Archive for the Category »Networking «

Oct

In November of 2008 I wrote a post titled Are Domain Names Over Rated which included a fun “test” where the readers were asked to match the blog name, the name of the author and their avatar (or gravatar -globally recognized avatar).

It was an experiment to find out if it is our name, our avatar or the name of our blog which helps to brand us in blogosphere. From the comments received on the post, it appears our avatars may hold the most weight.

I’ve also read for proper online branding, we should use the same photo or avatar on all sites we frequent, such as blogs, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook, etc.

Since everyone had so much fun with that experiment, I’ve decided to repeat it; this time with a set of different bloggers.

The goal is to match author with their blog name and their avatar.

Just as I did in the previous post, I’ve listed random blog authors, the name of their blog, and their avatars.

I then mixed up each category.

Take time to study each list.

Let’s get started.

BLOG AUTHOR
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1) Jay
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2) Mike
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3) Patricia
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4) Patty
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5) Keith
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6) Zeenat
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7) Karen
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8.) Jodi
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9) Sara
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10) Evita
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11) Julie
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12) Carla
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13) Nadia
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14) Dot
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15) Amanda
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16) Walter
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17) Kathy
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18) Lori
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19) Jan

BLOG NAME
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Evolving Wellness
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Positive Provocations
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A Beautiful Distraction
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Lionslinger
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A Sharing Connection
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Random Meanderings
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Think for Money
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Happy Lotus
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Deeper Issues
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Exit 78
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Porsidan
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Patricia’s Wisdom
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Green and Chic
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The Junk Drawer
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Look Far
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Joy Discovered
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Why Not Start Now
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Jane Be Nimble
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Writing To Exhale

AVATAR

Today’s Assignment

How did you do?

How do you recognize a fellow blogger? By their name? The name of their blog? Or their avatar?

Did you find any bloggers you haven’t visited?

P.S. For those of you who haven’t added an avatar/gravatar to your profile yet, it’s very easy. Refer to my post titled, “How To Get and/or Add A Gravatar to Your Post Comments”. If you have any questions of need help setting up your avatar, please feel free to ask.

267Cassandria-100x100-med
Note: Although it’s recommended, it is not necessary to use a personal photo as an avatar. For the first 18 months of blogging I used this avatar (see right) to build my brand.

P.S.S. Not sure who all of these bloggers are? Just click on the blog link or the avatar to check out their awesome blogs.

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Branding, Networking 67 Comments

Jun

When The Conversation Moves Off Of Your Blog

Barbara Swafford

Good Day Class!

Remember Tracy, of I Hate My Message Board? When I interviewed her last month, she told us what happened when a post of hers went viral (see: For The Sake Of The Children, Blog Smart)

Today, we have the honor of having her as our substitute teacher (guest writer).

Tracy will discuss another source of traffic to our blogs we often forget about – forums. As the owner and administrator of I Hate My Message Board Forum, she’s here to share the rules of engagement.

Without further ado, here’s Tracy.

Hello Class!

It’s great to be here.

Please take a moment to review the exhibit and then we’ll get on with the lesson.

Today’s Lesson

Forums can be a good traffic source for bloggers. I estimate 15% of my traffic comes from forums.

It can be an ego booster and deliver new readers or you can feel personally attacked and helpless.

Here are some hints on what to do when you find a forum link in your referrals.

Decide if what, if any, action you’ll take.

I get a kick out of the Air Force’s blogger engagement chart and I think it applies to forums, too. There is no need to respond to posters who are hostile to you and it will probably backfire.

Likewise, if they are just happily discussing the contents of your post, you have no obligation to respond if you aren’t interested or don’t have the time. If you would like to respond, keep these points in mind:

Don’t spam or overly self-promote .

Forum owners are inundated with spam and could remove your post if it seems like you are only there for self-promotion or to sell something.

If the forum allows it, you can put a link to your blog in your signature, but I’d be hesitant to ask people to subscribe or provide additional links back to your blog, unless they are directly related to the topic being discussed.

Add value

Do the posters have questions that you can answer? Do you have additional information that’s helpful? Can you provide other resources?

Helping others is a great way to establish your expertise and get people interested enough to take a deeper look at your blog. Remember, forums are indexed by search engines, too!

Debate but use caution.

Just like comments on our own blogs, the key is to state your argument without losing your cool or being insulting. Show off your wit, but be gracious.

I think that it would be wise to do a quick scan of other posts on the forum to get a feel for the general culture. Some welcome a lively discussion while others are more geared to people saying what they think and that’s that. On the latter, it would go over better to simply thank them for reading your post, if you want to say anything at all.

If it gets ugly, leave.

There is no reason at all for you to subject yourself to people insulting you or not being respectful. You don’t owe them any explanations, chances are they’ll forget quickly that you posted once or twice and left but getting visibly upset can be a red flag to some internet users.

Consider linking back.

If the conversation went well and you think your blog readers would enjoy it, sharing the link is appropriate but not obligatory.

But don’t trash talk.

If it didn’t go well, it’s tempting to post a rant on you blog. You’ll likely get a lot of sympathetic comments, but again, red flag to others. If you want to discuss it, do it after you’ve cooled down.

Forum traffic can be very valuable.

Taking a moment to think before you act can save you unnecessary headaches and possibly earn you traffic years to come. It’s upsetting sometimes when people are talking about our posts in a medium where we have no control, but take comfort that it’s a sign that you’re on the map.

Today’s Assignment

Have you been linked to from forums?

Did you reply on the forum or address it on your blog?

Do you actively use forums as a source of traffic? If not, why not?

Raise your hand and share your thoughts.

Tracy is the author of I Hate My Message Board blog, I Hate My Message Board Forum as well as I Hate My Message Board – Life and Style blog. When she’s not blogging or administering her forum, Tracy can be found on Twitter.

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Comments, Increase Traffic, Networking, Stats 27 Comments

May

Who Said “Blogging Is Easy”

Barbara Swafford

blogging challenges

When I look at this photo, it reminds me of blogging.

The probloggers stand on top of the steep mountain, and the wannabes are still climbing. If we could see the complete picture, we would probably see some who are just getting ready to make the climb. Their challenges will be many, but if they play their cards right, they’ll have a lifeline to help them along the way.

Blogging has it’s share of challenges. Challenges many aren’t aware of when they make the decision to start a blog.

Today’s Lesson

When I look back to my beginning days of blogging, I didn’t understand what I would be up against. In many ways it was probably good. If I had known what I was getting myself into, I may not have started a blog. Fortunately, the challenges were spaced out and I could conquer one before meeting the next.

Listed below are challenges I faced and I’m guessing I’m not alone.

1) Coding.

I had no concept of what HTML or CSS coding was, nor why I needed to learn it. As time passed I realized knowing coding is a necessity.

2) Staying motivated to write

In the beginning, I had so many topics to write about, I felt I could fill a book. Unfortunately I didn’t realize I’d have dry spells or days when I would lack the motivation to write.

3) Finding and/or designing the best theme for our blog

I changed my theme fairly often during the first six months of blogging, but when my readership began to grow, I felt it was necessary to stick to one theme so as not to confuse my readers.

4) Time.

Time has to be my biggest blogging challenge. With so much to love about blogging, it hard to stay away from it. My biggest struggle has been finding a balance.

5) Blog Maintenance

No one told me I’d have to spend so much time behind the scenes tweaking things, Unfortunately if we don’t, we may find our blog isn’t performing like it should when visitors show up.

6) Building Readership

Writing to an imaginary audience worked well when I first start blogging, but I didn’t start a blog “talk to myself” nor to see my name published online. Learning how to get others to come and visit my blog left me scratching my head for some time.

7) Engaging in Social Networking

We hear it said over and over. We need to “get out there”. I was a little slow grasping this concept, but learned it’s a necessity in order to build our reputation and to gain recognition in blogosphere.

8.) Building Community

When I started visiting other blogs, I often observed an interaction between the author of a blog and their commenters. Sometimes it appeared they have developed a friendship and I noted they were also frequenting each others blogs. I decided I wanted that, too. Although building community is another time consuming aspect of blogging, it’s the most rewarding part of blogging for me.

9) Learning and applying SEO (search engine optimization)

This is something I KNOW we all need to do more of, but where I often fall short. Writing search engine optimized material changes the way I write, and I often forget to consider it when I’m publishing. Not getting found by search engines means our blog will experience slower growth and for bloggers who hope to make money with their blogs, search engine traffic is vital.

Whenever we hear “blogging is easy”, anyone who has been blogging for any length of time knows better. The actual writing of blog posts may come easy to some, but in order to embrace the complete blogging experience, it’s often a steep climb.

Today’s Assignment

What do you feel are, or have been, your biggest blogging challenge(s)?

How do you approach blogging challenges? Do you meet them head on or do you procrastinate?

I often find other bloggers become my life line, what do you think?

Photo Credit: ground.zero

Category: Archives, Blogging, Blogging Lessons, Lessons Learned, Networking, New To Blogging 46 Comments

Apr

Be A Person Who Needs People

Barbara Swafford

Click here if you can’t access the video

I was recently reminded of an old classic sung by Barbra Streisand.

The name of the song is “People”, and the lyrics are:

People,
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world
We’re children needing other children
And yet letting our grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children than children
Lovers
Are very special people
They’re the luckiest people in the world
With one person,
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now you’re whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People, people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

With one person
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now you’re whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People, people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

When I hear/read the words,

“A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now you’re whole

I realize that’s what fellow bloggers do for us.

Today’s Lesson

When we start a blog, it’s usually a journey we venture on by ourselves and have no way of knowing where it will take us.

Each time we sit at our keyboards, type our thoughts and hit “publish”, the wait begins.

Sometimes the wait is long.

For some, the wait is so long, they give up.

For others, persistence pays off the we get “discovered”.

Not discovered in a big way, but our words make an impression on another person and they respond.

That’s when magic happens and we begin to feel validated. We begin to feel we’re being heard and understood.

It’s in that validation process we begin to shine. We being to share more, and are often motivated to reach higher.

In one sense, we may feel needed for OUR knowledge, but more importantly, we begin to realize we do need others as well.

Today’s Assignment

When you receive comments on your blog, or messages on social media sites, what emotions do they ignite in you?

Would you keep blogging, Twittering or partaking in social networks if people didn’t respond to you?

For me, blogging wouldn’t be the same without people. I’m anxious to hear you think.

Category: Archives, Blogging Buddies, Blogging Lessons, Lessons Learned, Networking 36 Comments

Mar

Smashing The Myths About Blogging

Barbara Swafford

Since Monday, March 30, 2009 will mark my two year anniversary of blogging, I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned and how some of what we read is not true.

Today’s Lesson

The common myths on blogging:

Blogging is easy.

Yes, writing a post and hitting the “publish” button can be easy, however, there’s more to blogging than just writing. In order to gain exposure and stay current, we’ll often find ourselves engaged in social networking, answering emails, commenting on other blogs, learning coding, and/or performing blog maintenance.

Typos in blog posts mean the author is careless or can’t spell.

Although most bloggers try to be careful, nearly every blogger will make typos. Keep in mind, words are also spelled differently in other countries and for some bloggers, their first language is not English.

The only way to succeed in blogging is to have a niche site.

Although a niche site is great for targeted advertising and can become a great “go to” place for a specific topic, success can also be had by mixing it up.

Having a blog is an easy way to make money.

Money can be made with blogging, however the numbers we see the big shooters speaking of are the exception, not the norm. In most cases it has taken the A-list bloggers YEARS to make a six figure income. In truth, most money bloggers make will be from products they sell or promote, speaking engagements and/or jobs they procure as a result of blogging (such as freelance writing, coaching or web design).

If we don’t visit a another blogger often enough, they’ll forget about us and unsubscribe from our blog.

Whether we visit our blogging buddies once a month, or once a day, the other blogger will most likely always remember us and stay subscribed.

Never leave a comment that says “great post”. The author will mark it as spam and delete it.

If the comment is written by an active blogger and the comment links back to a reliable site, in most cases it will NOT mark it as spam.

In order to succeed, we must follow in the footsteps of the big boys/girls.

It’s true, we can learn from the big boys/girls, however copy cat blogs are quite boring. Whether we post product reviews, write 2000 word articles, 7 word haikus, share our favorite photos, write rants or tell our readers all about our children, it’s all okay. It is OUR blog and we are free to use it as we see fit. The most important thing is to stay true to yourself, be an original and build off of that.

In order to get our blog found, we should comment on high profile blogs.

A comment on a big name blog will get our name listed in their comment section, but changes are our comment may not even be acknowledged. To build a community and/or relationships with with bloggers, time needs to be spent visiting small to medium size blogs. Unlike the A-list bloggers who have bigger fish to fry, authors of smaller sites are more apt to show their appreciation by reciprocating the visit and subscribing to our blog.

New bloggers should wait until they have a following before they monetize their blog.

Quality content is what visitors are looking for. Placing advertising on our site will not deter visitors unless it overpowers the message.

If we link to other sites, our readers will leave us and never come back.

Linking to reliable resources shows our readers we’ve done our homework. Instead of leaving our site, they will consider us as an expert and keep coming back for more.

Today’s Assignment

Prior to having a blog, what did you read about blogging that you found out not to be true?

Did that make you question other myths you’ve read?

Care to share?

P.S. Come by on Monday and see my new theme and celebrate my second anniversary. There won’t be any cake and ice cream, but there will be lots of surprises.

Photo Credit: smellyknee