What’s More Important for Bloggers, Style or Content?

Posted: 03 Oct 2012 03:40 AM PDT

Some people believe that good writing will always win out. A good writer will be read, regardless of what they write about.

Other people believe that content alone is king. If you have great information, it'll be read – even if the way it's written isn't so good.

Personally, I think the truth lies somewhere between these two extremes.

On the one hand, content matters: if you have nothing to say, you're unlikely to find an audience. Style won't win out over substance.

But on the flip side, content alone isn't quite enough. After all, which post would you rather read?

"Ten WordPress Tips"
"Ten Easy Ways to Get the Most From Your WordPress Blog – Today"

I think you'll agree that the second one sounds much more enticing … even though both posts might have the exact same information.

How to Improve Your Content

If you know you're a good writer but you're struggling to build an audience, the problem might lie with your content.

To improve, try:

Asking your readers what they want you to write about. You might be surprised!
Focusing on giving value with every post – ask yourself "what will the reader get out of this?"
Writing list posts or "how to" posts – these are easy ways to offer something useful.
Narrowing down your niche – focus on one key topic area, rather than writing about anything and everything that interests you.

How to Improve Your Style

If you're packing your posts full of value but not getting much response, the problem might lie with your style.

To improve, try:

Spending more time editing each post after you write it. Try reading it aloud to get the flow of sentences and paragraphs right.
Crafting great titles and gripping introductions that hook your readers and encourage them to read on.
Writing in a friendly, direct way, as though you're addressing just one person. Use "you" more than you use "I".
Asking a friend to review your post and point out areas where the writing could be improved.

I'd love to hear what you think about style vs content. Do you feel that your strengths lie more in one area than the other? Do you prefer blogs with useful, in-depth content, or ones with a great writing style that makes for enjoyable reading? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Ali Luke is a writer and blogger, and author of Publishing E-Books For Dummies. She runs a teaching / community site for writers and bloggers, Writers' Huddle, which has just opened for new members. Join now to take her eight-week Blog On ecourse – where you'll learn all about different post and page types – and to get access to the archive of seminars, mini-courses, and more. All the details are here.

Original Post: What's More Important for Bloggers, Style or Content?

Google AdSense for Feeds Will Be Shut Down. Feedburner Next?

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 10:02 AM PDT

Last week Google announced a new spring cleaning round, which is basically when they decide to shut down services that they don’t consider important or relevant anymore. Normally those are services that very few people are still using, indeed, but on the latest round that was one curious item: Google AdSense for Feeds.

I use that product, and make a decent amount of money with it (combining all my sites close to $1000 per month). So yeah after December 3rd that will be gone.

I suspect that there are still a lot of people using it as well, as AdSense for Feeds was the main/best method to monetize an RSS feed. Even if you only made $100 per month it was still good money, as it could pay for your hosting fees, for instance.

In other words, I don’t agree with Google’s decision. I would rather have them announce they won’t be updating the service anymore or providing support for it, instead of completely shutting it down.

But hey that’s life. They probably had their reasons, so let’s accept that.

If you made decent money with AdSense for Feeds there’s one immediate alternative: substitute those units with private banner ads or affiliate offers.

The shut down of AdSense for Feeds raises another important question, though: is that a signal that Google’s overall plan is to shut down Feedburner? There are many people around the web speculating so.

If this is the case such a measure will affect A LOT more people. I am sure there will be alternatives around to deliver your RSS feed, but changing that will be a bit of a pain if you have a large subscriber base.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of the RSS saga.

Original Post: Google AdSense for Feeds Will Be Shut Down. Feedburner Next?

“How to Score a Job on the ProBlogger Job Board” plus 2 more

How to Score a Job on the ProBlogger Job Board
Is Your Facebook Page in Danger of Deletion? Save Your Fans in 6 Steps
Attend the ProBlogger Training Day Virtually

How to Score a Job on the ProBlogger Job Board

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 01:09 PM PDT

This guest post is by Jason Bacchetta of Life’d.

After posting quite a few jobs on the ProBlogger Job Board, I’ve come to realize that a number of pet peeves affect my decision as to whether or not an applicant gets hired. Although some jobs receive upwards of 500 applicants, few of those people will follow these twelve easy steps to scoring the job.

Implement the tips given here, and watch the positive responses to your applications skyrocket!

1. Follow the instructions

The very first thing you should do before applying for a job is read the entire job post.

If the company or individual asks for something specific, be sure to follow the instructions. After you’ve completed the application, go back through both your application and the job posting, making sure you’ve covered all your bases.

By following this first step, chances are you’ll already be in the top 20% of applicants.

2. Start with the application itself

Believe it or not, I’ve had applicants ask me not to take their initial application into consideration when judging how qualified they are for the job.

Your application is your first impression, when you should be trying your hardest. If you’re unable to demonstrate your qualifications now, why should you be trusted to perform in the future?

Use complete sentences in your application, and make sure you’re not making any obvious spelling and/or grammatical mistakes (read 3 Simple Grammar Tips to Improve Your Writing).

3. Act fast

If you find an exciting job opportunity, you need to act fast. As mentioned, some postings will receive hundreds of applications. Don’t wait a week before applying; get started immediately.

By being one of the first to apply, you’ll get noticed before the hiring manager becomes overwhelmed and, even more importantly, before the job has been filled.

Keep in mind, though, that “acting fast” doesn’t mean you should submit a sloppy application with a dozen errors; this will cancel out any advantages you might gain from applying early. Rather than getting eyeballs on your application, your email will end up getting trashed.

4. Don't be demanding

Occasionally, I’ll get an email that sounds more like a decree than an application.

Telling the hiring manager how it’s going to be (e.g., “I get paid weekly via PayPal,” “I will submit X amount of articles on these days,” etc.) is not likely to go over well.

Don’t be so aggressive. Focus on getting hired first, and then get into the details and the negotiating once you know the hiring manager is interested in you.

5. Be direct

Start off your application with exactly what was asked for, and format your email so that it can be scanned.

If you choose to send one big block of text covering every minute detail about your awards and past experience, you will come across as a poor communicator … and boring. At the very least, this will earn your application a “come back to later” tag.

Additionally, don’t send the hiring manager all over the web with 30 different links. The person reading your application wants to find what they’re looking for quickly and without feeling like they’re spending more time doing research than actually evaluating you.

6. Submit relevant examples

If you’re applying to become a writer on a personal finance blog, link to articles that you’ve written in that particular niche. Submitting a portfolio that consists of random ramblings or medical research won’t get you far. Remember, your voice and writing style are going to be taken into consideration as well.

In other words, take that same cookie-cutter application that’s getting sent to everyone, and customize it to be better suited to this particular job.

7. Be honest

If you’re submitting an application that has been written by someone else, you’re going to be exposed in a flash. I’ve had applicants submit impressive applications, but when it comes time to write an article, their work barely qualifies as English.

Likewise, if you’re submitting sample articles that have been heavily edited by someone else, be upfront about it. Otherwise, you are going to be expected to deliver work of that quality each and every time.

Most companies won’t have any problem with letting you go the moment you fail to live up to their standards.

8. Don't hesitate

Don’t send over an email asking whether or not you should apply, even if you’re just checking to see if the job has already been filled. You may come across as lazy or unsure of your own qualifications. If you’re not confident in yourself, why should I be?

9. Be realistic about pay

The web has completely changed the way publications are run. Rather than a few magazines that charge for each edition and stuff ads into every other page, we now have tens of thousands of websites that everyone expects to read for free.

Think about it. How often do you pay to read an article on the Internet? Sure, maybe you click on a few banner ads here and there (or maybe you have a program like Adblock installed, in which case the publication is actually paying you to read their articles), but the fact is, revenue isn’t what it used to be when traditional media ruled.

Be realistic about how much you expect to get paid for writing on the web. Of course, there are still publications out there that pay upwards of $2 per word, but those jobs are few and far between.

There are U.S.-based writers with some college education who are willing to write for as little as $0.03 per word. On the high end, I personally pay upwards of $0.10 per word to my best writers. These are people who not only have excellent written English skills, but who are also capable of generating intriguing article ideas and producing viral content with little to no help from me.

10. Be patient

Obviously, knowing that someone truly wants the job for which they are applying is a plus for the person doing the hiring. But don’t get too far ahead of yourself. At the very least, give it a few days before following up on your application. Ambition is great, but you don’t want to look too desperate or pestering.

Also keep in mind that popular jobs—ones that offer good pay and tend to be more exciting—are going to receive a lot more applications than the others. Therefore, in some circumstances, you may want to hold off for a couple weeks before sending over a second email.

11. Don't burn your bridges

You’ve heard this phrase before, but you may not have known that it applies to freelance web positions as well. You never know how many web properties someone owns. And many website owners will ask each other for referrals when looking to fill a position.

I’ve had people burn me in the past, who then went on to apply for other job postings of mine. Needless to say, they didn't get a response.

12. Treat it like a real interview

All of these guidelines point to one simple rule: treat your online freelance applications as if they were a real job interview. If you wouldn’t say something or act a certain way in a face-to-face interview, why would you do it via email?

This is a guest post by Jason Bacchetta, founder of Life’d, where you’ll find life hacks, health, finance and productivity tips.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

How to Score a Job on the ProBlogger Job Board

Is Your Facebook Page in Danger of Deletion? Save Your Fans in 6 Steps

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 09:08 AM PDT

This guest post is by James Dunworth of the Ashtray Blog.

On the 28th August, shortly after getting our 14,000th follower on Facebook, we received one of those emails that makes your heart not just sink, but plunge through your stomach and crash onto the floor.

Facebook had deleted our page from its network.

In this post, I'll provide some hard-won tips that’ll show you:

how you can avoid losing your Facebook page
what to do if your page is deleted
why and how to diversify your traffic sources
how not to lose your Facebook page in the first place!

6 tips to save your page

First up, here are six tips that night help you avoid having your Facebook page deleted in the first place.

1. Read and re-read the Ts and Cs—and keep up with the updates!

I'll start with this one, as I believe this was the key mistake we made!

We'd been through the network's Terms of Use with a professional Facebook agency, and thought we were acting in accordance with their guidelines—not using Facebook ads to advertise our products, but promoting them from time to time on the page itself, for example.

A week or so before we lost our page, Facebook emailed us with some updated terms and conditions. If I had taken the time to read them, we might still have our page today.

Most people don't bother to read terms and conditions. On Facebook, that could be a mistake! You can find Facebook's full terms and conditions here.

2. Run your competitions through an app

Competitions are a fantastic way to gain followers, but they have to be done right:

You need to use a third-party app to run your competition.
You can't use Facebook Likes as a voting mechanism.
You can't announce Facebook winners through Facebook.

An alternative to running a Facebook promotion is to post a link to a competition you’re holding off Facebook, adding the disclaimer:

"This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with, Facebook."

Social Media Examiner have an excellent article which will help guide you through the minefield or running a contest on Facebook, called Facebook Promotions: What You Need to Know.

3. Don't upload copyrighted material

These days, everyone shares images on social network. However, if someone complains about some material you have shared, you could find your post deleted. Check that anything you share is available for public reuse before you publish it to Facebook.

4. Get your cover photo right

Facebook cover pages can't:

include calls to action (e.g. "Buy Now")
include contact details
contain prices or discounts
contain text that encourages people to Like or share the page.

5. Get your Facebook name right

Facebook names can't contain generic terms, use excessive capitalisation, contain character symbols, or use “superfluous” descriptions.

6. Create multiple page administrators

Two examples of lost pages I came across when I was researching this post included:

cases where admins accidentally deleted the page themselves
pages being lost because an individual admin had his or her personal Facebook account deleted.

Choose your page administrators carefully, though—these admins will also have the ability to delete you, the page creator.

What to do if your Facebook page is deleted

Those are the basics, but the Facebook terms and conditions can change at any time. What can you do if you suddenly find your Facebook page has been deleted?

1. Appeal

When you get Facebook’s email about your page’s deletion, you'll also get a link to a form that allows you to appeal the action.

Although we didn't get a reply to our appeal, there's always a chance you will, and a few other Facebook admins have managed to have their pages restored.

If you work with a social media agency, you might also find that they have a contact within Facebook—see if they can use their contact to get an explanation and make an appeal. Unfortunately, to date, appealing has not worked for us.

2. Pause any advertising for your page

In our case, Facebook continued to take money for ads that pointed to our defunct page. Make sure you cancel those ads, or you’ll be wasting money!

3. Create waves

Some bloggers who have lost their Facebook pages have managed to get them back by creating a community backlash.

When Ken Envoy of SiteSell lost his Facebook page and its 16,000 members, he immediately published a blog post titled, Urgent: We Need Your Help.

He urged his readers to spread the story, and credits his Facebook page's restoration to their efforts.

We're trying to do the same thing, and have set up a petition to ask Facebook to warn admins and give them a chance to change their pages before deleting them.

4. Make a story out of your loss

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."—Winston Churchill

We blogged about our story, and it went viral! We were astonished to get over 2000 shares of our first blog post about our Facebook page loss.

I also contacted several bloggers about our story when we created our follow-up petition post. As a result, Aaron Wall very kindly shared the story with 68,000 followers, Amy Smarty from MyBlogGuest signed our petition and shared the story, and ProBlogger invited me to write about the story!

It doesn't make up for the loss of our page, but we received a lot of heart-warming support, and got some good links from other blogs out of the loss.

5. Start a new Facebook page—quickly!

People joined your Facebook page for a reason: because they liked it! Some of those people will join your new Facebook page, and you might be surprised at the kind messages of support they add to your page.

It's worth starting the page quickly, and with a similar name—then, people looking for your page will be able to find it before they have forgotten about you!

Obviously, it’s important to also try to analyse why Facebook might have deleted your page, so you can avoid making the same mistakes again.

A lesson learned: diversify your traffic sources

Another key lesson we learned from this experience was not to rely one source of traffic. Our Facebook page was important to us—too important—but luckily, we also have other sources of traffic.

If you are relying on any one source of traffic, remember it can disappear rapidly. Work hard to make sure you are diversifying your traffic sources! Here are several which work well for us:

Pinterest
Google+
search engines
affiliates (only relevant if you have a product to sell)
advertising
Twitter
specialist forums
our newsletter
blog links
blog commenting
specialist blogger groups on Facebook (If there aren’t any in your niche, why not start one?).

Have you ever lost a Facebook page? If so, what did you do? Let me know in the comments!

James Dunworth is the author of the Ashtray Blog, where he writes about e-cigarette news and tobacco harm reduction.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Is Your Facebook Page in Danger of Deletion? Save Your Fans in 6 Steps

Attend the ProBlogger Training Day Virtually

Posted: 02 Oct 2012 05:53 AM PDT

Are you looking for a little inspiration and guidance in your blogs development? The ProBlogger Training Event Virtual Ticket could be just what you need.

Earlier in the year when I announced the ProBlogger Training Event—an event to help bloggers develop profitable blogs—in Melbourne I’ll admit that doing so made me feel very, very nervous.

I’d just put a deposit down on a venue with a bigger capacity than we’d filled before, and while we’d sold out smaller venues previously, we’d only ever done so for single-day events. This year, we were moving to an event held over two days.

I need not have been nervous—tickets sold out quickly (just under three months before the event) and ever since, we’ve had a steady stream of requests for people wanting tickets who we’ve had to say no to.

There has also been a heap of interest from those living outside of Australia for the event. A number are making the trip, but the most common request we’ve had has been for online access to the content—a virtual ticket.

Your wish is our command: today I’m pleased to announce the ProBlogger Training Event Virtual Ticket.

What is the ProBlogger Training Event?

The ProBlogger Training Event (being held on 12-13 October in Melbourne) is all about inspiring and equipping bloggers with the knowledge to help them build profitable blogs.

We’ve put together 21 sessions over two days on a range of topics including:

an introduction to monetizing blogs
working with brands—monetizing through advertising
monetizing with sponsored posts
how to create and sell ebooks
making money through continuity programs, courses, and membership areas
launching products and services on your blog
photography for sponsored posts
branding your blog
turning visitors into raving fans
taking a new blog to success
social media and community
how to use email to drive traffic, build community, and make money
and much more.

Speakers include myself, Chris Guillebeau, Shayne Tilley (Web Marketing Ninja), Sarah Wilson, Nicole Avery, James Tuckerman, and many more.

What is the Virtual Ticket?

While the live event is long since sold out, we’ve designed the virtual ticket to be the closest thing possible to actually being there.

It gives you access to:

audio recordings of every session—21 hours of teaching in all
all the slides used by presenters at the event (yours to keep as PDFs)
access to an exclusive live webinar with me after the event where I’ll take post-event Q&A (this will be recorded for those not able to get to the live webinar)
access to a private Facebook group to network with other virtual and live attendees, speakers, and event organizers.

You’ll get access to the audio and slides shortly after each session on 12-13 October, to listen to straight away or to come back to later to take in at your own leisure (again and again if you wish).

This event is perfect if you're a blogger wanting to build a profitable blog. You’ll come away with some great information and inspiration from bloggers who are actually doing what they’re teaching.

Take advantage of the early bird price today

The early bird price of this virtual ticket is just $149 US. This is a saving of 25% on the full price of $199, which comes into effect on 10 October.

So don’t delay—grab your ticket today here.

Originally at: Blog Tips at ProBlogger

Attend the ProBlogger Training Day Virtually

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