I'm a parent, in addition to being a writer, so I often write about parenting. I recently published an article for Medium! The article was inspired by an article I read in NPR, which posited that the tween years are the toughest time of parenting. I wasn't sure if I agreed--my tweens are pretty cool. (And no, I do not for one moment take their relative coolness for granted.) [Tweet "You can baby proof your house against burnt fingers and bumped heads, but you can’t child-proof the world … [Read more...]
Upcoming Blog Boot Camps at Cape Cod Community College!
At 3am Writers, we love to write, and we love to teach writing. We’ll be speaking on content at WordCampRI 2016 this year, so we hope to see you there. But if you need more in-depth information on blogging, we will once again be teaching a Blogging Boot Camp at The Center for Corporate and Professional Education at Cape Cod Community College. You can learn to “blog like a boss” on Friday 10/7/2016 at CCPE at Hyannis Center, 540 Main Street, Hyannis, MA, or on Friday 11/18/2016, at the … [Read more...]
WordCampRI 2016
Mark your calendars: WordCamp is coming! WordCampRI takes place on Friday, September 30-Saturday, October 1, 2016, at New England Tech in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. This amazing event offers 2 days of all things WordPress, and whether you’re a newbie who just started a WordPress site, or a seasoned WordPress veteran who’s contributing to WordPress Core, you WILL get something out of this event. [Tweet "Stuff your brain with #WordPress info and education at @WordCampRI! … [Read more...]
Sprinkle a little Pumpkin Spice on your Business
Everything’s coming up pumpkin this month, so I thought it would be a good time to review a book I read that has truly changed things for my business. This book, The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz, was recommended to me by my numbers guru, Stephanie Robl at Ten Key, Inc. Bookkeeping and Accounting. Stephanie read the book and reviewed it on her blog, so I had to check it out! The book is based on the way farmers grow HUGE, award-winning pumpkins, and it outlines a very simple process for … [Read more...]
Pokémon GO gave my kids a taste of 1980s childhood
Could a video game be the key to getting kids outside, roaming the neighborhoods in packs the way they used to? It was a weekend morning. My husband and I were cleaning out closets while listening to the “West Wing Weekly” podcast and trying to gauge if we had done enough work to warrant a Starbucks break. (Try to contain your envy at our glamorous life.) Our kids were on a bike ride trying out their newly-acquired Pokémon GO game. We had just looked at the clock to see if it was time to check … [Read more...]
Taking the Time to Care for Ourselves: An Interview with Carla Hall
A couple months ago, I had an absolutely fantastic super awesome opportunity. I was asked to interview TV personality Carla Hall of ABC’s “The Chew” and to see her and several other fantastic super awesome women at the 2016 Bryant University Women’s Summit. Dude, that is seriously my job. I had such a good time talking with Carla and then listening to her wonderful keynote that I got that thing people get about celebrities where they start to think of them as their new pretend BFF. You … [Read more...]
A Stunningly Simple Content Calendar
Content is king, but you don’t have to be its slave! Want to blog like a boss? Start here. Creating a content calendar (also known as an editorial calendar for all you escapees from the old publishing model) will help you get ahold of the content monster. [Tweet "Content is king, but you don’t have to be its slave! http://wp.me/p7jtXE-2rI"] Our content calendar covers goals, themes, and allllll the places you’ll want to publish your content. Start with the gimmes (holidays and other events … [Read more...]
Basic Blog SEO
A blog worth writing is worth optimizing. You don’t have to be an SEO expert to make sure your blog article has what it needs to get noticed by search engines. (Although having an SEO expert around can be very helpful for full-scale online campaigns, and we can certainly refer you to one if need be.) We suggest these 3 steps for basic blog SEO: Use a keyword or two: You can find popular keywords through the Google Adwords Keyword Planner. Don’t load your article with keywords--remember, … [Read more...]
Title Tag and Meta Description: A Basic Guide
When we write blog articles (for our own blog and for our clients as well) we like to create a full promotional piece. To ensure our blog articles are ready to publish, we need to create title tags and meta descriptions. We wrote up this guide with a little help from our colleagues at Ella J. Designs. EJD creates purpose-driven websites with beautiful designs and solid SEO. So, what are title tags and meta descriptions? To answer that, let’s first look at their purpose: They’re a signal … [Read more...]
Blog Boot Camp Coming up at Cape Cod Community College!
At 3am Writers, we love to blog. But we understand that not everyone shares this love with us. So if you are business owner who needs to blog, and you’re tearing your hair out every time you try to do it, we’re here to help. We offer blogging for businesses, and we also teach blogging! If you are ready to hand over the reins of your blog, contact us for a consultation. If you think you’d like to take a stab at DIY blogging, check out our upcoming Blogging Boot Camp at The Center for Corporate … [Read more...]