How to set up a Google+ page

It's amazing the things you find on the internet! I was researching a recipe for blackberry ice cream and ended up reading an article about how to set up a Google+ page for your band.

Hmmmm, Until Death as a Band, I wonder what that would look like ...

Okay, now that I have that out of my system. ;)

I don't have a band -- although I've always had a secret ambition to die my hair purple and play the drums -- but what's true for a band page could be done as an author page. Right?

Well, I thought so. If you want to see my Google+ page, click here: Karen Woodward's Google+ Page. It's nothing much to look at. It would be nice if I could use dlvr.it to hook the RSS feed from my blog up to my Google page the way I can with my Facebook page.

Here's the article with information about making a band page: DIY Update: Introducing Google+ Pages and How To Set Up Your Band Page. Good luck! :-)

My State of the Union

I haven't blogged for a couple of days, I'm sorry about that. Making at least one blog post a day is a priority for me and I wanted to let everyone know what's up.

My Dad is ill. I've shared this was some of you, usually I've just said I have a family emergency. After a decades long fight with kidney disease, my father's kidneys are failing. A week or so ago a nurse told me Dad's kidneys were very close to ... well, she just said that he would probably need to be rushed to the hospital sometime in the next two weeks. Hopefully, with the aid of a kidney machine, my Dad still has time left.

Obviously this is an emotional time for me, but it is also a busy one. My mother passed away in January and I have no siblings. My father is nearly blind -- I suspect he is legally blind -- and is hard of hearing, so he needs an attendant for his appointments. I do this gladly, but between taking care of my father and working, I have less time to write.


SO! Wow, I feel bad about dumping all that on you. Are you ready to hear my solution to my time problems? Here it is: Video blogging.

I'm a slow writer. I make slugs look like cheetahs by comparison. That was one reason I took up blogging; I figured I couldn't spend an eternity on a blog post and blog every day -- or even every week! And yet, I've managed to. Perhaps video blogging, as long as I don't read from a script, will help me to stop obsessing over every little thing. (A little voice is chuckling and saying, 'When pigs fly'. Whatev. ;)

My plan is to keep up with my links on Twitter, to keep posting about articles on my blog, and to begin posting perhaps a video a week. My videos will likely be sporadic and less than perfect, and I will deeply appreciate your patience as they improve.

I've felt guilty about not writing more personal posts, post like this one. Hopefully, video blogging will help with that. Also, I've discovered the Daily Post over at Wordpress. It's a blog that, each day, gives blogging suggestions for that day. I look forward to writing a couple of posts inspired by the topics of the day. And of course there's NaNoWriMo, I'm doing that this year; first time!

Reading over this post it looks as though I've explained why I don't have as much time as I used to and then decided to keep up with what I'm doing as well as add a whole bunch! lol Well, we'll see how that goes. Whatever happens, thanks for being understanding. :)

Cheers.

19 Ways To Get More Readers For Your Author Blog

I love Joel Friedlander's blog, and posts like this are why: 19 Ways to Get More Readers for Your Blog.

1. Write more often—if you don’t have enough traffic, write more often. This is not necessarily good news, since you may feel you already have enough to do. But when you’re growing a blog, there’s no better way to increase the energy flow to your blog than increasing the amount of energy you put into your blog.

2. Write better articles—look at the last 10 articles you’ve posted to your blog. How many did people really care about? How many did you write for yourself, more than your readers? If you have to, and in contradiction to #1 above, write less frequently but better.

3. Do something different—give readers a reason to come to your blog. If you’re doing what everyone else in your niche is doing, why should they? What is it that no one has done? What angle is uncovered? What insight is lacking in the conversation?

4. Do something big—create a big list, a smashing resource directory, an exhaustive collection of tools, a survey of every viewpoint on a subject. Whatever it is, make it useful, the kind of thing you yourself would link to or bookmark for future reference.

5. Kidnap a celebrity—interview the biggest star in your niche, or the most controversial, or the person with the biggest blog in your field. Aim as high as you can, you will be surprised. Make a regular feature of profiling or interviewing movers and shakers in your industry.

6. Start an argument—disagree loudly with an established authority in your field, an “A-list” blogger, or the institutional overseers of your domain. Demand a response.

7. Rant—find an injustice in your field, something blatantly unfair or a monopolistic company taking advantage of the little guy. Rant about it, invite others to contribute.

8. Guest post—take your show on the road. Create a goal to contribute to someone else’s blog on a related topic once a week, once a month, whatever you can do. Query bloggers and read their archives. Fashion a headline for an article they’ll find irresistible.

9. Comment—leave comments that add to the discussion, that amplify what others have said, that disagree respectfully with the author, that bring something to the table. Pick 5 or 10 blogs and stay in touch with them, commenting when appropriate.

10. Upload articles—put some articles on articles sites like ezinearticles.com and make sure you link back to your blog. Use the same keywords you use in your blog posts.

For the next nine ways, read Joel's article! :)