Welcome to Blogging Tips From Professional Blogger Part II. Today I am interviewing the witty Kim Miller from Life in a House. Kim will continue to enlighten us with blogging tips and tricks for those who wish to grow their blog. Lets begin the interview:
she’s the menfolk’s dog since THEY are the ones who wanted her and THEY are the ones who swore that they would walk, feed, and groom her every single day – ha! I can count on one hand the amount of times that has happened in the 5 years we’ve owned her!)
girlfriend of mine and her four boys. I have a brother and sister who still live back home, both of my parents have passed away so its just the three of us and our families.
(1) Don’t be discouraged when it feels like every response is a “no” because the very next one could be a “yes” for a campaign that you REALLY wanted to be a part of;
(2) Network – look for Facebook Groups that share blogger opportunities, sponsored posts, set up Google Alerts for keywords like “bloggers wanted” and
(3) Never give up.
I was rejected by several pretty big name companies over the past two years. This year I have the pleasure of being a part of the Chick-Fil-A Moms as well as the HP Smart Mom Panel. I receive several gift cards usually every other month for free menu items at Chick-Fil-A in exchange for sharing our purchases on social media and telling our family and friends what we think of their food.
Hewlett Packard was kind enough to send each of the moms on the panel their new HP-Envy 5660 all in one printer to review earlier this year. I was also accepted as a Best Buy Blogger right before the holidays last year. The work that I’ve done with them earned me enough to afford the iPod Touch 5th Generation that my son wanted for Christmas (over $240 with all that he wanted). Where did I purchase it? Best Buy, naturally!
them, find out what events they have coming up that may be in your area that you can attend. Google them! Follow other bloggers who have worked, or are currently working with that company. Ask them how they got the chance to be a Brand Ambassador, or to be a part of their panel. Most bloggers will be happy to tell you! Follow them on social media, literally become an online stalker of the companies that you want to work with, interact with them, share their Facebook posts, re-tweet their tweets, do whatever it takes for them to notice you.
Above all else though – Be Sincere. Another one of my blogging tips is to not go after a company just because of what you may or may not get from them for free. You have to have a genuine desire to work with them, love their products and actually own a few or use them on a daily basis, and be willing to tell them when they miss the mark with a product in a professional and courteous manner.
If I had to pick a social network – I’d say Facebook with Twitter and Pinterest tied for second place. Ironically, 45% of my traffic this month has been from StumbleUpon (which I hardly ever use). Since the beginning of the year though – my traffic has been primarily from Pinterest, Facebook, and StumbleUpon and pretty evenly distributed as well.
- Don’t have a crazy mix of colors, or fonts that are hard to read.
- Don’t have flashing doo-dads and snow falling and music playing that will slow your blog’s load
time and piss me off because I have to wait for all the bells and whistles to catch up. - Turn off the $#%!*# captcha that nobody can read and ends up having to try three or four times till
they finally get it right just to leave you a comment that reads, “Great post. Thanks for the advice.” - Give me a menu! Where can I find your recipes? How do I get in contact with you? How do I find out
more about you or the XYZ product I saw you became an independent consultant for on Facebook the other day? - It all boils down to four little words that apply to most everything, “keep it simple,
stupid!”
Now, because it is the most annoying, pain in the ass feature on the face of the planet, I have to vent about this
next item. If two seconds after I arrive on your blog to read your post a pop-up appears in front of my face and won’t let me finish reading the article until I subscribe to your newsletter or follow you on Facebook – I’m outta there. And, trust me I won’t be back.
Especially if the article sounded really good because then it just pisses me off even more that I’ve read the first paragraph and can’t get to the rest of it until I answer your stupid box.
You may also like: Professional Blogging Tips – Part I
When Kim is not blogging on a House in a Life of Testosterone or promoting the Brand, she spends time with her 3 children and husband in Richmond, Virginia.
Great post. Thanks for the advice. Hehe..I got a lot of great information from this interview! Making a few changes to my blog. Thanks ladies.