MAILBAG: Blogging for the unskilled people

Here is a question I received this week on creating and running a blog: 

Hola! I was curious to know if setting up a weblog such your own is hard to do for unskilled people? I have been hoping to set up my own blog for a while now but have been turned off mainly because I've always believed it demanded tons of work. What do you think?-Anonymous

 I don't think it's that hard to set up and run a blog. Here is a Wiki How on How to Create a Blogger Blog.If you like YouTube, here is a five-minute video on how to create your Blogger Blog. 

As for the amount of work a blog takes, it depends on how much time you have to dedicate to blogging. I found that Problogger has great articles on blogging, blogging income and everything else to do with blogging. 

If you are new to Blogging, I highly suggest his book "Problogger's Guide to Your First Week of Blogging" Click here to view more details. This book will help you (from Problogger's site)

·       Learn foundational brainstorming techniques.
·       Create a content plan—and content, of course!
·       Build a social media presence.
·       Create practical quality assurance tools.
·       Set up a publishing process.
·       Master the components of a blog post.
·       Develop your blog’s ongoing strategy.

I personally love blogging! If I don't have time, I don't blog. Some months are harder than others are and I have to focus my time elsewhere. However, eventually, I would love to be a full time blogger with my blog making enough income to make ends meet. Until then, it's a hobby I completely enjoy in my free time!

Don't give up too quickly. Every hobby needs time to learn and explore. Blogging isn't any different. It can be pretty fun! I have been blogging since March 2003 and enjoy it quite a lot!

Happy Blogging,

Dotchi

Better Blogging: Reply to comments on your blog

WOOHOO! I am doing another one right! In the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog, I skipped a few b/c of lack of money and another one I printed out to work on later since it's more in depth and will take some time (creating a sneeze page). I went on to check out the article on Commenting on your blogs comments.

Back when I started using blogger, there wasn't really any good way of checking for new comments. But now they have a comments tab where I can check for new comments on my posts. I have been replying to them and if the person is new, I hop over to their blog too and check it out! I have found a couple of really fun blogs to read from this and I really feel like I am connecting with my readers.

Frankly, seeing new comments makes my day! I get all excited and I can't help but smile. I love comments! And I will reply if you leave one. I've been checking them twice a day, sometimes only once if I am really busy. I do check them daily though, so feel free to leave a message.

Better Blogging: Halfway there! Two assignments I can't do...

Well, I found two assignments I can't do on 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. The first is to create a heatmap of where readers click on your blog. The other is to run a StumbleUpon Advertising campaign. Both of these cost money to do. Despite the rumors that are going around, I don't have money to pay for ads and heatmaps. I just don't have money to pay for anything like that, even if the lowest price is $5, I still can't afford it.

So, instead, I am going to trust all my readers to keep clicking where ever you click and you can post a comment and tell me :) How's that? As for ads... uh... hmmmm... here's a few for you to click...






This book is HILARIOUS! All the stories are made up... uh-huh! No really!













Here is one in case you have no idea how to start a blog (hint: blogger.com... sign in... click "start a blog" or whatever the button is). But if you're more of a book person, well then cool! Here ya go!









Here is a link for ProBlogger's book 31 Days to Building a Better Blog which I completely intend on buying one day! This link is for a reader who asked about the book. Apparently it's not on Amazon.com.



I love this book! It's funny and teaches grammar in an easy to understand way. Excellent for homeschoolers, writers, book worms and paperweight.












Well, now I am off to go make biscuits and chocolate coffee. Enjoy!

Better Blogging: Make your Popular Posts Sticky. I did one right!

In 31 Days to Building a Better Blog, the assignment is making your popular posts sticky. WOOHOO! I already did that! If you scroll down a little, you will see my top 10 popular posts. I am proud of myself! I did one of the assignments before I ever started the project! HA! Go me!

I know my niche!

After asking around I think I figured out my niche. Most people I asked said family-oriented sounds like it fits my niche. If they ignore the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog posts, the rest of the blog is family-oriented. It's mostly family stuff, recipes and my writing. So I will try to leave off the stuff about my writing and go for the family-oriented, "single parent"/ Navy spouse, recipes type posts.

What do you think???

Better Blogging: Finding my niche, Checking out my Competition

Today on 31 Days to Building a Better Blog, I looked into the assignment of analyzing your blogs competition.  The first part was to make a list 10 blogs in your niche.  I got to thinking about it and I don't know what my niche is as far as it goes with this blog.

Discovering my niche

The first thing I did was open my blog and figure out the topic of my blog posts.  Hmmm, there doesn't seem to be much of a theme except for this month’s 31 Days to Better Blogging posts.  The rest are about parenting, homeschooling, traveling updates, photos, recipes, reviews, allergies, life as a CNA and article writing. 

Since I already have other blogs that cover the homeschooling and housekeeping, I can cross those off and use the Homeschool blog for co-parenting and homeschool information.  I can also add reviews to the appropriate blogs of whatever I am reviewing.

That still leaves many topics but I think I can work on narrowing it down a touch.  I'll work on that niche thing over the next couple of weeks.  I plan on researching blog niches and see what I find.

Searching my popular posts

Two of my top ten posts are my Top 13 list of things.  Apparently, people really like lists.  I know I do!  Three are random pictures I have posted of things.  One is about my job and the other is about creating a household budget.  The other three posts are about random garble that I posted on various topics.  Surfing the internet at 41,000 feet, one about the world ending on May 21, 2011 and then house-sitting in the country.

Lists are on my things to blog about as is life as a CNA and photos.  I love photos!

Blog Competition?

I don't know where to start when looking for competition for my blog.  I just don't know.  If you have suggestions, I am all ears!

Question to my readers

If you all could be kind enough to drop me line, leave a comment, email or whatever...  I am wondering.

·                     What brings you to this blog?

·                     Are you coming back?  If so, what brings you back?  If not, why are not coming back?

·                     What do you find interesting on the blog?

·                     What would you change if it was your blog?

I'd love to hear from you!  Thanks so much for reading my blog.

FAQ: Mailbag! Backgrounds part 2

This is part 2 of the original post Where do you get your background?

You'll notice that my background isn't in the images selection for the blogger template designer. That is because I get my background lay out from The Cutest Blog on the Block. They have different backgrounds for Twitter, Wordpress, Myspace and Blogger.

How to find your background

At the top of the Cutest Blog on the Block page, scroll over "backgrounds" and then choose "Blogger". It will open a page for the Blogger backgrounds. You can browse around the different categories (on the right hand side, scroll down a little). They have backgrounds for 3-column lay out, Black and white, etc.

Once you find the background you like, click on it. I'll use the Fluorescent Grunge Glam background as the example.

Scroll down to the code section where it says "copy and paste this code". Highlight the whole code, right click and pick "copy". 

Open your Blog Design Tab

Now go back to your blog dashboard. Click on the blog you want to have the background displayed and click the "design" tab. 

This will take you to a page that shows your pages lay out, with header, footer, posts and the sidebar items. 

Adding your background

Wherever you want, click "add gadget". A box will pop up to choose the gadget you want. Scroll down to find "HTML/javascript" and click on that. 

A new box will open with a title and content box. Paste your code in the content box and then click "save". 

Now open your blog page and marvel at its beauty :)

Tip for Blogger Backgrounds

Once you have added your cute background, you may want to go to the template designer link on the design page and remove the background image. This will help your blog load faster.

If you need any help or have any questions, email me.

FAQ: Mailbag! Where do you get your background?

I found this email in my inbox this morning

I can't figure out how to get a multi colored back ground like you have on your blog.  I dislike my blog background somewhat, it's boring. 

Oh I know what you mean! The backgrounds that come with the blogger templates can be exciting and colorful but for the most part, I want something cute and different. Here is how you change your background.

Getting to the template designer
Go to your blogger dashboard. Near your blogs name there is a link for "design". When you click on it you will be taken to a page that shows the lay out of your blog.

Near the top (but below the "posting", "comments", "settings", etc tabs) will be a link for "template designer". Click on that.

This takes you to the template designer where you see your blog on the bottom half of the page and all the options you can change on the top half.

Changing your background image
The second link down on the top half (on the left) is "background". Click on that.

There will be a box next to it that shows your background image. You can click on it to change your background. There are a ton of background images to choose from. Then you choose to change the color theme to match your background picture on the same "background" option.

Read Part 2 of Backgrounds to see how to get a cute background for your blog.

Better Blogging: Affiliate Programs

Today on 31 Days to Building a Better Blog, I read the article for searching for an affiliate program for your blog. I do have an Amazon.com associates account although I rarely use it. Usually I use it when posting recipes and that's about it. But I can use it to post a link to books I love, my favorite cleaner, my son's Science book,  or anything else I feel like linking as well. It really depends on what I am posting.

In theory, if I actually used it often, it could help make money with blogging. But I always feel bad if there isn't a really good reason to put a link in my blog, like uncommon ingredients for recipes. I felt like that would be along the lines of doing this...

I'm BROKE! Send money! PLEASE!!!

But seriously, I never really thought about it as ads. After all, nothing happens until someone buys using the link I made. I'm not sure why I agonize over the links. I have adsense ads on my blog... why am I all modest about the amazon links? I am weird. I have come to that conclusion (and about 99% of people who have met me). Maybe I should try therapy. Wouldn't that be a fun session... "You see, it all started when I signed up for Amazon affiliates...". I'll be in a padded room in no time.

But I am digressing... While I probably won't use them in every single post, I am sure there are times when I could add a link for a few things here and there. I just don't want to over-link the hell out of my post like I did in the first paragraph.

But, hey, check out the links [insert evil grin here]. I worked harder on that than I should have! I tend to have fun with links sometimes LOL.

As for the assignment, I don't know of a lot of affiliate programs but I did look around. I think I have enough ads. I will have to make it work. I don't want my blog weighted down with a jillion ads. So I think I am done with the assignment, except for trying to add a link once in awhile.

I did read up a little more on the topic though. If you really want to read more, here ProBlogger gives 10 Tips for Listing Affiliate Programs on your blog. It was quite useful in that I finally don't fear Amazon's program. I do like that I can place an actual ad in the blog post for something relevant to that topic. Like this...

This is Problogger's book on making money blogging. I figured that was quite appropriate for this post. I can't see wanting to put an ad like this on the blog post very often... but then too, I was just thinking, that might be helpful in recipes. I buy some of my ingredients online from Amazon because I do get better deals. Hmmmm, I will have to seriously ponder that.







Hey, while I have you all here... Here is another link I am going to practice with.



This is my dad's book. He is an awesome writer. I know I am biased. Whatever.

You may now return to your regular blog surfing. I know I am!

Better Blogging: The About Me Page!

Today for 31 Days to Building a Better Blog, I decided to try out the assignment for "Conduct and 'About Page' Audit".  Now, I am not sure what I should put in my about page.  I did go through and check it for grammatical errors and spelling errors.  I really think I need to make it a better page, but I don't know where to start. 

I went browsing other "About Me" pages and some were dry as hell and boring.  Others were mildly interesting but sounded more like "My resume in greater depth".  Then I got a brilliant idea!  Duh, read ProBlogger's "About ProBlogger" page.  I am such a dork.  Why didn't I think of that before reading other ones for an hour?

I like his layout and I like the page.  It's not boring, it doesn't sound like a resume and it's WAY better than mine.  So for the rest of the day, I will be playing with my About Me page and getting it the way I want it.  Wish me luck!  And if you have any suggestions, I am all ears!

Better Blogging: Introduce Yourself to Another Blogger

Today for my 31 Days to Building a Better Blog assignment, I picked introducing myself to another blogger. I have issues with just blindly emailing another random person from the internet that I don't know. I've met some pretty freaky and creepy people in my years and I didn't want a repeat.

I started out by surfing blogs for awhile looking for a new one that I could relate to. I happened to run across several fundamentalist Christian blogs but they just aren't me! I found several food blogs that looked good but with all my allergies, I kept going. I found ones for technology that were interesting but not really something I would follow. I found one that I liked but there was no contact info or about me or profile page.

And then I found one that speaks to my heart... Farty Girl, the Queen of T.M.I. She has IBS, gluten intolerance and lactose intolerance. I spent some time browsing her blog and then HAD to send her an email! Nothing grand, just a note saying how I love her blog. I made contact! I feel a teensy silly for it, but I did!

THEN, I decided to make contact with a friend of mine, Donna C, who also has a blog, and we're going to be blogging a lot together. This should be awesome! Also, I called Nikky about her blog and I am going to help her get it going.

I am so excited now! I did the assignment and have two people to get addicted to blogging with me! I feel like a blog dealer or something... 'mere my friends, I got a little something for you! LOL

Better Blogging: First Time Reader Audit

My project for today in 31 Days to Building a Better Blog was actually completed about a week ago. Running a first time reader audit for me is a bit difficult since so many people I know already read my blog. Then I had a great idea! Sky and Donna S! Sky and Donna S don't have internet at home, don't actively follow my blog and are pretty honest about the layout of websites.

I invited them over for a hang out and asked each of them to sit down and look at my blog. I briefly explained why by telling them I am doing a first time reader audit. I wanted them to look at my blog, browse it, read a little and just stay on it until they were bored. Then tell me what they thought.

Donna S Surfing

Donna S went first since she hasn't seen my blog at all except for the few times they came over and I said "Hey looky what I added to my blog!" and that was about the end of it. I couldn't sit right next to her to stare over her shoulder and see what she was clicking on but I was able to lay down on the couch behind her and sort of watch her from across the room.

Donna S did great as a first time reader. She stayed on the blog a lot longer than I thought she would, I saw her checking out the sidebar and she clicked on the About Me page. I was just starting to nod off when I her her giggle at something. I looked up to see what page she was viewing and it was one about Montana and Tennessee. After awhile she finally finished and we started talking about the blog.

Donna S Review

She said she really likes it, likes the writing style, the backgrounds that she has seen are really cool, the articles are fun to read and the about me page is very interesting to read and the recipe page looks delicious! She liked two articles that stuck with her the most. The article about comparing Montana to Tennessee and the article about A CNA doing nice things. Those things she can relate to since she lives in Montana and was a CNA in the past. She said she didn't read the Android apps post because she doesn't have a cell phone.

I asked if there was anything she would change and she said she couldn't think of anything. It was nicely laid out, easy to use, not confusing.... but maybe do something about the blinking ads. She has seizures and didn't need to go into one. (I NEVER thought about that!) There isn't much I can do about that so I just changed the sizes. I haven't seen any that blink since then. Here's hoping that's fixed!

I asked what she would remember most about the blog if never came back to it. She said the writing, how pretty it is and that blinking ad. Oops on the ad but cool on the other two :)

Sky Surfing 


Next my brother, Sky, sat down with the blog. I knew he would be a good candidate from a first time reader because he is a lot like me. He tends to have A.D.O.S. which stands for Attention Deficit... OH SHINY!  I was curious to see how long he would stay on the page. I gave him the same instructions as Donna and then wandered off.

I was having a seriously hard time focusing that day so I didn't really watch where he clicked. The times I did see him browsing he was doing the same as Donna S. Scrolling a bit and checking out the About me page.

Sky's Review

Sky's review is the blog is clean looking and well organized. It wasn't confusing and cluttered like some of the pages he goes to view. He liked the about me page and my style of writing and just generally the lay out. He also likes the different backgrounds I use. I also likes that I have different topics and that it's not JUST a blog about one specific thing.

He didn't stay on the blog as long as Donna (about half the time) but he said it was engaging enough to keep him there for a little while. What will he remember? The clean, organized feel of the blog.

How about you?

Are you a first time reader? What do you like about the blog? What would you change? Do you have anything you dislike? Let me know! Shoot me an email with your review.

Better Blogging: Run an Advertising Audit and Digging into Statistics

Today I picked two assignments for my 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. The first was running an advertisement audit. Along with decluttering my sidebar, I think I like the layout better.

Ads Audit

I changed one of the ads to smaller, even though Darren made his bigger, just because I thought it looked better when you first open the page. The others I moved a bit to get the labels and subscribe form a little closer to the top of the page. I also added the follow gadget once I figured out what I was doing so I needed the ad to be smaller for that sidebar.

Then my friend, Donna, called and we worked on the sidebar layout together which helped me complete my previous assignment.

Digging into Statistics

Next, I moved onto my blog statistics. First I wanted to see what my popular posts are so I can post something along those lines. My top five post are:

1. FAQ: How did you find out you are gluten intolerant?
2. My Bedroom Floor Collapsed
3. An untitled blog post of a picture I took from the Anza-Borrego Desert.
4. My recipe for Gluten Free Biscuits and Gravy
5. A Better Blogging Post about scheduling my blog posts.

Okay, I can work with this. Scrolling down further I noticed that the most clicked on posts are about Blogging, Gluten Free, Random Pictures and my bedroom floor collapsing. I understand the Blogging and Gluten Free post. 

I didn't realize that random pictures were such a huge hit. But then I thought about it. Sometimes when I am searching the internet on Google, I click on images and browse them. Maybe that is what people are doing to stumble onto my blog?

As for my bedroom floor collapsing, I have no idea. Maybe people are curious? Maybe they are searching because there is a huge rise in collapsing bedroom floors? I have no idea. I google searched for "bedroom floor collapsed" and it was at the top of the search page. #1 in search! Sweet. But searching for "bedroom floor collapse"  and I stopped looking around page 36 of the gooooooooooooogle search. I am going with that people are fascinated with me almost dying.

Also I noticed that my Contact me/ Stalker Guide page has quite a few hits. I think Darren was right about the contact page.

Referring Sites Statistics


Next I looked at the referring sites. Most are google, facebook, twitter and my friends blog. Then there is a random blog about viagra that showed up. I am good with that. I'm not sure how to work with that information other than to work on my SEO in each post and maybe write more about sex (just kidding!).

I looked at the keywords that brought people to my blog and found it interesting.

dotchilatham.com is the most used keyword for finding my site. So is "baker's acres", "baker acres blog", "Dotchi Latham" "bakers acres blog pic 2010" and "bakers acres hindi".

The first thing I thought was, "Someone searched my name?" It's not a common name like Joe Blow, Jane Doe, Sue Smith or anything. It's rather original. I enjoyed my momentary ego-boost and kept scrolling.

The big keywords that stand out are about gluten free bread, android apps and medical issues. I jotted down a few ideas that I got from those, looked for a calendar to print to make a full month posting schedule and then got lost in farmville. Note to self: Work on ADD issues!

My Audience Statistics


I got curious about where people are that view my blog so I checked out the audience stats. That was pretty cool! My audience is broader than I thought. For this week alone I have readers from (in order of greatest views to least amount of views):

• United States
• China
• Canada
• Germany
• France
• Ukraine
• India
• Netherlands
• Australia
• Romania

Looking at all time views adds Latvia and Iran. I thought that was really cool. Thanks everyone! I am not sure how I am going to use this to help my blogging experience but I am going to research Latvia next because I haven't heard of it. 

Now that I have a better idea of how to use popular blogs and keywords for writing ideas and I know people like pictures, I can blog more with a better idea of what draws people to this blog. Hopefully, I will have more readers and more people will start commenting. I LOVE comments!!!

I am off to start outlining my new ideas for blogging and map out a month of blogging ideas.

Better Blogging: Declutter the Sidebar

Today for my assignment on 31 Days to Building a Better Blog, I picked decluttering the sidebar. I usually do this a few times a month anyway but I went ahead and looked at my sidebar again. I rearranged a few things but for the most part, it is the way I like it. What do you think of the sidebars? I was thinking of having two sidebars on one side, putting the ads down one sidebar and the profile, popular posts, etc next to them. I am not sure which one I would like better so I will be playing around with that this next week and asking my "test readers" what they think.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on how to make the sidebars look better.

My Blog Schedule Leaderboard

I put my board right beneath the computer monitor so it's right in front of my face and I can't ignore it. Now my week will be planned out and ready to go and will be front and center too!

Better Blogging: Email an Old Time Reader

Today's assignment from 31 Days to Building a Better Blog was to email an old time reader. This one I really had to think about. Since I don't have a lot of comments on the blog, I browsed back a little way through the comments to find someone who has been on the blog awhile. I found a few but none of them had email addresses that I could email to say thanks.

So, I emailed my long time friend, Donna C. Donna has been reading my blog since the day I started it. She may not comment on the blog but she does tell me when she reads it and tells me what she thinks about the posts. She has given me ideas for something to post on when I am brain dead and is always supportive outside the blogging world to offer support. Donna is super awesome and deserves a huge pat on the back!

Until this assignment, I never really thought about saying thanks to her for all she has done to get my blog going and keep it hopping. So, thank you Donna again for being such a wonderful supporter of my blog.

And thanks to everyone else who reads this blog too. I really love you all! And this blog wouldn't be where it is today without you!

Better Blogging: Scheduling my Blog Posts

The next project I decided to tackle today for 31 Days of Building a Better Blog was scheduling my blog posts. Darren explained about how he got into a posting schedule and it really made sense to me how it will help my blogs. I am sporadic! But I also have blogger-droid on my phone so I can post updates to all my blogs no matter where I am so, I have no excuses anymore!

First things first... What days am I blogging?

I really had to think about this. I wanted to do a post every day on every blog. That might be a bit much though. So my plan is to post 6 out of 7 days on this blog, 5 out of 7 days on Cleaning Nymph (and get it GOING!) and 3-4 days on the Homeschool blog. The work comp blog is just there for documenting purposes but I can update it twice a week.

Second... What am I going to say?

The next thing I did was sat down and made a list of things to write about on each blog. For Cleaning Nymph that is pretty easy. Every day has a theme and each week I pick a room as the weekly focus. For the homeschool blog, I can write something about what the boys have done on each day or post pictures, maybe some reviews and I picked a few topics to start off. Then I picked a week worth of topics for this blog.

I moved my dry erase board into the living room and used it to map out my week and wrote a note on the notes area "Change blog pic!!!" since everyone is asking for it. I'll try to have that done by Saturday.

Third... When am I going to write all this?

I was seriously sweating over how I am going to post on every day that I marked on the calendar for each blog. Then I remembered this cool feature on Blogger! Auto-post! I can write the blog entries as I think of them and schedule them to publish at a certain time. I have had issues with it malfunctioning before but I can make sure I check each afternoon to make sure the posts actually went through.

Having this feature will help me for days when I have appointments in Kalispell or days when I really need to get things done around town. It'll keep the blog active without me sweating bullets last minute.

Lesson Learned?

I really need to be consistent with my blogging and make sure I keep posting to the blog so it doesn't just end up in a cyber graveyard.

Better Blogging: Comment on another blog

Today I need to catch up on my assignments for 31 Days to Building a Better Blog. It's not that I'm on a time limit or anything but with the floor collapsing in my bedroom and getting a pay check yesterday, having to buy car parts and go grocery shopping; my back was done with me before I could find time to browse the list and pick another goal for the day. I decided to pick two goals today.

My first goal is to comment on a blog I have never commented on before. I realized I don't usually comment too much on the blogs I read, I haven't read too many blogs lately and I don't have a blog roll on my blog to share my reading list with my readers. I am going to fix that today!

I spent about an hour browsing the blogs I follow and found a few to leave comments on. Then I started clicking the "next blog" button at the top of the page and found a few more I really liked and bookmarked them. Now, I am making a list of blogs I read to add to this blog to share with my readers. Here are a few to get you started (in no particular order):

• Camp4u is a political blog. I usually don't follow politics and I can't remember why I started following this blog but I lived in TN when I bookmarked the page and posted it on my blog awhile back. I pop in there every now and then to see what he is saying.
• Nikky's Circle is my best friend's blog she started recently. I am going to help her out with lay outs and all that fun stuff! I'll make a blogger out of her yet!
• The Simple Women's Daybook is one that I have followed but haven't actively joined and posted my daybook for. I plan on changing that!
• Abiding Hope Collages makes beautiful collages for those of us who have lost a child. They made a beautiful one for Brandon, my first son.
• ProBlogger is "a Blog that helps bloggers to add income streams to their blogs."
• Pillownaut is a blog I was introduced to this week by my dear friend, Sara.  I was hooked after I read the post on whistling in space. I love her style of writing!
• Nerd Bastards is a cool site. I love their tag line "entertainment for the socially awkward". That is so me! And so far I have enjoyed browsing their site.

That should be a good start to get you browsing. I'll go work on getting the blog roll added to my blog for you all to see.

Better Blogging: Interlinking Posts

Today's project on the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog is to interlink your posts. Basically, when you make a post and you have an earlier post about the same topic, you add a link to the older article in the article you are writing.

On my blog, I post about many different topics so I couldn't find a lot of them to link. Instead, I went to each recipe page and added a link at the bottom to the page that has the list of recipes. It says:

For more recipes, click here.

I am also going through and cleaning up the tags for each post which connects all the posts of a similar topic. For example, by clicking the tag for 31 days to a better blog, you will end up on a page for all my posts about this project of building a better blog.

As I build my blog with more posts and topics, I will be able to interlink better. For now, I will be printing off my blog post titles and slowly finding some that I can link together.

If you are interested, I offer this post to practice. My first post on this blog "In the Beginning there was a Bored Blogger". Enjoy :)

Better Blogging: Comments and Forums. Two Days in One.

For today's project on 31 Days to Building a Better Blog I started out with search for and join a forum on your blog's topic.

Join a Forum
I thought about it, searched around and realized, my blog doesn't really have a topic. It's a place to post my articles, post pictures, post family updates, tell people about our travels, rant about work and pretty much whatever I want to put on it.

Instead I found two general forums and started reading and browsing. I don't really enjoy chatting in forums or trying to keep up with them so I am using them to see if there is any valuable information about blogging that I can use. I like playing online, I just don't want to be in a forum chatting all day.

Comments
The next project I took on was email a new reader. This was a bit of a downer for me. I don't know who reads my blog because I have very few people commenting on the actual blog. I know my friends, husband, kids, family and coworkers read it but, other than that, I don't really know who reads my blog.

Instead, I went to the comments section to see if I could get ideas. Low and behold! There was a new comment from a new reader. I was thrilled but there was no way of getting a hold of her. There was no email address and the only link was to another website. So I replied to her comment on my blog instead. I also made a note to check the comments section every day or two and reply to every comment made on my blog.

Lessons Learned?
While the blogging forums aren't that much of a help right now, I now have two places I can turn to for guidance, ideas and just general blogging chit chat.

As for the comments, I never really put a lot of thought into replying to the comments made on my blog. I read them, they made me smile or laugh or touched me in some way. I rarely replied though and I am not sure why. From a person's point of view who reads the blogs, I can see the point though. It just never occurred to me to reply.

I am learning a lot and I hope the next lessons help as much as these have. I'll keep posting my updates on my learning adventures in blogging better!