Blogging 101

A few months ago I began to think that I should start blogging. I have become a fan of MANY (perhaps TOO many) blogs over the past couple of years. I have learned many things from blogs like how to do projects, new fashions, adorable home decor, great floor plans and fun nail polish colors. The women who write and/or edit these blogs have very interesting stories and lots of fun information to share. Maybe I have something to share?

Then there's the inevitable fact that in a couple of years both of my girls will be enjoying school all day, every day. What's a stay-at-home mom to do? I admit that it will be nice to schedule appointments without worrying about where the kids are going to go for that hour or two. However, I have a feeling that after a week or two of days alone I will begin to need something to fill some time.

I also have this problem/affliction/challenge that prevents me from keeping very good track of everyday moments/funny things that happen in our everyday life. While I hear funny conversation in the car on a regular basis I rarely (if EVER) write it down somewhere. I always think, 'I'm sure I'll remember that.' Then come bedtime I think I should tell Mr. M about it and its gone. So perhaps typing it on this computer screen will be more fun to do than writing it in one of the pretty journals I keep buying.

Here are a few things I've learned on this blogging journey.

I had long admired the cute signature Holly uses on her blog, Life in the Fun Lane. One day I scrolled over the signature and realized it came from this site. My Live Signature lets you create your very own signature to use on a blog or email. Check it out if you ever need such a service.

This little endeavor also introduced me to code. It's a whole new language and I wish I could speak it! After a little (ok, really it was ALOT) trial and error, I figured it out and got my signature moved to where I wanted it instead of way at the bottom of each post!

Don't you love all of my cute buttons? If you're not sure what I mean scroll down a bit and look at the right side of your screen. They also look like stickers from a few of my favorite blogs. You can 'grab' the code for these little guys while reading other blogs and bring them over to yours. Cross-marketing at its finest! Perhaps I'll have my very own button one day.

Everyone needs a great reminder of things they may have missed. LinkWithin lets you remind your blog's visitors of posts they may have missed. It creates a widget (another computer language word!) that puts those cute pictures and titles from other posts at the bottom of this one. I'll help you create one for yours but don't ask me to help you get it in the right spot...blame it on a computer language barrier! I hope to change the font associated with this little widget one day too. That however requires me to break that barrier again.

Then there's the wonderful world of Facebook. It is addictive as many had warned me but really fun too. You can share the link to your site as well as a little picture from it. A great way to let friends know what you're up to and increase visits to your blog.

Finally I had to figure out how to add a counter to my site. It's probably a function of my marketing degree but what's the point of doing something if you can't measure some type of result. Thank you UND College of Business for making me do this!

All in all, this blogging adventure has been a great learning experience for a stay-at-home mom. I get to flex my professional skills a bit on a personal level. I get to share some fun stories from my wonderful family. It's also a great (and more fun) way to record what we're doing in our lives. I'm sure all of these reasons will continue to be very worthwhile for a long, long time.

Off to learn more wonderful things....