blog tips

Simple Mom’s Top 11 Blogging Tips

October 21, 2010

Simple Mom, Tsh, is, hands down, very worth your time to go subscribe to in your RSS reader or bookmark. Her blog is jam packed full of goodness for everyone! By the way, this is post is curated content. It just means I really liked this post and am linking back to it. Please leave all feedback on Tsh’s/Simple Mom’s post, not mine. For this reason, comments on this entry are closed.

Quite a few repeated themselves about the same subject — blogging. Apparently, some of you think I know how to blog daily while keeping a dust-free home and perfectly groomed children who love each other and never fight.

I have absolutely no idea how one does that. I’ll keep my eye out for the answer, but in the meantime, I I’ll compromise and answer the overarching blogging question, which basically asks, “How do I blog well?”

I don’t know everything about blogging. But I do know some things. Here are my best tips about blogging while still miraculously getting dinner on the table.

via My Top 11 Blogging Tips – Simple Mom

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog, blog tips, Blogging, curated content, links, Simple Mom

For The Country Bloggers: Making The Best Use of Bandwidth

May 20, 2010 5 Comments

Most of you know by now we are moving- to the country. (Which makes me an accidental country gal.) If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, I had a little meltdown over bandwidth out there, or lack of it really. After I picked myself back up again I realized, “Hey! I’m probably not the only country blogger out there with bandwidth issues.” So, I thought I’d share some of my ideas with you all and we could bounce ideas back and forth- blogger to blogger. Man on.

Make a day or two once or twice a month to write all the posts and schedule them.
Set up widgets and other things to tweet and Facebook the posts once published. This way, I don’t spend so much time pushing them. (Because you’ve gotta admit: That takes a lot of time, doesn’t it?)
Get something like Akismet set up for spam comments and make it where all the rest go up automatically without approval.
Make a trip into the “big city” for vlogging, uploading mass amounts of photos, etc., etc.
Cut down on Internet time a bit each week or month. Do whatever floats your boat, but you and I both know it’s gotta be done.

Those are some of my ideas. What are some of yours?

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog and web design, blog friends, blog parties, blog tips, Blogging, guest blogging, my familia, My Photo Snappin' Self, Savvy Blogging, social media, social networking, The Life of An Accidental Country Gal

Twitter and Social Networking Tips

April 1, 2010 Leave a Comment

Social networking can be a great tool if used right, but it can also be a waste of time and get you into some trouble if you aren’t careful.

I generally do not friend or follow men unless we have met in person and/or my parents approve.
Go for quality and not quantity. Develop good relationships with your readers, online friends, and followers. Be their friend- don’t just use them as a marketing tool. That’s not cool.
If someone needs help, help ‘em out! Even if you aren’t a frugal/couponing blogger, you might still have some experience, tips, or stories to share.
Put out up to about five Tweets about your newly published blog post the day of, past that it’s old news. However, if someone needs a little help with something and you (or someone else) have a blog post on it, by all means share it with them!
Use hashtags in your tweets. If you have a tweet about, say, The Relevant Conference that says “I am really wanting to go to Relevant this year!”. Instead, include the Relevant hashtag (#Relevant10) and the host(s) like this, “I am really wanting to go to #Relevant10 this year! @SarahMaeBlogs @MutheringHeights @mrsmoneysaver” If you do this, then all Tweets about The Relevant Conference will be organized in one place and the hosts will know you tweeted about their conference!

Do you have a Twitter or social networking tip? Please do share!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog tips, Blogging, blogging basics, facebook, Savvy Blogging, social networking, techie stuff, twitter, writing

Blogging Basics: Organizing and Simplifying Your Blog

March 25, 2010 2 Comments

Have you ever been to some really cluttered blogs? You know, the ones with every piece of flair and award they have won in their sidebar, the music player, every link they like, and blogroll they are part of? Annoying, no? They may have good content, but they just aren’t very eye pleasing or reader friendly.

I am going to show you how to fix that and make sure your blog doesn’t end up like that!

Lets start with the sidebars.

See what content you have {in your sidebars}.
Make virtual piles: delete, keep, and {put} elsewhere.
Act. Delete your delete pile and organize the things that you’d like to keep, but don’t need to stay on your sidebar.
Last, make your sidebars look pretty and keep the content that is on them organized and streamlined.

As far as your main content and design go, keep it simple, looking great, and easy to navigate. It will take you a long way. If you can’t design your blog yourself or don’t have time to learn, hire someone. I suggest Graphically Designing.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog and web design, blog friends, blog tips, Blogging, blogging basics, graphic design, organize, simplify

The Evolution of My Blog

February 3, 2010 1 Comment

It was Spring of 2006. Almost half a decade ago. At that point in time I only read one good friend’s blog. {I know! Crazy, right?} Like I am prone to do, I got a crazy inspiration to start a blog out of the blue. (’Cause I have my daddy’s visionary dreamer gene like that.)

My parents always said I should host a talk radio show. I am serious. I announced my bright blog idea to my parents that night. My parents agreed and said I could start one, but they wanted me to keep a consistent journal first. I agreed and complied with their request.

My humble little blog started May 18, 2006 when I set up an account with Homeschool Blogger. It didn’t even have a name. I honestly don’t think I had a clue what I was in for, though. I didn’t even know how to blog.

Like most first time bloggers, my first posts consisted of one line that was posted once every week. I had no idea how to create content, what “SEO” meant, or how much fun reviews could be. I didn’t have a clue.

That next year was quite a learning curve. That’s when I learned the very basics of blogging. It’s a whole different language! It was when I discovered the gift of writing that God gave me. I learned basic language, worked it, and it was time to spread out and grow. That is when I moved to WordPress.

You will have to be a blogger to understand this, but going from a very basic to a high-tech is intense. My jump from Homeschool Blogger to WordPress was a pain. There. I said it. Growing that much at once hurts.

Right after my leap, the FTC cracked it’s whip on bloggers. The disclosure, the taxes- it was everywhere. It was on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and the news. Blogging suddenly became more complicated and turned into a business. I didn’t like that fact and I still don’t.

I broke under the pressure of the new FTC regulations and quit reviewing and giveaways. I didn’t want to have to worry about legal stuff all the time. I just wanted to stay out of trouble and blog. A couple months afterward, I began to miss the people and small businesses. I missed connecting like that. It was fun for me. So, I opened the giveaway and product review doors back up.

Blogging has opened so many doors up for me. God has used it incredibly.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: blog tips, Blogging, Savvy Blogging, social networking, writing