Blog Focus and Promotion

My blog has really gone through some changes this past week!  I gave it an updated look, added more posts, changed up the widgets and invited a guest blogger.  In this week's David Meerman Scott's reading, I wanted to focus on the Blogging Ethics Guidelines he writes about on pages 240-241.  Now that I am part of this blogging community, I want to contribute the right way.  So "transparency, privacy, disclosure, truthfulness and credit" are now top of mind every time I create a new post and comment on other blogs.  

Promotion

It became obvious after I created and published my first blog post last week that it was not going to promote itself (I think I heard crickets).  So I read Blaise Lucey's article on places to promote your blog and got some great info.  Facebook and Twitter were a given to use.  I tweeted my newest blog post.  I also created a Facebook page for Living Healthy and Happy and asked my friends to like my page and checkout my blog.  I saw immediate responses/likes/blog comments and it was so gratifying!  Lucey also noted LinkedIn and Pinterest were great places to promote.  So I added my blog to my LinkedIn profile and will always be sure to include pictures in all of my blogs so that they can be pinned to Pinterest.  

Audience

I also got some great information from Larry Ferlazzo about building my blog audience.  His first point - "Write for yourself, not for others" - really made sense.  This is my blog.  I am writing because I am passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and want to share this with others.  But this is also helping me to improve my writing and critical thinking skills and not to mention if I am writing about being healthy - I need to be as healthy as possible!  I love this perspective of owning a blog and it gives me a sense of purpose and responsibility.  I want my audeince to get to know me and trust what I am telling them.  Ferlazzo also states leaving thoughtful comments will grow my blog audience. Now that I am building my blog, adding more posts and promoting it, I feel that I will look more creditable to other bloggers.  I am looking forward to commenting on more posts and hope that fellow bloggers will then check my blog out too.

Jamie Boyer Blog - Living Healthy & Happy

Comments on other blogs - Pickey Eater and Off the Beaten Path

Guest Blogger - Trip to San Fran