Bloggiesta Ole! ~ Let the fun and blog improvements begin

 

“No hay lugar como casa". ~ translated to English "There's no place like home."   L. Frank Baum (Dorothy - The Wizard in Oz)

We are back home and if feels wonderful!  To celebrate I have created our Bloggiesta start post. (Badge above links to the host’s start up post).

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What is Bloggiesta? It is a 72 hour challenge to improve your blog. You can join in at any time and spend as much or as little time as you wish and you do not need to be a book blogger to join.

With many things I would like to do to update and improve Layers of Thought, and only a limited time to get them done I have chosen only four for this Bloggiesta #4 (I do tend to go overboard so I have really cut back this time.)  

Challenge Plan:

1. Announce (overdue) winners for current contests
2. Contact winners of contests
3. Update ~ Review Policy
4. Create ~ 2011 Reading Challenge Post (started)
5. Check out the list of new challenges for this event

In an effort not to bore or spam you I will be updating this post as the challenge progresses. So if interested check back by since a number of readers, whom are bloggers (and not), have benefited from the hilarity of my fumbles and frustrations of my revelations - which I am particularly good at.

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Updates

Friday evening ~ One down but added another, I truly am a slug. Although a happy slug and such a nice orange color. (It matched the Bloggiesta badge.)

I am off to order some Mexican food. Do you like Carnitas? Delish crispy yet tender pork which we consider “food of the gods”, but not for those on diets. Yum!

Saturday morning ~

1. Started # 5 which is to check out mini challenges for the event.  My Friend Amy (blogging goals) ~ mine are to have more fun and to simplify the process.
2. Started challenge link list.
3. Mailed contest winners.

Sunday morning ~

Went onto twitter for the first time this year and checked out some of the great links for #bloggiesta

Completed - 10 Things Bloggers Should Not Do’: Bloggiesta mini-challenge (everyone needs to do this challenge!)

• Read the post, 10 Things Bloggers Should Not Do.
• Rate yourself (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being muy excellente) on each point. How are you doing?
• Brainstorm examples of what you can/will do to improve your ratings in those areas that could use improvement. And/or:
• If you feel you’re doing particularly great in one area, share examples of how you’ve reached such excellence.

Rate Layers of Thought: I would have to say that I rate fairly well – so I would say a 4 considering the age of my blog and my experience level, as well as our philosophy of no bad reviews and kindness. I have been working on cleaning up and making the blog readable and clear. A white or light background has a greater retention and readability rating…

Improvements Needed:

• Do need to find out more about SEO (what the heck is that?)
• Do need to get into my reader and find out more about all our new readers and update that area… blog roll and visiting these new blogs. A bit behind since Christmas and traveling…

Checked out all new mini-challenges some that I really need

Entered a recipe for veggie quesadillas on Maw Books

Taking a break since John is cleaning his side of the closet… oh dear! This is boredom.

Late fiddlings:

How to do a Google document for a survey or contest! ~ from Devourer of Books. You will now be seeing these documents on my giveaways.

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A big thanks to Natasha at Maws Book Blog for hosting this event, our motto Pedro – Plan, Edit, Develop, Review, and Organize, as well as the other experienced bloggers hosting mini challenges to help us learn more about this challenging and fun medium.

Badge links to the site’s start up page for this challenge. It has a ton of very very useful links for improving your blog. For further information - a link to Layers of Thought’s announcement post for the event.  Come and join, or just lurk – that works too. It’s a perfect excuse for some Mexican food, music, and drinks!

Let the Fiesta Begin!