SteitBlog

5 Steps To Take When Writing Your Article

Steitiyeh — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:01:11 +0000

“How do you write your articles?” A question that I was asked various times and I thought that I had to write an article about it and share its answer with you guys. It’s very healthy for any blogger and her/his blog to set a certain criteria/routine of how they’re going to create content for their blogs. Personally I follow some steps in every article I write that I think are “a-must” for every article, there are other steps I do with some articles only. Before listing these steps or things I do, I would like to say that with time these steps turn into a habit.

1- Collect Ideas:

Whenever an idea pops into my mind, I just write it down either on a notepad or on my iPhone notes! Whenever I decide to write, I just take a look at my notepad and a lot of topics will be waiting for me there. This activity also helps you in bulk writing, which is the best thing any blogger could do!

2- Summarize before going into details:

After choosing a topic to write about; I start by listing all the main points that the article will evolve around. After listing all the main points, I start writing about each one separately and add some intro text and closure if needed.

3- Do some research:

While writing my articles I have to do some research on the topic itself, I have to validate my knowledge before sharing it with others. I am not saying go steal information from other writers, but at least to make sure that what you are saying is true, valid, and is adding benefit and value to your readers.

4- Professional proof reading:

After I finish writing my articles, I always share them with my wife, who is an English Copywriter originally, to proof read it, fix all my grammatical and spelling mistakes and re-phrase some of the sentences where needed. It is really important to have someone professional to proof read your articles, you should be aware of spelling and grammar mistakes that could make some of your readers lose trust in you or just not give your articles the importance that they deserve!

5- Read it one more time:

After having your article proof read, you should go over it one more time in order to make sure that there are no spelling or contextual mistakes after it has been adjusted by the proof reader. By reading it for the last time you will also be able to make sure that it has a complete message, that it’s relevant and adds value to the reader.

This is how I usually write my articles, how do you write yours? Do you have any specific criteria which you follow when writing your articles or do you write them immediately onto Wordpress editor and publish them directly?

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Difficulties I Am Facing As a Part-Time Blogger

Steitiyeh — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:48:55 +0000

As most of you know, I am planning to take my blog to the next level and generate full income from it or at least from my online presence/connections. I have to agree that in order to take it to the next level I need to dedicate time for it and commit and honestly this is appearing to be very difficult with my current situation, since I am a full-timer and sometimes I need to stay late at work and I have some other responsibilities alongside that as well. Having said all of this, I will still try hard and do my best to make it happen and quit my 9-5 job just for the sake of this blog!

Being a full-timer doesn’t give me the chance to dedicate time for my blog which I can’t do anything about at the moment, but I am really working my A#$ off to have it done so I can push more quality content into it, engage more with my readers and create better presence. I think the most important thing in a blogger’s journey is time and everything related to it. We are talking about time management, time dedication, prioritization, and getting your tasks done in the least possible time. Basically bloggers should know how to utilize their time, specially ones who have other full-time jobs and think of taking their blogs to the next level.

At the same time, I am currently taking good amount of Wordpress development projects and I am being paid for them, which comes under the point mentioned above “monetizing my online presence”. I also write for different blogs and provide support and consultation services to some friends and clients. Yeah, I do all of that at the same time. This might be normal for you and it might be a “WOW” factor, I am not complaining about the situation; in the contrary I am so liking it. The learning curve you go through in such situations really add more and more to your horizon and especially when it comes to time management.

What am I planning to do?

Honestly speaking, I have a plan that will take time right after Q1 ends, where I will be dedicating time for my blog and you will be feeling it. I will also be publishing my e-book, this should take place within Q2 if I was lucky enough in getting things done. Very soon I will be publishing a new page that will contain guest posts restrictions and I will be accepting guest posts from everybody who writes anything related to the topic of SteitBlog.

I felt like sharing this with you, just to let all bloggers (specially new ones) know that they should never give up. Keep trying, insist and set clear goals which you want to achieve! You will do it!

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Is Google Buzz going to buzz?

Steitiyeh — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:35:53 +0000

Last night the announcement and launch of Google Buzz buzzed the whole sphere on all levels. But the question is: “Is Google Buzz going to buzz on the long-term or it’s going to be a momentum and that’s it?” I personally have various concerns about Google Buzz specially that it still has not yet been added to my Gmail, which I think is a sin in launching any new product!

Earlier last year Google launched Google Wave, which I personally considered as a one great collaboration tool and I have used it in different projects ever since. When Google first launched Wave, a lot of people shared their wish lists or which could be considered as a list of missing features that should be added to it. Since I didn’t try Google Buzz yet, I have a few concerns regarding it.

Product Roll-Out:

I don’t think that it’s a good idea to have the service available for a certain bunch of people rather than everybody together, specially when you’re launching a whole new product. Availability in phases works well when you release a new feature to a current product/service but not when launching a whole new service. We heard a lot about Google Buzz and it’s not there, very soon; the buzz will disappear and the conversion rate will be WAY less than it could have created if the service was available.

Facebook:

All the reviews I read mentioned that Google Buzz is not integrated with Facebook, which is the biggest social network on the Internet with more than 400 million users. I really don’t know what Google is trying to do, are they thinking to replace it!?!? No, they will not! It’s too late to replace it now, why don’t you think of complementing it and enable your users to manage it in addition to the variety of options you are providing!

Name:

Seriously? Couldn’t you guys find a better name?! Yahoo already used it ages ago, didn’t you hear about Yahoo! Buzz? This is not the point, I really don’t like the name and I don’t think it’s catchy and fits for a social network! Compare it to MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, Orkut, Flickr. Buzz is a very formal naming, couldn’t you find any lamer name for your product?

I am sure that I will have much more concerns once I try it out, but till then I should be fair enough and mention a few features that I think are cool to have and utilize in Google Buzz.

It’s integrated with your Gmail, no need for a new tab on the browser with different login details, you can use it on the go while reading your emails and replying to them.
Links are shown as Thumbnails as if they were linking to any multimedia content such as photos or videos.
When it comes to sharing content with your followers/friends you can choose it to become either public or private sharing, this feature is really cool and gives you more control over what you are sharing.
You will also be notified on all comments and updates that occur on the buzz you create over email, and those notifications are updated LIVE!

Back to the title of this article, is Google Buzz going to buzz or not? I can’t really judge right now, but I think it will buzz specially for businesses, I think it will be a very beneficial social marketing tool for them. Do you think it’s going to buzz or not? Did you try it yet? Let me know.

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What are you waiting for?

Steitiyeh — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:59:16 +0000

Social media and blogging in specific is becoming a must for everyone. Yeah, everyone should blog and use social media even if not for making money or any other professional use.

An article that created a big buzz yesterday was that The Pope Benedict XVI had a message for priests of the Catholic Church: they must proclaim the gospel by not only having a website, but by blogging and utilizing new web communication tools. Everybody is expecting 2010 to be the year of social media and blogging on ALL levels!

If you don’t own a blog, why don’t you start blogging right now? Don’t you like to have a place where you can share your ideas and thoughts with the whole world!? Everyone does! Blogging also could either be FREE or could cost you a little amount of money if you are looking into getting your own domain name! Time is ticking, one day you will be wishing you would’ve started a blog a couple of years back.

If you are worried about the topic you are going to write about, think deep inside yourself; isn’t there any area that you are knowledgeable about? Or don’t your friends always come and ask you about a certain topic? If not, then start a personal blog where you can share your personal opinions, thoughts and daily experiences.

A blog is the abbreviation of Web Log, it’s the new version of the old known note books which we used to call “Diaries”, remember them!? It will be very nice to have all your thoughts and experiences logged into one place and have them shared with your readers and someday along the line get back to them and enjoy reading them!

Below is part of the Pope’s message to the Priests:

“The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.” Via mashable

If you decided to start a blog for yourself, check out my Healthy Blogging 101 series where I share some good tips on how to choose the topic of your blog and how to build an affordable blog and much more.

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Let Your Readers Spread The Love

Steitiyeh — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:20:05 +0000

This is a guest post by James from TheInfoPreneur.

You write new content for your site, because you want people to read it. You promote it as much as you can, but there is only so much one person can do and unless you are about to employ a whole team to spread your content and products for you, you need to let your readers do it for you;

Buttons

Everyone wants their latest post to go viral and be the new must see web page and the very best way to do this is to have buttons. Digg, Tweetmeme, Sexy Bookmarks all of the plugins and extremely easy to put into your site and make it astonishingly easy for your readers to spread your work. Think about it, one reader with say 50,000 followers on Twitter, Re-Tweets your article via your Tweetmeme button and that’s traffic, It only takes the right person to push the digg button for it to be seen by an incredible audience.

Don’t go over board on the button front though. I have seen sites with two Re-Tweet buttons at the top and bottom of every post, it’s over kill, I prefer one at the top and one at the bottom with more options at the very bottom of the post, for me and the readers of my site, it works. Every site is different though so have a play around and see what works for you.

CommentLuv

I love sites that have commentLuv enabled. CommentLuv is a plugin that allows your readers to automatically leave a link to their latest article at the bottom of their comment. But how does this spread my content? Well, directly it won’t, but the best thing about it is, it increases the amount of comments you will get, at least it has on my site. By having more people visit your site and contribute to the post you will inherently gain more social spreads via your buttons.

Guest Post

Allow people to guest post for you. Having others write for you, whatever market you are in, is a fantastic way to increase traffic. Think about it, not only are you promoting your site, but your guest poster is to increase their onlinepresence. It doubles your work rate and is a fantastic way of getting new readers because of the new writing style your guest brings.

So there you have it, let your readers spread the love.

TheInfoPreneur was set up by James Richmond 3 months ago, Since then he has published nearly 180 post and now has an Alexa Ranking of 73,000. He replies to everything and is committed to his site and his readers. Unbeleivable motivated, this guy needs to be watched. For someone who has no qualifications at all, TheInfoPreneur is a rare breed of website.

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Apple’s iPad is out!

Steitiyeh — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:29:42 +0000

Apple just revealed the long-waited iPad (aka iSlate, iTablet, Apple Tablet) shocking everyone with the specs and surprises they announced.

The iPad specifications up to my knowledge are:

1- 1GHz Apple A4 chip

2- Storage: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB.

3- Wi-Fi 802.11n

4- Battery life: 10 hours

5- Full Capacity Multi-touch.

6- 9.7” LCD.

7- 0.5” thickness.

8- Compass.

9- Accelerometer.

The iPad also comes with a 3G connection and is internationally unlocked. They have also announced some cool accessories for the iPad such as the docking keyboard, which I think is so cool! During the announcement, they demonstrated iWork suite on the iPad and I think this is one hell of an option for presentations on the go!

The most shocking part of the event was the pricing which starts from: $499.00.

Via gdgt

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Let me know how can I help you please!

Steitiyeh — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 11:52:23 +0000

If you are subscribed to SteitBlog’s newsletter, you should have received by now the email I sent earlier last week. I am currently offering, FREE of charge, help and support to all of my readers! Just email me what you need from me and I will be more than happy to help you out!

I can help you install Wordpress on your hosting, I can help you monetize your blog, I can help you customize your blog, I can help you in a lot of things or at least I can help you find the right answers to your questions! Since I believe that the major factor behind the success of this blog is its readers, I am trying to show appreciation and respect by helping you in anything related to the Internet, Blogging or Technology!

In order not to get spammed I am not going to include my email address over here, but you can either subscribe to my newsletter and reply to the emails you receive from it, or fill in the form in the contact page and I will be more than happy to assist you!

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7 Reasons why to get Darren’s 31DBBB workbook

Steitiyeh — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:50:09 +0000

Darren Rowse, the author of “31 days to build a better blog”, is re-launching his e-book and giving out 3 FREE bonuses to all of those who get it before the 19th of January.

I got my copy earlier when Darren launched it the first time and I will be sharing with you guys different reasons why I recommend getting it if you still didn’t grab your copy yet!

1- Darren has managed to divide the content of his book in a very useful way, where the readers can really benefit out of it. He separated his tips into Daily tasks which each blogger can easily do and use to improve his blog.

2- Darren also didn’t forget to add to each day, a HOW and a WHY paragraph so the reader could really know why this task is important and is a must do task.

3- Over 19,000 copies were sold so far and it is highly recommended by a lot of A-List bloggers.

4- Darren is offering a 31-days money back guarantee which means that after the 31 days challenge are over and you think you haven’t benefited from the e-book or if you are not satisfied, you are totally eligible to ask for a refund, 100% refund!

5- As a new year’s offer, Darren is giving out 3 FREE bonuses to get your blog going in 2010. He is giving out: Free Report: 9 Things to Do to Get Your Blog On Track in The New Year, Podcast with Leo Babauta from Zen Habits and a Podcast with Neil Patel from QuickSprout.

6- Darren is also giving out a FREE, a 1 hour long podcast including questions and answers where he answers different questions asked by various bloggers who want to take their blogs to the next level.

7- The 94 pages e-book, with the FREE bonuses and the 1 hour long podcast, is sold for ONLY $19.95.

To all of you guys who haven’t yet gotten their copies, it is highly recommended to all of you and it is a GREAT way to start your 2010 blogging journey! Go grab your copy right now!

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Time is ticking – Literally!

Steitiyeh — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 15:15:28 +0000

This is a guest blog by Sarge from Beginner Blogger.

Are you guilty for putting off tasks till the next day just because it’s starting to get a tad late and it can just ‘wait till tomorrow’. Or maybe you’re a little bit tired and you just can’t be bothered doing what you really want to do now because ‘there’s always tomorrow’

Instead of delaying tasks because you’re a little tired or the day is almost over, have a second thought. Why not do it anyway? Time is ticking.

How Much Time Do Really We Have Left?

I’m currently 23. I’d be pretty happy if I lived until I was 80. So that gives me approx. 499,000 hours left in my life to do something. Or 29,959,200 minutes (57 years x 365 days x 24 hours) or 1,797,552,000 seconds. Now I like to think I’ll never die, I say this all the time but you never know what sort of freaky accident could happen. Don’t waste it! You have too much to achieve in your life. Don’t put it off until tomorrow, DO IT NOW!

All those days where you say ‘I’ll just do it tomorrow’ can add up. See the seconds just fly by? Every day wasted is one day longer which will take to reach your goals.

Inspiration

I have a friend that’s starting up a coffee shop. He’s getting up at 3am and working till the sun goes down. That’s dedication for you and that’s not wasting your time. He had a project he wants to work on and get finished so he can start getting some business in and stop living on the couch.

Think of this when you start a new website or even a new blog post. Yes, it might be getting a bit late but will working an extra hour or so kill you? My friend was building, painting and sweating. All we’re doing is clicking on a few buttons and typing a few keys.

I don’t mean to freak you out, but if you put it in a way where you can see your life pass you by like this you can start to understand that our time is precious. I know we’ve all had times where we disrespect the time we have and say ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’. So don’t – do it now! Achieve your goals and dreams. You can :)

Sarge is from Beginner Blogger which is a resource for bloggers and beginner bloggers alike to achieve blogging success. A university graduate from Brisbane, Australia recently left the 9-5 corporate world as a web designer/developer to pursue a venture to create an ideal lifestyle for himself through blogging, social media, web design and online marketing.

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Do you have competitors or colleagues?

Steitiyeh — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:49:37 +0000

Yesterday I was asked a question by my friend Jamie: “Does your blog have a unique selling point? Why should ppl subscribe to yours and not others?” and afterwards a very important point crossed my mind and I raised it immediately and I thought to share it with you guys.

My answer was that I never promote my blog over other blogs, all blogs within the sphere complete each other instead of competing like any other industry! That is the cool thing about social media, that you can never force a reader to read your blog, or buy your product, or for example promote yourself over other bloggers as if you are better than them or your blog is better, it’s not the case at all! Readers are attracted by the quality of your content and the way you write, they either like it or they just bounce off your blog!

Blogging, unlike other industries, requires focusing on quality more than promotion, since readers will find your blog if its content meets their requirements and satisfies their needs.

Back to the core of the article, I don’t think any blogger would ever think of promoting their blog over other bloggers, in the contrary, we consider ourselves as colleagues and friends. Our blogs complete each other rather than compete, each of us has his own loyal readers where at sometimes we might share some loyal readers and we might be each others’ readers!

Let’s take SteitBlog for example; the following bloggers (just to count a few) are good friends of mine and all of us blog around almost the same thing; Blogging and Making Money Online, and we read each others blogs.

1- MikeCJ

2- Daniel Sargent

3- Derek Jensen

4- Robert Bravery

At the same time, I do follow and look up to some other A-List bloggers (to list a few) whom I consider as friends/mentors:

So do you think in blogging there is competition between different blogs under the same niche? Do you have colleagues or competitors in the niche you blog about?

For now I just want to cut the article short and see what you guys think about this issue, and we might work on follow-up articles if we find out that there are different points of views!