Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You're only a stranger once.

SOB Buttons Are Here!

Filed Under Audience, Business Life, Community, Successful Blog | 29 Comments

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It is with great dignity and pride
that I announce and present
the official badge of achievement
of SOB to all who have been named

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers.

Original SOB Button

They take conversations here back to their readers.
I invite them to take this badge of achievement
back to their blog and to display it with pride.

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For the complete honor roll and details on becoming an SOB, see the Successful & Outstanding Bloggers page.

Submission: Getting Your Blog Ready for Readers

Filed Under Audience, Guest Writer, Marketing, Successful Blog, Survival Kit | Leave a Comment

In the spirit of a community blog, articles from readers are a regular feature here. Know that I read them all to ensure the content belongs in the context of Successful Blog. Know that not every submission makes it here and that some get revised before they pass muster. Still even then, not every one of them will be right for every one of you.

To be respectful of your time–who needs me going on and on?–I ‘ve made a snapshot form to help you determine easily whether the content suits your personal needs. When you keep an article, it can serve also as a summary. If you have suggestions for changes to the form, just make a comment after an article whenever you think of them. Now on to the article. . . .

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Guest Writer: Katy Whitton

Katy Whitton of Katy Whitton.com sent us this article on how to Market Your Blog and Keep Your Readers from her blog, Flipping Heck!

Target Audience: Beginning Bloggers
Article Type: Overview
Content: Katy mentions the main points of bringing your blog into the world of blogging, including choosing an appropriate name, content considerations, Permalinks, pinging catalogues (directories), posting frequency, advertising, and stats. She also provides links to additional information.

Notes: This is an overview that will get a new blogger thinking on what there is to do and hopefully bring him or her back to Successful Blog to find answers to any questions the article might prompt. Katy’s writing makes her article an easy read, an investment of a few minutes. Her writing voice lets the reader know that he or she can do this.

Thanks, Katy, for contributing to the Successful Blog community.

ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog Design Checklist

Filed Under Audience, Blog Review, Checklists, Design, Successful Blog | 11 Comments

A successful blogger is always asking the question, How does this serve my readers?

To many of us design is the fun and “creative” part of building our blog, talking and tweaking design can take up more time than writing content–if we let it. A checklist can help keep my creativity at uptimum levels and keep my focus on how my choices will ensure my readers enjoy their stay well enough to return again and again.

Blog Design Checklist.

Use this checklist to remind yourself not to let too much design creativity take the “fun” out of reading your blog. Then get started. Have fun tweaking.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

And don’t forget the other checklists in the set:
Blog Review Checklist
Editing for Quality and a Content Editor’s Checklist
Checklist for Linking to Quality Blogs
A Blogger’s Personal Narrative Checklist
Checklist for Starting a Directory Listing

Five Design Basics to Never Forget

Filed Under Audience, Design, Marketing, Strategy, Successful Blog | 11 Comments

Blog design is a lot like a book cover. It’s our first impression. A promise of what’s still to come. Before they read a word or take in the title, readers have formed an opinion of our blogs based on the design.

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover” might be what they tell you. Reality is that covers sell books, and designs draw in readers. Great content and useful design keeps readers coming back for more, but first-glance design is what gets them to try us.

What are the five design basics never to forget?

The key to design is that it adds value to readers’ experience without calling unnecessary attention to itself. Like a great music score, you sense it and feel it. It carries you along as if it knows right where you want to go.

–Me “Liz” Strauss

Successful Blog Community News

Filed Under Audience, Community, Successful Blog, ZZZ-FUN | 6 Comments

Great Discussion

If you weren’t able to join us back stage after Brian Shih’s article on sidebars, you might check out the comments section that follows it. We had a great discussion on sidebar design with several people bringing in examples of a variety of design options to use while making a point about what works or doesn’t work.

It was hands-down the best example of community discussion in action I’ve ever seen. Way cool! We’ve got something really special happening here.

Thanks to everyone who participated. It really was fun as well as enlightening.

Can we do that again soon. Huh? Can we? Can we? :)

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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