• 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 First, look for posts that feature outdated information.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?

Most successful bloggers will tell you that you can create interest in your blog by commenting on the blogs of others. I’m including a link to an article on that subject below. I was surprised to learn that some people don’t know how to comment on other blogs, so I’m providing directions for my blog here, along with links to other resources on the subject.

How to Comment on Blog4Writers:

• Go to this article on the blog site by clicking here. Find the comments link at the top of the article. It will show “No Comments” or the number of comments that have already been left.
• Click on the Comments link.
• Once the page has refreshed, scroll to the bottom to find the comment box.
• Fill out the form, and click Submit.
• Wait for your comment to be approved. If you have had one comment approved on my blog in the past, all subsequent comments will automatically be approved.

How to Comment on WordPress Blogs: Depending on the design of the theme, the comments feature on a WordPress blog will work like mine does. However, some of the designs place the comments link at the bottom of the article. Instead of “No Comments,” you might see “Leave a Comment.” It works the same way except that you might not have to scroll down to find the comment box.

How to Comment on Blogger Blogs: See the tutorial at this link.

Make a New Year’s resolution to follow other writers’ blogs and to comment on them frequently. Make sure your comment is relevant to the post. Include a link to your blog in your comment to encourage readers to visit you.

Further Information:

“Leave Comments on Other Blogs” – Excerpt from 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook by Darren Rowse (ProBlogger).

How can you know whether your blog is accomplishing what you want it to? How do you measure success? First, you must come up with your own definition of success for your blog. Decide on your reason for blogging. Then devise a way to measure your progress.

• Making money: This one is easy. If you’re not making money, you’re not succeeding. However, sometimes it takes a while to build clientele. Expect income to start small and increase over time.
• Traffic: If you’re blogging to find readers, you need to know how many you have. Visitors are those who land on your blog and read it at random. Subscribers are regular readers who sign up to get your material regularly. You can track those subscribers by using a service like Feedburner. See my previous post on Feedburner here. Then, read my previous post about how I follow traffic stats with Google Analytics.
• Participation: You can have traffic and subscribers, but you don’t know whether anyone is reading your material unless your visitors comment on your posts or participate in your surveys. One way to increase comments on your blog is to find other writers’ blogs and comment on theirs. They’ll be willing to help you if you help them.

So—don’t be discouraged. Create your blog, and decide what you want from it. You are the CEO of your blog, so you get to set the goals and define success.

More Information:

Measure Blog Progress

Announcement: The winner of drawing for Max Lucado’s Cast of Characters has not responded to my e-mail. If your e-mail address begins with “kbruins,” please e-mail me at akinemily@gmail.com and provide your name and mailing address so that I can send you your book.

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Next week’s post will be a guest article by writer, speaker, and workshop leader, Tracy Crump. She’ll share her adventures setting up her own website using Homestead.

In order to get your opinion, I’ve included a one-question survey in this post. Please take a minute to answer the question to help me plan future content for Blog4writers.

Take Our Poll

This site is designed with WordPress (see WordPress.org), so I searched for a survey tool that would work within WordPress. Of the available plugins, PollDaddy was the highest rated. I’ll post an evaluation after I’ve had a chance to run a few surveys. So, help me out and participate in this one.

Results will be reported in next week’s post which will consist of my evaluation of Microsoft Office Live Small Business website tools.

Guest Post Invitation: If you are a writer/blogger who has experience using another method of conducting surveys, consider submitting an article for a guest post on Blog4writers. Articles should be about 500 words and will be edited for grammar, style, and length. If accepted, your article will be posted at my discretion. Query akinemily@gmail.com.

Additional Resources: Other methods of conducting surveys are available. Here’s a fairly exhaustive list.

Web site for Newbie Writers (appears to be based in UK, but About link is not working for me today.

20 Hi-Tech Tools and Resources for Writers

Web Sites and Blogging

Author Tech Tips: The Top 5 Author Website Mistakes

New Rule for Book Review Bloggers

Online Security

5 Essential Tips to Keep Your PC Safe

Publishing Industry

Options in the Price War Over Books

If you have articles or Web site URLs to share, please post a comment. Next week, I hope to be done with my evaluation of the free brainstorming software, Personal Brain 5. If you have used this software, please contact me at akinemily(a)gmail.com.

I have this blog, plus I do the blog for Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Check out the others, Tennessee Christian Reader, which is a book review blog, and my devotional journal.

If you have a Google or Gmail account, you can start blogging on Blogger right away. There are several designs to choose from. Some of the blogs I follow use Blogger and add their own unique design. This blog is a basic Blogger design with my own graphics in the heading. Others get really creative with their designs, still using Blogger:

Kathy Carlton Willis Communications
Little Nuances by Lee Warren
Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent
The Writing Life by Terry Whalin

Get started blogging today! Set it up and practice until you’re ready to let the public know about it. Meanwhile, I invite you to subscribe to any and all of my blogs.

If you are a writer, there are some publishing industry blogs that you really should follow. I won’t share my entire list, but here are the ones I find most valuable for myself as a Christian writer.

Sally Stuart (Christian Writers’ Market Guide): http://stuartmarket.blogspot.com/

Jim Watkins (Author, Editor, Speaker): http://jameswatkins.wordpress.com/

Terry Whalin (Author, Agent): http://terrywhalin.blogspot.com/

Michael Hyatt (CEO Thomas Nelson Publishing): http://www.michaelhyatt.com/fromwhereisit/

Christian Authors Network: http://canblog.typepad.com/canbookmarketing/

Some of my other favorites are:

Lawrence Wilson (Wesleyan Publishing House): http://www.lawrencewilson.com/index.htm

Ron Ovitt’s Devotional Blog: http://devog.wordpress.com/

Jerry Brecheisen: http://brecksong.com/

When I talk to other writers about following blogs, they often ask me how I find time to follow so many. I use the feeds feature in Internet Explorer 7 favorites menu. There’s a tour of the feature on the Microsoft site. What I really like about this method is that I can see my whole list of blogs at once. The blog names that have updated material appear in bold type. I check my favorites first, and, if I run out of time, I come back later to check the others. Information on how Mozilla Firefox’s readers are here.

If you use an older version of Internet Explorer, you should be able to upgrade to IE7 on the Microsoft site. I don’t use Mozilla Firefox myself, so I don’t know whether you can upgrade from older versions or not.

The only downside of following blogs on your Web browser is that you can’t access your list from other computers. Next post, I’ll discuss some of the online feed aggregators I’ve tried.

Meanwhile, feel free to comment on this post and share any knowledge you might have on this subject. I invite you to subscribe, too.

I’ve noticed many other writers like WordPress or Typepad. My primary criterion was that the blog service be free. Next, I wanted it to be easy to use…”intuitive” in Geek-speak. Typepad costs, or at least it did when I was doing my evaluation, so I didn’t even consider trying it.

I’ve decided to stay with Blogger after experimenting with WordPress. Although WordPress does have features that Blogger doesn’t, I think Blogger is easier to use and has more features that I want for my purposes. There’s plenty of help available through the regular Help channel and there’s a blog on using Blogger, too.

I’ve done some research on what others think about this subject. Here’s some info that helped me make my decision.

http://pulsed.blogspot.com/2007/07/blogger-wordpress-chart.html

http://www.jonbishop.org/2008/05/blogger-vs-wordpress/

Many writers are using blogs in lieu of a Web site to promote their work. I’m not sure it’s a good substitute, but it’s working for some people.