Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 22)

Ready or not, it is Day 22 of  Robert “Not Bob” Brewer’s Platform Challenge. Today’s challenge is…

Pitch a Guest Blog Post.

Writing guest posts is a great way to increase your exposure and build connections with other bloggers.  Be sure that you are familiar with the blog you pitch to and that you read and follow any rules, guidelines, policies or preferences that they have concerning guest posts. I am in need of guest posts for next month and have made room on my editorial calendar for one guest post a week. Feel free to pitch a guest post to Very Novel but read my guidelines first.

How Do I Write a Pitch?

• DO show the writer that you are familiar with their blog and usual content.
• DON’T pitch a post very similar to something they have already published.
• DO propose an idea or two.
• DON’T pitch with a fully written post.
• DO include a short bio with your credentials and details of your platform and your draw.
• DON’T do this in more than a four or five lines.
• DON’T send your full resume!
• DO attach your contact details. Include your name, e-mail, URL etc.
• DON’T forget your name! It happens.
• DO pitch to many blogs.
• DON’T duplicate content.
• DON’T get discouraged if you are not accepted.
• DO continue pitching ideas to that blog and/or others

 

Think About Accepting Guest Posts on Your Blog

Every blogger needs a day-off and a guest blogger does the trick. Guest post trading is a great idea too. Just think if there were a whole community of us trading posts with each other and other bloggers as well; what would that do for traffic and your platform?!

 

Get it? Guest Check. That will be the name of my guest post day.

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If you haven’t yet, please connect with me on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google +

Please follow this blog by email or on your WordPress reader page (or both). If you found this information valuable then please feel free to share it with others. I provided the share buttons so you bring the shares.

As always your comments are appreciated.

 

Related articles

• Guest Bloggers Wanted! (irontavern.com)
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• Guest blogging builds more than just links (browsermedia.co.uk)
• The Guest Blogging Fails… Again (Video + Infographic) (seosmarty.com)
• Five Reasons Why Your Guest Post Was Rejected (johnchow.com)

 

Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 19)

Have you seen The Karate Kid? Do you remember the scene when Mr. Miyagi shows a defiant Daniel-san that all the seemingly meaningless and tedious tasks he had been doing while training were actually lessons and part of a greater whole.  Today is the day we put it all together.

For today’s challenge write a blog post and include a call to action  -possibly to leave comments , to sign up for your email feed  or to use the share buttons  to share with others. Share the post  on Facebook , Twitter  and Linked In . Don’t forget to think SEO  as this will help increase the number of positive hits when you search your name. It is a good routine to share a blog post  every day. You should write a new post at least once a week. Be consistent. Engage your readers regularly This is the way you will define yourself  to your readers and reach your ultimate goals.

You thought you were taking “baby steps”? It looks like you are tap-dancing to me,kid.

The main cast of The A-Team. Clockwise from top: H. M. Murdock, B. A. Baracus, Hannibal Smith and Templeton “Face” Peck. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As Hannibal from A-Team was fond of saying, “I love it when a plan comes together!“

(Reference MNINB Day 19)

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If you haven’t yet, please connect with me on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google +

Please follow this blog by email or on your WordPress reader page (or both). If you found this information valuable then please feel free to share it with others. I provided the share buttons so you bring the shares.

As always your comments are appreciated.

Related articles

• Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 18) (verynovel.wordpress.com)
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• Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 15) (verynovel.wordpress.com)

Build a Better Brand Profile: 30 Day Challenge (Day 12)

Now you have a blog. What are you going to do with it?

On Day 5 of the challenge you started your blog. You have probably made a few posts. That’s good. Now I want you to write a post with a very deliberate “call to action”. I am still following the challenge as outlined by Robert Brewer for MNINB Day 12. Mr. Brewer ends each of his posts with a call to action and directs the readers to what he wants them to do next.

“Call to Action” (Photo credit: SixRevisions)

What is a “Call to Action”?

A post with a “call to action” is writing with a purpose for your readers. A post may point out a problem, recommend a solution, and then end with a call to taking action to correct the problem. There are many blog posts that end with suggesting a product that will help correct the problem the post points out. This is not the only type of “call to action”; the writer may suggest a technique for solving the problem and then call you to use that technique.

Even ending each post with the suggestion to leave comments or to follow/share on social media are valid and frequent examples of “call to action”.

Write a Blog Post that Ends with a Call to Action.

Write a blog post that gives information and then directs the readers to a course of action. This post can be about anything. The sky is the limit (as long as you end with a “call to action” for your reader. If you get stuck then you might want to write about the article you found and shared on Day 11.

Be sure to end the post with links to your social media (a second “call to action”). This is something Mr. Brewer does with every post and something I have been trying to remember to do.

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If you haven’t yet, please connect with me on social media:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google +

Please follow this blog by email or on your WordPress reader page (or both). If you found this information valuable then please feel free to share it with others (by any means necessary). I provided the share buttons so you bring the shares.

As always your comments are appreciated.

Related articles

• 13 Sloppy Mistakes You’re Making With Your Calls-to-Action (hubspot.com)
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Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 9)

Twitter Logo (Photo credit: Jon Gosier)

Happy Sunday!

On Day 4 I challenged each of you to start a Twitter account. Today, I want you to take a few minutes and respond to at least 3 tweep’s tweets. Hopefully, you have a trusted tweep crew to follow and now is your chance to show them that their tweets matter by taking a few seconds to reply with a short tweet of your own. Retweets (RT) do count but a “Great article!” or “Useful information!” never hurt either.

Please follow me on Twitter.

My twitter handle is @SeanOMurphy  and you are welcome to leave your twitter handles in the comments here for a little community building and forming a #wordmafia with my writing crew.

Keeping it short today. It shouldn’t take much time out of your Sunday to complete this challenge. If you are looking for a little more meat to this challenge then look at the lists that Robert Brewer has prepared in his MNINB Day 9 challenge of great tweeps to follow! I can’t recommend his original platform building challenge enough.

 

 

Related articles

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• Build a Better Brand Platform:30 Day Challenge (Day 4) (verynovel.wordpress.com)
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Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 8)

Image via CrunchBase

Following along with the MNINB Day 8 challenge is easy today. I’m as grateful as you are considering I am writing this post over a rushed breakfast before the “day job”.

Create a LinkedIn profile.

Creating profiles for Facebook and Twitter was a much more involved task. LinkedIn is a wonderful professional network with a number of groups for both freelance writers and book promotion. (See my profile here.)

Take a little time this weekend to create and optimize another social networking profile. Feel free to send me some LinkedIn connection requests. My email is seanmurphy07@yahoo.com if it requests it. I look forward to networking with all of you.

Read these Linked In Tips for Writers written again by our platform building guru, Robert Brewer.

Enjoy your Saturday. As always please leave comments relating to your own experience with LinkedIn and this month of challenges in general. Thank you. Now I am going to finish breakfast! My oatmeal is getting cold.

Thank you for the two best days of hits on this blog so far (9/6) and (9/7).  Stay tuned. We are just getting started!

Related articles

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• The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Mastering LinkedIn (hubspot.com)
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Build a Better Brand Platform:30 Day Challenge (Day 7)

First, thank you for following along with me for a full week as we do my spin 0n Robert Brewer’s Platform Challenge.  It is Day 7  so time for a new challenge. Today’s challenge is…

Add Share Buttons to Your Blog / Website.

Most of the blog services provide share buttons with each post. Do not hide these! Keep as many ways to share a post as possible. Enable every sharing Widget / Plug-In or option and keep them enabled. If you are taking the time to create quality content then make it easy for your reader’s to share this information with their networks. Write things that people will want to share and then make it super-easy for them to do so!

In addition to whatever your blog service offers, you should also go to 
http://www.addthis.com/
and click on the Get AddThis button. They make it easy for you. Select the button options that you think look best with your layout. The AddThis site does all of the HTML code that it takes to place it on your site and will also layout the easiest steps to use that code. It does some other handy things in keeping track of how these buttons are being used.

Test Drive a Few of My Share Options.

Please share this story with as many services as you feel comfortable with.  Include your URL and I will test drive your share buttons as well and share on at least one of the available services (maybe a lot more).

Share Each Other’s Content

When you see good content, share it. Let other’s know in as many ways as possible. It is good for the content creator, good for you as it shows that you know good content when you see it, and of course good for your network as you direct them to quality content. Win-Win-Win!

Comment with your URL and anything else you have to share with the community reading this blog.

 

Related articles

• Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 1) (verynovel.wordpress.com)
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• Build a Better Brand Platform:30 Day Challenge (Day 3) (verynovel.wordpress.com)
• Build a Better Brand Platform:30 Day Challenge (Day 4) (verynovel.wordpress.com)
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Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 6)

Okay, pals!

If you look in the right sidebar then you will see a blogroll list. These are blogs by writers and for writers that I have been reading. I am sure you have your own list of “must follow” blogs.

Visit A Blog and Comment:

The mission should you choose to accept it is simple. So far the focus has been on you. Now it is time to look at another writer. Visit the blog of a writer that you admire (or one of my blogroll if you are stuck) and leave a comment. You can comment here but it doesn’t count for the challenge. Leave a comment that adds value. Relate the blog back to your own experience and share that in the comments. Be sure to add your own blog URL to the comment but make your comment more than just an invitation to read your blog, make the comment make your blog look inviting by adding the value of your own experiences and opinions.

Do this today but over time make it a habit that you do everyday. Read other writers/bloggers and examine what they write and relate it to yourself. Leave meaningful comments and invite them (and their readers) back to your blog. This builds a network and spreads that net just that much wider.

Remember if you haven’t yet to leave your twitter handle here and your blog URL here. I will be compiling these into lists that I will publish to help you expand your reach as much as I can help do that. Also please connect with me on FACEBOOK, Twitter and LinkedIn.

If you found value in this at all then please share with others.

Related articles

• Build a Better Brand Platform: 30 Day Challenge (Day 1) (verynovel.wordpress.com)
• Build a Better Brand Platform:30 Day Challenge (Day 2) (verynovel.wordpress.com)
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• Build a Better Brand Platform:30 Day Challenge (Day 4) (verynovel.wordpress.com)
• Author Platform Building (rebekahfaubionbooks.wordpress.com)
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Build a Better Brand Platform:30 Day Challenge (Day 5)

I am not diverging from Robert Brewer’s April Platform Challenge Day 5 where he suggests that you start a blog. If the rule was once “writers write”, then just as much of a truism for our time is “writers blog”. I know there is a certain hesitance with some writers and it isn’t just a generational thing about the importance of blogging. I would argue that your blog might be the keystone of your platform. Social media is a beginning but a blog allows you to expand so much on 140 characters and really present yourself to a whole digital world of potential readers. Remember Everybody Blogs. It is no longer optional in presenting your personal brand as an author.

 

Create a Blog: There are a lot of services that will host and help you build your blog from WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr or even LiveJournal. Pick the one that you find easiest to use.  I currently prefer WordPress because of its ease of use and  ability to upgrade and monetize at a later date. I am currently planning and saving towards doing just that. Blogger is also easy to monetize. Don’t get bogged down in comparing services. I have used all four services at different times and will say that all of them are more than suitable and there are even other services out there.

 

WordPress Logo 中文: WordPress Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

Write a Post: I prepared a week worth of content before getting started by doing some brainstorming. It doesn’t need to be nearly that complicated. Remember the Day 1 Challenge? That could very easily be the basis of a first post. Tell us who you are and why you are starting a blog. Here is my first post for this blog to get you started. That first challenge will also set you up to write your “About” page too. This is good enough for the first day.

 

Work out a day each week to sit down and update (or a couple of days). This will get you started. Once you are established then you will want to post on a regular schedule. For me that means daily but even once a week is good as long as you are consistent and readers know when to expect to see your work. Just like with Facebook and Twitter, it won’t really work unless you work it. Be consistent. Be yourself.

Image via CrunchBase

 

 

Share the URL: Share the URL here as soon as you are ready and I will be sure to compile these for a “Blogs to Follow” post later on in the month.

 

Image via CrunchBase

 

Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!  That’s Day 5. See simple.

 

Established bloggers should use the resources linked to from Robert Brewer’s Day 5 for more advice on how to make the most of your blog. I will be looking more into these posts myself. This writer with a “day job” has been short on time for my freelance writing and behind posting schedule for today. No excuses. I’ll keep as close to schedule as life allows.

 

 

 

Connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Be sure to follow if you haven’t and sign-up for email updates in the right sidebar. URLs and links to social media in the comments,please.

Image via CrunchBase

 

 

 

 

Related articles

 

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All About Alltop

Outstanding News!

Very Novel has been accepted for inclusion in Alltop. The site’s feed is now included in the writing topic category.

Topic: 
http://writing.alltop.com/
    Feed: 
http://verynovel.wordpress.com/feed

What is Alltop?

Alltop is a directory specific to blogs. They aggregate the feeds of thousands of blogs on to one site that is easily searchable by topic. A user can create a page that brings different blogs chosen by that user on to one page and also allows them to search through topics for blogs that will interest them. It is a great way to keep track of the dozens of blogs that you might follow all from one page. If you don’t have an Alltop account then I recommend that you get one now.

This is how Alltop describes themselves:

“You can think of Alltop as the ‘online magazine rack’ of the web. We’ve subscribed to thousands of sources to provide ‘aggregation without aggravation.’ To be clear, Alltop pages are starting points—they are not destinations per se. Ultimately, our goal is to enhance your online reading by displaying stories from sources that you’re already visiting plus helping you discover sources that you didn’t know existed.”

Why is it big news to be included?

Inclusion in Alltop is by submission. They like to weed out weak content and only present you with “all of the top stories” .  It is a pat on the back for the quality of this blog’s content to be included in the directory

How does a blog get selected to be included at Alltop?

Alltop describes their selection process here:

“We use a patent-pending, semantic computational algorithm derived from the post-doctoral work of Guy at Stanford. Just kidding. We rely on several sources: results of Google searches, review of the sites’ and blogs’ content, researchers, and our ‘gut’ plus the recommendations of the Twitter community… “

I self-submitted (and remember that I suggested that you should too) but it was the quality of the content, the amount and quality of comments, link-backs/pings and the overall reputation of the blog so far that got us listed.

Thanks to the readers.

It is your excellent comments, link-backs/pings and referrals that are bringing traffic to the site. Keep recommending stories to G+, Facebook, Twitter and all other social media.

Thanks for helping Very Novel become listed in the Alltop directory.

Related articles

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Technorati Verification Codes

Image via CrunchBase

When registering your account with Technorati, they will require that you publish a verification code in a new (not previously published) blog entry. The code will look like this:

FPYXNS6YNWGX 

This code will be used by Technorati to verity your registration.

This one was mine. I am registering this new blog.

Are any of you registered with Technorati or similar sites such as Alltop or Blogarama? Let’s discuss it in the comments.