blogging 101

DIY Blog Critique eBook Review: How To Critique Your Blog Like A Professional

September 29, 2011 By mommyofamonster 5 Comments

I’m not afraid to admit it: I’ve been blogging for over a year and a half now, and I’m still not sure if my blog is what I want it to be…or if it’s what it should be, for that matter. I love my monster design, but is it too cute? What message am I sending? Does it fit my brand? If you met me in person would you see the connection?

Sigh.

So many questions, and unless you know where to look, it’s hard to find the answers. But I have the answer for you:

Yep, the DIY Blog Critique eBook written my Melissa of MomComm. And Melissa knows her stuff. Her background is in marketing communications, so she knows what sells and what won’t. She not only blogs at MomComm, but also at Adventuroo. And she is also the Brand Building Contributing Editor at SITS Girls and a freelance marketing consultant. So like I said, she gets it.

Now you might think like I did: I can’t critique my own blog! I don’t even know what I’m supposed to critique!

And that’s why this eBook is so fantastic. Because not only does Melissa tell you what to do, she tells you how to do it and why it’s important based on your own personal goals and style. The book is a 43-point guide on making your blog full of awesomeness (no really, she says so in the title)!

This book is not full of checklists and “here do this because I said so”. This is a comprehensive guide on everything about a blog broken down into four main categories: prepwork, design, functionality, and navigation and content. But before you get into the nitty-gritty, Melissa will ask you to really think about what it is you want out of your blog. She asks questions that will make you define your blog and what your goals are for your blog.

Then based on your answers, it’s like a personalized plan to improve your blog…whether your a beginner or you’ve been around for awhile. She gives you hints, tips, and suggestions, and makes you consider things that you’ve probably never even thought about.

But she doesn’t just tell you how to improve your blog, she gives you some incredible resources, too. Do you want to know how to choose the right colors for your blog? There’s info and a link for that. What should be in your sidebar? Yeah, she’ll tell you that. Want to know about advertising? SEO? You’ll find it all in this book.

So now I know that you want the book. Because who wouldn’t?! All you have to do is click on this affiliate link (yes, you can become an affiliate, too!). Click here to visit Momcomm to purchase the DIY Blog Critique eBook. And are you ready for this? You can get the eBook right now for only 14 bucks…yep, the introductory price is only $14!

Disclosure: I received a free copy of the DIY Blog Critique eBook for this review, but as always, all opinions expressed are mine. And I really, REALLY love this book and would absolutely have recommended it even if I paid for it! The link that is included in this post that takes you to the page to purchase the book yourself is an affiliate links to the eBook, make sure you get your own affiliate link, too!

Also…today, I’m hanging out over at Jamie’s place, chosen chaos.

She asked me to write about what I would say to my 18 year old self if I had the chance. I had no idea what I was going to write about until I sat down to write it, and then it just poured out. Thank you Jamie, for both asking me to guest post and for making me sit down and do something so cathartic!

Filed Under: blogging, blogging 101, guest post, product review

Guest Posting Etiquette – What You Need To Know

September 13, 2011 By mommyofamonster 65 Comments

Whether you’re a new blogger or a seasoned one, chances are you will guest post at some point during your blogging career. When you’re a new blogger, getting asked to guest post is like a right of passage and something you look forward to being asked to do. When you’ve been blogging awhile, you look at it as a way to be introduced to an entirely new audience.

Either way, it’s an honor to be asked because it means somebody respects your words enough to invite you over to post on their blog; treat it as the honor it is!

Just like there is certain etiquette to follow when you are invited over to someone’s house, there is also guest posting etiquette to keep in mind.

Last month, I sent out the following tweet: “Okay The Twitter…I need your opinion…when someone guest posts for you, what do you expect from them? Links?Mentions? Respond 2 comments?”

Natalie (@MamaTrack) says: “When I GP, the only new content on my blog refers readers to the GP, and I visit all of the commenters’ sites”

Leigh Ann (@latorres) says: “…you know how you dress really nice and try not to drink too much when you’re at a new friend’s house? That’s guest posting.” She also added “I know that when I guest post, I put my best foot forward. I REALLY think about what I am writing, because I really want to please you and your readers, but I also want people to like me and come see me too! I think I work harder on guest posts than I do on my own, honestly.”

Tim (@sogeshirts) says: “Guest post etiqutte is important to me. Why do a guest post and not promote it or answer questions?”

Someone who wanted to remain nameless said: “Lay out if they may repost it and when…I ask not to repost for 30dys”

Jenn (@midwestmomments) says: “I expect a shout out, and some promo-ing on their part.”

Gigi (@akludgymom) says: “on guest posts? How about that they drive traffic to YOUR site, not to their own site for their “I’m guest posting” post?”

Tracie (@fromtracie) says: “I think if you are doing a guest post, you should share your best and be proud enough of your words and work to promote it.” and “I would expect a post pointing their readers to the guest post.”

Melissa (@adventuroo) says: “I expect them to respond to comments (not all but at least some), meet deadline and promote it.”

Rusti (@rustilyn) says: “I check their style, so I don’t offend their readers…”

Jessica (@fourplusanangel) says: “A link to the post on their blog and a few tweets mentioning it too.

Based on all of these responses and opinions about guest posting, these are some things to keep in mind when you are asked to guest post…this is what bloggers expect, and deliver, whether they are the guest poster or guest postee.

And yes, you might make a mistake or two when you first start guest posting, and that’s okay! Here are some forgivable and not-so-forgivable mistakes to avoid when you are guest posting.

Forgivable

Double Posting: Okay, sometimes it’s unavoidable: you have something that you have to post on your blog on the same day that you are guest posting somewhere else. This happens to me occasionally when someone asks me to guest post on a Monday when I have my Mommy Moments feature here. When this happens, I always, ALWAYS still include in my post for the day that I’m guest posting and help get people over to read it by tweeting about it…with a link directly to the other blog, NOT back to my own blog.

Not Responding to Comments: This is sometimes forgivable if, let’s say, you are on vacation when the guest post goes up. Or maybe the blogger is responding to them. Either way, make sure you understand the blogger’s expectations so that you know how to properly handle.

Being Yourself: Totally forgivable. While you really should understand the blogger’s audience and style, realize that the blogger knows yours as well. Don’t change your style completely — the people that read your blog everyday will wonder what the heck is going on!

Tacky And Pretty Much A Guarantee You Won’t Be Invited Back

Double Posting Without A Shout Out: Don’t get me wrong, putting up a post on your blog to let readers know you are guest posting is fine, otherwise how would they know where you are?! But posting a regular post like it’s any other day on your blog without even acknowledging the guest post you’ve got somewhere else? A huge no-no and a total slap in the face to the person who asked you to guest post.

Not Helping Drive Traffic To Your Guest Post: Why guest post if you aren’t going to help get your readers and audience there? If you aren’t going to tweet about it, or tell readers about it on your blog, then don’t guest post!

Tweeting About Your Guest Post, But Sending People To Your Site First: I and many other bloggers have been noticing this one a lot lately; a blogger will tweet “I’m guest posting and so-and-so’s place” and include a link. The link goes back to their own personal blog to a post that again tells you they are guest posting somewhere else and then you have to click another link to get to the guest post! This is absolutely ridiculous, and the only reason I see for doing this is so that they get page views on their blog.

Here is how I handle tweets when I guest post but when I also am posting on my own blog (like if I guest post on a Monday but also have a guest poster here on my blog sharing a Mommy Moment): I tweet out separate tweets about both posts! I’ll tweet out about my guest post with a link directly to the guest post. I’ll also tweet a separate tweet about the guest poster on my blog with a link to that post.

Kristin over at Peace, Love and Muesli tweeted that she has implemented guest posting guidelines for her guest posters, and I think it’s a great idea!

This was much longer than I expected it to be, but I hope it’s helpful! What to-do or not-to-do guest posting tips did I miss? Share yours in the comment section below!

If you haven’t checked out momcomm.com’s awesome DIY Blog Critique e-book, now’s the time!

If you use the promo code: JANPROMO from NOW until January 20, you can get the book for just $10.50! And believe me, it’s worth every penny!

Filed Under: blogging, blogging 101

BlogHer’11 Recap

August 12, 2011 By mommyofamonster 34 Comments

Okay here’s the deal…I am still not ready to write about BlogHer because I’m still overwhelmed. Truth be told, I may NEVER be ready to write about it. It was everything: fun, exciting, crazy, drama, what I thought it would be, nothing like I thought it would be, happiness, shock, and so much more.

This is gonna be long, but since I didn’t post yesterday, I figure that’s okay

So because I’m having a hard time getting it out of my head and onto paper, here’s what I learned and observed over the weekend:

Nowhere can you go stand with a group of women all on their phones, computers, iPads while they are talking to you, and you are not at all offended.

Shoes matter. Those cute heels that are “so comfortable” but that you haven’t worn in forever? They are not comfortable, trust me. And if you MUST wear heels? At least be smart like Poppy from Funny or Snot and wear your heels the last night you are there, not the damn first night!

People will disappoint you. Not all of them, but some. They will not live up to the person that you made them out to be in your head. They will not run to hug you as fast as you run to hug them. They will not know who you are even though you talk everyday.

Everybody goes to BlogHer with a different agenda. Word to the wise, everybody goes to BlogHer for different reasons. I wanted to try to meet as many people/brands/contacts as I could during the day and saw the evenings as the time to hang out with friends. If you are going with friends you are close to, make sure that they understand why you are going so that everybody is on the same page.

I didn’t attend one session, but made some amazing contacts. But I had friends that went to some sessions and didn’t make as many contacts as they had hoped. All of us lived and learned from what we chose to do.

You will drink too much, eat not enough and sleep too little. I think from the pics you will see all the alcohol involved with the parties. I lived on breakfast, lunch, and appetizers for food. And as for sleep, I stayed up later than I have in I don’t know how long. As Nichole from in these small moments (and one of my roomies!) said “What were we thinking? We are not 20 anymore”.

I need to vlog because a lot of people take videos. Everywhere I went people wanted to shoot videos. I do not do cameras very well, let alone video cameras. There will probably be some vlogging in my future.

Most people do not look like their avis. I can’t tell you how many people walked up to me and said “Hi I’m so-and-so” and I thought to myself “REALLY? You look NOTHING like your avi!” I actually put my Twitter avi in my badge so people would (hopefully) recognize me. I think that my avi is a pretty accurate representation of what I look like, and most people I asked agreed.

People use your avi as a way to look for you/find you/identify you. So if you are going to a conference, you might want to use a picture from the last year or so…not your high school grad pic.

There’s too much to do and see and not enough time to do it. I didn’t meet everybody I wanted, I didn’t get to spend enough time with everybody I wanted, and I didn’t have any down time. I went to BlogHer to work and grow my personal brand, but I think next year, I’ll go to just hang out and get to know my friends more.

Learn to schmooze. I hate schmoozing and I’m not good at it. I am shy, and can’t easily talk to people I don’t know. I’m awkward. I really need to learn to schmooze.

I still need a damn elevator pitch. I read this everywhere and still don’t have one. Note to self: get an elevator pitch.

Yes, there were people I didn’t recognize/have any idea who they were…though they clearly knew me. And I didn’t blow them off, I talked to them. I will NEVER be that blogger that blows people off when they put themselves out there and are excited to meet me.

You will be someone’s blog idol…whether you know it or not. I cannot tell you who excited I was to learn that I was on the list as a “must meet” for Jenny from Karma (continued…). Her words literally made me realize that what I am doing to help other bloggers is important. We chatted on Twitter before, but now we are friends.

You never know who you are talking to. This one I learned at Evo. I talked to a PR person at Evo who literally changed my blogging goals. You never know who you are talking to, so make sure that you are respectful to everybody. They might end up helping you more than you think possible.

Know your roommates. I loved mine…Nichole from in these small moments, Katie from Sluiter Nation, and Tonya for Letters for Lucas. Secrets will be whispered, gossip will be shared, and things will be said that you hope never is uttered again to another soul. Know, like, and trust your roommates. Some of my favorite memories were from the time we spent together in our room.

SO many people made my BlogHer experience incredible…they know who they are even if they aren’t listed here. I didn’t want to list a bunch of people because I knew I would forget somebody incredible. So to all of my friends, old and new, much love!

One of my very best blog friends @AKludgyMom and I

Me, @ITSMoments, and @InPursuit_Of

Me, @letters4lucas, @funnyorsnot

@shesuggests, Me, and Flat @in_mandyland

@mommyneedsvaca, @littlehenhouse, Me, @surferwife

@ITSMoments, @mommy_pants, Me, and @letters4lucas

Me, @letters4lucas,@MadWomanDiary

Me, @mommyneedsvaca, @buriedwithkids

Me and @ChiMomWriter

@AKludgyMom, @MTDLBlog, me

Me, @MTDLBlog, @sellabitmum

Me and @ITSMoments...Twitter Twins and Friends Forever

Our first time meeting

So that’s what I have to say about BlogHer. If you want to see what others have to say, you can read all about it or link up your BlogHer post, here!

Filed Under: blogging, blogging 101, BlogHer, friendship, fun

Monster Likes #26

July 15, 2011 By mommyofamonster 7 Comments

Every Saturday, it’s Monster Likes time! Well, every Saturday except last Saturday. It’s the first Saturday I’ve skipped this year! Last Saturday I was at Evo learning about SEO and trying not to die. If you missed those posts, you can check them out

Anyways, it’s time for Monster Likes! I list my favorite selection of posts I found throughout bloggy land over the past week.

If one of your posts is listed below and you want the badge, just shoot me an email or leave me a comment and I’ll send you the badge to put on your post!

And now on to the good stuff….

I love this idea over at Modern Day Moms for pudding paint…yep, finger paints you can make using pudding! But the best part of this post was the gift idea…go check it out!

Gigi aka Kludgy Mom had a great tutorial on Word Press plugin that allows you to tweet an old post…good stuff!

You know those posts that take your breath away? Tonya over at Letters For Lucas blew me away with her incredibly beautiful writing.

Naomi (Organic Mom With a Side of Cool Whip) wrote a hilarious post over at Aiming Low about thongs. Not tongs, thongs. It’s hilarious…run over and read it now!

Ever wonder if affiliate programs are a bust? Me too. Because I’ve never made a cent…but Melissa over at momcomm wrote a post about how to make money doing it…and guess what? I was doing it WRONG!

How good is your parenting knowledge? Take a quiz over at Veri.com to find out! The questions are addicting (thanks @HikingMomBrooke for introducing me to this quiz!)

Did you see Twitter blow up last week about the Evo conference and Aveda? Aveda “took a stance” that they do not and will never pay bloggers. Well, not exactly. If you want to know what happened in a fair, honest assessment read Making money blogging: When and how should bloggers be compensated? It is absolutely the best post I’ve seen written about this so far. And make sure to read the comments as well!

And a reminder that my friend Jessica at Four Plus an Angel is hosting a meme that you MUST check out if your kids ever make messes. If they don’t than you probably won’t be interested (which means every single one of you should check this out!). I’m one of the judges for this contest, and believe me, I qualify because of this and this.

Still trying to Lose The Baby Weight? My friend Amelia over at Eating Made Easy can help you get rid of it! Here she is to tell you more about the program!

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Having a baby is a beautiful thing. But you know what else is beautiful? Fitting back into your pre-pregnancy pants! I’m not there yet, but I’m ready to put in some effort to get there.

If you’re like me — namely, anxious to get back into some healthy habits but haven’t yet had the time or energy to do so — Now’s your chance! Beginning July 11th, Eating Made Easy will be offering an online course for new moms who are ready to lose their baby weight without having to deprive themselves or go on some crazy diet. Participants in the program, which is run by a nutritionist who also just had a baby, will get…

Weekly online classes that give you the nutrition knowledge and tools to lose weight for good
Specialized healthy recipes & meal plans
Shopping lists and product suggestions
Weight loss tips specific to moms with busy schedules
A forum where you can connect and share with other moms
Free products from cool mom & baby companies
Unlimited access via email to a nutritionist for your individual questions and concerns

The program, which begins this Monday (July 11th) is just $49 for 7 weeks. Don’t miss this chance to jump start your healthy habits in a supportive environment for such a great price!

——–

Yes it already started, but I told her I would help spread the word and I was so busy with Evo last week and trying to get caught back up this week that I didn’t get this info to you…but no worries, it’s not to late to sign-up! Head over and check out the program!

Filed Under: blogging, blogging 101, Monster Likes

What I Learned at Evo ’11

July 12, 2011 By mommyofamonster 21 Comments

Yes, this post is long, but it has to be because I’m sharing what I learned at Evo ’11! If you want to hear about all the fun stuff that happened, check out my post on how The Bloggess Turned Me Into A Zombie and all the other crazy things that happened!

SEO
Yes people, SEO was made interesting by @TheNextCorner (AKA Dennis, but I also learned that at conferences people are only known by their Twitter handles.)

Dennis is the Director of SEO for eBay, so yeah, he knows what he’s talking about. And he talked about SEO for more than 3 hours and we were all at the edge of our seats! Not only that, Gigi and I cornered him one night after dinner and he talked to us for over an hour about more in-depth SEO stuff, answered all of our questions, and gave us advice.

But bonus for you guys? He is putting ~~all~~ some of his knowledge out for the world to see on his blog, The Next Corner, and sharing what he taught us at Evo. Go now and check it out…it’s that good that I’m sending you away from my blog to check it out. Just come back, okay?

Dennis, I know you will see this because you get alerted when anybody links to you…hope this has your SEO stamp of approval on it! If not, let me know how to improve

Make Sure You Don’t Sell Yourself Short
I will not confirm or deny, but I may have done some work with a MAJOR brand in the past…for free. And I almost got my butt kicked for it after I admitted it at Evo while speaking to a PR person.

Here’s the deal, people. We are all probably working with brands for less than we are worth. I ~~complained~~ talked with several PR people and told them how us little bloggers have no idea what to charge for what. A sponsored post? Twitter party? I have no idea what the value of my influence is when I am approached to do one of those things. But I learned that I am worth more than I thought.

Find a “big” blogger, or a bigger-than-you blogger to direct your questions to. I think you just might be surprised by the response.

Listen to Learn
The closing keynote was delivered by Me Ra Koh, someone who I didn’t know anything about until I listened to her speak at the conference. She was inspiration on a stage…I can’t describe it any better. You can listen to Me Ra Koh speak at Evo here…and let me know what you are going to do to put more creativity in your life.

Big Brands Don’t Only Go After Big Bloggers
I know this because I talked to them and made some connections! It’s about building relationships, and they want that just as much as we do.

Nature’s Path and McDonalds both blew me away with their messages, philosophies, and why they wanted to work with bloggers. If I get a chance to work with either brand, I’d consider myself very lucky.

Nobody Cares What You Wear
Seriously, nobody cares. There were some people who were really dressed up, and others that maybe should have thought a little more about their appearance. But for the most part, people just wore what they wear everyday.

And shoes are important…wear them for comfort, not to look cute. Your feet will thank you for it.

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
I’m naturally a shy person, and it’s not ~~ever~~ very often that I’ll just walk up to someone and introduce myself. I am always fearful that they will look me up and down and turn away uninterested. Or that I will introduce myself to a blogger that I *think* I have a connection with, and that they will say “You are who?”

But I learned that there are a lot of us that feel that way! There was one blogger who I told after I got home that I wished I would have introduced myself to but that I was too shy. She tweeted me back that she felt the exact same way! I told the same thing to a really big blogger, and she made me promise to introduce myself to her at BlogHer (she knew who I was and was bummed that I didn’t talk to her!)

Another really big blogger told me that she understood how I felt because she introduced herself to a few people and they basically blew her off…until they figured out who she was. Then they wanted to talk to her but not because they wanted to get to know her, but because of who she was. So remember, you never know who you are talking to – give everybody sincere respect that you want in return.

If you read Kludgy Mom’s post, you know that we weren’t able to zipline and she was really bummed about it. This was because I was too chicken to try something new – something I’d never done before that I was scared to do even though people kept telling me how much fun it was.

So make sure if you are attending BlogHer, to step outside of your comfort zone!

The Evo Conference ROCKED…and I already bought my ticket for evo ’12, and I recommend you do, too!