Blog Exercises: Thinking About Next Year’s Plans

In “Blog Exercises: Intentional Blogging” I encouraged you to review the first exercises in this blog exercise series, putting emphasis on the intentions behind your blogging. I’d like to check in on your editorial calendar today. In “Blog Exercises: The Editorial Calendar” I discussed the importance of adhering to a schedule with your blogging, planning […]

Blog Exercises: Editorial Calendar Check-in for September

It’s time to check in on your editorial calendar for September. This means not just checking in on the holidays and events for September but also for October, November, and December. For those living in the “Western Civilization” and tied to the Christian Calendar, as well as those tied to Jewish and Muslim calendars, we’re […]

Blog Exercises: Making Drafts Work For You Not Against

During a year of teaching WordPress in college and at workshops and training events, I may help a minimum of 300 people set up WordPress.com sites annually. As they add content to their site, filling in all the blanks, they often publish content not quite ready for prime time, capped with a note-to-self to “fix […]

Blog Exercises: Self-Control and Distractions

During a recent WordPress Meetup in Portland, Oregon, I was on the panel of three WordPress experts answering questions from the audience on how to use WordPress. In response to one of the questions dealing with a recommendation that WordPress restrict what a user can and cannot do to protect themselves from doing something “stupid,” […]

Blog Exercises: Add Industry Events to Your Editorial Calendar

In the blog exercise to create an editorial calendar, I gave you many ideas for setting self-assignments and deadlines for content throughout the year on your blog. Don’t forget to investigate your industry to discover events, conferences, and news to add to the calendar. Whether you go or not, take time to research calendars and […]

Blog Exercises: Schedule Blogging Time

When do you blog best? I do my best blogging between 8AM and 1PM, then in the evening between 8PM and 11:30PM. When is your best time for creative thought, writing, and blogging? I blog professionally in addition to teaching, training, and public speaking on blogging, WordPress, and social media, so blogging is my life. […]

Blog Exercises: How Many Posts?

How many posts do you need to publish a year on your site? Have you counted? Do you schedule them in a way to count each post over a day, week, month, or year? At my peak, I pushed 1,975 posts a year. Yes, someone counted. The number frightened me. I had to break it […]

Blog Exercises: Honor the Past with Anniversaries and Birthdays

Every year I celebrate January 11, the birthday of WordPress founder, Matt Mullenweg. The first week in April, I celebrate CSS Naked Day, a day to turn off the CSS designs on your websites world-wide to pay tribute to web designers. Later in April is the Day of Blog Silence, honoring the victims of violence […]

Blog Exercises: Current Events January

Every month in this series of Blog Exercises I will ask you to check the news and report on something in the news that relates to you and/or your site’s purpose. It may directly relate or indirectly. Fascinated with the alignment of the planets, I wanted to share my enthusiasm with the ease of watching […]

Blog Exercises: Blogging with the Seasons

Gardeners are ruled by the seasons, changing crops and growing methods so food and flowers are grown year around in some areas. Chefs love to use the freshest foods, thus are ruled by the results of gardeners and influenced by the seasons. Outdoor enthusiasts are often ruled by the season, shifting from running in summer […]

Blog Exercises: Check Your Dates

It’s 2013. Time to update your calendars and your blog dates. Sara Tetreault of Go Gingham asked me to cover updating copyright dates on your blog, so this Blog Exercise is dedicated to that and all the dates that need changing on your site now that we are into a new year. Most WordPress Themes […]