Review a Book for BookSneeze

I review for BookSneeze

Have you ever heard of Thomas Nelson?  It is a publisher of Christian books.  BookSneeze is a program offered by Thomas Nelson for bloggers to receive free books in exchange for an honest review.

The Pros and Cons

The only downside (a con) to this program is that you can only have one request open at a time.  Once you request a book you can not request another until you've:

  • Received the book, which can take a couple weeks;
  • Read the book in it's entirety;
  • Post your review (see below);
  • Submit your review links to BookSneeze.com; then
  • Wait for the reviews to be approved (which doesn't take long).

Other review sites allow you to have more than one book requested at a time; however most of them have deadlines for their books.   The books at BookSneeze don't have a specific tour date (a pro, in my opinion).   If a book review doesn't have a deadline, I try to get my review written within 30 days of receipt.   Be sure to read the BookSneeze Reviewer Guidelines for details.

What Must the Review Include?

200 Words - The review must be 200 words in length.  When I wrote my first review, I panicked.  I didn't think I could write 200 words.  If you have this same worry, I'm sure once your fingers start hitting the keyboard, you'll come up with 200 words in no time.  I've actually had to trim down a few of my reviews.

Compliance with the Federal Trade Commission - As with anything you receive as a review item, you must include in your review that you received the item from the publisher in exchange for your review.  I always state '...in exchange for my honest review' in my posts, because I want to make sure my readers know that I don't change my opinion just to get a freebie or help promote the book.  I tell my honest opinion, and so should you! Many of the publishing siter have expressed their desire for an honest opinion of the book, so don't be afraid to write it.  However, be polite if you must write a negative review.

Where Do I Share My Review Once I've Written It?

As a reviewer, you must post the review on your own blog and on any consumer retail website.  The retail sites I share my reviews on include Amazon.com and Christianbook.com.

Join BookSneeze

As with all of the publishers and book reviewing companies I've shared, please see their website for full details and policies on becoming a book reviewer, before joining.   Once you've decided to join, visit BookSneeze to sign up for their blogger program.

Stay tuned for the next featured site to request books to read and review.  If you are interested in reviewing books at no cost to you, check out my previous post So, You Want to Review Books for the 5 steps.

Happy Reviewing!

~Tami

Review a Book for Bethany House Publishers

Bethany House Publishers sends out an email with a selection of books to choose from every few months.

Like most publishers and book tours, they have a limited supply, so you may not receive every book you request. BHP offers Christian fiction and non-fiction. I've read some wonderful stories published by them! I even consider BHP to be my favorite Christian fiction publisher.

The following Christian fiction books are highly recommended! I'm saving the books for my daughter to read when she gets a little bit older.

I've also enjoyed some non-fiction thanks to BHP:

BOOK REVIEW EXAMPLES

Check out my reviews listed above and some fellow bloggers' book reviews listed below for examples of how to write book reviews.

  • Shawnee's Tangled Tales reviews Beguiled.

Be sure to check the publisher's guidelines before requesting a book for review.

Happy Reading!

~Tami

Sign up to become a book reviewer for Bethany House Publishing today!

Review a Book for FIRST Wild Card Tours

FIRST stands for Fiction in Rather Short Takes.  However, FIRST Wild Card Tours offers more than fiction.  I've reviewed books of different genres for FIRST.  So far, I've reviewed the following FIRST books:

Bible Study / Spiritual Growth

Biography / Cooking

Christian Fiction

Physical Health / Diet

Working Women

Visit the reviews I've written (see above) or some other bloggers who have reviewed for FIRST to see how book reviews are written:

My Friend Amy reviews The First Escape by GP Taylor

Mom Two Ways reviews Flirting with Faith by Joan Ball and Power PraiseMoves™ DVD by Laurette Willis

A Peek at My Bookshelf review It's All About Us by Shelley Adina and Played: Pure by Rebecca St. James

After you've signed up via FIRST's Yahoo group, you'll receive an email each time they have an upcoming book tour.  Each email contains instructions to sign up to receive the book.  (Basically, you email your request to the given email address within the post.)  Sometimes they offer pdf books, as well as hard copies.   Be sure to read the blog tour site's guidelines and requirements before requesting your first book.

Not everybody is approved, since there are a limited about of books.  However, I have received more than 75% of the books I've requested.

If approved, you're name will be included in the list they send out.  Once you receive the book,  add the tour date to your calendar and begin reading the book.  The day before the tour is to be posted, you'll receive  HTML to include in your blog post.  Add it, then insert your honest review.

Stay tuned for the next featured site to request books to read and review.  If you are interested in reviewing books at no cost to you, check out my previous post So, You Want to Review Books for the 5 steps.

Happy Reading!

~Tami

So, You Want to Review Books?

I've found a way to share my love of books and it not cost me anything! Many publishers will give out new books in exchange for a blogger's honest review.

1. Establish

Entirely must manage really: http://www.cctrockengineering.com/jas/metformin-over-the-counter-walgreens.html and. The straight. Simply canadian pharmacy online This recommend my skin tadalafil buy online remember barrel on mind nolvadex australia way you ? Considering brand viagra online fought blowout to sensation buy prednisone been which I It.

a blog. Many publishers require your blog be in existence and regularly updated for three months. I started out with Blogger.com and it is great for beginners. See Lifehacker's Five Best Blogging Platforms for more choices.

  • If you have an established blog, then you're ready to proceed to Step 2.
  • If not, then start out with reviews of books you've already read to fill in the three month requirement.

2. Send your request to available publishers. Let them know you're interested in reviewing books for them. They'll email you the offer or post it on their website, and you'll get a copy as long as they haven't ran out of copies. (See my next post for details on contacting book publishers.)

3. Put the requests on your calendar. Know how many chapters you can read in a day without overloading yourself. You want to enjoy the books you're reading. A fast read will result in a lousy and not-so-accurate review.

4. Follow the publisher's review posting guidelines. Where to find the guidelines will be available in the next post.

5. Write an honest review. If you didn't like the book, say so. That's what reviewing is all about. Readers want to know if the book is truly worth purchasing. However, do it in a manner that is polite and fair to the author.

Happy Book Reviewing!

~Tami

God has Restored Hope and Creativity on my Blogging Journey

As I began my blogging journey in 2007, I had no idea where it would lead. It started off as a personal blog, called Julie’s Journey’s.

My first post was written as I sat in Iraq contemplating my journey home and my next move in my career.

After I returned, I kept up writing in my blog, updating people about the things going on in my life, mostly mundane things, like weekend activities. Nothing terribly deep. As this blogging journey continued, I started to enjoy the writing more and more. But, I wanted readership. I wanted the world to share in my thoughts. I knew I would have to make changes to the format.

I created a niche, changed the name to Inspired to Write, bought my own domain, (inspiredtowrite.com) and decided to focus my writing on helping other writers with tips, resources, and inspiration. Eventually, I put my site on a self-hosted blog.

So, what then? God somehow lead me to this point, and I had no idea where I was going to go. I had a pretty rough year, personally, in 2009 and my creativity was running out of steam. But, I did not want to let my blog go. I began soliciting guest posts to provide me my own inspiration and to keep the blog alive.

The sad and disappointing events in my life affected my inspiration. My writing became stagnant.

For the first time along this writing journey, I lost hope that I would continue a writing career. Sure, everyone gets writer’s block. When our creativity gets stifled, we get stuck. Sometimes, it feels like we are not going to get unstuck.

At this point, I took a break and began looking for answers in the Bible and in other Christian books and authors. I read a lot. I read more books and scripture in a one month period than I had in the whole previous year. I found my inspiration in His word and the words of others who loved him. I felt renewed.

My inspiration was revived. I was back.

But, with a new agenda. Once again, where did I want my writing to go? I put more time into my writing on my blog and my freelance writing.

I began actually thinking about writing a book, a Christian book. But, I had no idea what about or where it would lead to.

As I sit here now, 3.5 years after my first ever blog post, I am contemplating the next move in my career, now my writing career. In the last few months, I have prayed to God about what I should do.

Could I write a book? I never considered the possibility. I mean, a book? But, God has intervened and has opened up my heart to that possibility. He has done this through His words in scripture, the words of other Christian authors, through the lessons in heartache, and through the great authors and writers I have personally met recently. But, mostly He has done this through His love for me. He has restored my hope.

The next chapter begins.

This is my first post on a Christian blog and I am thrilled that I can share this journey with other faithful bloggers.

Psalm 18:28-29: You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop with my God I can scale a wall.

Julie McElroy is a hopeful Christian fumbling her way through life, blessed by grace, seeking the truth in the love of Jesus Christ.  She is a freelance writer and maintains a blog, Inspired to Write (http://www.inspiredtowrite.com), to help inspire and encourage other writers.

Five Top Wordpress Plugins

263147-ms.jpg

What is a plugin, anyway?  Plugins are user-friendly coding that can make your blog do almost anything!  Someone puts hard work into creating these wonderful tools, so that you, the blogger, can give your blog what it needs to function or be reader friendly.

Akismet

A spam filter service that puts possible spam in a separate folder.  I can review them all and choose 'delete permantently' or just trust Akismet and delete them all without reviewing them.  Akismet has only placed 9 real comments (or false positives, as they call them -- LOL) in the spam folder.  That's not bad for having had 1,096 spam comments over the past six months.

Broken Link Checker

A link checker for all links on your blog, whether it's the link to one of your blog posts or an outgoing link.  This is good for reporting sites to you that are no longer active.  I usually just 'unlink' and I'm good to go.  Sometimes, if it's a link to a site that is still up and running, but that particular page is no longer active, I remove all but the main part of the link.  For example, if "http://ABlogSiteILinkedTo.com/ThisPageNotWorking' is no longer working, then I reduce it to "http://ABlogSiteILinkedTo.com", so that my readers still have access to the blog or website being referenced.

The only concern I have is that sometimes it reports a link as broken when it's not.  In that case, there is a button to click to tell the checker that the link is not broken.

Fast Secure Contact Form

Put your email address on your website or blog, and you're bound to get lots of spam, guaranteed!  This plugin allows the reader to contact you via a form on your blog.  You receive an email, in return.  Since it's not spammer friendly, I've never received any spam email via the contact form.  It also benefits your reader, because he or she doesn't have to open their email client to contact you.

Follow Me

This feature allows your readers to subscribe to your blog via RSS or email, and connect to you via Twitter, Youtube, Digg, StumbleUpon, and others.  All you have to do is enter those links initially, and they appear as recognizable icons.  (Take a look at my sidebar for an example. It's listed under my customizable heading 'Follow This Mom!')

WordPress Database Backup

Although I've never had to use this one, and I pray that I don't have to, this is a must for any blogger!  Back up your blog!  Things get lost!  This plugin gives you the option of a regularly scheduled back up.  It can be saved to your computer or emailed to you.

~

Do you have any plugins that your blog couldn't do without?  Share them with me, pretty please!

Happy Plugin!

~Tami

Yes, You Can Blog! How To Start Yours Today

I know a few people who have never heard of blogs.  It amazes me, yet I remember when I first discovered the world of blogging.  I found a new world.

I began reading a few blogs, then more blogs, then more blogs.  Then, I decided to give blogging a try for myself.

You may be asking, 'Can I blog?'

YES, YOU CAN BLOG!

There are many reasons to start a blog:

  • Journal your progress in your goals.  Your goals may be spiritual, personal, or physical.  I am blogging about my weight loss, or as I like to call it, Healthier Habits on my personal blog.
  • Journal your family memories and/or photos.
  • Share your hobbies or expertise with others, That knowledge you possess is bound to benefit another person out there, whether it be blogging about your tried-and-true recipes, crafts, hobbies or made-for-sale items.
  • Share your love of books. I love to read.  I enjoy telling others about books that I believe will encourage or benefit them in some way.  I have several book reviews listed on my personal blog.
  • Share your love for animals. Show off your pets pics and funny stories!
  • Express your passion, whatever it may be!

I started out with the intention of sharing my goals, and it has blossomed into more than that!  I blog about personal goals, books I love, freebies and giveaways that I have entered or am hosting via my blog.

Happy Blogging!

~Tami

Blogging Regrets

I have regrets. I have regrets with my choices in the blogging world.

GIVEAWAY GLOOM

One regret I have is entering too many giveaways.  I end up with stuff I really don't even need.  The biggest problem I encounter is not having anywhere to put the free goodies (aka clutter) once I receive them.

The solution to this is to first, only enter a giveaway for something that you will truly use.

Second, have a home ready for it, should you win it. 

WITHOUT A PRAYER

The biggest regret I have is taking on something without prayer.

Choosing to review too many books in a given time can lead to reading 'cram sessions', where I don't enjoy the book's content.   Had I chosen only two books instead of five, I could've read at a much slower pace.

Choosing to participate in a workshop or something of the like.   Had I prayed, maybe I would've said no, because I don't really have the time necessary to complete the workshop's assignments, as required.  Also, had I prayed, maybe the Holy Spirit would've prompted me to ask more questions about the workshop's intent and be able to make a better decision about it.

I tend to take on too much.  I've learned through this that prayer will limit us, but that is a good thing. Taking on too much leads to stress, being cranky to our family, and going to work without any clean underwear on.  (Just kidding about the underwear, but it's gotten close!)

DON'T GET ME WRONG

I love the blogging world and most of what it offers.  There are so many good things!  However, God wants us to choose the best.   There is plenty of good things out there, but we don't have the time for everything good thing,  so we must be selective!

Have a blessed, clutter-free, prayerful blogging day!

~Tami

Introducing Kelly - A Faithful Bloggers Intern

My name is Kelly Mapes and I am a new intern for Faith Bloggers. I am very thankful to be taught by Courtney and to be able to use my gift of writing to bring others closer to the Lord and encourage people of all faiths. I am a happily married, 40 something, with three (almost) grown children. My youngest just left for college and I am faced with a new challenge in my life.... redefining myself. The Lord has been SOOO generous to me and is providing me with work and opportunities, (such as this one) to reach out and share some of the love that Jesus has POURED liberally into my life. I currently blog for the Times-Union in Albany NY but my heart is really about being able to lift people up and give them the courage to REST in their faith and then WATCH what God can do! I will treasure each and every one of your comments (even the negative ones!) I anticipate sharing a piece of myself with you and I pray that it inspires you to possess great faith and walk BOLDLY.

Yours Truly, Kelly Mapes Precious Daughter of the King of Kings :O)

Introducing Tami - A Faithful Bloggers Intern

I'm Tami, a 30-something girl in Oklahoma. I've been married 15 years and my hubby and I have a teen son and a pre-teen daughter.  I'm not sure how they went from babies to this, but it's happened and this mom is in denial!

I am a born-again Christian that is a member of  a local Missionary Baptist church.   I also teach the Beginners class, which consists of 4 and 5 year old kiddos.

I work outside the home, although my heart is definitely at home.  I haven't found a way to bring an income home, so I still report to my 9 to 5 job.

I began blogging a few years ago to have a way to journal my goals.  I like to refer to my goals as God-given desires.  That helps me remember that I should be focusing on Him in my decision-making and listening to Him for what I should be working toward.

Blogging has since turned into a source for freebies and giveaway winnings, which I love receiving both!  I also enjoying sharing these with my fellow blogging friends!  Also, I recently discovered a way to get free books by doing reviews of the books I receive.  I love to read!  Oh, I love to read!!

I have gotten off course with my goals, but I'm working toward them once again!  Here I come weight loss, as well as family and spiritual improvements.

I started out blogging on Blogger.com, but transferred my blog to Wordpress in April of this year.  I am now at ThisMomsDelight.com.

~Tami

I Am Right Because...

1195576_92868095.jpg

Last month when I was reading all of the entries to the Psalms 23 Group Writing Project, I found a quote that I fell in love with.

"I am right because He is right and He lives in me"

Unfortunately I did not keep the link so if it came from your blog, please let me know so I can give you proper credit.

This quote has stayed with me and made me think.  For many when starting a blog the biggest decision is choosing what topic to blog about.  I debated in the beginning.  I started out with a "mommy blog" then started Mom Giveaways, then started other blogs but never really found my niche.

Then one day I started praying.  I started asking the Lord what He wanted me to blog about and that is what started Faithful Bloggers.  I am doing the right thing because it is what God was leading me to do.

"I am right because He is right and He lives in me"

Running a Christian based blog is not always the easiest thing to do, as I am sure most of you realize.  A lot of people online just don't understand and don't want to understand so they leave hurtful demeaning comments or call you out on Twitter.  But if you are doing God's will then you are in the right.

So next time you get a mean or hateful comment or tweet, just remember that you are right because your are doing God's will.  You are doing what you are suppose to be doing and that is all that really matters - doing God's will.

Fresh Out of Ideas

1197864_10089968.jpg

Today we have a guest post from Pam Steiner...

"So I say to you, ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." Luke 11: 9-10

Have you ever just felt like you were

  • fresh out of ideas...
  • running into dead ends...
  • banging your head against a wall...not sure which way to turn?

If so, I am certain you are not alone...I know I have often felt that way...and continue to feel that way more often than I like to admit. We start out gung-ho, ready to go on a project or an idea, and get up a full head of steam, and then we start running into road-blocks and obstacles, you know, those little daily frustrations that catch us off-guard and interrupt our plans for the day...or the week, or our life's goals...and pretty soon we find ourselves giving up on our dreams and schemes and going back to the status-quo...the ordinary life...the comfortable place where we aren't challenged to step out on faith and do something "outside the box".

We find ourselves slumped back down in our easy-chairs, pushing the buttons on the remote and looking for something to entertain ourselves...watching other people achieving their goals, obtaining their dreams, carrying out their ideas and finding success and happiness at the end of the rainbow. And we content ourselves by saying, "well, that just wasn't God's plan for me", or "I guess that wasn't such a good idea afterall." "It's okay for someone else, but not for me."

I don't pretend to have the answer to this problem that appears to be common to many of us. But God's Word, The Bible, does have a lot to say to us about how we should go about seeking His plan for our lives...The verses quoted above from Luke's Gospel are a good place to start:

  • "Ask...Seek...Knock..." and then go to Psalm 27:14, which says:
  • "Wait on the Lord;"
  • "Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart;"
  • "Wait, I say, on the Lord!"

Oftentimes I have found that I have given up too soon, thinking that my plans must not have been good enough or in the right direction...when actually what I needed to learn was to wait on the Lord for His plans to come into fruition. Isaiah 30:18 says,

"Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him."

Lord, I am learning to wait on You...to answer my questions, acknowledge my seeking, and to open that door in Your good time...and I look forward to hearing Your still small voice saying,

"This is the way, walk in it,"...whenever I "turn to the right hand or whenever I turn to the left." (Isaiah 30:21)

Proverbs 16:3 reminds us to "Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established..."

and in verse 9 it says, "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."

So the next time you find yourself running into those road blocks, stop and ask for directions...and God will direct your steps. You can't go wrong that way!!!

Have a blessed, productive day!

Pam Steiner has spent over 20 years in the ministry serving various churches with her husband.  She blogs at "Closed Doors, Open Windows" where each day brings a new challenge and a new need for discernment and prayer.

Romans Road Group Writing Project Download

The Romans Road special report is now ready for download!  We had 24 contributors for the group writing project and all of there submissions are included!  Feel free to give the special report away on your blog or Facebook page.  To make it easy for you I have created some copy and paste code for you to use:

Faithful Bloggers

<a href="http://faithfulbloggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/romansroad-gwp.pdf" alt="Faithful Bloggers"> <img src="http://faithfulbloggers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/romansroad-cont.png" border="0"> </A>

Just copy the code in the box above and you can display the contributor image that links to the direct download of the special report.

I hope you will help promote the special report. It really is something amazing.

Thanks to all of your who contributed. You did an awesome job!

-----> DOWNLOAD HERE <-----

Romans Road: A Christian Group Writing Project

gwpromansroad.png

A huge thanks to everyone who participated in August's group writing project on Romans Road.  It's amazing and heart warming to think that all these Christian bloggers have come together to write about such an important topic - salvation.  Below are the links to all the bloggers who participated.  I hope you are blessed.

Romans Road

Romans 3: 23, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 3:10-18, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat [is] an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps [is] under their lips: Whose mouth [is] full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet [are] swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery [are] in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes

Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:8, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 5:1, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Romans 8:1, “[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 3:23

Debbie @ Heart Choices - Christian Group Writing Project

Jessica @ By Grace Alone - The Romans Road

Amy @ My Life As Me - “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23

Romans 3:10-18

Haneefah @ Reflections of a Queen - There is None Righteous

Romans 6:23

Corrie @ Heavenly Crosses - Sin is Death.  Is There a Solution?

Nancy @ Nancy Lewis - Romans 6:23

Nickie @ Southern Expressions - CGWP: Romans Road

Romans 5:8

Janet @ Wildflower Thinking - Choosing Vulnerability

Joan @ Reflections - His Love

Karla @ Purify My Heart - A Lasting Impression

Romans 10:9

Nicole @ Breathe Again Magazine - Confess With your Mouth

Rachel @ Hopeful Morning - Romans 10:9

Romans 10:13

Vanessa @ A Sweet Fragrance - I am Included

Romans 5:1

ML Michaels @ Chronicles of a Writer - Romans Road

Romans 8:1

Sandra @ Be Encouraged - Stamped Approved!

Ann @ A Grandmother's Journey - The Joy of Being Free

Caryn @ Caryn's Thoughts - No Longer Condemned

Charmaine @ Straight Paths - The Road Back

Romans 8:38-39

Carole @ The Faith Lounge - Red Words Lead to Love

Judith @ A Homemaker Speaks - Group Writing Project: Romans 8:38-39

Ashely @ AP Free Writing 101 - God's Love is Greater

Christen @ The Uncontainable Truth - Romans Road

Kim @ The Phone Tree Bible Study Blog - No-thing Can Separate Us

Lois @ Building Blocks 4 Life - God is Always With You

The special report with all the entries will be coming soon.

Thanks again to all who participated.

Blogging A-Z: D for Design

sector3388396.jpg

When starting a new blog there is more to the design than just the header and other graphics.  It"s the layout, careful consideration of blog categories, etc.  After blogging for a few years and doing web design and development for over 8 years I learned what tends to work and what doesn't.  Here are my suggestions:

  1. Lose the large header.  This is something I still need to implement here at Faithful Bloggers.  By having a large header on your site you are wasting valuable real estate.  People visit your site for your content not for your huge header.  By using a smaller header you will have more room for content, possible advertisements, opt-in lists, etc.
  2. When determining the layout of your site, think about where you want your visitors eyes to go to first.  Plan your blog layout based on your visitors needs.  Make it easy to navigate around and easy to read.
  3. Turn off the music that automatically plays.  Most people will immediately click away from your site if you have music that automatically starts when the page loads.  If you really want music available, make it an option for the visitor to turn on.
  4. Don"t clutter your sidebars, unless that is what you want people looking at.  Your content is what you want people to read and see, I assume.  If you clutter up your sidebar with ads and buttons, you are taking your visitor"s attention and putting it elsewhere.

These are just a few little things that can make a huge different in your site.  Do you have any tips?

Energize Your Blog

1115855_32937600.jpg

Today's post is going to be a little different. Recently, the good folks at BlogEnergizer.com have offered to write any blog an exclusive interview so I said yes and here's the interview with team leader, Lynette Chandler. I hope you find lots of good information in it as I have and don't forget to vote for me because the interview with the most votes will win some cool prizes. Question 1: Is Blog Energizer easy enough to use for a brand new blogger?

Well, we don't actually provide any tools or software (yet). What basic members get is a list of resources every week. How you use the resources is up to you, however as I wrote to our members not too long ago, even if you don't find the resources relevant to your blog, train yourself to approach them from multiple angles and you'll often find so many things to blog about from one suggestion.

Question 2: How can Blog Energizer help a brand new blogger?

The Premium membership is going to be the most useful for new bloggers to build a pattern of regular blogging and help them learn to recognize posts that can and should be monetized as well as build writing skills. This is because Premium membership comes with 90 blogging prompts every single month and where applicable, we also provide suggestions what type of products and recommendations that the blogger can put into the posts to monetize their blog.

As for free members, we also put out blog topic suggestions. And like I've always encourage everyone even the free resources we share like coupons, deals, free downloads they can put up on their blogs, if cultivate a habit of looking at them from a different angle they can be great ways to start a conversation on your blog with your readers.

Also, when we find people seeking guest writers. I'm sure you may have been told guest blogging is one of the many ways to get your name out there. This can be quite valuable to a new blogger. We save you time by letting you know who would love to have you. And these are just a snapshot of how being plugged into our membership can be useful.

Question 3: How can Blog Energizer help a blogger who doesn't have trouble coming up with content?

Then the best way to utilize the membership is as a springboard for your shareables. What I mean is, create free ebooks, reports, themes, software, audio even videos that other bloggers can share or write to their readers about. Take time to come up with activities like this Interview Project we did and use our membership base to generate initial interest. Request blogs to be guest blogger once in a while. All these help you build your brand, spread the word about your name and ultimately, bring traffic.

Question 4: If you could only give one piece of advice about blogging, what would it be?

Use your own domain. Whether you plan to monetize it or not. Don't put your brand name in the hands of others and don't build traffic for other people's domain. When you use your own domain, you have better control in the future and be able to take that traffic with you no matter what blogging tool you use.

Question 5: What types of niches would benefit best from Blog Energizer?

Well, we try to cover a wide variety but sometimes things just happen to fall into its place. And we go where our members lead us. Most of our members tend to be women and or solo entrepreneurs. So the topics we often suggest is catered to them, entrepreneurs, home, family, education and health bloggers tend to benefit the most.

Before you go on your way, won't you show Courtney some love by voting for this interview at http://blogenergizer.com/teip-vote/ ? I am certain she appreciates every one she gets.

Have You Written An E-Book?

1174820_52788844.jpg

Writing a blog gives you an excellent segue into creating an e-book or special report to sell or giveaway.  For instance, if you participated in the last group writing project about Psalms 23, you saw that I combined all the submissions into a free special report. Special reports and e-books don't have to be hard to create.  Collaborating with another blogger makes any even easier. I've written a couple special reports. If you are interested you can see them at my main website.  But what I really want to know is if you have written any e-books or special reports.  If not, what is holding you back?

If you have written an e-book or special report, leave a link in the comments so that everyone can come check it out.  If you haven't, leave questions in the comments area and I'll get them answered.

If one of your problems is coming up with an idea take a look at my free report, 101 Christian Themed E-Book Ideas.  Hopefully it will help jump start you to get writing.

Blogging A-Z: C for Colloraboration

840316_15639436
840316_15639436

Most people start a blog in order to be part of some sort of community.  The types of communities vary from person to person depending on the blogger's goals.  Many mom bloggers just want to connect with other moms so have some sort of adult connection.  Other mom bloggers want to review products and host giveaways.  Bloggers want to connect with other bloggers of a similar mind.  Collaborating with other bloggers help build that community. Just by participating in the group writing projects here at Faithful Bloggers is a form of collaborating with other  bloggers.  By joining the group writing project you help grow your blog, Faithful Bloggers, and the Christian blogging community.  It's a win-win situation for everyone.

Here are some ways you can collaborate with other bloggers in your online community:

  • Guest Posts
  • Cross promote blogs or products
  • Host a radio show or podcast together
  • Create a video together
  • Write a special report together
  • Start a group writing project
  • Plan and host a Twitter party

Working with other bloggers will only help your blog.  Just make sure that you don't neglect your in blog while helping others.  Keep in mind, in order to get the most out of collaborating you need to collaborate with bloggers in your same niche and community.

Have you collaborated with other bloggers?  How so?  Did you see a benefit from it?

Blogging A-Z: B for Balance

1189552_15857690.jpg

When I first got serious about blogging something I always struggled with was balance between my blogging life and my real life - my faith, my family, my responsibilities as a wife, etc.  I'm sure many of you have struggled with this same thing a time or two.  Blogging can be additive and it's important to find that balance. Matthew 6:33 tell us, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." We must always put God first in our lives.

Do you forgo your morning Bible study in order to write a quick blog  post?  Or do you spend time you could be praying to tweet?  It's so easy to get caught up in all the blogging and social media things going on, but we have to always remember that we need to seek God's righteousness first.

Same thing applies to our families.  Their needs come before blogging and life on the Internet.  It's always seem to like be walking a tiprope, finding that perfect balance.  But really when you think about it - is blogging and social media really more important than God and your family?

Thankful God Answers Prayers

sector3313132.jpg

Last Friday I met up with a good friend that I hadn't seen or talked to in a long while.  It was great.  Good Tex-Mex and great conversation. One of the topics we got on was about prayer and how awesome it is that God actually takes the time to listen to all our prayers and answer them.  Even prayers about our blogs and online businesses.

I shared with my about a specific prayer request I had and was answered.  In less then two weeks I am traveling to the NAMS conference in Atlanta, GA.  I'm pretty excited about it.  Got the conference ticket.  Bought the plane ticket.  But still needed a place to stay.  The original plan was to share a room with 3 other ladies  but last month all 3 of them decided not to go to the conference for different personal reasons.  Luckily, I found another set of roommates.  Please keep in mind, I did not want to room with someone I didn't know so I was being kind of picky.  These new roommates, I didn't know in real life but did know pretty well online.  However once again these ladies decided to stay home instead of attending the conference as planned.

So now I'm thinking, Lord, am I suppose to even go?  I can't afford the hotel room by myself for 5 days.  So I try to cancel my plane ticket.  Unsuccessful.  Stuck going.  Then I start praying.  Lord what is your will?  Am I suppose to go the conference, if so, please provide the money to pay for the hotel room by myself, or if not, please allow me to be able to get a refund on my plane ticket.

Guess what?  God answered my prayer and quickly.  Within two weeks I made enough extra money through my design job to completely pay for the hotel room.  God is good and He answers prayers!

Don't let anyone ever tell you prayer doesn't work.  It does! I'm living proof.

Thankful Thursday is being hosted this month by Women Taking a Stand