Clarksville Christian Writer's Workshop - April 17th 2016

Clarksville Christian Writers Workshop BLOGGING & BRANDING: #CCW2016

WIFI HBCStudent A

Hi, I’m Hannah Conway

•  Kentucky Native

•  Army Wife, Momma & Speaker

•  Author with Olivia Kimbrell Press

•  “The Wounded Warrior’s Wife”

•  “Wedding a Warrior”

WWW.HANNAHRCONWAY.COM

Sara R. Turnquist •  Clarksville native

•  Wife, mother, “closet writer”

•  Author with Clean Reads

•  “The Lady Bornekova”

•  “The General’s Wife”

saraturnquist.com

#CCW2016

Icebreaker

BLOGGING

DO BLOG:

  to connect with your audience

  to practice  your craft  making deadlines

  to build a platform

PLATFORM

  the people who follow (listen to) you

  followers on social media, blog, and e-mail list

DO NOT BLOG:

 to sell books

 to run a self-commercial

WHAT TO BLOG

 your interests

 social media

 things you like to talk about

WHAT TO BLOG – back to YOU

 what blogs do you follow?

 why?

WHEN TO BLOG?

WHEN/HOW OFTEN?

 why not daily?  burnout  not always your best  not always read

 what works best for YOU

TO CONSIDER:

 your goals

 your own expectations

 your own version of crazy

KEYS TO BLOG GROWTH

 predictability of posts

 frequency of posts

 use of social media

 connection with audience

BLOG GROWTH

  STAGE 1: six months - year   little forward momentum   two steps forward and one step back

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Stage One

BLOG GROWTH

 STAGE 2: six - nine months later   small but consistent growth  good time to seek out guest posts

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Stage Two

BLOG GROWTH

 STAGE 3: after  audience grows a lot faster  you’ll be asked to guest post

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Stage Three

BLOG GROWTH – back to YOU

 What stage is your blog at?

 Why did you place it there?

  Is there one of the “keys” you can work on?

BLOG GROWTH   STAGE 1:   6 months – 1 year

  STAGE 2:   1 – 2 year mark

  STAGE 3:   2+ years

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KEYS TO BLOG GROWTH

 predictability of posts

 frequency of posts

 use of social media

 connection with audience

Some things to be aware of when blogging…

THINGS TO KNOW:

 25% rule  computer devices harder on eye   low resolution  contrast between ink and paper is strong, monitors are inconsistent

 People avoid reading long paragraphs

WHAT TO DO?

 avoid “pretty” fonts

 avoid long paragraphs (100 max)

 use block formatting

 use headings and pictures

 write tight - no more than 500 - 700 words

MORE THINGS TO KNOW

  end with open-ended question

 no right/wrong answer

 ask readers to share an experience

 avoid “you”

  share your own experience

How can I get my blog found?

Tags, Labels, & Keywords, Oh My!

  tags = labels = tags

  keyword = like a label; it is a short way to state the purpose of your article (usually several groups of words)

 makes your blog easier to find

Tags, Labels, & Keywords, Oh My!

 title of that post

 your name

 blog site name

 some phrases that relate to that post

Blog Post #1

Sara R. Turnquist Self Editing: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly The Musings of a Novelist self-editing editing publishing your novel road to publication how do I self-edit

WHY BOTHER?  Millions of blogs and other articles exist

 Google and other search engines search for posts and articles when someone types in a search word

  You want them to find your blog

  Tags, labels, and keywords are how that happens

Dave the Plumber

SEO

What was that about Keywords?

  it’s all about keywords

 what are people typing into the search box?

 always use the keywords in the title

 use them again in the first 50 words

  spread them throughout your article

Blog Post #2

KEYWORDS – back to YOU

 pick out some tags, labels, keywords for the second blog post

What is an SEO?

 SEO is basically where your article shows up in that list when a person types something in the search box

 based on a (secret) mathematical equation called an algorithm

BLOG TITLES

BLOG TITLES

  search engine algorithms take words literally, not always understanding double meanings

  “Too Hot to Handle Chili” vs. “Homemade Vegetarian Chili”

BLOG TITLES: Guess the matter?

 When Things Go South

 In the Mood

 I Live Next Door to a Cemetery

 Not Quite What I Expected

BLOG TITLES – back to YOU

 Compose a title for a blog post

 Give us a synopsis of the post and then tell us the title

Break

Questions?

STAY TUNED FOR MORE INFORMATION TO COME…

And tentatively mark SEPTEMBER 10th-11th in your calendar

for CCW’s FALL WRITER’S RETREAT!

at Carriage Lane Inn in Murfreesboro, TN

Workshops… Mentor Appointments…

Critique Time… and, most importantly…

WRITING TIME!

ONLY 15 SPOTS!!!

Stay tuned to the Clarksville Christian Writer’s Facebook Page for more details

HOW TO FIND US HANNAH

www.hannahrconway.com

  TWITTER: @hannahrconway

  FACEBOOK: Hannah Conway, Author SARA

saraturnquist.com

  TWITTER: @sarat1701

  FACEBOOK: Sara R. Turnquist, Author

Clarksville Christian Writer’s Group!WEDNESDAY NIGHTS 6:30 – 7:30 pm Hilldale Baptist Church 2001 Madison Street Clarksville, TN