Writing Diva

Register Blogs on Blog Catalog

Although my Bike Diva blog is 1 1/2 years old, and my Run Diva blog is 8 months old, all my other diva blogs were started just a few months ago. At the end of 2008, I purchased the domain names for Tea Diva, Conspiracy Diva, Backyard Diva, Craft Diva, Cuisine Diva, Horror Diva and Writing Diva.

Blog Directories
Since most of the diva blogs are so new, I was looking for blog directories that would let me list all the blogs for free. I did a search on blog catalogs, and found a site called Blog Catalog.

Blog Catalog has a simple form that you fill out for each blog you want to register. Blog Catalog asks for the following information:

• Blog title
• Blog URL
• Blog country
• Blog language
• Primary category
• Secondary category
• 6 keyword tags
• Blog description

You can add one or two categories for each blog you are registering on Blog Catalog. For instance, my Bike Diva blog categories are Adventure-Outdoor Activity-Biking and Sports-Cycling. Blog Catalog is also a social networking site that lets you interact and follow other bloggers. You can also list all the online communities you belong to, such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

Verifying Your Blog
Before Blog Catalog will include your blog on their site, they must verify that your site exists, and you must place a Blog Catalog button or widget on your blog. There are 9 different buttons to choose from and 3 different widget styles. If you are using one of the widgets, you can customize it to match your blog. In lieu of adding a Blog Catalog button or widget to each site you are registering, you can add a meta tag to the home page of your blog.

I'd like to hear from anyone that is using Blog Catalog to list their blogs. The basic listing service on Blog Catalog is free. There is also a premium account option available on the site.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Writing Diva

Write for Examiner.com

I'm always looking for freelance writing opportunities. Although I come from a print publication background, for the past two years I've been concentrating on on-line writing.A lot of the writing I do is sports related, so I research various opportunities for writing about cycling, running and multisport events.

I am the Herbs & Spices Feature Writer on Suite101. The writer's forums on Suite101 are always talking about other freelance writing jobs. I saw a link for Examiner.com and went to their website to check it out.

National and Local Examiners
You can write on a variety of local or national topics for Examiner.com. When I applied back in February, only a couple Florida towns were listed, so I applied to be the National Running Fitness Examiner. I got an email asking if I would like to be the Miami Running Fitness Examiner. I live 2 counties to the north of Miami, so I was a bit confused as to why they would want me to cover Miami. But they said that was just a general geographical location, and that they would be adding additional towns in the future.

I posted up my first article to Examiner.com on March 9, 2009. I am supposed to post 2-7 short articles per week. I cover events in the tri-county area; Miami/Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. I also occasionally list national running events and add reviews of running related products.

Pay Rate
Right now Examiner.com pays it's writers based on page views, which at the moment is 1 cent per page view. Not a lot, but if you write a lot of articles, and advertise your site, you can end up with pretty decent page views.

Each Examiner is assigned a mentor/editor. My editor sends me emails every week or so with lots of great tips for writing content that will attract readers.

Write for Examiner
If you would like to apply to be an Examiner, you can use me as a referral when filling out the application. At the bottom of the application, where it says I was referred by an Examiner, click the box that says find your Examiner, then fill in ID:5304 : Lynn Smythe : Miami Running Fitness Examiner.

Available Topics
There are a ton of available topics you can apply to write for on Examiner.com. Main topic headings include entertainment, business, family/home, life, news/politics, sports/recreation. Click on any of the main topics, and you will see a plethora of subtopics listed. I am the Miami Running Fitness Examiner, which is a subtopic of sports & recreation. And you can even suggest a topic if you don't see your area of expertise listed.

Take care,
Lynn Smythe AKA the Writing Diva