An aspiring author (who struggles to write a coherent sentence) was affronted when I suggested that it might be a good idea to seek a little editing help.
“Why do I need to edit my blog posts? It’s JUST a blog.”
[ Read more ]
Is blogging a new adventure for you? Save your sanity with these three tips for newbie bloggers from author, Doug Brown.
Doug attended “Take your blogging and social media marketing to the next level,” a course Laura Christianson taught recently.
[ Read more ]
We’re excited to announce that we launched a remodeled version of BloggingBistro.com. Along with that, we’ve transferred our blog’s RSS feed to AWeber. Read on for details about how to subscribe via e-mail or your favorite feed reader.
[ Read more ]
Author Sherri Sand regularly includes scripture references in her devotional blog posts. She asked me whether there is a WordPress plugin that will automatically search her posts for scripture references and display the text of the Bible verses in a pop-up box.
Sure enough, there is! It’s called ESV CrossRef (or just CrossRef, once it’s installed on your site).
Read on to learn how it works and how it looks.
[ Read more ]
Have you ever received an email with a super-long link in it—a link so long it was unclickable? I certainly have.
Enter the amazing URL shrinker, a handy tool that shortens lengthy URLs (web addresses) to 25 or so characters.
In this article, we look at the pros and cons of URL shorteners, and review five excellent services:
Thinking about blogging this year?
Websites that include a blog integrated into the site (NOT hosted separately on Blogspot or some other blog hosting service) typically have 434% more indexed pages.
Blog posts are doorways to your business. Publish a blog post once a week this year, and give your customers 52 doors to open.
This article and accompanying infographic explains how to use the “doorway” method to help new customers discover you.
[ Read more ]
“I can’t think of anything to write about.”
When I taught high school English, my students frequently moaned about the lack of interesting things to write about.
My standard response: I’d roll my eyes and challenge them to keep their eyes and ears open and to ask questions about everything they see and hear.
When I was driving near my home, I spotted the perfect story starter. I’ve never had to pull to the side of the road to make way for a seaplane. In fact, I’ve never seen a seaplane being towed down the highway!
This scene has the makings for a good mystery/suspense story or an intriguing blog post.
[ Read more ]
The New York Times has updated its Manual of Style and Usage.
Here are several changes they’ve made to online-related terms:
World Wide Web is now known as the web with a lowercase “w.” (Have you noticed that very few advertisements include “www” in front of a web address? Most of us know that the “www” is a given; when referring people to our websites, we just say, “Go to BloggingBistro.com.”
website is lowercase, one word.
Internet, however, is capitalized.
Email no longer uses a hyphen.
[ Read more ]
When authors ask me to help them with their online marketing, they usually open with:
“My agent told me I need a Facebook ‘fan’ page, so I had my son create one for me. But I haven’t posted anything to it. I don’t even know how to use it. Help!”
Most writers struggle to balance the demands of writing and marketing our writing. Unsure about how to woo readers, we use the ‘spray and pray’ marketing method: we create a blog and multiple social media accounts, spray out random updates and pray someone pays attention.
[ Read more ]
Finding time to “do” social networking — and managing that time effectively — is the single biggest bugaboo most of us face.
In this article, I’ll show you an easy method to track the time you spend doing regular daily tasks. And you’ll get tips for social media time management.
[ Read more ]