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Recruitment for New Writers Going…Okay

images bloggers uniteI got some news about adding a team of bloggers/writers to DALANEL: I’m getting closer to adding a couple of folks. One is already registered on site and we’re in the process of setting the account up as well as getting a first post ready. I’ve talked to another “friend” of mine (you already know I don’t have friends) to help out as well.

There’s a good chance that each of these people will blog about whatever they want, with the guideline only being something positive. Also, don’t expect them to blog very often; I’m hoping a few posts per month. On the flip side, they could make appearances in my featured posts like Daily Good News, Dante’s Opinion, and Wednesday Word. Heck, they could form their own feature if they’d like.

All in all, when it’s all said and done, there should be 2-3 new bloggers set up by January. That’s good news because this will help the site grow as well as giving more voices for you.

It’s risky going out like this because it could backfire on the sense that it doesn’t work out. Still, I’ve been recruiting hard in recent weeks in my very small circle of fellow bloggers/writers.

The idea of new things excites me more than Cookie Monster given the keys to a bakery! Stay tuned.

-DALANEL

Let’s Try This Again…DALANEL’s New Look

This theme is called Newsworthy and this was second place when I decided to go with a new theme early last month. My new blog has this theme as well. And, after hearing and seeing more negative than positive reactions to Writr, I decided to go with this new look.

There will be a poll at the end of this post asking you how you like this new look compared to the other. This link will take you to WordPress’ demo site of my previous theme so you can compare.

Okay, so let me just walk you through the new look if you’re not familiar with it.

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Recapping November, the Month of Changes

Ah, we made it to the end. Well, not quite the end, but, there shouldn’t be anymore major changes to the site.

For one thing, we changed the theme of the blog. The new layout seems to be working out well compared to the previous version. It’s simple. I’ve tweaked pages and even created a couple more. I introduced a couple of new features to the blog: Daily Good News and Wednesday Word.

Overall, November went well. I’m happy for that. The idea behind making November the time for changes is because I want this blog to flat line. Meaning, I don’t want to make any major changes unless I have to. I don’t want to add or subtract things unless it needs to happen.

True, you should keep mixing things up to keep things fresh. However, there has to be a level stability and consistency. That’s what I’m going for. Next time I want to make a major change, I hope it’s at least four months away.

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What It Takes to Be A Blogger for DALANEL

Are you interested in blogging with me? Do you like the mission and the vision that this blog has? That’s a great start! However…if I’m going to have you on my staff, there are a few things I’d require as well as some before hand “warnings”. What a lot of you may not know is that someone used to be a member of the staff here. Used to be. She wrote only one post here. Anyway, this month has been all about changes. One of the changes I was really hoping for was to add a blogger or two (or more!) to help runs things and to help take this site to another level. I already have a page talking about this.

No $$$

Right now, I’m not paying anybody. I’m broke and this blog doesn’t make me any money. In the future, if I do decide to place ads and such, and start making money, I can offer compensation to my staff.

Knows how to research

At DALANEL, I’m always trying to find stories on the web; mainly positive and good news. By joining me, especially if you want to help me with Daily Good News, you’ll need to be able to find the story. Any facts you want to mention, make sure you know it’s a fact, vs what you heard.

Decent writing skills

There’s not a lot of writing here, as you can tell from my featured posts. And so, you don’t have to worry about being “sophisticated” or something. You can’t mess around with “you’re” and “your” though as well as other homonyms. And we use whole words here. So, no “ur”. Ew.

Passion for blogging

You have to want to do this. I intend on giving a lot of room to work. You’ll be able to write about just about anything, as long as it’s in line with the blog’s mission. But yeah, having the desire to blog in general is going to be good for this blog.

A voice

I want you to grow as a blogger. No matter the experience, we can all learn a little something new from time to time. In this case, I’m talking to less experienced bloggers. Look, I want you to develop a blogging voice. I’ll help you. Be you. Be confident in your voice. Be consistent with your voice. I want this blog to have more than one voice. I’m boring, ya know?

So, that’s some of the more important things. There are other things that we’ll talk about. These are base stuff, if you will. See if you can find that one post that the former staff member I mentioned earlier, wrote here. Bwahahahaha!

So, would you join?

-DALANEL

Things to Expect If You Follow DALANEL

So, recently, DALANEL reached 800 followers. I’m glad about it. I’m a man that likes to know what he’s getting himself into before he commits. I like to know the history and vision behind causes to see if I want to be a part of that. That’s why I have so many pages in this blog with a lot of information as to what this blog is about and why I started it and who I am. The idea is that, visiting for the first time, you read a couple of pages and then follow. Make an informed follow.

This list is a sort of collection of the info on various pages. These things are what you can expect if you decide to follow me. I am prepared to lose a couple (or many) followers after they get a hold of this. That’s okay.

You’ll be dealing with a Christian

First thing’s first. You need to understand that, the values of this blog are in sync with Christian principles. certain things will be interpreted in a Christian sense. There will be Bible verses and sermons. God is a huge part of why this blog exists. So, if you don’t believe in the Christian concept, turn back. Don’t worry, I won’t shove things down your throat. I welcome all people in all walks of life. No problem there. I’m mentioning this for you and your sake of knowledge. I am fully aware people will not follow me because I am a Christian. That’s fine with me.

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DALANEL Hits 800; Has Record Views

So, remember yesterday when I told you DALANEL had record views on Monday? Well, Tuesday was even better. Unlike recent record views, this was more of a milestone for DALANEL. If this type of viewing holds up, DALANEL has just taken a step in the right direction of being a “successful blog”.

And it’s all thanks to you. Thanks for you if you follow me or if you’ve visited in the past couple of days. I’m writing this day down as this could be a big milestone for the blog.

This also proves that people do value a positive experience. The things I present here, I knew it was what I was meant to do. And, in the beginning, things were really slow. I’d go days without a visit. Over time, well, I’ve already mentioned this time and time again, the views picked up.

I remember reading stories about this moment. They would say “views would be poor until, one day, it just suddenly picked up”. I get it now. This was a complete surprise.

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