blogging

Miscellany: How I Write a Blog Post {Part 10}

by oh amanda on February 24, 2012

We made it! The last and final stop in our How *I* Write a Blog Post series! I hope you haven’t been bored out of your mind. I hope it has been helpful. I kinda liked writing it. I’m intrigued by blogging and social media so I love talking about it.

I want to end with just a few tiny little tips and practices I’ve adopted as I write my posts. They aren’t life-changing, but I think they’re good stuff!

1. Customized Links

I told you I like customizing my links for twitter. But I also like customizing links so I can remember them and have them on hand when I need them quickly. And why would I want to remember them? Because I want to link to myself regularly! And not just to make sticky posts.

Sometimes I run across a Tangled party post on another blog. When I am leaving a comment, instead of putting my blog’s URL in the required field, I put in the link to my Tangled Party. But I don’t want to go back to my blog and look up the URL, so I just remember my customized URL: bit.ly/TangledParty!

This also works well when someone asks me about my party on Twitter or Facebook. Or even if I just want to link to it in one of my own posts. I can quickly remember it and link it!

I have customized URLs for all my parties, series, About Me pages and even to a bio page (which includes a photo and bio for other blogs to use when I guest post, etc.).

Not to toot my own horn but I think this genius. It’s such a big time-saver!

2. Share This button

There are all kinds of social media buttons and plug-ins to insert into your posts so that others can easily share your posts on their social media networks. Share This is my favorite. And since I’ve installed it in this format (large buttons with number of shares above the buttons ), I’ve noticed I get MORE shares. People experience positive peer pressure and if it’s been shared 400 times, they are apt to do the same.

3. Series

A series is a perfect opportunity keep people coming back to your blog for more.

Here are a few ideas I’ve used to maximize my series…

Make a linky of the series. You can set up a private linky (from LinkyTools) to add all your posts into one big visual post. Here’s my Super Hero series from Impress Your Kids…

You might wanna click over to see the whole post but it begins with my series graphic, a quick description, then the link with every post in order and I also include an Amazon widget with fun super hero books and CDs (monetization!!!) and a button to my Super Hero Pinterest board!

Link to the next post in the series at the bottom of the previous post. I usually write a teaser like, “Stay tuned for Part 4!” then when Part 4 is posted, I go back and link it. That way when people are finding your series later, they can follow along quickly!

In this blogging series, I also added a banner to the bottom that links back to the original post in the series. It also marks this post as a series, which I like.

The first post in the series also contains a list of links to the entire series! So my readers have NO EXCUSE to not read every single one!

So. I think I’ve done it. I think I’ve told you every detail of my life on this computer. Now do you see why blogging is so time-consuming? Do you see why my dishes are never done and my laundry continues to be in a huge pile? It’s all this blogginess that must happen when I write a post! (Also, do you see where my priorities lie?!)

I hope you enjoyed this series! If you did, please consider sharing it on your social media networks! Click the banner below to get to the first page of the series OR use this customized URL to cut/paste into your tweets or Facebook updates: http://bit.ly/HowIWrite

(See? See how I did that?!)

Now. Any questions?

{ 6 comments }

Pinterest: How I Write a Blog Post {Part 9}

by oh amanda on February 23, 2012

in blogging

Pin It

Ahh, Pinterest! The newest site to take Social Media by storm. If for some reason you’re under a rock and haven’t heard of it, it’s a beautiful website that mimics a pinboard. You find cool images, posts, articles or websites online and pin them on your own boards.

I have boards for food (which I use as a cookbook about once a week), bloggy resources (links to my favorite photographers, tutorials, etc.), hairstyles (to show my stylist), kids crafts I want to do and even a purple board! It’s the only bookmarking site I’ve ever used with success.

Let’s talk about how I use Pinterest when I write a blog post…

To Pin Or Not To Pin?

I do not like to pin my own posts. It doesn’t feel right to me. Maybe that’s how old-skool folks on Twitter felt when people started adding their RSS feeds. But I’m standing firm. Pinterest is a board for ME. Pinning my posts feels spammy.

Pinterest even cautions against self-promotion, “Pinterest is designed to curate and share things you love. If there is a photo or project you’re proud of, pin away! However, try not to use Pinterest purely as a tool for self-promotion.” (source)

Instead of pinning yourself, why not ask your golden rule group to pin it?

So, How Do I Make Pinterest Work For My Blog Posts?

1. Put a PIN IT button on my posts. If my post is something I think people will want to remember (one of those evergreen posts), I go to Pinterest and craft a personal Pin It button for your post. I made you a screencast, because they are fun. It’s under 58 seconds. Enjoy…

There are plug-ins that do this, too. But I haven’t had much success with them. Has anyone else?

2. Make my Photos Pinnable and Re-Pinnable. If you have a good post, people are going to pin it regardless of your pictures. If you have good pictures, even more people are going to pin it. But if you have a super-perfect photo people will REPIN it!

For example, my Little House on the Prairie party was pretty adorable. But the pictures alone, don’t pique any interest if there’s no context (ie. people browsing Pinterest). By adding graphics to one of my photos (the first photo in the post) it makes my post pinnable AND re-pinnable. Plus, it sets up a nice title for my post. See?

The only thing that would make this picture better is if I had put “ohamanda.com” in the bottom corner. No need to waste an opportunity to advertise my blog title, you know?

3. Pin My Own Posts. I thought you said you didn’t pin your own stuff?! Well, I don’t. Mostly.

Let’s go back to Lydia’s Little House party. When I first started planning the party, I made Lydia’s Little House on the Prairie Party board on Pinterest. I added all the ideas I found on etsy, via google and from Pinterest. Then once my party was finally done and my post up, I pinned it with a description like, “And here it is, Lydia’s party!”

My board is a fabulous resource for people who want to do a Little House Party (however small that audience might be) and I couldn’t NOT add my own post!

I’ve actually gone back and started boards for some of my old parties like Lydia’s Tangled Party because I still love the idea & have found fun ideas that go with it. Then I can pin my post on the board without being spammy.

I do this lots on my Impress Your Kids blog for series I’m doing. My Super Sunny Day, Advent Calendars and Super Hero board has tons of really fun links and then ONE link to my posts when I’ve published them. It’s a win-win for Pinners AND for folks reading my blog because they can see the extras I’ve found on Pinterest!

Another idea…

Some people do have boards titled, “MY BLOG POSTS” or “GREAT IDEAS BY ME” which is just a big RSS feed from their blog. And that’s fine because you can follow boards individually. If you don’t like seeing someone pin their own stuff, you can unfollow that board. I tried to do this. You can see how well it turned out.

Now. Let’s Talk About Being Nice On Pinterest.

There are so many blog posts about this right now. I was going to do my own little dissertation on permalinks, graphics and more. Instead, I’ll leave you with this: JUST CUZ YOU PIN SOMETHING DOESN’T MAKE IT YOURS. And on the other hand, IF SOMEONE PINS YOUR CONTENT THEY MIGHT THINK IT’S THEIRS. WHATCHOO GONNA DO ABOUT IT?

And now, to explain those awesome warnings, read these posts. Seriously. Pin them if you have to, they are that good:

Information for Bloggers & People Who Use Pinterest and Pinterest Is Changing How I Blog from Amy at Living Locurto. {If you’re getting traffic from Pinterest or WANT traffic from Pinterest, you MUST MUST read these two posts.}

The Ultimate List of Pinterest Tips at Blogging With Amy {Honestly, why am I even doing a series about blogging when Amy’s blog exists? She’s got her finger on pulse of blogging.}

I could honestly talk about Pinterest forever because it’s so interesting to me. I didn’t even touch on the insight I gain from watching my blog being pinned (see: http://pinterest.com/source/ohamanda.com). Talk about real time feedback!

But I’ll stop. You’re welcome.

How do you leverage Pinterest for your blog?

{And if you’re not on Pinterest and need an invite, let me know and I’ll send you one!}

Coming Soon: Miscellany {Part 10}

Catch up on the whole series…

{ 17 comments }

Twitter: How I Write a Blog Post {Part 8}

by oh amanda on February 22, 2012

in blogging,me

Do you like the way it takes me almost 20 days to do a 10 part series? Me, too. Anywhoo, welcome back to How *I* Write a Blog Post. Where were we? Oh yeah! We’ve written our post and are tryin’ to get it OUT there. After I facebook it, I tweet it.

Now, I have a long relationship with Twitter. In fact, I randomly got a tweet the other day that I’ve been tweeting 4 years. (It was my tweetaversary? Tweetday?) And I love twitter. Even though it’s crazy popular, it’s still kind of a secret club. I still hear people say, “I don’t get twitter.” And for some reason, that makes me like it more. I like being part of something that is mysterious to others. And actually getting something others don’t.

That being said, Twitter has definitely changed in the last four years. It went from ~~daily~~ hourly status updates to big conversations. Now it feels a little less conversational and a little more RSS feed. But I believe if you want to be IN Social Media, (that’s social media with a capital S) you need to be on twitter. Not just shooting your RSS feed to twitter but interacting on it and with it.

However, we’re talking about How I Write a Blog Post.

So, after I write a post, I send it to twitter. I usually do an update right away. Then I schedule it 2 more times for the day.

For example, 8am when I first post. Then lunch-ish (or nap-time) and another at 8pm-ish (which is kid-bedtime!). There are all kinds of research on when the best time to tweet is, the most RT-able time, etc. I just tend to tweet them when I am actually on because I figure my audience has a similar schedule to me.

I use Tweetdeck to schedule my tweets. But Hootsuite also works well. I don’t like those automatic from your blog post tweets. I know I occasionally do them. But I don’t like them. They are ugly.

I’m also very conscious of a few things in my tweets:

1. Make it RT-able. If you write a tweet that is 139 characters, no one will be able to retweet (RT) it. So, pare it down to give yourself room for a RT. I know I’ve seen good tweets and go to RT them but when I couldn’t cut it down to RT it, I just dumped it.

2. Link to others. I’m all about being generous with my tweets. I try to use others’ twitter handles, popular hashtags and company twitter handles. This will get you RTs, too. People love RT-ing nice tweets about themselves. (Although that can be a little tacky. I like the advice to STAR them instead.)

3. Keep it neat. I shorten my links so my tweets aren’t ugly. I like bit.ly because it’s shorter than some of the others, I can look at stats of my tweets and the links are customizable. I almost always customize important links because, which one would you rather click on: bit.ly/TangledParty or bit.ly/Idksl91? That’s what I thought.

OK. That’s all I got.

What’s your twitter advice?

Coming Soon: Part 9: Pinterest

Catch up….

{ 1 comment }

Groups & Tribes {Finding Support in the Blogosphere}

February 14, 2012 blogging

Well, hello, Tuesday! Are we here already? I’m super excited today because I’m collaborating with a group of fabulous {crafty} bloggers {who are totally out of my league} on a series called, Grow Your Blog! Pretty appropriate since we are in the middle of a blogging series here, aptly (and predictably titled), How *I* Write [...]

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Amazon Affiliate Tutorial {How I Write a Blog Post: Part 6b}

February 8, 2012 blogging

Pin It alternate title: THIS IS WHAT I DO FOR YOU!! alternate alternate title: DO YOU SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU? alternate alternate alternate title: WHY AMANDA’S LAUNDRY STILL ISN’T FINISHED {subscribers click over to see my very first screencast!} Part 7: Facebook for Bloggers

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Monetize It: How I Write a Blog Post {Part 6}

February 8, 2012 blogging

To monetize means TO MAKE MONEY ON YOUR BLOG. Yes, it’s possible without private sponsors or paychecks from big companies. You can do affiliate marketing on almost every post. Ready to hear how I monetize my posts? Monetizing New Posts When I write a post I see as evergreen content (any of my party posts, [...]

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SEO: How I Write a Blog Post Part 5–Top Ten {Tuesday} Style!

February 6, 2012 blogging

Have you been following along with my How *I* Write a Blog Post series? Well, it originally started as a crazy-long Top Ten {Tuesday} post which I turned into a series. I’m basically outlining every single detail of what I do when I write a post. It’s a nice step-by-step series if you’re a newbie [...]

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