Refine Your Message

For those of us who have been blogging for years, it’s safe to say that not only have we changed — but things in the blogosphere have changed, too. I remember when I first started blogging, images in blog posts were an afterthought. Not having an image was no big deal — text was more than enough to keep people interested. Well… not anymore! Today, images are one of the most important parts of a blog post. They are absolutely critical to getting the right kind of readers. And that’s not all that’s changed. Back in the day, blog posts used to be way shorter. A 500-word blog post was considered the norm. Today, people want longer, meatier content — and as such, that contentRead More

I don’t know if I’ve ever met a blogger — myself included — that wouldn’t like to write more. For many of us, it can be a constant struggle to keep up with the ongoing demands of content creation. And when we struggle, that’s when the excuses start to creep in. We say things like, “I’d like to write more, but…” Maybe we don’t think we’re good at writing. Maybe someone told us a long time ago that we couldn’t write, and we’ve been carrying it with us all these years. Or maybe we think we don’t LIKE to write. Maybe we tell ourselves that writing is a chore and there’s a million other things we’d rather be doing. Or perhaps we don’t think weRead More

Have you ever heard the phrases “fake it ’til you make it,” or “dress for success“? It’s the idea that if you want to achieve something, or attain a certain level of expertise, there is a point along the way where you may have to be willing to confidently look the part, even if you you don’t feel like you have actually made it there just yet. And so too it is with our online business or blog! At a certain point, if we want to get to the next level, we need to LOOK like we want to get to the next level. And that often means hiring a website designer.   When I first started blogging, I had no idea what I wasRead More

There’s no doubt about it: the world we live in today is a visual one. People have always been naturally drawn to visuals, but in the last few years, with social media platforms shifting their focus from text to images (think Instagram and Pinterest), visuals have never been more important to bloggers than they are today. Why You Need Images in Your Blog Posts In the early days of the ‘interwebs’, SEO was all about the finding the right keywords to drive traffic to your site. Images were an afterthought (if a thought at all!). Computers were slow and took what seemed like years to load a single image. The iPhone wasn’t even a blip on Steve Jobs’ radar. Remember those days? Well… times haveRead More

You know what feeling I really hate? That feeling at the end of the day when I know I haven’t done my best work. Instead of feeling great about everything I did, I feel frustrated, defeated, deflated, and just plain stuck. And that feeling of knowing I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to get done? I just can’t shake it. It follows me around — to dinner with my family; during quality time with my kids; in those few precious moments a day when I get to relax and take care of myself. Instead of finishing my day and leaving it “at the office”, I continue to ruminate on all the things I didn’t get to do. I can’t focus on the good stuff becauseRead More

I want to remind you of something you learned when you were just a little munchkin. Rules are important. Using proper etiquette, minding your manners, treating people with respect, and carrying yourself in a way that reflects your values – these are all important things… but only up to a point. And just like anything else in life, it’s about balance. It’s knowing when to follow the rules, and when to break them. It’s about understanding that sometimes rules can help us, and sometimes, when we get too caught up in all the “supposed to’s,” rules can paralyze us. “Okay, Ruth… What does this have to do with blogging?” Well, just like there’s a set of rules and social norms for real life, there’s bloggingRead More