Author: Barbara Swafford

Remember last week when we learned how to build our communities? Based on the interview with Liz Strauss and the comments that followed, bloggers gained tools to increase their readership. Although some bloggers only build a large community and following for selfish reasons, e.g. to sell products, have bragging rights,… read more Charity Starts At Home

They may onto something. They share a blog, each writing their insights on life. For the “New Blog Of The Week” (NBOTW) series, this is the first duo authored blog The authors are brothers, and introduced themselves to blogosphere at the end of April. One brother writes a little more… read more NBOTW – Brothers Sharing Their Thoughts

It’s been another busy week here at BWAB and for me in my real life. As the week comes to a close, it’s time to recap what we’ve learned. This week’s posts included: 1) A.S.K. Liz – How do You Inspire Your Readers To Join Your Community 2) New Blog… read more Plugins, Questions and Open Mic

Today as I was digging through my archives, I found many posts I had forgotten about. Here’s a recap of my favorites in no particular order. Today’s Lesson In Self Promotion Funniest Picture In A Post: “Do You Walk Your Talk Or Are You Just Blowing Smoke?” Most Controversial PostL… read more Self Promotion – From The Archives

Do you remember the 2000 U. S. presidential election? In Florida, many ballots were punched incorrectly resulting in what was deemed as “hanging chads”. It was quite controversial as a huge number of votes weren’t being counted. Several recounts were performed and the situation ended with many disgruntled people. As… read more Parties, Spam and Hanging Chads

When a blog is nominated for “New Blog Of The Week” (NBOTW) by so many of the BWAB readers, I can’t ignore it. In fact, it’s a blog I’ve been following, too. From his post titled, ” Here Is A Macbook, Go Make Your Million”, you know the author is… read more NBOTW – Everyday Is Father’s Day

Building our blog communities is accomplished in our comment section. Last week Liz Strauss, author Successful And Outstanding Bloggers and “The Secret to Writing a Successful and Outstanding Blog (the book), answered the question, “How To Format A Blog Post To Maximize Comments”. As we all know, part of receiving… read more A.S.K. – Liz Strauss – How Do You Inspire Your Readers To Join Your Community

The The 4-Hour Workweek( book) and the four day work week are both popular ideas. Based on the concept of “four”, I’ll be experimenting with the “Four Day Open Mic”. The concept for the “Four Day Open Mic” (proposed) series is this: For the next four days the comment section… read more Four Day Open Mic – 8/21 to 8/24/08

Based on the responses from my first A.S.K. (Answers Sharing Knowledge) series, it’s obvious we all want to see comments and build an online community of like minded people on our blogs. Let’s face it, we yearn to be part of a group and we desire to be heard. Today’s… read more Choices Equal Consequences

When I landed on this New Blog Of The Week (NBOTW) the first thing I thing I read was “…this is my blog about becoming who you were meant to be…..” That opening line intrigued me to read more. Here’s what I found: On his Welcome page, he writes about… read more NBOTW – He Had Me With “Hello”

Welcome to my new series. A.S.K. (Answers Sharing Knowledge.) Based on the success of the interview series with Lorelle (of Lorelle On WordPress), my blog, like many others, is experiencing a slight transformation. In my attempt to continue to help bloggers, I’ll be adding more interviews in the form of… read more A.S.K. – Liz Strauss – How To Format A Blog Post To Maximize Comments

Ahhhh, another Friday. Time to slip into our favorite jeans and tee, kick up our heels and relax. Here at Blogging Without A Blog (BWAB) we had lots to think about this week. We talked about our target audience, giving our readers eye candy, and how our online image is… read more Casual Friday – Open Mic

Blogs are considered either “niche” or “non-niche”. That is, we’re either writing for a specific audience, or not. When we start our blogs, we don’t care who reads them, we just want visitors. After all, it’s not a lot of fun talking to that empty hole called cyberspace. But, it’s… read more Your Audience – Hitting The Bulls Eye

Remember when I wrote “Psssst, Your Blog Is Showing”? We all took a second look at our blogs to see was what was showing above the fold. Some of us will make changes, others liked what they saw, and still others aren’t sure what to do. In the comments, Al… read more Blog Visitors – Like Kids In A Candy Store

In January of 2008 as my way of paying it forward, I started the New Blog Of The Week (NBOTW) series. Here it is, seven months, twenty nine blogs later. As I look through the list, I am amazed at the talent displayed by these great authors who willingly share… read more NBOTW Authors – Where Are You Now

Let’s face it, people can be judgmental. They see something or someone and instantly make an assumption. Drive a flashy sports car and it implies you have money. Live on the “wrong side of the tracks”, some people think you’re “less than”. Wear wrinkled, dirty clothes and you could be… read more Psssst! Your Blog Is Showing

It’s Friday, the weekend is just around the corner, so let’s have some fun today. As some of you know, two months ago I started the Monthly Mini Meme (MMM) series. Each month we share one random thing about ourselves. It’s a way to let others into your life, and… read more Open Mic – Monthly Mini Meme Friday

Today we sadly say goodbye to Lorelle. It’s been a fun interview series, hasn’t it? I’ve learned a lot, and the comments have been awesome. Not wanting it to end, I had to squeeze in one more question. 9) Thank you for your time, Lorelle. One last question, what articles… read more Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 9- A Recap Plus A Bonus

Lorelle ( of Lorelle on WordPress) has been blogging for a long time. Can you imagine the changes she’s seen through the years? But, what about the rest of us? What changes might we see? Let’s ask Lorelle to get out her crystal ball. 8.) You’ve been blogging for 15… read more Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 8 – The Future of Blogging

Ancestors are more than old photographs buried in a box. They’re often people who are still alive. They are elderly men and women who are living out their lives either in their own home or in an assisted living facility. Unfortunately, some of these people are often forgotten about. This… read more NBOTW – Reaching Out To Our Ancestors

Bloggers often use their blog as a stepping stone to freelance writing, or publishing a book (including ebooks). Let’s listen as Lorelle ( of Lorelle on WordPress) shares what the publishing process has taught her. 7) Many writers/bloggers want to use their blogs to promote their books or turn their… read more Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 7 – From Blogging to Publishing

What an exciting week it’s been. We just concluded the second round of interview topics with Lorelle (of Lorelle on WordPress) and learned: 1) Revisitng old posts can provide fresh content 2) How to Manage our feed readers 3) And then we Wooped it up. 4) On Tuesday we welcomed… read more FEFF – Feeling The Joy

Anyone who has followed this blog knows I’m a stataholic who loves to analyze statistical (blog) tracking programs. A new one, named Woopra, has been added to my list. As luck would have it, Lorelle (of Lorelle on WordPress) knows Woopra better than most. Here’s her explanation in detail. 6)… read more Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 6 – Let’s Woop It Up

Managing our feeds can be time consuming. The more blogs we subscribe to, the more time it takes away from our other blogging activities. When I read Lorelle (of Lorelle on WordPress) has over 350 blogs in her feed reader, I wanted to know how she does it. Here’s her… read more Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 5 – Managing 350+ Feeds

It doesn’t matter it you’re a teen or a senior citizen (see Linda Abbit’s post on the 108 year old blogger). Anyone can have a blog. Today’s “New Blog Of The Week” (NBOTW) is written by a 14 year old from Syria. He blogs about blogging. In his post titled:… read more NBOTW – Blogging – No Age Requirement

The interview with Lorelle (of Lorelle on WordPress) continues. Thus far, we’ve covered staying motivated, errors bloggers make, and if good content is good enough. Today Lorelle will be sharing her view on a problem new bloggers may not have (yet), but it’s a scenerio that can strike at anytime…. read more Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 4 – Finding Fresh Content

Hi Everyone, I’m registered for Liz Strauss’s “Blog To Show”, on Successful And Outstanding Bloggers. My entry can be seen here: #226 From Barbara” While on Liz’s blog, be sure to check out her new book titled:The Secret To Writing A Successful And Outstanding Blog. Liz did an awesome thing… read more See Me On Liz’s “Blog To Show”

Having finished the first three interview questions with Lorelle (of Lorelle on WordPress), I reread the comments from Part Two. Her answers got us thinking, didn’t they? Most bloggers are not using a copyright license, privacy policy, and/or disclaimer. List below are several free resources that I use. Priority Digital.com… read more Free ‘n Easy Friday Finds – Blog Protection

Thus far, Lorelle (of Lorelle on WordPress) has shared her views on how to stay motivated, and common mistakes bloggers make. We’re now moving onto a question that has often been controversial. Let’s hear what Lorelle has to say on this one. 3) It’s written that content is King (or… read more Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 3 – Content: Is Good, Good Enough

In part one of my interview with Lorelle, she discussed how a new blogger can stay motivated. Now we move on to another subject I often asked myself. (To avoid redundancy, I asked Lorelle, to include any links to her posts or others she felt would be helpful to the… read more Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 2 – Errors Bloggers Make