Gardening in High Heels

cultivate a beautiful life

Favorite blogging tools

As a blogger and a social media professional, you’d think I’m all about apps and digital stuff when it comes to blogging.  Not so.  There are only so many apps that do the same thing that I can have and actually use.  I love list-keeping apps, but sooner or later, a favorite comes out and I get rid of the other ones so they don’t bog down my phone, yknow?

Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is Favorite Blogging Tools and I’ll let you in on a little secret…it’s a pretty simple list.  I wrote about a few other tools I like for blogging, so take a look at it here if you’re interested in other ways I keep the blogging train going.

You'd think I'm all about digital apps when it comes to blogging. Today I'm sharing my favorite blogging tools and the simplicity may surprise you! #BloggerMayI #blogging

Moleskine Journals

I keep basically all of my ideas in a small Moleskine journal.  I have the fonts, sizes, colors I use in there, too.  It’s easy just to grab my Moleskin notebook and a pen and put it in my work bag or my purse and jot down something quickly when inspiration hits.  I can also easily flip through and look at notes about what I want my blog to be and rekindle that excitement I had when I started GIHH.

I also use a larger (homemade) Moleskine square journal as my planner.  I keep a running list of blog to-dos here and it’s also where I write down my editorial plan for the month.  I really wanted a separate blog planner and editorial calendar, but realistically, I wouldn’t carry both a personal and blog planner around with me.  So this suits me for now.

Evernote

Evernote is my backup for when I don’t have my notebooks on me.  I have a hard time going back and remembering to check this, though!  I really wish I got more use out of it, but I prefer to write things down with a pen.  If you’re more of a digital person, this is great for organization.  I used to use it a lot more frequently before I started keeping a separate notebook for blogging.  Within Evernote, you can have different notebooks and different notes, search your notes, take pictures of physical notes, and reorganize your thoughts into logical orders.

Maybe I’ll play around with this a little more.  I’ll report back on how my use of this changes if you’re interested!

WordPress

So I couldn’t blog without a place to publish.  For me, that’s on WordPress.  It’s my platform of choice.  I actually started Moda Vivendi, my quilt blog, on Blogger, and I’m so glad I switched.

Honorable mention to my domain geniuses at Tubu.net and the great tech help at 17th Avenue.  They recently helped with a problem I was having on my social icons and Allie stuck with me until the problem was fixed.

Here in WordPress, I keep a running stream of blog ideas with their external links once they’ve gotten out of the Moleskine notebook.  From there, I start my draft.  Some people write in Evernote/external app and then transfer into their publisher, but I prefer to write all in one place.

TweetDeck

TweetDeck is what I use to post to Twitter for my blogging tweets.  I use HootSuite professionally to help with Twitter scheduling, but I like TweetDeck for the blog because I can have streams of hashtags to track, have multiple Twitter accounts all in one place, and easily switch between different accounts.

Another honorable mention goes to Photoshop – it’s what I use to edit my photos and add text, though Canva is also great for making quick graphics on the fly!

What are your favorite blogging tools?  I love seeing what everyone uses to make magic happen!


 Need the prompts for the Blogger, May I challenge? Gotcha covered. Want to use your own prompts? No problem! Just grab a button to show that you’re linking up with myself, Katy, and Meghan. Oh, and use #BloggerMayI on Twitter/Instagram to keep the fun going even after you hit Publish!

People Over Profit

Today’s Blogger, May I prompt is A Story Without Words.  I’m kinda cheating because the pictures have words in them.  But they tell a powerful story.  They’re from Dale Partridge’s new book, People Over Profit.  If you are looking to do any leading or inspiring, you need this book.  For real.

"Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real. The choice to be honest. The choice to let our true selves be seen." Brene Brown #quote #peopleoverprofit

 

"A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity." Dalai Lama #quote #peopleoverprofit

"Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, and truth loving." James E Faust #quotes #peopleoverprofit

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt #quote #peopleoverprofit

"Stop complaining. Start creating." Dale Partridge #quotes #peopleoverprofit

What’s your story?


Five ways to use social media to promote your blog today

Along with providing good customer service, my day job is spent consulting on ways to use social media marketing to promote their brick and mortar (and sometimes online-only) business.

Since blogs are basically a business, I took some of my best tips for business owners and made them work for bloggers.  Get ready for a quick refresh on some best practices to promote your blog online!

Five ways to use social media to promote your blog today

Be consistent

Consistency is key.  I’m pretty sure it’s my mantra at work.  This is especially true of Facebook (they’ll penalize you if you do anything they don’t like pretty much) but also on other platforms as well.

There’s nothing like going to someone’s Facebook page only to see they haven’t posted anything since March 2013.  That isn’t going to make you want to follow them, right?  Right.  So find a content calendar that works for you and schedule away.

I’ve bee enjoying CoSchedule, despite some early skepticism.  When you’re publishing your post, it’s so simple to schedule and promote that post today, next week, or next month.  You can also schedule social media updates that aren’t connected to your latest post.

Focus your attention where you enjoy it the most

If you haaaaate Facebook but are only on there because you think you should be, stop following the pack!  Same goes for Tumblr, Google+, or whatever isn’t serving you anymore.  If you half-heartedly throw something at the wall hoping it sticks but not really having any oomph behind it, it won’t do you any favors.

Your followers can tell.  And they will not care either, I promise you.

But, if you love being on Instagram and pinning your little heart away, your excitement will come through those networks.

You have better things to do than feel guilty for not updating Facebook, especially if blogging isn’t your full time job.  You have better things to do with your time.

Don’t ignore where your traffic is coming from

A caveat to focusing your attention where you enjoy it is to watch where your traffic is coming from and nurture that network.  Install Google Analytics and watch your numbers.  If you’re getting the most clicks from Twitter, spend a little more time there nurturing those connections.

There are free tools to help you maintain those networks.  Play around with what works for you.  As I mentioned, CoSchedule does post to other networks, but it doesn’t monitor the chatter.  I for that, I use HootSuite and Tweetdeck (I talk about them a bit here).  Buffer is also a great tool.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew

It’s impossible to stay on top of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Blog Lovin’, Stumble Upon, Digg, etc AND still write good quality posts (y’know, the whole point of blogging so you can get traffic through those social networks).

Like I tell my accounts at work, don’t add more when you can’t handle what you’ve already got.  So cut something loose.  It’s okay.  You can always add to it later.

It’s smarter (and easier) to introduce a new platform to a mix that’s already performing well than just spinning plates haphazardly.

Be social

Social media connections are just as valuable as a face-to-face interaction.  The beauty of blogging and social media is that you can make connections and learn new things from anywhere.  Be sure to post valuable content on social just as you would on your blog.

Facebook especially is going to reward you for that.  The goal is to inspire, educate, and entertain, not just self-promote.

Ask questions, post content that relates to your blog/industry, make yourself a hub of information.  Things that are “share-worthy” will be shared and you’ll get in front of a fresh set of eyes.  Go out and say hi!

What strategies do you use to promote your blog/business online?

Disclaimer: the CoSchedule link is a referral link.  If you try it out, I get a little help on the price of my subscription.  I wouldn’t be recommending it if I didn’t use it and love it!

Why customer service matters as a blogger

Don’t underestimate good customer service.  I am always on the phone with Tubu.net, my hosting tech support, a lot.  As someone who “does” customer service for a day job, I get it from both sides of the coin.

Why Customer Service Matters for Bloggers

A little bit ago, I had a stupid problem, but it seemed like a not-stupid problem.  I was trying to upload pictures to WordPress and it wouldn’t let me.  It kept saying that the file wasn’t permitted for security reasons and I’m all like, “What’s such a security threat?  It’s just a picture of my outfit.”

I thought it was because I updated my theme.  The last time I added a new theme, WordPress freaked out.  I was panicked, so I called Tubu support and had such a great experience last time that I figured I would call again sooner this time.

Let’s be honest, I’d just try to keep doing the same thing over and over expecting it to work.  I guess I’m growing up when I recognize that I can’t fix this one myself.

Here’s the crazy thing: I talked to the same guy I talked to last time.  It’s been a few months, sure, so it wasn’t an immediate recognition on his end, but it was the same guy as before.

It was so reassuring that I 1) was talking to someone in America who I could understand and 2) had a positive experience with this person in the past.

It ended up being a really stupid-easy fix.  We tried using Chrome, removing spaces from my file name, he did some tech voodoo over in Back-end Webroot PHP-land…nada.  Turns out my genius self didn’t end the file in .jpg.

That makes a difference, folks.

But kudos to Rick who was probably sitting there going, “Wow, lady, that’s the first thing I would have checked.”  I know he was thinking that because most of the time I’m sitting at work thinking, “Did you really just call me when you couldn’t post to Facebook but you didn’t check to see if you were still connected to Facebook first?”

Side note: can we strike “please advise” from all emails?

It’s so rewarding when people are genuinely excited and thankful for your help that it eases the sting that you just took 30 minutes to explain how to highlight text and change the font size.  Or, in Rick’s case, to figure out that I needed the file extension.

He was laughing along at with me, making conversation while we waited, and just made the overall experience really pleasant.

Sometimes you just need that little reminder that there’s always someone on the flip side.  I try really hard to be nice to customer service reps because I’ve been in those shoes; I don’t want someone yelling at me, so I don’t yell at them.

Also, when you lose your cool, it’s a one-way ticket to I’m Going To Do As Little As Possible To Help You-sville.

Moral of today’s story: good customer service is imperative.

As a blogger, it’s important to think about what customer service means to you.  It can be responding to comments, reading other blogs, retweeting content to support the blogger, making sure what you’re repinning isn’t just a weird spam link, etc.

You are a brand, whether you think so or not.  How you conduct yourself matters and reflects back on you.  Good customer/reader service deepens your brand image in a meaningful way.

Write down a code of conduct for how you’ll approach situations.  What would you say if someone wanted you to write a review for free? (Here’s a great response!)

How will you approach others about writing a guest blog for them?  (Here are three ways to be a good guest poster and here are some tips for inviting guest posters.)

Or do you have a time frame of when you can realistically respond to comments?  Write it all down and stick to it.

This will contribute to a strong, positive image for your blog.  Your readers will know what to expect and you’ll be happy knowing that you have a plan for responding graciously to all kinds of situations.

What was your last good customer service experience like?  How do you offer good customer service to your readers?

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