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By Little Mummy, August 24, 2010 12:26 am

Choose a Topic

First you need to decide what you’ll write about. Blogs cover all subjects so whatever your interests you’re sure to find a corner of the blogosphere where you can share your passion.

Whatever you decide to blog about make sure you have plenty to say because there’s nothing worse than starting a blog and finding you can only write half a dozen posts on the subject before exhausting your knowledge or sickening yourself of the topic.

Choose a Name

Choosing a name for your blog is not unlike choosing a name for your child. Choose something that you like, something you think represents you well.

Also make sure that it’s easy for your readers to remember, as a new blogger you need people to remember you if you are to gain a strong readership.

Choose How To Host Your Blog

Keeping it simple, you can either;

* Start a blog on blogger

or

* Buy a domain name and use wordpress

Blogger

Blogger blogs are free but are essentially owned by blogger. They are ideal for beginners with no technical knowledge at all. Blogger has a step by step guide and you will have a blog in under fifteen minutes. Blogger allows *anyone* to start a blog. If you can use a mouse and you can follow instructions you can start a blog on blogger.

The disadvantages are as mentioned that you don’t own your blog and you don’t have as much choice on how your blog looks. It doesn’t often happen but blogger can close your blog down at any time if they take a disliking to your content.

Domain Name

This is more complicated and more costly. Most serious bloggers will have their own domain which involves purchasing a domain name from the likes of 123 reg.

Once you’ve purchased your domain name you’ll need to find a company to host your website, 123 reg can do this too, but I use a company called Laughing Squid.

You then use wordpress as your blogging platform.

Unfortunately that’s where my technical set up knowledge ends. I have a friend who set my blog up, most people either are technical and do it themselves or have a friend that can do it for them. If not then you can pay someone a one off fee to do this for you.

Choose a Look For Your Blog

On blogger the look of your blog, the bit your readers see is called a template. In wordpress it’s called a theme.

In blogger you choose your template from a selection which you are offered during their step by step process.

For wordpress simply search for ‘free wordpress themes’ in google and a selection will come up. Your webmaster will help you choose and customise your theme, if this is part of the price (check first!).

Choosing your look is like choosing an outfit most people combine something they like with something that is functional. You’ll need to consider the following;

Layout

Whatever information you’re providing it will need to be organised on the page for readers to consume. Think about where you’ll put your main content, pictures, links to other blogs etc..

Colour

By all means pick your favourite colours, it is after all your blog, however bear in mind that some combinations are easier to read from than others. For example many people find it uncomfortable to read white text on black background.

Make it Personal

Consider how you’ll make your blog personal to you (or your business). Customising your blog can be exciting and involve adding a customised logo in your header or a picture in the sidebar. Remember there are millions of blogs so try and make yours a little unique and memorable if possible. I have a rotating header on mine that features a few pictures of my daughter and I and things we’ve done.

For more information like this sign up to the Free Mum Blogger E-Course

Or

If you’d prefer the entire course in downloadable format (an eBook) then I’m currently offering 50% off The Complete Mum Blogger eBook when you use the code ‘mumblogger50′.

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By Little Mummy, July 28, 2010 6:53 am

FamilyVie is a brand new site which I think all parent bloggers should take a look at. It aims to highlight the best parent centric content on the web, and the great thing is you can submit your very own content. Readers then vote the best content meaning that the most popular stuff gets even more views and a more prominent position on their webpage.

As a blogger FamilyVie can help you;

* Gain traffic
* Raise your profile
* Gain readers

You don’t even have to write new content you simply submit blog posts that you’ve already written – Check out a familiar looking post here

It only takes moments to submit an article, so sign up and give it a go. This site has literally just launched so this is a great chance to be one of the first, and if there’s one thing I know it’s that being first online to do anything makes a huge difference.

Disclaimer – I worked with the person who set this up, it was all her idea, but I thought it was a brilliant one hence my promoting it!

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By Little Mummy, June 11, 2010 11:58 pm

Thanks to Emily of Babyrambles for this post. Emily’s a finalist in the MADs for Best Baby Blogger.

How do you get your blog noticed in the ever-crowded blogosphere? I joined British Mummy Bloggers last summer, and since then almost 1,000 more people have joined. I’ve cleverly worked out this means there are 1,000 more blogs in the parenting blogosphere.

There’s no doubt that finding readers for your blog was easier a year ago. And if your blog was good, you hardly needed to promote it at all. Things have changed a bit now. You can write some amazing, entertaining posts which everyone wants to read, but they have to find your blog first.

Self-promotion doesn’t come naturally to everyone, it’s easy to worry you’ll sound big-headed banging on about your blog all the time. But if you want to grow your blog’s readership then it’s fairly essential. And it can be done with subtlety.

Listed below are some ideas on how to promote your blog. There’s quite a lot you can do. If this is all new to you, then don’t feel overwhelmed. Just decide on a couple of things to try and see how you get on. Doing all these things all the time could be a full-time job!

1. Commenting on other blogs is a great way of sharing your thoughts and directing people to your blog. It also helps you get involved with the blogging community. After a while people will visit your blog in return and hopefully they’ll become regular visitors.

2. Twitter is a good place to promote your blog: tweet new posts and tweet people to thank them for their comments on your posts. Be careful how you use twitter though, if you only paste links to your blog then people will become disinterested. Chat with other bloggers on twitter and that will help build your presence in the blogging community.

3. Set up a Facebook page for your blog and add new posts to it. People will hopefully stumble across your posts in their Facebook timelines and have a read. Facebook has a facility called Networked Blogs which it’s also worth adding your blog to and people can follow it there.

4. Add your blog posts to sites such as British Mummy Bloggers and parenting sites like Mumsnet, Gurgle and MumsLikeYou. If people like what they’re reading they’ll come and visit your blog. Registering your blog with sites such as Blog Catalog, StumpleUpon, Blog Frog http://theblogfrog.com, Fuel My Blog http://www.fuelmyblog.com, British Blogs, Technorati and Wikio (to name a few) could also grow your readership.

5. If your blog has a theme to it such as cookery or crafts then look for similar blogs and websites and introduce yourself. You can make arrangements such as a link swap or manage to get someone else to write about your blog. Take part in blogging carnivals and guest posts and that will introduce new readers to your blog too. The Writing Workshop and The Gallery are good to get involved in.

6. You can also use a technique called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) which can help your blog posts get returned high up in searches people do on Google, etc. To do this repeat a few choice words or phrases regularly in your posts. For example, if a theme to your blog is home education then get this phrase, and similar ones, in your posts as often as you can.

7. Spreading some blogging love is helpful, include links to other blogs in your posts and before long people will return the favour. Maybe blog about posts which have inspired you or made you laugh. Some bloggers like to write a post once a week about other blogs they’ve enjoyed.

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By Little Mummy, June 11, 2010 12:13 am

This is a post by Becky for The Great British Blog Festival. Becky blogs over at www.babybudgeting.co.uk She has a great belief in resourecful and supportive communities.

When Great Grandma was a young mum, al her pals were too. They lived near each other and none of them had formal jobs. They were all on quite a budget. As a result they shared skills (hairdressing for an apple pie?) shared knowledge (here’s how to get out blueberry stains, ooh I know where you can get a cheap pram) and generally they were useful, supportive neighbours and friends.

Oh how I would have loved to live then!

Communities are more fractured now, we tend to live further away from our families, we are more materialistic, more parents work longer hours. It can be lonely.

Being a parent on a budget can be a learn as you go experience, it can be tough and it can feel isolating. I know that being part of a community brings shared goods, information, resources, support and friendship. I have spent 6 years building one around me and ours now sustains me and my kids physically and spiritually. I truly believe it take a village to raise a child.

I wanted to build a blog that would provide information, support, inspiration and community to other parents on a budget and replace that garden fence, even if it was online. And I wanted to have great freebies to offer them once in a while too!

My darling hubby built my blog, I have poured my heart into developing it and now after a half a year like a field of poppies it is all blooming with colour and life, its finally spreading and the seeds seem to have taken hold.

I have wonderful, wonderful parents guest posting for me each week sharing what they know with others on everything from frozen food, and the family packing with kids, cut cost craft ideas and helping fussy eaters. I have an inspirational parent each month sharing their baby budgeting story. I have big brands like Organix and Mamas and Papas giving away lovely stuff. How wonderful this community is truly evolving.

Blogging is a privilege I was helped tremendously with my little ones (and I still am) and I feel in blogging I am able to share what I know and give something back. And I truly am learning all the time for so many resourceful parents who generously share what they know on my blog..

I think it does the soul a whole load of good to be with like-minded souls however this happens. Thank you my blogging pals for contributing and being part of what in Great Grandmas day used to be a physical reality of a parenting neighbourhood but now is a vital, vivacious, virtual one.

Love from, Becky (just over the fence)

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By Little Mummy, June 9, 2010 11:20 pm

This post is written by Mummyinahurry for the Great British Blog Festival

For years I have been boring friends and family senseless helpfully offering unsolicited advice to friends and family alike with my tips on cooking/cleaning and bargain hunting. In fact at work I used to carry the nickname ‘asknatalie.com’, and I was often approached for advice on a number of topics like present ideas, places to go to eat out and discount deals.

A year ago, I made the biggest decision of my life to give up my job (and the very attractive pay packet that went with it!) to spend time with my children. It was without doubt the best decision I have ever made. Of course I sometimes have days where I am exasperated, exhausted, and think it would be easier to go to work, but on the whole, the love, laughs and time spent with the children has been worth every moment.

I also decided that after years of devoting all my energies to a job that left almost no time for anything else, I wanted to spend a little time pursuing a hobby or two, just for me. One of those long-held wishes was that I had always wanted to write. No idea of topic of genre but just a general feeling. At first I took a couple of creative writing courses when I stopped work. I loved it, but we then decided to move house and take on a huge renovation project, so I decided that this was not going to be the year of the novel!

Then a friend of mine set up a blog. When I looked at it I was blown away, and was more than a little envious of her talent. Still I did nothing further because I thought it would be too tricky. In particular I am fairly hopeless at anything IT based.

In April, hubby was working late a lot, and one evening, I was on wordpress, reading my friends blog, when I saw the little button suggesting you set your own one up. Which got me thinking, what would I write about?

I had a think about this for a few days. I am passionate about cooking, but I like to break recipes down and make them simple quite and easy. Often I will write in the recipe books but if you asked me a month later I will have forgotten what I have done and when. In addition to all the cooking, I am a big fan of ‘getting a bargain’, and I also love picking up and trading household tips and shortcuts. So I decided that for the content of the blog, I wanted it to be a helping hand for the time pressed, mainly mummies, but really anyone that is interested in food, or getting a good deal, or getting housework done in half the time.

Thinking of a name that conveyed all of the above was not easy. Eventually after brainstorming and consulting with a few friends I settled on Mummyinahurry, as I felt it really just about sums me up (and many many others I am sure).

So after all that agonising, I just pressed the button, set up the blog and just started writing. I am still finding my feet with the technology. I have learned how to do photos and links, but that’s about it. Not sure if I am really settled on the format, and I want to get some graphics done for the header, but not really sure about how to go about that (any tips gratefully received)

I didn’t think too much about this being anything more than my personal database. After a few days, I decided to tell a few friends. Before I knew it they told a few friends and so it goes on.

After a couple of weeks I found a stats button and was amazed at the number of ‘views’. But when I spoke to my friends about the blog it turned out, they didn’t really look much at all. So I began to wonder who it was out there looking at my blog and how did they find it?

I started mid-April. The first month I had over 500 views. I thought that would be the initial interest from friends and family, but it was still wildly beyond my expectations. I was fully expecting it to drop a little in May, but by the end of the month there were over 1000 views and I am (almost) speechless. And more than a little thrilled to be honest

I also started looking at other blogs, primarily to admire their layout and formatting (!) and just to get an idea of what was out there. I have to confess I stayed up far too late on many a night reading other peoples blogs. I was amazed at the community that there is amongst bloggers, and the warm welcome and encouragement I have had from others. One kind bloggee (you know who you are YummyMummyNo1) even encouraged me join in the 24/7 party that is twitter, and i have found and made a whole host of new friends through that.

So, overall, I am delighted that I can share a bit of my life with the rest of you out there in the blogosphere, and that I get to look through the window of your lives on your blogs too. I am such a ‘road to Damascus’ convert, I have persuaded a couple of my friends to set up blogs too!.

I think there is one word that sums it all up nicely. Blogtastic!

Now I am off to have a glass of wine (bought on a special offer, obviously!) Cheers!!

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By Little Mummy, June 8, 2010 10:45 pm

This is a guest post by Geeky Mummy for the Great British Blog Festival.

I was completely unaware of personal blogging until a year or so ago, and stumbled over the concept through the online parenting and pets forums at Craigslist. “Get a blog” people would reply if a poster wrote an enormous long diatribe. My good friend and fellow Craigslist junkie did just that, and when I read her blog (which is here, at from stage dives to station wagons) I was hooked. My dear friend, who moved up to Seattle and whom I miss very much, leapt right of the page, her sassy humor translating perfectly to the written word, her hilarious boys, her quirky house, her whole life all right there for me to read about. It brought me closer to her.

I started my own shortly after discovering hers. With my close family in the UK, and friends scattered the world over I try to stay in touch by phone and email, but realized that blogging could give me a whole new way of communicating. I could craft with words a glimpse into our life. Anecdotes and events, fleeting feelings, could be preserved when I felt them. Instead of feeling at a loss for words on a hurried phone call, sandwiched between breakfast and swim class, I could bring my family into our lives on my own timetable. Unlike a lot of people who guard their personal blogs from real life friends, I started mine for friends and family, then it evolved into something more.

I was always a diarist, but had stopped writing since marriage and kids swept up my time. Blogging unleashed the wordsmith in me and I started to find that it was helping me navigate my life in ways I didn’t even realize I needed. Helping me process emotion. Soothing and directing the constant narrative in my head. I realized all over again how much I need to write. I can’t imagine being without it now. Steeped in science at work, I rarely used the artistic side of my brain. Now my long dormant joy in wordcraft has been rejuvenated and I am a better person, a more reflective and thoughtful one, for it.

At first my blog was read only by friends and family, at least to my knowledge, since I didn’t know I could track visitors, but by blogging myself I discovered the whole world of other bloggers out there. Even more than writing, I love reading. I found myself reading blogs from people I didn’t know in the conventional sense. I found myself, never restrained in conversation either in life or on the internet, from commenting on their blogs. I found this amazing supportive network of almost strangers, taking care of each other in cyberspace.

I have got to know people who are struggling with challenges that I have yet to face in my life. Cancer, debilitating but undiagnosed illness, addiction, divorce, the death of a parent, learning disabilities, a very sick child. The death of a child. Stepping into these people’s lives brought home to me the fact that we live amongst tragedy, but also that we are incredibly resilient. I became aware for the first time that at some point death and illness will strike my life too. That it is not if, but when. I know already that when something unexpected and horrible does hit our family, blogging, and the support of other bloggers, will be one of the ways I will cope.

That has been the greatest gift to me, finding wonderful writers, photographers and friends out there sharing their thoughts and their lives with the world. I’m proud to be a tiny little part of it.

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By Little Mummy, June 8, 2010 1:07 am

Thanks to ‘Emily’ of MTJAM for this insight into anonymous blogging for the Great British Blog Festival. Emily is a finalist in the MADs funniest blog category.

The internet is a vast, anonymous city, made up of pockets of neighbourhoods where everybody knows everybody. When you start a blog you can choose to go unnoticed, you can choose to hide your true identity, or you can choose to throw yourself into community life. I choose to write anonymously. Having my real name all over the internet would conflict with my day job, and besides, I wanted the freedom that anonymity brings. If the purpose of your blog is to connect with far-flung friends and family, or to diarise your life as a memento of your child’s development, clearly anonymity would somewhat defeat this purpose. But if you write for writing’s sake, as I do; if you write to vent frustrations, to express grief, to share anecdotes, anonymity can bring with it a liberating feeling, adding zest to your writing. It enables you to be truly open about your feelings and about your relationships with children or partners, without fear of reprisals. Anonymity also encourages truly unsolicited feedback on your writing, the like of which you will never truly see from friends.

Shortly after I started blogging it became difficult not having a ‘real name’. PR pitches begged an answer and I was trying my hand at some free-lance writing. And so Emily Carlisle was born. Emily is candid, imaginative and far wittier than I, and I have grudgingly noted that she receives far more e-mail and invitations than I do. In fact I darkly suspect my husband prefers her to me…

As the parent blogging world snowballs, more and more meet-ups are being arranged. This creates a problem for the anonymous blogger; how can one go to CyberMummy, how can one go to The MADs award ceremony without revealing one’s real name? Would it be possible to avoid the cameras for the entire event? Perhaps one could arrive wearing a bag on one’s head, or some sort of hat and veil combination… When The MADs finalists were announced, nominees went publicity-crazy and it dawned on me how restricting it can be to retain one’s anonymity. When you’re open about who you are and what you do you can have your photos in your local paper, you can add your blog address to your e-mail signature and link it to your Facebook page. You can promote yourself and your blog as a marketable package. When you blog anonymously, you rely solely upon your blog content to gain readership.

Recently I’ve relaxed my anonymity a little. I will never use my real name in anything that I write, but I have shared my blog address with a few friends. I’m disappointed – but not surprised – to discover that it has changed the way I write; that I now have an audience in mind, instead of crafting my posts and sending the words out into the ether. I am more conscious of causing offence; of unwittingly – or indeed deliberately – using a friend’s character trait or stealing a conversation as the base of a blog post.

If you’re just thinking about starting your blog, think carefully about whether anonymity is for you, or whether you’re happy for your life to be laid bare on the internet. For my part, I’ll stick with anonymity. My relationship with my blogging alter-ego, Emily, is now so entwined I turned round on the bus the other day when someone called her name. I just wish she’d pull her weight round the house a bit.

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By Little Mummy, June 6, 2010 11:07 pm

This post is by Mr Shev for the Great British Blog Festival. Mr Shev is a MADs finalist in the funniest blog category, I think you’ll see why!

When I was a wee lad, my Daddy sat me on his knee and said: ‘blogging, son; it’s a hard life…aye, I remember my first post like it were yesterday…and my first comment! I were so proud…’ He actually said none of that; because he couldn’t use a computer, he wasn’t from Yorkshire and the internet was just a back-of-an-envelope idea the C.I.A had to create a network of computers to illegally download Abba songs so they had something to listen to while they watched their puppet regimes flourish.

Where was I? Ah yes, blogging. I have been at this blogging lark for nearly a year and so, if you’re sitting comfortably, I can insert my virtual, mechanical-nodule (a la Neo in Matrix) into the back of your head and upload everything I have learnt, which isn’t much. So hang onto your dongles, because here come the bullets:

1. Content is King This may seem like an obvious point and if you’re the next (or actual) Alpha Mummy or Christian Lander, then you’re probably skimming this bit already with a contented grin on your face and a smug chuckle. If you write boring posts then maybe blogging is maybe not for you: you could get a job in a shop that sells slacks…or you could make oven gloves? Something like that. Your loyal ‘base’ will slink off, lured by other, funnier, more exciting blogs elsewhere gnashing their teeth that they wasted – YES! WASTED – their valuable time reading your turgid tracts about tinfoil…or putty.

2. Quantity is Queen You need to write often. Not every day, you’re not Adrian Mole or that mook who lived in an attic in Holland. It’s a bit like sex, really. When you first start you want to do it all the time, sometimes twice or three times in one day…you just can’t get enough of it…but then, well, who’s got the energy for that? You have to pace yourself or you’ll have nothing left. Then you start hooking up with other bloggers – like a virtual swingers party – and doing favours and tricks and then people start to talk and you get a reputation…and then, well, you end up in an attic in Holland. That’s the problem, you don’t put out a bit then people get bored with you; but too much and no one has the time to feed that kind of addiction. Moving on…

3. Formatting is Prince (?) A mistake many bloggers make is that they write huge paragraphs with no breaks and very little punctuation. What I have learnt is that my readership (in particular) has the attention span of toddlers and they need short paragraphs, concise lists, links and bullet points or they just can’t cope. The Interweb has such a glut of information that if you don’t break it down (as Justin would say) then it becomes too much; a visual rockface of text that just scares readers and they run away to dynamic, good looking bloggers like me who give them visual stairlifts and steps with handrails and everything.

4. Pictures are Princesses It’s okay to not use pictures if you are writing a post about genocide or Kerry Katona but as a general rule you must use pictures because when you do your readership will point, open mouthed and mumble the word: pretty. From now on you have your reader for the duration of the post. It works, I’m tellin’ ya!

5. Being Social is Footmen (?) Using Facebook and Twitter will only get you so far. Most of my friends have already hidden me from their Facebook feeds and my only followers on Twitter are stalkers, Nigerian finance ministers and penis enlargement companies. So you are going to have to crawl out from underneath whatever virtual rock you call …/index.html and leave some calling cards like the masseur that you must become. Read – and comment – on other blogs, hit the appropriate message boards and whore yourself around the forums. You’ll then create a little circle of bloggers, fans and spammers. Rinse and repeat.

6. WordPress is a Lady in Waiting If you use Blogger then you won’t get a breakdown of how hits your blog gets, how they find you and what links they click once they are with you. WordPress does. Thus, Blogger is pony. There, I’ve invoked the wrath of Google; now some skinny dweeb will creep into my house at the dead of night and wipe my hard-drive.

7. Draft is One of Those People Who Reply to Letters on Behalf of the Queen But I Can’t Remember What They’re Called…oh, that’s it: Posh Saddoes Unless you live a life of a rock star or international diamond thief, then life can have a mundane quality to it. If you blogged about how stuck in a routine you are or how few exciting things you actually do then you’d at best come across as dull and at worst a borderline sociopath with a teddybear collecting fetish. What I do is draft ideas that come into my head and then save them for later development. This way you’ll always have something to write about and won’t have to fabricate content on the fly…like twatting the postman for no reason…or taking a dump in the crisps aisle at Tesco…or crashing your car into Mr Wimpy (I once had a job where I had to dress up as Mr Wimpy: FACT!).

8. Be True is a Corgi Find your style and don’t change it, no matter what. My gentle, compassionate tone has found a devoted readership mainly amongst folk singers and angorra weavers. We occasionally meet up and stroke our beards (even the women!), eat yoghurt and whittle elves out of butter. Happy days…

Well, I have taught you everything I know, grasshoppers. Now use these tips for good, not evil; there is no hope in the dark side.

I don’t know where the royal bullets came from, but there you go. Happy blogging!

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By Little Mummy, June 6, 2010 12:33 am

Hello, and welcome to the Great British Blog Festival! A chance for us to celebrate and discuss everything about blogging. I invited posts across all aspects of blogging and you responded, we have over 25 fantastic posts on blogging and I’ve had to recruit a few extra hosts. The festival will now be held across the following blogs

Littlemummy.com
Littlemumpreneur
Englishmum
Cafebebe
Me The Man And The Baby

Get Involved!

1. Check out the host blogs every day for new posts.

2. Check the McLinky below for any posts you might have missed.

3. Get involved in the discussion, leave comments!

4. Steal the badge and write your own post

5. Promote the festival by retweeting the posts and using the hashtag #GreatBritishBlogFestival

6. Start your own blog and sign up for the Mum Blogger e-Course

7. Guess the wordcount of the Mum Blogger eBook and Win A Copy

Thanks for joining in with the Great British Blog Festiva, now where’s that hotdog stand

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By Little Mummy, June 4, 2010 11:19 pm

To celebrate the beginning of the Great British Blog Festival (check back here this week for five days of posts on blogging) I’m giving away one copy of The Mum Blogger eBook.

The Mum Blogger eBook is the entire mum blogger e-course in downloadable format. Not only do you get 25 chapters covering every aspect of blogging but you also get a bonus chapter on monetising your blog. This eBook is all you’ll ever need to know about mum blogging!

To Win a Copy simply;

Leave a comment with your guess at the wordcount of the book.

AND

If you tweet this competition you can have an extra guess.

The person who guesses closest will win a free copy of The Mum Blogger eBook.

Winner will be announced on Saturday 12th June

Good Luck!