We review ebooks, courses and tools for writers, so you can make good decisions about how to invest in your writing career.
Ebook: Problogger’s Guide to Your First Week of Blogging
About the creator: Darren Rowse is a full-time blogger and founder of Problogger and TwiTip. He started blogging as a hobby in 2002, founded Digital Photography School in 2003, and began Problogger in 2004 as a way to catalogue his experiences with blogging. Under Rowse, Problogger became one of the most popular sites for tips on blogging. He is also cofounder of one of the largest blog networks in the world, b5media.
Price: $19.99
Who It’s For: This ebook is for bloggers who are just starting out or considering building a new blog. It would also work for those who have already set up a blog but are struggling with their next steps, those want to develop their existing blogs further, or those who have hit a rut in their content management schemes.
What It Will Help You Do: Each day is complete with actionable and timed tasks that will help you plan out your blog development strategy. The specific and organized structure in this ebook makes it easier for you to keep going and accomplish your goals.
What’s Included: This ebook provides practical instructions to guide you in your first week of blog development. Chapter by chapter, it explains in great detail what you should accomplish per minute on each specific day.
What it does not include, though, are the technicalities of setting up a blog. Choosing your blogging platform, picking a template and creating a design are not part of the package, so make sure you have other resources to support you with these aspects.
The Best Part: The specific to-do lists, including an estimated duration for each task, allow you to gauge how long each project will take. This approximation allows you to have realistic expectations of how much time you need to invest in your blog development while also allowing you to manage your schedule.
What Would Make It Even Better: The ebook is fantastic on its own, but an accompanying app would make the program even better. The app could include a single platform for the blogger to practice all the exercises described in the book and have a publish straight-to-web feature. It could also include a timer to go along with the tasks listed in the book, as well as reminders and alarms.
There could even be a premium feature that would notify Problogger editors of each ebook owner’s activity (which could be identified by a serial number for each ebook purchased), so they could offer comments, advice and encouragement.
How It Changed My Life: I had always wanted to launch my own blog, but I worried about it taking up too much time from work, family and other responsibilities. However, the ebook’s time approximations per task really helped me — I was surprised to learn that the time commitment wasn’t as demanding as I had initially thought!
Our Recommendation: Problogger’s Guide to Your First Week of Blogging is a treasure trove of valuable, actionable plans to get your blog rolling through its first seven days online. The detailed descriptions of the type and amount of work needed to be done each day makes developing a blog realistic and achievable for new bloggers. Each day is already pre-planned for you, so all you need to do is act on the exercises.
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Have you used Problogger’s Guide to Your First Week of Blogging?