How I Organize My Blogging Time

Something that has revolutionized my blogging is the fact that I have begun to participate in many "Blog Carnivals" or "Memes" on a regular basis. Many of you have questioned me about these carnivals, including the one I host every week, called "Homemaker Mondays". Here, let me answer some of the questions you have posed.

(Image courtesy of www.allposters.com.)

A blog carnival (a.k.a. meme) is a site on the internet where bloggers meet to link up posts they've written on a particular topic. For instance, for "Homemaker Mondays", most participants publish a homemaking post on their blog sometime during the weekend or on Monday morning, then come to my blog and input their information in "Mr. Linky" at the bottom of my "Homemaker Monday" post. All you have to do is enter your screen name and a two or three word description of your post (such as mom2my9 ~ Blackberry Smoothies), then enter the URL of your post. Make sure to enter the URL for that post only, not your home page URL, as many people will click on your link for the following few days and if you have posted something else, they won't be able to link up to the post you intended.

Most carnivals I link up with use Mr. Linky, but some hosts prefer to simply list the participants in a post on their blog. Bloggers who do this will require participants to email their links a few days before the scheduled posting, so planning well in advance for these types of carnivals is a good idea.

What, you may ask, are the benefits of linking up to these BLOGGING CARNIVALS? Let me count the ways:

1. It's a great way to find wonderful posts about a particular topic that interests you. Love to read about how others save money? Join "Tightwad Tuesday" or "Frugal Friday". Don't know what to cook for dinner and would love to know what other people are making? Try "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday" or "Kitchen Tip Tuesday". I have gotten so many great ideas from other bloggers!

2. It's an awesome way to make new friends. As you visit other posts at a carnival, many others will come visit you. It's so fun to get comments from people around the world and make new bloggy buddies!

3. If you have chosen to monetize your blog, linking up to carnivals is a great way to increase your page visits, thus increasing your ad desirability. I have had a huge surge in my visits since regularly linking up to carnivals.

4. Having a subject to blog about weekly helps diminish writer's block. I often find myself logging an occurrence in my mind by saying to myself, "This would be perfect for 'Vintage Thingies Thursday' " or "I should blog the way I'm cleaning my microwave for 'Works For Me Wednesday' ." There never lacks bloggy fodder when I know what topic I will be writing about on a certain day.

5. I have found that some carnivals even change the way I organize myself. If I am preparing to write "Tackle It Tuesday's" post on Monday night, I will make sure I have actually tackled something substantial during the day in order to blog about it. I can honestly say that sometimes, because of blogging, I am a better homemaker. Sometimes, except for the times I blog until the wee hours of the morning and would rather sleep then sweep.

So there you have it. Please let me know if I didn't explain this clearly enough. I know there are many different blogging levels out there, but we all start out the same way, right? I truly hope you enjoy the list on my sidebar and can find some carnivals you would like to join on a regular basis! Please leave me a comment if you have any other questions about blog carnivals!

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