Blog Improvement Project Task 4: Blog Basics

The 4th task for the Blog Improvement Project is:

Over the next two weeks, take on as many of these tasks as you like. I know they are pretty general, but every blog is different and so what you might want to do with these particular pieces is up to you.

* Write (or update) your “About Me” Page — Make sure you can see your About Me from the main page of your blog because someone just arriving at the site should be able to easily see a little information about you

* Update your contact information

* Add some sort of picture of yourself (if you’re comfortable with that)

* Update your Blogroll — Blogging Startup has a good series on blogrolls starting with “Does My Blog Need A Blogroll?” — check out some of the other entries, they’re pretty short and interesting

* Create a link to your Archives on your front page (there are a lot of widgets for this, or you can find other ways to do it — either way, it’s important to do so people who want your archives can find them to get a sense of what they can expect from your blog)

* Add a link (or make sure a link is there) so readers can subscribe to your blog via RSS

* Get to work on other basic blog maintenance you’ve been meaning to do

I'll be working on these for the next two weeks and linking back to the results here. I definitely need an "About Me" post, and I wouldn't mind putting a picture of myself on here. My blogroll was recently updated, but I might prune it a bit. I already have a link to my archives in the sidebar, and adding an RSS link shouldn't be too hard...

Blog Improvement Project Task 3: Blog Post Bingo

The 3rd task for the Blog Improvement Project was:

Blog Post Bingo!

* Take a look at the 10 types of blog post below. Over the next two weeks, try to write as many of these different kinds of posts as you can.

1. A Link Post - share a series of links your readers might find interesting
2. A Short Post - less than 200 words
3. A List Post - simple as it sounds, a list of some sort
4. An Opinion Post - take an event, news, or another blog post and share your opinion on it
5. A Poll or Question Post - post a poll or ask your readers a specific question for feedback
6. A How-To Post - You’re an expert in something; big or small, share how to do it
7. A Long Post - more than 700 words
8. A Review Post - self-explanatory, I think :)
9. A Definition Post - show your expertise about a topic related to your blog
10. FREE SPACE - a type of post of your choice (that is not the same as one of the previous posts)

I missed out on this one, but it sounds like fun. I'm going to try to write one of each of these in the next few weeks. I'll post the links to them here.

Blog Improvement Project Task 2: Brainstorming

The second task for the Blog Improvement Project is:

Part 1 — Brainstorming Ideas:

* Read the articles above and find a technique that you think will help you brainstorm, then spend some quality time brainstorming.

* Keep track of the topic ideas you’ve brainstormed for a time in the future when you need some ideas.

Part 2 — Blogging Your Ideas:

* Use your brainstormed ideas to come up with a new, regular feature for your blog. There are a lot of memes and stuff out there to participate in, but I think it’s cool when a blogger has a feature that is unique to them. Think about what makes your voice different, then come up with a feature that reflects that. There aren’t any “rules” about the feature — just be yourself.

That second one is actually easier (for me) than the first. One of my original goals was to bring back Recipe Tuesday, which should be pretty self-explanatory (in case it isn't: I post a recipe every Tuesday). I started that back up again last week, and I now have a few RT auto-posts, so that even when I'm at school, they'll still get published on time.

As for the other brainstorm ideas, here are a few suggestions I liked from the articles we were given to read:

Introduce "Random Challenges," revisit a previous post, switch "voices." switch styles, ask your readers a question, and summarize what others are writing. (from 24 Things to Do When Stuck for a Topic to Blog About)

Keep a journal and analyze your results. (from 9 Steps to Better Blog Post Ideas)

The other article dealt with ways to generate blog post ideas, which were also helpful. For the time being, I think my regular memes and book reviews (in addition to the random personal posts) will keep me pretty busy, but I'll definitely use the tips if I ever get stuck for an idea.

Blog Improvement Project Task 1: Goal Setting

The first task for the Blog Improvement Project:

* Read some of the articles on goal setting.
* Set some goals for your blog. Think about where you would like to be a year from now, and try to set clear and specific objectives that you’ll be able to measure in some way once we get to the end of 2009.
* Write a post about your goals. If you can think of any, also include ideas about projects or activities that you think could help you achieve those goals.
* Come back and sign the Mr. Linky (image below, it will be a popup) with the specific post you’ve written your goals in.
* Check back to answer questions (if you can), read and comment on other participants blogs, and to see a wrap up post next week of some of the most common goals other participants have set.

I'm just going to keep this short and sweet. My goals for this blog for 2009 are:
1. Complete all challenges (reading and reviewing) that I have signed up for.
2. Create a header and change up the layout a bit - I'd like to get another sidebar on the left.
3. Bring back "Recipe Tuesday," which I used to post weekly when I did cooking demonstrations.
4. Write more posts on the weekends and set them to publish throughout the week, so that I don't have a bunch of reviews going out on Saturdays and Sundays.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure I'll come up with more as the year progresses and as I see others' goals.

2009 Blog Improvement Project

Click here for the main page.

Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness is hosting The 2009 Blog Improvement Project. From her blog:

The 2009 Blog Improvement Project is a year-long challenge that will consist of twice-monthly activities to improve your blog. Every first and third Monday of the month I’ll post an activity here at Sophisticated Dorkiness that will related in some way to making your blog better. Each participant should spend the next two weeks focusing on that aspect of their blog. Possible topics include goals setting, writing better content, building community with readers, getting more readers, and blog layout and design.

If you choose to participate in this project, there is no obligation to participate in every challenge, and you can customize each challenge so it makes sense for your particular blog and goals. Think of the design as similar to Weekly Geeks — participate when it makes sense for you. This is a group effort, because getting better is always easier when you have a support system, but the ultimate commitment remains with you — how do you want your blog to be better by the time we get to December 31, 2009?