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Newsroom (Index)
1. Working Writers, 2. Fast Cash Freelance, 3. Screenwriting News, 4. Writers Write, 5. Writers in the Sky, 6. Study Student News,7. Copyblogger, 8. Photography News, 9. Graphic Design News, 10. E-Media Tidbits, 11. Bloggers Blog,
12. Creative Freelancing, 13. Copyright Law, 14. Book Deals,
15. Book Publishing News,16. Readers Read, 17. Literacy News,
18. Write Better, 19. Horror Fiction News |
 Copyblogger
• The Oscar the Grouch Guide to Building a More Remarkable Blog
by Sonia Simone
6 Nov 2009 at 7:33am
This week marked the 40th anniversary of the breakthrough TV program Sesame Street. I’ve written before about some of the many lessons you can learn from this cultural icon, but today I’m going to zero in something new.
You might have an Elmo blog, a Cookie Monster blog, or a Big Bird blog. (How you define those is up to you.)
But some of the smartest and most successful bloggers out there bear more in common with the show’s least-likeable character: Oscar the Grouch.
Oscar was an important character from the show’s beginning, and on the surface he doesn’t seem to quite fit in.
Everyone else on Sesame Street is pretty much cheerful and happy all the time. They have infinite patience, everyone loves children, and friendship is king.
Oscar, on the other hand, hates kittens, rainbows, and having a nice day. He loves anything dirty or dingy or rusty.
He was always my dad’s favorite character on the show, which annoyed me to no end when I was six. These days, I’m starting to see my dad’s point.
Oscar doesn’t want everyone to love him. (That would be his biggest nightmare, in fact.) He does his own thing, he lives the way he wants to live, and he’s n... ( cont'd )
• Here’s Something to Think (and Talk) About
by Brian Clark
5 Nov 2009 at 6:55am
I’m flying to New York City today for the Audience Conference, so I thought I’d share a quotation about the relationship between writers (or any content creator) and the people they hope to connect with.
When talented people write badly it’s generally for one of two reasons:
Either they’re blinded by an idea they feel compelled to prove or they’re driven by an emotion they must express.
When talented people write well, it is generally for this reason:
They’re moved by a desire to touch the audience.
~Robert McKee
Let’s discuss. What do McKee’s words mean to you?
About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and co-founder of DIY Themes, creator of the innovative Thesis Theme for WordPress. Get more from Brian on Twitter.
• Get Off Your Computer and Become a Better Blogger
by James Chartrand
4 Nov 2009 at 6:45am
Bloggers spend a lot of time on their computers. They're posting, reading, commenting on other blogs, sending Tweets, checking half a dozen social networking sites, and generally being web-geeky.
They find something interesting or random, and then clue in other people to that interesting or random thing.
This is how blog posts gain steam on Digg or go viral. This is how we find out about new YouTube videos. This is how we communicate now.
Except we don't.
We were people before we were bloggers
Think about the blogs that you like the most. Like, to pick a totally random example, mine. ;)
Do you like them because they told you something weird or peculiar that you didn't know about before? Or do you like them because you enjoy what the post says? Because you like the way the article was written? Because you like the style of the author, the blog’s sense of humor, the way the blogger turns a phrase?
Great bloggers become great because they have a unique style and way of thinking. Here's the kicker, though: They were that way before they ever became bloggers.
Dave Navarro over at The Launch Coach? He was a pretty great dude before blogging was ev... ( cont'd )
• The Quentin Tarantino Guide to Creating Killer Content
by Sean Platt
3 Nov 2009 at 5:58am
In a recent Copyblogger post discussing how the king of content is being slowly usurped by the Crown Prince of Context, author Larry Brooks referenced the remarkable opening scene of Quentin Tarantino's new movie Inglorious Basterds.
There are few writers like Tarantino, and though his verbal carpet bombs and kinetic escalation of violence aren’t for everyone, there is no doubt that the dude follows his muse. Those who love him will eagerly wait in lines wrapped around the block to show their support.
In short, Tarantino sells it every time. And by it, I mean an ironclad belief in the worlds he’s created.
On Larry’s post, a great conversation continued downstairs in the comments, where a second Tarantino clip was referenced, the "Sicilian Scene" from True Romance. Though I love both movies, I was inspired to write this post by a scene from Tarantino's earliest feature, Reservoir Dogs.
Selling it
In Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino assembles a marvelous scene, on the surface about gaining the confidence of the men the protagonist plans to double cross. Closer inspection reveals the scene for what it really is, a seven-and-a-half-minute love letter to t... ( cont'd )
• How to Get Lucky With Content Marketing
by Traci Feit Love
2 Nov 2009 at 7:36am
Do you feel like you're fighting for every page view your blog receives?
Do you wonder why you're struggling to find readers when other bloggers seem to just hit "publish" and the world comes running?
It may be tempting to throw up your hands and say, "those other guys have all the luck," but it won't get you anywhere.
The truth is, those "lucky" people are doing something you're not doing.
(Or they're doing what you are doing, but better.)
If you want to get lucky, you're going to have to give up the "poor me" attitude and make some changes. Here are some ideas.
Listen before you talk
Two guys walk into a bar (humor me here). The first guy walks up to a woman and says, "Hi. I make a lot of money and drive a really fast car, so you will definitely want to go out with me. Here's my number. When you're ready to go out, call me."
The second guy sits down at the bar and listens. He hears the woman next to him complain to the bartender that the last Italian restaurant she tried was terrible, and that she couldn't seem to find good Italian food nearby. When there's a break in the conversation, he says, "Excuse me, but I couldn't help overhea... ( cont'd )
• The Thesis Theme for WordPress Gets Even Better
by Brian Clark
31 Oct 2009 at 6:38am
There’s a new version of Thesis out that has our customers excited, thanks to some really cool new features. And it occurred to me that there are a lot of new Copyblogger subscribers who might use WordPress, and yet not really “get” what this Thesis thing is all about.
So in this post I’ll tell you what’s brand new in Thesis 1.6, and also bring everyone up to speed on why Thesis makes WordPress way better.
What is the Thesis Theme for WordPress?
Thesis is the flagship product of DIY Themes, a partnership between Chris Pearson and I. It’s the theme framework that powers Copyblogger and many other high-traffic sites.
In a nutshell, Thesis is software that delivers rock-solid SEO website code, plus unprecedented design flexibility for WordPress -- without requiring the novice user to code anything.
For sophisticated users, Thesis is a search-optimized development framework that allows designers and web developers to build sites better and faster than ever before.
* SEO
Search legend Danny Sullivan, Google’s Matt Cutts, and Microsoft search engineer Jeremiah Andrick all use Thesis for their sites. So does search and affiliate marketing entrepreneur... ( cont'd )
• What’s Your Blog Going to Be for Halloween?
by Sonia Simone
30 Oct 2009 at 5:56am
It’s that time of year again . . . time to get your trick-or-treating gear ready.
Trust me, this year you’re too old to troll the neighborhood begging for miniature Twix bars. Your neighbors are wise to you and your “Eminem costume.”
Instead, how about putting a little thought into what your blog will be this Halloween?
Sure, you can go the cheap and easy way and get a Perez Hilton mask, but where’s the fun in that? Instead, look through this collection of spooky archetypes and see if you can spot your blog on the list.
The devil
Instead of a pitchfork, the devil blog sports a yellow highlighter and screaming red headlines.
The devil blog is all about setting up scams and systems so you don’t need to show up to write every day. Sure, the convoluted "blueprint" you paid for that combines scraped content, Adwords arbitrage, and finding a source for counterfeit Acai berries is going to take you about three months to build. And that's if you don't sleep. But one day it’s gonna pay off big, baby.
The devil blog is all about the blogger. Your needs, your income, your rewards, and to hell with your readers, or anyone else for that matter.
Double b... ( cont'd )
• The 3 Fatal Diseases that Kill Good Blogs
by Nathan Hangen
29 Oct 2009 at 7:28am
 Picture this. You’re in a fancy night club, one of the best in Vegas. You're drinking free beer and watching 50 or 100 people party to heavy beats and exotic dance tunes. You should be enjoying the mood . . . maybe even letting a dance sneak out every now and then.
But instead, you're off in the corner talking business. Not just any business either. You're talking about the business of blogging.
I know . . . pretty lame right?
But hold that thought, because although on the surface it seems like you're missing the point of the "nightclub experience," the truth is that you are working feverishly to solve a problem that plagues the blogging world.
It might not be life or death, but the fact that most bloggers don't see it is cause for great concern. So what's the problem?
Bloggers make terrible businesspeople
I was at the Bank in the Bellagio hotel earlier this month, talking with my pal Rich Lazzara, and we started talking about something we noticed during the first two days of the Blogworld Expo.
Rich mentioned to me that bloggers were crappy business people (that's putting it nicely) and proposed that if people like you and I started treatin... ( cont'd )
• 7 Bad Writing Habits You Learned in School
by Jonathan Morrow
28 Oct 2009 at 7:43am
What is good writing?
Ask an English teacher, and they'll tell you good writing is grammatically correct. They'll tell you it makes a point and supports it with evidence. Maybe, if they're really honest, they'll admit it has a scholarly tone -- prose that sounds like Jane Austen earns an A, while a paper that could've been written by Willie Nelson scores a B (or worse).
Not all English teachers abide by this system, but the vast majority do. Just look at the writing of most graduates, and you'll see what I mean. It's proper, polite, and just polished enough not to embarrass anyone. Mission accomplished, as far as our schools are concerned.
But let me ask you something:
Is that really good writing?
I think most good writers listen to the way English teachers want them to write and think, "This isn't real. It has no feeling, no distinctiveness, no oomph. You're the only person in the world who would willingly read it. Everyone else would rather chew off their own eyelids than read more than three pages of this boring crap." And they're right.
Compare an award-winning essay to a best-selling novel, and you'll notice that they are written in almost ... ( cont'd )
• Three Ways to Make Your Competitors Irrelevant
by Brian Clark
27 Oct 2009 at 8:06am
Buying online is a consumer’s paradise, right?
One can compare competing offers ‘til the heart’s content, all with simple clicks of a mouse.
Well, it’s not that great if you happen to sell online.
And what if I told you it’s not really that great for consumers, either?
Sound crazy? Read on.
Preface: Start with a killer product or service
This should go without saying in our age of global competition and reduced barriers to entry. But so often merchants are looking for a magic bullet to widely distribute something that the market simply finds inferior.
The problem is, there are plenty of people out there with exceptional products and services who are losing out to others with lesser offerings and higher prices.
What’s going on with that?
Superior marketing and sales techniques, that’s what. Here are 3 ways to level the playing field (or even tip the scales in your favor).
1. Eliminate competition with artful positioning
Wouldn’t selling online be wonderful without competition? Well, it’s possible, if only to the extent that a certain type of person considers you the absolute only option. Yes, it’s our friend positioning again, and we’ll kee... ( cont'd )
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Newsroom (Index)
1. Working Writers, 2. Fast Cash Freelance, 3. Screenwriting News, 4. Writers Write, 5. Writers in the Sky, 6. Study Student News,7. Copyblogger, 8. Photography News, 9. Graphic Design News, 10. E-Media Tidbits, 11. Bloggers Blog,
12. Creative Freelancing, 13. Copyright Law, 14. Book Deals,
15. Book Publishing News,16. Readers Read, 17. Literacy News,
18. Write Better, 19. Horror Fiction News |
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