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Entries Tagged as 'blogging'

Top blogger tips from Nickie O’Hara

Posted on: Friday, May 17, 2013

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to Nickie O’Hara, who is bringing us her unique perspective on blogging, along with her top 3 tips for bloggers.

Nickie is not only a wife, Mum, Nana, full time for charity worker and part time student – breathe! – but she also expands those 24 hours in a day to run 2 blogs as well. Phew! The idea of it makes me feel tired

Over to Nickie, who kindly found the time to answer some q’s for us here on Dex Diva.

Tell us about your blog – when did you start it and why?

I originally started Typecast (my personal blog) because I had a story to tell and I felt it was the right time to tell it. I used an old blog that has had many guises but finally found a name that I was comfortable with and decided that I wasn’t going to blog to a theme – it was going to be more aimed at my view on life and anecdotes about my family. After three years I split the blog into two because I was writing a lot of blogging tutorial so started a new blog called Geekalicious.

Does blogging have a place in other areas of your career too? If so, how?

I write a blog for work but it’s very much a niche subject and only read by people within our immediate network. It is something that needs expanding on and we’re working on that.

What do you love most about blogging?

The fact that you can have a corner of the internet to call your own. You are responsible for the content through control of the words and the pictures and it is up to you to respect that privilege.

How often do you post?

Whenever I want to. Some weeks it can be every day (on the personal blog) and other weeks I may only post once or twice. On the geek blog I am quite strict with myself and only post on there when I have a relevant article to tutorial to share.

Which blogs do you read most often and admire?

I read an enormous amount of blogs. I have used Google Reader for a few years now and I’m sorry to see it close down. I like the flexibility of being able to browse through other people’s thoughts and lessons at my own speed and I get inspiration from all corners of the internet.

What problems have you encountered with your blog?

Finding a theme/template that I like that is compatible with Blogger. I’m a fiddler and like finding ways to tweak and tinker.

What top 3 tips would you give to other bloggers?

Be yourself, i.e. don’t be pressured into following the crowd.

Keep learning. Find ways to improve yourself as a blogger.

Even on a personal blog, think about branding. Use that branding across all social media channels.

Where can we find you?

Typecast: http://www.iamtypecast.com/

Geekalicious: http://www.geekalicious.co.uk/

Twitter: @nickie72

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/IAmTypecast

G+ Profile: https://plus.google.com/115570069148939222591/posts

G+ Page: https://plus.google.com/b/118439115023630089278/118439115023630089278/posts

Thanks so much Nickie!

Ask the readers: unblocking creativity

Posted on: Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Askreaders

Here on Dex Diva I am fascinated by creativity and it’s place in our lives, businesses and, of course, blogs. This week, the wonderful people at Behance featured a blog piece on the top 5 creativity killers, something I will be following up in more detail later right here on Dexterous Diva.

Releasing our imagination and creativity leads to innovation and new opportunities, and the creative process is something I walk through on my e course to help blog writers refresh their brain cells and come up with new ideas.

I asked some of the lovely alumni of Idea Generation and Creativity for Bloggers to let me know how they got on, and the answers have been lovely to read.

The #newdiva365 challenge is something I encourage course attendees to take part in, and it is all about doing something new every day, even just a tiny tweak to change your path and later your mindset. Read More >

Blogging tips: Drafts for iPad

Posted on: Friday, April 5, 2013

Hello everyone, in this weeks bloggers tip from me I thought I would share a great app that I use called Drafts for iPad. Read More >

Blogging Tips: Dictation

Posted on: Thursday, March 21, 2013

Hello everyone, today’s I want to talk about a really easy process to help make your blogging so much easier: Dictation.

Dictating a blog post may seem a little odd at first, but, with extra practice over time you may find it makes life a lot easier.

Dictation is a really handy tool in the bloggers tool kit; you may not always get the results you require when you first try and dictate some text, but over time you may find with practice that it becomes a lot easier to use, and can make for a really time efficient and smart way of getting your blog posts written.

I combine dictation sometimes with the app for iPad called Draft which will then allow me to convert whatever I dictate into tweets, notes, emails, and/or blog posts, and this has really helped my workflow.

The only thing with dictation is that you really need to do it alone. You look a little odd if you sit in a cafe or an office talking into your iPad or computer….just sayin’.

Dictation is really useful tool also if your hands and arms become tired from a lot of typing during the day; also, as I have a chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis and issues around my health I find that typing and sitting for a long time can be uncomfortable for me. By dictating, I can be sitting anywhere comfortably and just use my voice to dictate a blog post or email.

Have you ever used dictation? If not would you give it a go?

No tips from me next week as I am away on hols (yaaaaay!) but I will be back the week after with more for you.

I also offer one to one blog coaching via Skype – check it out here.

Have a great week, and let me know how you get on.

Keep blogging!

(archived newsletter to serve me well whilst I am away with The Minis this week. Sign up top right to get these directly to you. Why thank you.)

Polyvore: The Bloggers Secret Tool

Posted on: Sunday, February 24, 2013

Polyvore is huge among the fashion blogging set, and has had an amazing boom in user increase over the last year.

If you aren’t aware of Polyvore it is absolutely worth checking out. This time last year I did a screencast intro on using it which you may like to re-visit.

Polyvore is a whole social platform and community in itself. If you are a blogger, use it to:
~ create original imagery for posts.
~ find other bloggers in your niche.
~ pin images from sites or your computer to use for posts.

Brands should be aware of the outreach and influence Polyvore has too; it is where style makers and influencers hang out, shop and share socially, so it is a powerful tool without a doubt.

Check out the infographic the company produced at the end of last year:

Are you on Polyvore? How do you use it?