Think of Goldilocks for a moment. She didn't settle for just poor or good - she wanted great! And so should you!
So go back and make your good postings even better!
I have some posts I frequently link to because they have useful content - but I ran across one today that I had an idea to make it even better after I read it.
Which is why I suggest you review old posts regularly.
Just think about what you can do with a post which was good that is now fantastic?
1. You can use it as an article to advertise your blog.
2. You can file it under the label of Best Posts.
3. You can use it to entice new readers.
4. You can put it in a newsletter to reignite old subscribers interests in your blog.
So pursue greatness and you'll reach new heights of blogging success!
Aged success seeker,
CB Webmaster
Showing posts with label Editing Your Posts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Editing Your Posts. Show all posts
Friday, December 19, 2008
5 Reasons to Go Back and Read Your Posts
Why?
1. You'll see that you've created new labels you can organize the old post in since it was created.
2. You'll have new links you may want to included as hyperlinks within it.
3. You may recognize errors you didn't notice with the post before that you can fix.
4. You can get spin-off ideas!
5. You can edit them for length (so you're readers can get the same information but only faster!)
Kickin' it Old School,
CB Webmaster
P.S. For more reasons to review your posts see: Heed Your Own Advice
P.P.S. Remember to occasionally weed out your undesirable posts.
1. You'll see that you've created new labels you can organize the old post in since it was created.
2. You'll have new links you may want to included as hyperlinks within it.
3. You may recognize errors you didn't notice with the post before that you can fix.
4. You can get spin-off ideas!
5. You can edit them for length (so you're readers can get the same information but only faster!)
Kickin' it Old School,
CB Webmaster
P.S. For more reasons to review your posts see: Heed Your Own Advice
P.P.S. Remember to occasionally weed out your undesirable posts.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Not All Blog Ideas are Created Equal
You've gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run." - Don Schlitz
The same goes for blogging.
Not all blog ideas are created equal.
Some are just absolutely great and deserve a Bloggy Award.
While others sounded good at the time but.....
So there's no need to clutter up your blog with the ideas that should've been thrown out way long ago like those socks you have with holes in them.
Just because you wrote a post doesn't mean you can't delete it any time you want!
Just think - if you came across a blog with 95% great ideas wouldn't you be thrilled? I know I would!
So toss the junk and add more valuable content to your blog by simply generating better material!
There's no doubt this will make your existing readers even happier and happier readers could definitely lead to more referrals!
-CB Webmaster (creator of CB Success - home of the happiest blog readers! lol)
P.S. I know how personal blog writing is - like your babies - but just because you delete a blog post from your blog doesn't mean you have to wipe it out of existence - you can always save it on your hard drive and then some day down the road you can read through them and laugh and say to yourself "What was I thinking? :)
The same goes for blogging.
Not all blog ideas are created equal.
Some are just absolutely great and deserve a Bloggy Award.
While others sounded good at the time but.....
So there's no need to clutter up your blog with the ideas that should've been thrown out way long ago like those socks you have with holes in them.
Just because you wrote a post doesn't mean you can't delete it any time you want!
Just think - if you came across a blog with 95% great ideas wouldn't you be thrilled? I know I would!
So toss the junk and add more valuable content to your blog by simply generating better material!
There's no doubt this will make your existing readers even happier and happier readers could definitely lead to more referrals!
-CB Webmaster (creator of CB Success - home of the happiest blog readers! lol)
P.S. I know how personal blog writing is - like your babies - but just because you delete a blog post from your blog doesn't mean you have to wipe it out of existence - you can always save it on your hard drive and then some day down the road you can read through them and laugh and say to yourself "What was I thinking? :)
Saturday, December 13, 2008
P.P.S. out of control!!!
lol okay I've been there done that!
Sometimes I have one more thing to say and oh one more and wait just one more and I end up with three extensive P.P.P.S.'s!
So if it really is more a part of the blog posting rather than an afterthought - then just integrate it into the posting.
Which would you rather read a posting that:
-tells you its over?
-gives you one more great tip in a P.S.
or
-one that said it was over (aka signed off with a signature) and then goes on and on and on
It's like the bell ringing in school and the teacher keeping you ten minutes late!
Ay-yi-yi!
You just want to get out of there!
Which means your reader (most likely) won't stick around to hear your relevant comments because they've moved on to another post.
Brief works,
CB Webmaster
P.S. I know you're laughing right about now if you've read any of my posts because they are usually let's just say the "opposite" of brief - but I have my moments! ;)
Sometimes I have one more thing to say and oh one more and wait just one more and I end up with three extensive P.P.P.S.'s!
So if it really is more a part of the blog posting rather than an afterthought - then just integrate it into the posting.
Which would you rather read a posting that:
-tells you its over?
-gives you one more great tip in a P.S.
or
-one that said it was over (aka signed off with a signature) and then goes on and on and on
It's like the bell ringing in school and the teacher keeping you ten minutes late!
Ay-yi-yi!
You just want to get out of there!
Which means your reader (most likely) won't stick around to hear your relevant comments because they've moved on to another post.
Brief works,
CB Webmaster
P.S. I know you're laughing right about now if you've read any of my posts because they are usually let's just say the "opposite" of brief - but I have my moments! ;)
New Post or Add to Previous Post?
Important note when you're thinking about adding something new to an existing post first ask yourself:
Could this thought/link stand on its own as a new post?
If the answer is yes - great!
Just create a new post and in that post hyperlink a reference to the old related post.
Not only does this save you time of tracking down that old post but it gives your readers a whole new post to read!
I found this out one day when I wanted to add some notes to a post I had written on ... and what I wanted to add ended up becoming several paragraphs of new content and I thought - hey this can be it's own post - because it was too much information that if I added it to the old post it would detract from it's original essence/intention.
Always learning,
CB Webmaster
Could this thought/link stand on its own as a new post?
If the answer is yes - great!
Just create a new post and in that post hyperlink a reference to the old related post.
Not only does this save you time of tracking down that old post but it gives your readers a whole new post to read!
I found this out one day when I wanted to add some notes to a post I had written on ... and what I wanted to add ended up becoming several paragraphs of new content and I thought - hey this can be it's own post - because it was too much information that if I added it to the old post it would detract from it's original essence/intention.
Always learning,
CB Webmaster
Keep a To Do List
Anyone who's ever blogged knows it isn't as simple as just typing some thoughts into a post and voila that's it!
There's a lot that goes into it and your blogging life will be much happier if you stay organized!
To keep your sanity I suggest you create a "To Do List" text file on your computer.
If you have a Windows Computer just click on: Start, programs, accessories, and open: Notepad.
Then enter things you plan to do on your blog in the new text file.
And of course since this list will grow and grow - you may want to prioritize the tasks you want to do first at the top of the list.
The great thing is you can copy and paste and delete text to move it around to easiily arrange what you want to be priority tasks at the top of your text file.
Note: If you need to learn how to copy and paste scroll to the bottom of Quote Posting Guidelines for instructions (it's right under the text: How to Hyperlink).
Things you may want to consider priority tasks:
1. Errors you come across on your site.
Especially broken links, improperly loading "widgets", etc.
People get flustered easily - and if your site doesn't "appear" in order they may not return.
Just remember every day your blog and blog postings have an oppotunity to appeal to new readers!
So basic upkeep like this will safeguard you against people's impulses to find another site that isn't "broken"
2. Optimizing your blog settings.
Don't delay doing this! You'll save a lot more time in the long run if you label your posts up front instead of doing it down the road.
Your blog probably has tons of features you're not even aware of!
At blogger.com you can subscribe to their Rss Feed of their New Features called: Blogger Buzz
And remember you can always check your blog's help files
Some blog sites even have forums where users exchange tips for improving the functionality of their blogs.
One of the most important features you want to display on your blog posts is an RSS feed.
3. Self-Promote
Once you have at least 5 or more quality blog posts you're going to want to get the word out to people about your blog!
Check this out:
The Importance of Linking Your Blog Posts!
4. Things you want to research
5. Things you need to finish
And the best way to avoid more tasks accumulating on your ever-to-do list is to prevent them from accumulating in the first place!
Also I keep a text file called Blogs to Post - where I write down any ideas I have for blog posts - even if it's just one line describing what I want to write about - that way I don't forget it. And if I don't have time to write the post right now I'll have something to trigger me to remember what I wanted to write about. I also like to make notes to myself about what labels I should add to the post - to make it easier for myself later when I'm posting it and selecting labels for it!
And to keep things really organized I even have a text file called Blog Posts to Edit. This is a list of posts I've already posted that I have something new to add to (either a new thought or a link). Because I usually don't remember the title of the post off the top of my head I just write down the thought/link for each post I want to update. Then I use a dotted line to distinguish that the information below each line is for a different post that needs to be edited. Can't decide if your new thought should go in a New Post or Add to Previous Post?
You can even create a seperate list just for URLS that you want to reference in your posts - remember you can go back anytime and edit your posts and add hyperlinks to relevant blog postings or articles you come across.
Phew,
CB Webmaster
There's a lot that goes into it and your blogging life will be much happier if you stay organized!
To keep your sanity I suggest you create a "To Do List" text file on your computer.
If you have a Windows Computer just click on: Start, programs, accessories, and open: Notepad.
Then enter things you plan to do on your blog in the new text file.
And of course since this list will grow and grow - you may want to prioritize the tasks you want to do first at the top of the list.
The great thing is you can copy and paste and delete text to move it around to easiily arrange what you want to be priority tasks at the top of your text file.
Note: If you need to learn how to copy and paste scroll to the bottom of Quote Posting Guidelines for instructions (it's right under the text: How to Hyperlink).
Things you may want to consider priority tasks:
1. Errors you come across on your site.
Especially broken links, improperly loading "widgets", etc.
People get flustered easily - and if your site doesn't "appear" in order they may not return.
Just remember every day your blog and blog postings have an oppotunity to appeal to new readers!
So basic upkeep like this will safeguard you against people's impulses to find another site that isn't "broken"
2. Optimizing your blog settings.
Don't delay doing this! You'll save a lot more time in the long run if you label your posts up front instead of doing it down the road.
Your blog probably has tons of features you're not even aware of!
At blogger.com you can subscribe to their Rss Feed of their New Features called: Blogger Buzz
And remember you can always check your blog's help files
Some blog sites even have forums where users exchange tips for improving the functionality of their blogs.
One of the most important features you want to display on your blog posts is an RSS feed.
3. Self-Promote
Once you have at least 5 or more quality blog posts you're going to want to get the word out to people about your blog!
Check this out:
The Importance of Linking Your Blog Posts!
4. Things you want to research
5. Things you need to finish
And the best way to avoid more tasks accumulating on your ever-to-do list is to prevent them from accumulating in the first place!
Also I keep a text file called Blogs to Post - where I write down any ideas I have for blog posts - even if it's just one line describing what I want to write about - that way I don't forget it. And if I don't have time to write the post right now I'll have something to trigger me to remember what I wanted to write about. I also like to make notes to myself about what labels I should add to the post - to make it easier for myself later when I'm posting it and selecting labels for it!
And to keep things really organized I even have a text file called Blog Posts to Edit. This is a list of posts I've already posted that I have something new to add to (either a new thought or a link). Because I usually don't remember the title of the post off the top of my head I just write down the thought/link for each post I want to update. Then I use a dotted line to distinguish that the information below each line is for a different post that needs to be edited. Can't decide if your new thought should go in a New Post or Add to Previous Post?
You can even create a seperate list just for URLS that you want to reference in your posts - remember you can go back anytime and edit your posts and add hyperlinks to relevant blog postings or articles you come across.
Phew,
CB Webmaster
Don't Piss Off Your Readers
Remember my post on not being stubborn when it comes to changing titles? The same goes for labels!
If the label you originally used to categorize posts of the same topic is no longer fitting or just isn't doing its job well enough - you can change it too!
For example I had this label: Keywords Tags and Labels
I originally labeled it that because I figured keywords and tags are key search words people are going to be looking for - the only problem is I hadn't done enough research in that area yet and had no postings on it - I only had postings on Labels - so this was not really "labeled" correctly for my readers.
Just think how disappointed you'd be if you clicked on it because you wanted to learn about keywords and then found out there wasn't even one single post about keywords in that directory?
You'd be pissed, I mean I know I would! And that's definitely not a way to gain
readers - by misleading them to believe there is material there they are interesting in only for them to find out (and very soon at that), that there never was any information they sought there.
Let's just I don't think you'll be getting any repeat "customers" that way!
So make sure to label your posts correctly and relabel as necessary.
Hopefully pleasing my readers,
CB Webmaster
P.S. You know how I said above to think about "how disappointed you'd be"? Well I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that should become a guiding principle for you when you're writing your blog posts - that if you find that you'd be disappointed after reading it (pretend of course that you are the reader of your blog) then it's probably time to take that particular blog post back to the drawing board (rewrite it), or do more homework on it, or scratch it entirely - better to have a blog with less posts than one cluttered with drivel.
If the label you originally used to categorize posts of the same topic is no longer fitting or just isn't doing its job well enough - you can change it too!
For example I had this label: Keywords Tags and Labels
I originally labeled it that because I figured keywords and tags are key search words people are going to be looking for - the only problem is I hadn't done enough research in that area yet and had no postings on it - I only had postings on Labels - so this was not really "labeled" correctly for my readers.
Just think how disappointed you'd be if you clicked on it because you wanted to learn about keywords and then found out there wasn't even one single post about keywords in that directory?
You'd be pissed, I mean I know I would! And that's definitely not a way to gain
readers - by misleading them to believe there is material there they are interesting in only for them to find out (and very soon at that), that there never was any information they sought there.
Let's just I don't think you'll be getting any repeat "customers" that way!
So make sure to label your posts correctly and relabel as necessary.
Hopefully pleasing my readers,
CB Webmaster
P.S. You know how I said above to think about "how disappointed you'd be"? Well I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that should become a guiding principle for you when you're writing your blog posts - that if you find that you'd be disappointed after reading it (pretend of course that you are the reader of your blog) then it's probably time to take that particular blog post back to the drawing board (rewrite it), or do more homework on it, or scratch it entirely - better to have a blog with less posts than one cluttered with drivel.
Make Your Post Titles Easy to Remember
I have this post that I could never find just because I couldn't remember the name of it! And I always wanted to link to it but it was a pain to find.
Finally I just ended up changing the title so I could find it easier!
So why not make your posts easier for your readers to find faster as well!
Take a moment and think: What is this post essentially about?
Then that becomes your title!
Simple is good.
And what does this teach us class?
Don't be a stubborn old mule! It took me about five times looking for this seemingly lost post before I realized all I had to do was retitle it!
How in love was I with that old title?
Well let's just say I can't even remember it now!
Kicking myself,
CB Webmaster
Finally I just ended up changing the title so I could find it easier!
So why not make your posts easier for your readers to find faster as well!
Take a moment and think: What is this post essentially about?
Then that becomes your title!
Simple is good.
And what does this teach us class?
Don't be a stubborn old mule! It took me about five times looking for this seemingly lost post before I realized all I had to do was retitle it!
How in love was I with that old title?
Well let's just say I can't even remember it now!
Kicking myself,
CB Webmaster
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