Guest writing on blogs can help you reach a new audience, build a better profile, network and perhaps grab a powerful link or two. While it is a great opportunity you have to do it right. It's a topic that has been on my mind recently after being invited by a couple of bloggers to step in and help while they are otherwise tied up.Darren has written from the perspective of the blogger hosting the visitor, let's consider the other side, the guest blogger.It is clear there are advantages for both … [Read more...]
What Works For Meetings Works For Blogs
I have just read Seth Godins post on Name tags and I think some of his thoughts apply equally to blogs if you don't know someone's name, you are hesitant to talk to them.if you don't talk to them, you never get to know them and you both lose. if you are wearing a name tag, it's an invitation to start a conversation.What are you doing on your blog to invite conversation? Does your template contain the equivalent of a name tag? Here are Seths relevant tips ...BIG first namepositioned in a … [Read more...]
Where To Find Fresh Blogs and How To Get Your Blog Discovered
A reader of my digital photography blog asked me how I find new blogs to subscribe to. At first I was surprised at the question, I add new blogs to my feed reader all the time. In fact I really ought to trim it down. It is an important issue after thinking about it.Thinking about how you find blogs could get you more readers.So what are the main ways people discover new blogs to read? Here are my methods ranked most common to leastOther bloggers links - the obvious one. If you are reading a blog … [Read more...]
Over Ten Years of Blogging and Still No Clearer What a Blog Is?
Reading over at ZDNet.com, Dave Winer has been blogging ten years. In April, Dave will have been blogging for ten years. He can be considered the proto-blogger and developer of the proto-blogging software. Today, about 70 million blogs have been created—“tens of thousands per day sprout up. Most of them don't get much sunlight or simply lie fallow over time, but that doesn't diminish what Dave and other pioneers of the blogosphere have wrought.Scripting.com was among the blogs I would … [Read more...]
Better Blog Branding: Domain Exclusivity
In the first post of this series we looked at naming your blog brand and selecting domains. What happens when someone registers "your" domain? How much damage can they do to you? This is a real problem, and happens all the time. Particularly dangerous once you have built an audience. When you start out your only worry is choosing a domain. It is only later after succeeding in gaining recognition many bloggers concern themselves with protecting their brand. Usual advice when registering … [Read more...]
WordPress Hacking for Better Blog Titles
Here is a quick tip for any Wordpress users frustrated at the crappy default page titles you get with most templates. I got asked yesterday how I changed mine and if I used a plugin. No, it's way easier than that. Go into your Wordpress admin and navigate to Presentation then Theme Editor. You need to edit your Header template. Find the Title tags. Replace with the following: <title><?php // if is the homepage, display // just the blog name // otherwise use the post … [Read more...]
My Favourite Blogger – or – When The Comments Turn Nasty
I'm not sure I have said this before. Scott Adams is my favourite blogger. Of course I have other favourite bloggers (don't worry I am not going to list them, I like links but I am not that desperate, heh). Before I let you in on why I think Scott is one of the best bloggers around, here is what made me think about him today.Scott writes in "The Vanishing Post" that he had to pull one of his articles ... I approve reader comments before they get posted. You didn't see the worst ones. The … [Read more...]
The Hidden Blog Metrics Trap
Since reading the FeedBurner report Aaron has been thinking about how to change his approach towards RSS metrics I wonder, really, how our strategies will change as assumptions fly in the face of reality. I also wonder how many people cater to their RSS audience and encourage engagement from those readers. I personally have taken to better headlines and strategic first paragraphs as recommended by people like Brian Clark and following other good-practice techniques. It seems those great … [Read more...]
Should Bloggers Worry About SEO?
Lately there seems to be a trend of bloggers worrying unnecessarily about SEO. It is not helped by rumours of Google penalties or dodgy out of date blog and forum "advice" (some of which is downright counter-productive). So should you worry about Search Engine Optimisation?As with any industry where there is a competitive advantage to keeping your true tactics to yourself there is a lot of misinformation in the search engine world. Of course there is. On top of that there are the people who … [Read more...]
Better Blog Branding: 10 Ways To Destroy Your Brand
It is a lot easier to damage a brand than it is to build one. You can grow a brand gradually over time but the same brand can be destroyed over night. We all know products, celebrities, politicians and companies that have had massive and instant reversal of fortunes due to one slip up. Sometimes they recover, many times their moment in the spotlight is over. Could you be damaging your brand without knowing it? While you read through all the following points consider your own brand and … [Read more...]
Hi, I’m Chris Garrett: I work with business owners and entrepreneurs to help them build lasting and profitable relationships with audiences who grow to know, like and trust them
