Many bloggers are thinking about what they are going to invest in this year and what they are going to toss down the tubes. I’m no exception to the rule. I want to put my money where I’m going to get the most bang for my bucks. That was why today’s blogging tips and tricks are going to make a beautiful little impact on your blogging career in 2015. Be sure to check out both sections.
Spend Money to Make Money
I don’t know of any real business that hasn’t had to spend money to make money. I’ve heard that saying many times over in my life. I have kept my blogging budget close to the same every month for the past three years. Many times I’ve canceled services that I’ve had to get other products. There has been a few that I’ve regretted canceling throughout my blogging career and have had to go back to get them again.
Commun.it
One of those services has been the upgraded version of Communi.it. This year I have decided that since Twitter is my favorite form of social media that I’m going to dig really in and focus on making that network grow this year. One tool, I use to help make that happen, is Commun.it. Commun.it has a lot to offer their users. You can check out this quick little video I made to see all the benefits.
BC Prime
Another service, which I desperately miss is the BC Prime service I told you about already in another blog post. BC Prime is a program that will keep you on your toes. Plus provides valuable information to make you a successful Internet business owner. The plan price has increased, but even at its higher price value it’s still worth every penny.
MomDot VIP Forum
I will NEVER cancel my membership to MomDot VIP forum as long as I’m blogging. The forum has been a valuable resource for me. I have gained sponsored opportunities. It’s has been a place where I feel I’ve made valuable friends with the other bloggers who are actively a part of this forum. Right now as I type this the owner is making some significant changes to the forum that are going to make it even better. I’m an eager beaver to see it all come to life.
Mom Webs Hosting
If you don’t have a good host you, can be setting yourself up for major heartache. Sometimes hosting companies hide errors and all kinds of other glitches that can royally slow down your website’s loading speed. That can have a very negative impact on your traffic too. Not to mention a hosting company can also put a cap on the amount of traffic you gain in a day without you even realizing it’s there.
I highly recommend Mom Webs Hosting. I left them before and regretted it!! Now I’m back with them, and I’m NOT leaving them either unless they change something drastically. Right now they have superb service both in their product and in their customer service!
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Free Blogging Tips and Tricks
Blogging professionally can be done without spending a lot of money each month for it. There are many resources available to you for free. Even Commun.it offers a FREE plan, but I assure you that the upgraded version is worth having.
Here are some of the free services that I use to help with promotions.
Just Retweet
Just Retweet is a program that offers you the chance to get other people to retweet something for you for free. You do have to earn credits by retweeting other people’s stuff, but it’s a win-win situation.
Triberr
Triberr is a program where you can join tribes within your niche. Together you share each other’s content across Twitter and Facebook. Provided you get in some good tribes then you’ll gain a lot of social media interaction. With this program, you get out of it what you put into it.
Viral Content Buzz
Viral Content Buzz works with sharing your posts with Twitter, Pinterest, Stumble Upon, and Facebook. You do have to earn credits by sharing other people’s content in order to get your stuff marketed too. It’s win-win for sure. You can gain more information about it by watching this video.
Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools is a free tool that you can use to find out what you should be writing for the most. Use it wisely, and make a WRITTEN account of what they say are your top keywords because you can only see them for as far back as three months’ worth of information. This program will help you with your SEO drastically. Using this system will generate more organic traffic.
These are some of the top tools that will help you grow in 2015 if you use them to the extent with which they offer you help. I hope that 2015 is a good year for you and your blog. Be sure to look into getting a quality blog planner to help keep you organized.
Also, if you want your blog featured and your blogging questions answered be sure to email me at tidbitsofexperience@gmail.com with your questions and your website address. I just may feature your question in my next #TidbitsThursday blog post. (If you don’t want to be featured and have a question, the email is still open to you too! I still may answer it on the blog without featuring you.) REMEMBER no question is too small, and you may be answering someone else’s question.
What are your best blogging tips and tricks for 2015?
A favorite blog tip that has helped me is to try to write 150 characters with an internal link included along with keyword or keywords BEFORE you insert a photo so that google bot reads content on a post.
That is certainly a very valuable blogging tip that everyone should read and hang onto.
Sue that is a great tip to pass on thanks , I do that except I don’t normally link that early in my posts so I will change my ways as I can see it would be a wise move!
Crystal I love the way you set your tips out and your subjects, which are often not mentioned like Triberr, so thanks. I love having you on our link up Mum-bo Monday and am looking forward to seeing what you have for us this time!
Jennifer,
Thank you so much for stopping by. I’m glad that you found something beneficial. Thank you for the invite to come back.
Loads of great info Crystal. I have this one bookmarked! Thanks much for sharing. Love your tidbitsthursday!
You’re welcome. I’m glad you enjoy these posts. They are a lot of fun to write and share.
You have some really great tips. My favorite blogging tip is to rename your photo with the keyword you want picked up in your post. This helps with SEO and helps you rank higher in google as a resource for that keyword.
I love that tip too. It does definitely help with SEO for sure. Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing this valuable tip with us.
These are amazing suggestions! I’m afraid that I’m not familiar with your recommendations, so I will be investigating each more thoroughly. I’m looking for more tips and ideas. I want to come back and read more on your site!
I’m confident you’ll find something from this list that will really help you with your blogging journey. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting.
This is probably the most useful post I’ve read all day! I agree that you have to spend money to make money, though I’m trying to keep my budget low. Social media and networking are my focuses right now and you mentioned so many tools I’ve never heard of. I will definitely need to check out out!
Thank you for stopping and commenting. I hope you gain something to help you with your blogging journey.
I really need to focus on growing my Twitter audience too – and I had never heard of either Commun.it or Just Retweet! I’m taking a look now and seeing if I can work them. I try telling my husband that I need to spend money on my blog to make it work like a business but he doesn’t see it always! I need you to have a word with him!
Sara,
When I first started blogging, I had the same reservations from my family too. However, once UPS and FedEx started showing up at my house repeatedly to the point that we literally had two UPS trucks right after FedEx showed up. After that happened something drastically changed. All of sudden he started keeping the kids with him for at least two hours a day so I could write one good solid blog post. He started helping me come up with blog post ideas and started writing his own blog posts after he started getting some products from the blog too. My kids help with marketing when they have time to do it too. It’s a FAMILY affair now. I guess I’m saying all of this to suggest finding ways to get him involved with the blog whether it’s reviewing products that may appeal to him, earn money and let him have a cut of it to spend how he wants, get his opinions, and basically get him involved. You may be surprised how willing he is to let you spend some money on it to get you started.
I personally didn’t get a set budget for my blog until I started making money from it. Now I have a low budget that I keep it at each month. I hope these tips help you out.
You really know your stuff! What great ideas for forming relationships too. Obviously I’ve got some work to do because I did recognize the tools you suggested. Hopefully in this new year I can grow my SEO and join some forums too.
Nicci,
If I had to recommend forums for you to invest your time and energy into in 2015, I’d definitely start with Mom Dot Community. I’d also recommend Mom Bloggers Club. I also suggest you check out Learn to Blog VIP . Those three forums will give you loads of community interaction with other bloggers who are eager and wanting to connect with you. Plus they all offer valuable bits of blogging educational information.
Don’t ever hestitate to ask more questions.
Great resources!! I agree on spend money to make money! Hosting is one I will always pay for its worth every penny.
I totally agree that hosting is a must if you want to do this professionally. If you’re not willing to invest in your company then why should someone else, right? Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
I’ve been blogging for about 4 years and more seriously for about 7 months now, but posts like this remind me that there’s still SO much left to learn in blogging! I haven’t heard of many of these sites, but I WILL be checking them out since they all have so much to offer in terms of potential growth for my blog. Pinning!
Natalie,
I know what you mean about blogging for years, but not doing it seriously for very long. I’m honestly in a similar position. I KNOW a lot about blogging due to all the courses and books I’ve invested in throughout the years. I haven’t done blogging the so-called “proper” way since day one. I am going to “try” to do it in a better manner in 2015. Lord willing I’m going to be juggling this and working outside the home soon.
The one thing about blogging its a forever changing type of career. So, these tricks may work now, but six months from now not be worth a dime.
such great tips thanks so much Crystal I am loving Comun.it and am basically going down the list awesome resources for sure
I’m glad you’re enjoying it. I love that program a lot. It makes Twitter even more enjoyable for me personally. (Of course, you already know I’m a huge Twitter lover to start with.)
Okay random thought, I really love the word tidbit, sorry I just had to put that out there. Okay, I just wanted to say how helpful these tips really are to newbies like myself. I have been blogging for almost 2 months now and these tips really make me determined to keep going and to push myself. There is just so much out to to learn about! Thanks for sharing.
You’re so welcome. I hope you had the chance to check out my . As always, never be afraid to ask questions. I look forward to seeing you again here.
What great tips and I agree that we have to spend money to make money. I’ve never heard of the sites mentioned before but I’m interested in them. I am a part of a couple on online communities that I think have really helped me but I’m always looking for more communities.
Terri,
I hope you join the MomDotters (as we call ourselves). You’ll be welcomed with open arms and a whole lot of blog love. I’ve been with them for a long while now.
I’m so glad you came by and commented. I hope you’ll come back again.
Wow! So many great (and simple to put into place!) ideas, Crystal. I will definitely come back and study, take action and incorporate into my blogging plan. Last year was sort of weird, a lot of focus on other people. This year my focus will still include other people, but not without thinking of my life work first. It is far too important to be distracted. So great to read you today!
I’m glad you found something new. Especially since you wrote that entire series on social media management so well! You’re right it is easy to get distracted. I do it all day long.
I’ve never heard of any of these services before so thank you for enlightening me. The only things I pay for for blogging at the moment are my photo editor and my host. I want a new blog design and that will cost a bit but those are my only outgoings for now. Maybe when my blog becomes bigger I shall have more and use services like the ones you’ve listed to help me out.
I change my theme all the time. This theme right now is basic still, but I’m learning how to make some tweaks to it because it’s a new theme for me. I have yet to find a single theme that I am in deep love with unless it’s owned by someone else already. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting. I hope you check out my . If you have any questions, you never know it may be a perfect fit for another TidbitsThursday post.
Thank you so much for recommending our VIP and training! We love having you and all the amazing professionals we have been a part of the past 7 years! We welcome anyone to join us in our free or VIP areas and I am open at any time to chat.
Trisha
You’re more than welcome. If anything, I owe you a HUGE thank you. I LOVE your stuff, and it has literally kept my family alive for the past two years. If it weren’t for the VIP forum and all of the lovely ladies that are a part of it, I would’ve sunk faster than the Titanic. I will continue to promote all you’ve done until the day I stop blogging.
Thanks for sharing such great information =)
You’re more than welcome. I hope that it helps you in some way.
This is a great list, so many of these I haven’t heard of and am going to check out.
Thank you. I hope you find a book that really gives you those wow moments as you read it. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Wow. I have never heard of any (except for one) of the links that you posted, so I will have to check them out. But before I do that, I am going to need to step up my game, lol! Thanks for linking up to Making Your Home Sing Monday.
Actually, you can check out the free things and they will really help you with stepping up your game. The whole idea of sharing these with everyone is get us all on top fo our game. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.
Thanks for this great info! I will be sure to check these out. Thanks for linking up to Totally Terrific Tuesday!
Stephanie Co-Host
http://www.managingahome.com
You’re welcome. Thank you for hosting an excellent link up. I hope you find something of benefit for you.
Thanks for your great suggestions and for sharing them at Good Morning Mondays. Blessings
Some really good tips here – thank you for sharing on #frugalfamilylinky
Helen,
Thank you. I’m glad that you found some good tips.
Lots of great tips! I’m going to bookmark this for me to refer back to. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for linking up to Totally Terrific Tuesday last week. Our party is going LIVE tonight at 9pm CST. Hope you see you again!
Sharon
herorganizedchaos.com
Sharon,
I’m glad you found something of value here. I appreciate the linkup invite.
I agree spending money on resources is a great investment for your blog. Thanks for sharing with #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup. Pinned to our linkup board and my Blogging Tips board.
It really is if you have plans on making it grow. If it’s just a hobby then spending money on it doesn’t make a lot of sense. I’m glad you found this worthy of being shared. Thank you so much for stopping by and commenting.