Honing Your Craft

Having pride in what you’ve done is important but we should always be striving, as creatives, to figure out how best to improve. Here are some articles details tips, tools and tricks for becoming better at our craft.

Tools for Better Writing

Writing gets better with guidance and practice; with blogging, we get plenty of practice, but sometimes it’s hard to find authoritative guidance. Some writers enroll in classes to improve writing, but we don’t all have that luxury. Fortunately, there are plenty of techniques and online tools that can help us to identify grammar problems and even tutor us in clearer, more direct writing… [read more]

Brainstorming New Ideas

Writer’s block: we all get stuck from time to time, but did you know there are fun ways to create content and you don’t have to do it alone? Smart bloggers brainstorm with others to generate ideas… [read more]

Storytelling Connects Bloggers to Readers

Stories last even when the words fade. Storytelling is how we transfer experiences; your readers can visualize your story, you appeal not only to their intellect but to their senses, emotions, sense of order or recognition. Joshua Gowin in Psychology Today recounts research that reveals “telling stories builds empathy and . . . when you tell a good one, people act as if they’re watching it unfold before them…” [read more]

Technical Help

Running a blog comes with a host of technicalities to keep up with. Are you in accordance with the law? Why does your WordPress theme keep doing that annoying thing? Get some answers with this section.

SEO Secrets: Make Your Blog Post One in a Million

For a firsthand illustration of SEO, go to Google, Bing or Yelp and enter in any single word. The results displayed can be from 1 million to up to more than a billion. It does help to increase your SEO by getting backlinks which increase your authority.  Unfortunately for the average blogger, according to Leverage Marketing, search engine users do not go much further than the first 5 listings in a search… [read more]

Boost Your Blog Traffic by Automating Pinterest

Neil Patel, who received 1.7 million visitors on Pinterest, writes that Pinterest is the second largest traffic generator behind Facebook and generates 5 times the traffic of Twitter. Managing a Pinterest account can be time consuming, but automation can make the task very easy. With PinPinterest, you can schedule pins, automate repinning and even have the program extract and post pins directly from your blog. Best of all, you can try PinPinterest for free.

Tagging Images in Blog Posts to Enhance SEO

Although blogging uses text to convey concepts, it is important to remember that a multi-media experience can enhance a reader’s experience. Images used in a blog convey concepts quickly, break up text blocks visually and if tagged properly, they can increase the number of times a blog is indexed by search engines… [read more]

Is Your Blog Privacy Policy Current?

All blogs should have privacy statements.  If you blog with a blogging site, this is probably done for you, but if you have a hosted website, you will need to add one. If you have had your blog before April, 2018, it probably is not compliant with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)… [read more]

Monetize/Optimize Your Blog

Blogging is a lot of fun, but eventually it would be nice to get paid for your time. We will be adding a number of new opportunities so be sure to visit regularly.

Share A Sale

One of the easiest affiliate programs to join is ShareASale. The signup form is easy, the approval is quick and once you are a member you can include links, images and videos from companies in fashion, technology, services, food, and automotive. If you have a passion and an audience, it is easy to generate additional income with this program. Best of all, it is free. Best of all, you will find products you already use and can recommend to your blogging audience AND get paid! For additional information on ShareASale and a sign up link, go here.

EBates

Earning rebates just can’t be easier. Simply sign up, add the extension to Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers and shop as you normally would. When EBates detects a cash incentive offer on the page you are visiting, the app will notify you that you are eligible and tell you how much you would get as a cash rebate. You will be surprised at you money you can make on things you buy regularly. With this link not only will you get a EBates, but also $10 back on your first $25 in purchases (you have 90 days). That’s like getting 50% off your first purchase of $25 and you don’t have to do anything but accept the money. Click here to Sign up for EBates.

TailwindApp

A blog without traffic is like a jungle without water, in a short time it becomes a desert. Feed your blog high volume, quality traffic from Pinterest or Instagram. The number one tool for organizing, scheduling and managing Pinterest/Instagram resources is TrailwindApp. Users have reported blog traffic increasing as much as ten fold after implementing recommendations and best practices. TailwindApp is also a source for traffic collaboration through tribes. Join a tribe in your favorite subject and work with others to increase traffic to all member’s sites. Tailwind document, user interface, training and videos make this site easy to use for even the newest blogger.

Sign up by clicking here.

Some or all of the links above may compensate us for referring you. This is one way we can operate this blog and provie excellent services. In all cases, this does not change your cost and the above programs are free so you are already a winner. Please participate in the above programs to provide ongoing support