Annies Goat Hill Handcrafted Soaps

Blogs…are there really any rules?

First of all, I feel there are way too “experts” stumbling upon each other,  publishing general rules about writing blogs.

In my own estimation, a blog should be an enjoyment to the writer.  Why write if the content is something the author is not passionate about? I agree that the blog creator is not writing for themselves, they are truly writing for their readers, but there has to be a level of interest for the writer to even turn out good copy.

Does it really matter if the print is left or right aligned.  One blog that I visit is normally center aligned.  I love what the writer does! I find her blog refreshing. 

If a person is writing a business blog, does content always have to be business related? Absolutely not! We are living in a period where marketing and business is returning to an “olden times way of thinking.”  Meaning, trust is so very important.  It is like going back to the era when mom and pop stores were popular.  It is important for the customer to know who they are buying from, know the integrity of the business, and to know what the business is all about.  All of this means so much more to a potential customer than putting out 100 ads a day that say, “Buy my spectacular product!” Blah, blah, blah…we get enough of that nonsense!

I agree, blogs should hold a certain level of professionalism and quality, even if the blog is simply written for family enjoyment. 

A blog should also contain valid information.  If statements are copied, credit must be given to the writer, and credit must be given to the original article.  Validity in an article is crucial!

I want to tell you a funny story.  A story about a piece of my writing.  I use a milking machine when I milk my goats.  For years I have called the cups that fit on the goat’s teats an inflator.  At one point, if you did a Google search for goat inflators you would have found blog posts, and a few articles, written my moi, yes me (tee hee).  Why just me? Because I assumed the cups were called inflators…oops…they are inflations.  Now do a search for goat inflations.  There are more articles out there than those written by Ms. Mary!!!!

Are there solid blog writing rules? Not per se’, but I do think we need to be responsible.  I love the variety in our blogs.  I love it that I have the opportunity, for example, to write as freely as I want.  This is MY opportunity to write, something that I always dreamed of doing.  I do not have to submit my work to my boss, nor do I have to submit to a publisher, but I am responsible for editing, and I am responsible for making sure my work is accurate.

Happy blogging…and please, do not get so hung up on the “rules.”  Who in the world wrote the rules on blogging anyhow? To my knowledge there weren’t/aren’t any! So, as Cheryl Phillips (The Daily Blonde, a writer that many of us associate with) said, “Just be yourself!”

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I am not a person that likes to share my photo.  Perhaps it comes from my childhood.  I was one of those extremely shy kids that wanted to hide behind her mother’s skirts.  Those days have pretty much evaporated.  No, I am not one that likes to display myself very easily.  I am still very modest.  But I am a far cry from who I was a number of years back!

I thank my prior boss, Wendy, for chipping the remainder of that shyness away from me.  I recently met back up with Wendy, online, and we are both overjoyed to have our connections again.  She was, and still is, very inspirational to me.   Inspirations in our lives is one of my upcoming blog post topics.

Anyhow…out with the old…in with the new.  The 5 year old photo that I use on all of my accounts is going to go “poof,” and I am determined to keep up with the new.  Love my salt and pepper hair, ladies (and gents)…I no longer color.  And I am proud of it!

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I am working on adding my blog roll. Wouldn’t you know, we now have storms moving through, I lost satellite signal, and I have more blogs still to add. Technology…:)

So I am on my Samsung Smart Phone plugging away. I can publish posts from the phone but I cannot completely edit the blog from here as I would like to.

You may already use this service, I love Google Reader. I have used it for well over a year to keep track of the blogs that I follow and subscriptions (feeds) as well.

Google Reader has many different options, one of which is viewing snippets of blog posts. It really is a nice service. Saves time and helps me to stay organized. And I can use all of the free help I can get in that area!

I also use Google Reader for blog topics that I search for. It lists blog posts that contain that particular topic, a continual list, valuable to me.

I hope to have the new blog roll finished up by this time tomorrow!

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