Category: Blogging Challenge

START Living Your Life Now

Photo Source: YouTube.com

It may seems strange to you that someone retired should write about STARTing anything. That’s certainly understandable, I suppose. For many of you just starting your career as a teacher or musician or marketing guru or whatever it might be, the idea of retirement is as foreign as learning to read and write Sanskrit perhaps. Maybe you’re newly married or newly a mom and the start of both still seem to be a grand adventure, with all of the complexity and confusion brought on by both and you can’t even begin to think past the beginning of either.

However, you should. Because it truly won’t be long before those fleeting moments are forty years in the past. And what will you do then? Will you be sad or mad that your beginnings now seem to be endings? Will you look upon your life as a series of lost or misplaced opportunities or mistakes? Will you mourn the loss of your youth and look upon age as a dreaded misfortune? Or will you START living your life today and do so in such a way that that negativity doesn’t happen?

In her column dated December 2, 1979 and reproduced in her book Eat Less Cottage Cheese, one of my favorite humorists, Erma Bombeck, penned these words of advice that might just help you avoid the failure to START living your life now. I encourage you to print them up and put them in a place where you will read over them once a day, once a week or at least once a month. You’ll be glad you did.

“Someone asked me the other day if I had my life to live over would I change anything. My answer was no, but then I thought about it and changed my mind.

If I had my life to live over again I would have waxed less and listened more.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy and complaining about the shadow over my feet, I’d have cherished every minute of it and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was to be my only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten popcorn in the “good” living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.
I would have burnt the pink candle that was sculptured like a rose before it melted while being stored.
I would have sat cross-legged on the lawn with my children and never worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television … and more while watching real life.
I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband which I took for granted.
I would have eaten less cottage cheese and more ice cream.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the Earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for a day.
I would never have bought ANYTHING just because it was practical/wouldn’t show soil/ guaranteed to last a lifetime.
When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now, go get washed up for dinner.”
There would have been more I love yous … more I’m sorrys … more I’m listenings … but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute of it … look at it and really see it … try it on … live it … exhaust it … and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it.”
Eat Less Cottage Cheese and More Ice Cream: Thoughts on Life From Erma Bombeck.

I don’t believe that there is failure in not finishing. Instead, I believe that the real failure is in the not STARTing. For how can you accomplish anything if you fail to START? And there are still lots of STARTs waiting on me in retirement because each and every day is a new opportunity to begin living life now, and I plan to seize every one of them.

And that, my friends, is a very good thing.

Debbie is a co-administrator of Arkansas Women Bloggers and blogs at Dining With Debbie. A native Arkansan, she spends much of her time traveling between the central area where she lives and the northwest area of the state where she plays with her perfect grandchildren . She hangs out with her Hubby of 44 years in both places.

Facebook: Debbie Horton Arnold
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Email: Debbie@arkansaswomenbloggers.com

Join us for a FALL FAVORITES Roundup! {Blogger Challenge}

Good morning, Arkansas! The weather people are telling me that, along with a little rain, that cool fall weather is finally supposed to start moving in today.

I don’t know about you but when the weather starts to cool I start thinking about chili and cornbread, pumpkin pie and hot apple cider. All those delicious “fall foods”!

I also start to think about all the beautiful colors of fall and I can’t wait to purchase pumpkins and gourds and start decorating up my house.

AND, I love fall fashion. I love long sleeves, scarves, long flowing skirts and cute boots.

So, we have a little fall challenge for you! We are going to do a FALL FAVORITES Roundup!

Here is how it works:

1. Choose a current or previous post on your blog from one (or all) of the following categories:

Fall Recipes
Fall Fashion
Fall Decorating and DIY

2. Email me at julie@arkansaswomenbloggers.com using the following format:

Subject:

Body of Email:
Title of Blog Post
Link to Blog Post

Attachments: ONE photo from your post (photo must be original!)

Of course we can’t have a blogger challenge without a few rules!

You may submit to all three categories.
Only ONE submission per category. (Multiple submissions will be discarded.)
You MUST be a registered member of ARWB. (You can register here.)
You must get you links to me no later than October 19th.
You must include one photo of your finished product.

Once I have collected all of the links, I will put together a special post with everyones links! I hope this will be a great way for you to share something from your blog or even inspire you to create something new and post about it!

Travel Arkansas {“Micro” Blogging Challenge}

Last Saturday I mentioned that this month we would be doing a series of “Micro Challenges” to help inspire your blog writing this summer. Well today’s challenge is pretty simple; Travel Arkansas!

It’s summer and even if you are working all day all summer long, it is still a great time to get out and enjoy our beautiful state.

There is so much to do and so much to see right here in Arkansas. You can get a great vacation, or “stay-cation” without having to travel far. You will save money, support or local economy, likely see something amazing and you will have some great blogging material.

Festivals and Fairs

Arkansas has hundreds of festivals and fairs, many of which happen during the summer months. While it is nearly impossible to find a comprehensive list of all of the local events, here are a few sites you might want to check out.
FestivalTrek

Arkansas Events

State Parks

Arkansas is home to 52 amazing state parks. This means that there is most likely at least one state park located within an hour of where you are right now. Many of the state parks have museums, interpretive programs, and history and heritage programs. There is nature and wildlife to be seen, trails to be hiked and wilderness to be explored. There are beautiful cabins, well-appointed lodges and meticulously managed campgrounds just waiting for you and your family. Check out Arkansas State Parks for more information.

Museums

Arkansas is home to many fabulous museums. I have listed four of my favorites below but you can also check out this website for a great list of museums around the state.

Museum of Discovery (Little Rock)
Clinton Presidential Library (Little Rock)
MidAmerica Science Museum (Hot Springs)
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (Bentonville)

Outdoor Fun and Amusement Parks

Arkansas is also home to some really great outdoor adventure locations. You may want to check out these places this summer!

Rogers Aquatic Center
Loco Ropes
Magic Springs and Crystal Falls
Rowdy Adventures

So…get out there and Travel Arkansas!

We will not be providing a separate linky for this micro challenge but we highly encourage you to week up during our weekly Sunday Link-up feature!

Making Life Your Adventure {“Micro” Blogging Challenge}

One of the things that excites me most about Arkansas Women Bloggers is the diversity within our group. We come from different backgrounds, different kinds of families and we have different interests in blogging and different goals for our futures. The one thing that seems to unify us is our lust for adventure. I’ve yet to meet a blogger that was totally opposed to new experience and adventure. We thrive on new and exciting and can’t wait to tell the rest of the world about it through our blogs .

This month we are focusing on Life Adventures and we have several bloggers lined up to tell you about just a piece of their life adventure.

Additionally, we will be doing a “micro” blogging challenge each Saturday to help you make life your adventure! We will provide you with a small personal challenge that will hopefully inspire you in your writing. We will not have an official link up for these challenges but want to encourage you to link up any posts you write in our weekly Sunday Link up.

Making Life Your Adventure – Micro Blogging Challenge #1

The funny thing about adventure is that is it always there. The problem with adventure is that we often over look it or choose not to take part in the adventure.

Today’s challenge is about making life your adventure.

Sounds pretty simple and yet overwhelmingly difficult all at the same time.

If we take a different perspective we can begin to see the adventure that is in our everyday lives. Break away from the mundane, the daily routine. Here are 5 tips for making life your adventure.

5 Tips for Making Life Your Adventure

1. Slow Down, Be Aware, Notice Things
Sounds simple right? But how often do you move through your life on autopilot? Take 10 minutes to really explore your senses. What to you hear? What do you smell? What can you touch? What do you sense?

2. Set Electronics Boundaries
You probably give a lot of thought to how much time your kids spend on the internet, video games and other electronic devices. Have you really ever evaluated your own use? Many times we get sucked into the electronic devices because of what we perceive as boredom. For one week set some electronics boundaries and then stick to them. Plan a family activity or work on a DIY project you’ve been meaning to get to.

3. Cultivate Spontaneity
The best adventures come through spur of the moment decisions. Be intentional about inviting spontaneity into your life. Try a new restaurant or at least order something other than your usual at your favorite restaurant. Stay up late. Let your kids stay up late. Get in the car and just drive. Stop somewhere that looks interesting. Stop somewhere that doesn’t look interesting and invoke suggestion #1.

4. Act like a child
Kids are so good at playing. At some point in life we start allowing ourselves to believe that there is something wrong with acting like a child and we snuff out all the fun in our lives. On the last day of school I had a small group of 8th grade boys that were hanging out in my classroom. I pulled out an old set of Lincoln Logs I had found at a garage sale. The boys LOVED it. They played like kids again and it was so fun to watch. Do something that really brings out the kid in you!

5. Find your Passion
Recently, several of us attended Bean2Blog at P. Allen Smith’s farm in Little Rock. Allen was asked what he thought the best course of action was to achieving success. His answer was to follow your passion. Find what you love and do it. Chase it. Catch it. Cultivate it. What is your passion?

Better Your Blog: Content

Blog Content is the lifeblood of our blogs. What to write, how to say it. To be serious, to be lighthearted. Pictures, or no pictures. Every time we sit down to write a post we can ask ourselves a million questions and still find ourselves struggling to create our best writing.

Today’s tips are all about improving your blog content. Whether you are a mom blogger, a tech blogger, a food blogger, a fitness blogger or a (fill in the blank) blogger, we have some tips that will get you writing more and writing better.

10 Tips for Writing Better Blog Posts

Remember that Blog Writing is REAL Writing: Don’t undervalue yourself by treating your blog any less important than you would if you were hired to write for a well known publication. Make sure your content is complete and your grammar is correct. Since you are the maker of your own blog schedule, a “late” post is far better than a hastily published post that is full of errors.

Be Yourself: Your writing should be a genuine reflection of you or the alter-ego which your blog is designed to represent. Don’t fake it with your readers, they can tell!

Write to Your Readers: Even if you are writing a post about yourself, don’t forget to address your readers and connect with them throughout your post. People like to read blogs because they feel more personal than traditional articles and magazines. Addressing your readers by saying “you” goes a long way towards developing a friendly and personal relationship.

Be Short: Most blog readers skim your content. They don’t read every word and the longer you drone on, the quicker they will leave. Keep it short and to the point. Use short paragraphs and bold headings to divide up your content.

Do Your Research: When you present a story to your readers make sure your facts are correct. Being the first to “break” a story can be exciting but if your facts are wrong you lose credibility with your readers. Don’t publish it until you have actually tried it, made it or researched it for yourself.

Make it Useful and Unique: No matter your genre, your readers are coming to your page for something useful and uniquely you. Whether readers are coming to you for a recipe, the latest DIY trend, a book review or even just a good laugh – present it in a way that differs from the 15,000 other posts on the internet about the same subject. Provide your readers with what they need but do it in your own style. Don’t just be an echo of the rest of the blog world.

Have a Great Headline: Before you ever write a word of your post, write a headline. Even if you change it later your headline will help keep you grounded and focused on the intent of your post. Keep in mind that on some social media like Twitter and Facebook your readers may only see a post title and link. Headlines should be clear and catchy and should not be misleading. When choosing a headline you should also consider selecting something that someone will actually Google. Clever titles can be fun but aren’t always best for SEO.

Include an Image: Images are powerful tools of communication. An aptly used image can add interest to your post. Images should be high quality, large enough to see, and aptly placed within your content.

Delve Deeper: We all hope our readers will go beyond the first post on our home page and read other posts that we have written. Make this easy for your readers by including links to related posts within your text.

Calls to Action: If you want more engaged readers you need to invite them to do something. Ask your readers to look at something, make something, buy something, comment, share or like something. Don’t just ask them but make your post powerful enough that they can’t say no.
Will you be Bettering Your Blog this month? If you have not signed up with our Linky, do it below so we can keep up with your progress. Please link to your MAIN page and only sign up once.

Better Your Blog: Appearance

Better Your Blog - Bloggy spring cleaning at arkansaswomenbloggers.com

Before someone ever reads a single word on your blog they have to take it in visually. What people see immediately upon arrival to your blog can cause them to stick around or run screaming for the hills…or at least the next blog.

Your blog should reflect you, your personal tastes and certainly the nature of your blog. Today, we will give you some pointers to help you improve the general appearance of your blog.

BLOG HEADER

First impressions are really important and visitors to your blog will base their first impression on the first thing they see – your header.

We have all done last minute cleaning marathons when we are expecting guests in our home. It’s likely that we weren’t concerned with the state of the kids playroom in the basement or the office that serves as more of a giant closet than a functional office. Instead, we focus on the living room, the kitchen, and the main bathroom, areas that guests will likely see. Why? We want to make a good impression and we want our guests to believe that because the main areas of our house are tidy, so is the rest of the house.

So, the header is to your blog as your entryway is to your house. It can create the impression that you have a well run and tidy blog. It can also create an adverse impression.

Size: Avoid overly large headers. When your blog loads your readers should not have to scroll down to see actual content. Content should begin “above the fold” and if your header is preventing this from happening you should consider reducing its size. The best size for a header is between 150 and 250 pixels high.

Content: A header should contain, at the very least, the name of your blog. If you have room you can also include a short description or tag line for your blog.

Graphics: Make sure the graphics or photos you use in your header are of a high quality. You should also check to see how your header looks in different browsers and on different sized monitors if possible.

Can I make my own header? You bet! Headers are pretty simple to make. It may take a little time and patience but they are not difficult. Need some help? Check out our PicMonkey tutorial or check out this header tutorial we found on The Blog Guidebook.

COLOR

Ask any art teacher, graphic designer or blog guru and they will tell you that color is hugely important. The colors you choose for your blog should strike a balance between those you love, those that please your readers and those that fit the theme of your blog. There is a lot of research and science behind color theory and color psychology and you could spend a long time studying why you should choose certain colors. For now, choose a few possible color schemes, ask a few trusted friends for their opinions and then implement the colors consistently but not overwhelmingly throughout your blog.

Background Color: Many people are tempted to add color to the background of their posts. In a word, DON’T. Background colors can be very distracting and make your posts very difficult to read.

Colored Text: On the internet, colored text typically indicates a link. Having colored text which doesn’t link to additional content could be confusing to your readers or cause them to think something is “broken” about your site.

So where SHOULD I use color? Colors can be effectively used throughout your blog in many places such as your header, blog buttons, post titles, social media buttons, and text links.

How do I choose the right colors? There is a wonderful site called Design Seeds. They develop color schemes based on gorgeous photos. Each color scheme has 6 coordinating colors and they even provide the HEX values of the colors so you can easily input them into your blog.

Got a gorgeous photo on your own blog that you want to use as a starting point? The Color Palette Generator can do just that!

Fonts and Typography

Fonts, like the colors and header on your blog, can cause a reader to stay or go. Fonts are fun and there are literally millions of fonts available, many of which are free! Fonts can also easily overwhelm a reader.

Keep It Simple: When you are faced with millions of font ideas it is easy to go overboard and start adding new fonts everywhere! Select two or three fonts to use and stick with them as many blog readers expect some sense of consistency. Constantly changing fonts could send them packing.

Font Color: As we mentioned above, colored text often indicates a link. If the word is not linking to something, black is the best color to choose. Save colored fonts for post titles, sidebars, and and navigation links.

Font Size and Readability: Readability should always be a concern. Some fonts are really cute but can be difficult to read. Readers don’t typically spend a long amount of time on any given blog. They hop in, skim content, and move on. If a reader is having to spend time deciphering text on your blog they will leave. Fonts should be easily readable and large enough to see clearly.

Serif vs. Sans-Serif: Serif fonts have little lines tailing from the letters sans-serif fonts do not. Many people believe that sans-serif fonts are easier to read online. Regardless, choose your fonts wisely.

Photos

Whether you are using your own photos or stock photos it is so important to use high quality photos. Successful blogging is all about nuance. Once you have the small details under control you can start to focus on your blog content. Sarah Beth Jones is a fabulous photographer and recently shared a great photo tutorial with us. Check it out!

5 Quick Tips for Better Photos

Lighting – Use natural lighting for the best photos. Take the item(or person) you are photographing outside if possible.

Flash – Don’t use it!

Quantity – Take LOTS of photos! We live in a digital age where we don’t have to worry about using up a roll of film or developing costs. Take many photos so you have more to choose from. (Remember really good photographers are only showcasing their best work, they probably throw out 10 photos for every photo they keep.)

Surprise – Take the shot from an unexpected angle or view point. More visual interest creates a more exciting and interesting photo.

Navigation

Blog pages are a great way to present certain content such as an about me page, a contact page, even a collection of recipes or tutorials. If your readers are unable to find your pages they are useless.

Top Bar Navigation Most readers will look to your top navigation bar first when they are searching for something. Your top navigation bar should include the five to ten most important pages in your blog. Readers are looking for ease of use not a scavenger hunt.

Sidebar Navigation Utilize your sidebar to direct readers to some of your stellar content. Add thumbnail images with links to your most popular posts. Add a ‘recently posted’ widget. You should also consider adding search bar, an archives link, and a categories link to your sidebar.

Will you be Bettering Your Blog this month? If you have not signed up with our Linky, do it below so we can keep up with your progress. Please link to your MAIN page and only sign up once.

Better Your Blog: General Goodness

“Nothing I write ever compares to what’s going on in my mind.”

I love that quote because I think it epitomizes what most bloggers feel. We have so many wonderful ideas, thoughts and plans for our blogs and we sometimes (or often) fall short of the image we create in our minds.

Today, we are going to give you five general goodness tips for your blog, plus we will link you to five tips we’ve given you in the past. We hope you will use these tips to guide you towards achieving the blog you have pictured in your mind.

Five new blogging tips…

Check your links – We all write posts and include links to external sites or even to pages within our own blogs. Sometimes these links go defunct, get removed, or get relocated. While it may be a huge undertaking to check all of your posts one by one there is an “app” for that! Visit Broken Link Checker and enter your sites url. You can search for district broken links or all occurrences of dead links. Depending on the size of your site this may take a few minutes. When you’ve collected your data go in and remove or update any links that no longer work.

Participate in a Link-up – The best way to get people to visit your blog is to let them know you have something worth looking at. Blog link-ups are a great way to spread the word about a great post you wrote. Here at AWB, we do a link-up every Sunday called Voulez-vous Partager which is French for “Will You Share?” Each week, we invite you to share your best post from the previous week. But…we’re not the only ones! Many blogs offer link-ups in a variety of different styles, genres and frequency. Visit some and share your links today!

Leave a Comment – You know how good it makes you feel when you receive a comment on your blog. Return the feeling by leaving comments on blogs that you visit. Plus, it’s a great way to start building bloggy friendships.

Attend a Blog Conference – Blogging conferences are a great place to go to get content ideas, technical help, and to build friendships and partnerships with other bloggers. From BlogHer to Blissdom to Bloggy Boot Camp, conferences run the gamut of sizes, prices and topics. We’re partial to #AWBU because it is small, intimate and focuses not only on improving your blog, but with connecting you with other bloggers from around Arkansas. We’ve just opened registration for AWBU13. Check it out!

Step Away from Your Computer – Seriously! The best way to develop new content is to experience life. If you spend your whole life behind your computer screen you will never be able to bring new and exciting things to your blog

And now, some tips and ideas you may have missed in the past…

5 One-minute Ways to Clean-up and Organize Your Blog – Back in January we ran {Kick-start My Blog} which was aimed at helping you clean-up, organize and revitalize your blog. Check out our 5 one-minute tips – or better yet; check out the entire Kick-start series.

Turning Pro: How to turn your blogging skills into a new career – Stephanie McCratic of EvolvedMommy shares some great tips for taking your blog from a hobby to a career.

Getting the Most out of SEO – SEO, Search Engine Optimization, is a term bloggers love to throw around but not many of us truly understand what it is or how to make it work for us. Jasmine Banks of The Brokins teaches us how to get the most out of SEO.

5 Types of Blog Posts That Will Spice Up Your Blog – Variety is the spice of life and Jacqueline Wolven give us some posting ideas to add spice to our blogs.

10 Reasons You Need a Facebook Fan Page – Hopefully, you have one but if you don’t, now is a great time to make one! Check out our post and get motivated to start a Facebook fan page!

We hope you enjoy the activities we have planned for this month. We will be watching your blogs intently as they grow and transform. We will be providing a linky at the end of each Better Your Blog post so that you can keep up with the others as well. And don’t forget to provide us with feedback, because it will help us to create posts, themes and challenges that focus on the things you want and need to learn!

Also, if you participated in our February Matchmaking, you have been sent an email with your Blogger Match. Use these tips to help your Bloggy Match Better Her Blog!

Will you be Bettering Your Blog this month? If you have not signed up with our Linky, do it below so we can keep up with your progress. Please link to your MAIN page and only sign up once.

Sharing the Love: Blog Crushes & Blogger Matchmaking

We all have bloggers who inspire us, challenge us and make us better – they’re the authors of the blogs we can’t wait to read, the artists who create intriguing and gorgeous websites, the mothers with the best tips and tricks, and all-around fabulous bloggers.

This month, we’ll pay tribute to blog crushes and do some match-making of our own!

Blog Crushes
First, head over to the Arkansas Women Bloggers Directory. Find another registered Arkansas women blogger and tell us why she is your blog crush. Whether she’s a long time amour or only recently made your heart go pitter patter, we want to know why she and her blog are amazing. Email a short paragraph (three to eight sentences will do it) to Arkansas Women Bloggers, and we’ll feature some of the best blog crushes (with links to your blog and theirs) throughout the month! Please send your blog crush by Tuesday 2/5.

Blogger Matchmaking
In March, we’ll be running a Better-Your-Blog series that will build upon our January 26 – 30 Kickstart My Blog Challenge. If you didn’t participate, you can still go back and read the posts and knock them out during the remainder of February! We shared five posts over five days with five 1-minute tips to boost your blog.

Prior to the Better Your Blog series in March, all actively registered members of AWB are invited to be paired with another member for an objective blog assessment. You can sign up as a mentee (to get advice on your blog), a mentor (to help offer feedback to others) or BOTH!

Participants will have two weeks (2/14 – 2/28) to correspond with their partner, pose questions and discuss ways to make their blog better. We (AWB) will give an overview sheet with suggested questions and topics to discuss and parameters – such as kindness and constructive criticism. To participate, click here to fill out our Blogger Matchmaking form no later than Monday 2/11.

Naturally, we’ll match you with your partner on Valentine’s Day!

Finding Blogging Motivation {Kick-Start My Blog}

kick-start my blog

We’ve spent the last few days getting down to the knitty gritty and taking care of some of those behind the scenes tasks that help a blog look good, run smoothly and function at its best capacity. Today we focus on the good, juicy stuff. Finding Blogging Motivation!

Today’s activities will hopefully inspire you to blog more and blog better.

Finding Blogging Motivation

Do you remember why you started blogging? Do you remember when you first learned what a blog was? It’s likely that you learned about blogging because you came across another blog. It’s also likely that you started blogging because you read a blog that inspired you.

Identify 5 Blogs That Inspire You

Go online and spend some time looking at OTHER blogs. Sometimes we get so busy with our own blog that we forget to look at what else is out there. Not sure where to start? We have some AMAZINGLY talented ladies right here at AWB and you can find them by checking out our directory of member bloggers. (Not on the directory? It’s fast and FREE to join!)

Make a List of What You Love

Now that you have found a few inspirational blogs, take a moment to list some of the things you love about them. Do they have great photos? Do they have a cute design? What are they doing to involve their readers?

Implement at Least One Idea

We don’t want you to all be carbon copies of other bloggers and we certainly don’t encourage you to steal their content but you can use the inspiration of other blogs to motivate change in your own. Look through the list you made and pick one new idea that you can make your own and implement into your blog.

Get Ready for February: Sharing the Love: Blog Crushes & Matchmaking

Hopefully this weeks tasks have you all set for what’s to come next! The fun doesn’t end here. We have a ton of fabulous things planned that will just keep building on each other!

Develop Your Blog’s Image {Kick-Start My Blog}

kick-start my blog

On day one of this challenge I talked about how our blogs are our virtual face and we must try to make a great first impression with our blogs. While many of us are very good at doing this on our actual blog we often forget about our blogs presence elsewhere in the virtual world. The truth is that blogging goes far beyond the actual blog. Your blog probably has a Facebook page, a Twitter page, a Pinterest account and any number of other social media tools. Do your social media accounts reflect your blog’s image? Today’s tips will guide you towards developing a consistent image across the world wide web.

Develop Your Blog’s Image

Get a Blog Button

Blog buttons are great little graphics that help you to develop a consistent image. Also sometimes referred to as a “logo”, your blog button is a great tool to market your blog. Blog buttons are typically square and are a combination of text and graphics.

If you are willing to fork over some cash you can hire someone to design a blog button for you. Depending on what you are looking for, this can cost anywhere from about $50 to several hundred dollars.

Where can you find a designer? If your lucky like I am you have a brother-in-law that is a graphic designer and is also nice enough to do it all for free! If not, you have several other options for finding an affordable and talented designer.

Ask Fellow Bloggers. Surely you have visited some blogs that have a great design. Ask the blog author who they used and you will get some great recommendations. (There are also several bloggers in our group who are very talented!)
Online Maketplaces. There are many sites (such at Etsy.com) that allow users to market their graphic design services.
College Art Departments. Local college students are always looking for projects that they can use to help build a portfolio for their resume. You should not expect college students to work for free but you will get great work at a really reasonable price.
High School Students. Many high schools now offer graphic classes and have students that would love to design a logo for you. Additionally, many schools around Arkansas have EAST (Environmental and Spatial Technology) Labs full of students doing all sorts of technology related projects. When working with high school students always approach the teacher with your project ideas first. The teacher can recommend a capable student and can organize all the details of the project.
Design it yourself. Many bloggers design their own blog logos using tools such as Photoshop, Photoshop Elements or PicMonkey. Check out our PicMonkey tutorial to help you get started creating your own logo.

Update (or get) your Gravatar Image

Gravatar stand for Globally Recognized Avatar. This is the image that is automatically pulled when you leave comments on many sites around the internet. The image is connected to both your email address and your blog address so it is important to make this image consistent with your blog.

Visit Gravatar
Enter your email address and click “Get Gravatar”.
Open the confirmation email and click the link.
Enter a user name and password.
Upload your blog logo and link it to your email.
Edit your account/profile and be sure to enter your blog information.

If you already have a gravatar account log in and update your image and your account/profile information.

Update your Social Media Profiles

Log in to each of your social media profiles and update your logo. Profiles to consider include Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Klout.

Do take note that Facebook terms of service prohibit the use of your blog address in your profile picture or in your timeline cover. Yes, many people do it but it is against the rules and Facebook does have the right to delete your blogs Facebook page if you break their rules. You should keep this in mind when you design your logo.

In addition to updating your Social Media pictures you may also want to consider updating your bios. Chances are that you set up each of these sites at different times and were not consistent with your bios. Write a short bio that you can use across your social media channels. Don’t forget to make plans to check and update your bio if needed about every 6 months.

Are you participating in Kick-start My Blog? Please enter your blog in the link below so we may keep up with your progress. You will only need to sign up once throughout the course of the challenge.