Blogging

Blogging Is About People, Not Pageviews

A few of the ladies of See Jane Write before our morning walk


I have a confession. 

When I came up with the idea for #bloglikecrazy several months ago I had an ulterior motive. While I, of course, wanted the challenge to get other women motivated to write and blog regularly, I also hoped the project would increase traffic to my blog. And I did see a small boost in traffic, but by the second week of the challenge I didn’t care about my stats. Something much more important and more exciting was happening. Thanks to the number of See Jane Write members participating, women bloggers in the Birmingham area started using #bloglikecrazy to build community. The ladies shared their posts on the See Jane Write Facebook group page and in the process discovered a host of common interests. One thing we quickly learned was that several of us were fitness fanatics. 

So Tanya Sylvan had the great idea of organizing See Jane Move. 

This morning I started my day with a gathering of a few of my favorite women who write at Railroad Park. The weather was absolutely perfect as we did laps around the park for about an hour and then sat down for a potluck brunch. We noshed on fruit, confetti rice and bean salad, and other healthy snacks and talked about nearly everything from personal branding to blog design to DIY manicures. 

Here we are before sitting down for our healthy potluck brunch


And as I sat there I saw a blogging lesson come to life: it’s all about people, not pageviews. No amount of web hits could have created the joy I felt this morning.  

I left the park feeling so inspired by the girl power in the air and very hopeful about the future of See Jane Write. 

See Jane Move was an excellent way to start a Saturday and a perfect way to end #bloglikecrazy. 


Time Management Tips from Moms Who Blog

As #bloglikecrazy comes to an end you may be thinking, “OMG! I need a blogging sabbatical after this!” But please resist the temptation to take a hiatus. Most likely, you’ve picked up a following of new readers or won back old ones this month. This is no time to give them the silent treatment.


Please know I’m mostly talking to myself here. And so, I recently turned to a few of my blogging buddies for some time management tips. I decided to specifically ask bloggers who are also moms for help. Why? Because I figure if they can find time to blog with kids running around the house I really have no excuse.

Rachel Callahan
Time management has become increasingly important for Rachel Callahan of the blog Grasping for Objectivity.

At the beginning of this year, Callahan embarked on a study of how to successfully utilize Pinterest as a blogger. (The results of her studies can be found on Birmingham Blogging Academy here and here.)
Callahan explains: “When I wrote those posts, I only thought I had experienced virality, with about 20,000 pins of my posts.  A month later, I found myself getting 1 million hits on my blog in a little over a month, up to 88,000 hits in a day, and eventually leveling out to 10-15,000 visitors per day.  Before the summer, I was getting 1,000 hits a day!  As of today, I have nearly 300,000 pins of my posts on Pinterest and adding around 2,000 pins a day, with my Inconvenient Gap of Truth post creating most of that traffic.”
More hits, however, mean more work.
“I am determined to answer all emails and question comments, and a million hits create a LOT of emails and question comments,” she said. Also, in addition to making a lot of money from her ad networks after this boost in traffic, Callahan was contacted by a major denim manufacturer for consultation for their lines.
So how does she find time to do it all and be a wife and mother of two?
“I try to get as many posts done on the weekend as possible, because of the demands of simply keeping up with my emails and comments during the week,” she said.
And throughout the week Callahan always takes advantage of her kids’ nap time.
“Those couple of hours every day is when I accomplish blogging, working from home for my husband’s company, answering email and comments, and everything else that has to be done,” she said.
Another piece of advice Callahan offered for all bloggers: “Try to capitalize on your brain when you’re in the right mindset to write. I have learned to sense when writing will come easily and when it will be excruciating.  When I’m in the right mindset, I try to write as much as I possibly can.  When I’m in the wrong mindset, I use my time more efficiently by answering emails, comments, and other administrative tasks.”
Amber Wright
Amber Wright started her blog The YeYo Diaries to document her journey of pregnancy and motherhood and to use as a virtual scrapbook for her family. She also writes about marriage and relationships, easy recipes, pop culture, and other topics.
Wright juggles blogging with a full-time job and a part-time job, along with being a wife and mother. She stressed the importance of consistently setting aside time to blog, “even if it’s only an hour to get one or two posts done,” she said. “It will leave you feeling focused and accomplished!”
Wright usually writes on Sunday and she keeps a running list of topics for inspiration.

“A couple of time management tips I’d offer other bloggers are to know why you’re doing it,” Wright said. “Is it for fun and leisure? To grow an audience? Promote a cause? Knowing why you’re blogging will keep you from wasting time on it.”
Laura Kate Whitney

Laura Kate Whitney, author of the popular Birmingham-based blog Magic City Made, gave advice specifically geared toward mothers, but tips that any of us could use. She suggests that you set aside a certain time and place to blog. 

“With little ones around, there will never be a good time to blog, so just assign yourself a time and place to get it done,” Whitney said. “But unless you’re getting paid to post on time, don’t fret being a bit late. You are, after all, a mother. The job tends to pull from all angles. It’s okay.”
                  


That said, Whitney stressed that it is important for moms to be vigilant enough to get in time to write, even if it means getting a neighbor or your spouse to watch the kiddos while you steal a few quiet moment alone with your laptop.
“Sometimes we mamas put everybody else first, and our own interests take a back seat,” she said. “Make time to get those words out, Mama. You deserve it.”

Cross-posted at The Writeous Babe Project. 

What FoodBlogSouth is cooking up for 2013

Guest post by Shaun Chavis 
When Jason Horn and I started FoodBlogSouth three years ago: 

I thought it would be a one-day workshop with about 50 to 75 people. 

I didn’t think we’d have a sell-out crowd the first year. 

And I had no clue how many great friendships and opportunities it would create… not just for me and Jason, but for the bloggers, speakers, and sponsors who have been a part. 

High Road Ice Cream of Atlanta served ice cream samples at the last FoodBlogSouth Conference
and they’ll be back in 2013!



Jason and I started FBS for two reasons: Reason #1, most of the food blogging conferences were either in New York or somewhere on the West Coast. If you’re in the South, you can easily spend $1000 or more to attend a 2-day conference in either of those spots. We wanted something we, and our other food blogging friends in the South, could attend without breaking the bank. We also felt like Southern food bloggers in general have something unique to contribute to the entire food blogging world, and we wanted a conference that could support and call attention to that. And we realized Birmingham had a lot of great resources to be able to do it. The talent here alone is a hidden incredible gem.

Reason #2: We wanted to support a local non-profit children’s writing project that was just starting up, Desert Island Supply Company (DISCO).

So here we are, just a few months from our third event! For FoodBlogSouth 2013, we’ve got three tracks. A half-day beginning track, a full day creative track, and a full day tech & business of blogging track. If you attend, you don’t have to stick to one track, you can hop back and forth. 

The Pecans Project from Greensboro, which helps high school dropouts learn business skills,
served spiced nut samples and pecan butter samples at FoodBlogSouth 2012. 

Ready for the highlights? 
  • Our keynote speaker is J. Kenji-Alt Lopez, of Serious Eats. His Food Lab posts are great, and he’s got a Food Lab 2-volume book coming out in 2013. 
  • Bloggers told us they wanted more about how to be unique and creative, and I don’t think any blogger does that better than Adam Roberts of The Amateur Gourmet (any food blog fan who’s been around a while remembers his Janet Jackson Cupcake post after the infamous Superbowl halftime wardrobe malfunction —that post got him a few minutes on CNN).  He’ll talk about writing. 
  • We’ve got two photography sessions: #1, a camera phone session with Beau Gustafson, a local freelance photographer who’s done a lot of work at Southern Progress Corporation. (If you’ve ever tried to take a picture of a restaurant dinner with nothing but a candle on the table for light, this is the session to attend!) #2, an advanced photography session, led by two previous FBS attendees—Helene Dujardin (Tartlette)  who is a professional photographer, awesome blogger, and author of Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography and Styling. She’s working with Tami Hardeman of Running with Tweezers, who is a professional food stylist. 
  • We’ve got a fun twist on recipe writing this year, and it’s starting with a game for bloggers that’s already starting (wanna play)? The game is called Recipe Telephone, based on the game Telephone (remember that game as a kid)? Bloggers are taking turns changing a Roast Chicken recipe one at a time, and passing it on to the next blogger. No telling what it’ll turn into! Cookbook author Cynthia Graubert will use the recipes from the game in her recipe writing session. (And, the recipes will be published in a chapbook.) 
  • Martie Duncan, of Martie Knows Parties, and a contestant on Food Network’s “The Next Food Network Star,” is doing a session about How to Cook on Camera. 

Goo Goo Cluster was a proud sponsor of FoodBlogSouth 2012.
Can you think of a more iconic Southern candy?

We’ve also got sessions on how to brand yourself as a blogger, how to write your own cookbook, a session where experienced bloggers share how they juggle blogging and the rest of everyday life, SEO and tools for bloggers, and more. Plus there’s going to be some good food: Look for some delicious cheeses for breakfast, and we’ve got a crew of chefs from Baton Rouge coming to cook for our after-party. 


FoodBlogSouth has always had another mission, too: Proceeds support the Desert Island Supply Company (DISCO), a non-profit children’s writing center in Birmingham. FBS 2012 raised $13,000 for DISCO, which just had its grand opening the weekend before Thanksgiving. I’m on the board of DISCO, and anyone who knows me knows I have personal reasons for supporting DISCO. My paternal grandfather was illiterate—as an adult, he couldn’t write his own name. No one should grow up without knowing how to read and write. Knowing how to write and communicate ideas on paper is power. And, my other reason is that reading and writing has always meant so much to me. I grew up an Army brat, which meant moving around a lot and losing friends. (No email, Facebook, Skype, or FaceTime back in those days!) Books and writing were the companions that I’d never lose, no matter where we moved.

I hope you’ll join us for FBS 2013… for the sessions, for the chance to meet other bloggers and make new friends, and to support a place that gives kids opportunities to write. We’ve had great support from bloggers all over the South, from the City of Birmingham, from colleagues at Southern Progress / Time Inc., and from Alabama businesses. All of our speakers have been great, too. 

If you plan to sign up, use the code “SeeJane” to get 10% off your registration. 

“Bitchie” Blogging Advice

Necole Bitchie
Image via iamnecole.com



While cruising around in Twitterville last night I happened upon a link to an interview with celebrity gossip blogger Necole Bitchie. If you’ve been reading my blog, The Writeous Babe Project, even for a week you probably won’t be surprised to know that celebrity gossip isn’t really my thing. I frequent blogs about feminism, writing, faith, and living your best life. But the tweet about this article caught my eye because it mentioned Ms. Bitchie “falling out of love with her blog.” 

I’ve been there. 

It happened with my previous blog Georgia Mae. And one of the reasons I have yet to make any moves toward starting an online magazine is my fear that eventually I’d lose passion for the project. So, I was interested in what Necole had to say about this and about blogging in general. 


Interviewer Jerrod Hobbs of CarltonJordan.com asked Necole if people need to live in a certain area to be a successful blogger. Ms. Bitchie stated that if your goal is to be an entertainment news and celebrity gossip blogger with exclusive coverage then being near a major city like Los Angeles, New York or Atlanta is probably your best bet. But she went on to say, “The good thing about living in other cities across the nation is that you can be that ‘It person’ for your city.” 

I think this doesn’t just have to apply to celebrity news. I’ve heard and read advice from successful bloggers in a variety of niches recommending that emerging bloggers seek to take a local approach to their topics. I’ve been considering this myself. Could the See Jane Write blog become the source for news and information on Birmingham’s literary and media arts communities?


Later in the interview Ms. Bitchie told Hobbs that between March 2011 and May 2012 she had to take a break from her site to deal with some personal issues. Meanwhile, her brand was changed into something different from what she created and that’s what caused her to fall out of love with blogging for a bit. 

I think there’s a valuable lesson we can all learn for this and I think it goes back to the idea of having a mission statement for your blog or any project. You need a clear vision for your work and you need to stay focused on that always. 

This, perhaps, is the solution to staying motivated and committed, the key to staying passionate about what you do. In the interview Necole Bitchie discussed the importance of following through and said the secret to sticking with it is to do what makes you happy. Don’t chase blogging trends; tackle topics you truly care about. 

Being true to your mission and to your voice will also help you keep readers. These things will make your blog and your brand consistent which will make your readers loyal. Ms. Bitchie explained it this way: “A good brand makes people feel a certain way and gives a certain experience.  People are loyal to things because of the way they make them feel.”

To read the CarltonJordan.com interview with Necole Bitchie click here. 

Cross-posted at The Writeous Babe Project. 

Finding Your Blog’s Voice

What is “voice” in writing and how is it created? Why is it important to add voice to your writing? (Danny's Symbolic)
Image by Danny Getz via Flickr/Creative Commons 



A few months ago I discovered the virtual blogger meetup known as Blog Brunch.

Blog Brunch is “a collaborative network powered by bloggers wanting to share, dream and learn with other creatives in the blogging community.” Blog Brunch hosts Twitter chats on various blogging topics the first Saturday of each month. 

This month’s chat, held yesterday, was about finding your blog’s voice and couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I strive to do exactly that this month during the #bloglikecrazy challenge. 

Ironically, even though I participated in the chat because I have so many questions about the future of my blog, during the chat I realized I already had many of the answers I was seeking. 

For example, during the chat I began to think about and shared with others the importance of having a clear vision for your blog. This vision will help you stay focused, can help you develop an editorial calendar and regular features, can keep you from being preoccupied with traffic and page views, and can even help you when trying to select the right guest bloggers for your site. I’m going to work on drafting a mission statement this week. 

But even after you’ve figured out a focus for your blog, you may still have trouble finding your voice. Here are some great tips from other bloggers I picked up yesterday: 

Don’t be afraid to show your personality. Write as if your reader is a pal having coffee with you, one blogger suggested. 

One thing so many of us agreed on was the importance of blogging about your passion. If you’re just writing on a topic simply because it’s popular, it shows. 

If you want to know what’s working and what’s not, just ask. Several bloggers recommend doing reader surveys. And don’t rely simply on comments to gauge if your content is resonating with readers. Pay attention to what they share on Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets as well. 

And speaking of readers, it’s important to truly engage them. “I make sure that I end every post with a question or two,” said @alliepal. “I don’t blog to hear myself talk — I’d rather hear from readers.” 

It’s important to engage other bloggers, too. Leave comments on the blogs that you read. Don’t be a “phantom reader” one blogger said. 

If you’re looking for ways to improve your content and writing skills remember good writers are also avid readers. Read other blogs, books, magazines, and more for inspiration. You may want to try free writing workshops too, @mspinkandblue suggests. 

Work on expanding your vocabulary. Not everything can be “AMAZING!” And remember that sites like Grammar Girl are your friends. 

While reading blogs and other online publications can be helpful, if you’ve fallen into a rut you may need to unplug.  “Nothing gets unique content rolling like being away from your computer and living in the real world,” @thecuisinerd said. 

Others agreed and talked about how writing about local events can really boost traffic. I can say that some of my best content and most popular posts were those written after attending inspiring events, such as the post I wrote after attending a panel discussion on the future of journalism. 

Other traffic tips included using titles that are similar to a Google search, which @stacyandcharlie recommended. And @mspinkandblue offered this great tip regarding post length and SEO: “Shoot for at least 250 words to get Google’s attention.”

That said, be sure not to get too focused on traffic. “Try not looking at your stats or ad sales for a month. See if that changes the way you blog,” said @passionfruitads. Obsessing over numbers, @passionfruitads said, is like “looking in the mirror all night and forgetting to go out and have fun!”

Crossposted at The Writeous Babe Project.