Look Who it Was Random video

Book Marketing: How To Improve Your Blog With Annabel Candy, Get In The HotSpot

326 views · Published 13 December 2010 · 12:23 · Indexed 8 November 2026

Channel: The Creative Penn · 2010 · Education

Watch on YouTube

Get your free Author 2.0 Blueprint at: http://www.TheCreativePenn.com/blueprint

Full text and interview here: 
https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2010/12/21/how-to-improve-your-blog-annabel-candy/
Annabel has recently written a book on Successful Blogging. Her top tips for improving blogs. (1) The blog has to look good as first impressions definitely count. Basic mistakes like column width can turn people off. Make sure your site is clean and simple so it's easy to navigate.
(2) Don't worry about stats for the first 6 months or more. See it as a long term project. Concentrate on getting some comments. Get together with a blogging buddy and post on each others for encouragement.
(3) Come up with topics that people are interested in reading. Sharing useful information is what the top bloggers do so focus on providing value.
Starting on a free blog is fine but to become more professional, you need your own domain. Annabel recommends WordPress (and so do I!) There is so much functionality and you can do what you want with themes and design. Invest some time/money in graphic design to make it truly professional. There are a few top bloggers who have a basic site but they have been around a long time. You need to stand out.
Blogging about what you are passionate about is important but what if you don't know what that is! What to do when you don't know what to do with your life. Blogging is a good way of exploring it. Just start writing and exploring. Most bloggers have switched topics over time. If you get bored, just switch topics. (I did this too, The Creative Penn is my third blog)

Annabel went to BlogWorld and tells us some of her biggest learnings from meeting some of her online heroes. People have passion and sincerity about their topics and this has enabled them to persist over a number of years. You need to know why you are doing it and if you want to make money, you need to have a path to that income. For authors, it can build profile, practice writing and also build confidence as well as getting immediate feedback.
On the community of bloggers. It's an amazing group of people and relationship building is a surprising upside to an online presence. How Annabel has connected with John Birmingham and also Alexander McCall-Smith. Online can be a great way of introducing yourself. Building your profile up before you approach people is key to creating a good impression. Don't disappoint with your online presence.
On how bloggers and authors are quite shy, but you just have to put yourself out there.
In every personality type suited to blogging? You have to love writing or creation in some kind. The key is persevering and making it a long term investment. If you write 2 posts a week of 1000 words, you'll going to have a big body of work by the end of the year.
On marketing ideas! Annabel has just released t-shirts on RedBubble (click here to have a look at Annabel's design) Can you use T-shirts to market your brand or book? With print-on-demand, there's no reason you can just order one. It's an interesting twist on personal branding as it can be a talking point.
On staying motivated. Getting a blogging buddy is a great idea as well as using Twitter for motivation. How Annabel is looking to redesign her site and her branding in 2011. Having fun is incredibly important!

More from this channel