I’ve been blogging for many years, and looking over my blog archives I’ve often figured that there was enough content there for a book. I’m a freelance writer, so much of my writing time and energy is devoted to writing for my clients. I’m also a single mom with three kids and I run a business from my home, so I had lots of excuses for not finding time to write a book.

There are countless benefits of being a published author. Whenever I introduce myself as a writer, people almost always ask if I’ve published a book. I have grown weary of making excuses for why I haven’t published a book, so last year I decided to use my blog to help me come up with the content for a book. I gave myself a focused challenge and I write a post every day for a month. I then took those thirty blog posts and expanded them and added additional content. Now I have got an almost completed manuscript for a book based on the content of my blogging challenge.

This morning I came across this article, 7 Things You Must Do Before Writing Your Book, which is full of great tips for those who are thinking about writing a book. The author, Ofili, writes about the power of blogging to help you get your book written, ” I put myself on a strict and disciplined regimen of writing at least one 1500 article every month. I did this unfailingly starting January of 2011 and at the end of the year, I had 20+ quality articles chapters and over 25,000+ words in my book.” The secret is to commit to a focused writing schedule and be consistent.

There are a few benefits of blogging your book. One of those benefits, as Ofili mentions in his post, is the opportunity for instant feedback from your readers. Another benefit is that you are establishing a platform, building an audience for the book and getting your name and writing out there in the world. The best benefit, I believe, is the responsibility to your readers to blog consistently. Once you hook your readers in with what you are writing, they are going to want to stay in the loop and find out what happens.

Bloggers who want to become authors should go ahead and give it a whirl. Choose the topic of your book and focus your blog posts around that theme. Tell your readers what you are doing and get their support and encouragement. The positive comments I received when I did my blogging challenge really motivated me to stick with it no matter what.

Now that my manuscript is almost finished I am researching publishing options. It will launch first as an ebook, so you will be the first to hear about it when it drops. Keep on writing.

In last week’s meeting she challenged this amazing group of women to move beyond our comfort zones, spark some innovation and plot our own strategies for world domination. One the challenges that she threw down to the group was to create a video asking our audience what questions they would ask if given the opportunity. So, I recorded this video this morning.  Please take a moment to watch it and leave a question or a comment on the blog, or email me your questions.

It’s been said that we teach that which we most need to learn, and I have found that to be a profoundly true statement. I have been doing freelance writing and blogging for many years, but there are times when I hit slumps where I feel blocked and I just don’t feel inspired to write. I sometimes wonder with all of the blogs out there why I even bother. Does what I write really resonate with people? Are my words making a difference?

If you have been blogging for any length of time some of these thoughts might have fluttered through your mind a time or two. If any of this sounds familiar this post is meant to be an encouragement to you to keep on writing.

A writer writes out of a desire to share that which is within them with the world. Writer’s have a love for the written word, and we enjoy the satisfaction that comes when we have polished up a piece of writing and it gets published so that others can read it. But did you ever stop to think about where your desire to write comes from? Do you ever wonder about the origins of those lofty ideas that are floating around in your heart and mind? Your inspiration to write flows to you and through you from God, the Universe, All That Is, because you are a chosen instrument of the Divine.

The Universe communicates with us through each other. It wants to get its message out in a way that will be understood and acted upon, so you are given those creative impulses, those flashes of insight, that burning desire to write because the world needs to know exactly what it is that you have to share.

Think for a moment about those writers whose work has greatly inspired or influenced you. What if those writers had listened to that critical voice inside of their heads telling them that they suck, that no one cares what they have to say, and causing them to doubt their talent or worth as a writer? Pick a favorite author and try to imagine your life without the inspiration you gained from having read their work.

As a writer you have been chosen to tell the story that will transform, uplift, or maybe simply enchant your readers. You have a sacred duty to keep listening for the whispers of inspiration that the Universe will send your way. It is your duty to remain a yielded vessel. Stop looking to ‘someday’ as the only someday that matters has arrived in this moment. Write as if your words were a life saving elixir, or as if they contained the key that would release someone from the bondage of ignorance. Stop resisting living and working into the fullness of the gifts and talent that you have been blessed with.

The world is waiting to receive the message you came here to deliver. The audience you seek is seeking your message. Stop making them wait until you sort out your issues and take your place. It’s not about you, your fears, your excuses, your self-imposed limitations. It’s about the message.

Watch and be inspired:

In part I of this series we covered selecting a topic that you already know and have a passion for. In today’s installment we will cover the remaining three tips on creating content for your niche blog.

Always keep in mind that you are not trying to be all things to all people with your blog. The more you tighten your focus to more targeted your audience will be.

3. Narrow the topic and maintain your focus

In order to rank in the search engines, you want to focus on a few, specific keyword phrases and use them in your content as well as in strategic places on your blog to attract the search engines. But narrowing your focus also helps you to get very clear on your topic and provide exactly what your visitors are searching for. Appearing high in the search results is about providing value for the visitors who search on your keywords.

4. Don’t skimp on keyword research

The most effective way to narrow your search is by doing extensive keyword research. By using a combination of free keyword research tools such as the Google Adwords Keyword tool, and premium keyword research tools such as Micro Niche Finder or Market Samurai, you can drill down to find the best keywords related to your topic that will bring the kind of visitors who are searching for your content.

Use those keyword research tools to kind some long tail keyword phrases (long tail= keyword phrase of four or more words) to really help target your traffic.

5. Strive to become known as a subject matter expert in your topic

As you are creating your content, write with an eye towards becoming known as an expert in your topic. Subject Matter Experts (SME) are looked to as authorities on a topic, they are called in to speak about their topic and people will begin looking to you for leadership and advice. Here’s a blog post about how you can use one of my favorite time-saving tools, Google Reader, to help you become a subject matter expert. http://feigenson.us/blog/?p=1110

A bonus tip is to start early creating relationships with the top blogs and SMEs in your niche. Comment regularly on their blogs and offer to guest post occasionally. This will give you lots of targeted exposure within your niche, and establishes you as a colleague rather than a fan of the top bloggers.

Remember, write about what you are passionate about, don’t skimp on keyword research and brand yourself as an expert and your niche blog will be a success.

On this blog I like to share what I am learning as an online freelance writer and blogger with my readers. I have been on this path for several years, and if anything that I have learned along the way can be helpful to someone who is just getting started, then I am pleased.

The topic of this post came about as a result of a new client inquiry. I had consulted with this prospective client about six months ago about creating some content for a blog that she was thinking about starting. She held on to my information, and when she got her blog all set up she followed up with me about writing some copy for her. She mentioned that her blog was going to be about six different although somewhat related topics.

I replied and told her that while these were all six excellent topics to write about, I cautioned her about how challenging it would be to try to get a single blog to rank for so many different keywords. As I was advising her about narrowing her focus and choosing one topic and delving deep, a little light bulb went off over my head. I felt a blog post coming on. I knew that if this advice would help her it might help my readers, too. So, here are five tips for how to get started with creating content for niche blogging.

1. Select a topic that you already know a lot about

In the beginning you will want to post at least three posts a week, but ideally five posts a week to establish yourself in the eyes of the search engines and your visitors, so you’ve got to pick a topic that you have more than a passing familiarity with so that you can start writing posts about what you already know about the subject. You will still need to do research, but you want to have a firm foundation of personal knowledge to give you an advantage when you start writing.

Another reason to choose a topic that you know about is that it will be a lot easier to begin to develop your authority on that topic, which will come in handy later as you become an expert in your chosen topic.

2. Select a topic that you are interested in and have some passion about

Along with knowing about a topic it’s helpful if you love it and have a passion for it because your passion is infectious and it will shine through in your writing. Your readers who share your passion about the topic will resonate with what you write and become fans, and the quality of the content you create will be better.

OK, so that was part I of this two-part series. Check back tomorrow to find out about how to narrow your focus, do keyword research and establish yourself as a subject matter expert.

Please feel free to ask questions or leave your tips and suggestions for picking blog topics in the comments.

As a professional writer and blogger I have been engaged in the practice of content marketing since the launch of this blog in the fall of 2007. At that time, my freelance writing practice was just beginning and I wanted to start getting my work out there as I did not have a lot of clients or clips to refer prospective clients to. Over the years I have attracted some amazing clients and built an impressive body of work with this blog.

My first blog, which I started in the fall of 1997, was a personal blog, so I was not marketing anything with it I guess except my own ideas and my world view. I never looked at my traffic stats and I was not trying to grow an email list. I was simply blogging for the sheer enjoyment of it and because I was part of a vibrant community of personal bloggers.

Marketing is simply telling the world about the products, services or ideas that you have to offer. Content marketing is the practice of creating and syndicating (purposefully sharing) valuable content in an effort to attract your target audience to your blog or website.

Once you have gotten them to your website your goal is to engage them and use your content to begin to foster the ‘know, like and trust’ factor that will ultimately either lead to a conversion from visitor to subscriber to customer to fan, or they may just go elsewhere. Actually, most people will end up going elsewhere, but that is fine because you only want to work with people who resonate with your message, and the only way to know that is to continuously get your message out there into the marketplace.

When I first started this blog I simply gave everything away. I researched meticulously and wrote blog posts on topics that I thought would be useful to my prospective clients. But as time went on I learned that there is nothing wrong with marketing yourself and the products and services you provide even as you offer valuable content to your readers.

Now I understand how crucial it is to include a compelling call to action in each blog post.  People want to be led, and if you want them to take a particular action you must tell them exactly what action they should be taking. Whether you want your readers to sign up for your email list, enquire about the services you provide, or buy a product that you are offering, you’ve got to direct them to the next best action to take.

Recently, my client work has begun to take over my life, and I found myself staying up late at night to keep up and not miss deadlines. Juggling single parenthood and self-employment is no joke. I took a hiatus from posting to the blog while I got a handle on my client work load, but also because I needed to re-visit my content marketing strategy. My business has matured to the point where most of my new clients are referred to me from my fabulous, current clients. But just this week I received an inquiry from a prospective client who found my blog and wanted to hire me—despite the fact that my blog had not been updated in weeks.

But I will say that I have also learned that in addition to providing a platform where I can share my expertise to attract prospective clients, I have been greatly encouraged to hear the positive feedback that I receive through the comments on this blog, and via email about how what I share on the blog has helped you in some way. I feel blessed to be of service to you.

So, please take a moment and enter your name and email address into the subscription box for my email newsletter where I share valuable content that you

Regular readers of my blog know I’m not one to back down from a challenge, so when I heard that Julie Isaacs of the Writing Spirit Blog (I just *love* that name) is throwing down a blogging challenge to kick 2011 off as, “The year of the blog.”

Julie says that the goal of this challenge is to get bloggers in the habit of blogging consistently and meaningfully. Strategies for blogging consistently is one of the topics that I enjoy writing about, but honestly the one I most often feel challenged by. But, we tend to teach that which we most need to learn, and so I will continue to write on that topic in hopes that it inspires me and encourages my readers.

So what is the whole SHINE thing about? Well, your blog is the most effective way for you to increase your online visibility, establish yourself as an expert, and share your message with the world. Julie uses the word SHINE to illustrate this point:

Stand out
Help
Inspire
Navigate
Engage

During this blogging challenge, I’ll be blogging about my favorite topics, which include:

• Online marketing for writers, authors, speakers and coaches
• Using your blog to attract your ideal clients
• Growing YOU as you grow your business

It’s pretty simple to join us. Just visit Julie’s blog and follow the steps Julie has outlined:

1.  Decide how many times per week you want to blog–preferably twice a week or more

2.  Add a comment on this post with your blog address, and how many posts per week you’re committing to

3.  Use the hashtag #SHINEonline to communicate with other bloggers who are participating in this challenge

4.  Sign-up below if you would like to get blog tips and articles sent to you, along with blog challenge updates, and information on free teleconferences.

5. Start blogging! & SHINE on with your bad self.

http://blog.writingspirit.com/2011/01/2011-shine-online-blogging-challenge.html

Related articles

• 4 Oaths Of Blogging To Become a Better Blogger (shoutmeloud.com)
• 18 Blogging Tips to Create and Maintain a Successful Blog (jmorganmarketing.com)
• Blogging Tips on What You Should Do or Not Do (marketersdaily.com)

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.

Related articles by Zemanta

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

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.

Related articles by Zemanta

• 5 Must known Twitter Tools for finding Local Tweeps (seoservicesgroup.com)
• Google Helps You Find Tweeps Like You (socialmediatoday.com)