Author: Barbara Swafford

In the comments of the When Real Life Friends Don’t Get It” post, Sara Healy of A Sharing Connection said, “…I love blogging. I love every bit of it…” I echo Sara’s sentiments. I can truthfully say, blogging is more than a hobby, it’s a passion of mine. But it… read more Blog Your Passion

“I’m late for the party”, is how many will start a comment if they are commenting a day or two after a post is published. It almost sounds like an apology. To a blog author, the “party” never ends, but person commenting may feel their comment won’t be seen. In… read more Does The Party Ever End

Many people start blogs as a way to make money. For some it’s a little extra cash which they hope will cover the cost to maintain a blog, whereas others are going all out and are making blogging a full time job. And, as the popularity of blogs increases, so… read more Caution – Read At Your Own Risk

In the comments of Write Responsibly Right From The Start, Nadia of Happy Lotus wrote (in part) … when my blog started to get more popular and people started to ask advice or leave comments, I realized that I had a responsibility because even though it was not my intention,… read more Blogger – The Unintentional Expert

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a HUGE topic. So large in fact, many blogs are dedicated to just that. Books are written about it, and some businesses are built around it. In the comments of the  Readers vs Bots, Making Everyone Happy post, Patricia of Patricia’s Wisdom asked if I… read more SEO and Blogging – Keeping It Simple

The term “blogging etiquette” might suggest we HAVE TO follow some type of rules when we blog. That’s not the case, at all. A blog can be anything we want it to be and we can act however we choose while online. To me, blogging etiquette equates to taking the… read more Blogging Etiquette – Write The Wrongs

Bloggers are very proud of what they post. Being a published author makes their heart sing. Bloggers travel through blogosphere, leave comments, tell their cyber-friends about their latest article, Tweet their work, link to it on Facebook, ask for Stumbles and love when others pay them a visit. When comments… read more When Real Life Friends Don’t “Get It”

Most of us still remember those first days of blogging. We believed no one would be reading our first attempts at blogging so we either envisioned an imaginary audience or proclaimed “we’re just writing for ourselves and for our friends and family”. However, when we hit the publish button on… read more Write Responsibly Right From The Start

When we start blogging, it’s easy to assume other bloggers are just like us. You know, they write, they visit blogs, read the works of others, watch the videos, listen to the audio, and when life calls, jump up from their desk. But that’s not the case. Many people who… read more Tapping Into A Larger Audience

I’ve read posts where bloggers claim they can write and publish an article in fifteen minutes. For someone who hasn’t blogged, reading that makes it sound like blogging is easy. For me, who has blogged for two year and a half years, it makes me wonder what I’m doing wrong…. read more The 15 Minute Post

I enjoy cooking and baking and have a love for beautiful cook books. In fact, I would list looking at cookbooks as a favorite pastime. Finding a recipe that ends up being a “keeper” is part of the fun, as is sharing a new dish with friends and family. With… read more Recipe For Blog Success

Numbers are everywhere In the real world, we use numbers for our age, our weight, our size, our wages, our eye sight, the time, the speed at which we drive, how we’re graded in school, for the price of things, and the list goes on. It’s often written, “numbers don’t… read more Numbers – We Can’t Escape From Them

We know what Google wants from us bloggers. They like (in part) to see blogs that are updated often (it appears more often is better), inbound links from reputable sites and the use of SEO (search engine optimization) so they can index our posts correctly. That way, when someone types… read more Readers vs Bots – Making Everyone Happy

He who has a why to live can bear almost any how. ~Friedrich Nietzsche ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` ` In the comment section of the “It’s About Time” post, Tom Volkar life coach and author of Delightful Work brought it up again. I… read more Is Blogging Fullfilling Your Objective

I don’t know about you, but I have not met a blogger who has a lot of free time. In fact, as I travel through blogosphere, I’m beginning to believe bloggers are over achievers – trying to do it all, and do it good. Needless to say, the issue of… read more It’s About Time

In an ideal world, a conversation is like a two way street. One person talks while the other one listens and then it’s the other persons turn. If more than two people are in the room, a conversation often develops between all parties present with each one being heard. Blogs… read more He Said, She Said, They Said

When I searched online for “what are bloggers”, this is what I found, Blogger : a person who keeps and updates a blog Considering all we do, I found that to be pretty nondescript, and in some ways almost like an insult. Now, if all I did was listen to… read more Bloggers – Defining What We Are

Blogs become like children to us. It’s no wonder. It is us who gives them life. It is us who introduces and shows them off to the world. In the beginning many of us changed our themes as often as we would change a baby’s clothes – trying to find… read more Our Blogs, Our Babies – Criticism Hurts

We often talk about being authentic with our blogging. You know, do your own thing, don’t follow the crowd, write from the heart, etc… But sometimes when we’re blogging we come up with ideas that just don’t make the grade. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had my share… read more Bloopers, BooBoos and Ideas That Went Bust

Our blog posts could live forever in blogosphere. Just imagine, twenty, fifty or one hundred years from now someone reading what we wrote. Depending on the blog, some writings may sound silly, whereas others may appear as though they were written “yesterday”. As bloggers we often don’t think how what… read more Looking Into The Future

When we start blogging, we often ask questions such as, “As a blogger, what are my rights?’ “Can I published anything I want?” ” How can I safely blog anonymously?” and/or “With my freedom of speech, can I tell the world the truth about so-in-so?” Although searches for these topics… read more The Legal Side Of Blogging

It was January of 2008 when I started the “New Blog Of The Week” (NBOTW) series in which I would hunt for new blogs and showcase one each week. Over the past 19 months I added some not so new, well worth the mention blogs, as well. As I look… read more Passing The Torch

Based on the excellent blog post and recommendation of Robin Birch (author of Let’s Live Forever) I downloaded and read the free PDF of the first chapter (see Robin’s blog for the link) of Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility by Dr. Ellen J. Langer. The premise of… read more Who Are They To Say

The reason most people like blogs is because they are interactive. Comments on blogs is what keeps many bloggers motivated to continue their journey, and it’s often in the comment section where the post topic really “takes off”*. Like minded people raise their hand, say “Me, too.”, and/or those who… read more When The Conversation Stops

When I spotted this blogger in the comment section of Lance’s “Jungle of Life” blog, her comments were always so positive, I was drawn to read more of her writings. Right from the start her philosophy on life caught my attention. In her “About” page she writes, …I love a… read more Claiming The Joy Within

All bloggers have a life outside of their blogs. Unfortunately with blogging being such an addictive hobby, bloggers often wonder how they can keep their blog alive if they go on vacation or just need a blogging break. When I took ten days off, I was totally unplugged. I used… read more How To Keep Your Blog Alive When Life Calls

Good Day Class, It’s great to be back to the blog and to see you all after my short break. What a pleasant surprise we have today. Ms. Tess Marshall of The Bold Life, our substitute teacher (guest writer), will not only be sharing fabulous ideas for blog post material,… read more 21 Hot Ideas For Blog Post Content

When we start blogging, we often don’t think of WHO we’re writing for. We just want visitors. Niche or non niche – it doesn’t matter. Then, when we receive a comment or two, and the dynamics of blogging changes. We want more of that interaction and validation from others so… read more Our Target Audience – Aiming For The Bulls Eye

Did you hear on the news where government websites are getting hacked? It’s pretty scary, isn’t it? But what about us bloggers? Are we in danger, too? Some say “No. Who would want to mess with us?” But the truth is, blogs get hacked on a regular basis. Knowing this,… read more It’s Not Just The Big Boys Who Get Hacked

Deer/Cat – Watch today’s top amazing videos here As I was preparing this post, a friend emailed this video to me. Based on the blog I’m showcasing, I found it very fitting When watching this video, make sure you turn on the sound. Watching it in full screen will give… read more Embracing The Distractions In Life