Blogging at its best - 11 Ideas to Maintain your blog

This is a reprint from the above link.

Some good advice for bloggers to be...


(http://blog.lifebeyondcode.com/blog/_archives/2006/1/6/1621513.html)

1. Make a long-term commitment:

Don't start a blog because one of your friends started one. Like many things in life, starting a blog is way easier than maintaining it. You need long-term commitment to make it successful.

2. Write what you are passionate about:

One easy option to start a successful blog is to imitate someone else. That will yield short-term results. You can't imitate someone for a long time. Best is to find your own voice. If you are writing about something that you are passionate about, you may not run out of ideas to blog. Find your own voice and stick to it.

3. Pick your audience:

Unless you are extremely accomplished or a celebrity, attempting to write something that is applicable to everyone may be futile. How about picking an audience to whom you can add the highest value?

4. Respect your audience:

Anyone who reads your blog is investing their most precious asset - their time. If you focus on ROII (return on investment for an interaction) for every visitor to your blog, chances are that they will come back for more. If you don't, there are so many choices that are out there as an alternative to reading your blog.

5. Observe and Listen

The more you observer and listen, the better your writing will be. There is always a lot of focus on "doing" things that sometimes we forget to "think", observe and listen.

6. Participate in a conversation

Blogosphere is the biggest conversation marketplace. It's like a big party going on all the time. You need to be willing to participate in an ongoing conversation or start your own.

7. Check your ego

Blogging many times is spontaneous expression of your ideas, thoughts or insights. It is possible that you will make a mistake and it is also possible that somebody will roast you for those mistakes. Rather than trying to defend it endlessly, try to admit your mistakes and go on. Ego won't help you get far, at least in the blogosphere.

8. Ask

Sports people have been working with coaches for years and that we know works very well for them. Coaching works in other areas too. If you are getting stuck somewhere, go ahead and ask someone that might offer you some help. I have always believed that there is more help then we ever will need in this universe. It is the asking that is lacking. The important point is to remember that while you might get something for free, not everything is available for free. You should be willing to the pay the price to win the prize.

9. Build on a theme

When I started blogging about 11 months ago, I created a series based on a theme called "Ways to Distinguish Yourself." Of course, I blog on topics other than this but having a theme helped me structure my thoughts over the long run. In 11 months, I have only got 87 entries in this series but in the back of my mind I am always thinking, observing and discussing ideas that can contribute to this series. You can pick your own theme or series and the beauty of this approach is that you can later enhance and re-use the content for something else.

10. It's not the quantity but the quality

Many people tell me that they don't want to start blogging because there is no way they will have time everyday to dedicate to blogging. There seems to be some misconception. There is no rule anybody has set that requires you to blog everyday. However, it will be unlikely that you will get a lot of visitors if you blog once a quarter. Pick a frequency that will let you blog without diluting the quality of the blog. Ultimately, it's not the quantity but the quality that matters.

11. Keep growing

This is something that is outside of your blog. One of the ways you can get more attention to your blog is from what you do outside of your blog, really! You can get famous through your blog, yes but it's easier the other way around - meaning you can get famous outside and then it's easier to get your blog to become famous :)

One of my favorite quotes "Little Women"

"Your heart understood mine. In the depth of the fragrant night, I listened with ravished soul to your beloved voice. Your heart understood mine. "

im amazed at how time can fly

what did i do today that was productive? nada, zilch, nothing

we caught up on LOST, SMALLVILLE, GREY'S ANATOMY, CRIMINAL INTENT, SVU, HEROS, THE NINE and we still have to watch ER.

Which one would i recommend? HEROS

silly me

it's a cute doll that can be made at the link above...

someone you must meet to appreciate

the one thing i have noticed about the internet (no not the outrageous amount of p0rn sites) but the fact that the most amazingly creative people share themselves so intimately with strangers....this picture is from a fantastic photographer that i found just "next blog"'g ...

there are many things wrong

sadly, there are too many things wrong with dealing with city hall that all i want to say is in the title...

"that's (insert your state here) for you"

OR

"if you want the weather to change, just keep driving for 15 minutes"

i have heard these phrases before - usually in context of weather developments but what's truly funny is that people - no matter which state you live in - believe that these phrases are true for their state....

I've heard it in the following states (so far):

• Texas
• Massachusetts
• North Carolina
• Kaua'i (which, to me, those phrases are fact)
• Virginia
• Florida
• California
• Colorado

interesting huh?

(link in title to Wikipedia.org)

plumbing disasters .....

NOT.

ok it could have been a plumbing disaster - i mean, it first started as just taking out a sink that needed to be removed from a wall and re-routing the hot and cold feeds from the boiler room to a new (not there yet) kitchen, into the currently gutted bathroom and up two floors to another bathroom and kitchen.

over a 100 feet of copper pipe, endless amounts of flux, 90 deg, tee's, 45 deg and solder - priming all the pipe for fitting and two pretty bad burns from falling solder (poor Phil and Jared and hubbie)....yet when we finally (slowly) opened up each shut-off ...only one leak from a fitting that was missed..wow...

so at 10:30pm Jared literally ran up the driveway, jumped into his car and zoomed back to billerica - not that I blamed him at all....and Phil slowly walked up the driveway and headed to woburn...

now i can wash my hands of flux and grime and hubbie and i can watch LOST

I'll post the pictures of the "modern art" plumbing job done in my basement renovations...

Some Internet addicts cover up habit

(long post)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - More than one in eight U.S. adults finds it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time and about one in 11 tries to hide his or her online habit, according to a study released on Tuesday.

The study by researchers from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California found one in 8 adults admitted they needed to spend less time online, saying this showed "problematic Internet use" is present in a sizeable portion of the population.

"We often focus on how wonderful the Internet is -- how simple and efficient it can make things," said Elias Aboujaoude, the study's lead author, in a statement.

"But we need to consider the fact that it creates real problems for a subset of people."

The study involved a nation-wide telephone survey of 2,581 respondents in the spring and summer of 2004 with researchers then examining the data and preparing the report which appears in the October issue of CNS Spectrums: The International Journal of Neuropsychiatric Medicine.

The survey found that 68.9 percent of respondents were regular Internet users and 13.7 percent found it hard to stay offline for several days at a time.

It found 12.4 percent often stayed online longer than intended, more than 12 percent said they saw a need to cut back on their Internet use, and 8.7 percent tried to conceal "non-essential" Internet use from family, friends and employers.

A smaller number, 8.2 percent, said they use the Internet to escape problems or a bad mood, while 5.9 percent felt their relationships suffered because of excessive Internet use.

Aboujaoude said the results do not show that people are suffering from a clinical disorder, and he added that more research must be done to make any such determination.

The study comes after several reports over the past decade concluded that Internet and computer use can be addictive, including habits such as visiting pornography Web sites to compulsive video game play.

One report published earlier this year in the journal Perspectives in Psychiatric Care said that the Internet may promote addictive behaviours and pseudo-intimate relationships like "cybersex."

That study said that 5 percent to 10 percent of the population likely will experience Internet addiction.

It said signs include a disregard for health or appearance, sleep deprivation and decreased physical activity and social interaction with others, as well as dry eyes, carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive motion injuries of hands and fingers.

Today's Weather

Cloudy

63°F Feels Like 63°F

Updated Oct 18 02:45 p.m. ET

french doors ~ oui

there is one thing that i must admit - i am sold on having a single french door as my interior doors to my apartments... it's just beautiful to have natural light filter in...

Construction Thoughts

there is a time and place for everything and when you start taking walls down from a house that is over 100 years old - the time and place is right now.



so we did the gutting of the walls to prepare for the plumber to put in a new heating system in first floor of the first unit. ummm the exterior walls (where the plumber will be installing baseboard heating) does not have any framing to connect those baseboards to. NICE.

so now our AMAZING GC is here - and he is working things out but we have to pay attention to the cost...yeah the cost...

Rain

raining in new england, which basically means that the pretty autumn coloured leaves are gonna be on the ground in the morning...

this picture was "fetched" from the link that is in the title...a personal website of an interesting person....but i found it by a google search for "rain pictures"

i find that new york city after rain is one of the best feelings...i love this pictures

change is a part of life

when we got the permit from the city to gut the walls - we were surpised how fast things just moved along...until, well, we realized that most of the side of our house is not supported well - and the changes that we wanted to make...well, it's gonna be a few more "duckies" than we had imagined.

the next change that had to happen was that i had to choose what i really wanted and what i could live without - i could live without the "open plan" dining room/living room/kitchin thing - so i changed...

did i mention that it was colder TODAY??

it was...colder that is ...today...

so colder that we had to turn on the furnace ...gah i hate the fact that we HAD to...

46°F
Feels Like
42°F

Updated Oct 15 11:25 p.m. ET

from the www.weather.com

(no link in title)

cold day in massachusetts

i know that i shouldn't think 55 deg is cold but i swear it must be 5 or 10 deg colder in the house...brrr i am under the comforters with the cats surrounding me with their heat...

(no link in title)

bake recipe

What is bake, you ask? It's a west indian bread - not ever actually baked. Sweet and soft ...and extremely yummie...

Ingredients

• 4 c self rising flour
• 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1/2 c milk mixed with 3/4 warm water
• 1 c vegetable oil
  

Mixing
mix flour, baking powder, salt and butter in a bowl
add 1/2 warm milk/water mixture to bowl and mix
slowly add balance of milk/water mixture to form dough ball.

leave dough ball in bowl
place paper towel on dough ball
sprinkle warm water on paper towel and let sit for 15 minutes

remove paper towel (don't throw it away)
make goose egg size dough balls, kneading it smooth
this amount of dough should make about 12/13 balls
place damp papertowel on the dough balls

In deep frying pan, put 1 cup oil on med heat for at least 6 minutes
take dough balls and smoosh flat by kneading the edges out
place into hot oil, when the underside turns light brown, turn it over
keep doing this for about 1 or 2 minutes - turning over frequently so it continues to brown and not burn
place "bake" onto new paper towel so oil will soak into towel

Yummie with hot tea or coffee

(no link in title)

Weather Update...warmer

48°F
Feels Like
45°F

Updated Oct 13 11:00 a.m. ET

(no link in title)

Why Do What is Right?

What is the most important reason to do what is right?

Ever ask yourself that?

(no link in title)

the leaves are leaving the trees with great colour

i know there may be millions (ok maybe not MILLIONS) of things that there is to like about the seasonal change from summer into autumn and then (*ginormous SIGH*) winter...but this is the one and only thing i like...(this and all the turkey on sale)


the link in the title is to the person's blog that i "fetched" this picture from...i kinda scoped it out a bit and they have some interesting things to say...i would suggest checking it out...

i've heard it said...

when you don't have anything to say - talk about the weather...

48°F
Feels Like
44°F

our days of 80 degree weather is over...i can see the twinkle in winter's eye....

(link in title to my hometown weather)

Several Posts a Day is not Usual for Me

i like to talk, and sometimes - write. but lately i haven't had the desire to write anything. don't get me wrong, i have several blogs out there and none of them have been updated in a long time - and then i start this one b/c i want a fresh new start. something not the same - something that doesn't resemble a "diary" of day's events but something that really has something to say about me - something, possibly, profound...

(no link in title)

Life is a Cartoon

have u ever just clicked on the "explore blogs" section on the blogger homepage? i do that all the time and so far - just today - i found two great blogs and i have put them on over there----> please check them out..

(the title is the link to one of them too...)

Cory Lidle ~ Born: March 22, 1972 Died: October 11, 2006

i am so sad about this....

please click on the title of this post for a very nice webblog post from "DJ" @ http://weblogthatderekbuilt.blogspot.com/

thank you ....

horsehair plaster and lathe

there are somethings not even an enemy should experience...

(no link in title)

just my not-so-random thought for today..

there are processes all over the place..there is a process to do most anything - and without it there is chaos.

Another description for chaos could be the "process" of obtaining a permit from the city by a homeowner...

(no link in title)

rainbows are smiles that are upside down

(no link in title)

Imitation....

Imitation is the sincerest flattery.
Mohandas Gandhi

(link in title to "At the Half Note" Blogspot)