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Keeping your Identity Safe as a Blogger

The blogging sphere or blogosphere has evolved into a world of its own. Now everyone, from a 9 year-old writing about her adventures to granny discussing her latest recipes, can have a blog and do. Blogging is like therapy for many people. It is an endless journal that is in the virtual world for anyone to see. This creates a potential security risk for those who are not careful. Keeping your identity safe as a blogger doesn’t have to be difficult. It really takes common sense and some really good anti-hacker software.

Is Blogging Safe

Blogging in a virtual reality is just as safe as it is to operate in the real world. You wouldn’t hand over your ATM card with your password to a stranger in the real world and the same should hold true in the blogging sphere. A certain level of common sense is required.

Never Post Sensitive Information

Just because you delete something doesn’t mean that it’s gone. A good rule of thumb is if you don’t want it to be around forever, don’t post it on the web.

Hackers are little evil characters that prey on the weak–the weak security link that is. He or she can wait patiently, collecting information on potential victims. A hacker will build a profile on each of his victims, at the right moment break into your computer system through the IP address, and have complete access to personal information. It can be a lucrative business being a hacker. To steal your identity is also stealing your net worth.

A hacker doesn’t have to be all about the money. A hacker could be someone who wants to do you harm. By disclosing personal information, a trail leads that person directly to you.

How Much is Too Much

Successful bloggers like to be transparent with their audience because it builds rapport. Building rapport is extremely important if you expect to have a successful blog. But, there is such a thing as disclosing too much. For example, you can use your name but you don’t have to disclose where you live.

Likewise, if you want your audience to know that you live in California, don’t put the address of your residence. Use a post office box address instead.

Never, ever post your social security number or phone number. Some bloggers allow phone calls and that is fine but chances are that number is to a private phone and not to his or her residence.

As a blogger who wants to appear as a real person to your audience, you must make it a point to protect your privacy.

Using a Pen Name

Using a pen name is acceptable and in many cases expected. However, if your name is part of your brand this may not be the best option. Nevertheless, you can use your first name and a pseudo last name to keep the hackers off your scent.

Stop Making it So Easy

There are so many tools, services and options out there to help you secure your information, but you have to take advantage of it.

  • Use two step verification.
  • Don’t use “admin to log into your WordPress site.
  • Did you know that software exists to help you hide your IP address, which is how many of the hackers get to your information when you are a blogger.
  • Be on the lookout for phishing schemes in your email inbox and your Facebook inbox.
  • A weak password makes it so easy for someone to hack your site. It can be frustrating memorizing different pass codes but consider the alternative.
  • Make the password for your blogging site something completely different from your Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram or Facebook accounts.
  • Use special characters, caps, and numbers in your password.

In other words, stop making it so easy for the hackers to hack you.

It’s Okay to be Bogus*

If you are a professional blogger chances are you will also have a social media presence. Places like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are great places to build your audience. But, these places are a candy store for hackers. To prevent the hackers from getting into your candy, use bogus information when you sign up.

As previously mentioned, if your first and last name is part of your brand use it but make sure not to use your exact city and state. Fill in the nearest metropolitan area. And while you are at it make up a fictitious date of birth and mother’s maiden name. This is the type of information that hackers use to steal your identity. Basically, I’m suggesting that you create an alternative set of information that you can use to sign up for accounts.

*Make sure that you store your fictitious information somewhere safe in case you forget.

How to legally write a diet review

Anyone can write a diet review but the best and legal way to do it is to have some experience with the diet that you are reviewing. First hand information has a much stronger impact. However, if you have not tried a diet firsthand, writing a solid review is still possible if you are willing to interview those who’ve tried the diet. The content of the diet review will be the same except that you would let your readers know if this review is based on your experience or the experience of others.

The problem with most reviews on the internet is they are one sided. They aren’t trustworthy because many reviews are written to sway the reader into a purchase. But, if you are sincere about giving solid, trustworthy, and honest information about a particular diet than make it clear in your review.

Decide before writing your review that you are going to write a diet review that will give truthful, accurate and no fluff information to help your audience make a decision.

What Criteria is the Review based on?

Good or bad, make a list of the criteria that you are making your judgment. For example, the results might be a good criteria for a diet review. Most people want to know what results he or she can expect if they tried a particular diet. Other criteria could be is the diet easy to follow. What are some of the downsides to the diet that a person can expect? For example, if the diet is too structured a person might not stay on it long and thus will be faced with gaining weight again or not losing the weight because the diet is too hard.

Make a Judgment

Once you’ve decided on the criteria it is time to make a judgment about the diet. If your review is based on your own experience, make a decision about the diet and convey it to your readers. Why you would or would not recommend it.

You would do the same for second hand information but you would word it a little differently. Your conclusion would be based on your research and interview. What is your impression based on the information you’ve gathered.

Backup Your Judgment

You’ve decided the criteria and made certain judgments to base your review and now it is time to gather support evidence. In your review make clear the evidence that supports your finding and state why you would or would recommend the diet. Essentially you are supporting your stance. If you say that the diet is a good one then say why you think so. This should be easy since you have established criteria for which to base your judgment. Likewise, if you don’t believe the diet is a good one, show why.

Closing Arguments

Every review should have an ending paragraph that sums up what you’ve said previously. It is a recap. Don’t rehash the evidence found but simply state one more time if you would or wouldn’t recommend the diet. In addition, stick to the point. This isn’t the time to introduce new evidence. This paragraph should be straight to the point and it should bring closure to your review.

A Side Note

Within your review make it known that it is your opinion and based solely on your experience or the experiences of those few that you’ve interviewed. Others may find that a particular diet was helpful and some may find the experience horrible. Try to find evidence to support both sides so that the reader has enough information to make an informed decision.

How to inspire your readers to take action with their weight loss

Losing weight and workout is hard work and your readers need to know that you can relate to this. To inspire your readers to take action with their weight loss you have to show him or her that you can relate to their pain. More importantly, you must help your readers feel like a rock star even if he or she can only do one push up.

Set the Bar Low

Encourage your audience to set the bar low at first. There is always time to move the bar up but starting out it should be low. Starting is the hardest part and if that workout goal is too aggressive he or she will not achieve it. That will send them on a downward spiral of feeling like crap.

Make a Big Deal out of the Smallest Achievements

Encourage your readers to award themselves for the smallest achievement. Doing so will make them want to do more. For example, a person set the bar at walking after dinner two nights a week. He or she walked only one night that week. Write about how to feel good that he or she did something and something is better than nothing in the weight loss game.

Make Working Out Fun

Your readers should be encouraged to do fun activities to lose weight. If he or she likes dancing, then signing up for a dance class would be a fun way to lose weight. Within your blog posts, talk about alternative ways to do fun work out that are similar. For example, if funds are low, that same person could turn on the radio or Pandora and rock the house for 15 minutes after work each day. Not only will she or he burn calories, it will also be a stress buster from a long hard day.

Offer your readers fun ways to burn fat. For example, do a video of you learning to do the hula-hoop. Hula hooping is fun, inexpensive and it burns calories.

Be Transparent

If you are having a bad day and did not achieve your workout goal for the day, let your readers know. This will show him or her that you are human too–and that you have bad days too. Moreover, write about how you will do better next time and how you refuse to beat yourself up for not completing your goal for the day.

As you write each blog post, think about how your reader is doing. What might be holding him or her back from achieving their workout goals? Then come up with ways to show them how to overcome.

Create a Community

Consider having a forum to your blog where your readers can come to vent, and get inspiration from other readers. Read the comments to come up with other post ideas. This is a valuable resource because your readers are spilling their guts about what their challenges are. You in turn need to help them mount that challenge.

Using Facebook to promote your blog

With it being the number one social media site on the internet, it is no wonder that people are interested in ways to promote their blog on Facebook. With people plugging in from all corners of the world, it is an internet marketer’s heaven. Just having a Facebook page, you increase your rate of potential exposure for your blog. Promoting your business or blog with the least amount of effort is why Facebook is so remarkable. Nonetheless many members are not aware of the tools that Facebook has to promote a blog that you are about to learn here.

Business or Pleasure

Facebook is a fun place to connect with friends and family. It is a great way to meet new people and to expose your fun and crazy side. Nevertheless, it is also a great place to build rapport with potential customers and here is where business and pleasure don’t mix.

If you are serious about your blogging business, you need to have a separate account. People will come to your page to learn and interact with you the blogger. He or she will formulate an opinion based on what is on your page so be careful to keep it strictly business and relevant to your niche.

Reach Out and Meet People

Don’t expect or wait for people to find your blog page. Reach out to new people at every opportunity. Use the search tool to find potential clients. You don’t have to know a person’s name to find them. Do a search on Facebook by niche, interest, and networks.

Next, send a friend’s request to all the people that came up. The nice thing about sending a friend request is you don’t have to be friends before someone will accept. More so than not a person will accept your friend’s request and that means more traffic.

Create a Fan Page for Your Blog

Creating a fan page for your blog has many cool perks. For one, you can have an unlimited number of followers compared to a personal page, which has limits.

Install a Facebook like icon on your blog. When people like a post they will be able to see future posts on their RSS feed. Don’t be shy. Ask friends and family to click that like button too. Their followers will get a glimpse of your content too.

Upload content on your Facebook blog page at the same time that you upload a new post to your blog. Don’t assume that someone will always go to your blog. You want to give easy access to your content.

Comments

The key to promoting your blog on Facebook is building relationships. If you are antisocial, get over it. People love to read comments and if you aren’t commenting back, people will lose interest and move on to someone who has the time.

It is in your blog’s best interest when someone comments. When a person comments, it shows on their wall. That means that their friends can see and that means you get additional exposure without making any additional effort. Another awesome thing about Facebook comments is that you don’t have to be concerned about spammers. Facebook offers a plug-in that requires a person to be a member before he or she can leave a comment.

Be Human

Facebook is a casual atmosphere where a person can build relationships. Those relationships can turn into paying customers. However, there needs to be a balance. Your fan page is there to promote your blog but it is also there to show your followers that you are human. Don’t be afraid to post about your vacation, your hobbies, etc. Keep it professional and fun.

For instance, if your blog is about how to lose weight, showing other parts of your life and how you are developing personally is not only appropriate but also helps to engage readers.

Using Google+ to promote your blog

Many people shy away from change and things that are new. Google + is that new platform (compared to other social media) that can be intimidating for a lot people. Most people are still loyal to Facebook and Twitter when it comes to promoting their blog. But, people with foresight see Google + as being just as popular and someday taking over as the new Facebook–very soon. Google + reportedly reached 25 million users back in 2011, in a shorter time span than Facebook.

It remains to be seen what impact Google + will have as it relates to promoting your blog. Still, bloggers will find that Google + is a useful tool that can help in the efforts to get your blog name out there. Like Twitter and Facebook, it is a tool that can be used to keep you in front of your audience and here are several ways to use it to your benefit.

Set Up Your Profile

As with any social media profile, your Google + profile should be professional. Take the time to do this right the first time. It is a direct reflection on you. Select an image that best represents you or your blog as this shows up in your circles as well as in search engine results if you have this linked.

Spend extra time writing an introduction for your profile page. People may make a decision to add you or not to their circles based on what you say in your introduction.

Google + allows links so it would be smart to include a link to your blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn sites.

Search Engine Rankings

You’ve just learned that Google+ allows links. This is true for text links also. That means that you should think carefully about the text or keywords that best describes your blog and link to that text in your introduction. For example, if your blog is about losing weight, you would make “losing weight” a text link back to a page on your blog or website. Google uses these keyword links to index your page in the search engines.

Circles

Google + circles are organized groups. It allows you to organize people into groups so that you can target those groups with specific conversation. Unlike Facebook, it isn’t a requirement to have two separate accounts, one for business and one for personal use. You would just make a circle that pertains to business and one that pertains to personal/family.

Cross Promotion

Cross promotion is letting your followers know about a new product or post on each social platform. Google plus is another great way to do that. In fact, several blogging gurus use cross promotion because they understand that you cannot assume one notification on one social platform will be enough.

Content Curation

It is not always about your content that will engage a reader. Use your platform to post other content from other bloggers that you feel will be beneficial to your audience or that you find interesting. Doing so will make your readers feel that you have their best interest in mind and let them see some of your other interests. Curation is an added bonus experience and another way to give to your readers to encourage them to come back for more.

Behind the Scene Sneak Peak

People enjoying seeing what goes on behind closed doors. Your readers want to see what you do in your spare time or how you prepare for your next post. Google + is a great platform for giving your audience a sneak peek into your world.

Be sure to post links to all of your social media sites to make it easier for your blog readers to follow you.

 

Using Twitter to Promote Your Blog

It is all about promoting your blog and finding effective and efficient ways to do so. If used the right way, Twitter can help increase traffic to your blog. Twitter is just one place on the internet where there is an ocean of people connected 24/7. If you are not on Twitter, you are missing an incredible opportunity to increase readership and reader engagement. Twitter marketing strategies used by the gurus are now available to you.

Post Announcements

Tweet to your audience when you have a new post on your blog. Be mindful that you do not spam anyone or annoy anyone with a thousand tweets about the same post. A good guru tactic is to rewrite the title to your new post three times and tweet one version a few minutes after your newest post goes live, another version about 12 hours later and the last version the following morning. In general, a good time to tweet is in the afternoons and evenings. Include the title and the link to your blog.

Tweet Content

You can bag more reader with more bait. Consider extracting an interesting piece from your post and tweet it rather than just the title.

Get into the Twitter Convo

If you notice that another blogger has written on a similar topic and received many comments, do not be a hater. Instead, jump into the conversation and say something like, “I completely agree or disagree. I recently addressed this or a similar topic and would love to know your thoughts.” This type of conversation directed to the blogger will strike up a dialog that can help both parties. His or her audience may decide to follow the conversation and your blog because you seized an opportunity.

Give Life to Older Posts

Make it a practice to have a monthly recap of posts from the last 30-60 days. Chances are not everyone on your twitter list will have seen them. This gives those who have not an opportunity to read the posts they may have missed.

Give instead of Take

Promoting yourself and your blog should be done sparingly. Instead, focus on giving valuable information to your followers or thanking them for doing something specific and you still reap the benefits of self promotion without appearing shallow.

A good mix would be as follows:

  • Update your status with an inspirational quote that is relevant.
  • Update your status with a reply to someone else
  • Update status with a promotional link to your blog or newest blog post
  • Update status with another blogger’s article that is relevant and is helpful
  • Update status asking a question
  • Update status with a link to your site where that question is answered

Answer Question

Continuing with the concept of giving, answer questions from people in your niche. This is similar to the concept of visiting the forums and supplying quality answers. In return, people are more likely to follow you.

Show Your Appreciation

Search for followers who have shared one of your links. For the followers who have included your @username, this is a very special gesture, and should be called out. Make it a practice to retweet their message with a thank you message from you. This is an indirect way to get your link retweeted without appearing spammy. It also, shows your followers that you are appreciative.

Be sure to place a Twitter button on your blog. This makes sharing so much easier for your readers.