Sticky

One of the words mentioned throughout numerous posts is "sticky".

I first ran across the term in the book above.
It may be purchased by clicking the image or [this] link.

Being sticky is that elusive character that makes something memorable.
It is why urban legends survive but your remembered grocery list is incomplete.

It is an effective means of ensuring your core message is remembered

• by your customers
• by your staff

And clearly this is what makes branding and product-placement work millions.

Make your posts sticky!

Aught

One of the more tempting blog hobbies is to produce aught
 - that is, the intent to provide the absence of value.

It is commonly delivered in the form of a null statement.

The graphic above highlights this nicely:
using the same picture, phrase, or thought to respond to nearly everything.

It is the semantic equivalent to circular reasoning; done well it has the added bonus of being

• entertaining
• of null-value
• an excellent tool to provide the absence of commitment.

It is most tempting when a lackluster attempt is made to provide content.
And is most commonly necessary when there is a misalignment of niche and core audience.

Thus - if you do find yourself saying nearly identical things in successive posts ..
     Please consider ensuring you are still providing genuine value.

Graphic-courtesy note:
When making use of graphics found online please attribute/give full credit to their source.
It provides aforementioned back-linking and broaches the social net in which you exist.

Disclosure:
This graphic comes from the comic xkcd; it is linked there as well.

Relevance

It has been said, "For want of a nail, the kingdom is lost".

One of the most potent aspects of this phrase deals with meeting needs.
So too should your blog be satisfying a need.

The challenge, of course, is accurate identification of your niche and its associated lack.

Without knowing your niche, you will not appreciate its scope.
You also will not be able to gauge relevance.

Gladly, numerous tools exist that can offer help.

Too, this ties into tags.

As noted, tags can help your content be discovered.

Tags can also be used to identify the content for which others seek.
In that context, tags are referred to as keywords.

Etiquette

One of the most powerful aspects of the Internet is the lack of walls.

This creates an opportunity for vast groups of people to connect.
It also creates a useful and convenient excuse for being rude.

Your challenge as a blogger is simple:
To create useful, relevant, and unique content for your niche.

Being considerate of others augments the value your content contains.

This doesn't mean to subsume your voice into political-correctness.

But it does mean that your target audience is bigger than you know.

And part of your challenge is to honor that core audience.

Tags

You may have noticed that each of these blog posts has several tags.

These are important:
Search engine discovery is impacted through their use.
Blog users can identify those posts associated with their own interests.

In addition, they can be thought of as an opportunity to establish two lists:
Collections of posts associated with specific content
Areas of interest that have not yet been given their own write-up.

Ultimately tags help organize information.

Please use tags each time you post!

Voice

Voice is that aspect to writing or speaking that uniquely identifies.

It is what helps you:

* pick a person out of a crowd

* identify a loved one

* recognize yourself

In blogging, voice sets you apart from everyone else.

It is, thus, important; it can also appear to be difficult.

There are several aspects to retaining your voice.

Most can be summarized as follows:

* Change

  Most topics are not static: try to stay current on yours.

  Do your best to read other blogs and grow daily (even if only a little).

* Don't lose sight of yourself

  Copying others can be tempting.

  Doing it too much can make it difficult to recognize your own voice

* Don't lie

  Advertising content you don't believe in can destroy your integrity.

  So can advertising content you don't understand.

  Losses to integrity tend to be accompanied by a detriment to voice.

  

Paring

One of the other things that blogs are about is the absence of content.

Paring, as an expression of focus, is important:
Choosing what NOT to include has a direct impact on your message.

Another aspect of paring is word-choice.
Each of the posts on this blog are titled with a single word.

This helps with post-focus.
It helps filter my idiolect, establish my scope, and direct my post.
It also helps YOU, the reader, prepare to absorb the post.

I will leave you with the standard business-case joke/riddle conveying this:

There are two rules to succeed in business.
1. Never tell everyone what you know.

Awesome

The following link is an excellent example of a great graphic:
http://www.syfy.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/heinlein/heinlein1.html

This is a placeholder for other points; but the message is important:

well-designed blogs have excellent graphics.

Enjoy the link!

~ Jason

Inspiration

As this week comes to a close, I wanted to provide a list.

Here are some things I do to help generate content:

1. Read
As mentioned previously, much content is rehashed.
This isn't bad - as long as you're not copying without providing credit.
Likewise, if you read enough, you'll often become newly inspired.

2. Sleep
I believe everyone has experienced the sensation of delayed resolution.
This is when, after some time, the solution just "comes to you".
One of the ways in which this can happen is simply sleeping.
You may also note that being well-rested can help the creative juices too.

3. Dance
Moving about can be a mental lubricant.
The key here is to simply get up and move about without forethought.
As much as you are comfortable and able: dance!

4. Sing
Voice is tied to thought.
This is why one of the most effective ways of improving speech is through improved writing.
The reverse is true as well; learning to speak more effectively can bear fruit in your writing.
And singing can help get the lingual juices flowing.

5. Argue
Another useful tactic is to engage in a mental dialogue with someone.
The easiest and most efficient method is through argument.
Be sure that disagreement does not result in offence.

Have a great weekend!

Blocked

Most of us tend to experience an occasional inability to form words.
This experience is affectionately known as writer's block.

In my experience, the primary cause is associated with focus.

The most common deals with a distracted focus.
This kind of focus is usually lost due to other things.
This often happens when one is expected to write and finds other things more interesting.
It can also happen when your mind is focused on things other than your writing topic.
Incidentally, it is also why, under pressure, this form of focus-loss often dissipates.

The second most common cause is that of the absense of focus.
This kind of focus is usually lost due to lack of discipline.
This often happens when one lacks a definitive timeline.
This form of focus-loss can often be resolved through writing more-often.

Note:
One common way to recapture the ability to simply write down everything.
Called "stream-of-consciousness", the goal is to allow your mind's tongue an outlet.
After a small season, the mind will often return back to the desired focus.
It will, of course, require some degree of editing.

Content

As mentioned previously, blogs are all about dynamic content.
If you've taken the trouble to ensure your blog has a focus, content should follow.

Content comes in several categories:
New:

     Most-rare, this is information simply unavailable elsewhere.
     This is blog-gold.
     This is usually the hardest to make sticky.

Extended:

     This is repackaged information that is found elsewhere.
     It is how genuinely useful information stays atop the pile.
     It is also a way to ensure your own relevance.
     This is also the easiest to make sticky.
     Often this includes linking to other sites.

Referral:

     This refers to information predominantly provided by another source.
     Excellent for relevant points that do not directly tie to your blog's focus.

One last content note:
All blogs have a voice; selecting a focus for your blog gives it that voice.
Be sure to include this voice in each post (and for all content types).

Focus

The core to a well-crafted blog is focus.

The blog itself should have an over-arching theme (a meta-focus, if you will).

Each post should also have a specific focus (though it can be comprised of different elements).

In addition to focus, posts should:

• be recurring (providing regular content adds highly-desirable value)
• have your voice (people visit YOU, not your posts; so put YOU into it)
• have an occasional call to action (powerful engagement of readers is powerful)
• be sticky (this helps readers retain information)

Declaration

Welcome!

This will be an aggregation of information about blogging; you should find helpful tips, ideation recommendations, and details about becoming known.

In addition, notations on branding and presentation, both for this platform and otherwise, will be raised.

My goal is to provide unique and distinctive value.

Thanks!

Jason