to provide a sample of what he does on his blog and give my readers a mini-lesson on becoming better bloggers.
I always enjoy reading your blog, Mitch. My audience at Tossing It Out is varied, but I think most of us are interested in how to blog better. You provide good insight to things we might want to consider in relation to our blogs. Today I'd like to ask a few questions that I think might be helpful to my readers:
Arlee: Writers are often told that they should have a platform that includes a blog. What should writers be most focused on when it comes to blogging?
Mitch: All bloggers should realize that the purpose of blogging is one of these 3 things: inform, educate or entertain. Once you get past that then the thing to focus on, in my opinion, is honesty. I see so many posts that look just like what someone else wrote, and in my mind it's not honest and the person didn't really give anything of themselves. In essence, they're being phony and dishonest in their presentation. One can let others learn a lot about them without giving up everything, and when we make people comfortable, they respond positively. And who doesn't want more positivity in their lives?
Arlee: Time is limited and greatly limited for many of us. How do you recommend that bloggers get the most bang for their buck when it comes to blogging activity?
Mitch: If you have problems with time but still want to blog, I recommend scheduling the time to blog into your calendar. Even one post a week will give your blog some benefit and if your content is appealing, people won't mind that kind of schedule, even if they're clamoring for more. Schedule an hour a week, if you need that long to put a post together, even if it's over the weekend, and get it done if you really care about blogging to begin with.
Arlee: Can you tell us the nutshell version about SEO (search engine optimization) and why it should be important to us? Is it important to all of us and how do we determine this?
Mitch: SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it's the process of setting one's website up in a way that encourages
search engines to come on a regular basis to determine what it is you do so that you can compete online with others that do what you do. You can get a brief lesson on it here:
http://www.seoxcellence.com/searchengineoptimization.html.
Its importance to blogging depends on what your purpose for blogging is. If it's business then it's really important to think about SEO; if not, it should still be on your mind, but your first consideration should be your writing. Actually writing should always be your first consideration since that's what helps to set you apart from everyone else. You can check out this link to tell you what the 3 most important parts of SEO are:
http://www.seoxcellence.com/blog/a-websites-first-3-seo-tips/
Arlee: Recently on your blog you've been talking about alternate media approaches such as video blogging, podcasting, etc. Who should consider doing this? Why would we want to do this? How do you recommend a person get their feet wet without a big investment in equipment?
Mitch: There are a number of people who are more comfortable speaking than writing and have a message they want to convey to others. Those are the people I'd recommend to at least look into doing this type of thing, though it comes with limitations, such as the fact that there's no real way to do SEO for either of them and, for people like me who speed read, it can slow us down to the point where, if there are too many videos or podcasts, I might decide to skip a lot of them. As far as a recommendation based on price I bought my webcam in December and only spent $35 for it. Sure, it's limited to staying on top of my monitor, but it gets the job done. I believe a camera that's a bit more mobile can still be purchased for less than $100. Very few of us need to buy really expensive equipment to get going unless you're looking to do some really fancy stuff with it. Video is a nice way to add something new here and there to your blog as well.
Arlee: Why would writers and others want to read your blog?
Mitch: I talk about blogging often and writing here and there as well. However, I think people might like to read my blog because I try to be conversational and a storyteller, no matter what it is I'm talking about. You never know what I'll say or how I'll say it, and it's not a bad technique. Those who are interested in styles of writing might be interested in how I go about it, and if they look at some of the comments will possibly see other posts they might enjoy as well. It's a safe place for all, even if a topic might be deemed controversial. Luckily, I'm rarely that; or am I? :-)
Controversial sometimes, but he's always nice about it. My thanks to Mitch Mitchell for this teaser about what awaits on his blog. I strongly encourage you to check it out and subscribe if it looks like a place you will want to revisit. I'm there often and after you've stopped in I think you might be too.
You can find Mitch at the following sites:
