UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
Agony Aunt
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To blog or not to blog?
Close your eyes and think of England? ;)Just gonna shift this to agony aunt.
Just go to wordpress.com or blogger.com, think of a name for your blog and sign up. Then you can play about with what it looks like (aka waste endless hours mucking around). Write stuff & post it, or post pictures etc/whatever.You can link your blog to your goodreads author page, to Faceboook, twitter etc. so whatever you post is automatically cross-posted to the others too.
They're both free to use, yes Tim?
I'm setting up my Wordpress blog right as we speak :) Well will finish in a mo, been called to get in the pool with the little one :) Seems easy to set up as far as I know. I used blogger before and it's quite straightforward too :)
Thanks. Lorraine - was there a reason for switching from blogger to wordpress? Is one the VHS and the other the Betamax of the blogging world?
I'm on WordPress, Will, and I find it very easy to use. There are lots of guides to help. I've not used blogger
I've had blogs on both Wordpress and Blogger at one time or another.These days I would go for Wordpress. You can be up and running in minutes.
Takes longer to choose a background theme than it does to work out how to post.
Any problems, just ask.
I can have you as confused as I am in no time.
How these sites make money if they're free to use?
I use wordpress.It's easy, I can use it ;-)
The big issue is what you actually put on your blog. Wordpress and doubtless the others give you stats so you know if anybody is actually reading it.
I discovered that the less I wrote about writing the more people read. I can empathise with that, I get bored just reading about writing as well.
My top blogs have been things like 'Four lesbians in a fast car'
The basic service is free but you can buy premium packages to get fancy bits on your website and proper URLs without 'wordpress' in the address..
Patti (baconater) wrote: "How these sites make money if they're free to use?"Wordpress bung some adverts in at the bottom of your post apparently.
I have adblock so I never see them.
Blogger is owned by Google and ties in with Adsense. So you can sign up for their ads, have them posted on your site and earn almost some money while Google gets the rest (most).
I had a blogger blog a long time ago, when I used to blog about makeup. This time, I just fancied a change :)
I use Wordpress.Be aware that Wordpress.org and Wordpress.com are two very different things.
.org is where you go if you want to install Wordpress on a server yourself.
.com is where you go if you just want a free thing to piss around on (which is most of us).
Remind me to wear gloves next time I click on your blog, Mikey.
I've run a blog for many years but I think, rather than blog, we as authors and reviewers should set up our Landing Page and have a tab for a blog there. It's just more professional. You can do this on blogger, wordpress, foursquare, myspace, weebly, and a host of others. You can pay for your own domain if you choose. My landing page is on Weebly but I wouldn't suggest them because they're awkward to work with. I even opened a selz.com store page on there too. Meanwhile, I'm slowing phasing out my blogs everywhere else.
Patti (baconater) wrote: "What's a landing page?"It's a small boy who stands on the stairs to help the well-refreshed negotiate the steps.
This is Wikipedia's definition:In online marketing a landing page, sometimes known as a "lead capture page" or a "lander", is a single web page that appears in response to clicking on a search engine optimized search result or an online advertisement. The landing page will usually display directed sales copy that is a logical extension of the advertisement, search result or link.
Landing pages are often linked to from social media, email campaigns or search engine marketing campaigns in order to enhance the effectiveness of the advertisements. The general goal of a landing page is to convert site visitors into sales or leads. By analyzing activity generated by the linked URL, marketers can use click-through rates and conversion rate to determine the success of an advertisement.[
Here's mine if you want to check it out. Keep in mind I'm not the best at marketing myself and sadly I'm a rather cutesy person but it will give you an idea: http://dmyates.weebly.com
Basically, your first page is you, how you want the world to see you with your tag line. Then another page is 'about you' then whatever else you want.
Supposedly it's better for marketing you and your works than just a blog, and mine is tied in to fb which is why it shows 611 likes.
David wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "What's a landing page?"It's a small boy who stands on the stairs to help the well-refreshed negotiate the steps."
oh, lol, David. Sadly, I'd still trip down them.
Your page is pretty, DM!And now you've got a hit from Azerbaijan!
Okay, all you authors. Your mission is to create a landing page by this time tomorrow.
David wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "What's a landing page?"It's a small boy who stands on the stairs to help the well-refreshed negotiate the steps."
Droll
D.M. wrote: "David wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "What's a landing page?"It's a small boy who stands on the stairs to help the well-refreshed negotiate the steps."
oh, lol, David. Sadly, I'd still trip do..."
Legend has it that they were first called landing pages because they were usually the first thing the well-refreshed person landed on when they fell down the stairs.
Only later when health and safety rules dictated it, where the pages moved up the stairs was the name changed to the landing. The landing was thus named after the page and not vice-versa as some dictionaries insist.
No. 1 daughter has a talent for falling down the stairs and she doesn't even drink.
I frequently fall UP the stairs.
Patti (baconater) wrote: "Your page is pretty, DM!And now you've got a hit from Azerbaijan!
Okay, all you authors. Your mission is to create a landing page by this time tomorrow."
Patti, ty so much. If everyone lists their landing page when they're done, I'll subscribe. I believe in supporting each other.
omg David and Patti. Well, I can trip anywhere. Most embarrassing when I'm in public and grab a stranger to stop from falling. Commonly heard around my home is "oops" followed by words I won't repeat here.
Those words are important. They act as natural pain killers.
Patti (baconater) wrote: "Those words are important. They act as natural pain killers."lol, Patti. They do work for me.
D.M. wrote: "Here's mine if you want to check it out. Keep in mind I'm not the best at marketing myself and sadly I'm a rather cutesy person but it will give you an idea: http://dmyates.weebly.com..."
It might be cutesy but it seems to suit what you do which is what counts :-)
I've just started using my blog properly and I use Wordpress.com. It's brilliant for what I want and flexible enough to cover lots of types of sites.My work boots are ever so slightly too large and you'd be surprised at the number of times I trip or catch my feet on nothing.
You lot are absolutely brilliant! Thank you.So Wordpress it is. And a landing stage. And 24 hours to create it. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Good luck Will ! Will continue working on mine tomorrow. Am stuck on the "About me" thing :)
Now I can't go to bed until after the big car chase. :(
Bah! I'm stuck on the sign-up page. It doesn't seem to like my email address or something. Mutter. Grumble.
I'm not a fan of landing pages myself, I prefer having immediate access to stuff.
Michael wrote: "I'm not a fan of landing pages myself, I prefer having immediate access to stuff."Pah. Anything to get out of doing your chores.
I also use wordpress. It is harder to customise than others but it looks really professional when done right and time is dedicated to it
I like the idea of a blog but not sure what I'd blog about and if anyone would read it
You kidding Desley? You could do a great blog about your rescues!
Jim wrote: "D.M. wrote: "Here's mine if you want to check it out. Keep in mind I'm not the best at marketing myself and sadly I'm a rather cutesy person but it will give you an idea: http://dmyates.weebly.com..."
ty Jim.
Patti (baconater) wrote: "You kidding Desley? You could do a great blog about your rescues!"I second this!
When blogging about anything work-related, it is best to get permission from your employer and you must always think about the Data Protection Act when writing about real people that you encounter. A boring point, but more than one person has lost their jobs by thinking that they can just print what they like about what they've been doing.
And conversely, if you find yourself in need of a job, you can be sure any prospective employer will look you up on the Internet, to see what a bad boy/girl/hermaphrodite you really are...*That's* the real reason people write erotica under a pen name - so the boss doesn't find out!
My blogs were all on blogger. For some reason that I can't recall now I started to transfer across to Wordpress, but didn't get along with the different set up, so my now sadly out of date blogs remained on blogger. Perhaps if I got going again I might look at Wordpress again.
Finally signed up. I think wordpress must have been having a problem at their end last night, because signup this morning was a breeze.Now trying to work out how to add stuff to it. Complicated!
Making. Progress. Slowly. Thanks for all the help!Just arrived at the Reader. Whew! A lot of choices.
Can you recommend any good blogs to link to, especially any of our gang here on this forum?
You could join the blog ring, Will.Could someone please explain the blog ring to Will?
And personally, I'd link to Rosen's IBB thingy.
How do you go about setting up a blog? There's a blogging bit on the author profiles here on GR, but I'm not sure if that counts as a blog.
Our wondrous and wise MOD Patti tells me there are such things as blogging sites, but I've never heard of these.
Until now as far as I was concerned blog has meant a tomato and beefy sauce which was largely invented by Delia Smith.
Any advice for a blogging virgin please?