Whether you run a niche blog, a personal blog, or a professional freelance writer blog targeting clients, you’re bound to come up against blog comment spam at some point or another. If you open your site to comments, this is simply a reality you have to deal with. That doesn’t mean dealing with the comment spam problem has to be difficult. Yet I frequently read blogs
When you work on your blog’s editorial calendar (or even a more general list of blog post ideas), do you ever feel stuck? While there are plenty of headline template lists and blog post idea lists available, and I’ve even provided some here, sometimes you just don’t know what to write about. I’ll let you in on a little secret. It happens to me too.
If you run a blog as an income stream, chances are that you’ve at least tried to earn some advertising revenue. But managing ads on your blog can involve a big time investment. Fortunately you don’t have to manually insert ad code in every blog post. Occasionally this makes sense, like when you want to insert an affiliate ad that’s relevant only to a specific post. But
Recently we looked at eight blog post ideas you can fall back on if you suddenly aren’t sure what to write about on your blog. Today I have another tip along those lines — something you can do on a regular basis to make idea generation a bit easier. This week’s quick tip for bloggers is to write post series rather than relying solely on
Last week I suggested adding your latest blog content to your writer website’s homepage. That might make this week’s quick tip sound a little strange. But this one is for bloggers: Consider adding static content to your blog’s homepage. In last week’s post we were looking at freelance writer websites and author websites, where the blog is an add-on and static homepages are the norm.
Spam sucks. So does physical junk mail. And I get a crap-ton of it on a regular basis (that’s the official measurement scale for junk mail, really). Here’s why I get so much more garbage than my family and friends: I registered a domain name. Actually, I’ve registered hundreds of them over the years, but all it takes is one to let the spammers get your scent.
Many bloggers set up a single sidebar and then include that sidebar on every page of their blogs. But what happens if you have categories that would benefit from different sidebar content, or pages on your blog where you’d like a custom sidebar? Maybe you want to place hand-picked affiliate ads, or you want to promote different books on different sections of your blog. Whatever
Recently you might have noticed that I’ve been adding audio versions to some All Freelance Writing blog posts. One example is “Gamification: Make Freelance Writing More Fun.” Not only can new visitors read the original post, but they can choose to listen if that’s what they prefer. And now they have another option: a condensed version in a SlideShare presentation. Why would you want to
This isn’t the post I planned to publish today. This month’s blog editorial plan just began, and already I’m off-track. As mentioned over the weekend, I’ve been dealing with the aftermath of a minor plumbing disaster. And my husband and I have had contractors in and out of our house for the better part of two days. Sometimes things come up and we have to
Are you tired of competing with countless other bloggers for every advertised gig you find? Do you wish you could reliably earn $100, $200, $500, or even more per article as a freelance blogger? If you’re looking to build a more stable and higher-paying freelance blogging career, you can. Opportunities are practically endless, if you know how to look and how to make yourself stand out. Consider giving
This post was originally published on June 20, 2009. But I wanted to share it again today (and update it a bit) as the issue of blogging pay rates is hotter than ever as more and more freelance bloggers come onto the scene. As some background, this was originally written in response to Kevin Muldoon’s post, Bloggers Need to be Realistic About Blogging Rates. It
All of my blogs are run in WordPress, and that’s been my blogging platform of choice since switching to it in 2006. WordPress offers fairly extensive writing and editing tools right within your site’s admin area. Over the years, I’ve written many of my blog posts directly in WordPress using these tools. That was probably a mistake. In my last post I mentioned that I
I wish I knew why, but over the last month and a half or so I’ve noticed far more WordPress plugin updates than usual being pushed through. Perhaps developers are getting ready for the WordPress 3.9 core update. Whatever the reason, more plugin updates equals more risk for your website or blog. Plenty can go wrong when you update a plugin. Sometimes the updates will
Your blog’s content strategy is about more than the type of content you plan to write. It also includes your blog post schedule — when you post, and how often you post. Should you post daily? Just on weekdays? Once per week? Monthly? There’s no right answer to cover all blogs. You have to find the right post frequency and schedule for your blog. Picking Your Blog Post
There are many reasons to start a blog. One popular reason is to make money. When you do that, you treat your blog as a business model in its own right. Many people try to earn money from their blogs. Some succeed. Others fail. And much of that comes down to your strategy, your niche specialty, and the plan you come up with to monetize
When I first went into business for myself (full-time PR firm, part-time business writing and blogging), I had a pretty standard formal business plan. Later, and I expanded my Web publishing efforts, I started using a much simpler model — one page versions that help me map out my plans and ideas on a project by project basis. I’ve even released the templates I use
I read a lot of blogs. But my time is limited like most people, and that means I can’t always comment as much as I’d like. When I do take the time to write a comment for one of your posts, it’s because I thought you had something interesting to say and I wanted to engage in the conversation. But sometimes in the process of trying to
The post below was originally published on my small business blog after a friend asked me some basic questions about how he could begin to make money blogging. I’ve since shared it here as a way to help freelance writers build an additional revenue stream (originally on October 16, 2008). And I’ve now updated it for All Freelance Writing readers with even more blog revenue streams
As a blogger, you’re probably well-versed in content writing. After all, that’s what you do every time you write a blog post for your readers. Content is designed to inform, educate, or entertain. But it isn’t the only type of writing that you might pursue. There is also copywriting. This is writing designed to sell, persuade, or otherwise influence readers. Is copywriting important for bloggers
Previously we’ve talked about what blog content audits are and how you can create a simple blog content audit spreadsheet to make the process easier. But why would you want to take on this potentially huge project in the first place? Let’s look at three good reasons you might choose to conduct your own blog content audit. A content audit lets you: 1. Fix problems
Do you enjoy blogging? Do you enjoy it enough that you’d want to make a career of it? If so, professional blogging might be in your future. But do you have what it takes? Let’s look at what professional blogging means and some of the attributes that you might need if you want to successfully launch a career as a professional blogger. What is Professional
Have you ever visited a blog that didn’t give you any background information in the form of an About page? I have. And I always find that frustrating as a new visitor. I want to know what I should expect if I invest more time in browsing that blog. Today let’s talk about how you can avoid being one of these mysterious bloggers who publishes no background
Bloggers are expected to come up with fresh content ideas on a regular basis. But sometimes those ideas don’t come easily. As bloggers, we’re not immune from writer’s block. Fortunately there’s an easy way to brainstorm new blog post ideas. Start with a basic blog post type, and move on from there. While it’s wonderful if you have a long list of specific blog post
When it comes to blogging, how your words are visually presented to the reader can be just as important as what you write. People read differently on the Web than they do in print. And your blog post formatting should reflect that. Here are five basic blog formatting tips that can help you improve your blog post presentation. 1. Use subheadings. Subheadings break up your
Running a successful blog isn’t only about the new content you create. It’s also about your archived blog posts. Moving forward with strong content is always important. But if you want to improve your blog content strategy, increase traffic and give readers what they really want, you should start with a blog content audit. What is a Blog Content Audit? Think of a blog content
Yesterday we talked about when it makes sense to have multiple blogs, and I shared some information on some of the main blogs I run. But even if it makes sense for you to launch several blogs, that doesn’t mean you have the time or energy to stick with it. Having done this for years — managing multiple blogs and knowing when to launch more
In addition to being a freelance writer for clients I’m also a professional blogger and Web developer in my own right, running several different types of websites over the years including dozens of different blogs. That experience lets me appreciate the value having multiple blogs can bring through exposure, new contract work if you’re looking for it, and product sales. But running multiple blogs isn’t
Many freelance writers have their own blogs. I’m always surprised by how many blogging writers I know don’t blog for clients! Why not? More importantly, why should they consider it? Today let’s talk about blogging for others and why it might be one of the best things to happen to a Web writer (or someone wanting to become one). Why Might Writers Prefer to Blog
One of the topics we cover here quite a bit is blogging. More specifically, I share tips on how to use blogging to get freelance writing jobs and how to make money blogging directly. Let’s talk more about the latter. Some writers want to make their blog a serious income stream, and others simply want to earn a little bit of money while their blog
I’m planning to find out. I finally got around to launching a much more personal blog over at JennSays.com. It’s not a “journal” blog, but a personal-style blog being worked into my overall business model. Why a Personal Blog? I’ve been known on a few of my niche blogs to take very harshly critical views on things – essentially, I’m more likely to rant if