I have been crazy busy lately.  Doctors appointments, a minor league baseball game that was cancelled after we took our seats, and a home school conference all conspired to keep me from reading my favorite blogs!  But this weekend I managed to catch up on some blog reading and want to tell you about a few of my  favorite posts on blogging.

Leo Babauta asks a great question in his post Essential Blogging Question:  How Can You Help Your Readers Today.  I think he’s right.  Focus on writing content that’s useful to your readers and all the rest (traffic, comments, links, ad revenue) will occur naturally.  That’s not to say there aren’t things you can do to help it along, but if those things are your focus, and not the content, readers will sense it and move on.

Another question I read this weekend was “who is a mommy blogger?”  Jessica at Jessica Knows has given her thoughts on the definition of mommy blogger.  She makes some interesting points about the moms who receive free products and earn incomes from blogging.  I’ve already given my thoughts on the definition of “mommy blogger,” but I’ll just add here that there seems to be a split developing in the Mommy Blogger world between those who embrace the marketing opportunities and those who scorn them.  What do you think?

Regardless of how you feel about marketing, you probably want to improve your blog.  Even a “pro” like Melanie wants to learn more and is improving her blogs by participating in ProBloggers 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Challenge.  I plan on working my way through his assignments in June, when I have a little more time on my hands.  In the meantime, I enjoy reading Melanie’s blog, and those of other participants, to see how they implement Darren’s ideas.  Are you participating in 31DBBB now or plan to in the future?

Another method for improving your blog is to have someone critique it.  Asking for constructive criticism takes courage but can reveal a lot about your blog that you can’t see!  Stop by BlogCoach and ask for a critique by Angie and her readers, or read what they are saying about other blogs; learning from the mistakes of others is a sign of wisdom, right?

Angie also answers blogging questions on BlogCoach.  Recently, she answered a reader’s question about how to transfer blog ownership.  She includes some really useful links and suggests writing a contract to make the transition easier for everyone.  If you are thinking about transfering a blog, you want to follow her links!

While I’m not planning to transfer my blog anytime soon, I am planning to move to WordPress.  One thing I like about WP is all the great themes (or templates in Blogger-speak) you can choose from.  If I were going to stay with Blogger I would switch to one of the WP-looking templates Angie at 5 Vinez Monkeys has discovered.  If your blog is on Blogger, you HAVE to check this out!

Another post you should check out is Organizing Mommy’s article on forwarded emails.  I found it pretty funny and issued several loud ‘AMENS!’ as I read it.  If you have a friend, relative, acquaintance or  co-worker who regularly sends you forwards, I’m sure you’ll nod your head in agreement with what she has to say.

My final assignment as an intern here at Profitable Mommy Blogging is to write about The Best ___ Ever!  I have thought and thought about what I wanted to share with you.

After much consideration, I have settled on “How to Create the Best Blog Ever!”  An alternate title could be “What I learned during my 10 week internship at Profitable Mommy Blogging with Kelly McCausey” but that just doesn’t have the same kind of ring to it, does it?

When my internship with Kelly McCausey began I had been blogging for about 1.5 years.  I had written hundreds of posts on a variety of topics- mainly related to managing my home and family.  I had a basic knowledge and understanding of blogging but, I wanted to learn more!

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Spring has finally arrived here in New England!  Robins are searching for worms in my backyard,  daffodils have bloomed in my front yard and my Mommy blogger uniform will soon change to shorts and t-shirts.

OH NO!!

Does the thought of shorts, t-shirts and sandals (never mind SWIMSUITS!) strike fear and horror in the hearts of any other Mommy bloggers?!

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Mommy bloggers cover a vast spectrum of topics.  Some are personal; some are not.  The following Mommy bloggers have chosen to show personal pieces of their lives; by doing so, they have expanded my world and my understanding of caring for special needs children.  And reminded me why I love Mommy bloggers so much!

Read these Mommy bloggers and you’ll be inspired, too.

Dawn has taught me that mothering a daughter with special needs isn’t bad or horrible – it’s just different.  It comes with a different set of dreams and victories that are just as valuable as the ones I have for my daughter.

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Today I am participating in a meme from An Island Life.  The rules are simple:

“In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer in the comments. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.”

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This week Leslie Truex from Work-At-Home Success, Pajama Mama Living and the author of The Work at Home Success Bible is participating in our Buzz a Mom feature.

Here is our interview:

Leslie, it’s obvious from your website, Work-At-Home Success, that you are passionate about helping Work-At-Home Moms.  Please share with us how and when this passion developed.  How did your passion take the form of a website?

I was a WAHM wannabe that struggled for a long time. I started sharing what I learned or discovered about working at home by building a website in 1998. In some ways it was a like a blog in which I’d share stories and resources.

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Are you thinking about starting a a new blog?

If so, join Nicole Dean and Kelly McCausey for a FREE seminar Thursday, April 16th at 10:30 A.M. EST.

They’ll share how one of their ‘pre-loaded’ blogs can give you a head start in blogging – as well as, give some great insider tips on how to best customize and promote the ‘pre-loaded’ blog once it’s installed.

No registration required – just use this link and login info on Thursday morning at 10:30am EST.

Click Here to Login to the Web Conference Room
user: Your Name
pass: mm

Kelly sent me a link to a t-shirt that I need.  She didn’t say I need it, but I think I do.

The black tee version with hot pink “SHHH… MOMMY’S BLOGGING” would look very stylish with my fuzzy pink slippers.  It could become my official Mommy Blogger uniform.  It’s just too bad only 1 of my four kids is old enough to read.

Go get your own  “SHHH… MOMMY’S BLOGGING” uniform at Hot Chocolate Carmel Mocha today!

We all agree that including pictures on our blogs is important, right? So what can we do to make those pictures look professional?

First, apply these 5 photography tips and tricks:

1. Fill the frame with the object or person you want people to look at.
2. Try a different vantage point by standing on a stool or kneeling on the floor.
3. Be aware of how the background looks (ESPECIALLY when taking pictures with a kitchen counter nearby!!)
4. Take multiple shots from various angles.
5. Try different amounts of lighting for the same shot.

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I’m excited to tell you about namechk.com!

Namechk.com solves the problem of creating a username on one social media site only to find it is already taken on another site.

It’s really simple to use.  Just type in the username you want and namechk.com checks 80 different social media sites to see if that username is available.

Go to namechk.com now and see where your favorite username is available!

Quick!  Not counting a computer, name one piece of hardware that a blogger must own to make her blog a success.

Did you say digital camera?  Great, so did I!

Why do I think a digital camera is essential blogger equipment?  Because a picture is worth a thousand words and nowhere is that truer than on a blog!

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Today I am wrapping up my cross blog conversation defining “Mommy Blogger” with LaTara Ham-Ying from Mom Unplugged.  You can read the beginning of the conversation here.

LaTara, once again you have given amazing answers to my questions!  I’m not surprised that you enjoy writing a “deep” thinking blog because you give incredibly thought-filled responses.

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This week I had the opportunity to interview Crissy Herron for our Buzz a Mom feature.

Crissy is the founder and owner of IndieBizChick.com where she provides information and support to women that will help them start and grow their own businesses.

Here is our interview:

Crissy, please share how and when you realized your passion is helping women with DIY internet businesses?  Was there one key aha! moment or were there a lot of little things?

I think that it was something that was always inside of me. I was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. (I did live in Alaska for about 7 years, but am now back in Michigan). Michigan as a whole has seen some very hard economic times, but I do think that Flint has been one of the hardest hit areas.  We’ve had the highest unemployment rate in the nation for a very, very long time.

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twitClicks.com is a really fun and useful new Twitter tool designed to track the shortened urls you create through twitClicks.com and share on Twitter.

twitClicks tells you how many clicks each url received, where the person was and the follower most likely to have done the clicking.  I especially appreciate the blog explaining how to use all the data you receive to better market your blog.

Watch the video explanation and then come back and tell me what you think about twitClicks.com.  Is it cool?  Will you use it?

LaTara Ham-Ying from Mom Unplugged and I are continuing our cross blog conversation today.  We have been defining “Mommy Blogger” through a series of posts here and at Mom Unplugged.  If you missed the beginning of the conversation you can catch up here.

LaTara, I’ve been thinking about your definition of “Mommy Blogger” as being “a woman who writes passionately about her life and life as she sees it, sharing some good ideas, products, and more along the way.” I believe you have succinctly captured the essence of mommy bloggers – passion. [Read more...]