by Patricia Mayo
Of course you’re not. What, you - afraid to read a blog post? Pshaw. No way. Couldn’t happen.
Photo by Sophie
Yet if I had titled this “Ambiguity Aversion” and just left it at that, I bet you wouldn’t be reading this right now. That’s because of a hard-wired fact of humanity - we’re fully-trained trained skeptics of anything unfamiliar.
And I’m willing to bet that if I didn’t tell you I’m about to detail how to overcome ambiguity aversion to increase any metric, you probably wouldn’t read beyond this point. But since I just did - well, let’s move on, shall we? [Read the rest of this entry…]
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Trisha, @mayobrains on Twitter
May 14, 2008 - Humpday Quotables, 5/14, Comment on this
"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say,
but what we are unable to say."
Anais Nin
"Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;'
your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be."
Mark Twain
May 6, 2008 - Give 'em Something to Talk About, Comment on this
Layering even boring statements in catch phrases from pop culture grabs a lot more attention than even a great point could have otherwise. The key is giving people something they can click with and relate to in your writing.
by Patricia Mayo
Did you notice something strange in the last few entries? There’s columns and microposts and strange pictures - oh my!
Photo by Bart
Over the last couple days I have broken my blog more times than I can count - all in the name of improving my writing style. Of course, it helps that it all looks neat and fancy too.
Really I’m just trying to forcibly train myself. Some people write long paragraphs - I write long sentences. Sure it may not seem like a bad habit. However, I believe if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward. [Read the rest of this entry…]
- Eastern Proverb, Comment on this
"At the first gate the gatekeeper asks, Is it true? At the second gate, he asks, Is it necessary? And at the third gate, Is it kind?"
Make sure every word passes all three gates before you speak them.
May 4, 2008 - Save The Best for Last, Comment on this
Headlines are the most important part of your post. Write it last. At worst, write something temporary to help you stay on topic, and then go back and really fix it up before you hit publish.
by Patricia Mayo
It is possible to make money blogging - but it doesn’t happen the most obvious way.
Photo by Jay Lopez
I actually make a good chunk of my income blogging.
However, if you look in my sidebars, I don’t have ads. Not a single one. No sponsors, no donate buttons, no Entrecard. This site isn’t in any kind of traffic rotator schemes. I did an affiliate promotion once, but the results were so crappy you’re not going to see that again.
This is all very much on purpose - because the concept of “problogging” does not work if all you have to offer are your words on one blog. [Read the rest of this entry…]
