Journalists & Bloggers Toolbox Blog

Are you on Twitter? Now, bloggers do really need to be on twitter because it’s a great place to start growing a readership, if you use it right. Which is where the problem comes in. I hear a lot of writers and bloggers fuss because they don’t see how twitter is useful, but then when I check out their twitter account, they’re doing everything wrong.  The important thing to remember about twitter is that it is social networking which means you need to be social.  So, let’s look at one thing people do wrong – the quotes.

When I get a new twitter follower, I have to decide a couple of things. One is, am I going to follow them back out of politeness.  Potential readers of my work get followed back.  But then there is the second decision — am I going to put them in one of my twitter lists with the folks who’s tweets I actually read and who I interact with on twitter.  Dividing people into lists helps me keep up with those folks I actually want to chat with on Twitter. This includes friends and fellow writers as well as a few people who just have really interesting things to say.

Which brings me to the twitter trend of tweeting quotes from famous people. Guess where those people go on my twitter?  Actually, if the twitter list is mostly quotes I don’t even bother to follow back. If it’s heavily geared toward quotes but shows some signs of life, I may follow the twitter but I won’t list them.  See, tweeting quotes tends to be a technique used by those who want to show an active twitter account but don’t really want to bother to think up anything original to say.  When I first joined twitter, I was impressed by people who wanted to share quotes with me every day. But as the list of people I followed grew, I started noticing that a number of people did little but tweet quotes all day long in hopes of looking like active members of the twitter community. So, I stopped following them.

Today I want to talk about the comments section of your blog and how you might not be using it to its best advantage.  Now I’m part of a group that does a blog hop every weekend.  A blog hop is a great way to get readers and attract some attention to your blog. And to help each other out, most of us try to leave comments on each other’s blogs.  But that means we often have to help the new members over a bit of a learning curve when it comes to making it easy for people to leave comments on your blog. Now the operative lesson here is that you want to make it easy for people to leave comments on your blog. Yes, we all want to avoid spam and there are tools to help with that without limiting the ability of real readers to contribute.

First, make it as easy as possible to find the comments section.  Usually I look at the bottom of the post, but I’ve seen some blogs where the comments are indicated by a tiny thought bubble mixed in with 5 different social media icons. This isn’t a method I’d recommend. Next, make sure that the reader doesn’t have to register with a service in order to comment. This means that they need to be able to leave a comment with nothing more than a name and URL or email.  You don’t have to go as far as anonymous but depending on how controversial your blog is, that could get you more comments.  But I strongly recommend avoiding services such as Live Journal which can actually force a reader to watch a commercial before they can leave a comment.  The moment that commercial starts, I close the page and I don’t go back.

You can use CAPTCHA codes or limit the number of links a post can contain. These can help keep out spammers and with link limits keep people from cross-promoting in your blog, if you object to that.  But test your prevention method first. Would you be able to leave a comment on your own blog?

Folks, please don’t do this!  I take part regularly in a multi-author blogging event. Sometimes it takes a while to teach the new people proper etiquette.  Lately we’ve been going through the struggle with people using the comment section of other author’s blogs to leave promo links to their own books.  This is a big “no” when it comes to blog etiquette and will usually resort in the quick removal of the link and potentially a ban from posting on the blog.

Now when you post a comment on a fellow blogger’s blog, the blogging software usually includes a link to your blog with the name you use to post under. This link, which is usually requested by the blogging software is fine. And if you leave an interesting enough comment, then a reader might very well click on that link to read more about you.  But to comment on other blogger’s posts so that you can hijack their space and use it to advertise your own work is just plain rude.  And don’t think they don’t know what you’re doing.  It quickly gets you labeled as a spammer.

So, remember, while it’s a great idea to read other bloggers posts and a fantastic idea to leave them a comment showing your appreciation, it’s not okay to then try to steal their readers.  Take me, I pay for server space and hosting for my blog. I didn’t pay for it to provide free advertising space to another writer.  So, keep the link out of the comment section.

The Google Directory is no more. So, what does this mean? What was the Google Directory?  You’d recognize right away if you saw it. The directory was the list of categories under the Google Search spot on the Google page. Take a look and you’ll see a cleaner look to that Google page. Basically, all you have now is the search option.

I want to take a quick look at directories and search.  Years ago I worked on an intranet project for major corporation and we faced a challenge with how best to tackle the problem of getting the right information to the right person. There are two ways people look for information on the web. One is using a search engine, like Google search. The other is by using a list of topics and narrowing their selection down as the go through the topics. So, if you start with Recreation, you’d then find topics such as fishing, hiking or sports.  From there, you’d find more options to narrow your topic choices as well as some of the top sites for that topic. In the early days, most of the web was navigated through directories, but as search engines became more powerful, people began to prefer the search method. But the directories were still there as an underlying structure.

But now Google has completely done away with the Google directory as a way to find information. If you visit the Google directory, you’ll find a message telling you that Search is the fastest way to find the information you need, but they also have a link directing you to the Open Directory Project (ODP) at dmoz.org.  So, for those who really want to use a Directory to find information on the web or who want to have their pages listed on a directory, there’s still a directory available.  And now people are wondering what this means.

One train of thought is that the Google team no longer sees value in the directory.  I suspect that may be part of the answer. When I worked on the corporate “search vs. directory” project, the search proponents struggled to understand why they needed to put an effort of keeping up with directory listings. To them search was the way to go.  And with Google promoting Google Chrome where the web browser itself functions as a search engine, they probably see even less value in maintaining that directory that they did two or three years ago. Certainly the quiet discontinuation of the directory indicates that Google feels that the usage is low enough that there won’t be much protest.

But does that mean that they really are dropping the value of the directory or have they decided to refer to the DMOZ open directory project as the best source for directory information?

I’ve been researching successful blogs and sites out there to show journalists and bloggers more ways that they can use their web presences to make a difference.  Now one aspect of blogging that I want to emphasize is that you can blog about any subject that interests you. In fact, the more a subject interests you, the better the blog will be. And this is obvious when I visit onlinecasinosuite.org — a site and blog devoted to helping online gamblers find the information they need to play safely and securely at online casinos.  My visit to the blog quickly showed me why there’s so much buzz around the online gambling world about Online Casino Suite. The site offers multiple pages of information on a variety of gambling topics that show the writer’s depth of knowledge on the subject.  You can’t create a site like this unless you’re passionate about online gambling.

But the folks over at Online Casino Suite take the information beyond the pages on how to gamble (and I would need those pages since there are more gambling games out there than I knew existed), they cover all the gambling news, from information on bonuses to what’s happening with online gambling regulation.

Now, I’ve heard a bit about the online gambling debates going on in the United States, but here’s where a blogger earns his keep, reaching an audience and providing the information they need with additional insight that an insider can bring to the subject.  This is what blogging journalism is all about.   Online Casino Suite can take a topic such as one where Rockefeller Proposes Online Gambling Regulation and break it down and explain it to the novice reader while offering insights for the knowledgeable reader. If you want to succeed as a blogger, this is what you need to do.  Remember, you’ll find examples of excellence everywhere.

If you want to see how a successful blogger integrates Facebook with a blog, be sure to check out the Online Casino Suite Facebook page.  These days it is more important than ever for bloggers to use social media to reach out to readers.

Do you use instant messaging or chat software on your computer?  How much of your time does it take up? Have you ever considered turning it off?  I do.  Look, I’m going to be blunt and perhaps downright cruel here.  There are certain technological advancements that really take up more of our time than they should while masquerading as conveniences. Most people I know in professional positions have a love hate relationship with email.  Because people have come to expect that when they send an email, they’ll get an immediate replay. What? Why’d it take you thirty minutes to respond to my email?  But IM and chat systems are even more insidious.

Let’s take a look at why. When someone sends me an email, they usually need an answer to a work related question or want to let me know about something work related. Now, I get more than enough of those and can perhaps filter them to – ignore, memo to read later, something someone else needs to handle, something I need to handle.  But when people instant message me, they want to chat. I mean chat in the sense of saying “do anything interesting last night” or chat in the sense of fussing or gossip “can you believe …”  And they expect me to respond because it’s part of being social.

Which for me is where the problem comes in. People tend to use email for distractions that are at least work related. I can put unimportant email aside to respond to later. But people tend to think of IMing as social. So if I don’t respond, it’s perceived the same as ignoring a person standing at my desk saying “hey, how was your weekend.”  But the problem is if the person were standing at my desk, they might see that I was in the middle of writing an article and decide I look busy.  IM removes that part of the interaction.

So, my answer?  I turn off my IM when I need to write or edit. I’m a writer and an author. I have no problem IMing with an editor if we’re working through a problem with a chapter. But when I’m in the middle of a great scene and things are going well, I don’t want to be distracted by someone sending me their favorite LOLcat.  I can haz peace and quiet?

Do you have a Tumblr account?  Depending on the audience you want to appeal to, checking out tumblr could be a great investment in time and a little blogging effort.  Now Tumblr works a bit differently than a traditional blog and its focused more on sharing quick content than pulling people into a single blog. I think this is a reason many SEO efforts have ignored Tumblr and left it open for more spontaneous social networking.

Setting up a Tumblr account is completely free. Though when you set one up and go to adjust the theme, I recommend scrolling down to find the free themes.  You can always change to a paid theme if you find it worthwhile, but Tumblr puts the paid themes first.  But once you get your Tumblr account, you’re ready to start Tumbling with your first post.

So, you’re wondering how that’s different from blogging. After all, I’m blogging right here aren’t I?  Well, the focus on blogging is on getting people to come read the content on your blog, and for folks marketing things, to hope that those people will click on some links to other content.

But with Tumblr the focus is on sharing content, sort of like a more visual version of Twitter. You “tumblr” something you find interest – words, audio, images, video.  Then friends who follow you see that and re-post on their tumblr. Which means other people can repost.  And that post makes its way through the tumblr community, but it’s attributed to you.  And if it’s something people like, they can go to your Tumblr and follow you. And you can create a tumblr page with links to your main site or another information you want to display.

Tumblr may not be for everyone, but if you want to join in the social network aspect of the site, it can be fun and help bring new readers to your blog.

We’ve been talking about blogging and journalism, so you might wonder what online gambling has to do with blogging.  Well, one topic that often comes up with bloggers is — how do find the motivation to keep blogging regularly and where do I find topics to blog about.  There’s one group of bloggers out there that you can look at to see some blogging best practices, it’s bloggers following the online casino news.

Take a look at this site about online casinos and the quality of the posts every day.  Now that’s the sort of work we all need to strive for if we want a blog that readers return to on a regular basis.  Of course it helps when setting up your site and your blog if you start with a topic that lends itself to regular writing. But many of you may not have looked into the subject of online casinos and may be wondering why blogging about it leads to so many great posts.

Well, online casinos have been in the news a lot lately as legislation is debated in various states. But that’s only one part of the answer. The other part of the answer to the question is having a topic that lets you blog even when it’s not creating news headlines. With online gambling, bloggers can write reviews about various casinos, review games and even provide tips and advice to players.  A good blogger can find multiple topics to write about every day. And don’t forget the audience. Online casinos are growing in popularity, so if you blog about online gambling, you’ll find an audience eager to read your blog posts.  And that’s what blogging is all about.

I’ve been surprised to see this idea debated or argued against by some. The reason given has been that if you don’t write to a schedule it looks more natural.  Of course it also makes it more difficult for readers to know when you’ll have new content out.  So perhaps I’m a bit old fashioned in this (though I don’t think so) but I’m going to suggest that when possible you should try to blog to a consistent schedule.  Now to break this down a bit. Blogging to a regular schedule doesn’t mean your blog always needs to be posted at the same time every day.  Or even that it needs to be updated every day. But the more regular your updates and the more consistent your posting schedule, the more likely readers are to return to read the blog. Why? Because they’ll soon come to know when you’re most likely to have fresh content up.  And well, the truth of it is that you’re not going to get daily readers unless you have daily content.

So, does that mean the blog needs to be updated every day? Not necessarily.  Consider your topic. Now if you are a journalist writing about news stories, you have to keep pace with the news. If you don’t, other journalists out there will outpace you.  Sometimes this means writing a blog that’s updated hourly during high news periods.  And perhaps less often during slower periods. Consider a blog on reporting on the US presidential race. Obviously there would be cycles with that blog. Heavy reporting periods when candidates are running and setting up campaigns. Fewer posts in the slow periods between elections.  But even in those slow periods, the blog should be allowed to go completely silent.  The writer would still need to make posts frequently enough to the blog fresh in the readers’ minds so they’ll come back during the busy times.