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

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

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

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

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

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

I recently have delved into the world of guest blogging. Just yesterday, I was approached by a fellow blogger to write a guest post for their blog. The above questions came rushing through my mind at lightning speed. I found that I had to do a little research in order to complete the task at hand… guest blogging.

First off, when I was asked to write a guest post, I immediately visited the site to do a little bit of research. In my opinion, an informed blogger is a good blogger. I wanted to know what the site was about, what kind of content they would be looking for, and who makes up their readership base. Once I had these bases covered, I decided that I could confidently accept the offer. But, not only did I accept, I asked the person to reciprocate with a post of their own for AverageGal.

There are many benefits to guest blogging. By guest blogging, you are able to reach a more diverse audience and capture readers that may not have visited your site otherwise. This is added exposure that you desperately need when starting out or trying to grow your readership. In turn, having guest bloggers on your site give you the chance to showcase others’ work and expand your readers’ knowledge. Also, having a guest blog gives you a breather from writing. It’s a great way to break up your work week.

As I mentioned in my article, “Love Google, Hate Google… Who Cares, Copy Them!”, I stated that you should make several contacts prior to approaching another person to ask for something. This concept also applies to asking another blogger to guest blog on your site. It’s best to establish a relationship to make sure your interests and intentions coincide.

Lastly, once you have the final guest post all written up, make sure that you do NOT post the exact same post on your site. This is bad for SEO. Having the same article on several (or 2) sites hurts your search engine optimization. You could however, write up a little summary of your article and direct your readers to the other blog. I’m sure that the the other blog owner would appreciate that as well!

As you can see, guest blogging certainly isn’t for dummies! It’s a smart move and can be beneficial in so many ways! You can check out my recent guest post on Tumblemoose Productions.

Any other questions or suggestions regarding guest blogging? Have you asked someone to guest blog yet? Have you ever been a guest blogger?

Guest Blogging… for Dummies?? is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace

Similar to other social networking sites, you are able to create a profile complete with picture or avatar and list the unique services or insight you can bring to the table. You can add your blog and share it throughout the community as well. Clearly building up a large buddy list and networking yourself throughout the site by participating in the extensive forums or comments sections should lead to great relationships and also traffic back to your blog. If you’re looking for some creative ways to promote your blog there are also a bunch of website awareness articles for you to read. The case studies are also quite extensive; I always like to read about other people’s success stories and their path of achievements. It’s going to take me a couple of weeks just to scratch the surface of all the different tips and techniques that are offered through the site.

Whether you’re just starting your venture in the world of online blogging or a seasoned expert there is bound to be a feature on StartUpNation.com that you can apply to your site. I’ll follow up with future posts as I continue to uncover all that this resource has to offer.

Have you found StartUpNation.com to be helpful and informative?

Jump Start Your Blog! is a post from: Average Girls and Women Marketplace