I just upgraded to the latest version of 1.5 and am just blown away by all that it does.

I would like to upgrade to the developer licence so I can use thesis on multiple websites.  But I am one of those frugal folk who refuses to spend money unless I am making money.  So here is the deal:  If you want to try thesis but are on a tight budget, I could become your site developer and set your blog up using my license.

I will not charge you da big bucks, because I only know what I know, and do not claim to be a high level webmaster guru type.  -Just a computer handygal with a lot of “do it yourself” experience.

Actually, I don’t want to understate my skills too much, because I do have a lot to offer, but this deal is not about hiring me to handle everything for you.  It’s just an option for the budget minded among us to get into the most rockin wordress theme on the planet.

If you want to talk about it, just e-mail me at kelleybell@applesassy.com

or call: 614-264-9945

Some folks will just go after readers willy nilly, trying to attract anyone who will post a comment.  This is not good either.  You may get a reader to stop by and read a post or two, but if your content does not include a subject the reader is passionate about, there is not point working hard to attract their attention.

Another mistake bloggers make when trying to attract readers is that they engage in flaming to attract attention.  This is bad.  It attracts the wrong kind of attention and ruins your reputation.  (that’s right, I said YOUR reputation, not just your blogs.)  remember: the Internet is forever.  What you write will follow you the rest of your life.  So be careful, and put some thought into your posts.

The best way to find readers and build community is to know your niche, then find other blogs and forums in similar or related niches.  If your blog is about knitting, look for knitters and sewers, and wool makers, and fabric dyers, and crafters, and simple living sites.  Make a list of every possible related topic.  Google those key words.  Find the leading blogs on those subjects with the largest community of commenter’s, and get involved.  Leave regular comments on those sites.  Not bland spammy comments, but comments with ideas relevant to what is being discussed.  Bring something worthwhile to the conversation.  Let people get to know you.  Be helpful.  Be concise.  Be humorous.  and always be kind.

Find forums and user groups in your niche.  Repeat the advice above.

And the final most important rule to all the above:  Make sure every time you post, every time you make a comment, and every time you write an article for an outside forum or blog you INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND A HOT LINK TO YOUR SITE IN YOUR SIGNATURE.  (And don’t write in all caps.  It looks like you are screaming, which is RUDE.)

The bloggers out there who find you, the ones you build a relationship with, they are the ones you want to e-mail on the side.  Ask if they would like to guest post on your blog.  Offer to guest post in return.  Share links with each other.  You link to their site and they link to yours.  Bloggers with good etiquette will do this automattically, but some don’t think to do this because they don’t know they should.  But they most definitely should.

Just last week I had the pleasure to connect with Grant Griffiths of blogforprofit.com.  Grant and I e-mailed each other a few times to solidify introductions, and then decided to guest post on each others sites.  We made the decision because our sites have similar, yet not identical themes.  Clearly his readers and mine would find overlapping articles of interest without a feeling of redundancy or competition.

Guest posting is a vital component for blogger interested in growing their readership and expanding their social networks.  Guest posting builds relationships.  Guest posting brings new readers to your site. Hosting a guest poster brings fresh content and new perspectives to your own site.  And in the end, guest posting is all about building new and diverse social networks, which is what blogging is ultimately all about.

When writing a guest post, or hosting a guest poster, make sure to include hot links in the post.  Actually, the better rule is to have hot links in every post you write.  Hot links or back links as they are sometimes called, bring new traffic to your site and increase your Google SEO rank.  When you increase your rank, more people are able to find you, and as thus, more traffic is generated for your site.

So if you want to increase the readership of your blog, your site will appear higher in the Google search results if you use commonly searched keywords.  -Pretty simple idea to grasp.

Lots of advice exists on how to do this.  Some statistically minded (ie: obsessive) web developers have turned the concept into a science.  But for those of you not interested in earning a masters degree in search engine optimization (SEO) here are a few simple tips to get you on the right track:

Tubetorial has an article showing how you can go to the Google homepage, type in a word related to your content, and find a whole host of high ranking related keywords to add to your post and headlines.

Wordtracker has a similar, easy to use keyword search tool, and articles on how to use your results to attract new readers.  (By the way, the phrase “attract new readers” is a search phrase I suspect will bring a few new readers to this post.)  Hopefully they will like what they read, and come back for more.

See how what works?

Matt Bailey has a good article on the related subject of “Longtail” search terms.  Longtails are search words NOT in your top ten most popular search terms.  Of course, my slant on longtail, is to use more descriptive titles.  Look at the headline for this post.  It could have been something like Top Keywords.  But I expanded it and added the words attract readers, blog and google: all search terms that will draw hits on the search engines.

I find it interesting how the Internet has changed the way we approach the art of writing.  In the days of print media, a good headline meant grabbing peoples attention through pithy, pun or plunder, but today headline construction is not aimed at humans: we are writing to attract the red beady eye of  Skynets Terminator.

It is apparently a rather coveted thing to be accepted by DMOZ. Some folks wait several years before being accepted, and others never get accepted at all. The good news is, if you have a great site with good content, and stick to a subject matter that is not already over saturated, you might just find yourself accepted overnight.

It only takes a few minutes to apply, and is well worth it. Once your site is listed, it gets pumped out to all the major search engines on a regular basis and will drive tons of new traffic your way.

So give it a shot…we could all use a few thousand new friends.

Write Good Headlines

Writing a good headline is the most important thing you can learn as a writer or blogger.  The headline is what catches the eye of the reader, and if you don’t grab em there, they will never read that wonderful essay of yours.

According to Copyblogger: “On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest.”  What this means is most headlines suck.  They fail to entice the reader and communicate the worth of investing any more time reading the piece.  So if you can learn to write a good headline, you will do better than 80% of the other writers out there, and over time, build a solid following.

Lots of advice exists on this subject from marketers and news professionals, but no matter what type of content you are writing, whether it is a blog post, and e-mail newsletter, or an on-line article, there a few common rules to follow:

First, give your headline a clear name.  Nouns work better then verbs. Clear descriptions work better than cute puns. Ask yourself what words you would you use to search with in Google if you were trying to find information on this subject?  That is usually the best way to title your piece.  Also write your titles in First Initial Caps (as opposed to ALL CAPS).  With very few exceptions, using all caps is just rude.

Second, make sure the headline accurately describes the content.  Don’t write a headline that says “Happy Easter to all my Friends” then follow it with an article selling grass seed.  People are marketing savvy these days – especially computer users.  If you blast their e-mail in box with outrageous screaming spam claiming they already “WON a MILLION DOLLARS!!!!” your e-mail will be deleted in a New York Nano-Second.

Third, Get Real.  If you have an opinion, Miss Apps would love to hear it.  If you have a good idea, or a helpful tip, that’s great too, but don’t try to sugar coat your message with anything that is fake or dishonest.  Readers can spot that shizzle from a mile away.  They can tell a real website from a marketing bot, a genuine e-mail from spam, and a personal post from plagiarism.  Get Real, and people will want to hear what you have to say.  Get Real, and readers will come back again and again.

Beyond that, Miss Applesassy humbly suggests we all follow the advice of the inspirational and uplifting Randy Pausch:

“Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcomed.”

“Focus on other people, not on yourself.”

“If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, “Tell the Truth.” If I got three more words, I’d add, “All the time.”