Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Use Images to Attract More Readers

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Attention-grabbing graphics bring readers to your posts.

Content is king, and written content is what it’s all about. But to get them to notice the written content you have to attract them with a great image. You are competing with everything else on the Internet, and you need to grab readers’ attention and create intrigue, mystery, curiosity and a host of other emotions that wrap their tendrils around your visitor and pull them to your writing.

Headlines matter, but an image will draw the eye faster than a clever headline. Headlines are still important, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right?

So how can you use images to get the attention of the people who should be reading your content? Here are 10 ideas:
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New Life for Old Blog Posts

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Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vegas/ / CC BY 2.0

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vegas/ / CC BY 2.0

You have written a lot of great posts, but over time the old posts get pushed down the list and buried in the archives of your blog. These posts would be new to readers who recently discovered you, and even your long-time readers could benefit from seeing them again. They may have missed them when they were new and, even if they read them, they may not have acted on them and may not remember them. Linking from new posts to older ones can also have SEO benefits for your blog.

So how do you help readers and the search engines discover (or rediscover) those older gems? Here are a few ideas:
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Improve All of Your Blog Posts—Starting Now

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Why do you write blog posts—because you have something to say, or because it is Tuesday? If you blog with purpose you will find that creating blog posts is easier, and your posts will attract more readers. Some of my most popular posts are those I wrote because I was especially excited or angry or otherwise passionate about the subject. However, even if you blog with purpose there may be times when you are writing because it is Tuesday and you always post on Tuesday.

In either situation, the tips here can help you to create better, more engaging blog posts. Try following these steps to create your next posts, and make a habit of doing as many of them as you can. [Read more…]

How to Blog More Often

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One of the challenges many bloggers face is finding the time to blog regularly. One way to deal with this is to reset your expectations. Blogging every day is a worthwhile goal, but it may not be realistic for bloggers with many other responsibilities. Perhaps three times a week, or even just once, is a more achievable goal.

Something else that may get in your way is the idea that every post has to be a certain length. Many of the articles and posts I put online are in the range of 400 – 600 words. Some bloggers write longer posts, perhaps 800 to 1000 or more words. However, there is no rule that says posts must be at least a certain number of words, or that all of your posts must be the same length. In fact, there is no rule that says your posts have to have words at all. Posting a video or a photograph (your own or one that you may legally use) can make a good post.

Try mixing it up. Continue to write some posts with your usual word count, but also do some that are short. For example, if your usual posts examine an issue in depth, do some quick tips that are just 150 – 250 words. Or link to a blog post or website that you found useful, with a brief description of what you liked about it.

These short posts can be created as you run across interesting ideas and sites, or you can set aside an hour or two now and then to stockpile several posts.

Here are some additional ideas for quick posts:

Put up a poll. Many blogging platforms have poll applications built in. Run a poll and get input from your readers about an issue. Then write a post about the poll results. That means you get at least two blog posts from one poll.

Answer a question from one of your readers. I get lots of email questions, and sometimes publish a question and my answer as a blog post. Watch for questions in your blog’s comments, too.

Share a favorite quotation, and add a bit of commentary about why you like it or what it means to you. Here’s an example from my blog: https://idealady.com/does-success-mean-you-can-slow-down

Do you ever write blog posts such as “Seven Ways to …” or “Six Things You Need to Know About…”? Take a point from one of those articles and expand on it. For example, I could take any of the individual marketing ideas from this article and create a new post with more details on that idea.

Have an open mind about what a blog post can be and you will find many opportunities to create interesting and useful posts for your readers.