Monday, September 6, 2010

Blog Trifecta - Come Follow Me!!

Hello World.

Hello Lovers.

The Trifecta is HERE! Elana Johnson, Alex Cavanaugh and I are going to help YOU become better bloggers!!!

Today's Topic: Followers

Let's Date.

Seriously, I want to make this work.

Following is a lot like dating...

long distance that is.

It's important to know what your followers are thinking.

So here is my secret:

Bribing.

Just kidding...

Brownies, sparkles and candy may be in my bucket of awesome, but you'll need to make your own buckets (I don't like to share).

Okay let's get serious...

I've been blogging since January of this year and this is the advice I've gained on how to gain the proper following:

1. Blog Hop - When following your favorite blogs, fish out for new bloggers. When I take time to comment, I often find someone commenting I don't know so I decide to jump over and FOLLOW (only if I like what I see!)

2. Blog Theme - Interactive & fun is key! If you want people to follow you, you want to stay AWESOME. Make sure you stay fun, creative, and always have brownies available!

3. Keep Colors Simple - The harder your blog is to read, the shorter the visit for a newcomer, they want to be whisked away to some place super fun and EASY to read. I will say a splash of color never hurt anyone!!!

4. No Garbage - Make sure your blog is easy to open, don't overload your blog with things that weigh it down. Music players, awards and a few links are fine, just try not to go overboard.

Most of all, stay awesome! Be sweet and respectful when newcomers stop by and make sure to show them love!!!

So there you are... my serious and not.so.serious version to find followers!

77 comments:

Kittie Howard said...

You're awesome, Jen. Everything you say is true! Blogs with a black background don't pull me in.

Lindsay said...

Awesome tips, Jen. You always make me feel welcome and at home when I visit.

Plus, how much does this trifecta rock! Great job. :)

Claire Dawn said...

definitely picked up some of my fave blogger friends in the comments on other ppl's blogs.

Laura Pauling said...

That's pretty cool! Great advice. And I can't believe you've been blogging since Jan.! Def. doing something right! Can't wait for the rest of the series!

Diana Mieczan said...

hahahah...I love what you said about followers...So does that mean that we are dating?..hahahah....hahah...Its so cute!
I so agree with all your tips:)...So sorry you didnt win my giveaway but I bet next time you will have more luck...Lisa will be back with us soon and I have a few amazing giveaways lined for every Wed in September and October...so fingers crossed,sweetie

Happy holiday weekend:)
Hugs

Diana Mieczan said...

lined up:)

Hanna C. Howard said...

I'm gonna go ahead and say that you're a natural at making people feel special and welcome. Great work, Jen. This is a wonderful post--but I think you overlooked something important, something that you've done amazingly: be humble, complimentary, and nice. You are the opposite of snooty, and that makes people want to blog with you.

Thanks for being a genuinely nice human being!

Crystal Cook said...

Brownies and sparkles! I knew there had to be some trick to it! Your blog is great Jen, as are you :):)

Vicki Rocho said...

Does your hubby know we're dating?

The next time you make a trip home to Iowa he's gonna get suspicious!

hahahahaha

Bish Denham said...

You're sweet, Jen. Could I please request a few gluten free cookies? :)

Serena said...

Great post jen, as always. You have always made me feel welcome and shown the love :). as usual great advise and helpful.

hope that your having a great Monday!
I get to go back to work tonight after a week off :(

JE said...

Excellent advice from an excellent blogger! ;-)

~JD

Christine Fonseca said...

Yes YEs and YES!!!

Talli Roland said...

Fantastic tips, Jen - as always! Your blog is always so friendly and warm. I love the atmosphere you create here - thank you!

Amy Saia said...

Great advice, and I think your blog is proof of that! You were born to be a writer and a blogger!

Ann said...

Great tips Jen. Must now go blog hopping.

Ellie Garratt said...

You and Alex are too good. Thank you some great blogging tips!

Candyland said...

These are all great tips! Wooooo Jen!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jen, any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

LTM said...

ooo you are so right. I hate it when blogs take FUH-EVAH to load... mer mer mer... good stuff here, g'friend! :D

Terri Tiffany said...

#4 is my biggest pet peeve about blogging. Hate it when there is so much stuff I have to wait forever!!Good advice:)

Wendy S Marcus said...

Hi Jen!
Great advice. I'd like to add, try to limit the length of your posts. An excessively long post can be a turn off to visitors who may X out instead of reading. (And thanks for joining my blog! Great to have you as a new follower!)

LMB said...

Jen,
This is great. Wow- I didn't think that you had just started blogging in January. You obviously know what you're doing..I've already been trying to follow your previous advice to write shorter posts. Thanks for posting this.

Diane said...

Great tips! I used to blog hop more and need to get going on that again. :O)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You and Elana were short and to the point, which is awesome. I think for once I wrote too much. Believe me, that doesn't happen often!

Jan Morrison said...

great tips! I do not like words on a dark background at all and won't go there. Even if they are brilliant words...
Jan Morrison

Karen Lange said...

Great list! I agree with all of these, especially the brownies! Which reminds me, I need to make some today...
Have a great week,
Karen

Bidisha said...

Ahh, no wonder you have such a winning blog :)

Jemi Fraser said...

You definitely stay awesome all the time! Thanks for the brownies :)

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

Don't know how I missed your blog before but this Trifecta fixed all that.
I'll pass on the brownies but at least I know where to find them now. :)
Mary

Connie Keller said...

Hi, Jen! It's great to have found your blog. I look forward to reading old posts, etc.

Anonymous said...

I have often wondered why I went from 0 to 70 followers in a few months. I thought it was my wit and charm, but, ohhhhhhh was I wrong...it is my simple blog design because my wit and charm are over riden by me being blog design challenged ;-)

Thomasina said...

Thanks for the advice!

Anonymous said...

Are M&M's or Chocolate Chip cookies okay, instead of brownies? My brownies, unless Betty Crocker, are hard and dry. But I make great cookies!

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss jen! i gotta admit i just only come here for the brownies. ha ha. the real truth is i come here cause i love you and you give sooooo much love back to everyone and that makes you real special. i like your blog cause its cool and easy to read. mostly i think my blog is pretty much like the stuff you said. its a lenny blog for sure cause its like me. i gotta do more of that blog hopper stuff.
...big hugs from lenny

Summer Ross said...

great advice- hmmm maybe I should ask my followers if i should change my blog- its really dark? ***thinking***

T.J. Carson said...

Great tips and that's the way to do it!!!! Thanks for the bloggy love this morning glad the poem wasn't crusty hahaha. wow that's sad. hope you are enjoying your long weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Great advice, Jen. I especially agree with you about keeping blogs simple and easy to read. I hate it when a blog is too dark and I have to struggle to read the posts! :-)

Gail said...

Great tips!

I have tried to write about what I know but end doing more pictures than writing most days.

I have been at this for two years this month and have only one hundred seventy followers so not doing something right.

Lola Sharp said...

Happy Monday, Jen!

You guys are doing an awesome job today. :)

Love,
Lola

Gabriela Pereira said...

Awesome blog and awesome post. Thanks for the great advice!

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed the advice, love your profile write up and blog title. Definitely awesome.

Nicole Zoltack said...

Blog hopping seems to be key. I always seem to get a new follower when I visit a lot of blogs.

Rose Cooper said...

Love the Blog Hop tip. This is something I recently started doing and I can say that this does work! I noticed more followers in just a few weeks! As far as colors...I think mine has more than a "splash." Is it hard on the eyes, you think?

Headed to check out the other two posts, yay!

Unknown said...

I've been to all three. They're great.

CD

Elana Johnson said...

oooh, I especially like the part about no garbage. If someone can't get your blog to load, they won't stay or come back. Great post!

Catherine said...

Hi Jen, found you via Karen G's bbq and like your blog tips! Adding you as follower, hope you reciprocate over at my blog. All the best, Catherine

Jessica Bell said...

Ditto on the colours and Garbage! I can't stand when I have to strain to read psycadelic neon text, or if the page takes forever to load because of all the gadgets. Great post!

RaShelle Workman said...

Great advice! Thanks Jen. =D

Kathryn Magendie said...

Well, dang! I say you are doing a good job here - your blog is bright and fun, but also easy on the eyes to read!

I loved your comment on my blog - it's so true - even if most times I'm off somewhere in my head and forget GMR is here *laugh* - just kidding - um, sort of . . . erk.

Kathryn Magendie said...

Well, dang! I say you are doing a good job here - your blog is bright and fun, but also easy on the eyes to read!

I loved your comment on my blog - it's so true - even if most times I'm off somewhere in my head and forget GMR is here *laugh* - just kidding - um, sort of . . . erk.

Arlee Bird said...

I think the three of you nailed it pretty well. It takes some work, which is my topic for today and for the entire week in fact, and bloggers who just expect things to happen are in for some disappointment. It took me a few weeks of blogging to find this out, and I think I recognized it more quickly that a lot of bloggers. Good of you to spread the word. If you want to throw a party and have a lot of people come to it, you gotta make friends and get out there to pass out invitations. If nobody knows it's happening then no one's coming.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Simon Kewin said...

Great advice. Bit worried my colours are over the top now ...

Gabriela Lessa said...

This blog trifecta is a freat idea! And so informative! You should do it more often.

Shelley Sly said...

Awesome advice, Jen!! You have such an incredible example of what blogging should look like. Your posts are fun and personable, and all of your layouts have been so colorful! Thanks for sharing these tips! :)

The Words Crafter said...

Hmmmm, I'm not sure how my husband is going to feel about me having a long distance relationship, especially with another female :P Fun post and great tips.

Sandy said...

Thanks for these truly great advice, Jen! I find that my blog posts tend to garner a lot more comments when I comment on others' blogs -- reciprocity is the key. :)

Southpaw said...

Brownies? Brownies. I'm in. Great tips.

ali cross said...

Hi Jen! *waving* Nice to "meet" you! Great tips AND I love the look of your blog ~ hip, fun and easy on the eyes. :)

Jennie Bailey said...

I come for the brownies. I stay because of the sparklies that you leave on the blog page. You're always so fun and lighthearted, but focused. I love everything about your blog. I think what honestly makes yours the best - your personality. It shines right through. You naturally draw people to you because they want to be around your light. You rock!!

Marguerite said...

Hi Jenn, so nice to meet you! Many thanks for the excellent blog tips! Your blog is fab! And merci beaucoup for stopping by my blog and for your great comment!

Kelsey (Dominique) Ridge said...

You've just written the best advice I've ever seen on a blog for attracting followers: be awesome. I think that sums it up nicely. :)

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

you keep teasing me with sparkles and brownies.. I've yet to get one...I'm going to sit in my blogging corner and pout for a while ;)

Great list of great advice.
Lyn
W.I.P. It: A Writer's Journey

Lisa Gail Green said...

All good advice! I think my problem is that I keep eating all the brownies. I really must cut that out!

Nicki Elson said...

Oh my goodness---this blog came just in time! I'm so new to this and this is pure gold.

Thanks!

Michelle Tressa said...

Great advice, thank you!! I'm still trying... really new to this blogging thing... so I'll do my best!

Thank you for passing through, and have a great week! Can't wait to read the posts from your other friends. :)

Kimberly Franklin said...

Great advice! I've slacked on my blogging lately because of my lack of free time lately. But still, great tips!! :)

Carolyn V. said...

Love your advice Jen! Gave me something new to think about. =)

Ishta Mercurio said...

Great tips! I need to do one and two more often, I think. (Or maybe just bear two in mind more...)

Katie Anderson said...

Hi Jen,
Thanks for visiting my blog! Love your blog, and will definitely be returning the follow :)

Christina Lee said...

Good stuff over here, Jen! Plus, you make the BEST brownies ;--)

Sondrae Bennett said...

I love this trifecta blog advice! As someone who's trying to build up my blog and get followers/commenters, let me just say Thank You!

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Are "Followers" are like "Friends" on Facebook to us?

Is the number more important than the person?

Are we racking up followers, not to get to know fellow strugglers, but to impress visitors? If so, what does that say of our inner self?

All of us hope, deep down in our child's heart, that an agent will drift by our blog or come from our mentioning it in our query letter.

A good number of followers couldn't be a bad thing if that happened, right?

But that's "Lotto Thinking."

I just want a blog

that helps fellow strugglers (I give writing lessons from ghosts of old masters)

and lets me do fun experiments like the serial which lets me ask questions in story form such as "What would your characters say to you if they knew you were literally the 'author' of their woes?"

This series is fun and informative. Thanks, Jen.

Mimi said...

Good advice there, Jen.
wasn't karen's BBQ brilliant? I met so many new and interesting people, looking forward this week to getting around all their posts.
Thanks for stopping by my place, becoming a follower (I've returned the compliment!)and see you again soon!

Deniz Bevan said...

Brownies, you say? Mmm, with nuts and everything... Shucks, I'd follow for that! :-) (seriously, though, thanks for all the good blogging advice!)

Rhonda Albom said...

Great tips. I had to laugh when I read the one about simple colors and the sidebar photo right next to it was of your pretty pink hair.

gail said...

Wonderful,awesome tips. I been struggling with confidence in writing my blog sometimes I worry that I am a person with a tiny voice and who would care what I write about. I appreciate the tips greatly. I will push on and conquer.