Reinventing the Bloggy Wheel…
By · CommentsOk, so I don’t actually WANT to reinvent any wheels, bloggy or otherwise, so instead I’m going to link you up to some great how-to articles and informative websites that might be of help to you as you get started with your blogging experience!
Blogging How-To’s and Prompts:
- Blogging Basics 101
- Blog Basics
- How Often Should You Blog?
- Blog Writing Ideas
- Adding “Conversation” to your Blog
- Blogging Prompts at the Meme Express
Social Media and Networking:
What to Do With Your Photos:
What links have YOU found to be helpful in your blogging?
Friday Fun Links
By · CommentsI posted this over at NanaHood.com today, but posting here too in case you missed it!
It’s time for Friday Fun Links! (And some FREE stuff too). I’ve been short on time this week, so I’m going to cheat and do quick and easy “bullet” points with links.
- Download a free PDF from Grandparents.com – 100 Fun Things to Do with Your Grandkids
- Laura has a ton of great FREE yummy recipes to make as gifts for the Holidays over at HeavenlyHomemakers.com
- Get a FREE Holiday Hosting Guide from Paula Deen, with recipe, decorating, and entertaining ideas.
- Over at 5MinutesForMom.com, they are giving away 5 $50 Gift Cards from America Express
- There is a FABULOUS giveaway going on over at BooMama’s blog. She, along with HP, is giving away an HP Touchsmart computer!
- And because ONE computer giveaway is just not enough, HP is giving away FOUR more computers. Check out the links on THIS PAGE at BlogHer to enter four more times!
- There are several additional giveaways and contests over at BlogHer. You can read about them here: http://www.blogher.com/special-offers
And don’t forget about THIS fun link:
A Few Ideas for Getting More Traffic
By · CommentsHere at theNanaBlogs.com, you can build a blog for free and begin posting content right away about your life, your family, your grandkids. And while it can be fun to write for your friends and family, you might just be interested in getting a larger following! (And maybe even figuring out a way to make a little pocket change with your blog)!
Here are a few ideas to bring extra traffic to your blog:
1. Fresh Content – no one wants to visit a blog day after day and see the same posts. We recommend that you update your blog content at least twice a week. One easy way to do this is to write several posts ahead of time and upload them at the appropriate times.
2. Social Networking – these sites are everywhere. Join Facebook, MySpace, Squidoo, Twitter or a dozen others and make connections. You can join groups of like-minded people who are also bloggers, nanas, or even entrepreneurs. (We’ll write in more detail about this topic in another post!)
3. Viral Marketing – this is where you spread the word about your blog. Talk to friends, family and even strangers. You might even consider giving out business cards (or calling cards) that have your blog address on them.
4. Use RSS Feeds – RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Readers can subscribe to your feed and get email updates when new content is posted. It is an easy way for them to keep up with your blog without spending all day online.
4. Submit Blog to Search Engines – doing this allows your blog to be ranked. Google and Yahoo! are two of the most popular search engines you want to crawl your blog pages.
5. Visit other blogs – show your appreciation to those who visit you by also posting comments on their blogs. It is a kindness that shows others you are not just out to advertise your blog alone.
6. Social Bookmarking – submitting posts to social bookmarking sites allows others who are members of those sites to track you back to your blog.
Using any of these ideas will start the traffic moving in your direction. It takes time but you CAN build the readership you want.
And as always, we are here to help! If you need assistance with any of the suggetions above, feel free to use the Contact Form and ask your question(s).
What is this “blogging” thing anyway?
By · CommentsIf you are brand new to the world of blogging, this post is for you. We want you to be caught up and “in the know” after all!
According to wikipedia.com, “a blog (a contraction of the term “web log“) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.”
Wow, was that clear as mud?
How about this? A blog is a personal website… an online journal… your own space on the world wide web.
You can use your blog to write journal entries, articles, devotionals, fashion tips, and brag about your kids and grandkids.
You can post pictures.
You can share with the world all your deepest thoughts… or you can keep it simple.
It’s YOUR choice, because it’s YOUR blog.
(Do you want one? You can have one… HERE)
In the “old” days of website design, you had to pay someone (like me) money to design an entire website, page by page, for you. You had to then pay that same someone (or a different someone, in some cases) to update and change your page content.
But no more… in that last five-six years, the blog world has virtually (pun intended) exploded, making it possible for anyone with Internet access to have a personal or even business website. Now changing the design on your site is fairly easy and inexpensive (often free)… and you can have total control over the content of the pages on your website.
Here at theNanaBlogs.com, we make it as easy as possible. We use WORDPRESS, a blogging “software” program that is web-based. (That means you can log in to your site wherever you have internet access).
We provide a variety of different design/themes for the free blogs, so you can have a pretty look with one click (or two) of a button.
And we are here to answer questions as they come up. To help you get started. And to encourage you as you go!
So, if you haven’t yet joined the NanaHood Neighborhood… won’t you click on over and do it now?
Welcome to theNanaBlogs.com
By · CommentstheNanaBlogs.com is a new site dedicated to nanas, grandmas, memas (and moms). Our “sister site” is NanaHood.com, started by Teresa Bell Kindred. Teresa is a wife, mom, author, and now a proud Nana Blogger.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few links to get you started:
You can get your own FREE blog by signing up HERE.
Get answers to all your questions HERE.
Read a tutorial or two, HERE.
Send us an email, HERE.
Want to “prettify” your new blog? Check out our upgrade customization options, HERE.
Already have a blog and want to be added to our blog roll? Send us a note, HERE.
Have you written a blog post you’d like to share on NanaHood or theNanaBlogs? Send us another note with a link to your post, HERE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And the post by Teresa that started it all…
NanaHood (originally posted at nanahood.com)
When I found out that my husband and I were going to have our first child 28 years ago, I started keeping a journal. I wrote to my unborn child and dreamed the somewhat naïve and inexperienced dreams of a young mother. I thought for sure the baby was a girl (it was a boy). I thought that labor and delivery were the hard part of parenting (wrong again). I thought I couldn’t possibly love another child as much as I loved the first (definitely not true).
I was wrong about parenting so many times that I couldn’t even list all my misconceptions, but I got one thing right. There is no love like the love of a parent for a child, and while I made more than my share of mistakes, I made them out of ignorance, not because I wasn’t trying.
Now I am into the second phase of the motherhood journey. My granddaughter will be 4 years old this month and I’m doing my best to get this “nanna” thing right. I spoil her, love her, and hand her over to her father when she gets fussy. I make sure I have plenty of corn as well as mac and cheese when she comes to visit. We watch Hannah Montana, Disney movies, and sometimes we sing karaoke into a pink and purple microphone. (I can also sing the SpongeBob SquarePants song if you’d like to hear it).
I learned about being a mom from my mother and about being a nanna from my grandmother. If ever there was a perfect nanna, it was Grandma Layne. My twin boys were recalling just this week how they loved Jell-O when they were little (they called it jelly). Grandma Layne had tiny, little white bowls and she made them their favorite treat every day. She lived just down the hill from us, so I’d watch as my boys ran over the hill to her house to gobble up a bowl of Jell-O.
All Grandma Layne’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren have special memories of her. I hope someday my granddaughter has wonderful memories of the moments we share. I already do.
Being a nanna is a wonderful thing!
