Firstly, choose how you want others to see you and your writing style. If you want people to take your blog seriously then you should try not to use unsure words like ‘probably’ or ‘maybe’. Be sure of yourself and sound confident in your writing. Also try and avoid using slang words as that could make your blog seem childish.

If you are writing your blog as a hobbie or merely for the fun of it then go ahead and voice your opinions and express yourself in your own words. Even if that includes slang terms and nicknames.

The reason that it is so important that you know how you would like to be seen is because if you don’t think about this, your blog will be messy and indecisive. It is easy to confuse people with the messages you are sending through your use of language.

When you have a blog let your personality shine. Your writing style is really important to your blog. Depending on your style of writing you could be seen as bursting with personality or incredibly boring. Even if you are trying to make a serious blog it does not mean that you have to take away your personal style. Most blogging community websites will allow comments on posts. Commenting is a good way for you to let loose and joke around. It also allows you to get friendly with your readers.

Once you have a blogging style, keep it consistent. After you have chosen how you would like to be known in the blogging world, you have to work on keeping a consistent image. People could be easily confused if you vary your writing style often. It is true that when you start to blog regularly your writing style will develop and change. Try and make sure that changes are over a long period of time. You don’t want to be switching from one style to another within days. Keeping a consistent style will also reassure people that it is your own writing and not somebody else.

One of the most important aspects of blogging is making blogger friends with your readers. The people following you will not be interested in a blogging drone. Blogs are in fact online communities. You can build relationships with fellow bloggers by being consitent with your blog entries. Your readers will engage with your personality as they get to know you through your posts.

Image by Javier Piragauta

One: Make a list

List posts get a lot of interest and they’re always fun to write. An example of a fun list blog post is for example, a top10 make up must haves. List blogs are usually visited again and again. Especially if you keep posts that cannot go out of fashion, like Top 5 all time girlie movies

Two: An Interview

Do an interview with another blogger that posts similar stuff to you or even things that interest you. Make sure that whatever it is, it fits in with your blogging style. Interview posts can be both educational or chatty and gossipy. Choose another popular blogger and ask about interviewing them. Get to know them and have some questions prepared before doing the interview. In exchange for the interview let them know that you will post a link to their blog on your own. If you’re lucky they will link to your blog and boost your popularity by getting you lots of cool new visitors and readers. Just try and keep the interview writen neatly so it’s easy to read.

Three: Post Reviews

Put reviews on you blog. The type of things that are good to review are products and websites. Maybe there is a cool website you found for buying funky hair clips or a new shampoo you have started to use that you think is doing wonders for your hair. You can tallk about price, pros and cons of the products and your opinions on how they work. There are people all over the world looking for reviews everyday.

Four: Negative Reviews

When reviewing don’t be afraid to moan about a product. It’s always ok to mouth off about something you didn’t like. The harsh truth of it is that online, people love a good bitching session. If you found a product or website that you didn’t feel lived up to your expectations don’t hold back and voice your opinion. Always make sure you can back up your argument with good reason and explain in detail why it is that the product annoyed you.

Five: Respond To Readers Questions

Answer any questiions your readers have! It’s a good way to make friends. After all, blogs are online communities. Answer questions through posts on your blog as opposed to directly to the person. Chances are if one person is asking, others want to know too! Take time to answer the question clearly so that all your readers can understand it and remember to keep the langauge you use nice and simple.

Six: Write A Tutorial

Write a tutorial. Tutorials are a step by step guide on how to do something. It can be anything from how to throw a great party to how to get natural look make up. If you want to do a tutorial for your blog try and choose something that you’re really good at and that you think other people will find helpful.

Photo by Reavel

]]> http://girlsgoblogging.com/six-blog-post-ideas-for-when-youre-really-stumped/feed/ http://girlsgoblogging.com/whats-so-great-about-blogging-anyway/ http://girlsgoblogging.com/whats-so-great-about-blogging-anyway/#comments Tue, 12 May 2009 18:48:32 +0000 http://girlsgoblogging.com/?p=236

If you feel you need a place to put all your thoughts then maybe you shoould think about keeping an online Blog. Blogs are like just like diaries, a place you can post up images, text, video, pictures, music and much more. Blogs give you the freedom to express yourself. You can rant about t.v shows, bands and products like make-up or hair straighteners. You can talk about pretty much anything you like.

No matter where you are in the world you can sign up, log in and you immediately have the freedom to post whenever or whatever you want. The whole world can then see and hear what you have to say. Unlike running a website, blogs are uncomplicated and your stuff can be uploaded within seconds.

One of the best things about blogging is that you don’t have to know any complicated web design codes or skills. Everything that you need for uploading is set out in a simple to follow, step by step way. A lot of blogging websites also provide ways for you to customize your blogs colours and design. This is partially why blogging has become so trendy amongst teenagers!

It is easy to voice your opinions through blogging. Once you are writing about something, say a band, and somebody searches for it, there is always a chance that they will stumble across your blog. Even if they don’t comment on it, it’s always cool to know that people from all over the world can hear what you have to say!

Most blogging sites provide a comment feature which allows people to comment and discuss your blog. This is a great way to get to know your readers by chatting while at the same time getting some constructive critisism and feedback! It is however always a good idea to set your comments so that you have to approve them before anyone else can see them as sometimes people are a little too harsh.

If you try to post to your blog regularly, everyday or even a few times a week your readers will begin to become dedicated and interested in what you have to say. You can build relationships with other bloggers by letting your personality shine through your posts. They will trust your perspectives and like your style. It’s also cool to know that your opinions are influencing other people through your blog, which is especially great when you’re posting about how much you hate that certain annoying boyband that everyone else seems to love!

One of the best aspects of blogging is that you post whatever you like, whether it is stupid home made videos of you and your friends or even a portfolio of your art of music. It’s really simple to display your photos if say for example you like photographer. You can even post pictures from events like school disco’s and graduation.

Blogs are great for providing future opurtunities. If you work now on getting a fanbase, who knows what the future might hold! You could end up being the next Perez Hilton! Blogs can even be used so that your cousins living in another country can keep up with your life. If you keep your blog as a hobby, it still provides a confidence boost and can help improve your writing skills. Blogs can be a personal thing and lots of fun to keep at the same time.

Photo by Hawaii

If you use your imagation, you can be one of thousands of teens making more than spare cash on the Internet. Unlike , in offline work situations, on the Internet you are anonymous. Nobody will know you are a teen, unless you tell them of course.  You are operating in an even playing field, which makes the Internet a perfect place for teenagers to start making money.   Thousands of teens are pulling in huge profits using nothing more than the internet and their imagination.  There are too many ways to make money online to go into, but the most popular options for teenagers are survey filling, buidling websites and of course, blogging.

The great thing about blogging, beside being super easy to set up and get started in, is that you can bet that whatever it is you are writing about, no matter how off the wall or quirky it is, you can be sure that there are hundreds, thousand, maybe even millions of other people interested in the same things.

This is why blogging has become so huge. It brings people together in their shared interests.  Millions of friendships have been made through blogging as well as millions of dollars!  So you’re wondering how can writing about what you love make you money?  If you keep writing, in time Google will see that you are a serious blogger.  The King of search engines will send traffic to your site, knowing that your site has good quality information.   Once you get traffic, getting money is the easy part.

Place Google Adsense on your website is the most obvious way to create cash from your blog.  Google will pay you a small share of the advertisers fee eveytime a visitor clicks on one of the ads you display.

You could also consider writing an ebook on the topic of your blog.  If you are blogging about something you are passionate about, chances are you have a 50 or 6 page ebook in you.   Having a ebook on your site is a great way to cash in, especially if you have a list of followers or subscribers who will buy your book, once you let them know about it.

Another great way to squeeze some extra cash out of your blog is through affiliate marketing.   Sign up to Amazon as an associate and list books or products that you think your visitors might like.  If you place highly relevant items and recommendations on your site, your should have good make some decent sales.  Amazon will pay you a small commission for the sale.  Keep at is and the pennies ad up!

photo credit: 1suisse ]]> http://girlsgoblogging.com/can-teens-really-make-money-blogging/feed/ http://girlsgoblogging.com/how-to-get-awesome-free-photos-for-your-blog/ http://girlsgoblogging.com/how-to-get-awesome-free-photos-for-your-blog/#comments Fri, 08 May 2009 10:25:20 +0000 http://girlsgoblogging.com/?p=198 Photos make a blog far more interesting. There is nothing worse that visiting a blog and seeing nothing but paragraphs and paragraphs of text. Even if it is the most interesting and relevant text available on a subject, without a photo it just won’t pop.

The Problem

The problem with photos is that most of them are copyright protected. Photographers, artists and designers put in a whole lot of effor to creating a photos and graphics. They rightly deserve credit and reconigition for that effort.

But who wants to spend time and effort searching for photos and emailing the photographer to ask permission to use it,  especially if after the effort the answer is no!

Anther alternative is to buy photos at stock libraries such as istockphoto.com but we are talking expenses now and if you are not making money from your blog, you don’t want to have to invest too much money into it.  Stock photos can work out a dollor a piece which is not too pricey as a one off expensive but if you’ve got 10 or 20 posts a week, it will soon eat into any spare cash you have.

The Solution

Thankfully for those of us who cannot afford professional stock photography there is a solution.  Many photographers release their work under what’s known as a Creative Commons Licence.  There are various types of Creative Commons Licences, some allowing your to modify or edit the photo, some allowing commercial use, others not, but all of them will allow you use the photo under their terms so long as you credit them as the original creator.

Where can you find all these photo? Ever heard of Flickr. Stupid question, right?  Flickr allows you to search through all the photos uploaded with a Creative Commons Licence. There are millions to choose from, so while it may take a little time and effort you will generally find some really creative and inspiring stuff to use on your blog.

You might also considering checking out deviantart for stock photography. While the deviant photos can be a bit more whacky (creative!) there are hundreds of stock photos available of them, many free to use for non-commercial purposes, so long as a credit is made to the photographer.

So, no need to pay out money for stock photos or waste time chasing down individual photographers.

photo credit: Medicinehorse7

So what do you need to do to become a Blogging Superstar?

Write or Produce Great Content

Factor #1

The first requirement might be cliched and a tad boring but it is the foundation of all great bloggers Internet fame.  Whether you are taking photos , creating art or design or writing about your speciality, if it is not unique, engaging and inspirational to your readers, you will never get recognition for it.   This leads nicely on to …

Factor #2

The more unique the content you present, the more likely you are to build up a big following. Having a tonne of subscribers to your blog or followers is a key factor is becoming Internet famous! Once you present great content, your followers will make if viral.  Going viral is every bloggers dream.

Factor #3

Nobody gets famous with some hard work! If you are keeping a blog you can be proud of, the next step is to ‘network’. Share your posts on social bookmarking sites, booking marking everytime you have added something new.  Twitter about your blog,  link it to your Facebook, invite guest posters, leave comments on forums and other blogs.  In other words, work your butt off to get your name out there.   If you are targetting people and places relevant to your blog topic,  eventually you will be recognized.  Your blog name will become a familiar site around the internet.

Factor #4

This relates to the last point a little.  Become an expert.  The Satorialist blog became a respectable resource on style and fashion. Perez Hilton became a celebrity himself becuase of his authority on celebrity gossip.  To become an expert, you need to be passionate about what you are keeping a blog on, your need to be consistently maintaining your blog, so people know that you are a constant and reliable source of good information.  Nobody will respect a blog maintained every few weeks or months.  Your input needs to be daily or a least 3 times a week to keep people coming back for more.

Now that you know what you have to do, make a start and don’t forget us when you get super famous!

Photo by Slavin Fpo

But don’ t worry. There are a couple of small tricks you can use during those moments when your blog post is at risk of sending your readers into a pemanent coma.  Every blogger uses them now and again and I like to call them post props!

Prop Number 1 - An Interesting Photo

Use something at the start of your post that is there for no other reason than to GRAB your readers attention.  A great image works brilliantly.  Our eyes are instantly attracted to interesting images.  Having one at the start of your post is a surefire way to wake your reader up and let them think  “hey interesting image, interesting post to follow! “  They’re hooked.

Prop Number 2 - The Post’s Title

We can often be lazy with our titles. Sometimes it’s just so difficult to come up with one and the harder you try, the more difficult it gets. You’re nodding, right? Because you’ve been there.  The title is the first thing you reader sees and if the title sounds boring, your reader will expect that post to be boring.  They leave … maybe forever and you have lost a fan.  Sad face! So next time you are writing a blog post on Chanel Fashion, don’t title it  “Why Chanel Clothes Will Make You Sexy” .   Make it  “Inspirational Chanel Dresses To Awaken Your Inner Fashion Goddess ” .

<address><em>Photo by <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevinv033/161630705/”>Kevin</a></em>
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Many people make hundreds of dollars a day from blogging. Some might keep one super huge blog and others may have hundreds of small blogs each making a few cent or couple of dollars a day.  Everyday there are more and more ways to turn your words into cash through your blog and we’ll look at a couple of them in a moment.

But first, take note of this …unless you are very very very lucky, your blog will not make money without A LOT of SERIOUS EFFORT from you.   I’m taking about a couple of hours a day or more everyday posting fresh content to keep your readers interseted and coming back, promoting your blog around the Internet and keeping track of your earnings and what is working or not!

So you won’t make money from your blog if …

1. You neglect it … posting seldom irregularly
2. Write dull or boring content that sends your visiting running a mile from your blog
3. If you don’t put in time promoting it, hooking up with other bloggers, doing link exchanges, guest post, social booking and more.
4. If you expect it to make $100’s a day. Not to say it is impossible … just not likely.

Once you do decide to make money from your blog, you’ll need to decide what the best way of monetizing your blog for you content and particular audience. This can take a lot of trial and error so the trick is to experiment until you get it right.

Some of the most obvious way to churn cash from your blog is by places advertising on your blog. This could be in the form of goolge adsense, which is probably one of the most popular forms of monetizing content out there. You see the ads right at the top beside this post. Every time a visitor clicks on your ads you get paid a few cent or dollars depending on what the ads are for.

Other popular ways to make money from you blog including selling a product relevant to what it is you are writing this. This is called affiliate marketing and means that when you sell a product for somebody else, they pay you a percentage of the sale as a thank you!

So you’ve finally got yourself a blog. You’re posting daily on loads of cool stuff and doing all the things a great blogger should do but where are the visitors? What’s the point of spending all that time and effort on buildling a great blog if nobody comes to see it?

You see, it’s not enough just to have your blog, now you need to get people to come to it.  Bringing traffic to your site is difficult at first but once your site  has been around for a while and you are posting to it regularly, the mighty king of search engines, yes, I’m talking about Google, will begin to show you some love and send traffic your way without you have to do much to get, except maintain a great blog of course!

So while you are waiting for Google’s love, along with millions others, there are some things you can do to get people to come to your blog and check out the great stuff you are posting there, and maybe click on a ad or two, which makes it all worthwhile if you are in blogging for the money!

There are dozens of ways to bring visitors to your blog.  Lot of people who are new to blogging and desperate to get visitors will dive right in and start working on all of them a once which turns into a ‘jack of all trades master of none’ type of situation.  If you wanted to learn a new instrument you wouldn’t try to learn the flute, guitar, piano and diggeridoo all at once, would you? Yes, the diggerdoo is an instrument! What you would do is master one a time and the same goes when it comes to learning the skills needed to get traffic to your new blog.

Here are 5 quick tips you can use to start bring visitors to your blog:

1. Hunt down relevant places where you can link to your blog. A great place to start is Yahoo Answers. Yahoo Answer nearly always come up top of Google for question type searches. If somebody asks where can I find great Twilight wallpapers and your blog has some, leave a reply. This is a quick and easy way to get a link to your blog on page 1 of Google.

2. Organise a link or banner swap with blogs that compliment your own. Or arrange to be a guest poster on a similar blog. By collaborating and bulding good relations with people in with blogs similar to your own, you can open your self up to a whole new source of traffic.  Just like in the offline world, be nice to poeple and you will generally find that they will be nice back.  So get emailing right now! The amazing thing about the Internet is that there are so many people out there to colloborate with and most like you, are looking for easy ways to get free traffic.

3. Social bookmarking is huge … who hasn’t been to Digg, Stumbleupon or Delicious.  Everytime you post, remember to submit your post to as many social booking marking sites as you can find. This is an excellent way to get links to your site. Google loves to see links to your site from some of the biggers sites, it know and trusts.   Post something great and the chances are it will go viral.  Social bookmarking sites are excellent for an instant traffic boost.

4. If you love forums this tip is easy. Join lots of forum related to your blog, if you haven’t already and reply to posts that are relevant. Don’t spam or you’ll be hated and banned.  Try to hang out there often and build a reputation for providing useful information and links if relevant.  Forums are a great place to pick up tonnes of free traffic.

5. Keep a twitter profile  for your blog and update it everytime you do something related to your blog, like post or promote.  Notifying all your followers will bring some immediately traffic to your blog to check out your new changes. This is great in two ways, one, you get traffic and two, it creates a link (backlink) to your blog from sites that Google loves.  Google will come check you out and add you to its list of sites to love too! Nice ]]> http://girlsgoblogging.com/20-free-ways-to-promote-your-blog/feed/ http://girlsgoblogging.com/how-to-seduce-your-readers-with-post-formatting/ http://girlsgoblogging.com/how-to-seduce-your-readers-with-post-formatting/#comments Sun, 03 May 2009 20:35:33 +0000 http://girlsgoblogging.com/?p=136 Generally, people like to know the face behind a blog and if somebody likes your blog there is a good chance that they will click on the about me page.  It’s important then that you use this page to make a good impression about yourself and give your readers what they are looking for.

Here are some of the main questions visitors will be asking when they check out your About page :

1. Who Is This Person Who Writes An Amazing Blog?

This is where you introduce yourself.  It is a really good idea to put a picture here so don’t be too shy.  Find you best mugshot and upload it. Having a face on your blog personalizes it and makes it easy for your readers to identify with you.  Also introduce yourself by name and if you like give a little bit of personal information about yourself.

2. What You Know or Why You Blog

Let people know about your area of expetise or the reasons you are keeping a blog.  If your blog is a personal journal, let your visitors know why it is that you started blogging and why you like to it. If your blog is about a particular subject, explain how you got interested in that subject and why you enjoy it.

3. What Your Goal Is

You may have no goal with your blog other than keeping a record of interesting facts you know or because your enjoy writing. But if you goal is to share your knowledge, epxertise or life experiences with your audience tell them why that is important to you. They will admire you for it!

4. How to Contact You

Your About Me page is a great place to put all your contact information. You may want to give visitors your email, skype or IM address.  If you have profiles on any of the popular social networking sites such as Twitter,  Myspace, Bebo or Facebook, add them to your contact page so people can find you and and become a fan!

To Sum Up

Keep your About Me page friendly and welcoming. You don’t want to scare away your visitors.  Be as brief or as long with your information as you like.  If you find your about me page becoming extremely long, you might consider making some of the information into a post. For example, “What inspired me to write a blog”.