Posts tagged blog

Blogging Success Ideas

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Are you a #blogger or interested in social media #blogging? Let’s take this Sunday to discuss some Blogging #Success Ideas…please add your own ideas in the comments below 👇

#1 Always load a #video or #picture first. That way, if you use a link, like www.johnknotts-author.com in your post, it won’t automatically create an image link. Posts with videos and pictures get more #visibility with #socialmedia #algorithms.

#2 #Connect #engaging people to your #blog with the @ sign. When posting on your personal profile, your can connect people you respect, like @Matt Scherer, @Pat Whitty, @Joseph Toomer, and @Steve Taubman, this post pops up in their notifications. If they’re engaging in social media, they’ll chime in. You can also #connect business pages like Crosscutter Enterprises and Microsoft to drive people to a page. If posting on your Business Page, it is harder to take people.

#3 #Hashtag strategies work well–really well on #LinkedIn. You put them at the bottom, but you can also tag them right in the #post. They create search links that can connect like material. Use them wisely.

#4 Provide a #calltoaction in your post. Ask #readers to do something, like add their ideas, #like and #share, click the link, etc.

#5 LinkedIn only gives you 1,300 characters … use them wisely. Facebook, however, give you tons of room. However, make sure you make the post enagaging at the start of it’s long so people will click the #readmore link.

Your turn, go…

#incubators #business #mentoring #coaching

Why Blog?

Blogging Meandering Genius 1 Comment

Some people use blogging as a poor substitute for advertising. They provide just enough detail to catch your interest and then they hit you with their book or business. Sometimes they want you to sign up for something “free” so they can spam the heck out of you till eternity.

This blog is not for you.

Why should someone blog? It’s not about who reads what you write…in fact if no one reads this, so what? I do it for free so if you read it great…if not, I’m not out anything. But the value for me is that I put my thoughts together, jumbled as they might be, and record them for all to see. It’s about sharing too much of your soul, because anything less just isn’t enough. It’s thinking through and idea and formulating the heck out of it. Misspellings and poor grammar are just the cost of the journey.

So, why blog? Do it for yourself first and maybe someone out there can take something from it. Possibly you come up with good future book or business idea. Or, maybe some corporate mogul out there will offer you millions of dollars to work for them. But do it for yourself and leave the adds to Google.

Blogging Weekly with National Graduate School

Blogging Business Consulting Change Management Leadership Meandering Genius Organizational Commitment Performance Measurement Process Improvement Strategic Communication Strategic Planning

john knottsHappy Cinco de Mayo!

I am now a weekly guest blogger with National Graduate School.  Please check out my blog there.

Follow us as we explore how to build a culture of continuous improvement.

Building a culture of continuous improvement isn’t easy and can take a considerable amount of time.  However, it’s very possible and results can be felt within weeks of embarking on the journey.  Over John’s 25 plus years of experience, he’s developed a model rooted in strategy and designed to build this culture in any organization.  Join John and National Graduate School as we weekly explore this model and ways to drive this type of culture.  We look forward to your thoughts and inputs along this journey, so join us and watch for our future blogs about once a week with the tag line “CIC.”

http://ngs.edu/2014/05/01/building-culture-continuous-improvement/

Downside of blogging daily

Blogging Meandering Genius

If you were looking for my blog yesterday, I missed it too. I was a bit under the weather Monday and not able to muster up the posting strength yesterday morning…sorry. That’s what happens when you blog daily versus writing several blogs ahead of time and scheduling them.

If you blog every day, even if you have a set time that you blog, sometimes it can get to be a bit challenging to write every day.

Sunday, I normally have a leadership blog that I post, but this weekend was so busy that I never found the time to make it a reality. On Saturday; however, I did write a blog that I scheduled on Monday.

That was good because Monday I was pretty run down and stayed home and caught up on rest. I wasn’t feeling up to blogging, but I had already scheduled a blog for the morning, so I was good.

Tuesday rolled around, and even though I felt better, I was still pretty tired in the morning. I didn’t have anything scheduled and found myself out of time in the morning when I normally bog.

Thus, I wasn’t able to put something together yesterday. For someone that blogs daily, this is an issue, because I feel as if I let readers down. I’m sure no one noticed, but these little misses can quickly fall into routine if not brought into check.

A potential way for a daily blogger to deal with issues like this is to not schedule blogs, but write some blogs that sit in draft and wait for the day when you just don’t have it in you.

Consider the morning several weeks ago when I was being attacked by the allergy monster and I really couldn’t think straight. That would have been a perfect time to pull out a draft blog, brush it off, and post it as if it was written that day.

I think that daily blogging is a great way to engage the brain every day, but there are always going to be those days when you just can’t get to it or don’t have it in you. Preparing for these situations prevents little slips that no one but you notice, but are important just the same.

A way to better blogging

Blogging Meandering Genius

Do you blog often, or do you want to blog more often? Are you interested in blogging, but don’t know where to start?

There is a way to make blogging daily easier. It just takes a little work up front.

I have two running blogs that I write on Saturday and Sunday. I use this approach with them every weekend.

How do I do it?

What I have done is create a template in Word with key items that I want to happen every time I blog.

I have a title and subtitle for the blog. The title is something catchy and the subtitle is more descriptive. I actually have a blogging outline plan for each blog and all that is listed is the title and subtitle. That’s enough for me to generate my blog every week. An important point is to keep your title to under 75 characters. This ensures that when you tweet the title, the URL that is generated doesn’t cause the title to become shortened. Since all of my blogs automatically post to Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, this is important.

The next section is a short synopsis of the article. I don’t write this until I am done writing the blog. After I publish the blog, I use the LinkedIn button at the bottom of the blog to share it with several key groups on LinkedIn. I copy the subtitle in the title blog and the synopsis in the detail block. This provides enough information to see if the reader is interested in the blog. Sharing my posts to these groups is what generates most of my readers to my blog.

Then I have the body of the message. Since I have a running blog, the opening and the closing are always the same and are prewritten. I link back to the first blog in the series so readers that come in later in the series can still follow the line of blogging.

The first thing, after the opening, is the subtitle. Then I write the body of the blog. This is where the magic happens.

At the bottom, I have a section for related links. If I don’t hyperlink items in the body of the text, then is find at least three related links for the audience.

Last, I have a section at the bottom for meta tags. I type in the regular tags and save the template, but then I add tags to the list after I write the article. This ensures I get the spelling right on the tags and I come up with as many as possible.

When it is time to write a blog, I open up the template and save it as the title of my blog for the week. Then I just start filling in the blank areas and updating information as required. After it is written and proofed, I copy it into WordPress, add graphics, and publish.

Makes the daily blogging activity pretty easy.

If you professionally blog, this will help you with daily idea generation, sticking to a line of thought and on topic, and ensure you keep a record of your blogs for potential use later.

For both of my weekend blogs, at some point, I plan to combine all the posts and put them into a book. Having all the posts helps to make this happen.

Why do you blog?

Blogging Meandering Genius

A couple a days ago I was having a conversation with a friend at work about a blog she’s putting together.

As I thought about that conversation, I think the fundamental question you should ask yourself before you even start blogging is why do you want to blog in the first place.

That base reason is what will drive a lot of things in how you actually go about blogging.

If you have been hired to be a blogger and are getting paid to do it as part of your job or specifically as your job, then this might be the conversation you should have with your employer.

Your decision why you want to blog should lead you to decisions regarding frequency of blogging, material you will blog about, and details about the blog itself.

I believe the best stories and messages (and thus blogs) provide a deep level of transparency into the writer. Being honest with your message is a key to a good blog. To that end, let me share why I blog as an example.

Currently I have a full time job and on the side I have my own consulting company with myself as the only employee. I started the company, Crosscutter Enterprises, in 2008 when I retired from the Air Force. I have done several pro bono and a few paid consulting assignments through this company over the past five plus years. Right now I’m ramping up a project with Big Brothers, Big Sisters, here in San Antonio.

I also am an aspiring author. I have my first book out, published in 2012, called One Dead Marine. It is a post-apocalyptic science fiction/fantasy about a US Marine who wakes up in the future where monsters, magic, and technology crash together in a post-apocalyptic US. I am also working on publishing my second book–a nonfiction, business book, called Overcoming Organizational Myopia. It is about breaking down stovepiped organizations.

At 48 years old, I still have several years to be eligible for retirement with my current company. However, my plan is to continue to work as a consultant, writer, and speaker after “formal” retirement (this will be my second retirement since I’m already retired Air Force).

Knowing more about these thing gets to why I blog…

I have three reasons why I blog.

1. Blogging regularly helps me think through writing concepts and hones my writing skills. The more I write, hopefully, the better I will get at it.

2. Encouraging and gaining followers creates an audience base for when I release future books, which I expect to publish. Obviously if people are interested in what I write about, they might also be interested in buying my books when they come out.

3. Blogging provides topics and material for future books that, with some adjustment, could end up as new books. For example, I have found several people are interested when I write about blogging itself. Perhaps writing a book on blogging might be a good idea.

Understanding why I wanted to blog led me to some blogging decisions.

1. If I really wanted people interested in what I’m writing and to follow me, I needed to blog often. The rule of thumb is to post one blog a day. More then one a day becomes overload and less than one a day loses interest. That doesn’t mean people read your blog every day, but every day they have something to read.

2. My blogs need to be informative and helpful. Going off on political rants every day might attract interested people, but really isn’t demonstrating my understanding of publishable topics like strategic planning, process improvement, employee engagement, blogging, etc. I’ll leave the political discussions to Facebook.

3. In order to blog daily and gain the interest of a broad audience, I needed a broad topic list. Not too broad to lose the interest of readers…in other words, today I’m talking about blogging, tomorrow it’s fashion, and Saturday it’s global warming. No, I needed to focus on specific things that I think my readers would be interested in.

4. This is important. I’m not selling anything. I am not monetizing my portal and posting a bunch of ads. At the bottom of every blog, I’m not posting links to my business page encouraging you to hire me. Basically, my blogs are not veiled marketing messages and sales pitches. There is a guy named Steve Harrison that promotes “free” speaking and speech advice and webinars. Every day, I get a “blog-like” post from him that is 5% content and 95% marketing. His webinars are essentially the same. You will not get that from me.

5. I’m giving away the secret sauce. I’m not going to share part of the way I recommend or actually do things, especially in my weekend strategic planning and leadership blogs. I am going to provide the full advice and you don’t have to hire me to get the rest of the story. If you think I know what I’m doing and want my assistance, the reader knows how to get a hold of me.

6. I will have some structured messages. On Saturday, I have a blog dedicated to strategic planning called Think Big, Take Small Steps. I started it a while back, but never followed through on the writing. This year I delved into it with earnest. On Sunday, I now have a regular article on leadership and management. Both of these messages, once created and posted, I share to specific groups on LinkedIn.

Can you see how knowing why I blog, led to how I blog. This is much like Simon Sinek’s book, Start With Why.

If you just want to write about things for the fun of it, then the frequency doesn’t matter and neither does the topics. If people follow you, so what, so encouraging any followers is pointless. You can definitely ramble on with your blogs and things like spelling, grammar, and sentence structure really aren’t important.

If you are looking to make money off your blogging activity, well, you need to monetize the platform. You need to sell in your blogs and your blog page needs to direct people to things you are selling. You better be really good at writing and have a solid message that people will want to read. If you blog for a company, chances are, you are blogging for this reason.

If you are like me and you blog to build credibility for future opportunity. Then your focus will be entirely different.

So, if you are blogging today or you are thinking about blogging, ask yourself why do you want to blog. This will lead you to determine how you want to blog and honestly, what you want to blog about.

Good luck blogging.

Ever forget what you planned to blog about?

Blogging Meandering Genius 1 Comment

Here I sit, first thing in the morning, ready to start writing my daily blog. Yesterday, I had two great ideas for topics, but this morning, they completely escape me. Does this happen to you?

This isn’t the first time that I’ve drawn a blank on what I was thinking about the day prior.

Without having anything else to write about this morning…well, nothing top of mind…I thought I would examine my problem and discuss a solution.

This helps me think through the problem–I’ll call it Blog Brainstorming.

For some people, ideas come to them when they are in bed or in the shower. Not so true for me. I have about a 30-minute commute to and from work every day. It’s mostly one straight highway–IH 10 between San Antonio and Fair Oaks Ranch. That’s when the ideas tend to come to me; mostly when I’m driving home from work, because on the way in I tend to be thinking about the day ahead.

So yesterday, as I was driving home, I was thinking about “things” and one of them struck me as a potential blog topic. Every time I have these ideas, I tell myself not to forget the idea. Nine times out of ten! I do.

So, how to fix this?

As I was about three paragraphs into this blog, I remembered the topic that I was thinking about on the way home. I was thinking about writing about why you blog…exploring the reasons why people might write blogs. This idea came based off a discussion yesterday with a good friend of mine at work that is planning to start up her blog.

So, how do I capture that idea? Do I tell myself not to forget the idea, which I will probably do anyway? No, that doesn’t work.

I had considered going into my WordPress app and posting it as the title for a draft blog and then saving the draft. I have done that before, but that can have issues. One of those issues is that I just remembered the topic while I’m writing this blog and that would mean saving this draft blog, opening a new one, and then saving that draft. Those steps on the app are not that easy. Additionally, two things happen when you do that in WordPress. First, the blog takes on the date that you saved the draft. So, I have to remember to change the posting date or what will happen is it will look like I posted it earlier than I really did when I publish the blog. Second, the app doesn’t allow you to simply publish once you’ve saved it to draft. To actually publish blogs on the app, I have to do some things to get it to post.

All that said, I think my screen would be pretty cluttered with bunches of draft blog ideas mucking up the system. So, I am discarding that idea.

I could carry around a pen and paper everywhere I go. That way I could write down the blog ideas when they hit me. That sounds like a good idea, but then I would have to always have that notepad with me…in bed, near the shower, in the car, at work, out to dinner. You get the picture. No pad with me, no blog ideas written down.

So, that idea, however potential, probably wouldn’t work for me.

But then I think about what do I have with me pretty much all the time…the electronic leash. That’s right, I almost always have my cell phone with me. I don’t take it in the shower, but it’s in the bathroom when I’m taking a shower. I literally take the cell with me always. Also, Monday through Friday I blog on my iPad, not my iPhone, so it’s free to use and I don’t have to hop out of The WordPress app to save an idea. With any mobile phone, you have some Notes app and there are a ton of them I’m sure that you can download that might have better features. I use the notes apps for a few purposes already…mainly to put together my weekend to do list so I can check off things as I get them done.

As I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve not only added the first idea from yesterday that came back to me, but I have listed two other blog ideas. They are right there on my Notes app ready for use tomorrow and future days. So, I think I will try this idea capture tool for a bit and see how it works.

The phone is with me all the time. It has a simple way to capture ideas and save them. It is separate from my iPad, so I don’t have to switch apps and it won’t clutter my app screen. Sounds like a good idea.

What type of ideas do you use to capture those fleeting ideas for blogging?

Blank Page Bingo Blogging

Blogging Meandering Genius

Do you have days where you stare at the blank blog page and simply have no idea as to what to write about that day?

The harder you think, the more menacing that blank page becomes. Just starring back at you laughing and mocking you.

Here’s a way to solve it…Blank Page Bingo.

It takes a little bit of preparation, but it’s worth it.

1. Build a six by six table and number the rows and columns 1 to 6.

2. Down the left side, next to the numbers, list six big things you normally like to blog about. For example, mine might be things like Strategy, Process Improvement, Employee Engagement, Blogging, Leadership, and Communication.

3. Across the top, above the numbers of each column, write done these words: Getting Started, Educational, Something Funny, Pro, Con, and Future.

Now, when you’re staring at that blank blog page, roll a six sided die twice. The first roll is your Blogging Interest (row) and your second roll is your Topic Generator (column).

In my example, let’s say I rolled a 1 and a 1 (snake eyes). Then I would talk about Strategy and Getting Started. So, what I could write about is getting started in strategic planning…how did I start…how could you get started. Now all kinds of ideas can flow from these two things–strategy and getting started.

If you write about more things than six in your blog, then create 11 rows and label them 2 to 12. Your first two rolls are added together for a 2 to 12 number. Need more Topic Generators…create 11 columns the same way.

I wouldn’t recommend that you use this generator every day you blog, just when you get stuck. If you roll your numbers and you still can’t think of an idea, then roll again…no biggie. You can also close your eyes and point, toss a coin onto your grid, literally however you would like to pick.

If you have ten rows and ten columns, you could use the month number and the last number in the day to do your picking, but that’s less random.

I think you get the concept.

Blank Page Bingo is nothing but a simple idea generator for you to come up with a quick blogging topic if you can’t think of something to write about. Anyone should be able to write about the things they know something about, once you have a direction.

Have fun with this tool and feel free to change it out if you use it a lot. Honestly, I was having a bit of blog block myself this morning and I was thinking about how to get over that while staring at the blank page and this idea popped in my head.

So, what I’m telling you, it was like I rolled a 4 for Blogging and a 2 for Educational. Additionally, I just made this up so it’s about as simple as that. Use it with caution, this method has been know to generate some pretty interesting blogs.

Have a great Friday!

Dealing with the flamers on your blogs

Blogging Meandering Genius

Framers? Darn autocorrect!

Do you have those people that repeatedly flame on your blog? Practically anything and everything you talk about they take the other stance and infuriate you with illogical arguments and sometimes simply wrong information?

How do you deal with them?

I have two primarily.

One is on Facebook. There I tend to get a little political and very pro military with my posts. There is this one guy that almost always adds his two cents, which is totally opposite of the stance I’ve taken in my post. There for a while, he was reeling me into his discussion…argument. I was letting him get to me and I was going off. Then I got to the point where I would simply delete his comment on my post so I could ignore him.

The other is on LinkedIn. He’s a know it all on a strategic planning site that tends to read and comment on every one of my Saturday morning Think Big, Take Small Steps, strategic planning blogs. His comment are always in complete disagreement with my approach that I’m discussing, how his company does this and it’s the only right way, and supposedly he has peer-reviewed articles and that makes him a God. Again, I started off challenging him, but he’s way too arrogant to listen and simply fires back veiled insults across the Internet. I’ve noticed, because I read many of the posts on these groups, that he is like this to everyone, but never seems to share anything himself…just belittle everyone else’s posts. I guess because he’s peer-reviewed, which I’ve never found. Now, I ignore him.

I’ve had people tell me to simply unfriend or unlink to them. I have considered it. Of course, on LinkedIn that doesn’t work. He’s on the group so whatever gets posted, he reads…not being linked to him doesn’t matter.

I have tried to debate the subject with them, but their views are almost purposefully opposite and so far from what I agree with that it seems more of a challenge than it’s worth.

Do you have flamers on your posts and blogs?

How do you deal with these people when they choose to use your avenue as their sounding board?

Do you think that they are honestly trying to add positive information to the conversation, or are they simply miserable people that want everyone to accompany them in their misery?

Dealing with blogger’s block

Blogging Meandering Genius

If you plan to write regularly, even once in a while, you may run into writer’s block and not know what to write about for the day. In boll going, I call that blogger’s block.

Since I blog daily and six out of seven of my blogs each week aren’t planned, blogger’s block could be a real issue. When you are coming up with a new idea to write about every day, then this issue can hit you at any point.

If you are prone to blogger’s block, then here are some ideas on how to deal with it. As always I welcome your thoughts and inputs.

The first thing you can do is actually draft up a list of topics for a period of time…say a week. Let’s assume you blog daily…on Wednesday, sit down and write ideas for Monday through Sunday. Every week you are preparing what you’re going to write the following week. Having a list of blogging ideas and topics can help you generate your blog without thinking about it. My weekly blog, Think Big, Take Small Steps, is planned for several months out with an outline of different topics. I have the title and the subtitle, which provide me with enough information to write do each weekend.

Sometimes, writing needs to happen when you have time every day and when you won’t be bothered. I’m up early every morning–4:30 during the week–and I write my blogs over coffee while my wife and the dogs are still asleep. Having a similar time of the day to write when you’re blogging helps you think and possibly research topics.

If you tend to have a lot of time at only one time during the week, consider pre-writing several blogs when you have the time and prepping them to go out. Remember, it’s best not to blog more than once a day, but you can schedule blogs or have them ready in draft to send. This way you have a blog a day (or so), but you are only writing a few times a week.

Having trouble coming up with ideas? Here are some ideas that might help you generate ideas…I think it’s much easier to generate ideas when on the computer, but every day I write on my phone or tablet.

Have a set of topics or categories that you like to blog about and know something about. For me, I try to focus on blogging and writing itself, process improvement, employee engagement, change, human capital planning, strategy, and other things like that. Having a set of categories in my head helps to come up with ideas on the fly.

If you have an idea, put it in a google search engine and search for images related to that work or phrase that represents your idea. Add that picture to your blog and then center the message and your thoughts around the picture that represented the idea you started with.

I have four quotes and proverbs applications on my phone. In the morning, I like to read each one of them for the day. I haven’t written about anything I’ve read yet’ but the ideas get my mind moving so that I’m more stimulated to write. You could use these type of devices to generate your ideas.

There is a month each year where many bloggers participate in this A to Z blogging event. For 26 days, every day, but Sunday, they post a blog corresponding to the letter of the day. There is no reason what you couldn’t apply this technique to every month and make sure that the letter of the day ends up in your title each day.

As an active and longtime Toastmaster, we always researched the word of the day. Everyone was required to use the word of the day in there speaking to practice extemporaneous speech. You can get a word of the day from apps and from the computer and blog to that every day…or just the day you are trying to get over blogger’ block.

One of the last ideas, is to write about the very thing that your are fighting against–blogger’s block. Honestly, I wasn’t dealing with blogger’s block, but I was thinking about ways that I might deal with it and thought this would be a perfect blog to share and discuss. If you are suffering from a block, then talk about it…discuss why you think you are having a block. Maybe there’s a story in there after all and you just couldn’t see it.

That gets me to my last point…almost like I planned this blog ahead of time. Sometimes, it just helps to start typing and then the words start to flow. Except for my weekly strategy blog entry, I never know what I’m going to talk about day to day. Additionally, I never know what the blog looks like or how it’s organized. However, when I start writing that first paragraph…the one that everyone is going to see, I start thinking about the structure of the blog and the main points. Even with this blog, I put it together roughly as I started writing and formulated it’s I wrote. For me, this gets my mind moving in the morning.

Dealing with blogger’s block, is a personal thing, but there are many ways that you can prepare or deal with it on the fly. Who knows, maybe these tips will help you move from a weekly blogger to a daily blogger.

Looking to hear from you on the subject.