Author: Barbara Swafford

In the past we talked about “pajama blogging”. Today we’re discussing how to become more liberated online by striping. I’m not talking about taking off our clothes. Remember this is a PG rated blog. 8) What we’re discussing today is about striping numbers from our blogs. Today’s Lesson EVERYWHERE we… read more Strip and Liberate Yourself

Just as water can extinguish a fire, comparing ourselves to others can dampen our desires. ~Barbara Swafford I think we can run into problems when we compare ourselves to other bloggers. We might start to think they write better than us or have a better theme than us. We may… read more Discouraged With Blogging?

It’s in the comments where the value lies is this blog. For everyone who reads this blog and/or has shared your thoughts, thank you. Comment sections are where bloggers are found. Where bloggers meet up. Where readers can interact with one another. Where community is born and where sometimes conflict… read more Commenting Know How

It didn’t set well with me when Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook stated people are becoming more comfortable with sharing personal information online, thus basically giving up their privacy. But when I read how Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google referred to Google+ as an “identity service” bells went off in… read more Who Is Social Networking REALLY Benefiting?

Joy from Unfolding Your Path to Joy brought up a good point in her comment on the You Never Listen To Me post. In part, she stated, I also know that many [people] create an online persona – a very edited, scripted version of self…. That’s true. Considering we’re creating… read more If We Met In the Real World

No blogger wants to hear the words, “Your blog is ugly”. Although most bloggers are concerned how they are perceived online and will ask fellow bloggers what they think of, or how they can improve their blogs, some bloggers REALLY don’t want to know. They like their blog just as… read more Your Blog is Ugly

You know how when you talk to your spouse/significant other or friends it’s sometimes obvious they’re not listening. Truth be told, a lot of people are not good listeners. They’re often preoccupied with other thoughts, just want peace and quiet or are waiting for you to finish talking so they… read more You Never Listen To Me!

We start blogs with no idea of what to expect. But most of us have seen other blogs and said to ourselves, “I want that.”, “And that.”. “That” is usually more readers. More subscribers. More comments. Take your pick. Today’s Lesson In the comments of the post titled, Become a… read more Baby Steps

With bloggers wanting/needing to crank out new articles on a regular basis, how to accomplish that can be a real feat. Some bloggers are organized, use a blogging calendar and know exactly what will be published when. I admire their organizational skills. Today’s Lesson I don’t plan my posts. In… read more Next

Many people enter the blogosphere with hopes of making big money FAST. They’ve seen the book titles and claims online where others are making a six figure income blogging so they think, “why not me?” Truth be told, it can be you. All it takes is hours. Lots of hours…. read more Become a Blogging Phenomenon in Hours

I think I have the best community in the blogosphere. If you’re a regular reader/commenter here, you are a part of that awesomeness. 8) For that, I say “Thank you”. Today’s Lesson When I started blogging, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as “community”. Sure, I saw… read more How to Build a Blog Community

One of the biggest gripes bloggers have is how their visitors do not read their posts. It’s maddening. After all, we meticulously craft our posts, carefully choose each word, spend time adding SEO (search engine optimization), tags and the perfect picture(s), ensure we’re providing value, double check to see if… read more Blogging Pet Peeve Number One

The job market as we knew it is changing and the change is affecting how we blog, how we interact online. With the introduction of social networking sites such as MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, plus with us posting to our blogs; what we feel, what we think, what sites… read more Peek-a-Boo – I See You

Unless it’s a membership site, the information shared in blog posts is free. Free to read. Free to benefit from. But not free to copy. Over the years I’ve read hundreds thousands of blog posts. Some contain personal stories, some have helpful hints and some I read to show support… read more If It’s Free, Does It Have To Have Value?

In the business world, we love receiving referrals. In the blogosphere, it’s no different. With blogging you’ll often hear the words, “link love”, but the technical term is “referral”. In fact, if you look at your statistics, you see a category under the same name. Click on the links and… read more It’s All About Karma

The latest news regarding bloggers happened in California. Affiliates of Amazon, Overstock.com (also O.co) and probably other smaller California based businesses were told, “you’re fired”. In the article, Should the Internet Be Taxed, WebPro News shared: On Friday [July 1, 2011], a new California state law goes into effect that… read more Bloggers – You’re Fired

Betsy of Passing Thru forwarded this article to me titled Permission To Dump Online Comments. To quote the author, Renee Oricchio, she says, …If it’s not filtering out spammers, then it’s leeching away your psychic energy while you figure out how to respond to that 800 word 10 point comment… read more Negative Blog Comments – Bad For Your Health?

When we start blogging, we usually add blogging to our already busy schedule. As our platter of life fills up, we begin to feel overwhelmed. Finding balance is ideal, but where do we start? Today’s Lesson Listed below are a few blogging tips to help save time and find balance…. read more Finding Balance – Saving Time

Buried in my archives is a post from 2008 titled “Biggest Misconceptions of Blogging” which started an interesting discussion where we shared what we learned about blogging AFTER we had spent time immersed in this hobby. From the comments, here’s a small sampling of what bloggers said. Today’s Lesson George… read more Surprise! Blogging Is More Than Just Writing.

In a recent post we shared how we blog and from reading the comments we found out bloggers use anything from a pad and pencil to blogging on their phones. So for new bloggers who wonder if one way (to blog) is better than another, the answer is, “No. It… read more Schedule It? Or Do It When The Mood Strikes?

Most businesses use vision and/or mission statements which tell their investors, employees and the public what their game plan is, what others can expect if they do business with them and even how customers will be treated. In order to succeed, they realize the importance of strategic planning. Wikipedia states… read more Increase Your Focus – Improve Your Blog

I enjoy learning about fellow bloggers. I like learning what makes them tick. What they’ve learned in life. What their dreams are, and those little quirks which make them unique. Today’s Lesson I’ve seen several blogs where the blog author has published 100 things about themselves; sort of like an… read more Psssst! Did You Know?

Whether or not to post a photo of yourself on your blog is a topic we discussed two years ago in the guest post titled, “Does An Ugly Blog(ger) Stand A Chance?”, by David Wright*. The topic continues to be a concern not only to new, but to seasoned bloggers,… read more Seeing Is Believing

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~Martin Luther King, Jr. With blogging we often hear, “don’t discuss politics or religion”, and the longer we blog, we learn there are other hot topics to stay away from, too. Why? Anytime we publish a… read more Blogging Sheeple

I recently celebrated my four-year anniversary of blogging. During that time, real life became extremely busy and blogging got put on the back burner. Honestly, the transition back to the blog hasn’t been easy. In fact, with so much on my plate, I’m not motivated to write. Today’s Lesson I… read more You Tell Me

It doesn’t surprise me Facebook has over 500 million active users or that in a week, one billion tweets are published on Twitter Facebook and Twitter are about communicating and people want to be heard. Today’s Lesson Blogging is the same. Many bloggers will admit their real life friends don’t… read more You Heard It Here First

I have days when I LOVE blogging, days when I don’t feel like blogging and days when I ask myself why I continue to blog. I also have days when I wonder what I did with my time before I started blogging. Today’s Lesson We all have our reasons why… read more Why Do Bloggers Blog?

Blogging takes time out of our day. For some, it’s just a few minutes, but for others, blogging can feel like a full-time job. Today’s Lesson How we blog can determine how much time we spend blogging. If our computer is old and antiquated, it can slow us down. If… read more How Do You Do It?

Although bloggers may not use advertisements on their sites, donate links or widgets are something you might see. I include a donate page on some of my blogs and am always grateful for those who have used it (you know who you are. :)), but…I don’t expect my visitors to… read more Panhandling In Blogosphere

A lot of bloggers admit they blog in their pajamas, however, today’s post is not about the state of dress we’re in when we write. Today’s Lesson Maybe it’s just the blogs I visit, but what I see is many of these sites are naked. Devoid of advertisements. Although many… read more Bloggers Are Going Naked