Posts Tagged ‘techniques’

An Amateur Blogger’s woe: Information overload

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Every blogger enters the blogosphere with one goal in mind, to make it big. He wants his blog to be popular, to be read by a lot of people and to have a loyal readership. And he is ready to do whatever it takes to reach there. However, there is one problem that he has to face. There is a lot of ‘help’ available out there that is causing more ‘harm’ than help. Ironical, isn’t it?

Let’s say that Mr. White (Yes, I love Reservoir Dogs!) is a blogger who has just started a new blog. His readership at the moment is zilch. In fact, he hasn’t even decided the topic to blog about.

When he enters the blogosphere, he is as confused as a cow on Astroturf and is desperately looking for directions. Thankfully, there are hundreds of bloggers who have been there and done that before him. They are the demigods of the blogosphere. They have walked the walk and talked the talk. They have a six figure reader base and make a six figure income each month from their blogs. And Mr. White will rely heavily on the inputs and tips that he receives from these experts to help him establish a base in the blogosphere.

So, Mr. White starts his journey by looking for Blogging tips. A simple search on Google gives him 93,200,000 results for ‘Blogging tips’. Wow! That’s far too many experts for a subject as difficult as blogging. ‘Maybe it’s simpler than I thought’, thinks Mr. White and enters one of the first websites on the search results page. This site is almost the holy grail of blogging and has a lot of advice for beginner bloggers. Mr. White is happy and smiling that he has found such a large resource of invaluable information.

He spends the next three hours on the same website and jots down all important tips and links that will help him in one way or the other in his quest for success on the blogosphere. He subscribes to the RSS feeds for regular updates and is just about satisfied. ‘But’, thinks Mr. White, ‘there can be more information out there.’ Why stick only to one website? So, he goes to the next website.

But here is where Mr. White errs.

He finds that there is an equal amount of information on this website as well. A lot of it duplicated content and a whole lot of new stuff as well. Well, the more the merrier. He spends some time on this website as well before going to the next one and the next one and the next one. He is greeted by newer tips and ideas on every blog that he goes to. Each new blog speaks about something new that the earlier blogger had missed out on. ‘Do you know your link karma?’ ’10 tips for amateur bloggers’ ‘Using Twitter for your blog’ ‘Going viral and getting more readers’. ‘How, I got 10000 readers on my post in one day’… Aaargh! There is so much information floating out there that analyzing and segregating, genuinely useful content is a tall order.

Mr. White is overwhelmed at all the information and is back to square one. He is feeling as lost as a cow on Astroturf again. This (information overload) is a problem that is faced by most amateur bloggers. I faced it too when I started out on the blogosphere (which was like three months ago).

Information is a lot like food. It is best when served in small digestible reasonable portions that serve its purpose. But we (everyone from managers to bloggers to couch tubers) keep ingesting information till the point of asphyxiation. One of the reasons why we do it is, to prevent any information from being left out or, in other words, to be as perfect and complete as possible. But it’s easier to lose direction amidst all that information.

And hey, you can very well be accessing and storing wrong information.

The internet makes it easier for us to get more information that we would ever require. The onus is on us to ask ourselves ‘When do I have enough?’

The solution

Ok, so I have blabbed enough about the problem. Time to get into constructive mode and suggest a few solutions.

1. Rely on the best: The blogosphere is full of self certified experts who can talk about any subject this side of Jupiter. But there are very few people who can truly be labeled as experts in their field of expertise. If blogging is what you are looking for then you can rely on Problogger.net as well as Bloggingtips.com. There are others that are good. But you won’t need anything else once you visit these two. Similarly, look for the ‘best of the best’ in your niche and rely on them for sometime to come.
2. Limit link hunting: I have coined the term ‘Link hunting’ and it is the phenomenon where you follow outgoing links from blogs. Your favorite post has a comment and it leads to a different blog, a comment from that blog leads to another and so on and so forth. New bloggers have the habit of following every link that may seem even remotely useful. Link hunting is one of the prime causes of information overload. Limit it to, say, 3 outgoing links per day.
3. Set a time limit and stick to it: Accessing information and acquiring knowledge is fine but you have to set a time frame for information loading and stick to that timeframe. And once you start to exceed that timeframe, switch off your browser and get back to your tasks. It will also help you improve your productivity.
4. Learn data control: It’s so easy to hit that ‘subscribe to RSS’ button on every blog that you come across. But think about it. Do you really need that blog subscription? Take time and clear off all the unwanted RSS links from your subscriptions. Controlling the influx of unwanted data is the key to curbing information overload.
5. Meditate: There are a thousand ways of meditating. Try and find what relaxes your mind. Play soothing music; relax with your eyes closed. Even if you can do it for 5 minutes in a day, do it. A relaxed mind always helps you focus and improves your creativity as well.

Notes: Image courtesy  Flicrk: Information Overload, originally uploaded by DeaPeaJay.

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Why Originality doesnt come easy – My effort to be an ORIGINAL Blogger

Thursday, February 19th, 2009
The need to think out of the box

I have been trying desperately for the last couple of weeks to come up with an original idea for my next post. The result is that I have ended up with just one post in the last 15 days. That’s when I thought of writing on the very concept. ‘Originality in the blogosphere’, now that’s not something that you read everyday.

What made it so difficult for me to come up with a post was that I wasn’t merely trying to write on a popular subject. I was trying to find a subject that has never been dealt with (God, help me). Oh, it’s so easy to find a popular article, rehash it and then post it as your own without even crediting the original writer (For example, How to make money blogging, 5 tips to get back links to your site, etc).  These are topics that have been beaten to death.

Even though every writer tries his/her best to add a different perspective to it, the article effectively is, on the same subject. If a reader were to search for the topic on a search engine, he would end up with 10 to 15 different links to articles that all talk about the same thing. It might be more variety for him but does he really have the time to browse through all of them?

Coming back to the topic, I had boasted in one of my earlier posts (in case you missed it)that it took me just 120 seconds to come up with an alphabetical list of ideas for topics. But creating ‘original’ articles out of them…hmmm…if only it were as easy.

Originality? Say’s who?

I began the futile exercise last week by creating a list of ideas that I would like to develop an article on. The list was as follows.

  1. 5 tips to improve your writing productivity
  2. How to write an article in 10 minutes
  3. Getting stuck thoughts and words to flow again

‘Impressive’, I said to myself!

And after doing my bit of mind mapping and creating a plan for the article, I start working on the first one of them. I am a fluid writer like most others in the profession and once I get into the flow, it hardly takes me a few minutes to come up with a rough draft of an article. Within 10 minutes, I had jotted down an 800 word first draft which I was highly impressed with. I was sure that this was going to be one of my better posts in recent times. So, I close the word editor and decide to take a break before getting back to the article for a second look.

I either surf or plug in my Ipod during my breaks. This time, I started surfing one my favorite blogs and suddenly, I find an article called, ‘Want to Boost Your Writing Productivity? Have a Baby!‘ by Michael Stelzner at Copyblogger. It’s a fantastic post! Even better than what I have managed to scribble down so far.

That was the end of my self induced originality bit and I decided to scrap my post. I mean, I loved the article so much that it would be an atrocity to post something on the same lines.

But I wasn’t going to be beaten psychologically. I am one of those stubborn-as-a-leech types and thought that well, two people from a population of 6,706,993,152? That aint bad at all. The very thought that only one person besides me, thought about the subject, was enough to cheer me up for a while. But wait, could there be more ‘rehashed copies’ of the same article floating around the internet? I had to be sure about that and so, I googled the topic. Bang! I got about 15 articles on the same subject in about 0.27 seconds (It’s fast, huh?)! I didn’t bother to check who wrote it first.

Here I was with 5 measly tips to improve productivity and there was one guy who had thought of 50 ways to do it. (It topped the Google search results). I didn’t dare search for the other topics but I am sure that there might be multiple versions of them existing as well. So, I realized that writing original ideas is not easy.

Is Blogging about being original?

But is originality really necessary? Are we committing a crime by giving our own perspective to a topic that has been written about by people who have a deeper understanding and a larger fan following? And if we are trying to come up with something completely original, does the bar become too high to exceed?

No, I feel that it isn’t a crime to give your own perspective to a topic. A lot of people do it. That’s the very essence of a blog. It’s a place where you can blurt out whatever you feel like and nobody can question you.

I mean, if someone has written about 100 ways to find happiness and you have found ways 101 – 110, then why not write about it? It would be wrong to scrap the idea simply because it was a popular post on a famous blog. But at least, you can make an effort to treat the post in a way that nobody else has. Give it a new heading, add a picture, change the flow, do something that the earlier writer didnt do.

A cloned article with different words and different headings (but has the same pitch, tone and thought process) is what you can ill afford. Not to forget that you are not really helping your blog by doing it. A reader would always prefer to read a better established blogger than you. (Imagine 10 different versions of Harry Potter doing the rounds of book stores. Would you prefer my version or that of J.K.Rowling?)

But originality, that’s something different altogether.

Think out of the box or in it? Originality is energy consuming

A lot of people advise to think out of the box to come up with innovative and original ideas. But, how does one think outside the box? For that matter, how does one think inside the box? What is the damn box?

Charles H. Duell said way back in 1899 that, “Everything that can be invented has been invented.” That, I think, is thinking inside the box.

Similarly, are all original ideas for articles taken already? No. Not at all. All it takes is a serious rap on the grey matter for new thoughts to start jumping out, but, hey, it’s you who must give that rap. In Charles H. Duell, there is a clear unwillingness and fear to go beyond the obvious. The thought process is limited and it is the mind which sets these boundaries. As a writer, we have to try and break free from those boundaries in order to conjure up originality. Originality that stems from imagination.

The problem with a lot of writers on the World Wide Web is that they have been limiting their thinking and trying to blindly ape, ‘the best’ out there. (Even I have been guilty of doing that in the past) But what we do not seem to realize is ‘the best’, have reached that position because they did not follow anybody. They set their own rules, unconventional at times. And the rest simply followed them. That sir is thinking out of the box. The question that we need to ask ourselves as writers is, ‘Do we wish to be followers or leaders?’

The simplest definition of thinking outside the box is thinking unconventionally and it is far from easy. It requires a desire to explore, an ability to diverge from the conventional well-trodden path and the passion to live from your imagination.

I have decided to try and think outside the box in the days to come. I know that it’s far from easy. But at least, I will make an effort no matter what. I will do whatever it takes to go through more creative exertions. I will keep you posted on how I am faring on my effort to be original.

On a closing note, I would like to quote a famous aphorism.

‘If you only do what you always did, you will not even get what you always got’

Notes: Image Courtesy Flickr:  – Originally uploaded by Orangecrazy

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10 Ways to Collect Ideas for your next Post

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

The satisfaction and contentment that one gets after writing, proofreading, polishing and then posting an article is unbeatable. The next couple of days are spent basking in the glory as comments and ping backs start to come in. (Oh, I love it when that happens). And just when you feel that you can relax for a few hours, have a cold beer and catch up on the latest installment in the ‘Saw’ franchise (I think part VI is due now), social engagements, moral responsibilities and other professional assignments pour in. No sense being grumpy. Its more work, work and work! And by the time you realize that it’s been a busy week, it’s posting time once again.

Now, what was that idea that I was planning to develop into an article?

Oh, darn!

I can’t remember it.

No sweat. Happens to me all the time. I guess it has happened to almost every freelance writer on god’s green earth. The problem with ideas is that they tend to hit you at the worst possible time for them to hit. And then they disappear deep into the folds and wrinkles of our grey matter and refuse to come out no matter how hard you try. In fact, the harder you try, the more difficult it becomes to remember. It’s almost like trying hard not to remember a thing and an image of that thing keeps popping up again and again.

So, the best, tried and tested way is to write it down the moment it hits you. It might be while you are having dinner, while you are playing ball, or while you are busy woolgathering. I have left several chores midway, hunted for a pen (you never find them when you need them the most) and scribbled a word or two in my writing pad as a smokescreen of words appear right out of nowhere in my mind. Yes, I have a scribbling pad right next to my desktop and it has got everything from one liners and scripts to stories, articles, phone numbers, appoinments, grocery list, recipes, movie schedules and small notes. It is almost like an idea bank. But hey, it works. Even a couple of words briefly describing what you want to write about are enough to give you a gist of the idea.

And what if you can’t find ideas at all? Don’t worry. Not everyone has a mind that meanders in the realms of obscurity like a mendicant. Sometimes, even the best of writers are unable to come up with a decent idea. You can call it the writer’s block. And on such occasions, it is so easy to get carried away by the first idea that comes to your mind and post a stinker instead. (A stinker is a post that gets greeted by tumbleweeds) There are enough resources in the world to get your creative juices flowing. Think about it. Here’s my list of 10 best ways to gather ideas for your next post.

  1. Surf your niche: There are thousands of websites on the internet and you can easily find at least one new website or blog everyday that caters to your niche. Every new writer lives with a sense of fake supremacy but there are a gazillion better writers out there. Surf, read and explore. But never copy.
  2. Mind Mapping: Ever heard this term? It’s almost similar to brainstorming. Mind mapping is an extremely powerful tool for that has endless number of uses. A mind map is a visual method of brainstorming and hence is far more productive when it comes to breaking a creative block. A pen and a paper are all that you need to get going. Animals, Britney, Cars, Dance, Emotions, Future, Guitar, Horoscope, Internet, Jesus, Kung fu, London, Money, Night, O(b/s)ama, People, Questions, Recipes, SEO, Traffic, UFO, Vacations, Wall street, X-mas, Yahoo, Zoo. It took me around 120 seconds to come up with this alphabetical list of topics to write on. Each one of these words can be further elaborated into several subtopics. You see, there shouldn’t be a dearth of ideas.
  3. Rest your mind: Rest is extremely important for creativity and productivity. At times, when faced with a writer’s block, a writer tends to spend too much time trying to break out of it. But it only adds to the woes. A ‘5 to 6 hour’ marathon session in front of the monitor is not going to help you. Take some rest. Listen to your Ipod for some time. Take a walk. Anything that refreshes your mind will work.
  4. A slice of your life: Most experts will recommend that you write only within your niche. Yes, it is the safest way of generating a loyal readership. But at times, it won’t hurt to waver from the niche and write about a day in your life. A good incident, a bad one or simply an uninteresting day of your life. It helps you to break away from the monotony. Don’t worry. Your readers won’t ditch you for it.
  5. Blast from the past: Go back to your archives and check some of the most read articles. Now try and find out a way to rework them from a different angle. If the topic is interesting, then your readers will love it no matter what.
  6. Subscribe to Newsletters: This is one of the best ways to stay in sync with topics that interest you. All it takes is a couple of clicks to subscribe.
  7. Create a to-do list: What are the ten things that you want to do before the year ends? Let the world know about it as long as it isn’t something very personal. What is your wish list? Create it and display it.
  8. Watch People: It might seem strange but ordinary people have been the inspiration for some of the most notable works of fiction that exist today. People can always give you an idea or two to write an article. And you can observe everyone from friends to relatives to a guy walking on the road.
  9. The News: There’s always something on the news that’s newsworthy. It may be local news that could be turned into an article for a global audience. Or it might be the reverse. What’s your take on the latest piece of breaking news?
  10. Twitter: There’s always someone doing something writeable on Twitter. It’s almost like sitting in a crowded café with your scribbling pad and watching interesting conversations unfold. The more you read the more literature you get to write.

And if these 10 ideas aren’t enough, then here are 50 more. Yes, this is the most comprehensive list of ‘techniques’ to collect ideas for your next post. This is Susan Johnston’s ‘50 Ways for Writers to Find Article Ideas‘.

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SEO Basics: Black Hat SEO

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Black hat SEO is a set of unethical strategies which are used to gain higher positions in search engine rankings. They are called black hat because they are considered to be unethical or plain illegal by most search engines and the SEO community on the whole. These techniques evolved over a period of time as SEO experts were trying to generate faster results. As a matter of fact, most of these strategies were acceptable and ethical at a point of time. But then some people started to go over the board with it and search results started to get affected. So search engines started penalizing websites utilizing these strategies. 

What are black hat SEO strategies and how do we differentiate them from white hat SEO? 

Black hat SEO techniques are used to gain much faster results and may actually work for a short period of time. Some websites have skyrocketed to the top of Google SERPS (Search engine results pages) within as less as a week of using these techniques. But do not be surprised at all if your website is banned for as many as three years by Google if it is detected that you are using these techniques. 

Here are some BLACK hat SEO techniques commonly used by shady SEO experts. 

  • Keyword Stuffing: A huge list of the most searched keywords on a particular subject is created and then the webpage is stuffed with those keywords with not even a comma to separate them. A web user is usually shocked at reaching such a page that is stuffed with keywords and unwanted advertisements. The page is totally irrelevant and contains no useful information that the web user was looking for in the first place.
  • Invisible text: Once again, the keywords are stuffed on the webpage. However, this time the color of the keywords and the page background is matched so that it can be hidden from users but attracts search engine spiders. For example, a webpage with a white background will have keyword phrases in white so that they are invisible.
  • Doorway Pages: This is once again something that the end user will never see. It is a fake page that is created with the sole aim of tricking search engines into listing the website higher.  

I have noticed that the maximum number of webmasters who use black hat SEO or fall prey to unscrupulous SEO experts who promise them instant glory in SERPS, are people who are on a tight budget. However, before you hire any such SEO company, take a moment to think about the risk. Is it worth it? Always make a wise and informed decision.

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