Marisa Feathers

17Mar

Blogs Updated: The Video Blog

Posted by Arthur Rios / Blogging Tips

In today’s Internet age, it has become so easy to create and share content. One very popular way of creating content is by publishing a blog. People would often create diary-style entries discussing a variety of issues ranging from their daily activities to political problems.

With recent developments in technology and the Internet, other forms of blogging have gained popularity. One way is called “microblogging.” A common platform for this is Twitter, where people only have 140 or 280 characters for each post. Another form that has gained a large audience is the video blog or the “vlog.” A vlog is self-explanatory – it’s a blog but in a video format.

Many online influencers and social media personalities have taken to vlogs instead of written blogs. Let’s face it. Many people just don’t seem to enjoy reading lengthy texts anymore. Video captures more of the senses and catches audiences’ attention. If you want to keep up with the blogging game, here are some tips for starting your video blog.

Decide on Your Content

Similar to how it works for blogs, you have to decide on what type of content you’ll be creating. Will you be vlogging about your daily activities? Will you be creating a commentary on celebrity news? Will you be creating reviews of music and instruments? Will you be making beauty tutorials? Or will you be posting videos of different kinds? Try to decide on what direction you’ll be going and work towards establishing that brand.

At the same time, think about your audience. Who do you expect to watch your videos? Most people who patronize and follow vlogs are a younger audience (seeing as they’re the most tech-savvy). Take into consideration concerns such as language and content warnings. Decide whether you want to keep your videos G-rated or not.

Plan Your Equipment and Space

One thing you might have given much consideration while blogging is equipment. I mean, all you ever really need is your words, right? When it comes to vlogging, it’s essential to have camera and audio equipment that can keep up. By keep up, I mean it doesn’t have to be Hollywood-grade cameras and microphones. However, don’t expect to get much of a following if your camera masks everything in grain and your audio sounds like a bad Skype call.

At the same time, set up space where you’ll be doing your vlogs. Make sure the lighting is good, and audio can be heard apparently. Consider a place where you can’t hear too much outside noise that will distract from you talking (if you end up talking about your vlog).

Additionally, consider the software programs that you’ll be using to edit your videos. There are several editing programs out there that range from user-friendly to professional. Try experimenting and taking time to learn how to use them. Trying these programs will significantly increase the quality of your videos.

Choose Your Platform

Just like how it is for written blogs, you have to decide on a platform that will be hosting your videos. Will you be posting on Facebook? Are you going to be a YouTube Vlogger? Will you be streaming on Twitch? Go and explore what platform fits you and your brand the best. Majority of favorite vloggers stream on YouTube but also post other content on other websites.

Consider being active on other websites as well, even if it’s just sharing or posting about your newest vlog. Being active will help set up more of a presence for your blog and catch more viewers.

Create a Schedule

Once you’ve decided on all the basics, it’s time to set up a schedule for yourself. This is important so that you get content out and get noticed. Not posting anything for too long will make it difficult to set up a following.

However, posting too often will also burn you out and leave you scrambling for topics to vlog about. Consider posting a video maybe once a week or 2 weeks to start out. After you’ve gotten into the groove of vlogging, you can start to post more frequently.

Just like how counseling websites are different from the face to face therapy according to this source: https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/psychologyists/reasons-to-choose-an-online-psychiatrist/; but keep in mind that vlogging is certainly different from blogging. Now that you are familiar with it, start vlogging now!…

09Mar

Book Blogs: The Basics

Posted by Arthur Rios / Niche Ideas

If you are an avid book reader, like me, this is a good avenue to start a blog. Blog on the books that you read and share your thoughts about the plot of the story, the characters and how they influenced you, the events that took place, and many other aspects of the book. The following are my suggested areas of discussions on how to write a book review though blogging. One note before we get into that… keep in mind that if you’re looking for self help books, keep in mind that in some instances speaking with a licensed professional might be the best course of action.…

29Dec

Running Out Of Ideas For My Blog

Posted by Arthur Rios / Blogging Tips

Source: Parajunkee.com

It is common to have many ideas on what to do when starting a blog. However, running out of views on your blog is part of every blogger’s work. Blogging needs inspiration and motivation that will allow you to be more creative. What should you do to avoid this?…

29Dec

Bloggers Common Mistakes

Posted by Arthur Rios / Blogging Basics

Source: bmmagazine.co.uk

Are you planning to make your blog? Do you love to write? What kind of blog are you publishing? If yes, you are now ready to write your first article. However, it is inevitable to commit mistakes when you are writing a blog. A lot of bloggers experienced errors because they forget the basics of blogging. Some bloggers committed errors that almost ruined their work.…

26Jul

Free Blogging Platforms

Posted by Arthur Rios / Blogging Basics

For those of you who are just beginning their blogging journey or who are blogging for entertainment rather than for monetary reasons, using a free blogging platform is a great place to start. You won’t have to worry about the layout of your blog, turning a profit, or learning a programming language to customize certain parts of the website. You will just be able to blog to your heart’s content. If you are a blogger with a budget or blogger for fun, here a few of the best free blogging platforms that you should try out.

https://medium.com/

Medium is the perfect free blogging platform for beginners. There are very little distractions since stories are written on a blank screen, you can still customize your content by adding images, videos, and links, and you can share your content quickly through Twitter and Facebook. Since it is a fairly new platform, it doesn’t have a vast audience, but it is growing in popularity and it is a site that shouldn’t be overlooked.

https://www.tumblr.com/

Tumblr is a blogging platform for those who want instant access to a large community. Tumblr has been around for a while and will most likely be one of the most widely used blogging platforms for years to come. However, Tumblr is not for those who want to be able to customize their website freely. You can post videos, text posts, photos, and other content but when it comes to the look of your blog, you are mainly stuck with the themes that Tumblr gives you. Still, it is a free blogging platform and is great for those who want to put their content out and get an immediate audience.

https://www.blogger.com/about/?r=2

People who want to share their stories and have fun customizing their website should use Blogger for their blogging needs. Blogger is different from the two platforms mentioned above because there is much more freedom when it comes to customization. There are plenty of templates that Blogger provides to you when you begin building your blog and you can even add your own designs as well. Unlike most free blogging platforms, however, you will have to build your own audience outside of blogger, which can be a downside for some bloggers.

https://wordpress.com/

If you plan on having your own blog one day, you should begin your blogging journey by using the free version of WordPress. Almost all blogs these days are run through the WordPress website or have WordPress templates installed on the blog. Although they only give you three gigabytes of data in the free version, this is more than enough to give you the freedom to blog about what you want and to give you an idea of how you will be running your own blog in the future.

https://www.wix.com/

Wix is a unique website building experience. Wix gives you the ability to create your own website through dragging and dropping a variety of text boxes, designs, and links into each blank page. While many free blogging platforms only give you one page to work with rather than several, Wix gives you as many as you like as long as it is under the 500-megabyte amount of storage that they provide to you when you initially create your website. Much like WordPress, you can upgrade your website and pay for a plan later that will give you your own domain and more storage space to do what you like with your website.

These are only a few suggestions of free blogging platforms that are great for beginners and experienced bloggers alike. If you find that these don’t work for what you are trying to accomplish, keep testing out the platforms that emerging constantly until you find one that you enjoy working with.…

24Jul

How To Make Money In Blogging

Posted by Arthur Rios / Blogging Basics

Blogging can be a profitable way for a writer to make money but it can also be more difficult than many other methods. Blogging for profit is a long process that requires a solid plan and a lot of patience. If you think you are ready to start your own blog and make money from it as well, take a look at some of the ways that you can monetize your blog below.

Utilize the Empty Space on Your Blog As Advertisement Space

This is a widely known method for monetizing your blog without having to put too much extra work into it. All you have to do is sign up with a service who will place ads throughout your blog and will either pay you based on clicks or impressions. If you choose to be paid based on impressions, you will receive a certain amount of money based on how many page-views that you get. If you choose to be paid based on clicks, you will receive money based on how many people click on the advertisement that is placed on your page.

Advertise Other People’s Products on Your Blog

Affiliate marketing is a way that you can make money by advertising their products on your blog. All you have to do is sign up for a service that gives you products to promote or reach out to businesses and fellow bloggers to see if they need any help selling their products. Once you have signed up or have gotten permission, you can then post links that will take interested readers over to the product. If they decide to purchase the product that you have posted on your website, you will receive a portion of money from the sale.

Sell Your Own Products

While it is easier to sell other people’s products, you can sell your own products on your blog as well. Depending on the content of your blog, you can sell things like books, website templates, informational videos, pictures, and a variety of other goods. However, you should decide when you first begin selling products whether or not you want to be selling your goods offline or online. Offline goods are much more difficult to sell because you will be worrying about things such as packaging, shipping, and returns. With electronic goods, however, customers can purchase your products directly from your website and receive them immediately online.

Sell Your Services

Products aren’t the only thing that you can sell on your blog. You can also provide your services to your readers if you have valuable information to share. Courses are a great way to sell services because they provide a constant passive income stream while you continue to write and grow your blog. If you prefer more of a connection with your readers and like face-to-face interaction, you can instead sell a membership so that they can access webinars, tools, and Skype interviews that pertain to the services that you are providing.

Add a Donation Button to Your Website

While many professionals frown on placing a donation button on a blog, it can be a profitable method if you have a large following who enjoy reading your content. All you have to do is place a button on your blog that will link to PayPal or another payment service and you’re done. If you think that it is wrong to place a donation button on your website or you feel fraudulent by doing so, just remember that you can use the money for website upkeep or to improve it instead of adding the money to your paycheck.…

24Jul

How To Find Your Niche

Posted by Arthur Rios / Niche Ideas

While it may be fun to write about everything under the sun, it won’t help you build an audience and it certainly won’t help you bring in revenue. Finding your niche is an important thing to do if you intend on having an excellent blog that will provide value to your readers. Give your writing purpose by following the directions below to help you find your niche.

Make a List of All of Your Passions, Interests, and Talents

In order to find your niche, you must first find what you are good at writing about and what you are passionate at writing about. Without passion or interest, you will never be able to produce the constant amount of content that a blog demands. Think about what you love. Are you passionate about finances? Have you always had a secret love for tiny, hand-knitted animals? Whatever it is that makes your heart beat or gets you fired up is what you should pursue. If you have multiple passions or interests that are pulling you in different directions, figure out which one is the most important to you and is the most popular with other people. Ask yourself, will this niche bring me closer to my goal as a writer and does it make me happy?

Figure Out What Category These Passions and Interests Belong to

Once you have a list of what attracts you, you can then figure out what you will be writing about and what niche it belongs to. For example, let’s imagine that you absolutely love writing instructional articles on how to fix decks and install your own windows. You would then choose the home improvement niche. Knowing which writing your niche belongs to will better help you market your content to the right people. It will also attract readers who are searching online for that type of content and will continue to bring them in as your blog grows.

Expand or Shrink Your Niche

Some niches are either too broad or too exact to make a living off of or to make a decent blog with. Some examples of broad niches include health, food, and business. Unless you want to write about everything related to your topic, you will most likely want to pinpoint a category within your chosen topic. On the other hand, you could choose too specific of a niche such as writing about only Tulips or Ladybugs. You will probably not be able to produce enough content long term and you won’t be able to attract enough of an audience to have a successful blog. Try to keep your niche category both focused but also broad enough to give you more room to write about other things when you run out of ideas for content.

Come Up With Some Ideas for Content

Now that you have a niche and an idea about what you will be writing for your blog, come up with content ideas. Make a list of at least 100 article names and a short description of what the articles will cover. Are you having difficulty coming up with article ideas? Did you get stuck in the middle of your content brainstorm? If so, this niche is probably not the best one for you to write about. Repeat the process above until you can find a niche that interests you, gets you excited, and is one that you can consistently create content for. Once you’ve met these requirements, you have found your niche and you are ready to create a blog centered around that topic.…

20Jul

What You Should Know Before You Begin Blogging

Posted by Arthur Rios / Blogging Tips

Blogging seems simple enough. I mean, all you have to do is get a website, set it up, and begin writing, right? Although it seems easy, there is actually a lot more that goes on behind the scenes of making a blog. Here are some information that you need to know to help with blogging.…

19Jul

A Guide To Launching Your Own Blog

Posted by Arthur Rios / Niche Ideas

Launching your own blog can be a very rewarding experience. It will allow you to put your work out there, to grow an audience of people who are interested in the same things that you are, and to share your knowledge and experience with the world. For those of you who are interested in starting a blog of your own and doing all of the things listed above, use the guide below.

Step 1. Figure Out Which Blogging Platform You Will Be Using

In order to begin building a blog of your very own, you will first need to choose a blogging platform. Although there are several great blogging platforms out there that will help you achieve this initial step, the most highly recommended platform is WordPress. WordPress gives you access to tools such as website templates, an abundance of storage space, and the ability to have your own domain name. If WordPress is not for you, you may want to try another platform such as Wix or Ghost.

Step 2. Seek Out Hosting

Hosting essentially means that you are purchasing space on the internet for your blog to reside. However, that does not mean that hosting always costs money. When it comes to hosting, you have two options. You could either self-host your blog or you could have someone else host your blog for free. What is the difference? When you host a blog for free, there is always the possibility that it can be deleted since you have no control over your blog or the content inside of it. Also, you do not have your own domain name. If you choose to self-host, however, you have more control over your blog and you will have your own domain name but it usually costs a small sum of money.

Step 3. Decide on a Domain Name

Your domain name is kind of like your email address. It is where people will be able to look you up online and it is highly personal to you and your business. You are going to have to register your domain name and make sure that it doesn’t already exist on the internet. To do this, simply use the site that you have purchased your hosting from and also register your domain name there. If you can’t do this, visit a site that offers domain name registration services and use them.

Step 4. Begin Designing Your Blog

Once you have taken care of the basic aspects of setting up your blog, you can begin designing it. This can either be easy or hard, depending on your level of experience with programming languages and the amount of money that you are willing to invest in your blog. If you know some programming language then you will be able to do some of your own design work and you won’t need to purchase any themes. If you have no prior background in programming or any programming experience, however, you will most likely need to purchase themes from another website. Some websites that you can purchase themes from include WordPress and ThemeForest. You can also hire someone to do this part for you if you would like.

Step 5. Start Writing

You are now ready to begin blogging! Remember, successful bloggers create valuable content, market their blog as much as they can, and are always trying to form a connection between themselves and their readers. If you follow these basic guidelines, you are well on your way to being the blogger that you have always dreamed of becoming.

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20Jun

Mental Health Blog

Posted by Arthur Rios / Niche Ideas

Who thinks mental health is important? For thousands, they know they aren’t mentally healthy but are afraid to ask for help. It can be truly frightening because you don’t often know which way to turn. However, mental health doesn’t have to be such a worrying factor as long as you are willing to look for help and actually take steps in getting it. With mental health blogs, you might be able to get a lot of help and that is something in which thousands can use each and every day. check it more!…

Blog - Posts List

Decide on Your Content

Plan Your Equipment and Space

Choose Your Platform

Create a Schedule