Remember newspapers? People used to get them delivered to their door and read them over breakfast. They’re big, awkward to hold and they cover your fingers in black printer ink. Plus, getting them to your doorstep takes hours so, by the time you read a newspaper, the news isn’t all that new.

Newspaper have their drawbacks but one thing they do right is make sure their stories are easy to read. By that I mean how they actually format and layout the newspaper and each story.

Of course, first newspapers hit you with a headline that makes you really want to read more. Something like this works wonders:

THE KING OF POP IS DEAD!

How he really died!

10,000 pills in 6 months

Sensational tabloids aside, the content in newspapers is generally good ~ the writing’s high quality and they usually get their facts straight.

But quality content isn’t all you expect when you buy a newspaper and it isn’t enough for blog writing either. All newspapers make sure their content is easy to read by constraining the width of their columns and that’s what their readers rightly expect. Blog writers need to do the same and format their blog posts so they’re easy to read.

Long narrow newspaper columns mean your eye can easily jump from the end of one line to the beginning of the next without losing its place. If the column’s too wide readers will keep getting lost, unless they enlist their finger to help them keep track. Even if they do that they’ll get frustrated and won’t enjoy the reading experience. This is just one element of traditional media and legibility knowledge that we can use on our blogs or website.

Newspapers follow set rules for formatting and laying out their stories to make them easy to read and bloggers need to follow some too. Blog writing and formatting content for the Web is more complex than writing for print because how we read on a computer screen is different to how we read in print and more challenging.

People skim read when they read things on screen

A website or blog is missing the usual cues that let us know how long an article is. Pick up a book or cast your eye over a newspaper article, and you’ll instantly be able to gauge how long it is and how long it will take to read. Online the only way to find that out is to scroll down to the end of the blog post and that’s what most people do.

While they’re at it, they’ll also try to scan read the post. A long body of text is scary. Even if the headline appeals to them, with no other clues about the content, people will be reluctant to start reading. By helping people scan your blog posts and telling them more about what information they’ll find in it you can entice them to read the post in full.

It’s harder to read things on screen than on print

Screen legibility is improving along with resolution and screen size but there are still some simple rules you need to know to help people read your blog more easily. If you want to make sure people enjoy reading your blog, tell their friends about it and subscribe then you need to make sure the very act of reading your blog is easy.

No matter how great your blog content and writing is, if it’s not easy to read people won’t enjoy it and won’t come back for more.

16 Rules of Blog Writing

1. Format every blog post

Careful formatting will make your blog posts easier for people to scan. Write your posts with the page layout in mind or edit them to make sure they’re well formatted for scan reading.

2. Constrain column width

Keep the blog post column width about 80 characters or less (including spaces) and your readers will thank you for it. Check out these before and after screen shots of Under the Mango Tree. I advised Stacyann to update her blog to make it easier to read and changing the column width for the main body of text was one of the first things we sorted out. Wide columns of text are an instant turn off and very hard to read. The difference is incredible and it’s such a simple change.

3. Use Headers and Sub-headers

Headers and sub-headers will break up long blog posts, help people scan read your blog and convince them to read the whole post.

4. Use lists

Numbered lists or bullet pointed lists help people scan blog posts fast and find the information they’re looking for quickly.

5. Use punctuation

Use full stops, commas, dashes and colons to break up each paragraph into smaller pieces of information that make sense quickly. No one wants to read the same sentence several times to try to make sense of it. If you’re not confident about punctuation keep sentences short. As you practice writing and start to improve you can experiment and lengthen your sentences, chucking in a long one here and there to keep things interesting for readers, and make sure they’re really paying attention. Long sentences are fine but check that every sentence makes sense and the meaning is clear.

6. Short paragraphs

Because reading is harder online it’s best to break text into manageable chunks. Paragraphs should be much shorter online than on paper with two to six sentences per paragraph a good guideline for blog posts.

7. Font type

Sans serif fonts (without the squiggly bits) are generally supposed to be easier to read on screen, in particular Verdana. Get In the Hot Spot uses the serif font  Georgia (with squiggly bits) which is also designed for easy reading on screen.

8. Font size

Big is better. Teeny tiny writing is hard to read online, even for people with 20/20 vision like me. Make it bigger. Check out some of your favourite blogs, compare the font size they use and decide what works best for your readers. If they’re older they might prefer even bigger text than the average blog reader.

9. Be bold

Don’t overuse bold text or it loses its effectiveness but do use bold text to make a splash and highlight important sentences that will catch people’s attention and draw them into, or on with, the blog post.

10. Drop the italics

Italics are hard to read in print. Couple that with on screen reading already being challenging and banish italics from your blog writing. I hate them. If you can avoid italics please do.

11. Capital letters

Use capitals for proper nouns and at the beginning of sentences but avoid writing all in capitals because it’s harder to read. PLUS USING CAPITAL LETTERS CONSTANT IS THE ONLINE EQUIVALENT OF BEING SHOUTED AT. Sorry, just wanted to get the point across.

12. White space

Readers need somewhere to rest the eye and good blog layout leaves plenty of blank space. Make sure your blog isn’t too busy or distracting and gives readers somewhere to rest their eye from time to time.

13. Background color

Most blogs and websites get the contrast between text color and background color right, but make sure your blog background doesn’t make the text hard to read. It makes me sad that a white background with black text has become the default for most blogs. Bright yellow text on a black background is easiest to read but that’s quite a confrontational look. Dark text on a light background has a wider appeal but consider using another light color for the background as white gives off a harsh glare. There are plenty of choices which look good and are still easy to read but without the glare of white: try light grey, minty green or pale yellow.

Candy kids enjoy limited screen time

14. Use images

Good use of images will draw readers in to your blog posts. Sometimes I read a post purely because I like the image. Ideally your images will add to your blog or emphasise your message. Even if they can’t do that use them to break up text, draw your readers eye down the page and reward them for reading and spending time on your blog. Some blogs like Viperchill turn their headers and sub-headers into images which makes the text look more attractive and helps people scan read.

15. Be consistent

You don’t know how readers found your blog. You can’t be sure if they arrived straight at your latest post, on your about page or via an archived post. You can’t know which order people will read your blog in so every post you write needs to tell the same story about you, your message, your blog and your values.

16. Tell a story

Speaking of stories, every blog post needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end. Think of it as an introduction, the main information and conclusion if you prefer. Even if you don’t give use those sub-headings because, hopefully, you’ve come up with hotter ones, do follow the convention to avoid confusing your readers.

Blog Writing Rules Wrap Up

You’ve probably noticed traditional media like newspapers are struggling and the Internet’s taking over. It’s amazing to think that in less than 10 years you may not be able to buy the L.A. Times or whatever your favourite newspaper is. Instead, you’ll download the whole thing to your iPad in a nanosecond and read it on the go. No dirty fingers, no struggling to read text that runs over a crease and no pages blowing down the street.

I love newspapers, and I’ll miss them, but I look forward to the day when every blog is formatted and laid out so it’s as easy to read as one of those old newspapers. Now all I need is an iPad to read them on wherever I go.

Have I missed anything?

Blog Writing Magic Practice

Pick one of your favourite old blog posts and reformat it for easy reading on the Web. Give it a new headline and repost it. Even if the blog content is the same, with a snappy new headline, some calls to action and some smart formatting, it should get more readers than it did the first time round.

Don’t Delay Subscribe Today

If you like what you see here remember to subscribe free by email or by RSS so you don’t miss out on the rest of the Blog Writing Magic series. In the weeks to come I’ll tackle:

• Blog editing
• Blog writing practice

If you like these tips please tell your friends and followers by using the share buttons below or recommending this blog post in your favourite blog bookmarking site. Thank you, I appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you here again soon. Happy writing! Annabel

Guest post by Mars Dorian

Character is destiny. Your future is based on the decisions you make today, and the decisions you make are based on your character.

In order to lead a kick-ass life, you need a kick-ass character. Fact is you are kick-ass already, but you may have forgotten it. What happened?

Society, parents and friends all molded you the way they wanted you to be. You became a commodity: trying to please everyone, ending up pleasing no one.

It’s time to return the creative control to the true artist – YOU. Consider your life an artwork in progress, and make it an epic one. You are the only person you have to please.

How to shape your destiny in 6 powerful steps:

1. Become delusional

   That word has such a negative flavor. It shouldn’t. Being delusional is the requirement for future greatness. You have to believe that you can recreate your character, no matter what. The whole world may declare war on you, but you don’t care. You are busy with your delusions about becoming great.

2. Focus is everything

   The quality of your focus determines the quality of your life. If your focus is an uncontrolled beast that jumps from place to place, you will endure a chaotic life. Meh! Successful people have great focus, maybe that’s what makes them great. Promise yourself to focus only on the things you want to experience. If you want to be more funny and outgoing, then  focus excessively on these traits and ignore everything that compromises that vision. Focus. Focus. Focus.

3. Take epic little steps

   Instead of changing everything at once (it never works), concentrate on taking only tiny steps and practice them like a Jedi everyday for at least three weeks. That’s it. Only thing at a time, and making it as epic as possible. And then you tackle the next one. And then the next. By the end of the year, you will have established at least 11 powerful character habits.

4. Reward yourself

   I call that going into candy mode: for every great character habit you have established, you should reward yourself with something nice. That can be a dinner, a concert or a material product. Whatever makes you feel sunny in your tummy works wonders. Positive reward strengthens your habits, and “burns” them deeper into your brain.

5. Create and increase momentum

   Changing your character seems impossible, especially in the beginning. But once you establish two habits within the first months, you ride the momentum wave. Everything becomes easier now, as long as you sustain the energy. Don’t take a break, do something for your development every single day, even if it’s just 10 minutes. M-O-M-E-N-T-U-M should be your daily mantra.

6. Raise your standards

   Never be satisfied with your current status. Have a voracious appetite for more and more growth. Even if you come to a point where you obsessively love your character, keep raising the bar. Happiness only exists in forward motion. Make each year better than the last. The journey of your character recreation will end the day the grim reaper comes knocking on your door.

That’s it. Recreating your character may take a while, but who wants to miss the glory of shaping your destiny?

It’s your birthright. Happy creating.

Mars Dorian helps people spread their influence and build passionate online communities. If you want to build a strong digital presence, dive into his world at marsdorian.com or follow him on Twitter.

Thanks for sharing your passion with us Mars. It’s infectious. I’ll be carrying on with the Blog Writing Magic series on Thursday or Friday (depending on what time zone you’re in) so look forward to seeing you again then.

Thank you for reading and here’s to our continued success! Annabel

Photo credit: Niffty

If you’re online you’re a brand. What are people learning about you?

What story does the photo or gravatar you use tell us? What’s the story on your Facebook wall? How about your on blog, your Twitterdescription and tweets?

Personal online branding’s scary when you start to think about it. Even if you haven’t got a gravatar there’s a message in that.

In my never-ending quest to seek information, meet interesting people and connect with readers I’ve probably left approximately 8,367 comments on other blogs about everything from dogs to blogs, and facial hair to facing fear. If you wove all those comments together to create a story I wonder what it would say about me? Apart from the fact that I spend far too much time commenting on other people’s blogs when I should be writing my own, of course.

Personal Online Branding and Consistency

There’ll be a lot of opinions and advice in those comments, may be even some contradictory messages depending on what the post was about and my mood at the time. But I hope that the overall values I communicate would be the same. I hope if you read all those comments it would clearly tell you that they came from someone knowledgeable, helpful and encouraging.

It goes to show why you have to be yourself online. It would be impossible to maintain a false persona online as well as pointless.

Personal online branding like all branding is something that happens over time. Advertising agencies and marketers talk about brand recognition because they know that repeat exposure is essential.

People often won’t pay attention to you the first time they read one of your comments. The next time they see you mentioned on Facebook they probably won’t be interested either. It may not be until the 3rd, 4th or even 18th exposure that they finally decide they’ve seen you around enough and they’re ready to visit your blog and find out for themselves what you’re all about.

Personal Online Branding With Pictures

We have a brand here at Get In the Hot Spot and my name, Annabel Candy, is strongly linked to that. Our branding is fun, energetic and adventurous. I hope the hot colors will sear themselves into people’s minds and that every time they see that logo or read Get In the Hot Spot they’ll immediately think: hot, quality, actionable information from a trusted source.

My web design company Mucho has totally branding. The blue and grey branded colors are safe and corporate. I love the look but Get In the Hot Spot is superseding it because it’s a better representation of me and you.

Personal Online Branding With Words

Having these two separate websites and brands could be confusing but I hope me and what I actually do ties the two separate brands together.

My friend Robin Dickinson has an amazing post on his business development blog about share words. Robin says business people should be able to explain what they do in a few words other people can easily remember. Share words are like the traditional elevator pitch but shorter and more memorable.

But it’s hard to come up with one short sentence explaining everything we do because our role usually covers a lot of things. For me it includes blog and web design, web copy writing, consulting and writing or speaking to teach people how to succeed online.

But the idea’s sound and hopefully this one sentence explains what I do and reinforces my brand too:

I help you win business and influence people online.

Personal Online Branding Actions

Actions speak louder than words has become a cliche because it’s true. We all need to make sure what we actually do is in line with what we say we do. It’s not enough to look the part and talk the talk. We need to walk the walk too.

The exercise we did earlier this week perfecting the first three sentences of our about page worked a treat. Everyone really thought about the message people would get on their about page and realised why they had to make the message count. Now let’s pare that down to the essentials. See if you can come up with one hot sentence that explains everything you do.

If you’re anything like me it won’t be easy but give it a go. Because trying things out and taking action is what Get In the Hot Spot is all about.

But enough about this blog and personal online branding. Tell us again, what do you do?

Subscribe Now For Free Updates

If you like what you read here please subscribe by email or by RSS. We’ll be continuing the Blog Writing Magic series next week with everything you need to know about blog post layout.

Part of the Blog Writing Magic series. Subscribe now by email or by RSS so you don’t miss out.

Once upon a time there was a writer with a mission. She wanted to start a blog and get 1,000 subscribers after 12 months of blogging. After all, how hard could it be? She had 14 years of experience designing and writing for the Web plus 200 friends on her personal email mailing list. She figured if she couldn’t do it no one could.

But she rushed into it and made every mistake in blogging history. First she didn’t plan her blog properly. Then, because it was just an experiment, she threw the design together in 30 minutes. Next she changed topics as often as Lady Gaga changes her image and finally she switched domain names three times.

It wasn’t just her who was confused, her readers were too so they didn’t bother subscribing and looked else where for their regular blog reading fix.

It was depressing. But knowing that perseverance is the key to success our fearless writer carried on blogging, scouring the Internet daily for advice, ever determined to work out why her writing was failing to convert casual readers into loyal subscribers.

There was plenty of blog writing advice out there. She read that content is king, people love stories and writers need to have a voice so she wrote more, shared stories and bared her soul. It didn’t help.

Although she wrote her heart out and updated her blog three times a week after six months of blogging she still only had 43 subscribers. Failure loomed.

Finally in a last desperate bid to succeed she resorted to doing what she knew best:

• Write about a topic she knew inside out.
• Give her readers information they were craving.
• Be confident and share from the heart.

She stopped thinking so much about her goals and started thinking more about her readers’ goals. It worked. Check out the graph below and you’ll see the upturn in subscribers. The graph doesn’t show the whole story but slowly her subscriber numbers  creeped up and she got 1,000 subscribers just in time to meet her self-imposed deadline.

Writing blog posts that get more readers

1. Focus on giving your readers value
Work out why your readers have come to your blog and give them your best information every time. Make your blogs posts clear, useful and actionable. Read the bit about focusing on giving your readers value again and make it your blogging mantra or write it down and stick it on the wall somewhere so you focus on it every time you write.

2. Just write as if you were speaking to your best friend
Use the kind of simple language you use in every day life, don’t confuse people with jargon or too many long words.

3. Give your readers clear instructions
They’re blog readers not mind readers. If you have tips break them down into easy steps. If you have advice make sure they can understand it. If you want readers to subscribe ask them to. If you’d like them to share your posts on Twitter or Facebook suggest it to them and make it easy for them. If you want them to leave a comment tell them or leave them with a question to answer at the end of your post.

4. Keep it simple
Telling a story helps but to begin with just make sure your blog post has a beginning, a middle and an end. It’s the information that people want more than anything, a story’s just the icing on the cake.

Writing Static Blog Content That Gets More Readers

Writing useful blog posts that clearly give your readers value is key but to convert new readers into subscribers you also need to pay attention to the static content on your blog too, especially the about page.

Your about page is the single most important page on your blog. Most new readers who visit a blog and are thinking of subscribing will check the about page first before signing up. It’s your big chance to convert blog visitors from casual readers into eager subscribers.

Abracadabra Your About Page

Make sure people who hit your about page can instantly read these four things without having to scroll down:

1. The benefits of reading or subscribing to your blog.
Remember your readers want to know that you can add value to their lives. They’re not interested in your amazing social life or your exotic travel stories. They might get interested in those one day, but right now they’re after one thing: cold hard information and the solution to their nagging problem. If you’ve got the goods make sure blog readers know it right away by telling them what information they can find on your blog.

2. Your credibility
Readers don’t want to invest precious time listening to any old charlatan who sets up a blog and calls themselves a guru. They want to know you have a proven track record of success. Qualifications and experience will go down well too, but don’t talk about yourself in the third person  – use the word ‘I’ and write if you were talking to a friend.

3. Social Proof
Well anyone can say they’re successful it helps to back that up with social proof. It’s a brilliant way to let people know you’re the real deal without talking yourself up. Slipping in name of companies you’ve worked with, testimonials from happy customers or other third party accolades is the perfect way to back up your claims.

4. Calls to action
Don’t forget to seal the deal. Hopefully they’ll like what you read and if they do you want to make sure the don’t slip off without subscribing and forget all about you. Time for another call to action telling them why they should subscribe and including the two words that make people click more than any others: free and now.

You probably guessed that writer whose blogging journey got off to a slow start was me. I finally bought this domain name 13 months ago and started focusing on writing empowering tips for life and work then and soon realised that my readers were more interested in my web design and web writing tips than anything else. I surveyed my readers to find out what they wanted me to write about and they said writing. So that’s what I’m doing.

Today this blog totals over 1,700 subscribers and one of them is probably you. It’s not a miracle, it’s because I’m giving you the information you need and if you want to grow your blog you should do that for your readers too.

Blog Content Writing Practice

• Pick the topic you know most about and write your most useful blog post ever.
• Include calls to action at the beginning and end of your blog posts.
• Ask a question at the end of your posts to solicit comments.
• Rewrite your about page emphasising the benefits people will get from reading your blog and why you’re the best person for them to get it from.

What’s the first thing you’re going to change on your blog now?

Take the Hot Spot Blog Writing About Page Challenge

Paste the first three sentences of your existing about page into the comments then give yourself a mark out of ten for them. Be honest and remember this is your main  chance to convince people that your blog has something valuable to offer them. Do your three sentences do that or do you need to change them?

If your about page needs then try rewriting those three first sentences right here in the comments so we can see your before and after versions. We’ll help you workshop those three crucial sentences on your about page so they will convert readers into subscribers.

Update: I’ve to close the workshop now and might not be able to offer my thoughts. Sorry if you got here too late but I can see this post’s had the desired effect: people are rethinking their about page, revising it and improving it which is brilliant. Well done everyone and thanks for participating.

If you want to add your old and new about page to the comments anyway please do. It’s a great way for us to get to know each other.

Don’t Delay Subscribe Today

If you like what you read here remember to subscribe free by email or by RSS so you don’t miss out on the rest of the Blog Writing Magic series. Last week I covered writing hypnotic blog headlines and in the weeks to come I’ll tackle:

• Blog post layout
• Editing
• Writing practice

Please tell your friends and followers by using the share buttons below or recommending this post in your favourite blog bookmarking site so we can grow the Hot Spot Team. I look forward to seeing you here again soon. Thank you for reading and happy writing! Annabel

Want to find some top new blogs for your delight and entertainment?

Then keep your finger on the pulse with our new hot blog links with the heads up on guest posts I’ve written for other blogs, thank people who’ve interviewed me or mentioned me on their blogs and point out any useful blog posts.

This will be an irregular event depending on what I have to share with you but I think once a fortnight will be about right. If there’s anything you’d like to see included please leave a comment below. In the mean time here’s what I’ve unearthed:

1. 21 Simplicity Tips from the Worlds Most Popular Blogger – Three cheers for Chris Stroud who not only gave me a lovely little ego boost by including me in this post but also serves up some excellent tips on living the simple life including my own.

2. 7 Raving Reasons Why You Should Build Your own Digital Career…NOW – My equally fanatical partner in social media crime Mars Dorian is also on a mission to get everyone blogging. Go Mars go!

3. Early Rising – Hulbert Lee quizzes me about the hows and whys of getting up early while I harp lyrical about my dawn beach walks. Listen to this podcast interview and why seeing dolphins and the sunrise are just two of the benefits of getting up early.

4. Daily Brainstorm – Brainy way of collecting all the best writing on the blog (including mine!) in one spot.

5. Social Media Analytics – This is a bit advanced but worth sharing and coming back to. The lovely and very clever blog marketing expert Kristi Hines from Kikolani shares her tips on social media analytics.

6. Personal Development Blogs – Armen from Timeless Information created this handy directory of personal development blogs complete with RSS subscribers and Twitter handles so if you like reading personal development or would like to write some guest posts on other personal development blogs you’ll want to bookmark this page.

7. 10 Blogger Must Reads – Thanks to Keisha for collating 10 of the best blogs for bloggers here.

8. Cool Web-based Magazine – Thom from In Treehouses collates top information on building online communities and packages it all up in a beautifully designed online magazine and kindly mentioned me in issue three.

9. Travel - The case of the Candy family (me, the hubby and our three kids) who sold their dream home in New Zealand and shipped out to Central America. If you haven’t heard of vagabonding the vagablogging site will give you an little introduction and make you want to hit the road. If you’ve ever wanted to travel but thought you couldn’t this interview will prove you can and the family photo is priceless too.

Stay Tuned For Blog Writing Magic and Much More

Next week I’ll carry on with the Blog Writing Magic series – essential blog writing tips that will make your readers love you even more than they do already. Stay tuned by email or by RSS so you don’t miss out. In the weeks ahead I’ll tackle:

• Blog content writing
• Post layout
• Editing
• Writing practice

Sharing is Caring

Please tell your friends and followers  if you like this blog by using the share buttons below or recommending this post in your favourite blog bookmarking site so we can grow the Hot Spot Team. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your support and look forward to seeing you here again soon.

Good luck with all your plans! Annabel

Photo credit: Sean Rogers 1

Since we’ve got a lot of lovely new subscribers this week I’ll just explain that we try to inject some fun into potentially dull topics like Internet marketing or business networking here. The idea is that you get all the invaluable advice you need to succeed online and enjoy the process too.

Now here’s the stalking story I’m sharing because it will help you build stronger relationships online. You don’t have to be a stalker to network online but it helps.

Stalking doesn’t come naturally to me. Like most teenage girls I had my fair share of crushes on dodgy pop stars from dodgy eighties bands like Duran Duran, Depeche Mode and even, most embarrassingly of all, Culture Club. But I didn’t stalk them.

If I went to a concert dad would come to pick me up straight afterwards and whisk me back to the safety of the tower where he kept me. There was no hanging around outside the venue vying for an autograph with other girls. But I did once bravely touch that famously foul-tempered, three times Wimbledon tennis champion: John McEnroe. He was a bit sweaty at the time.

Stalking the Stars at the Cannes Film Festival

I didn’t really get into stalking until I was 22 and then only to keep a boyfriend happy. He was an intense French man who wanted to break into the movie world and decided trying to meet some stars during the Cannes Film Festival would be a great way to do it.

Since Cannes was only a few hours drive away from where I lived in the South of France and I’d never been there before, I readily agreed to join him on this escapade.

Jean-Pierre (not his real name) devised a clever strategy of dressing up in our best clothes (I swear he even wore a bow tie), then bluffing our way into the Carlton Hotel where all the stars stayed and loitering in the lobby or riding up and down in the lifts.

We got quite good at stalking people. We met Willem Dafoe, rode in the lift Christopher Walken and even helped Rupert Everett get into the hotel. In case you haven’t heard of Rupert Everett he’s an upper class English actor and best friend of Madonna – that’s him with her in this photo. He even starred in a movie with her, probably not the pinnacle of his acting career but anyway, back to Cannes in 1990 where Rupert was having trouble getting into the Carlton.

While I was frocked up in an eighties dress with matching shoulder-padded jacket, Rupert was looking cool in backwards baseball cap, t-shirt and ripped jeans. The doorman had no idea who he was and clearly no intention of letting this scruff ball in. So I helpfully rushed over, exercised my best french and all my powers of persuasion to get him in. Sadly, Rupe didn’t even say thank you. He just swished straight by me to reception where he called Miranda Richardson and was last seen heading off to the bar with her.

Accidental Twitter Stalking in Australia

Fast forward 20 years to Australia where I’m the new kid in town with no friends, no contacts and no reputation. After an 18 month break from the Internet when we hung out in Costa Rica I decided to try social media, partly to try to establish my writing career in a new country and partly to find out what social media was all about so I could better help my web design clients.

I got chatting on Twitter with John Birmingham who interested me because he was always tweeting about how many words he’d written. What I didn’t realise then was the he’s a prolific, talented and bestselling writer. I found his tweets movitated me to write more and I challenged him to a word race and generally sent him silly and embarrassing tweets.

His minimalist Twitter bio just reads “I write for food” so I had no idea that not only is John Birmingham a prolific blogger and celebrated columnist, but also a bestselling author of many books including the classic He Died With a Felafel In His Hand, The Axis of Time series and After America.

But it was only when I wrote a post about Birmo called How to Use Twitter as a Motivational Tool and did a bit of research that I discovered all this. I then mentioned him and travel writer Peter Moore, also a gifted author of multiple books who I ‘met’ on Twitter,  in a guest post – Motivation Tips that Actually Work: 6 Sure-Fire Ways To Get Writing and Keep Writing. I went on to interview Peter Moore too because his story’s inspiring to writers and online entrepreneurs.

Why You Need to Start Stalking People

I wrote about these two gentlemen to show other writers how to get motivated and what Twitter can do for them, but it’s helped me build a good relationship with two very well known authors. As I result I recently met John Birmingham at the Reality Bites Literary Festival (see photo) and even appeared on a poster with him as we were both speakers – that’s the speaking engagement image on my media page.

Meanwhile Peter Moore emailed me this week saying he has a new business idea and he’s bearing me in mind for web design and would like to check out my travel book when completed with a view to publishing it.

These are just two people I’ve met through Twitter but there are literally hundreds of excellent contacts I’ve made, many of whom will be reading this and leaving a comment. Chances are we met through Twitter too, directly or indirectly.

The Benefits of Stalking

That’s why I recommend virtual ‘stalking’ on Twitter as a way to:

• Meet successful players in your field.
• Build good relationships with people you’d never be able to speak to otherwise.
• Be motivated and inspired.
• Get some good contacts – if I ever write that book I have two published authors to contact who might put me in touch with their agent or even read my book and write a review.

How to be a Good Stalker

I didn’t plan any of this but in retrospect I did a few things right in building online relationships and I’ve networked with hundreds of other bloggers, writers and travellers all over the world on Twitter. These are my tips for successful online networking:

• Dress up a bit like I did in Cannes – make sure your Twitter profile and blog or website shows you at your best.
• Be friendly without going overboard. Say hi, tell them where you live, why their profile caught your eye or share something you have in common. For example, I live in the same state as John Birmingham so I probably mentioned that and like Peter Moore I’m a travel fiend. With each of them I established a common interest.
• Compliment people about something specific not necessarily related to what they do. For example, I could honestly thank John Birmingham for motivating me to write more and compliment Peter Moore on his well designed website.
• Buy their products and mention that to them.
• Recommend them and their products to other people and let them know you did – you can retweet their links on Twitter for starters or leave a comment on their blog.
• Help them out – if you notice they have a problem or question see if you can answer it or recommend someone else who will be able to.
• Back off – a little bit of stalking’s a good thing for everyone but don’t pester people too much. Your aim is to get them interested in you, not make them block you – the social media equivalent of taking out a protection order against you.

What do you think? Who would you like to stalk and why?

Blog Writing Magic Series

Next week I’ll carry on with the pleasingly popular Blog Writing Magic Series – essential blog writing tips that will make your readers love you even more than they do already. Stay tuned by email or by RSS so you don’t miss out. In the weeks ahead I’ll tackle:

• Blog content writing
• Post layout
• Editing
• Writing practice

Sharing is Caring

Please tell your friends and followers  if you like this blog by using the share buttons below or recommending this post in your favourite blog bookmarking site so we can grow the Hot Spot Team. I look forward to seeing you here again soon.

Thank you for reading and good luck with all your plans! Annabel

Photo credit: BigTallGuy

I don’t rate myself a great writer even though I’ve been writing for the Internet since 1995 and my work’s been featured on popular blogs like Copyblogger and Problogger. Entrepreneurs pay $125 an hour for my writing because it wins business for them, but despite that I’ve only recently gained the confidence to tell people I’m a writer.

So when my dear blog readers ask me to write about writing it scares me. I’d prefer to walk on hot coals than position myself as an expert on writing because, although I love writing, I’m not a natural writing genius.

I write slowly. I’m always looking for ways to improve what I’ve written and I’m never 100% satisfied with the finished product. Every blog post you read I’ve spent hours planning, writing, editing, formatting and tweaking. Then when I hit that publish button and the post goes live I worry about if people will like it and whether any pesky typos have slipped me by.

Occasionally a post spills out like a silk handkerchief out of a hat ~ there are a couple here that only took me an hour or two to write. But the typical 1,000 word blog post that you read in a few minutes took me a hundred times longer to write. So I guess I’m not that different from you or many other writers.

My writing is improving every day and I’m getting faster too but the truth is writing takes time and practice. There’s no magic wand you can wave to improve your writing and pen blog posts people love every time.

Still, I do know a few valuable lessons about the blog writing game that will help you improve your writing, get new blog readers and win more business online. Today I’m going to walk with fire and share my writing tips with you.

Blog Writing Magic Series

What I plan to do is tell you the Internet writing rules I’ve learned over the past 15 years and then step aside to let you weave your own magic. I’ve created a series called Blog Writing Magic to help you improve your blog writing and this is the first post in the series.

Each Blog Writing Magic post will have:

• Guidelines for you to follow.
• Tips for better blog writing.
• Fun writing exercises to get you practising.

If you like what you see here don’t forget to subscribe by email or by RSS so you don’t miss out on the rest of the series, and please tell your friends and followers too, so we can grow the Hot Spot Team.

How to Write Hypnotic Headlines and Drive Readers to Your Blog

People will never read your blog posts if the headline is more fizzle than sizzle.

Even people who’ve subscribed to your blog by RSS feed or email will read the headline first to decide if they want to read the whole post or not. Sadly, if your blog headline doesn’t seem to help with their problem or doesn’t arouse their curiosity they’ll never read the whole post at all. You can put those violins away though and make sure your blog posts get read by learning how to write hypnotic headlines that people click on.

I can’t teach you how to write good headlines, give you any set formulas or wave a magic wand to turn you into a top writer over night but I can give you some ideas, resources and motivation so you can learn the art of headline writing for yourself.

A blog headline should immediately tell people what the blog post is about and give them a reason to read it so compelling, newspaper style blog headlines are what you need. If you write hypnotic headlines at least some of the time to begin with then you’ll:

• Get more readers
• Win incoming links
• Gain new subscribers.

Hypnotic Blog Headlines to Get You Started

Some of the most popular types of blog posts and are easily translated into great headlines. Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Ask a question – Questions are a good way to arouse readers’ curiosity, make them want to find out more and give them a need to read the full story.

• Is starting a blog the hardest part?
• Are anti-wrinkle creams all they’re cracked up to be?
• Confused by affiliate marketing?
• Would you Travel 1,846 Miles for this Man?
• Do you know why networking’s crucial for blogging success?

2. Ask Why – Try to solve a common or persistent problem your readers have.

• Why you need to write killer headlines for your blog
• Why I got headhunted for a vacation
• Why do people love to travel?
• Why time management is dumb
• Why I’ll always back up my work from now on

3. How to – Help your readers do something better, faster, in simple steps or with confidence.

• How to work out what your dream is fast
• How to break the blogging rules with panache
• How to sleep soundly
• How to stay focused in 9 words
• How to use Twitter as a motivational tool

4. Numbered lists – A popular staple for a reason because people love numbered lists. I was scathing of this when I started blogging and wrote 101 ways to feel happy as a joke because I hated the idea of list posts. The joke was on me as it went on to become one of the most popular posts on my blog at that time. List posts are also a great fall back plan if you’re in a hurry. Compared to other types of blog posts they can be written quickly and can easily be written bit by bit work if you can add a new point when you have 10 minutes to spare.

• 10 ways to get the life you want
• 3 keys to living your dream life
• 101 ways to feel happy
• 5 instructions for better writing
• 7 good reasons to go for a walk

5. Best or worst – Make your readers curious and give them a handy reference they’ll keep coming back to.

• Best and worst things about living in Australia
• Worst blogging mistakes and how to fix them
• Best blogs to go for blog writing tips
• Worst blog designs ever
• Best ways to network using social media

Advanced Headline Honing Techniques

If you’ve read this far that’s great news. You must have liked the post headline and you deserve to know that I had fun brainstorming by myself and wrote over 30 headlines before picking the one I thought would work best. Here are a few other headline techniques I’ve experimented with:

• Court controversy with your headlines – Why time management is dumb.
• Experiment with rhyme – Don’t delay, subscribe today.
• Use alliteration – Best business blogs.
• Use buzz words like ‘killer’ or ‘awesome’ that will appeal to your readers – Killer ways to travel for less.
• Cite celebrities or popular culture – A surfer’s guide to success or In bed with Seth Godin.

Those are just a few ideas for writing hypnotic headlines, now you just need to practice. Lots. Remember that even top copy writers like Brian Clark,  Roberta Rosenberg, and Sonia Simone have spent years practising and improving their writing skills.

If you want more ideas for writing blog headlines I recommend Copyblogger’s Magnetic Headlines series.

Another great resource is Sean D’Souza‘s report: why do most headlines fail?

Last Word on Blog Headline Writing Tips

• Focus on creating headlines that show you provide useful value to your readers.
• Get in the habit of scanning newspapers and magazines to see which headlines stand out. Make a note of great headlines and see how you can customise them to make them work on your blog.
• Plan your attention grabbing headlines first then write the post to fit them.
• Try to keep your blog titles short but if they have to be long don’t worry, just bear in mind that people may not see the whole headline so get the most important words in first.
• Make sure the font size for your headlines is big enough so people know they’re headlines. You’ve spent time creating headlines you can be proud of, now make sure people can read them.
• Finally the most important tip of all is have fun writing your blog headlines.

Remember those top copy writer I mentioned before ~ Brian, Roberta and Sonia? They didn’t get good at writing by reading about writing. They didn’t get good at headline writing by thinking about writing. They got good at headline writing just like we will: by practising it lots and accepting that it’s never going to be perfect but can only get better.

Blog Headline Writing Practice

1. Come up with 5 headlines for your blog from each of the styles above: How to, why, question, numbered list and best or worst. If you’ve got categories on your blog come up with 5 titles for each of the headline styles above that you could actually use on your blog. For example, if you have 5 categories on your blog that will be 25 headlines. Don’t worry if you don’t have all the information you need to actually write the whole post. Just try to come up with titles your readers should find interesting. Have fun with it, channel you inner tabloid newspaper editor and concentrate on writing as many titles as you can. You can always edit and refine them later.

2. Go back through your blog archives and see if there are any boring headlines. If you find some improve them or come up with better headlines on the same topic that you can write about another time or just change the headline so more people read it.

3. Leave a comment with your favourite headline from your blog and or any other blog or if you need help with a blog post headline tell us the original fizzer headline and we’ll see if we can come up with ways to make it sizzle. Let’s use the comments to workshop blog headlines and help each other hone hypnotic headlines.

Don’t Delay Subscribe Today

If you like what you see here remember to subscribe free by email or by RSS so you don’t miss out on the rest of the Blog Writing Magic series. In the weeks to come I’ll tackle:

• Blog content writing
• Post layout
• Editing
• Writing practice

Please tell your friends and followers too by using the share buttons below or recommending this post in your favourite blog bookmarking site so we can grow the Hot Spot Team. I look forward to seeing you here again soon. Thank you for reading and happy writing! Annabel

Guest post by Kola Olaosebikan

You probably know lots of people that do their best work when they are sweating bullets under tight deadlines. Under the same conditions, others feel overwhelmed and stressed out. If you fall into the first category, much of this article will not apply to you – in particular, if you like tight deadlines AND you are a chronic procrastinator, you might want to click away from this post.

How Smart are SMART goals for YOUR Time Management?

You see, there is a general understanding that Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Time-constrained (SMART) goals are required in order to make progress in life and master time management. I really can’t argue with the profit that is to be gained from this method. However, SMART goals are being taken completely out of context these days (kind of like crocs—they belong on store shelves—not on your feet).

Do you really need a specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, time-driven modus operandi for your household chores? Or even your daily office work? Do you really need to construct that 5×5 matrix for your weekly schedule? Probably not. There is a better way to sort out your time management challenges.

On a personal note, I happen to work extremely well under pressure; however, I do have moments when I need some stress-free existence. It was during one of those periods of wanting zero stress that I discovered that there is a time and place for setting goals.

Sometimes, you need to forget about goals because setting goals when your mind, body, and soul are kicking against it will only drench you in stress, and consequently reduce your productivity.

The Case for un-SMART Time Management Goals

Heresy! I know, but the bottom line on time management is this: you need to pay attention to your patterns.

Are you much more productive when you don’t set goals 60% of the time and get SMART for the remaining 40%? Or do you need to set goals 80% of the time and be un-SMART for the remaining 20%?

It will take some time to find your balance but it’s worth it. If your goals are stressing you out, and you spend most of your day beating yourself up for not “finishing your list”, you need to decide what is worth creating a goal for and when to create those goals.

Proceed with Caution

For those trying this out for the first time, I strongly recommend that you get into the habit of writing down the main activities that you complete during your un-SMART time. So instead of creating a list of things to do and checking them off as you go along, start with a blank sheet (or Microsoft Word document) and record your main activities as you go along. You will find that you get a lot more done than you would expect.

Icing on the Time Management Cake

The best part is, when you look at your list at the end of the day, you are not forced to focus on all the things that you didn’t achieve. Instead, you are rewarded with a list of all the things that you did achieve. Sounds bueno to me.

Does that sound good to you or do you have some other time management tips to share?

Kola Olaosebikan is a blogger, speaker, management consultant, and passionate investor in human capital. Last year, Kola managed to wander through four countries and her passion for travel will likely take her to several others this year (Brazil anyone?) Keep tabs on Kola at Beta Motivation.

Photo credit: Hryck

I tend to be sceptical about things like affiliate marketing and my friend Corbett Barr used to be too – that’s him in the picture. But affiliate marketing’s not a cheesy scam and it’s not just dodgy Internet marketers who make money from it. It can be a completely ethical and honest way to make money.

With affiliate marketing all you’re doing is giving people who are interested in a specific product a link to a website where they can find it. If they visit the site, like the sound of it and buy it you then get a cut. The buyer doesn’t pay any extra so it seems like a win win win situation for buyer, seller and affiliate reseller.

The percentage of the cut varies from 4% at Amazon to 75% for some generous affiliate products and basically that’s the money you’ll get for providing someone with the useful service of helping them find something they were probably looking for anyway.

If this is interests you Corbett has just started offering an affiliate marketing course for beginners. The course offers access to a website with all the information you need to set up your own website or blog and give affiliate marketing a go.

I’ve successfully dabbled with affiliate marketing here by writing about a couple of ebooks and courses that I recommend and have earned money by doing so, but the Affiliate Marketing for Beginners Course is for people who want to set up a website specifically to resell products.

Corbett’s got a good track record with affiliate marketing – after 9 months he now makes thousands of dollars per month using his new knowledge. I’m sure he’s worked long and hard to build his business up to that level and I also know he has two blogs with a solid readership of people like me who trust him 100%, but it goes to show that it can be done. Best of all it’s not just for dodgy characters and geeks.

7 Reasons I Recommend this Affiliate Marketing for Beginners Course

1. The course shows you how to buy a domain name and set up a wordpress blog which is brilliant for anyone with a tight budget who wants a blog or website, even if you’re not ready to do the whole reseller thing yet.

2. Corbett recommends a reliable web host with low fees that includes one free domain registration and gives you a special code for a $50 off hosting voucher. If you don’t have your own domain name yet and want to set up a WordPress blog this offer could make your dream of having your own domain name a reality.

3. It’s a one off membership fee so there are no recurring expenses on the course.

4. All the content is on a website so you can easily find what you’re looking for and come back to it whenever you want.

5. When you’re doing the course you can ask Corbett questions right on the site and he replies.

6. There’s a money-back guarantee.

7. Corbett says his course is much cheaper than other similar courses. I’ve checked it out in detail and since it’s such a good deal I felt duty bound to let you know about it.

More About the Course

Affiliate Marketing for Beginners is a complete step-by-step ethical course on affiliate marketing that will guide beginners through making their first sale from affiliate marketing. It includes 5 modules and 21 lessons, and doesn’t require any special knowledge to follow. There’s also a functional example website to help you.

The 5 Modules are:

• Introducing affiliate marketing
• Finding opportunities – This section includes great explanations of key word research that will help any blogger or business person with a website.
• Creating a site
• Generating traffic
• Advanced and scaling up

You can read all the juicy details here.

Final Word

In case you’re wondering I am an affiliate reseller for this. Corbett invited me to recommend his course and for once I agreed to it. I refuse most of these requests but this one seemed different. Mainly because it seems like such a good deal I’d be doing you  a disservice if I didn’t at least mention it. Here’s the equation as I see it:

Free domain name + Discount on hosting + Info on how to start a WordPress blog or website + Crazy low price = Offer too good to refuse

If it sounds interesting check it out here. If not no worries, I’ll see you again next time. I’m squeezing in three posts this week specially so I can share this with you but So that’s it from me for today.

What do you think about affiliate marketing? I’ve just added a box to my blog below with some ads for other affiliate products I recommend. It’s probably going to be a permanent fixture. I believe I’m offering a useful service to my readers and this seems to be the best way for me to get paid for it. I’m not comfortable asking for donations but maybe you’d find that preferable?

Thank you for reading and good luck with all your plans! Annabel

These days I’m holed up in tropical paradise and my world revolves around a small radius: home, the kid’s school and the beach. It’s a good life and normally I don’t stray too far, but it hasn’t always been this way.

As soon as I left high school in the UK I traveled to France and the USA. I have a photo of myself on top of the one of the Twin Towers in New York to prove it. As a student I regularly hitchhiked from London to Paris to see the Mona Lisa or just eat a decent croissant.

I’ve taken rickshaws in India, wept in badly driven buses on moutain passes in Turkey, bounced along on the back of a gravel truck in Zimbabwe, been ship wrecked when a traditional dhow I was sailing in sank off Kenya and raced the busy streets of Bangkok in tuk tuks or on the back of motorcycle taxis.

I call myself as a travel fiend but these days luring me away from my home isn’t so easy. When you live by some of the world’s most stunning beaches in a temperate climate it’s understandable that a trip to the city or even just the local shopping mall becomes  a chore.

So how come I jumped at the chance to take three buses, one train, one plane and two taxis to meet a bald, bespectacled man in a cold city? Especially given that I already have a perfectly lovely man at home anyway.

In case you don’t recognise the man in the picture above my latest trip was to see, hear and even feel Darren Rowse aka Problogger. Darren’s a legend and role model for me and a hundreds of thousands of other bloggers. If you want to know the secret of his popularity I’d break it down into 10 tips which I’m basing on his modus operandus.

10 Blogging Lessons I’ve Learnt from Darren Rowse

1. Know your stuff.
2. Help people.
3. Avoid hype.
4. Be yourself.
5. Stay humble.
6. Rise above negativity.
7. Watch your statistics.
8. Listen to your audience.
9. Try new things.
10. Love your readers.

The Problogger Conference

Recently Darren hosted a blogging conference in Melbourne which was very exciting for me and the other 150 bloggers lucky bloggers who got to hang out with him for the day. Some bloggers were so excited they went into a frenzy of tweeting, blogging and videoing all through the conference.

I’m old school though and was happy to just sit there, soak up the atmosphere, enjoy the hubbub 150 bloggers make when they get together, make notes on paper and have a quiet giggle about the problogger’s matching outfits. Then rush up to them and get my photo taken with them afterwards.

The Speakers

Darren has lots of clever blogging friends so it wasn’t just Problogger we got to hear speak. We also heard words of blogging wisdom from:

• Chris Garrett – Canadian font of online marketing knowledge with a Yorkshire accent.
• Yaro Starak – Australian font of online money-making knowledge with a Canadian accent.
• Collis Ta’eed – Speed talking netsetter who’s not afraid to mention that he frequently hangs out at “sausage fests”, even in front of his lovely wife Cyan.
• Pip Lincolne – Cool chick with no discernible accent, fabulous taste in everything and some highly crafty ways.

Chris Garrett’s a lovely man and we both overcame our shyness to snuggle up for a photo. Please note how shiny and happy I look in all these photos, meanwhile the probloggers aren’t looking quite so keen.

Chris didn’t join us for drinks in the bar afterwards, probably because meeting 150 bloggers in one day was all too much excitement for him. Looking at this photo I can see why. He couldn’t even have a quiet cup of tea without being pestered by people.

Thank You

Darren and Chris for letting me have my pic taken with you.

Yaro for hearing me out with my tips on your hair dos and wheels.

Pip for having  a quick chin wag as we dunked our tea bags.

Sally at Snappy Sentences for letting a near stranger have a sleepover at her place so I could get to the conference.

One Top Tip For Bloggers and Entrepreneurs

If I could only share one tip with you from the conference it would be this:

Go to a blogging conference to meet some other like-minded bloggers and be inspired by the pros. Networking is one of the keys to blogging success and a Problogger conference is a great way to do it. The 1,846 mile round trip was worth it but it’s good to be home.

If you can’t get to a Problogger conference at least check out the website for some top blogging tips including these motivating guest posts written by me:

• Getting Over the Blogger’s 6 Month Itch
• 4 Classic Mistakes I Made In My First Year of Blogging and How I Got 1000 Subscribers Anyway
• 7 Signs of an A-List Blogger in the Making

Missed the Conference? Buy the Book

Hopefully I didn’t scare Darren and the other bloggers too much and there will be other conferences. But in the meantime I recommend Darren and Chris’s book 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. I read it ages ago and am probably due for a reread. That’s part of the joy and frustration of blogging – there’s always something more to be done. I  came away from the conference with a endless list of things to be done but more determined than ever to do them.

If you haven’t read 31 Days to Build a Better Blog already you should – you can download it instantly now and at only $19.95 it seems like a no-brainer to me. Click here for more details.

By the way, this is an affiliate link. Yes, Darren and Chris will be proud of me, I can almost hear them applauding me now.

Who or what inspires you to keep striking out for what you want?

Are You a Hot Subscriber?

Thank you for reading, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below and hope to see you here again soon. If you like what you read today don’t forget to subscribe now. It’s free and easy so please join us. Just choose updates by email or by RSS Feed to stay in the loop.

Please Spread the Word

Thank you for reading and being part of the Hot Spot Team. If you like my blog please help me grow it by sharing the blog or specific posts on you Facebook wall, tweeting them, emailing posts to friend, relatives and colleagues or just telling people about Get In the Hot Spot.

The best way to grow a business is word of mouse and I’d really appreciate it if you can tell someone or as many people as you can about Get In the Hot Spot.

Thank you so much for helping with that. I can’t wait to see you here again soon.

Good luck with all your plans! Annabel