the air

I was over at John Chow’s blog and I came across his review of a blog that shows you how to write better regardless of whether you are writing a blog or a paper. Daily Writing Tips is the product of four individuals who discuss different ways to improve your writing. As many of you may know, improving your grammar skills is not always easy and there are numerous mistakes anyone can make. I can’t tell you how many times I wish I knew how to write perfect English, but I’m also learning with you guys as well.

Normally, I would review the website but I am way too intrigued by all the information on it. This is one of those blogs that I strongly recommend every blogger and college student read. In addition, this is a great quick reference blog for anyone. It is important to remember that the blog is still fairly new and I am sure that as time goes on, there will be tons more posts to read through. From my understanding, it appears that the authors average roughly two posts per day. That is pretty damn good for a reference blog.

Be sure to check out John’s review of Daily Writing Tips and visit the actual site as well.

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A few days ago, a good friend of mine asked me whether my blog belonged to a niche “market” and if it didn’t why not. In case you are not aware, many blogs belong to a niche; in other words, they write about specific things. For example, Autoblog only writes about cars or take a look at CareerRamblings, where they only talk about professional careers and related topics. I happily told my friend that my blog does not belong to any niche since it is a personal blog.

In my blog, I generally like to write about a variety of topics ranging from technology to movies to cars to blogging. That is a big reason why my blog has the tag-line of “thoughts of a vivid mind” since my mind likes to explore and see as many things as possible. When I started this blog, I was hoping to acquire hundreds of readers and a very active blog, like John Chow’s personal blog. However, as time went on, I learned quite a bit about blogging that I never knew and I enjoyed every moment of it. In fact, to this day, I am enjoying the opportunity to just write and share my thoughts, even if I don’t have the dozens of readers that other blogs might. What really excites my mind is reading about other blogs and their authors and tinkering with my own blog. Along those lines, I enjoy writing on my blog immensely and I love reading about how to write better from other bloggers. Much of this goes along with my life principle kaizen, or continuous improvement.

Another aspect of my blog that should be apparent by now is the lack of advertising. From the beginning, I have not been a supporter of online advertising and I have no plans of implementing ads on my own blog for revenue. It is possible that in the future, I may supplement my mainstream income with blog advertising revenue, but even that is a long shot. Most bloggers who have ads on their blogs already hate me because I have scripts/plugins running on my browsers that do not display their ads. Do not mistake my ad-blocking moves with lack of support. I just find that many bloggers, even the successful ones, have poor ad layout that intentionally distracts the reader from the actual content. That is something I do not agree with.

Finally, I have this blog to simply write and share my thoughts. I’ve come to accept the fact that I really started blogging not for the fame and fortune but because I genuinely wanted to learn about HTML, blog - technology, and write. As I type this post, I’m also browsing the web for a new blog template to replace this one. Why? Even though this template is perfectly fine, I have a bad habit of continuously making changes. Hence, I’m actually craving some change and it is possible that by next week, this blog will have a new theme. It is my opinion that all those who enter the blogosphere to make money may find success or failure. However, those who enjoy the idea of blogging for no money will truly create masterpieces regardless of what others might have to say. Even if those claims sound contradictory, my blog already is a success. Just search for my name in Google. You’ll find that I’m ranked number three or so. Now that makes me smile!

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These days, it seems that almost everyone is starting a blog, which is a good thing. Out of the 71 million blogs out there, it seems that very few them seem to be designed with the end user in mind. What that means is that many blogs lack the following:

• Plenty of “white” space
• Well written posts
• Simple layouts
• Proper emphasis of advertising

White, or empty, space is your friend

White space, or the empty space, around your blog and/or posts is definitely a good thing. From a usability/ergonomic standpoint, white space allows your blog to give readers’ eyes some room to “breathe”. The more space you put in between your posts and throughout a post creates a much more inviting atmosphere and the words don’t look as crammed. That’s one of the reasons why many expert bloggers encourage the use of lists and sub-headings to break apart long posts. I know I make the mistake of writing lengthy posts without really breaking them up, but I can imagine how many readers simply skip over my blog because of those long posts. Breaking up your posts into sections allows readers to skip around and get the information they need/want without having to read the entire post.

Check your grammar and speeling spelling

This should be obvious to ANY blogger. I can’t tell you how many times I have come across blogs and their posts that are poorly written in terms of grammar and spelling. I don’t mind a few mistakes here and there, but some blogs are just ridiculous. I remember reading this one tech blog last week that had over 11 different run-on sentences and at least a dozen spelling errors. Both problems are easily fixable if the author takes the time to proofread the post prior to publishing. Up to date versions of Firefox, Safari, and Camino all have built-in spell checking abilities. I don’t know about Internet Explorer since I don’t have it nor do I use it. Besides, you really should migrate from IE to either Firefox, Safari, Camino, or Opera. Grammar can be fixed by simply typing up your posts into Microsoft Word or any equivalent word processing software that has grammar check capabilities. Or the other way to fix grammar is to brush up on your grammar skills. Fixing the problems are quite easy, but they do require a bit of time.

Make it easy to find information on your blog

As most of you already know, many bloggers love to use the Misty theme for WordPress. The many reasons are apparent once you see the theme in action. It has a very simple and intuitive layout that does not cause confusion. As such, your blog should use a theme that is personable and easy to navigate. Nothing is more frustrating to a reader than not being able to find the information they want easily. Some tips include:

• make the RSS icon easy to find or at the top
• have a search bar near the top
• clearly identify an archives section

Ask yourself, why is Google much more popular than Yahoo’s search engine. The most obvious answer, in addition to others, is the fact that Google’s search page is very simple and does not confuse the user. There are dozens, if not thousands, of themes out there that are very good and easy to use. In addition, there are just as many out there that are visually appealing but very difficult in terms of usability.

Advertising can be your friend or your worst nightmare

It should come as no surprise to anyone that I loathe excessive advertising on any website. Some blogs are so monetized that it seems to me that the authors’ posts are just ads in general from the different ad publishing networks. If you have advertising on your blog, take the time to ensure your ads are not distracting the readers from your writings. You also don’t want hundreds of ads on any single page because you’ll end up forcing the reader to look for your content. What many bloggers do not realize is that taking a few minutes to determine proper ad placement will undoubtedly make the blog easier for both parties. I can’t tell you how many times I have been frustrated with numerous blogs (including John Chow’s) when some ad takes up an abnormal amount of space and really distracts me from reading his content. I’m sure you guys also know what I’m talking about, but does the terms of agreement of the different ad networks play a role in advertisement size?

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Should someone blog on weekends? That is a question that I have been trying to answer myself these past few months. On one hand, it appears that if you have a solid reader base, then it may make sense to write a few posts on the weekends. However, not everyone’s schedule easily permits time to write a few blog posts over the weekend. From what I have seen across the blogosphere, I think I can safely answer this question.

Blog on the weekends because it only helps your blog. Rather than having to sit down and write a post on the weekend, it makes sense for any blogger to go ahead and write the post at anytime during the week and future-date it. That way, the post will automatically appear on the weekend and it will seem to your readers that you are blogging on the weekends. Nevertheless, you should be aware of your blog’s characteristics as well.

I will argue that if you monetize your blog, then it makes sense to create posts daily to ensure that you are allowing your blog to generate increased revenue. It is important to remember that advertising revenue generally only works if your readers click on the respective ads. Hence, if your blog does not have many readers, then it may appear that it is not essential to create a post on the weekends. Alternatively, if your blog is not monetized or lacks a strong reader base, you should go ahead and blog on the weekends anyways. Blogging is all about writing, and in my opinion, the more you write, the better you write. Sometimes, however, your blog may be quite specialized and there may not appear to be a need to write a post. Then it all boils down to your mood.

In the end, you should blog on the weekends if your schedule permits or go ahead and future-date your posts so they post automatically on the weekends. I know this seems to be quite common sense, but it is surprising to read about how other bloggers struggle with this dilemma. So how do you blog on the weekends? Do you sit down and write some posts or do you future date them?

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Jane May has written an exquisite post about blogging and how a new blogger should “just jump in.” I think she really drives home the point that you should not just simply wait for the right moment. Rather, it is important to write about what you are passionate about and really enjoy.

I think it is important for every new blogger to realize that if you’re goal is to monetize it, you cannot expect immediate results. Financially successful blogs such as John Chow or TechCrunch have been around for a while and have two things working for them:

1. Great content
2. Strong reader base

Point number one (great content) is perhaps the golden rule that every good blogger should follow. You cannot expect people to regularly visit your blog if you do not have great content. There are hundreds of posts and resources throughout the web that discuss how you can go about creating great content. Creating interesting content will lead to better visibility and a stronger reader base. It should go without mention that you must tweak your blog using different SEO techniques to improve its visibility to search engines. There is much that any blogger can do to get more readers, but none of that will matter if your blog lacks content.

How Do I Get Started

Before you proceed to ask me for help, please know that I am no expert in blogging. However, I will share my experience. I started out by simply writing about random things that really interested me. These included cars, movies, and other tidbits. However, as time went on, I branched out and started to write about different topics. Nowadays, I talk about blogging, college, booze, politics, and more. In case you have not noticed, The Air is my personal blog. However, that does not mean I share every single moment of my life. Rather, I share my thoughts and opinions on different topics.

Many bloggers will suggest you select a niche topic and write about it. Niche topics include monetizing blogs, politics, movies, autos, etc. Some will even go further and discourage you to write about a variety of topics. So who is correct? It’s hard to say, but go with what your gut tells you. I think blogging should be fun and enjoyable. Hence, you should write about whatever sparks your interest. Once you start, you can always tweak your blog and take it into a niche direction. However, when you start out, I think it doesn’t matter where you start, as long as you start.

I would like to know what you think and what your thoughts are on how any blogger should start. Like I mentioned, I am no expert but I do have some valid experience. Happy blogging!

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