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| Blogging for Dummies - Practical Blogging Tips |
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This is not a book review, since I haven't even read this book :) I just wanted to use the title and thought I should give credit where credit was due.
Not very long ago, I was a "Dummy" when it came to blogging. I knew nothing about posting a blog, or what to expect. But I have learned a lot in a short time. So I thought I would share with you some of my observations about blogging. What works? What doesn't?
What draws people to even open a particular blog?
1. The title leaves you wanting more.
2. A friend posted the blog or someone who recently visited your post.
3. A unique topic that has not been overly covered.
4. A title that people may have a strong opinion about.
5. Someone posted a link to a post :) Just click on the link, to find out how!
What causes people to read the blog they opened?
1. It is NOT too long :)
2. The font is NOT too small.
3. The font is not white (lol), yellow, or any light color; that would cause the reader to strain.
4. Sentences begin with caps and end with punctuation. Words jumbled together are very hard to read.
What causes a person to actually finish reading the blog they have started to read?
1. The story is for others, not just the author, or close friends.
2. The post invites others into the story.
3. The post keeps their interest and gets to the point.
What causes people to comment on a post?
1. The post started or ended with a question that encouraged a response.
2. The post invited comments by not only being about "their little world."
3. Someone just wants to say "Hi."
4. They want to meet others on MyChurch.
What causes people to star a blog?
1. They enjoyed the post.
2. They like the author.
3. They learned something.
4. They just love to bless people!
Practical Blogging Tips:
Pray prior to posting!
To come up with a title that might leave the readers wanting more, I like to pray for one :) This new draft feature is good for that sort of thing. You can type up everything but the title and let it flow later.
The single best way to increase traffic to your post, is to comment and star other people's blogs. If you have little or no traffic and you don't visit other post...there's your reason. Visit other people's post to make new friends and to bless others! Don't do this to bring traffic to your post, but to bless others. Seek to bless and not to be blessed. Then just sit back and watch what God does!! The blessings will boomerang right back at you!
Do your homework. Use the "Search" feature to make sure that the topic you want to write about has not been overly covered. And do come up with your own ideas. Using someone else's words without asking permission or giving credit is stealing!
Long post....sorry, but I am out of here! Most of us do not have the time or patience to comb through anything that is too long winded. Consider breaking it down into several smaller posts.
Try to avoid small, yellow or even white font (don't laugh, it DID happen. :) Most readers are not willing to strain themselves just to read a post. There are so many font colors and sizes to choose from, why select one that people have a hard time reading?
I know not everyone has the gifts to be able to write well, or to be able to put their thoughts down. But do take the time to leave spaces in between your sentences and capitalize the first letter. Otherwise I am afraid you may have very few readers.
There is definitely a time for personal stories and testimonies, but don't talk about yourself too much :) This is no place to air out your dirty laundry! But do include and invite your readers into your post. Stories that are meant for close friends, should probably be posted as a "friends only" blog.
Use the draft feature. It is awesome! You can type up your thoughts, proofread them and even sleep on them prior to posting. I have left a post in draft mode for a week. This way by the time it is posted, you shouldn't have to make many changes, if any.
Let's move onto why people star a post. Or shall I say why don't people star a post. Afterall they are free, right? They are a blessing to others, so what's stopping you? I star almost every post I read, as long as I agree. The Lord spoke to my heart about this when I first got started. When I was "stingy" with my stars, I only gave stars to the post I considered "star worthy." The Lord reminded me that not everyone has the gifts and talents to write well, or to be able to put their thoughts down. So if I get to the point where I actually opened a blog, read it and agreed; they are getting a star from me!!
The fact of the matter is that I truly want everyone to do well on here. Everyone is "star worthy" to me and to God! I am simply offering tips on how you might be able to make your blogging experience a little better. Know that not every blog will be well received. If it doesn't work out, try and try again!
Let's remain humble. Know that we will never know everything this side of heaven. I think we will all be greatly humbled when we get to heaven and find out just how wrong we were. Read other posts to learn something, not to find errors.
Feel free to add to this list. Speaking of too long...I had better wrap this thing up!!
Blessings to you as you seek to bless others! Happy Blogging! |
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| To add a comment to "Blogging for Dummies - Practical Blogging Tips" |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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Here's the line I like best:
"The fact of the matter is that I truly want everyone to do well on here."
MyChurch is such a great communication tool, a great way to share Christ, and to encourage and build others up, that I truly do want everyone to do well. And I can tell that you do too, Sue. Thanks for investing so much of yourself into this place. ~mike |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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| You get a star from me... |
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| July 08, 2007 |
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Great tips...Also when commenting on others blogs, be sure to type what you mean. Others cannot see your facial expression or hear your tone. I have made comments a couple of times when I was sleepy, giddy, or cross-eyed from looking at the computer for too long. People have taken offense, mainly because my comments came accross that way! Had I been face to face, the comments would have not been offensive. Just keep that in mind and learn from my mistakes! Love to you all and thanks, Sue for the tips on various mychurch things...this blogging stuff is new to most of us. Blessings! |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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Thanks for the tips.I agree with Mike & Laura:
"The fact of the matter is that I truly want everyone to do well on here."
Also AngiePangi true you have to sometimes really read back what you wrote if you just started going on about your thoughts on a subject.It would be good to make sure your point is takin in the right manner you meant it to be in.Wording is important when you cannot see the person who's doing the talking or do not know thier personallity.
Lots of love to all God bless,
Diana S |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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| agree with the size of the font and style of writing to include frequent paragraph breaks. Too many small word run together on the computer screen can often sabotage my abilty to read longer blogs. I like the topic to pull me in as well. I always enjoy reading your blogs and look forward to the next one ;) |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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| This is a great guide for all of us to use. Thanks Sue! |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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Thank you all so much for your stars and comments.
Angie, awesome contribution to this post girlfriend! The delete button sure does come in handy and a Smiley goes a long way! I think the more we are on here, the more we will offend, so you know I have done my share :)
Susan: The next post is in draft mode and ready to go! Actually it has been there for a week. But after I got this one typed up I decided to let it out of it's cage. So I didn't even heed to my own advice! I typed this up and posted it the next day. Therefore, I have already had to make numerous changes :)
Deb: You are the  |
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| July 09, 2007 |
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Great tips Sue! I don't blog very often here because of time constraints but I read a lot! I have one suggestion for people who want to host multiple blogs without writing to multiple sites. There is an RSS feed feature. Your blog from another site can be RSS'd into MyChurch.
The downside of that is that it will reduce the number of people who read your blog dramatically, because they will only get a teaser and then have to figure out how to read the rest of your post. It's not rocket science, but my experience is that people will move on to something else rather than take the time to figure it out.
My suggestion is that you host your blog here and then RSS to your multiple sites if are serious about wanting people to read it. In other words, instead of RSSing in, RSS out and see if your out host recieves more than a teaser. Many do.
Thanks for sharing your expertise! I love reading your blogs! |
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| July 10, 2007 |
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Thanks for this posting. I got soem great tips. I am new to the whole blog thing. I have never really posted blogs before joining this site. Your tips were very helpful. |
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| July 10, 2007 |
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| a star for you |
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| July 10, 2007 |
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Birdie: I haven't tried the RSS feed, since I only post on here. This is plenty enough for me :) But thank you for your suggestion for those who are interested. I was wondering why some of your post are "partial."
Gypsy: Glad to hear that this helped. I never posted a blog prior to MyChurch either :)
Zach: You the man dude!
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| July 11, 2007 |
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| star it! =) |
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| July 11, 2007 |
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| Thats what they tell me...jk |
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| July 11, 2007 |
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That's good stuff, Sue. I'm gonna print that out and hang it beside my computer. |
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| July 11, 2007 |
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You've given a very thorough and helpful guide here. I've been blogging for a while now but I still learned something. And as for RSS feed - mine comes in from Blogspot - full text, not partial. I usually have to fiddle with the layout a little and insert a Bible verse with the draft tool here if I want it to show up as a Bible Blog. That only takes a few minutes, however, and I love being on MyChurch and the interaction here. Oh! Occasionally I have to refresh my feed if it doesn't show up right away. |
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| July 11, 2007 |
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This information is vital.
Thanks for taking the time to compose and share it.
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| July 11, 2007 |
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That's cool Mullet, thanks!
Jay: You learned something from me? I am truly honored!
JR: Thank you for the encouragement! And your welcome. |
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| July 12, 2007 |
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hey got my attention and that is saying alot....
what?
huh? |
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| July 12, 2007 |
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| Nice! thanks for all those tips, specially the one about praying. I try to do it but sometimes I get so eager about writing that I cant quiet down my mind! then I just say a memorized prayer. "Jesus! Help!" I'm an over-eager mexican...ha! I should get checked for ADHD |  |
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| July 13, 2007 |
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Hi there Sue:
Thanks for your help on writing Blogs...and Praying. You are a tremendous help. God Bless You and have a wonderful Weekend... |
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| July 14, 2007 |
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THANK YOU FOR SHARING, YOU HAVE BEEN VERY HELPFUL, GOD BLESS
BETTY
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| July 15, 2007 |
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Joshua, Tips are available upon request, for the low, low cost of one star :) Just kidding!
Anyway, You can just go to "edit" on your blog page, and select "enter" where you want each paragraph to begin. If there is spacing already showing, adding one more will make it show up as one space on your blog. This happens when you type in Word and transfer the doc to MyChurch. What I like to do, is to type of the post here and then transfer it to Word to do a spell check. I print off a copy before I hit "spell check" and make the changes on the copies, so that I can come back and manually make the changes here. This way your fonts and spacing will be the way you orginally intended. |
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| July 15, 2007 |
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wow...you really put a lot of work into your blog
i'm impressed
i wish i could give you another star...but alas, i cannot :( |
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| July 15, 2007 |
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| there ya go! |
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| July 15, 2007 |
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| Muchas Gracias!! |
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| July 15, 2007 |
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| de nada! |
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| July 16, 2007 |
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Sue,
Just wanted to say thanks. Just signed up today and totally new to blogging. Didn't actually think I would be blogging so soon,but your blog was very helpful .
Have a Blessed Day!
Puck Puck |
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| August 19, 2007 |
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| I'm new to this thanks for the help. It was very useful. |
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| September 12, 2007 |
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Hey just happened upon your very thourough and helpful discussion of blogging. I have only written two, mostly because of time constraints, but I might re-read this just to absorb as much as possible. Anyway I appreciate all the work you put into this, now I am off to read your advanced blogging advise, thanks.
peace
glenn
oh yeah STAR |
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| September 12, 2007 |
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Sue, your guide came up in the active blogs yet again, and I just wanted to tell you that this should be required reading for everyone who registers on MyChurch --- you know, there should be a little box you check off when you create your identity...
[_] I've read and understand Sue's "Blogging for Dummies"
Thanks again for all YOU do for MyChurch!! ~mike |
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| October 10, 2007 |
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| Thanks Mike! |
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| October 11, 2007 |
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| you respond to my comment a month later? what's that all about? :-) |
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| October 11, 2007 |
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| lol! I was going to add something to this post and then decided against it. I looked down and saw your comment and thought it was nice. |
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| October 12, 2007 |
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Hiya Sue, I stopped reading after...What causes people to star a blog?
I'm going to star your blog for all the reasons listed!!! Love you!!!
1. They enjoyed the post.
2. They like the author.
3. They learned something.
4. They just love to bless people! |
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| October 12, 2007 |
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| I star people just to make other people wonder why and then they question me !!!!!! |
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| January 20, 2008 |
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| Thanks for the tips... off to read more... |
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| March 27, 2008 |
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This is great! This should be a requirement for newbies......we are all newbies!
a star for you! |
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| April 20, 2008 |
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yes, very nice, thanks, I like this part the most, as I know I have much to learn! Let's remain humble. Know that we will never know everything this side of heaven. I think we will all be greatly humbled when we get to heaven and find out just how wrong we were. Read other posts to learn something, not to find errors. here are my stars 
see, you can star more than once ...lol |
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| May 24, 2008 |
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| Thanks so much for the tips. I just started jumping in and posting my thoughts. I have made some new friends and contacts. I wish that I had this blog first before I started posting. Good stuff, and I invite you to stop by and read a few posts. I love the comments more than the stars. I really enjoy the interaction and knowing that I had a small part in being a blessing to someone. Just like you blessed me! Thank you! |
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| August 26, 2008 |
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I've been in the computer Industry since 1968, Blogs then were called Bulletin Boards. I never knew there was a Blogging For Dummies Book, ha ha ha ha.
Thank You and may you be Blessed Continually !!! |
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| August 26, 2008 |
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B.L.O.G.
Bestowing the Love Of God!
Thanks for the great tips my friend. God Loves you and so do we!
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| July 27, 2009 |
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 [star!] |
Thanks for the tips Sue! |
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