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Archive | January, 2013

3 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Readable

We live in a world of constant updates. To survive, we have to filter to what is most useful or entertaining to us.

People don’t read long blog posts. Instead they skim. If someone can’t read a long blog post, they give up and move on to the next thing.

I do it all the time. I bet you do too.

Don’t try and sound smart with long paragraphs and sentences. It’s better to be understood then to seem like a smarty pants. Here’s a quick guide to boost readability on your blog posts:

Use Subheadings

Subheadings grab attention like a strangler grabs necks. They allow the reader to skim through material quickly. They draw the reader’s eyes quickly to the information they’re looking for.

Organize your main points around subheads. You’ll write faster, and it will be easier for your readers.

Use Bullets

I love bullets. Bullets help break down your points quickly without the awkwardness of a paragraph.

  • Bullets are quick
  • Bullets are easy
  • Eyeballs are drawn to bullets

Use bullets when making a list or supporting a main point. You’ll be amazed how much more understood you are with bullets compared to a paragraph with the same information.

Use Bolds

There are times you just can’t escape paragraphs, just like you can’t escape Aunt Florence at the family reunion. When that happens, use bolds to draw eyes to the most important part of the paragraph.

Bolds make it easy for readers to find the main point. Like subheadings, bolds draw eyeballs to them. They make the important text that much more important.

How are you blogging to make reading easier?

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How are you feeling, Jay?

I’m fine Facebook.

Really. I’m fine.

OK. I’m lonely.

My friends are all out having great times. I know this because I see them posting things all the time.

Meanwhile, I’m home with my cats, answering a question posed by a text box on a website.

I could be out taking photos of food or my pets. I could be commenting on a TV show, or talking with a friend.

Instead I’m having a life crisis because a text box on a website made me realize how pathetic my life is.

I once socialized with real people. Now I stay at home, comforted by the electronic messages of hundreds of weak connections.

And now, this post becomes a desperate cry from a life of loneliness. A plea for more electronic attention to stave off that loneliness for one more night.

How am I feeling, Facebook? I’m feeling the loneliness of my generation, trapped alone together on the internet.

Do Not Disturb

Do you remember when you turned your cell phone off at night?

I remember holding the power button and turning off my cell phone for years before I went to bed. Then I got an iPhone, and when I turned it off to charge it at night, it turned back on. It’s stayed on, in one form or another, since then.

The danger of being always connected is that you’re always on. There’s no down time. No solitude. Sometimes you’re lonely, but you’re never alone.

I’m not here to live my life for other people. I hope you aren’t either.

To combat always being on, I turned on the Do Not Disturb feature of my phone from 10 pm to 7 am, daily.

  • I don’t have to worry about work trying to distract me at the last minute.
  • I sleep peacefully knowing that nothing but a true emergency will wake me up.
  • I start my day without a plethora of notifications bombarding me the moment I wake up.

It’s a small change, but it been a good way for me to start my year. Less noise. Less notifications. Less distractions.

How are you filtering your notifications in 2013?

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Google+ Has 105 Million Unique Monthly Visitors

The network attracted 105 million monthly users in October 2012 compared to 65.3 million in October 2011, a 60.9% increase.
Todd Wasserman for Mashable

Really? I barely saw any updates on Google+ between Christmas and New Years.