November isn’t that far away and Blog World is one of the big blogging conferences, and “it” place to be. Now is the time to start looking for flights, hotels, and all the arrangements that need to be made before you head out to sunny Las Vegas. From what I’ve heard the Imperial Palace Las Vegas has some great deals for an older hotel in the big light up city and it’s on the monorail line which is helpful for out of town visitors. I haven’t decided upon attending or not yet myself, I am hoping that I can but the timing is just all wrong with school and hubby’s job that it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to go. I expect full reports from everyone that gets to make it and maybe grab me some free t-shirts and promo pens!
: las vegas, vegas, imperial hotel, blog world, blog expo
This particular step in the series is one that might get some debate among top list bloggers. It’s early in the list so I take that to mean that Lifehack finds it an important step. If your blog is new, like this one still is, then yes I’d say that submitting yourself to some directories is a good way to help you get off the ground.
There are lots of directories, there may even be as many directories on the internet as there are blogs and websites. There are different types of directories. Some are no more valuable than the free for all link farms of the past. You definitely don’t want to list those, it’s a total waste of your time. Look for directories with moderated submissions, they hold more value.
In my opinion this step is not one that you want to spend a lot of time on. Yes, submit to the directories, but don’t make it your only effort. Get out there and comment on other blogs too. Those links will be far more valuable to you in the long run. If you really want listed in loads of directories then outsource the submission process to someone so you can spend time doing other things 
Marcus recommends a submission service called Directory Maximizer in his post that a few bloggers have had decent luck with. You can choose how many directories you want to submit to and I think it costs about 14 cents a submission.
Take a walk on the wild side with some shiny new
animal jewelry!
: directories, blog directories, link directories, outsource, 101 steps, marcus
Still catching up with Marcus! Fortunately we’re still in the easy stages of the steps and I’ve got most of these done already. Whew. The list gets harder as it goes on though, yikes.
Step #9
blog and ping
As Marcus points out in his post, this is a little redundant of the previous step of blogging often, once a day if you can. Because as you blog, pinging is going to come on it’s own. And we also went through step one and set up our ping registry in our blogging profile. So that’s all taken care of already. *big sigh of relief*
Don’t forget to pick up some shiny things that aren’t attached to your laptop and grab some new
jewelry for back to school!
: blog and ping, 101 steps, blogging, better blogger series, Marcus
Wow, I am always two steps behind Marcus on this list!
Step #8
Let your readers see the REAL you.
I agree whole heartedly with that and I am a pretty open and up front type of blogger. If I have something I want to talk about I talk about it. And I often share personal tidbits, life, kids, work, health, insomnia -lol- Anything you want to know, and sometimes some junk you didn’t want to know!
A lot of people don’t like to be too much themselves when they write online. And there’s nothing wrong with that, the internet grants us that amazing ability. To be ourselves and be a little different at the same time. You can write with an alter persona, or maybe you just keep your personal details like your real name to yourself. That is completely understandable, especially because the internet which connects us unfortunately also introduces us to all sorts of new crazies -lol-
Even if you’re not using your real name, don’t be afraid to use your real personality! We like you for you, I promise.
: 101 steps, series, better blogger, Marcus, personality, alter persona, blogging persona
Okay, I have once again fallen behind on the blogging steps! Whoopsies. This one takes awhile to take effect it appears.
Step #7
Submit your blog to NewsNow
I hadn’t heard of NewsNow until I read the article on 101 steps article at LifeHack, and it seems that neither had a lot of other people that are going through the steps with us in this little group. So, we submit to NewsNow which is a UK news site, and they say that it could take up to a month to be approved, they don’t respond to all queries so if you haven’t heard from them after your month is up you assume that your application has been declined. *sets one month egg timer*
Only 94 more steps to go!
: 101 steps, lifehack, better blogger, newsnow
I am well on my way to becoming a full time blogger. And completely by pure accident. I had been blogging well before my sudden change in career …. or at least that’s what I like to call it anyhow. But, until very early this year I had not realized there were so many forms of blog advertising and that you really could monetize your blog in so many different ways, and how easy it was to actually do that! no fancy scripts to run, no special blogging software just you and your writing like you normally would can make a nice bit of extra cash to spend on all those cool gadgets that you simply must have.
Still following along with Marcus at his blog My Thoughts and going over the steps to being a better blogger. It’s really had me thinking about what I do when I write on my blogs. You know I like to write, so sometimes I get so absorbed in that I forget that there are things I need to do if I want people to actually see what I write! -lol-
Submit your blog to 9rules
But, after reading about the experience Marcus had at 9rules trying to do this step I think I’m going to skip this one! LOL~ Basically it’s another means of social networking for bloggers, and I know I should work on social networking more, and I’m trying really hard to do so, but ugh it’s tiresome. I need a campaign manager! Anyhow, Marcus has a bit of a funny story on his blog about trying to get submitted to 9rules, and some interesting conversation has sparked from it.
: 9rules, 101 steps to being a better blogger, Marcus, blogging, better blogger, lifehack
