DAY 2 – BLOGGIESTA – MINI-CHALLENGE — JAN. 22

Good morning, and welcome to Day 2 of this edition of Bloggiesta!

Today I’m participating in a few mini-challenges, as well as finishing up my goals established yesterday.

Over at Word Lily, I’ve discovered an intriguing challenge.  Ten Blogger Don’ts is a fascinating exploration of how to NOT make an impact, with the flip-side being, of course, what one can do to make things better.

One of the tasks for this mini-challenge was to read and study the Blogger Don’ts, and then rate yourself, one to five, with five being muy excellente.

Some of the “don’ts” are obvious to me, like don’t expect results overnight. Like anything else in life, building a readable, easily navigated blog that can be found by potential readers is going to take a long time.  I think we can see some positive results in the early months, as we click around the blogosphere and learn by example. Which takes us to another “don’t.”  Do not scrape another blogger’s content!

What I’ve learned from other bloggers’ examples is how to link to another blog in order to point to its relevance, excellence, whatever.  In this way, we can share what the other blogger has said, without “poaching.”  In this instance, we are properly crediting the other blogger.

Another good piece of advice:  do not try to become another blogger.  Just as in writing, we have to find our voice. Our own, unique, individual voice.

Updating our blog regularly can be a challenge if, like me, you have numerous blogs!  LOL.  I have worked hard to finally settle on a more manageable number.  Fourteen may not seem manageable to you, but that is an improvement over twenty; that’s how many I had at one point.

Every day on one or more of my blogs, I have something posted.

Then there are points about optimizing blogs for search engines; networking our blogs; and making our blogs readable and easy to navigate.

Okay, I need to work on that SEO part.  I think I understand it a little…keywords, etc.  But I need to study it more fully.  I have done well (I think) on the networking part, as I have networked my blogs on Facebook. Additionally, I participate in several memes and visit other bloggers.

After studying how others make their blogs easy to navigate, I think that I have improved.  Like everything else, though, this aspect is a work-in-progress.  Diligence is required, which is why we do this thing called blog housekeeping on a regular basis.

Fortunately, the final point of Do Not Throw Mud Around is common courtesy, and I think I’ve got this one handled.  Good advice, though!

Now that I’ve studied and considered each of these “don’ts”, I am ready to rate myself.  Okay, here goes:  3.5.

Mainly because there is always room for improvement.  Plus, I must study the SEO aspect more.  And, in order to become fully professional, I must continue to evaluate, assess, and reassess what I’m doing in order to improve.  To become as professional as those shining examples I see around me in this wonderful blogging community.

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Update of My Blogging Tasks:

1.  Reexamine the idea behind this blog, and consider renaming it.

2.  Update About Page to reflect these changes.

3.  Experiment with new Word Press themes.

4.  Define review rating system and set up a page for this.

5.  Check all links and update sidebar images/links.

6.  Arrange for guest posts. (request sent)

8.  Create Image for New Page (Review Ratings)

9.  Participate in some mini-challenges.

10.  Change Title and Look of Blog on Facebook

11.  Update blog links on all sites and website.

12.  Create new blog button.