Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Naked WordPress: Create Starter Content For Your Writer's Website

I’ve been talking about WordPress in the newsletter, specifically setting up my “name” website, angelabooth.com.

The site’s been online for 20 years and rather than starting with a site audit and a new theme, I wanted to start afresh with NEW everything.

Several readers asked what they should do first when they had a new installation of WordPress.

My preference is to install my favorite plugins. Then I create some starter content.

Naked WordPress: you need “starter” content

When you install the WordPress script, the result is a stripped down and naked version of WordPress. You need some content so that you can visualize how you want to set up your pages and your blog. 

If you like, you can generate some Lorem Ipsum dummy text for a couple of blog posts and a couple of pages, but I like to kickoff with real blog posts. Once you’ve got some starter content, you can manipulate the look of the site.

You can:

• Create footers and sidebars;
• Menus;
• Your own ecommerce store;
• Image sliders;
• Sign up areas;
• Etc.

What you create is up what you -- decide what want to achieve from your website, and you'll be able to create it with WordPress.

Perhaps you want to create a shop area where clients can buy services instantly. If you do, look for a theme which integrates WooCommerce: this will enable you to sell services. WooCommerce is popular because it's made by Automattic, the developers who develop WordPress, so there's less chance that the plugin will suddenly be out of date and stop working. If you want to sell products, you can do that with WooCommerce too.

A reader asked whether WordPress is suitable for non-techies. Yes, it is. In its latest incarnation, WordPress includes the Gutenberg editor, which is a breeze to use -- you just start writing, and your blog post looks just the way it will look when you publish. If you need real technical help, you can hire help on sites like Fiverr quite inexpensively.

Have fun creating your writer's website. :-)

Want To Write A Bestseller? Write HOT Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

Word for word, mystery authors earn more than authors of most other genres, including romance.

Check out our new report, “Write Your Bestseller: Write HOT Mystery, Thriller & Suspense”. You’ll discover how, why, and what types of mystery fiction are selling today, and how to develop a mystery writing career.

3 Beginner Tips For Your Self-Publishing Blog

Want to start a self-publishing blog? Advertising costs are up and I’ve received many questions about starting a blog to market your books.

In this post, we won’t be talking about WordPress and brand colors and similar trivia. It’s not important. Consider that you’re blogging to sell books, so 1001 blog visitors oohing and ahhing about your pretty blog are 100% useless.

Let’s start at the beginning. Do you need a blog?

Do you need a blog for your self-publishing business?

The short answer is: no, you don’t. There are many ways to market your books.

Moreover, blogging is tricky, because authors are by nature shy. I’ve looked at author blogs where the author makes no attempt at all to sell his books — unless you’re psychic you’d have no idea the author had books to sell.

Your self-publishing blog MUST be a sales tool.

Luckily, you can sell on your blog quite painlessly. This article, Blogging for Authors: Increase Reader Engagement and Sell More Books, suggests:

• Ask for the Sale. At the bottom of each blog post, mention your book and include a link to purchase.
• Share on Social Media. Share each new blog post across your social media networks. Include the post title with a link to continue reading on your site.

If you’ve decided that you’d like to create a blog, these tips will help.

1. Take ten minutes and create an “index card” business plan

The more you know about your goals, the better. That said, your business plan can and must be simple. I love this one from Susan Hyatt:

I wanted to map out a business plan ASAP.

I grabbed a napkin and I wrote on the back:

COACHING BUSINESS

Network your ass off.

Start with 8 clients a week at $125 per session.

4 workshops a year.

Start a blog.

Get on local TV.

2. Your blogging persona: who are you?

You need to decide who you'll be as a blogger. What image will you project? Be yourself of course, but decide how much personal information you'll share. If your blog's all-business, you won't be talking about your partner, or the movie you saw last night.

Choose a couple of audience personas too. These are the book-buyers for whom you'll be creating content. Personas work because once you’ve got a couple of personas, you’re no longer talking to air; you’re talking to real people.

Give each persona a name and a mini-bio. For example: “Melinda is 32 years old. She's been married for 6 years. Her reading happens during her lunch hour and at bedtime. Her son is six months old and she’s just returned to her day job from maternity leave. She and her husband want to….” etc.

When you're creating blog content, you're speaking directly to Melinda.

3. When you’ve got something to say, say it on your blog

Keep the bulk of your book marketing content on your blog, rather than on Facebook et al. However, be aware that there’s not an immediate correlation between your blog posts and book sales. Your blog’s visitors won’t magically turn into buyers immediately. Your audience will build slowly.

When you want instant sales, advertise. Advertising on Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest is becoming more expensive, so expect to spend more than seems to make sense.

A couple of days ago I chatted with an author who told me that he’s spending more on AMS than he’s getting back in sales. It’s worth it to him for now, because he’s building visibility.

However, a big ad spend isn’t sustainable longterm. The biggest benefit of a self-publishing blog is that it’s sustainable, and your sales increase over time.

Discover what sells in mystery fiction — YOU can write it

Check out our new program, Write Your Bestseller: Write HOT Mystery, Thriller & Suspense now. You can write a mystery, even if you’re a new novelist.

No Time To Blog? Try Mobile Blogging, From Your Phone

If you do your blogging on your phone, kudos to you. I don't post to any of my blogs from my phone, but I do write draft posts in Bear.

When I'm back in the office, I publish the posts from my work computer. If you're like me, and don't want to post to your blog from your phone, use Google Docs to store your draft posts.

Let's look at some useful blogging apps if you'd like to be able to blog solely from your mobile. This can be very useful if you have NO time to blog; you can blog while you're waiting for the kids.

Blogging apps for your iPhone/ iPad

Apps worth checking out:

• WordPress mobile apps, for both iOS and Android. I tried the WordPress app years ago, but it looks much more powerful now. I must try it again.
• BlogPad Pro: for both WordPress.com blogs, and self-hosted WordPress blogs. A major benefit -- you can manage multiple blogs from the app.

Blogging apps for your Android device

Using an Android device?

• Blogger is for you if you have a Blogger blog.

• Writer: I know several people who use this app and love it, so it's worth trying out.

Are you a professional blogger?

If you're a professional blogger, you want to make sales from your blog. As I said in this post, your readers will buy from you if you give them the chance.

Start by blogging regularly. The above apps will help. Happy blogging. :-)

Full-time blogging: how to become a career blogger

An article in the Wall Street Journal reports that half a million people nominate blogging as their primary source of income.

Next week's Fab Freelance Writing Ezine takes up the theme of blogging; whether you're blogging or not, you should find it useful.

From the Editorial:

Why blog? I've been blogging since around 2001. But WHY BLOG?

When you blog, you will find, as I have, and as thousands of other writers have, that blogging will do more for your writing career than anything else.

Blogging is an adventure. I've met people via blogging I could meet in no other way. I've also been offered writing commissions I could get in no other way.

Here are just two reasons to blog:

* You WILL make money

* You will improve your writing skills

Here's the primary reason you MUST blog: you'll get known.

As a freelance writer, you must establish your name. The more your name is known, the more credibility you will get. It's vital that when a prospective buyer of your writing enters your name into Google's search query box that there are thousands of mentions of your name in the results pages.

Once your name is in Google, with many examples of your writing style, you can stop hunting for writing jobs, you'll get job offers automatically.

I get dozens of job offers a day; so do other established writers. This is the benefit of becoming a name. You can choose which jobs to accept, cherry picking the ones you want.

Read Dawn's story in the ezine, and learn more about the fascinating new writing career of blogging; the issue is out on Tuesday.

Imagine... $1,000 A Week For Just Ten Hours

You can get paid to blog. The current rate for experienced bloggers is around $1,000 to $1500 a week for from two to five posts a day - VERY nice writing income.

Find out how to blog with the blogging best-seller "Blogging For Dollars: How to become a career blogger -- in your PJs, if you want". It's my complete new ebook package, with free coaching/ consultations as well.

Got a Web site or blog? Make money with Blogging For Dollars

I've just created a new affiliate program for my Blogging For Dollars: How to become a career blogger ebook. If you've got a Web site or blog, you can earn great commissions.

Healthy commissions, paid every week
Registering as an affiliate is an easy process. Click the registration link on the affiliates page and register in moments.

Registration requires a PayPal address, and this ensures that you're paid promptly and automatically: your commissions are paid directly into your PayPal account every week.

This affiliate program is brand new and the ebook sells very well, so get started today and add to your income.

Technorati Tags: affiliate marketing, blog-entrepreneur, career blogger, freelance blogger, get started blogging, monetize your blog

Copywriting: "How much should I charge for blogging"?

I've had several queries about charging for blogging. "How much should I charge?" is always a thorny issue for new copywriters. :-)

Your fees depend on the number of blog posts per day, the length of the posts, and the amount of research you'll need to do for each.

I find that an average blog post of around 150 to 300 words takes me around half an hour when I know the topic, so I charge half my hourly rate.

If the blogging job is on contract over several months, you can lower the rate per post, because you'll be able to research several items at a time, so the writing goes more quickly.

However, do beware of getting into a situation where the blogging takes up a lot of working time each day that you're not being compensated for because you've charged a "bulk" rate.

Blogging can seem like a good gig because you've got a job, so to speak, that extends over months. But several colleagues have told me that these jobs take so much energy that they've given up blogging for others because it cuts their hourly rate right down.

My recommendation: trial the gig for a couple of weeks (with pay), and keep a time log. This will help you to set a realistic rate for a blogging series of three or more months.

Technorati Tags: blogger for hire, copywriting