Trying to create a site or blog for the first time is just as challenging as learning a dance routine as a rookie or designing an outfit after years of doing absolutely nothing related...
I'm not a professional dancer nor head designer but I can say I'm just like you trying to figure out the beast of the unknown on my own.
It's going on two years since making the decision to start my own blog, which I creatively refer to as a "blogizine" and lately as an E-zine (web-magazine/web-mag). It's been fun, cool, and very stressful.
Learning the ins-outs of anything for the first time can be easy, moderate to hard, or just plain hard.
I'm not a person who learns everything right away to the "T". My mind has to process the information I'm taking in and assess it... so all my self-starters out there I commend you on being brave and challenging the beast. For anyone wanting to and just don't know where to begin, believe in yourself first. That's what you should always do first. Then break it up into pieces like a puzzle. Take it from me if you go straight for it head on without taking it one step at a time it will become overwhelming and you'll create more bad stress on yourself than you need. You're trying to make it work for yourself, not give up before you see the success you can reach.
The blogizine RPRAI is still and will always be a work in progress. It is my life's work at this point and maybe that's the mentality to have going into this. Know for yourself if you want to dedicate your time to keeping up with your self-published work. Developing a following is a never-ending task and will never stop. How I keep anyone in the know about what I'm doing is basically that - catchy quick phrases to draw someone back. *NEW* Released SP Cover Feature!
Usually I'll add other key-words like where the Artist lives, who they've worked with that many will recognize, ethnicity, accomplishments in their field, or even lyrics to their latest song release to draw viewers in. As a promoter or someone trying to gain someone's attention you must look at it objectively. If you are the person seeing the post or update how would you react? If you're curious to see what it's about in a sea of other posts, tweets, or updates encouraging you to read their articles, then you're making an impact! It's still a challenge and there's nothing you can do about being mixed up with other self-starters and promoters' releases. There are other ways to get your voice heard and your brain will be ticking on how it can be done. So don't worry how you do it, just try any idea that comes to mind. You can never go wrong. Remember believe.
Twitter is an extremely important tool to use since it is pretty much the only social media that sends information far and wide in a short amount of time reaching many. I've sent out tweets where I received responses from individuals who were not even following me regarding the tweet. People know people and will tell each other. Every reply you receive will not always have your @xxxx twitter name. It makes it easier when it does because it shows up in your interactions and mentions. Messages are seen by many because it's not only floating down your timeline, key terms are seen in search results including people's names whether you use the @ symbol or not. If you're already using Twitter and have developed a following already then you're at a great start. You can begin immediately letting your current followers know about your work and latest releases. Another useful way to cover many in a short amount of time is catching groups of names in tweets on your timeline. "Friday Follow" #FF is a great way for you to inform groups of people who either know you or don't about what you're doing. They'll let their followers know and possibly follow you too! Another useful and beneficial tip is to initiate the interaction - in developing new followers. Take it upon yourself to "meet new people" and follow individuals that have something in common with your interests, your work, and more importantly who is following your followers. It's easier to connect with someone who you can easily start a conversation with or you can mention is following the same person you are with specific interests like business management or music. Not everyone will return the favor of following back so you have to wait it out and see. Keep track of the number of followers without making it the ultimate priority, just be aware if you went from having a 50+ person increase to -30 or more decrease. You'll notice from constant interaction. Let's face it, you have a lot of other things to do. Managing what you do and when you do it is lucrative to keeping up with the work you're trying to accomplish. Use it to your advantage and you'll see your views pick up. Hopefully when you start earning revenue through your blog you can send out HELP WANTED Ads or Job ads for people to accumulate followers for you and keep track of it. I haven't reached that point yet but one day hopefully it will.
Facebook is another useful source. Even though it doesn't span as far and wide as Twitter in a short amount of time it is beneficial for its ability for you to "post & leave", meaning once you post an update it is available for anyone to read at any point in time. Your timeline is a list of posts that you've made for anyone new and old to see at their disposal. I've noticed people using Facebook like Twitter by making multiple promotional posts at once. I'm not sure if it gives back the same beneficial results, but I'm sure it does to some extent since it can be "shared" to other walls of people you don't know and similar to Twitter it encourages your connections to pay closer attention to your work. I will say that Facebook allows you to share your updates more easily in a "stationed" manner, without quick-turnaround and fast change in setting, so that you know your post was right where you left it and can be shared multiple times. The same for groups. Even though your post can be lost within numerous posts in a group it still has to be treated like a fast-moving medium. Posting numerous updates is necessary for older, newer, and tuning in members to see what's going on with your work. Sparingly give updates with permission by the group owner to respect the rules of the group, not turn members against you, and getting kicked out. Always make sure to address and confirm your intentions with the owner so that you're both on the same page. You don't want your name out there associated with anything negative or deprecating.
What I'm learning right now in my journey is to remember to connect with new people on the regularly to build and grow my viewers. You'll find that if you don't remember to do this you'll still be associating with the same people and that can leave you stagnant. There's nothing wrong with developing a following and having a strong bond with them but if you're really trying to get your name out there you must learn to open up, bridge out, and take a leap of faith. The most you can receive in return is no response or follow-back. That's it! To some it may be harsh or hard to deal with, but learn immediately how to cope. You know in life everyone is not going to like you and will have something negative to say about you so you might as well take the bullet. Be strong, Be brave, Be resilient, Be Yourself. You're here for a certain amount of time you don't know the length of so do what you must to make a name for yourself. Those who don't see the magnificence in your work you can do without - take it or leave it.
Each Day is a new day to learn. What comes to you today will be refined tomorrow. I've had ideas come to me from washing the dishes, even taking a shower. They just come and when they do you must not tune it out. Keep saying it over and over again out loud. Keep it strong and relevant in your mind so that you when you put it to work you're stepping your game up. I'm a writer by trade so everything has to be written down, no structured way, just get it out of my head onto paper. Sometimes I can't translate my thoughts to paper but it doesn't matter whatsoever, just get it written down or recorded for future reference!
Whether you believe in the Divine or not I'm going to share with you anyways, the Lord speaks to us in many ways. When our minds are at rest He is speaking to us. It's possible He's speaking all the time but we are so loud in our thinking we're not listening and/or cannot hear. Take time to chill out and turn your mind off and watch the amazing thoughts that come to mind. Don't believe me? Just try.
The next thing you need to do is put your "faith to work". Don't just say what you're going to do, just do it. You must physically do something to receive a result. I just started adding various elements to my blog just for the heck of it without much understanding of what html/javascript or feed url meant until later on. I'm a strong believer in "trial and error". I think we all do it every day but don't always fully acknowledge it as a method of learning. It's how I understand things I've never done before. We're not perfect, but we try to be which in my opinion keeps us from appreciating ourselves for who we are. We have flaws. We are human.
Go to "layout" if you're using Blogger and start selecting "gadgets" wherever you see "Add a Gadget".
You can always rearrange, add, and/or delete later! I started with the basics: Subscribers, Follow By Email, Subscription Links, Translate, Blog Stats, Search Box, Blog List, Link List, Labels, Ad Sense. The rest came with time when everything started to form together and make sense. For the longest I only worked with these features and it brought good results. Remember it's about your posts, what you have to say. Don't forget your voice in the midst of creating the look of your platform. I've been culprit to it many times and it kept me from focusing on my subject of the day or topic I found interesting during the day. It can cause you to fall behind. Find the best places for the features listed above to begin. Keep your mind open and think out of the box with how to use specific elements to your advantage. For the Link List it serves me best as a way to display my top followers, my RPRAI partners, and other important subject or topics (other blogs) you want readers to directly go to. I've also found how useful the Blog List can serve its best potential. Using it to display your blogs, not only your favorite blogs, can also help direct viewers from one end of the spectrum to the next without having to remind them over and over where to go. It's all right there. Since I'm using my main page as the "directory" or attention grabber for where to go to next that's how I'm using the Blog Link gadget. I've learned how to creatively utilize the Link List by adding Twitter names as the "Title" with the Real name next to it, allowing a 2-in-1. The link may be an official site, blog, Twitter page, Facebook page or member page, or any "link-back" to a source of further information. The Labels or "Word Cloud" element is another great "directory" source for the content within your blog. I've seen many blogs and sites and that feature is one of the simplest koolest elements on a page. It took me a moment to figure out how to best use it since I was adding way too many labels for every post. To get the most use out of it pick specific "topic" words and organize your posts under those specific listings to keep an organized and formatted view of your work that readers can go directly to instead of jumping from one place to the next. The cloud won't be super big and easier to navigate.
Ad Sense is the next major focus if you're dedicating much of your time to working in developing your blog. You may have to set up an account first to start adding it in but like anything else that requires a set-up account go ahead and do it so it allows you to add the Ad Sense. Once you do the challenge is finding the best places for it to display content. I'm always rearranging the Ad Sense because of new material I'm adding so it becomes a nuisance. The best thing to do is keep it in the places where you do see the display ads and never move them because obviously that particular placement is where the advertiser sees the most benefit in displaying their ads. It also makes a difference if the Ad Sense is placed around subject matter or gadgets that allow it to display the best Ad content so you may have to rearrange, but don't do it too much and make it a headache. The style types I usually use are the Leaderboard, Banner, Half banner, Medium Rectangle, Vertical Large Skyscraper (top-to-bottom long rectangle). "The recommended" has the popular Ad Sense to use. After rearranging gadgets and adding new ones, such as the Feed I noticed more Ad displays appearing where the Ad Sense gadget was placed. You'll notice it yourself and continue to place them accordingly for what suits your blog the best.
This concludes the first entry from a novice-blog learner/owner. There's so much to learn about this process that it may take a few more years to become a pro. If you're in college and can take a course on web design and all the functions like InDesign or Dreamweaver then definitely acquire this knowledge to amp up for blogging. There are so many amazing blog lay-outs I've seen and I have no idea how the owner created it. Since there are a rare few that are willing to give up their "secrets" you might as well strengthen your brain and learn it yourself, no matter how long it takes. You have more power when you know something yourself and can apply it, rather than waiting for someone else to commit to the success of your work. The key is what to search for online since what you need will appear in the results. "audio playlist, video playlist, embed, embed code, html/javascript, url or blog feed, atom (feed), audio player, video player, blog gadgets, blog widgets, and more with every new term you discover in your learning. Take note of every new term associated with your blog and look it up. It will help you to use everything you have and once you can do that you'll start to view your blog as less confusing and overwhelming. Until next time, keep working and believing!
I'm not a professional dancer nor head designer but I can say I'm just like you trying to figure out the beast of the unknown on my own.
It's going on two years since making the decision to start my own blog, which I creatively refer to as a "blogizine" and lately as an E-zine (web-magazine/web-mag). It's been fun, cool, and very stressful.
Learning the ins-outs of anything for the first time can be easy, moderate to hard, or just plain hard.
I'm not a person who learns everything right away to the "T". My mind has to process the information I'm taking in and assess it... so all my self-starters out there I commend you on being brave and challenging the beast. For anyone wanting to and just don't know where to begin, believe in yourself first. That's what you should always do first. Then break it up into pieces like a puzzle. Take it from me if you go straight for it head on without taking it one step at a time it will become overwhelming and you'll create more bad stress on yourself than you need. You're trying to make it work for yourself, not give up before you see the success you can reach.
The blogizine RPRAI is still and will always be a work in progress. It is my life's work at this point and maybe that's the mentality to have going into this. Know for yourself if you want to dedicate your time to keeping up with your self-published work. Developing a following is a never-ending task and will never stop. How I keep anyone in the know about what I'm doing is basically that - catchy quick phrases to draw someone back. *NEW* Released SP Cover Feature!
Usually I'll add other key-words like where the Artist lives, who they've worked with that many will recognize, ethnicity, accomplishments in their field, or even lyrics to their latest song release to draw viewers in. As a promoter or someone trying to gain someone's attention you must look at it objectively. If you are the person seeing the post or update how would you react? If you're curious to see what it's about in a sea of other posts, tweets, or updates encouraging you to read their articles, then you're making an impact! It's still a challenge and there's nothing you can do about being mixed up with other self-starters and promoters' releases. There are other ways to get your voice heard and your brain will be ticking on how it can be done. So don't worry how you do it, just try any idea that comes to mind. You can never go wrong. Remember believe.
Twitter is an extremely important tool to use since it is pretty much the only social media that sends information far and wide in a short amount of time reaching many. I've sent out tweets where I received responses from individuals who were not even following me regarding the tweet. People know people and will tell each other. Every reply you receive will not always have your @xxxx twitter name. It makes it easier when it does because it shows up in your interactions and mentions. Messages are seen by many because it's not only floating down your timeline, key terms are seen in search results including people's names whether you use the @ symbol or not. If you're already using Twitter and have developed a following already then you're at a great start. You can begin immediately letting your current followers know about your work and latest releases. Another useful way to cover many in a short amount of time is catching groups of names in tweets on your timeline. "Friday Follow" #FF is a great way for you to inform groups of people who either know you or don't about what you're doing. They'll let their followers know and possibly follow you too! Another useful and beneficial tip is to initiate the interaction - in developing new followers. Take it upon yourself to "meet new people" and follow individuals that have something in common with your interests, your work, and more importantly who is following your followers. It's easier to connect with someone who you can easily start a conversation with or you can mention is following the same person you are with specific interests like business management or music. Not everyone will return the favor of following back so you have to wait it out and see. Keep track of the number of followers without making it the ultimate priority, just be aware if you went from having a 50+ person increase to -30 or more decrease. You'll notice from constant interaction. Let's face it, you have a lot of other things to do. Managing what you do and when you do it is lucrative to keeping up with the work you're trying to accomplish. Use it to your advantage and you'll see your views pick up. Hopefully when you start earning revenue through your blog you can send out HELP WANTED Ads or Job ads for people to accumulate followers for you and keep track of it. I haven't reached that point yet but one day hopefully it will.
Facebook is another useful source. Even though it doesn't span as far and wide as Twitter in a short amount of time it is beneficial for its ability for you to "post & leave", meaning once you post an update it is available for anyone to read at any point in time. Your timeline is a list of posts that you've made for anyone new and old to see at their disposal. I've noticed people using Facebook like Twitter by making multiple promotional posts at once. I'm not sure if it gives back the same beneficial results, but I'm sure it does to some extent since it can be "shared" to other walls of people you don't know and similar to Twitter it encourages your connections to pay closer attention to your work. I will say that Facebook allows you to share your updates more easily in a "stationed" manner, without quick-turnaround and fast change in setting, so that you know your post was right where you left it and can be shared multiple times. The same for groups. Even though your post can be lost within numerous posts in a group it still has to be treated like a fast-moving medium. Posting numerous updates is necessary for older, newer, and tuning in members to see what's going on with your work. Sparingly give updates with permission by the group owner to respect the rules of the group, not turn members against you, and getting kicked out. Always make sure to address and confirm your intentions with the owner so that you're both on the same page. You don't want your name out there associated with anything negative or deprecating.
What I'm learning right now in my journey is to remember to connect with new people on the regularly to build and grow my viewers. You'll find that if you don't remember to do this you'll still be associating with the same people and that can leave you stagnant. There's nothing wrong with developing a following and having a strong bond with them but if you're really trying to get your name out there you must learn to open up, bridge out, and take a leap of faith. The most you can receive in return is no response or follow-back. That's it! To some it may be harsh or hard to deal with, but learn immediately how to cope. You know in life everyone is not going to like you and will have something negative to say about you so you might as well take the bullet. Be strong, Be brave, Be resilient, Be Yourself. You're here for a certain amount of time you don't know the length of so do what you must to make a name for yourself. Those who don't see the magnificence in your work you can do without - take it or leave it.
Each Day is a new day to learn. What comes to you today will be refined tomorrow. I've had ideas come to me from washing the dishes, even taking a shower. They just come and when they do you must not tune it out. Keep saying it over and over again out loud. Keep it strong and relevant in your mind so that you when you put it to work you're stepping your game up. I'm a writer by trade so everything has to be written down, no structured way, just get it out of my head onto paper. Sometimes I can't translate my thoughts to paper but it doesn't matter whatsoever, just get it written down or recorded for future reference!
Whether you believe in the Divine or not I'm going to share with you anyways, the Lord speaks to us in many ways. When our minds are at rest He is speaking to us. It's possible He's speaking all the time but we are so loud in our thinking we're not listening and/or cannot hear. Take time to chill out and turn your mind off and watch the amazing thoughts that come to mind. Don't believe me? Just try.
The next thing you need to do is put your "faith to work". Don't just say what you're going to do, just do it. You must physically do something to receive a result. I just started adding various elements to my blog just for the heck of it without much understanding of what html/javascript or feed url meant until later on. I'm a strong believer in "trial and error". I think we all do it every day but don't always fully acknowledge it as a method of learning. It's how I understand things I've never done before. We're not perfect, but we try to be which in my opinion keeps us from appreciating ourselves for who we are. We have flaws. We are human.
Go to "layout" if you're using Blogger and start selecting "gadgets" wherever you see "Add a Gadget".
You can always rearrange, add, and/or delete later! I started with the basics: Subscribers, Follow By Email, Subscription Links, Translate, Blog Stats, Search Box, Blog List, Link List, Labels, Ad Sense. The rest came with time when everything started to form together and make sense. For the longest I only worked with these features and it brought good results. Remember it's about your posts, what you have to say. Don't forget your voice in the midst of creating the look of your platform. I've been culprit to it many times and it kept me from focusing on my subject of the day or topic I found interesting during the day. It can cause you to fall behind. Find the best places for the features listed above to begin. Keep your mind open and think out of the box with how to use specific elements to your advantage. For the Link List it serves me best as a way to display my top followers, my RPRAI partners, and other important subject or topics (other blogs) you want readers to directly go to. I've also found how useful the Blog List can serve its best potential. Using it to display your blogs, not only your favorite blogs, can also help direct viewers from one end of the spectrum to the next without having to remind them over and over where to go. It's all right there. Since I'm using my main page as the "directory" or attention grabber for where to go to next that's how I'm using the Blog Link gadget. I've learned how to creatively utilize the Link List by adding Twitter names as the "Title" with the Real name next to it, allowing a 2-in-1. The link may be an official site, blog, Twitter page, Facebook page or member page, or any "link-back" to a source of further information. The Labels or "Word Cloud" element is another great "directory" source for the content within your blog. I've seen many blogs and sites and that feature is one of the simplest koolest elements on a page. It took me a moment to figure out how to best use it since I was adding way too many labels for every post. To get the most use out of it pick specific "topic" words and organize your posts under those specific listings to keep an organized and formatted view of your work that readers can go directly to instead of jumping from one place to the next. The cloud won't be super big and easier to navigate.
Ad Sense is the next major focus if you're dedicating much of your time to working in developing your blog. You may have to set up an account first to start adding it in but like anything else that requires a set-up account go ahead and do it so it allows you to add the Ad Sense. Once you do the challenge is finding the best places for it to display content. I'm always rearranging the Ad Sense because of new material I'm adding so it becomes a nuisance. The best thing to do is keep it in the places where you do see the display ads and never move them because obviously that particular placement is where the advertiser sees the most benefit in displaying their ads. It also makes a difference if the Ad Sense is placed around subject matter or gadgets that allow it to display the best Ad content so you may have to rearrange, but don't do it too much and make it a headache. The style types I usually use are the Leaderboard, Banner, Half banner, Medium Rectangle, Vertical Large Skyscraper (top-to-bottom long rectangle). "The recommended" has the popular Ad Sense to use. After rearranging gadgets and adding new ones, such as the Feed I noticed more Ad displays appearing where the Ad Sense gadget was placed. You'll notice it yourself and continue to place them accordingly for what suits your blog the best.
This concludes the first entry from a novice-blog learner/owner. There's so much to learn about this process that it may take a few more years to become a pro. If you're in college and can take a course on web design and all the functions like InDesign or Dreamweaver then definitely acquire this knowledge to amp up for blogging. There are so many amazing blog lay-outs I've seen and I have no idea how the owner created it. Since there are a rare few that are willing to give up their "secrets" you might as well strengthen your brain and learn it yourself, no matter how long it takes. You have more power when you know something yourself and can apply it, rather than waiting for someone else to commit to the success of your work. The key is what to search for online since what you need will appear in the results. "audio playlist, video playlist, embed, embed code, html/javascript, url or blog feed, atom (feed), audio player, video player, blog gadgets, blog widgets, and more with every new term you discover in your learning. Take note of every new term associated with your blog and look it up. It will help you to use everything you have and once you can do that you'll start to view your blog as less confusing and overwhelming. Until next time, keep working and believing!
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