Tag: Bloggiesta

 

It’s Sunday night and I’m about ready to cross the Bloggiesta Finish Line. Below is the list of goals I created and the progress I made:

1. Schedule post about my All Hallows Reads plan. Done! Look for that later this week.
2. Schedule three mini-bite reviews. Done! I wrote them, scheduled them, and even started on a fourth one.
3. Blogroll Overhaul mini-challenge. Done! I started off with 10 links on my blogroll. Said goodbye to dead link for Coyote Con, removed an author I no longer really follow and added links for Beth Cato, one of my writing friends, and several writer-friendly sites: NaNoLJers, NaNoWriMo and World Weaver Press. I ended up with a total of 12 sites. Additionally I updated my Biography page which hadn’t been updated since 2009.
4. Update three of my blog templates. While reviewing my templates, it seems I only have two templates. One is for book reviews and the other is for Mailbox Monday. I didn’t update either one.

I had limited time this weekend but managed to participate in two chats and get some things done on my blog. Overall I’m pretty pleased with the time and effort I put into it. I even had a badge created for a new feature on the blog. I hope you’ll like it!

What exactly is Bloggiesta? It’s been around several years and while the timing has changed, the mini-challenges and events have evolved, the focus of Bloggiest hasn’t changed a bit. It’s about giving your blog some love and attention in ways you may not do often. In the past I’ve setup SEO Keywords on old posts, organized/scheduled posts, generated post ideas, learned how to revitalize old content, prepped for author interviews, updated my WP plugins, typed reviews, and so on.

Each Bloggiesta has mini challenges to inform and give you a chance to put this new knowledge to use. I’ve had a hankering to work on the blog as of late and the timing of Bloggiesta couldn’t be any better.

Here are my goals:

1. Schedule post about my All Hallows Reads plan.
2. Schedule three mini-bite reviews.
3. Blogroll Overhaul mini-challenge.
4. Update three of my blog templates.

Have you heard of Bloggiesta? Are you participating in it this time around?

I didn’t get to stop by all of the mini-challenges but this was a great Bloggiesta.

Here are some of the mini-challenges I was able to complete:

1. On a Book Bender’s mini-challenge on Organization and Scheduling Posts. I came up with a new posting schedule. And I printed off some calendar and weekly pages to get me through the rest of the year. They are now in one of my binders which I can look at weekly to know what I have ahead of me. Lastly, I learned about a handy dandy new plug-in called Duplicate Post which should cut down on my review posting time.
2. GirlOXO’s mini-challenge on 20+ Discussion Post Ideas. Let’s face it, there’s not a lot of comment love on the site. I got some ideas for my “tally” category using lists. Hopefully they will generate some discussion and can be revisited again in later years.
3. Smash Attack Reads Grade Your Website. It’s been years since I graded my site. I dropped way down to 67% due to mostly social media. Imagine me speaking in my best shaky old lady voice, “Back then the grades were all about SEO, not about social media!” Yes, I’m resistant to Klout. Probably because I see a stream of messages in a row on Twitter where people gave or received Klout from someone. It feels like spam to me.
4. Jessica of The Blue Stockings on Revitalizing Old Content. I’m sure a plug-in might help to highlight old reviews but what I’m walking away with is a plan to highlight old author events. For example, I’m a big fan of the Thurber House so each time I post about one of their events I can include links to some of my past posts.

Did you participate in Bloggiesta?

Have you ever participated in Bloggiesta? It’s a weekend dedicated to getting bloggy things done. Over the years I’ve made a gravatar, placed copyright notices on the site, and tagged my old blog entries among other things. (Yes, that was something like two years of posts!)

This time Bloggiesta is being run by Danielle Smith of There’s a Book and Suey of It’s All About Books. Even if you aren’t a book blogger, you’ll find the mini-challenges relevant.

 

 

This edition of Bloggiesta is over for me.  It looks like Pedro and his friends made it to the finish line before I di.  Let’s review the weekend: 

1. Review posts from 2009 for missing SEO information.  (I’ll save 2008 posts for another time.) Update: Finished January and February 2009.  Halfway through March 2009.  It looks like I started using my SEO All In One plug-in in June 2009 so only a few more months to go.
2. Type up author interview questions for late June post. Update: Researched previous interviews so I don’t ask the same questions.  Half of the questions have been typed up.
3. Type up five book reviews.  (I have more I can write but I’ll shoot for that as a minimum.)  Update: One book review is ready to post.
4. Updated all of my WordPress Plug-Ins.  I didn’t realize four of my plug-ins needed updated.
5. Attempted RSS Mini-Challenge.  Update: Failure on my part for trying to work on it so late into th day on Sunday.

Overall I spent 5 hours working on items for bloggiesta.  The most mind-numbing of all was trying to update my SEO information for 2009 posts.  Fortunately, the blog cheat sheet from the last bloggiesta helped me.  Each month I have recurring posts and my blog cheat sheet has the SEO keywords associated with those posts so those were the easiest posts to update.

No progress to report for Friday.  I spent the entire day at the doctor’s office and work. 

Here’s what I’ve done so far for Saturday.

This afternoon we went to an early showing of No One Knows About Persian Catsfollowed by lunch at Cuco’s! 

Cuco’s is one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in town.  It was originally a grocery store with a small restaurant.  Now it’s all restaurant with several shelves of grocery items.  They are big soccer fans and we expected it to be packed because of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.  Instead, it was mostly new university graduates and their families.

Almost 7 hours later I am still full from lunch.  I planned on making chipotle meatballs tonight from  my Mexican Everyday cookbook by Rick Bayless.  There is nowhere in my stomach to put them.

I’ve spent about an hour and a half on bloggiesta so far.  You’ll notice I’ve completed a few things that weren’t on my original list.

1. Review posts from 2009 for missing SEO information.  (I didn’t add my SEO plug-in until sometime that year.  I’ll save 2008 posts for another time.) Update: Finished January 2009 and started on February 2009.
2. Type up author interview questions for late June post. Update: Researching previous interviews so I don’t ask the same questions.
3. Type up five book reviews.  (I have more I can write but I’ll shoot for that as a minimum.)
4. Updated all of my WordPress Plug-Ins.  I didn’t realize four of my plug-ins needed updated.

Are you ready to join Pedro  in a weekend of blogging fun?  Our friend serves as a reminder to: Plan.  Edit.  Review.  Organize.

From experience I know it’s impossible for me to keep up with all of the mini-challenges during the weekend and I work on Friday which cuts into my time.  That’s why I’m writing this post Wednesday night (and sleeping while it publishes) with my goals. 🙂

1. Review posts from 2009 for missing SEO information.  (I didn’t add my SEO plug-in until sometime that year.  I’ll save 2008 posts for another time.)
2. Type up author interview questions for late June post.
3. Type up five book reviews.  (I have more I can write but I’ll shoot for that as a minimum.)

After work on Thursday I will go to the grocery store to buy some food for this fiesta.  The menu includes tacos, chicken with rice and meatballs.  All recipes are courtesy of Rick Bayless.

What kinds of goals have you set for Bloggiesta?

Pedro and his friends are ready to see everyone again later this month (next week!) for Bloggiesta.  Natasha at Maw Books Blog hosts Bloggiesta to help bloggers of all kinds improve their blogs.  So what do bloggers accomplish during Bloggiesta? 

All kinds of things.  You can:
Write future blog posts.
Work on a series of posts.
Setup a favicon for your blog.
Get your blog graded and make improvements.
Clean up your tags or categories.
Change your layout.
Edit pages.

Those are just a few of the things you can do this June 11th – 13th.  Every blog needs a little facelift or maintenance.  During the last Bloggiesta I made recipes from my Rick Bayless cookbook to keep the mood going.  I may do it again this time.  It’s a nice break from being on the computer.