Successful Blog

Bid Farewell To Bad Blogging: Edit!

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By Jael Strong

The bigest miss take a bloggger kan make is flail to edit there riting..  Oh, I hate it when I see something that I really want to read and half way through I have to stop because the mistakes are inexcusable.  I’m not talking about the occasional typo (Though, those are definitely avoidable!).  I’m talking about a decent piece of writing peppered with spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors galore.  What can a writer do to avoid this terrible downfall?

First Step: Spell Check

A simple step that may ultimately save you some time is to use that handy dandy spell checker.  It won’t catch everything, but it will identify some of the most obvious mistakes.  It is certainly easy enough to use so nobody has an excuse for not clicking that little button. 

However, a warning is in order:  Spell check does not catch everything!  In fact, the spell check program only located four of the eight mistakes in my first sentence. The reason is simple; this is a computer program and it will not identify mistakes that involve the use of the wrong word.  If you get your “their”, “there”, and “they’re” mixed up, don’t expect spell check to help you out.  More is needed.

Second Step: Read

 I’ll be honest with you.  I don’t always enjoy reading my own writing, especially when I have the suspicion that it isn’t quite up to par.  But, we have already noted that the computer isn’t going to catch every mistake.  So, you have to read what you write.  A quick read can spare you some embarrassment.  Another plus, besides catching spelling and grammar errors, is that as I read I tend to revise content, improving on my writing as a whole.

Third Step: Read Backward

 Read backward?  That’s right.  This is actually my favorite editing tool.  Start at the end and, sentence by sentence, read through your writing.  It is amazing how many errors can be found using this technique.  True, you won’t find many spelling errors this way, but you will find incorrect punctuation, runons and fragments using this method. Also, it will be easier to identify ambiguous wording, helping you to revise for the sake of clarity.

Fourth Step: Employ an Extra Set of Eyes

 This one can be a challenge.  After all, where are you going to be able to find someone who is willing to take time out of their busy schedule to help you out?  There are a lot of options.  Find a friend, a relative, or a colleague and say, “Hey, can you take a  look at my latest post?”  Find someone you trust, ask them to tell you if anything needs adjusting, and then edit.  Of course, thank them profusely for their help.

These steps might seem a bit time consuming.  All together though, they take about ten minutes. Unfortunately, editing and proofreading do seem to be something that many bloggers try to do without.  Don’t turn away potential readers by eliminating this vital step.  Edith and keeep reeders coming bak four more!

Help other writers out:  What steps do you take to make sure that your writing is error-proof?

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Jael Strong writes for TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility.  She has written both fiction and non-fiction pieces for print and online publications.  She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas .

Thanks, Jael

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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Are Blog Comments the new Mundane Commute?

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A Guest Post by Scott P. Dailey

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I’m concerned about the purity of the conversations undergone in blog comments. I’m concerned that many are not all that pure after all.

I’m finding that often blog commenting appears to be something akin to a bunch of people not-so gingerly exchanging business cards and PowerPoints and even worse, trite and banal ass-kissing.

Yawn.

What if hundreds of comments on a blog you love were actually nothing more than a mirage? The post was terrific, but the post’s comment mojo was less the result of the post’s quality and more the result of self-important opportunism and profiteering? What if the 100 comments can be reasonably likened to a pack of hyenas scrambling to snag a bite of the feast the author has laid out by virtue of her blog’s popularity? Popular blog, popular blogger, hmmm?

The New Commute

What if everyone put driving traffic via comments above any other engagement priority? What degree of coloring the commenting exercise with this agenda is too much degree? “It’s networking,” some of you may be saying to yourself. I get that. But what I asked was, what if everyone did this? That’s my concern. I mix for business purposes too. But what if we’re cheapening the commenting progression to such a degree that it’s becoming the new overcrowded commute we all try so hard each day to avoid? You know the one? We funnel like drones off the train and force ourselves through the turnstyles, up the stairs, out the doors, all to chase a little bit of money? What if blog comments were the new matrix, the new false reality devoid of any pure and true moments?

To some of you, perhaps I sound naive, or maybe even a bit of a whiner. I’m probably a little of both to tell the truth. Well look, I believe, pie in the sky or not, that the world is what we make it. And so it is with blog commenting.

A Challenge to Contributors

Draft a comment to a blog post you sincerely enjoyed reading. Launch your word processing software and dazzle us. Done? Super. Now do it again, this time imagining that you do not have an online identity. No Twitter, Facebook or YouTube accounts either. You have nothing you want to sell, teach or promote. You need nothing from me. Plain and simple: you enjoyed the post and wanted to add to the dialog. There is literally no gain for you outside that which is had by engaging others in a meaningful discussion.

Are the two drafts the same? Now that you’ve completed both versions, each with a different agenda motivating you, what observations can you make about your commenting habits?

What kind of observations have you made about the state of blog commenting in today’s blogosphere? I would love to hear your take.

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Scott P. Dailey is a Web designer, copywriter and network administrator. Recently Scott launched ( http://scottpdailey.com ), his social media blog that makes connections between social networking etiquette and the prevailing human social habits that drive on and offline business engagement patterns. You can connect with Scott via Twitter at @scottpdailey.

Creative Commons License photo credit: Maguis & David

Thanks, Scott!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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Cool Practice Review: Dialogue Exercise

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Todd Hoskins chooses and uses tools, products, and practices that could belong in an entrepreneurial business toolkit. He’ll be checking out how useful they are to folks in a business environment.

Cool Practice Review: Dialogue Exercise
A Review by Todd Hoskins

Credit: I learned the structure of this exercise from Leilani Henry who runs a great business that creatively helps organizations learn, develop, and collaborate.  She’s also quite the artisan.

A clear agenda and good leadership usually makes for a good business meeting. But sometimes, spending time exploring possibilities and perspectives is valuable for creating strategy, nurturing the connectedness of the team, and getting a break from the task-heavy day that can drain and dry up our creative wells.

This exercise in dialogue, based upon the work of David Bohm, is a wonderful practice that can be used in team meetings, executive retreats, or even board meetings.

First, sit in a circle so each person can see one another. This works best for a group (not a few people on a couch), and the intimacy would be lost if you have more than a few dozen people.

The group leader asks a question. The person to the left or right will respond to the initial question, then ask a follow-up question to the person to his/her left or right. Move around the circle until you’re back at the beginning. Time limits can be suggested or enforced.

Guidelines
1. No question “answering.” The temptation will be strong to give an answer. Instead . . .
2. Ask open-ended questions – nothing that can receive a simple yes or no
3. Share your stream of thoughts in response to the question being posed to you. This may begin with “That makes me think of . . .” Or, “I’m wondering . . .”
4. Do not try to “stay on topic.” You will not escape the direction of the first (or tenth) question. The suggestiveness of the initial question is important
5. No judgments on the questions or responses being offered
6. No decisions are made during the dialogue – it’s a process for its own sake

Outcomes
1. At the end of the exercise, you will likely have a pool of meaning in the midst of the circle.
2. The questions and responses can give you a new perspective on issues, possibilities, and people within the circle

Suggestions
1. Have one or a few people write down key words and phrases as they surface
2. Take a break, then at a later time ask, “What could we learn from this?”

Some possible questions:
What will our company look like in five years?
Why are we not meeting expectations?
How do we make decisions?
How do creativity and work go together?
How could we be more involved in the community?

Again, NO ANSWERING!

Summing Up – Is it worth it?

Enterprise Value: 5/5 – Pushes people out of their comfort zones a bit, but in a good way

Entrepreneur Value: 5/5 – Great team-building

Personal Value: 2/5 – Family reunion fun? The principles apply. Adapt it for your personal relationships.

Let me know what you think!

Todd Hoskins helps small and medium sized businesses plan for the future, and execute in the present. With a background in sales, marketing, leadership, psychology, coaching, and technology, he works with executives to help create thriving individuals and organizations through developing and clarifying values, strategies, and tactics. You can learn more at VisualCV, or contact him on Twitter.

Blogging In What I’ve Dubbed The “We Generation”

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By Terez Howard

People born from 1982 to 2002 have been birthed into Generation Me. Unfortunately, my 1984 birthday puts me in the midst of a selfish group.

Lisa Belkin, the Motherlode writer for the NY Times, made this quote: “This generation has been depicted . . . by employers, professors and earnestly concerned mental-health experts as entitled whiners who have been spoiled by parents who overstoked their self-esteem, teachers who granted undeserved As and sports coaches who bestowed trophies on any player who showed up.”

My husband can attest to this behavior. If I haven’t mentioned him before, let me give you this brief introduction: He is the professional violinist trapped in a schoolteacher’s body. His students firmly believe just showing up to class with a violin in its case (no, it doesn’t have to be out or even in good repair) will merit an A. To make a long story short, he’s not like the teachers Belkin mentioned.

Generation Me in blogging?

My age puts me in this generation, but I certainly don’t intend for it to define my character. How often have we seen a blogger only blog about herself. That’s not necessarily bad. We expect for bloggers to tell about personal experiences. But what if she never acknowledges the world around her? What if she doesn’t reach out to fellow bloggers?

That would be a problem. She would be denying her readers of additional resources. She might appear to be a blogger lacking in knowledge because she doesn’t ever include outside information. Most importantly, she would not be affording herself the opportunity to build relationships with other bloggers, relationships that could profit her business.

How to blog with others in mind

Great bloggers read great bloggers. It isn’t necessary that a great blogger is well-known, has a high Page Rank or hundreds of Twitter followers. A great blogger shares helpful facts and opinions with her audience. That’s what a great blogger is according to me.

After you read posts from great bloggers, don’t just turn off your machine and forget about this knowledge they’re so generously sharing. Do this:

  • Make meaningful comments to posts. Bloggers write to help people. Support their conversation with your comments.
  • Respond to a post in on your blog. If you catch writer’s block, this is a sure way to zap it. Take a look at your favorite bloggers’ archives and respond to what you read. Include a link back to that writer’s block-curing post.
  • Retweet. The first two points I brought out take a bit of time. Retweeting an awesome post is quick and shows a blogger you appreciated the time, effort and ingenuity put into a post. This thought includes all forms of social media, Digg it, Stumble it, stick on Facebook.
  • Recommend a blogger. This is a more unseen approach. Most people won’t tell you that Terez told them to check out Successful Blog and all the wonderful professionals writing there. However, a recommendation can go a long way. It gets other bloggers more traffic and possibly more work.

It’s like a boomerang

If you do these things to others, they will do them for you.Other bloggers might not see every Tweet you make about them or realize how many times you’ve recommended them to your friends.But they will recognize you are not focused on yourself.

Whether you’re part of Generation Me or not, I like to think of blogging as the We Generation, not bound by any ages.

How do you promote other bloggers and why?

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Terez Howard operates TheWriteBloggers, a professional blogging service which builds clients’ authority status and net visibility. She has written informative pieces for newspapers, online magazines and blogs, both big and small. She regularly blogs at Freelance Writing Mamas. You’ll find her on Twitter @thewriteblogger.

Thanks, Terez!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Beach Notes: Worming – Some Good Things Take Time and Patience

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by Des Walsh and Suzie Cheel

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The bloke in this picture is “worming”, i.e. out to catch beach worms for bait. You can see he has a bag on the end of a piece of string. In the bag, which he is swishing back and forth across the sand as the tide comes in, he will have put some some berley, very smelly fish – which is why the bag sometimes goes by the very elegant name of “stink bag”, the smellier the better to entice the worms. He will also have a piece of bait in his hand and a pair of worm pliers to take hold of the worm that sticks its head above the sand and fastens onto his bait. Some people use a nylon stocking rather than a bag.

If the fisherman is an old hand at this he has probably discarded the pliers and just uses his fingers to get a grip on the worm and then haul it out.

Not a pasttime for the impatient: Des read where one keen fisherman declared he had taken two years to develop the necessary skills. But ask anyone who fishes off the beach and they’ll tell you the beach worm is the best bait of all.

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh