If you start writing and submitting freelance articles, you may have opportunities to add links to related information. If you are also a blogger or run a website, you can use this to increase the traffic to your outside work with visitors you already know will be interested in the subject matter you are talking about. If your blog has business aspects, this could increase interest in your skills and products. If you do affiliate work, it will also increase the number of people who may take an interest in those other aspects of your pages.
When adding links to articles that you submit to various services, be careful to pay attention to the guidelines. They will differ from publisher to publisher. You should try to make sure that your links in general are related to the subject matter of your article. Many publisher's and clients don't want articles that sound like a sales pitch, but don't mind you sharing other content if it is relevant.
For instance, I play piano and write songs, and have developed a blog of notes for musicians and music lovers. You can find it at http://nicolettesmusicnotes.blogspot.com . When I write articles about piano, songwriting or music theory, I take it as an opportunity to lead people back to my personal work outside the sites I submit articles to.
Showing posts with label blogging tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging tips. Show all posts
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Wordpress VS. Blogspot
Two services that allow you to crate and publish online blogs for free are Blogspot and Wordpress. Both can be used to publish material of any nature that you would like. It doesn't matter if you are publishing "Grandma's Cookinig Hints", "Underwater Basket Weaving for Dummies", or "Rocket Science for Kids". If your writing is of a mature nature, both services allow for warning pages and some adult content. ( For example, erotic poetry )These services appily to anyone who wants to put a blog together, regardless of the particular subject matter.
Both are very popular services with lot's of features. I like the themes that are available on Wordpress more than I like the themes on Blogspot. Wordpress seems to have done a lot more development in making their available themes visually appealing and interesting. The ready-made themes on Blogspot are much simpler looking, but layout is set up in a way that is very easy to use and professional looking. You can use either service in conjunction with various affiliate programs if you want to earn money from your writing. Both also allow you to create multiple blogs and manage them from the "dashboard" in your account.
I'm still not sure which service I like better, I'm experimenting with writing blogs on both of them to find out. I like the ease of Blogspot, but I enjoy some of the options Wordpress has that Blogspot doesn't seem to include. For instance, on Wordpress there is an easy interface for creating multiple pages. It's possible to create links to other pages on Blogspot, but doesn't work the same way.
I'd be interested to hear the opinions of others on both services- what do you think works better? Feel free to leave a comment.
Here are the links to both if you haven't tried them, creating an account with either or both is free and a relatively simple and quick process.
http://wordpress.org/
http://www.blogger.com/home
Both are very popular services with lot's of features. I like the themes that are available on Wordpress more than I like the themes on Blogspot. Wordpress seems to have done a lot more development in making their available themes visually appealing and interesting. The ready-made themes on Blogspot are much simpler looking, but layout is set up in a way that is very easy to use and professional looking. You can use either service in conjunction with various affiliate programs if you want to earn money from your writing. Both also allow you to create multiple blogs and manage them from the "dashboard" in your account.
I'm still not sure which service I like better, I'm experimenting with writing blogs on both of them to find out. I like the ease of Blogspot, but I enjoy some of the options Wordpress has that Blogspot doesn't seem to include. For instance, on Wordpress there is an easy interface for creating multiple pages. It's possible to create links to other pages on Blogspot, but doesn't work the same way.
I'd be interested to hear the opinions of others on both services- what do you think works better? Feel free to leave a comment.
Here are the links to both if you haven't tried them, creating an account with either or both is free and a relatively simple and quick process.
http://wordpress.org/
http://www.blogger.com/home
Blogging Basics #1 – Content Specific Writing
Different services provide many types of opportunities for people who like to write. Social networks such as LiveJournal, Facebook and MySpace provide places for people to share their daily stories and link up with one another.
The next step for many people that get into that is to write content specific blogs, which can provide useful information and endless hours of fun for web surfers. Most internet traffic goes to sites that center on specific topics. This is probably because the average surfer does searches that are interest based, which lead them to material about the particular interest they have in mind. This can lead to a lot of traffic on a content centered blog, much more than one might expect from a generalized journal on a social network. For those who are interested in making money with their writing, Content specific blogs are eligible for advertising from affiliates and other options which may generate some pocket change.
Affiliate advertising has it's pro's and con's. For one, if you are trying to run any kind of business that is related to a blog you write, it may not be in your best interest to use outside advertising on your page. If you have a product or service of your own to sell, you don't want to pull your potential customers off your page and send them somewhere else. At the same time, the potential audience you have on the Internet is very broad. Sometimes getting involved in social networks that are related to your business may draw you more positive attention. A balanced common sense approach should help you figure out weather or not advertising would be advantageous for you, and in which ways.
Blogging has another positive result for freelance writers. It puts your work out there and allows others to see informal examples of your capabilities. If you want to get into writing on a professional level, using blogging to increase your visibility as a writer is a good move.
By default, blogging is great practice for other writing projects. If you start blogging, or keep going with developing things you have already put together, other kinds of writing projects are very natural. Unlike 20 years ago, this technopalloza opens up a lot of doors for people who are talented at writing. It is not difficult to self publish your own books, or to get into writing articles professionally. It has a great appeal to many people- what other job can you do while still in your pajamas's and drinking copious amounts of coffee?
The next step for many people that get into that is to write content specific blogs, which can provide useful information and endless hours of fun for web surfers. Most internet traffic goes to sites that center on specific topics. This is probably because the average surfer does searches that are interest based, which lead them to material about the particular interest they have in mind. This can lead to a lot of traffic on a content centered blog, much more than one might expect from a generalized journal on a social network. For those who are interested in making money with their writing, Content specific blogs are eligible for advertising from affiliates and other options which may generate some pocket change.
Affiliate advertising has it's pro's and con's. For one, if you are trying to run any kind of business that is related to a blog you write, it may not be in your best interest to use outside advertising on your page. If you have a product or service of your own to sell, you don't want to pull your potential customers off your page and send them somewhere else. At the same time, the potential audience you have on the Internet is very broad. Sometimes getting involved in social networks that are related to your business may draw you more positive attention. A balanced common sense approach should help you figure out weather or not advertising would be advantageous for you, and in which ways.
Blogging has another positive result for freelance writers. It puts your work out there and allows others to see informal examples of your capabilities. If you want to get into writing on a professional level, using blogging to increase your visibility as a writer is a good move.
By default, blogging is great practice for other writing projects. If you start blogging, or keep going with developing things you have already put together, other kinds of writing projects are very natural. Unlike 20 years ago, this technopalloza opens up a lot of doors for people who are talented at writing. It is not difficult to self publish your own books, or to get into writing articles professionally. It has a great appeal to many people- what other job can you do while still in your pajamas's and drinking copious amounts of coffee?
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