Neglected

I have been so busy lately, I haven't been keeping up with any of my blogs.  My food blog has been really neglected.  I haven't posted any new cookie recipes or anything.  In fact, I have been doing a lot of easy suppers which aren't blog worthy at all.  

Maybe I'll find time soon....

Promoting My Blog

I have been thinking a lot lately about how to promote my blog.  I do the entrecard thing everyday, which is great for getting traffic here, but I want to attract more advertisers.  I know many bloggers have business cards that they hand out.  I have even heard stories of some bloggers leaving their cards in common places like libraries and coffee shops, hoping that people will pick them up and become loyal readers.  I have thought about doing the business card thing, but have never followed through with it.

I did have an idea around Christmas time when I was looking for stocking stuffers for the kids.  I stumbled upon a site that does promotional pens, and I got to thinking how cool it would be to have my blog name (and url) put on some.   I think more people would be more likely to pick up a pen than a business card. 

What do you think about these?

They all write in black ink, but I like the bright colors of the pens themselves.  I think if I was to see a pen like this just laying around somewhere, I would pick it up.

I also found some cute promotional pencils.  I prefer the mechanical ones like these:

I would let the kids use these at school.  If they happened to leave one in their classroom and their teachers found it, that would be awesome.  I wouldn't want any of their friends reading this, so maybe that's not such a good idea.  Maybe I'll become one of those bloggers who leaves them in random places around town.

You can find all kinds of cool personalized things at GOPromos.com.  I found these cute little reusable shopping/tote bags, and I think they are a great way to advertise.  Check them out:

I would love to get one of these in purple, but I'm not sure they offer that.  Either way, I think carrying a bag like this would be good way to advertise my blog.  What do you think?

Dawn's Having A Giveaway!

Dawn is giving away a $15 gift code to CSN stores.  You all know how much I love them.  I have my eyes on a pair of silicone tipped tongs, so I really hope I win.  If you want to try your luck and enter as well, you can do so here.  Good luck!

Win A CSNStores Shopping Spree

I absolutely love CSNStores.  You can find just about everything you can think of.  I really want a new blender or food processor (I can't decide which) so I entered Anna's giveaway.  She is giving away a $75 shopping spree to CSNStores, and I really want to win. You can enter for yourself here. I see these CSN giveaways all over the blog world, and I have never won one.  Yet.  Let's hope luck is on my side this time. :)

Moving Tips

Are you planning a move?  If so, you really should check out this blog I found, called Move Builder Blog.  It is full of tips on moving and packing, as well as storage issues and keeping moving expenses low.  I read a pretty interesting article about having a moving sale before you begin packing, so that you not only get rid of some of the things you don't want to take with you, you can also make a little money to cover moving expenses.  Trust me.  I have moved several times, and I always forget how expensive it can be.  I'm not talking about the actual moving part (which we all know can be expensive), but the meals you have to eat out because you haven't unpacked your kitchen yet and all the cleaning supplies you have to get so that you can clean the mess that the previous tenants left behind.  It's the little things that add up.

For more moving tips, check out the blog.

I'm Not Yet "Branded". Or At Least I Don't Think I Am

I have been reading a lot about how to make my blog better, and one of the things that I find in article after article is that I should have my own "brand".   I should have something that I am known for, that people will think of me when they see it. 

Yeah, I have absolutely no idea what that means.  I have tried to figure it out by reading more articles, but all this technical stuff is way above my head.  If you know me at all, you know that the only way I will ever understand all of this is if I hire an interactive marketing agency and let them do all the work for me. Then they could just explain it all to me when I am "known", and I'll pretend to understand it all.  They can talk about how they marketed and branded me, or how they redid my blog to be all welcoming and easy to navigate.  I'll just nod along like I know what they are talking about.

Then I'll just leave it all in their capable hands forever.  I mean, if it's what they do, why not let them do it for me?

Go Ahead, You Know You Like Me

I have be seeing a lot of people setting up facebook pages for their blogs, so I figured I would jump on that bandwagon and make one for this blog.  When I went to enter the name of my blog as my kids are my world, I got a message saying someone else has claimed that so I couldn't use it.  Weird.  So, I just added the "blog' on the end, and it went through. 

I am not sure what I am supposed to do now.  Do I just post the links to my posts?  And is that kind of overkill since all my posts auto-post to my facebook page?  Send me some advice, those of you who have a page for your blog.  Or those who don't.  It doesn't matter.  I just need a little guidance. 

Great Shot, Jenn

I know I posted this picture on my picture blog, but only a couple of people visit that one, and I really, really love this picture!  We stopped at a local produce stand, and they had this beautiful garden of flowers, so of course I whipped out my camera and starting snapping some pictures.  I did edit this one a little bit, and I just love the pink against the brown. 

If you want to see more of the pictures I take, you can visit my world in pictures.  I know, it's shameless promotion of my other blog, but there are some good (and not so good) pictures over there.  I post a new one every day, so there is always something new.

Enjoy!

Oh, and I have never claimed to be a professional "picture taker"...consider yourself warned.

Webhosting

 Last year, I switched this blog from a blogspot url to my own dot com.  At the time, I took the advice of a friend as to which host to use.  I haven't had any problems myself, but I have read on a lot of blogs that this particular hosting site has been hacked. 

Repeatedly. 

This makes me a little nervous.  I renewed with them recently, so I think I might be stuck for the next two years.  I am just hoping that my account doesn't get hacked.  If it does, I guess I will spend some time reading webhosting reviews and deciding who else to go with. I know different sites offer different things, and all I need, basically, is my domain.  I still have my blog through blogger.  I know a lot of people prefer wordpress, but I do not know enough about the technical side of blogging to go that route.  It took me long enough to understand blogger, and they are pretty simple. 

Which site would you recommend I look into?

Entrecard

I added an entrecard widget to my new cooking blog, hoping to get more traffic over there.  I am really enjoying writing about the food I make.  I am still trying to figure out how to do the posts so that they are easy to follow recipes, but I'll get there.

Hopefully. Eventually.

Analytics, Anyone?

I am having the awfullest time trying to get google analytics on this blog.  I keep getting a crawl error message, saying my site is a directory, or something like that.  It says that I have googlebots blocked, and I can not for the life of me figure out how to fix it.  I am in no way computer literate, and everything I have read today has given me a headache.

And I am no closer to a solution.

Any of you have any ideas I could try?

Playing Around

What do you think?

I really like it! It's a nice change from all the black, though I still managed to get some on here.

I am loving the new stuff blogger has to offer.

All I have left to redo is my craft blog. Maybe I'll tackle that one tomorrow...

I Have A New Blog!

I am really excited about this one, too.  Thanks to Anna, I have an awesome template, and it was so easy to do.  In fact, it was so easy that I also redid my journey blog, and am thinking about redoing this one again.

Anyway, my new blog is all about food.  What I make, what I love to eat, the deals I find at the grocery stores...all kinds of neat things.  You can check it out here.  Feel free to follow once you get there ;P

Cooking

I started a new blog. I know, I know. I already have a hard time keeping the ones I already have current. This one should be easier, though, because it is going to be about food, and all the tricks and things I do to feed my family of five on a budget.

Sounds great, right?

The only problem I am having is finding a template I like. This is where I need your help. I have been scouring free template sites, but I can't seem to figure most of them out. In fact, I downloaded one last night, and I thought I did everything right, but it was all wonky. I am in no way computer smart, so I had no idea how to fix it. So this is where you all come in.

Point me to the "easy to use, even a dumb ass like myself can do it" sites. I don't want the sites name at the top of my blog, though, which narrows down my choices considerably.

So how about helping a girl out?

Wordpress Themes

I have been seeing a lot of blog posts lately written about making your blog better. The general consensus seems to be that wordpress blogs are better than blogger ones, and that you are taken more seriously if you have a wordpress blog. Apparently they are considered more professional.

I don't necessarily agree, because all I have ever used is blogger, and I have never had any complaints about my blog. That said, I am thinking about starting a new blog (Junior's idea) and hosting it on wordpress, just to try out something different. I know I will need a lot of help, so I will be looking into all the free wordpress themes available, and hitting up my friends for advice.

I found this site that has free wordpress themes, and there are so many to chose from. There is no sign up. All you do is download the theme you want. But, knowing me, I will find a way to mess it up. I always do.

My immediate problem, though, is deciding which theme I want. I wonder if I can find an elephant one?

Some Changes

As you can see, I have made some changes around here. I am finally happy with the layout...not too sure about the header. I am going to give it a day or two to see if it grows on me.

Maybe I need to hire a professional...

Guess What?

I have another blog! In fact, I have three other blogs, but one I haven't touched in months. One of the other two is kind of a personal-all-about-me-without-the-kids type blog, and the other one, the one I want to talk about, is my crafty blog. This is where I post the things I make, whether it be crochet, wood crafts, or even cooking. In fact, there have been a lot of cooking/baking posts thanks to the holidays. The reason I want to talk about this blog is because it gets zero traffic.

I know it's my own fault, as I don't market it the way I do this one. I don't drop ecards for that one, though I really should. Google seems to like it, as it went up to a PR2 the other day when we had the update happen. (thankfully, this blog stayed a PR2, too, which makes me very happy) Anyway, I don't want you guys to feel pressured to visit my beautiful creations, but I really think you should. Especially this post...these are the cutest cupcakes!

Oh, and if you want to visit the other two, you can do it here and here, but there's not too much good stuff one these. One is mostly pictures, and the other one is mostly my bitching about everyday things not related, directly, to my kids.

So, if I know you from one blog, and you have others, let me know so I can visit you, too.

Link Wheels

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of SEO Link Wheelers. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am sitting here, reading this article about SEO, and as usual, I am completely confused. There is so much that I do not know, and it is driving me crazy. Even after reading several articles, my mind can not grasp the simplest concepts, and I think it is because I don't know enough about how the internet works. I truly believe that the only way I am going to make my blog a success is to hire a professional.

After some research, I found this site where they build link wheels. Now, this is going to be my very basic explanation about how it works. They take your website, or blog, and make that the hub of the wheel. They then link that to another site, and then link that site to another site, and all the while they are building back links to your site. Did that make sense to you? I don't understand the mechanics, but I know that having back links is a great thing, and it is one of the factors that helps to determine your page rank. Right no this site has a PR2, and I would love to get it higher. But as I said, I need some professional help with that.

I think building a linkwheel will also help to raise your ranking in search engines. It's great to have a blog, but if no one can find it, no one will read it. These link wheels are designed to drive more traffic to your site, which also helps with your page rank. These link wheels are not cheap, but when you consider them an investment into your site, you will see it as money well spent.

Orange County SEO, And Other Ways To Advertise

I am trying to learn all I can about SEO. Trust me when I say I am no expert. In fact, there is so much I do not know that I will admit to being quite ignorant about the subject. For instance, I had no idea that SEO can be geographically specific. If you do business in Orange County, then you want Orange County Seo. If you do business worldwide, then you want worldwide SEO.

Getting the word out about your business, or blog for that matter, can be a daunting task. You could try using a Pay Per click company, where you can pay to run ads that you only pay for when someone clicks on it. Using Pay Per Click management services can help get the word out faster than regular advertising. You may even see results immediately.

I am going to look into this a little more, because I know there are ways of advertising this blog that I am unaware of. And don't we all want people reading what we write? I mean, if no one is reading, why are we writing?

I just noticed that I have over 200 followers! How awesome is that! I never in a million years would have thought that so many people would be interested in what I have to say. Now, because this is me we are talking about, now that I have said something about it, people will unfollow me and that number will drop. That's just the way things go for me! lol!

To those who are following me...THANK YOU!!!!!!