Marsha Ingrao – Always Write

Recommendations, Recommendations, Recommendations!

Recommendations from bloggers you trust cuts down on search time. The quality of advice improves. It’s like proving that you are not a robot by adding numbers across instead of vertically. If you have read the Speed of Trust, you know what I mean.

I trust Janice Wald of Mostly Blogging because I see she had done a lot of research. And I’ve talked to her. the best advice which I found from Janice’s list of experts. Chapter Three of her new book, Insider’s Guide to Building a Successful Blog lists close to 50 influencer bloggers. I reviewed twelve of them below.

1. GoinsWriter.com Jeff Goins of the Intentional Blogging Course writes, “There are so many elements of a conference for event organizers to consider. Dates, food, speakers, content, lanyards, and the like. But there is one component that accounts for 50% of an event’s success all by itself. Location. Location. Location.” Being affiliated with a statewide social studies organization, our main concern each year is planning a conference. Great advice, Jeff! 
2. HughsViewsAndNews.com – Hugh reminds me of my blogging friend Ralph because of his sense of humor. The comments are just as much fun as the post itself. The post I read was a door with a sign indicating that staff only could close the door, and the object of the post was to guess why.  “I (Hugh) am also a book reviewer and write articles over at Lit World Interviews which was set up by Ronovan, of Ronovanwrites. The site is the perfect place for Indie authors to share their work and to interact with others. … I’m part of a small team over there, all of whom are great writers.” Hugh responds quickly to comments and is very personable. 
3. BoostBlogTraffic.com now Smart Blogger – Jon Morrow. He has an incredible story and has great advice for learning to write content. I read a post by a different author, Sonia Thompson. She has an infographic to embed on your website, but I don’t know what it looks like or the purpose of doing it, so I didn’t embed it yet. She included these links.  
   • Google Keyword Planner — https://adwords.google.co.uk/KeywordPlanner
   • Moz Keyword Explorer — https://moz.com/explorer
   • Buzzsumo — http://buzzsumo.com
   • Evernote — https://evernote.com
   • Workflowy — https://workflowy.com
   • Medium — https://medium.com
   • SlideShare — http://www.slideshare.net/
4. OpenTheVox.wordpress.com This blog does not have an about page. His name is Jordan Dumer. From this comment, I would guess that Vox is a publishing company. “Opened vox publishing is still in its infancy, it’s currently an independent project.”
5. EdwinasEpisodes.com “Welcome To Edwina’s Episodes: Making the mundane fun! Judy E Martin Just turned fifty, wife and mum. working in the community as an Associate Practitioner (nursing) I come from a large family (plenty of ammo there for my blog), I love music (as long as it’s 1980’s or before), and words (so much we can do with them)! … I enjoy reflecting on different situations I have found myself in, or have observed,  and writing about them. I also like writing about random silly things, or anything that I find amusing, wacky or downright ridiculous.” This blogger has personality plus.
6. AFreshStartonaBudget.com This brave blogger posted her income and expenses from her blog. http://afreshstartonabudget.com/my-blog-traffic-and-income-report-for-october-2016/  Total income: $239, Total Expenses: $108
7. Kathleen calls her blog, Kathleen Ahern.com, The Blogger’s Lifestyle and shares this advice, “To be a successful blogger takes more than the ability to write. Whatever your goal is for your lifestyle, be it blogging or some other dream that you have, these three practical issues will impact your life’s success, …. I can tell you that if you become a blogger, you will learn many things every day.  (One) motivation to start a blog is to cultivate your hobby. … A blog is a perfect place to write tutorials that inspire others in their craft ambitions.” In this article, Kathleen focused on more than getting the blog up and running, making money, how to write copy.  I love her color scheme – turquoise highlights. 🙂
8. Head-Heart-Health.com Kate Paul writes advice to women. She’s had tragedies. “…the first thirteen days of my life when I was left in the hospital waiting to be adopted. I qualified for a second supernatural helper forty-five years later, on the day my husband decided to take his own life.” If that doesn’t capture your heart, you are cold. In another post, she wrote about having an affair. “I completely understand why my post about having an affair stirs up intense emotions. There are people whose fathers have cheated on their mothers, and husbands and wives who have cheated on their partners leaving a trail of pain and destruction in their wake. …You cannot push away the only comfort you’ve been offered in years no more than you can resist the offer of a cool drink when you’re lost in the desert. I had an affair and it made me brave. …Nothing is ever black and white — we mostly live in the shades of gray.” I don’t think she meant hair. She touched my heart! 🙂
9. WelcomeToMyCircus.com At first glance I wondered what this website was about other than statistics of different blogs. This is what it says about itself. “Websiteoutlook is the perfect place to evaluate any website. When choosing to buy or sell a website having the proper information about your investment can be crucial to your success. Websiteoutlook is dedicated to finding all pertinent information that may pertain to your personal interest. And it’s FREE!” So I guess you can send yours or someone else’s website and find out all their standings. 🙂 I wonder if the info about your blog is posted automatically on the website. I’m not sure I want to publish to the world yet how uh hum successful??? I am. 
10. OnBlastBlog.com This is basically the way to hook up with WordPress. I did not catch the name of the blogger. This is what he/she said, “Here are some amazing blogging statistics to prove that this (blogging) is the way of the future:
    • 81% of U.S. online users trust information and advice received from blogs.
    • Businesses that blog have 97% more inbound links
    • 92% of companies that blog have acquired a customer from their blog.
    • 23% of total time spent on the internet is devoted to social networks or blogs.
    • Companies that blog on average have 434% more indexed pages.
    • Posts with images get 94% more views.
    • 61% of U.S. consumers have made purchases based on recommendations from a blog.
    • As of 2013, there were over 128 million blog readers in the U.S.
    • 94% of people share posts that they feel are helpful to others.
    • The average word count of top-ranking content is between 1,140-1,285 words.” I’m trying to trim down my word count, but it is nice to know I am not obese in the blogosphere. When I started, one blogger told me she wouldn’t read my posts because they were too long. They were probably 500 -800 words. Posts have to be tight, but they must be longer to be content-rich. Thanks for the validation, OnBlast!
11. PurpleSlobInRecovery.com Melinda is funny and personable. She wrote, “I began blogging, in August 2014, as a way to hold myself accountable for cleaning up my house and forcing it to “lose weight”, by de-cluttering.   Little did I know that 8 months later, I would embark on a journey of forcing myself to lose weight as well!!” She lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of confidence because of blogging. 
12. MizMeliz.com Melissa Reyes sells calendars, jewelry and much more. Her Gravatar blurb states, “Find it all here! Coaching, Social Media Connections, Tinsel Town, Paint with Heart, 100 Mandalas, Jewelry, Interviews, Reviews, and lots of positive energy!” She has an inviting smile.

Summary of Best Advice

So now you’ve heard it from me, an expert researcher and experienced blogger, twelve more of Janice’s recommended experts in Chapter Three of her new book, Insider’s Guide to Building a Successful Blog. This is an eclectic mix of super professional, impersonal websites and very open and vulnerable bloggers, each of whom earned her respect – and mine – for their advice.

Related Articles

• How to Find Amazing Blogs You Want to Visit AGAIN 
• How One Successful Blogger Promotes Other Bloggers 
• Are You Still Looking for “The Influencers?”
• Build Successful Blogs: A+ Book Review

Which websites do you recommend? How does this post help you decide which posts to visit?

Don’t forget, I’d love to have you follow me on Twitter @MarshaIngrao.