But is it possible to earn enough as a blogger to do it full-time? And if so, is it sustainable long-term?

First, let’s talk money

Whether or not you can afford to quit your day job and live on blogging alone is completely up to you. You alone know how much you need to earn in order to maintain your lifestyle. So, once you determine the amount of money you’ll need to earn in order to blog full-time, the next step is to figure out if your blog has the potential to earn that much.

It’s easy to get excited when you read about how some top bloggers are earning upwards of $1 million per year. But it’s also very important to be realistic: highly-successful bloggers like BryanBoy, Pink Peonies, and Man Repeller are the exception, not the rule.

It’s a lot harder to determine earning potential for lower- to middle-tier bloggers, because most bloggers don’t disclose their earnings – talking about money is taboo, you know. But here at AmpliFound, we’ve got a ready-made case study: me!

I ran my own affordable fashion and shopping blog for seven years (from 2006-2013), and I’m ready to break the taboo and talk! First, some factoids about my blog:

• The majority of my blog’s revenue came from affiliate links (mostly ShopSense, some RewardStyle). I featured some sponsored content once in a while.
• In the blog’s heyday, it got an average of 75,000 unique visitors per month.
• I posted between 15-20 posts per week, and each post had an average of 5 links, which meant that the blog had an average of 75-100 affiliate links per month.
• I spent 15-20 hours blogging per week, on top of my full-time work.

Now, the earnings! Depending on the time of year, I’d earn anywhere between $300 and $2000 a month from my blog. The highest earning months were October (when I posted Halloween costumes every day of the month) and December (because of holiday shopping). Earnings would usually drop off significantly after the new year, and peak again in fall and winter. But the earnings weren’t consistent on a month-to-month basis, and even if I’d managed to earn $2000 every month, that wouldn’t have been enough for me and my family.

Since my story doesn’t apply to everyone, here are some more statistics for context’s sake:

In 2012, ProBlogger did a survey of 1,000 bloggers to find out their monthly earnings:

About 50% of the bloggers earned less than $100 a month.

Also in 2012, Jeff Bullas posted some statistics that showed that only 8% of bloggers earn enough to support a family, and 81% never even make $100 from blogging.

The moral of the story? Most bloggers will never make enough money to quit their day jobs.

Is Blogging Sustainable?

But say that you do. Say that you work really hard and build a great blog with high-quality content and engaged readers, and you earn enough money that you can support yourself or your family from your blog earnings. Does blogging in general have a future?

Well, I don’t have a crystal ball, but in the past year lots of big-time bloggers have moved onto other endeavors (see: Andrew Sullivan, Dooce, Young House Love). Furthermore, lots of really smart people are saying that blogging is on the decline.

In this article, Vox’s Ezra Klein claims that two things factor into the decline of blogging:

The first is that, at this moment in the media, scale means social traffic. Links from other bloggers — the original currency of the blogosphere, and the one that drove its collaborative, conversational nature — just don’t deliver the numbers that Facebook does. But blogging is a conversation, and conversations don’t go viral. People share things their friends will understand, not things that you need to have read six other posts to understand… The other reason is that the bigger the site gets, and the bigger the business gets, the harder it is to retain the original voice.

Nieman Lab‘s Jason Kottke has a similar outlook:

The primary mode for the distribution of links has moved from the loosely connected network of blogs to tightly integrated services like Facebook and Twitter. If you look at the incoming referers to a site like BuzzFeed, you’ll see tons of traffic from Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Stumbleupon, and Pinterest but not a whole lot from blogs, even in the aggregate. For the past month at kottke.org, 14 percent of the traffic came from referrals compared to 30 percent from social, and I don’t even work that hard on optimizing for social media. Sites like BuzzFeed and Upworthy aren’t seeking traffic from blogs anymore. Even the publicists clogging my inbox with promotional material urge me to “share this on my social media channels” rather than post it to my blog.

And the folks at ProBlogger say:

So how many blog comments do you get, huh? Is it anything like the number you had four years ago? I doubt it very much. Practically every blogger I’ve talked to has said comments are on the decline. Why? Two words: social media. Readers are not only using social media to find your content, they are also using their favourite platforms to interact with it, and you. A reader is more likely to share your post on Facebook and leave a comment there than write something on the blog itself.

What does this mean for you as a blogger?

Does that mean that you might as well pack it in and give up your dreams of being a full-time blogger? Absolutely not, but it does mean that you’ll need to work hard to keep up with what kind of content and interaction resonates with your readers.

It’s also important to keep in mind that most top bloggers aren’t making 100% of their income from blogging. Successful bloggers often have side products or businesses that earn them plenty of money. For example:

• Elsie and Emma of A Beautiful Mess have written books, developed two smartphone apps, and run an online shop where they sell craft supplies, e-courses, and more.
• Jessica of What I Wore has taught fashion classes at a local college.
• Joy of Oh Joy! regularly designs products for collaborations.
• Rach of Pink Peonies has her own jewelry collection for sale.
• Gala of Gala Darling, Shauna of Nubby Twiglet, and Kat of Rock n Roll Bride have collaborated on The Blogcademy workshops and online classes.
• Kendi of Kendi Everyday owns a brick and mortar boutique.
• And pretty much every top food blogger out there has written a cookbook.

So, if you’re going to be a full-time blogger, always be on the lookout for (or create your own!) opportunities to expand into other avenues.

So, IS blogging sustainable as a long-term career?

Not for just anyone. But if being a full-time blogger is your dream, and if you’ve got the money, drive, passion, and ambition to give it a shot, then go for it!

The post Is Blogging Sustainable as a Full-Time Career? appeared first on AmpliFound.

Fortunately, the Internet is loaded with apps that can help you improve your writing, find the right word, or let you know when you’re slipping into passive voice. Check out a few quick picks for free apps that can help you

Hemingway App

Ever feel like sometimes you ramble and your blog goes off on tangents? Do you pal around with the passive tense too much? Or do you need to attend a support group for egregious adverb usage? Not to worry! The Hemingway App can help you refine your writing and make it more easily digestible for readers.

To use Hemingway, simply hit the “Write” button in the app, then type or copy-and-paste your text into the desktop app. Click the “Edit” button” and it will show you which sentences are hard to read, if you’re using passive voice, or going crazy with the adverbs. It also shows you the Grade Level readability. Want to be sure your blog can be read by a person with a 6th grade reading level or if it’s collegiate level-material, Hemingway can hep you to that, dude!

Cliche Finder

You’re writing. You’re clicking along on your keyboard. The words are pouring out of you like tears of regret after an all you can eat buffet. You pause and take a step back. And there it is. The dreaded cliche.

Maybe it takes the form of cringe-worthy business speak in a pitch — like the overused “think outside the box” or the borderline Creepy McCreeperson “open the kimono.”  Or perhaps your creative writing feels a little less creative when you drop in phrases like “dark as night” or “light as a feather.”

Boo.

Cliche Finder can help you locate phrases that are overused by other writers in your prose. Copy and paste your block of text into the Cliche Finder, click the “Find Cliches” button, the app will highlight the cliches in bold text. It won’t help you come up with something new — that’s where your own creativity comes in — but it can show you where your words can use some work.

Power Thesaurus

I am a big advocate for the Thesaurus feature in Microsoft Word. You know when you’re using the same word over and over and need to switch it up. Sometimes, you may be scrambling for the right word, but it escapes you.   But if you don’t happen to have Word — and even if you do–  sometimes you need a trusty word bank to lean on.

Enter Power Thesaurus — a souped up version of MS Word’s “thesaurus” feature. All you need to do is type in a word and it pulls up a selection of other words to choose from. Even better, other Power Thesaurus users can vote synonyms “up” or “down.”

If you’ve got a hankering to expand your vocabulary, the app shows you popular words that have been searched alongside recently searched words. Have at it, Tiger!

Grammarly

If you struggle with grammar — or may be predisposed to adding a stray apostrophe to “its” when it denotes possession, Grammarly can help you. This nifty little browser add-in works with Chrome to evaluate your word-crafting skills and give you pointers on how you can improve your grammar game.

Grammarly offers both a free and paid version, but both are relatively simple to use. Just download the browser add-on.

Write Rhymes

Sometimes you wake up feeling your inner Dr. Seuss or Humpty-Hump calling and the muse moves you to write lyrics or poetry. While “cat” and “hat” may gel together and “humpty” may be “pronounced with an ‘umpty,’” other words may be harder to couple. (Yeah. You try rhyming “artist” with anything other than “fartist” on your own and see what you come up with.)

Write Rhymes helps you find the right bit of verse to plug into your poem or jingle when the you’ve got nothing. Just copy and paste your text into the app, click on the word that you’re trying to rhyme and hit your “Alt” key, and Write Rhymes will come up with several suitable matches for you to use.

These are just a few free writing resources that can help you become a better writer. Take them and use them to and blast through blogger blocks, grammatical grievances, and linguistic conundrums.

Do you have any favorite writing resources you use? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Writing Resources – For Bloggers and Everyone! appeared first on AmpliFound.

It’s ok. This happens to a large majority of bloggers.

Rebranding your blog to fit where you’re currently at in life – and where you’re going – takes guts and serious commitment. You might be worried about the readership you’ve worked so hard to build and how they’ll feel about a new site. Will they stick with you? And, if your blog is your source of income, you may be worried about losing important things like sponsors and traffic.

That’s why we’ve put together the following tips and tricks to help you navigate the rebranding process. If you’re 100% sure you’re ready for a rebrand, there are four main areas you should focus on.

Name and Domain

When choosing a new name for your blog, try settle on one that can grow with you and your blog over the long term. This can save you the hassle of doing another rebrand down the road if you want to expand the topics you write about.

When testing out new names, consider the following:

• Check to see if the domain is available.
• Brainstorm 3-5 names that you love, are intriguing, and fit your blog’s direction.
• Send a quick survey to your current readers. Ask them how they feel about a name change and ask them to vote for their favorite. Engaging your readers early in the rebranding process makes them feel included–and more likely to stick around once your new site is up and running.

Design

This is one of the most fun parts! It can also be one of the most overwhelming with all the choices out there from fonts and themes to customizations.

Just like with your name, you’ll want to choose a design and navigation that can grow with you. A few other things to consider:

• If you’re not already using it, we recommend WordPress. They offer affordable hosting, allow you to own your content, and have a variety of themes and plug-ins to help you create, customize, maintain, and update your new site.
• If your new design will be drastically different from your current one, try incorporating some of the new elements into your design now before making the official site move.
  • For example, if you’re going to have a whole new color palette, start adding those colors into your current blog so readers can get familiar with it.
• More and more people are visiting blogs from mobile devices. Be sure the new design you choose is responsive so it looks great and is easy to use no matter what devices your readers are on.
• Choose a design that’s search engine friendly.

Technical

There are a lot of technical items that should be on everyone’s rebranding to-do list to ensure the site migration goes smoothly.

Here are some of the top priority items to think about:

• Traffic: It’s important to note that moving to a new domain will likely result in a temporary drop in site traffic as well as search engine rankings. This is normal; Google needs time to understand you moved your site and figure out what the new one is about. If you haven’t seen traffic and rankings bounce back after 2-3 months, you may need to do a little SEO work.
• 301 redirects: You want to make sure people can find your new site. Putting 301 redirects in place means users will automatically be taken to your new site when they visit your old URL. It also helps search engines know that your site has moved and can help retain much of the SEO value you’ve built over the years.
  • If you’re using WordPress, this is a good plug-in to help you manage redirects if you have limited technical knowledge.
• Links: Are sponsors, affiliates, or other bloggers linking to your website? If so, let them know you’re rebranding and give them your new URL so they can update any links they have to your site.

Audience

Before you pull the plug on your old blog and launch the new one, make sure your audience knows what you’re up to! Being upfront and honest with them by explaining your decision to rebrand can go a long way toward retaining readership. Some people will be hesitant about the change while others will embrace it. In the end, as long as you’re happy with the new blog, that’s all that really matters.

Rebranding a blog also means rebranding your social media accounts. Some of these will be easier to update than others (*cough* Facebook *cough*). For a comprehensive guide on how to do this along with some best practices, our friends over at Moz put together this awesome piece.

First, make sure the new name you want is available on each platform. Then you’re ready to start the process of changing names:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• YouTube
• Pinterest
• Instagram

Have you recently been through a blog rebrand? Tell us about your experience below!

The post Here’s What You Need to Know About Rebranding Your Blog appeared first on AmpliFound.

If you haven’t yet seen Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 ode to martial arts and critics darling Kill Bill: Vol. 1, do yourself a favor and stop reading this. Go watch Kill Bill. Don’t worry, I’ll wait…You’re back? Perfect. Now stop reading this again, and go take in Kill Bill: Vol. 2, one of the rare exceptions that the sequel actually surpasses the first in every way.

Going off the assumption that you just watched more than 4 hours of sword fighting, severed appendages, and an absolutely epic soundtrack, I can only imagine you couldn’t be more ready to tackle a new blog post. But pump the brakes, Grasshopper, and perk your ears up to one of the most important lessons that may have slipped past your radar faster than the 5 Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique. And that lesson is this: no matter how hard it may be to establish it, the only way to make a real difference through your blog is with consistency.

Source: http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/killbill/images/0/01/Pai_Mei_teaching_Bride_Punch.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130202021048

Source: http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/14/146991/3143844-3969512460-79715.jpg

In case you didn’t take my advice and didn’t actually watch the movies (tisk, tisk), one of the most memorable chapters of  Kill Bill: Vol. 2 takes place during the main protagonist (Beatrix Kiddo – aka – The Bride)’s training from her Kung Fu Master, Pai Mei. Pai Mei commands her to break through a wooden board with her fist, using mere inches to engage the punch. No wind up, no momentum, nothing.

Kiddo is discouraged at first, left bleeding and in agony with each failed attempt to punch through the wood. But as the training progresses, her spirits and her approach both improve vastly. She goes from trembling at the site of the board to having full control over her approach to it. She attacks it viciously without fail, and her training comes to a close with her mastering the kung fu she came to learn with the board being the serving as foundation to the rest of her skills.

How Kill Bill’s Lessons Apply to Blogging

Now, as a blogger whose consistency with posting on a regular basis is my biggest issue, watching this scene speaks volumes (pardon the pun). I feel that the ideas for my pieces always start out with so much hope and vision. I have energy and excitement about what I want to discuss and how I want it to be perceived. But this initial enthusiasm is almost always met with endless questions, all preventing me from actually completing what I set out to write in the first place. While blogging certainly requires diligence like anything else, I’ve noticed that the simple act of writing something, ANYTHING, on a consistent basis is often times the best way to build an audience, establish a voice, and say the things that I want to say.

Source: https://a2rev.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/kill-bill-vol-1-046.jpg

Much like Beatrix Kiddo crossed off the names of each of her five adversaries on her revenge to-do list, here are 5 quick tips to keep you focused on your writing and blogging on a regular basis. By killing these things consistently, you’ll be well on your way to building readership and creating a growing body of work:

1. Kill the noise. Turn off the TV and get yourself to a quiet room (if possible) to focus on your topic and punch through that blog post like Pai Mei ordered Beatrix to do.
2. Kill your inner critic. Just write. Don’t agonize over every syllable you type out. Just get it out onto the page and edit your blog later. We can all be our own worst critics. Squash that voice and drown it out with the comforting sounds of your fingers pounding the keys and carving out a fresh blog post.
3. Kill your browser. Have you ever started writing and immediately found yourself distracted by trying to research a fact for your post? Fast forward 20 minutes later and you’ve squandered precious time that could have been spent writing on surfing YouTube for some of the most memorable lines from Quentin Tarantino’s films or getting wrapped up in analyzing each track RZA chose for a variety of films. Kill that browser activity and focus on writing your blog by using a downloadable app like Dark Room to help you focus and stop you from doing anything BUT writing. (It’s like having Pei Mei smack you across the knuckles for slacking off.)
4. Kill your calendar. Time waits for no man (or woman). It’s important to make time and not allow other commitments to encroach upon time dedicated to your blogging efforts. If you don’t take it seriously, no one else will. Protect your time and kill all commitments that may creep up on you like that snake crept up on Elle Driver in Bill’s dear brother Bud’s trailer.
5. Kill your goals. And by “kill them,” I mean set goals and conquer them. Set mental goals for yourself at first before setting tangible performance indicators for your blog. Your goal could be as simple as getting out one new post every two weeks. Or it could be something as ambitious as blogging every day. (Hey, you might want to build up to that. You can’t break a board in half with your fist without training to make a hairline crack in it at first.)

Source: http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/14/146991/3143844-3969512460-79715.jpg

So, the next time that you’re second-guessing yourself about the perfect way to put together the Next Great Blog Post, think of Pai Mei. And rather than bogging yourself down with the nitty gritty, just hit the keys and see what happens. Because trust me, you don’t want the alternative.

Header image courtesy of: https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/185/431359168_ace447d08d_z.jpg?zz=1

The post Killin’ It Consistently: Blogging Lessons from Kill Bill: Vol. 2 appeared first on AmpliFound.

1. You Can’t Make Up for Lost Time — Pace Yourself!

Remember when Romy and Michele found out about their 10 year high school reunion? Remember how excited they were? And how hard they tried to make up for lost time and acquire dream jobs, dream dates, and dream lives in 10 days instead of 10 years? (Because that always ends well, right?)

Romy and Michele may have had style out the wazoo, but they were too narrowly focused on the perceived success and happiness they assumed their classmates had built up over a decade, rather than looking at the joy of what was right in front of them. As a result, they got crabby, burned out, and fought with one another.

Whether you’re starting to work on your blog or are trying to resurrect it after a long dry spell, Rome-y (and/or Michele) wasn’t built in a day. Take things one step — and one blog post at a time to avoid blogger burnout. And even if you do get a burst of energy and feel the need to crank out those blog posts, you can space them out by scheduling your posts to go live on staggered dates.

2. Don’t Try Too Hard to Be Liked

Not everyone is going to like your blog. And that’s okay. The Internet is a really big frontier.  If you spend too much time worrying about whether you’ll appeal to EVERYONE out there on Teh Inturwebz, you won’t be able to really resonate with the people who could become your most loyal readers and advocates.

If you’re wasting your time trying to appeal to the A-Group mean girls who probably wouldn’t like your blog anyway — like that snotty Christy Masters-Christianson and her gaggle of sycophantic girlfriends — you miss out on making honest connections with the loveable, true-hearted (and successful) “nerds” out there like Sandy Frink.

3. Be the Real You — Even if the Real You is a Little Off-Putting

Blogging isn’t all sweetness, light, and positivity. While your blog can be a wonderful platform for talking about something you are most passionate about, every blogger has a unique voice to separate them from their competition. While some bloggers’ naturally kind persona comes across genuinely in their posts, other bloggers have a bit more of a “bite” to their style. If it’s truly who you are, don’t be afraid to serve up your blog with a healthy side of snark. Embracing that side of your personality on your blog may be what sets you apart from others and may make you successful in your endeavors.

Case in point: Heather Mooney.

A sullen, sarcastic outsider in high school, Heather Mooney couldn’t care less what people thought of her then. And she sure didn’t care what her classmates thought of her ten years later, after she became the uber-successful inventor of Lady Fair Cigarettes (“Twice the taste in half the time for the gal on the go.”).

Sandy Frink may not have reciprocated her “thing” for him back in the day, but he still remained Heather’s loyal friend, as did sweet, overly-enthusiastic Toby Walters. They liked Heather for who she was, even when she was being completely obnoxious and throwing some (usually well-deserved) shade at her classmates.

Forget sucking up to haters who are gonna hate anyway. Be yourself, whoever that may be, and it will lead you to blogging success.

4. Don’t Be Mean to Your Biggest Fans

Bloggers — like bands and entertainers — are nothing without a loyal brigade of fans. While a healthy dose of snark can be fun or even endearing in certain blogging circles, being mean and insulting to readers can result in blogger backlash. The Internet is a touchy place and even a perceived slight or blogging faux pas may result in a mass exodus of fans running from your blog as if it just emitted a bad fart.

Be true to yourself, even if you’re a bit of a misanthrope on the web. Just try to be mindful and sensitive about how you treat other bloggers or respond to comments on your blog.

After all, not everyone may be as nice as Toby when they feel hurt by your words:

5. Meet-Ups Can Be a Good Thing… Or Totally Humiliating — but let’s think positive!

Like high school reunions, local blogger meet-ups only happen once in a blue moon. (Okay. They happen a lot more frequently than high school reunions, but aren’t an everyday occurrence.) Meet-ups are a great way to connect with other bloggers and see what they’re up to, get great insight from others in your space, and possibly team up on a project or two.

While they hit a few stumbling blocks on the road to their reunion and had a few brief humiliating experiences, a lot of good came from Romy and Michele attending their high school reunion. They got funding to open up their clothing boutique from Sandy Frink, saw their high school nemeses get their comeuppance, and made a few new friends and connections along the way. If Romy and Michele can do it, you can venture out of your shell and attend a meet-up to help give you a boost, too!

Header image courtesy of: http://schmoesknow.com/

The post 5 Lessons Bloggers Can Learn from Romy & Michele appeared first on AmpliFound.

Video as a medium, helps evoke emotion and storytelling. There’s a reason why you cry every time you watch Homeward Bound, and it’s not because you have something in your eye. Video pulls the viewer in, gets them involved, and makes them care about the outcome. Now, I’m not saying don’t use images. I, for one, love perusing blog posts filled with engaging visuals as much as the next person. There’s a time and place for imagery, but when utilized correctly, video can be your blog’s greatest asset.

Getting to Know You

Let your audience see the Wizard behind the screen. If you’ve been putting in all of the hard work to continuously pump out content, you might’ve missed the fact that people are actually consuming it. Why not take a second to recognize these loyal readers? Posts typically conclude with an “about the author” image anyway, so turn that puppy into a video and provide personalized callouts for your fans. Seriously, who does that? That’s the kind of next-level strategy that will help you differentiate yourself from bloggers in your niche.

Growing Your Audience

If you’ve been sending out newsletters to grow the readership of your blog, consider throwing video into the mix. Studies have shown* that even mentioning the word “video” in the subject line of an email can help increase open rates by up to 11%. And that’s just the beginning. Start humanizing your blog’s brand by including videos throughout all of its different pages.Whether your blog is about fine dining etiquette tips, fashion no-nos, Canadian film reviews, or step-parenting advice, readers ALWAYS want to know more. Give them a glimpse into who you are by making an effort to get serious about video.

Starting the Creation Process

Worried about budget? Don’t be. Chances are likely that you already have everything you need to get started with video in the palm of your hand. That’s right! Your smartphone is a mini video production machine. Why spend hundreds on expensive DSLRs when you can accomplish similar results with a few app purchases? Apps like FiLMiC Pro mimic a lot of the functions of higher-end cameras, and allow you to adjust settings like white balance, ISO, and more. Combine that with a stabilization tool like like Joby’s Griptight Stand and your footage will look stellar.

Where to Put Your Video

When you’re ready to release your video content into the wild, you might wonder where to put it. Well, there are several different options to consider. The behemoth in this space and the most accessible platform is YouTube. With YouTube, your video (and channel) can be optimized to increase the likelihood of it getting seen by your target audience. If you prefer additional insight into your audience’s viewing behavior, take a gander at Wistia. Their statistics allow you to see how much of the video people are watching, viewer engagement level over time, and their location. The choice is up to you, just make sure you factor in the goals for your blog before making a final decision.

As you may have guessed, there’s no concrete right or wrong way to incorporate video into your blogging strategy. Follow your instincts. If a piece of content could be more impactful or compelling as a video (versus an image), consider busting out that camera. You might feel lost at first, but just like Sassy, Chance, and Shadow did, you’ll eventually find your way.

The post When to Use Video Instead of Images appeared first on AmpliFound.

But the most magical thing about the Harry Potter series is there are a lot of blogging lessons to be learned from the characters. Well, maybe that’s not the most magical thing – but nevertheless, here are five blogging lessons you can learn from the Harry Potter series.

Suffice it to say, this post has spoilers galore! You’ve been warned!

Be Resourceful, like Harry Potter

In his fight against Voldemort, Harry was brave and he was lucky, but most of all, he was resourceful. Remember when he destroyed Tom Riddle’s diary with the basilisk fang? When he used Felix Felicis to get Professor Slughorn’s memory? Or when he used Polyjuice Potion and Decoy Detonators to sneak into Umbridge’s office at the Ministry of Magic? Or the innumerable times he used his invisibility cloak? Harry used the tools he had at his disposal to help himself succeed.

The lesson?

Be an enterprising and inventive blogger. There are countless valuable tools out there that you can use to help you succeed. For example:

• Blogging Platforms (Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, etc.)

• Productivity Tools (IFTTT, Buffer, Eggtimer, etc.)

• Organizational Tools (Evernote, Trello, Dropbox, etc.)

• Content Ideation Tools (Buzzsumo, Google Trends, TheNeeds, etc.)

Try out as many tools as you can, and add those that you like best to your blogging arsenal.

Overcome Your Insecurities, like Ron Weasley

Being best friends with the famous Harry Potter and the brilliant Hermione Granger would make almost anybody feel like a second (or third) fiddle. And poor Ron also had a whole slew of remarkable brothers and Ginny to contend with at home! No wonder he often felt invisible.

Ron often let his  insecurity get the best of him, like when he was jealous of Harry’s participation in the Triwizard Tournament, when he got tongue-tied around girls, or when his nerves affected his Quidditch playing, but he was eventually able to overcome his inferiority complex to help Gryffindor win the Quidditch cup and to play a huge, important role in the downfall of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

The lesson?

Bloggers are no stranger to insecurity. It’s hard not to feel jealous of hugely successful, top-tier bloggers like Oh Joy, The Bloggess, or Smitten Kitchen. They’ve got hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of followers, they’re widely respected and adored, and they’ve turned their blogs into full-time careers.

But don’t let that stop you from blogging. Instead of giving up because you’ll never be as popular as those bloggers, use their accomplishments as inspiration to work even harder. Even if you’re never more than moderately successful, you’ll still have the satisfaction of knowing that you did your best.

Have a Thirst for Knowledge, like Hermione Granger

When Hermione wasn’t busy helping save the wizarding world from evil, she almost always had her face buried in a book, whether in the library, or in the Gryffindor common room. She loved to read and that’s what made her so successful. She was always the first to master spells in class, and got the best grades of all of her classmates.

More importantly, her intelligence and research skills often helped Harry in dangerous situations. She was the one who realized that the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was a basilisk and that it was using the pipes to get around the school. She figured out that the Sword of Gryffindor would destroy a horcrux. And her repeated reading of “The Tales of Beetle the Bard” was what led to Harry’s knowledge of the Deathly Hallows.

The lesson?

Use Hermione as inspiration when blogging. Read other blogs to get content ideas. When writing posts, be sure that, when necessary, they’re well-researched and accurate. And never stop learning about blogging. In addition to AmpliFound, here are some wonderful resources that can help build your blogging skills:

• Blog Ambitions

• Minimalist Baker Blogging Resources

• The Blog Herald

• The Blog Stylist

• A Beautiful Mess Blogging Tips

• Amy Lynn Andrews

• Hello Brio

Be a Non-Conformist, like Luna Lovegood

There’s no question that Luna marched to the beat of her own drummer. She was a completely original free spirit and couldn’t have cared less what others thought of her, even when they called her “Loony Lovegood.” She did what she wanted, wore what she wanted, and believed what she wanted. She owned her individuality, and did so proudly.

The lesson?

It’s fine to look to other bloggers for inspiration, but don’t straight-up copy what other bloggers are doing. Figure out what makes your blog unique, and embrace it. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel and come up with a far-out concept if you don’t want to – just be sure that your own distinct personality comes through in your writing.

Evolve and Grow, like Neville Longbottom

Neville was even more insecure than Ron throughout most of his time at Hogwarts. He was timid and forgetful, and frequently bullied by Draco and Professor Snape. But when Voldemort and his Death Eaters returned to power, he knew he had to stand up to them.

Neville didn’t have Harry’s natural talent or Hermione’s smarts, but that just inspired him to work even harder during DA meetings to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts. By his final year at Hogwarts, Neville had become much more brave and confident. He lead many students in a revolt against Snape and the Carrows, and he showed tremendous courage during the Battle of Hogwarts – standing up to Voldemort, and, most importantly, beheading Nagini. By the end of the series, Neville was a completely different person.

The lesson?

Like everything based on the web, blogging is ever-changing. So allow yourself and your blog to change with the times as well. Embrace new social media platforms. Keep up with the latest technology (is your blog mobile-friendly yet?). Redesign your template when it feels stale.

Just as importantly, allow your content to evolve. Just because you’ve done things one way for a long time doesn’t mean that you have to continue doing so. A shift in content or even a rebrand can help you feel revitalized when you’ve been in a creative rut.

What blogging lessons have you learned, from pop culture or from any other source of inspiration? Share with us in the comments!

Header image courtesy of http://www.keepmum.net/

The post 5 Blogging Lessons Learned from the Harry Potter Series appeared first on AmpliFound.

It’s a funny thing with trends, you see distinctive trends that pertain to one category and other trends that span across multiple categories.

Mobile

For many bloggers, readers have the time to sit down, have a cup of coffee and browse through your latest finds. But in many other cases, they are on the go and need to know that they can get their latest fill of fashion, mommy advice or a great DIY project. Rather than sitting down, they pick up their phones and find their bookmarked links and hit up your blog. Since many viewers are heading straight to mobile, it makes the most sense for your blog to be mobile-friendly. A responsive, well-designed site can accomplish the users wants and needs in a matter of seconds. They “want” to see the latest posts and they “need” to view it in an easy-to-read format. It’s that simple.

Below is an example of inkycollective.com, whose website is responsive and looks great on both mobile and desktop. See for yourself!

Example 1: Desktop

Example 2: Mobile

Type

The right typeface can have a big impact on a reader. It needs to legible, it needs to be clean, and also reflect the look and feel of the blog. I’ve seen many instances where the type-choice on websites is well, questionable.

When looking to typography for your blog, make a choice of whether you want to work with exclusively serif  fonts (which are a slightly more ornate printed typeface with extra slants and lines to characters),  sans-serif fonts (which are plain, printed typeface fonts devoid of any extra flourishes to characters), or a mixture of the two — or even thick, blocky slab serif fonts — which seem to be quite popular with bloggers these days.

Regardless of what fonts you choose to work with on your blog, your typeface / style impacts the visual feel of your blog on a far more subtle level than color or template can offer. Remember: Too many fonts can make your blog feel more like a bowl of alphabet soup than a blog. Stick to one or two and use them for maximum impact.

The examples below show a variety of typeface options and how they work together.

Example 1: A great combination of fonts: serif and slab-serif (designworklife.com)

Example 2: Serif Body Copy (lovetaza.com)

Imagery

Images have a lot of impact on most blogs. The majority of blogs I view are image heavy. These blogs rely on original imagery — and not stock photography. It’s this fresh content from the point of view of the blogger / photographer that really makes that impact. I love that each day you’re given a new story through images. Even if it’s a picture of the same dress, you’ll notice that the subtle movement, scenery changes and engaging looks that exudes emotion and gives the post a “mood” for the day.

Now that’s not to say that all blogs are image heavy. But of the blogs that I view frequently, I’ve noticed many bloggers are teaming up with a friend to embrace the photographer/blogger relationships. This is a great way to expose their work, and the opportunity to work with a friend everyday (that rocks)!

Example 1: designlovefest.com (she takes the majority of her photos as well as prop-styling/art direction)

Example 2: happilygrey.com (she’s teamed up with her friend John Hililn, who takes all of her photos)

Less is More

Blog posts don’t need to be heavy with copy. Maybe this is a major contradiction to all things SEO related, but the blogs that attract my attention have minimal color, clean lines and tons of images strategically placed within the posts. Recently, I’ve noticed there is a monochromatic design trend for logos and websites — and it makes perfect sense that this would trickle into blog design, as well. It’s a great way to lend the focus to the content (images) and not the design. Also, often you’ll see images taken by a blog’s photographer tend to have a similar look and feel. It’s all in the editing and lighting that helps create this cohesive design.

Example 1: thedsgnblog.com

Example 2: underconsideration.com/fpo/

Again, keep in mind that these are personal opinions and I’m not a blog expert, but I do love good design and think it makes a huge impact on how you communicate your message. Your message could easily be disguised by awful design, it’s that simple. And in order to avoid that miscommunication, take a walk on the clean, concise and beautifully curated side. I promise you—with the right font, imagery and content, you’ll be on trend.

The post Design Trends for Bloggers: How to Use, Not Abuse appeared first on AmpliFound.

Now relatively speaking, a blog competitive analysis isn’t nearly as intense as digging up dirt on your boyfriend’s ex, but it can be a great way for both veteran bloggers and newbie bloggers to get inspiration on how to improve their sites. In this blogpost, I’ll guide you through a few areas to observe on a competitor’s blog, checklist questions to ask yourself, and some free and easy tools to help you along the way. In the end, hopefully you’ll have enough information and insight that can help to drive some great strategies or inspiration to your own work. So, go ahead and test drive this method with at least one blog of your choice that is either directly competing with your readership or that perhaps you’d like to emulate in some form.

Blog Overview

Get the lay of the land for your competitor by understanding their content and blog design.

Content:

1. What is this blog about? – What seems to be the general topic for this blog? Cooking? Design? Coupon cutting?

2. How often do they update their blog? – Once a day? Once a week? Once a year?

3. How long are their posts? – Are they writing novels or are they keeping it short and sweet?

4. How do they use images in their posts?– Is this blogger showing off their photographic skills with fancy DSLR photos or are they stealing non-original photos from Google?

5. Does this blog use video content? – Are they creating original video content via tutorials or reviews?

6. How well written are the posts? – Nobody’s perfect, but nobody wants to read something that’s riddled with grammar and spelling errors.

7. How are they using links in their posts? – Links help connect content and users! Is this blogger linking to fellow blogs or linking internally to send traffic to older posts?

8. Does their blog have any awards or badges? – Has this blogger received accolades frown larger publications such as Martha’s Circle or BHG?

Design:

1. How sophisticated is the design of the blog? – Does it look like they’re using a standard WordPress template or something a little fancier?

2. Do they have social share buttons on their blog? – Where are these social share buttons located? Do they work properly?

3. Is there an In-Site Search feature? – Is there a place on the blog where you can search for specific posts or topics? Does this work?

4. Is there advertising on the blog? What kind of products are they promoting? – This is a good way to gauge how seriously they take their blog when there’s money involved! Some blogs who don’t buy their own domains have advertisements added automatically onto their pages, but others are usually approached by brands to promote products in exchange for money.

Social Media & Promotion

Social media plays a huge role in the promotion and community cultivation of successful blogs. It’s really important to observe your competitor’s social media presence to figure out how they’re using each platform and which are they #winning on? This is the part where you get to experiment with some of those free tools I told you about earlier.

1. How many social media profiles does the blog have? – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube or Google+? Most bloggers I’ve seen call this out pretty clearly on their blog somewhere or just do a few manual searches to check this.

2. What social media platform is their most popular? – Which platform do they receive the most engagement and love from? You can see this using a tool like Share Tally.

3. Is it a one-way or a two-way conversation? Is this blogger just promoting new posts or are they taking the time to reach out and engage with their audience.

Like this:

Or like this:

You can also use Twtrland and check out how often they respond and engage with users.

4. How often are they posting to their social media accounts? – Once every week? At least once a day? Every hour? You can also find this using Twtrland.

Like this:

Analyze their Audience

So now that you’ve got a good grasp on what their social media situation is, let’s take a deeper dive at the people that make it all possible for them – the readers!

1. What are their reader’s demographics? – ASL anyone? Use Followerwonk to analyze the Twitter handle associate with the blog, which should also gives a lot of great information on the people who follow them on Twitter. Again, if you are looking to emulate this competitor’s blog, this is a great tool to get some extra info on your target audience.

Do this:

And then you can see things like location:

And gender:

Or language:

And depending on how much of a data junkie you might be, you can really get wild with it and learn how long they’ve been using Twitter, how often they tweet and whether or not they retweet.

2. When are the blog’s readers most active? Using the same report in Followerwonk, you can check the times of day that their readers are most active. If you’re aiming to reach a similar audience, this can be really helpful to keep in mind when you’re promoting your own stuff on Twitter.

Right below this graph in Followerwonk, you can check out if your competitor blog is aligning their Twitter activity with that of their readers.

Size Up Your Own Blog

Now that you’re a Grade-A Certified Creeper, it’s time to see how your own blog stacks up. Essentially, you will repeat this process for your own blog and compare and contrast your findings. My suggestion would be to do this in an Excel file with all of your questions listed out with your competitor in Column A and your blog in Column B.

Like this:

 Find Your Opportunity

So how did you do? Is your competitor blog killing it on Instagram but missing out on Facebook? Is your competitor blog churning out great content but missing the boat on proper promotion? Did you find any photos or videos that didn’t load correctly? How can your own blog benefit from what you learned?

So the next time that you come across a blog that you really admire, take an hour out for yourself and perform this analysis to find inspiration or understand more fully what goes into a really great blog! Happy creeping!

The post A Little Competition Never Hurt Anyone: How to Perform a Friendly Competitive Analysis for Your Blog appeared first on AmpliFound.

Online: Guest Post Opportunities

Sure, you spend most of your time brainstorming and creating content around your own blog – but you can also take time to put your name out there and guest post on other blogs. Guest posting is a great opportunity for you to have your own blog promoted, shared with people you might not reach otherwise, and develop content that will be helpful for another blog’s audience.

But keep in mind, guest posting is a 2-way street – use it also as an opportunity for others to guest post on your site. It can be beneficial to add other voices to your own blog as a way to diversify your content and give others an opportunity to promote their blog. Many bloggers are protective of their blog content (as we should be!) so a better route than simply reaching out by email is to be engaged with the blogs where you’d like to guest post. Read, comment, tweet, share their content and they will be more apt to collaborate with you!

Pro Tip: Looking for a list of guest post opportunities to start off with? You can use an advanced search query in Google to find blogs that are actively looking for guest contributors:

• [keyword] + intitle:“write for us”

• [keyword] + intitle:“contribute to”

The key here isn’t quantity but quality. Take time to find opportunities that are a good fit for you and your blog’s brand, and strive to create thoughtful, engaging content.

Online: Twitter

I love using Twitter for outreach and relationship building. It’s so quick and easy to just shoot a tweet to someone you admire or to give kudos on a post you enjoyed, and it can mean a world of a difference.

Here’s an example of someone who reached out to us via Twitter.

Through Twitter, we met Jenn – who runs an awesome blog called Hello Brio, where she shares her experience in designing, illustration and branding. Now, Jenn has contributed to AmpliFound, regularly supports our blog, and we’re huge fans of hers!

Twitter chats are also great for meeting new people and gaining further insight and tips into blogging. If you’re not already familiar with Twitter chats, they are live events that are hosted on Twitter, and usually moderated by an organization or group of people. You can find these events through hashtags, and easily follow along by following the hashtag feed.

WebJess.com has a great resource listing a bunch of hashtags for bloggers to use, broken up by general blogger tweet chats to chats that are specific to blog niches that should be a great jumping off point!

Offline: Meetup Groups

If you haven’t already heard of Meetup, take a minute to sign up! Meetup is a community of events broken up by cities, where people start and participate in meetup groups around specific interests. For example, if you’re a fan of web development, art, or consider yourself a foodie – there are plenty of groups that you can join (for free!) to meet people and get together to talk about your interests.

We’ve actually participated in The Philadelphia Blogger Group before and it was great to meet people locally and learn about things you may not have known if you hadn’t stepped out from behind the figurative walls of your blog.

Offline: Conferences

If you really want to meet a ton of bloggers, conferences are the place to be! There are a few conferences that are specifically for bloggers, but don’t feel limited to just those.

Blogging is more than just writing words on a page, it involves ideation, strategy, design and promotion, among many other things. Each of those aspects independently have conferences around them. So, if you feel that you need a lot more help and advice on content strategy above anything else, then you can look to sign up for those conferences over general blogging conferences.

To help start you off, check out this list of blogging conferences around the country: The Ultimate List of Blogging Conferences. If you’re looking for conferences around digital marketing in general, here’s another resource: 15 Must-Attend Marketing Conferences in 2015.

Offline: Workshops

Through following local blogs, you’ll likely come across workshops or events people will run around anything from blog design to social media tips. That’s how we came across the last social media workshop we went to at The Hive, a coworking space in Philadelphia.The founder, Melissa Alam, holds monthly events on topics that are helpful to entrepreneurs, bloggers and small business owners.

What’s your favorite way to meet your fellow blogger? Do you hold your own events? Let us know in the comments below, you might see us at a meetup sometime!

The post Networking for Bloggers: Offline & Online appeared first on AmpliFound.