fixing a "sftpexception permission denied" error

when first trying to publish this blog to my sftp server, i kept receiving a "sftpexception permission denied" error. the solution to this was to simply:

sudo chmod a+w -R [my blog directory]

i then was able to upload/publish this blog. afterwards, i restored things:

sudo chmod a-w -R [my blog directory]
sudo chmod u+w -R [my blog directory]

(i know, i know, there is some more efficient way to do this in chmod - i've always just been too lazy to learn all the shortcuts/number codes.)