tips

5 Twitter Bio Examples That Will Rock Your Socks

by Marian Schembari on November 7, 2011

For the past few months I’ve been making a point to take screenshots of Twitter bios that have made me laugh, think or are just plain brilliant. Bios that find a way to – in 160 characters – sum up a person, what they do and why we should follow them. And I figured it was high time I started posting them here. Every few weeks I hope to update you with more, but for now, take a look at these rad five:

@montoure has found a way to give us the feeling of his genre rather than just telling us about it. This bio could not be more brilliant. That last line gets me every time.

@KatieDavisBurps lists all the things she does, but they’re not boring, overused interests like “loving life” and “eating food”. She’s written a solid, interesting list that ends in a way that’s incredibly relatable and made me want to be her friend. Or make her a pot of coffee.

@jamievaron always cracks me up because every time she opens her little blogger mouth, an absolute truth no one ever mentions comes out. And, without fail, she’s nailed it in her bio while also being crystal clear about what she does. Funny + informative = WIN. (p.s. why hasn’t Entrepreneur magazine bought entreprenuer.com? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve misspelled it in my browser.)

@mariancall not only has a beautiful first name, but her bio makes me want to listen to her music rightthissecond. THIS is how artists should be using social media, y’all. She lets us get to know her with the word “wanderlust”, helps us understand her style with musician comparison and adds a little funny in there to make us like her. Then she tells us to buy her album without actually telling us. I don’t know about you, but I’m sold.

@neilhimself has been on my list of Top Bios since day one. When I was working with authors I always sent them to his profile as a great example to follow. Basically, we all know who Neil Gaiman is; he doesn’t need to list his books or hobbies. Instead, he shows us how passionate he is about what he does and he writes it in typical Neil fashion.

Looking back at the bios that have caught me eye, I’m finding: Humor is always a good idea. So is passion. Lists can be great if you’re creative. And, at the end of the day, show – don’t tell.

Anyone come across a great bio recently they want to share? What do you think about these five?

{ 48 comments }

Is Your Blog Skimable? 6 Easy Fixes to Help Readers Actually Read

by Marian Schembari on November 2, 2011

Raise your hand if you’ve ever come across a blog with such incredible content but the blogger has managed to make it as unreadable as humanely possible.

It baffles me that so many people think blog aesthetics don’t matter – that the content should just “shine through.” But let me tell you a thing or two about blog readers: They – we – don’t read blogs like books. The readability of your site contributes to it’s success and if your content requires bifocals, a wide screen desktop and the brighten button, you’re going to lose a huge chunk of readers before they’ve even begun.

Before you start questioning the very existence of your blog, here are a few things to make each post more readable:

Bold up your sentences

Not of all of them, idiot. Just one or two to emphasize importance and allow for comfortable skimming.

Break up long paragraphs (and shorten the post as a whole)

Read this post and learn all about editing. Then cut your post by half. (That’s a hand tip I learned from my dad who learned it from A River Runs Through It.) But even if the post short, the paragraphs should be short too. Again, skimming.

Resize and reformat photos

I would give you an example here, but I can’t bring myself to post a bad example as it will ugly-up this post. But if you’ve been reading blogs for any amount of time, you’ve seen this: Photos so big the site won’t load. Photos justified with text that starts at the top, stops mid-sentence, then continues underneath. Basically, ugly and poorly centered photos are a distraction from that “shining” content. Fix it up.

Use bullets/numbers where applicable

This is less applicable if you have a personal blog, but if you do any sort of teaching or how-to style posts you need to think about breaking your content into lessons. Meaning numbered steps and structured, headlined paragraphs.

Pare down your sidebar

Again, distraction = bad. Too much action on the side (re: tons of photos or links) means not enough attention can be paid to the actual content.

Re-think your text color

I can’t believe I need to keep saying this, but WHITE TEXT ON A BLACK BACKGROUND IS NOT PRETTY. It’s not readable. It’s not easy on the eyes. It’s just not anything positive. Stop doing it.

Any other annoyances you’ve seen on blogs that are impossible to read?

{ 37 comments }

32 Ways to Tweak Your Blog This Afternoon

by Marian Schembari on October 17, 2011

Back when I was doing five blog critiques per week, I started noticing a few trends. Mistakes I see over and over again. While none of these is a huge detriment on their own, if you make a few fixes here and there, you could really start seeing some improvements on your site.

So if you feel like your blog is just missing that special something or you really want to start to be taken seriously, go through these 32 tweaks you can do in 10 minutes or less:

1. Add a photo (this can be in your sidebar or About page, but personalizing yourself can make a huge difference in connecting to your readers).

2. Update to the latest version of WordPress.

3. Add matching social media buttons.

4. Spell check all the major pages. Use a site like EditMinion if you want a “second pair of eyes.”

5. Remove unnecessary sidebar features like generic blog awards or silly memes that aren’t adding anything to your blog.

6. Download a trial of Scribe to check on the SEO of your posts.

7. Test each of your share buttons. Make sure they work and look the way you want.

8. Resize large photos. Use a plugin like Smush.it if there are lots to resize.

9. Test your site speed.

10. Check your site in different browsers (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari…) to make sure your site works for every reader.

11. Write 10 new blog post titles.

12. Approve any pending comments and delete spam.

13. Pare down your navigation menu. More doesn’t mean better.

14. Spend 10 minutes tagging old blog posts, recategorizing and generally making posts easier to find.

15. Test your blog’s search capability. (Add a search bar if you don’t have one.)

16. Do a quick Google search for your blog to make sure the preview doesn’t look messy. Make any changes on your dashboard if it does.

17. Get a favicon.

18. Break up big chunks of text. Blog readers skim. Make sure your posts and pages are easy to digest.

19. Write down the main thing you want your blog to accomplish. Post it somewhere you can see when you’re at your computer. Remember that one thing whenever you post.

20. Check for broken links.

21. Switch to a self-hosted domain. Seriously, just do it.

22. Download a related posts plugin to encourage readers to stay on your site.

23. If you’re looking to make money, spend 10 minutes checking out OpenSky, Amazon Affiliates and/or Adsense.

24. Write a page specifically for advertisers.

25. Write a list of 5 websites where you’d want to guest post.

26. Remove any “meta” stuff from your footer and sidebar if you haven’t already. It’s not useful for the reader, so why have it?

27. Do you really need that blogroll or do you just have it to get links back? Think about it, then consider deleting.

28. Start putting together a “Best Of” page.

29. Comment on your top 5 favorite blogs.

30. Sign up for HARO.

31. Do you have a newsletter? If so, look at it. Are you giving people a specific reason to sign up?

32. Organize your navigation menu from most important page to least important.

Got anything to add? Leave your suggestions below in the comments and I’ll be sure to add them as an update to the post!

 

 

{ 105 comments }

Blog Post Ideas: 12 Ways to Bust the Block

by Marian Schembari on October 5, 2011

Most of the time, I have a backlog of post titles just sitting in my drafts. But sometimes I just get stuck. I’m out of opinions (surprise!), out of tips and out of motivation.

Ages ago I wrote a post about 9 different ways you can create new content, but over the years I’m constantly jotting down new ways I come up with posts. And what better way to spur your inspiration than share those ways with you? Here are a few tricks I’ve picked up along the way, along with suggestions from the Twitter community and further resources you HAVE to bookmark so you never run out of material.

 12 Blogger’s Block Busters

(say that three times fast)

Go through old content. Has your opinion changed? Have there been updates on a lesson or tutorial you wrote about?

Advanced advice. You see “beginning guide to blogging/fashion/pet care” everywhere, but what about tips for more advanced users? Even thinking about it from that perspective can change your posting tune.

Daily tasks. What do you do every day that has an effect on your blog? For instance, I go through my Twitter email folder and either follow or delete new followers. And every day I get annoyed with people’s lack of bio or too many hashtags in their tweets. So I’ve written a number of Twitter rants that always do really well.

Ask your readers. A great way to do this is through your blog’s Facebook page as it’s easier for people’s ideas to feed off one another. Poll plugins also work, as does asking people to share what they want to learn in the comments.

And that said, pull from comments. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used a reader question or suggestion as an idea for a later post.

Check out the top conversations on relevant Facebook pages. Facebook is one of my biggest sources of inspiration: photos, polls, competitions – they can all be so clever sometimes and it’s great for sparking the ole creativity engine.

What’s on your mind? This is an easy one, but every time I find myself struggling with something (i.e. blogger’s block) I just write about it. Instead of constantly worrying about what I should write, I write what I want to write. And you know what? It means I never get sick of my blog.

Spread your wings. I rarely read social media blogs – mostly because I find they say the same things over and over, but also because I simply enjoy food, design and travel blogs more. And these are the guys I learn most from. Leaving your niche is often the best way to get new post topics. For example, I’m working on a behind-the-scenes post that’s inspired by a lot of design blogs I read.

What’s going on in your life? While I worry about turning this site into another travel blog, Nicole Antoinette said it best on a recent post of hers, “If you’re a personal blogger whose blog is an online chronicle of your daily life, I think it’s completely natural for the topics you write about to grow as you grow and change as you change. You won’t have the same audience forever, because you won’t be the same you forever, and that’s okay.”

What X taught me about Y. While I usually scoff in the face of metaphor posts, sometimes one completely unrelated thing in your life can help you better understand whatever-it-is-you-blog-about. So sort of as an extension of the idea above, take something that’s happening in your personal life (in my case, travel) and relate it back to your niche. For example, “What Travel Has Taught Me About Social Media.”

Friends. If you’re anything like me, your real-life friends don’t really understand what you blog about. But those conversations with my friends? The ones where I try and simplify, explain or analyze what my site is really about? Those are what really get my creative juices flowing.

Idea journals. Okay, okay, we all know this is a smart thing to do, but seriously… do it. My brilliant boss carries one with him at all times and his blog is constantly being updated with great posts. While I’m sort of crap at carrying anything with me, I’ve started using Evernote (at Ben’s suggestion) and I now have a massive notebook filled with spur of the moment ideas I get while running, on the road or in the air. I’ve written some of my favorite posts using this method because you never know when a great idea might strike!

Hot Shot Suggestions

If you thought this was going to be a post on specific ideas, sorry y’all. Check out these great epic list of blog post ideas. I might just steal a few myself:

100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write ~ Chris Brogan

20 Types of Blog Posts – Battling Bloggers Block ~ Problogger

101 Great Posting Ideas That Will Make Your Blog Sizzle ~ I Help You Blog

Are You Hoarding Ideas? ~ Men with Pens

Community Suggestions

When I asked my followers how they beat blogger’s block, here’s what two brilliant minds had to say:

Now it’s your turn. How do you come up with great ideas? Do you backlog like me or write by the seat of your pants?

{ 26 comments }

7 Ways to Pay it Forward Online

by Marian Schembari on August 24, 2011

Pay the toll of the person behind you.

Leave positive notes (à la Operation Beautiful) on public bathroom mirrors or people’s windshields.

Smile at a stranger, high-five a fellow runner, let the mom with threes kids go ahead of you in line.

Good Karma. On the Internets….

Paying it forward. Good karma. I’ve loved the idea of little acts of kindness, but for people who live online like yours truly, we need a solid list of nice things we can do for people around the world. Just because.

1. Donate to a blog. Ever see those sites that ask you to help them pay their hosting fees or buying  project materials by giving a little PayPal love? Well, how many of you actually do that? Today, I want you to give a couple dollars to that blogger you adore. That, or click on an ad, use their Amazon affiliate link, whatever…

2. Give your readers something special. Contests are a great way to do this, but if you don’t have a sponsor or the money to do this, bake your readers some cupcakes or send your top commenters a postcard.

3. Email your favorite blogger. Tell them they’re pretty. Or that you loved their latest post. Or that their about page makes you happy.

4. Any time someone mentions your or your site on their blog, share the post and don’t forget to leave a comment! While this is less a random act of kindness and more a way to thank people for mentioning you, it still bears repeating. Make an effort to comment on any blog that links to you (found through Google Alerts – get on that) to show you appreciate them. End of story.

5. Advertise someone on your site for free. Find a really great Kickstarter project you absolutely LOVE, but don’t have the money to support them? Feature the project on your latest post or create an ad to feature in your sidebar. Do this for charities, companies you love, blogs you read or anything else you want to spread the word about.

6. Send a handwritten thank you note to someone who’s really helped you – either through inspiration, leaving comments or mentorship.

7. Help someone with yard work. No, not real yardwork, this is online karma guys. But remember that post I wrote ages ago about people who saved my ass on Twitter? Pay it forward by doing the same. See someone bitching about their broken WP theme/grainy photo/overbaked cheesecake and you know how to fix it? Go forth and prosper.

What have you done or seen recently that’s been an awesome act of online karma? I only have seven ideas here and we need more! All your ideas will be featured here in the next couple of days…

{Photo credit}

UPDATE 8/27: Reader Ideas

Make Introductions – “I enjoy taking time out to email and tweet and say ‘Hi X, you should meet X because of X’ – I love seeing people who should get to know one another chatting away.” ~Sian Meades

Offer A Service – “If you offer a service, give it away for free to your most frequent comment-leaver, or a have a pay-what-you-can day,especially if your service is on the pricey-but-totally-worth-it side.” ~Kristin Offiler

{ 50 comments }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →