Today I post the next part of the post “Time management tips for bloggers”.
Time management tips for bloggers. Part 1
Time management tips for bloggers. Part 2
1. Divide post writing process into several stages
Many of us think that blog post writing is a linear and indivisible process. According to this opinion, blogger must just sit and write all the nine yards of the post at once. In fact, the things are quite different. The process of post writing may be divided into several stages, starting from any point you like. Do not be afraid of making a pause in writing lasting up to several days – you can conveniently back to your work and complete the post later.
2. Create several “low-cost” headings
Rohit Bhargava recommends creating several headings, the regular keeping of which will not take much of your time, but will be interesting to your readers. As such headings you can use other bloggers’ posts regular review, advantageous bookmarks on Delicious, the posting of your personal photos, etc.
3. Entrust blog promotion to readers
As I have mentioned before, blog promotion is as time consuming as its keeping, and to make it more efficient, you may employ your readers. When making blog template, install the plug-ins, using which the readers will be able to add their own content to your page.
Install ReTweet plug-in to attract Twitter users, configure social bookmarks and social news services buttons. Install ShareThis plug-in for a reader could conveniently tell persons from his/her circle contacts about your post.
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Today I post the next part of the post “Time management tips for bloggers”. You can read the first part of the article here.
1. Do not bite off more than you can chew
The majority of bloggers passed through the period which I call “blogging euphoria” when the initial enthusiasm of having personal blog and from getting the readers’ attention blooms into a wish to keep several blogs devoted to subjects the author is interested in.
However, shortly after new blogs starting it becomes quite evident that keeping and promoting them is absolutely unfeasible due to simple time shortage. As a result, the quantity of posts grows less and less and even those added are hard to be effectively promoted. Finally, the blogs gradually decline, the quantity of subscribers and visitors decreases and the blogging stops accomplishing the initially assigned tasks.
Considering this, I recommend you to keep only one or two blogs as a ceiling. Mind: no living man all things can.
2. Write only about the things you are truly interested in
One of the basic elements of any time management system is motivation. The statement is true for the blogging as well where motivation is a key moment. You should be truly interested in the subject you write about, otherwise blogging transforms from WOW hobby into tedious job. If past experience is any guide, then work on the posts you are really interested in goes much faster and the result is much more effective as opposed to posts the subject of which does not enthuse you at all.
3. Take a post for a walk
On specifying the topic of your next post, go out for a small promenade to think it over. Do not forget to take your dictaphone to promptly record all the good ideas occurred to your mind during the walk.
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I feel quite certain of the fact that the majority of bloggers are short of time for blog keeping. No wonder! As many of us either work in companies with “inflexible” schedule or develop dozens of personal projects, and blog keeping may be a very time-consuming task.
As a result, one have to face a dilemma: either carefully write blog or do the day job well.
If that is the case, there are three basic solutions:
- Leave your job and turn to blog fulltime. It is by all means a tempting alternative, however, to choose it you have to be sure that your blog produces stable and high income.
- Spend less time on blog keeping. Nevertheless, blog is more than just a hobby. It is the means of self-actualization, so this alternative is hardly acceptable.
- Try to write more efficiently. As for me, I chose this particular alternative.
A lot has been written about effective blogging, including works of Rohit Bhargava. I also decided to write a series of articles under a title “Time Management Tips For Bloggers” to summarize in them my own expertise, as well as my colleagues’ and blogosphere stars’ experience.
In total, I developed 30 recommendations for effective blogging. As a part of this series I plan to publish three posts.
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According to the generally held opinion, all Social Media Marketing tools are limited to group creation on Facebook, blogging and Twitter, as well as uploading content to YouTube. To reason away this popular belief I gathered all my business proposals, reports and cases, and analyzed some hundreds of subject-related blogs. As a result, I made up a list of forty two effective and “fair” SMM tools.
1. Group creation in social media to invite there target audience representatives.
2. Viral marketing.
3. Blog creation and promotion on Twitter.
4. Article promotion in subject-oriented social media.
5. News promotion on social news web services.
6. Article allocation in social-oriented mass-media.
7. Bookmarks allocation on social bookmark services.
8. Distribution of information and links in subject-related communities.
9. Face-to-face work with opinion leaders.
10. Writing and distribution of social releases.
11. Promotion on FAQ services.
12. Link allocation in Wikipedia articles.
13. Lens creation on projects like SQUIDOO.
14. Arrangement of virtual flash mobs.
15. Organization and holding of online competitions, polling and voting.
16. Corporate blog creation and promotion.
17. Adding guest posts to close in subject blogs.
18. Adding informative comments to close in subject blogs.
19. Promo posts allocation in blogs.
20. SMO optimization of website/blog structure.
21. Unique free content allocation on website/blog (e.g. plug-in or e-book).
22. Blog notes crossposting on blog services.
23. Linkbaiting.
24. Subject-oriented community creation and promotion.
25. Subject-oriented social media creation and promotion.
26. The development of unique personage in social media, including promo information in its profile, active commenting, visiting other users’ pages, communication.
27. Social media members’ reward for website/blog link allocation in their profiles.
28. Celebrity participation (as a person keeping blog or as a community member, etc.).
29. Photo content promotion in media like Flickr.
30. Video content promotion in media like YouTube.
31. Audio content promotion.
32. RSS marketing.
33. Podcast recording and distribution.
34. Video log recording and promotion.
35. Undercover marketing at forums.
36. Writing and distribution of comments and reviews of the advertised product/service/brand/website.
37. Creation of mailing list and directing postings.
38. Branded widgets promotion.
39. Mems creation and promotion.
40. Webinar holding.
41. Participation in Internet ratings.
42. Participation in recommender systems as an expert.
The list is still open as the SMM business is not mature yet: general standards are not determined, therefore, there is no well-defined list of marketing tools which unambiguously belong to SMM. I will be very thankful if you kindly add new items to the given list to make it more complete. So, if you use any other tools than that which are described here, please write about them in your comments, and then I will make corresponding changes to my article and update it.
In this article I would like to appear as a futurologist to consider modern Web 2.0 the most salient and fascinating trends. On carrying out certain analysis, on rubbing shoulders with software vendors and marketing specialists as well as on assessing various Internet projects state-of-the-art I defined top nine Web 2.0 trends.
1. Web 3.0 age is not going to come yet
People increasingly discuss the point that Web 2.0 concept has outlived it usefulness and that now we are on the threshold of Web 3.0 age coming. As for me, that is not the case for at least two strong reasons.
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1. What is Social Shopping Becoming?
Many of us in digital marketing especially on the social media side of life have been creating and stewarding programs for brands that pay off in the middle or top of the funnel – Engagement up to Awareness. Or our approach to driving action or conversion has been a click-through or coupon download or similar action. Now we really can apply “social” to not just shopping but to conversion or sales.
2. A Year @Ford – Part 1
Typically when a leader assumes a new role, he or she is judged based on how much they accomplish in the first 30, 60, or 90 days. And I knew that our lofty goal at Ford – to be become a leader in digital communications in four years and to become the world’s leading social automotive brand – was one that would require a lot of teamwork.
3. The Various Roles of Social Media in the Enterprise
At the core, social media is about a direct relationship-conversation-engagement-dialogue-poke-nudge-reciprocal-follow between a brand and a consumer. In my mind which has been wrong many times, community management serves as the execution arm of social media in most cases. I am probably oversimplifying it a bit but I think you catch my drift.
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Facebook has become an inherent part of modern society. Now, millions of people start their day checking the personal page on Facebook. Facebook is perceived as a kind of online get-together where users meet their old friends and find the new ones. As it turns out, however, there are the other, much more extraordinary ways of using this “number one” social media website. That is exactly what I am going to tell you about.
So, here you are with top ten extraordinary ways of using Facebook.
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The real value of any community, whether it is forum, social media or bloghosting community, is determined by its members. The members’ activity is a key factor of the community growth and development, therefore, an administrator should inspire it in every possible way. All the community members may be nominally divided into several types each possessing its special behavioral features. Armed with such knowledge, the administrator can line up the most effective policy of treating different types of community members.
Expert
Expert is a community member professionally trained on the subject discussed in the community who enjoys sharing his knowledge with people. Such members are the most valuable type of participants. The professional expert thoroughly enlighted upon the subject discussed is a real discovery for any community as this is namely his good counsel that will be searched by a considerable part of community members.
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