Tag: blogging

5 amazing tools you should use to improve your blogging.

dunce75

Sometimes it can seem as if whatever you try on your blog you are not getting anywhere. It can be really difficult to turn those creative juices into views and interaction, fortunately there are many tools that can help you put a little extra shine on your content.

Below is a list of the top 5 tools that I personaly use and that have given me a degree of success.

1. Hemingway editor

The Heminway editor is such a useful app that grades the readabilty of your work. It is so easy to use as you can either type your post directly into its editor, or copy and paste your work in afterwards. The idea behind the app is to ensure your blog posts are written in such a way that they are simple to read for all people. The difficulty of sentences is ranked, as well as the number of adverbs used and your use of passive phrases.

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2. Canva

Canva is a free app that allows you to make striking blog covers and interesting social graphics quickly and easily. Using an intuitive drag and drop interface, Canva allows you to pick it up and run with it almost instantly and requires no prior knowledge of graphic design.

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3. Evernote

Evernote is a really useful note taking app that makes keeping track of all of your ideas really easy. A basic personal account is available for free, though you will be charged a small fee for the fully featured bussiness account. The personal account has always been enough for my needs, but if you want to use some of the more advanced collaborative features you may want to go for the bussiness account.

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4. Unsplash

The visual elements of your blog are just as important as the written content. High quality pictures can really take your content to the next level. Unsplash is a great free repository of free, high quality images. This is an excellent alternative to costly stock images, while still giving the high quality that is so important to your blog.

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5. Buffer

Buffer is a useful application with which you can schedule your hashtags, social links and other content to be shared to social media as and when you want. This allows you to have a near constant social media presence without putting in hours of work. It is a simple set up, and Buffer does the work for you.

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Creating compelling content when you’re out of ideas.[Infographic]

dunce75
So often I sit staring at a plain screen, wondering what I should write about in my latest post. It is always nice to try and create fresh, new content that has not been seen before. Unfortunately, that is a difficult thing to achieve. After all, everything has been written about, or drawn, or sung about or whatever. There is so much content available to all of us, all of the time that it can seem literally impossible to come up with something new. The good news is that you don’t need to come up with completely fresh content, giving your own take on other peoples work is just as useful and allows that work to reach a wider audience.
With that in mind, here is a great info-graphic created by Copyblogger based on work by their very own Danny Iny.

22 Ways to Create Compelling Content - Infographic
Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

Writing for inspiration – paragraph three

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It was half-past three on a cold, rainy morning. Laura had spent the entire night wandering around the city, getting lost in her thoughts. She spent so much of her time these days thinking about what she had lost, or had she? Was it even what she wanted? The last six weeks or so had been so confusing, she wouldn’t say bad so much, but not easy. On some level it just has to be easy, doesn’t it? Life. Spending so much time trapped inside her own mind was not healthy, Laura knew that; it just felt safer there. Her work kept her busy and distracted during the day for the most part, and her home life was everything she had ever hoped for. At least, she had thought it was. Her feelings for Luke hadn’t changed, but they may not have been quite what she thought they were. Laura knew she loved her husband, but did she love him in that way? Or did her heart belong to someone else?

Laura had known Luke since they were teenagers, she had grown up with him and knew him so well. They had been almost inseperable during their teenage years and no-one was surprised when they got engaged. The problem, she found, was that in gaining a husband she had lost her childhood best friend. She had felt since that day that she was missing that one person who she could be truly open with. Luke had not felt like that person since their wedding. This was not something that she had shared with him mind, there was no need to cause him any pain; after all, she did love him.

 

Three months ago, before she had ever met Jamie, everything was so easy for Laura. She loved her job as creative director of a successful tech startup in London; she had a ton of friends and a supportive family. Laura couldn’t say what it was about about Jamie that drew her to him. When she first saw him, the new IT engineer at her startup, she thought he was really good looking and there was a mischevious look in his eye that she hoped hinted at a playful personality. During the first few days, she was sure she detected a few occasions where he would look over at her, trying to draw her attention. She did the same, he intreagued her; there was no thought in her mind at this point that they would be anything other than friends, in fact that was exactly what she wanted them to be. Laura had longed for a best friend, a male best friend, someone she could tell everything to without judgement.

Friday afternoon cinema trip 27/04/2018

Friday afternoon cinema trip 27/04/2018

dunce75
This week, due to one of our group being busy on Thursday evening, we went out to the cinema on Friday. One of us had the day off of work, while the other two took a half day. The film we watched this week was Avengers: Infinity war. Despite the popularity of superhero films these days, this is actually the first one I have seen. Superhero films or fantasy franchises are not my thing and, I’m going to be honest, I didn’t enjoy this film. This may be in part due to it being the first one I have seen, as I had no prior knowledge of the characters or backstory.
 
I will not deny that the film was well put together, and really well acted. I did notice that towards the end there were some special effects that looked a little off, but all together it was well made.
 
From a social standpoint, this trip was an interesting one. After the film, we went to the pub as usual. The other two in the group have a tendency to push each other’s buttons, this day was no exception. I sometimes find it difficult to mediate when they start bickering, but I do find it quite amusing. The two of them actually get along very well, and in many respects, I think the way they argue all the time is how they keep their relationship so strong. The two of them are always telling me and my best friend to sort ourselves out and by the way they work out their differences, they are of course right.
 
After ignoring each other for about twenty minutes, something as simple as a two-minute cigarette break was enough to sort out whatever issues they had. If, by following their example, I can sort out my own problems with a person that I care so much about.

Three days, Three quotes, day three

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This is the last day of my Three days, Three quotes challenge. Thanks again to Vocalblogger15 for the nomination.

“Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself”   Henry James

I love this quote, remember that you are the only person you should allow to make judgements for you. Other people will have their own reasons for making whatever judgement they make about other people, as is their right. I don’t think anyone should ever begrudge a person for having an opinion on anything, including other people, that differs from their own. Never let these things get in the way of your relationships, that only leads to sadness.

Now for my final set of nominations:

Stepintobravery

Invest in yourself first

Daydreamer