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Jan Bierens

Being stuck in old Ideas is not always a bad thing

By Jan Bierens on June 8, 2012 | 4 Responses

Being stuck in old ideas is not always a bad thing.

Looking close at the title of this post you might start to wonder. Old idea’s? Being stuck in them? A good thing? Well, that’s not precisely what reflects the meaning – or the purpose – of this blog post. People are a weird breed I am telling you…

Old Ideas

When we make the decision to do ‘something’ we often make a plan. We come up with a solution for a question we are having. All that’s left to do is make it work.

Easy? Yes. But depending on the complexity of the problem you might want to set yourself some guidelines to achieve what you want to accomplish.

So, you need a plan. But what if you already had a plan, but you are re-thinking the solution you came up with? Then what?

Old Ideas

Let’s stick to our favorite subject – blogging – for this one. When you started off your blog you have made some decisions before you even started writing.

  • The subject of your blog. What do you want to tell. What is your expertise. What do you want to do with your knowledge, whatever that may be. You could have chosen ‘Hairpieces’ or ‘Gold fish’. You probably chose an other subject.
  • The layout of your blog. Magazine layout, fonts you want to use, design, colors, pictures, multi-media you want to use
  • The tech stuff you want: Social Media enabled, commenting system, spam protection, statistics, SEO techniques you want to use.
The list is ‘endless’.
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Post Layout

Most of the time we forget to really think about the layout of your posts. I came up with the idea one year ago and refined it some, but basically the whole plan – yes, an old plan – still seems to work for me. I follow these steps:
Post header
I start of with a post header with the catch – phrase in Header1 format. Why? Google uses the header of the post in header1 format as a means to effectively index your page.
Introduction
Typically I start off with a short introduction about the subjects I want to write about. Why? To give the reader a quick and short version of the entire post. When I use that as an excerpt for my post it is clear to the reader what the post is about.
First Picture
I place a picture in the left top corner of the post. Why? The first picture is going to be the post header picture in the magazine or excerpt layout.
Layout Design

Pieces of a Puzzle

The next pictures
I like to use a left – right – left alternating placement of the pictures I use. Why? By doing that the readers that visit my blog on a regular basis know (expect) a certain ‘flow of reading’. By holding on to the same picture layout they know what to expect.
Conclusion
At the end of a post I usually come to ‘a’ conclusion. Hey, A post has to end too, sometimes, right?

Sign Off
I sign off a post in a specific format. I start with ‘Happy’ and a made-up word, ending with ‘ing, followed by // Jan. Why? Because. Maybe it’s my tag, my way, my weirdness. Who knows…

What are your trademarks, sign off and other quirky habits you use in your blog? Want to share? ;)

Happy Idea’ing
// Jan

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4 comments on “Being stuck in old Ideas is not always a bad thing”

  1. Debbie on said:

    Interesting and again, some good advice. This amateur blogger is soaking up as much info as possible and I appreciate your insights, Jan. My style is flamboyant and I love to use imagery in my posts; be it actual photos, cartoons, animated gifs, etc. Whatever fits the subject matter. I generally start with a centred imaged, right off the bat, then use them as paragraph breakers.
    Debbie recently posted: INTERNAT ADVENTURES, CHAPTER ONE

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    • Jan BierensJan on said:

      Hi Debbie!
      I noticed that to in your blog. What you do too, is adding an image in a response to a comment. You can see that as ‘your trademark’. I like blogs that do not have a fixed subject and are more ‘free style’.
      // Jan

      Reply ↓
  2. Lisa on said:

    Interesting Jan – I guess my habits would be that I always end with a question and always include at least one image. The rest I try to mix up. I don’t like always having everything the same each day. Variety is the spice of life :) Great images here today – deserving of a pin and I like how they flow though the post being on different sides.
    Lisa recently posted: 6 Ways to Earn Dough Online

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    • Jan BierensJan on said:

      Hey Lisa!
      I noticed the pins – inspiring. ;) I guess we all have our special ‘tricks’ to be captivating, funny or whatever. Ending a post with a question is a good way to get interaction going.

      Reply ↓

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