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Showing posts with label blogging how to tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging how to tips. Show all posts

UThis was a bit of a hard one for me – so I’m going to try and make this short and sweet.  Your blog is one of millions of blogs out there.  So what makes your blog so special for people to come out and keep visiting you ?

You need to make sure your blog is Unique and is always Updated.  I know it sounds ‘easy’ but it’s sometimes overwhelming to know that you have all these amazing blogs out there that just seem to have something special about them.  And of course we all want our blogs to be one of those ‘go-to’ blogs ‘cos its got all the best content ever !

My suggestions to you to keep your blog unique would include mixing up your content; participate in various blog challenges; and invite your favourite bloggers to write guest posts for your blog to give a new voice to your blog.

Some of the ways you can keep your blog updated is by refreshing your blog design every few months or at least once a year.  I’ve had about 4 different designs & layouts for my blog since I started blogging.  You can also schedule your blog posts so that you have regular content being posted even when you are too busy to blog. 

There is no right or wrong way to make your blog unique – what makes it really unique is the fact that’s its YOUR blogger voice that’s going to be heard and those who like it will stick around and those who don’t – oh well they’re just missing out. 

Just the other day, I wrote about Quality vs Quantity of posts and prior to that I’ve gone over how we must maintain original blog content. 

Have you found that sometimes you are on a total blogging roll – everything seems to be inspiringS2 you and before you know it – you have got 4-5 ideas that you can make into blog posts.  So all these posts are ready but ‘now what’ ? Do you post them immediately ? Do you come back to them in a day or two or even the next week to post them ?

I’ve been there and guess what – sometimes I’ve forgotten that I have this awesome post sitting in the drafts and that post has gone unpublished for the longest time.  That sucks especially if it is a post that was probably more relevant to have been published earlier (maybe ‘cos it related to another post you had / it was in time for a new movie release / had something to do with what has been going on in the news – you get my drift here)

During the course of the Ultimate Blog Challenge that took place in January this year – I discovered that ‘scheduling’ my posts was really a God-send !  Blogger & Wordpress both offer this service and if you use Windows Live Writer like I do – then that has it as well.  The best part is being able to review & edit your posts prior to publishing (even though its technically already published)

Some of my posts for the A to Z Challenge were all written up on my free days and due to my ad-hoc work timings – I set up the posts to be scheduled to be published at different times each day so that I didn’t miss out on my posts. 

What are your thoughts about scheduling posts ? Have you done that in the past ? Are you going to be scheduling any posts during the Ultimate Blog Challenge ? Have you figured out when is the best time to ‘schedule’ your posts for ?

NLet’s be honest here – if you are a blogger, then you are already in a way – a bit of a networker.  It may be in your personal life, or work life – and now due to blogging / because of blogging you’ve started networking.

Networking is a fab way to make friends in blogosphere.  It’s also a really easy way for you to pick up on new ideas that you can use to create new content for your blog.

When I talk about networking – I don’t mean just add someone to your blog roll / Twitter.  I’m talking about actually connecting with other bloggers via all platforms available to you.  When you discover a blog post that really leaves you gobsmacked or awestruck – make sure you de-lurk and let the blogger know that you appreciate what they have to say.  If they have a Facebook page for their blog – then ‘like’ it and share it with your FB network.  If they are on Twitter – then tweet with your favourite bloggers; RT their posts; interact via tweets with them – have an actual conversation outside of your blog (I’ve actually met a few of my Blogger & Twitter friends in real life as well)

I managed to get some great new content for my blog by asking my network if anyone wanted to write a guest post for me.  The response was overwhelming and I have new content that is different to my regular style of writing – which in turn gained me a few new readers.

Do you network with your blogger peers ? What’s your preferred way of communicating with them ?  Do you ever seek their help when you feel a creative stump ?

Diva’s Discovery

Networked Blogs is a simple and fun user generated blog directory that lets users gain more exposure for their blogs.  Your blog gets it’s own page, a listing in the Networked Blogs directory and its easy syndicated to Facebook and Twitter (which means once you publish your post to your blog, it automatically gets posted to your FB and/or Twitter page as well).

Check out Michelle Shaeffers’ post ‘How To Add Your Blog To Networked Blogs’ – I’m sure you’ll find it useful.

Make The Time To Blog

When one first starts blogging, they tend to write / post whenever they feel like it.  I’ve found that over the past few years; I’ve started to make the time for blogging even when I’m super busy Mand have way too much on my plate – but I make sure I put aside a little bit of time to update my blog. 

Why ? Because I want my blog to grow (for myself).  One of my blog goals is to post a minimum of 8 posts a month; and luckily for me in 2011 I averaged 17 posts a month (compared to 2009 / 2010 where I was averaging 10 posts a month). 

My blog (or me) will probably never be a Top 10 blog across genres – but that doesn’t mean it can’t be. And the only way it will – is if I make time for my blog like all the other pro-bloggers out there.  Just by committing to take part in the A to Z Challenge – I’ve made myself make time for blogging each day.

What about you – do you just blog as and when you like or do you set aside a particular time of the day to blog ? I tend to write the most late at night or early in the morning.  Do you have any blog schedule that you follow ?

Mix It Up

I enjoy mixing up the content on my blog since I’m the type of person who gets bored quite easily.  I love to read blogs with different content to mine – and if I learn something new from a blog post that’s a total plus point. 

Memes are in essence pre-defined templates that bloggers can use to provide regular and interesting content to their blogs.  They are particularly useful when you’re lacking inspiration or when your creative juices are drained out. meme 2

I do owe some of my blog posts to the memes that I participate in such as Music Monday; Wordless Wednesday; and a little meme I created on my own Sexy Saturday.  The idea behind these memes is quite simple – every Monday I put up a post about a piece of music that I enjoy.  Wordless Wednesday involves putting up a photograph / visual art – I’ve clubbed this by adding my thoughts to the picture and asking my readers what they think about it too.  Sexy Saturday is all about eye-candy and I used it as a way to feature the actors / actresses that I (and the rest of you) drool over.

Do you participate in any popular memes or blog hops ? Would you consider participating in any of the ones I have mentioned ? Does your blog have a mix of topics or do you tend to stick to one type of content ?

Did You Know …

Richard Dawkins first introduced the word ‘meme’ in The Selfish Gene (1976) to discuss evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. He gave as examples melodies, catch-phrases, and beliefs (notably religious belief), clothing/fashion, and the technology of building arches.

 

LLinks are awesome.  I enjoy clicking on links within articles or blog posts that provide ‘further reading’ links that are relevant to the topic on hand.  It’s a way for me to discover new blogs as well.

A Back-Link is exactly what it sounds like – a link coming back to your own blog or website.  It could be from another blog or website to your own; or an external link from someone else. 

Diva’s Guide to Giving & Receiving Linky Love

  1. Links to Posts that you have referenced.  I tend to link back to blog posts that might have inspired my own post and I make it a point to also inform the blog owner that I will be doing so / or have done so.  It makes them feel good and you’d be surprised at how often those bloggers will pimp your blog post for you just ‘cos you’ve mentioned them and given them credit. link-to-me
  2. Link back to your own related posts.  Linking within your own blog is a great way to boost your blogs SEO, and to showcase your other blog content to your readers.  You can go a step further by using key words that relate to posts that you’re going to be linking back to so as to further boost your blog SEO.
  3. Link back after Comments.  Most of the time, when you leave a comment on a blog, there is a feature that lets you leave your blog link.  Make sure you do this ‘cos you never know who might be interested in reading your last post.
  4. Become a Guest Blogger or Invite a Guest on your Blog.  I encourage any blogger doing a guest post for my site to include a link to their website and to their FB and/or Twitter; and the same has been asked of me when I have guest posted for other blogs.

What do you do to increase your back-links ? Do you use any of the suggested methods above ? Do you offer a link exchange feature on your blog ?

Diva’s Discovery

A while ago I came across ‘Comment Luv’ – it’s a plugin that can be used with Wordpress and Blogger blogs which allows the person commenting to choose to display not only their name, but any one of their last 10 blog posts.  Now that’s an easy way to create and increase links to and from your blog.  Check out this nifty video to get a better idea about it.

p.s. if you use Intense Debate as a commenting system like I do – you just have to go to your dashboard and activate CommentLuv

p.p.s the ‘Love’ part of this post was inspired by @MystiqueWanderr and @Mate1

KToday’s post is inspired by my twitter friend @panku_  He totally reached out to me within 5 minutes of me tweeting yet another plea for help last night.

When I first heard about key words – I was a bit confused.  I mean it sounded simple enough but every other website was talking about how important it was, and how it should be used and how it affects search rankings .. a bit over my head to be honest.

Basically keywords are those specific words which are searched in a search engine.  If you open Google now and type in ‘Blogging’, you will get a few options of ‘key words’ that people use when searching for topics related to blogging.

If you use your keywords correctly – search engines can provide you with a free source of targeted traffic to your website or your blog.

Diva’s Guide for Using Keywords

  1. Place key words in your content copy. The best places to use keywords are in your Post Title, Headline, Sub-Headings, First and Last paragraph.  Of course you can also use variations of them in the body of your text
  2. Place keywords in your Meta Tags.  So meta tags are in the HTML part of your web design (and really if I knew how to explain this any easier I would).  There is something called ‘title’ and ‘description’ and you have to include a short concise description of your blog / site / page over here. key-word-resume
  3. Place keywords in your ALT tags i.e. photo tags.  So if you’re blog / site is about pet care, and you if a picture of a dog on a comfy dog basket then your tag should read something like ‘only the best for your pet’
  4. Place keywords in your domain name and page title.  This is important for people who have their own domain names.  You can get a lot of directed traffic out of this.  e.g. if you have a pet sitting service in Dubai then your domain name can be ‘www.dubaipetsitting.com’ (this is friends’ company).  Search engines tend to find these first.

Do you consciously use key words when writing your blog posts ? Now that you know about it – do you think you might have subconsciously done it ?

Please do share any tips or insights based on your experience on how one can incorporate key words into their blog posts.

Before I started the A to Z Challenge, I knew I was going to faceJ trouble with some of the alphabets for my theme (which is the A to Z of Blogging – Diva Style … oooh I like the sound of that!)

I sent out a plea tweet yesterday as I still didn’t have any topic to write about and then one of my favourite bloggers @TheHopefulRom came to my rescue with the suggestion for today’s post ‘Just Do It’ ‘

TheHopefulRom thought it would be apt ‘For anyone who's spent ages thinking about blogging but has been too afraid’ – Just Do It.

It’s perfect and makes for a great post.  So I’ve come up with a few scenarios where the motto ‘Just Do It’ will get you motivated enough to keep you going.

Here’s the Deal. You’re new to the blogging world, and you want to get your blog noticed.  What do you do ? Blog, Blog and Blog on ! Just do it ‘cos if you don’t, no one will know you’re out there.

Here’s the Deal.  You want to experiment with your blog content to show off your witty sense of humour but aren’t sure if your readers will like it. Just do it – ‘cos someone out there in blogosphere is going to enjoy your post.

Here’s the Deal. You’ve been reading about blog challenges but don’t know if you will be able to complete it.  Don’t be afraid. Just do it – how else will you know if you can or can’t complete it.

Here’s the Deal. Are you afraid of leaving comments on other blogs ? Just do it and de-lurk ! Trust me – you won’t regret it.

Here’s the Deal.  You want to write about a potentially controversial topic / you are infuriated by something but afraid to blog about it / you’ve been inspired by an idea that could just turn the heat up on your blog .. but you hold yourself back.  Just do it – blogs are meant to be an outlet for you to express yourself; it’s your blog after-all.

Here’s the Deal.  You’ve made your blogger friends that you follow them on FB and/or Twitter and you would love for them to Guest Post on your blog but afraid / embarrassed to ask.  Just do it – not only will the other blogger be flattered they would also appreciate that you think highly of them. 

justdoit

Just Do It.  3 very powerful words.  So whether you are a newbie or a native in blogosphere, whenever you find yourself in doubt (in similar situations to above; not for when you’re thinking about raiding a bank or jumping off a cliff) – just do it ! What’s the worst thing that could happen ?

Disclaimer : Neither TheHopefulRom or myself are promoting Nike or blogging on their behalf.  This thought can be traced back to the Tweets between THR & myself on 10th April 2012. 

(I’m trying to be funny – is it working ?)

Goals2657676353_a57f4042a9

We all have semi pre-defined goals in mind when we decide to do something. That’s why we are doing whatever it is we are doing right ? Blogging is no different.  Think about why you blog and what you want to achieve out of it and your goals will be right in front of you.

Scenario 1

Goals are meant to be short, concise and a perfect combo of not too general and not too narrow.  Take one main goal with a subsidiary goal and you’ll be fine.  Once those are defined you’ll even be able to pin-point the kind of ideal reader that you want coming to your blog.

Every year, my blog goal is to write more than I did the year before which I have managed to do and its a great kick when I cross a certain post threshold ! (This post is #566).  What’s your blogging goal ?

Guest Posts

Scenario 2

  • Question : ‘Why do you blog’ ?
  • Answer : to let the universe know what’s on my mind & to spread my message across cyber space (and the real world)
  • Question : So what are you doing about it ?
  • Answer : I’ve made blogger friends and I plan to / want to write a few guest posts too ! That’s when you know people like your writing – right ?

When I first started blogging – I would come across all these blogs and see guest posts written and think ‘damn, I wonder if I will ever get to write a guest post for someone’ …Aaaaaaand I did ! I lost my guest post cherry in March 2011 and since have even invited other bloggGuest_Blogger__ers to be my guest too !

It was all a bit overwhelming at first but then I realized it’s because of my interactions with the other bloggers, did I get the invite to do a guest post.  These were bloggers whose blogs I always left comments on; we were always tweeting together on topics non-blog related and encouraging each other as well.

So if you are thinking about guest posting for another blog – don’t fear.  Just drop the blog author an email, tell them how much you enjoy their blog and that you’d love to guest post for them if they are interested; leave a link for your blog and hit that send button.  Then make sure you send that blogger a quick tweet to let them know they have mail :)

Have you ever written a guest post for another blog ? What was your experience like ? How did you feel ? Do you invite guest posts from others on your blog ?

Diva’s Discovery

There’s a great site I discovered called MyBlogGuest.com where you can register and find thousands of readily available guest posts across various subjects that are available for your blog.  All you have to do is inform the blog author you want to feature a post that catches your attention; if the author agrees – then there is a time frame within which you must publish the post.   I’ve gotten some great guest posts out of this site.

EE is for Editing & Expressing Yourself

Common sense says that we must edit & proof read anything we want to publish or showcase to someone else.  We were taught this in school and yet so many of us forget to edit our blog posts. 

Blogs, like any published piece of work, needs to be edited.  You need to re-read your post, perhaps even say it out loud so you hear what it sounds like to others before hitting the publish button.  No matter what you use to actually write your blog – I’m sure it has a spell checker (unless its a basic note pad feature on your laptop); MS Word, Clarisworks, Windows Live Writer, Blogger, Wordpress all have a spell checker feature.  Spell Check is there for a reason – use it !

Simple editing things that I like to follow that make for easy reading :

  • Leave 2 spaces after a full stop or period
  • Use capital case for a new word of a sentence
  • Leave a space before a ? or ! (the auto spell check if in US mode marks this as incorrect but that’s up to you)
  • Leave a line space for a new paragraph
  • Don’t use all caps. Ever.
  • Bold / Underline / Italics / different font sizes in a post are to make a point – not to decorate your post.
  • Use a minimum of font size of 10 (or 12 if the font is a ‘smaller’ font)
  • Mind your grammar (use apostrophes where required, commas, hyphens etc.)
  • Step away from the post and read it again in half an hour – you’ll be surprised at what you end up doing !

Do you follow any of the above editing / proof reading techniques ?  Can you suggest anything else ? Please note, that other articles on editing feature lots of other points – which are probably more relevant to authors / book writers and include suggestions like letting someone else read and edit your piece.

Expressing Yourself

Blogging is about freedom of speech and expressing yourself.  One of the ways your blog comes across as ‘more you’ is if you blog the way you talk.  Unless you have a business blog, your personal blog is meant to be more natural.  This actually another form of editing your posts.

If you are going to say something – back it up with an incident, an experience, or actual facts.  Sometimes I use quotes from articles directly in my blog posts if it is relevant to whatever point I’m trying to make.  I like to use examples or really describe a scenario (my friends think I’m too descriptive when I speak) so that anyone reading my blog can feel like they are there at that time.

What’s your blogging style like ? Have you found your blogger voice ? What editing & proof reading tips would you suggest ?

D

De-Lurk Yourself

First things first, if you are a blogger (new or old) and you have a list of favourite blogs that you go to– De-lurk yourself by leaving a comment on that blog !! That’s how the other blogger is gonna know you exist and can start interacting with you. 

I’ve talked about lurkers in the past.  A lurker is someone who reads your blog and leaves without a trace of showing they had been there ! I’ve even asked my readers to de-lurk themselves so that I would know who was around.  You have absolutely nothing to lose by de-lurking.  Think about it like this, you would only be sharing your blogger voice with everyone on that blog comment thread and I’m pretty sure the blog author will be chuffed to know they have a new reader. 

So what are your waiting for ? Yes you, right there, I can feel you lurking over my blog – just leave me a comment already !! Pretty please ?

lurker

Design

It doesn’t’ matter how great your content is if your overall blog design is not easy on the eye !  In the last few years of blogging, I have given my blog at least 4 design make-overs to make it more appealing to my readers.   I have asked for feedback about features that readers may / may not find comfortable and when your readers tell you that something can be fixed – it generally means you need to get yourself in gear and fix it.

There’s a simple rule of thumb I try to go by when selecting a template – it should be minimal and cater to the features you want to showcase.  So a light background with dark text (dark – not bright) works wonders and is so easy to read.  I’ve seen some blogs with florescent text and it hurts my eyes so much that I just skip to the next blog !

There are thousands of free design templates one can choose from for their blog – it really depends on the theme of your blog.  I quite like the magazine / paper layout templates that are out there –particularly the 3 column ones and that’s how I got around to using the template that I have now. You could also choose to invest in a professional blog design service – especially if you have your own custom domain.  I’ve been meaning to get around to doing that and hopefully I will in the next few months.  That’s when I’m likely to find the perfect custom template just for my blog.

Are you using a custom design for your blog or are you using a template ? Do you change your blog design – if yes, how often ? What made you change the design ?

Blogs & BloggingB wreath

There must be a reason behind how and why you started your blog; and just for that you must remember that the blog must go on.  Whether you write a blog post every day or once a week – don’t forget to blog – by way of your own posts and by commenting on other blogs. 

There are some posts that evoke strong reactions and the comments themselves can sometimes be considered blog posts themselves and you can use it to create a brand new post for yourself. 

You may read that one needs to maintain X number of posts a day / a week to become an established blog or to keep readers interested .. I reckon that all you need to do is maintain a basic blog schedule / blog goal for yourself.  When I started out in 2008, I aimed for at least 2 posts a week / 8 posts a month; and between 2009 to 2011 I’ve gone from an average of 10 posts a month to 17 posts a month – that’s a huge achievement for me.

It takes each of us time to discover our blogger voice – but at the end of the day your blog is a reflection of you and your blogger voice.  And if you are ever stumped, just ask yourself ‘why do you blog’ and the post will be ready before you know it !

Bookmark Blogs That Appeal To You

When you aren’t blogging – you should be reading other blogs (and book marking them too).  Let’s face it, there are thousands of awesome blogs out there in Blogosphere and as much as we would like to think we can singlehandedly remember every single blog we have ever visited – we can’t and that’s why bookmarks are an awesome way of collating all the blogs that have made an impact on you.

I’ve used ‘De.li.cious’ in the past and have found it to be a useful tool for bookmarking my favourite sites – especially since you can log onto any computer / laptop and import your bookmarks over.

If all the fancy tools for bookmarking are too much to deal with – then I suggest just making ‘folders’ in your regular bookmark provider that comes with IE / Chrome / Firefox and save your favourite blogs on there.

Yay ! That marks the end of my 2nd post for the A to Z Challenge.  Would love to know why you blog and if you feel that you have discovered your inner blogger voice ? Are there any social bookmarking tools that you would recommend that has made it easier for you to keep track of your favourite blogs ?

AIt’s quite simple really.  The way I see it – the about me / about the author should give your first time readers a quick glimpse of your personality and possibly what they can expect from your blog.

If your blog is going to be focused on a specific topic then the blog URL, the blog title should reflect that; if you are a sporadic blogger like myself then the name should indicate that. 

I’ve created some headers at the top of my blog to segregate my blog posts since I don’t really have a theme to my blog other than the fact that it is very sporadic.  So I’ve got sections such as  ‘Music’, ‘Poetry’, ‘Reflections’, ‘Relationships’, ‘Wordless Wednesday’, ‘Sexy Saturday’ (a meme I created for fun) and ‘Diva’s Guests’ which features all my guest bloggers.  I think it makes it easy for a reader to select what kind of posts they may want to read and to see if the topics appeal to them.

Also be prepared to be ‘accountable’ for your blog.  If you’re gonna have an opinion about a subject be ready for people to counter your opinion and make sure you have facts to back it up.   That’s where ‘attribution’ comes – don’t forget to link back to sites where you get your sources from (whether it be statistics or even images). 

Diva’s Discovery

There’s a cool site that I would like to share with you all called ‘about.me’ and it basically lets you put all your social media profiles onto one website and are even doing a promotional offer of giving out business cards with your details on it.  Definitely worth checking out especially if you can tweak the html code to direct your ‘about’ link to this site.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaay that’s my first post done for the A to Z Challenge ! Feel free to share a link to your ‘about’ page in the comments so that others in bloggersville can visit you. 

tipsFor all of you taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge– we’re almost half way there !! I can’t believe that I’ve actually managed a post a day for the past 12 days.

Here are a few tips & tricks to help you stay on track for the rest of the month with this challenge (or any other blog challenge as a matter of fact)

1/ Follow the rules.  The UBC has a rule of a minimum of 100 words a post for the post to count and I’ve noticed that I’ve actually tracked my word count.  Guess what just these few lines have already hit 100 words.  You’d be surprised how many random thoughts can trigger some fab blog posts and it barely takes a 100 words !

2/ Track the challenge hash (#) tag on Twitter  I’ve saved the hash tag #blogboost on my Twitter account to read up on other members of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Not only do I get to read some great posts, it also helps inspire post ideas of my own.  The lovely ladies of UBC have also created a daily paper you can follow and use to catch up with what other authors have to say.  Make a note of the posts that strike a chord within you – maybe you could add your thoughts and create a new post out of it.  You can also find more #blogboost related tweets here.

3/ Stop Lurking and Leave Comments on other Blogs.  You have to comment on other blogs – don’t be conscious about it – just say what’s on your mind.  The blog author will definitely appreciate it; and even if your comment disagrees with what the author has to share – it encourages interaction between you, the author and the other readers too. Come on – it’s time to de-lurk now ! By leaving relevant and engaging comments (don’t just say ‘great post’); other bloggers may wander over to your blog out of curiosity.

4/ Add Your Post to the Challenge Facebook Group.  The UBC Facebook group is pretty awesome.  I’ve been a member of it for a while but today was the first time I added my post to it – and guess what – within 15 minutes – someone had come to my blog and left a comment for me ! If that wasn’t enough, that person also left me a comment on the FB link that I posted.  Double the interaction; easiest form of traffic ever and a great way to discover new bloggers !

5/ Don’t Be Afraid to Pimp Your Blog Post on FaceBook & Twitter.  That’s right folks – one of the reasons you are taking part in the blog challengpimpmybloge (amongst other things) is so that your blog gets discovered (and there’s no point denying that).  Make sure you Tweet your blog and the posts created for the challenge with the #blogboost and include @UBCBlogBoost in your tweets.  The ladies over at UBC will be more than happy to re-tweet your tweets creating more exposure for your blog. 

Don’t feel shy about posting the the UBC FaceBook group and if your blog is a public blog – then why not share it with your Facebook friends ? You never know which of your friends will re-post and share your blog to their circle of friends.  I’m signed up with NetWorkedBlogs on FB which automatically publishes my new blog posts to my FB page without me having to think about it. 

6/ Schedule Your Posts If You Must (And It’s Not Considered Cheating). I’ve never been a daily blogger so I knew taking part in this challenge would be a bit difficult. Over the past year I’ve taken part in a few memes like #MusicMonday, #WordlessWednesday and I created my own #SexySaturday which means that if I stick to a plan I have 3 posts ready each week during the challenge and I just have to focus on creating 4 other posts. In the meantime, if another blog post, photograph or quote catches my attention – I’m jotting them down in Windows Live Writer drafts and just come back to them as and when I can to complete and create new posts.  You can also use the ideas & suggestions from the UBC daily inspiration emails to create a schedule of posts.  I know that between 24th-31st Jan I’m going to be traveling for an event (clients’ wedding) hence I’m writing up posts that I can auto-publish for those dates (in case I forget or don’t have time etc.)

So there you have it – here are 6 tips to help you stay on track whilst you are participating in the Ultimate Blog Challenge.  It’s helped me get through till Day 12.  I hope you’ve found this useful and if you have any other suggestions, please feel free to share your thoughts (a link or two even so others can benefit from it)

Further Reading :

  1. How To Add Your Blog to NetworkedBlogs by Michelle Shaeffr
  2. 7 Things To Do After You’ve Written That Blog Post by Melissa Reyes

p.s if you are taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge don’t forget to share your link below !

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