The Power Of Lists

List features are ludicrously popular with readers and writers alike, both online and in print. Why? Writers can easily order their ideas and are not forced to write essays. They can keep their copy breezy and succinct which always has massive appeal if you blog regularly and are pushed for time. Readers like lists because they are a quick and simple source of information. Scanning such articles for key information you need is easy, much easier than picking out information from a big block of text.

This said, every blog out there is using lists so it’s difficult to stand out from other sites that use them unless you have an angle to attract a specific readership.

start making your own lists

Six ways to make lists work for your blog

Tip One: Play with the numbers

The most common types of lists across the internet are top 5s, top 10s, top 50s and top 100s. Rather than following this numeric trend try listing in 7s, 11s, 13s, 99s and 101s. It may sound a little strange but the sites that use this technique are very popular and it’s because, in part, the number they’ve chosen stands out as a strange and intriguing choice. People click to find out why you have chosen that specific number.

Tip Two: The quirkier your list, the better

Anyone can compile a list of the top 10 greatest sci-fi films of all time but few would think to compile a list entitled ‘13 Bad Turns for Brad Pitt.’ Such titles are a great way of getting your blog, and your writing noticed. Put yourselves in the shoes of the reader: would you want to read another top 5 reads list or would you prefer to read '11 moving companies to get your stuff to the other side of the Earth’?

Tip Three: If you can’t be quirky, be niche

Search engines are looking not just for particular words but for particular phrases. If you’re writing a list about a certain topic make sure you make it as niche as you possibly can. For example ’10 shoes to wear this summer’ is quite niche but ’11 strappy sandal styles to wear this summer’ is much better. Often, in summer, people are not wearing ‘shoes’ but ‘sandals’ and are thus more likely to be searching for them. On the other hand, people looking for lists about losing weight at the start of the year (when their new year's resolutions are fresh in their minds) may type in a specific term like, protein pancakes instead of a broad heading like healthy foods. Whatever field your list is in see how far you can narrow it down. That’s the way to get people to find you.

Tip Four: Information versus comedy

You might write the most hilarious lists in the cyberverse but if they don’t really tell the reader anything the novelty is very likely to quickly wear off. Just because a list is funny doesn’t mean that it has to be void of information. The best foundation for any list is research. Once you know what information you want to convey you should, only then, be thinking about how you will do so in a fun, light-hearted way. There are dozens of blogs offering funny lists but if your lists actually inform as well as entertain then your readership will undoubtedly become stronger.

Tip Five: Keep the language fresh

One way to spice up a list is to use subject specific vocab. Although this list uses the word “tips” similar words such as “ways” and “steps” are very common and if the idea is to go against the grain these words should definitely be avoided. Instead use language associated with the topic you’re talking about or use more sensational or dramatic words to stand out. For example: mistakes, blunders, crimes against humanity, wonder cures are all much more exciting words and can be used for a range of purposes. As a writer you will, of course, be easily able to think of many other examples. These are just a few to get you started.

Tip Six: Alternate your posts

If every post you write is a list things are going to become quite predictable quite quickly, which is a great way to lose readership. Just because you can use lists well doesn’t mean you have to use them every time. Variety is definitely the best way forward when it comes to pleasing your readership and lists should be part of a range of article structures you use. Other writing forms you may consider include: diary entries, transcripts, newspaper-style reports and fake dictionary or glossary pages. Using lists alongside these other tools will offer your blog readership a varied, informative and fun experience that will, undoubtedly, set you apart from the crowd.

 This is a guest post by Christine Connor.

How To Store Pictures Online

Following the success of my post about creating any document online (for free), A Blogger's Books had to show you how to store all your fantastic, digital pictures easily online. 

We're all running out of space to store our digital pictures. Memory sticks are great, but I've personally lost material when one of mine suddenly refused to work. I then started to store pictures of the family on two different memory sticks, but I was still not satisfied. That was when I searched for and found a better way to store our images - online. 

You can too! Best of all, you don't have to pay your cable company for storage space online. It's all free and readily accessible. 

As long as you have a Google account, this will be a piece of cake. If you've ever used Google, have a Blogger blog, used Adsense ads, have an iGoogle page, etc, you already have a Google account. If you don't it takes seconds (literally) to set one up here. You'll get 1024 MB of free storage space and make it as public or as private as you like.

Advantages of storing pictures online

It's free.

It's safe.

it's accessible.

You can easily share or upload your personal pictures on Facebook or other sites.

You have a url for all your stored online pictures. This is handy for image uploads on websites and blogs.

You can label, describe and group all your pictures easily.

It's difficult to run out of space no matter how many images you have.

If you run a blog, all the pictures you take and store online will already have their 'own image url'. This makes them perform better in search engine queries and can improve your traffic significantly.

You can email entire folders (links) of images to your friends and family without having to do them individually.

How to store your images online

1. Type in your password and sign into your Google account.

2. Google gives you lots of 'products' which appear at the bottom of the page you've just opened. They're Google places, Reader, Calendar, Notebooks, Bookmarks, and dozens more. Click on Docs.

3. At the top of the page there are 3 main options; Documents, Images and Videos, and More Options.

4. Click on Images and Videos.

5. Click on Upload





That wasn't difficult, was it? My CPA Review Materials all point to one source of online storage and this is it!





If you have benefited from this article or know someone who would, please share it. As always, thanks for your visit and for sharing this article.





  

How To Create 'Contact Me' Form on Blogger

As long as you have a Google account you can create almost any document on earth for your blog.  It's so easy, you'll wonder why you've never done it before! You'll get 1024 MB of free storage space.

Type in your password and sign into your Google accounts. (If you have a Blogger blog or Adsense ads, you already have a Google account).

If you've ever created a Google profile, this sits at the top left of the page, along with the picture you updated. If you've never created a Google profile, perhaps this is the time to do so.

All your Google accounts are at the bottom of the page you've opened. These include your Adsense, Analytics, Blogger, Picassa Web Albums and dozens more. If you haven't got all of these, don't worry. The only thing you need for this exercise is 'Google documents'.

Create free documents, surveys and contact form for your blog

1. Click on 'Docs'

2. On the top left you'll see two options, Create New and Upload. 

3. Click Create New

4. You'll see a drop down menu with these options: Document, spreadsheet, presentation, form, drawing, etc. Don't get distracted by all these (they're all wonderful). 

5. The last one is 'From Template'. Choose this one.

6. The page opens up with thousands of options. Look to your left for groups of search options. Choose 'narrow by type' in the second group of options..

7. Click on 'forms'.

8. Here you'll see the following forms for your website/blog (and thousands more): pick any of the winners - readers' feedback, polls, email sign ups, contact us, surveys, event surveys, etc. 

9. Personalise any of them to suit your site. You can hover your mouse to the right of each question in each survey to edit, change or delete it altogether.

10. There are thousands (literally) of forms you can use for personal use as well, (like wedding RSVPS, budgets etc, so go crazy. 

11. Once you've finished editing to suit what you want, look on the top right of the page you've worked on and choose, 'More Actions'.

12. The drop-down menu gives you the option to embed the finished page on your website. Choose embed and copy the code you're provided.

13. Go to your blog, embed the code on your page and you're done.

14. Always save your documents by a name you can remember. If you have lots of them this can be very useful in case you want to edit them in the future. 

If you've found this page useful please share it on your favourite networking site, or email the link  to someone who can benefit from it. As always, thank you for the visit and for sharing. 

Blog Jog Day, 2011

Welcome to Blog Jog Day! Please enjoy my site then click over to Plain and Simple Books Publishing  to see what they have to offer! Lost in the links? You can always go back to the main Blog Jog Day Blog at http://blogjogday.blogspot.com and find a new link to jog from. Thank you for stopping by my site.

I take part in Blog Jog Day each year. 2011 is bigger still, with thousands of views and clicks to each of its participants.

I hope you can stay and browse around A Blogger's Books. We have Online Writing Tutorials, real Writing Opportunities, tutorials for new bloggers, and even help for you if you're looking to boost your income by writing for online sites. This page links you up with sites that really pay. 

Coming soon

If you've written an e-Book, please submit it here. We're in the process of building a powerful page to showcase e-Books (especially) of the self-help genre. Here are mine which are available to buy in both hard copy and Kindle versions.

  Don't forget to subscribe to this blog so you can get regular updates of helpful blogging and writing articles. You can always unsubscribe if A Blogger's Books no longer meets your needs. 

Thanks for your visit and have a happy Blog Jog day!

Cross On Me: Book By Arie Uittenbogaard

A Bloggers' Books  is pleased to bring you our regular book review. This new book, Cross On Me is by Dutch author Arie Uittenbogaard.

"IN THE FINAL DECADE of the twentieth century the humanities spiralled into an unprecedented crisis. Those fields of inquiry that have always been our most believed mirrors felt their fundaments dissolve and their authorities wane. Although the common masses have no idea, and academics are in no hurry to tell them, mankind is either irreparably mad and ultimately doomed, or going through an awakening on an apocalyptic scale. Right now we are either dying or giving birth."

- Ethel Meyer

Ethel Meyer, a retired literature professor decides to invest her final moments of vision in the raving manuscripts of Qoheleth "Qoe" Bogenheart, a Bostonian theologian who lost his mind while writing it. With the help of mathematical science and industrial capital, Ethel forms the handwritten loose ends into the unity that they intended to convey.

As we follow Qoe on his Bunyanesque voyage to the arctic shore of Alaska we begin to wonder why any man would seek to forgo his sanity. Could it be to emulate Abraham who left his home, or even Christ who gave His life?

Qoe meets fellow travelers, suffers hallucinations, and even charges God with a baseball bat. Why  is he obsessed with flight? Is he searching for gold or knowledge? Who is Anna? Where is he going?

Qoe's car is found abandoned in Skagway, Alaska, and the manuscript ends in determinative silence. Ethel is nevertheless convinced that the story should continue, and the only one who may be able to raise Qoe is his wealthy father Karel. Only when his monetary fortune appears to have no bearing on his mission, Karel begins to realize that to raise a person, one has to live his death. Coming to terms with the nature of reality, Karel embraces his son's plight and the howling infinite of fiction.





Cross On Me is available to buy.

Arie Uittenbogaard worked on cargo and cruise ships for twenty years but has recently made the transition to being a full-time writer. He produces mostly Biblical studies, which are published via the website of Abarim Publications. Previously he published a book in Dutch, called Van Planckensteijn Doseert. In 2004 he was the recipient of the Carolyn A. Clark Flash Fiction Prize.



He and his wife live in Belgrade.

Looking For A Cheap, New Phone?

This post brought to you by Straight Talk. All opinions are 100% mine.

 

My husband is looking for a new phone at the moment. He’s been on a contract for years and finally wants a phone that takes great pictures and makes and receives calls and texts.  This is all he needs. We already pay for Internet at home, and refuse to pay a second time for it on our phones.

We’ve been researching and deliberating for a while now. Contracts can be great, but sometimes they tie you in to a system that no longer suits you. A lot of customers get caught up with all the elaborate phone salesmen pitch Hook, line and sinker.

My husband will get a free phone from his phone company, but he’ll have to pay a set amount each month, sometimes these arbitrary amounts add up to more than the phone is worth.

That’s where Straight Talk comes in. You can cut your cell (mobile) phone bills in half. There are no credit checks conducted, and no contracts. What’s more, there’s excellent connectivity, and Straight Talk offers high-standard long distance/International calls.

Get everything you need in a phone for a fraction of the cost of your contracted phone.  

Straight Talk’s sought-after, long distance calls service is a pre-paid system that enables you to make very cheap calls from your own home or mobile (cell) phone.

Reconditioned phones are available from $10.00. They’re equipped with camera, mp3 player, web access and more. It’s time to look into getting your own Straight Talk phone.

See what this real Straight Talk customer is saying about this service.

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July Update: Writing Opportunities

As you are aware, A Blogger's Books runs a regular writing opportunities update. Please click on the main page (linked) to see the full list of lesser-known jobs for writers, bloggers, verse writers etc. 

Again, you don't have to be an experienced writer to get paid for a lot of the jobs listed there. If you can write verses for cards or are good with tips and how-tos, there are plenty of places for you to submit your work too. The jobs listed are all paid posts. Many of them pay very well.

This month I've updated the foreign market section (not the UK). I've found that there are more paid writing opportunities in Canada, USA and Australia. UK markets generally don't stand out as ones offering struggling writers a good return for their hard work. It seems we can all survive on great effort, time and research, just for a copy of our published material.  This angers me, because no one can live on satisfaction alone. No other group of workers are expected to work for nothing.  Find update here: