Blogging 201, Day Four: Give ‘Em What They Want

Posted on by

“Only on the Internet can a person be lonely and popular at the same time” Allison Burnett

Blogging 201, Day Four: Give ‘Em What They Want

Time to take a step back. Live with the design you have for the day while we switch gears and start focusing on your content. We’re diving into stats to learn more about what your readers love.

Today’s assignment: Do a basic stats analysis to help you create an editorial calendar for the next 30 days.

Why do this? Because knowing which topics and posts are popular helps you to brainstorm new content your audience will love. Because knowing which days of the week your visitors are most likely to show up lets you plan to publish on your best days.

I have been following the statistics of my blog since day one, six months ago. Call it anal, call it interested, call it day job orientated motivation 😉 Keeping track on who, when, why is interesting. I quickly started utilizing the categories and tags for the posts. This helps on many levels; search, number or posts, statistics.

Due to working in full time employment in a completely different area means, that when I arrive back home, I start my second (albeit unpaid) job. This means all the brainstorming, writing and photographing happen between the hours of 5pm and usually 1 am, sometimes I am up until the sunrise next morning if I really have my inspiration on.

Since I am posting on daily basis now, with current setup of at least one poem and some photographs, there is no time to accumulate a backlog and vary the posting times. Luckily for me, this posting time (midnight for me) usually tends to be the busiest. Even my statistics sheet agrees!

My topics are as the blog tag line states: “Blog about everything and nothing and it’s all done in the best possible taste.” Meaning the content can be open to most every topic I can imagine. Possibly due to the simple fact, that humour plays a big role in most postings and adding photography to the mix, my followers seem to range from ages 0-100+ with all genders included. Of course it is impossible to please everyone all the time, but I do have quite a few returning visitors and I try to do the same to my followings as well.

For statistics there is one qualm I have: those people who are not part of the WordPress community, cannot press the “LIKE” button. My followers by email only, exceed by two thirds the number of followers in the community. This also means I don’t get feedback from the email followers, unless they write me email or respond in the other social media forums.

RANTINGS

STATS 23072015

Blogging 201: Day Three: Get Read All Over

Posted on by

“What you do after you create your content is what truly counts” Gary Waynerhuk

Blogging 201: Day Three: Get Read All Over

Today’s assignment: Make sure your site is mobile-friendly, and familiarize yourself with the features of responsive design.

Why? Because a responsive website looks great on all screen sizes, from computer to tablet to phone. Because there are mobile tools built in to WordPress.com — there’s no need to know web development to have a mobile-friendly site.

I have been using the WordPress application on both Samsung and Iphone for a while. Not really for writing, but reading and follow up. I don’t recommend typing on the small device for a lengthy time. Posting on them, especially picture related topics can be tricky, as it sometimes is even with a proper computer 😉 But I did manage to write a poem on the phone yesterday at lunch with the “one finger method”. Editing happened later on the “real” deal.

I have showcased my blog on several occasions on the phone application and the look and feel is right for such a device as well. The theme and widgets flow nicely even on a smaller screen. Best test to prove the point is to take a complete novice to both smart phones and the world of blogging. After a few minutes with application install and demo on how the blog works, they got the hang of it and are now regular followers 😉

Having a background in web design and code, I usually test with the pages on several browsers and types of screens. With the Visual Theme, I have finally realized the looks of my personal blog. Suits me, got a few compliments and fits to various screens!

Blogging

Blogging 201: Day Two: Audit Your Brand

Posted on by

“My blogging life is basically goalless. I like the zen nature of that, and paradoxically, it improves results” Seth Godin

Blogging 201: Day Two: Audit Your Brand

Some of us have purely personal sites to discuss the day-to-day, while others use our blogs as a springboard for other projects. No matter which describes you — or whether you’re a bit of both — you’re not just a blogger: you’re a brand.

Today’s assignment: audit your brand — look at all the ways you communicate information about your blog to make sure they’re consistent and focused.

Here’s a checklist to get you going:

* Does my theme match my blog’s intent? What about my font and color choices?
* What are my title and tag line saying? What about my post titles? My About page? My user name and nickname?
* Do the titles of my widgets contribute to my brand?
* Do I have a consistent visual identity? Am I choosing images that support my brand, both in posts/pages and widgets?
* Are there elements that are counter to my brand? Why have I included them? What role do they play?
* Does all this carry through in the other places my blog has a presence — Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, or forums/sites where I’m active?

You can never go wrong with black background, white font and with a touch of gray, especially when photos are concerned. And since my blog is mostly about the photographs and the stories, then the outlook is excellent!

My current theme, The Visual Theme, serves well for both the written word and the images. The font and colours came with the theme and the simplicity pleases my eye at least for now. I have gotten a few compliments as well, so I know I am on the right track.

About the title: Rantings of a Third Kind, with the slug “Blog about everything and nothing and it’s all done in the best possible taste!” pretty much describes the nature of the blog, the writer and the contents. I do not really rant about things, but I like to keep that option open for the future;) I also have visions of adding more content like videos, short and longer stories, serials and photo stories to the site. A travel blog is in planning. Therefore I prefer not to tie the knot with any specific genre, format or subject.

A blog about everything and nothing.
Fiction, fact, poetry, odes, homages, photography.
Humour, yet some serious thoughts.
And it’s all done in the best possible taste!

My user name is my name. I also registered the domain for the site “rantingsofathirdkind.com” but am having second thoughts of actually implementing the name change. Especially after the linking done on so many sites already for the current name “gunroswell.wordpress.com”. But let’s see what happens with that later on. I still have the option to use it since it is already registered to me. I also have a domain for my user name “gunroswell.com” with a light site running on the same.

I have used widgets to create more visibility for searches and links. Also keeping a calendar of the posts on the main page. And of course advertising the community I follow.

I have accounts in Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Tumblr, LiveJournal and Pinterest. This to advertise my postings to a wider audience outside the WordPress world. I have quite a few hits on Google alone and if you Google my name, site or use any of the tags for example from the fandom/homage posts, you can be certain my links will pop up on the top 😉

For photographs, I have a share for Instagram, Flickr and recently also joined the 500px community.

Start introducing changes that reinforce your brand:

* Add or update a tag line to give more context to your title.
* Create a Gravatar that echoes your blog’s look.
* Customize your widget titles and comment prompt.
* Use your own photos to create custom image widgets or a custom header.
* Add a text widget with a pithy description of your blog’s mission.
* Create an email address for your site, using your custom domain or a free yourgreatblogname@gmail address.

Tag line:
Rantings Of A Third Kind
Blog about everything and nothing and it’s all done in the best possible taste!

Contact and email:
A separate page for the contact form:
https://atomic-temporary-83380856.wpcomstaging.com/contact/
The email address is set up for my domain and serves very well: gun@gunroswell.com

As far as the customization for fonts and such goes: I prefer to keep it more simple and not to add too many gadgets on the page. After all, the written word and photographs play the main role on my site 😉

ROATK

Blogging 201: Day One: Set Three Goals

Posted on by

“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers” Brian Clark

Blogging 201: Day One: Set Three Goals

Welcome to Blogging 201: Branding and Growth!
Today we want you to do a bit of thinking about your blog, so you can focus the next two weeks effectively.

Today’s assignment: Consider what you want to accomplish with your blog. Write down three concrete goals.

* Why are we doing this? Why do you blog? For notoriety? To get a book contract? To self-publish? To establish yourself as a leader in your field? To gain followers? To connect with others? To clarify your own thoughts?

I would have to answer, all of the above and then some. I would think every writer thrives on getting acknowledgement for their work and others liking the work put out there and actually coming back for more. Getting published: From my point of view, step one is already achieved. Putting out your work for the world to see on the world wide web is publishing. Now getting a book deal out of it could be the next goal for any writer, certainly it is for me. First step for me in the near future is self publishing. Last but not least, networking is important in what ever you do in today’s world. Writing may be a solitary job, but the support gained through the blogging community overwhelmed me. There is no better kudos than those coming from your peers.

* If your blog exceeded your wildest dreams, what would that look like? Would you have a different design? How many followers would you have? How much traffic? What sort of community would participate? How often would you post?

Keep it simple stupid would be a great guideline to follow. That being said, I am interested in too many things to just concentrate on one specific thing, be that in my life or in my blog. Sooner than later the structure of the blog needs to be revised, now that the content is growing fast. Also the upgrade is necessary. As for the numbers, well, your guess is as good as mine! Unfortunately my crystal ball is not showing me exact figures, so at this point, any followers are a great number.

I prefer the audience to be as wide as possible, not concentrating on specific subjects nor agendas, rather paint the images as open as possible and give the audience a chance to play with their imagination and fill in the gaps.

Daily posting has been my goal since May, when I first participated in Writing101. Currently the format is more on photography and poetry. I hope to include more stories and serials in the future as well.

• Three specific goals.

⁃ Self publish first book with assortment of poetry and photography
⁃ Widen scope to include travel log: August 2015
⁃ Widen scope to include video: Project start in September, concept and scripting in progress currently

2970db7e6505a039200b034280dc6986

cropped-blogging-201