Newly Learned Blogging Tips

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I attempted to attend the SavvyBlogging Twitter party last night but I was so overwhelmed I had to just lurk! You can check out all the Tweets here: #SavvyBlogging Wow... TONS of great advice and I happened to compile a list or at least tried to compile a list whenever my computer/internet wasn't smoking from tweet overload. Hehehehe...

I believe my first major change will be that I am looking to move to WP. I'm not sure how long THAT will take, but I am researching it all now. Looks like it will be more fun coding over there at least! :)

I'm also trying to decide if my blog has a niche. HAHAHAH I don't think I really do. This is more of a hobby thing. Something more like a personal journal. Is that a niche? I dunno... I know that making money is optional on these things and I also know that making money is not my goal. I just want a place to mess around with code, journal about goofy things in my life and just hang out.

So here are my "notes" from last night's Twitter Bash.

Note to self: TweetChat with it's pause feature ended up being the best way to keep track of all these posts. TweetDeck was in overdrive and I could NOT keep up at all. I think I only answered one question the whole night! Hahaha... Oh and I kept track of my "notes" by copy/pasting the questions from the SavvyBlogging website into Notepad and than typing as FAST as I could little blurbs of answers as I saw one that I liked/needed to focus on.

Question #1 – How have you created/encouraged READERSHIP for your blog?
- Be Real
- Post Daily
- Get on Social Networks
- Comment back
- Join Blog Carnivals
- Create a Blog Carnival

I liked all of these answers but I don't see myself making a Carnival anytime soon. Hehee... Sounds like fun though but... yah... I'm not really that creative?

(Blog Carnival definition: Someone starts a post and sets up a "linky zone" for others to link their blog posts too. The more "common" ones appear to be Wordless Wednesday, Tackle it Tuesday, Fail Friday, etc.)


Question #2 - How have you increased reader INVOLVEMENT/engagement?
- Share an opinion (controversial)
- Ask Questions in your posts
- Respond to Comments
- Hosting carnival
- Post failures or mishaps

Alot of people send out Emails and other things to those who comment on their blog and I don't see how I might keep up with something like that. Of course, I don't have anyone visiting my blog anyway so I really shouldn't worry too much yet. HAHAHA It looks like WP has more options with comments too so that might help.

I think I can post failures and stuff pretty easily. I am working on a post about falling while preggo now. Hehehe... I love writing up little stories like that. :)


Question #3 – What blogging ETIQUETTE/rules do you follow?
- Give credit
- Link to main site
- Don't copy/paste any info from another blog/site
- No foul language
- Don't mislead with info not fully researched first
- Make blog readable (paragraph formatting, grammer and colors)
- No music on site to load automatically
- Don't write about someone without asking them first
- Don't be jealous
- Share a blog that you love to read

I have been "creating" websites on the internet since 1998 and I REALLY try to have a code of Etiquette with everyone that I make. Do I have more to work on in this area? Absolutely! The golden rule was brought up here A LOT during this question and I definitely try to follow that.


Question #4 – What 3 MISTAKES should a new blogger to avoid?
- Be consistent
- Watch typos
- Focus on content first and than money
- Not networking with other bloggers
- Not focusing on niche
- Inconsistent/not frequently posting
- Don't go alone, embrace blog community
- Keeping ads to a minimum on the blog
- Limit categories
- Ignoring real life for the blog
- Comparing yourself to other bloggers
- Mimic another blogger
- Lack of security
- Broken Links

These answers came fast and furious! I was just trying to keep up at this point and absorb all the great tips!! Loved how open and candid long time bloggers were about this and how they didn't start out any different from the rest of us.


Question #5 – How much TIME do you spend each day on blogging & related tasks?

I saw anywhere from 1 hour to up to 4 hours per day spent blogging. I am on the computer WAY more then I should be these days. The main reason I am on the computer so much is because of the "modified" bed rest dictate, but I need to start thinking ahead now how much I want/can do this after the baby comes and all that. The mistakes above are a great place to start on deciding what I want to NOT do. HEHEEH I am sure my posts are going to be very infrequent with baby plus other kiddos all over the place. I'm already trying to decide what I will give up in REAL life to accommodate baby and homeschool because those are two priorities that won't budge for me.


Question #6 – How do you BALANCE family and blogging?
- Turn off computer
- Set time limits per day
- Remind yourself that you don't have to be the first to post something
- Split posts so that you have more posts per topic
- Family FIRST

Basically a LOT of the same information rang true with these answers... Family, Family, Family, Family... Hehehe.. It's so true too. Being reminded to just turn it all off was nice to see too. I need to remember to do that even now and just sit around to be still for a bit. It's so easy to get sucked into the computer for the WHOLE day and really feel like I get nothing done.

Well, at this point in the chat my brain, keyboard and power plug were setting off fire detectors so I had to stop. HAHAHHA I really had a hard time keeping up but so glad that I tried. I have lots of things to work on, look at and decide what I'd like to do. I am glad to have been able to participate in this twitter chat!

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