Being Comfortable with Small

I’ve come to terms with the fact that I am a Small Fry Blogger. Chances are, so should you.

Maybe there’s a chance we’ll be discovered and hit the Big Time. We may or may not make a pile of money because of that, but we’ll be Known. People will ask us for our opinion on things and when we go somewhere, they’ll know who we are.

Isn’t that what we’re after? Isn’t that why we blog?

Really?

As a Catholic writer and blogger, I find I have to fight a few natural causes of Writing Publicly (and writing online, even if for an audience of two, is public writing). One is pride, which seems to manifest itself in Feeling Important. Another is distraction, which manifests itself in an attitude of “The Internet Needs ME, RIGHT NOW.”

Both of these, in my experience, can be battled by constant discernment, frequent prayer, and vigilant humility.

In the last six years of blogging, I’ve changed. My blog has also changed. I’ve gained new readers, lost others, and learned a lot in the mean time.

My publishers seem happy with my platform, but I still consider it very much Small Fry Blogging.

We could get into a discussion of quality versus quantity, but my point is this: we have to be comfortable, first and foremost, with who we are as bloggers.

Food for thought: Who are you as a blogger? What’s your passion? And can you be comfortable with the smallness that is probably an inevitability of your blogging?

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Using Facebook and Twitter to Promote Your Blog

Though I have a reluctant relationship with Facebook at best, I’ve come to accept that, many times, Facebook is where I’m going to get readers and interaction.

The people following me on Facebook are, in theory at least, interested in what I have to say on my blog and are invested in me since we’re “friends.”

Today, I thought I’d point out a few ways you can use Facebook and Twitter to promote your blog posts, since your followers/friends in those venues might not take the time to click to your blog or even know that you have a blog they want to read. They also might not want to read everything you write

Here are a three easy-to-use tools that can help you use Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about your blog. They are all very similar in their capabilities and ease of use.

For people who use Facebook (or Twitter, for that matter) like a feed reader, this is an invaluable service. For those of us who don’t, it doesn’t hurt anything.

dlvr.it (pronounced “deliver it”)
I have Jen Fitz to thank for bringing this to my attention in the comments of a previous discussion of traffic. It’s an all-in-one service, including both Facebook and Twitter. You’ll need to open an account with them and then link up your blog feed (for those of you non-technical types, this is usually as easy as just entering the web address of your blog, if you haven’t changed things or set up a feed).

Networked Blogs
This is a popular service that I’ve been using for quite a few years to deliver my blog posts to Facebook automatically. Here’s the way it works: you enter the information and bam! Your blog appears in your Facebook feed. You can also set up a feature called “Syndication” that will let you publish your blog’s feed to your Facebook profile/timeline, any or all of your Facebook pages, and any or all of your Twitter accounts.

Twitterfeed
Much like dlvr.it, Twitterfeed is an all-in-one service. You set up an account, link to your Facebook, Twitter, and blog accounts, and you’re done. You’ll get some stats that are available to you through this, such as how many people clicked through or read from Facebook or Twitter.

If you have a WordPress blog…
It bears mentioning that if you have a WordPress blog (as I do), you can set it up to automatically use your Twitter account and post your new blog material there automatically. I’ve used the Twitter for WordPress and Twitter Tools plug-ins with some success.

YOUR TURN: what questions does this bring to mind? Do you have any tips of your own to share?

Blogging for Beginners: Stats & Stuff

In my less compulsive moments, I like to think that I don’t care about my blog stats.

And really, I blog anyway. Even though they’re not spectacular or crashing the server with their high numbers.

It’s not about the numbers.

Go ahead. Laugh. I just did. Because it’s SO EASY to forget.

What they are:

Stats tell you how many visits you have to your blog. They can vary in the amount of detail they give you, depending on the software you use or the blogging service.

Your stats (or statistics, if my shortening the word is giving you the shakes) can tell you a few things. They can tell you how many views your blog is getting. They can tell you where people are coming from and what’s bringing them to you. They can tell you that on a certain day in July, you had some highly unusual traffic.

They can drive you crazy. Be warned.

You can usually find them through the Dashboard of your blogging service. (In order not to make this a highly technical post, I’m going to point you to Google for specifics beyond that.)

How to look at or use stats:

Using your stats as a guide can be helpful. You can get a feel, for one thing, of who your audience is.

To check the number of people you have in Google Reader, you click on “Feed Settings” at the top, and then on “View details and statistics.”

 And no, I won’t be sharing my numbers with you, though you can check them for yourself. (I made the mistake of checking a few of my favorite bloggers first. My dignity is still intact, but barely.)

You can see what topics or posts are popular. One thing I’ve noticed is that at certain times of the year, certain posts from my archive get popular. I’ve also noticed that I get a bit of traffic from Google Images, which isn’t the same as people coming by to read my stuff (though maybe, just maybe, one or two do).

A few ideas to improve your stats:

Improve your post titles. Say what you’re going to say, but do it in a way that catches someone’s attention, as in “The “Control” of Self-Publishing.” Or be straightforward and use a list, as in “5 Reasons Your Would-be Publisher Was Not Very Nice.” Want some tips? Read this, especially the part about search engine optimization.

Interact elsewhere online. Be part of the community. Make people want to visit you and read what you have to say.

Read the blogging blogs and do all the little tricks. Though, arguably, if you’re blogging just to get traffic, maybe you and I have different ideas about why we blog in the first place (see the point below about blogging purpose).
Write for your audience. So you have a group of committed readers. Who are they? What do they like about what you’re writing? They’re already coming and reading, so tap into that!

How to stay sane despite your stats:

Be realistic. I have to remind myself, day in and day out, that I am not the next Jennifer Fulwiler or Simcha Fisher or Danielle Bean. I can only be Sarah Reinhard, and that is all. In fact, there can be some very detrimental things with comparing myself too much with those pillars of blogging, those bastions of my feed reader, those favorites of mine. I have to be happy with who I am.

But…it’s good to set goals, to set high standards, to not settle. (How’s that for contradicting my previous paragraph?)

Revisit your blogging purposes. Why are you blogging? Should you blog? Do you need more or different focus? Would another alternative–such as a Facebook page or a general website–build your platform in a way that’s better for you?

Blog traffic is not the same as book sales. Sometimes, you have to just stay sane and ignore your stats. I know one heavyweight blogger who gives up looking at her stats for Lent. If you find yourself too attached to the numbers, I would encourage you to do the same.

YOUR TURN: What questions do you have about stats (aside from the technical “how specifically do I check them in my blogging software”)? What tips and pointers do you have to share?

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Living Life Offline

 

My husband made a comment in a teasing sort of way, mid-December, that there was no way I could spend a week offline. I needed no further impetus to answer a pull I’d been feeling for a while.

I spent the week between Christmas and New Years mostly offline. I didn’t read blogs, post status updates to Facebook or Twitter, or read my email.

I read four books, an advance manuscript, and a friend’s first-draft manuscript. I puttered around the house, doing my usual assortment of household things, and waited for my phone to ring (it didn’t, though I’ll bet that would have changed if I had refused to text).

The week was wonderful, in many ways. It was a tangible reminder that, as online as I may be with so much of my work and communications, I have to live my life offline.

My best ideas and my best inspirations come from the world around me. 

Though I read plenty of things online and there is a lot of room for inspiration, for me, the best is what’s happening around me: the brilliance of the sunrise, the book I’m reading, the antics of my family.

When I am online all the time, I run the risk of living an alternate life. I become the Sarah people think I am, as opposed to the Sarah who’s really here, right now, tapping away during the baby’s nap. I lose sight of the humor and heartache in my real world, and while there’s room for my world to include the internet, I have to remember my priorities.

My best source remains real life. The rest is extra.

Immediacy is sometimes overrated.

As I’ve been at this writing thing longer, I’ve noticed that the ideas that really need to stay…do. The more I try to catch and capture and keep, the more they seem to slip between my fingers.

On the other hand, the more I sit back, rely on God for my inspiration, and trust in His ways, the better everything seems to go.

(All of that, mind you, is easy to type and advise you. It is much harder to follow it myself.)

When I’m online, it’s harder to slow down, to think, to ponder, which leads me to my next observation.

I’m less distracted when my online time is segmented.

The internet looms around me. It will take over every single minute that I let it have.

Now that I have an iPad, it seems it never stops. I can drop in and check email after the kids are in bed, even though my laptop’s tucked away and I’m technically offline. I can ignore what I dubbed “Offline Evenings” a few Lents ago, because I’m just popping in.

The problem is, the “popping in” lasts all evening, and I’ve not only lost the only real reading time I’m guaranteed, but also any chance I could have had to interact with my husband.

I’m a better blogger because of time spent offline.

I am forced to focus, to keep it real, and to be efficient. I have to pay attention to my priorities, and if I’m not careful, they’ll creep in the wrong direction.

Do you spend focused time offline? What have you found?

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Taking My Own Advice (and an Invitation to You!)


It’s December and, thanks to mysterious graces from above, I’m less stressed than I was at the beginning of Advent.

I found my Advent wreath! And I set it up! (Yes, it was well into the second week of Advent before I did, as the picture proves.)
We’ve made it through one family Christmas, with another to go before we hit Christmas week. The tree is up, the kids haven’t electrocuted themselves yet, and I appear to be keeping most of my sanity.
Let’s not talk wrapping. Or even whether all the gifts have been purchased.
If you’re interested in seeing how a blog carnival works, (and hey, if you want to participate) visit my place this week. I’m soliciting pictures and posts from people of their Advent wreaths (today’s the deadline to submit, though I’ll do my best to get everyone in, whenever they submit).

In terms of taking my own advice, I’ve requested a break for the rest of the month from our illustrious blog editor. I promise to return in January and to regale you with stories of my blogging adventures. (We are working on some behind-the-scenes things with this here space!)
Sometimes, you just need to cut the cord, and that’s what I’m doing, at least here. (I’ll also be taking a break at my place, but not until the end of the month.)
How do you rest and rejuvenate this time of year, in the midst of the stress?

What blogging topics do you want me to cover in January?


When Sarah Reinhard isn’t blogging at SnoringScholar.com, she can usually be found on Twitter and Facebook. She’s in denial about the amount of reading time she doesn’t have right now and has authored a number of titles, including her latest, Welcome Risen Jesus: Lenten and Easter Reflections for Families.

Avoiding Holiday Hangover on Your Blog


You schedule things ahead of time, get yourself raring to go, and then you walk away from your virtual world for a while.

There’s nothing wrong with that, and I think it’s a good thing to do from time to time.
But have you noticed how you feel sort of hungover when you get back to the reality of regular blogging? It’s like Monday times ten.
Here are three of my strategies for dealing with holiday hangover on my blog:
1. Ease into posting.
This takes a variety of forms, including posting a picture or three, sharing lighthearted fare, and even scheduling a guest post.
Instead of jumping back in full-force, I find it’s better for me (just as it is with a cold swimming pool) to ease into the schedule of posting, whatever it is. I give myself permission to miss a day (or three).
2. Schedule some things BEFORE the holidays strike.
I like to have a few things in my line-up well in advance. (Note: I fail regularly at this.) Maybe it’s a “Happy {insert holiday name}” message or a quote that’s struck me recently. I might have a guest post that works well.
3. Pray. Smile. Repeat.
For those of you rolling your eyes, I know. I know! How is this a strategy? How is it helpful? Am I just desperately trying to find a third thing?
But here’s the thing: we’re all Catholic writers, and if we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, there is prayer involved, first and foremost. Nothing–nothing–is too small for God, and I would argue that your blogging–which probably takes up a fair amount of your writing time–should be something that’s in God’s hands.
So discuss this holiday hangover business with him. Ask for his guidance. Accept the graces and ideas that come to you from him.
How about you? I’d love to hear YOUR strategies for dealing with holiday hangover on your blog!
When Sarah Reinhard isn’t blogging at SnoringScholar.com, she can usually be found on Twitter and Facebook. She’s in denial about the amount of reading time she doesn’t have right now and has authored a number of titles, including her latest, Welcome Risen Jesus: Lenten and Easter Reflections for Families.

Blogging for Beginners: Terms & Concepts

First, we covered getting yourself a blog. This week, let’s talk vocabulary.

This is a starter list, so chime in if you have questions or you’re unsure about something bloggy.

Blog
Everyone says this is short for weblog. In five-plus years of blogging, though, I have never seen anyone who actually blogs refer to their site as a weblog. It’s like putting the “-” in e-mail (as opposed to writing it “email” without the hyphen). Your blog is where you write. It’s updated through RSS, so it’s changing. A blog is a kind of website. A website is not always a blog.

A blog is like a newspaper–changing frequently. A website that’s not a blog, on the other hand, is like a book, with content that’s not changing. Though you probably update your website, it doesn’t require a steady flow of new material day after day.

On a blog, you keep a frequently updated series of entries, providing news, commentary, or other content.

–Related terms:
  • Blogosphere
    The world of blogging. Is it a real word? Nah, probably not. Except that those of us who are completely entrenched in it don’t know that, so let us live in our little world of made-up words, wouldja? 🙂
  • Blog (the verb)
    The act of writing for your blog, as in “Sorry, can’t help you right now, I’m blogging!”
Post
An entry on a blog. What you are reading right now is a post.

–Related terms:
  • Category or Tag

    You have the opportunity to categorize your posts, depending on what kind of blogging software you use. I use WordPress on my personal site, so there’s a chance to use both categories and tags. This allows you to flag key words and specific content and organize yourself. For example, here on the CWG blog, I often tag my posts blogging. We have other bloggers who write about fiction.
  • Comments
    This is where the conversation takes place on blogs. Comments are the responses other people (or even the author) leave on a post.
Page
This is an unchanging portion of your blog. It’s a webpage, essentially, and it’s different from your blog feed because you don’t type a post to change it. For example, here on the CWG blog, the Blog Schedule is a page. And here I’m talking about a page within a blog, which is different than a webpage. (Confused yet? Sorry!)

–Information that belongs in a post versus on a page:
Blog posts highlight information that’s not going to be around forever. Eventually, it will be in archives (though you could link to it later, repost it, etc.). Pages, on the other hand, would contain information you want people to find and that doesn’t need to change. On my website, for example, I have a page for my speaking topics, which changes every so often but is mostly static.

Sidebar
Many blog designs have areas on the side. Those areas are called sidebars.

–Related term:
  • Blogroll
    A listing of links to other blogs, often found in a sidebar or on its own page within a blog or website.
Link
This is an example of a link. See how it’s a different color and when you hover your mouse over it you can click? That’s a link. It’s text or an image that takes you to another webpage or file.

–Related terms:
  • Backlink
    This is when someone links back to your blog or a post on your site.
  • Permalink
    Some posts have long and unwieldy links, or you’ll notice that the URL has extra junk at the end, because you were referred by somewhere else. A permalink is the permanent link for a post, one that does not change and always leads to that post.
Feed
This is what makes it possible for your blog posts to be delivered to people via email or different reader programs (i.e. Google Reader). There are a variety of feed types, such as RSS, Atom, or RDF.
Those who read your blog from a feed reader (like me!) have a different experience of your blog than those who actually visit your website. For one thing, they don’t see anything other than your post–no background, no fancy sidebars, no pretty header. Just the post. It makes it easier to take in a lot of information from blogs in one place.
If you want to know how it is for your readers, I suggest signing up for a feed reader (I like Google Reader) and subscribing to a few blogs. More details at this article, Feed 101.
Related term:
  • RSS
    Stands for “rich site syndication” and is one type of magic that makes your blog content appear in my feed reader (I use Google Reader, but there are lots of others). RSS allows web content that’s regularly updated to be delivered to people via different methods (as opposed to them having to always check back with the actual website). If you want to learn more, here’s a great explanation of what RSS is (and it’s written in English, too).
Stats
Statistics, including how many people are viewing your site, what posts are most popular, and what color you should wear. There are a variety of different programs and add-ons for this, and we’ll cover stats in more depth in a future post in this series.

Related term:
  • SEO
    Search engine optimization, or “how you get people to find you,” although that makes it sound more important than it is. Wait, it IS important. But it can also be distracting. Just like stats.
Further Reading:
Have I left anything out? What term or concept has you scratching your head and wondering? Ask away in the comments!

When Sarah Reinhard isn’t blogging at SnoringScholar.com, she can usually be found on Twitter and Facebook. She’s in denial about the amount of reading time she doesn’t have right now and has authored a number of titles, including her latest, Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families.

What you should know as a Catholic blogger

We interrupt the Blogging for Beginners series because, well, I have sick kids and didn’t manage my time well enough to get my second installment posted.

In the meantime, here are a few must-reads for all of you Catholic bloggers:
Jen Fulwiler shares from her extensive technical web-building knowledge and makes it easy-to-understand. She also gives us all a call to action.
I took away some good tips from this, and I’m betting you will too, even if you’ve been blogging and/or writing for a million years. Who knew that including links in your text can hamper readability? I do it anyway, but I like the idea of including a summary at the end of posts with a listing of what you’ve linked to.
I don’t subscribe to some of the negativity in this, but again, I think there’s room for each of us to take away some tips about this. I heartily disagree about keeping your personality out of your blogging, but I will spare you from my line-by-line critique of this post. I include it here in part because I don’t agree with everything in it…it gives you another viewpoint, right?
And with that, I have to go break up a fight, convince a baby to quit climbing on bookshelves, and continue my novena for an end to coughing and puking…here’s hoping you have a great week!
When Sarah Reinhard isn’t blogging at SnoringScholar.com, she can usually be found on Twitter and Facebook. She’s in denial about the amount of reading time she doesn’t have right now and has authored a number of titles, including her latest, Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families.

Blogging for Beginners: Get Yourself a Blog

You’ve decided that you want or need a blog, and now you need to wade into the waters of setting it up. This week, let’s cover how to do that.
1. Blogging Platforms
I’m going to mention the two I’ve worked with at length.

I spent many years on Blogger, and in fact, this blog is hosted on Blogger. It’s easy to use and easy to get started with. If you decide to move to another platform, it’s relatively easy to migrate your posts, but you could start and stay with Blogger, I think. It’s also tied in with Google, so there’s search engine optimization that happens automatically (or so they say).

Highly recommended for beginners and those who are technically-challenged.

WordPress has really become popular in the last couple of years, and it’s because it is a very versatile platform for websites in general. There are a lot of free templates to let you choose and customize how exactly your blog looks and a great community of helps and tips.

Highly recommended as a website solution. It will probably take a little getting used to and need you to read or watch tutorials.
  • Other Platforms

I don’t have any experience with any other blogging platforms, but TypePad always seems to make the top three lists and seems to be easy to use and to make a nice finished look. If you have other recommendations for blogging platforms, please include them in the comments!

2. Hosting and Such
Do you want to have your own website (which costs money) or just use the free service? If you want a custom website address (also known as a domain name or URL), you’ll have to spend some money for hosting.
You can register your domain name and do an installation of the full version of WordPress with both of these providers. You may also opt to have custom email (i.e. [email protected]) hosted as well.
In both of these providers, you have the option to have a “site builder,” which is a guided set-up process and helps you learn the ropes.
3. What Next?
Well, now you write! Yes, there is a bit more to it than just that, but only as much as you want there to be. You can have fancy sidebars with blogrolls and even widgets of content.
For more on this topic, take a gander at these resources I found online:
Next week, we’ll look at some terminology and jargon, so if that last paragraph has you scratching your head, never fear!
The comments are open for questions, as always, so ask away!
Sarah Reinhard has been blogging at SnoringScholar.com for six years and is also active on Twitter and Facebook. She’s the author of Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families.

Helpful Blogging Links

Are you a non-technical type? Are you new to blogging and feeling quite overwhelmed and unsure of where to start?

I found a few links and, since I’m tight on time this week, thought I would share them with you. Next month, we’ll dive into some blogging for beginners posts. Until then, this is your homework. If you’re confused about something specifically, feel free to leave it in the comments and I’ll do my best to field your questions.
– This has a lot of useful information and links. It explains some of the terms that I use rather freely (RSS, anyone?) and also outlines
– This post has some useful information in it, though it seems aimed at the travel industry.
– I know, by now you probably have a blog already. But sometimes I find it helpful to go back through the steps of something I don’t understand that well.
Seth Godin’s Free E-Book, Who’s There
– The link above opens a PDF file, but it’s worth your time. I found it as I was preparing this post, and as a fan of Seth Godin, I’m pretty sure I’ll learn something from it. I’m pretty sure, knowing Seth Godin, that you will learn something too. So let’s read it, and if anything strikes us, we’ll discuss it in the combox or a future post.
With that, I have to spank some deadlines into shape. Have a great couple of weeks, y’all!

Sarah Reinhard blogs at SnoringScholar.com and is also on Twitter and Facebook. She’s the author of Welcome Baby Jesus: Advent and Christmas Reflections for Families.