JUST TRYING TO HELP

Long post tonight so I will get right to it......I wrote, re-wrote & revised the original following post a few years back with the thoughts of new Bloggers in mind. I had been Blogging for a couple years & after reading many Blogs & interacting with other Bloggers I felt I had a reasonably good understanding of what just might make up a good RVing Blog. My following thoughts & opinions are only suggestions. They are not to be taken personally by anyone. I can tell you that many of the things I suggest  to do or not to do, I have gone through myself at one time or another & it was fellow Bloggers & Readers who thankfully brought my follies & miss-steps to my attention. Ok, my turn, so here goes……………
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- I recommend not putting music on a blog. It can be annoying. If you insist on music then offer it as an option. Put a button at the top of your blog which people can click on if they really want to hear your favorite tunes. Some people put in a video option but the key word there is 'option.' I wouldn’t recommend making it a default video that people have to sit through. Same thing with 'Slide Shows.' Remember, there are still a lot of internet folks out here with slow internet speeds plus all the Air Card people with their 5 Gig limits. That audio visual stuff just totally chews up download times & bandwidth.
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- I suggest not loading your site with aggravating advertising, regardless of how much you think you need the .49 cents a month extra income. If I click on a site that is loaded with stationary or pop up advertising I immediately pop right out of there & I’m not likely to return. I remember seeing one blog so full of advertising that it was hard to find the actual post itself.  Advertising can be OK but the key words here are, ‘not loading your site’.
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- Try not to fall into the rut of starting your blog off everyday with the same words & morning routines you used the day before or the day before that, or...... Be creative, be imaginative. You do not have to start your blog from the very beginning moments of awakening. The blog does not have to have a standard beginning or ending. Again, be creative & think outside the box. Start each day from a different perspective. In any book, that first paragraph can make or break the reader's interest in the rest of the story!! I had to drop a blog last summer because after about 3 months I could not get past the first paragraph anymore because of basically the same routine every morning. Nice people I'm sure, but after awhile I just referred to it as, 'the coffee blog' & moved on. I have to be careful with my own Blog in not starting it with a weather report every day. But hey, I’m Canadian:))
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- If you don’t like a Blogger or a Blogs content, just don’t read it. How simple can that be. There are those who will read blogs for no other purpose than to find fault & ridicule the Blogger with rude & sarcastic comments. I have dropped some Blogs because of content & one Blog so far due to the personality of the Blogger.  Don’t let yourself be goaded by so called Anonymous commenters.  I have fallen into that baited trap more than once. 
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- Suggest you stay away from all that glitz, glamour & glitter stuff. Dancing bears, frolicking flamingos, Las Vegas billboard lights, reams of happy faces & flying Brazilian billboards proclaiming that you, 'Have A Nice Day!!'
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- Suggest you not ramble on with long drawn out blogs like I do sometimes. Make them shorter & keep them interesting. And yes, I know my blog photos are too big & messes with people’s slower connections.  I have made a lot of changes to my Blog but have been unable so far to make myself make that photo size change. 
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- Write your post in short paragraphs & avoid running your whole blog into one big long rambling hard to read block of wordy mush. I used to do that until a couple readers straightened me out. I may not be grammatically correct with my paragraphing but it is much easier for readers to read & that takes priority.  In fact, readers have straightened me out on a lot of things so I suggest you listen to readers & make changes where applicable.
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- Try to vary your blog topics every day & avoid getting tunnelled into the same project, mood or subject matter over & over. Yes, I know this is another one I fall into occasionally, especially on the moody side of things. In other words, keep people guessing as to what your next post is going to be about. Make tomorrow's post different from today's. Try to avoid a repetitive daily routine.  Make yourself unpredictable.  Just my opinions of course.
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- A step by step, blow by blow description of a button factory tour can get pretty dry pretty fast. Add a link to the button factory & let the reader click on that if he wants' to know how many colored buttons are sewn backwards onto a checkerboard jelly bean shirt on assembly line B.
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- If your going to add photos, treat them the same as your writing & make them the best they can be. Take a few seconds in your photo editing program to straighten out those annoying tilted horizons for example. A tilted horizon is not how you saw the picture & a tilted horizon is not how I want to see it either. Spend a little time & get to know your photo editing program & make your already good photos…..better.
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- Some folks have a habit of using short forms. Fine for them & maybe a few close friends of theirs who have the inside track but it sure doesn’t work for me. How much more effort & time to type, University of Western Ontario as opposed to UWO. Or, how about GTSIBTMBICGU…..??
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- Remember to add your thoughts, feelings, & opinions about what you are seeing & doing. I feel it adds character to a Blog instead of just, "well, then we went to Bill's Bargain Mart & I got a fly swatter & then we drove to Ambercrombieville & Hank got an ice cream cone with birdseed sprinkles on it & then we decided it was time to go home so we went home & George drove the car but not too fast because we met Ralph and Alice, Ed & Trixie and Bert and Ernie and Fred & Wilma and Rosie & Rufus and, and, and, and, etc. etc. etc!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:(( Be creative & use your imagination. Throw in some humor, add some feelings. Again, get yourself outside the box & push some boundaries.
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- And, I wouldn’t recommend doing as I have done in the past by poo pooing certain areas of the country or States just because they are not in MY area of interest. Be understanding & considerate of other people's choice of RV vehicles or style of RVing. Because you don't agree with or care for certain things does not mean you have to put it in your blog. Some things are best left un-said. Trust me on this one folks.....I know what I am talking about:))
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- If you must take a fellow blogger to task over something be respectful & sensitive enough do it in a private email & not in your blog. I have never used my blog to criticize another Blogger nor have I ever left rude or sarcastic comments on a fellow Blogger’s post. Disagreeing with a Blogger’s opinion is normal & acceptable, but to trash a Blogger personally, using ridicule & sarcasm, to me, is totally immature & egotistical.
Remember, principles before personalities.

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- Some Bloggers answer each & every commenter. That’s a nice personal touch of course & I think I might have tried that once in the early days.  It’s a way of having folks return to your site to see how you have responded to their comment. Nice way to interact with folks & increase your Sitemeter daily visits number as well, if your into numbers that is. But remember, it does mess up the accuracy of your numbers if your trying to get a true Sitemeter feedback count on your Blog. If you receive 20 comments & answer each one then your counter will state you have received 40 comments. Mighty impressive & a quick way to boost your numbers…..but not accurate if you are interested in actual incoming comment numbers. All depends where you place your priorities.
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- Be creative with your comments on other people's blogs. Make them original, sincere, helpful if possible, & heartfelt.  And, don’t forget the humor.  Remember, the more comments you leave on other people’s Blogs, the more comments you are likely to receive on your own Blog. But, don’t get caught up in the numbers game here again. Make your comments meaningful to the Blogger. On a side note….I see some really fine Blogs out here but often times they do not receive a lot or any comments simply because that Blogger is not in the habit of leaving comments on other people’s Blogs. Always felt this was unfortunate but it just seems to be human nature. Kind of like, ‘if you do something for me I will do something for you’.
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- Some folks write a few lines, publish it & then come back a few hours later, write another paragraph & publish that. This is a supposedly clever method used by some to keep people coming back again & again clicking on their site maybe 5 or 6 times a day & that way increasing the numbers & advertising revenues on that particular blog. Again, probably nothing wrong with that except to me it is putting the numbers or advertising dollars first instead of the readers. Not in my nature to do that.
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- Suggest making your blog printing font size large enough for weaker eyes to read. Not everyone has eagle eye vision out here anymore. And don't let your font color bleed into your background color making it nearly invisible.
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- And remember, our blogs are mainly geared to the RV Lifestyle & related matters. Like minded people come to our Blogs because of that. If one starts preaching or pushing their religious or political views it only encourages some types of personalities to come roaring out of their caves with flame throwers in their hands & jump all over you.  You may find your Blog numbers rapidly falling off.   And no, this is not one of the many Blogging mistakes I have made.  (well OK, with one little slightly political rant last summer) If you want to blog about politics & religion I suggest you start up a second blog & target those particular audiences accordingly.....and good luck with that!!
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Well, there you have it. Just wanted to share a few opinions on blogging with the hopes I may have said something here that may help someone. At least get people thinking on how to make some improvements to their Blogs & maybe generate more interest & traffic. Remember, there are no hard & fast rules for Bloggers, just opinions:)) Oh, & GTSIBTMBICGU…..’Got To Stay In Bed This Morning Because I Can’t Get Up. But you already knew that……right:))

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THE LAST PARAGRAPH:  OK, here’s the bottom line & probably the most important line in this whole post…..It’s your Blog & it’s up to you to write it the way you want:))

GROANER’S CORNER:(( It takes a thousand workers to build a castle, a million soldiers to protect a
country, but just one Woman to make a Happy Home. Now there’s a thought eh:))
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- Tourists see the world, travelers experience it.
- Home is where your pet is:))
- The only thing better than right now will someday be the memories of right now...AL.
stargeezerguy@gmail.com