Blogging Days: Commenting, the Win-Win of Blogging

Without readers/subscribers a blog would basically be an online journal of sorts. Though there is nothing wrong with that I have yet to meet anyone who has started a blog that didn't want traffic on their site. Gaining traction can be so difficult though, Even if you can get your blog up and going then what about Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and so on. The more fields you can branch into with your blog the better it will be in the long run. I know how discouraging it can be to be starting with a blank slate and feel like you just can't get the following you want. If you are like me internet and its inner workings are NOT your strong suite. I know the basics of Facebook, and I can maneuver my way around Instagram and tweeter pretty well (misspelling intended lol). But I am far from being able to be that perfectly socially involved blogger that just has it all together. While you are learning the inner workings of social media and getting traffic to your blog though, there are more simple ways to try to attract some attention. Comments. Now I know we touched on this subject lightly before, but commenting is a key element in blogger networking. First off it is always nice to comment on other bloggers stuff. By commenting though you are not only supporting someone else's blog, you are also getting yours out there. At the end of your comment leave a link to your blog and encourage people to check it out. Make sure you are putting the link in the actual comment as well as the space that asks for your website. Otherwise the only way people will get to your site is if they click on your name and that doesn't always happen. Now don't just go around and comment on everyone's blogs. Make sure you are legitimately interested in what the blogger is saying. Try to find blogs that relate to what you are blogging about or what interests you and someway relates back to your blog. Another way this helps is because it gets you reading other people material and will help you create a more well rounded blog overall. Also if you have started incorporating facebook and other social media sites into your blogging this will give you material to post as part of your 80/20 rule. Typically if I comment on something, I will also share the article to my facebook page during my 80% days. This is not only helpful because it gives you materials for your social sites but the audience of that blogger is being linked to something they like through you which in turn can create traffic to your site. Getting comments can be hard, trust me I know, but leaving comments is so much easier! Encourage a blogger, leave a comment and in so doing you'll get yourself and site out there too! Really it's just a win-win!     

So leave a comment below and don't forget to leave a link for your blog! I would love to check it out. Questions? email me at maryannapartlow@gmail.com and don't forget to follow me on social media. Links added on the top left of the blog!

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Blogging Tuesday: Mix it Up a Little

Oh the frustration! You finally started gaining a following, you had at least two or three page views a day which was always nice to see consistency. One day you log on though and nothing. Absolutely vacant. No views, no clicks, no likes, definitely no follows, just a big fat 0 stares at you. How did this happen? What did you do wrong? was your last post really that bad! Well before you get yourself all worked up, I have a question for you. How often do you post on your blog? You see I have been very consistent in blogging posts. I post on Tuesdays generally in the morning. I do a do a blogging tips post every other Tuesday and something "homemakingish" related on the other Tuesdays. Although consistency is GREAT in your blog and you should have a day that you pick that is standard posting, try and post more than once a week every once in a while at least. You see, if you are having people follow you or at least keep up with your blog then chances are they have noticed the trend of only seeing new content on a certain day. This means they probably won't be back looking at your blog until next Tuesday because they already know there won't be anything new. To balance my blog out a little I have started doing scatterbrained thoughts on Thursdays. This will hopefully make traffic a little more consistent and also give more variation for my readers. If you have a blog that you talk about multiple subjects then take advantage of that. I am not saying you have to post every day. That would not only get stressful and time consuming for you, but also for your email followers. Eventually, they would get tired of having their email inbox "cluttered" with constant updates. I'd start with twice a week if you can manage and if you are having just oodles of ideas then three times a week. You want people to be excited when they see something new from you in their inbox not just delete it before even reading it because you post so much and they don't feel like they are missing anything. If you aren't sure what days are good or how much you should post then experiment. It is different for everyone's blog depending on what you are posting about. Move your days around and see what works best for you and what tends to get the most traffic to your blog. You can always change it up a little bit too and add a "bonus" post on weeks you feel like have been slow. The idea is to get people interested and coming back. I successful blog requires readers.

What days do you find are best for your blog? Do you have a blogging plan or just post whenever something comes to you? Comment below or email me at maryannapartlow@gmail.com. I love hearing from you! Don't forget to like my FB page (The Good Wife's Blog) and you can follow me on twitter (@thegoodwifesblog) and instagram (annapartlow20). 

Find an Accountability Partner

Okay so you’re blogging and it is going okay. You have a few followers, you get at least a couple of views almost everyday. But you are struggling to stay motivated because you feel like everyone else’s blogs are just taking off and have so many followers and you are just struggling to come up with something to say. I can totally relate. When it seems like no one wants to hear what you have to say it is difficult to keep the momentum you had when you originally started blogging. The more I get into the blogging world though the more I realize how much bloggers can and should rely on each other. If you aren’t already in a blogging group try to find one. They are very helpful for bouncing ideas off of, and getting opinions and ideas for your blog. One of the best things you can do is find an accountability partner. This is a person who is similar to you in their path of life (age, marital status, blogging theme, etc.). Basically it is someone for you to befriend in the blogging world that encourages you, supports you, and helps you stay on track with your goals. Having someone to keep you motivated is always a key to succeed in any environment. They don’t have to be someone similar to you either. Sometimes people that are drastically different make for the best way to gain ideas you wouldn't have thought of otherwise. I would recommend having at least one person that is blogging about similar things though as they will be able to better help you with what your blog is about and give good feedback. It will also be easier to share your posts and vice versa as your audience will be similar. No matter where you are in blogging don't give up. we all go through slumps and that's okay. That is when having a accountability partner for support and encouragement comes into play. Don't worry if you have a bad few weeks. Keep blogging and realize that what you have to say does matter. Give a voice to all the thoughts in your head and you will see just how many people will listen!

Hope this was helpful! As always don’t forget to subscribe and follow me to get these tips sent directly to your inbox! As always feel free to comment with any questions or suggestions or email me at maryannapartlow@gmail.com

The 80/20 Rule

Alright my blogging buddies lets talk about the 80/20 rule. Some of you may have already heard about this and may do it if you have started working social media into your blog. However, for those of you who haven't it basically means using 80% of other people materials and only 20% of your own links to your blog when doing Facebook, twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. This should be obvious but let me clarify...this doesn't mean you are stealing other peoples materials and using them as your own. This means you are SHARING other materials. Pictures, quotes, actual articles (make sure people know who you got it from). This has a two fold affect. First it grabs peoples attention because it gives your social media site variety. This in turn brings more people to your social media page and therefore your blog.  Second affect is that this also makes people who may be following the blogger of the article you shared a candidate for following you because they know you'll have material they will like. This will hopefully increase your traffic flow and subscribers. When I started my fb page I honestly was thinking every time I post something on my blog just put a link on facebook and that's how a facebook page works. Sounds reasonable right? Well I'll be frank it was dumb. I reached literally no one other than myself (yes I followed my own fb page >_< ). After hearing about this 80/20 guideline from a blog I follow ( https://youngwifesguide.com ), I thought I'd try it out. Within a week I drastically increased my traffic flow to my blog from Facebook. I'm still not a high profile blog but I have started to get some extra traffic I didn't previously have. If you are planning on expanding your blog into social media then try this rule out. Post your material of course but make sure people are seeing other things that are relevant to your sight but not necessarily from you. I mean if you are good at quotes and creating pictures etc. by all means do more of your own stuff but if you are like me and aren't fully sure where you want to take you blog just yet start with the 80/20 rule and adjust it as you get better. Trust me it takes a lot of the pressure off to have exciting material on social media. Also be sure to like, comment, follow, subscribe or any variation of those as you are looking for articles and blogs to share. This not only helps get your name out there but also is wonderful encouragement for someone else who might be struggling to get traffic as well.

Hopefully this helps some of you who may be struggling trying to get into the swing of social media. As always don’t forget to subscribe and follow me to get these tips sent directly to your inbox! As always feel free to comment with any questions or suggestions or email me at Vintagegirl112212@gmail.com

The Wonderful World of Blogging

Let’s talk about blogging for a moment. I just recently started my blogging endeavors and I will be honest…it can be really hard. I figured when I started it surely couldn’t be that difficult. You just write about something and post it and people read it. Right? Wrong! First you have to find something worthwhile to post about. Then you have to actually get people to your blog to read the material and hope it is good enough that they will want to follow you and share your posts with their friends. This last part (unless you are super social media knowledgeable) is quite time consuming. I am still new to this whole world of blogging and despite being lumped into the age of millennials I am not very tech savvy (1994 to me shouldn’t be a millennial :P lol). That being said trying to get a facebook set up, pinterest, intagram, etc. is throwing me for a loop. This weekend I am going to try to really focus on building my social media standing and I wanted to go through this process with anyone else who may be struggling in creating their blogs and getting traffic. I will probably do an every other week post about the blogging process of building social media and getting traffic. This way I will get to implement stuff and have a week to see how well it works. So expect to be seeing blogging tips coming your way soon!

Don’t forget to subscribe and follow me to get these tips sent directly to your inbox! As always feel free to comment with any questions or suggestions or email me at Vintagegirl112212@gmail.com