A lot of bloggers say you shouldn’t write really long articles and to keep your blog posts to about 500 words. But sometimes you just have to let the words flow. To a point. There is such a thing as blog post that’s too long.
For those times where you find yourself pouring out boatloads of information, and you don’t want to overwhelm your reader with the endless scroll, there’s a fancy built-in pagination feature in WordPress.
To use it, at each point you’d like a new page to begin, type in the following:
<!--nextpage-->
You can see it in action at the bottom of this post.
Sure it’s a little tedious if you have an post that spans 20 pages. At that point I’d revise and cut out stuff in order to whip the post into shape for internet consumption.
There are other pagination plugins around the WordPress world, but I’m all for keeping it as simple as possible.
I went to a meeting on Wednesday with the organizers of the WordPress conference called “The Business of WordPress” happening June 22 and 23rd at the Georgia Tech Research Institute in Atlanta, GA. A few others were there who may be presenting or volunteering and we got an overview of the event.
One thing I found unique is that they’re curating the whole event. In other words, they chose the topics first and then looked for the presenters.
Each track is geared towards a specific level of WordPress user, no one person would be too upset that there are two sessions they want to attend at the same time. I’ve been to conferences before (although no tech conferences to date) and this is one thing that really ticked me off. So I’m happy that the organizers put so much thought into this.
There’s also an entire track of Q&A sessions all day for people who have questions and don’t necessarily want to bother with an entire session.
And something that I think is absolute genius is their “Boardroom” track. Only 25 tickets will be available for this, but it’s an entire day worth of exclusive access to and one-on-one time with WordPress experts in the Boardroom of the GTRI building.
Now all the above is just for the actual conference. The day before is a pre-conference workshop day where people can get hands-on WordPress training.
If you are interested and want to go to the conference ,I have two things to share with you before you go off and buy your tickets:
- I will be presenting. Not quite 100% sure on what, but I’ll let you know!
- I will have coupon codes available for my followers/readers/clients who want to go. You’ll save at least $50 off the listed price AND help yours truly with small affiliate commission. What could be better? You help me, get a discount AND get to go to the conference!
I’ll be emailing my list with the coupon codes as soon as I get them, and they’ll be the first to know. If you want in, sign up for the mailing list on the right hand side of this page.
What happens when you know you need a blog but don’t know where to start?
There are so many options out there, each with their own set of challenges, but what if you want the authority of your own domain name and ownership of a blog on your own web host?
That’s why Jennifer V. Miller came to me. She wanted to set up a blog to communicate her expertise in HR, improving corporate culture and interpersonal relationships. But she found that all the conflicting and confusing information on the internet about how to set up a blog made her wary of the time and effort involved.
Jennifer was one of my very first clients and the biggest obstacle in the way of hiring the WPChick (aka Yours Truly) to help her set up a blog was the fact that at the time I had no testimonials (aka social proof—something I’m working on starting with this post) and I seemed unproven to her. But she took a chance.
The Problem:
She not only wanted to set up a blog, but she wanted to learn how to add content, change themes, add plugins, back up and maintain her blog herself.
As a self-professed non-techie, she knew she needed help to learn how to do all that stuff, and the instructions she was finding on the ‘net at the time weren’t very helpful.
So we began.
The Solution:
In June of 2009, I installed WordPress for Jennifer on her host and pointed her domain name to this new host. I added a few basic plugins and a theme she had chosen.
Shortly afterwards, we scheduled our first live screen-sharing session.
If you’re not familiar with screen-sharing, it’s the best way to teach tech-related stuff to anyone. It enables me to see my clients’ screens just as if I were sitting at the desk with them. I can see how they’re interacting with their WordPress site and point them in the right direction. What I’ve found is the visual aspect of my coaching sessions, even more than just a video tutorial, helps my clients learn quickly.
Jennifer loved being able to see how to do things with her site during the screen-sharing sessions as well as have me walk her through how to post, edit and add new themes and plugins to WordPress.
Since installing her site, I’ve taught her through our screen sharing sessions how to take care of her site, how it looks, how it works and adding and editing her posts and pages.
Now she no longer has to depend on a web developer that would take weeks to do one minor change or waste hours of her time learning code. Instead, Jennifer was able to grab the reins of her blog and run, all within the very first session. Everything that’s on her site right now is her work—pictures and text—all of it learned with just a few screen-sharing sessions.
Jennifer also appreciated that I always asked what her objectives were and what she wanted her blog to do for her. She says that it helps keep her focused and provide a blog that will meet her readers’ needs. It’s not enough just to have a blog. You need to know what you want to achieve with that blog and how to craft posts that will help you get there.
Now, how about some results?
Her blog and her writing has increased her exposure to media outlets, leading to features on Forbes.com and an article in the print version of Executive Travel magazine. All that from a few months of blogging. She’s gained authority in her field, people trust what she has to say, and she’s giving herself way more exposure to media and potential clients as a result of blogging regularly.
Our business relationship is still ongoing, and she schedules coaching sessions from time to time to ramp up on some new stuff she wants to do with her site and get answers to things that pop up in the normal course of maintaining your own WordPress site.
If you want to see Jennifer’s site, you can go to http://people-equation.com.
What WPChick services did Jennifer use?
She bought a basic install and several WordPress coaching sessions. This is the best way to go if you want to get started making your blog into what you want it to be as quickly as possible and want to be able to handle the maintenance and updating by yourself.
Do you need help with WordPress?
Are you a small biz owner like Jennifer who wants a blog? Awesome! Head on over to the Packages or Coaching pages and see what I offer.
If you don’t see what you want or need to ask some questions, don’t hesitate to ask!
Fill in the form below and I’ll get back to you ASAP.
One tragic thing I keep seeing on the web is creators – people who make stuff, tangibles or intangibles – without their own home on the web.
They’re taking up space on Blogger, WordPress.com, Typepad, deviantArt and other places that give ‘em an illusion of having their own home.
Landlords may be nice and kind or rude, sneaky and evil. You never really know what kind that landlord is until you get on their bad side.
I’m not saying that those companies that offer free blogs and web sites and portfolios will turn on you, but do you really want your business at the mercy of the terms & conditions of some other company?
You need to own your own home on the internet.
- The investment isn’t all that bad ($10 for a domain name, $100/yr for decent hosting).
- It’s your brand and your name that’s up at the top instead of Blogger’s.
- It enhances your authority in the eyes of your potential customers and clients.
- It gives you something authentically you to put in the “your web site” area on those portfolio and networking sites.
- You have more flexibility to make the site look and work the way you want to.
- And you are the one who wields the power (barring the restrictions of the less-strict TOS’s of your new web host, but as long as you’re doing business honestly, you have nothing to worry about).
If you have a “home” on the internet that you don’t own, it’s time to reconsider. For your business’s sake.
If you need help deciding on how to go about getting your own home on the internet, please email me. I’m here for ya.
photo credit: vonSchnauzer
Wow, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?
Well, let me tell you that lots has been going on. New ideas, more work, shifting focus…
What does that mean for WPChick? Not much for now except maybe a renewed focus.
I added 2 more maintenance packages to the Packages page, and I’m working on making that page less cluttered.
And regarding the “Does my blog make me look fat” series… I started this with the intention of being informational with a bit of attitude (but not too much). Unfortunately the further I got into it, the more the tone became a little icky to me. It wasn’t “me” but some know-it-all that I thought I left behind when I was 10.
So I’m re-evaluating the series and may rework it, or I may just leave it behind completely.
Instead I think I want to focus on how to make WordPress, blogging and all sorts of other internet wizardry work for you – a small, heart-based business owner.
I apologize if I lost ya there for a while.
But I’m back now!
So, on to a new year and new stuff for WPChick!
It’s WordPress Essentials week at WordPress Guerilla. Over 50 posts on must-have plugins for WordPress. If you ever needed a bit of direction with the hundreds of thousands of plugins out there – this is definitey the series to follow!
Just wanted to let you all know that I’ve decided to add several packages for you to choose from. I figure it’s easier to to than just say “hire me…”
So if you look at the top right, you’ll see a new option, “Packages,” where you’ll find things like a kitchen sink and some security.
I have services ranging from just the basics to everything you need to get started blogging, to maintenance agreements so you don’t have to remember to update WordPress each time a new version gets released.
Yay. So go check ‘em out!
Well, it’s been a while, and I do apologize to everyone who’s following “Does My Blog Make Me Look Fat” (aka DMBMMLF). I stopped at lesson 3 and haven’t gone further.
The rest of the lessons are in the wings, but just not up here.
I’ve been a bit on a rollercoaster regarding my working life and unfortunately DMBMMLF has been a casualty. It’s not dead, just recovering.
I’m starting on a new path, involved with a group coaching program with Suzanne Evans, and I’ve let WPChick sort of languish. I need to pick it back up and keep going because I still believe in what I’m doing here. I have a few things up my sleeve with regards to DMBMMLF, a few products and services related to the series, which will be coming out soon.
The other thing that’s been taking my time and energy recently: I switched all my sites over to Fat Cow hosting because it’s what I’m encouraging clients to use. I figure I’d better put my sites there too. It was a painful process moving 15 sites, but it’s finally done! And I have a new idea for a blog post on moving your WP site from one host to another. Look for that soon, too!
One more thing:
If you have a business and can’t afford thousands of dollars for a business coach, here’s the next best thing.
Dave Navarro‘s put together a great series of calls with business coaches such as Naomi Dunford of Ittybiz, Chris Garret, Mark Silver, Pam Slim, Brian Clark of Copyblogger and more.
Twelve excellent teachers in their own right talking with Dave Navarro the Launch Coach on various ways to help you in your business.
You can get the More Buyers Mastermind* for $97 until Friday. Then the price doubles. And 30 days from Friday it triples…
So you not only get 12 calls, but you get transcripts, workbooks and follow-up calls.
An hour with just one of these folks is way over $97, so I suggest you get in now. Lots of solid information you can go back to whenever you need it.
*(yes, this is an affiliate link)
So that’s it for now.
If you’re following the Does My Blog Make Me Look Fat? series, I’m running a little behind editing week 3. The flooding where I live has me a bit distracted lately.
It should be up later this week, and if you’ve subscribed to the blog’s feed or to get emails in a previous post, you’ll be notified.
Alrighty! Time to get on with week 2. I updated the post that used to be “Day 2″ with a couple of screen shots & a bit of clarification.
But first, did you do anything for week 1?
Did you run into any snags?
If you have, let me know in the comments & I’ll do a once-weekly Q & A Post along with the assignments.
So, without further ado… Week 2: Personality.
