On Blogging: Why I Will Never Shut Down My Comments

Over the last couple months, there's been an....odd trend in the blog world: turning off comments. When I first heard of this, that people were intentionally taking away the comments sections of their blogs, I was totally baffled. For me, comments are the most important indicator of my blog's success.

But after reading a ton of articles that bloggers have written on the topic, I think I'm starting to understand what thoughts are swirling around in those bloggers' brains. But I still don't agree.

From what I can tell, the reasons for shutting down comments sections are that they're an unnecessary use of a blogger's time (to read, moderate and respond), that the quality of comments these days makes them less than worthwhile, and it directs people to respond on social media. Here's why I feel differently:

1. Reading, replying and moderating comments is a waste of a blogger's time. 

For me, it just comes down to what your goal in blogging is. For me, it's a way to express myself and my thoughts and connect with people interested in similar things. It's a very weird, odd sort of community. Yes, I understand that commenting and replying to comments takes a ton of time (like half as much time as actually blogging!), but I think it's very worthwhile. For me, the comments sections are where I meet people and build relationships and connections with people reading my blog. 

2. The quality of comments nowadays makes them undeserving of the time it takes to respond and read.

Sometimes this is true. I see it even more on bigger blogs--you know, those comments where someone just types, 'Love this! Check out my blog at blog.com!! xoxo'. Those comments are a waste of time. But I truly believe that when you take the time to read and thoughtfully respond to comments or when you invite real opinions on your blog posts, you'll get comments that actually further the community on your blog. I treasure people who write those paragraph-long comments--those are so worth my time. And by responding thoughtfully, I invite more of those types of comments in the future.

3. It's more important that people communicate via social media.

I get that this is an attempt to get people to follow you in more places and so I can respect that if having x thousand twitter followers is your goal...but it's not mine. I might be a little bit anti-social media on occasion, but I'd rather the conversation stick right here, where it started. It makes way more sense to me to have the comments about a post sitting right under that post, not on a totally different website. Because then if someone reads a post of mine and wants to talk about it...they really have no easy way of finding the other people who have something to say about it. It wouldn't be a real dialogue.

And this is just what I think. Different kinds of blogs do things different ways and I'm sure that for some blogs, shutting down the comments just makes sense. But to me, I'd rather build the friendships and conversations right here. 

This post was inspired my Allyssa Barnes' look at the comment section debate. Read more on her blog and then chime in below!

Blogging My Way

Well, here we are. It's been nearly two weeks since I've even opened my laptop and powered it on. Two weeks. I don't think I've ever done that before and I've done that now at least twice in the last two months. Everything feels foreign--the way it rests on my lap, remembering typing and trying to put words together in a way that I haven't had to attempt in nearly two months now.

I've missed blogging. But I also...haven't. Blogging is a weird thing. It's a hobby, right? Like jogging or knitting or whatever. But for some reason, with blogging, there are all sorts of irksome, unnecessary expectations. Blogging isn't just writing a post and clicking publish (if only!). Blogging means social media scheduling and 'networking' (ew) and SEO (double ew) and all sorts of things that frankly, I'm not interested in. 

If my main hobby was running, and I loved running, I could just go out and go for a jog and enjoy it. If I don't feel like reading hours worth of online articles about form or buying five hundred dollar shoes or running a marathon, I don't have to. There's nothing keeping me from just...running.

But blogging is an odd beast. It's so all-or-nothing. All I want to do is write posts and read other posts and have people read my own, but it seems like I can't without all these other requirements. 

I'm pretty sick of all the rules that we as bloggers put on ourselves and each others. There is a certain place for analytics and "niches" and things like that, but it's not for every blog, you know? I'm ready to take a little more organic approach, focusing on the community more than the stats.

So I'm back. I'm focusing on making blogging a hobby that fills me up instead of drains me. I want connections, not just comments (but I like comments too ;). I want to build relationships, not just a readership.

P.S. If you're a blogger and you've ever taken a long break like this, you probably know how weird it is to get back in it. Don't hate me if I'm a little inconsistent as I get in this. :)

On Blogging: Leaving Quality Comments

Commenting on blogs is something I've been thinking quite a bit about lately. I've always considered myself a "lurker"--I read tons of blogs. I probably read 20-30 posts every day but only leave two or three comments a week. That's a really low percentage! 

As a blogger, I love getting comments on posts that I've spent a lot of time on. And to me, the community is a huge part of why I love to blog and while not impossible, it's pretty hard to stay present without leaving comments. It's also tough for me to get to know readers who don't leave comments.

This week, I'm committing to visit the blog (if you have one) of every single person who comments on my blog and leave a comment. So if you've been a silent reader, just leave me a quick comment so we can get connected!

Even if you're someone who comments all the time (good job!), don't forget to make sure you're leaving quality comments. All the time, I'll see a blog post with twenty comments, but they will all just say something like "great post!" or "I agree!" and then a url at the bottom. Let's be honest, that doesn't contribute to the community. Here are a couple tips that I use when I comment:

1. Respond to something in the post. If the blogger takes a stance on anything, it's easy to share your opinion--whether you agree or not! For example, you could comment on this blog post that you know what, you think blog comments are totally pointless and if you have to comment on a blog, it should be as short as boring as possible. So yeah, that could be your response to my post. 

2. Share a similar experience or something from your own life. When I read posts about other college students, it's super easy to leave a comment about a professor or class of mine that is just like theirs or something like that. With a little effort, you can find some common ground.

3. Ask a question. If you're reading a travel post, ask the blogger how they decided on that destination or what their favorite part of the trip was. 

4. Respond to other comments. This is where a well laid out commenting platform like disqus (which I highly recommend) comes in handy. In disqus, if you respond to another commenter, they'll receive a comment and hopefully come back to continue the conversations. Plus, disqus automatically includes your url so that I can come visit you!

 Are you a loyal commenter or habitual lurker (I'm shamefully raising my hand on the second one)? Don't forget--comment on this post (use one of the tips above or just tell me your favorite animal) + I'll come visit your blog! 

How You Can Support Bloggers

(Unsplash)

This post has been on my mind a lot lately. It seems more and more than readers (many of whom are bloggers) are becoming "lurkers", meaning that these people come to blogs, read the posts, and then leave. Unfortunately, I'm well acquainted with this group, because I struggle with being a lurker. But even more unfortunately, over the last few years, I've noticed that this trend is weakening the strong communities that used to exist between bloggers and readers. 

I don't expect everyone who reads a blog post to suddenly become best friends with the blogger. Obviously. If you find a post on Pinterest + find exactly what you need + don't plan to return to the blog, I don't expect you to reach out to the blogger. But to all of you...who read the same blogs every week? This post is for you.

All bloggers love a little love. I'm not writing this post as a needy call for comments and emails from y'all. I just want to do what I can to boost the mutual friendships around these parts. So here's what you can do, to keep bloggers spirits alive, to thank them for their hard work and to make new friends:

+ Comment. Seriously, this is the easiest thing ever + I don't know about other bloggers, but comments mean so much to me. Comments on my posts means that my writing made someone react, made them feel something. That is so important to me. If a blogger's post is helpful, inspiring, interesting or just funny, let them know. But bloggers, you have to do your part too. Install a comment platform that's easy. I use Disqus. Respond to comments (within reason) so that readers feel heard.

+ When another blogger releases a new service, like consultations, sponsorships or some sort of store, congratulate them. Encourage them. It takes a lot of courage to release new ventures like that + I know a lot of bloggers feel disillusioned when they are met with complaints about being "too salesy". Even if you don't buy the service, try to refrain from complaining. 

+ Help promote bloggers that help or inspire you. If a post is helpful or has particularly gorgeous images, pin them. If you know of someone else who would needs to read a post, share it with them.

+ Look for ways to participate. If a blogger hosts a survey, please fill it out. I'm sure it'll only take a few moments + the blogger is probably asking for your opinion because she (or he!) wants you to like their blog even more. That's super nice of them, isn't it? If they host a link up (and you're a blogger in a related topic), join it! 

+ Keep a blogroll on your blog (assuming you're a blogger). I like to keep my navbar very clean, but my blogroll is very important for me to share. If you like reading my blog, you'll probably find a few that you like on my blogroll. This helps the reader + other bloggers + everyone is happier! 

+ Semi-related--if you're looking for new blogs to read, go to all your current faves and click on their sponsors. Chances are, your favorite blogger is sponsored by similar blogs + I bet you'll find some you like! Plus, sponsors who get new readers = repeat sponsors = funding for your favorite blogger. 

On that note, thank you all for reading. I love that you're here + I wish I could get to know all of you. If any of this post struck a chord with you, I'd love if you'd share/comment :)

THE CASE AGAINST SCHEDULING BLOG POSTS

(photo by me, at Alcatraz)

There are a lot of great reasons to schedule your blog posts ahead of time. By writing posts ahead of time + scheduling them, I've been able to take time off to study for exams, vacation or just busy times. Any of you bloggers who have tried scheduling out posts ahead of time know that it can be an extremely convenient practice.

But over the last few months as I've been scheduling posts as much as two or three weeks in advance, I've felt more out of touch. Some days I don't even know what post is going live, only that it's a Monday/Wednesday/Friday so there must be one!

I find that I don't mention much what's really going on in my life...because it would be weeks-old news by the time it went live! For example, in the last couple posts, I haven't mentioned that I've been in the Sierra Nevadas on a hiking trip for the last two weeks. But that's because I wrote those posts a month ago!

Somehow, that just doesn't feel right. I want you to know what's going on right now, and in the same way, I want to be updated with you and my favorite bloggers. If I was just writing for a newspaper or something, scheduling would be fine. But because blogging is about community, I'm feeling the need to add that little life update back into my posts.

I'm not saying I'll never schedule posts again! I probably will when I'm on vacation or during exam weeks. But I'll try to write my posts less than a day or two ahead of time when possible so that I can stay in tune with what's currently going up on my blog. Make sense?

I will still keep an editorial calendar (which I recommend all bloggers do!) and will probably plan out posts ahead of time to some extent. But I want to make sure I focus on sharing more of the day-to-day details, and that just doesn't happen when I schedule posts. 

So I mentioned that I wanted to share more of what was going on in my life, like right now? Here's what I've been doing lately:

• I graduated, just over two weeks ago. Super exciting! Super crazy! Super busy!
• Two days later, I flew to San Francisco with my family.
• Over the last two weeks, we've been hiking through Sequoia, Yosemite, Big Sur, Kings Canyon and Lake Tahoe. We've been swimming and rafting and sleeping in yurts (no, really!) and ziplining and driving (so much. How is California so big?!) and so much more!
• I'm currently in Sacramento with friends, getting ready to fly home tomorrow.
• It's been crazy exciting but I'm ready to come home to NC.

Now that I've updated you, I want you to tell me. What have you been up to? Do you schedule posts? Tell me why you do or don't!

It's Hard to Be a Multipassionate Blogger

(Source)

Hey lovebugs! So you know how I've been in this weird in-betweeny space with this blog? Kind of like when you like a guy and he likes you but no one wants to admit it first so you just say awkward icky things for like a month. Anyways, y'all have offered me lots of great thoughts + advice about my struggle between writing about my passions + finding an audience and they have helped me so so much. 

A couple readers have left really really thoughtful comments (which I so appreciate) and one of the commenters (holla Amanda) asked me why I feel like people don't want to read about what I want to write about. And I responded that I feel like I can't put myself and my blog into a niche like 'DIY blogger' or 'mommy blogger'--I want to be a music-design-productivity-science-positivity blogger. I confidently consider myself multipassionate, and that's great! But it's not so great for finding people interested in all the same things as you. 

I'm beginning to embrace that. I understand that you might not follow my blog for the science, but stick around if you enjoy the playlists or the positivity or whatever. And in the end, I'm telling myself that the people who stick around are the people who I really want here anyways. Now I don't mean that to sound mean, but I just want to put it out there. I understand that not everyone will like my blog and that is so okay. It's okay if you want to unfollow me, it really really is.. If we've become friends, please still tweet at me once in awhile but don't waste your time trying to be interested in something that bores you!

So this is just a short post to kind of recap all of the jumbles that are bouncing around in my brain. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments. I love reading your thoughts.

(P.S. Someone else appreciate the cool shark picture with me...)

DIY Design: Make a Back-to-Top Button for Blogger

Okay, first a disclaimer: I am not an expert coder. If you ask me how to code anything on your website or blog, I will probably send you somewhere else, especially if it involves CSS. But HTML I can handle in small doses. And when I recently figured out how to make a back-to-top button without crazy coding, I just had to show you how I do it!

In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, a back-to-top button is the little button that appears in the corner of my blog and if you press it, you'll be catapulted back to the top of the page. For really long pages like archives, a long homepage or even a post with a lot of comments, this is super nice to have. 

First, make a small button. You can do this in Picmonkey or Photoshop, depending on your skill set (or I can make you one!). I made mine a circle, about 80 pixels in diameter. Upload the photo either in a post or in Flickr/Photobucket and then copy the image URL. If you upload it into a post, flip over to HTML first to find the image URL.

Then, open up your blog dashboard and go to Layout. Make a new gadget in a sidebar (or in a footer if you don't have sidebars) for simple HTML--it's called HTML/Javascript. Simply copy/paste this HTML into the box, add in your image link + admire! Look at you go, you HTML wizard.

<a style="display:scroll;position:fixed;bottom:5px;left:5px;" href="#" title="Back to Top"><img src="YOUR IMAGE LINK" /></a>

If you need to change your margins, just change the number before 'px' and that will change how many pixels of margin you have between your button and the top and left sides of the screen. This code will automatically put the button on the left side, but you can easily switch it to the right side by putting 'right' in instead of 'left'. I chose to do that + I also changed my position to 34 pixels from the right side so that it wasn't half on gray, half on white (at least on my computer). 

Let me know if you have any issues! I probably won't be able to help but I'll try ;) If you enjoyed this tutorial, I'd lurvvv if you would pin the image up top! I'd love you even more if you pin it from the actual post page, not my homepage!

Finding Inspiration for Your Blog Posts

Lately, I've been less than inspired to write posts here. The desire is there--I love having this blog. But I've begun to overthink it. I feel like I constantly have to balance what my readers want to read (that's you!) and what I want to write and how to be genuinely myself in the process.

(Source, as best as I can find)

I was given the opportunity to host the Lifestyle Bloggers (#lbloggers) chat this week, which is every Wednesday from 2-3 pm EST. I choose the topic "finding inspiration for your blog posts". Over the course of the hour, we discussed how to find inspiration, what to do when you're in a rut, getting inspired from blogs and visual sites like Tumblr and Pinterest. All in all, these ladies (and a couple gents) had some wonderful advice that I just have to share with you. 

(I've credited where possible, but do know that I didn't favorite every tweet and don't remember who tweeted everything.)

On being in a rut:

+ "Take a break, forcing a post doesn't work for me. I carry a notebook & jot ideas down." -@daintyandivory

+ "Get out and do something! Leave the computer and choose to do something you love or something new." -@appreciate_day

+ "Sometimes taking a week off blogging doesn't hurt, so you get new energy and ideas." -@VitaPre

+ "Go for a walk. Listen to old music. Make ice cream. Play guitar. Write a story. Call a friend. Sit in silence." -@serpentineshore

+ "My cure for writer's block is no TV, iPad or phone after 9:30 pm, have bath and read a book in bed. You have to switch off." -@thedemongin

+ "I also recommend taking trips to your local library/museum/gallery: get out. get inspired." -@serpentineshore

On finding inspiration:

+ "My inspirations are always visual. I rarely have the patience to go through a lot of text." -@sarmistha_lbf

+  "Don't just follow trends or do what other big bloggers are doing - forge your own path + create your own niche." -@serpentineshore

+ "If I blog about something I'm already passionate about, the inspiration just flows." -@poppybird_

+ "I think people watching is a great place to get inspiration. We're all so different! :)" -@WhimsicalMrsW

+ "Definitely Pinterest! There are lots of great pictures and ideas on there, especially for food!" -@effievanity

+ And my own personal trick: try to come up with 3-4 ideas for each of your topics in under two minutes. It doesn't matter if they're garbage! I feel like this takes the pressure off of coming up with the most perfect blog post idea ever while allowing me to be creative.

It's not to late to pitch in! How do you find inspiration or get yourself out of a blogging rut?

Blog Post Organizer (Printable!) + Genetics 101

In the last few months, I've started getting more organized with my blog. I've been keeping a place in Evernote for post ideas and using Google Calendar to plan posts ahead of time. But what I haven't found a good way to do is organize my ideas for a post ahead of time. Usually when I come up with a post idea, I'll have a couple phrases, bullet points, or pictures in my head that I want to make sure I include. But I tend to write only a proposed title, like "blog planning" in my Evernote. Then, when I go back to write it, I have no idea what I intended to write about.

I made this printable to suit my own needs, but I hope it will help you as well! You can print a bunch of these pages and make a binder of them. Whenever you have an awesome post idea, just pop it on one of these pages with a couple tags to help you organize it and a couple notes on content. When you're ready to write the post, just work through the page and remember to promote it on link-ups and social media. Then you're all done! How about that?!

I also use the tags section to help me organize my post ideas by category. Here on Call Me Sassafras, I blog about design, positivity, productivity, music and science. On every planning sheet, I'll write a broad category along with my other tags. Then I sort them out between those five categories. So when I'm getting ready to crank out a post, I try to look at what I've posted recently. If I've posted a lot about design, I'll look under another category for a post idea. 

That's about it! Feel free to use and share as you please, lovebugs! Just right-click on the image + click 'open in new tab' for the big ol' file. 

I hope that helps y'all organize your blog as much as it has helped me! Now, I get to do my favorite thing everrrrrr--share a science bit! :)

Today, I want to share a little bit about genetics. For every trait that you have (think eye color, blood type, etc), you have two pieces of information called 'alleles'. Each allele is part of a gene. Alleles can be either dominant (shown as R) or recessive (shown as r). In most genes, if you have an R allele and an r allele, you will show the dominant trait--the big R wins out and 'hides' the little r trait. If you have RR or rr, then you will show the respective trait. You get one allele from your mama and one from your dad. This is why you may look more like your mom or your dad but still have the same amount of genetic information from both parents.

So for example, pretend that brown eyes are the dominant trait (remember that's R!) and green eyes are recessive (r!). Pretend that my dad is RR and has brown eyes and my mom is rr and has green eyes. I would have to be Rr because I get one allele from each parent. But, the R allele is dominant. So even though I would be born an Rr, I would have brown eyes like my dad. 

Isn't that cool?! Over the coming days, we'll be talking about genetic disorders like Down syndrome and sickle cell anemia. It's gonna be cool, guys! 

Peace out, nerdballers.

Getting Involved in the Blog Community

The last few weeks have been weird here on the blog. Can you feel it? I know I can. I've been out of town a good bit and I've had more guest posts than normal. I've scheduled all my posts ahead of time. I've been so busy with school that all the little details that come with blogging have fallen by the wayside. I've hardly been on Twitter, much less have I been sharing my own posts and much much less have I been sharing others posts--something that I love to do. I've been scanning through my blog feed on my phone, only reading the posts with really good titles/pictures. And when I find a good post, I never comment. 

As a result, I've been feeling a little bit sad about this blog. (I'm not going anywhere--exhale!) I've come to the conclusion that I can't put in half the time that I used to into this relationship (because this is sort of like my weird relationship with the people of the internet) and expect all of the same results. I've been spreading myself too thin. 

So this is my one goal for the week: get involved in the blog community again. I'm on vacation for a week, and for me, that means way more blogging. I'm really excited to start my new mission to 'revive my blog lovelife' and I hope it's not too late to build all my relationships back up with my blog and blog-reading friends. So I thought I'd lay out my step-by-step plan to squish myself back into this circle of friends and invite you to come along with me! If you're not feeling fulfilled by blogging lately, try one of these things!

Sponsoring. I used to think it was like paying for friends (which, incidentally, is also how I felt about sororities), but it's really not. It's visually (and financially) supporting the blogs you love. For me, the views and followers I get from sponsoring other blogs are minimal, I'm more interested in making a connection with another blogger. 

Sharing other blogger's posts. I love doing this because it helps me connect with both other bloggers and my followers. Every blogger loves to see someone love on a post that they spent time on and you're helping provide your followers with even more quality content to read!

Comment on the blogs you read. I find it especially inconvenient to comment on other blogs because I read 90% of my Bloglovin' feed from my phone. But I know how disappointed I feel when I spend hours on a post that I think will be a smash hit, only to watch it go without comments. Think about it this way: pretend you had some really great news and had lunch with your best friend to tell her your exciting news. But when you tell her, she just sits and looks at you. How sad would that be?! That's how blogging without comments feels. I know I'm bad at responding to comments, but I read every single one (and even save screenshots on my phone of many!).

Respond to comments left on your own blog (if you have one). This goes hand-in-hand with the last one, but I just have to mention it since I'm kinda-sorta terrible at it. I will respond to 90% of comments left here over time, but it may be 2-3 weeks before I get to it. I want to be better about responding promptly. How can I build a conversation with you lovely people if I wait two weeks to reply?!

Send an email! I've only done this a few times but I'd like to do it more. It seems like a somewhat revolutionary idea, to email a blogger instead of just commenting. But if you read a post that really, really clicks with you or helps you in a new way, I promise that you can make any blogger's day with a two-sentence email that tells them that. 

So all of these collective steps make up my goal for the week. Now I need you to help me. Leave a comment with a favorite blog, a favorite post (yours or someone else's!), an idea on how to get involved in the blog community or just any thoughts on this post. And I promise, I will respond. 

Honest Thoughts on Balance in Blogging

I've been taking a long, careful look at my blog lately. And I have to say: I'm not satisfied. I'm not a huge fan of what my blog has morphed into. My blog has become a constant question of "what can I teach people today," which is all well and good. But I'm running out of things to teach. How can I keep writing posts on productivity when I spend at least half an hour on Pinterest a day and miss deadlines and have a messy bedroom sometimes? I've created this identity for myself as an "expert" in the things I blog about + that's just not fair. I'm not an expert in design, productivity, even music. 

When I first started blogging, it was all about me. I posted pictures of myself, recaps of my weekends, long posts on what I was thinking about or worried about. But no one was reading my blog then. No one cared to read about my conversation with a friend or what was good or terrible about my day. And I get that; I'm not complaining. I don't blame anyone on the internet for not caring about my mundane day-to-days. 

And so I've been teaching, because that's what people like to read. People like to read about how I design or stay productive. But I feel like I've been missing the personality, the genuine Allie-ness that used to emanate from my blog. I feel like I've been acting like someone I'm not, at least not completely. Some part of me truly is a teacher. I like spreading knowledge + getting it from others. But when I found that people preferred reading those kinds of posts, that became all I posted. 

We bloggers love to say that we only blog for ourselves. As if our blogs are our private journals that people just happen to read. But I would be lying if I said that my content doesn't revolve around my stats. If people like a post, you bet I'll post more of it. If people don't...well, it's less of a priority. And although many bloggers may not want to admit this, I love pageviews--and that's not a bad thing. I love knowing that I have people reading the words that I spend hours writing down. I revel in that. But I feel that I worry about my pageviews at the expense of creating a haven of honesty, friendship, and vibrancy in my blog.

I've felt to very out-of-touch with the blogging community as of late. All of my time goes to planning content, drafting posts or editing images. I honestly don't spend time commenting on other blogs, tweeting at my favorite bloggers or collaborating anymore. It's been months since I wrote a guest post. 

But, friends, I want to change. I want to be more genuine and real and (remember my word of the year?!) open. I don't want to have to choose between pageviews and accurately representing myself but it seems I might have to. But the community here in blogging is important enough that I'm going to do just that.

So consider this an announcement of sorts: this will be changing. Much of my blog content will be the same. But much will change. I want to show all of me on the blog--not just my "design, productivity, music, positivity + science," aka my five topics here on CMS. I'll be opening up about what it's like to start transitioning for college + preparing for a four-year long distance relationship. I want to talk about my struggles with anxiety and staying in shape and being the lone introvert in a family of extroverts. I'm going to talk about what I actually do--and not just how I do it faster or more productively. 

I want to breathe life into this blog again. And if it's at the price of pageviews, so be it. 

I really would love to hear your thoughts on this. Please leave me a comment--how often do you blog about personal things? How do you maintain a balance between blogging for stats + blogging for you?

What Kind of Blogger Are You?

Hey guys! Boy, are you lucky today--I've got the lovely Kenzie taking over with this stellar post about figuring out your blogger type. Enjoy + go check out her equally-lovely blog! (also, she's expecting! Go congratulate her!)

Hello lovelies! I'm Kenzie, and I blog over at Chasing Happy. I was super excited when Allie asked me to join you guys today--I dig meeting new people in blogland, and Allie rocks. That means you guys must rock, too! Obviously. 

I know a lot of people who read blogs are also bloggers themselves. It's what makes this community so awesome--we're all learning from and supporting each other. We're more engaged than many communities because we're all contributing consistently. Yay us! That being said, not every blog--and not every blogger--is created equal. We work hard to make our blogs the best they can be. But, unfortunately, we don't always work smart.

Blogging takes a lot of work--anyone who's been at it for more than a week could tell you that. It's important to approach it intelligently, so our work is never wasted and we get the best results. In his book The Accidental Creative, Todd Henry talks about three different "modes of focus." (I love reading about creativity... I'm currently about halfway through Henry's book and it's great! I definitely recommend picking it up yourself if you're at all interested in improving your own creativity or productivity.) Those modes can also represent three different approaches to blogging--exploring them can help us identify where we might be falling short in our efforts and how we can achieve a better balance.

Drifter

Drifters bounce from task to task at the speed of light. They might get a lot done, but they often still feel as though their blog isn't making the kind of progress they hope for. This is because they're missing an overarching strategy--the big picture. 

You have to know where your blog is headed, what you want it to be. Without this long-term strategic perspective, your approach isn't cohesive. You cross things off your to-do list like the best of them, but you're not thinking far enough ahead to be doing much more than treading water. 

Driver

Drivers, on the other hand, know exactly where they're headed. They have a very clear picture of their end goal, and they won't let anything stand in the way of achieving it. Every task contributes in some way to their objective, and they work with intense focus. 

This might sound pretty good to you, but the truth is it's not an ideal situation. The driver is so focused on her end goal that she often overlooks opportunities that pop up unexpectedly. And there are a lot of those in blogland! But the driver doesn't accept anything that doesn't fit into her plan, even though the new opportunities are often the ones that help us the most. 

Developer

The happy medium is the developer. This blogger has a clear understanding of her overall strategy and end goal. She knows where she's going and has a plan for how she'll get there. At the same time, she remains open to opportunities. As Henry puts it, the developer "purposefully approach(es) each task or element of a project as an opportunity to develop new connections or potential ideas." She keeps her head up and her eyes open. As new opportunities present themselves, she evaluates them one by one and decides if they're worth pursuing. The ones that aren't get discarded, but the ones that are get incorporated into her activities. 

A developer's blog is practically a living organism--it's continually growing and evolving. The developer herself feels good about her work and can see the positive returns of her efforts. This sounds much better, doesn't it? 

Every blogger falls into at least one of these categories. In fact, a single blogger could take all three approaches in one week! It's perfectly OK to be wherever you are right now--we've all been through each stage at one point or another. What's important is being able to recognize where you are and take steps to correct your course (or stay on it, if you're in developer mode).

If you're feeling as though you're getting a lot done but lack direction, revisit your blog's overall strategy. If you don't have one, it's time to create one! Make updates where needed and see if there are any current opportunities that could help you move your blog forward.

If you've been extra focused on your end goal lately, make sure you're also taking time to evaluate opportunities as they arise. Don't pass over good things simply because they aren't in your original plan--instead, evolve your plan. 

If you've been striking a good balance between pursuing your overall strategy and accepting the right opportunities, good for you! Keep it up, girl. Periodically review your position and look for ways to keep moving forward.

There you have it! Keep an eye on yourself and readjust when necessary--your blog will thank you for it. 

Thanks for hanging out with me here today, friends. I hope you'll come visit me over at Chasing Happy sometime. You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook--I'd love it if you came to say hello!

Easy Peasy SEO (for Blogger!)

Alright, today's one of those days when if you're not a blogger, just come back tomorrow. In general, I try not to write just for the blogging community, but today I just want to share some stuff for bloggers. 

Okay, I'll be honest. SEO (search-engine optimization) is scary stuff. There are books bigger than my head about how to optimize your blog or website to get the most attention from search engines. But the nice part is, there are a couple super easy things that you can do that will help boost how high your blog is shown on search engines + get you more traffic!

Customize your Permalinks

When you're writing your post, there's a spot on the right-hand column where you can do a bunch of things to help your SEO. Hopefully, you're already adding keywords under the label category for your readers to look through all your awesome posts! Anyways, if you double-check that your permalink has your complete post title, that'll help search engines find the keywords for that post. Like instead of yourwebsite.com/2014/2/10, change it to something with the title of your post in it.

Add a search description to every post.

This is what'll pop up on Google when someone searches for your blog/blog post! Go into Settings > Search Preferences and click yes next to enable search description. Now, every time you write a post, go to that same right hand column in the post editor and write a sentence or two about your post.

Remember to add no-follow tags on links.

Anytime you link to another site that's significantly less popular/lower ranked than yours, check the box that says Add 'rel=nofollow' attribute. This'll make sure that it doesn't lower your ranking on a search page.

Title your images effectively.

I'll admit, I kind of suck at this one. Whenever you're making images for your blog, title them with a keyword or your post title. I tend to just save mine with a letter or number because I'm lazy like that. But if I call the above image 'seo-tips-for-blogger' instead of 'asdf', my post is more likely to show up on an image search engine.

Anchor your links wisely

Yeah, I also suck at this one. 'Anchor text' is simply the text that a link is attached to. You can easily improve your SEO by changing your anchor text to something descriptive instead of 'click here' or something like that. For example, saying 'my blog is Call Me Sassafras' is better than 'here's my blog'.

Interlink.

Part of your ranking on search engine comes from how many times your blog is linked to. Thankfully, when you link to yourself, it still counts! In your posts, look for ways to link to other posts. This will not only raise your ranking, but your readers may start poking about! I know that when I'm reading blogs and they keep interlinking/linking to themselves, I find myself getting sucked into the good-blog-black-hole!

Resize images before putting them in Blogger

Yeah, I know it's tempting to resize your images in Blogger if you know any html (or want one of their automatic small/medium/large/xl sizes). But huge images resized still take just as long to load on your page, which may drive away readers! It's easy enough to resize your images in Photoshop or on Picmonkey.

Write at least 300 words. 

Short posts and super super long posts don't rank as well on search engines. Not to mention, readers like having a bit of substance to read but not a week's worth of reading in one post. I aim to write between 500-700 words in each post. You can use an online word count tool to check (did you catch my good anchor text there?!), just by copying and pasting! And this post is 661 so it's about time to sign off ;)

Do you focus on SEO? What are your tips for having an SEO-friendly blog?

Rebranding Your Blog

Hey guys! My name is Z and I blog over at Sometimes Z Takes Pictures. Right when I started thinking about my guest post for Allie, I was also in the fledgling efforts of rebranding my blog. Hopefully everything will be set into action in early January, but for now - I'm a bit of a nervous wreck! I figured I could share my thoughts and things to consider when rebranding. Best of luck if it's something you're considering!

1. panic.

Okay, maybe not full-scale panic - but the moment I knew I should rebrand, I really knew. There was a point where I just entirely disconnected with "Sometimes Z Takes Pictures." Not to say I didn't love and cherish my blog and how far it had come...but it simply didn't fit with my vision anymore. SZTP was all about photography and essays, and what I'm trying to go for now is full on lifestyle - still great writing, with an emphasis on all the things I love. Essentially, when you'll need a rebrand, you'll know. 

2. who do you want to read your blog? what do you want them to feel when they glance at your site?

Thank God my mother was involved in marketing, since she helped me come up with a branding statement. Basically, you figure out who you want to read your blog, then adjust all your other branding to fit that "ideal viewer." It all sounds very clinical, but the way I think of it is that your main consumer is YOU. Less of a sell-out way to appeal to someone, and more of a refocusing on your goals. So I settled on college girls who want good advice, funny stories, and a lot of genuine writing. Ever since laying that out, I feel as though my current posts have improved, as well as all my decisions with rebranding.

3. what could be better about your current blog?

There were several things that frustrated (and still frustrate) me about SZTP - certain things about my writing voice, design, and general "atmosphere" of the blog. I had to be specific about all of these things and figure out how I could change or adjust for the new blog. Write down maybe your top 3 or 5 pet peeves and the matching improvements that could be done with a rebrand. For instance, I could never get all my photos to look the same - little did I know I could create a template with my photos and texts to add to each post. How handy!

4. what is you, in essence?

This goes back to #2 - don't beat around the bush. Don't present just the "good" or "right" parts of you. Be ALL of you. Contradictions, juxtapositions, all of it. I see so many blogs on the web right now that are just parts of people...and why not be your whole self? I've been so careful with my online presence - and rightfully so, since a lot of bloggers can get in trouble - but that's strapped my honest persona. I need to always "check myself" for how real I can be.

5. wait for it to click.

Eventually (or, in my case, almost forever), a name will come to you. And then a color palette. And bit by bit, everything slowly shifts together. Be patient and don't be afraid to be a bit of a perfectionist. You want this to be great and LAST. Take as much time as you need and remember - this is supposed to be fun!

--Z

blog! // bloglovin! // twitter!

it's not rocket science.

I feel like most people have a skewed view of science. For instance, the majority of you probably believe that blog posts should not be about science and you're already done reading this. But if you haven't already clicked [x], let me explain to you why we should have blog posts about science.

What should we blog about? Our lives and our passions, right? For me, science is both. I know that science might not be what everyone wants to read about, but I've decided to truly embrace every blogger's motto--"I blog for myself." 

I consider one of my main goals in having this blog recklessly owning my own quirks in order to inspire other women (like you!) to embrace their own individuality. Quirks are good. They aren't something we keep to ourselves. Because that's borderline shame, and that's so not okay.

So to transition into what (I hope) will be a regularish post on science, I'd like to show you that science really is for normal people! In order to do that, I'd like to share with you some articles on science of all kinds that I've found interesting lately.

Has DNA Really Solved the Mystery of the Yeti? // The Guardian. Hint: it hasn't. Basically a geneticist named Bryan Sykes got ahold of a piece of hair that has been claimed to be from a yeti, founded in the Himalayan Mountains. After doing some testing, it seems to be related to an 40,000 year old polar bear jaw found in Sweden. This led him to think there may be an undiscovered bear population in the Himalayas.

Fat May Be Linked to Memory Loss // Life Science Network. Yet another reason to work on losing a little weight. "People with high amounts of abdominal fat in their middle age are 3.6 times as likely to develop memory loss and dementia later in their life."

Fishermen in Peru slaughter dolphins to use as bait for shark fishing // The Guardian. In an underground investigation, Ecostorm (an environmental agency) has discovered a ring of Peruvian fisherman killing dolphins for bait (which is illegal, as it happens).

Neanderthals Used Toothpicks to Alleviate the Pain of Diseases Related to Teeth, Such as Inflammation of the Gums // Science Daily. I mean the article title's kind of long enough that I think you get the gist without me summarizing it...

Sleep allows brain to wash out junk // Science News Magazine. A new study shows that sleep can clean out unnecessary particles from our brains, including proteins that can lead to Alzheimer's. So it's possible that sleep is linked to the next step in preventing Alzheimer's, how about that?!

Well friends, thanks for sticking with me. Listen, I'd love some feedback on a post like this. I know it's different, but I hope maybe some of you liked it. And if you didn't, please don't be mean and stop reading this blog altogether. I understand that you might not like everything I post. But I hope that my blog brings you something of value. Back on point, let me know how you liked this post and if you didn't (really!).

What kinds of science do you find interesting? What do you blog about that's a little unique, just because you're you?

easy peasy photoshop: make a Pinterest-style collage

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday! I hope you all have been resting well and enjoying your holiday weekend!

Today I'm sharing something new--my first ever Photoshop tutorial--Pinterest style! Now Photoshop can be really complicated and intimidating, but there's also some really great things you can make with really basic skills. Today we're gonna learn a little bit about 'layers' and how to resize and arrange images.

In the end, I'm going to teach you how to make a Pinterest style collage! I've made a few of these for myself recently and they are just so pretty. You can use quotes and put it on your wall or bathroom mirror. Or you can use fitness photos to keep somewhere that will motivate you! I'm sure y'all could come up with more ideas since you're such intelligent people (:



 

All photos are from my 'Destinations' board on Pinterest.

So we're gonna park on 'layers' for a moment. If you're a little familiar with Photoshop, you can skip these first basics and go to the heading about making the Pinterest-style collage.

Layers in Photoshop is like drawing on a bunch of pieces of transparent papers and then putting them on top of each other. This way you can move around or edit different parts of the pictures fairly easily.

So for instance, the first layer is usually the background, which is plain white. Then, you can put more layers of designs on top. By clicking the little eyeball, you can change which parts of the image are visible. So if you disabled the white background of a picture, it shows a checkered pattern but that means it has a transparent background.

To resize a photo, select the layer you're interested in resizing and go to Edit >> Free Transform. Then you can drag the edges of the picture to make it a different size. This tool is also a great/easy way to drag + drop your pictures.

EXPERT TIP: Watch the percentages of the width and height. You want to make them the same to make sure your picture stays proportional. To resize to a certain dimensions, you can type in the pixels in that little box in the top. Then change your other percentage to make sure it's proportional! Make sure you type in the W/H boxes not X/Y!

And now for the exciting part: making a Pinterest-style collage!

1. Open up a new file in Photoshop. The width should be whatever the width of your text area in your blog is. Mine is 640 pixels for example. The height can be anything, I'd recommend at least 900 pixels and you can crop it later.

2. Select all the pictures you want and copy-paste them into Photoshop. They will all go in separate layers--this is good!



3. In your head (or on a calculator), subtract 30 from your text area width. Then divide it by three. You can round to the nearest whole number; it doesn't have to be that exact. For example: my blog is 640-30 = 610. Divided by 3 is 203. That number is the width that you want all of your pictures to be.

4. Resize all of your photos to that width, using the method above. Don't forget your proportions! I don't want to see stretched pictures. This, below, is bad. Please don't make anyone's eyes look at this.



5. Now, rearrange your pictures (with Edit>>Free Transform) into three columns. Leave a little space between the columns and each picture. If you used my number method, you can have 15 pixels between each column, but you can just eyeball it.

6. Click the little eye next to the BACKGROUND layer. Then click the little arrow on the layer menu and click Merge Visible. And save!

Ta-da!! There you go, your own beautiful Pinterest-style collage.

I think they're prettiest when you mix up vertical and horizontal photographs but it's all up to you!

Get fancy! Make your background a different color! Do not click the little eye (step 6). Instead, select the background layer. Click the little magic wand in your tool box and select magic eraser. Make sure your tolerance box says 1. Click anywhere on the canvas. Press Shift + F5 and select a color!

Now go forth and Photoshop! If you post any to your blog, share the link here so I can see your pretty new skillz! And if you want to be super lovely, you can tweet or pin this lovely tutorial with my icons floating on your left. (:

Easy peasy ways to make your blog prettier in 5 minutes

I may not be an expert on blogging, but I do know a thing or two about what makes a blog pretty. It annoys me so much to see a blog with fantastic content, but an awful design--most people won't give your words a chance if your layout isn't aesthetically pleasing! It's sad, but true. Here's how you can easily make your blog prettier without buying a whole new design.

1. Make all your photos the width of your text column. This isn't hard. Use high-quality pictures when possible and resize them in Photoshop or at Picmonkey (free/no registration). This goes miles to make your blog look more professional, and it's super easy! This also applies to your widget. You can alternate sizes but make sure your edges aren't jarring.

2. Please clean up your sidebar. You don't need to have a widget for everything, you just don't. A bio, categories and ads (if applicable) should be your basics and you probably don't need much more.

3. A note about backgrounds and fonts. Please make your background, or at least the part behind the words white. Make your words black or very dark. Please don't use cursive. That's so not okay. Also, don't make big blobby chunks of words; no one wants to read that. Tough love, you don't want your blog to read like a textbook. As a rule of thumb, keep paragraphs to six lines or under.

4. Make your social media buttons match your color scheme. Well first off, have a color scheme. If you don't know how to make social media buttons, have any designer make them, I guarantee they'll be under ten dollars. I'll make them for a buck each. (design) The ones with the brand colors are just not pretty and aren't doing you any good at making your blog look put together. It's the honest truth.

What do you think keeps a blog looking clean and pretty?