The idea for this post came to me in a workshop entitled “Websites that Work,” given by Nansy Grill at Southeastern Christian Writers Conference last month. Her entire session dealt with how to set up a WordPress blog that could also be used as a website.

There are three ways to set up your WordPress site. You can start with option #1 and use that until you build your confidence. You can “graduate” to option #2 or skip to #3 if you feel brave.

Option 1, Free Site with WordPress: Costs only your time and effort. See my how-to article on setting up your free WordPress site here. Note that, with WordPress.com, you cannot have advertising on your site. Hosting, design, and domain name are all free with this plan.

Option 2, Use Domain Mapping and Your Own Domain Name: The URL for your free WordPress site/blog will end with “wordpress.com.” For example, see the site I built for my music club,  http://pmgmartin.wordpress.com/. If I want the name of the club as the URL without the WordPress.com ending, I must buy a domain name. I would pay WordPress for the domain mapping service that would allow my URL to show instead of WordPress URL. See the WordPress support page on how to do this. I’ll pay WordPress $17 per year if I get the domain name from WordPress or $12 if I get it elsewhere. The cost of the domain name registration varies with the registrar. Check out Namecheap.com for their pricing. I’d be getting hosting free this way, but I still can’t have advertising.

Option 3, Self-hosted WordPress Site: With this plan, I buy my domain name, download WordPress from http://wordpress.org, and purchase hosting from a company that offers WordPress hosting services. My site, http://emilyakin.com, is done this way. See the quick-start guide on WordPress.org for more details. I pay for my domain name and hosting. Free themes (designs) are available, but I may choose to pay for a theme. Total cost depends on the choices I make. Cost of hosting could be as little as $80 a year plus domain name cost. Advertising can be used on self-hosted WordPress, so it is possible to offset some of the cost that way.

In a future post, I will share my “adventures” with self-hosted WordPress. Meanwhile, if you have questions or if you have a WordPress site, please let us know by commenting on this post.

• Recycle old posts. First, look for posts that feature outdated information. For example, I recently revamped a post on networking with online writers’ groups. I recommended the same groups, but one of them had changed ownership and/or operating procedures. I changed those few details, removed the old post, and published it again. Also, if your blog is more than a year old, you probably have a number of subscribers for whom this will be new information.
• Compile a link roundup. I follow a number of blogs related to writing and the publishing industry. When I come across an article that covers the same topics I write about on Blog4Writers, I bookmark it. Once a quarter, I post a link roundup using the best of my bookmarked articles. My readers really like the roundups.
• Use guest posts. No time to write? Get someone else to write for you. I have swapped content with The Write Life Newsletter on occasion and with Dianne E. Butts About Writing. This helps my traffic as well as theirs because our subscriber groups are entirely different. Another source of content is Faithwriters online group. Members offer free articles on Faithwriters.com that can be used as guest posts.

Subscribers, if you have other ways of filling the content void, please share them with us by commenting on this post. Note that, with my new design, some people have had trouble with the comment process. Please email me at akinemily@gmail.com if you have trouble.

First, consider what you like in a blog. You want information of value to you in a format and frequency that you like. Then, give your readers what you would like. In other words, be a Golden Rule blogger using the following guidelines.

• Provide good content, a mix of what readers need and what they want. They don’t always want what they really need. And keep your posts short and to the point. Example: I want to understand about the technical aspects of blogging, but I am overwhelmed if you give me too much information in one dose.
• Establish categories to make it easy for new visitors and regular readers to find posts of interest to them. On Blog4Writers, some categories are accessible from the menu at the top of the page, and all of them are listed in the drop-down menu in the sidebar. See the home page here.
• Provide a Search box. Blogger features a search box at the top of all blogs. However, in WordPress, you must add the search feature as a widget in the sidebar.
• Subscribe to other blogs. You can always unsubscribe if you decide the content is not for you. Most people have an e-mail subscription option. If they don’t, you can subscribe with Google Reader or other feed reader.
• Comment on other blogs. It takes a little time, but you will establish a connection with the blog author. On most blogs, the Comment link is either at the top near the title or at the very bottom of the post. My new design features a balloon to the right of the title with a number showing how many posts are there already. Click on it, and you will arrive at the comment box where you enter your message.
• Exchange links with other bloggers. Put their links in your blogroll, and ask them to include your URL in theirs. I’ve put my blogroll on a separate page rather than in the sidebar where most blogs show them.
• Invite other bloggers to guest post on your blog. You can use previously posted material if your subscriber base is different. However, do not use another blogger’s material without permission. See the guest posts on Blog4Writers.

Working together with other bloggers, you can build your subscriber base and make great friends in the process. Who knew that the Golden Rule would be so useful to bloggers?

Writers use Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites to market their work. You want to meet new people, and you want potential readers to know you. But, how do you protect yourself from those who might want to do you harm instead? Today, John concentrates on Facebook safety, but these pointers apply to any online networking site.

• Make sure your profile is secured. Go into the settings for your account and adjust how open your profile is to others. Choose what information and content is visible to certain user groups. Set your profile and content to be viewable only to friends. This way, strangers and others whom you may not know can’t access and view your information.
• Don’t “friend” people you don’t know. This is simply common sense. You wouldn’t call a random phone number and tell a stranger every detail about your life. Would you invite a stranger into your home to go through your family photo albums and find out about your everyday routine? However, many people will confirm people as Facebook friends that they’ve never even met in real life! If someone whom you don’t know adds you as a friend, you can ignore the request.
• Be careful what applications you use. Facebook applications may request permission to access things such as your profile and personal information in order for the application to work. You can choose to allow this, or you can back out and cancel. Be wise when using applications. Companies can potentially invade your privacy if you click “allow” without truly knowing what the application will be doing.
• Be careful what you post. Some things you shouldn’t post on Facebook include the following. Don’t tell when you are going to be gone or out of town. Never post a status along the lines of “Going on vacation next week.” This alerts all your Facebook “friends” that your house will be vacant and they can potentially break in. For people you really need to know that you’ll be gone, just email them instead. Don’t post your address. If you are inviting friends over or posting about a party, don’t post the address as a general status. You should instead send it to each invited person individually. Don’t post your phone number. It could potentially get spread around so that telemarketers or complete strangers could be calling you. Before you post something, read over it and make sure that it doesn’t give away private information that might put you in jeopardy.
• Be careful what you click on. If you see a post or a message from one of your friends that doesn’t seem like something they would normally post, don’t click on it. Just like other websites, Facebook can be used to spread malware. It may appear one of your friends has posted a link, maybe a video or a link to a website. When you click on it, your computer may become infected with a virus that may be spread to your other Facebook friends. These links, once they have been clicked on, can be automatically posted on your friend’s walls or sent to them in a message allowing the infectious virus or malware to spread to their computer, too. These links can be especially awful if they contain inappropriate content, and it looks like you sent it.

Using your head and these tips, you can enjoy Facebook and other networking sites without worry. Remember, it’s always better to be safe than sorry!

Look at what Beth Bence Reinke has created. See it live here.

All the Weebly sites I’ve seen have a clean, uncluttered look and are well-organized for browsing. To learn more about Weebly details, check out the features page. Every writer who responded to my request is pleased with the results. But, I decided to try it out myself. Here’s what I created. I can’t truly say that I gave it a thorough test drive, but the features I used were easy to figure out.

 Weebly Pros:

• Up-to-date look with no ads. Many other free sitebuilders are ad-supported, and you have no choice on the ad content.
• Easy navigation and good Help section.
• Includes blog feature. Many free services do not offer the blog option.
• It’s free. And, you can upgrade to paid account if you need it.

Weebly Cons:

• Some users say the sitebuilder operates very slowly during editing. I, for one, could not put up with that.
• Currently, you cannot upload or transfer existing web pages to Weebly. You have to start from scratch.
• There is no live support. All “help” is done by e-mail.

Examples of other writers’ sites created with Weebly:

Londa S. Hayden, Writer

Sue Tornai, Writer (custom header)

Martha Suddarth, Writer-Teacher (She has several sites, but I chose this one to show you.)

Check it out yourself. You can set up a free account without giving a credit card. Subscribers, if you use Weebly, please comment on this post and share your opinion.

Online User Reviews:

http://www.easywebsitebuilders.net/best/weebly/

http://download.cnet.com/Weebly/3640-12945_4-10713105.html

http://www.websitetooltester.com/en/reviews/weebly-review/

http://www.100webhosting.com/weebly-free-web-hosting-review/

http://milkshakemelody.com/figurvore/index.php?topic=742.0

How can a book review blog help you promote your writing? Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? When I started my book review blog in June of 2007, I didn’t plan to use it for anything other than sharing my thoughts about the books I was reading. But, now I’m getting free books to review and the traffic from the book review blog has helped increase the traffic to my website.

The main driver of traffic to my blog is my membership in the Thomas Nelson Publishers BookSneeze.com book review program. See details here. You must have an established book review blog in order to apply for the program. Because links of my reviews are on the BookSneeze site, I get traffic direct from Thomas Nelson. And, once visitors come to my blog, they sometimes click over to my website. It’s given me more traffic than I ever dreamed of. I also get books from author friends who know I have the blog. And, most of the time, I do not ask for these books, they just arrive in my mailbox.

I should be enthusiastic about the blog, then, shouldn’t I? Well, like any endeavor, Tennessee Christian Reader has its good points and bad points. And some points that I haven’t made up my mind about.

The Good

• Free books.
• Increased traffic to book review blog and my website.
• My book reviewing skills have improved because I had the opportunity to study the book review guidelines on BookSneeze. (This is available only to members once approved).

The Bad

• You have to read the books. (Go ahead and laugh, but it takes a lot of time from writing).
• You won’t always get the books you want. Because you have to post a review on any book you currently have before you can request another book, you’ll sometimes miss books you really want.
• BookSneeze is currently offering more ebooks than print books. Some are available in both formats, though.

The Uncertain

• Monetization? I put an Amazon associates link for every book review post. I say something like, “Take a look at this book on Amazon.com.” So far, I have earned nothing at all from Amazon sales.
• Promotion value? Is the increased traffic I’m getting helping me promote my writing? I don’t see increased subscribers to Blog4Writers. I don’t get invited to guest post on other blogs. There is no way to know if the time I spend on the book review blog is doing me any good.
• Reviews can be reworked to fit print pub guidelines and submitted as reprints. But, I wonder how many editors like previously published reviews.

I also have some reviews of writing books on Blog4Writers. Check them out here. I found that these reviews helped me build content for my writers’ blog while improving my knowledge about writing.

What about you? Do you write book reviews? Please share your experience by commenting on this post.

Google Reader is adequate for organizing your blog reading, but I am sold on FeedDemon. And here’s why:

• It’s on my desktop, so I can catch up on reading even when I’m not online. Photos don’t show up offline, and I can’t link to the blog site, but I can read the content.
• I can choose to view Full Posts, Summaries, or Headlines in the article list.
• Unread articles show in bold, plus, you can “star” unread articles just as in Google Reader. But in the reading window, you have a number of viewing choices. I use Unread or Starred, but you can choose Unread, Starred, Today, Last 24 Hours, Last 48 Hours, This Week, Last Week, or All Articles.
• Subscribe within FeedDemon if you like, but I usually subscribe with Google Reader. It’s handier when you’re surfing the web, and it syncs with FeedDemon the next time you open it.
• You can easily unsubscribe within FeedDemon. Just right-click on the blog title and choose Unsubscribe.
• If you get too far behind in your reading, you can right-click on the Subscriptions folder and Mark All Feeds Read.
• The Watches folder has subfolders entitled Unread Articles and Starred Articles. If you’re in a hurry, you can just view unread material. If you’ve starred articles to read later, you don’t have to hunt down the blog on the main list. It will be easier to find on the starred list.

When I open FeedDemon, here’s what my display looks like. I do not show the full screen because, if I shrink the graphic to fit the space, you can’t read the text.

And, here’s my reading method. I usually start at the top of the Subscription list. When I click on a blog showing unread articles, it shows them all on the right. I scan the titles. If I’m not at all interested, I Mark All Unread by clicking on the newspaper icon at the top left of the frame. If something looks interesting but complicated, I can leave it marked unread to return to later. Sometimes I’ll read a piece that I might want to read again or use as a reference. I star these articles so they’ll be easier to find.

It’s possible to be subscribed to too many blogs. If I find myself routinely skipping the content of a particular blog, I unsubscribe. Every couple of months, I have a cleanout of my blog list. Like my closet, FeedDemon gets cluttered.

Give FeedDemon a try. Develop your own methods for organizing and reading your subscriptions, and tell me what you think.

How-to Information:

Download FeedDemon 4.0.0.22 here.

How to set up Feed Demon

Before we get into the how-to, I want to mention this. A Christian friend was horrified that I would use a tool with the word “demon” in its name. I looked up “demon” on the Merriam-Webster site, and the fourth definition is probably what the creators of FeedDemon had in mind: “one that has exceptional enthusiasm, drive, or effectiveness.” I have to admit that nothing about the name was a put-off for me, but I felt I had to mention that.

FeedDemon is a desktop program that you can download FREE at FeedDemon.com. There are two versions. “FeedDemon Lite is free ad-supported software which contains a subset of the features found in FeedDemon Pro. Features available only in the Pro version are listed here” (copied from FAQ page).

To use FeedDemon effectively, you must have a Google Reader account. FeedDemon syncs with Google Reader so that you don’t have to worry about losing your marked or unread articles. If you already use Google Reader, skip down to the Further Information section for tips on using the reader. Here are some pointers on getting your Google Reader set up.

• If you already use Gmail, you do not need to create a new account. Look for the link to Reader at the top of the Gmail page once you’re logged in.
• If Blogger (Blogspot) is the only Google service you use, go to Google.com and log in with your Blogger username and password. Once logged in, click on More and you’ll see a drop-down list with Reader toward the bottom. Click on Reader, and you’re there.
• For those who are not familiar with how feed readers work, take minute to check out this beginner guide on how to set up Google Reader. Or, you can start with the Google Help Forum.

In the next post, I’ll share my favorite features of FeedDemon and provide information on downloading and setting it up.

This is the first of two posts on how to use FeedDemon desktop RSS reader to minimize your time and effort following blogs.

Further Information:

Google Reader: Cut the Time You Spend Reading on the Web

YouTube video (8 minutes) on how to use Google Reader

Customized Blogs: These are done by the writer (alone) and still free but customized in some way.

• Sherry M. Cook’s The Shoebox Chronicle has a custom background (free from ShabbyBlogs.com). It appears that this source provides a number of free enhancements for Blogger blogs. I think the Blogger template she uses is no longer available.
• Go Ahead and Wear the Purple by Peggy Blann Phifer uses Blogger’s “Travel” template, but she created her own custom colors with Corel’s Paintshop Pro.

More “Plain” Blogger Blogs: Judy P. Davis has done three using free templates:

• http://reflectionsfromagrandparentsheart.blogspot.com/
• http://cgcwriters.blogspot.com/
• http://judypatrickdavis.blogspot.com/

More “Plain” WordPress Blogs:

• My humor blog: http://forlaughs.wordpress.com/
• Idahope Writers offer free audio files of workshops on their blog: http://idahopewriters.wordpress.com/.

WordPress Self-hosted Blogs: Themes (designs) are free, but writer pays for hosting. Andrea Graham shares her three WordPress blogs:

• Helping You Whip Flabby Novel Manuscripts Into Shape: http://www.povbootcamp.com
• Christian Advice an Book Reviews: http://www.askandrea.adamsweb.us
• Reviving Episodic Fiction : http://laserandsword.com

Thanks to everyone who submitted their blogs for this post. Next week, I want to get on to another subject. However, you can promote your blog by commenting on this one. Just be sure to include your blog URL in your comment.

The purpose of this post is to show you some writer blogs that are (1) FREE and (2) done by writers who are admittedly not tech-savvy. I’ve limited my examples to Blogger and WordPress. Each writer created his or her own blog using free designs provided by the blog service. Some are customized with options included in their free design, but none of the blogs listed below was tinkered with by anyone other than the author.

Blogger:

• Sue Tornai’s Reflections of God’s Glory (free Blogger design).
• My book review blog, Tennessee Christian Reader (free design with header modifications included in the free design).
• The Stream’s Edge by Jeanne Doyon (uses free design and custom components provided with the design).
• Kentucky Christian Writers Conference blog (free design, static pages added).

WordPress:

• Pat Rowland’s Prayerful Ponderings (Using the custom header feature in her free design, Pat uploaded a photo that her son provided).
• Deborah Hemstreet’s Hope for the Hope-Challenged (Uses a free template from TemplateLite.com).
• Sue Tornai has two WordPress blogs: Kid Konnection (free WordPress design) and Pathways to Publication (using the same basic design as Pat Rowland’s but with one of the standard photos in the custom header).
• My devotional blog: Devojournal (free WordPress Theme).

If you have a blog that uses a free service and has not been extensively customized, I will happily publish your link in the future. The writers included in this post responded to my invitation on Christian Writers Fellowship International online group. If you sent me a link and your blog is not shown, I’m saving it for a later post. E-mail me at akinemily@gmail.com or post a comment on this post to send me the link to your blog.

Next week, I’ll show you how to have your blog and your website in all in one. Meanwhile, if you aren’t blogging, you need to get started. Here’s some how-to information:

• Free Site with WordPress
• Beginner’s Guide to Blogging with Blogger