Tag Archives: writing

How to Blog like a Dog

Ever notice how people online LOVE to watch cute doggie and cat videos?  Dogs are experts at getting the attention they want with a wiggly butt, big smile, tickling toes with a lick, and they go for what they want by focusing in on the people passing by one at a time. If Cici sees someone she wants to say hello to, they do not have a chance at escaping her charm. She demands, usually with a bark, that they come over and meet her. What do dogs want? Butt scratches, belly rubs, attention and lots of treats. Some also like to cuddle and play fetch.

How does this translate into blogging like a dog?

Make it visually appealing

A dog is physically pleasing, entertaining and adorable, right. Is your blog? How does it look / stand out from the crowd?

More on design here:  http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/design-readable-blog-posts

Sit, stay, Shake.

Dogs charm their audience with their funny antics. Cici rolls over on her back and shows off her belly which makes people laugh. Your blog should do the same, entertain, make people laugh and come closer for more info. The unique news should be valuable to your readers and make readers want more and encourage, inspire, enlighten and uplift.

Heads Up.

Your headline and first sentence and paragraph should capture people’s attention the same way that a dog motivates people with their goofy antics.

And the rest of your blog post should continue the story with interesting quotes, stats and photos.

Dish it good.

No one wants to know what mundane things you are doing daily such as what you ate for breakfast. That is, unless you are writing about the fabulous brunch you and your French poodle ate at that nouveau luxurious B&B that caters to poodles.

Mark your Territory.

Be clear and stick to the point. No one wants to watch a dog who is all over the place (you know those energizer bunny type dogs). It’s too confusing and requires too much energy.

Gimme a treat.

Ask yourself, “Why should readers care about your blog?”  What’s in it for them? If they are going to spend a few minutes reading, there has got to be something that they get out of it.  Figure out the who, what, when, where and why; and ask yourself if you would find it compelling or at least worth your time.

Express yourself.

Get to the point in a few sentences. Don’t use jargon that only a rare few will know what you are talking about. Communicate as simply and clearly as possible with a few simple words. Relate to your audience like a dog on a mission to get a bone or treat.

Frill me baby. 

Don’t be afraid to show off your personality, authenticity and sense of humor.  Just as Cici is not reticent about showing off her spots, flaunt what you got with a bit of sass and flair.

Ready to play blog ball?

dog car  steering wheel

dog car steering wheel

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Filed under blog writing

Pet Blogger Challenge 2013

Welcome… If this is the first you’ve heard of the Pet Blogger Challenge and you’d like to participate, you can find the questions in this post.

Questions for Repeat Offenders

1. How long have you been blogging and provide a link to your post from last year’s Pet Blogger Challenge so we can refresh our memories.

I have been blogging about five years, how is that possible??? wow, and here is last year’s post…

http://celiasue.com/2012/01/10/pet-blogger-challenge-2012/

2. What do you consider the most important goals you set out in last year’s post?

having fun writing, every day, ok, well, been slacking on the writing every day blog posts but I did start a couple of other blogs this past year, too, so there… pfffttt to my inner critic…

3. Have you made progress toward those goals, or have your goals changed over the past year?

I think that writing good quality blog posts is important for my blogs and I’ve expanded the content/focus of what I’ve wanted to write about this year… eclectic… particularly important to me were political issues that popped up and felt important to me… so I added my voice to women’s issues that people were talking about and of course, the presidential election that went on forever. All in all, I think as a writer being flexible and willing to change, also as a human being at this time of momentous change on the planet, is important… so going with the flow of my passions and what needs expressing should be in there in my goals.

I now have between 300-500+ visitors a day, sometimes 1,000, my biggest day was 8,878 or something CRAZY (up from 200-300 a day) and I’ve definitely expanded the groups, people, I communicate with on a regular basis. And I’ve had a number of folks guest blog for me which is always FUN.

4. How often do you post?

As I said above, the goal has been to blog every day, but I have cut down to maybe 3-4 times a week, except when unusually inspired. Branching out to other subject matter leaves less time, too.

5. Has your opinion of blogging on a schedule or as the spirit moves you changed?

Don’t think it has changed much. As a writer, it is good discipline to write every day about SOMETHING.

If you don’t publish on a schedule, why? How do you think your decision affects your audience? How do you know when a topic is “post-worthy?”

6. How much time do you spend writing your blog per week? How much time visiting other blogs? Share your tips for staying on top of it all.

It ebbs and flows… average, I’d say it takes 10-20 hours a week writing and maybe 3-5 hours visiting other blogs.

7. How do you measure the success of a post and of your blog in general (comments, shares, traffic)? Do you look strictly at the numbers, or do you have a way of assessing the quality of those interactions?

Hmmm, good question. I look at numbers and comments AND I think how often do people interact with me (on a regular basis, every blue moon) counts too. Sometimes I am passionate about the topic or think something is hysterically funny or interesting and no one else does, ok, I can live with that. And there are always controversies that brew up and create lots of traffic out of nowhere. Sometimes that is a real pain frankly. And sometimes it is affirming. So quality depends upon who I am interacting with and how I value them.  Are they credible or some troll ?  Is it another writer/blogger or a fly by night visitor?  I LOVE that I have almost 200 subscribers and would like that number to increase, of course to 2,000, then I will know that I have ARRIVED… LOL…

I watched a movie about the author Jackie Suzanne last night. She wrote Valley of the Dolls in the 70’s and a few other books. What was inspiring to me as a writer was how she sold her books everywhere and made her book #1. She created her own opportunities and went for what she wanted in a BIG way. She had chutzpah and created a public persona. Ok, writing diva here I come, LOL…

8. If you could ask the pet blogging community for help with one issue you’re having with your blog, what would it be?

Another great question. I’d love people’s input on topics they find that generate the most comments/traffic at their blog. I prefer to focus on POSITIVE topics and not so much on cuteness of my dog… AND there is a time and a place for funny photos. where do YOU get your funny photos and pet news (besides from living with your furry friends)??? How can my blog be more relevant, I guess. Since Cici and I are not traveling much anymore, does it matter that I do not write that much about traveling anymore, do you care?  thanks.

9. What goals do you have for your blog in 2013?

My blog is helping to expand my writing opportunities (income and creative-wise). It is becoming more innovative and FUN to read. More pertinent and relevant. And I’d love to have my blog have more impact, positive impact, upon how animals/pit bulls are treated and seen by the public at large. It is important for me that Cici is seen as a great ambassadog, even when she is being naughty. And to make more friends with people who blog and writers who blog about writing/romance fiction.

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www.drharveys

Whew, we survived another Pet Blogger Challenge… now join the fun, thanks to Amy at Go Pet Friendly for this year’s …

http://gopetfriendlyblog.com/third-annual-pet-blogger-challenge/

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Filed under breed specific laws, pet adoption, pet blog hop, pet care, pet travel, pit bull, politics, wild women, women writers with dogs

Pet PR featured writer

we are featured today in Pet PR…

 

http://www.petpr.com/pet_marketing/news.php?id=1006&cat_id=3#ontitle

 

 

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puppy’s gotta swim…

seems like this took me all day to set up paypal… oh well, am no technowizard…now if I could only figure out how to put buttons on my website…

Found a pool for puppy to go swimming, it will cost about $800… for ten sessions… she really needs to do this. It has been a month since her final surgery and she really needs physical therapy asap.

If you would like to contribute to my dog’s foot rehab and/or would like to partake of my writing, editing and/or publicity services, please let me know, thanks !  

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_xclick&business=suemagic5%40yahoo%2ecom&item_name=Sue%20Hecht&no_shipping=0&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8

 

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Filed under canine rehabilitation, dog prayers, dog reflexology, dog spa, dogs, donations, money, mutts, payment, paypal, pet care, pin removal surgery, pit bull, swimming dogs

Hello world!

Once Upon a Blog… A Writer and Her Dog Traveled, Ate Chocolate (not the dog), Chased Wild Animals (not the Writer), and Got Cooped Up Together in a House…

In a galaxy far far away, New York City, Bayside, Queens, to be exact, I wanted to be a writer… now here I am 3,000 miles away in Nevada babysitting my dog … We are cooped up for at least another month. She is mending from a fractured femur bone that she acquired from being hit by a car in August… so you will understand hopefully why I am frothing a little bit. You try being on restriction with a puppy dog for a month and pretty much housebound 24/7 and see how you behave…

Currently, she is in her normal habitat, on her blankets, tethered to the closet, me, I am tethered to my phone and computer… occasionally, she lets me go out to forage for food, cash, gas and other necessities of life, and of course, chocolate… oh, she doesn’t get to eat it, but I HAVE to… so pardon me, dog, but 20+ years later I am a published writer and newsletter editor… I have written travel guides, articles for newspapers, newsletters, magazines, trade journals, web copy, online newsletters, ezines, write press releases that get published and much more… last week, I got someone published online in Entrepreneur magazine and now here I am sitting and watching you sleep… yawn… don’t lick your paws… and other unmentionables… there must be a life lesson in here somewhere… shoulda got a cat… hah…I had two cats for five years and one ran away ten years ago…

While I am here, listening to the Grand Pooper sneeze, snore, woof, bark, and occasionally growl at me, not in a mean way, but in a get up and take me outside Now kinda encouraging wagging her polka dot tail kinda way…

I thought I’d write about our travels together this past spring and summer… she was stalking bugs, running after birds, rabbits, llamas, sheep, horses, deer, cats, a few skunks and goats, as well as other dogs, capturing bugs, and digging holes in the sand on the dunes at the beach, while I was stalking chocolate… Dark chocolate, Organic, Fair Trade, rich, deep and creamy with nuts, ginger, sassafras, caramel, alcohol, fruits, lavendar, and all kinds of good tasting food of the gods… in California, Oregon, and Nevada, mostly… Earlier this year, in February, I found yummy chocolates in Hawaii, but my dog stayed in her backyard where she belonged… although she did escape a few times I heard… But starting in March, we escaped 95 degree heat in Las Vegas, and launched our Spring and Summer of Travels…

Unlike me, she doesn’t enjoy being alone… her Dalmatian canine instincts make her a social butterfly, friendly to the point of annoying. She even enjoys going to the vet, just to see all those vet techs, vets and animals, or maybe she is happy to get away from me at this point… in public, she wags her tail at people I would never EVER say hello to in a million years… but then she licks people’s feet and sniffs other dog’s butts, and other activities I would never engage in either…

Since she does not enjoy being alone, she gives me the evil eye any and every time I leave the room, never mind the house, unless she is in doggy dreamland… but she has been known to wake up just to give me that look… the one that tells me, you are abandoning me, and for what good reason?

Jewish and Italian mothers could learn a lot from my dog. That looks says I am a poor puppy dog and I need to be loved… DON’T LEAVE ME ALONE. Well, dog, if I bring you back a treat, a snack, a chew toy, or some other dog idea of heaven, will you let me out puhlease, puhlease, puppy, oh please… LET ME GOOOOO… and please don’t get in trouble while I am gone…

You know, I could have and was supposed to put you in a cage, a crate the vet calls it, I call it puppy jail and because I didn’t want to listen to you whine, I have not done so… but push me too far…

I don’t think so, human, hmmm, well, I think I will chew up the blanket, eat your glasses, and any cardboard or paper you leave lying around, and I can lick myself silly… aha, go away, see if I care… and when you get back, you’ll be sorry…

ok, here we go… we traveled from and to a lot of places in California, Nevada and Oregon… well, mostly California… and I am going to write about them… just for the heck of it… (get the pun? my name is Hecht)… oh geez… everyone else in the known universe has a blog, I am a writer, I should have one, too…

By the way, you can visit my website at: http://celiasue.hecht.googlepages.com/home

and about my chocolate travel book at:  http://celiasue.hecht.googlepages.com/Itravelforchocolate

Wild West Chocolate Lovers Travel Guide

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Filed under animals, California, cats, chocolate, Dalmatian, dogs, environment, fair trade, green, Nevada, Oregon, organic, poems, publishing, travel, Uncategorized, writing