TEN TIPS for Getting NOTICED out in the Blogisphere

Women like a good conversation and blogging is just that to many of us ladies!! There is rarely a post that I don't enjoy, gain some valuable insight, or challenges me spiritually to grow in Christ...BUT...

What Joy Is Mine: Naomi, one of my favorite bloggers!!

If I write a boring post, you'll most likely hit the little "X" up in the corner!! If the content of my post doesn't peek your interest, why should you waste your precious time?? Just hit the "X" up in the right hand corner!! I won't know!!

There are thousands of blogs out in the blogisphere all vying for attention. Within the niche of godly homemakers we each have zillions of posts waiting each day to read. How many of them go unnoticed?? Why am I writing if no one is reading my thoughts for the day?! How can I grab your attention; or you grab my attention for that matter??

Here are Ten Top Tips for Getting NOTICED out in the Blogisphere:

1. Choose a captivating attention getting title.
2. Write an opening paragraph that draws your reader into your post.
3. Select a picture and place it right after the first paragraph to visually engage your reader. We women are very visual (if you hadn't noticed!!)
4. Remember that your reader has the option of hitting that little "X" in the red box up in the upper right corner of your screen!! YIKES!!
5. Place the second paragraph right after the picture and make it just as enticing as the first!!
6. Write between 500-700 words (OR YOU WILL LOOSE YOUR AUDIENCE)
7. Ask your reader questions throughout your post to give interaction and spice.
8. Remember no one wants a post to be a book!!
9. Keep the body of the post as strong as the opening paragraph
10. Ask a question to your reader at the end of your post that continues the conversation.

Even if you write an excellent post, if it is too long (like some of mine have been) your reader will likely skim through it at best. Young moms don't have time and shouldn't neglect their husband and children for blogging!! Realistically, there might be dishes in the sink and laundry piling up. 

It is better to divide a good post up into two days or even three. People are reading differently than they did even ten years ago. They are looking for a quick read. They often would prefer to read on a screen or tablet than to pick up an actual book with many chapters.

When I learned that blogging should be short and sweet it was sweet relief!! Admittedly I am working on that but not getting too far!! 

What about you?? What blogging tips do you have??

In Christ Alone,

~Judith~

"But as he which hath called you is holy, 

so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. 

Because it is written, 

BE YE HOLY; FOR I AM HOLY." 

~I Peter 1:15,16~

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Getting Up!! FAVES & Linkup a Day Late!!

I have always been an early riser but that doesn't mean it has been easy or that I don't have seasons where I have lagged in bed awhile longer, languishing in those comfy covers!! It makes such a difference to my day like nothing else and if I get up a bit later than usual I find myself 'chasing my day!'

Different ladies have differing energy or health levels, or maybe you are in a different season of your life.  Maybe you have a nursing baby or maybe your children have fledged the nest. You have to decide whether getting up to greet your day before the rest of your family is for you or not. But, stay with me!!

When my children were little, I had five young children between the ages of 1 and 6!! My baby woke me each morning with a gleeful smile jumping in his crib like it was a trampoline...in my bedroom!! 

Getting up at 7am is early to some, but I have found that the best time for me has been between five and six. My Quiet Time was cut short and exercising just wasn't a possibility when I got up later. If only through those early parenting years I had understood the importance of exercising to decrease the symptoms of PMS and regulate severe cramping. That's another post!!

I had a friend who encouraged me to get up at 5am!!!! At the time, my baby was a newborn. She wanted to call me at 5am each morning (yawn) for accountability. I never agreed to the phone call. Phone calls (talking THAT early?) can be inhibiting to life with a young family but I did take the challenge and started to get up at 5am or shortly afterwards, like around six.

Just simply getting out of bed starts a new habit. Whether you do anything or not once you are up isn't the point. No matter how low your goals are, you are successful by just changing ONE thing. Get out of bed!!

You may choose to get up at 7 or even 8, and that is just fine. We each have different schedule and physical needs. Just make sure you are not lingering in bed when you should be up and at 'em. I have been struggling with getting up early ever since the time changed a while back. That is why I thought it important to write this post. I too struggle with getting up at 5am but so do I struggle with 6am once my body adjusts to the later schedule. I am sure I would find it just as difficult to get up at 7!! Or 8!!

I'd like you to stop over at Inspired to Action and read the post that "inspired" me to share my thoughts on getting up. Kat has an e-book which she shares that might help you get yourself back into a routine as we look to a new season, a new year of homeschooling, or our children returning to school. 

It is important for me to keep to a schedule or there will be no purpose in my day!! There sure is!! And so there is for YOU TOO!! 

September is around the corner. Are you ready?? Schedules in place?? Do YOU have a daily routine??


FAVES from the Past Week:

I want to thank each and every one of you precious ladies for linking up with me this past (very past) week for WholeHearted-Home Wednesdays here at Haven of Rest. 

It was impossibly difficult to choose which posts to feature. They were all so excellent...so I hope that you had time to pick even some of them. There were some real gems...so go back and read them if you haven't had time.

Gail over at Bible Love Notes wrote a wonderful post called: 

Little Big Things 

and gave a great list of 20 of the "little things" 

that make a marriage good!! 

Sarah, over at My Joy-Filled Life 

shared some really, really wonderful money saving ideas.

I hope you take the time to read them!!

10 Ways Our Big Family Saves Money

And now, for today's Linkup Party #7

WholeHearted Home Wednesdays!!!

Thank you to all who linked up with WholeHearted-Home-Wednesdays last week!!!! I was soo blessed reading all the posts that each of you ladies left. Please forgive me for being so late as to post on Thursday instead of Wednesday. I have been having a wonderful time with my husband, so there just hasn't been enough time.

Share your post with others out in our bloggie-niche on:

Mothering

Marriage

Homemaking

Homeschooling

From Your Kitchen

Organizing your Home

Gardening

Mom's Sharing Jesus

and any way you have

WholeHeartedly served Christ in your Home

1. Post as many posts as you'd like
2. Remember the purpose is for community and women love conversation!! So, please visit at least the blogger who posted right before you on the Linky Party :-)
3. Keep each post honoring to God
4. I'd love you to link back to Haven of Rest but it is not required
5. You may use a 'word' link or my button along the side for Haven of Rest to place on your blog or post :-)
6. Happy posting!! Thank you from the bottom of my heart as each of your posts are always such an encouragement to me and others.

Grab My Button!!

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You Can Blog from Anywhere!!

Last weekend, my husband and I were away for my father's 90th Birthday Bash!! God has blessed him with 90 years of life and 69 years of marriage. 

Since our children are on a missions trip, my husband thought I had spent enough time home alone, and decided to take me on an adventure. 

AND, since Marriage is for Keeps, we are investing in our marriage after 33 years of wedded bliss. It hasn't always been easy to find time alone together. Marriage isn't easy either. It sure is wonderful to be able to look back at all the memories together since when we were a bit younger. 

You can blog from anywhere, well, just as long as you have internet connection!!

The bad thing about amateur photography is that

I missed the Amish buggy!!

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge

Oh for the Atlantic Ocean splashing between my toes!!

Refreshed by an evening walk on the beach!!

All I need is a surf board!!

When my husband got tired of me taking funny pictures (like of signs and run down buildings) he took pictures like this and of engines. I spared you the engine pictures, lol

Better to take a picture of my back since you can't see me 

scrunching my nose from the glare of the hot sun!! This is Kitty Hawk where Wilbur and Orville experimented with flight.

Stopping at a bike shop.

The bike shop was 8.5 miles away!!

Hey, you'd need to rest too if you'd biked 20 miles in one day!!

In Christ Alone,

~Judith~

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