Comments on: Improve Your Blog By Reading a Magazine – An Exercise for Bloggers

By: Eliza Amos

Eliza Amos — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:59:56 +0000

Depending on which rag you pick up, writing in magazines is often superior to that found in blogs–partially because it’s been edited (and let’s fact it, we could all use editors). That alone is a reason to read print publications.

(Not to say that this month’s O! is some kind of literary milestone. But it’s far more coherent than a lot of what goes up on the web.)

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 02:07:46 +0000

some how I missed this post and found it in my rss reader. Great tips. I was thinking about using magazines but have no concrete steps to go about it.

By: Max Powers

Max Powers — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 22:02:14 +0000

Great advice. I use my library a lot and now I have another reason. Keep the tips comming please. I’m about 1 month new to all this and need all the help I can find. I’m reading all the information including archives as fast as I can.

By: Ciaran

Ciaran — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 20:44:39 +0000

I reckon that about half of my blog inspiration comes from magazines. This wouldn’t be very hard since I’m a magazine addict. It is also likely that the type of magazine that interests you are probably discuss topics similar to those that you blog about.

By: Todd K. Edwards

Todd K. Edwards — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 16:34:00 +0000

Thanks for the great tips, and info Darren. I will give this a try and let you know if it improved my blog or not! I’m guessing that it will have a great impact on my blog and writing. Keep up the great post’s for a newbie!

By: TradePub.com

TradePub.com — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:55:29 +0000

While you’re at it, you can easily get yourself some free magazine subscriptions for future reading and magazine reviews from TradePub.com

By: John Bennett

John Bennett — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:46:06 +0000

I think this is a great suggestion and for some reason something I haven’t thought of (maybe because I’m new).

By: ROCKFUSE|blog

ROCKFUSE|blog — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 15:43:46 +0000

Very well done on the article, Darren!

I use the same method to get some inspiration very often. And thought I might share this tip.

When I’m looking through the magazine with nothing more than few glances, there are some pages that would be really carved into my mind. And even after the initial glances and after i am done with the magazine, those pages will still be in my mind.

And at this moment, I ask from myself, what made those pages/articles stand out from the rest? Maybe their design or maybe just a catchy topic. And this might give quite a few great ideas that will make my blog significantly better. And it will relatively benefit my reader-ship since I am trying to incorporate the techniques that stood out from dozens in that magazine.

By: JennyHow

JennyHow — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 13:44:12 +0000

Great Darren! I've also been realizing this at the beginning of blogging and have written a post like this back in june, over here: 15 Things Magazines Can Teach You About Blogging

By: chtanxw

chtanxw — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:34:32 +0000

This post is a brainstorming lesson…! You show us many ways to create topics, ideas…etc. I think reading a newspaper also can apply some or all of the techniques you used.
Great post!

By: Alex Ramon

Alex Ramon — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 06:11:24 +0000

Hi Darren, this topic is excellent. Thank you for permanently changing the way I approach brainstorming sessions! These are great exercises for those of us who spend a lot of time browsing the web for ideas – we’ve got to remember that there is a real world out there – and it is full of untapped ideas and inspiration!

By: CatherineL

CatherineL — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 04:06:27 +0000

Great tips Darren – especially the last one, as it could really benefit a blog to gain exposure in a magazine. And I would advise any bloggers who are thinking of doing this to read up on the proper way to query magazines first. The Writers Digest site would be a good place to read up on this.

By: TravelingMel

TravelingMel — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 03:14:19 +0000

I’m a freelance writer as well as a blogger and find that stories cross media all the time. I often use the topic (if not the story) from a magazine piece to jump start a blog piece.

By: John Ferguson

John Ferguson — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 02:50:49 +0000

I’m the current editor of Necrology Magazine. I don’t blog, but I have used this very idea for the Magzine and the website.

By: Eggo

Eggo — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 01:21:43 +0000

Wow, this is a really great exercise. I’m going to pick up a magazine later and try this out, thanks for the tip.

By: Chris Jacobson

Chris Jacobson — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:58:23 +0000

I’m glad you brought this up. I’ve been turning to magazines frequently for ideas.

By: Richard Rinyai

Richard Rinyai — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:16:47 +0000

Hi,

Wow, this is interesting. This is actually what I’ve been doing for a while to get ideas for my blog. I usually get ideas from each day of work, but this really helps spice things up.

Thanks,

Richard

By: Brian Purkiss

Brian Purkiss — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:28:20 +0000

Nice idea!
I shall have to do that one of these days when I have time…
lol

By: Darren Rowse

Darren Rowse — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:06:24 +0000

my f’s are weird – sometimes my t’s too :-)

By: Jeremy Steele

Jeremy Steele — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:03:31 +0000

Is that your hand writing? Looks like either you misspelled “State Benefits” or your f’s seriously looks like t’s :P

Anyways, great tips.