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Your Bright Ideas Blogzine Nov 09
Sent Tuesday, November 10, 2009
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Bright Ideas Blogzine - November 2009 Publisher: Laura Christianson http://www.bloggingbistro.com mailto:laura@bloggingbistro.com ____________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE ____________________________________________________________________ 1. FEATURE: Two Seconds to Impact! 2. YOUR BLOGGY ASSIGNMENT 3. FACEBOOK TUTORIALS How to Put Your Facebook Updates Back to "Normal" How to Link to Your Facebook Business Page From Your Profile 4. At the Barista's blog... 5. My Hangouts 6. Share Bright Ideas ____________________________________________________________________ 1. FEATURE: Two Seconds to Impact! ____________________________________________________________________ As you zoom down the highway, you spot a billboard, glance at it, and mentally absorb its message. How long did you look at that billboard? * One second? * Two seconds? * Ten seconds? (If you're stuck in rush hour traffic) The average billboard-looker-atter gazes at the billboard for two seconds. Guess how long it takes the average blog reader to decide whether to read your post? You've got it - two seconds. Not two minutes (wouldn't that be nice?). Two seconds. "Two seconds to impact" is an unhappy revelation for bloggers who assume people are itching to read and ruminate over their latest missive. Even your most devoted fans will likely give you only five seconds or so, during which they'll decide to read or not to read. How do you make an impact in two seconds? Three ways: 1. Images Use one image that illustrates your point in every post. Doesn't matter whether it's a photo, a screenshot, a video, or even tacky clipart; readers' eyes are irresistibly drawn to images. In my e-book, Blogophobia Conquered, you'll find additional tips about where to place visuals, what resolution your images should be, and where to find free and low-cost stock images. 2. Body language Videos and podcasts are gaining in popularity, but the majority of blog posts are written. It's challenging to convey voice inflections in writing, but you need to try. Experiment with sentence openings, sentence length, and tone of voice. Write posts using the following "body language": * Enthusiastic and energetic * Instructional * Sarcastic * Humorous * Empathetic If you have trouble translating tone of voice into writing, voice-record your post and then transcribe it. 3. Storytelling A good story (and perhaps even a bad one) puts your reader into the scene with you. Your story doesn't have to be lengthy - a 1-2 sentence anecdote will do. ____________________________________________________________________ 2. YOUR BLOGGY ASSIGNMENT ____________________________________________________________________ Create a blog post that includes: 1) an image 2) a specific type of body language 3) a story Send the link to your article to info@bloggingbistro.com and we may showcase it in an upcoming blog post. ____________________________________________________________________ 3. FACEBOOK TUTORIALS ____________________________________________________________________ How to Put Your Facebook Updates Back to "Normal" If you're a Facebooker, you probably noticed that Facebook recently stopped displaying status updates from all your friends; it now shows updates only from friends who generate the most comments and responses. That's just not right! I want to know what all my Facebook friends are up to. Fortunately, Joan Stewart, aka, The Publicity Hound, provided an easy fix in her November 3 e-newsletter: 1. Log into Facebook. At the top of the left column, you'll see "News Feed." Go to the bottom of the column and click "More." 2. Find "Status Updates." Click and drag it to the top of the column. 3. Click "Status Updates" to load that view. You're done! You can re-arrange any of the items in the left sidebar whenever you want using the same three steps. Here's another handy Facebook tutorial, from my blog: How to Link to Your Facebook Business Page From Your Profile http://tinyurl.com/yfrpo7l ____________________________________________________________________ 4. At the Barista's blog... ____________________________________________________________________ Get More Mileage out of Your Blog Archives With Twitter Teasers - My guest article on TwiTip, a popular blog owned by ProBlogger Darren Rowse http://tinyurl.com/ylhe78w 12 Reasons Why I Refuse to Follow You On Twitter http://tinyurl.com/ycab4a4 8 Reasons NOT to Blog http://tinyurl.com/ygcgu9w 10 Good Reasons to Blog http://tinyurl.com/yccappv Need Ideas for Blog Posts? Try Google's Wonder Wheel http://tinyurl.com/ycn2fq5 How to Create a Hyperlink Inside a Blog Post http://tinyurl.com/yhfrvl4 How to Create a Hacker-Resistant Password http://tinyurl.com/yjhcej2 ____________________________________________________________________ 5. My Hangouts ____________________________________________________________________ Twitter: http://twitter.com/BloggingBistro Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bloggingbistro Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/bloggingbistro ____________________________________________________________________ 6. Share Bright Ideas ____________________________________________________________________ I invite you to reprint any of the articles from this blogzine in your own e-zine or on your Web site/blog, as long as you include the following blurb and a link to BloggingBistro.com: Laura Christianson founded BloggingBistro.com, a company that serves made-to-order social media solutions for individuals and businesses. Please forward Bright Ideas Blogzine to others who want to maximize their social media marketing. To start your e-mail subscription, send a blank e-mail to bloggingbistro@aweber.com. You'll immediately receive an e-mail confirmation notice. Click the link and you're subscribed. I respect your privacy. I promise not to sell, rent, or distribute your contact information.