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Bloggers and Online marketers work in a field that is moving at an incredibly fast speed. It seems like as soon as you get a handle on a particular strategy or technique then some new changes come along and you must quickly learn to adapt.

Professional development is crucial for those who make their living online. You’ve got to stay up on the newest technologies or get left behind by your competitors. There are a few ways that I try to stay abreast of all of the changes going on in this volatile industry, and I wanted to share them with you.

Must-follow blogs for bloggers and online marketers:

ProBlogger
Darren Rowse is the mac daddy of big bloggers, and his blog is not to be missed when it comes to tips and strategies for growing and improving all aspects of your blog. I recommend his, 31 Days to Build a Better Blog ebook. I followed along with the SITS girls on this 31 day challenge a few weeks ago and I really learned a lot that helped improve my blog.

CopyBlogger
Because your content is the one thing that will distinguish you online, copyblogger is a great resource to help you to hone your onlione copywriting skills.

Mashable
I’ve heard mashable referred to as, “the CNN of blogging,” because you’ll more than likely read it first on mashable. They cover all aspects of social media, entertainment, technology and more.

Dosh Dosh
Described as, “. . .a blog offering internet marketing and blogging tips, alongside social media strategies. Best consumed by bloggers, entrepreneurs, web publishers, marketers, freelancers and small business owners.” I like dosh dosh because the posts cover specific topics in a thorough manner. I also enjoy reading the comments, of which there are usually many, for even more insights and tips.

BizChickBlogs
I just recently discovered this fabulous little blog. Authored by Tia Peterson, it’s a blog full of practical tips for bloggers. While Tia and her team are not big, rock star bloggers, the information they share is smart, and relevant.

Essential podcasts for Internet marketing/business:
There are many podcasts out there on the topic of online marketing, but I am listing these because I subscribe to them, I listen to them each week, and I highly recommend them.

Internet Business Mastery
Hosted by Sterling and Jay, this podcast which recently celebrated its 100th episode is a must-listen podcast for solo-preneurs who are following their passions and creating a business online from scratch. These guys keep it real and share lots of tips and strategies that you can take action on right away to grow your business and refine your mindset. I’ve been a long time listener to these guys and I have learned a lot from them.

Internet Marketing This Week
I found this podcast when I was following Ed Dale’s 30-Day Challenge a few years back. Hosted by Ed Dale, Paul Colligan, Michelle MacPherson and Lynn Terry, all online marketing rock stars, this podcast is good for industry news, and some practical talk about Internet marketing.

Recommended Books:

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by, Michael E. Gerber

Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion by, Gary Vaynerchuk

The Whuffie Factor: Using the Power of Social Networks to Build Your Business by, Tara Hunt

Success Secrets of Social Media Marketing Superstars by, Mitch Meyerson

The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by, John Jantsch

*Full disclosure:

The links in the Amazon carousel below are affiliate links. If you click on one and purchase a book, I will earn a commission.

I hope these resources prove to be helpful to you. Keep in mind the importance of focus. You can listen and read and gain new insights and ideas that you can apply to what you are doing in your business without chasing after every new, shiny object that crosses your path.

So, expand your knowledge, stay up on what’s happening in the industry but keep your eyes focused on your business finding ways to improve what you are already finding success with.

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Bloggers know that it takes a lot of time, energy and maybe even a little bit of blood, sweat and tears to crank out quality content. They also know that it’s the quality, relevance and stickiness of their content that attracts traffic and gets visitors to subscribe and hang around to find out what else you’ve got to say.

In this post we’re going to take a look at some creative ways you can make the most of your blog content by transforming it into different formats. One thing to keep in mind is that people come to your blog with a variety of preferences and learning styles. If your blog is predominately text based, those who prefer other mediums such as audio or video may not be as attracted to your content or as eager to consume it as they might be if it were presented in a format that they prefer.

Another benefit to having your content in a variety of formats is to provide your visitors with several different ways to consume your content. With audio, they can download your content and listen to it on the go at their own convenience. If visitors don’t want to take the time to read your blog post or article, translating the content into a video allows visitors who are more visual learners to consume your content in a way that appeals to them.
So let’s dive right in and start transforming your blog post into the various different formats and publish them.

Create an Article
A blog post can be converted to an article quite easily. You might want to change the headline so that it contains your keywords, maybe edit the language a bit if it’s written in an informal or personal tone. If it’s shorter than 400 words you’ll want to extend it to between 450-600 words, as this is the more appropriate word count for the article directories.

Include a resource box, which contains both an anchor text link and the full URL to your blog. The purpose of the resource box is to entice the reader to click on it and visit your blog, so make it appealing and inviting.
Publish your article in several of the top article directories. As your collection of published articles grows your traffic will pick up and it will boost your page rank with all of those high quality back links.

Here are the top 12 article directories with their Alexa rank and Google page rank:

1. ezinearticles.com 124              6

2. articlesbase.com 342             6
3. suite101.com 658             7
4. buzzle.com 713            6
5. helium.com 1,328           6
6. articlesnatch.com 1,632          5
7. goarticles.com 1,667          4
8. articlealley.com 2,184           5
9. articledashboard.com 2,919           5
10. selfgrowth.com/articles.html 3,411           5
11. ideamarketers.com 3,704          5
12. bukisa.com 4,243          5

Source: http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php
Create an Audio
Let’s begin with a blog post or article. The first thing we’re going to do is transform your written text into an audio file. All you need to do is download a piece of free software called, Audacity, and then using a microphone plugged into your computer read your article while speaking into the mic and record it. If you do a quick search you can find free, online tutorials on how to edit your audio. If you want to add a bit of professionalism you can include a piece of bumper music for the intro and out-tro that fades in and out. Record a short bit of audio at the end to direct listeners to your blog.
If you decide to create a series of audios, you might want to consider turning them into a podcast. You can then list your podcast in iTunes and the dozens of other podcast directories online where you’ll get lots of exposure from a new audience.
If you want to begin by just recording an audio, you can then reverse the process and have the audio transcribed and then you can re-purpose the text version.
I just found a fabulous resource called, speechpad, which is a web app that allows you to record an audio file over the phone and have it transcribed for you. You can also upload an audio and they will transcribe it using a combination of software and an actual human edit. http://www.speechpad.com

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Here are some links to the top podcast directories:
http://jasonvanorden.com/list-of-podcast-directories
http://www.masternewmedia.org/podcast_directory/

Create an eBook
If you’ve got a collection of posts on a particular topic, you can compile them, do a bit of re-writing to insert some transitions and any other additional information that will make the copy flow better and be more useful to your readers. You can use the resulting ebook to build your email subscriber list, or package it and offer it for sale.
If you do plan to sell the ebook, you might consider getting a professional looking, graphic ebook cover made. Having a good-looking cover for your ebook will make it more appealing to your customers.

Add images and music to create a video
The next way that we are going to re-purpose the original blog post is by creating a video. If you’ve got presentation software such as power point, you can take the main points and create slides. Add images that relate to the topic and use the audio that you recorded previously to play in the background. Adding a short musical intro and outtro puts a nice finishing touch on these videos.

Make sure that you use your primary keywords in the title of the video, and the description. The first text in the description box should be the full URL to your website. Direct viewers to click on the link and give them an idea of what they will find there that will be of interest to them.

Windows movie maker video tutorials:
http://bit.ly/ceKBU7

Create slides to transform it into a webinar
Depending on the nature of the content you can even take your blog post’s contents and convert them to a webinar. If it is a ‘how to’ type article, or generally informative, you can use the webinar to educate and inform your visitors about your topic. Use the webinar as an opportunity to build your list, increase your exposure and to be seen as an expert in your industry.

There are lots of informative videos on sites such as youtube.com that can show you step-by-step how to create and record a dynamic webinar that will impress your attendees and boost your profile considerably.
In this blog post I’ve shared several ways that you can get a bit more mileage out of your blog posts while getting increased exposure and targeted traffic back to your blog. But what if you really don’t have time to create your own original content?

As a freelance web copywriter, I create compelling content for a variety of clients every day. Let me transform some of your content that is languishing on your site into fresh content in a variety of formats or I can create something new. Contact me today about my writing services.

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As a freelance consultant, my current clients are the center of my business. Some small business people struggle between the need to acquire new clients while keeping their current clients happy.

It costs far more to acquire a new client than it does to maintain one, so I choose to do whatever I can to offer the best service to the clients that I have managed to attract to my business. I have been blessed with some fabulous clients, so I do all that I can to make sure that they are happy and that I am doing all that I can to meet their needs.

I have learned the value of keeping my current clients happy, so in this post I wanted to share five tips on things that you can to retain your clients.

1. Meet your deadlines

You should always under-promise and over-deliver when it comes to completing projects for your clients. This not only provides value for them, but it shows them how much you appreciate their business.

Manage your workload so that you can comfortably meet deadlines and still produce quality work.

2. Say ‘Thank You’

Find ways to show your clients how much you appreciate their loyalty. Give them something of value related to the service that you provide that will help them meet their business objectives. Speak highly of them in a public setting, re-tweet their Twitter messages, leave positive comments on their site, and recommend them wherever appropriate.

3. Always provide the best customer service

If a problem comes up, do your best to resolve it to the client’s satisfaction. Remember that the customer is always right. Show how much you value their business by going above and beyond to rectify any mistakes or misunderstanding.

4. Check in on them

Communicate with your clients occasionally and see if there is anything you can do for them.  Set up Google Alerts for your client’s company name and shoot them a message when they have good news, or a mention in a magazine or a major website.

5. Ask for their feedback

Don’t be shy to ask how they are feeling about your work. Get their feedback to find out if they are satisfied and if they have any thoughts about things that you could improve on to make for a better experience or produce a better project for them.

Another benefit to keeping your current clients happy is that they are more likely to refer you to their colleagues. I was thrilled recently when one of my clients referred me to a business colleague of his. This referral has become a solid customer and a joy to work with.

People just enjoy being appreciated, and in a world where your competition is just a click or two away, forging lasting and loyal client relationships is an effective way to make sure that your business stays on track.

What are your favorite ways to show your customers and clients how much you appreciate them? Share your input by leaving a comment.

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With the tag line, “The Ultimate Online Resource for Black Bloggers, Writers and Journalists,” the Black Blogger Network is the place where Black bloggers can network, promote their blog and learn new tips and strategies for growing and improving their blog. They feature articles from popular Black bloggers and writers every week, and they have a, “Black Blog of the Day,” feature where today,  this blog, ”A Productive Pen,’  is the featured blog.

I found the Black Blogger Network on the Black Business Women Online (BBWO) forum, which is one of my favorite places to hang out.  It’s a great place to network, make connections and see what other smart women are doing to grow their online and offline businesses.

So, I just wanted to send a quick ‘shout-out’ to Jessica Ann at the BNN to thank her for featuring my blog, and I thank everyone who is stopping by my blog from the BNN to check it out.

Here are a few fabulous blogs that I found on the BNN blog:

Motivated Sista
Motivating you to reach your dreams
http://www.motivatedsista.com/

Everything She Writes
http://www.everythingshewrites.com/

Strength, Courage & Wisdom
http://kitty-strengthcouragewisdom.blogspot.com/

Go check it out, submit an article or submit your blog to be the featured blog of the day, and while you are there check out some of the other fabulous blogs featured there.

This morning I received an email from LaShanda Henry, of BBWO and a host of other blogs for women of color in business, and she mentioned that Deanna @dedej, founder of Clutch Magazine,  who was a panelist on the first Black Blogging Rockstars panel at SXSW 2010, is pitching a new panel for SXSW 2011 called: The Elevation of Black Women in New Media. This panel will discuss issues related to black women entrepreneurs and black women bloggers online.

So, if you are a black woman blogger, if you know one, or if you would just like to give your support to the idea of listening paying more attention to the voices of black women in new media, pop on over to the SXSW website and vote for: The Elevation of Black Women in New Media.

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• The state of black women in the blogosphere (thegrio.com)

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If you learn how to work it effectively, Twitter can send lots of free, targeted traffic to your blog. One of the secrets is to make sure that your Twitter stream is populated by tweeps (Twitter users) who might have an interest in your blog’s topic.

So, in this post we’re going to take a quick look at some strategies for finding cool tweeps to follow with the hope that they follow you back providing you with a targeted Twitter following.

First, tweak your Twitter profile

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for you to use a picture of yourself rather than your brand as your Twitter avatar. People are tweeting with you as a person not your brand.

Make sure that you utilize your bio to your advantage. You’ve got 160 characters to share a bit about who you are with 100 million twitter users, and the rest of the Internet now that Tweets can show up in the search engines. Use your primary keywords, but don’t forget the human touch. If you can squeeze in some funny more’s the better if that suits your personality. Just be your authentic self and that will attract compatible people.

Include a link to your blog, and make sure that you make it easy for your visitors to re-tweet your blog posts.

Twitter is making it easy to find cool tweeps to follow

If you notice when you are on your ‘Home’ page in your Twitter profile, you’ll see a snippet of text that says, “Who to follow, and then you’ll see two little avatars of some tweeps that Twitter thinks you might want to follow based on your keywords and the kinds of people you are already following. You can click the ‘View All’ link and see a list of tweeps that twitter is suggesting you might want to follow.

Also, when you are visiting someone’s profile, you’ll see three avatars of tweeps you might also like to follow. If you don’t want to follow a particular tweep you can select ‘Hide’ and you’ll never see that one again.

Use Twellow.com, the Twitter yellow pages to find tweeps to follow

With over 24 million twitter profiels, twellow.com is an excellent resource for searching for tweeps to follow. You can do searches on topics and keywords, geographic locations, industries, etc.

You can simply sign up for a free account and start searching for people using whatever criteria you choose. What I like is that you can click ‘follow’ right from the search page without the need to click back over to Twitter each time. This is a fast way to add lots of targeted tweeps to your twitter stream.

Follow the tweeps that the leaders in your industry or niche are following

Visit the profile of the tweeps that you admire–the movers and shakers and prominent peeps with thousands of followers. Click on ‘View All’ under the tiny thumbnails of some of the people they are following and follow some that look interesting to you.

The key to getting a good response when you send tweets is to make sure that you are tweeting to people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to say. Purposefully selecting your twitter stream is a vital step in making sure that you get the most targeted traffic from twitter to your blog.

Oh! Don’t forget to follow me, if you aren’t already: @evelynwrites. Please feel free to share your favorite tips for adding Twitter followers.

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• 5 Must known Twitter Tools for finding Local Tweeps (seoservicesgroup.com)
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Blogging, if you’re not careful can turn from something exciting and fun that you look forward to with great anticipation, to feeling like an albatross around your neck. If you hit a slump where you feel bogged down, or heaven forbid, get struck with writer’s block, your blog will suffer for it.

The thing to keep in mind is that ideas are everywhere! They are in the air, on TV, at the grocery store, on the playground at the florist–everywhere. You might have a conversation with a good friend that takes an unexpected turn. You could get lost in an unfamiliar part of town, or you could be facing a new crisis in your life which moves you into previously unexplored territory in your life. Every moment of your life is bursting with inspiration and ideas for things to write about. What you must do is get into the habit of being tuned in, open to receiving it, ready to capture it and use it.

I’ve fallen woefully behind in the #31DBBB challenge with the SITs girls, but I’ve not abandoned it. One of Darren’s assignments is to come up with 10 blog post ideas. He has you do that by brainstorming and mind mapping ideas and extending them as far as you can take them. I’ve done that with this post. Last week, I had a very popular post, Blogging Tips: 7 Strategies for Keeping Up with Posting Consistently. In this post I am extending the idea of creating mechanisms for making consistent posting easier by establishing productive habits to making idea generation a regular habit so that you keep the funnel full and keep writer’s block and frustration at bay.

Remember that you started your blog because you had something to say, and you were bodacious enough to believe that other people would care enough about what you had to say to visit your blog and read what you’ve written. Your ideas are golden and when you share them with the world other people get to benefit from them. I always ask aspiring writers to name their favorite book–one that has changed their lives and that they’d read again and again. Then I ask then to think about how it would be if that author had not believed in themselves enough to put pen to paper and write that book? What if they gave in to the thought that said, “Who’s going to read your writing anyway?”

So, let’s take a look at some tips for generating ideas for what to blog about:

For most of these tips you’ll need your writer’s notebook. Keep it handy.

• Get out of the house and explore outside of your normal orbit.

• Visit a museum or art gallery

• Visit a different branch in your city’s library system in a neighborhood you’ve never been to.

• Pick up some magazines on topics you don’t usually read and discover something new.

• Read magazines in your niche.

• Make an appointment to visit an expert in your niche in person, or arrange a telephone call or request an email interview.

• Read widely on a variety of topics

• Visit a church of a denomination you’ve never heard of, or a house of worship of a different faith.

• Visit your local chamber of commerce

• Find a local writer’s group. (Try meetup.com)

• Visit your local college or university and find a lecture that you can sit in on. Take good notes.
• Interview a child
• Interview a senior citizen

• Do an online search for “ideas on what to blog about”

I could go on and on here, but the purpose is to show you that ideas are everywhere. You’ve got to get into the mode of being open to receiving them. Regular readers of my blog will forgive me for using this quote again, but it’s one of my favorites about keeping yourself open to the flow of creativity that seeks expression through you:

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. . .”

I urge you to seize your opportunity to express yourself and to contribute to the lives of others because that is what you are doing as a blogger. You are channeling that vital life force and translating how you see the world on to the printed page or the shimmering pixels. Keep the channel open and keep those blogging ideas flowing.

How to Generate Hundreds of Writing Ideas

http://www.dailywritingtips.com/how-to-generate-hundreds-of-writing-ideas/

Zen Power Writing: 15 Tips on How to Generate Ideas and Write with Ease

http://writetodone.com/2008/04/20/zen-power-writing-15-tips-on-how-to-generate-ideas-and-write-with-ease/

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• 30 Tips to become a Quality Blog Writer (shoutmeloud.com)

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Blogging provides an effective platform for writers and authors who want to get the word out about their newest book, their latest insight, or commentary on events going on in the world around us.

Writers share an abiding affection for the written word. They seek to give expression to their deepest fears, desires, and passions using their writing to make sense of the world. Most writers realize that most of what they write will never be published in book form, but having your own blog gives you an instant publishing platform where you can share your uncensored ideas with the world without the hassle of trying to get a book deal.

In this post, I’m going to share some links to other blogs on the topic of blogging for authors. This speed linking mashup will bring together several resources on the effectiveness of blogging for authors, and you’ll see in some of these articles the possible negative impact blogging can have.

• Create a platform for current and future authors

As yet unpublished writers can seize the opportunity to start building an audience of readers who like their work.  As your blog readership grows it can become a valuable asset when you are looking to get a book deal. These articles speak to the utility of blogs to help establish authors and develop a platform.

Using Your Blog to Build a Platform

http://www.bloggingauthors.com/blogging_authors/2010/8/3/using-your-blog-to-build-a-platform.html

The Author’s Dilemma: To Blog or Not to Blog,  By Claire E. White

http://www.internetwritingjournal.com/nov05/cew4.htm

9 Good Reasons to Start a Blog, by Diane Eble

http://www.publishingcoachweekly.com/Start-a-Blog-9-Good-Reasons.html

• Could eventually be turned into a book

The blog itself could morph into a book. This has happened many times recently, and Brenna Ehrlich chronicles six such cases in her article.

From Blog to Book Deal: How 6 Authors Did It, by Brenna Ehrlich

http://mashable.com/2009/12/17/blog-to-book/

• Develop and expand your personal brand

There’s been a lot of buzz for the past few years about this concept of the ‘personal brand.’ Personal branding speaks to how you show up in the world, and purposefully crafting an image, a message and establishing you as a brand.

Personal Branding

http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/

5 Personal Branding Tips to Help You Gate Jump

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/183073

Seven Branding Gurus on How to Build a Personal Brand

http://www.bnet.com/blog/career-advice/seven-branding-gurus-on-how-to-build-a-personal-brand/101

If writing is your passion and you want to get your ideas out there and interact with your audience, blogging is an effective way to get you started. It will give you the opportunity to hone your craft, get into the habit of writing daily, and as your blog grows you will develop a relationship with your readers that can be very rewarding to writers whose work tends to be a solitary endeavor.  If done properly, a blog truly can transform your writing career.

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• How to Write (Better): Author Branding and Unmarketing in the Publishing World (blogher.com)
• Publishing Industry Blogs (writinghood.com)
• 10 Ways Blogging Can Improve Your Life (lifehack.org)

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Creating Killer Blog Content

It’s Day #7 of the #31DBBB challenge, and today’s assignment s to write a linked post. The topic I will be covering with my speed linking post today is a bit of a mashup of blog posts about a topic that is close to my heart–creating killer blog content.

As a tip of my hat to the developer of the #31DBBB, this first link is to Darren Rowse, who shares a great blog post about creating great blog content.
http://www.problogger.net/how-to-write-great-blog-content/

In this vintage, oldie-but-goodie post, seomoz shares some online tools that you can use to find ideas for blog psots:
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/10-web-tools-to-help-generate-blog-content-ideas

Chris Brogan shares 40 tips for delivering killer blog content. You’ll find lots of inspiration and ideas that will help you to crank out copy that reflects your passion and your expertise.
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/40-ways-to-deliver-killer-blog-content/

Dosh dosh shares even more creative ways to surmount the daily challenge of delivering compelling content that appeals to your readers:
http://www.doshdosh.com/how-to-effectively-create-content-for-your-niche-blogs-a-brief-introduction-and-guide/

Karan Singhal provides lots f practical tips in this post about creating blog content that will interest your readers:
http://www.famousbloggers.net/create-bolg-content-interests-readers.html

So, enjoy these blogs and feel free to share a link in the comments for your favorite posts that have ideas for creating great blog content.

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Blogging is a personal publishing format that allows you to be able to have your own platform for sharing your ideas with the world. Reading feedback from visitors is quite rewarding and makes it worth all of the work and effort that goes into producing a quality blog.

But sometimes there are those days that your Mamma warned you about. There are days when life gets to be overwhelming, you’re exhausted and beaten down and the baby needs a new pair of shoes.  Sometimes you wonder what the heck you were thinking when you started that blog. What made you think you’d have time to post every day or least every week?

Well, gentle reader, I’ve got some fabulous news for you. I find myself in the same boat as you. I’m a blogger, a mom, and I’m running a business from home. My days are full to the brim, so if I am not strategic with my time, my blogs can slip off the radar and languish for days while I’m scrambling around after my girls, or knee-deep in a client project.

Since we all face the challenge of how to fit our blogging tasks into an already gloriously full day, I’ve come up with some tricks and strategies that you can use to develop productive habits, which will allow you to make the most of those little snippets of time in your day to get your blogging done.

I’ve heard it said that we teach what we most need to learn, and that is indeed the case with me because one of my biggest challenges has been keeping fresh posts on my blog. So, here are some tips and for writing and blog posting that I try to follow:

1. Keep a notebook handy

Here’s a perfect example of this tip. As I write this, I am sitting in the laundry room doing laundry. Because right now I live in an apartment that does not have a washer and dryer, I have to schlep my clothes to the local laundry. But, while I sit here waiting for the wash cycle to finish, I’m getting this blog post written because I brought my little mini-Netbook with me.

Get a small notebook, use the notes feature on your phone, or like me, keep your mini-laptop handy and jot down ideas as they come to you.

2. Stay in ‘Idea seeking’ mode

Keep your eyes and ears open for what is going on around you. How can you incorporate the events of your life into your blog posts? Just this week I got my first complaint on my email subscriber list. It threw me for a minute, but I got back on track quickly and turned it into a blog post.

Are you facing a challenge in your life? Find a way to share what you are learning without sharing too many of the personal, gory details. When there are big stories in the news either in your local area or nationally find a way to weave larger story into your blog posts if it’s appropriate.

Use your notebook and capture those ideas. You may not use all of them right away, but at some point you’ll be stumped for something to write about, and you can consult your notebook for some new ideas to write about.

3. Schedule specific blogging tasks

As a blogger you’ve got to do the following tasks over the course of a week:

• Write blog posts

• Share blog posts

• Market your blog

-social media marketing

-blog directories/communities

• Research

• Blog maintenance

- install, update plugins

-stats reports

-comment moderation

-database backups

• Network/build community with other bloggers

I’m certain that there are more tasks, but this is all that came to my mind. All of these things need to be done in order for your blog to run smoothly, so plug each of the tasks into your calendar and designate how many minutes you will set aside to complete it.

4. Write titles and outline posts in batches

In your research time, come up with some working titles of blog posts that you plan to write over the course of the coming week. Now, when you sit down to write, you will not be facing the dreaded blank page or screen. If you don’t have a hot topic to write about at the moment, look at your batch of working titles and start from there.

5. Write posts in batches

Take your list of titles and post outlines and write up a few posts in advance. Set them aside and come back and edit, proofread and format them in batches and, if you are running WordPress, you can publish them all at once scheduling the exact days and times you want each one to go live.

6. Utilize guest bloggers

Do you ever need a break from blogging, say for a vacation? Wouldn’t it be cool if someone else would write a blog post for you every now and then? Well, in exchange for a link back to their blog, guest bloggers will write a unique blog post for your blog. Is there a particular fan of your blog who always writes thoughtful, cogent comments, and who has a blog on a related topic to yours? You might send them a quick email and see if they might be interested in a guest blogging gig.

There are also several forums where bloggers seeking guest bloggers, and bloggers seeking blogs to guest post with hang out and help each other out. Here are two that I use:

http://BloggerLinkUp.com/

http://myblogguest.com/

7. Find ways to make it fun

Do you remember why you started blogging in the first place? Try to stay in touch with that initial excitement and use that energy to make your blogging tasks something you get to do rather than so much drudgery. Challenge yourself to a solid week of daily posting. Join a 30 day blogging challenge or start your own. Set specific goals for how often you will publish posts, and then create little rewards for yourself when you meet those goals. You know what motivates you, so use that to your advantage.

I’m in the 31DBBB challenge right now, and one of our tasks for the challenge is to find a blogging buddy. Develop a collaborative relationship with another blogger and challenge, encourage and support each other to make your blogs the best that they can be.

I recommend being patient with yourself as you develop these new habits. See which ones work for you and go with those for awhile and see if your blogging productivity improves. Number seven is the most important here because if you view your blogging responsibilities as chores or another “must do” task it will feel like drudgery.

When you come to view blogging as something fun and exciting that you get to do, you will be more likely to put all of your positive energy and enthusiasm into the task. Your passion for your topic will be apparent to your visitors and attract more visitors to your blog.

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