by Suzanne Falter-Barns www.getknownnow.com

I was all set this morning to write about something totally different in this issue … but thanks to the power of blogs, I’m here to deliver a totally different message. Namely the ascendance of blogs over ezines.

First of all, you may notice that you’re not getting a whole lot of issues of this ezine from me. Why? Because I’ve come to understand that blogging is faster. It’s more immediate. It’s got a wonderful airstream of energy that follows each post. And because it’s less formal, it’s less work — but still communicates just as effectively as an ezine … perhaps even more so.

This point was made wonderfully clear for me just this morning by Stacy Brice, who runs the noteworthy VA training program, AssistU. Stacy sent up a very thoughtful comment to my ‘Painless Self Promo’ blog, under the header ‘The Future of the Ezine’. Which led to an email, which led to a lengthy ph�ne call. Stacy and I had a real heart to heart about this ezine vs. blog thing … and here’s what I’ve decided is the state of things at the moment.

1. We’re in a transitional shift from ezines to blogs. This has mostly to do with people being reluctant to give up old comfy ways for a few minutes of learning new technology, downloading RSS desktop applications, etc.. It was like this just before we traded in vinyl for CD’s, telepathy for cell phones and to-do lists for Palm Pilots. And some of us have nev�r moved forward. Those of us who did are pretty happy.

2. Blog technology has finally leapt up to the plate. It’s happening; it’s here; it’s on the cover of Business Week. Blogs can no longer be dismissed as fringe techie territory. They’ve gotten so easy to use, and read, that there is simply no denying them. Blog creation software du jour is typepad and wordpress. Typepad blogs exist on their website for a small monthly fee.
WordPress blogs exist on your own site for fr�e. Typepad’s more elegant. WordPress is more basic and functional. I’m running a test to see which will eventually work better for me.

3. It’s no longer all about the list. I am still an advocate of ezines, but I believe the list/email connection is rapidly unraveling. My own lists have declined in size as have those of every Net marketer I know. Ezines have peaked and crested in their usefulness and appeal. Meanwhile, blogs are hot. AND you can capture names on them. (See my blog for details on how to do that.)

4. We’re no longer happy with passive activities. Maybe as a culture we’ve grown completely sick of sitting around doing nothing … all those hours of reality TV? We’ve n�w begun to expect to participate in our entertainment, even when it comes to reading websites. So blogs — which allow comments from readers — are the perfect medium. (This is also why my current theater project, at serenityhawkfire.com, is an entirely interactive theater piece.)

5. We’ve become a less formal culture. These days, our world is all untucked; clothing is big and slouchy, coffee is slurped in paper cups on the run. Even TV has let down its defenses, showing us as we ‘really’ are. So it makes sense that blogs, which feature faster, less formal entries more in the style of a diary, are becoming bigger than ezines. Blogs are casual. Ezines take planning, layout, require regular entries and take a lot more time.

6. Blogging is faster. How long does it take to make an entry? Five to ten minutes, I’d say. My ezine, meanwhile, takes 1-2 hours. Yes, you need to do more blog entries, but they’re hardly brain surgery. Instead, they are quick insights you offer up from your life on the go. And so they are read in the same spirit.

7. Blogs are beloved by the media. This is where a majority of all media research on who’s who and what they’re up to is n�w done. It used to be that your credibility as a media subject was evaluated strictly by your site; that’s where the media looked first to get a beat on you. Know they want to know what you’re posting on your blog — even if it doesn’t have a ‘media room’ like your site (hopefully you’d have that linked somehow in your margins.) And they want to know what kinds of posts and comments your getting.

If you’re still working on building up your ezine list, I recommend you beef it up by including a blog in your offerings. It will energize your website, attract Google and Yahoo ranking and generally create more buzz.

If you have a blog but have not maximized it by setting up a name capture tool, or do not post frequently, give that a whirl, too. You’ll be am�zed at who stops by!

And if you have thoughts on the tender blog-ezine dynamic, email them to me — or even better, drop by my blog and post them on the most recent comment. Then we’ll all be able to see them and add comments of our own.

Here’s to the continuing discussion. May your blog bring your platform, and set people talking!
Suzanne Falter-Barns’ website at getknownnow.com offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her fr.ee ezine, Expert Status, and receive her fr�e report, “25 Top Self Help Literary Agents.”

To reprint this article, please use with this bio box in tact. Thanks!

©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns LLC.

What is a Blog?

Blogs are a type of website often defined as an on line journal or diary. Although there are many blogs where the blog author keeps a log of their own thoughts, experiences and ideas, bloggers also frequently share and discuss information from other sources.

Blogs typically focus on a certain topic and have frequent (sometimes daily) posts (or entries). Posts often link to other blogs or websites that discuss a similar topic. Many blogs are set up so that readers can add comments below each post.

Blogs have been around for about 8 years or so. Business blogs have become increasingly popular in the last couple of years, and especially in the last year.

Why Use Blogging To Market Your Practice

Counselors, therapists and other healing professionals often shy away from using technology when marketing their practices. While there are many effective ways to market your practice that don’t involve technology and the web, the Internet increasingly becomes an essential method to utilize when starting and marketing a practice.

Furthermore, if you market your practice on the Internet in addition to using offline techniques, you are creating a lot more exposure for your services. Blogs are just one more method of marketing your practice.

Fortunately, much of the technology involved in setting up and managing a blog is very simple. This makes it easy for you to manage and update content on a blog by yourself. You can get a blog up and running in a few minutes without having any technical skills whatsoever.

Blogs also are way to connect with your target market more personally. Because blogs are updated frequently, they allow “your voice” to come through more easily than a static website.
Finally, search engines love blogs because of their numerous and frequent posts as well as the common linking that occurs amongst those in the blogosphere (the blogging community).

How to Use Blogs To Market Your Practice

There are several ways you can utilize a blog to market your practice. You can start by posting interesting information on your blog that is valuable to your clients and potential clients.
There is nothing like quality, fresh content to keep your visitors coming back to your site. Building relationships with your target audience is key to having a successful private practice.
You can also market your practice through your blog by linking to other websites or blogs that provide information that your target market wants or needs.

You can be the filter for your clients and potential clients, posting up-to-date information on your area of specialization so they can keep up-to-date with their areas of interest.

Posting comments on other blogs related to your topic can increase back-links to your website which is important for your ranking in the search engines.

If you have a newsletter, you can have a sign-up box on your blog and/or you can put up a sign-up form so visitors can subscribe to receive notification when your blog has been updated.
Just like a website, you can also sell your services and products through your blog.

Blogging as a method of marketing your practice can be an effective method for building your reputation, gaining credibility, attracting more clients, and gaining more exposure.
It can be a great compliment to a traditional website– or if you don’t yet have a website, a blog can be a first step towards getting one.

If you decide to blog as a marketing strategy for your private practice, you might want to peruse the blogosphere (the community of blogs on the web) so you can get a better feel for blogging and the types of blogs that exist.

© Juliet Austin, 2005

Bio of Author

Juliet Austin is a Marketing Coach, Consultant and Copywriter who assists counselors, therapists, alternative health professionals, and socially responsible businesses in marketing their businesses. She helps her clients overcome resistances to marketing, learn no or low-cost marketing strategies, create compelling promotional materials, and write effective website copy.
Juliet can be reached at: http://www.julietaustin.com or through one of her marketing blogs: http://www.marketingaprivatepractice.com or http://www.websitedesignandpromotion.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

I market coaches. One of the most successful ones really had her practice take off when she started a blog. It got 42,000 hits within the first 3 months, quite a bit more than her main websites. However, at the same time, traffic to her websites picked up. That’s because her blog has many links to her main websites, and pitches her products and services, along with great content she changes daily. In fact it’s so interesting, I check it out every day too.

Some blogs, it’s true are personal indulgences, sometimes for ranting and raving, emotional hemorrhaging, political issues and so forth, but your blog is what you make of it. I have a blog. Of course I have several main websites as well. They’re the cornerstones of my practice.

They’ve been up for years, and of course I’ve loaded them to place on the SEOs, but what if you’ve got a new website and Google has “sandboxed” it?

“What’s that?” you ask. Your website will rank at first, and then suddenly it doesn’t appear. Google places it in some kind of holding tank, maybe to check it for content, or for legitimate links or to avoid spam sites. Maybe they just want to see if it will be around for a while – which is going to hard if you don’t get exposure, right?

For an excellent article about “sandboxing,” go here: http://www.globalise.com.au/internet-marketing/google-sandbox.shtml

What can you do if this happens besides wait it out and hope for the best? Submit to other search engines (www.submitexpress.com is one), keep adding rich content, get some help with your meta tags, use other promotional means such as writing articles, and get more quality links. Or put up another website, only call it a BLOG! I’ve sold services and products from my blogs, and yes, that’s plural. Why stop with one? They’re fun to do, and can be extremely informative for other people.

Be sure they include links back to yur website(s) and to each other, and ads for your products and services. Make them dynamic, with entries daily, to keep people interested returning. Be sure and enter its URL on the search engines too.

You can build a blog free at www.blogger.com . It’s about as simple to do as a thing can be on the Internet.

Research some of the blogs out there (google it), and get going. You want to give people every chance to find you and purchase your great products and services, don’t you?

©Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach, http://www.webstrategies.cc. Marketing consultation, implementation, website review, SEO optimization, article writing and submission, help with ebooks and other strategies. Susan is the author or “How to Write an eBook and Market It on the Internet.” Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for information and free ezine. Specify “Checklist.”

© Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman

Most of the “rules” about writing for ezines and newsletters apply to writing posts for your blog, but there are some important differences.

Keep these 10 tips in mind and you’ll be publishing great blog content that attracts prospects and clients in your niche market.

1. Write with the reader in mind. Remember WIIFM? It’s marketing jargon for What’s In It For Me? That’s what you should be keeping in mind. Your reader will read your post looking for what’s in it for them.

2. Make it valuable and worthwhile. Don’t waste people’s time. If you don’t have anything to say, no problem, plenty other people do. So share their articles, do an interview, review a book.

3. Proof-read for typos and glaring grammatical errors. You wouldn’t go out of the house with dirty hair or missing a sock, so why would you publish spelling mistakes? Respect your readers by polishing up your stuff.

4. Keep it short and simple, sweetie (KISS). Most people are scanners. You may have a lot to say and think it interesting, and it may be. But people are reading online and out of time. Get to the point quickly. Publishing short posts more frequently is a better format than publishing lengthy articles every few weeks.

5. Keep it lively, make it snappy and snazzy. Even if you aren’t a natural born writer, you can write for your blog. Just write like you’re speaking to your friend.or to yourself! Remember though, get to the point quickly. Keep in mind the journalist’s rule of 5 W’s in the first paragraph: who, what, why, when and where.

6. Link often. This builds credibility and positions you as an expert in your field. People don’t have time to know what others are doing, you should tell them. Linking to other blogs and websites also helps you build a network of associates who will in turn link to your blog.

7. Use keywords often. This will help you stay on purpose, and the search engines will love your blog. Your rankings will go up. This is one of the reasons we haveyou write out your purpose statements before beginning your blog. The clearer you are about your purpose, the more consistently you will deliver messages that are on target. And the more often your keywords show up, the better your search engine results.

8. Write clearly (short sentences, only one concept per sentence). No double speak or jargon; no more than one idea in one sentence- don’t make your readers have to think about your meaning. Spoon feed them. Use commas and dashes liberally.

9. Write like you talk. It’s okay to use common expressions from speech. Examples:Go figure.Don’t even go there.Now, I ask you.Gotta love it.(And, remember the age group of your readers.)

10. Use a clear headline, and don’t be afraid to make bold statements (but don’t mislead people either). Make it snazzy and use key words. Example: Ex-Techno-Weenie Masters HTML Code

BONUS: After you write a post and BEFORE you hit the save button Use this checklist to ask yourself a few questions as you are reading through for typos and grammar:

Is the topic clear to someone who only reads the headline?

Does the lead paragraph tell who and what the story is about and why the reader should care about it?

Is the angle you’ve used likely to seem newsworthy?

Would someone who knows absolutely nothing about this topic understand this post?

Is the post free of jargon?

Is it written in journalistic style and does it make an effort to be objective?

Have you peppered the headline and the post with keywords and phrases that will be attractive to search engines?

Did you remember to ask your readers a question at the end, or something to stimulate readers to comment?

Did you remember to write with the reader in mind, always keeping in mind WIIFT? (What’s in It for Them?)

Patsi Krakoff of Customized Newsletter Services, and Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership, have teamed up to create blogging classes and marketing services for independent professionals. You can read and subscribe to their blogs at http://www.coachezines.com, http://www.bizbooknuggets.com and http://www.biztipsblog.com

Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show or some new drinking game, but it’s the latest craze to hit the Internet. Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off.

Whether a blogger’s focus is to communicate with customers or just to have fun, they have begun looking at ways to earn revenue from their blogs. The most popular ways for bloggers to earn some added cash for their pet projects are:

1. ) Google Adsense in BlogsGoogle AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content-relevant advertisements in blogs. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the blog, the website owner is credited for the referral. Webmasters need only to insert a Google-generated java script into the blog or blog template. Google’s spider parses the AdServing blog and serves ads that relate to the blog’s content. Google uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis to determine what ads should be served.

2. ) Affiliate Programs (Product Endorsements)Affiliate Programs work when an affiliate web site receives income for generating sales, leads, or traffic to a merchant website. Generally, bloggers will mention or endorse specific products and if site visitors purchase the product, bloggers will receive a portion of the sale.

3. ) Product Promotion Businesses use blogs to detail how specific features or product add-ons can increase functionality and save time. Content-rich product promotion will help with search engine placement.

4.) Banner AdsWhile less popular than in the past, websites with high traffic levels can still earn decent revenue by selling banner space.

As the Internet evolves bloggers will continue to seek out ways to monetize their opinions and thoughts. Daily journals and online blogs have become more than just a communication means to many.

About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com product lines. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.small-business-software.net

Article Marketing is defined as that art of marketing by which we get a
lot of traffic due to submission of quality articles to article directories.

Each article contains a resource box. 3 urls are permitted in the
resource box. Here is a sample resource box which gets me traffic

Article by G Kumar, astrologer, writer and programmer of
http://www.articlewisdom.com/ He has 15 years research experience in
Stock Market Astrology and other in various other branches of
Astrology. Recentlyhe was awarded a Certificate by the Planetary
Gemologists Association as a Planetary Gem Advisor. To subscribe
to his Free ezine,the Z Files, click here
mailto:info@eastrovedica.com?subject=ZFiles . Free blogtipping at
Blog – http://blog2wisdom.blogspot.com/

First url is my main website url. Second one is the free subscription
to my Zine. And the third is the blog url.

This is the resource box used when I submitted an ‘Blog Your Way to
the Bank’ article to article directories.

Now the Zine publishers and website owners are looking for quality
articles. They can get these articles from the article directories. They
visit the article directories and download articles of their choice.
They publish these articles in their Zines/ Websites.

The readers read these articles and click on these hyperlinks. And
what do you get ? Traffic, which is Internet Gold !

Normally you can submit a 3 url resource box. Putting more than 3
urls in the Resource box is risky.

Here is a list of Article Directories. I used to submit articles to these
directories, which has given me good traffic.
http://www.indiaonline.in/articles/post-article.asp
http://www.articlenetworks.com/

http://www.article-content-king.com/
http://www.articles-submit.com/

http://www.newfreearticles.com/

http://www.articlenexus.com/

http://www.articlealley.com/

http://www.a1articles.com/

http://www.contentarticles.com/

http://www.kokkada.com/

http://www.article99.com/

http://www.articlefinders.com/

http://www.articledepot.co.uk/

http://www.articlesfactory.com/

http://www.article-spot.com/
http://www.articlesymposium.com/

http://www.articleteller.com/

http://www.articlewheel.com/

http://www.bigarticle.com/

http://www.christiannotepad.com/
http://www.dognewscenter.com/
http://www.easyarticles.com/
http://www.e-calc.net/

www.contenttycoon.com

http://www.articlewisdom.com/
http://www.articlecity.com/
www.articlehub.com
www.ezinearticles.com
www.articlestop.com

www.articledashboard.com
www.goarticles.com
www.articlewebdirectory.com
www.articlebiz.com

www.articlefever.com
www.contentfueled.com
http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com
www.articlesender.com
www.articlerich.com
www.articlesphere.com
www.articles-submit.com
www.articlemaniac.com
www.postarticles.com
www.upromote.com
http://www.freezine-articles.com/
http://freezinesite.com/
http://www.hotlib.com/articles/
http://www.ideamarketers.com/
http://www.internetarticledirectory.com/
http://www.klienwachter.com/adarticles/
http://www.mainstreetmom.com/
http://www.media13.com/
http://www.mydolittle.com/
http://www.myfamilyliving.com/

www.freearticles.com
www.articles.co.nz
www.articledatabase.com
www.article-warehouse.com
www.authorconnection.com
www.articleempire.com
www.articlecircuit.com
www.articlecrazy.com
www.writeyourarticles.com
www.articlemailbox.com
www.articlestack.com
www.articlestogo.com
www.articlebiz.com
www.articles_galore.com
www.add-articles.com
www.spiritualminds.com
http://hotlib.com/articles/submit.php
www.book-of-thoth.com
www.drualtys.com
www.bharatbhasha.com

If you want furthur the names of article directory sites, here is the link
http://www.eastrovedica.com/html/articlesubmissioncenters.htm

My main site, http://www.eastrovedica.com/ has got more than 384 K
hits and my main blog, recently started, http://zodiacastrology.blogspot.com/
has got more than 10 K hits, mainly due to Article Marketing !

All my 22 blogs have got good traffic. Also my five websites and I
attribute all this to Article Marketing. I blog regularly about the
subjects I love – cricket, marketing, blogging, philosophy, astrology,
gemology, numerology etc. Many come to my office to learn blogging.
I have also monetised by blogs and sites & am getting monthly checks
from Google & Adbrite, thanks to Article Marketing !

May you increase your blog traffic with Article Marketing

June 4th, 2007 by Matt Huggins

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

After blogging for some time now, I’ve encountered countless articles that have truly helped to refine many aspects of my blog. This includes the visual structure, layout and types of advertising and affiliate programs utilized, plug-ins implemented for ease of use, search engine optimization and overall productivity, and much more.

Many of these articles would have been helpful before starting my own blog, but I also doubt that I would have been successful in putting most of these tips to use right away. Like me, I’m sure many of you are always looking for ways to improve your blogs. And since blogs are constantly growing and changing, it’s always a good time to do whatever you can to make your blog the very best.

With that said, here are 55 essential articles I’ve come across that have positively influenced my blog decision-making and will undoubtedly help you too. I’ve also included a select few of my own past articles that are of relevance in order to “pay it forward.”

Blogging Basics: Getting Started

Can You Make a Living Blogging? (Graywolf SEO)
Five Beginner’s Blogging Tips (John Chow)
The First 7 Days of Blogging (Pronet Advertising)
Put on Your Game Face (Pronet Advertising)
How to “Announce” a Blog (Blog Traffic School)

Building Meaningful Content

How to Use Social News Aggregators as a Source for Content Ideas (Dosh Dosh)
5 Ways to Building a Better Blog (Pronet Advertising)
Bring Your A-game to Write for Blogs (Freelance Switch)
What Are You Learning from Leading Edge SEO Bloggers? (Graywolf SEO)
How Great Headlines Score Traffic (Copyblogger)
10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas that Work (Copyblogger)
Declaring War on Blogger Apathy (ProBlogger)
Increasing Traffic & Retaining Readers

How to Market Your Blog in 2007 (ProBlogger)
21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic (SEOmoz)
Five Steps to a Truly Unique Blog That Attracts Readers and Revenue (Copyblogger)
10 Simple Ways to Retain Blog Readership (Matt Huggins)
How to Get Traffic for Your Blog (Seth Godin)
10 Effective Ways to Get More Blog Subscribers (Copyblogger)
How to Develop “Stickyness” to Your Blog (Blogging Tips)
A Very Simple Way to Increase Your RSS Subscribers & MyBlogLog Community Members (Dosh Dosh)
Linkbaiting, SEO, & Social Networks

12 Different Types of Links and How to Get Them (Stuntdubl)
101 Ways to Build Links in 2006 (SEOBook)
66 Ways to Build Links in 2007 (Brandon Hopkins)
Getting Noticed by A-list Bloggers vs. Getting on Digg Front Pages (Digital Inspiration)
Do You Digg This Headline? (Copyblogger)
Why Too Many Little Icons Can Easily Distract Your Visitors (Pronet Advertising)
How to Generate Targeted Site Traffic Without Search Engines (Scoreboard Media Group)
Linkbait, Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exagerated (Graywolf SEO)
SEP Advice: Linkbait and Linkbaiting (Matt Cutts)
Blogging SEO Basics (Matt Huggins)
Search Engine Optimization for Blogs (ProBlogger)
8 Simple SEO Tips for Blogs (JohnTP)
How to Enhance Your Blog’s SEO and Attract Relevant Traffic in One Easy Step (Technosailor)
Is it OK to Write for Digg? (Copyblogger)
Get Your Blog Out of the Google Supplemental Index (Not So Boring Life)
Building a Community

5 Simple Ways to Encourage Blog Participation (Matt Huggins)
10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog (ProBlogger)
10 Quick Methods to Increase Blog Comments (Legal Andrew)
Top 5 WordPress Plugins That Help Increase Comments (JohnTP)
Blog Monetization

8 Tips to Optimize AdSense Units (Daily Blog Tips)
Google AdSense Tips, Tricks, and Secrets (Graywolf SEO)
Why AdSense is Not Suitable for All Blog Topics (ProBlogger)
Make Money from Your Blog (Matt Huggins)
Six Powerful Blog Strategies that will Rapidly Increase Your Affiliate Referrals (Dosh Dosh)
10 Tips for Using Affiliate Programs on Your Blog (ProBlogger)
10 Ways to Make Your Blog More Attractive to Advertisers (ProBlogger)
Miscellaneous Blogging Advice

27 Lessons Learned on the Way to 3000 Visits a Day and 2200 RSS Subscribers (Pick the Brain)
10 Ways to Become a Better Blogger (TechRepublic)
101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger (LifeHack.org)
The 5 Deadly Sins of Blogging (Pronet Advertising)
10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid (John Chow)
10 Reasons Why Blogging is Like Dating (Romance Tracker)
6 Lessons Britney Spears Can Teach You About Blogging (Kumiko’s Cash Quest)
Why Everything You Think You Know About Blog Architecture is Wrong (Pearsonified)
Help! I’m Addicted to Checking My Blog’s Stats! (ProBlogger)

Article Source : http://www.matthuggins.com/55-essential-articles-every-serious-blogger-should-read/

by Dennis A. Mahoney

Published in: Community, Writing

There’s been a recent retread of the weblogging phenomenon following a few articles at PC Mag, Time, and The Morning News. After posting my own short list of things that ought to be banned from weblogs, I realized that a list of things to be encouraged would be more useful. Some people are new to weblogging. Others want to raise the bar. In the end, everybody wants better sites, and some of these suggestions might help.

The bulk of this advice focuses on writing, which is generally at the heart of weblogs. All of them are obvious yet often ignored, to the detriment of both the readers and the writers. They’re aimed at people trying to improve the general appeal of their weblogs, but folks writing privately for friends and family might also find them useful. We’ll begin with an example.

Professional vs. Amateur
The professional writer writes:

New York is magnificent in spring.

The amateur writer writes:

I know this is a cliché nowadays, especially after 9/11, but I live in New York, which is much cleaner and safer now because of Giuliani, who really ought to be president after handling the crisis so well, and I know I’ve had some issues in the past with the mayor’s handling of the NYPD in regard to African Americans and his war against art involving sacred religious icons and feces (hello!? freedom of expression!?), but when all is said and done, New York, as maybe the best example of the ‘melting pot’ etc. etc., is a great city, especially when it starts getting warmer and people go outside more, like around March or April.

The amateur reads the professional and cannot bear the understatement. The professional reads the amateur, gives up after the word “nowadays,” and decides that he/she has been video–gamed to idiocy; the amateurs are hopeless; this new wave will be the last.

Not true. Amateurs are writing as they’ve always written. Self-consciousness, self-doubt, awkwardness, and overcompensation are perennial hallmarks of the beginning writer. The reason today’s amateurs seem more profoundly un–profound could be a simple matter of exposure.

There used to be impenetrable gatekeepers. Now, CNN roundtables, documentaries, independent films, MTV, and the web—which has no gatekeepers in most countries—are broadcasting every poorly crafted phrase and half–cooked idea imaginable. Patience, readers. All is not lost.

Great writing can’t be taught, but atrocious writing is entirely preventable.

The Rules
There are, in fact, rules—even online. Rules are not restrictions. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, rhythm, focus, syntax, and structure aren’t especially romantic terms, until you get to know them. Writers want to make sense. They want to move the reader. It ain’t never gonna happen if you got busted paragraphs, mistaken punctuation and, bad rhythm, not to mention kreative spelling: see? Clarity is key. Learn the rules. Break ’em later.

The best rules can’t be stated, but you can learn them by reading excellent writing. Develop an ear. If you know what works, you’ll start to emulate it. Conversely, it’s good to study truly horrendous language, stuff that makes you embarrassed for those responsible. You’ll find yourself mortally afraid of—and automatically avoiding—the same mistakes in your own writing. Hemingway said, “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built–in shock–proof shit-detector.” (They’re cheap if you haven’t already got one.) This is especially important for web writers, most of whom are publishing without the benefit of editors.

Declarative sentences are good. Web readers demand pith.

Bold statements are dangerous, but they won’t kill you. Timidity will—or at least your traffic. Everyone has a hazy opinion or two. The writer’s goal is clarity. Vague feelings or ideas don’t have to be vaguely written. Imagine two sites with similar descriptions of an indescribable sensation. Which would you remember:

A: “Her physical affections made his world feel somehow different and indescribably alive.”

B: “She kissed him with her tongue until the leaves on the trees, the soles of his shoes, and even his thoughts, felt like happy tongues.”

First–person point of view is not the only point of view. I should be necessary, or else avoided. This is not to condemn first person, but to suggest that it needn’t be the default choice. If first-person perfectly suits your subject matter, use it. But maybe second– or third–person is more effective. Consider your options.

The advice “write only what you know” increases the likelihood that you will know the same things forever.

Offer Something New
And are you attempting to produce quality material, or just killing time? If you’re killing time, O.K., but don’t be startled when your audience is small and no one links to you. Instead of publishing disconnected diversions (by the way, look at this, check it out, here you go, really cool), connect the dots or offer a full opinion.

Better yet, take The Nick Hornby Challenge. In High Fidelity, the narrator is described as a professional critic. He’s good at it. Music criticism is what he does. Then he starts an independent label and produces a record made by a couple of talented, shoplifting skate punks in order to, as his girlfriend says, “put something new into the world.”

The web is a tremendous hodgepodge of media. There are sites about books, sites about music, and sites about sites. Plenty of weblogs center on consuming and critiquing other people’s work, and all this recycling and redistribution has its place—a very important place that we’ll make note of later on. But why not make something new? Instead of linking to a few articles every day, write one. Instead of showcasing and discussing the latest designs, design something. You’ve got this absolutely batty opportunity of instant global publishing. Publish! The world is your oyster!

Amuse Your Readers
If you want to share an anecdote or story from your life, pretend the readers weren’t there. Because they weren’t. “You had to be there” never makes a joke funny.

Readers crave your anecdotes and stories. They really do. So give ‘em the whole megillah. Instead of, “The party was a riot!” or “I’m depressed today,” carefully explain why. Elaborate. Parties and depression are perfectly good writing subjects. The Great Gatsby, for instance, has plenty of both.

Anything makes a good subject, as long as you take your time and crystallize the details, tying them together and actually telling a story, rather than offering a simple list of facts. Do readers really want to know how miserable you are? Yes. But they’re going to want details, the precise odor of your room, why you haven’t showered in a week, or how exactly somebody broke your heart. One–liners won’t suffice.

At the same time, you don’t want to over–explain yourself. Understatement can be thunderous, or humorous, or heartbreaking. Or all three.

Have a sense of humor. Everything is funny. Being gay is funny. Being straight is funny. Being American is funny. It’s OK to laugh at things. Making light of serious situations or emotions doesn’t have to be disrespectful or hurtful. And just because something is funny doesn’t mean it has to be light. Example: “When the kidnapper called the blind woman, he told her that she’d never see her son again.” Some of the best humor is heavy.

Being a writer is funny. Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Have a thick skin. If your site gets singled out for attack by some malicious web devil, relax. You’ve gone public and you have to expect both rational and irrational criticism. Listen, people rag on Shakespeare all the time. If you’re a genuine talent, there’ll be plenty of people complimenting your efforts. If someone has a bona fide gripe with something you’ve produced, pay attention—it’s worth considering. If someone has a petty gripe or simply gets nasty, let it go. Get back to producing your site. If novelists spent their time responding to negative reviews, we’d be fresh out of novels.

Beyond Wired
One popular complaint about weblogs is that they all link to the same sites, over and over and over. Sometimes that’s true and sometimes it isn’t. But if you do find yourself linking to a Wired article that’s already been noted on ten other sites, you might consider finding something else.

Sharing great discoveries is largely why weblogging got so hot and sultry in the first place. Big, heavily funded sites weren’t acknowledging the grace notes and hidden talents of the web, so it was up to webloggers. For some webloggers, it still is. Wired doesn’t need your help as much as undiscovered sites, which may be offering equally good (or better) material.

Successful Weblogging
Producing a successful weblog, however you define that, is tough. Instead of money, fame, and Jacuzzis full of sexy nude readers, you’ll probably feel like you’re shouting in outer space. And you probably will be. In 1994, you could hook a thousand readers if you wrote about the mold underneath your refrigerator. Now, you’re lucky to get a hundred regulars, even if your work is excellent.

No matter what your audience size, you ought to write as if your readership consisted of paid subscribers whose subscriptions were perpetually about to expire. There’s no need to pander. Compel them to re–subscribe.

As the beginning of this article noted, a big audience isn’t everybody’s goal, and most of these suggestions are intended for people working to expand their readership. As for actually achieving that expansion, it’s back to the hard sell.

The days when simply having a website equated to visibility are over. The average person doesn’t even know to look for weblogs. When someone does, there’s an array of choices so endless that finding your site will largely be a stroke of luck.

Links and word of mouth can go a long way, but don’t expect a big following right off the bat. You might never get a following. More than ever, you’d better be doing this to satisfy yourself, because it could be your only reward. But if your goal is to satisfy readers, satisfying yourself is a good start.

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Related Topics: Community, Writing

About the Author
Dennis A. Mahoney writes daily at 0(zero)format.

Article Source : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writebetter/

We are Truth seekers, but Truth always eludes us. By Truth is meant Absolute Truth, Cosmic Truth, Universal Truth.

To some, Truthful existence is suffering. Somebody wrote

Truth on the scaffold
Wrong on the throne

We find that Truthful existence is painful and difficult. Truth always puts us in a controversial situation. Imagine the lifes of Socrates, Jesus, Bruno & Mansoor. They were martyred because of Truth.

But poets say Truth is omnipotent. Let us listen to Swinburne

Truth only is living
Truth only is Whole
His for only giving
Man’s polestar and pole !

or Aurobindo

For Truth is wider, greater than her forms
A thousand icons they have made of her
And they find her in the idols they adore
But she remains herself and infinite !

or Gandhi

Truth will win ultimately.

In our search for Truth, may be we confuse perspective with Truth. Maybe what our enemies say about us may be true. Are they saying falsehoods ? Yes, Truth is wider !

Philosophically, Truth is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. Truth is all this. It is only our Ego which prevent us from actualising Truth !