Archive for » March, 2008 «

31
Mar
Celebrating One Year Of Blogging
Barbara Swafford

Photo Credit rick’s photos
327945768 1425024d5e Celebrating One Year Of Blogging

Today is my one year anniversary of blogging.

I’ve been thinking of how to celebrate this special day, and I knew what had to be done.

For the past few months I have been wanting to get my “Blogging Buddies” page rewritten, so I have made it my mission to have it done by today.

For those of you who aren’t aware of my Blogging Buddies page, here’s the premise:

When I started blogging, I wanted to show my appreciation to anyone who commented on either this, or my Observation Mountain (OM) blog. I created a page, which was a list of links to everyone’s site. After researching “link farms” it became obvious I might have created one with this list of links, so I took the page down.

I have now rewritten it, and included more text.

It’s my way of thanking all of my loyal readers and commenters for providing me with support, motivation, inspiration and friendship during the past year.

So, without further ado, here’s my new and updated “Blogging Buddies” page.

From here on in, you can find it in the header.

As new commenters arrive, their names will be added to the page.

To everyone…., thank you for your support.

I’m sending you all cyberspace (((((hugs))))) :)

Category: Archives, Blogging  Tags: ,  18 Comments
28
Mar
If One Is Good, Two Is Better
Barbara Swafford

Photo Credit oskay’s photos

265900118 62aa02e262 If One Is Good, Two Is Better
Do you do a lot of experimenting on your blog? I do.

In the beginning, I changed themes, added and removed plugins, reconfigured my sidebars, experimented with ad placement, tried my hand at HTML (I knew nothing about it), and proceeded to crash my blogs a time or two.

Fortunately with all of the experimenting, I never lost anything .

Today’s Lesson

Several months ago I decided I might want to start a third blog. Yes, call me crazy. I can’t even keep up with the two I have.

I picked another domain name and added another WordPress blog to my BlueHost web hosting account.

With BlueHost offering the free addition of domains, the cost was only $10.00. (price of the domain name)

Needless to say, the third blog hasn’t materialized, but that site has become extremely useful.

It is my “test” site.

Whenever I want to try out a new plugin, widget, or theme, I load it onto my test site and “play” .

The worse that can happen is I crash that site. But, if I did, it would be an easy fix.

In an recent e-mail, Natural Woman of Thinking Out Loud mentioned that she uses one too.

So, if one is good, and two is better, would that make three, the best?

Today’s Assignemnt

Have you ever thought of setting up a test site?

Would you feel more comfortable if you could experiment with a plugin, widget, theme, or HTML somewhere other than your blog?

If you answered yes, what’s stopping you?

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons  Tags: ,  23 Comments
27
Mar
1066 Links, Lessons or Tips For Bloggers
Barbara Swafford

Photo Credit: liewcf’s photos
971678700 d73c8b8403 1066 Links, Lessons or Tips For Bloggers

Bloggers are always looking for help. Help to get found. Help to make money online. Help in writing. Help in turning a blog into an online business, and help on how to blog.

Well, I’m here with help.

Today’s Lesson

Listed below are 1066 great resources. Some are lists of links, some are lessons in blogging, and some are great tips. You may find duplicates, and those that are, are worth reading more than once.

Happy Clicking!

Maki at Dosh Dosh, has compiled a great list of “63 Constructive Opinions on the best way to make money online”

MAD – Martyn Davis. and Lid (Lidija) of Blogwell, keep adding to this list that currently has “121 Resources for Web Developers

The writing team at Daily Blog tips, shares this great post: “Become a Blogging Wizard – 6 Lessons From Harry Potter”

If you would rather have your blogging information in the form of an e-book, at Blogging StartUp, Jim lists “11 Best Damn Blogging ebooks That Cost You Nothing”.

Lorelle, the “Queen of WordPress”, created a no nonsense list titled: “The 12 Biggest Problems With Your Blog”

For links to over 90 sites on writing and blogging, you must check out this comprehensive (and growing) list from All Freelance Writing: “The Big List Of Writing Blogs”. Jennifer Mattern, undoubtedly spends countless hours updating this list.

For those of you who want to make a business out of blogging, Catherine Lawson, compiled a list of “107 Great Resources for Entrepreneurs”. These links will keep you clicking for days.

A classic post, and a favorite of mine by Darren Rowse (Problogger.net) is “18 Lessons I’ve Learnt As A Blogger”

Do You want great traffic building ideas, Seth Godin lists 56 ways on “How to get traffic for your blog”

In a popular post of hers, Skellie shares “101 Essential Blogging Skills”

In this post, Darren, of Problogger.net, reminds bloggers to slow down. Here he lists “13 Questions To Ask Before Publishing A Post On Your Blog”

Here’s a classic post from Steve Pavlina named: “10 Stupid Mistakes Made By the Newly Self Employed”

And for another great post from Steve Pavlina, “10 Reasons You Should Never Get A Job”

Mark, over at Business Blogging 101, likes to teach via YouTube video tutorials. On his site, he has 25 WordPress Tutorials. Keep on eye on this list, as he’s always adding more.

If you really want to know what the “competition’ is doing, here’s a link to “Technorati’s Top 100 Blogs”

Daily Blog Tips team published: “101 Blog tips I Learned in 2006“. Although it may sound like it could be outdated, some of the tips are timeless.

Want to boost your productivity? Steve Pavlina shares 99 ways, in a series of three posts (33 tips in each). The links are as follows: “33 Rules to Boost Your Productivity – Volume 1″, “Volume 2“, and “Volume 3″.

Are you a “mommy ” who’s looking to share with other moms, in 2006 Guy Kawasaki listed 59 such blogs in his post: “The Ultimate Mommy Blog List” Three cheers for moms. :)

We can never read enough about blogging. Joshue Clanton agrees. He published this list of “64 Thrice Vetted Posts On Blogging”

Today’s Assignment

You know what to do. 8-O

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Writing Tips  Tags: , , , , ,  24 Comments
26
Mar
Join Me In Helping A Fellow Blogger
Barbara Swafford

Deb & Peanut
Debbie and Peanut Join Me In Helping A Fellow Blogger

Today I am foregoing my daily assignment and am asking all readers of this blog to ban together to help a fellow blogger.

Debbie Yost of “Three Weddings” just published a post regarding a sad subject.

As some of you know, Debbie’s daughter Peanut has Down syndrome. Although Debbie’s blog may be considered a “mommy” blog, she is on a mission to educate others regarding children with special needs.

In this recent post of hers, Debbie writes how the Down syndrome video “Dreams” has been violated and put on YouTube by some sicko.

I’m asking all readers to go to Debbie’s blog, and Stumble and/or Digg her post and get the information out to the public that tactics like this are wrong. Although YouTube has been contacted and asked to delete the clip, this type of behavior must be squashed.

Please take time to read Debbie’s post. Read to the end, where Debbie makes a plea to all readers. It’s heart wrenching, but something we all need to think about…and act on.

Individually we can all do a little, but as a group, we can do a lot.

Thank you for joining me in this effort.

I know you’ll all make me proud.

Category: Archives, Life  Tags: ,  15 Comments
25
Mar
How Doing Laundry Inspires The NBOTW
Barbara Swafford

Photo Credit Steve Navarro’s photos
508974868 233721ff6a How Doing Laundry Inspires The NBOTW

I came upon this week’s NBOTW (New Blog Of The Week) in Problogger’s comment section. His compelling comment inspired me to click on his name and check out his blog.

One of the first posts that caught my eye is titled: Why Doing Your Laundry is Good for Your Creativity. The premise of the article is that we “let go” when we are engaged in mundane tasks. He then continues to provide examples of how other household tasks may also spark an idea.

Increased self confidence also generates creativity. This blog also includes 3 Tips For Building Creative Self Confidence

His most recent post is titled: How To Awaken Your Muse” To prove this theory works, he used it to create a great teaching article.

With blogging, we can never read too many “how to be creative” blogs. Each blog author puts their own spin on the subject, and we get to utilize their ideas for creating brilliant posts of our own.

This week’s new blogger is named Mark Penta. Hiis blog is “Creative Journey Cafe” , with a tagline of “Inspiration for creative people”.

Join me in welcoming Mark to the BWAB community.

Hello Mark!

And, to my loyal readers…. make time to stop by Mark’s “cafe”, share in some conversation, sip a cup of cyberspace coffee, and take a look at his “new construction”.

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Category: Archives, New Blog Of The Week  Tags: , , ,  22 Comments
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