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If you are a member of LinkedIn and you also blog, then you are eligible to join the LinkedIn Bloggers Carnival. We publish posts on a monthly basis and I’m hosting the October edition.  You’ll find the submission link to the right of this blog (and it doesn’t always show the current date but I don’t know why) but if you are reading this via email subscription or RSS then you just need to go http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_3647.html.  The next edition is due to be published October 6th.

Topic can be about LinkedIn or relate to business.   Entries are screened and those hosting editions on their sites have the right to remove any posts they consider not appropriate for posting.

We have hosts till the end of this year but if you’d like to host in 2009, then please indicate below and include your LinkedIn profile address please. If we get enough hosts we may increase the editions to run fortnightly (2 weekly) rather than monthly.

blog carnival, LinkedIn, blogging

Tags: Blog Carnival by Kathie Thomas
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I get a lot of people asking how to blog and what they need to do to get visitors, etc but when they get started all they do is just write a few posts and nothing else.  Some write more regularly than others but they do little else.

Some of the suggestions I give are:

1.  Don’t write posts that are too long; you could do a series of posts on the one topic instead.

2.  Ask questions so that readers are prompted to leave answers.

3.  Visit other people’s blogs and leave comments on them – often they will come back and visit yours and leave comments and so will some of their own visitors.

4.  Consider running a competition now and then – established bloggers do this to encourage subscribers or comments.  It might be a while before you can do this but keep it as a thought.

5. Subscribe to other blogs that might help you with hints and tips in blogging.  In fact, whenever they write something you find useful, it is good to leave a comment and always leave your blog address – these blogs get lots of visitors so it might draw some more traffic for your own: http://www.chrisg.com/, http://www.chrisbrogan.com/, http://www.problogger.net/, http://sethgodin.typepad.com/

6. Join bloggers’ forums where you can learn from others also.  http://www.aussiebloggers.com.au/forum/, http://forum.authorityblogger.com/ are two I recommend. Some well known bloggers at both groups – one is an Aussie group, the other has leaders from the UK.

7. Search for blogs on similar topics and add them to your blogroll in the hope they will add you to theirs. They will see the incoming links in their dashboard. Leave comments when appropriate.

If you are writing a blog simply to write, then that’s fine, but if you really want to grow your readership then you need to be networking online too. People won’t know your blog exists unless they’re specifically looking for your topic or if they meet you via a comment, blogroll link, a forum of some sort or perhaps through other websites, article directories, and so on.  And if your goal is to earn some income by attracting advertisers or clicks on advertising, then building sufficient traffic for that to happen is imperative.

Networking online is a very worthwhile way of making connections for anyone who is doing anything online.

And don’t forget my free ebook offer ‘Blogging Basics‘ by learning from my own blogging experiences.

You might have more suggestions to help new bloggers and why not share them here?

blogging basics, networking online, how to blog, increase traffic

Tags: About Blogging, Networking by Kathie Thomas
11 Comments »

As most readers know, I’m an active member of LinkedIn.com and have made many connections there and lots of friends – old and new.

I recently received yet another invitation to connect from someone I don’t know and who obviously hasn’t read my profile.  It amazes me that people won’t look to find out a bit about the person they’re sending an invitation too, and in most cases, the invitation is one of those generic, unedited invitations that blatantly show the sender is more into collecting numbers rather than true connections.  Although, in some cases, particularly when I see their network is less than 20, it can indicate they’re brand new and are still learning, in which case I often give them some pointers and suggest they come to this blog to read the LinkedIn category for tips.

The latest inviter responded to my question of why he wanted to connect with:

Networking is getting connected with people whom you don’t already know which is the point of linkedin. Whats the point of networking with people you already know…

I asked him if he had read the rules? LinkedIn actually tells people they should only be connecting with people they know personally and besides, networking is all about relationships – it’s not about numbers, it never has been.

It did make me wonder who he had been listening to though, before he sent a blanket invitation to someone he doesn’t know.  And without even reading my profile (which might have saved him some trouble if he had read it).  There is a school of thought to connect first and get to know later, and then there are others like me, who like to be wooed just a bit, simply by letting me know they’d read my profile, or had seen me somewhere and was interested in knowing more about what I do and could we connect?  And in that invitation they should also tell me something of themselves.

The majority of people I’ve connected with have been those I’ve gotten to know through LinkedIn discussion forums, or via Answers, when they have seen my response to something, or I have seen their’s.  Perhaps they answered a question I asked and they helped me. Perhaps we were involved in something else together.  Or perhaps someone they know also knows me and have forwarded an introduction.

If people are more interested in growing numbers rather than growing relationships, you have to wonder why they’re in the networking game in the first place.  I mean, how does it benefit them?

I’d much rather a smaller number of true connections, people I’ve gotten to know, rather than a large number of people I know nothing about and most likely never will.  How about you?

Tags: LinkedIn, Networking by Kathie Thomas
5 Comments »

I’ve recently written an ebook of “Blogging Basics” to help new bloggers on their way.

It’s not a comprehensive how-to for those who already have considerably blogging experience – there are many books out there already that cater to that audience. But there are many others who do not yet know how to start, or if they’ve started, how to progress things further or what even the functions in their dashboard mean.

The book caters to Wordpress and Blogger users but the basics would apply to any blog platform.

The table of contents is listed below to give you an idea of what it includes.

Overview of Blogging
My Blogging Story
Why Blog?
What Are The Benefits of Blogging?
Blogging For Business

Getting Started
Domain Names For Your Blog
Paid Hosting For Your Blog
Steps For Setting Up a Blog
Blog Templates
Understanding the Components
Commenting on Other Blogs
How Often Should You Blog?

What Do These Things Mean?
Permalinks
Plugins
RSS Feeds or Email Subscriptions?
Tags
Trackbacks

Extras That Will Enhance Your Blogging Experience
Blog Carnivals
Blog Communities
Google Alert
Social Networks For Bloggers
Tracking Your Visitors

In Summary
Steps to get things happening

How do you get this ebook?
Simple, just subscribe to this blog and you’ll be given the download link to get it.

learning to blog, blog basics, Wordpress, Blogger, benefits of blogging

Tags: About Blogging by Kathie Thomas
9 Comments »