Blogging Hints

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - October 5th

2011-10-05T08:03:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

2011-09-27T21:54:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday: September 21st

2011-09-21T08:30:00.001-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday: September 14th

2011-09-14T06:58:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Cranky Old Man
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Joe from Cranky Old Man...

My blog - The Cranky Old Man is basically anything that comes to my mind. Sometimes stories, sometimes opinions, occasionally serious usually attempting to be humorous and entertaining.

I am 65 years old, and retired after 40 years on Wall Street. I have 4 children from 40 to 13, and 5 grandchildren from 8 to 3. I took up blogging to promote my book "Maybe It's Just Me!", and so I had something to tell people what the F*** I do with my time.

Catch a Wave Wednesday - September 7th

2011-09-06T21:13:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday - August 31st

2011-08-30T21:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Racing and Saving Mama
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Kristina from Racing and Saving Mama...

Hi, I'm Kristina and I write Racing and Saving Mama. My blog is about working out, fitness, running, finding deals and coupons. I take the approach of trying to save your wallet and waistline. I would love for you to come visit me. Every Friday I write a motivational post to keep you going with your goals. I love doing reviews and giveaways. You can find me on facebook, twitter, klout, Linkedin, google+, plus many other places.

Don't Miss Out on Opportunities: Provide Contact Information

2011-08-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

One of the important features to add to your blog is your contact information. It is understandable that many of us don't want to post our phone numbers or mailing address as this would result in our phones and mailbox being bomarded with spam. However, an email address is a necessity.

Additionally, your email address needs to be easily visible either as a tab, icon or link on your home page. I frequently wants to contact fellow bloggers for guest posting or feature blogger opportunities and it is unfortunate when I cannot find an email address for those bloggers. I don't feel comfortable posting my opportunities into a blog post.

Also, I am frequently contacted by companies with opportunities of free products and services. If I didn't have my contact information displayed on my home page, I may have missed out on some great offers.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - August 24th

2011-08-24T06:00:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Happy Go Lucky
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Kara from Happy Go Lucky...

My name is Kara and I'm so excited to be co-hosting this week's Catch a Wave Blog Hop! I have a craft blog called Happy Go Lucky where I share fun DIY projects, crafts, and activities the entire family can enjoy. I have a wonderful husband who is in the Navy and a 3 year old son who keeps me on my toes so I will occasionally share some cute family pictures. I'm also a middle school reading teacher. I just started my blog a few months ago and I absolutely love it!! I hope you will stop by sometime soon and say "Hi". Thanks Cindy for hosting a fabulous blog hop and for having me this week as your guest host!!

Catch a Wave Wednesday - August 17th

2011-08-16T21:18:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - August 10th

2011-08-09T23:04:00.001-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Mom Fever
Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Mom Fever...

I'm a mom of five kids, wife to one husband. Doing a thousand things.

I often feel like I'm burning up! When the kids spill their sticky drinks, or when they start a fight because one of them looks at the other one 'funny'. Then I know: I've got a bad case of Momfever!

Being a mom is like the first line of A tale of Two Cities: 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. I'ld like to share all those times with you, and I do so, hoping you'll leave Momfever with a smile and the comforting knowledge: 'I'm not alone!'

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - August 3rd

2011-08-02T21:41:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and My Journey as an iPhone Mom Developer. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Shreta from My Journey as an iPhone Mom Developer...

I'm so excited to be the featured co-host for today's blog hop with Cindy!

The title of my blog is My Journey as a iPhone Mom Developer. The title pretty much tells you what my blog is about! I've always wanted my own blog but my time was stretched so far I couldn't imagine squeezing anything else into my already busy life. Plus I didn't know what I should blog about. Well toward the middle of Dec 2010 I decided to take the plunge and blog about what I love the most and that is technology. Since I started creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad in April 2010, it only made sense to bring my love for my “Apple” business and my desire to blog, all together. Thus My Journey as a iPhone Mom Developer was born! In my blog you will read about my ups and downs of being a developer, the latest apps, occasional Apple news, Apple devices and most of all being a mom. It's a mom techy blog with a twist! I've really enjoyed blogging so far, blog hops like this one helps me connect with so many other bloggers. I'm often amazed by so many different blogs, plus blogging gives me a little free time to go into my own little world. Who knew blogging could be so therapeutic?

I hope you will check me out from time to time! You can find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/sandsapps Twitter: @sandsapps and of course via my blog: www.iphonemom.blogspot.com.

Catch a Wave Wednesday - July 27th

2011-07-27T10:47:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Social Media Thursday - FREE Tele-Class

2011-07-26T11:03:00.002-04:00

Starting Thursday, August 4th, 2011, I will be hosting a FREE Social Media Marketing tele-class.
This exciting 30 minute call will focus on a different aspect of social media marketing each week.

Join me for my half an hour tele-class which will provide you with social media marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) tips you can impliment right away.

Attendees will also have an opportunity to ask questions and share their success stories.

Register at: http://socialmediathursday.eventbrite.com/

Catch a Wave Wednesday - July 20th

2011-07-19T15:51:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Creating My Way to Success. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Jill from Creating My Way to Success...

Hi, I'm Jill from Creating my way to Success. I'm originally from England but now live in the gorgeous tropical north of Australia in Cairns. My blog is based around sewing - this is the 'Creating' part and each week I add more free tutorials so you can sew your own practical, useful and fun things! I have the ultimate aim of turning my blog and crafting into a profitable business- this is the 'Success' part - and I explore this side of things on my blog too - sharing things I learn. I also believe a huge part of blogging is supporting and encouraging other bloggers, and so I try to feature and promote others whenever I can, through my blog, linky parties and facebook.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - July 13th

2011-07-12T21:50:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Life with Possum. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Kimberley from Life with Possum...

My name is Kimberley, and I am an urban homesteader out of Junction City, Kansas. I raise ducks and rabbits, as well as try to make anything possible from scratch. My blog started out just as a way to keep track of all my work and progress, as well as my failures. I have been blogging for a little over a year now, and have expanded the topics I write about to foraging and living a simpler life with frugal tips. I love having guest posts for crafts and other "green" ideas. I dream of one day living on my own farm and only relying on the outside world for as little as possible. Some may call me a hermit or a reculse, but I am at peace when I am outside listening to the squawking of my ducks and feeling the dirt beneath my feet as I garden.

Catch a Wave Wednesday - June 29th

2011-06-28T16:44:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Masshole Mommy. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Robin from Masshole Mommy...

Hi there, my name is Robin and I write Masshole Mommy, which I started in October of 2009. I started my blog as a way to keep all my thoughts in one place. I write about all sorts of things, especially life in New England and the Boston area. I am a mom to my two boys (3 & 6) and to my bonus son, who is 14/ And in case you are curious, Urban Dictionary defines a masshole as “For residents of Massachusetts, it is an achieved title for drving faster, being wreckless, cutting other drivers off often, and having no patience for other drivers on the road”.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - June 22nd

2011-06-21T20:24:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Mom's Bookshelf. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Miranda from Moms Bookshelf...

My name is Miranda Sherman and I am a stay at home Mom of 4 from Minnesota. My oldest is 10 and my youngest is 8 months old. Our house is busy, noisy, chaotic and migraine inducing but I love it. I try to share our experience with my readers. I share stories of our daily lives, hilarious anecdotes, along with our favorite homemade recipes, parenting advice, our love of books, my book reviews and of course a lot of family pictures and videos!

Twitter @MirandaSman
Facebook

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - June 15th

2011-06-14T21:35:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and a Creative Princess. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Terri from a Creative Princess...

Hi, my name is Terri and I'm thrilled to be co-hosting this week with Blogging Hints! Thank you, Cindy! I have a little craft blog called A Creative Princess. Before you ask, no, I didn't name my blog, my husband did. I thought it was just too sweet of him to name it that, I had to run with it! I'm fairly new to this blogging world of ours, but a long time crafter. I'm having the time of my life sharing what I love to do with you! Please stop by sometime and say "Hi". I would love to have you visit! Thanks again, Cindy!

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - June 8th

2011-06-07T20:53:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - June 1st

2011-05-31T18:49:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Saved By Love Creations. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Johnnie from Saved By Love Creations....

Saved By Love Creations is a blog full of DIY tutorials with a focus on keeping it thrifty. You will find everything from spray paint furniture projects, to polymer clay jewelry, to mixed media home decor and beyond. Freebies include digital art prints and cricut file downloads, crochet and knit patterns and several tutorials. You may see a review here and there, definitely guest features, Thrifty Thursday Blog Hop, and tales of an overweight beagle with his neurotic Jack Russell side kick. Hopefully you will leave inspired!

Expand From Blogger to Web Guru

2011-05-31T06:00:00.001-04:00

Guest Post by David Chamberlain

Believe it or not a lot of people start blogging as a way to make money online then give it a couple of months and quit. Rather than quit there may be some alternatives. First I would like to state that a couple of months is not a long enough time to find out if your model would be a success. Think of it as a business and give it a year. Now on to my subject, I will tell you how to take those skills you have learned from blogging and turn them into real money.

Throughout blogging you will learn a few of things assuming you put enough time in. Those are, On and off page SEO, Link building, content creation, website design, ad placement, social networking and content management systems at the least. All of those can be turned in to freelance or real jobs and in combination with the co-operation with the bloggers you have met and mingle with daily you could expand your operation. After a year of Blogging you will have a knowledge about the internet than most people or companies on the net.

Lets start with SEO, on and off page seo is a huge business and you can make a lot of money if you can translate traffic into customers. I had a blog that was getting 30,000 visitors a month and that was after only three months of content creation. So i was sitting at my computer like you and my wife was telling me to get a job. She started saying what jobs were on Craigslist and I kept telling her no for a couple of days, I wanted to make money on the net. So finally she started to get the point and told me about someone who needed traffic to their sites. That sparked my interest. I took what I knew about seo and went to have lunch with the person that needed help, turns out she loved what I had to say and hired me for 10-15 hours a week. That was my doorway in and you can do the same, take what you know and start contacting people on Craigslist. A lot of people will pay for: consultations, link building, on page seo etc...

So maybe you were not the seo pro and did not get a lot of traffic but the people that read your blog loved it. Your passion excited them. Take what you know about content creation and pair with a web designer, fellow blogger or post ads on craigslist stating that you will write articles. You can get paid just for writing unique articles for people. Also Web designers need writers for websites that they are setting up, sometimes the designer and owner of the site do not want to write the content.

Ok, so you didn't get any traffic and nobody like the way you write. For some reason you got 1,500 fans on Facebook and 3,000 followers on twitter. You could be the next social media guru, market yourself and look for someone that needs a social media guru. Companies trying to expand or startup on the internet will hire people to run their social media campaign once they find out how involved it is. You can scour Craigslist or contact web Designers and a lot of them outsource the social media campaigns of their clients.

Did you create a great looking blog? You might be ready to step up to web design, you could do themes, psd's, logo's, flash animations or any other number of items, start to network with designers and you can get started by just creating some small items for them or creating a bloggers logo, work on building a portfolio and then you will be able to present it to people to get work.

If you were good at all of these and just want to expand then you could pair with people to build your client base and in the mean time start a website selling your services. I have created one with all of the services that I offer so that when I discuss with people what I can do they can view it visually also. Whatever the case, take what you have learned and find someone who needs that service. Simple as that, oh, and don't give up....

David Chamberlain is Wired Web Designer. Wired Web Designer has created an an automated way to purchase sites and to enhance the way the site owner and web designer communicate. David Chamberlain loves the internet and will continue to work on the internet till it is shut down. http://wiredwebdesigner.com/

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - May 25th

2011-05-24T20:03:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and Tootsie Time. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Glenda from Tootsie Time....

I don't know what to say but that I am a single mom who loves to be busy with creative things both inside the house and out!

My given name is Glenda, but many know me as Tootsie. I am a single mother of three who lives and gardens in Central Alberta Canada, zone 3. I just do what works for me. I love to grow the flowers and plants that make others smile.

I have been growing in my greenhouse now for about 9 years and I love every minute of it. I love to grow all my own annual flowers from seed each year. I dream of one day having a greenhouse large enough to be able to make a living, but until that day comes, I am content in my 12x20 one.

I love to go junkin’ and fix old pieces of furniture, do interior decorating and all types of yard and garden work. Everything in my yard has been created by me and I am so very proud to share all my creations both household and garden related on Tootsie Time.

My greenhouse and gardens have gotten my through many a rough time in my life, and I am sentimental about them both, as every thing I do gets a little bit of me. I do hope all who come to my gardens both online and in person leave with a little inspiration, and a smile on their faces.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - May 18th

2011-05-17T21:07:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and My 2 Cents. Follow any other blogs you would like.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Valerie from My 2 Cents....

Hello, my name is Valerie and I am a play-at-home mom to 4 children Sarah, Savannah, Ryan and Ryker (in that order);-). I <3 being home with my kids and can't imagine it any other way. We live in the country and have ourselves a little funny farm consisting of 2 donkeys, 3 pregnant goats, 7 chickens and 3 dogs. I homeschool my daughter Savannah and want to homeschool the boys to but it will unfortunately be a battle with my husband. We like to do volunteer work and do things like make blankets for the city rescue mission and hand out valentine cards to the Veterans at our local VA hospital. I really like blogging as it is something that mine in this family of 6 and I love being able to share with others. Sending out those YOU ARE THE WINNER messages are my favorite! I hope you take a moment to check us out and maybe follow along. Thank you for your time. Have a blessed week.

The Financial and Personal Benefits of Career Blogging

2011-05-16T22:35:00.000-04:00

There are many benefits to pursuing a career in blogging. Perhaps one of the most alluring benefits to a career in blogging is the work can typically be done as a telecommute position. This is because as long as the blogger has access to a pc and the software necessary to write and upload a blog, there is no need for the blogger to perform the work from any specific location. This means the blogger can live virtually anywhere in the world and can probably perform the necessary work from his own home. However, not all career blogging positions are telecommute positions. Some organizations may prefer their bloggers to perform the work on-site as a matter of company policy.

Another benefit to a career in blogging is the ability to accomplish work at a pace which is convenient to the blogger. The blogger is usually required to upload a new post to the blog according to a regular schedule but the actually writing of the posts can be accomplished when it is convenient for the blogger. Many blogging software packages enable the blogger to set a specific time for a specific post to be uploaded. This allows the blogger to write several posts at a time and have them published according to a pre-determined schedule.

Finding Time to Blog

One of the problems which many bloggers face is finding the time to blog. This is especially difficult if the blogger maintains several blogs or if the blogger maintains a current events blog in which posts must be timely in order to be relevant and of interest to the readers. Writing blog posts in batches and scheduling them to publish as needed is one way to deal with managing several blogs. However, writers of blogs related to current events must take special care to budget their time wisely to ensure they are publishing topical blog posts. One way this can be accomplished is by setting aside time daily to reading current events to derive inspiration and then scheduling time after that to write and publish the blog. For example a blogger with a current events blog might choose to review the previous day's news the first thing in the morning to ensure they are reviewing all of the relevant news from the previous day before writing the blog post.

As you can see there are lots of financial and personal benefits to becoming a career blogger.

Peter Fisher is Coach and Webmaster for http://www.Your-Career-Change.com where you can pick up lots of useful tips about becoming a Career Blogger.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - May 11th

2011-05-10T18:57:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and PS Mom Reviews. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Sarah from PS Mom Reviews...

I'm Sarah from PS Mom Reviews. I am a married, stay at home mom of one 5 year old boy, Zachariah. I love trying out new products and writing reviews for them on my blog. And it's even better when I can share them with my readers through a giveaway! The products I feature are things that my family enjoys. I know if my family enjoyed something, maybe others will too and I want to get the word out there. Make sure you sign up for some of the great giveaways I have going on now. And I'm always posting new great things for you to win!

3 Reasons Why Your Blog Needs Video

2011-05-09T06:00:00.001-04:00

If you haven't started incorporating video into your blog, website or social media program, you need to make it a priority! Here are 3 reasons why you should:
People can find you
People will trust you
People will like you

Videos increase SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

You may have the best product, service or story in the world but people will never know if they cannot find you! So how do people find you? Where do people look for information when they logon to their computers? Google is the first choice but You Tube second! Second! That means millions and millions of people are searching for products, services, information and entertainment, every day, on YouTube.

If someone searches for you on YouTube who will they find? You or your competition?

Videos Inspire Trust

Building trust with your potential customer is the cornerstone to all visual advertising. People trust other people who look them in the eye and speak to them; even if it's about shoes or cleaning or charities. The viewer feels a connection and forms a bond with the person as if they are friends chatting on the front porch. That feeling is ideally transferred onto the speaker's product or service and initiates a positive action from the viewer; like purchasing the shoe or signing up for a cleaning contract or donating to the charity.

Are your customers able to "chat with you on the front porch"? Do they have that connection and trust?

People like videos

People will like you over the competition because they like videos. Videos are more entertaining, easier to understand and time saving. Let's face it, to most of us it is more fun to watch a movie than read a book. Sure you miss out on some of the details when you watch a movie, but if you want more you can always read the book too! And unlike reading, videos are often clearer and easier to understand because you can hear the nuances and inflections in the speakers voice allowing you to easily discern the most important parts.

Plus the time-saving benefit is huge. Where your potential customer may not have time to dedicate his full attention to reading your post on the Benefits of Upgrading Your Security System, he may be able to listen to your video as he is doing emails or other tasks. Half attention is better than none at all and if he likes what he hears, he will look up and give you the opportunity to build trust through eye contact.

Not sure how to make or what to say in a video? Read More.

How to Montetize your Blog with Banner Ads

2011-05-08T17:24:00.000-04:00

There are different ways in which you can go about in monetizing your blog. The most popular way in monetizing a blog is to sell banner ads and other ad space. You can make a lot of money with this concept alone due to the fact that they usually have a price per thousand times it's shown on the site. They are a magnet when it comes to what people look at on websites. They attract a person's interest as soon as they get on the page.
Generate Income From Your Unused Space

One of the best ways to earn income from your blog is to sell space. If your blog is generating a lot of traffic, many blog owners will be very willing to pay you a fee for putting their information in front of your readers.

Types To Avoid

Most people tend to think that flashy ads would attract others into clicking their banners, but in actuality, it keeps them from clicking. No one wants to be bothered with something flashing all the time on their screen. That makes them want to refresh the page so something non-flashing will show up. Most people are irritated by the popups and popunders and will leave a blog if there are too many. Be careful with the page peel advertisement so that they do not get in the way of your visitor every time they use the scroll bar at the top. It may be better to put them on the left side of the page instead of the right side.

Best Sizes

After concluding that you want to sell banner ads, you need to think of a size that would be best for your blog. Most people go with 125 x 125 in size or 468 x 60. The best way in determining the best size is to go about resizing the banner to see if there's a noticeable change within the pixels or not. If the picture looks distorted, you'll need to resize accordingly. They should naturally fit the pages content too, so it doesn't look like it is a separate edition from the rest of your content.

Where To Place Them On The Page

The best place to put your advertisements is in the content block, as they receive the most clicks there. The left column and the header does better than the right column and the footer area is the worst placement area.

Pricing

When it comes to selling these, most people have trouble deciding how much to charge per impression. If you have a huge blog, with lots of visitors, you may want to charge roughly five dollars per thousand views. The money can add up quickly and you can be on your way to a passive income.

If you are a startup, you may encounter trouble at first when it comes to pricing the impressions for five dollars per thousand views. A great tip is to keep marketing and adding content to your blog for your impression value will go up based upon the number of real visitors that you have.

Blogger Or WordPress - How They Compare

2011-05-04T23:37:00.001-04:00

Bloggers: Should You Use Blogger.com or WordPress?

Blogger.com (also known as Blogspot) and WordPress are the two most commonly used blogging platforms today. Blogger.com was a pioneer in the blogging industry, allowing users to set up accounts and blog for free beginning in 1999. Blogger.com was purchased by Google in 2003, which enabled it to grow using Google's resources. Today, Blogger.com has an undisclosed number of millions of users blogging on their system.

WordPress began in 2003 as the successor to another (now relatively unknown) blogging system. It has since become the blog platform of choice for most blogging professionals. There are currently over two million people who are active users of WordPress.com, and there are millions of others who have downloaded various versions of the WordPress code.

Using the Blogger setup mandates that your blog be hosted on their servers. In comparison, blogs running on WordPress' platform can be hosted at WordPress.com, or the WordPress software can be downloaded and used on your choice of web hosts. Below are some of the key features of Blogger.com versus the two versions of WordPress setups.

Blogger.com Features

Free hosting for up to 1 GB worth of space

Blog content is maintained on Blogger.com web servers

Ability to choose and customize templates (limited flexibility)

Easy to get started; easy to use

Upload and store image files and video files

WordPress.com Features

Free hosting for up to 3GB worth of space

Blog content is maintained on WordPress.com web servers

Ability to choose and customize templates (limited flexibility)

Easy to get started; easy to use

Upload and store image, video, and other (limited) file formats

WordPress Self-Hosted Features

Blog content is maintained on user's preferred web host

Nearly unlimited ability to choose and customize templates and widgets

Takes some technical ability to setup and configure

Files support limited only by web server, which likely means virtually unlimited

Who Uses Which

A quick perusal of a few the various blogs running on the Blogspot.com domain versus those that use one of the WordPress setups (accounts on WordPress.com and self-hosted blogs using WordPress software) indicates that Blogspot.com is more commonly used for people who blog about their families, pets, and other personal kinds of topics. Compared to WordPress users, Blogger.com users are typically not "professional" bloggers, although there are plenty of Common Joe bloggers who monetize their Blogspot blogs and make a living doing it.

Self-hosted WordPress blogs lean more toward professional entities who have an IT person or department who handles their maintenance. They are often more formal. Because WordPress.com is similar in its functionality to Blogger.com, blogs using WordPress.com are similar to Blogger blogs in content, naturally more casual or personal than self-hosted WordPress blogs.

Cost

Blogspot accounts are free. So are accounts on WordPress.com. However, if you want to do any significant customization of your WordPress.com-hosted blog, you'll have to pay to upgrade to their Custom CSS membership, which costs $14.97 per year. WordPress.com accounts can be upgraded to give you additional disk space($19.97/year for 5GB up to $89.97/year for 25GB), unlimited user accounts for your blog($29.97/year), and the ability to add videos (Blogger.com naturally has this support built in.) to your blog ($59.97/year). If your blog runs on the WordPress platform downloadable from WordPress.org, your costs are dependent upon your hosting account, which could cost as little as $5.00 per month or as much as hundreds of dollars monthly.

Flexibility

Because WordPress is open source software, it gives experienced bloggers much more flexibility when it comes to customizing a blog. When you download and install WordPress, you have full access to the database and the PHP, CSS, and image files that comprise the WordPress blogging platform. In contrast to Blogger's platform, having development access to the entire system allows users to be as creative as they want to be. This flexibility does not exist to nearly the extent with accounts that are hosted on WordPress.com. One bonus that WordPress.com does provide is the ability to host files other than simply images. MS PowerPoint files, Word (.doc) and Open Office (.odt) word processing files, and PDF files can be uploaded and stored for use on a WordPress.com account.

Although Blogger allows and encourages users of their setup to customize their blogs adding Google gadgets and changing layouts, I've found that there is a lot of guesswork involved when trying to figure out how to manipulate their XML schema, which is used to customize templates beyond adding gadgets and changing layouts. When I customize blogs hosted on Blogger's system, I often feel like I'm abstracted from their lower level setup. Some of Blogger's XML tags are documented, but that documentation is sparse. When I'm customizing a Blogspot blog, it's as if I'm throwing my work over a wall, and then checking to see what I get back. This interface can be frustrating.

A comparison that is noteworthy between each of these blog platforms is the ability to categorize posts. Greater flexibility exists with both WordPress.com-hosted blogs and self-hosted ones using the WordPress software than with Blogger.com. Categories are created using Labels on Blogger.com blogs. This setup does not allow for sub-categories on Blogger account. Sub-categories are a natural part of both WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress blogs.

Ease of Use

For the layman blogger, getting started with blogging on Blogger's platform is the simplest of tasks. You simply create an account, choose a template, and start writing away. The interface is very straight forward for users of Blogger. WordPress.com are similar, slightly more complicated. WordPress self-hosted blogs require a user to download the software, upload it to a server, configure database settings, and run the installation program included with the software. This process is pretty straightforward for someone with IT experience, but for most other people it is a little intimidating.

Once a blog is setup with any of these platforms, using it is simple enough regardless of which one you choose. However, of all the interfaces, Blogger.com is probably the easiest to understand and navigate.

Security and Updates

WordPress has had a history of vulnerability to hacks. To minimize that risk, it is recommended that users of WordPress be vigilant about maintaining their sites. Specifically, WordPress blog owners hosting their own blogs are encouraged to keep up with current updates.

Blogger users can essentially allow the Blogger development team to worry about hacks. Because the blog data is kept on Blogger's servers, there is much less likelihood that Blogger sites can be hacked.

Which One's Best for Me

If your intentions are simply to publish your information to the world without hassling with intense customization and continuing updates, Blogger.com is the way to go. Because most run-of-the-mill bloggers fit into this category, Blogger has the largest number (although nobody knows how many that is) of blogs in the Internet today.

If you have the resources and desire to be more sophisticated in your blogging habits, WordPress is what you should use. Accessibility to the inner workings of WordPress allows it to be used for much more than just a simple online journal. I recently talked to someone who told me his company uses WordPress software as a content management system, performing many of the functions of a CMS such as Joomla.

Check out WebsiteTemplateDatabase.com, a resource for blogger templates

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - May 4th

2011-05-03T22:17:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and 2 Against 1. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know Lynda from 2 Against 1....

2 Against 1 is a reflection of the trials and tribulations of a first time mother of twins. I hope to engage and humor my readers with stories, as my twins and I learn and grow together. There was a time when I provided customer service to home buyers, now it's to 2 toddlers and I couldn't be happier. 2 Against 1 also enjoys reviewing family friendly products and hosting great giveaways.

Joomla for Beginners

2011-04-29T10:06:00.000-04:00

The advent of information technology has certainly brought with it a host of new applications and tools that are used for different purposes. It is probably the best example of what developments that have been made in technology can achieve, and there is surely no looking back, only going forward with it. Probably all aspects of our lives are already affected by this unprecedented progress and development, and there is no end in sight to it all. The good news about all of this is that the new tools and applications that are coming are being made more user-friendly than before, so that more and more people can have access to and learn it.
One leading example of the many tools that Information Technology has spawned is Joomla, which is an example of the latest software that allows you to create and then make updates to web pages. It allows you to do this in a most efficient and user-friendly manner. A Joomla based website allows for the easy management of its content, and is efficiently put together in an organized database. The templates that are the main controls for the overall look of the site is also easily managed, which results in a synthesis of the template and the content. Together, those two elements combine to form the entirety of the web pages.

The great thing about Joomla is that it is already proven and it is used and even supported by very competent web developers and managers. It is also very much recognized as one of the foremost Content Management System (CMS) platforms there is. Those beginners who are not yet familiar with it, and yet wants to learn how to use Joomla might want to be filled in on the basics first. That is the most important thing when trying to get started on a new tool or application, which is what Joomla is to many.

Being interested in using Joomla might stem from a variety of purposes. You might want a Joomla site as a means of launching a small or personal entrepreneurial venture, or you may be a freelance artist or writer who would like to establish your very own identity over the Internet. Joomla is the thing for you then, and even if you are already well-versed with the many intricacies of the Internet, and yet is still fairly new to the application, then how to use Joomla template is for you. It would allow you to basically become an expert in the platform, ensuring better web presence for the future.

Bio: Ryan Mullen. For the last couple of years I've been playing around with Joomla, and I love it. So come on over to my website learn how to use Joomla where I share my best secrets about Joomla and how to use Joomla template.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6023663

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - April 27th

2011-04-26T23:15:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - April 20th

2011-04-19T22:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Learn About the Benefits of Using HootSuite For Social Networking

2011-04-18T10:09:00.000-04:00

If you are new to the online space and want to learn internet marketing there are a lot of different concepts that are accessible to attract traffic for your internet marketing products. One of these utilizes the power of many popular social networking websites and intern giving your internet marketing products exposure.
In this post you are going to discover how you can use the great power of a web tool named HootSuite to automate the system that is social networking. Once you have completed this post you will know how to focus on other areas of your internet marketing business with confidence that HootSuite is handling the social networking part.

You can probably relate, I recall the time I first began to learn about the many social networking sites online from twitter to foursquare I began to feel overwhelmed. Not by the amount of the social networking sites but instead the time required be spent in order to make use of the main ones. To market on Twitter alone seemed like a forty hour job not to mention LinkedIn. As a result of being very overwhelmed I avoided the social networking side of things for a very long time.

I did not visit the social sites for anything other than my own personal entertainment, until one day I was spending some time on an online forum and I read up about this tool named HootSuite. The forum member said that he was able to run all of the major social network sites through HootSuite and it only was taking him a day each month to get his social networking activity out of the way. I found this tricky to believe, but out of curiosity I decided to sign up for HootSuite and began looking around at what could be finished.

HootSuite is an excellent social management tool that literally handles all the social networking you could think of.

You can sign up for LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook profiles, Facebook pages, Foursquare, Ping.fm, MySpace and WordPress. What HootSuite allows you to do is make status updates on each of the social networking sites all together. So if I was to say I am hungry, bring me food and then chose send to all networks, HootSuite within no time would automatically send out the update across my networks for all of my friends to see.

HootSuite also has another valuable feature that is priceless if you are really busy. HootSuite lets you schedule updates, days, months or even years ahead of time. All you need to have is a day to invest submitting updates to a file to upload and HootSuite will sort out the rest.

This element means that you do not ever again have to sit in front of the computer all day submitting updates because HootSuite will sort out everything for you.

HootSuite is definitely the ideal tool for any one who is looking for mass exposure.

If you would like to learn more about how to market online you can visit Sam Bakker's blog and learn affiliate marketing.

If you would like to start your own internet business you can also visit Sam's new product download page where he is giving away a course that will teach you how to make money online. You can get a copy here.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - April 13th

2011-04-12T15:57:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and CookKids. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Betsy from CoolKids...

I am Betsy, the blogger behind coolkids. I am a working mom of two cool kids of my own. I share my addiction to etsy, obsession with cool and hip clothing and anything else cool for kids. I feature real life cool kids and host weekly giveaways. I love making new connections, discovering new blogs and meeting new friends! Please stop by coolkids and say hello! Have a great Wednesday!

Grow Your Blog or Business with Social Media Marketing Webinar

2011-04-09T16:40:00.000-04:00

My company, CB Virtual Services, is hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 about how you can use social media marketing tools to grow your blog and/or your business. Here are the details:

What: Grow Your Blog or Business with Social Media Marketing

When: Wednesday, April 27, 2011 from 11:30am - 12:30pm (EST)

Where: Online

Cost: Free

If you're interested, register here via the Brevard B2B Network website. Once you register, you will receive an email before the date of the webinar with instructions on how to access the webinar. I look forward to having all of you attend as I know this information will be very informative and help you achieve the results you want regarding your blog traffic.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - April 6th

2011-04-05T20:55:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and One, Two, Buckle My Shoe. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know more about Erica from One, Two, Buckle My Shoe...

I'm so excited to be a feature blog this week so here goes......I am a 27 year old mama of a little girl (Sofia) age 3 1/2 and a little boy (Antonio) age 15 months, currently residing in Northern NJ. I work a full time 40/hr per week job in telecommunications and I also have a small ETSY shop as well. We are your typical loud ....fun loving....Latin family! I started this blog when my first daughter was an infant as a way to share her updates and photos with family and friends and it's grown into so much more. Through blogging I've met so many wonderful women and mothers and received so much advice on parenting, kids activities, you name it! I think I have a bit of a blogging obsession at this point :) I can't imagine my life without blogging. I'm also a craft, fashion, & photography lover and recently started doing graphic blog design as well! I hoope you all enjoy my blog and I will visit yours back as well! I'm always open to meeting new bloggy friends!

Yours, Erica

Never Underestimate the Power of YouTube

2011-04-04T14:45:00.000-04:00

YouTube is best known as "the" place to watch a variety of different videos. More than likely YouTube will have a video on anything your interested in including product reviews, celebrities, how to videos, music and just silly videos. But Youtube can also help promote your blog, website, product or service.

Youtube makes it extremely simple to create a channel, upload a video and share it with the public. Do not underestimate the power Youtube has at spreading the word about your site, product or service.

Creating a YouTube video to promote one of my blogs or an ebook has been on my "To Do" list for quite some time. However, it was just one of those things that I hadn't gotten around to.

In any event, I finally created a video to promote my ebook, "Busy Mom's Ultimate Guide to Finding the Perfect Work at Home Job" and uploaded it to YouTube. Within days of this upload, the video link has been copied and embedded on several other websites. And as a result, information about my ebook is starting to spread across the net.

If you have a blog, website, or business, harness the power of YouTube and create a buzz about what you have to offer. If you need help with creating a video, contact me at cindy@cbvirtualservices.com or visit CB Virtual Services and I'll help you create a video that best represents what you are all about.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - March 30th

2011-03-29T20:49:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

13 Steps to Successful Blogging

2011-03-29T07:43:00.000-04:00

Blogs can be a very marketable and very profitable tool if used correctly. Profiting from blogs is just a matter of grabbing the attention of an audience and not doing any actual salesmen selling. In this article you will learn the 13 most essential steps to successful blogging.
1) Where to start?

You should begin your blog with a free blog hosting service such as Journal Home or Blogger. Starting with a free blog hosting service allows you to begin blogging instantly without having any advance knowledge of scripts, hosting, or programming. It allows you to focus on your content and not the internal maintenance of the blog. The best benefit of starting with a free service is, in the case your blog doesn't become successful you do not lose any money or are you left holding the bill. The great thing about a blog is that they are organized in chronological order, your latest entry is displayed first. When your blog traffic grows greatly and you are ready to upgrade to your own domain then you can simply make your last blog entry the announcement of your "move". Simply add a last entry stating that your blog has "moved" and type the new blog URL address. Which directs visitors to your new blog site, keeping your following, without a major inconvenience to anyone. Upgrade as you need to...but only when you need to!

2) Niche

A niche is a targeted product, service, or topic. You should first decide on a product, service, or topic which interest you. Choose an area which you can enthusiastically write about on a daily basis. You can use keyword research services like Google Zeitgeist or Yahoo! Buzz Index to find popular searched topics. It does NOT matter if your topic is popular as long as there is a audience for your topic and the topic is precisely focused then your blog should be successful. Anything can be considered a niche as long as it has a target audience no matter how large or how small the audience is. A blog about your cat can be a niche or a blog about the species of the cat family can be a larger niche market, if there are people who are interested in hearing about your cat or the species of the cat family...you can even choose to build your audience for a market which an audience does not exist, but first you must build your blog.

3) Update Daily (nothing less)

This step is a must and not a suggestion. Updating your blog daily not only keeps your blog more interesting to readers, but it also gives your blog fresh content on a day to day making it more appealing to search engines. Not updating your blog on an occasional holiday or one day here and there is understandable to most, but missing days at a time or weeks is unacceptable and will most likely result in your blog being unsuccessful. To keep your blog traffic and retain your visitors interest it is a must to update your blog daily with multiple entries. You should try to update your blog everyday with at least 3 or more daily entries. The best way to accomplish this is to set aside 1-2 hours a day for tending to your blog and adding new entries. It may even be wise to schedule a set time which you dedicate to your blog each day. Give yourself work hours and treat your blog as a job, what happens if you don't come to work for days or weeks...you lose money or worse you get fired! Same applies here...if you don't update your blog for days or weeks you'll lose visitors.

4) Traffic

It's no secret. You must have traffic to profit from blogs. There are numerous ways to build traffic. Paid advertising, free advertising, viral marketing, search engine marketing, RSS/XML feeds, and word-of-mouth. You should always use your blog URL address in the signature of your email, forum discussions, message boards, or any other communication media. You should submit your blog URL address to search engines and blog directories. You should submit your RSS/XML URL feed to blog ping services like Technorati, Ping-O-Matic, and Blogdigger. You should confidently share your blog with family, friends, co-workers, associates, and business professionals when it relates. Many blogs can be considered as a collection of articles, for this purpose you should submit your blog entries (those that are valuable and lengthy articles) to content syndicators like GoArticles.com or ArticleCity.com. Once submitted your articles can be picked up and published by others. The trick is to make sure you include your Blog URL address in the "About the Author" passage. What this does is create link popularity and backlinks for your blog, when someone picks up your article from the syndication then publish the article on their website the "About the Author" passage is included with each publication and the link you included is followed, crawled, and indexed by search engines. Imagine if your article is popular enough or controversial enough to produce 10,000 publications across the web. The search engines is bound to find your site in no time with that many publications and credit you a authority on the topic, in return increasing your rank on search engines. The small effort of writing a well written article is rewarding. You should try to write at least 1 full length article every week for syndication and submit your article to at least 10 article syndicators.

5) Track Your Blog

How do you know if your blog has traffic? Just because no one is leaving comments doesn't mean your blog isn't growing. Many visitors do not leave comments but they are returning visitors. I know it sounds crazy but with blogs people are more interested in what "you" have to say! Many visitors do not comment their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time. Some do not comment at all, but are active daily visitors.

Tracking your blog does not have to be overly sophisticated usually a simple free page counter like StatCounter.com or Active Meter will do the trick. Install (copy/paste) the code into the html of your blog template and start tracking your visitors. Its better to use a service which gives you advanced traffic analysis, such as keyword tracking information, referral information, and search engine information. Visitors, returning visitors, and unique visitors should be standard for any page counter service you choose.

6) Listen to Your Audience

When using the proper page counter you should begin to see how others are finding your blog and if through search engines then which keywords are being used to find your blog. If constantly your blog is being found by 1 or more keywords then focus your blog around those keywords to make it even more powerful. When writing entry titles and entries use the keywords as often as possible while keeping the blog legible and interesting.

7) Multiple blogs

Use multiple blogging accounts to attract more people. This means you should have a blog with JournalHome.com, Blogger.com, LiveJournal.com, Blog-City.com, tBlogs.com, etc. The more blog accounts the better. You can copy/paste from 1 blog to all others. Having different blog accounts is like having a publication in different newspapers. This enables you to attract more visitors and this also increases the chance that 1 of your blogs will be in the search engine results for your focused keywords.

8) Short & Concise

Aside from the lengthy article a week for syndication and publication your blog entries should be short & concise (if you can help it). Sometimes there are exceptions to the rule and you have no choice but to blog lengthy entries, but try to avoid this as much as possible. You do not want your blog entries to become hours of reading. Visitors like to easily find information and skim through your entries. It is good to be detailed and provide useful information, but do not include useless information or run away sentences that veer away from your topic.

9) Digital Art

Try to include non-advertising graphics, pictures, photos, and art in your blog entries. Not too much. Once a week is fine. Graphics can sometimes bring your blog to life. Of course, the content of the blog is the most important aspect and you do not want to overshadow your content with graphics, but displaying graphics can add a bit of spice to the blog. Be choosy about your graphics and make sure they fit your entry topic. You should add content with the graphic, at least a caption. Original graphics, photos, pictures, and art is recommended.

10) Keep it Personal

A blog is most successful when it is kept personal. Try to include personal experiences which relates to the topic of your blog entry. Stay away from the business style of writing. Write with a more personal style and use first-person narratives. Do not write any of your entries as sales letters, instead share product reviews and personal endeavors.

11) Interact With Your Visitors

You now have the traffic you deserve. You should begin interacting with your visitors. Create a regular theme such as: "Monday Money Tip" or "Picture of the Week" which entices your readers to look forward to each week.

Give your readers advance notice about a product, service, or topic which you are going to review and then talk about later. If the President was scheduled to give a speech then in your blog you should state that you "will discuss the speech and give your opinion after the speech airs. Comments will be appreciated".

Try your best to find exclusive information that not many have. Do not disclose any confidential or secret information which is deemed illegal or can potentially get you into trouble, but try to get the scoop before everyone else does. Such as: If your blog was about Paris Hilton (the socialite) and you had a blog entry about "Paris Hilton Getting Married" then it would be interesting to your readers if you had a actual picture of Paris Hilton engagement ring. Give your best effort to dig and search the internet for exclusive information and you will possibly come up with something useful. Your readers will appreciate this and they show their appreciation through word-of-mouth referrals. Imagine how many readers will tell their friends, family, and others about information they only can find at your blog.

12) Make Money

Once your blog has gained some real momentum and your blog traffic is increasing then it is time to start thinking about turning your traffic into profit. You should use contextual advertising, like Google AdSense or Chitika. Contextual advertising is usually text links which use the content of your blog to publish targeted ads on your blog. The payout is usually based on a pay-per-click model, meaning for ever click an ad receives you are paid a small percentage of the profits. In addition to contextual advertising it is good to also use graphical advertising such as: BlogAds.com, Amazon.com, MammaMedia, or General Sponsored Advertising.

13) You're a Professional

You're a professional now! What are you still doing with that free blog hosting service? It is time to upgrade to a domain hosted solution. You need to get a web host and choose a domain name for your blog then check its availability. Select the blogging software you wish to use, such as: Squarespace.com, WordPress.org, MovableType.org, etc. When you have your new blog domain setup and ready for traffic then it is time for you to announce your move on all your previous blog accounts. Your last entry to the blog should be a "move" announcement. The title should be "Moved" and the blog entry should state something like "Old Blog has been moved to New Blog please follow and bookmark this link for future reference. This way all returning visitors and new readers should not have any problem finding your new blog domain.

At the level of a professional blogger you may want to team up with 1 or more other bloggers. This will create a more interesting and more powerful blog. The old saying "two heads is better than one", more authors mean more advertising and exposure because each author will have a vested interest in the blog. The idea of a team blog is to make it profitable and rewarding for all authors, while continuing to target the blog topic and keeping the blog interesting for visitors.

Following these blogging techniques should make your blogging experience much more rewarding. There is no guarantee that your blog will become popular or a household name, but the effort should at least put you one step closer. Making money online is not an overnight experience like many may think, but making money online is definitely a foreseeable possibility. As well, growing popularity on the web is not an overnight experience, but through time, dedication, and persistence you will be rewarded with all the royalties of blogging.

About The Author

Ant Onaf is an expert SEO consultant. Ant Onaf has years of SEO related experience. His ingenuity, dedication, and passion for technology, internet marketing, & writing has made him an monumental icon on the World Wide Web. To learn more visit Ant Onaf blog here.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - March 16th

2011-03-15T21:10:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - March 9th

2011-03-08T22:39:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

A Balanced Life May Help Blogger Burnout

2011-03-07T09:03:00.000-05:00

At one time or another a blogger may experience blogger burnout. Blogger burnout is the loss of interest in updating your blog or blogging altogether. This situation can happen when you spend countless hours in front of the computer creating blog posts, increasing traffic and networking. If you spend too much time on your blog and allow the rest of the things in your life to fall behind, it could result in your life becoming overwhelming.

In fact this happened to me around the holidays. I started a new job, my house was a wreck, holiday shopping and traveling needed to get done. It was all just too much and I ended up walking away from my blogs. I stayed away for several months. However, I needed that time to think about what I wanted in my life and how I wanted my life to be. I wanted to continue blogging but I also wanted to have a tidy, organized home. I also wanted to allow time for myself to exercise, read or do whatever I chose. So, I designed a plan for myself that would help me accomplish all the things I wanted to do each day.

The company I'm currently working for doesn't start working until 11:00am my time so that gives me about 3 hours in the morning to run errands, tidy up the house, exercise and work on my blogs. I'm still adjusting to this new schedule but so far I'm much happier. Unfortunately, I've probably lost some followers during this time. However, I'll be a better blogger, wife and mother at the end of the day because I did take the time I need to step away from the computer and take my life back. Additionally, I wanted to start my own virtual assistant business, CB Virtual Services.

If you want a successful blog, it does take a lot of time and work. But you can't spend every waking hour on your blog and not take some time to enjoy other things in life. Especially if you have young children, you don't want to look back at your life and regret that you missed out on enjoying your family because you were blogging. Balance. That is the word that I'm constantly telling myself these days - Balance. You don't want to get burnt out like I did and just walk away.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - March 2nd

2011-03-01T19:21:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and International Momma. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's get to know a little more about Brooke from the International Momma...

A wife and mother of one, The Intentional Momma encourages other moms to laugh, organize, read, create, and save money! From her shopping trips, funny video clips, homemade hairbows, and reading insights, The Intentional Momma offers a positive outlook during stressful times. The Intentional Momma wants you to be the very best mom you can be! Follow her journey from a two-income to a single-income family.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - February 23rd

2011-02-22T19:33:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - February 16th

2011-02-15T19:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and our Feature Blog Me, The Man & The Baby. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's learn more about Emma from Me, The Man & The Baby.....

My blog is all about my life as a SAHM (Stay at home Mother) to one toddler called Oli and housewife to Jon ( who even has a blog himself - Just A Typical Dad!) I often blog about parenting and issues I face as Oli hits the toddler years. Not only do I just blog about my own family life, I also like to blog about and add my own view on parenting articles and stories that hit the news.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - February 9th

2011-02-08T20:41:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and our Feature Blog Riding the Rollercoaster. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's learn more about Riding the Rollercoaster....

Wife on the Roller Coaster is a proud military spouse, riding that crazy roller coaster called military life. But she's also a mother of 2 young children, a freelance writer, a kindergarten teacher and everything in between. She blogs about all that craziness at Riding the Roller Coaster.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - February 2nd

2011-02-01T19:31:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and our Feature Blog Mom to Two Posh Lil' Divas. Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's learn more about Bernadette from Mom to Two Posh Lil' Divas....

Hi! My name is Bernadette and I am the proud Mommy to 2 Posh Lil Divas (ages 5 and 3.5). My Lil Divas are 15 months apart and they keep me on my toes! There is never a dull moment in our household but we wouldn't have it any other way.

I have been married to my wonderful husband for 6 years and before becoming a SAHM I was an elementary school teacher! I think this is pretty apparent in my blog as a big part of it deals with preschool learning and crafts! The teacher in me just loves to keep busy and I am always finding new ways to help my girls learn while having a bit of fun along the way.

I started blogging in November of 2010 so I am relatively new to this but have fallen in love with the blog world very quickly! I love reading other blogs and knowing I am not alone in this crazy adventure called Motherhood. Being a mom is such a roller coaster ride full of twists and turns and ups and down - I just needed an outlet and Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas has given me that and so much more!

I have met so many wonderful people and continue to be amazed at how people continue to stop by and check in on our lives and comment back to us! I LOVE comments - it makes me feel like people are really out there, lol! Actually, it's just wonderful to know that other parents understand where I am now and have either been there and survived or are struggling right along with me. It's nice to be able to share and laugh at the craziness that is our daily life with our kids.

I hope you will take a moment to stop by Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas and share in our daily adventures. Be sure to let me know you were there! I love meeting new blog friends and always stop by your blogs too! Look forward to getting to know you!

Keep Blog Hops Free with InLinkz

2011-02-01T08:39:00.000-05:00

It was just announced that Linky Tools will no longer be offering a free service. Starting February 7th, 2011, Linky Tools will charge a yearly fee of $24.

I love hosting blog hops however, I don't believe it is cost feasible for me to pay $2 / month just to host the hop.

However, many bloggers already use InLinkz. InLinkz offers text link service for free and thumbnail image link services are $19.99 / year or you can pay as you go for $1.99 / month.

The good news is that I will able to continue hosting my blog hops. So if you are in the same boat as me and don't want to pay $24 to host your blog hop, then check out what InLinkz has to offer.

Feature Blog Winner: Confessions of a Money Saving Mom

2011-01-30T17:20:00.001-05:00

The lucky winner of the Feature Article and 1 Month of Free Advertising is Karissa from Confessions of a Money Saving Mom

Karissa was lucky #26 randomly chosen using Random.org

Let's learn more about Karissa from Confessions of a Money Saving Mom...

1. Tell a little about yourself.

Lets see, I am an at home mommy to three beautiful kiddos, all of which where preemies, but only my last one Peanut spent time in NICU and now has many health problems (lung/breathing related). As well as being only 4 lbs at birth. I blog in my free time, just to vent and bring good deals to my readers! I also enjoy couponing and saving lots of money! My son is 5 yrs, my daughter 3 yrs, and my youngest daughter is 4 months.

2. When did you get started blogging?

I started blogging in November of last year.

3. What is the topic of your blog?

My blog is about life, coupons, match ups, and deals. With a little bit of this and that thrown in, as well as reviews and soon to be giveaways!

4. What do you think was the key to the success of your blog?

Reaching out to other bloggers and inviting them to view my blog!

5. How much time do you spend working on your blog per week?

WAY to much lol I post many times throughout every day.

6. What advice would you give to a new blogger?

Get out there through blog hops and meet other bloggers, there are so many talented bloggers who can help you learn.

7. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you so much for this opportunity!

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop January 26th

2011-01-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and our Feature Blog Mama to 4 Blessings ~ Our Homeschool Blog.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's learn more about Nicole from Mama to 4 Blessings ~ Our Homeschool Blog....

My name is Nicole, I am a Christian 37 year old homeschool mom to my 5 and 3 year old boys. I have 4 children: 3 boys (5 years, 3 years & 1 month) and a baby girl 21 months! I am one busy mama! My blog is geared to homeschooling, thriftiness, crafts, family and reviews / giveaways! I enjoy blogging in the little bit of free time I have as well as crafting (scrapbooking, sewing, etc). Please stop by my blog and check it out!
http://mamato3blessings.blogspot.com/

Feature Article and 1 Month Free Advertising Contest

2011-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

3 Days Left to Enter this Giveaway! Drawing will be held on Tuesday, January 25th at Midnight.

I'm hosting a contest where the winner will receive a feature article about their blog AND 1 month of free advertising here on Blogging Hints.

On Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at Midnight (eastern standard time) a random comment will be selected as the winner. That person will be notified via email and arrangements will be made for them to receive their prize.

To enter you can do any of the following. Each of these will count as an additional entry into the contest. Please leave a comment for each thing you do.

Leave a comment to this post with your blog name and URL.
Make a Tweet or Facebook post about this contest.
Subscribe email updates.
Become a follower.
Digg one of my articles.
Stumble Upon one of my articles.

Restrictions:

Only one follow per person. You may tweet or Facebook post about the contest once a day. Please leave me a comment here when you have tweeted, posted or became a follower. Each comment, follow, tweet and Facebook post will be count as an entry into the contest.

Good Luck!

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop January 19th

2011-01-18T21:04:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and our Feature Blog Create with Joy.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's learn more about Create with Joy...

Create With Joy is an inspirational blog that celebrates creativity in every facet of our lives! You’ll discover something new to ignite your creative passion on every visit, including:

Stunning cards, paper crafts, and altered art
Delicious meals and decadent desserts
Encouraging essays and inspiring songs
Beautiful photography and creative challenges
Motivating quotes and memorable poems

I cordially invite you to explore Create With Joy and leave a message on your favorite post letting me how I can inspire you to lead a more passionate and creative life!

Create Webforms Using Google Docs

2011-01-14T08:33:00.000-05:00

Google Docs or Google Documents in a free online application offered by Google which allows users to create or upload documents, spreadsheets, presentations, forms and drawings. These documents can be edited, shared or embedded into web pages.

Google Docs form feature is a quick and easy way to create webforms within your blog or website. User create the form within Google Docs and then embed a small line of code into the page or post. When a visitor fills out the webform, the information automatically is added to a spreadsheet within Google Documents. You can set up a notification for Google Docs to send you an email whenever a new entry has been added to this spreadsheet.

To get started using Google Docs, you simply visit www.google.com/documents and create a Google account if you don't already have a one. Then click "Create new" from the drop down menu on the left and then choose "Form". This is a very simple tool to use and I definitely recommend using it if you want to have a form on your blog or website.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - January 12th

2011-01-11T19:44:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and our Feature Blog With Our Best.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Let's learn more about With Our Best...

1. How long have you been blogging?

June 2010 (I can finally say “Since last year!”). I am a newbie that appreciates all tips and pointers!

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

Hello! I am an administrative assistant, flight attendant and blogger. Soon to be just the latter two! I love food, thrift shopping, traveling, reading and, well, most everything except the gym!

3. What is the focus of your blog?

WithOurBest.com is mainly product reviews and giveaways, with some freebies, recipes and travel tips thrown into the mix.

4. What is the most important thing you've learned from blogging?

Don’t expect an easy journey when you start a blog. It is time consuming, exhausting, frustrating… but can be totally worth it and amazing in the end. You make it what it is!

5. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Come Visit Me!

Should Blog Hop Hosts Enforce Rules?

2011-01-11T10:29:00.000-05:00

Bloggers host and participate in daily blog hops as a way of increasing traffic to their blog as well as meeting fellow bloggers. Some blog hops have little or no rules while others require you to post the blog hop linky on your blog. Furthermore, the blog hops with the rules requiring a post will delete your blog submission from the linky if you have not posted the blog hop linky to your blog.

These blog hop hosts want to spread the word about their hop which in turn helps all those who participate. However, as someone who has had their link deleted and received an email message stating that I didn't follow the rules, it made feel terrible. In my defense, it's not that I didn't want to post about the blog hop - I either didn't know there was such a rule or I hadn't gotten to it yet. As a result, I no longer participate in that blog hop because I was made to feel bad for breaking the rules.

So my question is for my fellow bloggers. What is your opinion? Should blog hops have strict rules about posting buttons on side bars or creating a post for the blog hop? Should the blog hop hosts enforce these rules and delete those who break them?

I host two blog hops and I don't have any strict rules. I host these hops as a way to bring fellow bloggers together, to create a relationship with those who visit my sites and introduce others to my blogs. And to be perfectly honest, I don't have time to police who is and isn't following or if my blog hop button is being posted. When I come across a blog that has posted my blog hop button, I always thank them because I feel that they have posted my button because they truly like participating in my hop.

Let's hear your opinions as fellow bloggers.

Guest Blogger of the Week

2011-01-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

Starting next week, I will be featuring a different guest blogger on all four of my blogs (Busy Mom's Tips, Blogging Hints, The Work at Home Helper and The Family Getaway Guide).

The guest posts will be posted each Friday. I will include a review of the guest blogger's blog along with the guest post. I ask that each post be a minimum of 200 words and related to the subject of one of my blogs. The available subjects are:

Family and Parenting
Saving Money
Coupons
Home Decorating
Home Organization
House Cleaning
Fitness
Weight Loss
Family Travel
Blogging Tips and Resources
Work at Home Tips and Resources

If you are interested in being a guest blogger, please email me at blogginghints@gmail.com and let me know which subject area you would like to post about. If you have any questions, you can email me those as well.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - January 5th

2011-01-04T21:33:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - December 29th

2010-12-29T05:09:00.002-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Happy Holidays

2010-12-23T12:40:00.000-05:00

Happy holidays from Blogging Hints

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - December 22nd

2010-12-22T07:44:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - December 15th

2010-12-14T20:02:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

How to Add Additional Page Elements in Blogger

2010-12-10T11:19:00.000-05:00

Free blog templates that are available for Blogger don't always have the "Add Gadget" option in the header or after blog posts. In most cases, this problem can be alleviated by modifying the code "showaddelement" within the HTML code.

Here's How to Do It

1. From the Blogger dashboard, click "Design".
2. Click "Edit HTML".
3. Click the box labeled "Expand Widget Templates".
4. Hold down the CTRL and F keys together to bring up the search or find dialog box.
5. Enter "showaddelement" and click "Next", "Find" or "ok".
6. The search features will bring to the first existence of the showaddelement code. Take a look and see which portion of the template is code is attached to. For example, Header, Blog Post, Link Bar, etc.
7. Once you've found the page element where you want to add a page element, change where it reads

showaddelement='no' to
showaddelement='yes'

8. Click "Save Template".
9. Click "Page Elements".
10. You should see a "Add a Gadget" boxes in the portion of the template where you changed the showaddelement from "no" to "yes".

Most templates allow you to makes this change however some don't. If you run into any problems, please contact me at blogginghints@gmail.com and I'll try to help you out.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - December 8th

2010-12-08T06:59:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and the feature site Princess Mom of 3 .
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Featured Blog

Let's get to know Francine from Princess Mom of 3...

1. How long have you been blogging?

I have has this actual blog since 2005, but lost touch with my blogging and moved to LJ for a little while. Started back up with with blog in 09 after having our youngest child.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I am Francine, Wife to my awesome husband and father to our 3 beautiful children Jason now for 9 years. We are high school sweethearts so we have actually been together for going on 14 years in Feb. I am a SAHM to our 3 kids, Noah(9), Isaiah(6) and Mariah(1). We live in the desert of Las Vegas.

3. What is the focus of your blog?

My focus on my blog is to blog about all the fun facts, milestones, and adventures of mommy hood.

4. What is the most important thing you've learned from blogging?

I have learned the my blog is MY blog.. My opinions are mine so really I can write what ever I feel. I have also became friends with a lot of my bloggy mamas in real life which is nice because not only do we grow our friendships on the web but in real life too!!

5. Is there anything else you would like to add?

I am a easy go with the flow kinda person. I am true to my family and am always there for them if they need me when they need me. Same goes with my friends. I love to meet new people and share stories with one another etc. Hope to meet some new people/friends!!

Scheduling Posts Maintains Blog Consistency

2010-12-07T09:51:00.009-05:00

Posting a new blog articles each day is important for your blog's success. Posting something new every day consistently brings the search engine robots to your to site which will improve your position in the search results. Additionally, having fresh material also keeps your readers interested and coming back for more. But what do you do if you're know you're going to be away from your computer or during the holidays?

Blogger has an option which allows users to schedule when their post will be published. This is a great tool to use if you know that you're not going to have access to your computer to keep up with your posting regimen. Additionally, some bloggers only have time to write their blog posts on the weekends. While it's not advisable to bombard your readers with five articles posted on a Saturday, scheduling these posts to go live on separate days helps ensure the consistency of your blog.

How it Works

Once you have written a blog post, click "Post Options" below the text window. This will open an area with additional information. Under the "Post date and time" heading, click the "Scheduled at" radio button. Enter the date and time that you would like your post to go live. Then click "Publish".

I use this tool quite frequently when I have several ideas for posts and want to get them down right away before they fly right out of my head. I also recently used this tool over the Thanksgiving holiday when I knew that I was going to be out of town for several days. I knew that my blog was continuing to be updated and providing fresh information to my readers.

Let Aweber Help Manage Mailing Lists

2010-12-06T12:49:00.000-05:00

Aweber is an online email subscription management service. Aweber is the number one service provider that web and blog owners turn to in order to manage mailing lists and autoresponders. Implementing email marketing campaigns and weekly newsletters is a great way to make money as well as increase your blog traffic.
I had often heard about Aweber but didn't feel like I needed their services. However, as my blogs began to grow, I realized that I could no longer keep up with maintaining my newsletter subscribers and sending follow up emails. I decided to give Aweber a try.

Aweber definitely takes the guess work out of maintaining email mailing lists. Aweber provides form templates (an example is located on the right side bar where users can sign up for my free ebook), email templates and provides reports to let you know how your mailing list is growing.

Additionally, Aweber will send out automatically generated emails at scheduled intervals. For example, you can set up a series newsletters you want to be emailed to new subscribers each being delivered four days after the preceding one. This is a great feature which takes the stress off of you having to remember to send new subscribers the welcome and follow up emails.

Aweber offers the first month of service for $1. After that, the basic subscription is $20 a month. And you are able to cancel at any time. Additionally, the Aweber site provides helpful video tutorials to get to started and help grow your newsletter subscribers.

Aweber also has a referral program in which affiliates can earn 30% commission. Additionally, commission checks are mailed out monthly.

Overall, I'm very pleased with Aweber's service. Once my forms are in place and my emails and newsletter are generated, I can sit back and let Aweber do the rest.

Visit the Aweber website to learn more starting your email marketing or newsletter campaign.

Create Online Forms with MyContactForm.com

2010-12-03T21:05:00.001-05:00

MyContactForm.com is a free online service that walks users step by step through the process of creating online forms. Online forms can be used to collect information such as personal, subscription, job listings, etc.

MyContactForm.com has a wizard that allows you to design forms with as many fields as you want. User also specifiy where the data collected is to be emailed. The site is free to sign and create forms. After using the wizard to create the form and create the HTML, the user then simply copies the code and places it on their website.

Visit MyContactForm.com and start making your own data collection forms.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - December 1st

2010-11-30T20:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and the feature site Jessica's Lil Corner.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Featured Blog

Let's get to know Jessica from Jessica's Lil Corner...

1. How long have you been blogging?

I've probably been blogging for three or four years but Jessica's Lil Corner launched in February 2008.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I am the wife to a wonderful husband, Justin, the mom to two beautiful children, Breann and Troy, and I love God! I enjoy reading, shopping, designing blogs...which I currently do for free ( http://sostylilized.blogspot.com ), and I enjoy photography.

3. What is the focus of your blog?

And...one may ask the reason for me to jot down all of what I do...and...my answer would have to be because it is worth remembering! My main purpose of keeping a record of my life and our life as a family is to keep my kids updated (I think it will be neat for them to look back at the stuff that has happened in their lifetime over the years) and also to keep family and friends updated as well. So...if I had to answer in one word, I would say memories!

4. What is the most important thing you've learned from blogging?

As a busy mom, what I've learned through being the blogger and owner of Jessica's Lil Corner is I find the scheduling post feature very convenient...this allows me to keep my content up-to-date even though I stay very busy! :0)

5. Is there anything else you would like to add?

My blog designing is really a hobby and I am currently offering the designs for free at http://sostylilized.blogspot.com

And...my Mom is on the list for a lung transplant...please keep her in your prayers!! :0)

Any follows, posts, tweets, buttons grabbed, etc. is very much appreciated for either http://sostylilized.blogspot.com and/or http://jessicaslilcorner.blogspot.com.

Thanks!! :0)

Month in Review - November

2010-11-30T06:00:00.000-05:00

I was quite busy on Blogging Hints during the month of November. Blogging Hints underwent a blog redesign and I released my free eBook, How to Increase Your Blog Traffic.

On this last day of November, I want to recap all of the tips and advice discussed here on Blogging Hints in case you missed it.

Unraveling the Mystery of Getting to the Top of Goggle - Sitting on the first page of Google search results is one of the ultimate goals of webmasters and bloggers...
3 Things that can Make or Break your Blog - You've created your blog and you've promoted it. So why is it that visitors don't stay longer than ten seconds?
Sign Up with We Use Coupons Affiliate Program - We Use Coupons is a free coupon site which provides users with a database full of coupons to search through...
Increase Blog Traffic with Guest Posting - A guest post is a post written by another blogger or a guest and posted on your blog....
Improve Search Result Placement with XML Sitemaps - An XML sitemap is a way of organizing a website or blog, identifying the URLs and the data under each catagory...
Pay Per Click Advertising with Chitika -Chitika is a pay per click advertising network in which publishers or bloggers can earn revenue from displaying user targeted ads on their site...
Earn Commissions Through a OpenSky Store - OpenSky is an online store that brings bloggers and suppliers together. It's free to sign up and bloggers create a profile which also serves somewhat like a store front...
Docstoc Makes Publishing Online Easy - Docstoc is an online service where bloggers can store, share, sell and find documents...
Get More Out of Twitter with TwiTip - Twitip is a site created by Darren Rowse, author of ProBlogger.net, designed to help bloggers get the most of Twitter to promote their blogs...

Passion and Online Profit (Plus What's In Between)

2010-11-29T09:53:00.000-05:00

This guest post is written by Liezl.

Being obsessed is different from being motivated. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook is totally right. Being obsessed to earn million dollars online is different from being motivated to write and earn few bucks from it. The basic foundation of successful blogging lies behind your true passion. Write your heart and thoughts out and everything will follow.

Andy Wibbels of BlogWild emphasized that passion, publish, and profit are the foundation of successful blogging. As an owner of more than 12 self-hosted blogs and online earner since 2008, let me share you my own take about this subject matter as I relate my blogging experiences.

True Passion Yields The Sweetest Fruit
Stock knowledge is better than the recently acquired ones. If you are a writer, you can write best if you know what you are about to write and if you are knowledgeable about the topic. In blogging, you don't have to pretend. Don't use jargon and other technical terms that you yourself is not familiar of. Write about something you really know and you'll be able to keep it interesting without any signs of difficulty. Your creative self will naturally come out and the readers will be entertained.

When I started blogging last 2006, my goal was to keep a personal journal of my college life. I write when I'm upset, happy, sad and mad. It's because writing is my passion. Whether or not I'm writing about my personal feelings or opinion toward an event, I blog it right away. Passion keeps me alive and kicking. Passion keeps the ideas flowing. Passion motivates me to blog.

And my passion for writing yielded good result. From a single blogspot blog, my passion extends to numerous self-hosted blogs. Some are niche-blog while others fall under general category. The niche of my choice still reflects my interest. MTGIRL is about Magic The Gathering, Impulsive Buyer is about my impulsiveness and shopping, MONEY WEB is about earning online and the list continues.

That's how enthusiasm contributes to my success.

Publish Quality Contents
Be consistent with your work. Write religiously. Schedule your post if you must. Keep blogging.

Publishing quality contents on your field of specialization makes your work highly-recognizable. Consistent blog updates attract more readers because they would like to read more.

Write original posts and this will be easy as long as your passion is alive. Keep the flame burning and it will get fiercer each time you publish new content. And remember, when you quote the work of others, give them the due credit.

Profit Is A Reward That Comes in Great Package

Blogging is not a get-rich-real-quick scheme. It takes time. It gives you residual income which bit by bit become a regular online gig.

My real-life friends always ask me: "How do you earn from blogging?" I answer them straight all the time: "Through paid posts and direct advertisers". And they will keep on asking, probe more or even throw hypothetical questions. It's not that I'm tired of answering their questions, but my suggestion is: blog right now and you'll know the answer to your basic questions. I can no longer count how many friends of mine gone blogging because of me. You see, my words are really encouraging.

Based on my experience, the shortest time possible to start earning from blog is at least three months. That is provided that your blog has already gained PR.

Blogging hints keep popping up on my head, but it's time to cut this short because I believe I have shared the essential foundation of successful blogging.

This post was written by Liezl, author of Make More Money Online and owner of several other blogs related to shopping, trading card game, random reviews and more. As a blogger armed with creative ideas and weirdest imagination, she grabs every online opportunity that comes her way. Visit her site to have unlimited access to blogging tips, online earnings and SEO techniques.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving

All of us here at Blogging Hints would like to wish you and your families and safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - November 24th

2010-11-23T18:41:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. While you're here, don't forget to sign up to download a FREE copy of my eBook "How to Increase Your Blog Traffic".

The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and the feature site Annie Rose's House .
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Featured Blog

Let's get to know Annie from Annie Rose's House...

1. How long have you been blogging?

I have been blogging for about 2 years but only regularly since August of this year.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I have 3 kids (my twin boys just turned 16 and my daughter is 13). So I'm in the teenage years full swing here! I have been married 3 years to my sweetheart and best friend! I run a Christmas trees stand in December and 2 fireworks stands in July and next year may even do a Halloween store so that keeps me busy but allows for me to be home with my kids. I also started selling Dove Chocolate as an independant Chocolatier so I get to do parties and make yummy chocolate treats for people to try and buy.

3. What is the focus of your blog?

I started my blog as a way to relax so I showcase crafts I am working on, something I want to share, what I'm up to, and a giveaway thrown in now and then for fun!

4. What is the most important thing you've learned from blogging?

My favorite thing to do is to sit down once the kids have gone to school, sip a cup of coffee and read other peoples blogs. I learn tips on decorating my home, recipes to try, couponing, etc. Even the blogs that are just women sharing experiences I find so inspirational. I learn not to be so hard on myself - that we all have our ups and downs.

Get More Out of Twitter with TwiTip

2010-11-23T13:54:00.000-05:00

Twitip is a site created by Darren Rowse, author of ProBlogger.net, designed to help bloggers get the most of Twitter to promote their blogs. Twitip provides bloggers with information on how to find Twitter followers, tools, general tips on using Twitter, using Twitter to promote your business, influential people that should be followed and Twitter related news.

Additionally, if you have a great tip on using Twitter, you can submit your tip to Darren for a possible addition to the site.

A beginner's guide will walk you step by step on how to effectively use Twitter to increase your blog traffic or your business.

Docstoc Makes Publishing Online Easy

2010-11-22T14:11:00.000-05:00

Docstoc is an online service where bloggers can store, share, sell and find documents. Docstoc also provides technology which allows users to embed documents right into their webpage or blog post. This technology also allows readers the option of reading the document online or downloading it to their computer.

Docstoc also gives users the option to sell their documents with no upfront or recurring fees for the first 60 days and sellers keep 100% of all sales. After 60 days, the proceeds from all sales are split evenly between the seller and Docstoc (sellers keep 50% of all sales). Payments are issued within 30 days of the last day of each month once your balance reaches $100.

User can also make money through Google Adsense displayed alongside documents which have been made public on Docstocs.

Blog and Website owners who have eBooks can make them available to users by embedding a copy of the eBook on their site. Users can scroll through the eBook or download it to their computers. For those who signed up to receive my free eBook, How to Increase Traffic to Your Blog, this is the technology that I used to display it for you.

If you have an eBook you would like sell or provide to your readers, visit Docstocs to learn more about the services they offer.

Earn Commissions Through a OpenSky Store

2010-11-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

OpenSky is an online store that brings bloggers and suppliers together. It's free to sign up and bloggers create a profile which also serves somewhat like a store front. Bloggers can then browse through the available products and select which products they like and would appeal to their readers. Product listings display how much commission you'll make when you sell that product. In most cases, it will be a 50-50 split of the net profits on each sale.
Once a product has been added to your profile page, you'll also receive a link that can be added to your blog post, tweeted or placed on Facebook directing readers to that particular product.

I recently signed up for OpenSky and I have added a few products just to get my feet wet. I know of other bloggers that are members of OpenSky and find it to be a good way to monetize their blogs. Visit my OpenSky store to see what it looks like.

How to Increase Your Blog Traffic eBook is Available

2010-11-19T10:24:00.002-05:00

After several months of preparation, my eBook How to Increase Your Blog Traffic is finally available for download. My eBook provides several tips that you can start using today to increase the number of visitors to your blog.

Get your eBook How to Increase your Blog Traffic.

If you have any problems, please contact me at blogginghints@gmail.com.

2010-11-18T09:49:00.000-05:00

Chitika is a pay per click advertising network in which publishers or bloggers can earn revenue from displaying user targeted ads on their site. Chikita displays targeted product ads, local ads for local traffic and mobile ads. Chikita ads can also be displayed along with Adsense ads on the same pages.

How do Bloggers Get Paid?

Chitika charges advertisers to be featured alongside your site's content. At the end of every month you are paid based on the previous month's earnings (Net 30). Payments are sent after your account earns at least $10.00 (USD) for PayPal payouts or $50.00 (USD) for checks.

Getting Started

Once you sign up and your blog is approved, you will log into Chitika and choose which type of ad you want to display on your site. Bloggers can select premium PPC ad units, white space or eMiniMalls types of ads. The premium PPC ad units are recommended by Chitika because they provide Extremely High CTR and eCPMs, they target to Your Users and Search Engine Traffic and is compatible with Google AdSense. After you've chosen your the ad unit, simply copy the provided code to your blog.

Referral Program

Chitika also has a referral program. For every new publisher you refer to Chikita's ad service, you will earn 10% of what your referral earns. The referral makes the same revenue that they would normally and Chitika pays you for the referral.

I added Chitika to Busy Mom's Tips and on the first day I earned .31 cents which isn't too shabby for the first day of implementation. Additionally, Darren Rowse from ProBlogger.net states that Chitika and Adsense are his top revenue earners on his blogs.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - November 17th

2010-11-16T21:52:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and the feature site Sweep Tight.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Featured Blog

Let's get to know Jennifer from Sweep Tight ...

1. How long have you been blogging?

Since March 2010.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I am 32 and live in the Chicagoland area with my wonderful fiance and white German Shepherd dog named Hilo. My hobbies consist of sweepstaking, freebie finding, reading, running (sometimes, lol), TV watching and much more.

3. What is the focus of your blog?

Well, I originally started it to share the sweepstakes that I enter with family and friends. Lately I have been doing a lot more product reviews and giveaways, so I guess I am now more of a giveaway blog? I am just having fun with it and we will see where it takes me!

4. What is the most important thing you've learned from blogging?

I guess I am really being forced to get more organized. With my thoughts, time and things! When I first started this it was like I developed really bad ADHD and could not stay focused. My thoughts were all over the place and I would waste a lot of time. I am getting a little better with time management...I think!

5. Is there anything you would like to add?

Come check out my giveaways! I have several going on right now. Also, if you would like to be featured on my blog or submit a guest post, please let me know! jennifer@sweeptight.com

My Daily 10 – Increase blogging productivity with a daily plan

2010-11-15T08:46:00.000-05:00

This post is a stop along Tanya Peterson’s Blog Tour 2010. Tanya is the blogger behind Blogelina, where she writes about blogging your way to success. Be sure to check out all the other stops along the tour and enter to win $100 to use in improving your own blog!

My Daily 10 – Increase blogging productivity with a daily plan

With how busy life is for all of us, making the most of the time we have to spend on our blogs is crucial. To help you make the most of your blogging time, I’d like to share a few of the things that I try to do on a daily basis:

Read and reply to new comments on my blog (5 minutes)

5 minutes might not be enough to get to all the new comments on your blog but I like to set aside at least that much time to respond to some of the comments – as many as I can. It’s important that visitors to your blog see that you are interacting with your readers so taking a few minutes each day to reply to comments needs to be part of your daily blogging ritual.

Send emails to readers who have commented on my blog (20 minutes)

Oftentimes, readers will leave a comment on a post and then never return to read your reply. Let them know that you are answering their question and that you do appreciate them stopping by. I like to take a minute or two to visit their blog, if they have one, and then send an email letting them know that I did. In my email, I might thank them for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment. I will also point them to other things that I have going on my blog – you will be surprised at how many re-visits you will get from sending such emails.

Check my Twitter homepage (5 minutes)

I like to do this to make sure there aren’t any mentions of me that I need to respond to. I also like to see if there are any recent tweets worth re-tweeting. Twitter can be a big time-waster if you’re not careful – I always try to limit my time on it and stick to my limits.

Glance through Google Reader (15 minutes)

Again, this is something that I need to limit my time with. It’s pretty easy to get sucked into reading posts and lose your productivity momentum. Most days, unless I’m looking for inspiration right away, I wait until all the other things on my list are done. Using Google reader is a great way to find articles to retweet to followers, posts to leave comments on, and inspiration for your own future posts.

Tweet about one post or article I have found helpful (3 minutes)

After I’ve looked through my Reader, I try to add value to my Twitter account by retweeting at least one helpful resource I found. This is when I like to put my hashtags to good use and make my tweets easy to find.

Write at least one post (30 minutes)

I try to stay ahead with my posts by at least a few days. Some days inspiration hits and I take longer than 30 minutes to write. Other days, I can barely crank out one post in 30 minutes. Either way, I try to spend at least 30 minutes writing. Supplying your blog with quality content is crucial to your success – it’s worth being part of your daily list to do.

Check and deal with my email (20 minutes)

This includes replying to emails I’ve received and deleting emails I know that I’ll never read.

Try to post a response to a forum discussion (10 minutes)

Sharing your expertise on forums is a great way to be advertising your blog. I would recommend that you find one or two forums related to your blog and commit to visiting them regularly. Build a presence and show people that you know what you’re talking about. This will encourage them to start visiting your blog to see what else you have to say.

Check my comment spam (2 minutes)

This was just recently added to my daily list of things to do. I had never thought to do this until I randomly checked my comment spam folder one day and found several legitimate comments hidden in there! Now, I take just a minute or two to verify that the comments in the folder are actually spam and delete them right away.

Contact one other blog owner (10 minutes)

I keep a running list of blogs that I come across that I have either enjoyed or thought that they might be interested in reading my blog. Each day, I try to contact at least one blogger on that list. Sometimes, I’m contacting them just to let them know that I appreciated a post they wrote or their blog design. Other times, I write to let them know about something on Blogelina that I think they would like. It only takes a few minutes to type up an email and you never know how your words might help or encourage someone.

How do you plan your blogging time? Do you have any productivity tips to share? Please leave a comment below!

Improve Search Result Placement with XML Sitemaps

2010-11-11T11:28:00.000-05:00

An XML sitemap is a way of organizing a website or blog, identifying the URLs and the data under each catagory. Utilizing an XML sitemap allows search engines to find the data faster and more efficiently.

XML-Sitemaps.com is a free XML sitemap generator which scans your blog or website and creates an XML sitemap as well as an HTML version of the sitemap which can be used to create a sitemap page within your site.

Additionally, once an XML sitemap is created, you can submit it to Google using the Webmaster Tools site. However, this process for submitting a sitemap to Google is different for a Wordpress and Blogger blogs. Although, having a generated HTML version of your Blogger sitemap is also useful.

Create an XML Sitemap

1. Visit XML-Sitemaps.com and enter your blog URL in the "Starting URL" textbox.
2. Choose how often your blog is updated. This is also a request for how often you want the search engine robots to crawl your site. If you update your blog daily, then choose "Daily" from the drop down list.
3. Click "Start" to begin the process.
4. Once the sitemap has been created, you'll be redirected to a page where you can download the XML sitemap as well as the HTML version.
5. Click "Download" to download each of these to your computer.

Blogger Sitemap

1. Locate your Blogger sitemap by entering "http://your-blog.blogspot.com/robots.txt" into your browser's address bar.
2. You will see an entry labeled "Sitemap:". This is your sitemap location but it's not what you submit to Webmaster Tools.
3. There are four different sitemap codes you can submit dependent upon how many posts your blog has.

Less than 26 posts
atom.xml?redirect=false

Between 26 and 100 Posts
atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=1&max-results=100

Between 100 and 200 Posts
atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=101&max-results=100

Over 200 Posts
atom.xml?redirect=false&start-index=201&max-results=100

Submitting Sitemaps to Google Webmaster Tools

1. Visit Google Webmasters Central and sign up to use the Webmaster Tools.
2. If this is the first time you're signing up, you will be required to verify your blog.
3. Follow the verification steps.
4. To submit your sitemap, from the Webmaster Tools expand the "Site Configuration" link on the left side bar and then click "Sitemaps".
5. Click "Submit a Sitemap".
6. Enter the address of your sitemap either XML generated above or the ones listed above for Blogger.

Check back in a few minutes to see if your sitemap was submitted successful. If all is well, you will see a green check mark next to the sitemap address.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - November 10th

2010-11-09T21:45:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and the feature site Free Hot Samples.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Featured Blog

Let's get to know Jackie from Free Hot Samples...

1. How long have you been blogging?

I've only been blogging since May 2010.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

My name is Jackie, I live in Seattle, WA. I have 2 grown children, 25 and 20. I live with my fiance and our 3 cats - yes 3.

3. What is the focus of your blog?

Freebies! I search the web for free offers. I think freebies should be free, no shipping cost, no annoying surveys. Everything posted is 100% free. My blog has grown and seems to have taken on a life of its own. Its grown to include a weekend hop, hop library and giveaways are coming soon. I have been writing a weekly freebie post for Savings.com since August 2010. I was very excited when they approached me to write for them.

4. What is the most important thing you've learned from blogging?

The most important thing is how wonderful other bloggers are! Since I a newer blog I have asked many bloggers many questions. They all have graciously answered me and I have made several online friends.

5. Is there anything you would like to add?

Thanks to Cindy from Blogging Hints!

You are very welcome, Jackie. :)

Increase Blog Traffic with Guest Posting

2010-11-08T21:45:00.000-05:00

A guest post is a post written by another blogger or a guest and posted on your blog. However, you could also be asked to provide a guest post on someone's blog.

Guest posting is beneficial to increasing your blog traffic in several ways. Let's first look at the situation if you are the guest blogger.

Being a Guest Blogger

When a blog owner contacts you and asks you to write a guest post, it is an excellent opportunity for you to grow your blog. First, when you write your post you are introducing yourself and your blog to a whole new group of readers. Second, your post will include a link back to your blog, which will help with page rank and your popularity with Google. As a result of this post, you have increased your followers, page views and hopefully page rank. Additionally, if you can post on a blog that has a higher page rank than yours, you can really enhance your position with Google.

Host a Guest Blogger

The first thing that inviting someone to be a guest blogger does is creates a great relationship with a fellow blogger. One thing I have learned about blogging is that everyone helps each other. In most cases, you will not find an "everyone for themselves attitude." Another benefit of a guest blogger is that your blog will have a post of great content. Second, the guest will more than likely create a link from their site to yours. Again, this is a benefit for page rank. This link will also bring the guest blogs readers to your blog.

So in conclusion, guest blogging is beneficial both when you are the guest blogger and when you are the host.

Sign Up with We Use Coupons Affiliate Program

2010-11-07T08:27:00.000-05:00

We Use Coupons is a free coupon site which provides users with a database full of coupons to search through. Additionally, We Use Coupons has all the publicly available Black Friday ads and are posting more every day. Users can sign up to receive free email or Facebook updates when new coupons are added.

We Use Coupons is a pay per click affiliate network. Bloggers will receive .03 cents for each click generated from their blog. Furthermore, you will receive $3.00 for just signing up. Commission is paid out once it reaches $25. The only requirements are that you have a blog with a frugal outlook, a mom blog or just a love for coupons. Additionally, any blogger who refers another blogger to the affiliate network will receive $10. Simply, have the blogger you are referring include your name in the registration form. My name is Cynthia Buccieri is would like to say you were referred by me :). To sign up, visit We Use Coupons and click the "Affiliate" link located at the top of the page.

"Mr. Coupon" from We Use Coupons will be featured on TLC in December. Below is a news story that previously aired on ABC News about super couponers featuring Nathan Engels aka MrCoupon. Check it out:

3 Things that can Make or Break your Blog

2010-11-04T06:00:00.000-04:00

You've created your blog and you've promoted it. So why is it that visitors don't stay longer than ten seconds? There are three main things that can prolong a visitors stay and encourage them to read through your posts and the same things, if not done properly, can cause readers to leave your blog quickly.

Comments - If your posts have several comments, this is very appealing to readers and actually encourages them to leave a comment themselves. Thus having posts with zero comments does exactly the opposite and can cause readers to lose interest and leave your blog. One way of alleviating this problem is to edit the text that reads "0 comments" to something different such as "please leave a comment" or simply "comments."

Theme - An attractive, easy to navigate theme creates a positive blogging experience. However, an unattractive theme that is difficult for the user to find information may cause the user to become frustrated and leave. Furthermore, it's best to create a blog with a plain, simple white background. Dark backgrounds can be somewhat difficult to view text on. If your blog has several large image files that result in slow loading speeds, this could also detract visitors who may get tired of waiting for your blog to load.
Post Frequency - It's important to continually provide good, interesting content if not on a daily basis then at a minimum every other day. Readers will be disappointed if they visit your blog and you don't have anything new to offer them.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - November 3rd

2010-11-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and the feature site Saving My Family Money.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Featured Blog

Let's get to know Kristi from Saving My Family Money...

1. How long have you been blogging?

I have been blogging for a little over a year.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

My Name is Kristi Shellen and I am 29. I have to beautiful children- Emma who is 4 and Ethan who is 2. I have been married married to my wonderful husband for 6 years. I taught second grade for three years before having children and staying home with them.

3. What is the focus of your blog?

My focus on my blog is to reach family in need who are trying to survive on a budget in this CRAZY time. I started couponing about tow years ago after hearing wild stories of people cutting their gorcery bill in half! The first time I actually understood it and saw the savings I WAS HOOKED! I started telling everyone I knew and I began to see lives change. It was so exciting for me that I started my blog!

4. What is the most important thing you've learned from blogging?

I have learned that most everyone out there has something of value to share with people. I could spend hours blog hopping and then actually feel like I "know" so many people that I have never met!

5. Is there anything you would like to add?

I hope you will hop on over to my blog and check it out! If you have any questions or any of the info seems confusing please email me and let me help you! You will truly be amazed how much money you can save for your family each month. I want to help you save your family money!

Unraveling the Mystery of Getting to Top of Google

2010-11-01T12:02:00.000-04:00

Sitting on the first page of Google search results is one of the ultimate goals of webmasters and bloggers. However, understanding how to get there isn't an easy task. Google keeps it's analysis of determining a site's status pretty hush, hush. However, I did come across an article on Google that may shed some light on the subject.

This article states, "one key innovation was PageRank, a technology that determined the “importance” of a webpage by looking at what other pages link to it, as well as other data. Today we use more than 200 signals, including PageRank, to order websites, and we update these algorithms on a weekly basis." The article goes on to state, "today we’re continually crawling the web ensuring that you can find the latest news, blogs and status updates minutes or even seconds after they’re posted."

With further research I have discovered that pagerank is only one of the 100 factors Google uses to determine search result position. Pagerank is determined based on the number of sites that link to your blog. Additionally, the quality of the sites linking to your blog also matters. If you only have three or four sites linking to your blog, then your pagerank is going to be low. However, some advisers state that we shouldn't get too hung up soley on pagerank.

We should continue our link building strategies but we should also concentrate on having a site that meets with Google basic requirements which is to provide results that are rich, unique, relevant and offer a good user experience.

Basically, the best way to get to the top of Google is to provide great SEO content, frequent posts and continue building quality incoming links.

Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop - October 27th

2010-10-26T19:24:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my Catch a Wave Wednesday Blog Hop. The rules are simple.

Add your blog title and URL.
Follow your hostesses Blogging Hints and the feature site Life in the Hen House.
Follow the blog right before and right after yours in the list.
Follow any other blogs you wish
Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

Featured Blog

Let's get to know Sara from Life in the Hen House...

1. How long have you been blogging?

I started this blog back in 2008 shortly after my son was born premature at 24 weeks.

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I am a 29 year old SAHM mom to a son who is 2.5 and a daughter who is 15 months. I love to read, blog and shop (especially Etsy and babyGap!).

3. What is the focus of your blog?

The blog started as a way to create awareness for prematurity and keep friends and family updated on my son, Jacob, who is a healthy and thriving former 24 weeker. He was my inspiration for the blog and when my daughter was born, it soon became a blog about our family life and my creative projects.

4. What is the most important thing you've learned from blogging?

That blogging is a great outlet for opinion and creativity! I love posting my project ideas to get feedback when I am being indecisive and I love hearing others and voicing my own opinions on everyday topics. I value every person who takes the time out of their busy day to stop by our blog and try my best to return the favor to as many as I can.

5. Is there anything you would like to add?

I am so excited to be a featured blogger on Catch a Wave Wednesday and look forward to "meeting" some new blogging friends!