This is my eighth post in the series for the Problogger 31 Day Challenge with the SITS Girls Community. This challenge gives bloggers 31 activities to do that will improve their blogs based on the e-book by Darren Rowse.
Day one's challenge was to write an Elevator Pitch for my blog.
The challenges for day two through day four were to Write a List Post, Promote a blog post, and Analyze a top blog in my field.
The challenges for day five through day seven were to Email a blog reader, read the Problogger 27 must read tips and tutorials for bloggers, and Write a Link Post.
The challenges for day eight through day ten were to Link to old blog posts, Join a Forum and Start Participating, Set up Monitor Alerts for your Blog's Niche.
The challenges for day eleven through day thirteen were to come up with 10 new post ideas, create an editorial calendar, and take a trip to the mall.
The challenges for day fourteen through day fifteen were to update key pages, find a blog buddy, and solve a problem for a reader.
The challenges for day seventeen through day nineteen were to perform a First Tim Reader Audit, Create a Sneeze Page, and Write an Opinion Post.
Day twenty's challenge was to Leave Comments on Other Blogs. Now this is the challenge that can get a whole lot of bloggers into trouble. Comments should add value to the post and be authentic, not serve as a way to get a link back to your website. If you write something spammy like "Great Post, I will be totally sure to share that info with my readers" and you leave a link back to your website, that is a no no. What was so great about the information? How are you going to be sharing this info with your readers? I really get upset over comments like this. The best comments are authentic.
When I wrote the movie review for Sex and the City, I received great comments from people who had seen the movie and wanted to add their two cents on the discussion. Some left a link back to their websites which was cool because their comments were authentic. I love commenting on fashion blogs because I have definite opinions on clothing and love to give my opinion in a constructive way. I love commenting on the blog, The NYLA report by fashion blogger Asia Willis. I think I commented once that a hairstyle looked like something my grandmother would wear, but Asia takes it all in stride. I have also left links back to my website if I have a post that has something to do with the subject. If comments are authentic, great, but leave the spam in the can.
Day twenty-one's challenge was to Breathe Life into an Old Post. I have some blog posts of which I am not proud. They are from back when I first started my blog and I had no idea what I was doing. But the sad part of is that people still find those posts through search engines all the time because the subjects are still attractive. One such post is Get guests to pay for your honeymoon. I saw this article in the Detroit News and thought it was great so I printed a little of it and a link to the entire article. I did not know at the time that news articles for the Detroit News are archived after 2 weeks - shame on me. So people link to this post all the time and the rest of the article is MIA. I did print the resources that guests can use to pay for the honeymoon, but some of it is out of date. I plan to redo and update this article so that I can really be proud of this post. So stay tuned...
Today is day twenty-two and the challenge is to Make a Reader FAMOUS! I don't know if being mentioned in my blog will make anyone famous, but I live in hope. In Darren Rowse's book, he highlights many different ways to give a reader 15 minutes of blog fame. Since a lot of my readers also have blogs, I like to mention them in my posts when it makes sense. I also like to have readers guest blog. One reader, Peter Chandler, wrote a guest post after he won tickets to see The Wizard of Oz at the DSO. Of course he did an excellent job with his review. I think highlighting people who regularly read your blog is the best thing a blogger can do to say thank you.
So that's it for this blog post. Come back on Thursday to check out the following challenges:
Day 23: Calls to Action
Day 24: Read a Magazine and Improve Your Blog
Day 25: Ask Your Readers a Question
Follow the Twitter hashtag #31DBBB if you want to see how the 500+ woman bloggers are doing that are part of this challenge.
Enjoy!
Get FREEISMYLIFE on your Kindle!
When I wrote the movie review for Sex and the City, I received great comments from people who had seen the movie and wanted to add their two cents on the discussion. Some left a link back to their websites which was cool because their comments were authentic. I love commenting on fashion blogs because I have definite opinions on clothing and love to give my opinion in a constructive way. I love commenting on the blog, The NYLA report by fashion blogger Asia Willis. I think I commented once that a hairstyle looked like something my grandmother would wear, but Asia takes it all in stride. I have also left links back to my website if I have a post that has something to do with the subject. If comments are authentic, great, but leave the spam in the can.
Day twenty-one's challenge was to Breathe Life into an Old Post. I have some blog posts of which I am not proud. They are from back when I first started my blog and I had no idea what I was doing. But the sad part of is that people still find those posts through search engines all the time because the subjects are still attractive. One such post is Get guests to pay for your honeymoon. I saw this article in the Detroit News and thought it was great so I printed a little of it and a link to the entire article. I did not know at the time that news articles for the Detroit News are archived after 2 weeks - shame on me. So people link to this post all the time and the rest of the article is MIA. I did print the resources that guests can use to pay for the honeymoon, but some of it is out of date. I plan to redo and update this article so that I can really be proud of this post. So stay tuned...
Today is day twenty-two and the challenge is to Make a Reader FAMOUS! I don't know if being mentioned in my blog will make anyone famous, but I live in hope. In Darren Rowse's book, he highlights many different ways to give a reader 15 minutes of blog fame. Since a lot of my readers also have blogs, I like to mention them in my posts when it makes sense. I also like to have readers guest blog. One reader, Peter Chandler, wrote a guest post after he won tickets to see The Wizard of Oz at the DSO. Of course he did an excellent job with his review. I think highlighting people who regularly read your blog is the best thing a blogger can do to say thank you.
So that's it for this blog post. Come back on Thursday to check out the following challenges:
Day 23: Calls to Action
Day 24: Read a Magazine and Improve Your Blog
Day 25: Ask Your Readers a Question
Follow the Twitter hashtag #31DBBB if you want to see how the 500+ woman bloggers are doing that are part of this challenge.
Enjoy!
Get FREEISMYLIFE on your Kindle!
