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| 1st Year Blogiversary |
Wow! 1 year already. I can honestly say that I lasted longer then I thought. I really didn’t have any expectations when I started other than I knew there would be a lot to learn and to not get frustrated. Blogging can be fun, creative and a great connection maker but it could also be a huge time drain between creating your content and trying to get your post out there for people to see and connect with in some way. For me I have found that blogging has replaced one of my creative outlets I miss from being a classroom teacher. I would spend oodles of time creating new lessons and activities for my classes and I loved it. As I was staying at home I haven’t done that now for a while and this gives me an outlet to explore ideas and create.
I look forward to continuing my learning process so as in the words of Abraham Lincoln
Number 1: You have to Enjoy it
Enjoy the writing, creating of content and the connections you can make with others. The majority of people in the blogging world are friendly, helpful and love connecting. It is not robots writing the content, there are real life humans with feelings and emotions and I think that is important to remember as well.
Number 2: How to get noticed
You have to share your posts if you want more exposure. It’s best to share to multiple sites if possible. My top ones are Google+, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. There are numerous others but people only have so much time so choose 2-3 you think you can handle and focus on building your community with them. It is important not to just link drop in any of your communities but to engage, interact, connect and share others content as well. I have heard many times in the blogging world that sharing is caring. And if someone does share your content then it is polite to thank them for doing so.
Number 3: Photos, Photos, Photos
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| Today We Play |
Just from my own experience with Pinterest I knew that I am attracted to the photo pinned and then I click and head over to the blog. And it was the photo that gets pinned. Each blog post should have a photo to accompany it and more within dispersed throughout the posts. One photo should be like a summary of what the post is about. That takes some photo editing work. So you will have to learn how to photo edit either your own photos or a free image. There are a few places to get images for your blog but I have never tried this yet so I don’t feel knowledgeable enough to direct you. I take all my own photos and I have learned how to edit them. On the computer the one I use is Pic Monkey. The image at the beginning of the post is one I created with Pic Monkey. My other photos are usually taken with my iphone and edited with editing apps on my phone. Amazing what technology can do these days. The above picture is the one I used in my Today We Play Post.
Number 4: #Hashtags
Within the Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ communities you will see people place the pound symbol # also know as the hashtag in their posts. You can search topics based on the hashtags. So for instance if you were looking for recipes for your crock pot you would use this #crockpotrecipes and then you would see anything others posted to the same hashtag. I also use the #kidlit to search for children’s literature and recently I have been following the #banbusy to follow other people interested in slowing down as a family. Here is a list of other popular #hashtags:
#playmatters #outdoorplay #kidsartprojects #earlyliteracy #kinders #booksforboys #amreading
#creativity #artmatters #kidsactivities #sightwords #readeveryday #motherhood #amwriting
There are many, many more. If you know of a # that I might be interested in please leave me a quick note in the comments.
Number 5: The Importance of Social Networks
When I first started a year ago most social networks were new to me. I had been only on Facebook to keep in contact with family, high school friends and university friends. First, I dived into Twitter. In the land of Twitter engagement and forming connections is key. People love to connect, ask them a question, comment or share a tweet you like. I am amazed at some of the people I have tweeted and have tweeted back: authors, singers, child experts, teachers from around the world, organizations. I was also in awe that one could win prizes by tweeting by participating in twitter parties. I quite enjoy Twitter and you can often find me there.
Then I opened up an Instagram account and again I fell in love with this network. It is like the behind the scenes of the blogging world. It has also helped me practise my artistic side. I’m not a photographer but I love snapping shots and now I’m always looking for creative shots. I have also been using a lot of my Instagram shots in my blog posts. Like this one:
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| Grow and Bloom |
This is a shot of a daffodil blooming in my front yard and photo edited with the Rhonna Designs App Since I’m new to snapping photos I’m also new to photo editing and sometimes I am photo editing happy, too happy. I love learning though. If you like this photo you can find more on my Instagram account.
Join me on Instagram
There is so much to learn while blogging and it seems to change all the time. I have a few goals for my next year which I have learned can be the topic of another post.
Cheers Everyone and Happy Blogging,
Bonnie
