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Showing posts with label blogging trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging trends. Show all posts

Day 31

I can’t believe we are at the end of the Ultimate Blog Challenge ! It’s been a month of daily blogging which means 31 posts in 31 days !

I knew I was up for the challenge this October after already having taken part in January earlier this year.  I started off with a purpose and an actual theme to the challenge and as you must have realized – I have used a series of quotes on images and just blogged away to my hearts desires.

This is the 3rd blog challenge I’ve participated in (The UBC in January; the A to Z challenge in April and The UBC Oct) – and it’s really pushed me into becoming a better blogger.

Even though I didn’t get to visit as many blogs as I wanted to; I have book marked several of them to come back to and I’m still working my way through the list of posts that have been put up on the UBC FB page.

How was your journey throughout the challenge ? Was this your first time or are you a pro at challenges ? Did you get to finish all your posts ? Did you pre-schedule any posts or did you just blog as and when you felt like ? Would you take part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge again ?

If you’ve participated in the challenge, please take 30 seconds to share your linky below so that others can also check out your blog.

 

Over the last few weeks everyone seems to be talking about ‘Pinterest’.  I’d read about it and heard about the ‘by invitation only’ access and thought that I should go and check it out. 

Good news.  I went to their site and requested to ‘join’.  Got my ‘invitation’ within a few days.  Bad News.  I couldn’t sign up !! After a weeks’ battle of trying to actually create and log into my Pinterest account; I figured out that I couldn’t sign up using Chrome and had to register using Explorer instead. 

After finally getting my account sorted out - I’ve managed to browse around the site and see how I could use it for myself and also for my business.

What’s All The Pinterest About

It’s yet another networking site – but this time more with images.  It’s essentially a way to organize your ‘visual thoughts’ by way of creating ‘boards’ and ‘pinning’ images to it. 

It’s a lot like Facebook in the sense that when someone posts something, you can like it, share it, and comment on it.  You can ‘follow’ people (kind of like ‘friending’ a person) and see all their updated ‘pins’ (i.e posts) on your home page.

The best way to find ‘boards’ that interest you are to look out for key words.  For my business account I would look for boards that are related to ‘destination weddings’ or ‘wedding hair styles’.  For my personal account I’ve created my first board ‘Quotes’ where I’m collecting different quotes that have been created in a visually appealing way.

The feature I like most is the fact that I can create a ‘pin it’ button that can be used directly from my browser to be able to ‘pin’ images from other websites directly to a relevant board (and if you don’t have one – can create one).

I suppose I can see what the fuss is all about.  It’s a cool site and am sure it’s useful for a lot of businesses out there (especially for people in the service / hospitality sector)

To know more about Pinterest, check out these blog posts :

  1. 35 Brilliant Bloggers Talk About Pinterest
  2. Beginners Guide to Pinterest Basics

If you are on Pinterest or if you fancy joining it – don’t forget to follow me or like some of my pins.  The Pinterest account for my company AKA : A Klass Apart can be found here.

ideas 2After countless hours in front of my laptop trying to put together new post topics to keep me going through the Ultimate Blog Challenge, I realized that there are ideas everywhere; you just have to know where to look (which can be pretty time consuming).

So I thought I’d save you some screen time and share 712 blog topics that you can write about and refer to when you’re suffering from a bout writers block or when your creative juices are completely drained out.

  1. 100 Blog Topics I Hope You Write by Chris Brogan
  2. 50 Article/Blog Title Ideas For You by Michelle Shaeffer
  3. 93 Business Blogging Topic Ideas – Things to Blog about When You’re Out of Ideas by Mike Brown
  4. 101+ Killer Blog Post Ideas
  5. 15 List Post Ideas When You Get Writer’s Block – by Tristan Higbee for Kikolani
  6. 353+ Blog Post Ideas to Inspire You by Amy Schmittauer

There you have it .. there are enough topics in there to keep you going for 1 year 11 months (if you wrote a post a day) ! Damn !!

If you have any links or post ideas that you know about, please do share them in the comments so that everyone who stops by can benefit from it.

Saw this on FB a few days ago and thought it was quite apt and went in line with my New Year Resolutions and #MM post ‘Just Say It’ 

complicate life

I’m the kind of person that will call / email / SMS just because I thought of someone or if something reminded me of someone.  I’ve been known to ask a lot of questions; and been told off for speaking my mind a bit too much (but hey that’s just me).

I don’t see the point in mind games (which too many people seem to enjoy playing) and if I’ve got something on my mind – I spill it out whether it be for my personal life or in business.  What’s the worst thing that could happen ? Someone might not agree with what I have to say ? Or they would be a bit taken aback by whatever it was that I said ? Or maybe they get slightly offended ?

When it comes to relationships of any sorts – friends, potential boy friend / girl friend, family – I just find that people beat around the bush too much.  I can barely tolerate it and I definitely won’t be doing that in 2012.  I call the people I want to talk to; I invite those I want to meet (in fact I just ‘tell’ them – don’t leave them a choice lol); I explain as best as I can when I need someone to understand where I’m coming from; I’m pretty damn clear about my likes and dislikes ..

Every action has a reaction – and there are always repercussions to do the things we do and say … life would be boring if there weren’t right ? 

Oh and this post marks Day 5 of the Ultimate Blog Challenge ! If you are taking part, don’t forget to share your link below:

link-twitter-to-facebookNow we all know how to link our FB profile pages to our Twitter accounts and vice versa.  There are built-in apps for FB and Twitter that allow us to do this which does make life easier.  I found Tweetdeck to be a life saver when it came to publishing my company tweets to the company profile page on FB.  But the thing is, most of the above apps are for ‘profile’ pages !

I’ve spent the last few days trying various methods of integrating my tweets to my Facebook fan page but it’s been a futile effort ! The most I managed was to use Involver or Selective Tweets to publish to my FB Fan page however the drawback was that :

  • Tweets were also getting published to my personal profile
  • I had to use specific #fb hash tags which can be a pain to do
  • I had to manually ‘publish’ the Tweets from the Tweets tab on the fan page

Today– I found the perfect solution thanks to my Twitter friend @spinsterlicious – who suggested that I use ‘HootSuite’.  Now seriously – how is it that this never once came up in any of the searches ! (and hence the reason for this post)

5 Steps To Posting Tweets to FB Fan Page

1.  Go to HootSuite.com

2.  Register and activate an account

3.  Add a Social Network

a) Your Twitter profile

hs social network

b) Your Facebook account

  • note at this point it will show your FB profile page and ask you to ‘allow’ access and permissions to Hootsuite
  • click ‘allow’
  • Log onto your FB account from the pop-up browser

hs fb

4.  Once you see your FB account listed; you will also see all the ‘pages’ you subscribe to and also those that you are an ‘admin’ of.

  • I’ve logged onto my company FB profile and can see the ‘page’ that I am admin off as shown below.
  • Select the FB page that you want to link your tweets to by clicking the ‘+’ sign; which will then open as a new tab within the HootSuite application
  • Start posting and scheduling tweets that you want to share on your FB Blog Page without worrying about all your personal tweets going on to your profile or the fan page !

hs fb network

5.  Add a Stream.

  • Basically you will see a few tabs in the window which will show your Twitter profile, FB profile and FB fan page
  • Adding a stream means connecting your FB fan page with your Twitter profile
  • Select your Twitter Profile and the ‘type of stream’ you want i.e. all the tweets; or just the @mentions or only what you send out (I selected only ‘sent tweets’ for my company account)

hs stream

And voila ! you are done ! I couldn’t believe how simple it was to publish tweets to just on my FB fan page ! All the other instructions I had seen were way too complex !

Have you got any other ways to publish your tweets directly to your FB fan pages ? Have you used HootSuite before ? If you did try out these instructions, do let me know your feedback :)

Do you use FaceBook Pages ? I’m not talking about ‘Groups’ but ‘Pages’.  I do and I actually have created a few FB Pages for various clients and my own company AKA : A Klass Apart BUT I’ve always wondered how to go about making a FB page for my blog.

I’ve always known it was simple, but I realized that unless you did your homework on this, most people are not able to find / select a ‘blog’ or ‘website’ feature when creating pages.

I’ve put together 5 simple steps that outline how to create your new FB page for your blog.

1. Log in to Facebook.

  • To create a page, you must have a personal account. If you don’t have your own account, go to the Facebook home page and sign up.

2. Go to Create New Facebook Page

  • From the category options, chose “Brand, Product, or Organization”
  • Scroll down on the drop down menu and choose “Website”.
  • On the next section, enter the name of your page. I just used the name of my blog. Click “Create Page”.

facebook fan page pic 1

3.  Customize Your Page

  • Add an image from your desktop that best represents your blog
  • Start filling in all the relevant sections with the info that you want to share with your audiences
  • Set up your blog RSS feed to show your new posts in Facebook.  You can do this by ‘editing’ the ‘Notes’ section and using your blog URL or the RSS feed link that exists on your blog.

(I would offer to give more step-by-step methods in doing the above but with the constant FB changes, its better left simpler)

4.  Become a Fan of your own Page (very important – if you don’t do it, why would anyone else ?) facebook_fan_page

5.  Pimp your new FB Blog Fan Page to Cyberspace. 

  • Tweet it !
  • Tumble it !
  • Update your FB profile to let your friends know you have a Blog (unless of course you don’t want them to know)
  • Blog about it so your readers can become your fan on FaceBook
  • and watch your fans grow !

There you have it – 5 easy steps on creating your very own FaceBook page for your blog.  I’ve just set mine, ‘Dazed Reflections of a Diva’ up today – so do go check it out whenever you have a chance.

For More Tips and For Visual Step-by-Step Guides check out:

  1. How to create a FaceBook Page for your Blog by StandoutBlogger
  2. How to create Facebook Page for your Blog by QuickOnlineTips
  3. How to promote your blog with Facebook pages

I’m smiling to myself as I write this and with good reason too … This very post that you are reading is my ….

blogpost200

Yup – that’s right – 200th blog post !! Quite exciting huh ?  Maybe not for you (if you’ve crossed that mark – or even if you haven’t) but it is for me. 

I don’t have anything prolific to say; nor any words of wisdom … what I do want to say will perhaps come out over the next 200 posts (unless something really bad happens to me) .. at least my sporadic reflections have managed to carve a small space in the blogosphere .. and for that I am grateful and thankful. 

If it wasn’t for all of my neighbours in Bloggerville (old and new) - I wouldn’t still be here. 

There are quite a few things I’d like to achieve by the end of the year in terms of the content that goes on to this haven of mine – and for that I need your support and feedback.

Whilst I ponder on how to keep you around for another few hundred posts – feel free to leave me a comment with some feedback about what you think about my sporadic reflections to date; any reflections that you’d like to read about this year; any tips or suggestions to improve your experience (and that will keep you coming back for more)

Seriously, a big shout out to all of you out there reading – thanks for stopping by and letting my sporadic reflections (and me) be a part of your life.

The Fabulous Bitch over at Splintered Life has bestowed upon me … hold your breath now … Beautiful_Blogger Award

Considering she’s never seen me (then again neither have you) – I am flattered that she thinks of my blog and me as beautiful =)  Actually here’s what she said ..

Sporadic Reflection
Love this girl. She is dazzling, gorgeous, fabulous and just one helluva of a hot bitch lovely blogger.

So I’d like to take a bow in one of my sexiest dresses and thank The Fabulous Bitch for honouring me with this award ! If you haven’t already rushed across to check her blog out – then you’re honestly missing out on some super sassy writing !

The rules of this award are:

  • Thank the person who nominated you for this award
  • Copy the award and place it in your blog
  • Link the person who nominated you for this award
  • Tell us 7 interesting things about you
  • Nominate 7 bloggers and link to their blogs

7 Dazed Facts About The Diva ….

1.  I am a self-proclaimed chocoholic. Give me dessert over a meal any day and I’ll be happy.  It’s definitely one of my guilty pleasures. I love desserts so much so that my signature in one of my email accounts is …

All I really need is chocolate, but a little love now and then doesn't hurt! -- Me

2.  I am a diva on the dance floor.  Ironically – as a kid – I was super shy to get on the floor.  But as I grew older and discovered the joys of nightclubs; I have gone on to daze those who watch me on the dance floor ;) Whether it’s R&B, Hip Hop or House music – I love to dance.  Give me a good dance partner and damn I’ll show you some moves.  One of my very good friends HRH is a wicked dancer – and damn this man can salsa like no tomorrow.

3.  I have a super low boredom threshold .. hence like to learn about anything and everything.  I need constant change.  I don’t like routine.  Maybe for a few things (never mess around with gym / yoga timings)– but generally I don’t routine.  I love to learn – and took up languages (French, German, Arabic) as they came easily to me – next on the list is Spanish & Italian. When I entered the corporate world - I couldn’t handle a  typical 9-5 job.  I tried it and had to leave it.  That’s how I got into event management.  Every project is different.  Perhaps this is also why I could never get a tattoo or pierce random body parts.  It would be a fad for a bit and then I’d want to get rid of them.

4.  I don’t believe in sleeping.  My cousin NC reckons I’m an insomniac – which I’m not.  I just think sleeping is a waste of time.  If I sleep more than 5 hours – I get cranky as hell.  I have never slept in the afternoon till date.   My mom told me that as a baby – I would prefer to play in my crib than go to sleep.  Having said that – I don’t like to sleep alone (who doesn’t) .. I find myself drifting off in to a deep slumber when there’s someone next to me who I can cuddle up to.  My German Shepherd always jumped onto the bed and would cozy up to me – got some of my best sleep then !  At the moment I have neither a dog nor a boyfriend …. hmmm maybe that’s why sleep doesn’t seem to come easily.

5.  My life is digitally captured.  In 2008 I had 19,500 photos; 2009 saw 15,307 photos only because I had broken my ankle and wasn’t allowed to go out for about 2 months.  We’re only 2 months into 2010 and I have 3534 photos already. Oh and did I mention that I have 288 albums up on FB ? Yeah my life is definitely digitally captured.  I’ve got my photos sorted chronologically by the year and by date .. and it feels amazing to know that all I have to do is flip through those pics to see what I was up to at a particular time in my life.  Sure I’ve pissed a few people off with my digital obsession – but it’s okay – at some point they’ve all come back to ask for certain photos; and have more often than not – used my photos for their profile pics on FB hehehe.  Just today my boy Rockstar was bitching me out for taking his photos (he hates my camera / hates his pic being taken) and went on to try to make feel guilty by suggesting that for every picture I click he’ll just spend less time with me :( 

6.  I have way too many diva style personalities.  I kid you not.  My boys treat me like one of the lads (albeit with boobs & a hot ass).  I am constantlymultiple personality 2 partying like a rock star ! NC doesn’t know where I get the energy levels from.  I often come  across as a very cold hearted bitch; I’ve been known to cut people out of my life the minute they breach my trust – and it doesn’t matter if they’ve known me my whole life either.  I am fantastic with kids (ok only with my nieces & nephews) which is a side of me most don’t get.  I am a mush ball when it comes to animals (I even cried in Ice Age when Diego was getting clawed by the other sabers).  In short, I could be your best friend, your lover, your fantasy or if you’re unlucky enough to get the wrong side of me - your worst enemy.  Alanis Morissette said it much better though :

I’m a bitch I’m a lover
I’m a child I’m a mother
I’m a sinner I’m a saint
I do not feel ashamed
I’m your hell I’m your dream
I’m nothin’ in between
You know, you wouldn’t want it any other way

7.  I’m so simple … it’s complicated.  And that’s the truth.  I am who I am. I don’t try to hide it. I am about as honest and upfront as you can get.  If I combine my FB & Blogger profile descriptions – it would read … ‘what you see is what you get .. should you choose to see beyond the obvious then we'll definitely get along :)  Think you can handle that ?    My best mate Nat (aka @britgirlz) put this on her status a few minutes ago …. Be who You are, say what You feel. Those who matter, don't mind. Those who mind, don't matter.  See what I mean – I’m simple, and people complicate it ! Ironically I happened to write a post some time back with the same title.  Just read it and had a laugh to myself.

Enough about me … DRUM ROLL … and now it’s time for what you all have been waiting for … the Nominees …(catch them on Twitter & check their blogs) …

  1. Nando from Nandoism … he’s just oh-so-fab and a damn good writer too ! his video blogs will make you squeal in delight !
  2. Jack .. and he’s f*cking in Brooklyn ! .. Ladies rush over to his page right now and be prepared to let your jaws drop .. and once you read his writing; if you’re panties aren’t in a twist, I’ll change my name.
  3. Cole over at Pre Middle Age … she’s outrageously funny; her life lessons are great; and she’s got sass ! and she’s an event planner like me :)
  4. Cereal Daters over at I Hate The Way You Eat Cereal .. created by 3 very strong and expressive ladies – this is a fab blog if you haven’t read it as yet !
  5. KCKool over at KCKools’ Blog … it’s quite a pretty blog; and beautifully maintained.  Lots of interesting subjects on there. Swing by and show some love.
  6. Kimmy over at KimmyStyle .. now that’s where classics and style intersect .. she’s got a great blog collection and the pictures will take your breath away.
  7. Carol over at Balsam Ponds … one of the first few bloggers I came across; she is extremely artistic and creative and makes some of the loveliest cards that I have seen.  I only know Carol through her writing and once you read her blog – you will understand why she is a Beautiful Blogger.

If you fancy checking out some more uber funky bloggers – do check out the Swank Bloggers who Give Good Blog; The Awesome Girl Bloggers, and The Bitch Fab Bloggers

Hope you enjoy these Beautiful Bloggers as much as I do =) Happy Reading and don’t forget to show some comment lurve whilst dropping by their blogs !

Whilst on this journey of discovering my Blogger Voice in the past few days – I’ve come to realize a few things.   In the last few months, quite a few people I know in my regular social circle have told me that they read my blog !

Considering the fact that I don’t really tell my friends about it – except for perhaps a select few – it was quite flattering to know that therebrand voice are others out there who read and lurk on my blog =)  These friends are lurkers – they don’t comment – but it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that they’ve taken the time to drop by .. even if its every few weeks; and not regularly.

Even more flattering was when a few of my favourite neighbours like Simone Grant, the Fabulous Bitch, SingleCityGuy all messaged to check on my MIA status.  It just felt good to know that somebody out there was thinking about me.  And these guys have never met me.  

As I mentioned in my last post – I reckon I’ve always had my Blogger Voice – and of course I have adjusted and adapted my style of writing as I got more and more regular.  However it was only recently; perhaps in the last few months that I started making a conscious effort on how to make my blog more appealing.

Here are 10 tips that you can use (and you probably do this anyway) to find your inner Blogger Voice :

  1. Be Yourself.  Nothing  you can say is wrong because it’s Your perspective.  Some people will agree with you; others will not; some may start a heated debate. But there’s nothing wrong with that.  We are all entitled to our opinions.
  2. Blog the way you think.  Your thoughts are original to you; sure – others may think the same thought – but they process it differently to you.  I took my neighbours behind the scenes and gave them something to think about for the first time in March ‘09.  I haven’t done something like that until my last post ‘To Blog .. and How ??!!’  I hope to be doing more of that this year.
  3. Mind Your P’s & Q’s.  Every writing tool (MS Word, Live Writer, down to web browsers) have got spell checks installed.  They are there for a reason.  Use them ! It shows a sign of respect to your readers.   The same way – make sure your grammar is correct.  Use capitalization and correct forms of punctuation when forming sentences.. It gives your reader a better experience.
  4. Commit To Writing.  The more you write – the stronger your voice gets.  In 2009, I averaged 10.8 posts per month.  My highest blog count is 19 posts last May.  I don’t keep a schedule for writing – I write when I feel like; but I’ve told myself that I need to have at least 4 posts a month no matter how busy I get.  If you’ve got an idea – write it down – check out my thought process that resulted in this post.
  5. Be Transparent.  Bloggers earn their readers trust.  Be honest with them.  Don’t be somebody you are not.  When I first started writing, I used to often wonder ‘how do people get blog awards' … and then sometime ago, I got my first blog award.  It didn’t stop there – I ended up with a dazed blur of awards..  It doesn’t mean I’m a super blogger – I was given those because somebody believed in what I was doing.  Nubby has written a great post on The Importance of Transparency in Blogging which is a must read.
  6. Avoid Censorship.  Just because someone has a different opinion to yours, or negates your writing doesn’t mean you censor their comments.  Unless the comments are spam; offensive and/or abusive – leave them up there.  You never know who else might stand up for your thoughts.
  7. Comment, Comment & Comment Some More.  I discovered a new layer of thoughts by interacting on other bloggers posts.  There are times I wish I could write posts like Simone or WSG – but I can’t (in time perhaps) but I let them know by commenting on their blogs.  And it’s always nice to see other people keeping your comments in mind when responding.  Besides, a lot of what you read and comment on can help inspire your next blog masterpiece !
  8. Ask for Feedback.  Let go of your ego and fears and just ask someone for feedback; and take it with a pinch of salt.  Bloggers are a friendly bunch – if you ask for help – they help.  If you need motivation – they give you that little push to get your feet in motion.
  9. Experiment With Content.  If you’ve got a favourite author, give their writing style a shot.  I’ve seen a lot of ‘Wordless Wednesday’ posts around cyber space – try one of those Mr Linky things.  I started this blog with music, poetry and my random thoughts.  I still write about those and quite a few other things too. Try a new template / blog design; a writing format; make a few lists; a book or movie review; or just a post linking to your favourite bloggers.
  10. Contemplate & Reflect.  What is the purpose of your post ? Why are you using certain photographs ? Is there a lesson to be learned ? Is there something you want to ask your readers ?

So here’s wishing you well on your journey to find Your Blogger Voice.  For any of you veteran bloggers out there – please feel free to add to these tips.  Is there something else that you guys recommend ?

I believe that our voices will keep changing as we experience all that life has to offer us.  I’m glad you are a part of my journey – and I look forward to being a part of yours =)

Inspired By

  6. Voice and Blogging

I realized today that I’ve not had a chance to keep up my own thoughts and reflections due to the fact that I’ve been completely overwhelmed with work !

The Fabulous Bitch over at The Joys of My Splintered Life In Small Town has bestowed upon me yet another Award ! And this time – it’s not just ‘any’ award but her very own ‘Bitch Fab Award’

bitch fab

Now that’s what I’m talking about ! I knew from the moment I came across her blog that the two of us would get along like a house on fire .. at the end of the day – the fabulous ones stick together !  Haaa now I’m tooting my own horn – but hey – if I don’t do it – who else will right ?

Considering I just gave out a set of awards – I’m wondering now who is eligible for these awards … There really isn’t any criteria so I’m gonna dish it out to – you over there, and you too on the right, and yeah you with the coffee – you get one too ;)

The Guilty Hyena writes an amazing fashion blog where I’m a regular lurker .. I am so overwhelmed with the new trends that all I can do is lurk in fear of coming across as totally clueless to the rise of these trends ! Drop by and check her out and catch the hyena tweets whilst you’re at it too.

Ellie is one adulterous young lady who’s blog and tweets are most definitely bitch fab ! Her writing makes you ‘want’ to experience each of her adventures and leaves you coming back for more … and some more ;) 

There are a lot more Bitch Fab blogs out there – but I’ve passed on other awards to them .. so I thought it would be better to introduce some other bloggers as well. 

I hope the rest of you enjoy these two Bitch Fab Bloggers as much as I do =)

 

… and no I don’t think it sucks =P

It;s 5:01 a.m as I start this post and I’ve had a REALLY long few days .. been working from 10 a.m to 10 p.m as of yesterday on the documentary shoot and some client meetings; rushed home to get ready and head over for an Xmas party at a friends’ apartment by 11 p.m; got back around 4 a.m and I’m still awake !

So now that I’ve filled you in and you can appreciate my state of mind … I was blog hopping around the neighbourhood when I came across a tweet to 10 Reasons Why Your Blog Sucks by Edward Khoo.  The reasons come about pretty obvious when you read them but the perception described comes about in a really harsh manner.  If someone had to feel so angry or disgruntled after reading my blog – I would come away feeling pretty shyte ! I won’t put it all here but will give you a summary instead.

10 Reasons Why Some Blogs Suck =(

  1. You use syndicated content. You cut & paste articles from sites across the net onto your blog.  You can, but you shouldn’t. Without unique content your blog is nothing.
  2. Your blog is boring.  Write about topics that your reader, not topics that interest you.
  3. Your blog revolves around your person. Stop talking about yourself already. Readers don’t know you personally, and couldn’t care less about your ramblings. Tell them Facts or stories, not boring personal stuff
  4. Oh no, not your favorite music on auto-play!  Don’t add music to your site. Half the people won’t like it and the other half will find it’s a distraction.
  5. You use clip art
  6. No search boxes or archives.
  7. Bad Grammar, typos, misspelled words, and poor punctuation.
  8. Spinning Articles.  You write the same things others do that belong to your niche.
  9. Irregular posting.
  10. Your blog looks like 12023532989 other blogs.

Why My Blog Does NOT Suck

  1. I don’t use syndicated content. I swear ! Last time I checked, I hadn’t copy-pasted anything other than my scribbles from my word docs to Live Writer once I got it downloaded.
  2. My blog is NOT boring ! At least no one has said so or sent me ‘yawn’ comments.  I like to think I’ve got a variety of topics on hand ranging from Music; some Blogging Tips; Poetry new blog discoveries; and some deep & meaningful reflections as well.
  3. My blog revolves around my person.  Why ? Because I am more likely to relate to things that interest me – impact me – and hence better able to convey those thoughts to my readers.
  4. I don’t have any music on auto-play.  I have blogged about some of my favourite music and the Magic Of Melodies by using links and video streams but none are on auto play. 
  5. I use any and all sorts of videos and images that I feel will enhance my sporadic thoughts and help you relate to whatever it is that I am writing about. And that includes clip art.  I don’t own a personal database of over a billion images representing all walks of the universe.  That’s what the Gods of Google are there for.  However I’ve been lucky enough to capture some real Mumbai Moments as well as some great shots on my camping trip with my own camera so that should count for something !
  6. I have a search box on the top right corner of my blog !  I also have a really cool tool-bar (that took me forever to find) at the bottom of this page.  And even if the feature was not available – there’s always the CTRL F feature right there on your keyboard !
  7. Did yuo konw taht as long as teh frist and lsat letetrs of a wrod are palced coerrclty tehn you can from the snectnece wihtuot any turolbe.  I got an A in English through my schooling years.  I am quite a stickler for good grammar so not only do I use spell-checks when writing posts – I have also added certain words such as ‘woohoo’ to the dictionary just so that I have less errors during the spell-checks =P  Being a blogger is about being able to express yourself at leisure, or even whilst on the move – and hence small errors every now and then is still acceptable. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt!
  8. I don’t spin articles – at least not intentionally.  I write about anything and everything (although I probably will never be able to write about ‘everything’) and considering there are over thousands of similar articles and posts across the blogosphere – there are bound to be similarity to my posts as compared to those who write with no fixed agenda.
  9. My blog has been around for about 1.5 year and 152 sporadic thoughts old.  There were 28 posts between July ‘08 – Dec ‘08; and as of today excluding this post – 124 posts between Jan ‘09 and Dec ‘09 which is about 10 posts per month and 2-3 posts per week.  I’d like to think that makes a pretty regular blogger.  Ofcourse I could always try to write more .. but I can’t because I really can’t find the time to always be able to make a note of ‘everything’ that could perhaps be the most interesting content one would ever read.  I blog when I can – about whatever it is that I can – because I just ‘can’.
  10. Some people actually like my blog and that’s good enough for me. I don’t blog because I’m trying to become an expert in my niche - I don’t even have a niche !  I’ve managed to receive awards from fellow bloggers – and  it was a total dazed blur of awards for me when I got 3 in September.  A few people out there thought my blog worthy of an award in the form of a JPG image which is pretty cool =) In fact one went on to call me an Awesome Girl too :)  My newbie blogger ego got the better of me at the start of the year and I nominated myself for the Bloggers Choice Awards (just for fun) and I’m proud to announce I got 18 votes – out of how many thousands I don’t know – for Best Blog About Stuff !
  11. Various Blog Communities have given me some sort of decent ranking – even though I never asked to be ranked.  Don’t most of us belong to various blog communities or have been reading blogs for a while and hence got encouraged to write ?? because that’s how I got into blogging.  Besides the ranking status or Cyber Highway Traffic (as I like to call it) sort of gives one an idea of how other bloggers perceive their blogs.  I am not an expert – I’m not trying to be one – but I’d definitely like to know how I stand in the overall realm of things in blogosphere.
  12. Lastly I’m not writing this post because I think my blog is ‘the bomb’ – that’s Bombchells department =) It’s not because I think that my blog is a Bitch Fab blog – that title totally goes to the Fab Bitch herself :) But the main reason that my blog doesn’t suck is because it’s MY blog and it’s all about My Sporadic Reflections =)

Most of you already know about EntreCard – and if you don’t – it’s basically being termed these days as ‘blogging currency’ and being seen on very popular blog sites.

Entrecard provides a unique way for you to market your blog.  It's purpose is to bring bloggers (and website owners) together through advertising widgets

It took me a while to understand the scenario but it seems to be a good way to advertise on other blogs too.  The sign up process is free and you must create your own Entrecard – which is like your Blog Business Card.  sporadic reflections copy

The card must be 125 x 125 and visually appealing (but have you noticed that not everyone has the same idea about appealing hehe).  Mine looks like this right here … what do you think ?

Once you do this, you can go and check out other blogs via the EC site itself and ‘drop’ your card on other bloggers.  You can also, purchase adverts using the credits you have gained by ‘dropping’ on other blogs.

I’ve only been on EC for a few months and perhaps in the first 2-3 weeks – was a happy dropper but as my work schedule got busier and I got more into blogging, I found that I didn’t always have the time to drop on other EC bloggers.  Of course I kept going over to the blogs I enjoyed but didn’t go out of my way to find new blogs to drop on.

Then again, the purpose of me using EC is not to monetize my blog nor some desire to be the best known blog etc – it was purely (a) an initial testing zone to see if my blog could be popular (we all have egos here !); and (b) another way of finding blogs  that I might like.

Coming back to the topic,  Fastest Way To Drop Entrecards … this is not easy if you are using the Entrecard site.  Sometimes it takes two clicks on an EC widget on blogs before it accepts your drop.

I happened to come across two websites that stated they could help you drop 300 Cards in about 15 minutes ! I thought it was a bit crazy at first, but then decided to check it out last week whilst I was still at home.

ecsmall The first one I found was over at IAmBuraot and it was pretty cool to be able to visit multiple blogs that I could read and do my EC drops on as well.  I found that the pages opened in multiples of 10 – which did make browsing a bit slow – but I got a chance to check out each blog; and if a blog link wasn’t working – it stated so.

The second one I came across -  just this morning in fact as  I was writing this post – is by VoiceofBragg.  I’m stilecdropclubl testing this one out – and it does work.  Although I did notice was that via this widget – the blog pages don’t show up i.e. I can’t read the blogs, nor do I know what type of blogs I am dropping on.  However it is a quick way of dropping cards. 

My Conclusion :

I do enjoy visiting new blogs; and what better way to find new blogs AND have my dose of dropping cards.  I suppose some people are only using these for ‘drops’ and don’t really ‘read’ the blogs … but hey, every newbie wants to figure out how to increase traffic to their blogs right ? In the process if they find a bandwagon of fellow bloggers who actually also enjoy their blogs and reciprocate drops – that’s never a bad thing. 

Check both the sites out and let me hear your feedback on it if you are an EC user.

I couldn’t sleep last night as my foot was aching quite badly (yep it’s not healed as yet and I swear I’m not the accident or illness prone type !!)…. As I lay on my bed with my foot propped up on four cushions, I went about looking at various blog templates – and then finally decided that I should try my hand at testing another design out.

website-facelift_02 Here’s the one I have finally picked … for those that know me, this is not exactly typical of me.  I really contemplated about it – actually – the butterfly – but since its a nice black 3 column layout with a splash of colour – I thought I would just ignore the butterfly and use the template. 

Now I’m playing around with this template – and experimenting a little bit.

Please do let me know what you think about it ? If I should go back to my previous one or change the text colours around.

Also wanted to know if some of you are seeing my images in a sort of shadowy circle ?? I currently use Windows Live Writer to write up my blogs, and on here, and on my browser – the images come out as they are.  However based on a comment from the time of my last blog face lift apparently the photographs I put up don’t always come out in shape :(

Anyway – hope you like it =) and I’ll try to let this template last at least 2 months before changing it

Morning all … I came across a really cool blog earlier today called ‘The Way I See It’ .. and I could completely relate to it … It’s one to add to the reading list if you don’t already know about it …

My blog title is taken from this blog and a post that really interested me … I consider myself to be a personal and sporadic blogger … I’m not here to make money or change the lives of others with my views – but am here just to get all those extra thoughts running around my head out of my system and leaving a tiny mark out there in the blogosphere.

Blogging is an outlet for me to express myself and my views to an audience that may or may not judge me; to an audience that may actually enjoy what I have to say or to provide a gateway of free thoughts for those who just need to ‘get away’ !

I’ve never been one to keep a diary – and I don’t think I use my blog as a diary per say. I had heard about blogging a few years ago and went on to make my account live in 2007 but didn’t get around to actually writing in it till the June / July of 2008.

I knew when I started my blog – I had wanted to cover certain areas 1) my random thoughts 2) music that I was really interested in and 3) a place to capture the poetry that I had written or read over the years. The smart ass that I am – I set up – not one – but THREE different blogs – and very soon realised that it was not possible for me to maintain those – so I figured out how to import / export all the content to this main blog out here.

So now, as you know this blog more or less delves into various topics – from things that interest me, things and attitudes that bother me, some music, some poetry, and just general rambling of sorts. I like to believe that my neighbours and readers will have an opinion on what I write about, and the posts that go Without comments have been visited by lurkers.

I reckon that in my 27 years, I’ve had a pretty exciting and adventurous life – and should I be able to capture it ALL down – then it would make for a fabulous book =) I am an avid reader – so have a variety of blogs on my reading my list that range from personal, spiritual, all the way to business blogs. I find that I am able to relate in some way to the blogs that deal with personal life experiences.

So … we get back to the original question that Robin had posted. Is what you write about affected by who knows about your blog?

My honest answer to him was …. I've been blogging for almost a year now - and funnily enough - only a 'handful' of close friends know about my blog - and ironically - my two best friends don't even read my blog - its a bunch of other friends who do - who I feel could relate with it and hence I told them about the blog. Mine is not a 'personal-personal' blog - I do write whatever I am thinking about .. sometimes it can be personal (I think) and other times - its a subject that I have a strong view about ... And you're right - there are some family members or friends that I rather NOT have read my blog in case they get all uptight about it ... saying that, there are some topics I do not write about Just In Case someone else I know will get on to read about it ... Although to be on the safe side, I don't use any real names - I stick to initials or nicknames for people, nor have I disclosed my own real name or photograph ...

I prefer it this way … I did for a while upload my blog posts to my Facebook account – and quite a few people used to comment on certain topics but somehow I didn’t like the idea that ‘my friends’ knew about my blog … Weird right ?? Unlike Robin, I’m not a very private person – in fact I’m quite an outgoing person who really doesn’t care much what others think about what I have to say or do (not in a bad rash manner but in a ‘your opinion doesn’t bother me manner') … Ok that still didn’t come out right but you get my point ??

I like the idea that ever since I started blogging – I have found a whole new community of people who are of the same mindset as me – people who may or not have shared the experiences that I have – but they are open minded individuals who are able to pop into someone else’s life and give an unbiased opinion. This community is completely non-judgemental and that’s what I love about my fellow blogger neighbours. They take what you have to say at face value and don’t question the ‘who, what, if, why,’ etc

In real life – some people are too caught up in the notion that everything should be done in XY manner and if it doesn’t follow protocol then it is not acceptable. People are bogged down with societal views and haven’t had the time to form their own personal views.

How “private” is your blog? Do your family and friends know that you write online? Do you care?