Bloggiesta Ole! – let the blog improvements begin!

 

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Pedro! - Plan.  Edit.  Develop.  Review.  Organize.

Lets hear it for our Mascot – lets Party!!!

(Badge links to the beginning post for the blog improvement extravaganza at Maw Books Blog. A big thanks to Maw!)

The third event of its kind, and my second time joining in the festivities, it is where a bunch of bloggers will set goals, enter mini challenges, win prizes, and connect with one another via posts, RSS feed, twitter and more. All the while improving their blogs. With a a variety of very experienced and knowledgeable bloggers hosting mini challenges and contests, you can still check them out even if you do not participate. My motto is that lurking and linking works.

My involvement will for today only, since I do need to unplug a bit each week. The last Bloggiesta I came to some dark realizations (example – I had a ton of links leading nowhere, which I still have not fixed) about my blog and tried to do more that I could possibly complete. This time a bit wiser, I am going to use the KISS strategy – keep it simple SHELLIE! and set just a few “easier” goals for the day and perhaps more for the next six months as I become more aware of the things we bloggers can do to improve our blogs.

And to remind myself of my true nature, here is my little personal avatar for the challenge (that's me snail shell Shellie - without the tequila):

My Simple Goals (I am still kidding myself *twisted smile*):

1. Create a Blog roll invitation post. (started)
2. Credit new header to the artist.
3. Update review policy.
4. Examine categories and update as needed.
5. Update reading challenge posts.
6. Back it up!

3.5 down 2.5 to go!

Beyond Bloggiesta Goals and Mini Challenge Participation (to be added as the day progresses):

1.  Embracing Community at Bonjour, Cass!   - mini challenge comment on 10 or more blogs from the challenge
   • Taylor (The Library Lurker) – 16 year old new YA blogger
   • Charlotte – Speculative Blogger – mostly YA
   • Bobbie( Til We Read Again)
   • Fiona (The Book Coop) – new blogger with a cute owl theme
   • Shelley (Book Clutter)
   • Christina (Ardent Reader) – simple layout and reviews classics
   • Laurel- Rain Snow's Collections – author and mega blogger, she has so many blogs that I cannot keep track. Last check it was 20?
   • Chrisbookarama - established and very organized blogger
   • K A B L O O E Y – creative self recriminating mom/blogger with a killer header
   • Kerry @ Entomology of a Bookworm – new blogger very cute blog name
   • Kailia (Reading The Best of The Best) -  interactive YA site, almost trilingual author
   • Sherrie( Just Books)
   • Courtney@ Stiletto Storytime – what a blog name and header!
   • Jennifer (Reading with Tequila) – eclectic, kick a@# reader, she reads an amazing amount each month!
2. Girls Gone Reading – Your Review Policy – mini challenge has been updated ( this is an excellent post with some great tips!)

Updates:

Friday – 6/11/2010

8:11 am – beginning blog post

9:43 am – fixed funky wording on this post, started blog roll invitation, started end post for this challenge, and added some helpful links to share.

10:32 am – found loads of great links and ideas for end post, commented on 3 blogs and found the little start icon header added above!

11:15 am – completed mini challenge number one – off to fix lunch!

3:01 pm – updated review policy via mini challenge, checked out a few other recommendations for example a firefox add on which I have yet to use called easyComment. 

4:03 pm – added artist credit for new header, and got lost in the art of flickr for an hour – Oh Dear!

4:43 pm – checked out rss feed info not what I needed, added fb link for subscribers

5:27 pm – commented on a few other blogs, did some perusing on older bloggiesta posts, also created a list of my categories to examine and simplify

5:41 pm - over and out – I may be back for more tomorrow - Time for Margaritas and burritos!

Saturday – June 12, 2010

Completed Categories for this session – thinking about other ways to shrink the huge list.

Over and out!  Unlpugging….

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There is still time to join in, link, think, and do. I will be updating this post as the event progresses so no Bloggiesta spam this weekend. I will also attempt to do an ending post for the event on Monday.

For new visitors – Hello and welcome!  We respond to all comments here at Layers of Thought – all suggestions and encouragements are greatly appreciated!