How to Become a Good Blogger Part 2
On the 19th of September it was exactly 1 month that I launched Homemaking With Style. I’ve decided to try to post an updated blogging tips post every month from here on out. This way I can share what I’ve learned with other bloggers. I know I’m a newbie but I’m getting all of my pointers from veteran bloggers that I’ve connected with. I’ll tell you about my followings and you can do the math to see if what they have been teaching me has been working. Since I wrote my first post How to Become a Good Blogger about a month ago, my twitter following has increased by 300. It was 600 when I wrote that one and now it is a little over 900. I started a new fan page for Homemaking With Style and the number of fans I have is around 200. After a month, Homemaking With Style’s Bloglovin’ following is at about 75. I was also able to score a campaign with 1 brand already which I was extremely excited about! I cannot remember what my Pinterest following was when I wrote Part 1, but I have made some changes to how I do things on there recently because of a few posts and things I’ve stumbled upon and there has been an increase in my following there as well. Right now it is at 190 something. Ironically, my following hasn’t grown much on Pinterest, but Google Analytics shows that Pinterest is one of the top 5 places that generate the most traffic for my blog. When I get to my point about Pitnerest, you will see why. So here are some tips that I’ve gathered together for you all to ponder on and perhaps add to your blogging style. 
1) I honestly can’t stress this point enough. It is the main reason I have been able to gain such momentum with this blog in such a short amount of time. Engagement. Engagement is key in the blogging world. Engagement creates followings, networking relationships, friendships and support. I’ve heard it from several bloggers who don’t even know I’ve asked them the same question. These are the bloggers who are responding to comments on their blog and who will come back over to your blog and comment on your posts too. No matter how big or popular you get this is something that you should try to stay faithful to is what I am told. This can be hard when you get like 50 comments on your blog, but you don’t have to comment on all of them all at once. A clear example. Some people might think I’m obssessed with her but I literally just can’t get enough of this one blogger that I interact with. Look at Tamara from Tamara Like Camera. She easily will have like 100 comments on one post. She has been blogging for about 3-4 years so I take her advice whenever I can get it for sure. She is the one who has stressed this point to me. I love people and interacting with them so this hasn’t been difficult at all for me. I’ve followed her lead and I believe it is generating some serious results.
2) Joining sharing networks. In my last post I talked about one of them called Triberr. So I’ve noticed from looking at Google Analytics that I don’t get that much traffic from Triberr itself, however I’ve decided to stay apart of Triberr for several reasons: 1) Support. From being apart of tribes, I’ve gotten to know more bloggers. This has opened more doors for more relationships. I have been asked to join more tribes, which means more of my content will be shared with more people that I haven’t touched yet through their social media channels. 2) I’m the mom of a very active 17 month old so I don’t get the chance to constantly get on the computer throughout the day. I do, however, have my iPhone. When people are sharing my content, especially on Twitter, I can easily quote the tweet or retweet it right from my phone. I like to do this and add some hashtags. If you didn’t already know, hashtags on just about most social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+ (when used correctly) can help you reach more people than those that are actually following you.
3) I have to mention this tip! It was given to me by a blogger who is rocking it right now in the blog world and she only started her blog a little over a year ago. My girl Lanaya from Raising Reagan suggested that you be yourself. This might sound simple, but there are things that you can typically run across that can make you alter the you that your readers are getting in your posts. Perhaps you haven’t met the readership that your blog is intended for yet. Just be patient and keep writing.
4) Which brings me to my next point: are you a frequent poster? I mean, do you post at least a few times a week? Some weeks I get so excited about blogging that I post everyday. This probably won’t happen every week, but posting rather frequently is a good thing from what I’ve heard from multiple sources. In reviewing my analytics, it appears people love the ‘how to’ posts and blogging tips the most. I love to write about my everyday life especially as it relates to mothering, being a wife and homemaker in between those types of posts. I’ll keep those ‘how to’ and blogging tips coming. All are apart of the topics that I like to write about so yipee! Google Analytics are your friend. I haven’t mastered reading through all of what it has to offer, but I can understand a few things that can help me plan posts accordingly.
5) My new favorite social media site: Pinterest. I want to give a shot out right here to my blogging buddy Betty Taylor. She wrote up a post about her gaining Pinterest followers and it has changed how I do networking on that site for sure. You can read the post here. The video on there is a bit long, but totally worth watching! I learned a billion things from it. :) There are some things you have to be careful of as well with Pinterest. A nice blogger named Amber that I’ve met along the way wrote up a nice tutorial that all bloggers I believe should read! Very easy to follow and worth the read. Take a look at it here. In my attempt to grow my following and stay more engaged with Pinterest, I’ve discovered some pretty awesome linky parties that you may want to consider joining here: the PinCentive Blog Hop at Cropped Stories, Mommy Mentionables’ Get Inspired With Us Pinning Party, Delectably Dawn’s You Pin Me right round baby, Diana Rambles’ Pin Me Linky Party.
6) Getting traffic from Pinterest means that you want to have pinnable images. People are going to see your images on there before they see your great content so creating good pinnable images is a must. What happens if you aren’t a great photographer like my friend Tamara or Michelle from A Dish of Daily Life? Take advice from my blogging buddy Mrs. AOK. She uses not only picmonkey.com but ipiccy.com as well. I knew about picmonkey but ipiccy was a pleasant surprise I didn’t know about. Another great tip!
7) Are you hosting a giveaway? Giveaways are a great way to give back and thank your readers for stopping by to comment and always read your posts. I hosted a few already on this blog and I’ve learned a few things about them. Rafflecopter is what many people use. If you want to have more than a few social media sites for people to follow, you will need to upgrade from the free version to the $7.99 per month version. Not to sound cheap, but I’m a stay at home mom who is frugal like it’s nobody’s business because we are still in the sacrificing stage so that I can be home with our little one, so $8 a month goes a long way. Besides, with all of the other things that come up in life, sometimes a few dollars can make a difference. My Blogger BFF Mrs. AOK told me about another site you can use called Punch Tab. The next time I host a giveaway I will be checking that out!
8) Linky parties. Yes, you want to participate and perhaps host some linky parties to grow your following. Here is what I’ve learned about linky parties, though: you want to maintain a balance. The advice I’ve received frequently is you want to remain engaged. How can you continue to stay engaged if you are constantly following a million blogs but not having the time to go back and comment and read those blogs? I’ve learned this the hard way in trying to host several types of linky parties. Usually, the most topic specific you get in your requirements to link up, the harder it might be to grow your linky party at first. Apart from occasionally co-hosting with others one week here and there, I’ve decided to stick to hosting my one linky party every week called the Mommy Monday Blog Hop. I have 2 other co-hosts on that one, Mrs. AOK and Lisa from The Squishable Baby. We take guest co-hosts on that every week for free so if you are interested in guest co-hosting with us one week, feel free to shoot me an email under my Contact section and I’ll add you to the calendar. :) I’ve maximized my networks using Mommy Monday because I try my hardest to go and comment on all the blogs and follow the bloggers who participate as well.
9) This brings me to my last tip about maintaining engagement once you’ve discovered new blogs from blog hopping and hosting linky parties. I have recently started to use Bloglovin’ more to help me in this area. I’ve started to categorize the blogs I follow in a way that will help me stay more engaged with bloggers I meet. It was a bit difficult for me at first because I was just going by what was in the feed on the Home screen. Using the category tool has been so helpful.
10) I haven’t explored this area too much because I’ve been just so excited this first month to post content and read other blogs, but if you are interested in monetizing your blog I’ve come across some great posts that are worth a read here: Shannon’s post called Business to Blogger and Kelli also has great tips here.
11) My last point! I promise! Have you joined some of the networks that offer opportunities to work with brands as well as help you connect with more awesome bloggers? I have joined a handful of them. You can look on the left hand side of my home page and just click on the image and it will take you to these sites that I’ve started joining.
I honestly hope these are truly helpful for someone out there in the blog world. If it helps just one, I feel like all my gathered research for these posts was totally worth it. Here are a few of some other bloggy buddies I’ve met that are just awesome. They are really engaging and will follow you back
Ophelia from Latina Mamma Rama
Courtney from What’s Up With the Wilhems
Dana from Kiss My List
Miranda at The Involuntary Housewife
These are only a few! I’m going to be updating more people each month as I interact with more awesome bloggers! Until next time!
XoXo,
Excellent post Brittnei and thank you for the shoutout! Just to let you know — if you know HTML you can use all social media outlets in Rafflecopter – you just need to know how to use the Choose Your Own Option method and incorporate HTML
Email me if you want help with that!
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(¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo
Raising-Reagan.com
I didn't even know about categorizing Bloglovin! I just get weighed down by the home feed. So thank you for that!
And your words made me smile. You're growing in leaps and bounds!
Great tips! Thanks for all your work in putting together all this fabulous information.
Thanks so much for this tip and the compliment Lanaya! I will update this in Part 3! xoxo
Oh Tamara! The idea that I could tell you something new is so flattering. I'm glad I could help. I do hope I continue to grow as you say. I truly enjoy blogging
Thanks so much for stopping by and taking the time to read and comment. It makes my efforts to help others so worth it!
Brittnei, thank you for this post! I will have it go back and read your other post in this series, but this one is super informative. I'll definitely be following your tips, as I have only been blogging coming up on 5 months. I totally agree that engagement is key! If it's one thing I try to commit to is that. I find that it really works, but I still have a long way to go to continue to build my following.
Awesome tips Brittnei! Thanks so much
This is a wonder full post. Thank you!
Thank you for linking to Raising Imperfection.
Please come back Friday to see if you were featured.
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(¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo
Raising-Reagan.com
Wow!! You have learned a LOT in such a short time. I think it takes many bloggers much longer to get the hang of things–I know it took me a long time! I've looked into Triberr a little bit but I don't really understand how it works yet, and I know that Pinterest is probably where I'm weakest in the social networking aspect. My content doesn't seem to be best suited for pinterest, though lately it's been picking up a little bit!
I could have figured this out by looking at your archive, but I had no idea you've been blogging for such a short time, Brittnei! I thought you were a veteran
I'm so glad we've connected, and thank you for the shout out – that was so sweet of you. Btw, I'm bookmarking this post to read again after my brain is ready to absorb all your great tips!
Great post, I love the be yourself advice.
Thank you for linking up to Raising Imperfection!
Make sure to check back on Friday to see if you were featured.
Leslie ” target=”_blank”>http://www.violetimperfection.com
Great Advice!! And thank you tons for the mentions!!
XOXO
Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting! I'm so glad that I was able to help you in some way. It can be difficult to be engaged but I just take it one day at a time and do what I can.
No pressure. Most bloggers have lives and as we develop relationships with them, people can be so understanding. I love it! 
Lizzy! Thanks for stopping by and reading.
You're welcome! I hope I was able to help someone. I get so much help and advice from other bloggers that it is so worth sharing!
You'll figure it all out. You're right! It does take time. I started my first blog in April. I no longer sell health products so keeping up both blogs was a bit much. I've decided to write this one tailored to all aspects of my life and writing styles and that has been working for me so far. It's a lot to learn and people usually want to be sucessful with it overnight. I'm excited about the process. I don't know where or how my blog will be a year from now, but I love writing and connecting with people so the journey is pretty rewarding! xoxo
You'll figure it all out. You're right! It does take time. I started my first blog in April. I no longer sell health products so keeping up both blogs was a bit much. I've decided to write this one tailored to all aspects of my life and writing styles and that has been working for me so far. It's a lot to learn and people usually want to be sucessful with it overnight. I'm excited about the process. I don't know where or how my blog will be a year from now, but I love writing and connecting with people so the journey is pretty rewarding! xoxo
LOL! That's so funny. I'm sure you are fried after blogging everyday this past week! I did start my first blog in April of this year, but I decided to take it down until I decide how I want to change it up since I'm no longer going to be selling any of my health products. I think I want to incorporate health into this blog as well. It is apart of my life too. That has been the tentative solution in creating this blog. It's tailored to the whole Brittnei so I just write what I love and go with it! I'm glad we connected too! You're so nice! xoxo
LOL! That's so funny. I'm sure you are fried after blogging everyday this past week! I did start my first blog in April of this year, but I decided to take it down until I decide how I want to change it up since I'm no longer going to be selling any of my health products. I think I want to incorporate health into this blog as well. It is apart of my life too. That has been the tentative solution in creating this blog. It's tailored to the whole Brittnei so I just write what I love and go with it! I'm glad we connected too! You're so nice! xoxo
Will do! Thanks so much for hosting such an awesome linky and for stopping by to check out my post
You're welcome! You really are one of the most helpful people I've met in the blog world. I'm so grateful to know you! xoxo
Comment from Melanie at Mommie Mentionables via Blogger: These are awesome tips! I wholeheartedly agree with the be yourself tip. Don't worry about what someone may think about you, just be you. And thank you so much for the mention of the Get Inspired Pin Party!!
look forward to you linking up each week!
Thank you so much for stopping by to comment and read my tips! I was happy to mention your linky party! I think you all have a nice thing going over there! xoxo
Awesome tips and great information…I will be referring to this often Brittnei… Can't wait to see Part 3!
Comment via Blogger from A Touch of Grace: Brittnei these are great tips! I want to host my first giveaway soon so I'll keep Punch Tab in mind. I need to do better starting engaged in the networks I belong to as well. Thanks for sharing!
These are great tips!!! I'll be pinning this!
Thanks for some really helpful tips! Enjoying a visit from Born Unique via the Monday Hop.
Brittnei, this was a great post and I really enjoyed reading it! Thanks so much for the wonderful advice and links!
Some absolutely fabulous points – thank you. I'm following a lot of your advice.
Lots of good points here! I need to spend some time getting to know Triberr! And no matter how good of a photographer you are, PicMonkey is awesome for making your pinnable images look inviting enough to click on! I have heard of the other, but I've been so happy with PicMonkey, I have not tried anything else.
Such great tips! I am pinning your post for sure! Pinterest is my newly discovered obsession as well and I am trying to get more followers and interaction/traffic through it.
And you also said it very well – BE YOURSELF!
Maria <a href="http://www.musicteachingandparenting.com” target=”_blank”>www.musicteachingandparenting.com
Oh thank you, my dear. So glad to pass along the information
Hey Rhonda! Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. We're so happy you linked up with us this week. Looking forward to reading the latest info from Born Unique!
Bonnie that is so nice coming from you. I really enjoy the blogging tips you offer on your blog as well. So glad to have you on Mommy Monday every week!
Aw thank you so much. I'm so glad you were able to visit and comment!
Michelle you and me both. I'm no wizard on Triberr at all! All I know is to share content when in a tribe and that's it lol. I probably could do better with pic monkey even. Betty Taylor just started a series on how to use it. Apart from playing with it I hope to gain new insight from reading her posts
Oh I hope it wasn't overwhelming for you. It is the reason I like Pinterest so much though because you can always pin for later and go back to reference things
those are all great tips…During the summer I was able to do that…now with work I am so behind…but still love being part of the blogging community.
I completely agree! I started my blog as an informational blog, but I realized I wasn't really engaging or engaged. I've grown leaps and bounds by just engaging with other bloggers. My numbers don't match my popularity because when I first started, I went about it all wrong. Tons of giveaways (very little content), which gave me lots of followers, but very little engagement (i.e., no comments unless mandated by the giveaway). Now, I have a nice following and definitely engagement. Makes blogging so much more fun! Thanks for stopping by http://www.100lbcountdown.com. I'll be back soon!
It sounds like you will be busier now for sure! I'm sure you will find some ways to stay engaged when you can. That's all you can do
My very first blog started the same way…..more informational. Once I engaged more and started this blog I've started to enjoying blogging and connecting with new people so much more xoxo
My very first blog started the same way…..more informational. Once I engaged more and started this blog I've started to enjoying blogging and connecting with new people so much more xoxo
Yes, being friendly and engaging is key. It is so important to get out there and meet new bloggers. You give good tips and I am going to incorporate some. I do enjoy Triberr, but I am not quite Pinterest savvy, yet
Carica, it's definitely a process. I take one thing at a time. I put no pressure on myself to grow. I'm literally just enjoying the journey: meeting new bloggers and writing blog posts. When you have time, you can learn little things about Pinterest as you go
I hope my tips can help you get started. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment! xoxo
Awesome post! I so agree with everything although I don't do Pinterest. I just don't have the time. I love Tamara and wish I could take breathtaking photos like she does but I really can't. I personally don't comment on all my posts, especially the giveaways but I do try and do it with my personal posts. They can become overwhelming at times. I don't recognize all the other bloggers but will surely check them out.
That's awesome Britni. Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read and comment!
Aw! I totally understand. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment!
Wonderful post Brittnei! You are right on point and I have always loved supporting other bloggers. You are always welcome to stop by and share your linky party on my VIP Linky party. Have a fantastic day,
This is a great list. i agree -finding your own voice and being authentic is the key to an honest,from the heart blogpost. I was really interested in your comments about Pinterest. I haven't really looked into that as a serious way of boosting blog traffic. Will try it out!
Hey Quida! Thank you so much! I appreciate you reading and providing me with feedback. I will have to check out you site and add my links. Thank you for letting me know about your party list
Hey Shawn! Its so nice to 'meet' you. Thanks for stopping by to read and comment. I really appreciate your thoughts!
Hey Gilly! Yea Pinterest is amazing. I just take it one day at a time like I do with learning other blogging tips. Thanks for reading ths post and commenting!
This is a great post, Brittnei! All of the points are well taken. I need to use Pinterest more effectively. And your point about engagement is key. I've seen such a difference since I've taken the time to actively comment, follow, and respond to other bloggers.
Some great tips, for sure! Engaging with others, finding your tribe, and using social media effectively, along with having good content I would say are the keys!
I agree, completely, Shell. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment!
I just want to say that I am hopping all over your blog to read as much as I can
I think you have great advice and your posts are so easy and fun to read. This might be the only reading I do during my busy day 
I will try these tips and visit the other sites you mentioned. There's so much for me to learn!
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