What Leigh Ann’s Been Up To

Surviving Disasters and Starting Blogs

October 22, 2011
by Leigh Ann Otte

I’m excited to be consulting on a new blog called The Survival Doctor. It’s do-it-yourself survival medicine for disasters and the like. Cool idea, huh? The writer, who happens to be my wonderful father, is a family doctor.

3 Quick Tips for Starting a Blog:

  • If you’re looking for a customizable WordPress theme, consider Atahualpa, which he’s using. It has many options that are relatively easy to work with.
  • Need ideas for your first few posts? Think of them as the base of a pyramid. Write about general topics that will be helpful to link back to later. My dad has written a few of these—for example, “Arteries Vs. Veins: How to Tell the Difference and Stop the Bleeding.” He links to it in other posts about wounds.
  • Learn the art of the nut graf. It’s one little paragraph that can make the difference between readers zoning out and reading on with interest.

—

Leigh Ann Otte is a freelance writer and an expert in writing website articles. Her specialties include health, long-term care and aging issues. Contact her at la [at] lawordsmith [dot] com.

The Peanut Butter Post

October 11, 2011
by Leigh Ann Otte

I got to play in the kitchen for this week’s MyFamilyDoctorMag.com blog post. If you know me, you’ve already predicted that that turned out interesting. If you don’t know me, you can get a clue from the title: “What NOT to Do When Making Your Own Peanut Butter.”

My posts have gotten more and more personal on that site—different from what I usually do for clients. It’s fun to incorporate life experiences every once in a while.

I had a client ask me this week about how personal blog posts should be. I may blog about that at some point. It was a good question. How personal are your posts?

—

Leigh Ann Otte is a freelance website-article writer and blogger. Her specialties include health, long-term care and aging issues. She’s a journalist at heart, a former magazine editor and, in her own mind, a famous actress with 10 miniature dogs all dressed in tutus.

My New Blog

October 4, 2011
by Leigh Ann Otte

They say the cobbler’s children have no shoes. Well, neither does this cobbler. I’m too busy writing and blogging for clients that I have no time for my own blog! A good problem to have, I admit.

But I would like to keep folks up-to-date on my latest writing projects, so I’m starting this little blog. I plan to post no more than once a week—maybe even once a month—because it’s more of a newsletter/blog meld.

So, if you’d like to hear from me periodically, please subscribe. (See the box to the right.) I’ll not bug you too much, and you might find some downright interesting articles to read in the meantime.