Happy New Year! What does 2008 hold for your blog?

Many people think of the new year as a chance to have new beginnings. I’m certain many new blogs will be started as people vow to write to them on a regular basis. I’m also certain at least 70% of those blogs will end up being forgotten about at some point.

Rather than take on a new blog, let’s look at the blog you have in front of you. What direction do you want your blog to go in 2008? What worked well for you in 2007? Was there a series of articles or a topic that seemed to do well? Did people respond to one type of post over another? Did the posts with pictures gain more traffic?

When you have a clear picture of what worked for you in 2007 and what didn’t, you can weed through and tighten what you’re doing this year.

I’ve been looking at one of my blogs, and I’ve found it doesn’t have enough focus. My goal for 2008 is to give it better focus. On another blog, while it’s a niche blog, I found that by changing the particular angle, I was able to zone in on what I wanted my blog to represent. Another blog I found was too boxed in by being a targeted topic, and I’ve decided to open the topic up a little wider to include more categories.

I’m also trying to add clipart and pictures to more of my posts, as well as get better at tagging. Tagging is one of those things that just seems to slip my mind, and that’s not good! I’ve taken an inventory of my own blogs, analyzed my stats, and I’ll be making some changes.

What will you be doing to change your blog in 2008? Will you add another category, writer shorter or longer posts? Maybe you’ll work on social networking, and building traffic.

With a fresh year before you, it’s now the perfect time for you to go take inventory!

Happy Blogging! Deb

blog, blogging, social networking, blogs, build traffic

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

Twitter and applications just like it are changing the way we communicate. It is a great tool to help you keep in touch with your friends. It also allows you to promote your blogs in a quick, straight to the point, fashion.

Here is an excellent example of just how to do it, and do it right. My friend Fave runs a podcast. Every time he makes a podcast, he allows his Twitter subscribers to “watch” the process of him making the podcast and be notified the minute it has been completed. He even gives a little count down to when the post will show up on his Friday Favecast blog. He uses Twitter to ensure that he has repeat visitors/listeners for his podcast. No wonder he just won the prestigious Black Weblog Award for best podcast of 2007.

I have just begun to use Twitter, myself. I can already see the enormous possibilities. It’s not just about keeping in touch. It is one of the fastest ways to garner free advertising for whatever project you are working on. Those of us who use the web as a means to support ourselves know all too well that promotion can make or break your online business.

There are plenty of ways to make Twitter more user friendly. I have downloaded Twitterfox to use as an add on for my Firefox web browser. I also have also downloaded Twitterbox to my computer, so I don’t have to even have my browser open to get updates and send them. You can find Twitterbox and many other applications like it through the Twitter website.

In response to Jenn’s question as to what Twitter is, I have added some pictures so click for more: Read the rest of this entry »

Twitter

“How can I get more people to visit my blog?” This is like a book-length question, so I am not even going to try to answer it completely, and I am only going to give a very brief list of ideas tonight. YOu let me know which ones most intrigue you, and these are the ones we will explore in more detail in future posts. Unless you don’t say anything, in which case I will just post pictures of myself picking my nose to get even. (Please don’t make me do that.)(It would not be pretty, really.) Ok, here we go

10 ways to get traffic; a list in the minimalist format

1. digg
2. stumbleupon
3. blog catalog
4. mybloglog
5. leaving comments on other blogs
6. spicypage
7. fuel my blog
8. directories
9. host a carnival
10. get linked by other bloggers

Ok, have at it. Which of these do you want to know more about OR which of your favorite methods did I leave of the list?