Posts Tagged ‘writing’

As a blogger myself, you would assume I was really good at commenting and adding thoughts to other peoples blogs. Unfortunately, that is just not true. And something I really need to fix.

Don’t get me wrong, I read a lot of blogs…probably about 30 or so posts per day from both blogs I subscribe to and links I click on through twitter. Of those 30, I will maybe comment on one each day…if that.

Why is this such a problem? Because commenting on blogs is one of the key parts of being a blogger.

First, it helps you to build your community. Say someone leaves a comment on your blog, and then you respond to them. They are now more likely to comment again because you have made them special, included and a part of the conversation. People want to feel like they are making a difference, and when you appreciate their comment by commenting back, they will.

Second,  if you comment on someone else’s blog, they appreciate it. Appreciation leads to visitation, visitation leads to comments on your content, and maybe even subscribing to your content. So, if you leave valuable comments on multiple blogs, you will have more people coming to see your work.

Third, comments build your SEO. When you leave a comment on a site, you leave your url as well. If you leave comments on blogs that are in the same topic area as you, and your comment includes that topic, your link is attributed to that comment, and in turn, that content. The more links you have that are connected to your content, the stronger your SEO will be.

Finally, it is just nice. I love when people leave me comments, which means that they probably love it when they get comments too. So if I leave them comments, I am making them happy. Nice, see?

Now the tough question, if I know all this, why do I still not comment more?

I have a couple theories.

My first theory is that I just don’t have the time. But this is a pretty pathetic theory because I can make time, I have time to do it while I watch TV at night, or while drinking my morning coffee. If I have time to read their blog, I have time to comment. I could cut out a bit of twitter and facebook time and do it then, or read 3-5 less blogs a day and use that time to comment. I could just suck it up and stop blaming time as the issue.

If I do that, then I hit theory number two: frustration with other commenter’s. This one is a little more realistic. I get frustrated when I see blogs with 50 comments that all say the same thing: “good content, I agree with you, you’re amazing, blah blah blah”. When I see those comments, even if I have something interesting to say that would add to the conversation (as opposed to kissing the butt of the author) I won’t leave it. Why? I don’t know. But I just don’t like adding comments on top of garbage like that.

Okay, so theory two makes sense, but it leaves out a lot of the blogs I read that don’t get comments like that (or gets a lot less of that). So what about those blogs? Theory three is that I am shy. Yup, me, shy. Stop laughing. Seriously, are you done? Okay, thank you. The reality is, I am very shy with my writing. I actually avoid writing about a lot of stuff on this blog because I don’t want to offend people or don’t want to come across the wrong way (even though sometimes I still do). There are many times I have contemplated creating a whole new (anonymous) blog to share the thoughts and stories I don’t share here. It is the same thing with comments. I either think that I can’t express my point well enough, so why try, or I worry that my comment will offend someone because it is the opposite of what everyone else is saying. So, instead of opening up, I become shy and don’t leave the comment.

What I am realizing, after looking at these theories, is that I really don’t have a good reason at all not to start commenting more. In fact, after asking my readers to de-lurk last year, I should be required to start de-lurking more myself. And I plan on it, starting today.

What say you?

Unfortunately, even after listing 10 great topics that any blogger can use last week, I still didn’t feel motivated today (what? I’m not perfect!). So, I decided to ask for some help from my friends and posted the above status update to facebook and twitter. Thank goodness for great friends, because in just 10 minutes I had the following great ideas! And now, I have some awesome ideas for next week

Ideas from Twitter:

@ParagonMoon: Blog topic: I can get over having done something I shouldn’t have. But to pass by opportunities is deeply regrettable and soul-damaging.

@Hagre: do a how-to of something you’re good at, or go explore someplace new and write about it! Just a couple thoughts!

@Sn0wSurF3r gave me two: How about, “you don’t have to blog just for the sake of blogging?” OR I want 2 read about how people should use lawyers at the beginning of contracts so they don’t need them after things go south

@influxx: take a break and come back fresh tomorrow. Dont force it. It will show.

@healthOC: I want to read about how the market has positively or negatively affected your business and/or others in your field

Ideas from Facebook:

What ideas do you have to add to the mix? What would you like to see me write about?

I love words. The problem is, I love fun, mouthy words…ones that make you pause, and re-read them. Words you rarely hear in common discourse but love to say. The problem is, in writing, these are words you should avoid as according to Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability one should write for about the 8th grade reading level, unless you are writing technical documents. This past weekend, I was playing scrabble with my hubby and parents…I played the word zeal, and it started a conversation about how people speak, write and the words the choose. For example, I adore words like facetious, acerbic, zealous, whom, cantankerous, dilapidated, etc…words that sound pompous (oh, another good one) but are just so fun to say/read. But, I rarely use these words because when I do, I get called pretentious (and…another good word!).

But, I still think these words deserve their spot in the sun, so, I’ve decided to have some fun: a-z, these are my favorite overly complex, absolutely verbose, but completely fun to use words:

Acerbic
Boisterous
Cantankerous
Dilapidated
Engorged
Facetious
Gregarious
Hoary
Ignoramus
Jovial
Kaleidoscope
Ludicrous
Malicious
Nuance
Obstinate
Pathology
Quixotic
Resplendent
Scourge
Trepidation
Undulating
Verbose
Whom
X (okay, so there is no word I really like that starts with x…)
Yammered
Zealous

What are some of your favorite words? Do you avoid overly verbose words in your writing?

Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world.

I spent 2005 writing. A lot. Seriously, papers analyzing word choices in public speeches by celebrities, articles by famous journalists and monologues from plays pretty much every week. And then of course, starting my (90 page!) thesis paper on the study of the rhetoric of the NRA and the role they play as both a protagonist and an antagonist to the American government…Almost every day was spent in front of my keyboard, writing as much as I could about everything I read and heard, in hopes that it would come in handy for a paper down the road. While I didn’t see it then, the time that I spent writing down everything was great training for now, where I can turn real life thoughts into future blog posts.

While I was writing like crazy Millionaire Steve Fossett broke the world record by completing the first non-stop, non-refueled, solo flight around the world in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. (okay, so I know it isn’t media/tech or advertising…but it’s really cool!!)

Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world.

In 1997, I was finishing 7th grade, starting 8th grade, and still trying to figure out who I really was (I think we all were at that age). Other than friends, boys and annoying my parents, I had 2 things I knew that I loved: reading and writing. I had a book and my notebook with me everywhere that I went, jotting down thoughts and ideas about every day life. I guess it was my first version of “blogging”. I was not a tech savvy kid, despite going to a school that had a computer lab donated by Steve Wozniak. I mean, I understood computers and knew how to use them, but was never really interested in anything beyond using them for school. I preferred the feeling of writing on paper to writing in Word. Which meant that I constantly had ink on the side of my hand from dragging it across barely dried sentences (one of the pitfalls of being left handed). To this day, I still love writing on paper, but find that I type much quicker than I can write, so my laptop has replaced my notebook (although at night, I do still keep a notepad by my bed for those random thoughts). I think that as long as I keep writing, my creativity will continue. I worry for the day that my hands will no longer cooperate and hope that by that point, there is a solution…

On the topic of reading and writing, 1997 marked the start of one of the most successful book series ever written – Harry Potter. While it wasn’t released in the US until 1998, the book became an instant star in the UK, winning numerous awards and receiving some of the highest compliments from the reviewers. For those who don’t know, this is one of my favorite series of all times and I have actually read all 7 books more than 5 times each. What impresses me most about Rowling (the author of the series) is the drive that she had to write the books, and the passion in which she wrote them. Even more impressive? According to Forbes magazine, she is the first author to become a billionaire from writing books. Now that is a serious accomplishment, and adds a little motivation to anyone out there who has ever been told writing can’t make you rich.

Over the next 25 posts, ending on my birthday, I will be covering an incredibly creative moment or idea from a year of my life AND one creative moment in either the marketing, advertising, technology or media world.

1994…The year that I found my new genre of books to love and “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle” was created.

As I’m sure you saw from my post about creating books in 1990, I fell in love with reading and writing at a very young age. In 1994, I found mystery novels. I started with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, and as the years progressed worked my way up through Diane Mott Davidson’s collections (Chef who solves crimes, how cool!), and Mary Higgins Clark The problem? My overactive imagination often meant that I didn’t sleep very well after…Luckily, that never deterred my love for reading and I still enjoy mystery (with a splash of romance).

Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle…better known as Yahoo! was started by David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D. candidates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. It was originally meant to keep track of their like interests on the Internet. But, they decided to make it available for friends and family. As word began to spread, the users stemmed outside of their contacts and grew rapidly. They experienced their first million-hit day in the fall of 1994, and knew they were on to something. 2 years, 8 investors, 49 employees and a $2 million dollar investment later, Yahoo! officially took the Internet world by storm. This just goes to show you, brilliant ideas do not always start as something phenomenal. All it takes is one idea and the drive to make it happen…

Excited about

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I can not count the number of times that I have met someone and they have told me that I speak/carry myself exactly how I write. Sometimes I am not sure if they consider that a good thing or a bad thing, but personally, I am extremely proud of it.

When you meet me, I want you to feel comfortable. I believe it would be very awkward if after reading my blog posts for awhile, you met me and found out that I was a stuffed shirt who wasn’t actually sarcastic in real life. But of course, I am most definitely not a stuffed shirt and I use sarcasm as much in real life as I do in my writing.

I love ellipsis (…) and use them a ton in my writing because, well, I speak that way! Ellipsis allow for more, periods are so final, both in writing and in speaking. You can leave a sentence open to whatever interpretation the reader/listener wants to take with an ellipse… Jan over at Creative Instigation actually wrote a great post about ellipsis…

I also use the dash (-) a lot, to insert another thought into a sentence. I don’t do this for ‘dramatic writing effect’, I do it because I do it in real life too. I’ll pause during a thought – break it off and comment about something else – and then come back to my original thought. Could I use commas? Yes. Would that be more grammatically correct? Probably. But this is my blog, and I will write it the way I want, that is my right as a writer and I plan on using it!

What is important about how I write and speak? Well, it speaks volumes about who I am as a business owner and the types of clients I work with.

When I first decided to start my business and take it on as a full-time, 100% dedicated career, I talked with quite a few people in my industry. Those who had built successful businesses and had learned a thing or two, and were willing to share some advice. They all had really great thoughts, but when it came to my writing style, about half of them told me; “You don’t sound professional enough. You write for the masses instead of writing to attract high paying clients. You should never write the way you speak.” And unfortunately, this is where they lost my attention.

The other half loved my writing style and thought that if it worked for me, then I should stick with it. They said that my writing was extremely well done and the samples of client work I had showed my variety. They explained that this is my blog, and I should write it how I feel it should be written, as long as that continues to be successful.  This half I listened to. They were no more successful than those who thought I should change my writing, they had no more experience than the other half, so why did I listen?

Because they were no less successful. They had no less experience. Which meant that their opinions mattered just as much – and their opinion (and experience) told me what I already believed: If it works for you, do it! Do not try to be someone you are not or you will hate yourself and the work you do.

And this is what I have stuck with, and while I have only officially been a business owner for 3 months, my business is doing well. My writing attracts incredible clients, clients that I want to work with, and understand what they are getting from the very beginning. There are no surprises when they see the work I do for them because they already know what they can expect from me just from reading a bit of my writing and checking out my work. Then, when they talk to me in person, they see it all matches and it makes working with me simple – no surprises or personality changes.

Do you write the way you speak? If not, why not? If yes, what type of responses do you get?

When I was little (okay, to this day) people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I hate that question. It doesn’t have any real strategy behind it.

The question we should ask is what do you want to do when you grow up. This is a question that makes you think. This is a question that has goals, ideas and achievements.

For example, say your answer is “I want to be a doctor”. What does that mean? Do you want to be MJ’s doctor? Not so much. What about Dr. Kevorkian? Probably not. What about if instead, you said “I want to help figure out what causes cancer in children, fight to save lives, and enable people to survive”. Whole lot better explanation than “I want to be a doctor”, right? And, it speaks volumes more about what you care about and what you imagine yourself actually doing. “being a doctor” is vague. Doing something is not.

So, what do you want to do when you grow up?

Oh, and for a little Monday job humor:

Last week, I asked everyone on twitter what their favorite websites were. But, I only talked about one that I liked (my own). Many people later asked me what other sites I liked. The problem was, I couldn’t define a category to stick with. There are so many posts out there about the 10 sites you must go to if…

…you’re into social media

…you like sports

…you’re a freelance writer

…you like wine

…you’re on twitter

…you play with photoshop

But what about the list for someone who is all of the above? Or, none of the above? I am personally all of the above and much more, and find that these type of lists rarely cover what I need. So, here are the 10 sites that I have found that (for the most part) no matter what you are into, will benefit you:

1. Twitter – This is a given, and almost everyone knows about the site, but it has so drastically changed my blog and my life that I have to talk about it.

2. Overstock.com – It doesn’t quite have the reach of Amazon or ebay yet, but it is a gem that I love and use every Christmas for my shopping. I can’t help but love it.

3,4&5. Google, Yahoo & Citysearch – There are a million search engines, but I am still a fan of the basics. Google for information, Yahoo Maps for directions and Citysearch for reviews on restaurants or place to go. Everyone has their own that they love, but often the ‘new and clever’ come out and we forget why we loved the old standards. I’ve tried the new ones – and gone back to these three. All 3 sites have had facelifts, and the usability couldn’t be better. If you haven’t looked at them in awhile, it may be worth checking back.

6. Roboform - Okay, so it isn’t a site you can ‘use’ but the auto-password tool that is roboform is totally worth the visit. At $30, there is no better way to handle your passwords. I am truly passionate about my roboform (and they don’t even reward me for soliciting them!).

7. Craigslist – Find anything from really ugly sheets to a great job. Honestly, the creators of this site were absolutely brilliant. The UI is simple and easy to navigate and the amount of listings are amazing. Yes, they have some issues with spammers trying to steal your money, but what site doesn’t? Next time you are trying to find a great something, check there first.

8. Stumbleupon – This is how I have found many of the random sites that I love, in addition to some great ideas for my blog!

9. Facebook – If you aren’t on it, you should be. It took me a while to finally join, but I am so glad that I did. It is a thousand times better than Myspace in every way.

10. Wikipedia – One can argue that although the site has good information, because it is peer edited, it can’t be trusted. I completely disagree. I think the fact that it is peer edited makes it easier to trust – everyone monitors everyone else! It is one of the best ways to get a quick answer to a burning question.

Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts on these sites or others…