I’m changing things up a bit again. I decided I wanted to focus on the links this week. I don’t know what you thought about the other stuff, but as writers, I thought you would prefer having the links instead.
Usually I get my comments from those instead of my personal thoughts on whatever has happened during the week. Instead of three links, I’ll be posting at least five each week with a little blurb. I hope you find them as useful as I do!
1. How to Get People to Read Your Blog: 5 Savvy Strategies You Can Apply Today
Do you have a blog, or are you thinking about starting a blog? This article offers great advice for those getting started.
I’ve had a blog for a few years now so I’ve already learned quite a bit. This article wasn’t as helpful for me, but for a writer starting out, it’s great. Actually, it offers great review for those of us who are already blogging.
One thing I do need to do better is marketing, and I learned that at the book marketing chat last week. Evergreen content is something you can market over and over again.
So once you’ve written a blog post, you can market it again and again. Keep driving your audience to your website and help build your email list.
2. 30 Freelance Writing Tools to Help You Stay Inspired, Write Better, and Be More Productive
This article has some pretty awesome tools to help you with your writing. Out of the 30 mentioned, I think I only use a couple of them on a regular basis. I have tried a couple of the others. Some of them I have never heard of.
Canva is my favorite on the list because I make all of the graphics for my blog there. I’ve also made other things like memes for marketing my books and my freelance business. It’s an easy tool to use.
Since February when I took part in Rachel Thompson’s 30-Day Marketing Challenge, I’ve been using CoSchedule’s Free Headline Analyzer. I started out using it occasionally, but I use it for every post now.
And I’m getting better about getting my headlines in the green the first time. I’ve read articles there to help me figure out the words needed to get it in the green.
A month ago I added Trello to my phone. Like I normally do when I get a new app, I spent some time trying to figure it out. I like the app because it syncs because I can open it up on my computer as well. However, I haven’t really used it much here lately.
I have tried out Grammarly and Hemingway, both of which help you with your writing. I would like to use Self-Control, but it’s for a Mac only. One day soon I would like to have a Mac.
I’m sure you’ll find some of the tools helpful to you as well so take a look.
3. Google deletes artist’s blog and a decade of his work along with it
I stumbled across this article and thought it was a helpful learning tool. This was certainly a lesson for the artist.
I never write my blog posts on WordPress. Right now I am typing this in Scrivener so that I can save it. My author website is backed up to Dropbox using a plugin and is self-hosted.
I don’t have a backup for this blog, but I do have the posts saved on my computer. They could be republished if necessary. This website is not self-hosted yet, and I hope to do that the first of next year.
4. 10 Reasons Why Reading Might Be The Best Activity For A Healthy Body And Mind
I have always been a bookworm. My parents said when I was a kid my nose was always stuck in a book. I remember having plenty of time to read as a kid and participating in the local library’s reading program.
As I got older and had children, my extra time wasn’t as much, but I did read to my kids when they were little. Unfortunately, they didn’t get my love of reading as I had hoped they would.
When I started pursuing my dream of writing full-time a few years ago, I started making time to read books again. I read in bed at night to help me fall asleep. I read to learn the craft of writing and editing. I read for personal development, and I read for pleasure, taking me to a beach or some far off place away from reality.
This article is a quick read on the why you need to read and well worth it.
5. 6 Simple Ways to Improve Your Work-Life Balance Today
I’ve found juggling a couple of jobs outside the home and a couple of jobs from home is hard, really hard. I’ve read books about how other people do the juggling, which has helped.
This article gave me some ideas, too. There are times when I want to write every day, and I know at times that’s good. But it’s also bad because you do need down time, time to enjoy life.
There are times in the morning when I am more alert and other times I am more alert in the evenings. So I write when I can think the best. I would like to have a daily routine, like the article suggests, but sometimes that’s not possible.
For instance, once school starts here in a couple of weeks, my routine will not be easy to maintain. I substitute in the schools so depending upon the day, my daily routine could change. I may or may not be able to write on a day when I sub.
The biggest thing is making time for myself. I try to watch some television or read a book to unwind. But sometimes I am so driven to do things that I don’t.