Ingenue Mom

Just a fun pic for you! How incredibly wonderful were my guest bloggers this week?? I absolutely LOVE birth stories!! I think the experience of birth, no matter how you end up doing it, is such an empowering experience! You carried a baby for 9 months & then delivered it into this world! I mean, medication or not, hospital or home, vaginal or c-section, no matter what, you are a woman whose body made a baby!!! How incredible to be a part of that experience! Thank you SO much to the women who shared their stories this week!! I hope that my preggo friends like Emily J, Emily H & Meredith in my personal life & Amy & Gretchen in my blog friend life got some great insight into the wonderful experience they're about to have!! On another note, part of the purpose of my guest blogging week was so that I could write some posts to schedule for the fall so I don't get so overwhelmed! Yeah, I didn't do that. Instead, I worked a lot at the company I used to work f...

I believe I already have a few sneeze pages. The 31DBBB task today emphasized the importance of sneeze pages to highlight posts on your blog that users may not see on the front page when they visit. I knew of sneeze pages, but I had never thought of some of the specific kinds.  I love the idea of themed sneeze pages & I plan on doing one on blogging tips, pregnancy posts, cloth diaper posts, etc. I believe having a sneeze page for all my different main themes would be a great thing! I also love the idea of doing a weekly or monthly sneeze page highlighting your best posts from the past time period. I would also like to do a yearly one every year.  Things like this give new readers a chance to catch up & learn a little more about me & also allows regular readers to just remember some of your great posts - especially on days when what I may be posting is not so great. Some days you're on top of your game & some days you're just not. Here are links to 2 sne...

Have you ever wondered what a first-time reader does when they visit your blog? Today, the 31DBBB task involves finding this out! I went to Twitter to find a new, first-time reader who was involved with the 31DBBB who would be willing to visit my blog & answer some questions related to how they navigate & read things on my blog. Angie at Gnomeangel was the first to reply, although Geek.Girl.Wife. is also going to help me out!! I learned today that my Best of Me post is incredibly important - as well as my About Me page. I'm happy with my About Me page, but I'm wondering if there are any better ways to do a best-of page. Could I organize them differently? Maybe into categories? Is there any way for you all as readers to know which are the most important? One of the ways I plan on doing this is through themed Sneeze Pages, but come back tomorrow for that. Overall, I believe that design & ease of use of your page is really important for a first-time reader. T...

The task for 31DBBB today is to solve a problem for your readers. I chose to help you all find time to blog! I'm not totally great at this yet, but I'm getting better & I'm finding it is easier if I follow these strategies. Not all of these are possible for everyone & I'd love for you to add to the list! Prioritze Content comes first. This is something I'm still learning. Yes, commenting is so important , but unless you're writing great content, there's really not much use in networking because people will come to your blog & never come back. So prioritize your tasks. I try to focus on posting, then commenting or networking, then design or other maintenance things. This doesn't mean that I spend more time posting than I do commenting, but it does mean that I try to make sure I've got posts scheduled before I take the time to comment. Also, by prioritizing, you know that if you only have 10 minutes, you do the most important task first....

The 31DBBB task for today involves connecting with blog buddies. These relationships should be mutually beneficial for both bloggers. It helps build community & give you people you can talk to about blogging. It also helps you make each others blogs better. You can give each other tips & grow together. A lot of people try to connect with blogs that are bigger than them, but Problogger makes the point that it's more beneficial to make buddies with people at a similar level as you. This way you can grow & learn together. I feel really lucky to have several bloggers I would consider buddies! I get emails with tips & ideas on a regular basis! I also really enjoy talking to several of them through my BlogFrog community . Right now I'm most active on my community & my blog buddy Adriel's community ! Forums like these are great places to find blog buddies. Where are you finding blog buddies? How do you think these relationships help you?

I don't usually spend a lot of time thinking about the key pages on my blog. After reading today's task for the 31DBBB , I definitely think this is something I need to keep in mind. Problogger suggests the front page of your blog, the About Me page, Contact page, high traffic pages, recommended reading page & Subscribe page. Home Page I'm pretty happy with my home page. I don't think it's really cluttered & it's got everything on it that I want there.  About Me Page I added my tag line to this page. I think the rest of it is okay, but I'd be happy to hear your feedback! Contact Page This just has my email address. What else do you have on your contact page?? High Traffic Pages Let's Do This, Ladies Dear Baby Analyzed Welcome to the Blog Bash A True, Authentic Mom I added some recommended reading & a link to my Subscribe page at the end of each of these pages. Best of Me Page I updated this with my best recent posts & added a link to ...

I used to do an editorial calendar each week on my other blog , but I never started doing it with this one. After reading today's task for the 31DBBB challenge , I realized that it was going to be a good idea to set it up ASAP. That way I know what's coming & I can prepare in advance. This will help SO much when I start my student teaching in the fall & I try to get everything done. I used some of the topics from yesterday's task & some of the things I just know I'm doing on a regular basis right now, including Mommy's Piggy Tales , A Little Weekend Reading , my CSA share info & the 31DBBB posts ! Since next week is my birth stories guest posts week, I did an editorial calendar for the following week. Next week all you can expect are the guest posts, which are scheduled & my 31DBBB posts, which I'm finishing this weekend & will also be scheduled. August 1-7 : Birth Stories guest posts & 31DBBB challenge posts August 8 : What is a ...

This was probably my favorite task so far for the 31DBBB ! We used 5 of our most recent posts & came up with ideas for new topics! I had never thought to use a method like this & I found it actually worked really well! You can use questions that were asked in the comments, you can take an opposing viewpoint, you can extend to other topics in the same category, you can do a link post on the topic, you can conduct an interview with an expert on the topic & the list goes on & on! I didn't choose my last 5 posts because I do the Mommy's Piggy Tales meme & I've posted several times on the 31DBBB challenge, but I used 5 recent posts. I also really liked the idea of using 5 general categories that your blog could cover & coming up with post ideas under those. Here is what I came up with: A Dad's Perspective on Cloth Diapers -a dad's perspective on breastfeeding -Lew's review of Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters interview with Lewis about being ...

I can't believe I'm 1/3 of the way through the 31DBBB challenge ! I'm having a blast & really learning a lot as I go! Today's task involved setting up Alerts to monitor what's happening in your niche online! I already had Google Alerts set up for several things like babywise, sleep training, sleeping through the night & natural labor. I set up new ones for Ingenue Mom, ingenuemom, baby recalls, cloth diapers, GroVia & mom blogs. I have all my alerts going to my Google Reader as a feed! That's the easiest way for me to keep up with them. As for Twitter, I used Twitter Search to set up RSS feeds for several words or phrases including mom blog, cloth diapers & GroVia. I already use HootSuite & I've set up a keyword search on my dashboard so that I always get the 31DBBB tweets. I find that really helpful!  My experience so far with the Google Alerts hasn't been that great, mainly because I set it up as email alerts & I got annoye...

(This is her "oh wow mom you have so much to do" face!) I have had people asking me lately how I get all this blogging stuff done in my life. I'm staying home with Isis, but "staying home" is a whole lot different than just sitting on my butt all day playing with my baby. Oh my goodness! I'm doing laundry, cleaning up, feeding her, playing with her, going to the grocery, running errands, finding time to blog, finding time to feed myself, meeting up with friends for lunch sometimes, working sporadically at the company where I used to work - not to mention the fact that I'm watching my best friend's 2 girls every Tuesday & Thursday (along with Isis)!!! That's a lot for me!! Oh and of course I have to somehow find time to fit in time with my husband when he gets home from work!! Yes I'm doing the 31DBBB challenge & yes I'm keeping up with my posts & tasks , but I am not yet able to spend as much time as I'd like checking o...

The task for today in the 31DBBB challenge is to join a forum & start participating. Well, I already do this!! I love forums. I really love discussing & connecting with others as well as having a great place to get some advice! As a new mom, I find myself with lots of questions! Here are my favorite forums right now: Of course, the SITS community on BlogFrog I am loving Adriel's new Oh Baby! community on BlogFrog I participate in my own Ingenue Mom community on BlogFrog I also enjoy A Belle, A Bean & A Chicago Dog community on BlogFrog I've found the Teaching Your Baby to Sleep forum on Babycenter is really helpful! The Babywise forum on Babycenter has also been a great resource for me! The forums provide great resources for community, but also for finding ideas for blog topics! You can see what others in your niche are talking about. I actually never link to my own blog in forums unless I'm asked to or I feel it's really relevant. I really am tryi...

Partly because I have no other ideas for what to post right this second & partly because I need to make a list of these things anyway, here are all the ways you can find me online: Facebook Twitter BlogFrog Google Reader - Shared Items YouTube StumbleUpon Delicious Bloggy Moms Mom Bloggers Club And you can vote for me on Top Baby Blogs , Top Mommy Blogs & Picket Fence Blogs by just clicking any of those 3 links! No registration required, just a click! Also, since there isn't much to say about this, I also wanted to share that I did interlink some old posts for Day 8 of the 31DBBB challenge !

So this is interesting & I don't totally understand what it all means - I need to ask Lynda - but my visits & page views went down, but people are apparently spending a little more time on my site when they do visit. My website grade , blog grade & Alexa rank are better this week. I have a lot more Twitter followers & a higher Twitter grade . I think I need to publicize my Facebook page a little more. Not sure how you can get less views & your grade & rank go up?? Oh well, I'm having fun with the 31DBBB & I feel like I'm getting a lot out of it already! How are your stats?? And please "Like" Ingenue Mom on Facebook if you haven't already!!

Today's task for the 31DBBB challenge is to write a link post. The idea is to share useful information with your readers & also to build relationship with other bloggers. I've decided to chose a few of my friend's blogs & share with you one of my favorites of their recent posts. These are all bloggers in my niche, so they're all related to being a mom! Even if you aren't a mom, though, I've tried to find things that would be interesting to anyone! Please check out these lovely ladies!! I Gots Me Some Mama Badges - The Mommyhood Memos Adriel always shares great insights & things she's learning in her journey as a new mom! Her son, Levi, is just about a month younger than Isis & I love following their story because I feel like we are in very similar places in life - even though we aren't in very similar places geographically - she lives in Australia!! I have also really loved talking to Adriel through email about blogging ideas & ti...

I scanned through all of the links on the 31DBBB task for today. I found something useful in every one of them! These are the ones I found most helpful: How to Get Traffic for Your Blog First, Ten 21 Tips to Earn Links and Tweets to Your Blog Post A Complete Guide to Finding and Using Incredible Flickr Images 25 Paths to an Insanely Popular Blog How to Write Great Content - The Pillar Article Why Don't Bloggers Understand Email Marketing 6 Fool-Proof Steps to Make More Money With Your Website Rethinking Blog Comments 10 Reasons Readers Don't Leave Comments The Secret to Massive Digg/StumbleUpon Traffic Without Spamming 7 Great Ways to Connect With Other Bloggers While You're Out Reading Blogs 43 Web Design Mistakes You Should Avoid 50 Ways to Take Your Blog to the Next Level 40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content 27 Blogging Secrets to Power Your Community The important thing after reading tips like these is to apply it to you . How am I going to use these tips to better...

The task for today is to email a blog reader. Things like this are really important to me because I blog for community . My highest priority is building a community of readers that I can really get to know & rely on for conversation, advice & other great reads on their blogs! (Speaking of which, please join my BlogFrog community so I can get to know you!!) Problogger recommends emailing new readers on a regular basis, commenting on their blogs & replying to their comment on your actual comments section. I emailed Becca from Bare Feet on the Dashboard ! I also commented on her blog & made sure her blog was in my Google Reader! You should also check out her blog!

Today's task for the Problogger 31DBBB challenge is to analyze a top blog in your niche. I am pretty much in love with the Dear Baby blog. She writes about her new baby, Everly & all of their experiences as first time parents! She started this blog as a separate place from her personal blog where she could chronicle her pregnancy. She loves all things vintage, her hubby Brent & she is clearly enamored with being a new mom. I think it would be impossible to not get excited about having kids after reading her blog! It just puts a smile on your face. She doesn't talk about anything controversial really - nothing political related to babies. She shares her experience & her perspective, but she is clear to be respectful & kind when it comes to the fact that others could have different perspectives on babies & parenting. I believe her most powerful asset is her writing style. It's so natural & poetic & it just flows perfectly. Even longer posts are ...

Today's task had to do with promoting a blog post. We are supposed to promote our list post from yesterday . There are several examples of how to promote a post, but you don't necessarily want to use every single one for each post you want to promote. I chose to do just a few. Here are the ones I did: I Stumbled my post. I have my RSS feed set up to post on my Facebook & Twitter pages. I also tweeted it again last night with the #31DBBB hashtag. I added a link to my post on past posts - this one & this one . I also plan on writing another post about the first few weeks after pregnancy when I have my New Mom Tips week at the end of August. I'll link to this then as well. What did you do to promote your post?? One thing I wanted to say is that the top suggestion for promoting your post is to ask other bloggers to link to it. I am such a nerd, but I'm scared to do that!!! Hilarious. I have no idea why. I'm not afraid to do most things when it comes to...

I got some great advice on my elevator pitch!! What do you think about this new, revised version? Tag Line - The story of a first time mom who doesn’t fit in a category & is learning that is ok. Elevator Pitch - Ingenue Mom is the story of a first time, breastfeeding, cloth diapering, natural birthing, Christian, tattooed mom who loves reading, watching tv & movies, who has had success with scheduling & sleep training. Follow along for accounts of motherhood, blogging tips, life experiences & everything in between!

This is my first post for the 31DBBB Problogger challenge with SITS. Today the task was to write your elevator pitch. According to Wikipedia , "an elevator pitch is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100–150 words).” I actually wrote this a couple of months ago when I got my new blog design & pretty much re-started my blog. I wrote a tag line, an elevator pitch & my About Me page. I like my About Me page, I really hate my tag line & I would appreciate any tips or insight into my elevator pitch. I think it all sounds cheesy. I'm not sure it comes across as clean as I'd like for it to. Either way, here you go: Tag Line – My name is Cameron. I am the ingénue – the young girl becoming a woman. I’m 25 years old and I’m still learning who I am. Elevator Pitch – My name is Cameron. I am the ingénue – th...