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A Sits Girl Day
Are you part of the Sits Girls?
It is a large network of bloggers with tips, giveaway and a community. They have been around since 2008. They feature a Sits Girl daily during the week and once you submit your blog for your day it takes many months to be featured. Today’s my day!
I had forgotten all about this since it was at least 6 months since I had signed up. They take 3 of your best posts and link to them so others can get an idea of what your blog is about. So hop on over to the Sits Girls and check it out.
I was very impressed look at who has featured the Sits Girls Community over the years.
- The New York Times
- Nickelodeon Parents Connect
- The Huffington Post
- ProBlogger
They offer many blogging tips that you can easily look up on their website. From choosing fonts for your blog to setting up your RSS and much more. You can also submit your own tips too to them which is a brand new feature just added the other day. What a great way to give and take.
The Sits Girls can also help you to work with brands. This is something I have yet to explore. Another one for the “to-do” list. Here are paid opportunities they have offered bloggers in their network previously:
- Write a post and embed a video (must get moving on video’s)
- Attend an exhibit opening at an museum prior to its launch to the public – what an interesting thing to do for the summer.
- Stop by a PR office to check out a new line of cookware – cooking fans – this is for you!
- Attend a book signing party with an author at a local bookstore – book lovers will cherish this one.
- Swing by a cocktail party where a brand debuts all of their upcoming holiday products – doesn’t that sound like so much fun?
- Come to a private party at a local retailer to meet with brand representatives as part of a focus group
So have you joined the Sits Girls? If you have do you participate regularly?
How Blogging Has Saved Me Money
Blogging Has Saved Me Money!
Yesterday I had to go shopping for a new pair of shoes for a business event I had to attend right from work. My regular dress shoes were very worn out. I would have felt embarrassed by them and the new high heel Crocs I had ordered had not yet arrived. I should have ordered them earlier but I’m so busy with one more blog post, one more article, one more tweet, one for Facebook post, etc. So off I went to the Mall on my lunch hour to buy a new pair of shoes.
I realized when I was there that I hadn’t made a purchase on shoes or clothing in a long time. It’s only when I absolutely needed something. I ordered a few things online for my recent vacation. Why? I’m so busy at lunch time working on the blog or comments that I don’t have time to shop anymore. I used to go once a week and shop around. Even this past weekend I had to get birthday gifts and I had run out of paper, tape and tissue paper. Even getting my haircut got put off weeks this past time around. I could not spare the time.
- I then realized I had bought more DOMAIN NAMES than SHOES in the past year.
When I could not decide which shoes to get, I posted them on Instagram for my friend Samantha to see them. I’m just loving that Intragram now that it’s available for my Droid. I then tweeted a friend, The Four Legged Mom to show her my new shoes.
@lisapatbshoe hunt? Morecrocs?
— Bren(@PibblesNMe) May 2, 2012
@lisapatb Ahhh very pretty!
— Bren(@PibblesNMe) May 2, 2012
She was the one to figure out which plug-in I needed for this blog to be mobile which I wrote about yesterday. WPTouch. It worked like a charm. Thanks Brenda!
So blogging has saved me money! No time to shop – no time to spend money.
Have you saved yourself money by spending so much time on your blog?
Why I Choose Self Hosting For My Blog – Would You?
Self Hosting Your Blog
It’s been a few days since I decided to dive into the self-hosted blogging world. I actually did transfer my other infectious disease blog from WordPress.com to self-hosting a few weeks ago and that switch was pretty easy. I went with Selby Media and Val there was wonderful getting me set up.
The switch from blogger to self-hosted WordPress was not so easy. Vanita did a wonderful job on the theme she created for me and her how to videos were wonderful to follow. The only thing I missed was step 4. Oops. Poor Vanita – I can’t tell you how many times I emailed her. I would recommend if you do make a switch to have someone else with you to check off each step as you go and be sure not to skip a step like I did! I bet I can soon do a post on what NOT to DO.
Get Your Affordable WordPress Theme Too By Vanita
I had to find out for myself if it is all true about self-hosting. I wanted to learn more and no better way to learn than by just doing it. It has made me feel technically challenged this week. I have feed issues now. If anyone is a feed wizard please let me know.
But each day I do learn more. I’m getting familiar with the plug-ins. I am amazed at just how many they are – thousands! How do I choose plug-ins?
- Read others posts about their top choices for plug-ins like this one from Basic Blog Tips
- Read the reviews and ratings of each plug-in before use
- You can always unplug them – deactivate and delete!
So what made me switch? I have read so many things about how much better self-hosting is for your blog.
- More Options – With themes and layouts
- SEO – The blog is better optimized for SEO and you can be found more easily organically on search engines
- Advertising – You can have more ad options and advertisers willing to run ads on your site with a self-hosted site
- Professional – With the themes and plug-ins available your blog can look more professional
I still have more work to finish up the blog – adding pages that I had and other links. If you were on my blogroll and are missing just let me know! I have not been reading as many blogs as I have liked to with the transition so if I missed something good send me a tweet!
If you are not on a self-hosted blog are you considering the move over?
Can You Answer These Burning Technology Questions Today?
Burning Technology Questions
Did you read the news yesterday on AT&T and how they will slow down service for “unlimited data” subscribers after they reach 3 gigabytes of usage within a billing cycle?
- G+
- Stumple Upon
- Foursquare
- WordPress
- Blogger
- Hootsuite
- GetGlue
- Yahoo Mail
- GMail
- Quora
I see that we will have two choices if our bills go up or service is slowed way down:
- Don’t use as much or
- Make money from blogging to pay or it.
I read in Europe and other countries the cell phone companies now charge for those who use Facebook and Twitter and that you get a separate plan for just those two alone. You would not have access to any other internet. That would not work for bloggers who like to make comments and read other blogs. And what if you just wanted to check out the weather forecast, traffic report, check out pricing of a product or the ballgame score?
Are Your Blogging Friends Leaving Social Media?
Blogging
Over the past few days I have had a few friends – bloggers who are quitting several social networks to focus on their blogs and just stick with one or two social networks. Is this starting a new trend for bloggers?
It was strange, seeing one blogger kicking the social habit and then another and another. I can understand how overwhelming it can all be. Blogging is not easy. I had to jump over from Pinterest to come back writing this post. I had also read a few blogs where the bloggers claim they do not get many visits from social media. I must admit I looked over my stats earlier after reading that and noticed Google really picking up to be my number one source here. It always had been Stumble Upon but I am happy that it is coming from Google organic where searches are taken place. Twitter is still another great source of traffic here as well.
There was also research from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth that shows large companies have leveled off with their social media usage from 2010 to 2011. Only 58% of them had a Facebook page and 31% had no Twitter or Facebook. This report also showed that 1 in 5 small businesses hated social media. Is it because they don’t understand it or the time it takes to make it successful? It will be interesting to see what 2012 brings. The potential is there for businesses to reach more people via social media as the usage of it from the public increases to climb.
So if you are still blogging or own a website what other ways to generate traffic to your blog or website?
- Organic – Through searches
- Comments – Leaving comments on other blogs and websites
- Advertise – Market your blog but it can be costly
- Reviews – Do reviews for products and other sites
- Link Building – Contacting other sites to trade links or adding them on yours
- Your way here by leaving a comment below
So I would love to know if you have thought of giving up social networks to focus more on your blogging too?
