AntSaint

Happy Fourth of July!

To the Eight Readers who are in the U.S., Happy Fourth of July! I hope you had a great weekend of fun, grilling and more grilling. As for me and Jodie, we'll be out and about. Posts will resume on July 7.

Why You Shouldn't Blog

You can't help but check out something with a title like that — "Why You Shouldn't Blog". Indeed. And there are many good reasons. You don't know what to say, you don't know who's going to take care of the writing, upgrading, maintaining, fixing, community response, all that sort of thing. There are a lot of good reasons for anyone, from an individual to an organization, not to blog. Or, at least, not to blog yet — these video tips are also good food for thought for what anyone needs to consider before doing a blog for the long run:

Link: Online Marketing Tips Video: Why You Shouldn't Blog from Search Marketing Gurus | Search Marketing Tips, Advice, Strategies & Tactics From Internet Marketing Professionals.

"There is a lot of excitement around launching a blog or the idea of a blog, but sometimes companies need a bit of a reality check before setting foot into the blogosphere"

Pondering the Future of the Antsaint Blog

Where is this site going? What do I want to write about? What do my 8 readers want to hear about?

Questions like these have been on my mind for a while. Antsaint is, and was conceived as, a highly miscellaneous blog. That's in total contrast to Ride Three, which is very niche, very focused. And I've always enjoyed this difference. On Ride Three, I get to yammer on about my Ural sidecar motorcycle, and post all sorts of links and photos and what-not about Urals and what it's like to own and ride a sidecar rig.

But Antsaint? Very different kettle of fish — and each fish in the kettle is a different kind of fish. Antsaint's been going for about, oh, 4 or 5 years now, and more and more I think it's time to look at narrowing down the focus.

For starters, I think that would help me do better, more original posts. I enjoy linking to things I read, and from what I hear tell some of my 8 readers even find that stuff interesting too. But doing some more creative things, some more original things — that's been gnawing at me.

Maybe just writing, food and drink, and Eugene. That'd be a narrow down. Gads, maybe I'd even finally get a real header. Hmmm...

Thanksgiving blogging holiday, Nov. 21-25

May my hands touch only food (and a glass of good grog), and not a keyboard, for the new few days. The blog and I are taking a Thanksgiving break to stuff ourselves silly. To all celebrating it, have a Happy Thanksgiving. Posts resume Nov. 26

Inadvertent blogging break

This past weekend, Jodie and I were out of town. I forgot to schedule some posts. My bad. Regular ol' stuff resumes tomorrow.

Blueprint for a Brilliant Blog Launch

Great reminder that blogging, like anything else you build or set out to accomplish, is not all huzzah and glory. There are things to keep in mind, things to expect - and this article will give you a good grasp of those:

Link: Blueprint for a Brilliant Blog Launch | Copyblogger.

Launching a brand new blog can be extremely exciting. But it can also be awfully lonely for up to a year as you build readership, unless you plan to begin with a bang

10 articles for new & experience bloggers

Link: Great Advice for Both New and Experienced Bloggers.

New bloggers are often still trying to figure out their blogging "voice" and what style of posts will be the mainstay of their blog On the other hand, when you're a veteran blogger, it can be tough to fight blogger's block. Veteran bloggers often find themselves running into a wall with the feeling that they've already written everything there is to write on their blog topic. That's where Ryan Caldwell comes in with a list of Ten Articles All Bloggers Should Read

Eight Easy Ways to Grow Your Blog

While this article focuses on corporate blogs, any blogger will benefit from these 8 tips from Marketing Profs:

Link: Eight Easy Ways to Grow Your Blog - Marketing Articles.

every company can take some easy step to grow its blog. Many companies don't have the knowledge or the resources to implement elaborate technical measures to boost their blog's status and instead need no-nonsense ideas that every writer can use every day. This article will outline eight easy steps that bloggers can take to grow their blog's readership

Not just for blogging - Consider WordPress for your business website's CMS

Have an idea for a small business and trying to figure out how you're going to run it online? Here's a great piece on one person's experience and recommendation for using WordPress not just for a blog, but to handle the content for your entire website:

Link: Hide and Speak: WordPress for Content Management.

Back when I first decided to launch Bento Yum (but before I partnered with Abigail) I had decided to set things up through WordPress. I hadn't yet used their blogging platform and thought it might be a good chance to try it out and perhaps write a few articles on the topic.

Spruced-up pic

Thanks Glenn Watson, in ol' Sydney, "Ozstraya" for spiffing up my bio pic and sending the new version, live at the right. The colors look way better.

Glenn's one of the brains behind Cyberdog Design – "complete, affordable graphics for your business". Check 'em out — especially if you're like me and have zero graphical ability — for web and print graphics, stationery and more.