Jun 27, 2011
Staying creative for blog writing
Writing a blog
May 20, 2011
From Fear to Fun – the Blogging Experience
If you’ve been wondering why it’s taken me so long to do a post it’s because I’ve been heavily involved in helping one of my clients to set up a great travel blog. What with my current clients, new ones engaging my services, and delivering blogging and social media workshops, I haven’t quite found the time.
What inspires and motivates me most is getting a great idea launched for someone and for them to feel the process has been fun, productive and motivational. I could blab on for ages about what I do, but there is nothing better than unsolicited feedback from satisfied clients.
This one is from Guardian reviewer Sally Shalam who is delighted with her new blog Sally Shalam’s Britain, an independent and personal view of some of the best accommodation and tourist destinations in Britain. It’s early days but I reckon this is going to be extremely popular with people who want a fair and objective review from an expert who has a good eye for what’s cool and contemporary and knows what the discerning traveller is looking for. This is what Sally has to say about working with me:
“If only I’d known how much fun setting up my blog was going to be. Andy has taken me through a step-by-step process at a pace which I am comfortable with.
Much of the setting up is down to him, but our sessions are always part-tutorial so I came away feeling empowered and inspired to contribute myself from day one.
Now I can tackle the things I need to do – from blog posts to SEO – with confidence and manage the blog myself but I know he is on hand when I am too busy or get stuck.
Social media is such vital part of any business but I needed someone to de-mystify it for me.
Thanks Andy, for professionalism without geek-speak, patience without being patronising, and exactly the blog I want. Don’t struggle to get your own blog up and running, just go and See A Man About A Blog.”
Jan 31, 2011
Falling into blogging
I have been helping people with their blogs for about 18 months now in a low key ‘I like what you did with that blog, can you do something similar for me’ sort of way. I find I have fallen into a niche which uses many of my talents and skills from coaching to creativity and from inspiration to IT. So perhaps it is time to publicise my offering to people.
The first blog I developed was for my partner Judy Heminsley who is the Jelly Queen and doyenne of Work from Home Wisdom. i changed the theme to something more contemporary and interactive and put the blog on the home page so the content was always fresh.
A client who came along later was Beth Duff, who has a fantastic business called The Red Horse Speaks using horses to teach us about leadership.
Having asked Beth to complete a questionnaire to see what her goals were we had a few discussions about what she wanted to communicate in the blog. We eventually came up with the idea that it was a vehicle for the horses to share their wisdom, so we called it The Red Horse Blogs. Beth and each horse has a category which allows them to express their particular personality and role in the herd.
It’s very fulfilling to be involved in these unique businesses and use my creativity to help people produce an innovative blog.
What I love about blogging is that, when written in someone’s authentic voice, it provides an insight into the way that they think. The writing and navigation options represent their internal structuring of the subject and take us down interesting paths which we can follow using tags and categories.
So please go and have a look at Beth’s blog – if you love horses you will appreciate the content and how Beth has developed it from the original set-up. Here is what she says about the experience of working with me:
Initially Andy set up my blog from scratch so that all I had to do was to write the posts. Gradually he taught me how to manage the blog site and stayed with me until I was ready to take it over completely. Along the way, he gave me all sorts of invaluable tips, hints and shortcuts and made the whole process fun and enjoyable. Even now, he still helps with the occasional query and continues to offer encouragement and ideas.
Thanks, Beth.
Jan 10, 2011
To blog or not to blog?
I am quite active on Twitter and have had the benefit of learning from some of the pioneers in social media such as Daniel Priestley and Mark Shaw (more about these two later but in the meantime I suggest that you follow Daniel & Mark on Twitter). They are both passionate about how social media can help your business.
This post is in answer to someone on Twitter who was asking how he could get more attention online. When I suggested he did a blog his response was:
“How would having a blog work, I know nothing about blogs and how they work”
Which is a very good question. I sent him a couple of links to information on why it was a good idea and about 10 minutes later he posted a Tweet saying ‘Come and look at my new blog’. I was impressed that he had acted so quickly so I asked him what had persuaded him.
Apparently just after I had suggested a blog two other people on Twitter (who he didn’t know) said it was a good thing to do. So he went ahead and set himself up on Blogger.
The power of social media often surprises me.
Useful links on why writing a blog is a good idea:
7 facts why your business needs a blog
12 Reasons why you should start a blog
Why Would Your Company Need 13 Blogs?
Jan 2, 2011
Where’s my mojo gone? Blogging motivation
Perhaps the hardest part of writing a blog is getting going and keeping going. Sometimes the motivation or ‘mojo’ just isn’t there.
The other issue is that your blog can be pretty bare when you start. It is best to have around 5 posts and a couple of pages before you start publicising your blog. Some suggest having a couple of months worth of posts ready to go before you start – that might be challenging for you or even so daunting that you won’t even start.
One way is to have someone who will act as a ‘nag’. Someone you trust who will hold you accountable if you fail on your promises and celebrate with you when you succeed.
Or you could do what I have just done and signed up with WordPress for their new support idea to help you do a post a day! Well, I have gone for a post a week as I think that is more manageable. I do have a life! But you may relish the challenge of posting every day so go for it if you want to. Getting over 300 posts done in a year will do wonders for your rankings all over the web.
You just need to follow the link above to find out what to do.
You will also be doing the same as many other bloggers on WordPress so I am sure you will make some new friends and find others who you can do joint ventures with, support each other and do some guest posting.
So expect a post a week from me – Google loves activity on sites so you will see a marked improvement on your traffic once you get going.
Good blogging!
Andy
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