Sorry to be so MIA this week, I’d been helping my sister in caring for our great-aunt who was ill and she passed last Friday. Despite us expecting it, it came much quicker than we anticipated. That combined with a couple of other things has had me down in the dumps and struggling to string a post together. I’m not sure at this point what my blogging schedule will be, but hopefully will be able to sort things out pretty quickly. I do have a couple of ideas/posts/and a new product review in the pipeline, so I basically just need to get my shit together.

Please, somebody pull her head out of her ass and give her a good smack. I’d do it myself but as she loves to point out, I’m missing the opposable thumbs.

Last week I promised I’d get more into the Engaging your Reader topic. Since the topic is lengthy and the comments are amazing, I’m breaking this out into two posts. Next week I will tackle the rest of the topic.

I’ve included the outline I published last week, as well as relevant comments. I hope that most of these are self-explanatory, but I’m including my thoughts in parenthesis. On the chance that they aren’t clear, please, please leave me a comment or shoot me an e-mail. 🙂

Keep Content Relevant to Your Mission Statement

• A blog about training dogs should have posts about training dogs. (For instance you wouldn’t include a post about your local outlet mall and the Coach purse deal you got.) 🙂
• Product reviews should have relevancy to your mission statement. (Your mission statement says, The Good, the Bad and the Oh My God of Living with Dogs and you do a product review for tampons-that my friends is funny, but it’s a no-no.)

Paved by Paw Prints said, “What you said, about keeping content to your mission statement, is really good. I have a variety of dog-related posts planned but I think I might need to consider what the main focus of my blog really is.”

I think that was the hardest thing for me. Because my blog is mostly stories about my dogs, how do I define it? I still don’t know that my tagline is just right or that people who land here for the first time really know what this blog is about. I feel like, “The Good, the Bad and the Oh My God of Living with Dogs” is really a blanket statement. It might be time to narrow my focus down.

Write with authenticity

• Use words you would typically use in conversation.(For instance, I swear (A LOT) in real life. I finally stopped fighting it and use it in my posts. Does it offend some people? Perhaps, but I’m being true to me and who I am and I hope that comes across.)
• When sharing facts, link back to the source. (When you are writing about an illness/training product/supplement you want to make sure to give people the opportunity to research the topic themselves. It also shows where your source came from.)

Write about topics that instill passion in you.

• Passion shines through in your writing and people will connect with your passion. (When you are writing about something you are passionate about you choose words that express emotions. This is what helps you connect with people.)
• Editorial calendars are useful in scheduling posts and jotting down ideas for future posts. (I use an editorial plug in (WordPress Editorial Calendar) which was great when I was scheduling posts for Nashville. The drawback to the plug in is, you need to keep your eye on it, because you actually put the post in the calendar. If you are using the calendar just to store ideas, you could inadvertently schedule a blank or incomplete post. I also have a paper copy of my editorial calendar and use that for posts that might be further into the future. It also allows me to make notes, or jot down ideas and if I don’t use them I can transfer the idea to a different month.)
• Bookmark blog posts that touch your heart so you can use them in the future. (These I’ll put in a draft form in the backend of the blog. I use these sometimes when I am looking for inspiration or a topic to post about or need it as a point of reference.)

Taryn said, “One of the reasons I blog is to have some place to log my agility progress.”

Excellent Taryn! Because you love agility so much that shines through when you talk about it. Not only are you sharing your passion with others, you are documenting your progress to look back on at some point.

Taryn also said, “One of the key things that brings me back to a blog over and over again is humor. If someone can make me laugh/smile consistently, they get my vote! I try to reciprocate as much as possible.

I like to use humor in my posts. I do this for two reasons. One being if I didn’t laugh about some of the shit my dogs do, I’d be in tears all the time. Two I think people in general relate to humor. One problem I have is sometimes I write something I think is funny and people get all Sirius in the comments. But then again, my humor is sometimes unique.

Emma said, “We try to keep a basic schedule so readers know what to expect and when to expect it, but we like to use variety in our schedule.”

I think schedules are good, especially when you are producing a daily post and you are very wise to use variety with that.

And just because it’s a nice comment. 🙂

Lauren Miller said, ” I also love your blog because when I read it, it DOES feel like we’re sitting down with a cup of coffee and just talking.”

Thank you Lauren. I really want people to feel comfortable on this blog and know it is a place to feel loved and supported. 🙂

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