Wings I was given,
to fly I was taught,
yet,
hesitant I have been
to take that leap,
and
to spread those wings
lest they shrivel and die.
©
Jacqueline
Tag: blogs
Featured Posts…
Gosh! I haven’t done this in donkey months and believe me when I say that it perturbs me. My blogging schedule has gone to rack and ruin 😉 Life happens and sometimes when it does, you are left grappling to get a grip on things.
La, di, da, anyway, let’s get it going. Please do send in your precious links to your inspiring, interesting posts that you want others to eyeball so that I can share with my supportive readers. Let’s revive this comatose feature. It will feature twice weekly and you can add your link ‘through this loop,’
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Remember, sharing is caring. When we come together we grow together.’
Thank you.
The Little Flame..
Our silence sufficed. We thought that
if we didn’t talk about those micro things
that made us uncomfortable,
they would disappear.
So, we walked the fringes of invisibility.
Hiding our thoughts from fear and shame
hoping that no one notices
the tears running down our face.
Our silence became brooding anger.
Micro things became macro things
and in the fringe of invisibility, we plotted;
fueled by the stokes of little flames.
©
Jacqueline
An Igbo proverb says, ‘when we overlook the small pot, it puts off the fire.’ Never underestimate the little things, for they can become the big things.
The Daily Post – micro
Featured Posts
‘PLEASE SEND IN YOUR LINKS.’
Today’s featured blogs are:
Success is easier than you think
‘Success is a culmination of thousands of micro-achievements made.’ I totally love this short encouraging post. Packed with a dose of wisdom, practicality, and reality.
What’s your definition of love? Is it rock steady or does it make your heart flutter?
Love doesn’t happen at first sight. Love, like most good things, occurs when you least expect it.
Preparation for the union art show
DeBorah’s artwork ‘Broadway function en lacquer’ will be displayed at the Union art show this March. I feel proud sis. Nothing like birthing your dreams. Like you said, ‘keep upping your game.’
Do step in, explore these blogs and show some love.
Do you want more eyes on your blogs?’
Well then, add your LINK TO THIS LOOP.
‘Remember, we create a cohesive community when we come together.
The Factors That Should Not Be Allowed To Hold Your Blog Back
There are many, many many different bloggers out there trying to stake their claim in the endless and ever-expanding frontier that is the digital landscape. As of last year, there were around 350 million blogs on Tumblr alone. In such an oversaturated marketplace it takes a real pioneering spirit to plant your flag in the dirt and let everyone hear your voice. Broadly speaking, bloggers fall into 3 distinct categories. The first category is made up of hobbyists who use their blog as a whetstone to hone their writing skills, document their day to day lives and/or use their blog as a vehicle to keep far away friends abreast at what’s going on with them. The second group are the semi-pros. They’re committed to growing their blog and while they hope to someday use it as their main source of income… they’re not quite there yet. The third are the professionals. They have a sizeable following, they’ve monetized their blog and use it as their primary source of income.
Image by Pexels
Transitioning from the first category to the second is relatively straightforward. All you need to do is commit to creating regular content and put the effort in to grow your audience. Making it into the realms of the professionals, however, is a tricky business and there are many impediments that will try to block your path. Don’t let these repeat offenders stop you from living your dream…
Lack of investment
Few bloggers realize just how much they need to invest to be able to turn pro, which might necessitate a change in net working capital. Your battered old laptop and your basic WordPress site are unlikely to launch you into the stratosphere. A good laptop will be important to ensure that you’re able to manage several processes at once without slowing you down. Creating your own high-resolution images will allow you to stand out from the crowd so a good quality camera is also a good idea. You’ll also need to invest in your own domain name and a web hosting package with enough space to store your content.
Apathy
All bloggers start their journey with boundless enthusiasm, churning out content with gusto. If the content doesn’t find its audience, however, it’s easy for that enthusiasm to erode and turn into apathy and self-doubt. Before long they’re barely posting content anymore because… Why bother? If this sounds achingly familiar you may need to give yourself a shake to stay motivated.
Fear
There’s no greater enemy to creativity than fear. Fear that we’ll never be as good as our peers. Fear that nobody will care to read our content. Fear that we’ll receive nasty comments. Fear that we’ll be shunned by the community of bloggers and fear that we’ll be laughed out of the internet. While fear can be potent in stifling your creative spark it must not be allowed to extinguish it. Post regularly, share on social media regularly and maintain good relations with your fellow bloggers and the interest will come!
Lack of focus
With so much content out there, people like to go to particular blogs to read about very particular things. Therefore the more you know your niche the better. If you’re a parenting blog, choose a specialism in the realm of parenting like nutrition or education. If you love to write about movies, specialize in a genre like science fiction or horror. The more focused your niche, the better chance you have of reaching your target audience.
From Blog To Business: Turning Your Fun Into Finance
When most people start with a hobby like blogging, they won’t be going at it with the aim of making some money. Instead, this sort of pastime is something most people do because they enjoy it, choosing to give their free time to something which can help others. Of course, though, this doesn’t mean that it can’t make you a little something at the same time. To help you out with this, this post will be exploring some of the areas you have to consider when you’re going from blog to business.
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The Monetization
Most commonly, blogs will make their money from adverts which are hosted on their site. This sort of option is great if you have loads of visitors coming to your site, reading a huge range of your content. Options like Google AdWords are great, as they are very easy to use. Of course, though, you could find someone to pay you directly to post adverts for them.
A lot of bloggers don’t like to make their money-making ventures obvious, though, and adverts can make it very hard to achieve this. So, instead, getting involved with some influencer marketing could help you out to a huge degree. Using a scheme like this, you will be paid to make posts based on your opinion, making it a lot easier to remain true to your readers.
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The Background
Of course, making money out of your blog isn’t the only thing you need to think about. Along with this, once you start running a business, you have to make sure you’re protected. Small home-based business insurance has never been easier or cheaper to get your hands on. While it might take some time to research it, this sort of product can give you a huge amount of support going into the future.
Once you start to make some money out of your writing, you will have to start thinking about other issues like taxation and earning reporting. Thankfully, software like Quickbooks makes this very easy for you, giving you the ability to simply record your earnings and the tax you have to pay. This part of running your own company can be very scary. So, it’s worth having the right set of tools to help you out with it.
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Monitoring Your Progress
Finally, as the last thing to consider, you have to think of some ways to monitor how well your new business is doing. On most blogging platforms, like WordPress and Blogger, there are loads of ways to record the number of people using your site. Along with this, the metrics given to you by your advertisers will be very helpful. This makes it nice and easy to identify any changes you could be making.
Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start working on building your blog into something more than just a hobby. Being able to make money out of something like this is an excellent way to enhance it for yourself. Of course, though, it will also come with a lot of work.
Go Hard or Go Home Approach To Making Your Blog Stand Out.
Anyone just starting out in the blogging world will probably wonder how long it takes to become successful. Well, that can depend on many different factors, but this post will focus on achieving that goal by making the blog stand-out from the crowd. Hopefully, people who put these tips into action will reach their dreams of becoming a professional blogger and website owner. It’s not as difficult as most people think when following the information outlined below. Also, there is no need to invest a lot of money in most instances.
Publish excellent content all the time
It stands to reason that the best blogs always post fantastic and informative content for their readers. So, anyone who wants to succeed in the industry will have to focus on doing that first and foremost. Websites will never get millions of views every day if the content is less than perfect. That means it’s often sensible to employ the services of a freelance editor to check things over before anyone presses “publish.” Tips for writing great content include:
- Presenting information readers don’t know
- Offering a fresh perspective on different situations
- Coming up with new ideas people have never voiced before
Create stunning graphics visitors can’t ignore
All bloggers should do their best to gain some basic graphic design skills if they want to make a success of their websites. Stunning imagery can encourage readers to come back time and time again. There is no need to stress if individuals have never done that in the past. There are plenty of Adobe Indesign training classes by Training Connection and similar providers. Sometimes it’s best to complete a program of that nature because they teach people how to use the software properly. So, anyone who does that should have a head start when it comes to designing unusual graphics people will never forget.
Consider adding a vlogging section to the site
Lots of people in the blogging world have moved towards vlogging in recent times. It’s a similar concept except the individual will record videos instead of writing articles. Anyone who chooses to do that should upload the clips to a YouTube channel as well as their website. That way, they open themselves up to an entirely new audience. There are lots of tips and advice available from Vlog Nation and similar sites. Far more people watch vlogs than reading blog posts these days. For that reason, all new bloggers should experiment with video when they get the opportunity.
From the suggestions mentioned on this page, new bloggers should manage to make some useful changes and increase the size of their audiences. When all’s said and done, there is more than enough room in the market for thousands of people to go professional in that industry. It’s just a case of finding the right approach and standing out from the crowd. As the old saying goes, individuals should either go hard or go home when it comes to making their site memorable to readers. Experiment, try various ideas and work out the best strategies based on the results. Good luck!
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A Creative Way Around The Technology Of Your Blog
The more outlets creative individuals have, the better. We all have our niche, of course, be it writing, painting, or making music. But, we don’t need to stick to our specialty. In fact, it’s better to branch out. One creative outlet feeds another, and the more you use, the more complete your creative satisfaction will be.
Some alternatives can even help your primary pursuit. Blogging, for example, provides you with a new way to share what you love doing. If you write fiction, you could post pieces or speak about your writing process. If you love painting, you could develop a blog reviewing your favourite methods.
But, many creative individuals avoid the blogging world. Why? Because the idea of all that technology gives a lot of us a headache. Far from being an inspiration, it seems like a sure way to kill creativity. In truth, though, you may not need to be as technologically minded as you think. Knowing your stuff may help, but there’s a shortcut for every eventuality. To prove the point, we’re going to look at a few of them!
The Appearance
The appearance of your page is important. If you’re putting your name to this, you want it to look good. But, how do you start? In truth, there’s no easy way to make your theme. There’s coding galore to learn. You’d need to know colour codes, button sequences, and so on. It’s not impossible, but it would take some time.
To save you the hassle, you could turn to pre-made blog layouts. Sites like WordPress offer free themes. Bear in mind, though, that these are commonly used. If you want something unique, you could always opt for a paid option from another site.
The Additions
Successful blogs often have additions, from mailing lists to background music. You don’t need to be a tech whizz to incorporate these, either. Setting up a mailing list is much easier than you think. Companies like ConvertKit ensure even beginners can get going. As for incorporating music, it’s as simple as watching a few quick online tutorials. Once you get started, you’ll wonder what all the worry was about.
The Emergencies
There’s always the possibility of emergencies when using technology. If your blog goes down, it could be bad news for your reputation. And, if you don’t know your stuff, you may struggle to get it running again. Who needs the headache? In truth, though, research will ensure you can cope with anything. Something like this guide about how to fix the “Error establishing a database connection” problem on WordPress has got you covered. A guide like this shows you the best ways to get your site up and running again fast.
Backing up your page and content will also go a long way. You don’t need to be a genius to get on top of this; you just need to be organized. And, if there’s one thing creative people are good at, it’s getting organized when it matters most.
Featured Posts – Share Your Post Links
‘PLEASE SEND IN YOUR LINKS.’
Today’s featured blogs are:
Woman wanting to strengthen relationships with other women
An interesting good read that will get your thoughts rolling.
Do you find it easy to connect and build great relationships with other women or do you prefer male friends?
Watch This! My thoughts below:
The first gives you some faith in human kindness whilst the second cuts your breath off. I have a brother-in-law who drowned four years ago in Toronto and watching this made me think of him. Could someone have helped him – he went with some colleagues to the Lake – but they chose not to?
The second shows what’s all that’s wrong with human kind. It hurts the soul to see these things.
The life of a fresh Nigerian graduate. Funny article – but not a funny reality. My comments below:
You take me back to the days of fresh out of school where they feel you should be happy to be employed – free-of-charge 🙂
Fantastic image to go with a delightful tale.How we take these mundane things in our lives for granted, yet they know so much about us. If the articles that we use on a daily basis could talk, I can only imagine what they would have to say
Absolutely heartwarming vignette. Here’s what I had to say:
Can I say beautiful like others have echoed? Oh Roo, you make me think of my siblings and have a lump in my throat. A wonderful family is everything.
Do step in, explore these blogs and show some love.
Do you want more eyes on your words?’
Well then, add your LINK INTO THIS LOOP.
Comments are disabled here to keep the loop tidy. Any comments or link you want to send can be added through the link in the post.
Thank you for your understanding and regards.
‘Remember, we create a cohesive community when we come together.
ω
Check out my latest book ‘Unbridled.’
a cooking pot and twisted tales 
