Take Your Time! Take a Break!

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I really blew it today. I went and posted on my MODern Marketing 4 U Facebook page that I was going to have a new blog today. At first I was gung ho and jumped right in writing about something important I was thinking about. 

600+ words later, it came to a crashing stop. And so it shall remain for now. It just needs a couple sentences to tie it all together. 

Won't be posting that one today. And that's okay. In fact; there’s a valuable lesson in the scenario above.

It’s okay to leave things unfinished sometimes. In this case, it wasn't a timely piece; it can be posted next week and none of the value will diminish. 

Letting your mind go elsewhere be for an hour, a day, or a week, and “letting it bake”, gives your brain time to breathe a bit and the final words that need to be said may come to you. This often happens for me. However, it happens when I’m usually somewhere where paper and pen is not at hand. Sigh.

You probably have a list of a zillion other things to do. Do some of those and check them off! Diversion, distraction!

Put on some good music! Lyrics can sometimes spur on a great thought or idea and maybe even give you what you need to finish those last few sentences!

If you're truly hung up, ask a friend to read what you've written. They may come back at you with a question about something you've forgotten to include. 


Get outside. Just looking at different surroundings clears the mind.

Yesterday I snuck outside three times for ten minute breaks in the sunshine. 

Then, later in the day, I took a brisk walk with camera in hand, determined not to think of anything work related during that time. I concentrated on photographing the local birds. Caution: You have to have some patience and I send a salute to all bird watchers out there!

End result? Cobwebs cleared out so getting back to thinking is nice and clean!

The photos included here are from that walk. 

The good news: When that blog is finally finished, it will sing!

On their second album in 1968, The Left Banke sang about birds in a beautiful ballad (see below). Fly on over to our website, or stop by and nest on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.        

Let Your Blog Flow!

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It’s one of those days. You wake up with a slight headache, and groan about the tasks that need to be done. First up, you read a depressing message from a friend. Oops. Wish you could take that back and start over, right?

However, what you’re dreading most is writing that blog post. Your brain is blank. You turn on music to stimulate it. For once, it’s not working. What to do?

This situation happened to a current client of mine who just started blogging. We wrote part of the first post together. She IS a good writer, so that’s not the issue. It was typing it and making it real that was the issue.

She wrote the second one completely on her own and we went through the steps on formatting it, adding labels, photos, etc. It was interesting and I couldn’t wait to see the third one. Then I got the email. She didn’t want to do it. I called and encouraged her. And she said that the topics she wanted to discuss had changed. I explained that the first two were actually important and spoke to that, since she had set the scene. I pointed out all the directions she could venture into, based on what she had already written. And she was energized by that!

What I’m saying here is let it flow!

My client has a lot to say and has already inspired a few people by her first two posts. Is that a reason to continue? Absolutely.

Take a step back and think about why you are blogging. That may include:

• A desire to inspire others
• Furthering your reputation by displaying your knowledge
• Creating greater awareness for your product or service
• Being one of the first for getting hot topics out there quickly
• Sharing personal thoughts / reflection
• Sharing a strong opinion
• You want to practice writing often to better your skills
• You want to have an audience to bounce ideas off of
• Journaling

And so on and so on. Everyone has a combination of reasons. I didn’t mentioning make money here because that’s a separate subject in itself.

So, what to do on those days when you’re stumped? Go out of the box and let that river run downstream! Back in January, it was slow going for me. I suddenly found myself basking in the sun in the afternoon with a book and a notepad and some music playing. So, I decided to write about it, even though it’s not about my main subject. That post can be found here.  We all need to take a quick breath sometimes! So be it.

Back to blogging: When you’re going off the usual subject matter, as long as it’s written in your usual prose it will likely strike a chord with your readers. After all, they need a break too, right? And it demonstrates your abilities to think beyond the usual. So, no more constraints…let it flow!

Going outside now with a book and a notepad. Here’s a #1 song from 1976 that talks about love flowing; that includes the love of expressing your thoughts and ideas, right? Click here for that tune.

Words, Words, Words! Blogging, Part Two

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For part one, click here.

How much? We’re not talking about an enovel here. Rule of thumb: Assume most people with an interest in your blog are going to allow no more than three minutes to read what you have to say; some will spend as little as a minute. So make it light, breezy and interesting enough to keep them reading to the end.

Keep it around 500 words.  Now, don’t force it to be that; if it’s 400 to 600, that’s okay. As your readership grows, it’s tempting to cram more words into one blog post. Don’t.  Split your subject into two parts instead; you’ll have readers coming back to hear the rest of the story plus you’re adding another touch point. Helpful hint: Don’t plan on a two-parter, then write part one and quit for the day; part two may never happen then. By the time you get around to it, the subject may not be so interesting anymore, so no blog post. Trust me, I know!

Just spit it out. If you haven’t had a lot of experience in the writing arena, write it like you are talking to someone in conversation. Tell the story. Record it first if you have too, then play back and type it up (or use software to do that for you!). You’ll sound natural and come across as true to your readers (because you ARE). You can always tweak it a little for a bit of polish just before posting.

Paragraphs should be no longer than eight lines. Why, you ask? Anything longer than that causes a loss of interest; it's a lot to absorb, a bit overwhelming, and may result in your readers bailing. 

Keep in mind that what you publish will be in a public forum and can be searched. Will what you’re saying prevent you from getting that important job interview? Could it get you fired from your job? Or is it going to portray you as the shining, intelligent person that you are?

As you grow your content and write more, you may find that you are running into time constraints. After all, you’ve been spending time promoting that blog too, no? (that’s another subject we’ll conquer on another day.) Why not get some assistance? Ask people you know that are also subject matter experts in your area to write for your blog. Are they thinking about starting their own blogs?

Let them test the waters by guest starring on yours. One less post you need to write for the week. Ah…relief!

DO write in Word rather than directly in the blog, for several reasons, including these:
•    Easily check word count
•    Easy check spelling and grammar
•    In more recent versions of Word, there’s a built in Thesaurus
•    It’s nice to have a backup of what you’ve written.

And of course, read through what you’ve written. I’m notorious for typing “the” when I mean “they” and “there” instead of “their”; your “quirks” may differ from mine. It’s easy to overlook them yourself, after all, YOU are proofing YOU! Better yet, pass along your draft to another pair of eyes; NOT for the purpose of changing, rearranging or rewriting but just to catch those little blips.  The result: A more professional post that is (most likely) error free, thus ensuring a more enjoyable read for your readers.

Before posting, it’s a good idea to wipe out all that coding “behind the scenes” in Word before actually posting in your blog. Fortunately, it’s an easy step. Using Notepad, copy your text in. Then copy what’s in Notepad to your blog. Formatting SHOULD come out okay, but sometimes there’s a little adjusting, for example, adding space between paragraphs.

Add the title and a related picture. Pictures tell the story too and draw interest to your post. If you must use something from a page on the internet, acknowledging where it came from is a good idea.

Of course, you can add several photos to your post, placing them near the relevant copy. I like to keep it simple with one. My preference is at the top, on the right side, but whatever you are comfortable with works.

Remember, anything gets easier with practice. That goes for the writing and the process of posting as well.



Stay tuned for Part 3...

Thinking about Blogging? Let's Get Started.

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Blogging. Why the heck do people do it anyway? It takes time and makes you want to pull your hair out thinking of something, ANYTHING to write about. Aggravating, isn’t it?
If you are thinking about starting one, DO ask yourself what you expect to get out of it. A few reasons could include:

•    I’ve always wanted to write.
•    I want to share  something I know about with like-minded people
•    I want to establish credibility in my field
•    Just need a place to vent
•    Write? Are you kidding me? I really want to share something visual:
               Videos
                Photos
                Examples of my art 
•    Someone is talking me into it; they think I have potential
•    I need to practice somewhere before I write that book

Obviously, some of those reasons are more valid than others.  So you’ve decided it’s a go. Blogs are free and fairly easy to set up with a customized look. Check out Google Blogger (blogspot) or Wordpress (the free version), two of the more popular sites. Both are fairly intuitive; not too difficult to upload.

Subject matter. What are you passionate about? Cooking, camping, or perhaps you want to review all those wonderful books you read?  The important thing to remember is that YOU are the subject matter expert; much of what you write will likely be based on your knowledgeable opinion. If someone gives you flack about that, hey, it’s all debatable.

The tricky part: Getting it down on paper. Oh! I need to WRITE today. Good luck with that. Forcing yourself will cause brain freeze, without the delight of downing a Slurpee. Try to write when an idea comes to you, or at the very least, write a few sentences as soon as possible so that when you’re ready to start writing, the initial idea has been retained. Sorry to say, but there’s been so many times when my bright ideas have vaporized into thin air, because I never documented them. Poof.

A bunch of bananas: If you’ve written about one subject fairly quickly and you’re feeling mighty pleased with yourself, why not dig in and peel off another one while the creative juices are flowing? You’ll find that this is a great practice. However, if you do tend to write about recent events, this concept won’t work so well, but why not have a couple of more generic subjects that don’t need to be as timely for posting during those times when you’ve hit writer’s block? The important thing to remember is to keep posting consistently. One post in April and seven in May is not a good idea; try to keep the keel even.

How often must I post? Well, that’s up to you of course. Start out with one or two posts a week until you feel comfortable. This is NOT easy to do, unfortunately.  I’m nodding my head with you, because, yes, I have been a slacker in the frequency department. However, if you want to get noticed, you have to have content. And content IS the most important thing.  More on that later…

This is Part 1 of a 4 Part Series. For Part 2, click here, Part 3, click here, and Part 4, click here.

Can Blogs Become Habit Forming? An Experiment. Part 1.

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Recently read an article that had some great ideas on how to be a better blogger. Of course, I forgot to bookmark it. And you know how you never recall everything you read. Luckily, one of the ideas discussed in the article stuck in my head. The author noted that in a mere thirty days, one can improve their writing skills by writing 1,000 words a day. When all is said and done, look back at what you’ve written after a month and marvel at your own self improvement.

Sounds simple enough, right? Okay, I’ll bite.

So, on August 12, I began. Started out writing two articles with pretty darn snappy titles: “Corned Beef Hashtag*” and “Pardon me, YOUR’E Grammar is Showing*” (yes, I know this is the incorrect use of your/you’re here; it’s on purpose). The writing didn’t commence until late in the day; a pesky little thing called procrastination continued to wreak havoc with my good intentions. Pounded out about 500 words in about 30 minutes. Yes! Certainly deserved a break after all that. Snack time! Stood up. Walked away. Came back a short time later. 259 more words tumbled out.

Then I took a look at both articles. The grammar piece was downright horrible. It was almost boiling in tone, nearly telling people to go out and purchase Grammar for Dummies (if there IS such a thing). If there’s a tasteful way to approach the subject of horrendous misuses of grammar with out being preachy, then perhaps that article will someday come to light. But not without a complete redo.

Now, the other entry related to hashtags has some potential. The writing there was much more informative. And, it appears to be a subject that deserves to be explained and poked fun at a bit too. After all, how many times have you seen hashtags on Facebook postings? You do know that there is no such animal on Facebook?

Okay, so maybe half of what I wrote on the first 1,000 words day is usable. Will I be able to say that what I write is of higher quality, has the level of meaning and touches of humor that I strive to inject into each and every offering, and is interesting enough to be read by the masses at the end of this thirty day experiment? Sure hope so.

And now for the bad news. Day two. And how many words were written? Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Oops. Well, they do say it takes thirty days to develop a habit, right? But wait; it’s supposed to be continuous, no? Can I have a mulligan? Thank you. So now, officially, August 14 becomes day one. A new beginning!

For the record, the new day one = 1,037 words. And, according to my rules, it’s okay to go over.

* The author reserves the right to the use of “Corned Beef Hashtag” and “Pardon me, YOU’RE Grammar is Showing”. Those WILL be completed and posted here on this blog. Soon.