Author: Barbara Swafford

Custom Search It’s no secret, when we blog, many are searching for the information we’re providing, and as bloggers, we’ve learned it often the title that captures our readers attention. Some have also found, by writing catchy titles we pick up more search engine traffic. In fact, many of us… read more How Writing Catchy Titles May Hurt Our Blog

In the past I’ve opened my blog to blogging questions and have had great success with it. Today, I’m doing the same, but this time I have two other bloggers joining me to help get your questions answered. We have Tracy of I Hate My Message Board blog and guru/hostess… read more Open Mic – Answering Blogging Questions

When I landed on this blog a few weeks ago, I assumed it was an older blog as the archives has posts dating back to 2006. But when the author commented the other day and said she was celebrating her third month of blogging. I was confused, so I made… read more Finding Pleasure In Ordinary Things

Google Analytics vs AwStats vs Webalizer statistics. Many bloggers and/or webmasters may ask, “Why is there a difference between these numbers?” Add Woopra, WordPress Stats, Sitemeter or another statistical program to the mix, and it gets even more confusing. Truth be told, anytime we begin to compare the results from… read more How To Capitalize On Your Blog Statistics

Good Day Class! What a wonderful surprise I have for you today. Our substitute teacher (guest writer) is none other than the famous singer, song writer, Ms. Jannie Funster. You all know her as the bra flinging blogger from Jannie Funster.com who will write about anything she sees, and maybe… read more Blog Posting – Rap It Up

I never know how or where I’ll find the next blog to showcase on Wednesdays. Sometimes it’s someone who commented here, a link left in the Blog Registry, a recommendation from another blogger, or someone who has been blogging for awhile and I feel they need more recognition. The blog… read more It Started With A Tweet

In case you haven’t been following the news, here’s a story that has been raising a lot of controversy. The name of the article is, “Town Requires Job Seekers To Reveal Social Media Passwords”, by Aba Journal. In part, it says the City of Bozeman, Montana is requiring the following… read more Do “They” Have The Right To Know

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… read more When The Conversation Moves Off Of Your Blog

This guy has been blogging for quite some time now and based on the valuable information he shares on his blog, he deserves to be showcased. As an example, in his post titled Blogging For Money, What’s The Best Way To Make A Profit” he shares, The first thing you… read more An Oldie, But A Goodie

With blogging, if we stop updating, commenting, visiting and/or promoting other blogs, our readership may drop.* When Chania Girl of Living Happiness went on vacation, she noticed a decrease in her readership. Davina of Shades Of Crimson noticed the same when her paying job used up all of her free… read more The Squeaky Wheel Gets The Grease

It all started when Lori of “Think Like A Black Belt” sent out a tweet and included a link to an article in the New York Times about blogging. Although it was an interesting article, what I found the most fascinating was what they wrote about a Technorati survey. In… read more Blogs – Are You In The Top 5 Percent

Finding blogs to showcase is always a joy for me. There are so many good ones out there, I often have a hard time choosing whom to promote next. This week, I’m highlighting a blogger who not only has one fairly new blog, but recently added a second one. I’m… read more Living Happily Now

Blogging often starts out as a hobby and/or money making endeavor and we’re led to believe it is something we can do in our free time. But, for those who have been blogging for any length of time, we find blogging has a major challenge. Many declare, “Blogging takes up… read more The Biggest Challenge Of Blogging

Good day Class, Back for a return appearance as substitute teacher (guest writer) is Alex Fayle, our friend and fellow blogger from Someday Syndrome, home of the human “lab rats” experiments. In his previous lesson Alex taught, How Your Comment Response Policy Can Change The Dynamics Of Your Community, and… read more How to Write to Blog Lurkers

Her dream was to combine her martial arts skills with a blog and teach others how to be safe. With this blog, she is doing just that. Although this blog is new, the author is no stranger to blogosphere. She blogged for awhile, then went on hiatus. Now she’s back,… read more Kicking It

I saw a story on TV about a man who posted a photo and profile online and made friends with single women. After he befriended them, he would set up a meeting, only for the women to find out the photo he posted online, and what he looked like in… read more Liar, Liar

Good Day Class. Today we have the honor of having Kevin from the Florida Mortgage Blog as our substitute teacher (guest writer). Like tending to a garden, Kevin will be teaching us how to apply that same nurturing to social media. Please take your seats and have a listen to… read more Enhance Your Brand Name Recognition by Nurturing Others

Remember when we had the discussion on needing to sell ourselves and our blogs in order to get discovered and read? Well, when I landed on this week’s “Blog of the Week”, I felt I found a blog that could teach us just that. This author has not only studied… read more Teaching The Art Of Persuasion

“More tears are shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones” ~ St. Theresa of Avila When I look at the life of a problogger, I’m often in awe of all they’ve accomplished. In the world wide web, they have found their place. Their voice has a reach new bloggers can… read more What If…

It’s Wednesday, and as you all know, it’s time to showcase another blog(er). When I landed on this one, I was actually surprised as the theme was so simple. It has no bells, no whistles, no fancy header or special fonts. In fact, it sports the WordPress default blue and… read more Like A New Best Friend

Many of us bloggers dream of getting discovered and having our traffic numbers soar. We wish for that one big break. For those who don’t know, Tracy of I Hate My Message Board recently had got her wish come true when her “Whole Chicken In A Can post went viral…. read more For The Sake Of The Children – Blog Smart

Being self employed, my husband and I often find ourselves brainstorming. We bounce ideas off of each other, throw some in the air, and see what lands face up. Recently we were trying to solve a problem (I won’t bore you with the details), and although I came up with… read more Turn It Upside Down

With blog posts that read like a text book, this is a “go to” blog you won’t want to scan. This blog author writes not only from his experience, but from what he has learned through research. Although his blog is not brand new, nor one everyone can identify with,… read more Just The Facts

We already know some of our friends and family members are not interested in what we write, but in the lesson Bloggers Flunk The Reading Assignments, many who commented admitted they’re not reading every word of our blog posts, either. Yes, it’s true, our visitors may be skimming/scanning our content…. read more The Secret Is Out – Our Blog Posts Are Not Being Read

Good Day Class. Today we have the honor of having Matthew Dryden as our substitute teacher (guest writer). When I received this post from him, I had to chuckle at the title, as writing without a blog is something we’ve all done in the past. Now, we call ourselves bloggers…. read more Writing Without A Blog

She’s a new blogger.  In fact, she recently celebrated her first month of blogging. She’s also a happy person and as I was reading through her blog posts, it was difficult for me to just showcase three. But, the reason I showcase a new blogger is so you too, can… read more Blogging Happily

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… read more Who Said “Blogging Is Easy”

When I was a little girl, I was labeled as shy. Looking back, it wasn’t that I was shy, I was an introvert. I remember being comfortable speaking with others one on one, or in a small group, but I never liked big crowds, nor a lot of chatter. I… read more Are Introverts Better Bloggers

Neither her nor her blog are new to the internet, however, I’m guessing some of you may not have found her yet. She describes herself as …an accomplished Information and Technical Consultant specializing in the entire implementation of a WordPress based website including installation, theme design, upgrades, unique customizations and… read more Reaching Out To Help Others

According to a Fox News.com article titled, “One in 10 Video-Game Players Addicted, Study Finds”, it says, in part, Researchers at Iowa State University (ISU) and the National Institute on Media and the Family found that some gamers show at least six symptoms of gambling addiction such as lying to… read more Addicted To Blogging – It’s No Joke