Have you ever had a job where you were required to learn a lot of new stuff? You know the ones. You knew the basics but in order to do your job well or to advance, you had to learn more. Or maybe the job tested your people skills on a daily basis.
Thinking back to those jobs, if you played your cards right, you took something away from it. An education of sorts. Information that will stay with you forever. Knowledge that can never be taken away.
Today’s Lesson
When I started blogging I realized there was a lot I had to learn in order to maintain a blog. I didn’t know the blogging language, nor did I understand coding. The list of subjects was long and intimidating. I looked for short cuts, but found none. I soon realized I either had to learn it, or have a blog that lacked its full potential.
To this day, I’m still learning. In fact I’m guessing the process of gaining blogging knowledge will never end. The world of technology is forever advancing and blogs are there on it’s heels.
What I’ve learned thus far exceeds my expectations. I’ve learned some of the mechanics of blogging, plus blogging etiquette. I’ve learned we can write for search engines, but it’s the people that matter. I’ve learned at the end of the day, we’re all a lot alike. We want our words to be read, our voices to be heard, and to be accepted for who we are.
I’ve benefited from articles on subjects I previously had no interest in, but the blog author presented it in such a way I found it fascinating. I learned how others conduct business online, and how moms and dads deal with their daily routines. I’ve found blogs that make me laugh, some that make me cry, and authors who write with such eloquence, I wonder why they haven’t been discovered. I’ve heard stories of struggles, read words of great wisdom and articles that should make the front page.
Just like a job where we have the opportunity to learn more, blogs provide us with words of advice, lessons in life, opinions and insights that help us to think, to grow and to become the recipients of a world full of knowledge that’s priceless.
Today’s Assignment
What has blogging or other blogs taught you?
Is what you’re learning, something you can use in a real life, job or something that will advance your career in cyberspace?
I’d love to hear how your skills are improving. Feel free to share your thoughts.
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Photo Credit: guldfisken’s photostream
Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford and I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation. 
You know those little pictures you see posted next to comments on blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites which identify the author?
Me
Sometimes you’ll hear them called gravatars (globally recognized avatars), but many just say “avatars”.
I like to call them ADvatars since they “ad”vertise who we are.
In some ways they are like our calling card.
Since they brand us in blogosphere, it’s suggested we use the same image on all sites we frequent and that they represent how we want to be known, whether by our photo, our logo or an image which best represents us.
Today’s Lesson
Recognition online is very important.
So the questions become, “What is the best way to brand ourselves?”, and “How will others recognize us?” .
By our name? By the name of our blog? By our avatar? Or, all three?
To test what brands us the best in blogosphere, I’ve created a little game.
Listed below are three columns with the names of 20 random blog authors, the name of their blog, and their avatars.
I then scrambled each category.
To play, take time to study each list and see if you can match the author to their avatar and to the name of their blog.
Don’t cheat. Honest answers will help all of us to gain better recognition in blogosphere.
Ready to match them up?
Good Luck!
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1) George
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2) Keith Davis
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3) Kelvin
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4) Mandy
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5) Hilary
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6) Tess
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7) Raul
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8.) Lisa
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9) Tony
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10) Joella
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11) Heather
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12) Linda
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13) Chania Girl
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14) Julie
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15) Wendi
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16) John Hoff
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17) Evelyn
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18) Friar
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19) J.D. Meier
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20) Lori Hoeck
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Practically Intuitive
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Alien Ghost
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Heather Villa
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WP Blog Host/Blog
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Trottersville
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Blogs With Wings
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Positive Letters
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Mandy Allen.com
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Sources Of Insight
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Tumblemoose
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Puppet Kaos
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Easy Public Speaking
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Living Happiness
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jbulie’s blog
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Think Like A Blackbelt
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Life’s Little Inspirations
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Abundance Tapestry
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The Bold Life
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Roses 2 Rainbows
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Deep Friar
Today’s Assignment
How did you do?
How do you recognize fellow bloggers? Is it by their name? The name of their blog? Or their avatar?
Care to share?
P.S. To repeat what I mentioned in an earlier post, for those of you who haven’t added an avatar/gravatar to your profile; 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.
Want more of the game? See: How Branding Works In Blogosphere and Are Domain Names Overrated?; earlier posts in which we matched other bloggers to their avatars.