When you take a look at the definition of timeless, it is defined as: eternal; not affected by time; ageless, then add in the content portion and you’re set to create content that builds up your brand.

photo credit: Lin Pernille ? Photography

Timeless content can provide useful in more ways than one for your site.  Unlike news posts, people will continue searching for your content through search engines like Google and others for much longer, providing additional revenue and traffic no matter how long the post has been on your blog.

Main Benefits

• A view as an authority source.  When people visit or find a website that they find valuable, it is likely that they will bookmark or subscribe to it, referencing it in the future for more news and content.  Becoming an authority will lead to even more benefits, which are referenced below.
• Timeless content is more valuable as time progresses.  Unlike news stories (primarily celebrity and local news), people won’t be searching for those stories nearly as often as tips, tutorials, and guides that they will be able to use right now and in the future.  
• You are in more control.  Many news stories are published within a day of the story being published by another site, as you are trying to inform your readers about it as close to the release date as possible.  With timeless content, you don’t have to worry about errors or inaccuracies in your posts - they are typically correct when you publish them as you have more time to publish them and further revise them as your blog becomes older.
• Timeless content is pillar content.  Pillar content, or content that draws in a rather high amount of traffic to your blog as it is linked to and provides value for your readers, can also be timeless, as it helps grow your site while being of value to your readers.
• Others link to your content more often.  Once you have published a piece of timeless content and people recognize it as timeless, they have a much higher chance of linking to it.  In addition, your entire site, if not just the timeless posts, will be increased in search engines and on more popular sites alike.

How to Create Timeless Content

While timeless content has different formats, below is a listing of a few different ways to help achieve the sense of timeless content on your blog, even if the post did originally reference a date and product.

1. Don’t add date words to your posts, such as yesterday, tomorrow, or any other specific dates, which draw the reader away from your post.  If you are referencing a specific date, you might want to add value, rather than simply stating that something will happen/has happened.  For example, add your thoughts and what happened of importance.
2. Remove dates from your posts or locate them in less prominent positions.  Often, I look at content that has been published more than two years ago as not up-to-date, although this may be the most accurate, as the author should have updated or replied to comments on the post.  You also have to check the date of the most recent post to be sure that the blog hasn’t been abandoned.
3. Avoid writing about fads or using slang words.  By next year, the terms you use today will be long gone, replaced by a new term, which will be replaced just a quickly.  In a sense, you also want to use timeless words, or words that nearly everyone recognizes and have been in the dictionary since they were first published.
4. Avoid writing about people.  Unless the person has been president, you don’t want to reference people who may not be as popular years from now.  Putting this in reference to blogging, if you write an article about a specific blogger, you should provide reference to the author’s blog and the significance of him or her - as the blog could be offline within the next year.
5. Continue updating a post as time goes on.  The way we publish and write changes over time, so you will want to be sure that your older posts, which may contain references to the date are updated with additional thoughts, information related to the post, and any further developments on the topic/product.
6. Don’t make older content appear as neglected.  Reply to the most recent comments, at the very least, of your oldest posts to ensure that they are given the same treatment as new content..

Conclusion

Although timeless content should be put foremost in your list of building up your blog, it is just as important to provide relevant, yet timely content for your readers, which isn’t timeless.  Both forms of content will help spread your blogs audience, but the most important idea to remember is the fact that your readership will change and evolve over time too, so your timeless content won’t be weighed as heavily against new content.

Blogging is more than just a tool, profession, and anything else you imagine it to be.  It allows you to express yourself.  With this key idea in mind, there are a few additional aspects that I’d like to address before moving on to the post’s main topic.

So, you have the quote on quote - amazing - idea for a blog.  A blog that is able to outpace the competition in monthly growth, to levels beyond that of even the most established bloggers.  While this is rarely ever accomplished, it can be done.  When you begin the process of researching how to start the new project, you find that nearly everyone has already covered the topics you thought people would find “extremely helpful.”

That idea is now down the drain — what’s next?

Solution #1: Solve Problems

Everyone has problems.  It is only natural that we all need solutions to the multitude of problems and difficulties we face in our lives.  Many of the top questions have already been answered, but as many people might say, everything is nearly identical and has already been accomplished.  In some ways, this is true, but in so many other ways, it isn’t true.

With the rise of the Internet, it became even easier for people to find quick answers to their questions.  They simply went to Google or any other tool (such as Yahoo! Answers), typed in their question/keywords, and an answer would be as little as ten seconds away.

Starting a blog, or any new web project, should be viewed similarly.  If you can’t solve a problem someone has, then you shouldn’t count the idea (in a sense, you shouldn’t place as much priority on the individual idea).  New problems (and their counterpart solutions) need to be created by someone each day — you have to be there to solve the problems.

Solution #2: Be Unique in Your Approach

Comedy is comedy.  Many comedians can’t get their stronghold on how people view them for a single reason.  They just aren’t that funny.  You can have the content that you feel is appropriate, targeted, and solves a problem, but the mainstream Internet “user” won’t find what you have to offer any different than others in your field (or niche).

Content is valuable in the sense that people desire a vast amount of it, yet no one can hold the answer to every question.  That’s why it is important to be as unique as possible, especially in areas where there is a lot of competition, or over-saturation of the same relative content.

Solution #3: The Tortoise Doesn’t Always Win

Going back to the old fable, being slow and steady doesn’t always place you first.  Referring to online purposes, the hare often wins the race, as speed is one of the most important factors in your execution.

Some blogs only cover news, whether in the form of celebrity gossip, events going on in a local area, or relating to other niches, you need to deliver on your tagline - providing news.  However, at some point, you’ll encounter ‘burnout,’ which a blogger’s worst nightmare.  Otherwise known as the inability to produce content at the same level that they were once able to.

You might find that producing content more quickly yields lower results (in the form of sales, page views, etc.), so you can’t always go this route.

Solution #4: Don’t Follow the Pack

Putting all other advice aside, don’t follow the pack because a leader tells you to do so.  Be the leader.  Buck the trends and follow your own lead in creating something people want.  It’ll be more work in the end, but there isn’t a doubt that you’ll be able to accomplish it.

Often, the one who follows the pack doesn’t get as far as the one who leaves the pack first and goes his or her own way.  It all depends on the amount of effort you want to put into your cause, and how you execute everything.

Be the leader yourself.

Conclusion

Back to the main topic - hasn’t everything already been written about already?  To some, it has.  In another sense, new content can be created each day (although it will always be based on previous, older content).  Think about new inventions - they are (typically) revisions and better products than previous iterations of the nearly identical ideas.  News is created each day, so someone has to cover that - the news media.  As a blogger, you have the task of creating something that other people want to read (content).

Despite the fact that each blogger appears to be “repeating” what others have been saying for a decade or more, each person brings a unique perspective to the topic, allowing a different group of people to read the content for what it is worth, not for the fact that it is just there.

Throughout the years, news has been reported, often adapted from primary sources, along with additional knowledge from the writer about the subject.  In addition, there were likely other sources of insight into the subject/news article being written about.  Many things have changed since news was first published in newspapers, on television, and into the present with the Internet - news can be found in any of these mediums.

However, the people writing the news are similar, in more ways than one.  For one, each has a definite passion about writing, stemming from the fact that they want to share work with their readers — bloggers today and the newspaper writers of the past (and present).  Secondly, robots or some other form of life — one that is able to interpret thoughts and make no mistakes whatsoever, doesn’t yet exist, meaning that each of these groups of people can’t exist without the editors, writers, and other practices that the author/publisher puts into each piece of work.

Accuracy Starts at the Source

A majority of the content distributed today is simply rewordings of writing that has been previously published, whether online or offline, that can then be sourced to current events - meaning that the original articles must be attributed to.

There is only one simple way to ensure accuracy when sharing your thoughts on an issue: make sure you know exactly what you want to get across to your readers.  Without this, you won’t be able to source and/or excerpt the right content, and your copy will appear choppy, pieced together simply to publish the post, and not inform, educate, or persuade readers - the three main goals that bloggers appear to be looking for from their blog.

Think about it this way - if you don’t understand a particular topic, then move onto another one and entirely avoid it.  It can be said that you’ll become a better writer venturing away from your comfort zone, but in this case, the results will be adversely affected as a result of any inexperience you may have.

When you need to cite other websites and sources, make sure that you link to the article, then split your browser to make sure that any facts you quote/use in your post are accurate, and current - you don’t want to use information that was valid ten years ago, as it won’t provide any relevant information to your readers.

While this post wasn’t meant to provide methods for citing sources, you need to be able to provide a reference to any facts that aren’t implied as those that you know, or anyone should know for that matter.

You need to be able to prove to your readers that you can be a reliable source, so if you are unable to look at one source, then use that information and transfer those figures and relate them to your views, then your readers won’t respect you as a blogger/journalist/etc.

Don’t Do Something You’ll Regret

At this point as someone who blogs, many of the foundations for what is and is not acceptable on your blog, in the sense that a few mistakes here and there are generally recognized as acceptable.  

There are several methods to ensure that your posts are up-to-date and relevant for the people who visit your blog.

• Be sure that any sources you cite were published as recently as possible, unless the facts have not changed.  As a general note, do not choose articles that were published when “things were different,” or your blog will appear as out-of-date as the article itself.
• Don’t let the link back to other blogs be put on the back burner.  If it is not provided and a large number of figures are provided, you will appear as though you are an “insider” of the service and are an employee/writer there - not something you want to be if the service isn’t liked.
• Your views can be taken as criticism of other people, if you simply take the intended article and flip the opinion of it.  As implied evidence, you can offend people, making them react further to your opinion, defaming you for something you never intended to do.
• Again, don’t publish posts without, at the very least, double checking facts that have been ported over to your blog.  Even the most minor of mistakes can merit the biggest mistake in your blogging career.
• Facts that you generate yourself, including advertising rates, etc. must be kept accurate, or you’ll be overcharging/undercharging your advertisers.

Before beginning to take a look at the fonts in use at your site, you first need to know the basics of using fonts within your posts.  While I am not referring to the CSS and font styles that have been pre-styled into your template, it is of equal importance that you aren’t using any font that is hard to read no matter what font style you plan on using.

These rules by no means should be considered “standard practice,” but conform with many of the standards that people are looking for when they read your blog.  Adopting a set of “best practices” when writing posts can help you dramatically increase the frequency that people comment on your blog, as they will be tuned-in to what you have to say and will realize that something truly is important every time you make a bold statement.

Note: Only basic tags have been included.  The codes used below should be formatted according to (X)HTML and W3C standards, but haven’t been indicated as so.

The Underscore

What It Does: The underscore (or underline) produces emphasis on a word or set of words, often used for highlighting links (automatically inserted with proper CSS styling) and other text that needs to be dramatically separated from the rest of the text.

When It Should Be Used: Whenever you need to create a dramatic and sudden shift in the text, such as the headings in a short list when all items are on the same list.

To Produce the Tag: Highlight over an item, then select the underline button in your blog editor; otherwise (sometimes) Control/Command+U.  HTML tag: u

The Emphasis (Bold) Tag

What It Does: Creates an “exaggeration” of the text that it has been used on.  It sets apart the selected text from the rest of the document, making it stand out more prominently.

When It Should Be Used: The bold/emphasis tag should be used  in the case that you need to separate text from the rest of an entry, as the text is darker than the surrounding text.  One of the best ways to use the text is for people that want to quickly scan over your post, so you’ll want to highlight key phrases and words that should be addressed.

To Produce the Tag: Use the button in the blog editor with the bold representation; otherwise use Control/Command+B.  HTML tag: b or strong

Italic Type

What It Does: Italic type is a typeface based on cursive handwriting, similar to calligraphy, with a slight slanting to one side.

When It Should Be Used: This font face should be used to separate a single word, meaning that the word deserves extreme significance.  It should also be used for the names of ships, poems, foreign words and taxonomy, individual letters, defining terms, or a thought process.

To Produce the Tag: Use the italic representation in your blog editor bar; otherwise use the Control/Command+I keys.  HTML tag: em or i

The Strikethrough

What It Does: Creates a horizontal line through text that you have specified.

When It Should Be Used: This format should be used perhaps the most sparingly, as you can easily exclude content from the post completely.  You should use it to indicate that something has been deleted or excluded, but that the reader should still know about it (text is readable through the strikethrough).

To Produce the Tag: Use the strikeout button in your blog editor.  HTML tag: strikethrough or del

The Heading (Basics)

What It Does: The heading tag creates larger font sizes than your default font.

When It Should Be Used: They should be used to separate content, including lists, and separation of different subjects.  Ideal for readability and search engine purposes - H1 through H6 tag.  You can use the H3 tag, then the default (paragraph) tag for highly organized content.

To Produce the Tag: Use your blog editing software, if it is included, otherwise use the following HTML tags: H1 through H6 tags

CAPITALIZATION OF ENTIRE WORDS

What It Does: Produces a shouting, or extremely pronounced effect when offset by the rest of your content.

When It Should Be Used: Sparingly.  It indicates that you are shouting online, unless used in headlines or header elements.

To Produce the Tag: Caps/Shift Key

Code

What It Does: Removes formatting of text, unless combined with other tags.

When It Should Be Used: Ideally, it should be used for inserting code into your posts, so the WYSIWYG editor doesn’t strip out code that should be displayed.

To Produce the Tag: Use your WYSIWYG editor or the code HTML tag.

Other Tags to Use

Maximum accessibility and readability should be your top priority whenever you write a post.  These tags should also be used, formatted much like typical tags.

• dfn - Definition terms.
• samp - Defines sample computer code.
• kbd - Defines keyboard text.
• var - Defines a variable.
• cite - Defines a citation.
• blockquote - For inserting text from other sites or others’ speeches.
• list tags - li, ol, and ul items (sometimes in the WYSIWYG editor)
• Again, there are hundreds of others, but these are the main ones that people use when blogging or writing text online.

Conclusion

The main point of this post was not to intimidate anyone into overusing the tags–they should always be used appropriately for the benefit of your readers; addressing the design and readability aspect of your site.  These tags are not completely necessary, but it adds a touch to each post that allows you to separate your content from other sites, even though you may be blogging in a crowded niche.

In some cases, it is required that you use particular font formatting, such as italics for the names of works of art, so these areas should always be addressed when you are writing content.

Through the use of CSS and other conditional tags (WordPress themes), as well as on single post pages (editing the HTML), you can fully customize the view of each individual post page.  Finally, the main idea to remember is that text not separated, bunched together in a single paragraph is a reader’s worst nightmare–readers often avoid this type of post.  Add separation to at least a few words in your blog posts!

Content should be kept simple.  Most people would rather read a single paragraph, containing all the key points, than have to stay on the same post for a period of ten minutes or more to read an elongated post, leaving with the same information that the few lines presented.

Why Should You Condense Your Content?

Readers that may be arriving to your blog looking for a specific item want to be able to get on with their lives and accomplish what they needed to find as soon as possible.  In this respect, an introductory paragraph and/or conclusion paragraph that sum up what your entire post is about is essential.  When you create a post that is a few thousand words long, this step becomes even more important, as many readers don’t read the entire post, unless it sincerely interests them.

Additionally, these long posts lose you visitors and readers if you constant bore them with content that they simply don’t want to sit through reading.  In order to produce longer posts, it should attract new readers, follow the topic of your blog, and be an authority resource in your niche.

Blogs that report on news generally keep their posts to one paragraph, or a few one to two sentence paragraphs, only covering the essential points of the topic/news item.

Why You Shouldn’t Condense Your Content

The current format of most blogs is to present information to readers, so leaving out key points or leaving the reader requesting more information isn’t a good situation to be in.  You’ll want to cover all the main points, so this typically adds quite some length to posts.

When you create resource lists, it can be costly to leave out resources that others may find beneficial, so don’t skimp when it comes to “completing” a post.  Other people who “compete” with you in your niche may see this as a weakness on your part and create a similar, outstanding post that directly eliminates your power in the terms of traffic.

Key Points to Remember

If you happen to run a site that reports on news or research, remember the Six Ws - Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, and How?  For example, if I were to write a post about a blogger event, I could quickly sum up everything that happened there in a few simple sentences, then expand upon that with a personal anecdote about my experience.

While there are no good ways of condensing content without leaving out content and leaving readers lost, remember that unless you want to sit through and read an entire post, then it may not be worth publishing for your readers.  Before, during, and after drafting a post, think about how you can paraphrase and condense content, creating key points, numbered lists, and conclusion paragraphs for visitors that need a quick snapshot of what the entire post is about.  It is absolutely necessary to brainstorm before you begin writing, or you will surely get off-topic and lose interest, drawing on points that should be broken off into a new post. ]]> http://blogtipz.com/2008/08/20/how-to-keep-your-posts-to-the-point/feed/ http://blogtipz.com/2008/08/04/the-nearly-complete-list-of-ways-to-becoming-a-better-writer/ http://blogtipz.com/2008/08/04/the-nearly-complete-list-of-ways-to-becoming-a-better-writer/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 03:56:29 +0000 Kevin http://blogtipz.com/?p=1064 Nobody can claim to have perfect grammar and spelling skills, although some people are seemingly better at writing than others.  As a blogger, it is important that you develop good writing skills and have an eye for mistakes in your own writing.  

In theory, if you are a better writer, you will be abel to convert more visitors over to sales and leads through effective copywriting, and in the sense of blogging, more subscribers and return visitors.  However, under certain circumstances, the situation that you are in doesn’t necessarily determine your success.  People who have launched their career off-line and have created a name for themselves in the spotlight and begin blogging don’t necessarily need the wide-scope of writing knowledge that someone starting their blogging career online requires.

photo credit: :: R I C K ::

Effective writing does more than just draw in new visitors and subscribers, but also proves that you are devoted to changing and evolving your writing style, as is often evident by taking a look through your blog archives.  Your name as a blogger begins growing, people start associating your name with your blog, if you aren’t already using your name in your blog’s domain.  Recognition can be one of the most beneficial aspects of becoming an influential writer.

No matter what background, level of education, or nationality you originate from, it is possible to become a better writer.  It isn’t always an easy path to go down, but it is necessary in the online networking world.

There are some key steps involved in the process of evolving from a so-so writer to an individual with the ability to write like a “professional.”  

1. Don’t let anyone attach their name to your content.  After you’ve just spent a good portion of your day writing several articles, only to find them all copied, word-for-word onto “article” blogs, it demoralizes the art of writing and prevents you from being able to write up to top-notch levels.  File a DMCA or cease and desist letter immediately if you feel someone has infringed on your copyright protection and rights.
2. Make sure you’ve developed a close relationship with others who respect you and can grade your work truthfully.  Their input can help you change your writing for the better.  Don’t chose people solely because you believe they will applaud your skills, but people who can be honest and straight-forward with you.  
3. Network with other bloggers who need to write on a similar skill level and in the same niche as you.  Devote time each day to connecting with this group, whether through social networking sites or elsewhere, but be sure that you receive feedback and pointers.
4. Don’t let anyone let you down or become discouraged.  Take all criticisms in light as constructive.  By allowing others to expose your weak points, you will become a more adaptable writer.
5. Practice, practice, practice.  By writing every day, or at least a few times per week, you will improve upon the skill and become better as time progresses.  Don’t put off this step, as it is one of the most critical ones in the process of becoming a better writer.
6. Keep a set of tools on hand.  Make sure that you are able to write, whether in the form of notes or whole pages, wherever you are.  A basic set can include a pad of paper/notebook, pen/pencil, dictionary, thesaurus, or other reference books.  It doesn’t even need to be in the form of traditional materials -  a notebook computer with a built-in dictionary will do the job fine.
7. Don’t hesitate to take notes and jot down ideas whenever you can.  Develop a habit of keeping notes on what you see and hear on a daily basis, as you may choose to incorporate ideas from these in a future post.
8. Begin with a headline, plan, or idea.  When it is hard to think of a topic, begin with something simple, an event, place, or name that can inspire you to write an article.  It doesn’t matter what it is.  The pre-writing/brainstorming stage is important as a planning step, or your post/story won’t be as defined and concrete as you’d like it to be.
9. Create a schedule.  If you are able to write at the same time each day (easier when you have a blog), then you become accustomed to a set schedule, so that you are able to write within time constraints.  
10. Step away from your boundaries.  Experiment with new writing techniques, adding images and using different text styles while writing, giving more emotion to certain words and phrases.  There is no such thing as a standard for the type of writing you do.  Be adventurous and write in a different style for a change, it helps broaden your experience as a writer.
11. Don’t make excuses for not writing.  Putting off writing won’t develop your skills and make you a better writer.
12. Start a blog!  The core of blogging is writing and producing content.  You can’t go wrong with starting a blog, even a personal blog, as a look back at how your writing has improved over time.  It can even function as your portfolio or résumé should you go on to a freelance writing job or produce articles for other agencies/blog networks.
13. Read books on how to write.  Take the time to research the proper techniques of writing, and how to properly write following correct English rules.
14. Read famous authors’ work - “top” bloggers, for example.  You’ll develop an eye for what good writing looks like, and you can “replicate” their style to some extent, adapting it to suit your own style.  Many authors have been writing their whole lives and have had instruction from other authors and likely more experience than most people receive in their entire lifetime..
15. Make mistakes in your first draft.  Then, go back and edit it, improving upon it.  Some authors like to step away from a work that they have recently written to let the ideas settle, then go back to it, and they will find dozens of mistakes that weren’t evident in the first revision or write of the draft.
16. Set goals.  Reach beyond your limits and challenge yourself to become a better writer by publishing lengthier posts.  When you have reached your goal, you can “congratulate” yourself because you realize that through struggle, hard work, and dedication, your writing will become better.
17. Don’t banish your name from the Internet.  While I personally only want my first name on my blog, I believe that having your name attached to your work can add a great deal of respect from people reading your blog.  If you haven’t already added your name to your posts, it may be a good time to do so, or at least your first name or a pen name.  Once readers can connect either a name or face with a blog, then they become attached to it, returning on a daily basis.  As a blogger, it is easy to get your name out, but you need to set your writing standards higher than others if your posts want to appear on larger blogs.
18. Look for inspiration.  All around you, look for inspiration for a new topic to write about.  Once you are able to point to a source of inspiration, it becomes extremely easy to publish a good piece of writing, and the process of writing also becomes that much more simple.
19. Become fluent in another language/learn root meanings of words.  Often, other languages hold similarities with the English language and other languages.  By studying and learning another language, you will become open to learning the root meanings of words and how words should be used.
20. Vary sentence structure and length.  Write with emphasis, make the reader become apart of the story or post.  Readers prefer shorter sentences.  Avoid using words that drastically slow down a sentence or make a reader pause, going back to the start of the sentence.  This often distracts the reader from the main purpose of the article.  Use words that flow together, provoking thought from the reader.  As a blogger, this is crucial.  In a sense, you need to be able to get readers to comment and provide feedback on your writing and information.
21. Don’t become constrained by your writing method.  I prefer typing content whenever I have access to a computer over on paper, as it is less time-consuming, and mistakes can be easily edited out without wasting a lot of resources.  On the other hand, if I revert back to writing on paper or at a different location, inspiration can bud from scenery change.  Use tools that eliminate distraction - WordPress has a built-in full screen writer.
22. Leave time for revisions.  Often, the revision process can be the most lengthy, and involve several additional versions of the draft before you are satisfied with the result.  Don’t rush or skip any steps, it will leave an obvious mark on the final, published version.  Check spelling, grammar, sentence structure, then “optimize” - make your post shorter and more concise. 
23. Do a creative activity.  There are dozens of activities, both online and offline that you can do to stimulate your brain and create better content.  Try brainstorming for one.
24. Don’t try “imitating” someone else.  You are able to think for yourself.  Why can’t you develop your own writing style?  People become attached to certain writers for the way they write and style their writing.  Trying to replicate someone else’s style will leave you struggling to find your voice.
25. Become organized.  When writing a piece of copy that will be seen by a large audience (blogs or websites), mark each revision and take notes along the way.  Research and document where you are taking facts from, as you will need to link or cite them as you publish the article.  In truth, becoming organized may be the single most important step in the journey to become a better writer.
26. Break away from writing “standards.“  You don’t have to perfect at writing 100% of the time.  Add variations to your writing, include a sentence fragment every once in a while.  Readers typically won’t call it out, and it still gets your point across.  
27. You are a writer.  Don’t think that simply because you haven’t written a book or have had one of your works reviewed in the media that you aren’t a writer.  Anyone can be a writer, even people who aren’t being paid to write.  By definition, “A writer is anyone who creates written work, although the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms.”
28. Re-read your writing.  Before you hit the “Publish” button, be sure that it sounds okay to yourself.  Read it out loud.  Read it three times, read it five, read it ten.  Read it to yourself.  Whatever method you use to re-read your work, it will allow you to hear mistakes that you are making before others read it and judge you.
29. Never become bored with writing.  As a blogger, at no point can you call it quits - unless, of course, you have retired/seriously called it quits.  You have a responsibility, and that is producing content on your site.  If you really need a break, take one.  Hire someone else or have guest posters write for a week or so while you recuperate.  Don’t write more than your limits per day, take breaks at intervals throughout the day if you are a full-time writer.
30. Practice writing like you speak.  This is yet another step allowing you to reach beyond your potential, as a quick way to write exactly what you are thinking, leaving room to edit and rearrange your thoughts at a later point.  Voice your opinions on issues, whether they are controversial or not, so readers can connect with you.
31. Long posts are not always better.  Keep your sentences concise, then your published post will likely be shorter than if you hadn’t kept your thoughts to a minimum.  While it is a good idea to explain any technical jargon or go in-depth of certain issues, create a different post for each defined topic.  Long posts do draw in more visitors from social bookmarking sites (Digg, StumbleUpon, and Delicious), but short posts get your point across more effectively, and it’ll only take readers five minutes to “get the point.”
32. Create (a) character.  If you don’t like yourself, create a character, then use the name of this character to hide your real identity.  It isn’t the best way to spread your writing, but it allows you to become more successful, without the need to worry about people revealing your true name/identity.
33. Patience is a virtue.  Becoming a better writer doesn’t happen overnight, in a day, week, or month.  You become better over time.  The reason there aren’t a million new writers each week is because no one is able to replicate the same work as others who have been writing for thirty plus years.  On the other hand, unless you don’t have access to blogging tools (software/internet/computer), you are able to free and however much you want to, whenever you want to.
34. Transparency is extremely important.  Readers want to know exactly what you define and think abut certain topics, as well as your stance on issues, whether it be paid posting, or the way you handle your blog’s comments.  Transparent writers become more trusted and visitors typically return to see what content has been added since their last visit.
35. Complete the experience.  Readers don’t want to be mislead by a post title.  For example, don’t title a post “Fifty Blogging Tools” then only list five, explaining that you couldn’t find the entire amount, but wanted traffic from people who wanted a complete list.  It is important to lead your visitors in, bait them with the first few lines of the post, then hook them with the conclusion.  Make the entire post complete and strong, from the title to the content, to the conclusion and follow-up in the form of comments.  Don’t leave your visitors asking for more.
36. Your writing tip goes here.  Share your thoughts in the comments area.

Conclusion

As I stated earlier, no one can claim to be the world’s best writer or author, for that matter.  It is imperative to call yourself a poor writer.  Readers look at content, then writing, so as long as you have content, you have completed the first step in ensuring that you have captivated the audience.

One of the main things to remember is that content never comes free.  If you receive most of your traffic from Google, you obviously put time into creating links to your site or added keywords and content-rich information to your site.  On the other hand, if a large percentage of your traffic is direct, then you worked on branding, had content, and reached out to other “high profile” bloggers to help spread word about your site.  In all these cases, time was the leading method for growing your site.

Alternatives to taking this approach and promoting a select number of posts can help gain more for less time, and when time is valued higher than money for many people, spending cash to promote posts can be a good idea.

1. Use traffic-generating widgets (Entrecard, Spottt, etc.) and use individual posts instead of your main blog URL in order to potentially gain more comments.
2. Advertise on other bloggers’ blogs using a link back to the post, which may lead to a lower bounce rate - people who click on the ad may want to see a list of recent posts, so they travel to your homepage.  Disadvantage: Higher cost and lower return if visitors don’t find the post interesting, plus the ad may be running for a full month instead of a shorter period. 
3. Purchase ads through AdSense, especially for posts that can lead to a good return (e.g. reviews of products, services) that wouldn’t normally receive a lot of traffic.  
4. Uniqueness equals traffic and new subscribers.  Applying this principle to your posts, try something different, whether it simply be in the style that you write or the graphics you use when trying to get your point across.  When I look for qualities in blogs worth subscribing to, one of the main things I look at is the design of the site, number/quality/uniqueness of posts, and what character the author puts into his or her site.  
5. Push your posts to other web services including Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, FriendFeed… and the list goes on.  The main point is to involve people who “follow” you, to let them know about your recent post.  

Let’s apply this principle to businesses for a moment.  Each year as more businesses move into the worldwide market, they each must endure dramatic changes in both their audience and workforce; needing to cope with any challenges.  Their main struggle may not be finding new customers, as the need for custom-produced goods will always be there, but trying to have everyone work together in an efficient way, and when all language barriers and communication barriers have been broken, the company comes out just as strong and leads more innovation.  

Back to the blogging front, there is no need to blog in English or be good at it.  With language translation tools, people that are interested in the subject that you are blogging about are able to access it, or do so automatically by the blog system, browser, or search engine.  In addition, keeping your language local to your area of origin allows you to target your audience to people that speak in your language, so there is no need to learn another language.

While it may seem that there are more people that want to access your blog in a different language (such as English), that misconception does not always hold true.

Blogging in any language (English, German, French, etc.) allows you to:

• Blog about your passion.
• Reach any audience.
• Blogging natively means that you truly care about blogging, and aren’t in it for the incentives involved if you blog in the mainstream language.

Some of the world’s most popular blogs were started in other countries that do not have English as their main language, but are able to spread the popularity to English countries due the content or discussion that has surrounded the blog in mention.  Popularity and content outweigh the language barrier that is created.  

On an ending note, remember that just because you feel that blogging in English is the right decision, think about the audience and community that you may build by keeping your language native to your country.  Is the community more important or a slightly higher stream of traffic?  

Even the “best” writers have points in their careers where they stumble, and that doesn’t mean that you have to exhibit perfect writing/language skills in any language unless you are publicly viewed as a key speaker.

Writing a post title can sometimes be the most daunting tasks of finalizing your blog post to be published.  The process for writing a great title that draws people in to read the content, even if there is very little substance, involves thinking about what readers are looking for, involving trends, and then relating any “brainstormed” ideas into the title.  Before you can hit the publish button, the capitalization should be correct or your work put into creating the post and title have been all but diminished. 

The Correct Way to Capitalize Post Titles

from What Words Do I Capitalize in a Title?

Capitalize: The first and last words of the title, all nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.  In addition, conjunctions or prepositions five letters or more in length are considered option.  Either route is considered correct.

Do Not Capitalize: Articles - the, a, an unless the article is the first or last word of the title.  Prepositions of four letters or fewer, unless it is the first or last word of the title and conjunctions of four letters or fewer.  The particle “to” should not be capitalize when used as an infinitive (unless the word “to” is the first or last word of the title).

Applying Post/Blog Title Formatting to Your Blog

The rules for capitalization of titles is fairly straightforward and simple, but can be a challenge when you must deal with editing or naming posts with questionable words.  One thing to remember is that the way you format your post titles should remain consistent or your blog will begin to look sloppy and as though you don’t care about the time you do spend creating and developing your site.

Stick with one format throughout the lifespan of your blog.  You should either utilize the sentence case - capitalizing proper nouns and the first word of the title or title case - capitalizing the first and last words and any other words that should be capitalized (from above).

Different Examples of Headings

1. Sentence-style Capitalization: The Siamese cat jumped over the lazy St. Bernard
2. Poor Capitalization (all lowercase): the siamese cat jumped over the lazy st. bernard
3. Title Format: The Siamese Cat Jumped Over the Lazy St. Bernard
4. All Capitals: The Siamese Cat Jumped Over The Lazy St. Bernard

Examples of Different Styling in News Media

From these two examples, you can clearly see a difference between the usage of sentence case and title case.

CNN Home Page Sample

The New York Times Home Page Sample

Conclusion

Usage of the capitalization rules vary throughout the world, however in most locations the rule is based off the English language.

Find what works best for you - looking back, most of my posts use the “Title” format, in which many articles and words less than five letters are not capitalized, while I feel the usage of all capital letters presents a more clean, bold look to your blog, especially when using larger post titles.  

These tips discussed can be used for anything on your blog, heading titles, post titles, blog titles/tag lines, and even sidebar areas.

For additional information, there is a Wikipedia article - Capitalization which includes a more in-depth look at ways to form publication titles and a brief history of the different capitalization types.

Originally, blogs were designed as somewhat organized locations for placing content - links and text, primarily.  Video and/or audio blogging appears to becoming a more mainstream trend, although there will still be plenty of people who stick solely to text and images.  With more and more people moving to a “mobile” world, they are also expecting your content to be available in accessible form on every type of portable electronic, from cell phones and beyond.

It is these trends that can hurt or lead to the downfall of your blog if you do not correctly analyze what trends are best for you, your blog, and your visitors.  

New products and services that are released, whether free or not, can also inflict problems on your blog if you are late (or early) to adopt.  For example, if you add a widget or plugin that promises lots of traffic and income by running it, and you only generate a hundred new visitors and $0.05 from it, you’re down $19.95 for paying for the tool.

Not only does it involve potential risk due to spending on new products, but your reader begin adopting to the amount of products that you embrace as they are released.  When you become known as “the adopter”, to put it in simple terms, people generally will directly go to you on a daily basis to read your thoughts and reviews of the product, then base their decisions on your viewpoint.  

Several Ways to Stay “On Top” of Trends

1. Become a subscriber of or visit popular “mashup” sites such as Digg, StubleUpon, Google Blog Search, or other more specific sites that feature frequently updated lists of the top posts.  From these, you’ll be able to see any new products or analyze the trends in your own eyes.
2. Directly ask your readers what they want to see more of on your blog.  Are you willing to adopt video blogging or complete mobile blogging, with only a mobile version of your blog if your reader base wants to see that?
3. Be slow to adopt products if you are unsure of the true benefits/disadvantages of them.  See what other bloggers say about them, then perform a testing run-through to see how the program really works.
4. Follow Google Trends to see what services or trends are occurring in the area that you are blogging in or targeting.
5. Don’t let the opinions of others or your conscience prohibit you from jumping on the bandwagon of trying the new products.  Maybe you’ll get more out of it if you review the product for others than simply by going by the word of others.