After doing a bit of a data clean up on my Phone, I discovered that around 80% of my blog posts had been sparked off by me tapping away on my BlackBerry.

I tend to use my phone to jot down blog post ideas/structure and then flesh them out later.
I find that this works for me, as it suits my current lifestyle.

To further increase my productivity, I normally plug in my Sennheiser CX300II earphones and find the hardest inspirational instrument track. This is my cup of tea.

And guess what… once your state of mind is relaxed and comfortable, it reflects in your writing.
I talked about this in greater length in my Build a superstar Blog e-Book – Discover Your Creative Zone.

I am the first to admit, I am not a natural writer – so therefore, as motivation, my environment and state of mind needs to be right.

Some of you may have discovered this already, especially if you’ve been writing a while.
I would love hear how you zone out to blog.

There are a few guidelines to bear in mind when sending emails to your mailing list.

• Provide something of value when you email your list.

• Put the most important information at the top of your email.

• Try to keep content clear, concise and only to what is really needed.
  You have approximately 3 seconds to get your viewer to open your email and read further.

• Bear in mind that not everyone will be able to view the images within your email.
  If you can, try to keep this as text as it will not appear if people have images switched off.
  Also consider those who are partially-sighted or blind and are using a screen reader. If images are used, specify its Alt tag with an image name/description.

• Emails tend to appear differently depending on which email provider the receiver is using (Google, MS Outlook, Yahoo etc.) Always send test copies.

• Legally, all emails should provide users with an option to unsubscribe from.
  Email marketing software such as Aweber is very good at handling this.

• Some marketing emails tend to remind users why they are receiving updates. This is optional.

Have I missed out any?

You may wish read a related post: Plan Your Marketing Campaign

Blogs can be a great medium to express and share views to the big world.
They are also a fantastic platform for building and assisting online businesses.
However, due to several reasons many blogs fail to take off.
In this post, I will be highlighting some of the reasons and how to steer clear of them.

Bad content

First up is Bad content. This is usually information or service you are offering.
If the information inaccurate or poorly presented, this could be a big turn off.

You can improve your writing skills by researching, reading or even getting someone to proof read your stuff.
You may wish to read my post on this subject.
7 ways to writing effective web content

Lack of focus

If your blog offers everything under the sun and not targeted, then no one knows what you’re about.
Rather, be a specialist. Specialise in a specific areas and get known for it.

Lack of traffic

Lack of traffic is another reason why many blogs fails.
What’s the point having the greatest / timely information in the world, if no one is around to consume it.

Work on pulling people in. I have three posts that can help you.
3 Ways to get more traffic this weekend
4 simple ways to attract more traffic to your blog
where your potential readers hang out

Bad marketing

You need understand and master the skill of marketing, it can be the difference between a dormant and income generating blog.
You can have all the traffic in the world, great content, niche blog, but if you can’t get your information out there in an effective way, you could miss out on some opportunities.
Effective marketing requires timely and a strategic approach.

Being in a bad market

Being in the wrong market can hinder your progress from day one.
Finding yourself in a market where audience aren’t interested in what you’re saying or prepared bring out their wallets, is going to be a bit of a struggle.

Rather, you want to find a market with good opportunities and something of interest.
It’s finding the balance between, what is profitable and what you enjoy doing.

This is a guest post by my lovely wife Yemi’, of MsLuffa
After reading Build a Superstar Blog ebook, my wife and I got into a bit of a discussion.  She’s convinced that even though you don’t own a blog, you’re very much a blogger. It didn’t make much sense to me, mainly because in my head a blogger is someone who owns and manages a blog. But she believes that some readers and visitors take part in the blogging process – reading entries, posting comments, and promoting blogs so much that they are bloggers themselves.

…She writes;
It’s easy to get caught up in a blog bubble and assume that everyone we’re interacting with on our blogs are bloggers. Well, yes and no.

Thinking back to my pre-blogging days when I used to get forwards to blogs, and extracts from blogs sent by email. I was always tempted to visit the actual blog and leave a comment. Notwithstanding, for a long time, I was a phantom visitor. I’d visit the blog, enjoy its goodies, and disappear leaving no trace of myself other than being counted as one of the day’s visitors.
But once I did I was enthralled in what the blog had to offer and felt so very much a part of the blogging process by interacting with other readers that I felt like a bona fide blogger well before I owned my own blog.

This goes to show that you use social networking to promote your blog, but what goes a long way is when others promote you as well – you reach an audience you otherwise wouldn’t have reached.

It took a lot to get me to start blogging. And even though I’ve been doing it for a few months, I’m not a professional blogger, I just happen to write my thoughts online where everyone else can read and respond to them –and if they don’t that’s cool, as long as my thoughts are not bottled up.

Looking at the stats of visitors on my blog, I’ve come to embrace the phantom blogger – as a different breed of blogger. Those who’d pop in and pop out and leave no trace of themselves. Thinking about them helps me realise that the contents of your blog are not static, they just don’t sit on a webpage, and it’s got legs and can go really far, you’ve just got to motivate it to explore the world.

So what do you think? Is my Mrs right? Are non blog owners a different breed or bloggers, or should we just leave them in the readers category waiting to make the transition to blogging.

The wait is finally over and the long awaited e-book is here. Yay!!

You can now download now this fantastic e-book Build a Superstar Blog

Build a superstar blog is a clever concept of introducing the business model in the music industry and re-applying it to blogging world.

Being a huge music lover, and knowledge of the industry, I simply brought the two worlds together this my e-book. The world of a music artists meeting the world of bloggers.

The same way a music artist goes through the hustle of getting discovered, signing a record deal, developing a fan base and aspiring for superstar status likewise a blogger builds credibility, exposure, a community and ends up being a leader or authority in his/her niche.

Whether you’re a blogging pro or a complete newbie, this e-book throws a fresh approach on blogging from a business standpoint.
I am very confident you will like it.

www.buildasuperstarblog.com

I also look forward to hearing your feedback.

Enjoy

(1) When you select “Save Draft” and the “Publish” button appears to be loading…

“what the deuce!!” – Stewie
This is sometimes uncomfortable to watch, especially if your content isn’t ready for public viewing. I’m getting used to it now, but I still watch it just to make sure.

(2) When presented with a white screen right upgrading WordPress

“errm, what do I do now??”
From experience, a simple page refresh normally brings things back to normal again.

(3) Dodgy WordPress plugins that breaks everything on your blog.

“arghh”
In some cases, it takes a while to identify the culprit plugin.
Before installing a plugin, I normal check its compatibility status . This can be found at wordpress.org/extend

Do you have any moments to share?

The style of writing for printed media is often inappropriate to the needs and habits of web users, so developing content for a website/blog usually means writing new material.

Listed below are a few pointers you should keep in mind

(1) Make it scannable

Users don’t read websites, but scan them for the information they want. Use headings, bulleted lists, and emphasis to draw attention to key points

(2) Be concise

Reading from a screen is much slower than reading from paper, and many users don’t like having to scroll down. Aim to write 50% less text than you would for a printed publication

(3) Start strongly

Summarise the main points of the page in the first paragraph. This could also be stats information relating to your topic.

(4) Be clear

Keep sentences simple, paragraphs short, and avoid jargons

(5) Be friendly

Address the user as ‘you’ and keep the tone warm, polite, and personable

(6) Make links meaningful

‘click here’ gives the user no idea of what to expect, and is of no help to a blind or partially sighted user viewing the site with a screen reader

(7) Write good headlines

This is normally the first thing readers see either via your blog or RSS reader.
- this gets them through the door.

Have I missed any? Over to you

Several months ago, I ran a poll on this blog asking readers how I could help them or what they would like to see more of.

It turns out a large majority of them had a business related blog and were interested in making money online – No surprises here.

Based on research and practical application, there isn’t much secret to it. It’s really down to applying business skills. The same principle you would apply to an offline business would apply to an online business.

So my plan here was to deliver a practical example from a offline business world and apply it to the blogging world.

Being a huge music lover, a former home studio music producer with knowledge of the music industry, I simply brought the worlds together in my e-book. The world of a music artists meeting the world of bloggers.

The same way a music artist goes through the hustle of getting discovered, signing a record deal, developing a fan base and aspiring for superstar status likewise a blogger builds credibility, exposure, a community and ends up being a leader or authority in his/her niche.

Hence the title. Build a Superstar Blog. I would like point out, the main objective of Build a Superstar Blog isn’t to turn you into a blogging superstar.
Rather it’s about
(1) Building the foundations and the right building blocks in place to propel your blog into a leader and authority. It takes you to superstar status then so be it.

(2) Having a clear understanding of your blog and it’s potential to be a perfect platform for developing a business.

The book covers practical examples which are very relevant to today’s blogging community.

It gives a fresh approach to your business blog.

I have also adopted a compare and contrast approach which gives a clear picture of how blogging works from a business prospective. It’s also a fun way to learn.

Who is it for?

Everyone, Whether you’ve being blogging a while or a complete newbie, Build a Superstar Blog throws a fresh approach on blogging from a business standpoint.

It would cater to a newbie that has recently started a blog and doesn’t really understand how to fit it around a business or a blogging pro who is starting to run out of steam and doesn’t see the full picture.

The book is pretty much done, I’m about 90% in, and will be launching in the next couple of weeks.

Are you ready for it?

Just like you would engage with your friends in a comfortable relaxing mode is the same way you ought to find the same zone with your readers.

For most, time with friends is enjoyable and fulfilling, there’s no reason why that shouldn’t be the case with your audience whether you own a blog or a website.

Understand them

Treat your audiences/readers as friends, as a result of this you’ll be able to build a relationship with them.

By understanding them, in time, you are able to know what tone of voice to use and the language they would understand. Interact in a conversational manner, after all, its only a blog and not a government report.

An added benefit of building a rapport with your readers is being able to pre-empt their information needs. The more you relate with them, the more you understand where they are at and what they need to know. This feeds your research and helps you meet them where they are.

So for your next post, make friends with your readers.

This is a guest post by Tom Walker, of Creative Cloud

Many bloggers out there are not aware of the fact that copying someone else’s written work without their consent is a violation of copyright law. Blogging is becoming more and more widespread and technology makes it simple to copy and share information including text, images, audio and video clips. Below are ten tips that you can follow to ensure that your blog’s content is legal.

Quotes and Copy

1. It is perfectly legal to quote something that you find interesting, but the quote you use should only be a small portion of the content and it should not copy the ‘core’ of the material.
2. Certainly do not ever copy someone’s website, word for word. Believe it or not, many bloggers still do this and it is unethical as well as against the law.
3. Do not copy verbatim from a book or offer your readers long book excerpts. Again, this work is copyrighted and if you wish to use a book’s content, get in touch with the author and explain what you would like to use their work for.
4. You can legally use a company name on your blog as long as you are not being deceptive to your readers, such as trying to speak for the company or try to make it seem like you are directly related to the company.

Images and symbols

1. Many bloggers make the mistake of using any image they find online, but in fact many images are indeed owned by someone and are copyrighted. For images, be sure to use websites that allow you to search for and buy images such as Fotolia which consists of over 7 million photos and illustrations from which to choose. It should go without saying that you are of course, free to use your own images on your blog.
2. Feel free to use other types of materials that are not copyrighted such as names, familiar symbols or short phrases and slogans. You may still need to follow attribution rules and regulations, such as when media is made available under the Creative Commons license.
3. Just because you credit the author does not mean that you are not breaking copyright laws. This goes for text as well as for images. You are only allowed to use copyrighted material if you have received direct permission from the author or if you make fair use of it, without trying to deceive.
4. Just because your blog may not be for commercial use, you still cannot copy material. A blogger using stolen material for commercial gain is an open target for a lawsuit, but you are still breaking the law with your personal blog if you have not been been granted permission to use an author’s work.

Music and videos

1. When including music on your blog, avoid linking to illegally copied songs on P2P networks such as BitTorrent. Instead, use a website such as EzTracks. The music downloads are free and the site pays the royalty fees via their banner advertising. MusicBakery is another good pick wherein you have numerous categories to select from.
2. If you want to add videos to your blog, do not stream content from your television to your blog as you will be in violation of the law. Avoid putting obviously copyrighted video clips on your blog. The laws for video usage are much the same as they are for text. Regarding YouTube videos, the YouTube website states that the content is for personal use only and may not be downloaded, copied, reproduced or distributed without the consent of the owners. So, in short, either shoot your own videos or contact the video owner and ask for written consent to publish their videos on your blog.

This is a general guide, which was not written by a lawyer. It is an overview for you to use while blogging to ensure that you are not breaking any obvious copyright laws when blogging. A good rule of thumb to follow is ‘when in doubt, throw it out’ meaning you should not use any else’s written work, music or video without explicit, written consent from the author or owner.

This guest post was written by a blogger and designer from the UK called Tom Walker who works with an online store supplying HP 350 ink and toner as well as various other supplies. He blogs about print media design and advertising on CreativeCloud.