A while back, I wrote a post detailing five little nuggets of advice I've learned over the last three years. It was pretty basic and to the point, but isn't the best advice always the simplest?
Here are five more blogging tips direct from me to you - I hope they help!
#1 Make it easy for others to share your blog.
Blogger, as a platform, has come a long way in just the three short years I've been hosting my site here. We now have the option to embed comments (which is a wonderful way to interact with your readers and reply directly to those who comment on your posts) and we also have the option to include the "share" bar at the bottom of each post. Make sure you have this setting enabled to allow readers to share your blog, or specific post, on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more. This will increase your chances of getting your blog out there to audiences you might never have reached previously!
#2 Support another blog and your own blog by buying ad space.
There are a lot of great blogs out there who feature monthly ads and sponsors. A great way to increase traffic and reach a broader network is to buy an ad space on a blog you love. Don't look at the other blog's traffic rates or any of that other technical mumbo jumbo. Just choose another blog that fits your style and go for it! Like turns to like, so keep that in mind when choosing which blog you want to advertise on or sponsor. (PS learn the differences between advertise and sponsor before you dive in!)
#3 Host giveaways, include guest bloggers and be a guest blogger yourself.
This one can be tweaked totally to your style. I love to feature other bloggers here on mommaruthsays, as a way to meet other people and highlight bloggers I admire. It's also a great way to send your readers to a new site and gain readers from other sites, kind of like a friend swap! You can feature a great Etsy store on your blog with a giveaway, buy something from Target for your readers, or even make something DIY and host a giveaway for it. Giving back to your readers is always a great thing to do! (Make sure you establish rules for giveaways, such as time-frames, how the winners will be chosen who's allowed to participate, etc. - if you host a sponsored giveaway, make sure you follow up on disclosure rules and regulations). Another great thing to do is be a guest blogger for someone else; if another blogger wants to feature you, I say be bold and seize the day! Even if it's just a silly poem or questionairre, it's good to support a fellow blogger out there.
#4 Be present in your online persona.
I'm the world's worst at getting caught up in the new and flashy sites out there. The internet has so many social sites to offer, sometimes it's hard to choose just one or two. If you're the kind of person that can multitask and manage several sites at once, then by all means go for it! But, if you're like me and you don't have the time (or headspace) to keep all those sites current and fresh, it's better to stick to one or two sites. Personally, I'm working hard to make my presence known on Twitter again. I used to be a regular Twitter fool, and I let that slip away from me. Now that I'm back and working hard to establish myself again, I find my interaction levels are up, readership is up and I feel connected again to an outside source of information and community. I also try to regularly update my Flickr page with photos and, of course, my blog. Other sites like Tumblr, Polyvore, and Bloglovin have fallen by the wayside for me. Choose what works best for you and your site and maintain the ones you really love!
#5 Don't forget to be authentic - just be yourself!
There's so much pressure to be a big number these days, it's easy to forget the little things that making blogging so fun. All four of the bullets above are aimed at creating an audience and nurturing those readers, but I want you to remember that you shouldn't blog just for those who read your blog - you should blog for YOU! Whenever I'm feeling bummed out about the lack of readers I have on my sidebar or my daily stats, I remind myself: that's not what this is about. This is about documenting my life and creating a space for myself to remember. It's human nature to feel jealous that other people have big, fancy blogs with 1000 comments per post and featured ads for national retailers - of course, who wouldn't be jealous of all that? But you have to remember, those people started out just like you and me. They were once a small fish in a big pond trying to make a name for themselves. I hope now that they're big fish, they haven't forgotten what it was like to be just starting out. Just remember to be true to yourself; at the end of the day, your opinion of your blog is the only one that really matters.
Here are five more blogging tips direct from me to you - I hope they help!
#1 Make it easy for others to share your blog.
Blogger, as a platform, has come a long way in just the three short years I've been hosting my site here. We now have the option to embed comments (which is a wonderful way to interact with your readers and reply directly to those who comment on your posts) and we also have the option to include the "share" bar at the bottom of each post. Make sure you have this setting enabled to allow readers to share your blog, or specific post, on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and more. This will increase your chances of getting your blog out there to audiences you might never have reached previously!
#2 Support another blog and your own blog by buying ad space.
There are a lot of great blogs out there who feature monthly ads and sponsors. A great way to increase traffic and reach a broader network is to buy an ad space on a blog you love. Don't look at the other blog's traffic rates or any of that other technical mumbo jumbo. Just choose another blog that fits your style and go for it! Like turns to like, so keep that in mind when choosing which blog you want to advertise on or sponsor. (PS learn the differences between advertise and sponsor before you dive in!)
#3 Host giveaways, include guest bloggers and be a guest blogger yourself.
This one can be tweaked totally to your style. I love to feature other bloggers here on mommaruthsays, as a way to meet other people and highlight bloggers I admire. It's also a great way to send your readers to a new site and gain readers from other sites, kind of like a friend swap! You can feature a great Etsy store on your blog with a giveaway, buy something from Target for your readers, or even make something DIY and host a giveaway for it. Giving back to your readers is always a great thing to do! (Make sure you establish rules for giveaways, such as time-frames, how the winners will be chosen who's allowed to participate, etc. - if you host a sponsored giveaway, make sure you follow up on disclosure rules and regulations). Another great thing to do is be a guest blogger for someone else; if another blogger wants to feature you, I say be bold and seize the day! Even if it's just a silly poem or questionairre, it's good to support a fellow blogger out there.
#4 Be present in your online persona.
I'm the world's worst at getting caught up in the new and flashy sites out there. The internet has so many social sites to offer, sometimes it's hard to choose just one or two. If you're the kind of person that can multitask and manage several sites at once, then by all means go for it! But, if you're like me and you don't have the time (or headspace) to keep all those sites current and fresh, it's better to stick to one or two sites. Personally, I'm working hard to make my presence known on Twitter again. I used to be a regular Twitter fool, and I let that slip away from me. Now that I'm back and working hard to establish myself again, I find my interaction levels are up, readership is up and I feel connected again to an outside source of information and community. I also try to regularly update my Flickr page with photos and, of course, my blog. Other sites like Tumblr, Polyvore, and Bloglovin have fallen by the wayside for me. Choose what works best for you and your site and maintain the ones you really love!
#5 Don't forget to be authentic - just be yourself!
There's so much pressure to be a big number these days, it's easy to forget the little things that making blogging so fun. All four of the bullets above are aimed at creating an audience and nurturing those readers, but I want you to remember that you shouldn't blog just for those who read your blog - you should blog for YOU! Whenever I'm feeling bummed out about the lack of readers I have on my sidebar or my daily stats, I remind myself: that's not what this is about. This is about documenting my life and creating a space for myself to remember. It's human nature to feel jealous that other people have big, fancy blogs with 1000 comments per post and featured ads for national retailers - of course, who wouldn't be jealous of all that? But you have to remember, those people started out just like you and me. They were once a small fish in a big pond trying to make a name for themselves. I hope now that they're big fish, they haven't forgotten what it was like to be just starting out. Just remember to be true to yourself; at the end of the day, your opinion of your blog is the only one that really matters.
