Tag: Blogging
Thank You!
Blogger Interview Results.
Below are the result of the blogger interviews I conducted. I loved reading all the responses! I want to give a special thank you to all those who participated!
clarahridings.wordpress.com
Do you have a blog URL you can share?
http://clarahridings.wordpress.com
How long have you been blogging? Have you had multiple blogs?
Over two years, and this is my only blog.
Tell me a little about yourself and your blog.
I’m Clara! A Christian teenager from the U.S. who loves to read, write, draw, and drink tea! I used to share my art and favorite quotes on my blog, as well as occasional random things. Nowadays, I mostly just write from the daily prompts. However, the fun stuff is mainly for the purpose of drawing people to learn about the reason I ever took up blogging. This will always remain the ultimate purpose of my blog, because I firmly believe that it is one of the most important things in the world. See below what it is!
What made you decide to start blogging?
I learned from Reece’s Rainbow and The Archibald Project about the realities for orphaned children with special needs in orphanages around the world, and how many desperately need adoptive families. Following along with Reece’s Rainbow opened my eyes to the enormity, importance and urgency of this crisis, and practically showed me how small a fraction of these truly amazing kids find the families they need and deserve. I knew I had to do something, and learned to that many adoptive families decided to take the leap to grow their family through adoption, because someone shared about the need, and when they saw the actual faces of waiting children, everything changed. As a teenager, I can’t do much about this, but I CAN share, and try to make more people passionate about orphaned and vulnerable children.
What advice would you give a new blogger? What would you have done differently?
Don’t use more than 15 tags and categories COMBINED! Otherwise WP reader will categorize the post as spam. I didn’t catch this, and someone was kind enough to notice, and drop a comment to let me know, so I definitely want to pass this gold nugget along. Also, take advantage of the daily prompts. They skyrocketed my views and engagement. Not to mention that they are inspirational and fun!
Were you inspired by other bloggers, writers, or influencers? If so, who and why?
Yes! I got the whole vision of how advocacy blogs worked from http://covenantbuilders.blogspot.com/?m=1
Hearing that so many kids found families from her blogging lit a fire under me to start a blog. Sadly, most advocacy blogs have died out, but there are still children who need families, and blogging is still powerful!
Do you plan to continue blogging long term? If so, what is the ultimate goal of your blogging?
I’m not totally sure, but I do hope to keep blogging. This is what I can do about the orphan crisis, so I want to do it to the full. It’s kinda like gambling. Just a small chance it’ll work, but it’s addicting, because every post is a little more likely a child finds a family.
Thanks for the interview!
momoetry.wordpress.com
Do you have a blog URL you can share?
How long have you been blogging? Have you had multiple blogs?
This time? 1 year 4 months
Tell me a little about yourself and your blog.
I process emotions through writing. Mainly I write poetry and blog about life. I live in Pittsburgh, PA.
What made you decide to start blogging?
I am a mental health activist. By discussing my mental health, being open that I am on medicine, and have a therapist; I hoping to dull stigmas surrounding mental health.
What advice would you give a new blogger? What would you have done differently?
Be yourself. Also, sometimes reading out loud what I’ve written helps me make sure it makes sense. Get involved in the community of WordPress.
Were you inspired by other bloggers, writers, or influencers? If so, who and why?
Bridgette, David, Sadje, Jenn (Creative Chic), Maria, Michele, Pooja- (all on wordpress and I can link them if needed). All are in the WP poetry community. All are supportive, kind, and people whose writing speaks to me in different way.
Do you plan to continue blogging long term? If so, what is the ultimate goal of your blogging?
My ultimate goal is a 6 continent book tour. Screaming fans that just love how I talk about parenting and a Scrooge McDuck vault to swim in. J/k
Ultimate goal, to grow my audience, express myself authentically, and hopefully help people to feel less alone.
inspirationbyellie.com
Do you have a blog URL you can share?
https://inspirationbyellie.com
How long have you been blogging? Have you had multiple blogs?
6 years on 1 bloh
Tell me a little about yourself and your blog.
I grew up in a Christian family. My mom took the 7 of us back and forth to church each week. The Bible was often taught, so, I knew it and memorized portions. I liked what it said.
Thinking Jesus Christ and I were cool based on my upbringinging, I was totally surprised when He personally revealed Himself to me by His Spirit one day at church. He told me I needed Him in my heart. “What?” I thought. All the church, preaching/teaching, community Bible clubs, VBS, etc. “I know God!”
The Lord’s gentle presence and brief statement to me eas so compelling, I did givre Him my heart that day. I was a teenager, by the way. I came alive, life came alive, and the Bible’s message started becoming alive. The dots began connecting. I understood. I was captivated!! I felt inspired, wanted, helped, and guided reading it since then.
What made you decide to start blogging?
I got a degree in Biblical Studies and created my inspiration blog to share the Bible’s message with others so they too could experience the same exhilaration and change their heart as I did.
What advice would you give a new blogger? What would you have done differently?
Write what you’re passionate about; it’s easier.
Be yourself and don’t compare your writing voice to others.
Were you inspired by other bloggers, writers, or influencers? If so, who and why?
I wasn’t inspired by anyone in particular. read various blogs and thought this was a great way to share my passion.
Do you plan to continue blogging long term? If so, what is the ultimate goal of your blogging?
Yes, I hope to continue blogging–shortening them and keeping the message simple, kind, clear, and inspiring.
Thanks! 🙂
eternalshadowbooks.wordpress.com
Do you have a blog URL you can share?
http://eternalshadowbooks.wordpress.com
How long have you been blogging? Have you had multiple blogs?
I started this blog a couple of years ago, but only recently I’ve been posting regularly.
Tell me a little about yourself and your blog.
I’m a movie and TV lover. I consider myself to be socially awkward and find that I prefer hanging out at home with some friends over going out. My blog is full of random thoughts I have, as well as reviews to my favorite movies, and updates to the book I’m working on.
What made you decide to start blogging?
I started blogging as a way to gain interest in my stories. Over time it’s evolved beyond that to more insights to what I think and even more personal tales.
What advice would you give a new blogger? What would you have done differently?
The advice I would give is what was given to me. Just do it. What could happen? Most of us are so afraid of failure that we don’t even realize that not trying is in itself failing. I would have definitely put more effort in the early days of blogging and put myself out there more and just go for it.
Were you inspired by other bloggers, writers, or influencers? If so, who and why?
I never really looked at other blogs until more recently. I think one that gave me more inspiration than others was Seraphinitegames on Tumblr. I really enjoy her Wayhaven books on Hosted Games and she’s so open with her followers. It’s something I’ve been trying to strive for.
Do you plan to continue blogging long term? If so, what is the ultimate goal of your blogging?
I’m not someone who really thinks in the long term. I know I should, but I just enjoy taking things day by day. Do I want to keep doing this? Absolutely! As for a goal…. The only thing I can hope for is that anyone who takes the time to read my blog comes out a little entertained. Or at least find themselves looking at something in the way they haven’t before.
sophiakd4.wordpress.com
Do you have a blog URL you can share?
https://sophiakd4.wordpress.com/
How long have you been blogging? Have you had multiple blogs?
I just started blogging this year. I just have one blog.
Tell me a little about yourself and your blog.
Hi. My name is Sophia. My blog is about baseball. I really like baseball. If you want to see the full description you see the first post I posted and it will tell you more.
What made you decide to start blogging?
Multiple things made me want to start blogging. First I wanted to become a sportswriter. Second I got advice from multiple great people to start my own blog. Third, I wanted to practice my writing and get my writing seen by lots of people.
What advice would you give a new blogger? What would you have done differently?
If you’re a new blogger start slow and don’t rush into it. Start slow and use WordPress for your blog. Also reach out to other bloggers and people to come see and read your blog. I think the only thing I would have done differently is try not to apply for a job before trying writing on WordPress.
Were you inspired by other bloggers, writers, or influencers? If so, who and why?
I was inspired by many people. I was inspired by many different female sportswriters who write for the Philadelphia Phillies!
Do you plan to continue blogging long term? If so, what is the ultimate goal of your blogging?
I do plan on continuing to blog long term. My goal is to get my writing to be the best it can so then one day I can be a sportswriter!
Thanks again for participating! Does anyone have any comments or questions for these bloggers? Also, don’t forget to subscribe to their blog!
The reason I blog.
I had to think about this one for a minute. Here are a few of the reasons I started blogging.
- I’m out of my mind! Just kidding! Really though, life can drive you nuts, and writing can help you keep your sanity. It was my last resort, but it’s keeping me afloat.
- I have deep emotions and no outlet. I feel things way more deeply than the average person. I love more deeply. I’m also an empath. I need to release my feelings somewhere.
- I’m not surrounded by soulmates. I have lots of acquaintances, but there are very few people who really connect with me on a deep level. It’s not their fault, they just don’t understand.
- People you know will judge you. In real life, you have to be careful what you say, because people will classify you as this or that kind of person. You have to put on a mask around them.
- There’s a lot of things that go unsaid. Social media suppresses ideas, and I think blogs are the only spot where the truth might live on, because your blog belongs to you.
- I see interesting things and want to share. Seeing something interesting isn’t very fun if there’s no one to share it with. People also like to see things you share that are interesting.
- The reality we live in is confusing. As you go through life, it pays to take notes and leave a few breadcrumbs behind for others, so they don’t walk off the same cliffs.
- I want to hear from others. People can listen, give advice, give inspiration, feel empathy, spread a message, become endearing, create hope, give purpose, etc. Their ideas are important.
- I need a sense of purpose. I spent my whole life building up to where I am now. There was always some sort of dream I was pursuing, but I’m running low on ideas. This keeps me moving.
- I am drawn to words and ideas. I spent most of my life doing things that involved using my brain. I like reading and writing things. Words are the air that I breath. I am a living idea.
Do these resonate with you also? Would you add something to the list? Thanks for being here! Don’t forget to like, share, comment, and subscribe!
The last thing I searched for online.
Looking back at the web history in my browser, it looks like the last thing I searched for was day in the sun. I was searching for that phrase because it was related to previous post called Having your day in the sun. I knew there was some sort of idiom about a day in the sun, but I wanted to know the precise meaning. I found an article at the top of the search results that explained it very well. You can read about it for yourself on the page Day in the sun meaning.
The idiom fit well with the post I was writing because it was about a homeless man laying out under the hot sun. The idiom actually means you get attention and are appreciated. This also fits, because the post is about noticing and appreciating the connection we have with other people. I think it’s the perfect title for the article actually. I love it when things connect in multiple ways like that. It makes it much more memorable to me.
What’s your latest day in the sun? Do you like idioms? Do you like double meanings like that? Do you do a lot of web searches while writing? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!
I decided to add a site logo.
I thought it was about time for Ken’s Life to have its own logo. I bounced around from this idea or that, but nothing seemed to fit. I finally stumbled upon a logo that had wings. I’m not sure why, but I was kind of drawn to the wings. Unfortunately, wings aren’t much good without a body, so I added my own touch to it, making it unique. Gotta fly now! See you in the clouds!
Let me know what you think in the comments, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!
Top 10 things every seller should consider.
Sellers often get a bad rap. Lately, I’ve been asking myself why that is. We all have to buy things, but sometimes we don’t like it when people try to sell to us, and practically no one likes advertising. I put together a few touch points that I think might improve a seller’s long-term success.
- Pick a safe product. Take steps to verify that the product is safe for the intended use. You don’t want to get sued when someone’s hair falls out after using the shampoo you sold them. Also, read the product reviews, and pay special attention to those who rated it badly.
- Pick a product you would actually buy. If you wouldn’t even buy the product, it’s going to be hard to sell it to someone else. You haven’t even made your own mind up about it, and you are trying to make their mind up about it. It’s going to be a hard sell.
- Determine who your customers are. If you don’t know who you are selling to, you won’t be able to pick the best products to sell to them. Some customers might stumble upon you, but targeted advertising might come into the picture at some point. It’s helpful to know where to send the ads.
- Understand your customer’s needs. You are not going to sell me a brassiere. I’d never be able to fill it out properly and I’m not sure I’m qualified to pick the best one out for someone else. If you have a customer base, think in terms of what they actually need.
- Don’t be the pushy salesperson type. It does sometimes work, but customers walk away with a bad feeling afterwards, and probably won’t be coming back. You will be that person they avoid eye contact with and unfollow because they get tired of being hit up. Take no for an answer.
- Conduct market research. If you are going to sell books for example, recognize that you are going up against Barnes & Noble and Amazon. This will be a hard sell unless you have something that they don’t offer already. Finding a niche market will probably improve your chances of success.
- Don’t forget the customer after the sale. If you really believe in the product, consider offering a full refund for dissatisfied customers. It’s really expected these days. Also, some products may need some form of customer service after the sale.
- Strengthen customer relationships. Do as much as possible to strengthen the tie that customers have with your business. If you treat your customers right, they are more likely to make future purchases, and your business will be spread through word of mouth.
- Take care of your reputation. No one wants to buy from a shady dealer. Keep your own reputation clean and make sure your business has a good public image. Seek to maintain good PR and quickly fix any customer problems that become publicized. Become someone they trust.
- Don’t involve your personal politics in your business. It does get you noticed in the news sometimes, but frankly it looks bad and drives some customers away. They might even boycott you. Your business is about the products and services you sell, not who you vote for in the election.
Possible discussion ideas.
- Do you know a pushy salesman?
- Have you bought any products you totally regret?
- Have you ever owned a shop or business?
- What products or services do you believe in?
- Have you ever been injured by a bad product?
- Ever feel like you are buying from an unscrupulous person?
- What type of products and services work best for bloggers?
- Do you think businesses should get involved in politics?
Thanks for being here! Let’s hear what you have to say in the comments! Subscribe if haven’t already, and please like and share!
The change I would like to make with this blog.
Honestly, I gave up on changing the world. My desire to change the world was beaten out of me by some really hard life events. I tried very hard to change the fate of just one person, but I failed miserably. This blog is more like a way of recovering from the trauma I have endured over the the last five or six years from trying to change the world.
I also don’t think I can change anyone’s life through this blog. I’m glad if my journey helps them feel better about their own life circumstances, but I am not responsible for their life direction. I recognize they may decide to make some sort of change after reading something I wrote, but the power to change is within them, not me.
Another reason for this blog is expression. There are ideas and feelings that are sort of trapped inside me. I have no other way of releasing them except through writing. I occasionally share thoughts with a friend or random stranger I meet, but much of what I experience is probably common to everyone, except we are not always brave enough to write about it publicly, or at least I wasn’t until recently.
I think at some point in a person’s life they just want to leave something behind that shows they were here. That is another reason I write. It’s the closest to immortality that we can ever come in the material world. Of course, I’m not sure if anything I ever did will last more than a few years after my passing, but no harm in trying.
Lastly, I have met some really amazing people along the way. Some of them really helped me in ways that I can never repay. Others were just interesting, or quirky, or brought out some surprising aspect of human nature, all worthy of writing about. My story was not my own. All these people were a passing part of it, all characters in my book, and a few of them appearing here, immortalized by my words.
One last thought I sometimes consider about blogging. I don’t necessarily believe in reincarnation, but it certainly might be real. I’m not really overjoyed by the thought of repeating the same mistakes eternally. Maybe if I left behind something that my future self can use, that might help him to get off the ground faster, or at least prevent him from worrying about the things he cannot control.
Possible discussion ideas…
- How would you change the world?
- Do any of my reasons for writing jive with you?
- Do you know or meet people you just want to write about?
- Do you ever think about leaving something behind?
- Did you ever write about a traumatic experience?
- Do you think the world is changeable or set?
- Was it hard for you to post your thoughts publicly?
- Do you worry about things out of your control?
- Do you believe in reincarnation?
- What would you tell your future self?
Let me know what you think in the comments, and thanks for being here! Please like, share, and subscribe!
Your spirit is contained in your words.
I spend a lot of time reading other people’s thoughts. I don’t mean I’m a psychic or mind-reader or anything. I mean, people write their thoughts down, and I read them. I do a whole lot of that, whether it be on social media, blog posts, articles, comments, you name it.
Since I have gained quite a bit of experience in this, I have noticed something interesting happens when I read someone’s words, and it does sort of border on the psychic. I know it’s just my imagination, but sometimes when I read something that someone wrote, a whole lot more than the words in the text come thorough to me.
It’s hard to explain, but I sort of feel their presence in the words. I can almost make a guess as to what kind of person they are, whether or not I should engage with them, what they love and hate, how they are going to respond to this question or that, what would offend them or hurt their feelings, and even whether they like me or not. None of this is overly apparent from the words they say, but it feels like some deeper part of themselves is coming across in their words, especially if they have put a lot of themselves into the words as they wrote them down.
I know this is a crazy idea, but this is probably the right group to answer this question, because I know you read as much as I do. Does it seem like you actually know the people you read? Can you just sense them? Can you tell if you would click with them or not? Does it feel like they would be in your circle of friends if you met them in person? Do you think you would have great conversation with them? Does it feel like they would totally understand what you are saying? Doesn’t this happen kind of quicker than you might have expected? Can you feel my presence in my words?
To me, meeting someone through their words is almost like meeting them in person. If you can do this, I think you would say that it might be the best part of reading what they wrote. It also seems to transcend space and time, as I can actually feel the character of author’s long dead. I think this is also one of the reasons I write.
Your spirit is being spilled out on the page as you write, but don’t worry, you have plenty of spirit left, an infinite amount if you want to use it. It must be so, because if you can transmit part of yourself to me though words, then you are as infinite as the very idea itself, and you are now everywhere.
Does this make sense to you at all? Do you sometimes feel the people you read? Do you sometimes feel like you are putting some sort of emotion into the words as you write them? Have you ever actually cried while writing something, or reading something? Does AI generated text have the same feeling? Let’s meet in the comments! Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe!
Just skimming the surface.
I read a lot. I always have, but I’ve seen a shift in my reading habits these past few years. I still squeeze in some time to read whole books, but it feels like I spend the bulk of my reading time browsing then Internet and skimming content, rather than taking in a complete work. It feels a lot like I’m going from plate to plate, consuming only a thin slice, like the judge in a state fair pie eating contest.
I’m scrolling through social media, and something catches my eye, so I browse over there and read a bit, but usually not all of it. Maybe my attention span has shortened with age, or maybe I absorbed the gist and am ready to move on, or maybe there’s just more competition for my attention elsewhere, or maybe they truly lost me. Jumping back out of the rabbit hole, I’m browsing the next one, ready to jump in, but never too deep. It’s a shallow existence I know, and I feel like it grows on you after a while.
I remember it wasn’t always like this. There was a time when I was very thorough and deep. I didn’t just want the cliff notes on everything. I assumed every word in the book was somehow important. I could see the high level, but I also hung on every word, how it sounded, how it was arranged, how it made me feel. If I misread or skipped just one phrase, the whole work wouldn’t make sense. I’d have to reread it all again.
I remember years ago when I would get a new watch, or clock, or VCR, or microwave, or any other odd device, I would read the little instruction book all the way through. I assumed that if I missed even a single page, I’d be totally lost as to how this thing worked, or I’d miss out on a special feature, or maybe it just wouldn’t work at all, or even become dangerous. Read the instructions first! That was my mantra.
I also remember my first computer came with an full user’s manual. The manual actually taught you how to program it. I read that book cover to cover and did every example. That’s actually how I became a computer programmer. Now days, you get a few pages of warranty info and maybe a quick start guide for someone who has never powered on a device.
I guess they just assume its cultural knowledge now. If you buy an electronic device, you must already know how to do everything with it, or maybe it’s just too complicated to tell people everything it can do, or technical writing became too expensive, or maybe they expect Google and YouTube will give you all the instructions you will ever need, provided you know how to get there.
Even on the search engines, I am just grazing though, grabbing just enough information to do what I want at the moment, never going too deep, never filling my brain to the expert level. Maybe it will come with time, as I sample enough of a particular subject, but for right now I just need to know how to make Excel do a pivot table.
I’ll figure the rest out when I have time, and deep down I know I will never have enough hours in my life, and I’ve become accepting of that. I’ve become comfortable with just being a pebble skipping over the surface, never diving in too deep, never being slowed down, just bouncing along on the surface making ripples, until I reach my final destination, and sink below the waves, never to be seen again.
I know I’m also not the only pebble in this pool. I see other people doing it every day. Some who read even less than I did in the past, who have never even peeked under the waves for one moment. A whole generation of people just browsing, and skimming, and skipping, and constantly refocusing, always a little behind and never taking a full deep breath.
Maybe it’s a good thing to stay shallow. There’s just too much content these days to take it all in, but I still sometimes wonder, what sort of society will this behavior create?
Does anything in this article resonate with you? What do you think the future holds for a society with a shortened attention span? Do you think there will ever be too much content on the Internet? Do you think this trend will have psychological effects on people? Let me know in the comments, and please, like, share, and subscribe!
Ken's Life 
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