted enough keep going most likely your wrong and could do way more to market your  blog and articles. Join webmaster forums and other communities to get your message out. Building traffic is vital to the success of any blog.

10. Clean up your old blog posts. Make sure to go back and edit any spelling or grammar mistakes you can find. Update the content if it’s dated or irrelevant. This is also a great time to look at your Google analtyics code and see if each individual article can be monetized.

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Be sure to add me as a friend, bbrian017

Twitter, bbrian017

Thanks,

Brian

We all hit the wall now and then… that point where we just stare at the monitor, our mind either blank or wandering elsewhere. We find ourselves totally unable to express a single coherent thought. Our deadline looms ever closer, urgent other tasks begin to pile up and yet, we still can’t seem to get it together. And the harder we try to write, the harder it becomes.

We’re suffering from writer’s block!

Writer’s block can be brought on by a number of different causes. We may be preoccupied about something, nervous about the quality of what we’re about to write, we may be over-tired or we may just have a toothache. Something unseen is subconsciously distracting us, however, leaving us unable to focus on the task at hand.

Writer’s block can last minutes, hours, days or weeks. I’ve even heard of one accomplished professional author that complained of suffering from writer’s block for two years!

I’ve had it hit me. In fact, within the last week! It wasn’t the first time, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. But I’ve got a few tricks that help me overcome it, and I’m going to share them with you here.

They’ve all worked for me at one time or another, though the same one doesn’t work every time. You’ll have to try several of them, and see which ones work best for you.

Ten Ways to Beat Writer’s Block

• Set a routine – pick a time of day, perhaps even the hour, in which you want to write. Pick your location. Wear your favorite shirt and slippers. Listen to your favorite music. You decide what your most comfortable routine is. Then stick with it. It can help prevent a block, and sometimes, if you’re feeling blocked, you may realize you skipped something. Fix it, and you may fix the block.

• Experiment – First of all, when setting your routine. But also when you’re feeling blocked. Move to a different chair or even a different room. Change the music, your shirt or your slippers. Experiment!

• Relax – If you worry about it, guess what? It won’t go away!

• Read & Jot – Read through a draft of your document and jot down notes in the margin.

• Take a break – Sometimes all you need is a brief break. Make a sandwich, call a friend or just go sit on the dock and drag your toes in the water. When you come back, you’ll be refreshed.

• Move – If you sit there all day, you’re going to get stiff, even if you don’t realize it. Get up now and then and stretch your legs. Take the dog for a walk. Dance a waltz with an imaginary partner (okay, I don’t do that!)

• Change your focus – try focusing on a different portion of the project for a bit. Even if it’s just getting a head start on the index or table of contents, it’s a mental break that may allow you to return refreshed later.

• Don’t be stubborn – if you’re not happy with the way a particular piece has come together, rather than beating your head against the wall, trying to fix something that doesn’t work, don’t be afraid to throw it out and start fresh.

• Associate – this is my personal favorite! Write a key word on a piece of paper, then start clustering words around it, by word association. You’ll be surprised how quickly ideas can take shape with this method. I even use it when I’m not blocked but simply looking for a new approach.

• Freehand – this one sounds strange, but it really works! Choose a sentence out of your project, and write an entire paragraph about it. Then write another paragraph about one sentence out of THAT paragraph. I’ve never had to go any deeper than that, before I found my “voice” again.

If all these tips fail to get you back on track, then I suggest you simply walk away, and come back to it tomorrow. Don’t fret about it, just accept it.

But don’t accept it easily… try all ten!

You might even try that imaginary waltz! Just draw the curtains first, so the neighbors don’t think you’ve lost it!

I have been visiting a lot of blogs lately and was surprised how plain or simple some were and thought it would be beneficial to suggest ideals on how bloggers can spice up and improve the quality of their blogging website.

Anything that helps keep your readers longer is beneficial. Today we will cover add-ons, themes, and plug-ins that will retain visitors and also help you become better blogger in the long run. There’s many things you can do personally to help with writing but today it’s all about the look and appearance for your visitors.

Your current template or theme

How old is your template now?

Have your reader been seeing the same one for more then a year?

Perhaps it’s time to consider changing into a new look and feel.

Visitor appreciation

Show your visitors that you appreciate then commenting and visiting your blog. Add any widget that will say thank you and help them promote their blog. I would suggest one of the following plug-ins.

Comment Luv

My Top Commentators Widget

What about your pictures!

I find this is one of the most annoying things a blogger can do. I hate clicking images only to find I was sent to the image url. Come on my blogging friends lets make this look nice for the visitors.

When I click an image I want a nice java script pop up (on page) that’s easy to navigate and doesn’t send me to an image page with no back button. I personally use the following plug-in, Shutter Reloaded. It’s brilliant and a must use for all bloggers preparing to show images in blog posts.

Shutter Reloaded

Well I hope this helps you guys some what! I know it’s made my blog way better.

I couldn’t blog without them!

Cheers,

Brian