~ Blogging 102 ~

Following on from my Toastmasters speech series – and subsequent blog series, see Blogging 101 – I am back with another post on blogging. As mentioned before, in the beginning, I started following social media guru and writer Kristen Lamb. She advocates having a professional (or at least professional-looking) headshot and using that same image across all your platforms. It helps you to create a cohesive brand. A friend who makes her living as a photographer took my headshot, and I use it for everything to do with social media except for my blog. I felt the homepage was a bit dark at the top and needed colour so I substituted a more colourful headshot in place of my usual.

It’s important to ensure you have linked your headshot to Gravatar, a service providing “globally unique avatars.” If you sign up with the site, upload your headshot, and provide your blog link, when people click on your headshot, they will see the link to your blog and discover you.
In the past, I used to have numerous social media sites, 7 or 8. And maintaining them all was nearly a full-time job. Then in 2020, I met Karen McMillan when I hired her as the publicist for my trilogy. In one of our meetings, she asked, “Just out of curiosity, how much time do you spend on social media?” When I told her she gave me solid advice. She said, “I avoid it mostly. Social media is a time waster! I only have two sites, and that is all you need. My advice is to delete them – and create more time for writing – but save the two you use the most.”
I deleted everything (even my website), leaving only Facebook, my monthly newsletter, and my blog. As my WordPress site now functions as my website, I added an About the Author page for my bio, an Influences page to share what has influenced me as a writer, and Yvette’s Work, which details my published books with links to buy.
The advice most of us hear when building a website or a blog is to place your “calls to action” (subscribe to my blog, buy my book, etc) on the top right-hand corner of the page. But, I preferred my homepage on WordPress with everything on the left, so the calls to action, photos, and so on stream down the left. Make the decisions that best suit your style and brand.

It’s a wise idea before launching to write several posts in advance. It will give you some backup if necessary and peace of mind knowing you are covered for the first few weeks. Even today, I will always have two or three posts on file in case cyclones or global pandemics happen so that I don’t miss a week. When you prepare to post your piece, don’t forget to add “categories” and “tags” (they will be in the design features of your blog publisher’s post templates), describing in a word or two what the post is about. This is basic SEO and will help drive traffic to your site.
Blog titles. There are a few commonly held beliefs about the best titles, which are designed to drive a gazillion readers your way. I have used all of them at some time or another. When I started my blog, the idea was that lengthy titles attract the most attention. Likewise, titles that promise something, like “How to…” are the most clicked, and titles with numbers like 5 Steps to Weightloss, 7 qualities Every Writer Needs. When I started blogging, I wanted to use enticing titles like these but as I went along, I found that the title would always present itself at some stage. I think somewhere in the last decade, between the death of my parents, Covid, and the cyclones, I stopped caring about engineering perfect titles for my posts and started focusing more on content.

I remember how nervous I was pre-launch in 2014, terrified that no one would read my blog and I’d fall flat on my face. My good friend, Robyn Campbell – fellow author and blogger – said, “Write the words, and they will come.” And since then, I’ve come to see she was right. If you are nervous about launching your blog, do not worry. Just write the words and they will come.
Happy Blogging!

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“Don’t focus on having a great blog. Focus on producing a blog that’s great for your readers.” – Brian Clark

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~ Blogging 101 ~

This post is based on a speech I gave recently at my Toastmasters club.
In 2014, I read We Are Not Alone, by Kirsten Lamb, author, and social media expert. WANA was about how to navigate social media for authors. (*Note, I think this book is out of print now, but contact the author.) Kirsten advocated that authors should have blogs. She said that when we have to write an 800-word article a week, it is another form of writing and a discipline, one that helps us develop as authors. Before starting my blog, I read this advice and wondered how it would help. But having spent nearly a decade writing a post a week, I see what she means. When I go back to my earliest posts, the prose doesn’t sound like me, and I can see that writing my weekly posts is helping me develop my “author’s voice.”

Where do you start? You start by choosing a blog publisher. When I started mine in 2014, I was on Blogger. What I did not realize was that Blogger had no facility for “likes”. When there is no facility for “liking” a post, most people will read and move on without doing a thing. That makes it hard for the author to see what sort of traction they’re getting. And, it can be lonely.
Why do we blog? We have something we want to express, communicate, or sell. No matter your reason for blogging, no one wants to speak to an empty room. After a year and a half, I jumped ship to WordPress and had to start again from the ground up. But it was worth it because suddenly, I could get likes on my posts. Yay! You know there are people out there, receiving you and responding to you, which is a nice feeling. The week or two or three when I was unable to post over the last nine years, I missed it. It’s a chill and super fun part of my week.

For me, it’s not about building an empire but creating and maintaining connections with people. Treating readers with respect. The next day after publishing my posts, I like and comment on each reply. I make sure to visit the blog of each person who left a like and respond in kind. You are building a network of friends – an online community – and friendship is never a one-way street.

Where do you start? You start a blog by deciding your niche. Create a name for your blog and then check that no one else is using it. It’s helpful to have a subtitle as this clues visitors into your content. Design your blog appearance and title around that. Try to make your homepage as appealing as possible. Too often, I visit blogs that look dull. Make a blog visit pleasant for your readers, put a little creativity into your home page.

How often should you post? Blog as often as you like. Kristen blogs three times a week. Writing more often can build a blog fast. I find one post a week is ideal for me. Try to put your posts out on the same day each week, and then you can be relied upon by your followers to be consistent.

What else should you do? Join a blogging group. There are lots of them. I belong to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. A blogging group like this will run regular events called blog hops, which you can participate in, and it will help build your connections with other bloggers. It also means that on one day of the month, you don’t have to come up with the idea for that post. It’s a win-win and again is about that online community.

Try to put your best foot forward. With your posts be as professional as possible, check for spelling and grammar, etc. I edit mine endlessly. Put out the best posts you can. And have fun!
What pitfalls should you watch out for? Realize there will be trolls. They are out there and will sometimes visit. I use the same policy I do with nice commenters, I like the troll’s comment but with trolls, I never reply. Treat them with the same respect as anyone else but do not engage. Don’t give them a reason to stay and argue with you.
There will also be pirates who will steal your work and publish it as their own. Make sure you put a little piece at the bottom of your homepage about copyright. (Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited, and so on.) Update it every year to make the year of your copyright claim current and include the copyright symbol. Also, protect yourself by regularly every second post or so linking back to one of your earlier posts within your content. That will filter out a number of the bad guys and help protect your blog’s integrity.
That’s all for now, folks.
Happy Blogging!

Talk to you later.
Keep creating!
Yvette Carol
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“What you do after you create your content is what truly counts.” – Gary Vaynerchuk.

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