Blogging

There’s No Worrying In Blogging!

Ronovan Blogging , , , , ,

All through life I’ve worried about things.

In school it was having friends, crushes, grades. Okay, flip those first two. Yeah, that’s the order. I remember Roberta and  a song that began with . . .

Down on the corner by the traffic light

Everybody’s lookin’ as she goes by

Since college it’s been family, job, health. No flipping the order there. Not really sure of a song I would put to that. Perhaps something like  . . .

I think I’m tired today, driving the same old way

Why can’t I see what’s ahead, only blindly living instead

Now here I am in Blog World. I entered in timid and unsure. I didn’t know really what I wanted to write, well I did but I didn’t know how to write it the way it needed to be.

Approaching 800 articles across Blog World later . . . I still find myself worrying.

Or I did.

Ladies and Gentleman, and unladylike and slovenly, I have discovered that, to paraphrase a famous line from a famous baseball movie;

“There’s no worrying in blogging!”

This is not a joke.

Not some pithy thing to say. I mean it.

I worried at one point about talking about my faith. I do it mostly on Sundays, but I’ve been happily surprised at the reception. If the reception had been bad would I have stopped? Well in the beginning no one was really ‘recepting’ it . . . soooo. .  .

I’ve worried about things like writing sensual poetry or even articles about race. Would I offend people? Would people stop following me? Would people not visit and like my work?

Yes, I fell into the blogger Blog World trap. I obviously did not fall in so deep that I didn’t post what I wanted to. But I did struggle and worry and even question myself after publishing.

But do I still worry? Am I still afraid people will abandon RonovanWrites over something Ronovan Writes or how bad Ronovan Writes what he Writes?

Let me paraphrase again, only with a slight difference this time.

“THERE IS NO ROOM FOR WORRYING IN BLOGGING!”

I am not saying intentionally seek to offend people. But do not be afraid to speak your mind. I happen to have a fairly rational and calm way of doing it. It’s just in my personality or something. I can’t write intentionally offensive things. Believe me, I’ve tried to write rants that end up as these think pieces and totally change. I end up calm by the end and have to rewrite everything because my thoughts had turned into this debate thing. And then I didn’t have to change much. Yeah, I sometime wish I could just go off on a subject.

I have a site dedicated to Rants but so far it has one article and that’s basically the here I am article. Yeah, its’ going to be a big mover.

We have enough stress in our lives to worry about blogging which is really meant to be a stress reliever, thing to enjoy, fun, creative.

You are worried about offending?

I have three very simple tips for you today:

  • Turn off your comments
  • Do not have contact info or a contact form
  • Or get out of blogging

I am a super over sensitive person. I will admit it. The smallest thing will make me think for days and become depressed. But here in Blog World I do my best because I know there will be people that, in all honesty are just out to be mean on purpose. Trolls anyone?

Why is this something to think about? Why is worrying something that is something to worry about?

One thing I enjoy about blogs is all the different people with different lives, perspectives, opinions, backgrounds and personalities. I like to learn. If we all are worried about things, then we all sound the same. If I was happy talking to myself I wouldn’t be here. Well, never mind, that’s a whole different article.

Sum up time

Blog what you want to and don’t sweat it. Or to paraphrase a famous baseball movie line;

“and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.”

So I didn’t paraphrase. But I liked it. And can you think of a better way to not worry?

Much Respect

Ronovan

ron_full_river - cropped

 

 

 

 

 

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com

How to Survive the Blog Life.

Ronovan Blogging , , , , ,

I think we need to get a few things straight about blogging. Blogging isn’t what it started out to be. There are very few blogs in the true sense of the word any longer. We have become a world of almost websites. But we are called bloggers because we don’t have a company or whatever.

I’m cool with that. I’m a blogger. I’m a blogger in the 21st Century definition. Why did I explain all of that? Because I want to talk about . . .

How to Survive the Blog Life.

There are some people that don’t realize what goes into a lot of our blogs. The hours of writing, researching, networking, formatting, web layout designs and much more. I don’t really know of anyone that just throws out some words and that’s that.

I’ll make this simple:

  • Write what you like-If you are trying to write in a style you don’t like or are not comfortable in, then you’re likely to feel that eating at you. Maybe it’s just me, but when I am writing, I will just stop even at the end of a 1000 word article if I am not feeling it and trash it.
  • Only write when you want to-Don’t force yourself to write just because you feel responsible for it. Or you want to have content because you are afraid people won’t come back if you miss a day or two. If that’s true then they really weren’t into your site in the first place. Not to sound negative there, but it’s the truth.
  • Be nice to people-There is no reason to be mean to anyone. If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say it. If you don’t want to interact with people, don’t have comment boxes on your posts where people might ask you something. You don’t have to respond to every person, but you can some at least.
  • Set your boundaries-Make your life easy by setting some rules for yourself about interacting with other bloggers or readers. They are your friends and co-workers of sorts. Keep it that way. Makes for an easier life for you and keeps you a  lot happier in the long run.
  • If you like it you like it-Only click like on things you like, and if you really like it then reblog it. Some don’t like to reblog because it doesn’t look good on their blog or reblogs don’t work that great for views and traffic on average. So what?

There is something that I didn’t mention. It’s the most important thing to remember in order to Survive the Blog Life.

Don’t worry about success.

If you ever start worrying about success go to one of those 5 things and see which one you are missing out on. You see, being you, just being yourself is enough. You don’t have to do gimmicks.

I give tips about how to increase traffic to blog sites, but I don’t use them all. You see, I just like giving the tips because I know that a) some people are after success and b) some people just like to use different types of things, okay and c) I just like to share/teach. Sorry, it’s in the blood thing. Once a teacher always a teacher.

You now I added the star rating to my posts a while back and no one really uses it. But yesterday for some reason someone decided to put a 1 on two of my posts. One was my Autumn post and the other was my Haiku Prompt Challenge post. You see if it had been just the Autumn post then fine, but then when it was the Haiku Prompt as well I realized it was someone just being mean.  But I’m good with it. I’ll take down the star rating eventually anyway because it was just for a change and no one was using it anyway and it doesn’t really go with my new theme and layout.

But don’t add things like ratings to your posts if you are sensitive and care what people think. Just sayin’. Oh, and no worries. I know the deal, so I’m good.

So everyone, remember, forget about success, write honest, and take some breaks.

 As a companion to this article you may wish to read Blogging Personality: The Key to Success.

Ronovan

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2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com

A New Look

Ronovan Blogging , , , , , ,

Well,  it finally happened. Out with the old and in with the new . . . theme that is. I mentioned not long ago that a change was coming. In truth I had no idea what it would be. I had come up with the header but had no theme or anything else in mind.

So Saturday night I sat down and decided it was time. I went through several themes on a practice site, trashed them all. Then I picked this one and after a few hours here we are.

There are still some things that will need to be done, but I think overall I am pleased with the results.

Over on the right side you will see I have added the Tag Cloud. Now if there is a topic you might like to check out, go for it. Who knows what you might end up with though. I have slowed down on my number of tags these days for the most part. But when I started I was a bit tag happy. As I recently told a couple of friends, think of Categories as your subject/noun and your tags as your adjectives.  I actually get rid of some tags from old posts as I revisit them at times.

For those of you that don’t know, that’s a typewriter up there in the header photo. And I actually taught myself to type on one older than that and that’s probably why I’ve had to replace my laptop keyboard. (You had to hit them bad boys back then.) I was bored one summer and decided why not. I had a typing book and a typewriter so by the end of the summer I was flying away. The last time I was timed in typing I was over  100 words per minute. That was some time ago. But you can ask those who chat with me and they will tell you that I do type fast.

 

See Y’all Next Time

Ronovan

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com

Blog Tip: How to do a ping back. It’s more than you think.

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WordPress has changed a few things on the tech side since I first wrote this about 2 years ago, so here’s an updated take on things.

Ping backs.

A lot of blogs talk about ‘put a ping back to my blog’.

All a ping back is, is you copy the URL of an actual post into your post. I know that sounds simple, and once you’ve done it a time or two it really is. But let’s talk about how you do it and the different ways to do it.

First let’s talk about the word Ping. What a blogger is asking you to do is to have your blog speak to their blog post. That’s called a Ping. By using the URL of the blogger’s Post within your own Post, you create that first step to a Ping.

Now, to make the link active and carry out the actual Ping Back, you need to do the following in WordPress:

  1. Decide if you are going to have the URL visible on your post or if you would rather it be hidden within a word. Some people like to say “Click HERE to see the rest of the entries for the contest.” You can actually hide the URL within the word HERE in the previous sentence. You can even hide it within an image.
  2. You’ve decided on the type of Ping Back you want to do. If you want it within a word like ‘HERE’, or perhaps using the URL just as it appears in the address bar, highlight the word or URL, then click on the Insert/edit link icon in your Toolbar. The icon looks kind of like a paperclip.
  3. After clicking the icon you will get a pop up on your screen where you place the URL within. Do that and then click the Blue Box with the White Arrow in it. You’re done.
  4. If you are placing the URL within an Image, click the Image and then Click the Insert/edit link icon in your Toolbar and repeat #3.

It can be a link in the words you type, you know like a hyperlink thing where it says click HERE to go to something. Well HERE is not the actual URL. HERE is just the word the URL is hiding behind so to speak. An example of a page you could do a ping back for is an About Me. (To learn how to put a link so it is in a word instead of that long ugly URL format, click HERE for a step-by-step with images and you will leave this page. Thanks to Wendy Kate in comments for giving me the idea of noting this putting the link to my article here.)

An example would be like when I suggest putting a ping back to my Haiku Prompt Challenge.

The URL not to use as a Ping Back because it is to a page not a post: https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/

The URL not to use as a Ping Back because it is to a category page not a post: https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/category/haiku-prompt-challenge/

For the week of this article the challenge post URL to use is: https://ronovanwrites.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/ronovanwrites-weekly-haiku-prompt-challenge-13/

Notice the date and the challenge number included for the one to use. Also note the word category in the second one not to use.

Well that’s about it. I hope that ugly little thing that tech people try to make sound kind of difficult is a little easier now.

 

Much Respect

ron_ballgame_blackandwhite

 

 

 

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My 3 Best Blogging Tips for a Successful Blog

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My Best Blogging Tip

I can give anyone is to be honest in everything you put out. If you have something you don’t like or are not feeling, then don’t post it. If that means you go a day without a post, then fine, save your readers the suffering of mediocrity. My apologies to my readers.

I feel responsible to put out a lot of content in order for there to be something for each type of person that visits. I know not everyone likes each and every piece I come up with so I try to have a little bit of variety. This does not mean a piece is bad just because a person does not like it. You can’t make everyone happy with your writing.

The foolish thing about the idea of my massive amount of content output is . . . I have so much content on my blog that people already have plenty to see if they want to see it. But there is a problem with backing off my content output and just letting people check out what I have already. And that’s where my,

Third Best Blogging Tip comes into play and that is . . .

Blog Organization & Navigation: Get it right Sooner than Too Late.

No, you didn’t miss the number two blogging tip. Not everyone is like me for content output. I am a serious writing fiend. This has put me in a bad spot. I need to organize but it will be a very long process and that is time intensive and tediousness I can’t handle. It’s just something I literally cannot do at this point in my life medically.

lego_juggler

How did I get so unorganized?

Whenever we start blogs we want them to look great and put out creative things without a look to the future because we often times don’t think about what happens if we really enjoy it or if others enjoy our work. Great. But one thing you need to think of is organizing. We use Categories on that sidebar thing for that and it works perfectly fine. But then again . . . it doesn’t.

How are your visitors going to find your great work? How do they navigate your site?

You might be saying to yourself,

“Ronovan, I write poetry, or I have photos so people are just going to see that by clicking on my Photography category.”

  • I don’t like every subject matter of photography.
  • I don’t like every subject matter of poetry.
  • You know there are even triggers for some people these days. Triggers are words or sounds or images or anything that causes some reaction from another person and often times in a negative manner.

Triggers have been an issue with me of late. There are blogs I don’t visit now because there are things I know might be there. Even a warning is a trigger. Even the idea of the site itself is a trigger and the person attached to the site has become a trigger. So what to do to help this not happen? This isn’t to say you need to try and avoid every trigger ever because that’s impossible.

The Category way, a MUST

Sure, Categories are a start but then you have to think about things like . . . well let’s take poetry. I have a lot of poetry on my site. All of it is under the Category of Poetry which I now have as a drop down box under ‘My Writings’ page. But there are different types of poetry and different topics.

So what I need to do is slowly move my poetry into more Categories. This is great if you want a long list of Categories on your sidebar.For me the Drop Down Menu looks a touch more professional as long as it is done properly. I still need to work on mine. But if you are satisfied with a list of categories in your sidebar then by all means do it.

There is nothing wrong with having poetry categorized as Love Poetry, or Depression Poetry, or Funny Poetry, or even Sensual Poetry.  You would be using those adjective words in the Tags anyway, so why not use them in the Category name instead? That means one less Tag you use.

The thing to know here is to go ahead and make these Categories as you make your posts. It will come in handy later when and if you want to do drop down boxes/menus.

If I had done the above to start with the next option I will mention would be a breeze.

My Nightmare

Waiting until you have almost 700 articles published is a bit late in the game to be taking another stab at organization but it is a must. I’m going to try but it will be slow going. I advise you to do it now. Do it a little at a time if you need to. But get it done so people can visit and check out more of what you have to offer. Just imagine people don’t even know about my poem ‘Snack Attack‘.

Doing Drop Down Menus.

You might be wondering how to set up the Drop Down Menus under or atop your header photos. Go to your Dashboard, for WordPress users, then to Appearance near the bottom, and then Menus.

For some there might be different locations for Menus, as in where on your blog a menu or menus can appear. I’m just going to briefly or not so briefly do a run through of a basic drop down option.

MenuOnce in the Menus page to edit your menus you have sections called  Pages, Links, Categories, and then to the right Menu Structure. If you have your blog open go ahead and just take a look at it and  you will see it’s pretty simple and nothing all freak out worthy. You can’t mess up in here unless you hit save and even then you have to do something else first before anything you do now would save. And I’m not telling you what that is yet.  So check it out.

Before anything, look at the Menu Structure section.

What happens here is you move Pages, Links and Categories into this box and then move them around to how you want them to appear and function on your blog.

  • If a Title is all the way to the left in the box then it will function as a ‘Heading’, at least that’s what I will call it. Or perhaps a Section Title. I have Haiku Challenges on my blog RonovanWrites, well I don’t want a person to click Haiku Challenges and end up seeing every challenge I have because it then becomes confusing. Instead I want them to see the specific type of challenge, be it the Word Prompt Challenge or the Wordless Haiku Challenge.
  • If you want something to show up as a drop down option then you simply drag it slightly to the right, underneath the ‘Heading’ you want it to appear under. So for me the ‘Heading’ would be Haiku Challenges and the drop down options would be ‘Word Prompt Challenge’ and “Wordless Haiku Challenge’. So Haiku Challenges would be all the way to the left then the actual challenges would be lined up underneath each other just to the right and under the ‘Heading’.
  • You can even make subheading under subheadings by moving something to the right of ‘Word Prompt Challenge’.
  • Don’t do the sub of a sub thing, or I don’t recommend it as the deeper you bury things in your blog structure supposedly the deeper a Search Engine will need to search.

Pages:

Pages is the section that contains actual PAGES you have created in the PAGES part of the Dashboard. I will use all caps for real PAGES from now on so you will know the difference between a real PAGE and what looks likeLego_Blocks a page.

  • Click on the ‘Pages’ box and a list of your PAGES will appear. You can check the box next to what you want and then click Add to Menu. Did you catch that? You can actually, by using the Menus feature, keep a PAGE from appearing in the Menu while you work on it or until it is ready to be used.

Links is a bit different:

For links you have two boxes; URL and Link Text.

This is where I create the ‘Headings’ or ‘Fake Pages’ if you will.

  • Type in the ‘Heading’ in the Link Text field. For me it would have been Haiku Challenges.
  • Next you need a URL link to hold the ‘Heading’ in place so to speak. You see if you clicked on Haiku Challenges you might not find anything there because I just created a name, no content, no post or anything. What you do is simply copy the URL from the front page of your blog. This will make it so no one can click on it but when their cursor hovers over it the drop box shows up.
  • Once you have done this, click Add to Menu and place it where  appropriate on your Menu Structure.

Categories is the last on our list:

These are the Categories you created as you created your posts. And this is why you want to be a little specific about naming standards. In other words these are the Categories that show up on the Category list in the sidebar.

  • Click the View All tab so you can see all of the Categories you use for your posts.
  • You can now add any you want to the Menu Structure area.

Why be specific in naming standards? What if you have a Literary site that does interviews and book reviews and you have genre ‘Headings’ and then ‘Categories’ that are all the same names according to age of reader? You know what you end with for yourself? Confusion and delay. So be specific so you know what you are using at a glance and not out of trial and error.

Here is the part you need to know about making drop downs instead of a bunch of ‘pages’.

Once you’ve done all the Menu Structure you then want to make sure Primary Menu is checked at the bottom and then click Save Menu. You can click Save Menu throughout the process and check and see if things are going as planned by having your site open in another tab or window. Just hit refresh on that other tab or window and check out your progress.

That’s a quick rundown of how the Menus work and how to get organized. I hope it will be helpful and I will work on a more complete Menu article in the future with the images that you have become accustomed to, but to be honest, this article wasn’t going to be this, it just happened.

One last thing for the O/N Blogging tips you need to do and actually it’s the first is to sit down and think about your Category names, your ‘Heading’ titles, and even your real PAGES you want to have. You don’t have to have every single one, just what you need so you get a standard method in place.

Now for the number Two Best Blogging Tip I have

Have fun and ignore the number of views and followers you have. If you worry about those two things then you start forgetting about the Number One Tip, being honest. You start forcing things and people can tell you aren’t having fun or at least you are not putting your heart into it. When that happens, people stop visiting you.

So why are these my Best Three Blogging Tips? If you don’t have quality you don’t have readers and if you have a mess on your hands your new readers won’t see your quality content from before they found you. So make your life easier.
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Much Respect

Ronovan

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3 Things To Announce for My Site.

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Things to Announce

ron_ballgame_blackandwhite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This won’t take long.

First of all I am hoping that we will soon have:

Sian Pfudor, our resident Prompt Girl, Young Lady,

actually here as a member of my site. She will hopefully share her Haiku and other things as well without having to go through me first. And yes, there really is a 10 year old girl named Sian that gives me some words to use. You may ask yourself why I am doing this. Well, one thing I enjoy more than anything else is when others are encouraged to do something with their talent. This young lady has talent and who knows what she might do by just by being involved here and getting wonderful encouragement from all of you. And no, she does not look like a unicorn, but she does like purple.

 

Next I wanted to mention the new Rating I added to my articles.

Those are the little stars you see. I am not saying you need to rate my work, but I wanted to point out the change as you should do whenever you make a change on your site. I think I might regret it, but I would like to know if either my tips are helpful or if my poems are enjoyable and this is a way of letting me know without commenting for those who don’t comment and I can’t see who rates  what. (I am still a little apprehensive about it.)

 

That being said you will notice a new page for my new site at the top ‘Lit World Interviews Site!’.

That is letting you see what my other site is about and letting you know it exists in case you miss this or any other posts I mention it in.

 

That’s about it for today. I told you it wouldn’t take long.

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

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Blog Tips: Collaborating-The Pros, The Cons, and the Cautions.

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There are different types of Blog Tips. Some are simply how to tag your posts better, or how to advertise, so to speak. But one Blog Tip takes a bit more effort, time, and really a gamble on your part to make work.

They Can Work

collaborationgood

They Can Stall

collaborationstall

And

They

Can

Epically

FAIL

collabtwerkfail

Collaborating with another writer on their blog or your blog can be beneficial to both of you for many reasons.

  • For some they might do it for a sharing of each others audience.
  • Others might do it to experiment with style.
  • Still others might just do it to work with a friend.

 

It’s not something to jump into without a lot of thought. Are you protective of your work, your words? Do you get hurt when things are changed or another person doesn’t agree with your ideas?

If you answered yes, then do you think you should collaborate with a blogger you consider a friend?

 

I  have collaborated a few times, unbeknowst to all but a very few, I asked my name not be mentioned. Why?

  • There are people out there that want to collaborate simply to use another blogger for increasing their Followers/Views.
  • I didn’t want to open the flood gates to their having to possibly say no to others asking for a collaboration, when a collaboration just happens for myself and another. Intentional collaborations for me don’t seem to flow well. Those that are inspired by a conversation are the best.
  • And to be honest, I just don’t like the attention that much. Which sounds odd because I like to have Followers for my site and Twitter and the ‘likes’ of my work and everything. It is a fantastic feeling, it really is. I won’t lie about that. But for some reason I prefer to stay in the background a bit and just do my little thing. I like to see the success of something I had a hand in. That’s been enough for me.Some might say it’s the Gemini in me and the intellectual and emotional aspects at war.

 

The Pros of Collaborations

  1. You get to work with a good friend and learn from one another about what and how we do things differently
  2. Your work is shared with a different viewing audience and you can see how it works
  3. (I get to take credit for another person’s talent.)

 

The Cons of Collaborations

  1. Hurt feelings might happen over creative differences
  2. One person seems to think their opinion is more important the others and changes work without thinking how it makes one feel
  3. (You end up wanting to kick the other persons butt because you find out they are really the biggest lame jerk that every graced the page tabs of a blog site.) Your friendship suffers because your differences over each others work that you normally love are just too different together.

 

How to Make a Collaboration Work

  1. You should PERSONALLY keep in mind what you like about the other persons work and try to make sure that is included in the piece you are collaborating on
  2. Chose a battle. Not every single point is worth a fight in an article. Unless it is just a matter of your personal beliefs or something, look at it for what is best for the piece over all and the message.
  3. And seriously, be honest and recognize that the site you will be posting on expects THEIR blogger’s work. We know what our readers like to see. Just make sure your ideas get included and some of your writing as well. It really depends on the piece being written. Whose style does the piece fit best?

 

How to Determine Who to Collaborate With

  1. Do you click-This means do you have a rapport and an underlying sense of respect for one another
  2. Do you agree-If you are writing certain pieces and you don’t agree, like politics or religion and its about a sensitive topic, you may wan to stay away. You can like a persons work and respect their views but once you delve into the behind the scenes and deeper into their thoughts you may not really enjoy things as much.
  3. Frankly, do you like the work of the other person-That sound simple but you might have a friend but it’s the person you like and your two styles just won’t click. Stay away. Friends are more important forcing something.

 

The Cautions of Collaborating

  1. Friendships end over unimportant things
  2. You end up having the other persons reputation be associated with yours. This is a caution in case you don’t overly agree with their views or really their style
  3. You might end up getting asked by friends for collaborations and you have to say no and hurt their feelings, or you say yes and neglect your own work

 

There are a lot of benefits from a collaboration from expanding your blog reach.

  1. Two or more people can end up sharing some of each others followers and find new viewers because of it. You get that new audience.
  2. It allows you to learn some tricks you may not have known before about blogging.
  3. You earn a reputation as a person that works with others which to some means being nice and sacrificing.

 

I can collaborate with anyone, but I choose not to jump into that pool much. It does take time from my own work. I did one recently that I enjoyed and was not something I felt took away from my work at all. Why? Because we click, we shared ideas, and we recognized who could do what. I know my strengths and weaknesses and had no problem expressing that. I also felt I could express my opinions without any problems. Why? Because we click and respect each other. Neither of us really benefits in regards to followers from the work. We share a lot of the same people.

The main reason I even allowed my name mentioned was the subject really required both of our names to be included for there to be a balance. Not specifically our names, but our genders.

Finding a collaboration partner that really works well is difficult. I don’t seek them out, they just happen. I don’t ask, they just happen. Do I get asked? Yes, I have.

 

Do I encourage you to collaborate? That is up to you. To me it is not something I go out and look for unless the idea pops to mind, I am already clicking with the person, I know we agree on things and we can mesh well. You need to know that first.

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

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#Blog #Tips fotoflexer and picmonkey when image is everything.

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Blog or not you probably will have a time you need to edit photos or images, be it for getting rid of a pimple or simply to put a ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Happy Birthday, Ronovan’ on a pretty picture to email because it’s cheaper than buying one. And it is cheaper than even mailing it if you are adding in the gas money, and tax and any impulse buying you do, even just that soft drink you just NEED or you will DIE. Why do I hear a 10 year old crying for baseball cards? Hmm.

Here are some tips.tipping_hat.jpg

I want to talk about two tools today; fotoflexer and picmonkey.

Both of tools are free to use online with just a bit of difference. I won’t be getting detailed today. I already went into some detail about fotoflexer in another recent article titled ‘How to use fotoflexer to add text and more to your images‘. I will get deeper into not only it but picmonkey as the days go by. Today is a just ‘tell you about them and and what I see as the differences and similarities’ day. Because really the way to learn how to use something like this is to go and play with it. I kid you not. Once you learn where things are, then you might go and see some advanced tutorials, which there are. I used a few on fotoflexer that are really cool. Cool’s not professional to use? Are you serious? Bummer, dude.

 

Let’s just be straight up here. Try both and see which one you like. Yeah, I know, that sort of tells you not to read the rest of this, right? Not really. But at the end of things that’s what you should do no matter whose article you read, because preference is just an opinion. Each of us will like one over the other.

Pros and Cons

In the world of Pros and Cons there is really only one Con to fotoflexer  and one for picmonkey I’ve found so far, but I am still looking in both.

The Fotoflexer Con

It appears you have to allow pop up ads on the site.  One pop up will occur and then you are free to go. If you have adblocker and pretty much anything like it you can just allow ads by site. This hasn’t been an annoyance for me so far as it has just been the one ad that pops up, I leave it in the background on another page were it pops, and I’m left alone the rest of the time. And they aren’t offensive ads that I have seen to date.

Con Rating with 5 being Migraine?-1.5 I know it’s free to use and they have to get the money in some way, so I go with, at least it’s not a distraction while working on an image.

 

Picmonkey Con

It is possible I am in error but I haven’t found the animated feature yet. By animated I mean you can make added images or text to your images blink or twinkle. It’s not a must but it is fun at times.

Con Rating with 5 being Migraine?-1  Maybe. I only give it a 1 because maybe I want the animation and I haven’t seen it yet. But no tool is perfect, no free tool anyway.

 

Neither of the Cons for either is a killer for me, a knock out not going to use either punch. Both have features I like that the other doesn’t.

Fotoflexer Pros

It has the animated Text and added images feature. Just a bit of a cool thing. But what I really like is the tool feature bar itself as it is located at the top and is very clean looking, while picmonkey is just a little more difficult for me to go through at the moment, but with usage either with do just fine.

Picmonkey Pros

Picmonkey has some nice fonts and is more of a classic design for images. It has more in the way borders/frames.

 

I think you could combine the two at times and come up with some fantastic creations. If you like playing around with things, then go for it. If not, stick with one and learn it well.

 

My pick? I am not a overly image needy person as far as what I need to use, so I go with the layout and toolbar of fotoflexer. It is just more appealing to me and I can have fun with the animation pieces.

Classic pick? Go with Picmonkey. Yes you can get classic with fotoflexer. I just wanted to say that before anyone jumps in. In fact I used it for a recent Haiku where I blurred the edges of old paper and the like to get the right look. But if you don’t care about the bling, then picmonkey might be your thing, especially if you don’t want the pop ad.

I’ll do a more detailed article on picmonkey as soon as I explore it more. And I will also post some results from each site to show you want can be done.

 

Two sites, are much the same inside, just different ways to work the features. It’s all a matter of taste.

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

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How to use fotoflexer for adding text and more to your images.

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I had a lovely and sweet lady ask how to put text on an image. Sometimes, even when you are just not at your best you can’t say no to a wonderful woman. So here I am.

You can do it with your various photo editing things. I used to use  ‘Paint’ that comes with windows to do it sometimes but now I use an online site called fotoflexer.com.  I know of this because Colleen of Silver Threading used it on a Haiku Challenge of mine and I went nuts for it. Collen is another sweet and beautiful lady and friend. She shared the site with me and now here we are.

The reason I use it now:

  • They have some cool features you can use to make things look awesome.
  • The text looks sharp and professional.

Why should you add text or other things to your images:

  • You don’t have to but it makes for variety and if you are using Twitter it’s a way to get something said in a visual way that jumps out at people. I get more clicks when I include images than when not.

The step by step looks long below, but if any of you have read my Tips before you know they really aren’t that Long, they are just detailed.

 

First thing to remember is? Take your time this first time out. Give yourself plenty of time to play around with it and have fun with it, because it can be very fun to play with adding things. So if you are in a hurry to get an image done . . . either forget it this time or plan for it another day. Sure you can do this in a matter of a few minutes once you know it, but right now . . . you don’t know it.

 

Once you get to fotoflexer you can sign up for a free account, like I did, or just use it. But either way you need to allow pop up ads. It’s not for the ads themselves but I think it’s for what works on the actual site itself. You can allow pop up ads just for a particular site. Most likely you have ‘Adblock Plus’ or something of that nature. That’s not what I have but it is a popular one. Just click it and click the option that probably says allow for this page.

 

Now we’re good to go. I am not going to bullet point these. Each piece is a step, each paragraph or whatever you want to call it.

 

I simply click on ‘upload photo’ and then ‘upload’. Now you find the image on your computer you want to use and load it.

 

Once loaded you get a lot of ‘tabs’ for features you can use. Play around with them. You can add picture frame borders or little decoration things. It’s lots of fun. But we are looking at just doing text right now.

 

To add text to your photo, click on the tab  that says ‘Decorate’. You will see the big ‘T’ for text here and you can do plain text or glitter text. Both are added the same way, it’s just glitter can be animated so it sparkles.

So click the T of choice. I am using the Glitter one for fun here.

You will get a little ‘Enter Text Here’ box come up as well as a big white box on the photo where the text shows up. Go ahead and type your text. You can resize the actual text box on the picture by clicking and dragging the sides, top and bottom and also dragging the box to the location of your choice. I like to do that early so I see what it looks like as I do it. But it really doesn’t matter when.

fotoflexIn the Text Options box above you can see some options that appear on the right of the screen at this point. I have the glittery one here, and can actually uncheck the ‘Glittery’ if I like. Let’s run through the options quickly.

Background allows you to do the shape of your text box that will appear on your photo. You might want a heart or something, this is where you choose it.

Transparent will get rid of the background of the text box and the words will appear on the photo itself.

Font-Here it’s glittery or not but if you notice the box below as Cretino in it. That’s a font style. Simply click here and choose your font.

You can align your text left, center, or right with the option below the text options

Choose your Font Size-Auto will automatically adjust the text size as you change the height or width of you text box on the photo.

Text Color-Change the Text color

Background Color-Change the background color if not using Transparent.

Then you Apply the changes, Cancel, or Delete.

 

Once you hit apply and you see your results and maybe you don’t like them, if you look to the far left of the screen you will see the ‘undo’ button. Click that and the text disappears and you start over.

 

But you’re happy with the results so what next. At the very top you will see ‘Save’. Click ‘Save’

Once the save is finished you then get the ‘click here to continue button’. Click it.

Now the ‘Save To My Computer’ button comes up. You guessed it, click it.

You can name the file now in the pop up window, just make sure to keep that ‘.gif’ at the  end. I advise you to name it now, like the one below I named something like ‘Ron_Hoodie_Glitter’. I really don’t know how to spell hoodie for sure but there you go. Why do I name my images with the undescore (_) between words? Because that’s the way SEO likes to read them, so why not do it now?

Now you get the ‘Save Complete’ button. Yep, click OK.

Now you’re done.

Ron_Hoodie_Glitter

Things you need to know:

  • You can sign up for a free account for the site or just do the images. I signed up, why not, right?
  • The other thing, you need to allow pop up ads for the page. For some reason it won’t always allow you to load images unless you do this. But it’s only for the one page so no big deal.

Why do I suggest you use fotoflexer and not paint?

  • Paint can make your text look very bad and unprofessional. fotoflexer makes it look clean and crisp.

 

Well, I hope this helps.

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

Some fun ones I did:

Ron_Hoodie_Heart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEON Effect

Ron_Hoodie_Neon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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How to Increase your #SEO Results and get your #Blog noticed.

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If you are wanting people to visit your blog or website or to start getting  your name/brand out there, there are things you need to do that are simple and in some cases a one time set up that will help you. They range from blog post content for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to adjusting your blog settings. Today I’ll share four with you.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Friendly Blog Post Content

Search Engines, such as Google, ‘read’ your blog content, that’s the way I will explain it. What they are ‘reading’ for is what the person is searching for, what they typed in the search bar.  If you have a blog post about ‘How To Roast A seo_googe_yahoo_upward_trend.jpgTurkey’, then your post needs to OPTIMIZE  and include words that people use to search for when wanting to find out ‘How To Roast A Turkey’. The more relevant words you use the better chances of your blog or website post showing up in Search Engines. No, don’t say turkey or roast every other word. Search Engines actually DON’T like that.

I personally Optimize by having my key words a person is searching for in Search Engines in the first paragraph or two. Why? When a reader clicks to my site I want them to know instantly they have found what they are looking for. I might meander a bit later, but I want to catch their attention to have them keep reading.

Of course don’t get crazy with using the words when it just doesn’t make sense to do so. Sometimes you just need to talk to the reader and sound like you.

Difficulty on a scale of 5 being most difficult to use:

4 until you get the hang of it because you may have to adjust your style just a bit.

Why I mention:

Search Engines are my second place referrer to my site after the WordPress Reader. But here is the kicker, for the past 7 days the Reader only beat Search Engines by 11 referrals. And to be honest we want to be found on Search Engines. (It’s now Dec. 31, 2014 and Search Engines are my #1 referral.)

Including Images Inside of Your Post

Many blogs or website content posts are shared on different platforms or sites. Examples would be Facebook, Google+, Tumblr and Bloglovin. When your content is shared that’s a great thing unless for instance it visually looks like a set of blank photographs.blank_gravatar_image.jpg

You have an image or photograph set as a ‘featured image’. Great, it’s needed at times. I set one for every post I do, unless I am helping with another site and their layout does not use it. But here is something you need to know, put the image in your actual post itself as well. When you get shared on other sites those sites don’t always grab the featured image but they do usually bring the content images along with the share. That way when they do show up, say on Bloglovin you will have images to attract people’s eye.

Facebook is a problem as well in what it pulls in. It will grab an image and carry it with the post if you don’t have one. For a time it was my Blogging U badge on my sidebar, now it is my About.Me image. So I make sure to have images that are for the content itself.

BONUS TIP!

While I am at it, I’ll mention an additional tip. When you add media to your blog notice those different boxes that come up with titles like Title, Caption, Alt Text and Description? Fill those out. Why? When Search Engines read your content you want your images to have words of what those images are. Make sure they include things like .jpg or .gif or whatever format the image is.

Difficulty on a scale of 5 being most difficult to use:

3 just because it can be tedious depending on your amount of images. I sometimes reuse images to make life easier.

Why I mention:

This is one of the things that a lot of people skip and miss out on. Some Search Engines don’t ‘read’ the entire content, just the first so much amount. If you have images taking up the beginning of your post content, then what is the Search Engine reading if you have nothing descriptive in there?

Add Your Twitter Handle to Your Sharing Button

Your Twitter Handle is your brand, your advertising, your contact. You don’t have a Twitter account? That’s fine, it’s all up to you. Twitter is my number three referral for visitors to my site right now. Not a huge number, but numbers. But that’s misleading to say. Some people just don’t click the link in that Tweet. They will open it elsewhere, or copy and paste it. I am sure my Twitter referrals are a lot more than the stats show.

You might be asking me through your monitor screen what I mean by ‘Your Sharing Button’. At the bottom of your posttwitter_bird_image.jpg you have those little buttons people can click on to share your post to various other platforms. One site to share to is Twitter. You don’t have to have a Twitter account for people to share to Twitter. It will simply say wordpress instead of YOUR NAME that created the content. It’s up to you.

If you have Twitter just Go To:

  1. Dashboard
  2. Settings
  3. Sharing
  4. Twitter username to include in tweets when people share using the Twitter button.
  5. Type in your Twitter Handle without the @.

Some of you are wondering why that would increase people coming to your site. Brand recognition. If you have a good name and image people will begin to notice. The more your name gets out there and is seen the more people know it. This is not my personal idea this is a marketing idea.  There are times you will see a TV commercial for weeks before you finally actually watch it. Your child will tell you “Dad, um, this is like the millionth time you’ve seen this.” I am not at all quoting my son.

Difficulty on a scale of 5 being most difficult to use:

1 Once you have a Twitter Account

Why I mention:

It’s a, sorry to say it this way, no brainer. You have a Twitter, you have the option, why not do it?

Use Hashtags and/or Twitter Handles in your Post Title

#BloggerBoySayWhat This is something I’ve started doing lately. It’s not something I’ve really noticed being used, the Hashtag thing, yes, the Twitter Handle, no.

chalk_board_hashtags.jpgInclude these in the title of your post so when the post is shared, say on Twitter, you automatically have certain things you want to include to be tweeted. I do this with Authors and Bloggers I interview now. I put their Twitter Handle in the actual title. I don’t use the Hashtags so much but have when it is an important issue of the moment. For example if there were some Spousal Abuse media frenzy going on I might have a title #(FirstnameLastname) is a prime example of . . . Like I said, this one is a rare one, so when I do use it, it not only gets the write Hashtag used but people will do double take when they see the article title.

Difficulty on a scale of 5 being most difficult to use:

2 I only say a 2 because you need to know the Twitter Handle of the person you are wanting to boost/help out/ promote. And you should already have that if you are doing a post about them.

Why I mention:

Twitter is huge and if you are wanting to draw attention then make your blog work for you. People will share your post on Twitter but they might not go through the trouble of using Hashtags. Just don’t be obnoxious with it unless it’s a joke of sorts.

This was a lot longer than I expected it to be and for that I say . . . ouch. Even my fingers are hurting typing that much. As you begin using tips you get from me or from others it becomes second nature to do them and quicker. Turn these into habits/routines and you will think nothing of them. And as long as you have good content you should, I repeat . . . should increase your readership.

For More of My Blogging Tips and articles click here.

For Tips about Twitter click here.

Much Respect

Ronovan

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved by ronovanwrites.wordpress.com

How is Bloglovin’ doing for me and some other ideas.

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Have you ever checked out where your views come from? If you are like a lot of bloggers you are just happy people show up to read what you offer. For others that are perhaps looking at this as a career thing they are more into details.

 

I come from a data analysis career. Not that I was one by training or choice, I just somehow had a knack for it and thus there you have it. The reason I look at the statistics we have available to us in or blogs is to see if I am wasting my time with some of the things I do.

 

I recently added Bloglovin’ to my blog. For those of you not aware, you can connect your blog to Bloglovin’ and people that don’t have an account with your blog world can follow your blog there instead. It’s a pretty cool set up. I’ve been using it for a couple of weeks now.

bloglovin

If you go to your stats page on WordPress and I suppose other blog platforms are similar you will find a ‘Summaries’ link to click on in the ‘Referrers’ section. This section lets you know where your traffic/visitors are coming from.

If you click on ‘Summaries’ in WordPress you get to see the totals by ‘Referrer’ for the last 7 days and you have other options a well. Well I wanted to see how my Bloglovin’ was doing bring traffic in. The reason I wanted to know is because I go through the trouble of putting the little ‘follow me on bloglovin’ image in each post I do and include a link to my Bloglovin’ page. You don’ t have to do it that way but it’s a way for a reader to see it for sure. Now if there isn’t much traffic coming from it, then why bother, right?

 

It turns out that Bloglovin’ for the past 7 days is the fourth largest ‘Referrer’ to my blog. The WordPress Reader is first, then Search Engines, then Twitter, then Bloglovin’.

What this means to me is, Bloglovin’ is worth it. You see, you may not have a lot of followers over on Bloglovin’ but people still see your posts and can click.  As i get better and better at blogging, at writing better post Titles and content then Bloglovin very well could move up.

 

One other thing you might won’t to think about is Google+. I have my blog linked all over the place. When a post goes out it also goes to Google+.  Here is the problem though. Now I’ve been looking for it and maybe you can help with it, but when you send a post there it is automatically set to private and just your circle of friends sees it. Great right? Sarcasm there a little, actually a  lot. So what I have to do is then go in and share it as public. I can’t find a way to set it to be default Public for my posts coming in from my blog.

google+If you are writing a post in Google+ and share it as Public, then your next post you write in Google+ is supposed to be Public. I think I’ve tried that and it worked. It’s just any scheduled items don’t do it. Is it worth it? Well I only recently noticed this problem was happening and really only recently connected with Google+ so I will have to get back to you. I have had some visitors though.

 

Happy Dancing Twitter Bird

Twitter is my third place provider of ‘Referrers’. This takes no effort really other than typing in some hashtag words in my ‘Publicize’ box  in my blog post editor. That’s right, I don’t even have to go to Twitter.  As long as I am connected to it, I’m good. I’ll give you a couple of cool tips for Twitter another day. I know people are scared of Twitter, but don’t be. It is not difficult at all.

 

So kick back and enjoy some simple ways to make your blog work for you.

Well that’s about it. Use what you want, ignore what you don’t, right?

Much Respect and Love to Y’all

Ronovan

bloglovin

And hey, wait a minute. See that  image over there? Click it and follow me on bloglovin’.

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Nice try . . . but even though I may be stupid, I do check.

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frowns.jpg

Keep an eye out for messages  in your comments saying things like “I follow you and noticed you liked my post (so and so) how about following my blog in return.” Or a variation of that. Good way to get followers but sorry, I do go look. I didn’t ‘like’ the post, never heard of the blog, and sad to say might have followed it if approached differently.

 

I just wanted to put that out there for y’all. Yeah, I follow a LOT of blogs. I return follow if I like the blog and/or like the About page even if the topic of the blog isn’t my thing. I like to support. But don’t lie and cheat to try and get a follow out of me. I’m easy, real easy. I would have enjoyed the blog this particular post mentions and had someone in mind to recommend it to. But sad to say, two follows not happening, which the person probably doesn’t care about.

 

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Keeping Your Sanity in Blog World

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It doesn’t take long before those new to Blog World to experience the first feelings of impending . . .

Burnout sign

I experience it every day. Now although I have taken on more writing responsibilities I’ve started taking control of my Blog World. If you don’t do it in the beginning, it takes months to dig yourself out if you are like me. So why not start your experience off on the right foot, or left, or . . . let’s do this the correct way.

 

We all blog for different reasons. I love my Friends in Blog World but too much of a good thing and I am just about dead. I need time for other things, like writing my novels, spending time with my son, reading books (that are really for reviews for my blog) and sleeping. I may have forgotten something important in there, I am sure of it.

But breaks don’t always happen. That’s why you and I have to . . .

 

Three Ways to Keep your Sanity in Blog World

Before you even start a blog need to consider these three things and stick to them.

#1

Set boundaries for your Blog Life

  • How available to do you want to be?
  • Do you want to be personable in your interactions?
  • Do you allow access to your various social networks?

Basically you want to be able to have your readers connect with you through your writing. Be satisfied with that. You will make a few friends and I am not saying to limit yourself. Just keep your Blog World in Blog World. I have made some great friends and we talk on Twitter and Facebook. I’m not saying it’s wrong or bad or anything. If you have thousands of followers and 1 percent want to talk to you, that ends up taking a big chuck of your time. I have one friend who spends as great deal of time just responding to comments.

Also you want to remember why you are in Blog World in the first place, to Blog.

#2

Set a schedule for your Blog Content

  • You can write all you like, but I recommend that you save that writing in drafts for those days you just don’t feel like writing at all.
  • Set how many posts you want to put out per day and/or week and stick to it.
  • Make time to visit other blogs you enjoy.

I have had a problem with this. I blog write like a mad man. I am all over the place writing, and I do enjoy writing. I don’t want anyone to get me wrong about that. If I had saved my writing and limited myself to just 2 posts per day I would be set for the year. Just think about that. You could do all the writing your want and schedule it for months ahead, freeing up your time for writing your novel or whatever else you might like to do.

Another thing about content management. Give your content time to be viewed. If you load up content then things get pushed down and are not seen. Give it time.

#3

When your Blog Schedule is over . . . unplug

  • Disconnect from your blog and social networking
  • Set time for your other life activities.

This is a bit wrong in how I set it. You set time to blog, the rest is your life. Make sure that when you are not scheduled to do Blog World things that you disconnect yourself. Blogging can become an addiction. It replaces needs in peoples lives. We enjoy it, we can share it, we can be us, we can create, we can express ourselves, we are the world. Pretty cool stuff really.

I tried to set a schedule not long ago and ended up feeling guilty as people felt I didn’t want to talk to them. Well Ronovan has to toughen up or just get out of Blog World. Schedule is coming.

Blogging is a great life. If you manage it from the beginning you don’t need to worry about burnout so much and you will enjoy it a lot more. Some reading this will hate it. They will say “You can’t schedule your friends.” Well you know what? I would rather schedule my friends than burnout so bad that I lose them.

 

Much Respect

Ronovan

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How to do Bloglovin. It’s pretty easy.

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Bloglovin’ It

What is it?

First, if you are a Blogger then you can break this up into three parts to make it less work for you at a time, although it’s not that much work. For some of us it just takes time away from blogging itself. And it LOOKS like a lot of work.

Let’s look at two basic purposes:

#1

Just to Follow blogs

For a lot of people that either don’t want to sign up for accounts with a lot of different blog providers just to follow a blog, or don’t want to subscribe by email, Bloglovin’ can be a great alternative. Simply go to Bloglovin.com, sign up and follow any blog that’s on the site or add a blog to the site. These blogs are from every imaginable blog provider, from blogspot to WordPress. I don’t mention those to promote those but one is toward the beginning of the alphabet and the other is toward the end.

#2

As a Blogger

For bloggers this is a great way to have people follow your blog without  having to do blog accounts or email subscriptions. Even I am hesitant to do the email and I am a blogger. I do follow a handful that way but I receive enough email driven from my own blog to keep me busy as it is. Okay so I don’t get that much from my own blog but it’s still email to go through. And the more email you have the more of it that turns into junk for you, my blog included.

Once you register your blog with Bloglovin’ then your posts will show up on Bloglovin’. Yes, you read correctly. You don’t have to share or do anything special after you have registered your site itself, not just registered as a member. I repeat after you become a member and then register/claim your site, that’s it.

How do you do it?

#1

Just to follow blogs:

Simply sign up by going to bloglovin.com. When you first register you’ll be asked if you want to use facebook or your email to register. If you use facebook then you will have any friends that are on Bloglovin’ already with blogs perhaps automatically in your list. Kind of cool. I did the email option simply because I like to keep my Blog world and my everyday world separate and manageable as I like it.

bloglovin_register

Then you search the categories for something you like or search for that favorite blog you like, perhaps ronovanwrites. Several of my friends are there but too many to mention and I don’t want to slight anyone here. Once you find a blog you like, such as ronovanwrites  follow it. Then every time you log in you will see posts available to click and check out and even on the right side of the screen see a list of your friends and how many posts they have going on at the time. Did I mention ronovanwrites is on Bloglovin’? Well if not, ronovanwrites is on Bloglovin’. Hey, if I don’t promote myself who will, right?

#2

For a Blogger you need to sign up just as above. Then: (Updated-12/09/14)

  • Look at the top and to the right and you will see the Heart icon.   Click and you will see ‘Settings’ in the drop down list. Click it.
  • Next you will need to scroll down until you see, Blogs by Me  and a button next to it that says Add Blog. It’s located under the Profile section. Click ‘Add Blog’.
  • Now a screen called Blog analytics comes up with the ‘claim blog’ button.
  • Type in your blog address and search for it. bloglovin claim blog imageIt should come up. Click your blog. If it’s not there you need to register it and Bloglovin’ does well showing you how.
  • Crazy as it sounds, my blog actually had a couple of entries already and I had never been to Bloglovin. I just picked the one that had the most followers and claimed it. It was my address. People can put in a blog they want to follow so don’t be surprised if you see your site there.
  • Whoa! What do I do with that box with the script in it and says ‘Claim blog’?bloglovin_register_html
  • To actually register you need to copy that text into a new post on your blog in the TEXT tab, not the VISUAL tab. You know, just like when you share a video.
  • Once you publish the post and go back to Bloglovin’ you are now registered. Difficult, huh?

How do you add the Bloglovin’ Widget?

No need for numbers now, this is all Blog World business. And it’s simpler than it at first seemed as I tried to follow some directions.

  • First thing, it’s a Widget that will be in your sidebar.
  • I would go ahead and have a Text Widget open and read so you can copy a simple code from Bloglovin’.
  • The image is in the code so no worries there. The Bloglovin’ Widget site has different widgets you can choose from.  Click ‘Get this icon’ under the one you like and copy the code into your text widget. Save it and guess what, you’re done.
  • You can always change your widget when you like, just choose the one that best fits you, your blog and your theme.
  • And also it’s not a bad idea to change up that widget at times just to make things look different and draw your readers eye.

“But wait, Ronovan, some people don’t look at those thingies on the side. What other way can I let a visitor know how to follow me on Bloglovin’?”

  • Copy a Follow me on Bloglovin’ image you like and add it to your media in your blog.
  • When you create a post, add the image and then click the image in your post editor and add the address to your actual Bloglovin’ site. Make sure to check the box for open in different window if you like. What, you didn’t know you could add a ‘link’ to your images? Yep, you do it the exact same way you do any other link. Click the image and then the add a link option in your post editor.
  • Sounds tedious that you need to do it each time. Nope. It’s just like adding any image but this time you have one that should be called Bloglovin’ and one link in your list called Bloglovin to add to your image.  It’s that simple.

We all freak out a little when we start using these new to us features/options, but the truth is, once you actually sit down and walk through it yourself to explain it, it’s easier than a lot of people think and make it sound. I’ve found some sites that just totally confuzzled me. I probably confuzzled you. Have questions, ask me, or I am sure any of my Blog friends who do Bloglovin’ can help as well.

Much Respect

Ronovan

bloglovin

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A Friend is a Smile.

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Everyone, please visit my very first ever Guest Blog. Amanda of insidethelifeofmoi was kind enough to let me share something from my heart. Please go and check it out and follow her blog if you are not already doing so. She is very engaging with those who comment and is a very sweet young lady.
Much Respect,
Ronovan

Blogging Tips: 3 More Ways to Increase Your Views . . . the easy way.

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I’m a fraud.

I’m a fake.

I’m a liar by mistake.

I’m a spinner.

No complaint.

Hope this doesn’t make you faint.

(If the rhythm feels familiar you may recall a song by Meredith Brooks that was quite popular back in the mid 1990s. I just put my own words to it.)

 

Do you ever get the impression a blog site must be old and the blogger has years of blogging experience? People have said that to me about my site and experience. My experience has nothing to do with the age of  my blog, four months and counting I believe, or vast technical know how related to blogging, Google is a friend y’all.

Where does my experience come from and my sites modest level of following? And yes it is a modest level believe it or not. It comes from pouring my heart out to y’all, researching various ways a blog works, and using my 11 years of marketing analytical skills, my eduction, and my gut instinct. But most of all, I use my love of people. If you want to increase views to your site, love people. Just love ’em and be honest in your writing. You don’t need to read any further. If you are really into making some quick success of things then read on, but if you want to make it easier and more relaxed . . . love ’em.

 

 #1

Don’t content your viewers to death! (or yourself)

I’ve learned this one through my own personal experience. In the early going  of your blog (if you are out to generate traffic/views/people visiting your site) you need to put out a bit more content. Then settle down. Work on a good piece and put it out. And then sit on it.

How often you put out content/articles/posts depends entirely on the purpose of your blog and your own need at the moment.  If you are wanting to develop a loyal reader following, give them quality pieces and give them a chance to read them, react to them, and you a chance to respond to those who comment. You may write a magnificent article or poem but it gets buried in all of your content. I’ve done it! This is something I have recently become passionate about. I get an idea, I write, and hit publish. I can’t help myself. Write a great piece and run with it for a few days then publish another great piece.

Putting out your great pieces slowly, even if you have five prepared will keep you from burning out.

 

#2

Pay attention to what what viewers are clicking and liking.

I have to admit this is not one I do very often in regards to determining what I write. I do notice and in speaking with blog friends I’ll comment on it. But I write what I write. But if you are wanting to specifically bring in followers and viewers, write what they like. You think that’s an easy one, right? You would think that’s one we all should realize. We don’t. One thing about this, if you’re trying too hard to write for the readers, the readers can tell, and it begins to sound fake, and becomes a turn off.

My content is me. Why that appeals to some people, I have no idea. People in person don’t find me appealing. (That may have sounded a bit wrong there . . .  or maybe it sounded right.)

 

#3

Scheduling for the right time of day.

I believe I have mentioned this in other articles but I’ll repeat it because it saves you time. Americans are the biggest blog viewers around. I’m an American blogger. When I write, I write for the whole world in that I write on universal topics. When I schedule my articles to go out I take three things into consideration.

  1. What is my regional target?
  2. What age group am I targeting with the article?
  3. When will they be at work?

If your blog is geared toward, or article is specific to one region/area/country of the world then you need to consider what age group your largest amount of readers are in because of when they will be available to read the articles.

Being an American blogger I schedule my articles to publish normally around 9AM NYCT or Noon NYCT. Why? People primarily check blogs when they get to work and have settled in or they read them at lunch time. What about the rest of the USA or the world? The eastern seaboard has a massive readership. Leave your blog alone for a few days and everyone will get a chance to see it. Publish at lunch NYCT and you might be able to get lunch time eastern/NYCT and morning time in the western time  zones in the USA.

That being said I also publish according to the time zone for Britain. Why? I love British bloggers and want them to see my articles. That’s a five hour difference and that may hurt my views but sometimes I don’t really care. I just like to have fun with it. I reflex and schedule at certain times, but if I do think about it I change it up to Britain and sometimes Australia.

 

And that is a few ways to increase your views. If you’re having fun, it comes through in your work and people will have fun with you.

 

For the first 3 Ways to Increase Views and Make Your Life Easier.

Much Respect

Ronovan

 

2014 © Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com

 

 

3 Ways to Increase Views and Make Your Life Easier

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3 Ways to Increase Views and Make Your Life Easier

I travel around Blog World a lot, I research and I use trial and error. Experience in marketing doesn’t hurt. I like to share what I find and TRY to make my and your life easier. I thought I would share a few of  them with anyone that just so happens to be foolish enough to click today.

Change Your Article URL also called a Permalink.

I’m sure you all know how to do this, but I need an article for the day so I’m going to explain it anyway. By changing your article URL you give it a better chance to show up in Search Engines.

Step 1-Go to your Dashboard-Posts-And click one of your posts

URL Change WordPress

Step 2-You’ll see just under your Post Title field/box the ‘Permalink:’ section. The grey/gray part is something you cannot change, just the pink/salmon colored field.

Step 3-Now come up with a usually no longer than 5 word identifier for your article with each word separated by a dash/hyphen. It can be longer but the shorter the better. Don’t use words such as ‘the’ or ‘it’. Those are called stop words. Just put in the big words that say what the article is about. It doesn’t even have to be the title of your article, just what it’s about. Example: Your article is called “What Happened Last Night?” but the article is about an episode of a show you like. You want to put the name of the show in the permalink. That’s what people are looking for when the search in a Search Engine.

Step 4-Click ‘OK’ and I usually click ‘Update’ on the right hand side as well.

Now this is what Search Engines will see.

The Example in the image is my ‘What super power would I want? Heart surgeon…sort of.’ article.

‘what-super-power-would-i-want-heart-surgeon’ as a URL is too much I think.

‘super-power-change-hearts’ seems much better to me. I cut out the unnecessary words and got to the point. This is like Flash Fiction for URLs.

This doesn’t mean you are guaranteed to get hits but it will help your chances.

Difficulty with 10 being most difficult? 1

Rescheduling Old Posts

It’s difficult to come up with new material each day. I like to provide two pieces. I know, some of my things are totally random but it keeps me creating. But even I get tired sometimes.

Reschedule your old posts. This sounds a bit odd because you think everyone has seen it so why bother, but your much older stuff from when you were new to the blog world wasn’t seen by everyone and some of it was good, maybe all of it.

Schedule Post Change WordPressI go to edit my post and simply edit the schedule time on the right hand side where it says ‘Published on’ for a different day and date. You can even do this throughout a given day if you like. I’ve done it before. What I have found though is it may not really increase views significantly. It also takes up your time. Rescheduling a  post from a month ago is one thing, and really you can revamp the article, make it fresh with your new blogging experience and give it new life.

WARNING! If you have a post linked in another post you need to check that link after you reschedule because the date in the heading will have changed.

A better thing to do is just copy the post. It’s very simple but no images for instruction this time. Do this: Click Posts-Add New-Scroll Down to Copy a Post under Writing Helper-Type the name of the Post you want to Copy-Click Copy-Now just make sure you put in a Feature Image, Add the Tags which are still there you just have to click add and they all show up. The Post will even be in the same category as before. All the links are the same inside the post as well. Whenever I do this I do make note that it originally appeared on a certain date.

Change the name of a Post that didn’t seem to catch on

Have you ever looked at the title of an article and just didn’t want to click it to go check it out? You may have missed out on a great article. The name just didn’t pop with you, didn’t connect. You’ve probably done a bad job of naming as well, I know I have.

Name Change

A name change, even just one word can make a difference. Just step back and look at the title and think “Would I click on that if I didn’t know what was behind it”.

Naming an article in a way is more difficult than writing the article itself. It’s like writing a Twitter pitch for your novel. You have to hook ‘em. Naming a poem that just came to you is excruciating to me.

I first called my ‘What Super Power Would I Want? Heart Surgeon . . . sort of‘ article ‘What super power would I want? Heart surgeon,’ but that just didn’t look right or get the right message over. Then I changed it to ‘What super power would I want? Heart surgeon…sort of.’ That title said what I wanted it to say and makes you wonder ‘what does he mean by ‘sort of’’ and people started to read.

One thing to note here: Your URL will still be from your original article title. You may want to go in and change it if you feel a need to.

Those are three quick tips to help bring more views in.

(This is a post from May. I’ll be bringing a new post with some new tips soon.)

Much Respect

Ronovan

 © Copyright-All rights reserved-RonovanWrites.wordpress.com-2014.

Add your website/blog site to your Gravatar.com site . . . PLEASE!

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This is just a quick reminder to those who might not have given it a thought.

When I am wandering the blogs and see great comments I click on who left those comments. I don’t do that just to see a larger version of a pretty face, or to read a bio, I do it to find the website, their blog. I rarely find a blog and thus miss out on following that person.

So PLEASE:

  • go to your Gravatar.com,
  • your profile, then web sites
  • and add your blog site
  • You can even add your facebook and Twitter or whatever, but PLEASE add your blog site.

Thank you!

Ronovan

Trying out the Bloglovin way. Will update you as I go.

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Follow my blog with Bloglovin

If you are not receiving email notifications from WordPress blogs . . .

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If you are not getting notifications of from your own blog such as from comments made by Readers, or you subscribed to a WordPress blog and are not receiving the emails of the new posts, or if you are sending an invite to someone to either Follow your private blog or become a contributor on your blog, then go to the following link and scroll down to the bottom to ‘Block Emails’ and make sure the ‘Block all email updates from blogs you’re following on WordPress.com’ box is not checked.

https://wordpress.com/settings/notifications/