How did AverageGal get so many comments in such a short period of time?

Well there are several reasons that I’d like to attribute this success to.  First of all, I have the best, most intelligent readers following me who are always leaving thought provoking, comments that add value to my blog!

Secondly, I try to follow my own advice about getting readers to comment on my blog.  You can read about this in my article: 4 Simple Steps to Entice Readers to Comment

Last, but certainly not least, you may have also noticed that a couple of weeks ago, I finally added the CommentLuv plugin on my site.  I do believe that this has also increased the number of commenters on my site, but I suppose that can’t be proven…

I’d like to throw out a special thank you to the person who left the 500th Comment: Ben from blogmastergeneral.com.  Thank you Ben!

Again – Thank you, dedicated readers; let me know what I can do to help you achieve your blogging goals!

Comment Love! is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

First let me begin by saying that if you don’t know what RSS is then you can check out My Definition of RSS where I breifly explain the concept.  Building a strong foundation of readers is essential to any successful blog;  this should go without saying.  Despite how trival this point might seem, it’s amazing how many sites don’t actually ask for readers to join their RSS.  One of the best pieces of advice you can live by is, “You don’t get anything without asking.”  It’s mind boggling how many times you actually get what you want when you simply ask for it.  However many times you not only have to ask, but ask in the proper manner.  Enter the RSS join button and What Would Seth Godin Do plugin.

If you’ve ever gone to a site and had to search for the RSS button, then you can relate to this mistake.  I believe it’s very important to have you’re RSS join button prominently display on your site so potential subscribers can’t miss it.  Furthermore make it easy for them to subscribe and offer email sign up.  Another easy tip is to integrate the What Would Seth Godin Do plugin into your blog.  This plugin allows you to post a custom message at the beginning or end of your blog posts.  You can use it to promote anything, including signing up for your RSS feed!  What a great way to “ask” for a signup.

These are just a couple of tools that I use on my blogs to help drive RSS subscriptions.  If you have any other tips or techniques please share with others below in the comments section.  We’d love to hear them! I’d be pretty hypocritical if I didn’t ask you to join the AverageGal RSS Feed before finishing this post.  Have a great week.

You Don’t Get RSS Without Asking is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

I hope that everyone enjoys reading up on Twitter and had a wonderful weekend!

Tweet on, Tweeples!

• Make your blog go viral with Twitter ReTweets – by Marko at How to Make My Blog
• How to Twitterize your WordPress Blog – by Kevin Briody at Kevin Briody dot net
• Twitter Newbie?  How I got 1000 followers in Two Weeks! – by Terri Camp of Terri Camp dot com
• Twitter be Nimble Twitter be Quick, If you don’t know Jack, Try these Twitter Tricks – guest post on TwiTip by Dan Hollings
• My15 Twitter Tips – by Colin of TechandLife dot com
• Twitter: Why it’s so Great and How to Effectively Use it – by Tibi Puiu of LostArtOfBlogging dot com
• 5 Tips to Grow Your Twitter Presence – by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger dot net
• 26 Reasons Why I Love Twitter – Plus 27 More just in Case – by Shana Albert of SocialDesire dot com

Weekend WrapUp – January 24th is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Now, a few months ago I wrote an article titled Don’t Assume; You Know the Old Saying… This article offers a great explanation to what RSS Feed is to all of you that don’t know.  (And trust me, there are still a whole lot of people out there who don’t know; you’re not alone!)

Back to the subject at hand…

I use Google Feed Reader.  I picked it solely because it was Google, so I figured that it had to be one of the best.  The Google Feed Reader works well  for me on so many levels.

First off all, it counts the number of unread articles that I have in my “in box”.  I try to keep it under 100, but sometimes that’s a challenge.  Right now I have a bit of catching up to do, as I have 222 new articles!

Secondly, there’s a nifty little bar on the left-hand side that lists out all of the websites and the number of unread articles I have from each particular site.  This way I can easily and effortlessly choose and prioritize the order in which I want o check out my favorite bloggers.

In addition to breaking out articles by site, with the Google Feed Reader, I have the option of “starring” any and all articles that I feel may be of importance to me at a later date.  This way, when I’m searching for that one article that I really want to reference 3 months later, I don’t have to wade through piles and piles of articles.  It makes life much more efficient for me.  (Okay, well maybe not life in general, but it definitely makes blogging easier.)

Lastly, another cool option that Google Readers offers is the fact that the users can monitor trends both in their favorite bloggers and trends with themselves.  Google Reader graphs articles posted and articles read down to the exact hour.  How’s that for cool?  I like that feature because it also offers an unbiased accountability for myself.  Have I been reading too much of one blogger and not getting enough diversity in my subject matter?  Google Reader will tell me!

I also found this article and video fairly helpful, if you’re looking into Google Reader, or just simply comparing the Reader that you’re currently using…  Click here to check it out!

Since we’re talking about Feeds, and Feed Readers… do you subscribe to my feed?  If you find my articles interesting, comical, or down-right loony, then I’d be honored if you decide to sign up for The AverageGal Feed.  (Couldn’t help myself; it’s the perfect opportunity to self-promote!)

What Feed Reader do you currently use?  What do you like or dislike about it?  In all honesty, I really don’t know a whole lot about other readers, and I’d like to know a little more!  Thanks in advance for sharing!

RSS Feed Readers is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

It was just yesterday in my Blog Mistakes Monday article that I described how neglecting your blog can have negative effects on your site.  Here I am a day later questioning what “neglecting your blog” really means.  Typically I update my blogs everyday with fresh content and new ideas.  I do this for a couple of reasons.  The first reason is that I simply enjoy sharing my opinion and experiences with others, and the second reason is because I feel that it keeps readers coming back to the site frequently.  Often times I wonder if this is too often of an update.  Much like the Hare sprinting to the finish.

There are many popular and successful blogs that update much less often then daily, those are the Tortoise’s.  Slow and steady to win the race.  Some update weekly and some even monthly.  The content on these sites typically are very in depth and the articles do tend to be more lengthy, but it still amazes me how they can generate tremendous buzz.  Perhaps writing less frequently gives people more of an opportunity to read articles without falling behind and also allows more time for commenting.

Even as I finishing writing this article I’m torn between the pro’s and con’s of each blogging strategy.  I guess for me the tipping point is interaction with my readers.  I enjoy writing daily because it allows me to engage with people on a more frequent basis.

How about you, do you blog like a Tortise or a Hare?

Do You Blog Like A Tortoise Or Hare? is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Over the past couple of months I’ve experienced some tremendous growth throughout the blogosphere.  My new readership has grown very rapidly and there’s been a great group of people leaving insightful comments on the sites.  I don’t say this to “brag” or sound boastful, but more so to solidify a point.  The point being,  successful blogging takes consistent commitment and dedication to your site.  I’m living proof that doing that and neglecting a site, even for only a couple of days can slow your sites buzz down very quickly.

I’ve missed a couple of days worth of posts on a few of my blogs, including this one, and the comments and traffic fell quickly.  While I don’t think that missing a couple of days is going to dramaticly impact my blogs over the long haul, it’s still a point worth noting.  Neglecting a blog is like neglecting a plant, if you go long enough without “feeding it” with fresh content it will eventually wilt and shrivle up!

I’m curious, have you ever neglected your blog to the point of wilting?

Letting Your Blog Drift Into The Sunset is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

If you’re looking for a blog that offers you a wide variety of interesting and fun topics from around the web then you should go and check out Taris’ site.  The unique content that’s posted on the blog always amazes me.  There’s a great mix of tips and techniques to help improve your blogging skills as well as personal opinion posts such as the one I just watched/read called “Holy Samurai Master Batman!!“.    You’ll never believe what this guy can do with a sword!  Go check out this post and fast forward to the 3:45 second mark in the YouTube video.  Pretty unreal if you ask me!

The Power Maxx Blog is a great combination of resourceful tips and fun.  Head on over and say Hi to Taris, I think you’ll enjoy reading and following his site.

Wicked and Awesome No Doubt! is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

The “Butterfly Award” is a virtual award titled ‘Coolest Blog I know’ and it’s passed from one blogger to another.

There are (as always) requirements for the recipients and presenters of this award.

The Rules

1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3. Link 10 other bloggers of whom you want to give this award to.

Now it’s my turn to bestow this award on 10 of my favorite blogs! I have so many favorites, but since this is my first blog award, I should to limit it to just 10 and stick to the rules…

1. Cash2Blog Mitch is the Blogger at this site. He blogs about how to make money online, economy related topics, and helpful blogger tips.  He’s a newbie blogger, like me, but very Internet savvy; I’ve found a friend in him!  Check out his tips to optimize your blogging experience.
2. SmallBizBee Matt is the blogger behind SmallBizBee.  He’s a very business-oriented blogger, and has the entrepreneurial spirit we all wish for.  Matt writes fresh, interesting content often; check him out!
3. Blogging With Success There are a few men behind the scenes at this blog.  I love that there is more than one voice at this blog; it adds a different dynamic.  As it’s name implies, the blog gives tips and advice about blogging successfully.
4. Fix The Pig I have to throw out a shout to my very talented (not to  mention interesting) husband over at Fix The Pig.  We may not always agree on everything, but boy is he informed on EVERYTHING economy related!  Check Justin’s blog out today!
5. Steven-Sanders LOVE Steven’s site, tips and attitude toward blogging.  He’s been extremely helpful in my journey to become a blogger.  I appreciate his daily posts to fine-tune my blogging skills; he’s a very knowledgeable resource!
6. Quick Dinner Recipes The blog name says it all. Evan provides all of us busy bloggers with quick and easy recipes to save us from the misery of fast-food dining.  Thanks Evan!
7. Insight Writer The tag line here is, ” Freshly Squeezed Insight for Better Living” and this site truly delivers just that!  Jeremy writes thought provoking content often and has created quite a following of dedicated readers.
8. Kyle Reddoch Kyle has a great blog about Web Developing. He blogs about the web design, and all things related to this complex world.  I really enjoy his writing style and have come away with some great ideas from Kyle.
9. Freedom Writing Kimberly is a freelance writer and blogger.  She blogs about SEO, freelance writing, and all of her experiences in between.  Check out Kimberly if you get the opportunity!
10. DemoGeek “DemoGeek” writes great content with step-by-step instructions on web related issues.  I’ve found all of the information that he writes about to be a great help, since I’m pretty computer illiterate!

I have so many other favorite blogs as well that have already been chosen as “the coolest blog I know”, so I wanted to spread the love around.

Thank you so much Dee, for honoring me and my blog with the “Butterfly Award”.

The Butterfly Award is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

After recently writing a post on 5 easy Blog SEO Tips, I had some great comments and had a couple of questions that inspired this post.  The main question was how I choose keywords and with what tools.  The answer might sound simple, but it’s effective.  I use a free tool provided by Google.  You can access the tool here.  It’s really easy to use and provides a wealth of keyword research.  Simply enter a keyword or phrase and hit search; you’ll get a list of last months search volume, average search volume, and other similar keyword phrases.

I typically shy away from the most popular search phrases on the list because I feel those are the most challenging to rank highly for.  Instead I like to look for more obscure phrases that have less competition. I’m no SEO expert, but I do know that less competition is a good thing.

Another tool that I’ve been reading a lot about lately is Shoe Money Tools.  I’ve yet to sign up for the tools, however everything I’ve read has been positive.  If you haven’t taken a look at the package being offered over at ShoeMoney, it might be worth reviewing.  I have a coupon code for 80% off the first month of service, just use “averagegal”.  If you’ve used these tools I’d love to hear your feedback!  Please share with the rest of us.

I hope you find the Google tool useful.  It’s not a golden ticket to getting top page placement on the search pages, but it will give you a good start.  If you use any other good tools, or have tips, please let us know!  We’d love to hear them.

Free Blog Keyword Tool is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

2008 was a pretty big year for me.  I quit my nice, secure corporate job and dove head-first into the “online” community by starting 3 new blogs, AverageGal, FullGlassLiving, and DivineSteals. 

It’s truly been a ride.  I’ve really enjoyed all of the ups and downs blogging can have.  Mostly it’s been ups though; I’ve really gotten involved with social networking.  (Which is something that I never really understood before.)

I’m not that old, but the way technology and social media changes by leaps and bounds, there was no way to keep up with it all when I was working a full time job.  I felt like I was totally out of the media loop!  Needless to say, personally, I feel that I’ve grown tremendously in my technological knowledge and abilities over the last year.

Setting goals for 2009… hum.  Well to start with,  I’d like to build a larger readership on all three of my blogs.  Truthfully, I haven’t looked at the number of my RSS subscribers for a couple of months, but at last count I think AverageGal had 53.  To me, the number isn’t as important as having my voice heard and building a dedicated readership.

Secondly, I need to post more frequently at DivineSteals.  This was the first blog that I started and I’ve been very much neglecting it since FullGlassLiving and AverageGal started up.  The site that has the potential to make instant money should probably be one of my top priorities, since I am a work-at-home mom, the extra income would be nice.

Thirdly, in 2009 I would like to attend at least 1 blogging conference.  Since I am still so new to the blogging world, I feel that this would be extremely beneficial to my newly found career.  I need to be planning ahead and budgeting to attend one.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  I’d ideally like to attend in New York or Florida, but I’m open to any and all suggestions!

So there you have it.  It’s not to late to set goals and/or reflect on the past year.  In fact, I feel that goals should be an ever-evolving process throughout the year.  If you can’t adjust for changes, then you’ll be dead in the water.  Learn to adapt and you too will have a successful 2009!

What are some of the goals that you’ve set for 2009?  Do you think that I should add/revise any to any of my goals?  I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts!

Setting Goals for 2009 is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Blogging for Ads is Dead… – by Winning The Web
Blogging is more then just making money for me.  I enjoy the social aspect of creating an interactive blog and expressing my opinion or experience with others.  In light of this making a full time income doing what I love is important.  This articles gives you a great approach to the future of making money blogging.

Is Blogging Keeping You Poor? – by Copy Blogger
Here’s an in depth post about monetizing your blog.  I for one can relate to this article.  If you’ve ever wondered how to take your blog to the next level on just your creativity alone, then this post will be a great read for you.  I’m very excited to hear what other say about this one!

How To Find Winning Ideas for Your Blog Topic..- by Blogriffic
We all get the dreaded writers block, including me.  I’ve wrote a few blog post about this very topic in the past and know just how valuable finding new ways to create fresh content can be.  The first tip on this list is new for me and I think it’s a great idea, hopefully you find it useful as well.

Can You Make Money Online With Twitter – by Boosh Online
It’s all the rave right now…I’ll admit I’m hooked on Twitter.  In this article you can find a good foundation for leveraging Twitter as a marketing tool.  Just don’t become “spammy”!

Have a great weekend!

Weekend WrapUp – Week of January 5th is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Customer service is common courtesy.  I just don’t understand why some people don’t get it.  Today I had a very poor experience with customer service, which reminded me of just how important the whole customer experience is to me.  I expect to be treated with the same respect that I would give to any one of my customers.  I’ve been brewing over this all day and thinking about how it relates to my career as a blogger.

Who is a blog’s customers?

An average blog experiences many different types of customers.  You’ll have the customers who are just “shopping around”.  They might visit the website once and then forget about it; or they might be first-time visitors.  These customers are still very important in the daily life of a blog.  Traffic is traffic.  You still want these customers to have a pleasant experience, but know that your site is not necessarily what they are seeking out information-wise.  Plus, you can’t determine from a visitors first visit if they will be returning or not at that point in time.  Be responsive to all customers; make it a positive experience.

Then you have the customer who comes to check out your site a couple of times a month or weekly.  They are regulars.  You come to expect them to visit; but don’t take their readership for granted.  Although they may not check out your website daily, they try to catch up when they have the opportunity.  Make sure that your site is user friendly with archives so that these users can quickly view your most recent articles to find posts of interest to them.

The daily visitors are always the stand-out customers.  Much like a high-end department store appreciates their customers with the never ending bank accounts, blogs are appreciative of the consistent traffic and value add that these daily blog followers give them.  However, it’s very important not to play favorites with your customers.  Nothing turns off a first-time or occasional visitor than feeling that their presence doesn’t matter.

What Can I do to Provide Customer Service to my Blog Customers?

Be responsive.  I know that sometimes it may seem easier said than done, but do your best.  That’s all your customers can ask of you.  But when you get a request from a customer try to put yourself in their shoes.  Ask yourself a few questions before responding.  Is it time sensitive?  Does the response require a significant investment of time and energy?  These should factors should be considered into the level of responsiveness required.

Be consistent.  Your customers expect information at intervals determined by you.  If you usually blog daily, then try to keep up this schedule or if it’s unrealistic for you, let your readers know by posting about what is going on.  If they feel informed, they won’t get turned off or feel put off as easily.

Be informative.  Give your customers more than what they ask for.  Provide them with additional resources to find out more information on topics, even if it means pointing them toward the competition.  I haven’t met anyone yet who hasn’t appreciated an informed person who has proven to be a credible source of information.

Lastly, Reciprocate.  Be conscientious of the customers and commenters to your site.  Try to visit their site often as well to add value to their site.  You appreciate their insight, so why not share the love and visit their site in turn?  It’s only fair… remember, common courtesy goes a long way!

Do you feel that customer service is common courtesy?  How do you cater to the customers of your blog? How does bad customer service make you feel?  Alternatively, how do you feel when you’ve had a great customer service experience?

*Instead of ranting and raving about the actual experience, I’ve chosen to learn about what I can do to ensure that this is never the type of customer service that I provide.  All names have been omited for the sake of the customer service provider.

Customer Service 101 is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

I can say, from experience, that finding coherent and cohesive topics to write about in the beginning can be intimidating, overwhelming, and sometimes just downright frustrating.  Looking back to when I first started out blogging, (and that was only a few months ago, mind you) I can already see changes in the quality of my work, the tone of my postings, and the overall sense of  “self” that I’ve developed on my blog.  That being said, let’s discuss how to develop this sense of self.

When blogging, it’s important that you not only describe your story with passion, but be concise and to the point!  No one wants to read a bunch of “filler” words.  The more direct you can be without having fragmented thoughts, the more your reader will take away from the article.  I credit my high school English teacher for this tip; she used to take a red pen to many of the words within my essay to make a point that those were the “fluff” words, or the unnecessary words.  Much to my surprise, she was right.  I could write without using the word “the” “and” or” as often; good work is written concisely.

Since I’ve started blogging, I have come across many good resources for developing writing skills.  For example, my friend George, over at Tumblemoose Productions has great tips everyday on perfecting the art of writing.  One of my favorite posts by George is Write like You’re Dying. It explains the importance of writing with passion, making every word count.  Writing with passion is something that is extremely important in finding your sense of self.  If you’re interested in becoming a better writer and honing your skills, I’d definitely suggest following his blog!

So what about finding your voice?  It’s writing, not speech, right?  Well, voice is a figurative term for the way in which you express your thoughts and feelings in your writing.  As I mentioned earlier, a new writer (or blogger as the case may be) most likely does not have a well developed voice.  However, as time goes on and the writer gets more experience, a “voice” will emerge, making the writers work more consistent and cohesive.

Additionally, I believe that you can only write and find your voice if you truly love and are invested in the topic you are writing about. Anyone can call themselves as a writer, but actually writing full time takes a serious amount of commitment time-wise, financially and even emotionally.

Lastly, it’s very important to read, read, read!  The more you read, the more informed you are, the more well-rounded your vocabulary becomes, and again the better your writing becomes!  Now you don’t have to read novels.  Read the headline stories of a national newspaper, read your favorite magazine while on the subway to work, read the wall street journal; I don’t care what you read, just make sure that you spend time daily READING.

How do you know when you’ve finally developed your “voice”  does your blog have a sense of “self”?  Well, that’s a tough question.  Ideally, you keep learning and growing, and your blog does as well.  However, if you’ve been writing for years and years, the growth you may experience may be marginal in comparison to those just starting out writing.  It’s my belief that the minute you start growing and learning, no matter how small, becomes the point in time that you will be ready to move on to bigger and better things; thus starting the chain of learning all over again.

How have you developed your writing skills over time?  What’s the biggest tip you can give us for becoming a better writer?  If you’re a blogger, do you also consider yourself a writer?

If you’d like to hear some more great tips on discovering your writers voice, check out this great article, also writen by George at Tumblemoose Productions!

Establishing A Sense Of “Self” On Your Blog is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

There were three prizes up for grabs during the contest all of which are pretty cool, but two of them I’ve never used. The first choice is an Ipod Nano;  I currently have a Nano however it’s pretty old and doesn’t have nearly the capabilities that are available with the newer versions.  The second option is a Flip Mino HD;  I have absolutely zero experience with this gadget.  I’ve heard some great things but never actually used one or seen one.  The last choice is an Amazon Kindle;  again I’ve heard and read good reviews about these but never had a chance to see one in action.  The bottom line is that I need your help in choosing!

If you had a choice of the three prizes which would you choose?  Any and all feedback would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks again to Market Leverage and Unique Blog Designs for sponsoring the contest.

Contest Prize: Which Would You Choose? is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Those of you who use social media outlets (and who doesn’t these days?) know exactly what I’m talking about.  We need and crave that personal, yet not too personal interaction with our online friends. We depend on social media to be there as an outlet and connection to our online world.  It’s when social media gets taken away that we really realize how much we depend on it to stay connected.  Social media is our IV that keeps our heart beating; it adds fuel to the fire for our desire to explore the great beyond… the world wide web.

Twitter was acting up today and I found myself lost… in cyberspace.  I didn’t know what to do and couldn’t think clearly.  Yes, like I said before… seriously addicted.

What did we do without social media? What was the world like before Facebook, MySpace, MSN Instant Messenger, Twitter?  Truthfully, I don’t even remember.  Social media is so much ingrained into who I am as an individual that I can’t even imagine life without it.  In fact, thinking about the possibility of not having social media gives me a bit of a panic attack.

Am I addicted?  Is this a normal feeling? I think that I need to ration my portions of social media in order to control it from taking over my whole self.  But it’s so hard… and it’s so easy to rationalize why a little more time spent on the social media networks would be okay.  Just a little more time, after I refresh my Twitter, and then after I respond to this friend; before I know it, I’ve wasted another hour.  I think that I need to quit social media.  (or at least set a timer for myself.)

Are you dependant on social media?  How do you rationalize the time you spend on it? Please tell me it’s not just me who has a social media addiction…

Dependant on Social Media? is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

In December I ran a contest for becoming an active commentator on the blog.  The contest was a big success thanks to all of the great comments that were left by all of the participants!  In order to qualify for the contest all you had to do was take an active role in the blog by leaving comments and make your way into the Top Commentators list in the menu on the right side of the blog.  Each individual on the top 10 list was given 1 entry per comment left during December.  5 names were drawn at random and given prizes for 1st-5th place.  You can read more about the contest here.   Without further delay, the winners and prizes are below!

This Months Winners:

1st Place:  Dee Langdon
2nd Place: Mr. I
3rd-5th Place:  TumbleMoose, Ben Pei, Taris J

This Months Prizes:

1st Prize: $50 Cold Hard Cash, 1 mo. 125×125 Sponsorship on AverageGal, 1 mo. “Feature Site” Text Link
2nd Prize: 1 month 125×125 Sponsorship Ad on AverageGal
3rd-5th Prize: 1 month “Feature Site” Text Link on AverageGal

One of my favorite aspects of blogging is interacting and socializing with fellow bloggers.  One of the best ways to chat with others is via the comment section of your blog.  Thanks to this contest we had a record number of comments on the site!  If you’re looking to boost your comments I suggest you take a look at an article I wrote a couple weeks ago, 4 Simple Steps to Entice Readers to Comment.  Looks like I should add, run a contest!

Thanks again to everyone that participated in Decembers contest.  Be sure to check the blog often as I plan to roll out a new contest for January very soon!

December Comment Contest Winners! is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Reflecting on 2008, Much has happened both in America and the world as a whole:  the economic downturn, the election of a new American President, the US bank bailout in addition to many other government related happenings.

Personally and professionally I’ve grown as well.  I started this blog in late October of this year, and already my blog has grown by leaps and bounds.  I’d like to take time to thank each and every one of my readers for their interest in my writing.

That being said, I’d like give a shout-out to all of my super special commentators to thank them.  (They’re listed below starting with the most recent commentators.)

• Corey Freeman
• Ben Pei
• Justin
• Cindy
• Lindsay
• Debo Hobo
• Taris J
• Webdesi3
• Laura- Whateverebay
• BusinessX
• JR @ Internet Marketing
• Meji
• Money Money Money
• Tumblemoose
• Mr. I
• Heather in Beautiful BC
• Celes
• Professional Lab
• Wardell
• Dee Langdon
• VeRonda
• Lew
• Matt
• Kim Woodbridge
• IT Solutions Yorkshire
• Arfan
• Lance
• Alberto
• BenSpark
• Corrin
• Julie
• Brettbum
• Grace Kleppin
• Johnny
• Allen Taylor
• Erwin Tan
• Mike Harmon
• MLDina
• RFW
• SBA
• Spotlight Blogger
• Demo Geek
• Tom
• Cash2Blog
• Blog for Beginners
• Lew
• Michele
• Michele
• murdamw
• Tom
• Matt Hanson
• Derek
• Indian Car
• moinuddin14
• Stacey Derbinshire
• Keg of Wisdom
• Codrut Turcanu
• ShriNagesh
• David Jason Parrish
• Matt Gio
• Barbara Swafford
• Jannie
• Ashley
• Suzanne Franco
• Vered – MomGrind
• Matt
• Mikia
• Pheak T
• Cabarceno Blog
• Maria
• Jeremy Day
• savage
• ZK@Internet Marketing Blog
• Jason Sieckmann

Take time today to celebrate your accomplishments in 2008; but please be smart and careful tonight as you’re traveling to and from your celebrations.

Cheers to ’08!

Celebrate 2008! is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

So I guess that you could say that there’s a bonus lesson in this weeks’ edition of Blog Mistake Mondays: When you start a series, stick to it.  Even though Monday has come and gone, I’m not forgetting about my commitment to this series.  So let’s pretend for a couple moments that it’s still Monday… and enjoy this weeks edition

This week, David of The Three Dog Blog has graciously offered to share with us a mistake that he has made in the past.  I hope that you enjoy and learn from his experiences on choosing a theme for his blogs.

Being fairly new to the world of blogging I couldn’t wait to get going.

I had ideas written down all over the place and I was so keen to get my Blog off to a good start. I had the hosting, I installed wordpress and all the plugins I thought I needed at the time and then…….. BAM.

What theme?

This is where I made my first of many mistakes. I got completely bogged down with trying to pick from the thousands and and thousands of different themes available.

I just could not make up my mind.

I downloaded, uploaded, unzipped and tried out way too many different themes, all the while this was eating in to my time and stopping me from doing what I should have been doing, blogging.

So many looked good, but was there a better one?

In the end I just said to myself, pick one, stick with it for a while and maybe change it later if you really don’t like it.

So, my advice to others is, pick a theme that looks good but DO NOT waste too much time over it. In the early days concentrate on your content. Don’t waste countless hours looking for that ever elusive perfect theme.

Create content that will keep bringing back the readers and worry about that “perfect” Theme at some later date.

- – - – The Three Dog Blogger

Thanks you David, for sharing your words of wisdom!  I think that many of us bloggers are able to relate to just how much time that we can invest in something that isn’t as important as the bigger picture.

How have you developed your blog’s theme over time?  Did you start out in the same boat as David?  What would you have done differently as it relates to your theme from the beginning?

Choosing a Theme – Blog Mistake Monday #2 is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

1. Start a Series - What topic are you most passionate about?  Is there an overwhelming amount of information that you’d like to share with your readers?  Why not start a series?  You can write 4, 5, or even 10 articles in a series and fully inform your readers on a specific topic.  The articles will clearly flow together and you’ve got an abundance of knowledge to share.  Make use of it!
2. Debate with Yourself – Pick a topic that you’re passionate about.  Debate about all of the pros and cons of the topic and give reasons for both outcomes or scenarios.  It’s easy to give your opinion, but really tough to think outside of the box and your comfort zone.  This will spark conversation among your readers as well.  Let the games begin!
3. Interview a fellow blogger – Pick out a few of your favorite bloggers and ask if they’d be willing to complete a short interview. Keep it simple, but interesting. Don’t bombard them with personal questions either. If you have these interviews completed ahead of time, it sure makes for an easy posting! Another pointer: don’t just simply state word for word their response; add some value to their response by stating your opinion or experience as it relates to the topic at hand. Your readers will enjoy hearing about blogging from another person’s perspective and, as I’ve stressed before, it’s good to build these relationships with your peers.
4. Spread some Link Love – I have a weekly posting that I publish every Saturday that I call “The Weekend WrapUp”.  I link to other sites and articles that I’ve enjoyed throughout the week, and I get to expose my readers to some additional information that they may not have stumbled upon otherwise.  Your readers will be grateful for enlightening them on your reading material!  This does not have to be a weekly occurrence though; it could also be a monthly posting or just as you feel necessary.
5. Tell Your Commenters just how much You Appreciate Them – on a  monthly basis, you can write a “Thank You” to your commentators.  As a reward, link to each and everyone of their sites in your “Thank You” note.  The beauty of this is that you’re able to give back to them for the value they add to your blog.  It’s personable and a great act of thanks to all of your commenters.
6. Run a Contest – Starting a contest on your blog encourages participation in one way or another.  There are so many ideas for running contests; the possibilities are endless!  Give away a prize for the top commentator, give away an advertising spot for a month, or give away the prize that everyone loves… cash!  Get creative with the contest.  Think about what your blog needs.  Do you need to increase your RSS subscribers?  Need more comments?  More back links?  Take this idea and let your imagination be your guide!
7. Set Goals and/or Reflect on Your Goals – With the New Year quickly approaching, this will be a popular posting this week among bloggers.  Make sure that when you’re setting your goals, blog about them!  Also when goal setting, set goals that are not only attainable, but measurable.  The goals should be specific.  Let your readers know about what you’re striving for in the upcoming year.  Once you’ve set your goals, share your progress with your readers throughout the year.  On a side note, setting goals doesn’t strictly have to happen around the new year; you should be continually setting new goals as it relates to your personal life and your blog alike.
8. Set up and Share the results of a Poll – Create a new poll for your readers to participate in; then share the results when you have enough responses, maybe a month or two later.  Polls allow your readers to voice their opinion on so many different topics and always create interest in learning other readers’ responses as well.  Creating the poll can be one post, and then a couple of months later, you’ll have another post all ready and waiting to share the results and your thoughts.  If you’re struggling with coming up with a killer poll question, you could even “poll” your readers about poll topics!

What kind of blog topics do you use to “fill” a post? Have you implemented any of these ideas in the past? Let us know in the comments!

8 Ideas for Blog Posts is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

• Link Building – 7 More Do-Follow Social Sites – by JR
  This is a great article that provides some resources for finding social sites that utilize the “Do-Follow” function when leaving links in comments.  I’ll be the first to admit that I’m relatively “green” when it comes to building links for SEO purposes using this strategy, but plan to learn more.
• Not Doing What You Love, Pathway to Business Success- by BusinessX
  If you follow my blog on a regular basis then you know my belief in blogging with passion and about what you love.  You also know I don’t think it’s always roses;  this article hits that point right on the head.  This is a fun read relating work to the things you like or love.  I can relate to this post and you might as well!
• Passion Vs. Demand When Choosing a Blog Topic – by Steven Sanders
  If you’re looking to start a new blog or simply branch out and add another blog to your current portfolio, then here’s a good article when trying to decide on a blog focus.  Steven give some good detail and simple steps to follow that will help insure your success!
• Do It Yourself Tips for Marketing and PR – by Zach Heller
  Don’t sell yourself (or your business) short by not marketing properly. Check out this article by Zach for some tips on how to effectively self-promote. Anyone can be their own PR Rep!
• How Do You Analyze Your Blog? – by BloggerNewbie
  Dee of BloggerNewbie explains how she uses different analytical tools to assess her site and traffic.  Check out her suggestions to analyze your site too!  Knowing your audience fits in nicely with Zach’s article about marketing yourself as well.  If you effectively analyze and know your blog audience, you’ll be that much more successful when it comes to marketing yourself.

Weekend WrapUp – Week of Dec. 22nd is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

For writing a post about the new column on his Power Maxx Blog ,  Taris Janitens, won a cool new Jump Drive and a free review of his blog here on AverageGal.  Entering the contest was pretty simple, all you had to do was write a new post on your blog detailing the Blog Mistake Monday feature column, then leave a comment with a link to the article.

Congrats to Taris and thanks for entering the contest!  I’m still accepting guest posts for upcoming Monday’s Mistake articles.  If you have a mistake you’d like to share, please email me a copy to rachel @ averagegal dot com.

Blog Mistake Contest Winner… is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

When I first began to journey down the path of blogging I thought it would be quick and easy to build a high quality, high traffic site.  Creating a blog is suppose to be easy right?  All you have to do is sit down, write a quick 10 minute article and the rest is history.  There was little doubt in my mind that I could build a highly successful blog by simply writing a quick post a day as long as it was consistent and focused.  This model seemed so easy I didn’t think it would be any problem to manage 10 blogs at once!  Needless to say I quickly came back to reality.

Blogging takes time and dedication.  Building a successful site and brand is not easy.  As I mentioned above, I thought it would be very quick and easy to build a high traffic site; 10 mins and you’re on your way.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that blogging is hard.  In fact one of my most popular posts here on AverageGal is “Why I don’t Sleep: Blogging For Money Isn’t Rocket Science!”.  Becoming a successful blogger and creating a fun popular site does take time; much more then a 10 minutes.  I quickly realized from reading others success stories and through my own trial and error that you get back what you put into your site.  If you only put 10 mins into your blog you’re probably only going to get 10 mins back.

Without going into all of the specifics of what it takes to really make a blog take off with traffic, comments, and excitement, I would simply begin with learning from one of my early mistakes. Don’t short change your blog.  Give it lots of TLC, spend more then 10 mins daily developing and marketing, and network with your readers and others.

I hope that you found this first edition of “Blog Mistake Monday’s” beneficial and perhaps you can relate.  Don’t forget that I’m running a contest about this new blog series from now until the 25th of December and giving away some cool prizes.  Also If you want to be spotlighted with a guest post and share one of your blogging mistakes please send me an email with your article: rachel @ averagegal dot com.  I’d love to share it next Monday.

Did you underestimate the time dedication of blogging?

10 Minute Blogging – Blog Mistake Monday’s #1 is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

• The Next 30 Days Could Make or Break your Blog – by Jamie Harrop
  In this article, Jamie highlights the importance of blogging through the hectic holiday season.  Schedule your posts in advance to get through the holidays.  Jamie makes a good point that the pros don’t slow their posting frequency, so why should we?
• 30 Things You can Learn about Lifestyle Design from James Bond – by Chris from Lifestyle Project
  In his post, Chris points out 30 different aspects of James Bonds’ life that you should model.  These 30 items can be applied to your personal life as well as your career.  As you set goals for the upcoming year, keep some of these things in mind.
• Video Blogging: The Next Big Thing? – by Ben Pei
  Ben discusses video blogging aka vlogging and shows how to get started with this recent trend.  There is specific equiment and concepts that you’ll need to understand before undertaking this task.  If you want to learn more about how to participate in vlogging I would suggest checking out his recommendations first!
• 11 Questions that could Vastly Improve the Quality of Your Life in 2009 – by Henrik Edberg of The Positivity Blog
  This article will really get your wheels spinning on what you want out of life for not only the coming year, but for the next several years as well.  Henrik really puts life into perspective with this thought provoking post.
• How to End this Year on a High – by Arvind of The Stepcase Lifehack
  Here’s another great article to reflect upon when reviewing this year and setting goals for 2009.  Don’t let your goals and achievements of 2008 be overlooked!

I hope that you enjoy reading these articles as much as I did.  Each day I read multiple articles and most of them are great;  I would like to highlight them all, however the list would be a mile long.  Watch out for next Saturdays’ Weekend Wrap-Up for more great content from around the blog world.   Have a great weekend!

Weekend WrapUp – Week of December 15th is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

I can say with 100% conviction that I’ve learned much more from my mistakes than from my successes in life.  Starting the path down full-time blogging is no exception to this rule.  All too often we read and hear about how to be a successful blogger;  I think it’s time we share how to be unsuccessful bloggers.  With your help, let’s share some of the blunders we’ve experienced creating our blogs.  Big or small, we can all learn from each others blogging errors and hopefully gain some valuable insight.

With your help we can learn, laugh, and have some fun with this.  I’ll be accepting guest posts highlighting your blog mistakes at my email: rachel@averagegal.com.  Each Monday I’ll highlight one or more of the mistakes shared as well as give a short review of your blog.  This is a great way to not only share your experience but spotlight your blog!

To get this jump started I’m going to give away 3 free blog reviews with 3 free Jump Drives from Buy, to 3 lucky winners.  To enter, simply write a blog post about the new “Blog Mistake Monday’s” feature here at AverageGal between now and Dec. 25, 2008.  Place a comment with the link back to the post in the comments section below and your name will be entered.  I’ll draw 3 names/winners on the 26th and announce the winners.  Good Luck and I look forward to hearing from you!

Blog Mistake Monday’s is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Now that I’m a more seasoned (lol, or just a little less green) blogger, I can reflect back on that experience and understand what was happening.  I was visiting other sites all day, but never leaving comments or adding to the value of others blogs.  No wonder no one wanted to visit my site!  There was nothing attracting them to my site or enticing them to learn more about me and my blog.

You know what they say, “hindsight is 20/20″.  This is so true in relation to building up my blog.  Luckily, all it took was experiencing a person who had come to my blog, left a thought-provoking comment, and it clicked!  The key to my quest of directing traffic to my blog… commenting on others sites!  I was interested in my commenters site because they had added content and value-add to mine.  I wanted to learn more about them.  What do they blog about?  How long have they been blogging?  Do we have similar interests?

Now, with a few months under my belt as a blogger, I can confidently say that I’m well on my way to building up my network of bloggers.  This by no means implies that I am done networking with my peers; it is an ongoing process, and will never really be a task that I can completely “check off” my to do list.

How have I built up this network might you ask?  I’ve been able to network with others through visiting their sites regularly, commenting to add value to their site and readership, and assisting them in their daily endeavors.

Looking back, I’m very appreciative that this mistake didn’t take me long to realize and I was easily able to correct it before I lost hope in my blog or my skills as a writer.

Think back to your first month or 2 blogging… how did you attempt to drive traffic to your blog?  what would you have done differently?  Would you agree that having a network of “like-minded” bloggers is key?

Build up a Network of Bloggers is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Today’s social networks are bigger and better than their predecessors.  The user has many more opportunities for creating connections and more details that allow them to screen their “friends”.

Social Networks are an amazing venue for promoting yourself and your blog, as well as finding sites that you may never have come across in the blogosphere on your own.  I have met so many new people through this medium; I would go so far to say it’s one of the most important “free” resource available to get your name out there.

I do have one problem with Social Networking though.  I think that it may be a personal problem, but when I log on to a network, I find myself preoccupied with what I see and forget the reason that I initially logged in.  I can waste hours on Twitter and StumbleUpon without even getting anything done.  Do you have the same problem?  Time just seems to escape me when I’m using these tools.

I thought that I’d share with you the Social Networks that I belong to and what I like and dislike about each of them.

Twitter – I just joined twitter about 2 months ago.  You can find me @AverageGalDotCo.  At first the whole “follow” and “un-follow” idea really perplexed me.  I’ve got the whole system down now, and LOVE Twitter!  The thing that I really like about it is that I’m able to surf the net via others “tweets” and it’s like a live feed to their daily lives.  Twitter makes blogging more personal.  What I don’t like is that sometimes there are so many people logged in that I don’t have the time to read up on everyone’s “tweets”.  I’ve just come to accept that I just read the first 10-15 “tweets” to get up to speed on everyone’s day and in the loop.

Facebook - I’ve belonged to facebook for about 2 years now, but really started using it daily only 8 months ago.  What I love about Facebook is that you can add photos, YouTube video footage, invite others to specific events, set up and/or join groups, feed your twitter messages, add your blogs, and post notes in addition to having access to send messages to your friends and family.  What I don’t like about facebook is that there seems to be a lot of “garbage” that comes along with it.  Like sending someone a “green patch request”  or a “top friend” or a “tropical drink” or “Joe thew a snowball at you.  Click here to throw one back” … what’s the point in that?

StumbleUpon - I really love Stumble.  When I’m all caught up on my work for the week, I just stumble all of the favorites of my friends and others for a couple of hours.  The thing that I like best about StumbleUpon is the fact that it “remembers” what you like and what you don’t like (as long as you give it a thumbs up or down), and then gives you sites according to your responses.  The thing that I don’t like about Stumble is the fact that if you’re the first person to stumble an article or site they ask you for a review.  I think that sometimes this deters users from stumbling sites and/or articles if they have to take the time to write a review.

Digg – I joined Digg 4 months ago; when I first started blogging I used it frequently, but honestly I haven’t used it for about 3 months; I don’t remember what I do or don’t like about it.

Delicious - I did set up and account here, but I’ll admit it… I’ve only used it once.

MySpace – I have a myspace account, and used to use it more frequently than I do now;  I’ve somewhat phased out from MySpace when I found Facebook to be much more conducive to what I wanted to use the medium for… networking and keeping in touch!

What social networks do you belong to?  What frustrates you or makes you excited about them?

Pros and Cons of Social Networks is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

As it stands right now, I usually lug my 4 year old Dell Laptop around when I travel.  I swear the thing weighs about 15 pounds!  Many times when my family and I are heading out of town, I type up a post while we’re driving.  You’d be amazed at how good I’ve gotten at holding a laptop on my lap while typing and watching the road at the same time!  I’m only joking….my husband drives 99.9% of the time and I never type while driving, only from the passenger seat (I highly recommend you never type and drive!).  I can usually get 2-3 good posts written on a 2.5 hour drive, while the girls holler from the back asking if we are at Grandma’s yet.  It may be a little old school, but this is one way that I do my mobile blogging.

I’d like to get a little more up-to-speed with technology and get a new laptop or PDA.  Keep in mind I have Sprint cell phone service.  Here are the options I’m currently looking at and would love to hear your tips or advice on them.

1. Netbook -  I’m currently debating if I should buy a new laptop or go for one of the new Netbooks that I keep reading about.  For those of you that don’t know what a Netbook is, don’t feel alone.  You can see the one I’m looking at from Amazon Here.  If you have any feedback on using this Netbook and/or the benefits versus a laptop please let me and others know below.
2. Smart Phone – I really like the idea of a smart phone because of the small size and wireless capabilities, however I’m concerned that it won’t offer enough functionality.  I would think it must be pretty difficult to type a full blog post from a Smart Phone.  Please correct me if I’m wrong.  I’ve looked at a bunch of Smart Phones, but I’ve narrowed it down to this Samsung.  Again please share your experience with mobile blogging from this Smart Phone or others like it.

I’d like to make life a little more simple by streamlining the whole remote blogging process.  While the routine I have now of simply grabbing some wireless internet from my old laptop works, I think there’s a better way.

Please share your experience with mobile blogging as I’m sure others would love to hear it!

Mobile Blogging – Tips, Reviews, Advice is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

1. One Click Wonder – it amazes me how many times I come across an article that has a ton of valuable content but lacks basic SEO.  The most obvious blunder I see is not having Permalinks enabled on your blog.  Permalinks will allow the title of your blog post to flow through to the URL for that post.  As an example, look at your address bar and the title of this post…./5-easy-blog-seo-tips.  Without permalinks enacted it would look something like this…./post#9999.  Search engines do place weigh this in the url of the blog post.
2. Tip Top Titles – If you’re anything like me, you can spend up to a couple of hours writing and perfecting a blog post.  Don’t let all of that hard work go to waste by skimping on the title.  Put a little thought into the title of your posts.  Not only will the article look more appealing to readers, but if you do a little keyword research and placement you can give your article a nice search engine boost.
3. Don’t Hibernate – Search engines love fresh content.  Taking a 2 week hiatus from your blog typically isn’t a good thing for both content value and SEO.  I know it can be easier said than done, but staying consistent and posting frequently will bring your blog more credibility and offer another boost to your rankings.  If you’re having trouble coming up new topics, take a look these tips for blog writers block.
4. Keep It Focused – when writing a blog post I try to keep each article focused on a specific topic or point.  The main reason I do this is that I find it easier to write and easier for my site visitors to read.  Trying to implement numerous things at once is never a good thing, be it in life or blogging.  Search Engines tend to think this way as well.
5. Plug-In Some SEO -  I use a simple plug-in for my blogs that allows for fast and easy keyword entry, title optimization, and description insertion. The plug-in is called All-in-one-seo-pack.  There’s probably other plug-ins available, however I’ve used this one since beginning my blogging career and found it very beneficial thus far.

At the sake of sounding redundant, don’t lose sight of why you blog.  In my opinion you should always write with your readers in mind and never strictly for search engines.  These 5 tips alone won’t bring you to the top page of the search engines, but they will help bring you one step closer.

If you have any SEO tips you’d like to share, please let us know in the Comment below.  We’d love to hear them!

5 Easy Blog SEO Tips is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

You too, have the opportunity to enter into this contest.  Check out the following sites for a chance to be entered to win one of these free silver passes!

• Steven Sanders
• Heather in Beautiful BC
• Corrin Oh Hey
• Just Julie
• Lisa My Thoughts Ideas and Ramblings
• There’s Something About Harry

Win a Free Silver Pass to Affiliate Summit West is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

• How to Start Speaking at Events – by Chris Brogan
  Chris highlights his path from an accomplished blogger to a public speaker.  Using your experience from blogging, your social network, and implementing Chris’ tips for public speaking, you too can be a successful public speaker if you wish!
• Digg’s Effect on PageRank – by SEO Wordsmith
  Social media has affected each and every one of us… bloggers that is.  This article does a great job of explaining the effect that Digg has on our PageRank.  SEO Wordsmith gives some good suggestions on how to create an interesting title, how to create a viral article and how to get “dugg”.  Check this one out to learn more!
• How to Get Freelance Work with Twitter – by Kim Woodbridge
  Twitter is all the rave right now.  It’s such a great tool in so many aspects.  Kim explains how she uses Twitter to her advantage to find freelance work; so many bloggers also do a great deal of freelancing.  Read her article to find out more about the “do’s” and “don’ts” of how you can use Twitter to find freelance work.
• Ranking Highly in Search Engines has nothing to do with SEO – by Josh Klein
  For as long as blogs have been around, there’s been an ongoing debate as to the importance of SEO.  Some say SEO is King, others say content is the all-mighty ruler.  Here’s a great article by Josh Klein summarizing the importance of a combination of the two.  His article is a less technical version of how to make your blog SEO friendly, while creating content.
• The Essential Time-Saving Guide for Busy People – by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits
  I’m busy.  You’re busy.  Who isn’t?  With all of today’s worries and responsibilities, are you taking time to reflect on your personal and work habits?  Here’s an article that has some good tips for all of us busy professionals to save time.  Take time out of your day to read this one; you won’t be disappointed!

I hope that you enjoy reading these articles as much as I did.  Each day I read multiple articles and most of them are great;  I would like to highlight them all, however the list would be a mile long.  Watch out for next Saturdays’ Weekend Wrap-Up for more great content from around the blog world.   Have a great weekend!

Weekend WrapUp – Week of Dec 8th is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

The decision to add advertising to my blog was not taken lightly.  I’ve been thinking about it all week, and finally, last weekend, I bit the bullet.  After getting requests from advertisers,  I went for the gusto.  I strategically placed ads that I felt weren’t as obtrusive and didn’t take away from the quality of my work or distract my readers.  I treated this research very carefully, as if I were changing my haircut.  (And if you’re a woman, you know exactly what I mean!)  For all of you out there that can’t relate, I’m going to go into further detail of my analogy.

Keep it Fresh

After I’ve had the same haircut for about 6 months, I’m ready for a change.  I’ve done everything there is to do with this style, and ready to move on to something bigger and better.  Much is the same with a blog; you need to continually look for ways to improve the image, writing, readership, and the bottom line.

Research Options

Once I’ve made the decision to do something drastic (or subtle) to my hair, the first place I go is online.  I look at different hairstyles of celebs, research the trends, and note different coloring techniques.  I want something that’s new and fresh.  I don’t want a haircut or color to be something that everyone and their mother is wearing, yet I want it to be flattering and accommodating to my lifestyle.  Similar to this, when you are making the decision to advertise, there are many options available.  You need to sort through these options to decide what kind of advertising meshes with your content and readers.  The advertising needs to be appropriate and applicable.  Make sure you have done your research to ensure the most effective advertising is implemented on your blog.
Here are a couple of advertising sites I’m using and currently researching:
I’m planning on a follow up post to each of these to describe in more detail.
- PerformancingAds
- Google Adsense

Ask a professional

If I’m going to be cutting off 6 or 7 inches off of my hair, I’m definitely going to want the advice of a professional hairdresser.  Would this style work with my type of hair?  Is it going to require a lot of maintenance?  Do the hairstylist have any other suggestions on haircuts?  Just as a haircut, when When you’re thinking about changing your blog, make sure that you ask a  professional (aka a blogging buddy) for their thoughts on advertising.  What types of advertising campaigns have worked for them?  What do they suggest specific to your blog?  Use them as a resource and sounding board for your questions and concerns.

Like it or Leave It

Here’s the climax.  Do you make the leap of faith or do you decide that this isn’t for you?  The hairdresser thinks that she can slightly alter the hairstyle that you’ve chosen but make it a little more flattering to your needs.  You decide that you want to follow through with it.  Hair grows back, right?  That’s the spirit!

The great thing about advertising is the fact that it’s not nearly as permanent as a new hairstyle. You can completely remove the ads and start from the beginning; but unfortunately, you can’t glue hair back on your scalp.  With advertising, if you do make a mistake, and end up loosing readership you can learn from those losses.  On the other hand, you could love the new and improved site.  If you place ads on your blog, and a week later see that it’s really hurting your return visitors, you may want to re-think the campaign.  Or simply tweak it.  Just like a haircut, if you don’t like the advertising, you can always make minor readjustments to improve the end result.

What are your thoughts on advertising on blogs in general?  Any feedback on the ads on AverageGal?

Advertising on Your Blog is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

I’ve had a fair amount of success over the years buying and selling stocks, never enough to retire, but often times I get asked what I’m buying next, or what’s the next home run stock. Each time I respond with a simple answer, Yourself. Why are we so comfortable handing our hard earned money over to a complete stranger to invest in hopes to get 20% back on it? Even more so, why are we just as comfortable putting that money into the hands of a greedy CEO running a Fortune 500 company? Yet when it comes to putting a $5 or $5000 investment into ourselves we hesitate, second guess, and doubt the choice. If you’re like me it’s extremely hard to take that leap of faith and consider myself as the best investment on the market.

If you stop to think about the pro’s versus the con’s of investing in yourself, it’s a no brainer. Who else would you rather see succeed (except your kids or spouse) then you and your company? Take John Chow for an example; he could have easily put the money he spent launching JohnChow dot com into a bell weather stock in the Dow and more then likely be at a negative return right now. Instead he built a highly successful blog that is yielding huge returns month after month that he would only dream about getting from stocks. Take a look at his blog income report from October and you’ll see he turned $335 dollars into over $34,000 in one month! You don’t have to build a company to invest in yourself and get a high yielding return, there are other ways to invest in you as well. How about going to get your Masters Degree or training for a trade you love. That money will pay itself back many times over not to mention learning a ton along the way. It might even propel your career or give you the confidence to start your own company.

The main point is to stop looking for other people to make money for you; believe in your abilities to get to the next level by investing in Yourself. I’m not saying that having a good retirement isn’t important, in fact I do think you should save and invest, but the next time you look at your 401k or think about taking a risk on a stock, stop and ask yourself is that 20% return going to pay a higher dividend then if I buy a couple hundred shares of me?

Forget Stocks, Buy Yourself! is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Who is MarketLeverage

Started in 2001 as PrecisionPlay Media, the company is a CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) network with an innovative and friendly staff looking to grow your business.  Each publisher is assigned an affiliate manager who is there to help you succeed.

What is MarketLeverage

a network that allows web publishers to connect with advertisers willing to pay you for promoting their products or services.

When MarketLeverage

if you’re looking to not only provide quality content for you readers, but also offer beneficial products and services, then now might be the time for you to check them out.  I recently joined.

Where is MarketLeverage

Bloggers, email managers, and search marketers have the opportunity to join the network and publish via their communication channels.  As I mentioned earlier, many of the top bloggers and internet money makers use this network.

Why MarketLeverage

I recently joined this CPA network because they offer products and services that many of my readers will find beneficial.  Furthermore they are recommended by many peers in the blogging industry.

One of the best aspects of this affiliate network is the personal attention and creative approach they take when working with publishers.  As an example, take a look the current promotional contest they’re sponsoring over at Unique Blog Designs.  MarketLeverage is looking to bring fresh ideas to the forefront for web publishers.   Simply choose an offer from their network and blog about how you would promote it for a chance to win some great prizes.  The idea is to get ideas flowing for all publishers to utilize.

I’d like to take this chance to tell you about one of the best offers on MarketLeverage, their referral program. In short, If you refer a new publisher to the network, you will receive 5% commission based on the sales of that referred publisher, for life!  There are a few terms and conditions that I’ll leave up to you to read before signing up to promote the offer.

What better way to promote this offer and refer new members to MarketLeverage than through word of mouth and open feedback.  I signed up today for the network because of the recommendations I had read about in the past and continue to read about today.  If you haven’t signed up for MarketLeverage yet, I’d suggest giving it a look by Clicking Here and determining if it’s a good fit for you.

If you have any feedback, opinion, or comments you’d like to share about MarketLeverage please share!

MarketLeverage – The 5 W’s is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

What is a Blog Carnival?

According to Wikipedia, “A blog carnival is a type of blog event. It is similar to a magazine, in that it is dedicated to a particular topic, and is published on a regular schedule, often weekly or monthly.  Each edition of a blog carnival is in the form of a blog article that contains perma links to other blog articles on the particular topic.”

In other words, a blog carnival is a specific kind of blog community. As you know, there are many kinds of blogs, which contain articles on an even wider variety of topics.  Blog Carnivals collect together these links pointing to blog articles on a specific topic. A Blog Carnival is very similar to a magazine. The blog carnival has a title, a topic, editors, contributors, and even an audience. It regularly publishes editions of the carnival.  Each edition is a blog article that consists of links to all the submissions and most often contains the editors opinions or remarks as well.

There is a plethora of information in the blogosphere; finding a topic that you find interesting can prove to be a challenge.  Carnivals can be useful in following a particular topic and learn more about what bloggers have to say about it.  It’s also a great venue to share your work and thoughts with those bloggers who have similar interests.

Who participates a Blog Carnival?

Someone has to start the carnival; they need to decide what it will be the topic, what the submission criteria are, and how often it will be “published”.

Once these details have been arranged, they need to start collecting submissions from bloggers, and organize them into a blog post/article bursting at the seams with links, and many times a commentary to accompany each link.  After this, it’s similar to your typical blog.  The article is published on schedule, readers view the article and comment (or they’re supposed to *wink*).

If you find a carnival that your interested in, consider submitting your article to appear in the next edition.  Many times, by being involved in a carnival, others will view you as an “expert”.  Which makes sense, since you’re blogging about it, you should probably know what you’re talking about and not just B.S.ing your way through it.  (Although come to think of it, I have met several people who do BS very well…)  But how great would it be to be considered and “expert”?  Pretty exciting, right?

How much does it cost to use Blog Carnival?

Nothing. Zip. Ziltch. Nada. The service is completely free.

A word of warning

Thus far, it’s sounding pretty good, right?  What could be harmful about using a blog carnival?  Well, you risk the chance of your work being “stolen”.  Wikipedia also warns “There is an opportunity for unscrupulous bloggers to steal content, host it on their own blogs, and submit these entries to a blog carnival host. In order for ethical blog carnival hosts to refrain from promoting stolen content, they need to verify that these incoming articles and links are indeed the original work of the blogger who submitted them. Without this verification, it is possible that otherwise ethical hosts are promoting stolen content.”

I’m not sure the likelihood of this actually happening, but I say better be safe than sorry.  Always use your best judgment when participating!

My experience with Blog Carnivals

I recently participated in a blog carnival called Spotlight Blogger. I submitted my article, Lifecycle of a Blog – Sink or Swim You Choose.  Thus far, my experience has been very positive.  I have been able to connect with bloggers who share ideas and thoughts.  It’s also extended my readership to those who may not have found me.  Based on my experience, I would highly suggest looking into joining a blog carnival!

Have you participated in a blog carnival?  If so, what has been your experience?  If not, why?

What is a Blog Carnival? is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

• Link Building Strategies: 69 Solid Tactics for 2009- by Wiep Knol
  Wiep provides some insightful ways on creating links and building a strategy for 2009.  Many of these tactics are easily implemented and don’t take a lot of time.  As we look ahead to the fast-approaching new year, what are your goals as a blogger?  Check out his great list!
• Harnessing Twitter to Increase Your Blog’s Traffic – by Unique Blog Designs
  Josh over at UBD offers some great tips on driving more visitors to your blog using Twitter as a tool. If you haven’t signed up for Twitter yet, I’d highly recommend it.  Using the techniques offered in this article are sure to send your traffic numbers up.
• Defining Your Blog – by Cash 2 Blog
  This a nice brief read on the importance of defining your blog.  The article highlights 4 key aspects to help add to your blogs success.  Regardless if you are an experience blogger or a novice, this post offers good points.
• 5 Tips For Writing a Quality Article… – by Writing The Cyber Highway
  You hear it time and time again, content is King.  Writing quality posts for your readers should be one of your top priorities.  This article shared by Michele hits on 5 easy to use tips that will make your articles stand out from the crowd.

I hope that you enjoy reading these articles as much as I did.  Each day I read multiple articles and most of them are great;  I would like to highlight them all, however the list would be a mile long.  Watch out for next Saturdays’ Weekend Wrap-Up for more great content from around the blog world.   Have a great weekend!

Weekend WrapUp – Week of Dec. 1st is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

I’m sure you’re well aware from the constant reminder in the news, loans aren’t as easy to get today compared to a year ago.  It used to be relatively easy to open up a small line of credit or get a credit card if you needed some extra money, well those days have come and gone.  I would guess that most business bankers would laugh you right out of the bank if you applied for a loan to start up your blogging business.  Most people have little idea of the potential our industry has to offer.  With that being said, what alternatives exist for getting some launch money to design, promote, and run your blog?

Recently I had a friend that used peer-to-peer (P2P) lending as way to get a loan for purchasing a used vehicle and thought that it could be a great source of money for launching a business.  I’d heard of p2p lending but didn’t really know all of the details.  Basically these social lending sites consist of people willing to loan other people money based upon reviewing the request of the borrower.  There is a great explanation on the concept from Lending Club, one of the more popular sites.  Loan requests range from consolidating high interest credit card debt to starting a new business venture (think blog).

If you’re looking for some extra money to upgrade your blog to a custom theme or anticipating a need for working capital to aggressively advertise your site, then a P2P site such as Lending Club might be the right fit you.  Often times the interest rates are very competitive and beat using a credit card.  This is just one of the ways to raise some quick capital for your blog, if you have any other suggestions on raising money for your blog or have experience with P2P, we’d love to hear it!  Let us know in the comments section below.

Start Up Money For Your Blog is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

5 Keys To Choosing A Domain:

1. Make It Your Own – when is the last time that you recommended website with a non unique domain name?  As an example I see sites all too often that look like this “www.YourLongSiteNameHere.bloghostingcompany.com”.  You might have all the best content in the world and give your readers a great experience, but without a unique domain name it’s very hard to recommend your site.  I highly suggest going to a registrar such as Go Daddy and buying your own domain name.
2. Shorter Is Better -  try to keep your domain name short.  Clearly it’s becoming more and more difficult to find premium domain names that have yet to be registered, however if you can keep your domain short and sweet it’s a huge plus.  People are much more likely to remember and suggest domains that are short and to the point.  Think about how hard it is to remember….”www.this-is-my-site-about-xyz.com”.  I know that might be a little over exaggerated but you see the point.
3. Spelling 101 – try to avoid easily misspelled words or words that are difficult to spell.  Take it from me, if it wasn’t for spell check I’d probably have to give up blogging!  There’s a reason that most major newspapers print their articles on a 6th grade reading level, many people have a tough time spelling.
4. Dot Com King – the king of the domain world is still the extension “.com”.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read some great blogs that have a “.net or .org” extension, but most people still default to the ever popular “.com”.  I truly believe that most people don’t even know that anything but “.com” exists.  I like to use my family as “test subjects” when looking at branding ideas and for the most part they have no clue what other domain extensions exist.
5. Vote On It – after you’ve brainstormed about the perfect blog domain name, choose the top 10 and put the list to a simple vote.  Ask your friends, family, and colleagues to give their opinion.  You’d be surprised how many people love to give their opinion about selecting a business name.  You’ll also be surprised at the amount of feedback and suggestions you might get for a completely different name.  Hopefully when you put it to a vote you get a clear winner, if not put the top 3 into another simple poll and have everyone vote again.

These are just a few tips that I like to use when selecting a new domain name for one of my blog ventures.  This is by no means the holy grail of domain picking, but it offers a good starting point to blogging newbies who want to built a successful brand.  If you’ve been sitting on a domain idea, I highly suggest going over to Go Daddy and getting it before it’s taken!

If you have any other tips or suggestions on choosing a domain name, we’d love to hear them!  Let us know in the comments below.

5 Blog Domain Name Tips is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

4 Stage Life Cycle Of A Blog:

1. Excitement and Drive-  when I first begin to learn about the unlimited potential that blogging has to offer I could barely contain my excitement.  At night I would literally lay in bed for hours brainstorming about the various topics that I could blog about and how much fun it would be to create a booming network of devoted readers and commenters.  I finally choose three topics that I enjoy most. The first was shopping and saving money so I created DivineSteals.com.  The second was living life to the fullest via a lifestyle blog called FullGlassLiving.com.  The last was learning and teaching others how to make money blogging with AverageGal dot com.  Now that I had my topics down it was time to move onto the next step.
2. Design & Launch – Once I had my blog topics narrowed down it was time to start implementing the actual layout of the sites.  It’s extremely exciting watching your ideas go from a brainstorm on paper to living working blogs on the internet.  Once you have the design phase down it’s time for the big launch.  I’ll never forget the day my first blog went live.  It was a great feeling to know that I was about to concur the blogosphere.  That feeling didn’t last long.  More unforgettable was the second day, when I realized I was now just another one of the millions of blogs on the internet.  Where was my group group of fanatical readers that I had imagined lying in bed all of those sleepless nights? I could literally hear the crickets through my computer screen.  That’s were the next step of the blog life cycle comes into play.
3. Networking, Writing, and Doubt – my blogs had all the tools necessary to be successful expect for 1 thing, Readers.  Most blog owners will agree with me when I say that building readership is both the most rewarding aspect of blogging and also the most frustrating.  After spending countless days of writing, commenting, and networking it finally happened, my readership began to appear.  I had my days of doubt and even asked myself “what was I thinking leaving my corporate job to take on blogging full time?”; I got past that stage and now ask myself why I didn’t do it sooner!  When thinking about giving up, I highly suggest that you keep reading success stories of bloggers in your niche and continue to do the “little things” that will keep your blog chugging down the tracks to success.  Don’t let the doubt overwhelm you and never forget why you started blogging in the first place, for FUN!
4. Sink or Swim- This is the final stage in the life of a blog.  Most blogs tend to reach the morgue on or about the 3rd-6th month.  The doubt stage begins to take over and your postings start to slow from 1 a day to 1 a week.  The snowball effect spreads and you start to second guess your choice of topic, site layout, and humanity in general.  After all who wouldn’t want to visit your site right?  Enter this site, AverageGal dot com.  Keep the faith, if you follow some simple repeatable steps each day you will see your readers, subscribers, and eventually profits Swim!

I truly hope that once you read this article you can have a better understanding of my path thus far in the world of blogging.  Furthermore I think you will find benefit in reading this site and the sites of my guest bloggers when searching for ideas on how to grow and make money blogging.  If you have some of your own unique aspects you’d like to share about your blog’s life cycle we’d love to hear; Please share with all in our comments section below!

Life Cycle Of A Blog – Sink or Swim You Choose is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

At the bottom of my posts, there is now a little box with a personalized message from me.  The widget is called the “What would Seth Godin Do” widget.  It’s very user-friendly; even I figured it out in minutes!

The reason that I chose this widget was to promote my December, and future, contests.  I’m going to be giving away cash and prizes in hopes to spike my comment numbers, return visitors, and increase traffic.  I’ve really got a good base of return commentators and frequent commentators; I’d like to reward those who comment on my site and also those who link to AverageGal on their blog.

My plan is to run a contest each month.  I’ll be tweaking the details and prizes each month, so make sure to come back to check out each month’s contest details.  Click Here to find out the December contest details.

Have you ever run a contest on your blog?  What was your experience?  Any advice that you’d like to give those who are thinking about running a contest? Thanks for your input!

Adding A Blog Contest is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

• 8 Writing Tips - by Blogger Newbie
  Dee highlights some great tips on overcoming writers block, creative writing techniques, and ways effectively reach your readers.  If you haven’t run into that writing brick wall yet, don’t worry you will. This blog article will help you climb over that wall and get the posting juices rolling again.
  
• How To Set Up A Home Office – by Smarter Wealth
  If you’re a full time blogger facing challenges from working at home, then this article is for you.  As many of my readers know, I recently left my corporate desk job to blog full time.  I can say from experience that having a well thought-out home office is a must!
• Contest Open For All – by WDS Web Design Servers
  Recently, Webdesi3 Aka Ciara, wrote a guest post for my blog highlighting her Top 5 Blog Widgets.  In this recent post on her blog she highlights a contest being offered by on of her favorite widgets.  All you have to do is comment on her blog and you are automatically entered to win some cool prizes.  Check it out and the other articles on her blog; there is a ton to learn!
• Cheap Shots- by TumbleMoose
  George writes about taking a quality approach towards building blog traffic versus “negative” techniques aimed at giving your blog a one time shot in the arm.  I completely agree with TumbleMoose and feel the same approach highlighted in this article is the best way to truly grow your readership.
• What It Takes To Make $100,000 A Year From Adsense – by Writing For Your Wealth
  This is a fantastic article that gives specific examples on you can blog your way to a 6 figure income. If you’re like me, after reading this article, you’ll have a hard time sleeping.  If you want to see some concrete techniques on making significant profit from Adsense, then I’d suggest reading this post.

I hope that you enjoy reading these articles as much as I did.  Each day I read multiple articles and most of them are great;  I would like to highlight them all, however the list would be a mile long.  Watch out for next weeks’ Weekend WrapUp for more great content from around the blog world.   Have a great weekend!

Weekend WrapUp – Week of Nov. 24th is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Recently the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released numbers that pertain to advertising dollars spent on Internet advertising.  The numbers were mind boggling.  Despite the recession and economic slowdown, advertisers spent an enormous amount of money buying ads online.  In the 3rd Quarter alone, $5.9 billion dollars was shelled out by companies looking to make a presence online.  This was an 11% increase over the same period last year.  In one of my recent articles “Why I Don’t Sleep: Blogging For Money Isn’t Rocket Science”, I highlight how exciting, fun, and financially rewarding making money blogging can be.  If these stats provided by the IAB aren’t enough to keep you from getting a wink of shut eye then I don’t know what would.  Blogging offers a great medium to express your views, help others, meet new people, and make money online.  I have yet to meet anyone that has been fired from their own blog.

While there is no doubt that the economy is headed into a deep recession, it appears that online advertising still has a tremendous amount of growth potential and retailers are allocating more of their budget to this form of media.  Combine the income opportunities that come with a blogging career and the prospects of a recession proof job, it’s no wonder the popularity of the growing blogoshpere.
What do you think, is blogging recession proof?

Find A Recession Proof Job In Blogging is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

In case you haven’t noticed yet, I’m a pretty methodical person.  I like to have everything that I do to have a rhyme and reason.  When I’ve got a reason to blog or topic to write about, I can usually get several posts written in a day.  But, then there are days that I simply don’t have the time (or energy) to think creatively and write so many.

These are the days that I dread, the days that I have frozen fingers syndrome.  So when this happens, what do I do to overcome the lack of creative thoughts and energy?  I’m going to share a couple secrets with you that I’ve had to learn the hard way… from experience.

When I first started blogging, I had so many questions, so many ideas, so much to learn.  I didn’t know where to start or how to formulate my ideas clearly much less how to navigate my way through successfully composing a WordPress posting.

I felt overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge out there.  I didn’t know where to start.  But here are some helpful tips for you in gathering your ideas and managing them.

When you’re feeling the creative vibe, go with it.

It’s my first secret for successfully managing your site and ideas.  Get all of that pent-up energy out! Make your fingers fly as fast as your mind is moving.  I love the feeling of the words moving around so quickly inside of my head that it feels like it’s going to just burst onto the computer screen.  It’s exhilarating.  So why stop with just one post?  The creative juices are flowing, your heart is racing, and your mind is traveling at one thousand miles a minute.  Don’t compromise this energy.  Harness it!

Those ideas are a goldmine.  Only you don’t really have to dig for anything.  They’ve already surfaced and are sitting out in the open, waiting to be snatched up by those who are looking.

From my experience, when these creative juices are flowing, I can get ideas for 3, 4, or sometimes even 10 different topics that I want to further explore, write about and share with you!  What I do is keep a notepad next to me; instead of trying to remember these ideas for later, I jot them down.  This way, I can stay on topic without straying too far from the topic that I’m trying to focus on at the time.  When I’m finished with one post, I can go on to the next without feeling that I’ve compromised my prior blog entry.  Not only does this help me to focus and stay on-topic, but it gives my writing a different sense of style.  The articles have a more clear, concise theme throughout.

Schedule Your Posts

It’s one of my secrets, which maybe isn’t really a secret. It’s more of a helpful tip for blogging.  I use these feature to manage my posts when I know that I will be out of town or tied up for the day.  Schedule your posts to let your blog run without you.

I love having a plethora of quality articles to choose from on any given day.  It gives me the opportunity to take a very well deserved break once in a while from the wonderful (but sometimes exhausting) world of blogging. When I know that a scheduled “day off” is coming up, I make sure that I have a post to schedule on my site as well.

This method of harnessing my ideas and writing about them when I have the creative thought and energy enables me to control my site without it controlling me!

How do you manage your site?  How do you harness your ideas?  Do you also schedule your posts?

Control your site; don’t let it run you! is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

As we come into the holiday shopping season, retailers are trying every trick in the book in an effort to spur sales and move product.  Every person I talk to is planning to cut back on their gift budget this year and spend less than previous years.  With that being said, they still plan to buy gifts for him and her, but just not shell out the dough in large amounts.  I can’t say that I blame them!  As a blogger you can use this “spend less” mentality to your advantage.  It’s important as a blog owner you listen to your readers and tailor topics to their needs.  Since many of my blog readers are looking to spend less this year, I wrote an article titled 10 Great Holiday Gifts Under $10! over at FullGlassLiving.

After you check out the example article above, you can see that I choose a wide variety of gifts from a wide variety of merchants.  Hopefully my readers will appreciate these gift ideas, which should fit into most budgets this holiday season.  If any of my blog fans decide to swing over and purchase my suggestions then I’ll make an affiliate sale and earn some nice income.  This is just one example of ways to capitalize on the current state of our economy and spin some negative news into positive growth for your blog.  If you have any other examples of finding ways to make money blogging off of the recession news, let me know!

FYI:  Anyone that links to this article on their blog (between now and November 27th) will be entered into a contest to win their choice of one of the 10 gifts feature at FullGlassLiving.  Just let me know in the comments below that you linked to it. Good Luck!

Make Money Blogging Despite Slumping Sales is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Does this scenario sound familiar to you?  Well it’s exactly what happened to me when I launched all 3 of my most recent blogs.  I’ve been using Mozilla FireFox for the past year now and haven’t even thought about opening Internet Explorer since making the switch.  I went through the design process of creating this blog, FullGlassLiving, and DivineSteals using the FireFox browser.  All of the images, side bar menus, headers, and plugins looked great at launch time.  It wasn’t more then a couple of days after having the sites go live on the internet, when my mom sent me an email asking why they weren’t finished.  I was clueless when she told me about the errors she was seeing on the blogs.  Finally I jumped in my car and drove to her house to look.  I felt like a complete blogging novice when I realized that she was using Internet Explorer to view the blogs and I was using FireFox.  To my surprise the sites looked terrible.  IE had broken text and misaligned menu bars not to mention some missing features!

Needless to say I learned a valuable lesson, always look at your blog through the eyes of both Microsoft and Mozilla.  You might be extremely surprised at what you see!  This might be seem like a simple and elementary tip, however I’d have to believe it’s easily overlooked by many bloggers.  If you have any other common overlooked tips such as this I’d love to hear and learn from them as well!

A Simple Blog Mistake To Avoid is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

The whole premise of this group is to offer like-minded blog owners a common place to come together and review each others’ articles; especially articles that they find interesting and believe Stumble and Digg readers will also enjoy.  The concept is really quite simple.  Just go to Facebook (I highly suggest you create an account if you don’t have one) and search for the group by name or click on this link to join: Stumble It or Digg It Foward. If you have an article that you’d like read and reviewed, just post it to the wall.  One of the other group members will read the article and give it a thumbs up or Digg it if they feel it fits their interests and will add value to StumbleUpon or Digg.  Keep in mind that there’s no obligation for you to return the favor, however I’m sure there will be an article or two you might find interesting!  It’s a pretty simple and fun concept.

Don’t be afraid to use the group discussion board to talk about off-topic items that can help other bloggers with tips to help grow their blogs.  My hope is that this will create a fun, quick, and easy place for us to gather and network!  See you soon at the group; I look forward to reading your articles!

Join The Stumble It or Digg It Forward Group is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

This is where many people get overwhelmed.  It doesn’t have to be difficult.  I promise.  Take time to reflect. What are your hobbies?  What do you enjoy?  What are you interested in?  What would you like to learn more about?  What is your area of expertise?  Do you like to share? What topics spark your creativity? These are all questions that you should ask yourself before starting up your blog.

I’ve mentioned before how many blogs don’t last past the 3 – 6 months of their life.  The main reason?  The author/blogger looses interest in their subject.  It gets boring.  Writing and posting becomes work.  It’s physically, mentally and emotionally draining.  I can’t stress enough to you the importance of very carefully thinking about the topic of your blog.

I, for example, chose to write about blogging.  My reasoning behind this is that I LOVE to learn.  I also LOVE to tell others about what I learn.  When I learn something new about blogging, (or most things for that matter) I really truly enjoy sharing my knowledge and findings with others.  So for me, I wanted to blog about something that I could constantly learn about.  When I’m learning, I’m not bored.  There are just so many facets to blogging that haven’t even been explored yet.  This is exhilarating to me.

I would advise that you find what’s exhilarating to you.  Do you like to learn or do you feel like you’re an expert in a certain area already?  Do you like to share your thoughts & opinion, or are you more of a factual, concrete person?  I’d invite you to ponder some of these questions before even purchasing a domain.   The answers to these questions will be critical to the development of your blog and your career as a blogger.

If you already have a blog, how did you decide what you wanted to blog about?

So You Want to be a Blogger? is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Recently I wrote a guest article, Build Your Blogs Credibility Brick By Brick, on Steven-Sanders.com.  The article highlights some simple keys to success to make your blog fun, popular, and profitable.  As I’ve always said, Blogging Isn’t Rocket Science, however you need to follow a few common rules to take your site to the next level.

I’m relatively new to the blogging world and continue to learn and share new tips to make the process easier for my readers to cruise down the path of full-time blogging.  My blogs have have experienced tremendous growth, thanks to sites such as Stevens, and I will continue to share my tips for success with all of you!

Guest Post On Steven-Sanders.com is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

My advice? Step away from the computer. Very slowly. Just kidding; but really, get away from the computer. Find a quiet space away from any and all distractions. All you need is a pen and a piece of paper. Start thinking about what inspires you (aka brainstorming). Write everything and anything that comes to mind in a column down the middle of the page, leaving room in between each idea in case something else comes to mind. Once you have 8-10 ideas, pick one that you like the most and expand on the idea; write random thoughts that come to mind when you think of this idea. When you have come up with 4-6 different thoughts about this inspiring idea, you’ve all of a sudden got something to write about. Not only do you have a topic, but you’ve got solid, concrete thoughts that you have associated with the topic in your brain (which was failing you earlier, but now is all revved up and ready to go).  This time around, you sit down at your computer, and just like magic, all that brainstorming pays off. You now have a clear and concise idea of what you’re going to write about.  Viola!  Writing done!

You’ve got your topic, the article is written, and it’s posted to your blog … toss that paper with the chicken scratch in the trash, right?  No, no, NO!!!  That list contains 8-10 different ideas that can be expanded upon.  Just because they didn’t inspire you today doesn’t mean that those ideas are garbage!  Keep the sheet tucked away for another day when your fingers freeze up.  Then, start the process all over again.

This is what I’ve found to work for me… What do you do when you have frozen fingers?

Frozen Fingers Syndrome? is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

The lesson to take away from this?  Think creatively and don’t be afraid to ask someone for help.  You want to get their attention, but in a good way.  Think outside of the box and you never know who will be willing to help you on your quest for greatness.

Check out this video that’s posted on JohnChow.com and let me know what you think?  Best of luck Suzanne!!!

Creativity Will Make Your Blog Boom! is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

When Rachel asked me guest post here I was a little daunted, I hadn’t written a guest post before and couldn’t come up with any ideas. Then the other night I was lying in bed and had one of those lightbulb moments…5 posts came to me at once, and this one fit in perfectly with AverageGal.com, so here it is.

Top 5 Blog Widgets for increasing your comments and building your Blog Community

So, you have a blog, but do you have regular commentors?  The best way to get regular commentors on your blog is to build up a community around your blog and encourage your readers to leave comments by giving them an incentive. These 5 widgets will help you to build up a community and give them an incentive to Comment.

No.1 – Twitter for WordPress

This ingenious widget lets you display your latest tweets on your Blog for your readers to see.  Get more twitter followers with this widget and keep them coming back to your blog.  Download Twitter for WordPress here

No. 2 – My BlogLog

The My BlogLog Widget shows pictures and details of your most recent visitors and links to their BlogLog. It also helps to build your community and allows your readers ease of access to be your social stalker.  When you sign into MyBlogLog you can also get statistics from your site by installing some HTML code very easily.  Get your My BlogLog community up and running and create your widget at http://www.mybloglog.com/.

No. 3 – Top Commentors Widget

Show off your regular commentors with this great widget. It gives your commentors a reason to comment on your site, the more they comment, the higher they get on the list. Personally, I love commenting on sites that have this installed, because I feel very important when I see my name on that list, and I make sure that I keep going back.  Download the Top Commentors Widget here

No. 4 – CommentLuv

Entice your readers to leave a comment by giving them CommentLuv. This ingenious widget sources their latest post from their blog and add’s it’s title and a link to it for other readers to see. Everyone will want to leave comments on your blog with ComentLuv because it might just increase their traffic.Download CommentLuv here.

No. 5 – No Follow Free

The No Follow Free Widget allows your commentors links to be followed by Searchbots and therefore index their sites faster. Download it for free here.

All of these widgets are easy to install, either by installing some simple HTML or installing the download into your Wp-admin/wp-plugins folder and clicking the activate button.

Simple and fast, these easy steps are guaranteed to increase your Blogs Community and Comments.  What are you still doing here? Go get them and start building!

If you have any trouble with these widgets contact me at http://wds.webdsignservers.com

Top 5 Blog Widgets is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace