“Two Free Videos (and a Special Offer) for Bloggers and Twitter Users” plus 1 more |  |
| Two Free Videos (and a Special Offer) for Bloggers and Twitter Users Posted: 12 Aug 2009 02:12 PM PDT Today two videos were released that involved me and that I think would be of interest to readers.
In the video I talk a little about how I got started but the rest of the interview is packed with a range of tips on how to improve a blog. The interview goes for just over 33 minutes and includes a special bonus offer that Gideon is giving for anyone who buys my 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook through his affiliate link.
The video goes for around 40 minutes and while it was developed for businesses wanting to get started with Twitter it covers a lot of tips that I think would be relevant to bloggers and individuals with other agendas. The first section covers how I find Twitter benefits my blogging but moves on to a lot of more practical tips on how to use Twitter Effectively. In total these videos give you over an hour of content - I hope you enjoy them! Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger. Two Free Videos (and a Special Offer) for Bloggers and Twitter Users |
| How to Write Sharp and Snappy Blog Posts Posted: 12 Aug 2009 07:23 AM PDT In this post Dan Kaufman from Bar Zine shares some tips on writing Sharp Snappy Blog Posts. When you write a story you're lucky if you can get a reader beyond the first paragraph. This is true in print and it's even worse online (a recent study by Jacob Neilson at http://tinyurl.com/mubtmr makes for interesting reading). After all, your post is just one out of millions online – and the difference can lie in how well written your copy is. Writing is a craft that involves a continual learning process. Having been a journalist and editor for the past 15 years (and I'm now a blogger as well) I still find myself learning – but there are some hard and fast techniques to make your copy snappier and more engaging. Here are some of the basics: 1) Write Short SentencesNext time you pick up a book and can't put it down, stop and have a look at the sentence length – you'll often find the sentences are short and punchy. 32 words is the maximum for an article's first sentence and while there are exceptions they ought to be rare. Aim to only have one point per sentence. 2) Use the Active VoiceHave a look at the following two sentences: The cat chases the mouse and The mouse is being chased by the cat Which one is punchier? It's the former because the subject (the cat) is doing something to the object (the mouse). As such, it makes sense to have the subject appear in the sentence before the object. In other words, the sentence is written using the active voice (whereas "The mouse is being chased by the cat" is passive). Using the active voice is more direct and requires less words – and the less words, the snappier the sentence becomes. 3) Write in the Present TenseWhich of the following headlines seems punchier? PM halts peace talks Or PM halted peace talks Unless your blog post takes the form of a hard news story you should use the present tense. Even hard news headlines are written in the present tense to make them seem more immediate. 4) Use Positive LanguageThis means avoiding negative words such as no, not and didn't when appropriate. You'll see why when you look at the following example: Troops have not pulled out of war zone Vs Troops stay in war zone The bottom example reads better since, as with using active voice, making sentences positive often makes them snappier. We also changed the tense from past to present. 5) Write in a conversational toneA lot of people don't realise that good writing means using a conversational tone – albeit with better grammar than you would use when talking to a friend in a bar. Avoid hype, pretentious words, jargon and acronyms – instead of impressing readers it's a turn off. You should never talk down to your reader by using language they may not understand and you should never assume they know something they may not. Unless you're trying to spin something or confuse, use simple, clear and direct language. As the old saying goes, if you confuse your readers you lose your readers. George Orwell put it another way in The Politics of the English Language. "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity," he wrote. "When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink." Dan Kaufman publishes Bar Zine (barzine.com.au), where he reviews Sydney bars. He also writes for The Sydney Morning Herald and teaches online journalism at UTS. Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger. How to Write Sharp and Snappy Blog Posts |
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