“I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while.” In a (hopefully) creative twist, I’m using that overused apology to my own readers as a way of showing what not to do when you’ve been away from the keyboard. In reality, I’m just looking for a way to spin my own apology to you for my absence! Either way, I hope to get across both points in this post.

How To Say I’m Sorry Without Saying I’m Sorry

Sounds like a riddle, I know, but there really is a more elegant way to return from absences on your blog than an apology.  Some bloggers like to jump right in with their next post, while others feel a need for an “apology” post, which is one of my biggest pet peeves in the world of blogging. I would rather hear about what’s been happening in your life than you wasting a paragraph or two to tell me you are sorry for being away and promise to write more – just write more; I’ll be waiting for you.

I think as bloggers we underestimate the loyalty of our readers and overestimate our own self-importance. After all, I recognize that the 150 of you that subscribe here have other things on your feed reader to read, and other things to do than read a blog about blogging.

However, I also recognize that at least some of you are fans (I hope), and are willing to hang around for a while waiting for my next post. In fact, some argue a little time away makes the heart grow fonder. I don’t know about that, but I do admit to a twinge of excitement when I see one of my favorite bloggers has posted after some time away.

The Best Approach

Over the last couple years I have had the most success sharing a bit of my personal life with readers, regardless of the blog’s primary niche. It never hurts to work in a personal story or two to let readers know what is happening in your life, and it is usually rather easy to weave the story into your something that relates to your topic.

When I’ve deviated from my blogging schedule, I dedicate my return post to updating readers with what’s been going on offline. Maybe I was hammering out a freelance project. Maybe I was sick, or I took a great vacation (share pictures), or I just needed a break. Whatever the reason for your hiatus, keep things positive and be open with readers. Over time, they will feel like they know you, and this bond is what keeps them coming back to your blog.

One word of caution – avoid saying I’m sorry. Don’t spend the entire post apologizing, instead devote the words to updating readers and building anticipation for the next post or two. I have a blogging friend who took a week off for a family vacation to a beautiful spot. When he got home he promised to share photos of his trip throughout the week. I was glued to the blog for the next several days waiting to see evidence of his journey.

So Why Was I Away?

Those who follow FrugalDad.com may know that my mom is recovering from a cerebral aneurysm and stroke. She had a setback about a month ago and has been hospitalized since. Between working full-time, writing for Frugal Dad part-time, and caring for her the rest of the time, I’ve been away from Side Hustle Blogging longer than I like. My mom is doing better and we hope to have her home in a couple weeks. As things calm down I’ll resume a more normal schedule here. In the meantime, thanks for sticking around!

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I was recently asked for some advice on writing for the web, and decided to answer the question here.  Writing for the web is different for writing offline for a couple reasons.  First, readers’ attention spans are shorter (still with me?).  Secondly, web readers are rather fickle, and tend to bounce around from blog to blog without dedicating much time to investigating the quality of a lengthy post.  This means you have to grab attention fast!

Use Headings Wisely

One of the toughest things to do when writing is to separate ideas into logical groups. In books, or other forms of offline media, these logical groupings easily become separate paragraphs, sections, or entire chapters. As an online writer you don’t have the luxury of breaking up thoughts into separate “chapters,” so the best way to group different sets of ideas is to use headings. A header wrapped inside an “h3? HTML tag works well in terms of size and search engine compatibility, but any font/size combination that separates your normal text will work.

Be Bold

Online readers have short attention spans. Are you still with me? Good. Highlight important thoughts, or main topics in each paragraph with a bold phrase or sentence. Readers should be able to scan only your bold text and get a pretty good idea what your post is about, without having to read each line, word for word.

Use Lists to Avoid Large Blocks of Text

My list posts have been some of the most popular ones here at Frugal Dad. People like lists, especially people reading online blogs in your niche. Lists are easy to digest, and easy to refer back to later. Of course, there is no way to track such statistics, but I would guess list posts get printed to hard copy, and emailed around to friends, more than any other type of online article. I’ll pause here while you print this one.

Graphics Help Draw Attention

How does that saying go? A picture is worth a thousand visitors. I think I may be a little off, but you get the idea. Studies have shown that appealing graphics draw attention from readers’ eyes, so use them to your advantage. I frequently use horizontal pictures near the top of my posts to separate individual postings when listed together on the blog’s home page.

Many bloggers do a great job of using graphics throughout the post to pull reader’s eyes down through the article (My Super-Charged Life is one of the better examples I’ve seen). Flickr’s creative commons section is a great resource for web graphics. Be sure to give a proper attribution/credit for the photo used, in accordance with Flickr’s policy.

Throw in the Occasional Series

Building anticipation is great for building readership as people are more likely to subscribe with the promise of something to look forward to. I probably don’t write in series often enough here at Frugal Dad, but plan to introduce a couple new series in the near future. Series posts are fun for readers to follow, and make topic generation an easier task for bloggers in the short term.

K.I.S.S Principle – Keep It Short, Stupid

I admit that I occasionally fire up my RSS reader and visit a blog to find a 2,000 word post with no headings, graphics, or bold sections and simply move on. Sorry. I just simply don’t have the time to read these types of daily masterpieces that I cannot easily scan. Stick to your main points and move through them efficiently to attract the most readers. On that note, this post is looking a little long, so until next time.

Photo courtesy of StaR DusT

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Unfortunately, inspiration usually hits at a most inconvenient time. When an idea for a new post strikes I am usually away from a computer and I never seem to have a pad and pen handy to record the idea. When I get back to a computer I usually struggle to recall the idea, or the key points I planned to discuss. I have discovered a quick way to utilize modern technology to help in this regard, without spending a few hundred dollars on a PDA or Blackberry.

Your Cell Phone is Your Friend

One of the best, and most underutilized, features of today’s cell phones is the voice recorder. A quick search of the “Tools” menu on my phone reveals a “Recorder” option where I can speak a quick message into the phone’s microphone. Other models have a shortcut button on the outside of the phone similar to a camera phone’s camera-enabling button. If I am out and about and inspiration for an article pops into my head I’ll open my camera’s voice recording feature and give a quick summary of the idea.

Low-tech Options

There are obviously some low-tech options to consider. Some bloggers carry an idea notebook which could be as simple as a pad and pen tucked away in a back pocket. Others simply keep a folded sheet of paper with them at all times to record ideas and then transfer over to an electronic medium in the evenings. I personally find the cell phone voice recorder works best for me for the following reasons:

• I am less likely to lose my cell phone than a sheet of paper
• I can talk faster than I can write (and the faster I write, the sloppier my handwriting)
• It is not always convenient to write down a note, but talking on the phone is pretty well accepted as a socially acceptable activity

Photo courtesy of for3w

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Yahoo Has All the Answers

Well, not really. Yahoo does have a lot of questions, though. One of the best interactive features at the popular search portal is Yahoo!Answers. The idea is users sign up for a free Yahoo account and leave a question for other members. Those who submit questions review the answers and vote for the favorite. A point system was created to anoint power users, based on how many times they answered questions, and how many of those were voted as the “best answer.” How can Yahoo!Answers help you generate article ideas?

By surfing the list of questions and answers related to your particular niche it is easy to see what people are interested to learn about. I recently saw a few questions asking about “credit card arbitrage.” People were curious to learn what it was, and if anyone was successful at it. It generated an article idea immediately and I was off to learn more about arbitrage myself.

Search Engine Query Results Are Your Friends

Most bloggers enjoy looking back through their site statistics to find out how people were referred to their site. I am no exception. It is often amusing to read the search terms people use to wind up at Frugal Dad. However, these logs are not just to be used for entertainment purposes. The real power from search engine query history is in helping us as writers determine what is popular at the moment, and what people are looking for on the internet. Armed with this knowledge we can begin to put together article ideas around those topics.

This one recently worked for me as news of a possible economic stimulus package was being kicked around Washington. I started seeing some traffic on a tax related article with phrases like “is another tax rebate coming” and “will there be a 2008 economic stimulus package.” I quickly did some homework and published my own tax rebate story.

What Are Other People Writing About?

One of the greatest pages on any blog is the archives. Here you will find hundreds (sometimes thousands) of previously published articles on topics related to your niche. Look back at the previous month’s work – anything you could expand on? Anything you agree with or disagree with? Be sure to link back to their article and do your own homework, don’t just rip off their ideas. This technique also works well for your own blog. Look back at your own archives page for topics you could expand on, or plans you could update for your readers.

Listen to Talk Radio

Talk radio call-in shows can provide a ton of inspiration, particularly ones centered around your blog’s particular niche. I listen to The Dave Ramsey Show daily and frequently use a question from one his callers as the basis for an article. Even shows outside of your niche can generate ideas for peripheral topics.

For instance, I was running an errand on Saturday morning and a local gardening show was on the radio. Someone called in to ask about square foot gardening. I had never heard of this concept, but was intrigued. I made a note to do some research when I got home. Months later, my How To Build a Square Foot Garden article is still one of the most popular articles at Frugal Dad.

Think Like a Blogger

Early in my writing career I read a great article at ProBlogger.net entitled “Learn to Think Like a Blogger.” The author wrote that one of the keys to coming up with ideas to write about was thinking like a blogger as you go about your every day life. When you start to think like a blogger you will find inspiration hits more and more frequently. One day I spotted some loose change in a parking lot and stopped to pick it up. A passerby made an interesting comment about my stopping to pick up money, and it motivated me to share the story with my readers.

Putting a combination of these tactics into practice on a regular basis may be the best preventive medicine available to avoid a case of writer’s block.

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