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Killer Titles - Group Writing Project [WIN A PRIZE] Posted: 25 Aug 2008 03:07 AM PDT This week I’m running a ‘Group Writing Project’ here at ProBlogger where you have the chance to win a $2000 identity design (logo) from logo designer David Airey. You can see a portfolio of the graphics and logo design that David has previously done. Thanks to David for this fantastic prize. Please read the instructions below carefully to enter. What is a Group Writing Project In brief (I outline it fully below) - these projects are where I name a theme or topic and where readers all go away and write posts on their blogs that fit with that theme. They then submit their post here at ProBlogger and I post a list of all entries at the end of the week. I then randomly select one entry to win a prize. The goals of ‘Group Writing Projects’ are to have fun, give you an opportunity to hone your skills as a blogger and to give you an opportunity to highlight your blog. The last few times we’ve done these we’ve had hundreds of participants. The Topic Over the last week we’ve been talking about how to craft great blog post titles - so for this project the theme is ‘titles’. Rather than giving you a ‘theme’ to write about I’m inviting you to go away and write a blog post and to really focus upon writing a killer post title. Of course you’ll want to work on the best possible post too - but this project is all about titles so make sure they are spot on. How to Enter Please take your time in entering - previously people have not followed the guidelines and have disqualified themselves from the prize. Especially note that there is only one entry per person and posts submitted must be new posts (not your best ones from your archives). Here’s how to enter: 1. Write a Post with a Killer Title Be as creative as you like. Make the post relevant to your blog. Feel free to write posts in your own first language (although you might want to give us a translation on the title when you enter) Please consider putting a link back to this post on your post so that your readers know you're participating. You don't have to do this (it is not a condition of entry) - but it'd be appreaciated to help grow the project. 2. Let us Know about Your Post Once you've posted your post let me know about it by filling in 'this form'. Please fill the form in accurately as the way you enter it is the way it'll appear and due to the numbers participating I can't edit it for everyone! The detail that you add will appear in the post (although I'll be moderating out spam/offensive stuff). Include your post title as you wish it to appear, the post's URL (not your blog's front page) and your name (or alias). All of this will be published. To be eligable for the prize I need a valid email address - this will be kept secure and private ad will not be published. Submissions must be received by me the the end of Thursday 28 August (as long as it's still Thursday where you send it from I'll accept it). If they come in after Thursday they won't be included in the list and will not be in the running for the prize. 3. I will Post a List of all Submissions Create a List of all Submisssions I will create a list of all submissions. It will be updated once per day. The final update to the list will be posted on Friday. This differs a little from last time where I posted all entries for a day here on the blog each day of the week. This took over the blog a little so it will just be one central list of submissions. 4. Surf Surf Surf This is where you take over. Surf the submissions received. Leave comments, make connections with other ProBlogger readers, bookmark them and enjoy reading what others have to say. This is the real beauty of this project and your opportunity not only to find new readers but to learn from each other’s blogging. 5. Link Link Link There is no formal 'judging' as this is not a competition. Instead - I encourage you to surf through the submissions at the end of the week and announce your own winners on your own blog. Name a top 5 or so and share the link love. Probably the best part of the last group project was the amount of inter-linking I see happening between participating bloggers as a result of their posts. It's obvious that people found new blogs through it and that the benefits of participating was way beyond getting a link from me but flowed on to a lot of new connections and links between other bloggers. 6. Prize On Friday I'll randomly select the participant to win the $2000 logo design from David Airey and will post the winner at this point. The Real Reason to Participate Prizes are great - but the real reason to get involved in this type of project is that it has the potential to find you some new readers, make some new blogging friends and put your blog out there. Every time I run these projects I get emails from bloggers telling me that they: had big traffic days found new blogs that they just love had their posts get to the top of digg and other bookmarking sites Of course this doesn’t happen to everyone - it depends upon your post and title - but it always happens to some. These projects work best when those participating don't only submit posts of their own but when they read and interact with others who submit posts. Here's how you can do this: Read the submissions of others Make friends with those you like the submissions of (comment, email - get to know them) Link up to those who you resonate with (some bloggers write a top 5 or 10 list each day of the submissions that they like the best) Bookmark, Stumble and Vote for those you resonate with The people who get the most out of these projects are those who throw themselves deeply into them. I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone’s entries - don’t forget to submit them here. 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The Power of Story on Blogs Posted: 24 Aug 2008 07:21 AM PDT One book that I find myself delving into every six months or so is The Story Factor by Annette Simmonds. She writes about a topic that is close to my heart - the power of storytelling as a way to be influential. One of the points Annette makes early in her book that resonates with me most is that: people don’t need more information - they need ‘faith’ and that stories have the power to birth faith and trust Of course faith and trust are essential items of you want to be influential in your relationships with others. We live in a world where we’re literally bombarded with information all day every day. There’s nothing wrong with information, or having a blog that is ‘informational’ in nature - but if you want to make an impression on people, be the type of blog that people tell their friends about, that people want to ‘journey’ with - you need something more and ’story’ is one element that can bring this. I won’t regurgitate Annette Simmonds whole book here but what she writes makes sense in a lot of settings - particularly for bloggers. In her introduction Annette introduces six types of stories that help if you want to influence others: “Who I Am” Stories “Why I Am Here” Stories “The Vision” Story “Teaching” Stories “Values-in-Action” Stories “I Know What You Are Thinking” Stories As I was rereading the book again today I realized that story is important on a blog in two ways. For starters there are ’single stories’ and then there is ‘the story’ of a blog. ‘Single Stories’ are when you tell a story in a blog post - it might be the full post or part of it. I have written a little more about using stories in this way previously. ‘The Story’ of a blog goes beyond any single post and is where readers catch a glimpse behind the blog, see it’s development, feel drawn into some kind of relationship with it or ownership of it. Single stories in posts can be great but it is the story of a blog that draws readers into a loyal relationship with it - it’s a powerful thing. Do you use Story in your blog? How and when have you used it and what impact has it had? Share This

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