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Favorite Free Blogging Resources

July 10, 2015

Picmonkey is a free photo editor that is extremely easy to use. I absolutely love it and use it for most of my photos on my blog. It is so simple to edit the exposure, size, add text and create great collages.

StumbleUpon is great for gaining more exposure to your blog. By stumbling your blog posts, you are broadening your audience and putting your posts before new faces. You have to be really careful about stumbling your own posts too much. I try to stumble about 15 to 20 other people’s posts for every one of my own just to be safe. SU will penalize you for stumbling your own work too often.

Pinterest continues to be my #1 referral site to my blog. Take advantage of this free site. Create pinnable photos and pin every post to Pinterest. Pin each post to different boards on different days at different times so that more people will see them. Do you follow me on Pinterest?

Facebook Groups have been amazing for my blog. I have found some wonderful blogs to follow and read every day through these groups. It is so nice to have bloggers sharing your work for you, but you also spend a good amount of time sharing their work as well. Since working with these groups, my pageviews and unique visitors has seen a substantial increase.

Link-Ups are wonderful for bloggers. There are so many link-ups every day of the week that you can participate in. In the (almost) 3 years I have been blogging, I can tell you that most of my readers are other bloggers. Sure, a handful of my friends and family read it occasionally, but the ones that read it daily and leave comments are other bloggers. Link-ups are a great way to find posts to read and new blogs that are in your niche to fall in love with! Visit my link-up list here!

What are some of your favorite free blogging resources?

Blogging Tips for Beginners

March 19, 2015

So you have a blog. Now what?

I know every blogger has a set of their own blog tips that they like to share, so I thought I would throw in my two cents and share what has helped me, and what I wish I had known from the beginning.

Social Media is probably my most important tip for you. If you don’t already have a Facebook page, Twitter account, Pinterest and Instagram for your blog, get them ASAP. Like, now. Promoting through social media is how most people will end up on your blog. See those pretty pins on Pinterest? Those are blog posts. People click on them like crazy and drive traffic to those blogs. More on Pinterest below. It is equally important to share all of your blog posts on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Everyone is on social media these days and spend a lot more time on the internet. It is important to use these facts to your advantage.

Photos are so important. Make them beautiful. Don;t ever put a picture in your post that you aren’t proud of because chances are, you’ll regret it. Make at least one photo pinnable in your posts. Add text if you want, and always edit them to make them beautiful and to make them fit perfectly in your post. I use PicMonkey for all of my editing.

Utilize Pinterest. I can’t emphasize this one enough. Pinterest has driven so much traffic to my blog, and for that I am very thankful. Start pinning your posts if you aren’t already. Be descriptive in your pin description, and use hashtags, but not too many. I try to use one or two.

Stumble Stumble Stumble and ask others to Stumble your posts. This is a great way to increase your traffic and help other bloggers. Read other tips on how to increase your blog traffic here.

Network. Join Facebook groups, and share other bloggers content. They will reciprocate.

Participate in Link-Ups. Here is a list of link-ups I love to participate in. If you host or know of any great link-ups that aren’t on my list, let me know in the comments! Link-ups are a great way to get noticed by other bloggers and drive more traffic to your posts. You might even find a new blog that you will fall in love with!

Give it time. For some, traffic increases steady and quick, for others, it takes more time. Don’t compare yourself to others.

Be Unique
Don’t bother copying everyone else around you. Do the best you can and be yourself. People will read your blog for YOU.

Stay Out of Blog Drama
I think this speaks for itself. I lose so much respect when I see a great blogger let internet drama bring her down. It’s so silly and really sad. It’s best to just stay out of it. Be kind, always.

Be Consistent.
I’m preaching to myself on this one. I have taken blog breaks here and there and it really messes up my stats/page views. Not cool. I always regret it. Be consistent and stay consistent. If you don’t, people will quit visiting your blog.

Do you have any other tips for beginners? Was this post helpful?

Making Some Changes

April 5, 2013

Happy Friday everyone! It has been a while since I wrote my last post. Things have been crazy around here and I’ve been pretty sick, so I haven’t felt much like blogging. I have been thinking and praying a lot about this blog. To be honest, it has overwhelmed me how fast it has grown. Trying to keep up with it and post daily while working has not been the easiest. I know a lot of you do it and it gives me more respect for those that do!

Don’t worry, I’m not getting rid of my blog, I am just making a few changes. I will no longer be accepting sponsors because I do not feel that I have been able to give them the full attention that they deserve and I am very sorry for that. I will however still be open to swapping with anyone who is interested. I will not host giveaways monthly as I have been. I may do an occasional one here and there.

I will also not be posting as often. No worries, Monday Mingling is not going anywhere, but I will probably only post once or twice a week other than that.

I still love reading all of your blogs and I love blogging. It just got to where I was trying to post so often that I began to feel overwhelmed and it started going in a direction I didn’t want it to. I started this blog to talk about life and books and that is what I plan to get back to. Thank you for reading my small corner of the internet and I hope you will continue.