Friday, July 29, 2011

So You Think You Can Blog

The ad read, "With so many blogs out there, how can you make yours stand above the rest?"

How could I say no?

Since my blog is essentially my baby - I decided this would be one of those workshops I would attend.

Remember the writing group I joined recently? It's called "See Jane Write," and I am a member of a subgroup of bloggers called - "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pens." Tonight was our night - It was the night of bloggers!

You guys know I have been trying to take my blog more seriously, I even tried to create a strategic editorial calendar. Either way - if I write the scheduled stuff, or I write randomly - it's all stuff I WANT to write about. But I want you to know, I am listening... so I adjusted my blog a bit.

August will be 2 years with Destination:Unknown. I have well over 1,000 posts... I have stumbled, I have fallen, I have bared my soul... all in all.. it's my online journal. I love it. I write for me, and I cannot deny, I write for you.

Sooo... I go back to the original question - how to stand out?

Sorry the pic is blurry..


We had a few highly qualified bloggers share their stories. According to the paper I have the bios read:

Rachel Callahan from Grasping For Objectivity - started building an audience for her writing with her blog, as well as starting the blogging community called: Alabama Bloggers. She was recently selected as a BlogHer "Voice of the Year" honoree.

Jennifer West launched her blog, The Jen West Quest, on March 30, 2010 and has posted something every day. Because of the nature of her blog, she has worked with Health Magazine and has even appeared on the Rachel Ray show and was just on Good Morning America.

Laura Kate Whitney made a name for herself in Birmingham just a few months after arriving in the city thanks to her blog, Magic City Manifesto.  Her blog has led to opportunities locally with B Metro magazine and got the attention of skirt! magazine.


There was a very good turnout... I snuck a quick shot as it was wrapping up.
I promised to share with you guys what I learned... and I am happy to report - especially to my fellow bloggers that read and visit in the same circle I do - You are doing it all right!!

That's right, for the most part, I felt validated on what I stumbled upon!

If you are a new blogger, and sincerely want to know, here is the advice I heard (and few extras I would add... )

- There was the big debate on Word Press.com versus Wordpress.org and Blogger. I am a blogger girl and happy with it. The ladies on the panel chose Wordpress.org

- If you want to make money- the Google clicks were not popular. These ladies recommend selling ads ($18 - $25 per 1,000 clicks..) and/or getting a sponsor for your blog.

- Themes work for some... randomness works for others. Consistency is key

- Joining network groups is key

- Blog Hops, Link ups, etc are a good way to build your readership

- Comment and respond to comments


Honestly guys... do what you are doing now, but network the hell out of it!





At the end of the day - make a plan, network, join, write - write - write.
 ;-)

The biggest thing I took away was 1. I feel like I am on the right path and 2. I met some really nice people....



Until next time...

11 comments:

MBDinBham said...

I blog a tiny bit because I find if I spend too much time on it, it takes away from my family. And I'm not really selling anything, so there isn't a whole lot of motivation money-wise to blog a lot. And sometimes I don't really like talking about myself, which interesting blogging seems to require.

Sign. I guess I'm the anti-blogger.

Chanda temple said...

Enjoyed your story. Great highlights of the evening.

Curl Jung said...

2000 posts in two years! That's a lot=D

I have reach 50 posts in six months, and if I keep going at that rate I'll reach just 200 in two years=D

Nice Blog=D

Brandi said...

Thanks for the recap! I wasn't able to make it.

Tamika D. said...

Had a ball! I love this pic of you...so beautiful.

Sophie Lynn Craig said...

Hey doll, can I just say I adore your blog (:

xox
http://alittledoesofmadness.blogspot.com/

javacia said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed the event. Thanks so much for coming and for writing this great post!

Rachel said...

I'm so glad I got to meet you in person!! Thanks for coming!!

scrapwordsmom said...

Thanks for the advice, Nicole. I do think you are on the right path...I do most of those things as well. They really all do add up!

Kaley said...

It's always nice to hear from big-name bloggers that they used similar methods that I use in order to be successful, but it's also frightening because it shows that it really is all about how people connect to YOU.

Anna Kaye said...

I love your profile picture! You look amazing!

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