Written by Kevin Muldoon from Blog Themes Club

A logo is a major part of a websites identity. It is vital for branding as it is used on the website itself, newsletters, advertising, products, services and more. So if you want to take your blog seriously, you need to look at getting a logo designed which is both unique and of a high quality.

My major problem with working with designers is that I rarely know what I’m looking for. I have a general idea of what I’d like but I don’t know what colours to use, what font to use or what kind of mascot to add to the logo. No doubt designers hate working with me because of this!

Thankfully there are websites which cater for those of us who don’t know the first thing about graphic design. One of the most popular is LogoMyWay, a community which boasts thousands of top quality designers and design companies.

The premise of LogoMyWay is simple. You post what kind of logo you want for you blog or website and give some details of what you would like to see. Dozens of top designers will then submit an entry and you simply need to choose the best one.

I am a huge fan of this concept. David Airey designed the Blogging Tips logo however in the last few years I have held a design contest when I wanted a logo designed for a new site. It really is the best service for someone like me to use as I’m never 100% sure what I’m looking for in a logo. With a contest I am able to see dozens of great logos which all differ in design, colour and theme.

The Design Process

The logo design process is very straight forward. First thing you need to do is give some basic details about your website and the logo you want and then decide how much the designer of the winning entry will win. I usually state what format I want the finished design to be in too (e.g. Photoshop, Illustrator etc).

You can create a contest between a minimum of $200 and a maximum of $1,000. There is also a 10% operation fee though this is taken off the designers winning prize money so it doesn’t effect you directly as such.

The more money you offer in your competition, the more entries you will receive and the higher the standard of entries. Some of the top designers obviously focus on higher paying competitions rather than ones which pay out $200, though you will be surprised at the quality you receive at $200 too. It really is a competitive marketplace.

Shortly after posting your competition you will receive design entries for your logo. It is then up to you to rate these entries and eliminate the ones you don’t like. You can also give feedback to all designers explaining why you do or don’t like a particular logo. The designers who get good ratings usually revise their logo entries with the suggestions you made and submit a second, third of even fourth logo.

This part of the process is very important. It’s silly to be lazy at this part and just pick a winner. You need to be proactive and rate all the entries and give designers feedback about the logos they entered. Doing so will help you get your perfect logo.

Finally, all you need to do is chose the logo which you like best. It really is straight forward and I’m sure you will be very pleased with the quality of submissions. Remember, once you have paid for your logo you will have complete rights to it and can do whatever you want for it.

The video below illustrates how the whole process works:

Standard of Entries

A design service is nothing without it’s designers. Thankfully, LogoMyWay has a lot of competitive designers who are eager to win your prize money. Most design contests have over a hundred logo entries (some have over 300), which offers you a staggering amount of variety of different logo designs to choose from.

The quality of entries are very high, a quick look at the showcase of first place winners confirms this.

The whole system is setup to encourage designers work to their full potential. Not only do they stand a chance of winning prize money, they also give their company a lot of exposure to people who are looking for design work.

LogoMyWay informs designers about the latest contests via Twitter though I have no doubt that most designers who are active there frequent the site daily.

Alternatives

It’s not possible to talk about LogoMyWay without talking about other design contest sites out there. There are many other design contest sites out there but the two most popular are 99Designs and Logo Tournament.

It’s difficult to compare the sites as they all have similar models. The minimum fee for a logo is $200 on LogoMyWay, $204 on 99Designs and $250 on Logo Tournament.

LogoMyWay has around 2,000 designers on it’s books, Logo Tournament has around 7,000 and 99Designs has over 50,000. I’m not sure how many designers on each site are active though it’s safe to say 99Designs is the most active. I’ve used them personally several times and have always been happy though you usually have to spend a bit more to encourage more designers.

The main difference with LogoMyWay is that a winner has to be declared. With other sites you are not required to choose a winner if you don’t want to.

As per their Frequently Asked Questions page:

If you don’t receive at least 40 entries. We will extend your contest for another 7 days. If you still do not get 40 entries after the extension you will get a full refund – no questions asked.

I can see two sides to this. As a website owner, I would like the option of not choosing an entry if no logos met my requirements. However, from a designers point of view, I understand why this is a very good rule as it stops time wasters and ensures that they are not spending their time making logos for people who aren’t going to pay up. This should encourage more designers to participate there because of it.

So I think extending the contest for 7 days and then giving a full refund if your contest doesn’t have 40 entries is pretty fair.

Overview

As I said at the start of this review, I’m a big fan of design contests as it allows you to see lots of different designs for a relatively low price.

For years I used designers directly and had mixed results. Some companies were great to work with but others provided work that was rushed and was clearly not up to their usual standard. However, by this point you have usually sent 50% of the total payment, which is pretty impossible to get back since they have already spent time working on a design. So you may have to make the decision of whether to lose the money you have sent or send another 50% for a logo you don’t want. This is the primary reason why I use design contests for logos.

It’s kind of difficult to choose between the popular design contest sites out there. If you are looking for a logo my advice to you is to check out the entries on a few sites to get an idea of the quality of work which is being submitted, the number of entries and the prize money being offered.

Though there is no doubt that you should consider LogoMyWay when you are getting your next logo designed.

Link: LogoMyWay

* This was a Paid Review. If you are interested in having your site reviewed on Blogging Tips, please check out our Advertising Information Page.

LogoMyWay – Design contests for those who want choice


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Written by Kevin Muldoon from

Written by Patti Stafford from Patti Stafford

I was going through some of my writing folders and discovered this piece I had written some time back. As I was reading over it I thought it could be dusted off and shared.

Do we limit ourselves as to what we can achieve?  Is it fear, inhibition or something else?  Is it self-doubt, self-worth?  Are you afraid of success or afraid of what people will think of you once you become successful? Are we limited by the company we keep? Are we afraid of change?  After all, success is change.

What if your favorite author was afraid of success?  How many books would you have missed reading?  Where would your inspiration be?  Would you have the same inspiration to be a writer?

Would your friends stop speaking to you if you could afford to move to a nicer neighborhood?  Sadly, that’s often true.  Success is sometimes a mentality and some people just can’t grasp it.  Sometimes people would rather you stay at their level and a climb up the proverbial ladder of success would suddenly mean that you thought you were better than them, or they less than you.  People can be funny creatures.

It’s often said that if you want success you need to associate with successful people.  Where would that leave your friends?  Well, a friend that wants to hold you back and keep you on a certain level isn’t really a friend, or maybe it’s a needy friend, one who needs you to have the same low esteem and aspirations as he does.

Where do you find those successful people to hang with anyway?

Are you happy where you’re at or do you want more in life?  Do you want to be a success?  If so, what do you feel is holding you back from achieving your dreams?  Are you stuck with the same low paying jobs you had when you first decided to dub yourself as “writer”?  If so, have you thought why that is?  Are you afraid to go higher or try to achieve more?

Are you afraid to finish a story of novel, or afraid you won’t finish it?  Are you writing every day?  Do you set aside (even a few minutes) each day to write something completely spontaneous or creative?

Maybe you’re afraid you can’t write the perfect story.  Don’t worry; I think Stephen King and John Grisham still fear the same thing.  Maybe you think the rough draft has to be perfect.  I’ve recently discovered this about myself.  It’s not my root fear, but I’ve forgotten to just enjoy the process of writing.  I’ve forgotten that the rough draft is just that, a rough draft.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, that’s where edits and rewrites come in.  But it’s kept me from writing for a long time, so I’ve decided to set more time aside to just write.  I can write garbage if I want, the point is to write and break out of a shell.  I’m speaking of fiction.  It seems I’ve been writing non-fiction so long that the process of writing fiction has become alien to me.

This is where I stopped when I wrote this. I’ve gotten back into fiction and found the process is no longer as alien as I thought. Sometimes it’s good to just sit and pour yourself onto paper or a computer screen. You can learn about yourself and you can also discover if you’ve limited your success by allowing your fears to take over. Often, the process helps release those fears.

We want to hear from you.  Have you decided if you’re afraid, what it is you fear and how you’re overcoming the situation? Have you limited yourself to what you can achieve? Do you fear success? Be honest with yourself.

Are You Limiting Your Success?


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Written by Patti Stafford from

Written by Kristen Nicole from Kristen Nicole

Your introductory paragraph is the second thing people read in your article, after the title. This intro paragraph, combined with the title, sets the tone of your article and contains the information that will pull readers in or scare them away. Your intro paragraph does so by including descriptive words and phrases that highlight the main points of your article and get the attention of search engines for SEO purposes.

It is important to keep this in mind when blogging, as there is a great deal of content on the web that you are competing with on a regular basis. One way in which to stand a head taller than your competition is to rank higher in search engines, making your content more readily available to more people surfing the web. By utilizing the right mechanisms and writing tools, you can help your article to receive more recognition by search engines, gaining considerable return traffic for your blog.

Keywords are important, as they are the words web surfers use to find content of interest. Placing your keywords in your intro paragraph will aid in your blog’s search engine optimization as these keywords are recognized by the search engines. As I mentioned in an earlier post, a portion of your intro paragraph is often used as the description for your particular search result, in association with your article title.

In many cases, web surfers will look at this portion of your intro paragraph along with your title to determine if they will click through to your blog. Encourage them to do so by making a strong first impression. Here are some quick pointers and benefits for making your intro paragraph more search engine-friendly.

Pointers

Use important keywords in your introductory paragraph. These keywords pertain to the main points of your article.

Avoid the use of vague pronouns. Go ahead and say what you mean. If you are talking about President Obama’s most recent speech, don’t say “his speech.” Write “Obama’s speech” in order to be as specific as possible for search engines to more readily recognize the context of your blog article.

Give readers a run down of the key points of your article, all within your intro paragraph. The provision of this much context within your introductory paragraph will make your content more comprehensive and more attractive for skimmers (readers and search engines alike).

Benefits

Including the important points of your article in your intro paragraph gives readers and search engines the contextual meaning of your article. This helps you better convey the content of your article.

Ranking higher in search engines makes your blog more accessible to readers seeking content covering their areas of interest.

Introductory paragraphs help with branding as you develop your writing style. This is recognizable to readers, and it gives users a familiar voice to identify with as they frequent your blog.

Tips for Writing a Search Engine-Friendly Introductory Paragraph


A selection of e-books to help you improve as a blogger. Find out more at www.bloggingtips.com/books/

Written by Kristen Nicole from

Written by Kevin Muldoon from Blog Themes Club

One of my favourite features in the latest versions of WordPress is the ability to automatically download files from the WordPress servers. By simply entering your blogs database login information you can update to the latest version of WordPress automatically and download plugins and themes.

It’s incredibly useful as it saves you having to download files to your computer and then re-upload them to your server. However, the process doesn’t always work that well.

First of all, installing files from WordPress directly through your blogs admin area is incredibly slow. This isn’t a major problem when updating to the latest version of WordPress as I’m usually working on something else and it can install in the background. Though it can be a real pain when you are installing a plugin or theme as you can’t do much until it’s installed.

I find it’s still much quicker to download plugins and themes directly to my laptop and then upload them myself.

However, the main problem is not it’s speed, it’s the fact that the process fails frequently. Between 50 and 75 percent of the time I wait a few minutes for the download to install only to find that the unpacking failed. Sometimes you can install it by simply trying again though if it fails again you’re probably better just downloading and installing the files yourself.

I have several sites which use WordPress so the auto update feature saves me a lot of time, though many times the process fails, which can be very frustrating. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this problem (I experienced it on my last server and on my new server too so I doubt that’s the problem).

WordPress is still the best blogging platform by a mile in my eyes though I do hope they improve their auto download service as it would make my life a helluva lot easier.

Has anyone else had problems with this?

Kevin

Downloading From WordPress Via Your Admin Panel Is So Slow


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Written by Kevin Muldoon from

Written by Kristen Nicole from Kristen Nicole

Your title and introduction paragraph are two of the most important aspects of your article. These are the major opportunities you have to lure the readers, as well as the search engines. Use this to your advantage in order to make the most out of your articles and gain the attention you desire.

When it comes to blogs, your content is likely to be shared on various media websites and aggregation services. Those that frequent these other sites and services will probably only see the title and introductory paragraph, so you need to ensure that these represent your article well enough to get readers to click through to your site.

A useful guideline is to keep your title under twelve words. This is just long enough for the average blog width, and just long enough for most media-sharing sites where your blog link is likely to be posted. Twelve words or less is also the right amount of words to include in a title without potential readers losing interest.

Here are a few places your title and introductory paragraph can be shared across the web:

Social Networks

Sites like Twitter and Facebook are great places for sharing content. When you or others post links to your blog on these sites, there’s often just enough room for your article title and a portion of introductory paragraph. While an image or video clip can sometimes be included along with your title and/or introductory paragraph, you can’t always rely on the visual stimulation of additional media to entice readers.

RSS Readers

Between computers and mobile phones, RSS readers are very effective ways in which readers can receive updates to all the blogs they follow. Yet the efficient use of space with RSS readers limits feeds to article titles and portions of the introductory paragraph. Make sure that your content stands out from the crowd

News Article Aggregators

Sites like Digg and Yahoo Buzz can be great ways in which readers can recommend your article for others to read. When they do so, they often utilize bookmarking tools directly from their browser. As the bookmarking tools pull data about your article from the title and the introductory paragraph, it’s important for you to make these as descriptive as possible.

Search Engines

Search engines like Google can bring a tremendous amount of traffic to your website. Make sure potential readers click on your search result by having a great title and an impacting intro paragraph, as these are the two primary portions of your article to be indexed and displayed for a typical search query. When a search engine indexes your website, the title and intro paragraph are mined and utilized for search query purposes, making these the two most important portions of your blog’s articles.

Writing Blog Titles for News Aggregators and Search Engines


A selection of e-books to help you improve as a blogger. Find out more at www.bloggingtips.com/books/

Written by Kristen Nicole from

Written by David Silversmith from Info Musing

Back in the 1970s when I was a teenager growing up in the New York City suburbs I used to visit the “city.”  Times Square in particular was an amazing place filled with huge billboards, a place where getting your name in lights was one of the ultimate symbols of success.

However, last weekend when I strolled through Times Square I realized just how much technology and blogging have changed the world.  Looking up I saw one of the massive billboards and saw a job opportunity for a blogger.  That’s right a Charmin is offering high end public restrooms for the holiday season and they need 5 Charmin Brand Ambassadors who will “greet, entertain and blog about their experience.”  That’s right, Times Square, once home to porn shops and peep shows will now have public restrooms where you will be encouraged to take photos and people will be blogging about what goes on in the Charmin Restrooms.

If you don’t believe me, check out this video to get a sneak pee peek.  Unfortunately, the auditions have already been held – so you, like me, have missed your opportunity to become the ultimate “bathroom blogger” and perhaps one of the best paid bloggers.

Just that morning I had read that the American Eagle store in Times Square was about to announce plans to turn the 25-story electronic billboard above its flagship store (once the home to a Howard Johnson’s restaurant) into a social-media message board.  Starting on November 19th, anyone who buys something in the American Eagle store, even just a pair of socks, will have the opportunity to have their photo and a message posted on the billboard.  So, what was once one of the ultimate signs of success, can now be bought for just $6.50 – the price of the cheapest item in the American Eagle store.

As I walked through Times Square I wondered what these changes really mean.  Can this be interpreted as a powerful sign that companies are realizing the value of social media?  Or is this another sign that privacy in our world is dwindling to all time lows?

Is this a sign that no longer is the media elitist with just a few having a voice, having a billboard in Times Square?  Or is this a sign that blogging and technology have gone too far – that things that were once unique and special are just becoming common run of the mill events?

If you make it to New York City this winter – then you know now where to stop when the “need” hits you.  If you aren’t traveling to the Big Apple, just keep an eye out for the upcoming blog enjoythego.com.  In the interim – join the conversation – are social media, technology and blogging taking us to new heights or new lows?

Just don’t forget to flush when you are done thinking!

Blogging Future – Down the Drain?


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Written by David Silversmith from

Written by Patricia Vennes from Writer's Rants

When writing, whether for your blog or for personal reasons, conjunctions are grammatical tools that you use all of the time. Understanding the functions of these conjunctions (yes, that was pretty corny) is the first step in creating stronger writing skills.

Last week we looked at coordinating conjunctions which combined two independent clauses. If you missed the previous post click here. Coordinating conjunctions are used often in writing, but subordinating conjunctions are another tool at your disposal to use.

Coordinating conjunctions combine independent clauses and dependent clauses. An independent clause is a sentence that can stand on its own that contains a subject and a verb. For example “Kathy is singing”, the subject is “Kathy” and the verb (or verb phrase to be more accurate) is “is singing”. Independent clauses form a unit that can stand on their own.

Dependent clauses can’t stand alone and need an independent clause to go with them. For example “Because I said so” is a dependent clause. Although it is common to hear dependent clauses spoken, in writing it is not correct. For blogs, using dependent clauses without an independent clause to go with it isn’t that big of a deal, but it’s important to know the rules all the same.

The example “Because I said so” doesn’t mean anything without an independent clause, so a subordinating conjunction helps combine this dependent clause with an independent clause. “You can’t go to the park because I said so.”

Let’s look at the subordinating conjunctions and their functions.

Subordinating conjunctions show relationships between clauses:

since, as, because

These subordinating conjunctions show a relationship between ideas. With these words, a cause and effect relationship can be seen.

Example: “I need a new coat since my dog ate my red one.” “Mel can’t go to the store because her car is broken.”

Other subordinating conjunctions show a contrast between ideas:

although, even though, though, whereas, while

Example: “Even though you are smelly, I love you.” “You can eat ice cream although you don’t deserve it.”

Subordinating conjunctions help you create complete sentences instead of sentence fragments.

Other common subordinating conjunctions are:

after, although, as, as if, as long as, as though, because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, in order, that, now that, once, rather than, since, so that, than, that though, till, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, while

The two articles I wrote gave you an introduction to conjunctions, or a refresher course if you already knew all of this information, but if you want more information click here.

Conjunction, Junction, What’s Your Function: Part 2


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Written by Patricia Vennes from

Written by Rob Starr from Rob Starr

If you’re like most blog writers, you have more ideas for blogs than you can possible use. Especially when your blog is personal and subjective, you find that ideas for that latest entry are everywhere.

The problem isn’t coming up with those ideas. The problem is deciding which of these fragmentary ideas to develop into full blown blogs that will keep readers coming back to your site again and again. That said, here are some great ways that you can test and develop these notions or discard them and start looking at new ones.

Write About That You Know

Now that’s fairly common advice that you might have heard associated with fiction before, but it apply to blogging too. It’s important to remember that not all blog ideas are ones that are right for you. Here’s an example of what I mean.

I don’t really care for horses. Now that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t enjoy reading a well written blog written by someone who really cares about those animals, but I’d have a hard time writing even one convincing post on the subject. It’s really simple. I could research a blog on the topic and write about it, but at the least the readers who love horses would be able to see those animals really aren’t my cup of tea.

Remember that many of the ideas that you get for blogging posts will be like that as well. They may be momentarily interesting, but they won’t be of great importance to you. When you write about what you know or at least care about, you’ll come across as all the more convincing.

Don’t Get Too Personal

Now right away I can hear the uproar of people who are saying that’s what blogging is all about. That you need to get personal and share at least something yourself or there won’t be any connection with the reader. Partly, those people are right. While a large part of effective blogging is certainly self expression, there should be an emphasis on communication the longer you write.

This all means you need to ask yourself if the idea that you’ve had for a story is too personal—if it means something to you but would more than likely bore a stranger that you were sitting beside on a bus. Remember that there are personal experiences that are too close and too emotional. They are the things that we have been through that are too delicate and haven’t really been digested yet. These things might be little too exotic as well. Something that matters intensely to you but will not matter to most other people.

Still that doesn’t mean that good detail should not have a place in your blog. Part of the job of coming up with good ideas for your blogs and being able to execute them is in being able to discern between the merely personal to you and the vivid images that you can share that are experiences you readers will be able to relate to.

Testing Those Blog Ideas


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Written by Rob Starr from

Written by Patti Stafford from Patti Stafford

I didn’t plan to write about Time Management today, but I do want to discuss something that struck my interest today. I often have too many topics that I want to cover (which in itself, is a form of writer’s block). As I was researching, trying to narrow it down, I ran across something I found interesting. So, I’ve scratched my topic list and decided to go with this spontaneous post.

The tips I’ve just ran across follow the subject of writer’s block—how ironic. Most of the tips are pretty generic: Find a quiet spot to write, divide up the work into manageable tasks, just write, etc.

The one that did catch my attention (it was also generic, but it was attention grabbing) was about setting time aside to write. It suggests to not use open-ended time. This really struck me because I’m guilty of it on most days. It went on to say that Parkinson’s Law states, “work will expand to fill the time available.”

WHOA! I wasn’t aware of this law—but I do know it’s absolutely true—just like the law of gravity. Okay, maybe it isn’t as scientific, but it makes perfect sense. As we don’t, time doesn’t expand—but work does and can. So maybe it is a bit scientific?

It reminded me of Jonathan’s recent post How a Timer Can Help Your Productivity. I’ve been using his method for NaNoWriMo, but didn’t think to use it for work related writing too much—not as much as I should anyway.

After reading about Parkinson’s Law, I think this is something that should be put in to place every day, for everything I write. I do tend to get more work done in a 20 or 30 minute sprint than I do just sitting here trying to write open-ended.

The law basically breaks down to say if set a three hour time limit for work, projects or tasks, it’ll take three hours to complete. If you were to set it for a two hour limit, you’d get the same amount of work done but in less time, saving yourself an hour.

To tie this all together:
Set your work hours.
Use a timer for short sprints.
Get your work done in the allotted work hours.
Enjoy your free time!

Parkinson’s Law


A selection of e-books to help you improve as a blogger. Find out more at www.bloggingtips.com/books/

Written by Patti Stafford from

Written by Larry Brooks from Story Fix

Sometimes we bloggers take ourselves oh-so-seriously.  The work we do is serious, our intentions are serious, and there are stakes.  Both for us and for our readers. 

That said, it’s good to share a laugh once in a while among writers.  And, I have to add, with our readers, too.

But first, you need to tolerate two tips I’ve just stumbled upon.  As in, literally stumbled.  Two approaches in my recent experience that yielded unexpected, and unintended, results.

Those, too, are worth sharing.

How To Get Others To Proofread For You, and Pay You for the Privilege

I kid you not. 

I just released a new ebook.  It’s on story structure, if you’re interested, but that’s not the point.  In an effort to serve my subscriber base, I offered them the beta version of the book on a pre-release basis for a limited time.

The result was pretty surprising, and in a good way.  Orders flooded in.  The feedback was terrific.  I made it clear that the book wasn’t quite done, that the “beta” nature simply meant the thing hadn’t been thoroughly proofread yet.

By now you’ve guessed what happened.  A few readers took it upon themselves to proof the hell out of the thing.  One enterprising fellow sent me about 20 emails, each generated after a reading/proofing session, each identifying typos and his editorial opinion.

Another reader, a well-known blogger, sent me a full page of typos to fix.

And one guy told me that Jack Daniel’s whiskey, which I reference in the text of the ebook (no worries, the context makes sense) is, in fact, a name-possessive thing, with an apostrophe.  I’d written it as Jack Daniels, which is wrong.  I looked up some labels on Flickr, and darned if he wasn’t right.  The name of the guy the whiskey is named after is Jack Daniel, and the booze is, well, his.

Amazing what our readers will teach us.  Even where the typos are.

How To Draw a Crowd by Inviting the Right Guests

I’ve recently launched a series of guest blogs on my site, each a well-known, even bestselling novelist.  Since my readers are mostly novelists and screenwriters, this is a strategy something short of genius, I just figured we’d all like to read what some name brands have to say. 

Here’s what I didn’t count on.  Bestselling novelists aren’t immune to the desire to market themselves, nor do they ignore social marketing in the process.  So, my superstar guests are cross-promoting their appearance on my site, enthusiastically so, thus driving throngs of adoring fans (theirs) my way that wouldn’t have come otherwise.

A few might just stick around.  Imagine that.

And Now That Joke

Joe’s mother was a writer.  She’d never published anything, but she loved nothing more than to sit down at a keyboard and pour her dear heart out onto the page.

Trouble was, her keyboard was attached to an old manual typewriter.  The kind you see displayed in the window of an antique store.

Joe finally persuaded her to learn the most rudimentary functionality of a computer, using MS Word.  She agreed, and before long she was using Google to research her ideas, Outlook to kibitz with her friends on email, and, much to Joe’s surprise, soon had a Facebook page and was a frequent tweeter.

One day she asked Joe for some help getting on line.  And that’s when he discovered the password she’d been using for all her new online pursuits.

It was this: “MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofy.”

When he could speak again, Joe asked his mother why she’d chosen what was just possibly the world’s longest password. 

Her response: “Well, they said it needed to be at least eight characters long, and I couldn’t remember all the names from the Brady Bunch.”

Larry Brooks’ (name-possessive used correctly the first time in this case) new ebook is Story Structure – Demystified, available on his site.  As is this joke.

Two Cool Strategies and a Joke


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Written by Larry Brooks from

Written by Jonathan Bailey from Plagiarism Today

Reviews are one of the most difficult kinds of posts bloggers commonly write. Where most can tell a story, offer instructions or even voice an opinion pretty well, writing a review that is complete, useful and reasonably short is extremely difficult.

Too often blog reviews come across as biased or simply mean or seem to have no real purpose. Writing a review of a product, service or event is not as simple as saying what you think, one has to be complete, thorough and honest, both about themselves and their opinions.

Fortunately, there is a formula that can help you ensure your review is complete and useful. It’s good not just for blogs, but for reviews you put anywhere, including online stores and auction sites. It’s also a flexible format that can be used for short reviews, less than 200 words, to lengthier ones like what Ars Technica sometimes does for major new products.

Best of all, it only takes a few minutes to learn and, once mastered, is almost impossible to forget.

The Basics

A basic review has five parts which, when used in order, help give a complete picture of the subject of the review.

1. Introduction: The introduction is more about yourself and how you came review the item, tell a story of you must. This is a place to be upfront with your personal biases and issues. (IE: I’m usually a Mac user but decided to give Windows 7 a try). This not only puts your prejudices out into the open, but establishes where you are coming from and helps like-minded readers connect with you.
2. Background: Next, talk about the subject itself but only discuss facts. Who makes it, what’s its history, what is it designed to do, etc. This not only gives you a chance to flex your knowledge and research some, but also lets you frame what’s to follow by talking about the expectations the subject creates for itself.
3. The Good: Next, talk about what is good with the subject. This can be very difficult when dealing with a bad review, but it is important to talk about what you liked. Even if it isn’t much. If you can’t find anything, it’s best to abandon the review format and write a rant or opinion piece instead.
4. The Bad:After talking about the good, talk about what went wrong. You can, if the review is “bad heavy” flip this with the item above it but these have to be separate and at least somewhat balanced. This can be difficult to do, but can help give a review a balanced feel while still making your opinions clear.
5. Conclusions: Once you’ve done all of that, you need to bring it all together. This is where you tie everything up, express your opinion in a nutshell, being sure to pull from what came above. This is what you want the reader to leave with and be sure to try and speak to them, listing cases where subject might be better or worse.

In short, the object is to frame the story with information about the reviewer, information about the subject, provide details on both good and bad elements and then tie it together with well supported conclusions.

If you can do that, you should walk away with a review that people will find to be balanced and fair, even if they disagree with the conclusions.

Scoring

Another element many, if not most, reviews have is some form of score. Whether it’s thumbs up/down, out of five stars, out of ten or out of a hundred, most reviews try to tie up their opinion with something that can be understood at a glance.

Doing this is dangerous as it can be very difficult to summarize a complicated opinion in a simple number. To make matters worse, you might not enjoy a product but might think it useful for someone else, thus a weak numeric review might causes others to ignore it unjustly.

If you give a numeric review, it is important that you make your average, well, average. For example, with video games, average review scores, out of ten, tend to be between 6-8, though five is the mathematical average.

When giving a score, start with the average and work forward or backward and try to avoid giving perfect scores, good or bad. It can put you in a real bind if something better or worse comes along later.

There’s nothing wrong with giving a score (or not giving one) but be sure to use them well and do not put too much emphasis on them.

Bottom Line

Writing a good review can be difficult. But if you’re willing to follow the structure above, it becomes much easier to make sure your review is complete, balanced and useful.

Though it isn’t the only formula for a review, it is the easiest one of I’ve found to follow and remember. Best of all, it pretty much forces you to be complete and thorough though you can use it to write much shorter reviews, such as the ones you might post on Amazon.

In fact, you’ll find that many sites that accept user reviews, including Cnet sites, push both their reviewers and the public to use a similar structure (Pros, Cons and Summary).

It’s simple and effective and that’s reason enough to at least give it a try.

How to Write a Review


A selection of e-books to help you improve as a blogger. Find out more at www.bloggingtips.com/books/

Written by Jonathan Bailey from

Written by Sharon Hurley Hall from Get Paid To Write Online

A couple of years ago, on another blog, I wrote: “I am a professional blogger and writer, so pay me in cash.” The statement summed up my feelings about the ad revenue share blogging model. However, sites based on this model continue to spring up and many of them are popular with the people who use them, so I thought I’d try to look at the issue again.

Advantages of blogging for ad revenue

Many of these sites make it easy for you to get your blog up and running, providing ready made templates. All you have to do is select a username and you have a blog. This is a definite plus for those new to blogging.

The sites usually work with Adsense, but may also use other ad networks. Most sites promote new posts on their home page, helping bloggers to get the clicks they need to start making money.

If you are more experienced and know a bit about keyword research, then you can increase the odds that readers will find your posts when they use a search engine. Using the right keywords makes your posts more visible and brings you more revenue. A savvy blogger could start by researching high paying keywords before deciding what to blog about.

Finally, if you are a prolific blogger, you can earn a lot through the revenue share model. The more posts you have on the web, the more chances there are for readers to click on ads and the more likely it is that you will make money. And the longer your content is online, the more money you stand to make.

Disadvantages of blogging for ad revenue

But there is also one major drawback to be aware of with the ad revenue share model of blogging. That is that there are no guarantees. There is no guarantee that you will make money (unless the site provides an incentive payment at the start) and there is no guarantee that the site will still be around in a few months or years. That’s why it’s worth seeking a site that has been around for a while.

Many ad revenue share sites tout the big money that you can make but this only happens IF readers find your posts AND click on your ads regularly enough for you to make money. It’s also worth checking what your share of the pie is – you may only get 50 per cent of ad revenue or may have to reach a certain threshold to receive a payout.

Is it worth it?

I’ve written for several ad revenue share sites and in most cases I have regretted it. These days, I vet the site carefully to see how long it has been around, what other writers and bloggers say about payout history and what percentage of the revenue I get. If all that stacks up, then it’s worth a look. After all, bloggers can always use another source of passive income. What’s your experience been with blogging for ad revenue?

Blogging For Revenue Share – Pros And Cons


A selection of e-books to help you improve as a blogger. Find out more at www.bloggingtips.com/books/

Written by Sharon Hurley Hall from

Written by Patti Stafford from Patti Stafford

You’ve decided this writing gig is for you, whether its novels, short stories, web content or blogs, there will still be sacrifices. Maybe you’re even lucky enough to work from home, in the lap of luxury, and no time clock to punch—there will still be sacrifices.

Everything we want in life requires a sacrifice or two—this is nothing new. Every article you’ve read about being successful and making things happen has told you you’ll need to make some sacrifices. I’m not going to tell you that.

What I’m going to tell you is . . . be careful with the things you sacrifice. Make damn certain the sacrifice is worth what you get in return. Sacrifice often leads to resentment, whether it’s yours or someone else’s.

Spending extra time in your back office away from the family will often be inevitable, but family time isn’t something that needs to be sacrificed to the hilt—if overdone, it will cause resentment. Family members will begin to hate your work or your business. What started as eyes full of diamonds and thoughts of gold mines will soon turn sour. Money is never more important than the relationship with your family. Find a happy balance that everyone can live with.

Giving up fun gigs for better paying gigs. I’m not saying you shouldn’t take better writing gigs and expect more money as your online presence grows, but don’t give up a small gig that you really love just for a few extra bucks. You’ll end up resenting yourself. Writing is hard work and not all of it is fun and glory, so don’t give up a gig you truly enjoy for one that’s going to feel like working on a chain gang. It’s just not worth it.

Be aware of personal sacrifices. One of the sacrifices I always make (and often regret) is my own personal writing. One look at my blog will tell you that my personal stuff gets put on hold. Of course, I was never tying to win a popularity contest with it, but it could be higher in rankings than it is—if I didn’t sacrifice it for the good of others. Another one of my personal sacrifices is fiction writing. It always takes the back seat. But with the start of NaNoWriMo this year, I’ve done a lot of soul searching on that one and decided it’s not worth giving up anymore.  The jury is still out on the blog situation.

Be aware of sacrificing friends. This one often relates back more to Time Management than it does to work for most of us, but they still get sacrificed. We send out less jokes, comments and emails. They say they understand—but do they really? And this may seem a bit contradictory to the time management suggestion of spending less time in email. Again, you have to find a happy balance—maybe spend one day a week emailing friends instead of daily.

Another personal favorite of mine, and one I don’t regret at this time, is the dining room table. How many of you have set up office at the dining room table? I’m guilty. This one is usually a temporary solution, but it can lead to frustration. Luckily, my husband doesn’t mind—of course he goes to the “office” that I’ve allowed him to take over, so he doesn’t hang around and see all of my paper work—except when he’s eating. It doesn’t hurt that I’m a good cook either; it distracts from all the post-it notes and office supplies that now consumes half of our table.

Some things should never be sacrificed—like good coffee and fine chocolates. These are synonymous with being a writer and I enjoy mine very much. If you’re one of those who prefers a soda and Danish, by all means, don’t give up your special treat just to get a few more words in.

I know I’ve taken a light-hearted approach at something that can be very serious. On the one hand, you need to spend as much time as possible growing your business or blog. On the other hand, there are still other things in life that are just as important. Be careful what you sacrifice. Having regrets at some point down the road is never worth it and it stifles your growth, in more ways than one.

If you have any thoughts or comments on the matter, please share with us.

Even Writers Make Sacrifices


A selection of e-books to help you improve as a blogger. Find out more at www.bloggingtips.com/books/

Written by Patti Stafford from

Written by Kristen Nicole from Kristen Nicole

Google Friend Connect has emerged with a handful of new features today, making it easier for site publishers to gather data on their visitors and relate back to site visitors once they’ve left the site. Additionally, the updated Google Friend Connect will provide more ways in which site visitors can connect with each other, as long as they’re registered and participating Google users.

As a blogger, the added ability to connect with your site visitors as well as their added ability to connect with each other means that the social capacity of your blog is increased. What Google is looking to do with Friend Connect is foster relationships between site visitors to flourish outside of your site. This is initiated by Google sharing volunteered information between you and your site visitors, providing a recommendation tool for them to find like-minded individuals that are also on your site. From here, Google provides the means by which they can communicate.

Letting Google become the switchboard for communication amongst visitors of your blog gives you an indirect marketing tool for your online publication. The benefit of this is that discussions about topics you may have covered on your blog can be carried further throughout the social web.

As Google Friend Connect already has a few sharing tools to help encourage this type of user behavior, the additional capacity to connect your blog with your users, and your users with each other could become great way for you to build your brand.
The direct tools for doing this are not yet part of Google’s initiative with Friend Connect, but you can see where the potential for this kind of brand-building can go. Beginning to build out your Google Friend Connect strategy at this point could prove helpful in the long run.

One reason for such potential benefit is the ability for Google to reach much of the average user’s daily web activity. With a growing number of Google applications, Google is penetrating as many aspects of the market as possible. These can typically be linked together from an individual standpoint, presenting consumers with a simplified and central hub for nearly everything they do online.

Already Google is doing testing on some of the newsletter options surrounding brands and their level of interactivity for a customer’s inbox. Providing more and more direct ways for brands to communicate with consumers is a high level objective for Google, and it is one that bloggers can also take advantage of.

The ability to generated targeted and custom newsletters based on the information Google provides on its users through Friend Connect is merely one of the updates we’re seeing this week. In this regard, your participation in Friend Connect could give you insight as to what kind of direct marketing works best for you.

Of course, this data can be related back to Google AdSense, which may correlate to a portion of the revenue you generate on your site. The packaged data given to you by Google through Friend Connect can further help you in site metrics and other valuable data to help with your own marketing efforts.

Another reason for such potential behind Google Friend Connect on blogs is the fact that the concept has already been proven by Facebook. Several blogs enable Facebook Connect on their sites, giving you a direct link to other Facebook users hat also visit your site. For site visitors, they can see other Facebook users that share similar interests, and can then connect on Facebook, moving beyond your site.

Any Google Friend Connect implementation on your blog would be somewhat experimental at this point. Google still has a ways to go in establishing its social side, and that goes for partners, publishers and end users. Nevertheless it’s important to keep current trends in mind, especially if they may possibly help you grow your brand’s online presence.

Can the New Google Friend Connect Help Your Blog?


A selection of e-books to help you improve as a blogger. Find out more at www.bloggingtips.com/books/

Written by Kristen Nicole from

Written by Kevin Muldoon from Blog Themes Club

Have you ever dreamed about making a living by freelancing but just didn’t know where to start? If so, Freelance Superstar might be exactly what you are looking for.

The course was developed by former BloggingTips writer Monika Mundell and home business guru Gobala Krishnan. The course retails for $37. The course includes:

• Freelance Superstar Guide – A 67 page guide which introduces you to freelance writing, how to build your brand, setting your rates, managing your freelance business and much more.
• WordPress Themes – 5 WordPress templates to help you on your journey.
• Tutorial Videos – 31 tutorial videos which explain the technical side of freelancing.

Freelance Superstar Guide

The guide should be the first thing you read after purchasing this course. Like most guides, the beginning of the book explains the basics of freelancing and highlights of entering the world of freelancing.

It then gives advice on choosing your niche, building your brand and setting your rates. Later on it shows you the best way to manage your business, how you can establish yourself as a top writer and how you can compete against writers from countries who charge very little.

All in all I was pretty impressed with the eBook. In particular I found the dozens of reviews of good freelancing sites useful. For each freelancing site they tell you the pros and cons of finding work there.

WordPress Themes

There are 5 WordPress themes available for download. Unfortunately, just like the other packages sold by Gobala Krishnan, all of these themes are the same, they’re just available in different colours.

To be fair, they don’t seem to be marketing the themes as part of the course so it’s hard to criticize them for it. The theme is available in blue, green, orange, red violet and stripe blue. I uploaded the themes to my personal blog. As you can see from the screenshot below, the theme is ok but nothing special. There are certainly better themes available for free.

For me, the WordPress theme is a bonus rather than an important part of the course. However, it would have been good if they had instead developed a better theme or alternatively, listed 20 or so good designs which would be good for a freelancers personal blog.

Tutorial Videos

The videos are a great complement to the eBook. The book never gets too technical, which I think is a good thing. Instead, Monika and Gobala explain the basics of setting up a blog through a series of 3 modules. In total there are 31 videos in total.

Those who are finding it difficult start their first blog will find this section incredibly helpful.

• Module 1 – Web Marketing Introduction

• How to Register a Domain Name
• Getting Your Web Hosting from HostGator
• How to Change Your DNS in Godaddy
• How to Change Your DNS in NameCheap
• How to Install and Use FileZilla FTP Program
• A Brief Introduction to Using cPanel

• Installing WordPress Automatically Using cPanel
• Installing WordPress Manually Using FTP
• How To Clean Up A New WordPress Blog
• How to Change Your Permalinks Structure
• How to Customize Your WordPress Dashboard
• How to Create New Posts in WordPress
• How to Create New Pages in WordPress
• How to Use and Format Images in WordPress
• How To Install Plugins Automatically
• How to Upgrade and Delete Plugins Automatically
• How to Upload and Install Plugins Manually
• How to Upload and Install Themes Automatically
• How to Use WordPress Widgets in The Sidebar
• Using The Akismet Spam Plugin / Controlling Spam
• Getting and Using Gravatars for Your Blog

• How to Upgrade WordPress Using cPanel
• Upgrading WordPress Automatically Via The Dashboard
• How to Install and Set-up Windows Live Writer
• How to Use Windows Live Writer to Write Content
• Installing New Plugins in Windows Live Writer
• How to Create Backups for Your WordPress Blog
• How to Edit WordPress Theme CSS Styles
• How to Create a Static Front Page in WordPress
• Introduction to Getting a FeedBurner Account
• edirecting Your Default RSS Feed to Feedburner

Overview

The Freelance Superstar package was developed for those who want to make good money by writing for others. It does show you how to build a blog and how to market yourself through blogs but the course is more for those who want to freelance rather than those who want to build and develop their own blog.

The technical aspects of the course were written specifically for beginners however there is a lot of great content and advice for aspiring freelancers in the guide. I’ve never freelanced before nor have I read too many articles on the subject so I got a lot from the eBook.

I’d definitely recommend Freelance Superstar to anyone who is looking to establish themselves and blog for others.

Link: Freelance Superstar

Become a Freelance Superstar


A selection of e-books to help you improve as a blogger. Find out more at www.bloggingtips.com/books/

Written by Kevin Muldoon from