“How a Collaborative Critique Changed My Brand … and My Future #QLDBLOG” plus 1 more

How a Collaborative Critique Changed My Brand … and My Future #QLDBLOG

Posted: 02 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT

This guest post is by Kara Williams of The Vacation Gals.

When I found out I'd been chosen as one of the ten Queensland Blogger Correspondents, I was as excited to scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef as I was to get some hands-on blogger training from the ProBlogger himself, Darren Rowse.

I'd read ProBlogger for years—since co-founding The Vacation Gals in 2009—and couldn't wait to learn not only from Darren, but from other successful bloggers from six different countries.

In the hot seat

Indeed, the two, three-hour workshops we enjoyed during our short stay in Queensland were fascinating, fun and oh-so helpful. My favorite part was the first interactive workshop, where each of us bloggers was in the "hot seat" for 15 minutes.

Seated at tables in a big U shape at a Green Island Resort meeting room, we all watched as Darren pulled our blogs' home pages up on a large screen. One at a time, we each chatted a little bit about our blogs: why and when we launched it, our goals for the blog, and a challenge or question we had for the group at large to address.

As I watched other bloggers go before me, it was so great to see how tactful and gentle, and genuinely constructive, everyone was, offering advice to one another. When it was my turn, I asked for general first impressions of my blog, and I got an earful of candid suggestions.

Constructive criticism

Most significantly, a couple folks questioned why my co-founders and I went by "Gal" nicknames: our bylines on each of our blog posts were ColoradoGal, TwinCitiesGal and SoCalGal, signifying where we live in the United States.

We launched our blog with those handles because we thought we were being creative. In the About Us section of the blog, we shared our real names with our bios.

Also, each of our guest posters was given a "Gal" nickname—one of our friends who covered outdoor activities was AdventureGal, one who had a thing for Italian ice cream was GelatoGal, another was CruisinGal, for example.

But as some other Queensland Blogger Correspondents pointed out, it was confusing to the new reader who the owners and authors were. Not only did the reader not know our real names right off the bat, when they'd land on an individual article or the home page, but it wasn't clear if a "Gal" was a blog owner or a guest poster.

I didn't like the sound of that at all!

A small change … but a big difference

Upon arriving home in Colorado from Australia, I procrastinated a bit on changing our nicknamed bylines, even though my business partners agreed that it was a good idea—not only to make it more understandable to our readers, but to further our own personal brands as travel writers.

I thought it would be an epic ordeal to change the bylines not only on our posts, but on our guest posts as well. So I emailed our friends at Desperately Seeking Word Press, a team that has helped us with WordPress questions over the years, to get some insight on how to deal with the change on more than 1,000 posts.

Turns out, all I needed to do was go into the User section of our WordPress dashboard and change the "Display name publicly as" field to our real names. A simple fix!

I did something similar to our 46 guest posters' profiles, for whom we'd opened individual Contributor accounts, since we'd originally wanted to give them specific "Gal" nicknames. I changed all of their display name fields to Guest Author.

To make it easier on us in the future, I created just one Guest Author user, and now we use that user name and password for loading all guest posts.

It's a small change to our site, but one that pleases me so much. I'm proud of my blog posts about family travel, romantic escapes, and girlfriend getaways on The Vacation Gals, and I'm so glad that my own name is clearly associated with my work moving forward.

What small changes have made a big difference to your blog? Share them with us in the comments.

In addition to co-running The Vacation Gals, freelance writer Kara Williams covers travel (mainly in North America) for magazines, newspapers and websites. She makes her home in the Colorado Rockies with her husband and two school-aged children.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How a Collaborative Critique Changed My Brand … and My Future #QLDBLOG

Why Every Writer Needs an Online Community

Posted: 02 Sep 2012 07:00 AM PDT

This guest post is by Nicolas Gremion of Foboko.com.

As a kid, finding writing inspiration and confidence was easy. From picking out the right green pen to recounting your puppy's every move, it was simple to delve into your own life to create work that was fascinating (if not to the rest of the world, at least to you and your mom).

As we get older, however, the writers' sphere seems to close tightly. Workshops are meant for "serious" writers, books on the craft of writing focus on how to snag an agent, and people doubt that anyone but a full-time, paid writer needs a creative outlet.

None of this could be further from the truth. The vast majority of writers are people with day jobs who write and blog for fun. Rather than sequester themselves away in order to write the next Great American Novel—or blog!—these people need supportive communities in order to develop their craft. And they don't have to look any further than the very computer they've been composing on.

The social element of writing

While writers and bloggers may have a mystic reputation as hermits, they need people. Bloggers want people to love our blogs. Who better to tell you what's good—and what's not—than your audience?

Likewise, most blogging inspiration comes from real-life experiences; we have to talk to people, not sit alone in a room. As part-time authors, we tend to think we don't "deserve" help; our fear of failure or ridicule outweighs our need to tell our stories. But it's not fair to our stories—or our readers—to avoid doing the hard work of improving our storytelling abilities.

That's where online communities come in.

Online writing communities, like Writers' Café, Writers' Beat, or my company's Foboko, enable bloggers to get help throughout the process of creating an ebook, a short story, a report, or any other blog post.

Writing isn't the only thing that goes into creating a post: choosing the perfect title, brainstorming, researching, storyboarding, editing, developing artwork, and inserting backlinks all play a part. No one excels in all these areas, and soliciting feedback from people with more expertise can help you overcome any obstacle.

Putting your draft post in front of people is like having a test audience for a movie. You have a built-in opportunity to fix what isn't working, which can make the difference between writing a mediocre post and an outstanding one. Online platforms take it one step further and eliminate a range of other worries you might be having.

Why online groups are best

The transfer of information online is seamless. Whereas traditional workshops involve taking notes, exchanging emailed documents, and sending revisions back and forth, sites like Foboko allow you to send images directly, access others' work to edit, and provide recorded feedback.

Everything's stored in one place; it functions like an online document that tracks every change made by every user. Collaborations are instantaneous, and you can always refer back when you have questions or doubts. (If you already do your writing online in a blog or personal website, you'll especially feel the benefits of these systems.)

When you're concerned about your professional reputation as a blogger in your industry, getting feedback from friendly readers is essential.

The size of online communities is limitless. People from all walks of life can see your work, and you can gain feedback from people who belong to different ethnic groups, geographical areas, industries, and religions. Think that won't lend authenticity to your finished product?

Best of all, online groups allow you to work on your writing skills anonymously and affordably. There aren't expensive fees to join. Instead, you can start building a list of potential readers; by building an online following, you have proof of demand, to encourage a traditional publisher to pick up your book idea or simply to encourage you to keep writing your blog.

The ease of collaboration online makes the process efficient and helps you go further. DeviantArt, for example, is a community that helps artists tweak and improve their work. Rather than receiving feedback from a single artist, the participants get perspectives from a wide range of artists. They take into account the styles and tendencies that fit them best to create a stronger work of art.

Online writing communities can do the same for your blog.

The value for first-timers

If you're still skeptical about how an online community can help an inexperienced blogger, think about this:

You don't have to travel to attend these events. You can actually get more work done at your desk while collaborating with others.
Your anonymous status will alleviate any anxiety about going public with your work.
Your requests for help can be archived and referenced later. This goes both ways—you can also see how other newbies worked through problems previously.
You can avoid pitfalls and overcome writer's block when learning from others who've gone before you. You can learn about everything from layout to legal agreements to work habits.
Your confidence will never grow from hiding in your home office. But it will blossom when you're mentored by a more seasoned blogger or writer. S/he can motivate you to blog regularly and get out of your own way.

Writers all wonder one thing: am I any good? The only way to know is to ask others. Opening yourself up to feedback can help you see where you do excel—and get help in the areas where you don't. With the assistance of an online community, you'll eventually produce work that someone other than your mom would like to read.

Nicolas Gremion is the CEO of Paradise Publishers, Inc., and founder ofFoboko.com, a social publishing network where members get support writing their books from peers and connect directly with readers.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Why Every Writer Needs an Online Community

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