Late last year, Google launched a blog management tool named 'Blog Compass.' It could connect to sites running either WordPress or Blogger, and provided the owner with insights into trending topics and a centralized dashboard for analytics/comments. However, it's time to dig another grave in the Google Graveyard, because Compass is now dead.

There’s too much room for excuses.

I did the research for you. Find out what it takes to kick start your writing career.

Writers spend an inordinate amount of time sitting at their desks, typing away on their latest masterpiece. For those of you who use scheduling to boost your productivity, you already know how many hours you spend working at your craft. You hardly ever move from your sedentary position when the words are flowing. What could this mean for your long-term health?

If you ask someone how to become a better writer, they’ll say two things: write more and read more. But this pretty unhelpful advice since anyone who starts a blog will if only by accident do these two things. As a professional blogger, I write and read. But I also use certain methods to write quality content fast. If you’re struggling with what or how to write, doubting if you can write anything at all, trust me, I’ve been there.

So here’s a grand, wonderful irony: I started writing this newsletter in early June. I’d come back to my meager Google Doc every few days, reworking the same few sentences, each time thinking I was finally ready to finish. But I never really made any progress — I wanted it to be just right, and I fell into an editing and re-editing spiral. But, of course, just right is a mirage that never materializes, and that mirage prevented me from … actually finishing this newsletter.

So, let’s talk about it.

Somewhere along the path of growing up we forgot that it’s ok to play, and to not be great at something straight away.

Instagram hashtags tend to get a pretty bad rap. They’re dismissed as spammy, ineffective, or just plain embarrassing to use. But hashtags are actually a wildly under-appreciated method of drawing a CRAZY amount of attention to your account, if utilised correctly.

Content marketing is good for many things, namely capturing and converting online customers. However, it’s not easy to scale. Think about the steps that are involved in producing an engaging, shareable piece of content that people are falling over themselves to read.

Discover how to use the powerful cliffhanger technique to make your writing and marketing campaigns more effective and engaging.

Writer Joseph Grantham on moving to a small town, having a space to do your work, and intentionally fucking up your life.

Hi. My name is Aline, leeny on Hacker News. My team at interviewing.io and I have written a lot of stuff, and most of it has been on the Hacker News front page — of the 30 blog posts I (and later we) have submitted, 27 have been on the front page, and over the last few years, our writing has been read by millions of people.

You’re a pro. You know your stuff and more people should pay attention to what you say (and write.) Here’s the problem: People aren’t paying attention to what you say (yet) because you don’t have enough authority within your niche. So, what’s the answer? It’s social proof.

A bipartisan bill in Congress would prohibit websites and online platforms from employing deliberately deceptive tactics.

Stress is a part of life, but it can be particularly hard on writers, sapping our creativity and making it impossible to do our jobs. Jana Oliver returns to the lecture hall today to share her story and offer tips on what to do when stress keeps you from writing.

Here's how you can tell if your content could benefit from a little strategic repetition.

Zapier regularly updates old blog posts, but what impact does that have? This deep dive looks at the effects on Zapier’s traffic resulting from its updates.

Quoting other people’s words can improve your blog content—if you do it correctly. Here's how to use quotes in your blog posts legally and ethically.

As a writer, I can tell you how frustrating it is to sit down by the computer/laptop/notebook, full of enthusiasm and good intentions, only to find that the blank page opposite has declared war against you.

As learned through personal experience.

The five-paragraph writing format you learned in school has got to go!

In the photograph, Gretchen Altman is smiling, leaning back casually, a cup of coffee in hand — Hills Bros. Coffee, to be precise. It looks like a candid shot, but if you hit like, leave a comment, and tag a friend, you can get three different blends of brew, for free.

Blogging. I've been doing it for 10 years! Here are ten things I've learned about blogging. Nobody knows the rules, Because they keep changing

The highs of a writer’s life are high, and the lows are very, very low.

Need some advice on the best social media management tips and strategies?

No one was paying attention — until these armchair investigators came along.

And it was awesome.

A thought piece on what it takes to truly be great and what that even means in the first place.

Writer Dorothea Lasky ruminates on the nature of creativity, witchcraft, and the eternal nobility of being an artist.

It all depends how you look at it.

Mindspace. You won’t find this term in Merriam-Webster, but I’m willing to bet most writers know what I’m talking about. The mind is a place where electricity ignites and runs over brain cells creating memory, thoughts, emotions. A mind is its own entity, but when you add “space” to the term, it creates a whole new dimension. Space equals capacity, area, breadth, but it also means BREATHING ROOM. What term could be more perfect for a creative–for a writer–than mindspace?

Imposter syndrome goes beyond genuine humility. It lies about your own accomplishments and exaggerates the accomplishments of others. And the worst part of imposter syndrome isn’t how it makes you feel – it’s what it makes you stop doing that you really want to do.

The Motivation Song.

Finding a good work-life-writing balance is a never-ending struggle. Despite the difficulty, we need to pursue balance or suffer in multiple ways.