I got a question on one of my blogs the other day. It was asking where I come up with ideas to write about. I write about life. Ideas are all around you. The question is, what do you want to write about? I have multiple blogs, so I write about many different topics.

I think the biggest mistake I made when I started blogging, was not having a clear idea of what I wanted for the life of my blog. I’m not talking about a detailed blueprint, but a general idea of what I wanted to talk about. Once I sat down and thought about it, I had a clearer picture.

You may be passionate about blue telephones, but can you write about blue telephones continually without getting bored or running out of material? Maybe you love communications in general; that may open the door to more topics and articles for you to cover. The thing is, while you may want to choose a niche, don’t put yourself in a corner with nothing left to say.

I have both general blogs, where I cover multiple topics, and I also have niche blogs.  I started a blog awhile back on a topic I thought I could cover as a niche. I’ll be honest, it’s just not a topic I love, and I struggle to keep it up. Why do I continue? It has over 1,000 posts, and is about 18 months old.

This brings us to another topic; knowing when to let go. I’m not doing anyone any favors with that particular blog, and certainly not my self. It’s become a struggle to keep fresh, strong content on it. It’s time to let it go…Ouch! Letting go of the hard work you put into something can be hard, but you’ll find your creativity will spark, when you drop the dead weight.

So if you’re going to write, write about something you enjoy. Don’t create such a tight spot that you have nothing to say about your niche, and remember to have fun. When it starts to become a chore, re look at what you’re doing, and where you’re going with your blog. When you’ve lost the enjoyment, your readers know.

I guess I know what I have to do next…learn to let go of a blog I no longer love.

Happy Blogging! Deb

I’m leaving for vacation today, so I’ll wish you a Happy Thankgiving now if you celebrate it.

There are millions of blogs out there. After awhile, many of them start to look the same. Honestly, I’m just not interested in reading the same information over and over again. If you want me to add you to my reader, you’ve got to stand out from the crowd. Let me know you’re different, and that you have your own voice. Personality will keep my attention, along with great content.

It’s difficult to get noticed in this sea of blogs that exist. What do you do when you’re a new blogger and want to be seen? The best answer I can give you is to network, and comment on blogs.

What…you are writing a blog and don’t have time to read somebody else’s blog? Blogging is about community and networking. By participating in other people’s conversations, you’ll find that they’ll come and see what you’re saying. Many times when someone leaves a comment on my blog, and I don’t recognize the name, I go and check out their blog and leave a comment.

THIS IS IMPORTANT: If I like what I read, I may go back or add them to my reader. If I read something with personality, of interest, and good content. If I go to comment, and it’s just another blah-blah-boring thing, you just lost my attention. Oops! Try again! That’s if I take the time to come back.

Sometimes I flip through new blogs really quickly. Something as simple as a great picture or piece of clipart will catch my eye and hold me there a few seconds longer. Do you have something to say? Hmmm, I’ll give it another second of my time.

People have short attention spans, and when it comes to the web, you have just a few short seconds to pull people in. Look at your own blog for a moment, if you were a stranger, would you come back and keep reading it?  What does your the title of your post say to pull me in? Is your opening paragraph enough to keep me reading a little longer? Ask yourself why you’ve read this article, and why you’re still here…are you learning something? Is it interesting to you? Do you like the voice? Those are the things you can think about with your own blog.
I have well over 100 blogs in my reader. Something caught my attention and said, I want to come back here! Great information or a fun and interesting voice got me. I’m now a regular reader and subscribe. Will you be the next blog I subscribe to?

Happy Blogging, it’s Disney time for me!

Deb

I have been testing out Flock for the past few days and I must say that I am impressed with the way it handles so many applications that I use every day. I can blog from it with the quickness about any subject or picture no matter where I happen to be struck by inspiration on the web. Flickr and Photobucket are only a click or two away. I can add in Technorati links quicker than you can say “OH LOOK!”.

I have been a long time supporter of Firefox browser. This is just like Firefox, but hand made for those of us who desire the utmost in easy access to multitasking. I was sold when I found out they had a web clipboard. I hated having to open up a whole other application just to copy something down for use later on.

Most of the extensions from Firefox work in Flock because they use much of the same programming. For instance, if you look at the bottom of the status bar on the first picture youw ill see that I Have YouPlayer and Greasemonkey installed. I have only encountered 3 out of at least 20 addons that didn’t work in Flock.

There are so many things I can do now without having to switch a bunch of tabs around. So much more is involved in this browser, but I just wanted you to know the main blogging aspect of it. You can upload photos, see them in your media bar, blog them, and go about your merry way. It is such a time saver. I have been blogging like a maniac all day. I suggest taking a look at it.

Happy blogging!

Blogged with Flock

Tags: flock, browser, web, blogging, social media, networking

If you have the number of subscribers “show off” badge on your blog you might find yourself obsessing over the number that the little box shows. You may have noticed a big drop off over the weekend. And not just by 1 or 2, but by 20 or 30 or 50 at a time. I noticed it on my Craft Blog this past week, so much so that I removed the feed count badge because it was making me crazy to see it! Then I started looking at other sites that I frequent and noticed their Feedburner numbers had changed a lot as well.

I didn’t know if it was all a coincidence or if the service had a hiccup! Fortunately, I’m not as crazy as I thought I was. Feedburner announced on their blog yesterday that the drop was due to Google Feedfetcher being offline most of the weekend. Numbers are back up this morning ~ whew ~ what a relief that is to see. I thought I had offended about 40 subscribers in some random way!

I do recommend using the FeedSmith plugin if you are running your feed through feedburner. That way all your subscribers are counted.