Fortunately, I don’t have to imagine a world where I would have to blog without my techie tool kit.  That’s because many of the great programs and helps I use are absolutely free and as easy to get as a quick download.

1. My all-time favorite blogging tool - - hands-down - - is Windows Live Writer.  I write several different blogs, and Live Writer keeps track of them all.  I write my posts within the software, and it has automatic saving capabilities as I go - - no more lost blog posts!!  Images are a snap to include in posts, which is a lot more than I can say for the interfaces within either Blogger or Wordpress.  And there are tons of plug-ins which provide no end to the other cool things I can do to my blog…generate tags, create Polaroid-style images, link up with my Picasa albums…you name it, Live Writer can probably do it!
2. Another trick that makes blogging easier is the terrific “Share This” add-on for Firefox.  Seeing something on the web that you want to blog about is now as simple as clicking on the “Share This” button in your browser and choosing your blog host.  (you can also share content immediately in dozens of other ways including Twitter, MySpace, Digg, and even by email)
3. I’ve recently become very impressed by the GetSocial application.  GetSocial is a simple social bookmarking tool that will generate a code for each blog post you write so that readers can easily share YOUR content with others via several different bookmarking options.
4. This probably isn’t news to you, but Google rules the world.  And sometimes, with good reason.  There probably isn’t any better analytical tool for finding out how your blog is doing than Google Analytics. It’s accurate.  It’s comprehensive.  And it’s free! What’s better than that??
5. Is your blog content worth saving?  Hopefully, you are all nodding your head “yes” out there.  If you are, then you should know about Web2PDF.  This service allows you to embed a cool tool on your blog so that readers can save or print your articles as pdf files.  It also keeps track of how many people are using the service so you can know which parts of your blog are the most helpful to others.

Yes, you could make an apple pie without your handy-dandy apple peeler/corer/slicer.  But why would you???  I wouldn’t.  Just like I wouldn’t want to blog without these handy-dandy blogging tools.  If you have any favorite tools for blogging that have served you well, why not share them in the comments!

Until Next Time,

Piglet: Oh, d-d-d-dear.  I think I just saw a widget flying by my window!”

Pooh:  Was it holding my missing honey jar, perchance?

Despite it’s strange name, however, the widget (also called a “gadget” by Blogger users) is a quite important piece of the blog puzzle.  Whereas blogs might be thought of as simply websites containing scrolling pieces of writing from most to least recent, the truth is that today’s blogs are so much more.

HTML and Javascript coding have introduced all sorts of possibilities for blogs - - even those hosted on free blog hosts!  As long as a blogger has access to blog settings, he or she can add any number of things to their sidebar.

Here are some popular options for sidebar widgets:

• Picture of the blogger or a graphic representation of the blog
• “About Me” information to get more background on the blogger
• Subscription information, such as how to subscribe to the blog via email or RSS
• Blog Archive – a history of the posts from most recent backwards, usually organized by month
• Search box for being able to search the blog by keyword
• Category listing for grouping blog posts by topic
• Advertisements such as Adsense ads or individual ads
• Links to blogs the blogger enjoys reading or wants to promote - - often called a “blogroll”

Depending on the blog software you use, inserting a widget into the sidebar, can be as simple as clicking on a box and typing in some text, or as complicated as completely coding every line of CSS script.  Most of the mainline blog hosts make it a very easy process, though. 

This ease of use DOES have a downside, however.  Newbie bloggers can often make the mistake of OVER-using widgets and cluttering up their sidebar so much that they detract from the blog posts themselves.  Be wise with your use of widgets and make sure they are inherently tied to the theme of your blog, and not so graphically “tacky” that readers are turned off by the visual clutter.  Try to find a balance between providing helpful information and remaining aesthetically pleasing.

So go ahead…have some fun with those widgets.  That’s what Pooh would do!

Until next time,

Image by melop via Flickr

I consider myself a relatively non-judgmental person.  I try to look at issues from both sides.  I try to evaluate a person’s motives, as well as their actions.  I understand that people have good days and bad days.

But when it comes to blogs, I’m a complete snob.  As are most people.

We give a blog about 15 seconds - - TOPS! - - to impress us, and then we move on.  Why?  Because there are several million other blogs to choose from.  So what does that tell us?  That first impressions matter - - A LOT.

For that reason, it is of the highest importance when creating a blog to focus on the overall visual imprint your blog is going to have on a visitor.

• Are the color schemes inviting?
• Is the template you are using unique?
• Does the header clearly express what the blog is about?
• Is the title catchy and interesting?
• Have you made the blog easy to navigate and find the most important information?
• Are your sidebars easy on the eye, or cluttered with excess?
• Are there enough graphics to keep visual people engaged?

These are all terrific questions to ask yourself when you are in the process of building a new blog.  If the answer to even ONE of these questions is negative, you may have just lost a potential reader.

It would be ideal if everyone in the blogosphere was willing to look past the “externals” of your blog in order to see the truth of what you have to say, but we’re usually far too fickle and too pressed for time to be that understanding.  So, give some serious thought to what your readers’ first impressions of your blog should be, and take the time and effort to make sure they stick around long enough to find out just what it is you have to say.

If you’d like to find out more about blog design, and how to create the right “look” for your new blog, consider signing up for our next session of Blogging 101 - - a comprehensive eight week, instructor-led course for new bloggers!

Until next time,

Blogging 101 is an instructor-led course that will guide you through all the basics of creating and establishing a new blog.  Subjects covered in the Blogging 101 curriculum include:

• What Makes A Good Blog
• Developing Your Blog Identity
• Creating Your Blog
• “About Me” Pages
• Getting Started Writing
• Building Quality Content
• Hooking Your Readers
• Blogging Etiquette and Safety
• Promoting Your Blog

With Blogging 101, you will even have a built-in audience for your first posts - - your fellow classmates!  You will have fun learning with them and from them, and getting honest feedback and comments on your blog content.  Plus, your instructor, experienced blogger and writer, Topsy Techie will hold your hand as you go step by step through the process of creating and starting your new blog.  The Blogging 101 course is more than just a class - - it is a community of people who want to see you succeed in the world of blogging.

This is going to be a terrific course, so register today and don’t miss out on your chance to start a New Blog for the New Year!!

There are so many great ways for schools and teachers to integrate blogs into the educational framework.  They could be used as part of a collaborative writing assignment,  as a way to inform parents of school-related events and activities, or as a way to provide students with additional information about a specific subject or research project.

Anytime the internet is integrated into education, however, there are safety issues to be taken into consideration.  To avoid any potential problems, keep in mind the following advice:

• Be sure that parents are notified of all blogs that their children may be participating in or receiving regularly.  (Depending on the situation, parental permission might even be advisable)
• Check all comment and spam settings on school and classroom blogs.  Comments might be best restricted to students only or at least have Akismet spam detector enabled.
• If privacy is an issue, for instance if a few students are using a blog to create a competitive class assignment, privacy settings on the blog can be set so that only the blog contributors are allowed access.  This can also be helpful if you have a classroom blog that you want to restrict access to.
• Take the opportunity when opening a classroom or student blog to teach students about online safety. 
• Check out Edublogs for an unique and safe option for educational blogging.

To get even more insights about blogging and blogging safety, check out our blog writing courses.

That’s right.  This session of the Blogging 101 course will be over tomorrow, just in time for me to jump into holiday busyness.  ((sigh))  But it has been fun looking back over the new blogs and seeing how far they have come!

In Week Seven, we explored the possibilities of earning money from our blogs.  Since we now have lured some readers to our blog, we discussed how we could turn those clicks into CASH, and how our blog could finally “give back” after all we have put into it!

Week Eight, our final week of the course, has been somewhat of a retrospective.  We took a look at how far our blogs have come since the first days of the course where we were just settling on our themes.  And we are also looking forward - - checking out some of the cool blogging tools and trends that we might want to take advantage of to make our blogging endeavors even more exciting.

With this session of Blogging 101 almost kaput, it is time to be thinking about the NEXT round, which hopefully will begin in early January, if we get enough sign-ups by then.  If you’d like to get in on our next session, be sure to register now, or at least put your name on the waiting list.

I can’t wait to see what the next eight weeks of Blogging 101 has up its sleeve!!!

It is important that readers see your blog as a “hub” that they can go to for support, encouragement, advice, etc.  This is one of the biggest ways to draw traffic and keep it! 

Of course, with the Blogging 101 course, you have a built-in community from the get-go.  Your fellow classmates visit your blog and give both positive feedback and constructive criticism that will help you make your blog the best it can possibly be. 

We’ve had a few more students add their blog addresses this week, so here is an updated list of course blogs…drop by and leave a comment if you can!

• Lifting My Eyes to the Hills
• Faith and a Full House
• Blog of a Free-Form Scholar
• Never Just a Housewife
• Pansy Colored Glasses
• Seeing Through the Illusion
• Moment by Moment
• Black Belt Breakfast of Champions
• Stay at Home / Work at Home

The most exciting thing has been seeing the blogs start to fill with content.  The course “winner” for most prolific writer definitely goes to the blogger of Lifting My Eyes to the Hills, who took on a daily meme right from the get-go!  That’s a way to shoot right out of the starting gates!

But other blogs have started to fill with content as well, and the bloggers have been looking at ways to get inspired, to fight writer’s block, and how to add a little “pizzazz” to their posts to keep things interesting. 

Week Five has been focused on the “little things” that can be added to your blog to give it that extra “something.”  And they are also dutifully attempting to visit each of their classmates’ new blogs in order to leave comments of encouragement and constructive criticism.

If you’d like to check out the different approaches of some of our blogging students, take a minute to visit these blogs:

• Pansy Colored Glasses
• Never Just a Housewife
• Blog of a Free-Form Scholar
• Faith and a Full House
• Moment by Moment

Next week our Blogging 101 students will start building community around their blogs.  This is probably the single most important component of traffic-building, and we will be looking at several different ways to create that sense of community.

Another thing we focused on this week was creating an effective “About Me” page.  This important aspect of a blog is sometimes located on its own page of the blog, but other times is handled right within the blog sidebar.  Our students for this session had a mixture of ways of going about this task.

The final task of the week was exploring blog design a little more closely.  We gave comprehensive instructions for how to use a customized header to draw attention to your blog, and a few of our students have really created headers to be proud of!!

In week four, we will actually begin the process of writing, and creating quality content for our blogs.  We will also dig a little deeper into blog graphics and design and how they can make a big difference in how our blog is received.

If these activities sound like something you would be interested in, then head over to the left hand sidebar, and add yourself to the waiting list for the next Blogging 101 session.  I look forward to seeing you there!

Our new class of bloggers has now completed their second week of the Blogging 101 course at BlogWritingCourse.com.  Not only have they begun to understand what blogging is, but now they have begun to personalize the experience by creating a theme, a title, and even a tagline for their new blogs!

Here is a list of the blogs that have been created so far…of  course they don’t all have content in them, but we will get there. Oh yes, we will get there…

• Tales of a Southern Fried Mind
• Knitty by Nature
• Never Just a Housewife
• Ajamel’s Blog
• Lifting My Eyes
• Pansy Colored Glasses
• Free Form Scholar
• Faith and a Full House

It is so exciting to see these blogs actually take shape and become part of the thread of the blogosphere!  I can’t wait to see the “before and after” versions of each of these blogs from this week to the end of the eighth week of the course.  It is always an amazing transformation!