BlackBeltBlogger

BBB on Blog Talk Radio

On April 20th, I had the distinct pleasure of being a guest on Karl's Secondhand Radio show on Blog Talk Radio.  We talked about blogging, twittering, and all kinds of other crazy stuff.  Karl asked me some questions about what makes a good blog writer while on the show and I was happy to share a top tip with Karl and his listeners. 

BBB Alumni will remember this clearly: Show, don't tell. 

It is so important to relay information in an entertaining way when you are showing your reader what you're talking about.  Telling is boring and won't bring readers back for more; but if you can show them what you're talking about, appealing to those who respond to visual cues, you'll be able to attract a larger audience and keep your readers coming back for more. 

Get showing!

Black Belt Blogger: Papa Bradstein

Daddy bloggers are very cool.  Different from a mother's perspective, they lay it all out there.  Coming from a daddy, it's super endearing and usually funny too.  Papa Bradstein is a great example of that.  From his humorous excursions with his dog Barky to his adorable little man 3B, Papa Bradstein writes one entertaining blog. 

Often joking about his lack of readers, Papa Bradstein is one of the best blogs you're probably not reading yet.  His writing style is fun, upbeat and clever.  He can make suffering from the flu rip your sides apart with laughter.  And if he can't get his coffee?  Well, he'll lead you on his journey to the mecca of caffeine and you'll be laughing the whole way there. 

With an interesting readership of fellow Daddy bloggers and Mommy bloggers who can't resist him, Papa Bradstein is somewhat of a cult classic.  He's like a Starbucks in Seattle before it went viral.  If you're not reading him you really should be.  His writing makes you want to be a better writer yourself.  He's just so darn witty and entertaining. 

For his wit, endaring "Daddyness" and for an all around good time that can be had while on his site, Papa Bradstein is the Honorary Black Belt Blogger of the week.  Congratulations!

 

Black Belt Blogger: Sizzle Says

When someone is fun, it's kind of like the flu, super contagious.  Fun people are just fun to be around, and so are their blogs.  Sizzle can put a little fun and spice into your life.  She also makes you think.  She has a following of many who enjoy her words, quotes and introspective posts.  Her readers also enjoy when she blindfolds her boyfriend and takes him on adventures.  From writing about her previous single life, to her new beau, to her handsome little nephew, Sizzle covers it all with 100% style. 

Much of Sizzle's success in the blogging world is due to her very true and honest writing. It's fabulous.  She examines her life inside and out and shares it with her readers.  It's a truly rare look into one of the internet's most beautiful people.  But another part of Sizzle's claim to fame is that she's personable.  It seems like most of the commenter's on her site are her friends, but they happen to live all over the place, which means she's excellent at communicating and connecting with her readers.  I happen to be one of them so I know.

Some of my favorite things about Sizzle Says?  I love that she finds the most appropriate quotes to sum up her blog posts.  Her honestly is completely refreshing and appealing, and she's always entertaining.  For these qualities and so many more, Sizzle is our Honorary Black Belt this week.  Check her out.  You'll be so happy you did.

Black Belt Blogger: Martial Views

It was only a matter of time before a martial arts blogger was given the title of honorary black belt blogger.  No one deserves it more than John of Martial Views.  He's already a black belt in Isshinryu, but I happen to consider him a black belt blogger as well. 

With timely topics on a weekly basis and articles that are always just enough to sink your teeth into, John is stellar at providing topics and content that is relevant to the entire martial arts community.  From controversial issues related to MMA to historical conversations, John has done an excellent job of building a community around his blog.  He is looked up to as an authority on all things martial arts and it is obvious that he thoroughly researches his topics before adding his own commentary and putting it out there for the world to read and enjoy.

As enjoyable as his articles are, his comments section is equally entertaining.  There always seems to be an interesting conversation happening within his comments and John is meticulous in his addressing those who comment on his site personally.

Stick around his site too long, and you'll probably have found a friend in the martial arts.  For his informative writing style and his excellent community builder, John at Martial Views is another excellent example of a Black Belt Blogger.  Congratulations John!

Keeping it Interesting

When you have built a community around your blog, you can pretty much keep them around as long as you keep it interesting.  Once readers actually care about you, they want to know more about you, and they will go along with you almost anywhere.  The key is to keep content fresh, interesting and entertaining. 

Readers don't want to hear a blow by blow of your day when you're too exhausted to put together a decent sentence.  If you can make your day interesting through vivid descriptions, intelligent and/or humorous writing, you can hook them for good. 

There are entirely too many blogs out there that relay the most mundane details of their days without making it interesting.  There are a couple things you can do to keep content fresh:

• Write in scenes.  If your readers can "see" what you're seeing, they'll be more interested.  The majority of people are very visual people.
• Do something different!  If all you've been writing about is how boring your job is, get out of the office and do something new.  Visit a park; check out a new restaurant; find something new to experience and tell your readers about it. 
• Don't cloud your writing with terrible grammar and cRaZy TeEnAgEr TyPiNg.  Man, that took me like 30 minutes to do that.  Instead of trying to add interest with irritating stuff like that, do something interesting with your writing that doesn't require people to concentrate harder to get your point.  You know, write well!
• If you don't have anything interesting to say, take a breather.  You don't have to post every single day.  If you're in a bad mood and can't put together something good, take the day off from blogging.

Here's to your writing success!

Black Belt Blogger: Bush Mackel

If you want to read a Master at building community, you want to visit Bush Mackel.  The man has a technorati ranking of a gazillion (o.k. actually more like in the 240's) and continues to rake in the traffic.  Why?  He's interesting, compelling to read and an overall nice person who is willing to help just about anyone with anything (I have about 14 detailed emails in my inbox to prove it).

In addition to great content ranging from making money on your blogs to a personal bout with the flu, Bush Mackel doesn't place himself above everyone else, despite being about to break into the top 20,000 blogs.  In fact, it's quite the opposite.  Rarely does a day go by when Bush isn't providing linky love to a variety of different sites and bloggers. 

The profile picture alone on his blog can make you smile, and his writing offers humorous surprises throughout, calling the toilet "Mr. T" for example during a recent flu bug bout.

Offering up advice on growing your site traffic, monetizing your site and pretty much anything and everything else is what Bush does best.  He also maintains another entertaining "Daddy Blog" called Da Mack Daddy.  Seriously, could he have possibly thought of a better name for that blog?  I think not. 

For pure entertainment value, and for his down-to-Earth attitude despite being a virtual "blogebrity," Bush Mackel is this weeks Honorary Black Belt Blogger.

    

Alumni Celebration

When I started my blog I had about eight visitors a day.  Seven of those hits were me.  The other one was probably my husband or Mom.  Over time my traffic grew, but it took months before I hit a number I was semi-happy about.   I started with your basic template, knew nothing about html or putting up my own banner.  I taught myself pretty much everything when it came to blogging, so I have to admit I'm sort of jealous but very proud of our very first group of Black Belt Bloggers.

Topsy-Techy is just about the most hysterical home-schooling self-admittedly geeky/techy Mom ever.  Her posts never disappoint.  She put together an about me page that blew my socks off because seriously people, I don't even have a cool about me page like that.  One can't help but see the humor in just about everything she writes.  You also might learn something along the way. 

The Life of an Everyday BBW is another great blog.  This writer doesn't apologize for her weight; she embraces it and she encourages you to do the same with your weight.  She's candid and doesn't take herself too seriously.  You can definitely have some good laughs and learn a thing or two while visiting her blog.

The Daily Grind is one very caffeinated Mom's journey through life.  Always upbeat and sweet, this Java Mama tells it like it is and oozes personality.  Her blog header alone is worth a visit, but I'm sure you'll find many more things to do while visiting there. 

If you're looking for a way to get your family off the couch, you won't want to miss Family in Shape.  The Spin Diva brings healthy tips in every post she writes.  Her ideas are simple, effective and inspiring.  You might be surprised to find out that English is her second language, because you would never know it. 

She-Parent will give you something to cry about.  No seriously.  If you're looking for a way to lay down the law with your kids and want a role-model, look no further.  She may sound a bit harsh at times, but she certainly loves her kids, and will give you a laugh or two along the way.  She has totally put the meaning back in "Because I said so."

Renovation Girl  writes straight from the heart as she tells her tale of renovating a beautiful old home and her heart as well.  Here you'll find hysterical posts about her son and his "control handle" along with heart-wrenching tales of secondary infertility.

For more information on how you can become a Black Belt Blogger alumni, see the sidebar.  We don't even require you to do snap kicks.  Congrats to all of our alumni and best of luck on the journey to tell your story!   

Black Belt Blogger: 2HT

What exactly is a "black belt blogger"?  A black belt blogger is one who has built a community around their blog.  Their writing is engaging and interesting.  They share their lives with their readers in such a way that makes their readers really care about them. 

There is no finer example of that than Secondhand Tryptophan.  Karl, of 2HT, has mastered the art of involving his community of readers.  From his birthday dares where he solicited ideas from his readers and followed through on a great many of them to his "political campaign" for President, Karl does not disappoint. 

His music videos are popular amongst his readers and his writing is always honest.  Readers have a very good sense of who Karl is and what he's all about.  He can easily become a reading addiction.  Karl is so addicting in fact, that he's even allowed to attend BlogHer's annual conference.  He gets status as an honorary girl for that one weekend because he's just that entertaining.  This past year, a bunch of bloggers even started a campaign to raise money for Karl to attend. 

It takes a very special blogger to make readers literally throw money at him.  Hey Karl, I'm trying to buy a house and could use some extra cash.  Any advice?

Congratulations to Karl for being our very first honorary Black Belt Blogger.

About Us

Black Belt Blogger is part of the Time4Writing.com and Time4Learning.com family.  Our service is online education for children.  This blogging course, our first venture into grown-up education, sprang from a fortuituous combination of a great teacher and some people who wanted to learn...

The Black Belt Blogger course was developed by BBM (Black Belt Mama) and an educational techy person who happened to be a blogger himself.  Black Belt Blogger teaches students how to write an interesting blog and build a community of readers. 

About Black Belt Mama (Black Belt Blogger Instructor)

"Most karate moms just do the commute; this one is working towards her black belt."

I am a 30-something forever 29 year old work at home Mom.  I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in English Writing, Creative Nonfiction. I worked for a small literary journal as an Assistant Editor, at Clinique cosmetics (because the pay was better), at a graphic design firm, and as a high school English teacher before having my first daughter and deciding to stay at home.  A few years later, I started my first blog "Black Belt Mama."   

One day I got an email asking me, "Why is your blog so engaging? Why is mine so much the opposite."  I took a look at his blog, emailed him a response, and was then cajoled into teaching this course. It's been exciting to watch students take the course and create amazing blogs. 

The First Student

I was looking around the internet, wondering why my blog wasn't attracting traffic. I had blogged faithfully for months.  While I had plenty of "surfers," I had not earned a group of repeat visitors, a community.  I started wondering why my blog was a dud while other blogs fared so much better. At one point, I emailed "BBM," whose blog I had been following, and asked her point blank: "Why does your blog succeed in attracting loyal readers and mine doesn't?"

Her answer was direct, analytical and rang true. I was thrilled and crestfallen all at the same time. I tried to hire her as my editor.  Then, when it was clear that I needed more help than just some editing, I asked her if she would teach a course on the topic. She agreed. It's a great course.  We are now offering it to you.  It's a lot more fun blogging when you have readers reacting to your writing.

About Black Belt Blogging

This Blog Writing course is providing by Time4Learning, a small online education company started in 2003.  Our primary offering is an online curriculum for children from preschool through middle school, for after-school, summer school and homeschooling.  Time4Learning is launching Time4Writing, a teacher-led online writing course for 4th-12th graders, in the Spring of 2008.  The Black Belt Blogging course is our first course targeting adults.  It is an eight week teacher-guided course that teaches one how to build a blog, create interesting content, and build readership.   

One Person and their Story

Every day, random google searches come in to various blogs across the Internet.  Most people are searching for information, whether it be finding the perfect Elmo cupcake, figuring out how to deal with an upcoming surgery, or seeking information about exactly how long it actually does take to obtain a black belt.  Most surfers will google their way on in to a website and then leave once they've found the answer to their question. 

There are blogs that are purely informative in nature, and plenty of people visit those as well.  They may be seeking political commentary or searching for the perfect new camera.  Nothing, however, builds community quite like an interesting personal blog. 

Over time, readers come to care about a particular blogger.  They follow their story with great interest, maybe because the story is so close to their own, or perhaps because the story is so completely foreign to their own thinking.  Regardless, it's the voice of the blogger and the relationship they build with their readers that keep readers coming back for more. 

We relate to these bloggers and feel as if we know them.  Chances are we might know more about a particular blogger than their own mother knows about them.  It's the nature of blogging.  It's the nature of community building and it's an exciting and growing piece of the Internet.

With thousands (and perhaps many more) bloggers starting a new blog daily, how does one compete and gain traffic?  They key is writing an interesting blog that oozes personality.  Writers who allow their readers to become part of their lives are especially endearing. 

It's the art of creative nonfiction storytelling and it begins with one person and their story. . .