(Image from Flickr by barry.pousman)
You might have seen posts from me popping up on other writing-related sites around the net. (You might well have come to read Aliventures as a result of one of them – if so, welcome!)
The lovely Ainslie Hunter has been encouraging me to do a round-up of my recent posts, so, here it is! Most of these posts are heavily blogging-related, so if you’re not a blogger, I recommend digging into the Aliventures archives instead (try The Four Essential Stages of Writing for starters).
#1: Copywriting Essentials from A – Z on Copyblogger
I came up with the idea for an A – Z format post while writing the lessons for my newest ecourse (more on that next week…)
Today I offer you the guide I wish I’d had [when I started]: an A to Z of the absolute essentials of copywriting — plus a good bit of further reading for each.
#2: 7 Habits of Professional Bloggers on ProBlogger
I know a lot of successful bloggers – and I’ve noticed that they have a fair few habits in common. This post outlines the top seven.
Professional blogging isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme—and I’m sure you’ve discovered that for yourself. But although building a successful, income-producing blog might take a bit longer than you wanted, it’s far from impossible.
#3: Why You Should Use “You” and “I” in Your Posts on Daily Blog Tips
This was a nitty-gritty look at how exactly to use language to engage readers.
I’m guessing that you’d like more repeat traffic, more comments, more tweets and more subscribers. That means learning how to use “you” and “I” effectively, so that you draw readers in – rather than turning them off.
#4: Why You Need to Stop Learning About Blogging on Daily Blog Tips
A somewhat controversial subject on a blog that’s about blogging … but one that I was keen to tackle, because I see so many bloggers getting stuck learning instead of doing.
Sure, blogging is a huge and sometimes crazy world, where you need to know about writing, marketing, technology, design… But you could spend years learning everything there is to know – and you still wouldn’t make any progress.
#5: Why It’s a Great Time to be a Freelance Writer on Write to Done
Freelance writing really has changed my life, though it’s not always been an easy path. In this post, I explained why it’s such a great world to get into now, and how to do it well:
It’s much easier to get a foot on the ladder now. A couple of decades ago, if you wanted to be a freelancer, you had to gradually build up a portfolio of clips – starting with writing for tiny local publications for free. Now, you can email guest posts to blogs with a circulation of hundreds of thousands – and you can be published the next day.
#6: How to Write for a Long Project on Men with Pens
I know that plenty of bloggers find it easy to turn out individual posts – but struggle when it comes to writing something longer. I wrote this post to help bridge the gap.
When you’re writing an ebook or an ecourse, you can’t just jump in on page one and hope for the best. (Well, you can. But that’s a fast route to throwing away half your work.)
So – if you’re short of reading material, hopefully that’ll keep you busy for a while. 🙂 And if there’s a great writing-related blog you’d like to see me guest post on, then just let me know!
I’m going to be opening up registration for my newest ecourse next week, so make sure you’re getting new posts by RSS or straight to your inbox (pop your email address in below) so you don’t miss out on that.
Thanks for this Ali. I just did a quick click through these links today but will definitely come back to read each of these posts. I already bookmarked Copywriting Essentials to use as a reference. As an added bonus, you’ve introduced me to sites I hadn’t found on my own yet. Great idea!
Rebecca Marble’s last blog post ..More updates to the site
Awesome! All the blogs above are ones I subscribe to and read regularly — they have great content (and not just when I’m writing for them ;-))
Ali,
This is definitely a step in the right direction. Finally–phew!
You have no idea how hard it has been for me to sift through all this “information overload” to finally arrive at your articles.
You are a staff blogger and guest poster on several blogs, which makes it even more challenging for a bloke like me. I like your writing and learn something new every time I read your blog posts, so thanks for this information.
I am sure there are so many readers, subscribers and others out there who feel the same way.
Maybe it is a good idea for you to provide this information every week, so we know where you have been contributing your write-ups.
Otherwise, we will miss out on many golden opportunities to read your stuff; hope this makes sense.
Cheerio.
That does indeed make sense — and I’m thinking about doing it monthly (I don’t really have enough guest posts going out on a weekly basis to make it worthwhile!) 🙂
Excellent! I’ve come across several of these – love how varied your writing is, Ali!
Jeff Goins’s last blog post ..Five Unfortunate Signs that You May Be Growing Up
Thanks Jeff! Yep, I never get bored… one of the advantages of guest posting on lots of diverse blogs. 🙂
Hi Ali,
As I said before you are still one of the best writers in the blogging world. Glad to see you have been active with your blogging efforts.
Just finding some of my old blogging buddies and trying to reconnect a bit. Hope all is well!
Cheers,
Jeremy
Jeremy Day’s last blog post ..Why Should I Support A Local Business
Thanks Jeremy, nice to hear from you. 🙂 Yeah, I’ve been pretty active, as you say..!
Thanks Ali…Really cool and great to have such easy access to them. Really loved the 7 habits of professional bloggers. That was a great one and I am on my way now to check out all the others.
Sibyl – alternaview’s last blog post ..Are You Overlooking an Important Sign
Glad you enjoyed it, Sibyl (and hope you enjoy the rest too!)
Your blog has been truly inspirational. I know that a lot of people use that phrase with wild enthusiastic abandon about everything from grass to the majesty of whatever it is that entrances them most but I’d like to explain a little.
I’m a new writer. I realize that every writer has been a new writer at one point or another and they say it wasn’t easy to get started. But wow, they never REALLY got down to proverbial brass tacks and laid it all out for those of us who haven’t manage to produce anything but essays for school.
I found your blog last night sometime via stumbleupon…which I was using to procrastinate from going back and revising my short story for the third time. I am not sure which article it was that got me started. Truth be told it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is you helped me realize the struggles I am going through in the attempt to get my story on the page are…wait for it…normal.
I was sitting there staring at the mass of words I’ve managed to ground out and feeling like it was all a terrible waste of time. Everything I’d ever read was better than what I was churning out in the wee hours of the morn. Feeling utterly frustrated I went off to peruse that crazy thing called the internet. Your blog was randomly chosen by stumbleupon thanks to one of those little interest boxes that I clicked. I found myself immediately absorbed. Writers went through this? They struggled? They doubted and questioned? They didn’t just have an epiphany of the next great novel and sit down to scrawl it out in a moment of awesome? I’m normal? Holy crap.
So I went through a four hour spree of reading, passed out, came back and continued. It sounds cheesy and strange to say I was inspired by what you had to say. It’s true though. You helped me see that I wasn’t crazy. Okay…a little crazy but acceptably so. I should probably note in this little speech that I managed to fumble through my revision and found it much less a chore this time around because I can now picture some of my favorite authors going through the same process.
I guess what this little ramble is really saying is thank you. Truly.
Wow …! Thank you! 🙂
I’m really thrilled that you found Aliventures, and that it made a difference to you (messages like yours are what keep me going!) I know how tough writing can be at times, especially when you’re working on fiction … and short stories are, in my opinion, one of the hardest forms of fiction to write.
Stick with it. Over time, it gets a bit easier — or, at least, you start to realise that what you’re going through is normal. Well, as normal as it gets, for writers… 😉