Quick Tips for Blogging and Editing

Here are some more links and tips to help you in your blog writing journeys. Hopeully these sites will inspire you and build your confidence in blog writing! Again courtesy of ProBlogger, here are your blogging tips!

7 Steps to Better Blogging (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/11/22/7-steps-to-better-business... )

1.A blog entry is a stub for conversation. Think about creating posts that start conversations, have a point of view, and appeal to the interests of your readers. All writing must consider the audience, but for bloggers, it’s critical.
2.Write tight headlines that pique interest. Think punchy, short, descriptive headlines that will pique a reader’s curiosity.
3.Be scan-friendly. Bullet points (like these!) are easy to scan and have the useful by-product of lending structure to your thoughts.
4.Link to the context. This is really important: if you write about something that other blogs are talking about in a post or conversation, offer links back to their conversations to give your post some context.
5.Troll the blogosphere for secondary conversation. Tools like Google BlogSearch, Bloglines and Technorati will help you track what other bloggers are saying about your post. Try to update your blog with links to those conversations if they add or augment yours.
6.Be active in your own conversations. Comment back to your readers. Social media is all about relationships.
7.Create buzz everywhere. Include lots of relevant inbound links to your post. Via Technorati or other search tools, seek out other blogs that are discussing the same or similar issues, and participate in the conversation there.

9 Essential Questions to Ask Before Submitting a Post (http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/04/28/9-essential-questions-to-a... )

Does this post give something useful and unique to my readers?
Will it enhance their lives in some way or is it ‘fluff’?
Is the spelling correct?
Does the post make sense grammatically?
What could I cut out of the post to make it more concise?
How could I make the post easier to ’scan’ for readers (headings, formatting, images etc)?
Is the title engaging? Does it draw people into the post?
Could I give this post a little more time before publishing to ‘mature’? Would coming back to it tomorrow help me to add depth to it?
Have I written on this topic before and can I link to it?