Learning to blog

One of the toughest parts of a post-a-day challenge is that some of our members are entirely new to blogging, and a bit confused by it all. Blogging isn't rocket science, but it's still a foreign language that takes a bit of time to learn. Sometimes, the best way is in a classroom and with a good teacher at the helm.

The Story Circle Network, a lifewriting organization for women, has added online classes and one teaches blogging, as well as the opportunity to learn something about different blogging platforms like Blogger, WordPress, and TypePad. All have advantages depending upon the goals of the blogger. Go here for more information about this class:

http://www.storycircleonlineclasses.org/classes/misegades.shtml

Be sure to bookmark the site for future online classes as well. Don't just blog - blog brilliantly! A class might help if you're particularly intimidated by this online medium.

Did any of you take a formal blogging class? What blogging platform do you use and why do you like it as compared to others? Leave us a comment.

Getting fans to visit you

All good blogs depend on repeat customers, so it behooves you to make it easy for your fans to read your posts. Be sure to install an RSS feed button on your blog. You can read more about them here. Some blogging platforms automatically include them, and others like Blogger, require that you manually choose and place this gadget on your blog.

Another considerate addition for your readers is bookmarking buttons, placed high up on your blog. I prefer the Add This button, as it's clean and efficient and doesn't clutter up the page with endless bookmarks.

You might not understand the mechanics if you're new to blogging, but trust me, your readers will and they'll appreciate you for it. It makes your blog very visitor-friendly.

If you have a Blogger blog like this one, be sure to add the Follow Me gadget so others can see who reads your blog. All these add-ons are demonstrated in the right column.

Tracking your visitors

In our current blog book tours session, we're talking about the importance of adding a hit counter to your blog. You must be able to track your visitors. Popular and free counters include Sitemeter and Statcounter, and they are relatively easy to install on your blog, even if you're a novice blogger. Just follow the directions. Morgan Mandel has a good post about it at her blog.

What kind of hit counter do you use on your blog, and why do you favor it? Please leave a comment.

Marketing trends

It's no surprise with the economic downturn that blog book tours will be embraced by authors as a great way to promote their new titles in 2009. There are lots of things to keep in mind and this list of trends and predictions from Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is well worth reading. Click here.

If you're an author reading this and are interested in a blog book tour, but don't quite know how to go about it, you can join our session-in-process at the Blog Book Tours yahoogroup. We'll spend all of January with a post-a-day blogging challenge, and improve our blogs in other ways as well. The planning session continues through March covering various areas. Join us if you need help and encouragement! This is a free peer support group and you must give your name and book title to join.

What should I write about?

Oh, gee, what am I going to write about for thirty days in a row?

That's what many of our Blog-a-Day challengers are asking themselves. It's one of the reasons they don't blog every day to begin with. Some don't even blog once a week for lack of something to say. Yes, I am talking about writers here! A dearth of words and blogging seem to go hand-in-hand for many authors. So, the first step is to determine the primary focus of your blog, which should be to promote your book. List the focus and topics of the book itself and write about various aspects of your main themes.

All fans love added information about their favorite authors so feel free to include a few personal tidbits on your blog. If you don't to share too much information, you can still create added content about writing your book, research, writing tips, inspiration, and those sorts of topic.

Think of a blog as a way to give a little more to your fans. Generosity is one of the best ways to build readership. You can read more about that at Copyblogger, a site I suggest you bookmark and return to often. I'll share a few more professional blogging sites over the rest of the month for more tips on how to make your blog the best it can be.

Now don't forget to copy edit your post! There's nothing worse than a writing blog riddled with typos and grammatical errors. Put your best foot forward. Yes, you can even check back a few days and correct prior posts, it's okay. You have my permission. That's why the Blogger editing function exists and don't let the blogging purists convince you otherwise.

Easing into the blogging habit

A post-a-day blogging challenge is probably one of the best ways to develop your blogging habit. That doesn't mean a daily blog post is necessarily a good thing, or that you'll want to keep up that pace for the rest of your life. But to instill the habit, a daily effort is key. Just do it.

It's true that a certain frenetic energy develops during a blogging challenge. There's nothing relaxing about it, and once the newness wears off, the grind begins. Why, it's just like work! That's really the point, too. To blog successfully, you need to do it when you least want to, and you'll be rewarded somewhere down the road for your efforts. Hopefully, that reward will come when you are launching your own blog book tour.

That said, read this article about slow blogging to put things in perspective. Then think about how you can create quality and enjoyment in your daily blogging experience, without too much attachment to Google ranking or search engine optimization. After all, there's nothing better than loving your work, and in this case, it's just another writing venue, authors. Love of blogging is a good thing, so find a balance that works for you and be committed to creating the blog that will serve you on many levels.

Happy New Year

After the holidays, we start a new blog book tour session at our YahooGroup, so if you have a book release in 2009, sign up to learn, plan, and launch your own blog book tour. We are a free peer support group, and our program runs for four months. Here is the plan:

Month 1 - Improving your blog and post-a-day challenge all month
Month 2 - Social networking, blog radio, book trailers, and other promotions
Month 3 - Finding great blog hosts
Month 4- Tours and supporting each other

Sound interesting? Sign up now as we limit our group to 150 members. If you're not quite there yet, be sure to click on previous tours and interviews in the right column, and bookmark us for updates on the current session. We'll feature some of our touring authors here, and share all the latest brilliant promotion ideas that come out of our discussions.

May 2009 be the year of publication and promotion success for your book!