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Seven Ways to Grow your Blog

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As one of my goals is to grow my blog I’ve been doing some research on it lately. I thought I would share seven ways to grow your blog. Increasing the readership of your blog is rather important eh?  After all, why write if no one reads it right?  Now, one thing I have learned is that growth of a blog isn’t always present in comments received.   So you mustn’t let comments be your sole indicator of the success or failure of your blog.  

Seven Ways to Grow Your Blog

What active steps can you take grow your blog?  Read on!

  1. Publish content your audience wants to read.  Sounds simple enough eh?   What do people want to read in the market you are targeting?   Are you focusing on preschoolers?.. then it makes no sense to right about highschool students.   If your focus is on homeschooling, tossing in articles about tentmaking in Africa doesn’t exactly fit your paradigm does it?   Or perhaps you’ve been happily blogging away only to discover that a series you are doing is garnering lots of attention… that might be just what YOUR audience is craving.   Feed them more.  Feed the audience that you have.
  2. Engage your readers.  Ask them questions.  Respond to their comments.  Make them feel like they are important, because you know what?  They ARE important.
  3. Build an email list… YES I KNOW.. I have to do this yet.  Still figuring all the little stuff out.  I should hire someone to do all the behind the scenes stuff for me cause GAH.. I hate doing that stuff.  🙂  BUT if you want to increase your outreach… you gotta do that stuff you know?
  4. Pretty up your blog posts.  Use images, pictures, graphics, colour, headers, and more.  Make your posts visually appealing.  Mind that you pay attention to copyright. 
  5. Reach out to other bloggers.  Offer to write a post for them. Do this with bloggers who are in the same niche as you are in.   Write what you know and write it well.  Share it on their blog, then cross promote.
  6. Use Stories. Oh people like a good story right?   Give them a story as you write your posts, give them a reason to keep reading on and coming back. 
  7. Share your posts on social media. This may mean learning new skills with developing graphics, or learning what hashtags are and good ones to use, or even opening up accounts. Use social media. 

What ideas do you find work for increasing the readership of your blog?  Share them in the comments below.

Beauty is found

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beauty is found, a five minute friday word prompt post. Join us in this weekly freewrite.

Beauty is found

Beauty is found

Beauty is found

Beauty is found

Beauty can be found in so many places.  Just open your eyes and look for it. 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Phil. 4:8

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Eccle 3:11

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.  Psalm 139:13-14

 

 

 

Find Inspiration in your Surroundings

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I was originally going to write a blogging tips post this morning but felt totally uninspired to do so.  It’s been a rather crazy busy weekend and my mind simply wasn’t on it.  So on this rainy winter day as my boys are gathered around me and the olympic bobsledding competition is on, I find my mind turning to what inspires people to write, and how one gains that inspiration.

Surround yourself for connection and inspiration, the things you love in people, activities and books.

We write what we know or we write what we can imagine.  Imagine you are a literary artist who loves to talk about fire.  If you are living in the middle of the city, how would you cultivate that love? Or you are a homeschool mom with a love for antiques and delving into the history of a piece…how will you cultivate the love?  Or a fantasy author with a love for dragons and chivalry?  How will you cultivate that love?

We need to surround ourselves with things that feed our loves.  Either by filling our lives with what we love (for instance going to antique markets) or by doing research, learning all we can about what we love.   When we do so, we will find that our writing will flow out more easily. 

 

Recently my son and I read a book called “The Scream of the Hawk”.   In this book one of the characters is an author who writes scary books.  He hired a girl to take care of his son because he needed to do some research.  He spent times in the library researching caves and learning about spelunking.  Once he had that done he planned a weekend away climbing through caves.   He ended up immersing himself into a world he nothing about so he could write about it realistically in his book. 

If we just live our lives and don’t spend time with the things we love and want to write about, we won’t end up writing about them.  We end up writing only about the things that we are immersed in.  We need to surround ourselves with people, books and experiences that inspire us and connect with us. We take this, sifting through what we know, and we write.  If we have nothing to inspire us… of what then would we write?

Makes sense doesn’t it?

I did up a worksheet if you want to want to work through how you can bring the things you love into your life.  You can find by CLICKING HERE.

Other Posts on Writing Well.

Using Adjectives Well. 
Organizing how you put your words to bring emphasis.
Your Identity. 
Begin Sentences with Subjects and Verbs.
Set a Goal, Regain the Love.

 

A Deviation

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a departure from normal schedulingTomorrow, if I have time, I am hoping to do up a book study post.  Not sure if I’ll have time or not, I’ll work to squeeze it in.  Today was a tough afternoon after working at the foodbank.  I’ve been a tad “sore”..pulled a muscle in my back or something and combined with the coughing and the prolapse I’ve been dealing with, life just had me napping instead of book studying. 🙂

Anyways, I just thought I’d give update.  A deviation as you will from normally scheduled programs.

I’m hoping at some point to talk about how God uses health issues to challenge, mould, push, teach his children things…  well kinda particularly ME things.  🙂

It’s a tough one though because there are things I’m not keen to talk about right?   I’d rather talk books and devotionals and homeschooling and what not.  I love talking THOSE things, but a sermon on Sunday sent my brain a spinning and it hasn’t shut off about it, so who knows eh?  Who knows what the Lord has in plan for me and my spinning brain, cause right now I don’t know.

So…. stay tuned?

Tomorrow is another day.

Art Book: How to Build Lego Cars

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Do you love building with Lego?   Do you see it for the art form that it is?  Yes, it’s STEM and building and engineering, but … it is also an art form.   You can really see it in these magnificantcars that Peter Blackert helps you design in How to Build Brick Cars.

Oh…these aren’t your standard lego cars…these are master builder cars that go on to inspire you to model your own creations.
15 different cars which work you up from basic to expert, teaching you the skills you need to design your own lego models of the sports, race, and muscle cars you see around you every day.

You get to build cars such as the Ford Raptor, Datsun Coupe, Ferrari 250, Porsche 911 and so many more.  15 cars all told.

You will find detailed parts lists as well as information about the car being built.  The parts list is in full colour with numbers written alongside.  I didn’t find those numbers worked well with the Lego Store, so they might be with another area?  I don’t know.  BUT I do know you could go into any Lego Store with this book and they could help you find any pieces that you need, with the picture is on the page along with colour.  Easy peasy!

After the opening section you get into the meat of the build.  Full colour illustrations walk you step by step through the build. As long as you are paying attention (and don’t skip steps) you can complete your build.

My thoughts:
This is a great book for any lego enthusiast.  Getting help to make the car of your dreams?  What more could you ask for.  The detailed instruction ensure that anyone who can follow lego instructions can complete these builds…just as long as you have all the lego parts at hand.    Go ahead, create some lego art!

How to Build Brick Cars: Detailed Lego Designs for Sports cars, race cars, and muscle cars.
Peter Blackert
MotorBooks
192 Pages
Paperback, oversized
Lego, creator, build, master builder, animals, design

Reviewed for: Quarto Group.

Where can I find it?

How to Build Brick Cars.    Amazon.ca   Or   Amazon.com.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites

Art Book: Beasts from Bricks

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Oh, who doesn’t like to build with lego?  I spent hours as a child playing with lego and have had lots of fun playing with my boy child…though the older he gets the more he keeps himself busy with other things and plays less with his mama.  BUT this book is cool!  Making animals from around the world, using the designs in Beasts from Bricks.  It’s great!


15 different animals which take you through the different continents of the world, teaching you the skills you need to design your own lego models of various animals you can meet in your life (or perhaps WISH you could meet in real life).

You get to build animals such as the African Elephant, Indian rhinocerous, Suffolk sheep, walrus, jack rabbit, anteater and a wombat (as well as others).   I loved that each new animals was introduced to us along with why the author builder created them.

You will find detailed parts lists along with a colour key.  The parts list is in full colour with numbers written alongside.  I didn’t find those numbers worked well with the Lego Store, so they might be with another area?  I don’t know.  BUT I do know you could go into any Lego Store with this book and they could help you find any pieces that you need, since the picture is on the page along with it’s colour.  Easy peasy!

After the opening section you get into the meat of the build.  Full colour illustrations walk you step by step through the build. As long as you are paying attention (and don’t skip steps) you can complete your build.  You may even find yourself inspired to find other animals you can build.  Sometimes to just be changing the colour (as in making a white sheep black, or multi coloured), or by using the skills you have been taught to come up with your own designs.  Who knows what you’ll be able to build eh?

Little things I liked: Each animal is colour coded, so you know all the blue is one animal, different builds he’s made pictured at the back of book, clear instructions, image of finished animal, and the pedestal each animal is placed on so you aren’t limited to stance or flat surfaces.

My Thoughts:
Get this book.  Have fun learning about and then building animals from all over the world. It’ll be great fun, you know it!  🙂

Beasts from bricks
Ekow Nimako
Quarry books
144 pages
Softcover, oversized
Lego, building, STEM, animals, engineering

Reviewed for: Quarto Group

Where can I find it?
Beasts from bricks.  Amazon.ca    Or    Amazon.com.

This post may contain affiliate links – using affiliate links from A Net in Time helps fuel this blog and our homeschool – thank you! ©2006-2017 A Net In Time. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. A Net In Time . We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites