Se7en and ProBlogger’s 31-DBBB Part 3…

I mentioned last week that I was participating in the ProBlogger’s 31 DBBB. And since I have made it past halfway I definitely deserve some ice-cream!

Here is a list of what I have managed so far:

• Part 1: Task 1 through Task 3.
• Part 2: Task 4 through Task 9.

And just on the side, since we are talking about blog improvement, well Whip Up is writing the most fabulous series on improving your craft blog… I should link to every single post, they have been brilliant! Have a look in the second paragraph of her round-up post for the links… and then while you are there just subscribe – trust me on this (!) this series is great. Improving your blog etiquette, photography tips and stuff like that… Some of us need ALL the help we can get!!!

Here we go with the Problogger and the 31-DBBB Challenge:

Task 10: Set Up Alerts For Your Blog. I saved this task for the weekend, I think I may need some help from the technical Father Person, but I had never thought of setting up alerts especially looking for keywords to our blog… because only this week I discovered a couple of folk are actually linking to us and saying nice things (always encouraging) and then they are those that are just helping themselves to whatever they can (those I think I would prefer to be oblivious too, but then again I should probably keep my eyes slightly open). That turned out to be quite fun and I learnt a new little internet trick – cool!

Task 11: Come up with Ten Post Ideas.

Now I have never had a problem finding what to write about… never say never! And I can think of ten posts off the top of my head without batting an eye!!! What I liked about this post is that he gives you ideas about how to extend a post into a series… and here is my trouble I just kind of empty my mind into long posts and I know I should split them – but hay those se7en points need to be filled – Don’t they!!! Anyway, at any one time I easily have ten posts rattling round my head, my trouble is getting them written I really just want to spill them!

Task 12: Develop an Editorial Calendar for Your Blog

Now if you are a regular visitor to our blog you will know we have a calendar type blog:

• A Monday Munchie
• A Tuesday Art Task
• A Party-Type Post and/or a Parenting-type Post
• A School-Type Post and/or an Organizing Post
• A Week that Was…
• A Saturday Spot
• A Sunday Snippet

I think by posting with this calendar style I only have to think of one post per topic per week… I just dot them into my diary at the top of the next free page. So if I think of a Monday Munchie… I jot it at the top of the next free Monday and forget about it till the day… of course if more things for a post come to mind I jot them down too… that way all my ideas are in one place… Basically my moleskin diary is my blogging tool, second to my mac I couldn’t blog without it!

Task 13: Take a Trip to the ‘Mall’ and Improve Your Blog.

I think the point of this task was to get away from the actual keyboard and let your brain wander somewhat… Look for inspiration that doesn’t come off the internet. I usually do this on a Sunday morning – we have a 30 minute ride to church and the father person gets the privilege of driving. While we are in transit I spend my time jotting ideas and lists and words down in my diary that I turn into posts later in the week… Sometimes a craft idea will spring to mind and then I can write a list of things I need or whatever… Most of my posts come to mind when I am nowhere near my computer. Unless of course I am responding to a reader question – I love those posts because the words just fall out of my brain.

Task 14: Update a Key Page on Your Blog.

I hadn’t been to a couple of pages on my site for so long that ummmm, well it was quite an embarrassing task! Needless to say I added a whole lot of parties to the party page and so on. And I know I need a contact page, I am saving a whole list of revamp ideas for our school holidays when I can fiddle around with the blog while all the hoods are busy doing whatever they do in their free time!

Task 15: Find a Blog Buddy.

This task horrified me, when would I find the time to spend time helping and getting help with our blog… it is just too relational for us considering like our lives our blog is event driven, it’s a “need to post now” kind of a blog… there is no pre-planning, well not much more than a week ahead and the thought of finding time to actually collaborate with a buddy was a whole level of blogging above the level that I currently blog at!

Task 16: Solve a Problem – 7 Ways to Identify Reader Problems.

Aha! My all time favorite kind of blog post… Someone asks a question and out comes a whole flow of ideas – which I try and limit to se7en! The only question that I keep putting off is the “socialization and homeschooling one” the question is too big and needs some refining… so it is nagging me, I know it needs to be said – I have several ideas (of course!!!) but I need to take a pause and get some order to that chaos of ideas… I will push that to the holidays too… So if you are still reading this far and you have a question that you would like to ask a mother of se7en now would be a good time to ask!!!

That’s enough for now – I will post this and wait to see what the next few tasks are that are looming for me!