blogathon

How to Become a Better Blogger in One Weekend

January 25, 2013 By Deb Chitwood 10 Comments

I participated in my first weekend blogathon last summer, and I’m still benefiting from it … a lot! The free Winter 2013 Blogathon is this weekend, January 25-28! It starts at 8:00am EST today and ends at 8:00am EST on Monday.

Although the blogathon runs for 72 hours, it’s hoped that you’ll commit to 24 hours of work on your blog during the weekend. If you can’t spend that much time, that’s fine, too. Just start when you can and do what you can.

Don’t Miss the Mini-Challenges!

The biannual blogathon is really intended for us to get caught up on our blogging to-do lists. It’s great for that. But when I look back on the Summer 2012 Blogathon, I’m AMAZED at how often I use information from the mini-challenges I took. They were lots of fun, and my blogging was greatly helped by learning how to use Google Calendar with color-coding (I’m a calendar-challenged person yet I’m still using it!!!), how to create collages in PicMonkey (which I’ve used countless times since the blogathon), and tips for Twitter and SEO.

See How I Improved My Blogs in One Weekend – Summer 2012 Blogathon for a list of the mini-challenges I took. You can still take them … although you won’t want to miss the new mini challenges for this weekend! The blogathon mini challenges have been put together by some of the participating bloggers to help others learn a new skill or get better at doing something they already know. You can pick and choose the ones you’re interested in. Read over the information and then do whatever the mini challenge requires sometime during the blogathon for an extra chance at winning prizes. (There’ll be Twitter parties with chances for prizes, too!)

My Goals for the Winter 2013 Blogathon

Since I LOVE the mini challenges, I plan to complete a number of mini challenges.
I’ll also work on fixing broken links here, at Living Montessori Now, and at Spring Snow Publications using the Broken Link Checker plugin.
I’ll plan my blog posts for next week and set up my Google Calendar for February.
I’ll write and schedule two blog posts.
I’ll work on adding watermarks and photo collages to some archived blog posts.
I’ll work on affiliate ads and monetization.
I’ll work on the final revisions/editing of my eBook.

Whew … and that’s just a bit of what I want to do. I need more than 24 hours of intense blogging to catch up on everything, although I know that 24 hours of focused blogging this weekend will help me make some significant progress. I hope you’ll join me for the Winter 2013 Blogathon so you can become a better blogger in one weekend, too!

UPDATE: What I Accomplished during the Winter 2013 Blogathon

I spent around 24 hours working on my goals during the blogathon, although I can never give an exact number of hours. I always wonder if certain of my online chores should count. But I was definitely much more focused than during a typical weekend.

I made progress on all my goals, although I didn’t get as much accomplished with broken links or affiliate ads as I would have liked. I was especially happy with the amount of work I completed on my upcoming eBook.

I completed six mini challenges. I would love to do them all, but I decided to complete two per day to allow plenty of time for my other goals, too. As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed the mini challenges. Even when I was quite familiar with a particular area, I liked reviewing the tips to be sure I hadn’t missed anything. And completing the challenge requirements helped me focus on improving what I was already doing. Here are the mini challenges I completed:

Ad Management for Bloggers @ Geek With Style
Tips for Promoting Blog Posts on Facebook @ Biannual Blogathon Bash
Why Social Network Promotion is Important for Blogs @ Biannual Blogathon Bash
Google+ (Google Plus) Guide for Bloggers @ Biannual Blogathon Bash
Blogger’s Guide to LinkedIn @ Biannual Blogathon Bash
Tips for Food Photography @ Confessions of an Overworked Mom

You can find the complete list here to complete mini challenges whenever you can: Mini Challenge List – Winter Blogathon 2013.

Note: Completing the mini challenges during the blogathon probably helped me win a blog makeover from Cafe Blogelina!

The Next Blogathon

Mark your calendar for June 21-24, 2013 for the Summer 2013 Blogathon! Thanks to the mini challenge from last summer’s blogathon that taught me how to use Google Calendar, I have the dates scheduled (and color coded)!

Note: I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Filed Under: Blogathon, Blogging and Networking Tagged With: become a better blogger, blogathon, blogging goals, improve your blog, mini challenge, Winter 2013 Blogathon

How I Improved My Blogs in One Weekend – Summer 2012 Blogathon

June 25, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 8 Comments

I just finished an intense weekend of blogging! I was a participant in the Summer 2012 Blogathon. Over a period of 72 hours, we were supposed to put in 24 hours of blogging if possible, although we could do as much or as little as we liked. It was time for me to make some improvements and learn some new skills, so I opted for the full 24 hours of working to improve my blogs.

I probably ended up with somewhere between 24 hours and 34 hours, depending on how much of my time on the computer I counted as part of the blogathon. I didn’t keep track of the exact amount of time, since I occasionally had to do a task like move my hose when I was watering my lawn. {Please send Colorado your prayers, by the way. We have eight fires – three of them major fires – in the state at the moment.}

But however I counted my time, being focused on the blogathon made my computer time much more productive than normal.

Why I Needed the Summer 2012 Blogathon

I have two blogs of my own, Raising Figure Skaters and Living Montessori Now. My husband and I co-founded Spring Snow Publications. My husband writes the majority of the blog posts for Spring Snow Publications, but I still manage the site and social media.

My kids and kids-in-love also have three blogs among them. They send me their posts, and I put their posts on their blogs. My husband and I are also working on publishing some eBooks. So I typically feel a bit scattered. And a lot of things get put off that I’d like to do or improve.

How I Improved My Blogs During the Summer 2012 Blogathon

I started the blogathon with the intention of learning some new skills through the mini challenges. I chose 7 mini challenges, and I’m happy to say that I completed each one. The challenge of making photo collages was so addictive that I created two collages today, the one here and one for Montessori Monday – Montessori-Inspired 4th of July Activities at Living Montessori Now. Here are the mini challenges I completed:

How to Write a Better Tweet on Twitter @ Callista’s Ramblings
Dofollow Vs. Nofollow @ Life as Leels
How to Make Photo Collages To Use On Your Blog @ American Mom in England
Using Google Calendar @ Letters Inside Out
Tools to Make Twitter Work for Your Blog @ Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave
Blogger SEO Basics @ Geek With Style

How To Monetize Your Blog in 5 Easy Steps @ Sunshine and Sippy Cups

The mini challenges are still available even though the blogathon is over. You’ll find a list of the mini challenges here: Biannual Blogathon Bash Mini Challenge List. I highly recommend working through some of the challenges. I thoroughly enjoyed each one and became comfortable with tools I had put off learning how to use. I had especially been putting off learning about do-follow vs. no-follow links. I’m so happy I finally understand what I should be doing and made necessary improvements.

I’m also a calendar-challenged person who just never stays with a planning system. The mini challenge on using Google Calendar actually has to be my favorite because I finally found an online calendar I’ll use and stay with! I’m a visual learner, so the color coding I learned makes a huge difference for me. And the alerts are great … something I’ve been wanting!

My other goals were to:

work on fixing any broken links here, at Living Montessori Now, and at Spring Snow Publications using the Broken Link Checker plugin.
work on adding some watermarks and tags to photos.
work to improve older posts at all my blogs.

I completed some of each of those goals, but I still have some (to a lot of) work to do in each area. Adding watermarks and improving older posts is a never-ending task, but I’m glad that I made significant progress this weekend.

At the end of the weekend, I’m very happy to have made some great new blogging friends, to have learned some new skills, and to feel prepared to use my new skills as a regular part of my blogging!

And I already have the next Blogathon from January 25, 8am EST to January 28, 8amEST, on my Google Calendar!

Note: Because I did so much blogging over the weekend, I’m going to take a bit of a break to catch up in other areas, spend extra time with my family over the holiday, and do what I can to help Colorado. I’ll still be publishing my regular posts at Living Montessori Now. But I’ll see you here next on Wednesday, July 11. I’ll still share a quote of the day and some word-art inspiration on the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page!

Filed Under: Blogathon, Blogging and Networking Tagged With: blogathon, how I improved my blogs, how I improved my blogs in one weekend, mini challenges, Summer 2012 Blogathon

Try a Mini Challenge to Improve Your Blog – Summer 2012 Blogathon

June 22, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 7 Comments

I love making intense efforts at various times to improve my blogs, but this is my first blogathon! If you follow my blog, you know that I love 30-day challenges. And I’ve already gone through 31 Days to Build a Better Blog twice along with other bloggers on Blog Frog. I loved it and learned a lot each time.

The Summer 2012 Blogathon should be both productive and enjoyable … three days of intense blogging and networking fun! It starts at 8:00am EST today, and you can still sign up!

The most important part of the Summer Blogathan is spending lots of concerted effort on improving our blogs. Ideally, we’ll put in 24 hours of blogging over the 72 hours of the Blogathon, although we can do as little or as much as we like. There are giveaways and fun events like Twitter parties as well. But I think my favorite parts of the blogathon are the mini challenges.

Summer 2012 Blogathon Mini Challenges

The Blogathon mini challenges have been put together by some of the participating bloggers to help others learn a new skill or get better at doing something they already know. You can pick and choose the ones you’re interested in. Read over the information and then do whatever the mini challenge requires sometime during the blogathon (June 22 8am EST – June 25 8am EST) for an extra chance at winning prizes.

Here are the mini challenges I plan to do:

How To Monetize Your Blog in 5 Easy Steps @ Sunshine and Sippy Cups

Yes, I’ll be busy this weekend! And there are even more mini challenges offered at Biannual Blogathon Bash Mini Challenge List!

My Blogging Goals for the Summer 2012 Blogathon

Since I like challenges, my main goal will be to complete the mini challenges I’ve selected. I picked a lot of challenges and some that will take a significant amount of time. Those will keep me quite busy!
I’ll also work on fixing any broken links here, at Living Montessori Now, and at Spring Snow Publications using the Broken Link Checker plugin.
I’ll work on adding some watermarks and tags to photos along the way.
And I’m always working to improve older posts at all my blogs.

There are a million other things I could do as well … how can blogging have so many tasks that could or should be done?!!! But 24 hours of focused blogging this weekend should help me make some real progress!

But the main thing is that I’ll be making an intense effort to improve my blogs … and I’ll have fun doing it! I’d love to have you join us for the Summer 2012 Blogathon!

"Do whatever you do intensely." Robert Henri