How to Blog: A Free Seminar--Class 5

Hi Everyone:

Welcome to Class 5 of our seminar. I design for Dezinaworld, so I hope you don't mind that I have interjected these digital pieces that I created with their amazing fall graphics.

I love the fall season and it was a pleasure creating these.

And now, onto class...

Class 5: You Want People to LOVE Your Blog

I have been to blogs that have blog parties (events where you link up) or sign up for a giveaway. If they have tons of rules, I will not join. Are they movie stars or something? Let’s get real, folks! I like to keep things as simple as possible and if I get lost in a mire of “rules,” I’m so “outta there!”

So, if you have a blog party or a giveaway, keep that in mind. You are trying to get people to LOVE your blog--not to be afraid of it! lol

Okay, so tomorrow I am ready to tell you a “Perils of Pauline” story about when I first started blogging. Do you want to hear it? If so, just let me know in the comments box and I will “tell all!”

And, a BIG thank you to Myric of Petites Passions--WOW! She just did a review of my new books--and it's called "Blogging is a Girl's Best Friend." I hope you'll go see her HERE!!!

Also, I have LOTS of easy tutorials at: Whimsical Musings Magazine

One more thing: If you have missed any part of this seminar, just go to the tab at the top of my blog that says "How to Blog: A Free Seminar" and you can catch the entire thing at your own leisure. I will leave it there permanently. And if it is helpful, please let me know--thanks so much!

If this post was helpful, please push the +1 button--thanks so much!!!

Linking this to Blogger's Bodega!

Linking this to Time Travel Thursday!

How to Blog: Blogging 101: Class 2: Visitors Don't Read Everything

You have just entered a free online class for women by Cindy Adkins, author of “Blogging: It’s a ‘Woman’ Thing” and “Blog from the Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Blogging,” both available on Amazon.

While this class was designed for women, men are invited too!

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Welcome! Blogging allows you to be the Star of your own show~This seminar was created to make your blog rock!

From this class you will learn:

1. How you can create permanent back-links on a post

2. Why brevity is very important in blogging

3. Why putting your MAIN point in your title is vital

4. How to attach a blog button in blogger.

First, I need to clarify something from yesterday’s lesson. You can have other people put your blog button on their blog and vice versa to create back-links. But, have you ever written about someone on your blog and made a link that included their blog address? If so, you created a permanent back-link to them already! (Remember that creating back-links is essential for bringing up your blog ranking.)

I create back-links all the time because I talk about people on my blog and put a link to their names. That makes a back-link for them. Here is an example:

“June of Dezinaworld and Gail of Shabby Cottage Studio have amazing images for sale. I know this first-hand because I design for both of these amazing women. Go over and take a look!”

See? I created permanent back-links to 2 people in one sentence!

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To learn how to attach a blog button to Blogger, go HERE!! I have written complete instructions with pictures on my Whimsical Musings Magazine blog.

Attaching blog buttons to Wordpress is different. As I have Blogger, this is the method that I personally use. If you have a Wordpress blog, yours will be added differently.

I am a graphic artist and if you need a blog button for your blog, I make them for any type of blog. Just email me at: Cindylou_20@hotmail.com They are not expensive! Also, be sure to tell me your blog address so that I can visit and give you some solid advice about the button.

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NOW, ONTO TODAY'S LESSON: Class 2--Visitors Don't Read Everything

Do you know that MOST people only spend split-seconds visiting blogs? Well, it’s true! So, if you bog your visitors down with lots of writing (like I am doing now), chances are that they will not read what you say word for word.

So, what can you do? Post some pictures, put very little text, and you are done!

It will not take you as long AND your visitors will appreciate it.

A TRUE STORY:

I was at a blog the other day in which a woman showed some beautiful pieces of art, but she also told about something terrible that was going on in her life. I looked at the comments. NO ONE mentioned it or said, “I’m so sorry to hear that.” Do you know why? Because they did not read it! Her post was so long that she “lost” people because she was not concise enough.

We blog in between life. We are not trying to spend our whole lives on here. So, if you have something SUPER important that you want people to know, put it in your title. That will get their attention. Then, they can scroll down to read the info. and won’t miss something very important you need to tell them.

How am I doing? Was this class helpful? I’ll see you tomorrow for Class 3.

If you are not a follower, could you please scroll up and join my blog on the top left?

Also, could you please click the Facebook button down below and post this to your Facebook page? I am hoping that thousands of people will come to see it and be helped with their blogs!

If you missed my first lesson, just scroll down to the next post--It is there.

On a special note: I will not be around this weekend~so I won't be able to answer questions.

I have several tutorials on my Whimsical Musings Magazine blog. You might want to go take a quick look in case there's something you need help with, such as centering your blog header or making and inserting a favicon.

How to Blog: Blogging 101--A Free Online Seminar for Women

Class 1

You have just entered a free online class for women by Cindy Adkins, author of “Blogging: It’s a ‘Woman’ Thing” and “Blog from the Heart: A Woman’s Guide to Blogging.”

While this class was designed for women, men are absolutely welcome too! While researching for my books, I came across a great deal of information, BUT it is not all in one place. So, I created this seminar to provide you with tips that you might not know about--and these can help you on your blogging adventure.

From this class, you will learn:

1. How to obtain your blog ranking

2. The importance of back-links

3. The importance of having a blog button

Part 1

We all know that there is plenty of social media to access on the internet. But, with a blog, YOU are the star of your own show!

Want more followers? Here are 3 QUICK TIPS for today:

1. Put your “Followers” widget up at the top of your sidebar so people can find it quickly. If visitors have to hunt for it, they may not join. Make it visible and get more followers. (If you are new to this blog, please become a follower.)

2. Make sure that your blog address is embedded in your email so that when you write someone a letter, they will be able to find your blog at the click of a button.

3. If you have “word verification” on your blog when people leave comments, they may not be as likely to leave comments. So, unless you are really worried about receiving comments from bots, go into your template designer and get rid of “word verification.”

Now, let’s talk about back-links. Did you know that your blog has a ranking on Google? The higher your ranking, the more visibility you will receive in search engines. Yes, it’s true!

Exercise 1:

To check YOUR ranking, just click here.

Put your complete blog address into the box.

Push the button that says “Search PR.”

When you come to a new page, fill in the code box (so that they know you’re a person.)

You will receive your ranking for free. Easy!

The results could surprise you!!!

Before you proceed to Part 2, please scroll down to the bottom of this page--ALL the way down until you reach a gray area where you will see a music player box. Right above it is a widget for you to check your stats. I will always keep it there. So, whenever you want to check yours in the future, come to my blog, scroll down to it and put your info. in. It will take you directly to the SAME page ranking site you were just on. It is ALWAYS a good idea to check your page rank periodically and I will have this available for anyone who visits my blog so that they can check their progress.

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Part 2

Let’s see one method of creating ever-important back-links for you. You know how we have blog buttons for each of our blogs? When you grab a friend’s blog button and place it on your blog WITH a link to their blog, you have JUST created a back-link for them.

BUT, you did not only help them. You could have just helped yourself too. Do you want to know why?

Exercise 2: Try it and see for yourself!

Go to your Google search bar (you know, the place where you go to find things on the internet), click “Images” up at the top left, and put in the words Cindy Adkins Whimsical Musings into the Google search bar and click “search images.” You will see images from my blog. But, look carefully because you will also see pictures of other people’s art.

If you already put my blog button on YOUR blog with a link to me or if you have mentioned me on your blog with a link to my blog, most likely, you will also come up under a search of my name under “images” and vice versa.

A quick glance at my page on Google and you will see artwork from Dorthe at Den lille lade, Terry at Terry 2 Dogs, Lynne from Adorn, Donna from My Shabby Chateau--and more!

If people are searching for my blog in Google, they could also come upon many people that link back to me. How neat is that?

Now you can see why you want your button on your friends’ blogs and why you want theirs on yours. Exposure is the name of the game and as you get more back-links, you will get higher ranking on Google!

Also, when you visit a blog and become a follower, the same thing happens, so don’t forget to follow as many blogs as you can.

If you need to know HOW to insert a button on Blogger, just click HERE. I have complete instructions!!!

Tomorrow in Class 2, I will reveal a little-known fact about blog content.

Just to let you know--All other classes are extremely short and do not contain exercises for you to do!

As a graphic artist, I design blog buttons and would be happy to design yours if you don't have one. Just email me for the price at: Cindylou_20@hotmail.com They're not expensive! Just let me know your blog address so I can visit and give you advice on what I would suggest for the design of it.

Was this class helpful? If so, please tell your friends about it. Thank you, Debbie of Simply Debbie for announcing it on your blog.

If you have a Facebook page, would you mind posting this on Facebook? The Facebook button is right below this post and says "F." Thanks SO much! I am hoping that this class will reach thousands of people!!!

Linking this to Pink Saturday!