Greetings everyone! I’m even surprised to be writing twice in one week – especially after not writing for a gap of two-three weeks.

Tonight was my first night really following #BlogChat on Twitter. It’s interesting. I figured since I am trying to set up my second blog (the one that will serve more purpose than this one), I should read what everyone had to say.

While reading through everything, I made notes on here so that I could have a to-the-point entry tonight. So,  here are my thoughts:

 

#1: Finding your [writing] niche: I still wonder sometimes if I truly have a niche on this website. I call my blog ‘Life of a Queen Pirate Hooker’ or ‘Life As a Queen Pirate Hooker’- and it’s about my life. I have a little bit of everything: poetry, writing, politics (very few entries), photo-blogging, my life, maybe a few creative writing spots somewhere. My new blog will have a niche – it will be of an industry that I have a deep passion for.

#2: Write what we want – or what readers want?: Most of the time, I write what I want. If I don’t have anything to say, I don’t write it. If I have a distinct opinion or some issue come up – I will write it…in hopes that people will be interested enough to read. Back when Pitchmen was on, I was writing for all of Pitchmen fans on this personal blog of mine — instead of having a direct website for it. THAT is where I got the most comments from.

#3: Titles: Sometimes I have interesting titles, sometimes not. Sometimes my titles are quite to the point, sometimes just a song lyric or something random I made up. When [you] think about it, the title is the first thing you see and if it doesn’t draw someone in, then you’ll lose those future readers that could be hooked and become fans of your website. I think I’ll keep paying mind to this key factor, so that I can draw in more readers.

#4: Write drunk. Edit sober. – Ernest Hemingway: I really like this quote, I’m glad whoever put it out there, did. It reminds me of my senior year in English when I was reading more into Shakespeare and his life… I thought he must’ve been drunk while writing his works. I’m pretty sure when I did NaNoWriMo this past November, there were a few days where I had something to drink.

#5: Video Blogs: Big no no for most people. I’m not surprised, either. Here’s the thoughts: we watch or listen whenever it is convenient for us – we READ all of the time. A lot of people ‘read’ via iPhone or other smart phones and they are not looking to watch a video / listen to anything because it drains the battery. Text is easy, text is skimming. I don’t think I’ve ever done a video blog and will probably never do it. It’s interesting in certain context but not for me.

#6: Guest post somewhere before starting your blog: Honestly, I wouldn’t have a clue who would want ME to guest post on their blog. I have so much mixed content that people probably just look at my blog as a jumbled puzzle. I have had many, many blogs from when I was a freshmen in high school (2000) to now. All blog thoughts changing via my personality because of getting older and  more or less interested in what I was interested in years ago. I do see guest posting as great because by that guest post – you’ve already drawn in an audience… and that is something I do need.

#7: First post is always the hardest: I can definitely see that. For this blog, I don’t even remember what my first blog post was – and considering it was on Posterous instead of my own domain. I know that when I finally get the construction done on my new blog site — the first post WILL BE a struggle. There’s questions: what do I need to say to introduce it, I shouldn’t say ‘first post’ — because duh, they KNOW it is..

#8: Outline or plan a blog posts: I don’t do planning for regular personal blog entries. Back when I did a few of the political entries on here, I had an outline planned on PAPER and then I wrote it on the computer. There are certain entries where that’s needed — or, I should say… certain blog types that need that more. Entries that need facts or back up statements, those are the ones that need to be planned.

#9: Comments – if you dont comment on others, don’t expect it yourself: I really need to remember this. I barely comment on anyone’s entries anymore, but I read them. I have a wonderful Mac that allows me to have RSS through my email – it’s simple as pie to read. Now, for my problem… I feel as if I don’t have a lot of readers. I feel as if I don’t have a lot of readers because PEOPLE DO NOT COMMENT. So, do they read me at all? That’s the question to boot.

#10: Bad design / headings / too many fonts: Yes, yes, yes. If one has a terrible blog design, I do NOT look at it. Now, I had the same blog design for a full year before changing it to what it is now. I’m kind of liking it, but I like the old design better. I always customize my headings and change them every so often. Comic sans is the worst blog font to write in. No one takes you seriously. I always settle for the fonts that are in the theme, but the font is also a decision maker in the theme, too. Fonts and themes set the mood – can make you or break you.

#11: Blogging with passion/personality = making blog entries stand out: I would hope that SOME (not all, I’m not expecting the world!) of my blogs sought through with my passion/personality and it makes people want to read me more often. I always try to write – photoblog with passion so that my personality will shine through.

#12: Where do you publicize blogs? LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook: Okay, I don’t have a professional enough blog to post mine to LinkedIn, but again, I totally don’t get LinkedIn (it’s on this level where I am mixed between getting jobs/networking in person or meeting through Twitter/Facebook). I publicize via Twitter and Facebook. I do it more on Twitter because of the searches, I do it less on Facebook because I have a feeling that several people have deleted me because of my posting. I post through NetworkedBlogs.

#13: Tweetdeck VS. Hootsuite: Tweetdeck. I’ve tried Hootsuite and just.. can’t get used to it! I am Tweetdeck all the way.

#14: Facebook page for blog?: I don’t have a Facebook page for this blog, because everyone has my personal ID – why would you want to (literally) friend me twice? For my NEW blog I’m starting, I will probably have a FB page once I feel as if I have enough readers to intake the information. (Having an empty page makes me cry.)

#15: Twitter Chats: I think for any ‘major’ chat – this is a great idea. I used to run the Pitchmen chat via TinyChat and we discussed the show there, but we ALWAYS hashtagged #Pitchmen and chatted via Twitter, as well. I like searching hashtags and finding information. I like discussion, you can always meet people passionate about the things you are – and get to know them via their thoughts on Twitter.

#16: The use of social media: Social media usage for me… I like to meet people that talk about or are in the same circle as me. Such as, our Pitchmen days… I found a huge amount of friends on Twitter and life has changed greatly since then. I like trying to become something via the net – when I see that strangers have read my stuff and liked it, I feel happy. It makes me happy that people comment or notice me or take the time to get to know me. As I do like the same for others.

#17: Being negative on Twitter leads to being unfollowed: Um, yeah. I have been through this, but luckily, I got a second chance. I now take my anger out somewhere else. Or, I try to limit my negative thoughts and force them towards something else.

 

Now that I have talked about the key pointers I saw in #BlogChat tonight, here are some questions I have for fellow readers:

How do you find bloggers that are like you? What’s the best way to search?

How do you get asked to write for pay or as a guest blogger? (I’ve been writing for far too long to let it go to waste.)

Does anyone else have issues with writing (NEW) blog content if the theme isn’t right? (This is more for new blogs.)

Anyone else still use pen and paper for dabbling with ideas? Or am I the only young’n still living in the old generation?

How do you attract readers?

If any of you are book writers, what does it take to sit down and edit your stories or write new content? I find it hard to sit down and focus with the world spinning around [one].

 

I suppose that is all for now! Whew. That was a lot of collecting thoughts and writing. I hope to hear from a lot of you!