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    Advertising products is the key to making money with any website.  There are two main approaches to advertising.  If you have a full-feature website designed to promote a specific kind of product line, you will advertise directly and aggressively.  If, however, you have a blog, you will take a different approach:  You will advertise passively.   In the case of a blog, you will simply place the advertising on the page with no fanfare or special promotion.  You may mention the products and even provide a brief review if it is relevant to your blog, but you will not aggressively promote a product because when you have a website devoted to a blog, it is all about “the blog”; nothing else.

     This is important.  Most of your visitors come to your website because it is a blog which offers information they need.  They do not need to be overwhelmed with “flashy” promotions of products.  I am of the opinion that if you want your blog to grow in popularity and become increasingly relevant and useful for the viewing public, your first obligation is to meet the needs and expectations of your readers.  The number of your advertised products and your product choices should not compete with your blog.  This is not an unbreakable rule, but rather, a general principle.  I have visited some blogs that had so many advertisements  on the main page that even the advertisements became a confusing jumble of ads that distracted me from the blog.  That is not what you want. 

      If you prefer to promote lots of products and/or services, perhaps you should build a full-featured website site devoted to products, instead. Some of these full-feature websites also include a blog, however, the blog in this case,  is secondary to the website and subordinate to the central purpose of the website, which is all about the products and service(s) offered.

     There is a sort of paradox inherent in the blog format:   If you have a blog but also want to make money with your blog, you need to optimize your site to sell products.  At the same time, you do not want to detract from your blog.  This is a dilemma, but it is easily resolved:  Keep your main blog page simple and not too crowded with advertisements.  You can still offer a wide assortment of desirable products by promoting them on separate pages.  In this way, you can offer a number of products and provide reviews as needed and none of your commercial activities will interfere or detract from your blog or compete directly with it.  Visitors are free to read your blog and then browse to look at products, if they wish.

     This is a new idea to me and I am in the process of designing a few pages to advertise products.  I have seen this arrangement on other blogs and it seems like a great idea.  If this idea appeals to you, by all means, try it and see how it works for you.  I wish you luck in all your endeavors, whether you have a simple blog, a full-featured website, or no website. 

 Take Care and do stop by again if you have time.–wil

     There are millions of blogs on the Internet and, perhaps, this form of communication is one of the most popular ever.   Some bloggers are purists who believe that the purpose of a blog is only to convey information about the blogger’s thoughts and feelings.   These bloggers choose not to monetize their blogs because it would seem inappropriate and inconsistent with their purpose.

     There are other bloggers, and I am one of them, who believe there is no harm in designing your blog so that it can earn some income for you.   After all, you will spend some money developing your website, and even if it is not very expensive to start a blog, you will need to spend some time doing it ( perhaps a lot of time, depending on how elaborate the blog is.)  Why shouldn’t a pleasant past time be used to generate income?  It seems a sensible and practical thing to do.

     Those of you who have read a number of my posts are aware of the steps a blogger needs to take in order to set up his or her blog to make money.  Although there are some  requirements for monetizing a blog, there are not very many and it is really quite simple.

     To monetize a blog so it can generate income for you, you obviously  need 1) a website.  2) You need to place some advertising on your site and 3) you need to optimize the site to get more and more visitors.  3 things.  That’s all you need.  I don’t want to oversimplify: each of these steps requires some time and effort and sometimes money to accomplish but there are only a few things you need to do.

     I want to comment more specifically on each of the above steps or requirements.  You can set up a website for your blog in as little as two or three days.  More realistically, however, if it is your first website, it may take longer, perhaps two or three weeks or more before your blog is up and running.  You will, of course, need to work through the process of setting up the website as discussed in my post: “How to Set Up Your Blog“

     Secondly, you will need to place advertising on your website.  You will need to make decisions about what products you want to advertise, where you want to place them and whether your products are going to be digital downloads ( information or ebooks that can be instantly downloaded) or physical products that must be sent to the customer.

     There is good money to be made (as in a “substantial” amount) with affiliate advertising, in which you place ads on your site to advertise products of others  who then pay you a commission whenever a sale is made from your site.   You can place these ads on each page or devote a special page just for these products.  You can write a positive review of a product to promote it so that visitors to your site will want to investigate further.  Once they click on a product, they will be taken to a carefully designed landing page provided by the supplier of the product, that more fully promotes the product and its benefits.  You don’t need to do anything.  The company supplies the product and takes care of the details of  order-filling, shipping and payment.  Your commission is sent to you by check (cheque) or by electronic transfer (or wire) to your preferred bank account, details of which, you provide to the company when you register as their affiliate.

Physical products are a different matter.  Unless you have a warehouse or other storage facility and lot’s of time, I advise you to choose products that are warehoused by the supplier  who will also be responsible for filling the order, shipping and collecting payment.  There are many companies which will do this.  You will need to search online for these.  Your only responsibility, in this case, is to advertise the product, perhaps write a nice review and then, when a sale is made, you receive your commission as described in the previous paragraph.  Here are some top Affiliate Networks with which you can register as an affiliate:

     Clickbank        Commission Junction        Befree        Linkshare        Websponsors        Sharesale

    Performics       Clixxchange        Clixgalore        Fastclick        Affiliatefuel         Darkblue        Fineclicks

     The third requirement is “traffic.”  If you have done everything else right and have the most spectacular website on the Internet, nothing will happen for you unless you have traffic.  Unless there is a steady and growing stream of visitors to your blog, well, it is like having a new computer still in its box.  Unless it is hooked up, plugged-in and connected to the Internet, nothing will happen.  That’s why the techniques of SEO (search engine optimization) are so important.  Building traffic may take some time, but you should regularly monitor the volume of traffic/visitors you are getting and  consistently work  to increase this volume.

     Suppose after 6 months or a year you are still not earning any money from your site?  You then need to do some troubleshooting and objectively evaluate your blog and everything you have added to your website.  Are your posts interesting, relevant, informative and frequent enough to engage the viewing public?  Do you have enough products of the right kind that appeal to potential customers?  Perhaps you need more and different products.  Have you spent enough time making sure that your website is organized and “search engine friendly?”  Do you have a few pages of useful material that will show the search engine spiders that your site has depth and relevance?  Do you have some back-links from ezine articles you have written as well as to other interesting websites that have a significant volume of traffic?  If you are not yet making any money, the reason is probably going to be found in your answers to the above questions.

      All this sounds like a lot of work and I don’t want to minimize this by telling you it is really easy, however, it is not very difficult either.  It takes some time, perhaps some money(not very much,)  some attention and the most basic ingredient to any successful enterprise: 

                                                                     The desire to make it work.

Good Luck, and let me know how you are doing.

Take Care–Wil

Yes.   Doorknobs can be interesting.  I first began to think of doorknobs as something more than for just opening doors, many years ago, as a result of watching a T.V. program (a situation comedy) called “Bewitched.” This was an American Program from some years ago featuring a lovely suburban housewife, “Samantha,” and her  advertising executive husband, Darren Stevens.  Samantha had extraordinary supernatural abilities; her husband did not.  He was an  ordinary mortal and did not want his wife manipulating events to favor his success.( of course, Samantha loved her husband and could not refrain from helping him “every now and then” with predictably hilarious results.)    Samantha’s entire extended family was as similarly gifted as she was including her beloved,  elderly Aunt Clara, an occasional visitor to the Steven’s household.

Aunt Clara arrives for a visit

Aunt Clara was an easily befuddled but thoroughly charming , matronly lady with many “senior moments” of forgetfulness. She was a bit eccentric and inordinately fascinated with doorknobs.  She had a penchant for collecting these everywhere she traveled.  Whenever Aunt Clara showed-up for a visit, doorknobs disappeared. When I recalled this T.V. program, as I was writing this post, I remembered that it was Aunt Clara that made me realize that anything can be collected and assembled to form an interesting collection, as long as it is cherished and somewhat organized.  Doorknobs, to be sure, as a collectible, are unusual, but Marion Lorne, who starred as Aunt Clara  in “Bewitched” had, in fact,  an actual doorknob collection, off-screen and the producers apparently worked that into the character of “Aunt Clara.”

 

A simple doorknob from Marion Lorne's collection

One of the most interesting jobs I have had in the past was warehouse manager for the Historic Albany Foundation, in Albany, New York.  The Foundation, among other preservation and research projects, warehoused architectural materials which were salvaged from demolished, older buildings in the Albany area..  These salvaged building materials and artifacts were sold back at reasonable cost to contractors and homeowners who were renovating their older homes and needed authentic materials.  The materials available included such things as windows and doors, shutters, chimney pots, fireplace mantles, staircases, moldings and stained glass panels.  What I particularly noticed was the Foundation’s collection of vintage doorknobs.  Truly, until that moment, I never really knew how many and varied doorknobs could be.  Each one, especially the older ones were works of art.  There were heavy bronze and brass doorknobs with raised designs in the form of faces and symbols; some were embellished with elaborate geometric designs.  There were plain, polished, porcelain knobs in brown, black or white.  I especially admired a strikingly beautiful doorknob of transparent purple-lavender glass.

 

                                                                                                     

 

 

 

If ever you want to purchase a set or two of genuine, decorative, antique doorknobs, there are many places from which you can purchase them, some, online.  Do a “Google” search on “doorknobs,” and you will find several good sources.  From a design standpoint, carefully selected doorknobs can add just the right detail and distinction to a finished room.  Doorknobs may not be as noticeable as other design features, but really beautiful ones, when they are noticed will undoubtedly show the good taste and meticulous attention to detail of the owner, adding in some way to the aesthetic delight of anyone that appreciates beauty and craftsmanship.

 

 

 

 

So, as I  said, doorknobs can be interesting: Anything can be interesting if you write about it with appreciation and enthusiasm.  There are so many possibilities for unusual topics “out-there” in your world, waiting for an astute observer to discover and write about.  Good Luck with your search.

 

Hope you can stop by again, Take care,

 

wil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I want to expand on one of the 12 suggestions I offered in a previous post: If you want to learn how to look at ordinary things and see them in a completely new way, you need to get in touch with your “inner artist.” One thing I have discovered while browsing in bookstores, especially in the art and photography sections, is that artists and photographers (who are artists in their own right) create stunningly beautiful productions by focusing their attention on very common, often insignificant things, bringing out the hidden beauty by presenting them in a different light(pun intended.)

Many of the most visually satisfying pictures I have seen have been old or discarded, quite ordinary implements of daily living, in common use many years ago, but now discarded, abandoned and forgotten, all showing the expected ravages of time:  An old chipped, stoneware pitcher, a single wagon wheel, weathered gray and worn with deep ridged and furrows in the wooden spokes and hub, a  bronze doorknob burnished smooth and polished to a rich greenish blue patina through the handling of countless users through the decades.

Artists can see things differently than the average passerby.  They can even see and appreciate beauty in what many view as ugliness or in insignificant, mundane objects.  The Japanese have a term for time-worn objects and settings.

They call this “Wabi Sabi”

This is a philosophical view that recognizes the transience of all material things in life   and the impermanence and imperfection of beauty.  Whenever an object or setting brings to mind “Wabi Sabi” there is also a tinge of sadness, because something so well suited to Life at its most vibrant is now slowly and surely passing away, its pristine condition giving way to the inexorable effects of time.

It will be advantageous to you, as a blog writer, if you can develop the same faculty possessed by artists, to identify and appreciate common things in your environment and  interpret and present such things in a new way through the written word.  If you cannot already do this, don’t worry, it is simply a matter of training and practice.  I think it is also a matter of thinking more simply and shedding the shell of sophistication we may have clothed ourselves in because children seem to be able to do this instinctively.  Have you ever noticed the strange objects they are fascinated with?  ugly stones, pieces of metal or a broken toy, pieces of wood that would make good kindling for a campfire; children see something we don’t.  When you teach yourself to see differently, you will begin to see value in things you stepped on before.  With this ability, you will discover that anything can be turned into a topic that will be interesting and worth reading.  There will be no shortage of possibilities for you to write about.  You can choose to write about something  that is so common, it is “taken for granted” or is simply not noticed at all.

Is there anything, for example, more unnoticed and unappreciated than a doorknob?  Could you write about doorknobs?  Of course you could.  Why would you want to write about doorknobs?  I can think of two reasons. First, there a  number of potential visitors to a blog that would be interested in doorknobs:  professional architects, interior decorators, contractors, artists, photographers, homeowners who are renovating their older homes and people who are curious and like to learn new things and who are fascinated by unusual subjects.  The second reason is that if you have a blog and cannot think of anything else to write, you can tap into your ability to write in an interesting way about anything: Even doorknobs.  Actually, doorknobs can be quite interesting.  Maybe I can convince you.  In the next post, I will show you what I mean.

Until next time, Take Care, Be Well

Wil

     Stupid people are everywhere.  They are found in the workplace, in shopping malls and markets and in various public places where they blithely interfere with the smooth flow of our necessary activities.  They are the bane of civilized society, and yet, in one of the amazing ironies of life on Earth, we can learn from them.  If you want to know how to do something correctly, then of course, you seek out an experienced and informed person to instruct you; if, however, you want to know how to do something the wrong way, by all means find a self-assured, exceptionally stupid person  thoroughly experienced in the art of bungling.

     Stupid people, or “fools” as they have been referred to throughout recorded history are not a phenomena for our century only.  They have provided good teaching material for sages, philosophers, Holy men and raconteurs throughout the ages and have served as excellent examples of what not to do or be in life.  The celebrated English playwright, William Shakespeare, discovered that “folly” ( the Elizabethan equivalent of stupidity, I suppose) can be a quite entertaining quality in the human personality and was fond of using this particular character flaw as a comedic ingredient in his elaborate plays.

     Before I continue, I want to clearly state a necessary assumption:  I am writing this post from the perspective of “you” = intelligent and clever (after all, you are reading this, aren’t you?) and “them” = not so intelligent and clever.  Just as an attorney defines the terms of a contract, I want to be clearly understood and state the terms of this post:  “You” is you and “them” is them.  You are smart; them is not (by now you are probably convinced that I am one of “them.”)  In any case, I have already made the assumption that you have good sense because you are reading this blog.  “Them” would not be interested.

     So now I can continue with a disclaimer so that you do not think I am being mean-spirited:     It is not so much that we think ourselves to be intellectually superior to many people we meet  daily, that emboldens us to declare publicly the distinctions between stupid (them) and not so stupid(us)  Not at all.  It is simply that we have discovered, much to our dismay and astonishment that the world is populated with many, many human beings who either cannot or will not reason.  They live among us, and I fear, they outnumber us.

 [ I must also add, so that there will be no misunderstanding, that I am NOT referring to the genuinely mentally impaired, who, through no fault of their own, cannot think clearly.  Neither am I referring to inexperienced young people who are still learning how to reason.  These are all innocents.] 

 —There is a special class of unthinking people who do not use the reason they have.They are able to think, but they do not.  It sometimes seems as if they and their minds are strangers who have never met.  Their consciousness, their mouth and their brain, seldom connect in any meaningful way.

     Frankly when I think of “them,” I wonder how “man” became Man.  When You take the time to remember your daily associations with unthinking people, it is not difficult to imagine that “their” ancestors were most certainly closely related to chimpanzees or some other  primate( animal lovers may justifiably criticize me for being unfair to chimpanzees.)  Ironically, the hardcore stupid people are a living testament to the improbability of Evolution as Darwin conceived it.  What I mean is that, on those exasperating days when “they” seem to be around every corner, in every store (on both sides of the counter) and all over the workplace, it is difficult for me to find a shred of evidence or a glimmer of hope to reassure me that mankind is actually “going forward.”  If Darwin postulated a theory of De-evolution,  It would seem more valid.

     Invariably, as you go through your day shopping, working, living, moving, being, your activities will bring you in to contact with people, who, if you had been able to choose your destiny, you would have have been perfectly happy to avoid all your life.  These people (them) are remarkable for their total mastery of ……nothing.  They are stupid.

     You can identify these people by engaging them in brief conversation ( the only kind of conversation I would recommend, other than none at all.)  If after speaking with them and listening to them you find yourself walking away, shaking your head and thinking “Why me!” you have probably encountered  one of the ungifted co-travellers with you on planet Earth—and, I suspect, that “they” are the real reason why rocket scientists in space programs throughout the world are so keenly interested in finding intelligent life on other planets:  It’s because of loneliness.

     Perhaps there are occasions when you wished you could identify unthinking people before you encounter them, in which case you could be sure to avoid them.  We cannot, unfortunately go to a bookstore or library to pick up a copy of the “Field Guide to Stupid People.” I have searched online bookstores and it’s not there.  To help you get a more complete understanding of stupidity, I offer the following convenient, concise and necessarily abridged lexicon of the varieties of unthinking people” 

Idiot-an utterly foolish or senseless person; usually enhanced with colorful adjectives, there can be blithering idiots, blathering idiots and babbling idiots.      

fool- a silly or stupid person; a person who lacks judgment or sense.

moron-a person who is notably stupid or lacking in good judgment. Peons(slang for low level worker) may be morons but usually the ones with the very worst judgment get promoted and become bosses and bureaucrats who, with their increased authority proceed to Squash” and eliminate every good idea that crosses their desks.

stupid -lacking ordinary quickness and keenness of mind; dull; in a state of stupor; stupefied: This type may be especially abundant in workplaces- especially your workplace. Stupid people do not know who they are; they are too stupid—–but You know who they are: They are the ones that know everything and are never wrong about anything.

Neanderthal-an unenlightened or ignorant person; barbarian; culturally or intellectually backward;ungraceful, heavy-handed, loud, crude, ill-mannered, coarse and limited in the thinking department.  This person looks as if they could kill a mammoth.  Too bad mammoths are extinct:  These folks are probably better suited to mammoth-hunting than anything else they may be doing.
 

        There you have it; a framework for understanding stupidity.  In business and the professions there is a saying: ” Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”  The chronically stupid seem to believe that “you must be the problem.”

 

     Some final thoughts:  I don’t really believe everything I have written in this post, although, as you know, much of what I have written in a playful manner, is often true.    To be honest with you, I have often said and done stupid things myself( I have a feeling I am not finished saying or doing stupid things.)  I think we all have had our less than brilliant moments, but there is a distinct difference between the wise and the witless.  The wise person will do or say something stupid and then, when he or she realizes it, will try not to do it again.  The witless person does or says something stupid and will often repeat the process over and over again.  This person is simply…..stupid.

 

 

     That concludes this post based on a shortcoming of human nature.  We have many other deficiencies to explore and overcome.  That will be your job if you decide to write this kind of a post.  Whatever you write, you may find something helpful in the 12 suggestions I offered in a previous post.  Perhaps you will try something different and discover your own way to write with a fresh perspective.  I wish you success.

 

Take Care— and visit again if you can

 

–wil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Whatever kind of blog you have or hope to have, indeed, whatever kind of writing you choose to do, there may be times when you need to overcome “writer’s block.”  The following 12 suggestions will energize your creativity, help you to find a good idea for your next topic and can enable you write effectively about anything you want.

1. Cultivate the habit of looking at familiar things in new ways, i.e., in an unusual way that   most people would not think of.  To accomplish this, practice reversing the natural order of things or asking the question “what if ?”

2. Be alert when people around you are complaining about something that really annoys them (as long as it is not you….)  The little, and sometimes big, annoyances of life can be good material to write about, especially if it is a common annoyance.

3. Try to be curious about everything and interested in many things.  When you are always looking for answers or asking questions, you are developing an analytical approach to life that enables you to see more deeply and with more insight into life situations.  What you discover about anything that you investigate with this kind of well-honed intellectual curiosity, you can share with your readers who may not be inclined by disposition or opportunity, to analyze something in the same way as you can.

4. Develop an instinct for news and an understanding of how to report news by listening, reading and watching news stories and noting how journalists present the facts of an event.  This will help you develop the skill, if you do not already have it, of being able to write more fluently if and when you have news or new information to report in your blog.

5. Always be alert to the unusual story about the strange, the odd, the eerie, the unbelievable, the shocking or the ridiculous.  People, are, generally, fascinated by these kinds of stories, as evidenced by the incredible success of the “tabloids.”  A century or more ago, before modern communication, these sorts of accounts would be passed around town, village or countryside in the form of particularly delicious morsels of gossip.  Today, topics based on the above themes make popular posts on blogs.

6. Write through all your senses:  Smell, Taste, Touch, Sight, Sound.  Describing experiences in terms of the sensory impressions, helps to create strong imagery that will powerfully and vividly communicate every meaning and idea about your subject that you want to convey.

7. Think of an adventure you have had, or perhaps, one of your friends or relatives have had an adventure.  Write about it and try to find a general lesson to connect with the experience, so you can share it with your readers.  Many readers who are not, themselves, adventurous, love to read about the daring exploits of others, as long as they can read from the comfort of home.

8. Write about something that everyone can identify with; some idea or problem that is commonly encountered by the general public—Things like: bad drivers, exasperating bureaucrats who have, unfortunately, enough authority to affect our quality of life by their bad decisions or refusal to approve some important legal document we need, rude sales people, difficult coworkers; you could probably add to this list—and should!  That is how you discover new material for posts.

9. Read through a book of quotes.  Select a few that interest you . Use one of these as the basis for a new post, connecting the quote to some personal experience  or accounts from modern society that show the truth and wisdom and relevance of the quote.

10. Use the “title format” in which a specified number of items promised a desired result or outcome, e.g.: 

                        6 Things that I learned when I………..

                        3 Things you need to……..

                        5 Things you cannot afford to be without…..

                        7 Simple Ideas That Will Help You to……..

                        12 Suggestions to Help You Choose……..etc.

You get the idea.  Titles such as these possess an almost irresistible, curiosity-provoking attraction for readers.  Use these titles as a theme for a post and you should  find it easy to write the posts. 

   11.   Write with great zeal and enthusiasm !  If you can write in this way and can convey your  own sense of wonder, fascination, and excitement through the written word, then you are going to inspire your readers with a sense of wonder, fascination and excitement.  It is contagious.  This effect is similar to that when a group of neighborhood children  spontaneously gather around the one child holding a three-legged frog, all pressing in closely with irrepressible curiosity, to get a glimpse of this wonderful thing.  That is how you should write:  You must try to be the child holding the three-legged frog.

   12. Write about human virtues and vices.  There is a rich source of useful material that can be derived from personality traits of people.  Shakespeare was a master at identifying and using these traits to create memorable characters in his plays.  You can use these too.  You can write about the noble qualities of human beings such as selflessness, loyalty, kindness, perseverance etc.  People love stories that have a happy ending.  People also enjoy reading about others who have triumphed over hardships and attained success.

     People’s less appealing qualities also offer interest.  Unbridled greed, deception,  conspiratorial scheming  and (my personal favorite) stupidity can be written about in either a serious way or humorously.

Using these 12 suggestions will help you to overcome writer’s block, choose an interesting topic whenever you need to, and will enable you to write effectively about whatever you decide to write about.

     In my next post, I will choose a topic based on a human characteristic with which we are all familiar and have had to deal with, seemingly everywhere we go.  This is simply an example of how to choose a blog post by using one or more of the above suggestions.  Feel free to come again for a visit.

 Take Care, Be Well and I Wish You Peace and Prosperity

–wil

     Some Bloggers prefer to keep their options open and to blog in a more general way about their interests from day to day.  I have used several terms to refer to this kind of blog:  General, Running Commentary, Personal Narrative, Classical Weblog, non-specialized blog etc.  All of these mean essentially the same thing:  The Blogger writes about whatever he or she wants to write about on any given day, from his or her personal perspective.  With this kind of a blog, there is no requirement to write about a topic specifically associated with a single subject.  Anything goes.  When you read a classical blog-post, it is like sitting down with a friend, acquaintence or even friendly stranger to chat about whatever topics come up.The only difference is that in this virtual chat, the blogger communicates and the reader “listens,” perhaps responding with a comment or two every so often.

     Writing posts for this kind of non-specific blog is, at once, easier and in some cases, more difficult than writing for a single-purpose, specialized blog because you can write about any topic you want.  All you have to do is to personalize it by sharing with your readers, about your thoughts and feelings concerning the “Topic du Jour.”  Ironically, this broad, non-specific blog is more difficult to write posts for because of the infinite assortment of topics you can write about.  With the single-subject, specialized blog, you are limited to a manageable field of possible topics by their relevance to the main idea of the blog.  In the case of the non-specialized blog, there seems to be no defining limits.  I say “seems” because if you read a number of this type of post you will notice that there really is a structure or framework,  or commonly recurring theme or approach that ties all posts in the blog together: i.e., something that lets you know that all the posts belong together in the blog.  The blogger may mention this in his or her description of the blog or may not give any clues, but the consistency is there, nevertheless.  In fact, I think it is absolutely essential for this consistency to be built into the blog, otherwise the blog will seem like a potpouri of disconnected ramblings without point.

     Consistency is usually the product of a framework of repetitious characteristics furnished by the blogger’s personality, choice of topics, or life situation.  Charles Darwin, eminent British biologist of the 19th century, if he had a computer, would have, quite possibly, been an enthusiastic blogger.  If he had a blog, it would be most likely about his observations as the “ship’s naturalist” traveling aboard the research vessel, “The Beagle.”  Instead, we have his voluminous notes based on his extensive observations of everything he saw on his 7 year journey, entered in a journal form.  Mr. Darwin’s entries were from the perspective of a scientist-naturalist and less infused with expressions of personal feelings than some modern journalist/bloggers would have preferred to express in their blogs, but all of Darwin’s observations are recorded as a naturalist’s study of all the new and previously unknown discoveries that he observed as the naturalist aboard the Beagle.  That is the thread of consistency which ties all his entries together although they are about many different subjects.

     Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the famed invalid poetess of Victorian England would have been a splendid blogger.  Her poems are like posts ( in fact this would be a novel way of writing posts-only in ryhme!) In her poetry and love letters to her beloved Robert Browning, she documented her feelings about her life as a sickly woman trapped by her infirmity, but ever hopeful of grabbing hold of life as it passed her by.  Her beautiful poems and love letters further record her joy in her Love affair and subsequent marriage to Robert Browning.  Elizabeth Browning wrote about whatever emotions moved her, but consistency was provided by her situation and her writing style.

     If this general, non-specialized blog appeals to you,  you can be sure that there is structure and consistency by making sure that the posts can be based on one or several of the following categories:

     People, Personalities, Politics, Pets, Problems and a few other general categories not beginning with the letter “P” such as technical discussions, food, crafts, collectibles and the blogger’s particular life situation, including what life is like through the eyes and emotions of the blogger.

     While it is unlikely that you will get “stuck” writing posts for a non-specialized blog, with so many possibilities to write about, it can happen so I will offer some suggestions in the next post for getting “unstuck” and stimulating your creative imagination.

     Regardless of what kind of blog you have, you will want to visit a number of blogs to see what other bloggers are doing and how they are doing it.  This is the best (FREE) education you can get. 

Until next time, take care and be well

–wil

     When you finally launch your new blog and even for sometime after, you may wonder what you should write about next.  Unless you have a friend who is an experienced blogger, no one is going to tell you what you should write about if you get stuck.

     When you do have ”writer’s block,”you may worry that you have run out of things to write about.  This is usually not the case.  All that is usually needed to help you get started writing again is for you to spend some time analyzing your subject.  Finding ideas for a post that will appear on a specialized blog is simply a matter of choosing a topic that is somehow related to the subject of your blog.  The obvious way to do this is to do some brainstorming; sort of like “googling” your mind for every meaningful connection to your blog theme.  For many bloggers, this process is second-nature and they do this unconsciously in their heads.  Other bloggers prefer to write down their ideas in outline or list form to map out the topics most relevant to the subject matter of the blog.

     I have done this with this blog: Bloggasaurus as an example, is mainly about “How to Make Money With Your Blog,” with an additional secondary theme about blogs and blogging.  All the posts in this blog are related in, some way, to the main idea, even those not specifically about making money because, in order to make money, you have to have a blog ( or full-featured website).  Some of my posts are “open topics” but are included in this blog as illustrations of “blogging technique.” So, everything is related to the main idea.

     To summarize: It is probably easier to write posts for a specialized, single-theme blog than for the personal narrative type blog because the field of possible topics is narrower and more manageable, i.e., instead of unlimited possibilities, you choose only the most relevant to your blog’s subject. 

     Another approach you can use to find good ideas for the specialized blog is to imagine that you don’t know anything about your subject and then to write down a long list of questions that you would need to answer so that you could thoroughly understand the subject.  Those of you who are just starting out may find, ironically, that if you do lack complete familiarity with your subject matter, you may actually be in a better position to write helpful posts that will answer the questions of readers who want to learn more about your subject.  To write an informative post, all you need to do is to find answers to your questions by doing enough research and you will be helping yourself and your readers to learn about the subject.

     There is another,  particular kind of specialized blog that provides an abundant source of material for posts.  The “collector’s blog” is a blog in which the blogger writes about the items in his or her collection.  If you collect coins, bottles, dolls, memorabilia, tools etc., you can review each item in your collection with information about origin, history, value, and anything else that you think readers would like to know.  If you have, for example, a tool collection, you can write about the history of the tool, its manufacturer, how to use it and so on.  Maybe you can provide a photograph.  If you have 100 tools in your collection, there is an instant 100 posts you can write by simply offering a review of each item in your collection.  If you collect “natural objects” such as shells, butterflies, rocks, minerals and fossils, for example,  you will be able to discuss habitats or locales, life histories, and perhaps how you added each item to your collection.  The addition of photographs make this kind of post especially informative and interesting.  When you are a collector, you will always have something to write about.

     Recipes, Candy reviews, book reviews, and any subject in which you can review items from a list that you continually add to are also a good source of material for posts and you will never lack useful material if you have a single-theme blog like one of these.

     There is still another category of specialized blog that, while it is focused on a single subject, posts are written as journal entries, more like traditional blogs.   An example of this would be a “Travel Blog” in which the blogger reviews his or her experiences including such things as “getting there,” culture, language, cuisine, festivals, architecture, history, etc.  The more general, journal type blog, in which the blogger can discuss anything will be discussed in the next post.

Thanks for reading—wil

     Blogs have come a long way since the early days when all you had to do was to briefly record your feelings and impressions about your life in your weblog on a daily or twice weekly basis.  Today, for the most part, blogs are more sophisticated and specialized.  They are used in business to alert employees and the public about company news and, of course they are used by bloggers to share information about the bloggers’ subject matter with interested readers.

     Because “the blog” is so fluid and versatile, there are, as you might expect, many ways to approach writing posts.  As you read through different kinds of blogs, you can see that bloggers have their favorite and often unique approaches to this task .  Indeed, there are probably as many ways to write posts as there are blogs.  Even so, I would like to suggest that most blogs can be categorized into two broad groups:   The “personal narrative/commentary” blog typified by the classical weblog and characterized by an intimate, familiar and warmly friendly tone and the  “specialized/single theme/ informational “ blog which may range in tone from  pragmatically technical and impersonal to the same breezy, conversational, warmly familiar tones of the personal narrative/commentary”blog.   Simply put:  I am making a distinction between the classical “personal” weblog in which  the blogger writes as if you are his or her best friend and confidante, guardian angel or therapist and the specialized informational blog which is often, but not always, less familiar and conversational.  This distinction, although it is not always clear-cut is important because when you come to a place where you are struggling to come up with a new post and a fresh approach to a topic, you will use a slightly different method for each category.  Of course, you do not need to do it as I suggest to you, but I am offering a structure for you to use which can make writing blog posts a bit easier.

     Whether you are writing a blog, a newsletter, a newspaper column or magazine article on a regular basis, there are times when you are not going to be able to think of anything to write about.  You are “stuck.”  This is the “dreaded” writer’s block.  What do you do?  Your public is waiting for your next informative or entertaining installment.  You need to write something useful or interesting for your readers without much delay but……It’s not coming together for you.

     In the next post we will examine ways in which you can get ”unstuck” and quickly dissolve your writer’s block so you can “jump-start” your creative writing process and reconnect with your “muse, your inspiration.”  In the next post, I will discuss writing posts for the specialized, informational blog and then, in a subsequent post, I will discuss post-writing for the general, “open-topic” classical weblog.

Thank You for reading–hope you stop by again.

Take Care—wil

     Widgets are additional features that you can incorporate into your website to make it more visually interesting, functional and user friendly.

    The word “widget,”  is a general term, probably derived from “gadget” and another word to describe a hypothetical, unspecified, manufactured “thing.”  In computer terminology it is an application in the form of a component of a “graphical user interface” (GUI) that displays information or provides a specific way for a user to interact with the operating system and the application.  It consists of a discreet, stand alone package or “chunk” of program code that you add to your files, usually by copying from the source and pasting to your files.

     You can easily customize your site and make it more uniquely yours by the addition of a few widgets which are, usually, free and  provide features like:

Who’s Online? ( shows where a visitor is from) clocks, counters, weather reports, sidebars, translation capability, contact forms, advertising boxes, maps, progress indicators, forms, icons, avatars, pull down menus, buttons, selection boxes, badges, live chat capability, and many other features that display information for inviting, accepting or responding to user actions.

     On this site you can see several of the widgets I selected including the “who’s online” feature, the translation/language selection box, EzineArticles badges, and Amazon.com ad boxes in some of my blog posts.  All widgets are usually made available with instructions for adding them to your site, or you can do an online search to see what kinds of interesting features you can find to customize your site.  “widgetizing” your site is, actually, lots of fun.  New widgets are constantly being devised and refined.  They are, as I mentioned. mostly free, but you can make a donation to the developer if you choose.

–wil