7-That it is not okay to ever “borrow” someone else’s words, photographs, ideas or recipes. Always ask first if possible and ALWAYS give full credit. No matter how big the blog is or how well known the blogger they love to know when you have referenced them or used one of their ideas. Just because it’s on the Internet does not mean it is yours for the taking. Never copy and paste another bloggers pictures without asking first. Ever. Many bloggers take professional quality photographs and they retain the rights to them. And just in case you were wondering..no I didn’t do it, but yes I have seen it done time and time again. Often innocently with no malice meant, occasionally though it is purposeful. Trust me eventually you will get found out and as big as the blog world seems sometimes, it can get quite small when the word spreads about a blogger who takes content. It can damage your reputation as a writer and blogger for a long time.
11-That my words are permanent. really, really permanent. This is the most important thing I wish I had understood when I started blogging. Words online are permanent. Even if you delete a post, it can still be out there copied and pasted onto someone else’s website, or cached somewhere. Should this stop you from being real? No. Should you be transparent still. Yes. Should you always be considerate of others. Most Definitely. Should you think twice before hitting “post” Always. Don’t forget that words can build up or tear down. Be a builder not a wrecker with your words. We can disagree and even debate with others through our blogs, there is nothing wrong with this per se. Just do it in a thoughtful and constructive way. Never to be controversial or cruel. This may gain you readership in the short run…who doesn’t love a little controversy…but it will reflect your character in the long run. Be real. Be Truthful. But Be Kind.
Linking to these Parties:
Whassup Wednesday
Swing Into Spring: DIY By Design
Friday Unfolded: Stuff and Nonsense
This is as fabulous, perhaps even more so than part one. I wish that I had read it over a year ago when I started this blogging thing.
I’m not going to single out parts that I liked because I was nodding my head through the whole thing.
I have made so many mistakes and wish that I could go back. Don’t like my blog name, for one. Sigh.
So typical of me to back my way into something and then wonder WHY it’s not working. UGH.
Excellent post, and excellent tips. I could not agree more with you on all accounts!~
Great post! I agree with you soooo much. Some of these I’ve done good with, others….not so much. What a beautiful reminder to build up, not tear down, with our words. As bloggers, we have huge opportunities to build each other up!
Kelly
Love, love, love this post! So true, all of it! Thank you for sharing, even your bonus #11! 🙂 Thanks for speaking from your heart!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing. One question…how hard is it to make your pictures larger? I piddle around with Picasa a little but I’ve never learned how to make a photo look larger on my blog. Thanks again.
Hi Heather,
I’ve been blogging for less than a year and have felt all the various issues you describe.
Thanks for the great advice.
Blogging is not for wimps, lol!
S
xo
Debbie_I hear ya on the name things. I so often wanted to change Gourmet Meals for Less. I had even bought the domain name so I really felt stuck.
Jo-so true! Good reminder to have fun and don’t take yourself so seriously!
Tyla, not hard at all. I will share some tips for this in my next installment. I will share how to enlarge them through editor and manually through your html code. 🙂
Heather
Well that was just fabulous!!! When I started my blog a year ago…I didn’t even know what a blog was!!….I was so lost in blog land….now I’ve come along way and my blog is growing and I’m starting the take it more serious..
I wish I could put more of my personality in my blog cause I’m actually very funny…but I’m not the best writer and nothing makes sense when I read it back…
Great info…thanks for sharing!
This is so helpful and I couldn’t agree more with you 😉
~Chris
This is such an excellent post. I wish I had known all of this before I started blogging. Ignorance is bliss I guess. I had to laugh out loud to #2 – I seriously thought I would have all of my friends and family following me and checking out each post…wrong. I think two are actually followers and a hand full check it out from time to time. What’s up with that. Didn’t know any of that stuff about the .com – I’m going to go now and check out if my blog name is taken on .com already.
excellent advice…and i have certainly heard crickets a time or two (or twenty) at the end of a thoughtfully written post…just part of the process i guess…these are some things i wish i’d known before starting a blog, but then…it seems that i’m usually one of those folks who learn things the hard way…;)
blessings,
alison
stuff and nonsense
What a great post heather, you are so absolutely right.Be yourself, and be kind.You always reap what you sow , so you’d better sow love and kindness and support- right !
Thanks again, you have made me smile and feel part of all of you !!
XOXO
Bea
I wish I knew all this when I first started blogging too, but I was still learning about what all having a blog was and what I would eventually want mine to be. I think I’m on the right track now but it took me a year to get there! LOL! GREAT advice!!!
Such sound advice, thank you.
Wonderful and informative post!
Great tips always girls..Hugs and smiles Gloria
such a great post and definitely rings true on all accounts! Thanks for posting 🙂
These are really great tips for the new blogger! I was so naive when I started my blog, not even knowing how to add a picture to my posts. I also remember how nervous I felt when I hit the publish button because as you say, our words are permanent and out there for all to read. Now, it’s all very comfortable and feels natural.
I’m glad someone asked you about enlarging photos because I sure could use a tutorial on it also. I agree, having big beautiful photos is a key to success, as well as meeting others through linking parties and such as you mentioned.
I wish you had been around in 2008 to guide me through blogging, when I first started.
I’m sure in a year’s time I’ll look back on my current posts and cringe – just like I look back on posts from a year ago!!
These are great tips, Heather. Thank you.
Sarahx
Heather, the 10/11 things I wish I’d known, I wish I would have known,for sure.
Thanks for sharing these facts.
I would like to add, have fun that’s what it’s all about.
Question????…If a blogger has a linky party, wouldn’t it be great if the host actually try’s to visit the blogs that link-up???hehe
~Jo
LazyonLoblolly
Such a well thought out, clear, and helpful post! Especially, since I am new around the blogging world. I am trying to be perfect form the get go, and that NEVER happens. SO, thanks for sharing your early blogging self, now I know you weren’t always this perfectly wonderful.
Too true! I wish I’d known this way back in 2008 when I first started blogging. But then again I started as sort of an outlet for myself and for my family far away to read our everyday happenings. I wasn’t on facebook back then so my blog was my way of sharing my family with relatives.
Great post. Thanks 🙂
Very very well said Heather! You hit them right on the head. Blogging is a journey and a learning experience and it is so nice to know that we can learn together and teach one another. 🙂
Thanks for all your tips! I try to blog better each time, but sometimes I think I write less, because I wonder if anyone reads it, or just looks at the pics (the ones that I promise myself each time will be better…then I look back and think maybe not)…I will keep trying, and reading and learning…thanks again! (new blogger since Dec ’10) Debbie
Great tips and advice! I am still learning the ins and outs of blogging. And have definitely been guilty of a few of the things you mentioned. Thanks for posting this!
Great post filled with fantastic tips for sure!!! I am guilty of a few of the things you mentioned too… a learning experience. Wish I knew more when I started blogging- and we can all learn more and more as we go!! Thanks for sharing this with everyone!!
Oh my goodness, am I glad I came on over here. Vanessa left a sweet and kind comment on my blog and I told I would definitely come over here. What a blog! I am totally clicking your SUBSCRIBE button so I can keep up. Thanks for these great blogging tips, btw:)
Oh my goodness, am I glad I came on over here. Vanessa left a sweet and kind comment on my blog and I told I would definitely come over here. What a blog! I am totally clicking your SUBSCRIBE button so I can keep up. Thanks for these great blogging tips, btw:)
I am a new blogger and thanks for the great tips. Can’t wait for the next post!
Great post! You really nailed a lot of the issues (technical and emotional) that bloggers struggle with. Excellent advice! 🙂
How lucky am I to be starting out in the blogging community, when you are publihing your ‘ten reasons’ series. Fabulous advice, which I will now follow completely. Thanks for sharing it. I have made a few faux pas in this, my first week of blogging ..Luckily nothing so grave that it could not be fixed. Having experienced bloggers around who care enough to share, is great.
Thanks
Best wishes
Carolyn
This was great! Very informative and very true!
Excellent post! The one thing I would mention to bloggers is PROOFREAD — please! Too many typos will send me off to visit another blog even faster than tiny pics … Now THAT’S fast!
Great advice and thanks so much for sharing it…..I’m a new blogger and will definitely follow…can’t wait for your next post!
Marianne
What a great post! I really enjoyed reading it. You are an excellent writer!
WOW! That was an EXCEPTIONAL post! SO INFORMATIVE! Couldnt you have done this post back in, ooooooo, say, October of ’10???
When I started my blog 🙂 LOL!
So TRUE! I just LOVE this new blog you sweet sistas have put together…its so REAL! I am SO happy to have you ladies as my friends!
xoxokara
OH YEA! I have a Question…I know this really wasnt an “Open Forum” for discussion, BUT, since yall have such great tips, I need advice and I think yall might have some help! 🙂
As my Friendships develop and grow, I am have a DIFFICULT TIME trying to figure out a ORGANIZED routine for being able {Timewise} to visit ALL my friends and other Blogs I love on a daily basis and be able to comment to everyone…
E GADS! I find im on the computer ALL DAY and get nothing {other responsibilities} done!
HELP HELP HELP
kara
Thank you for linking up this great post last week! {Im a lil behind, eeekk!}
Its party time AGAIN!!! xoxokara
*ENTER LINKY PAR-TAY Here! *
Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have expressed many of the same thoughts I’ve had since starting my blog 2 months ago. Don’t we all hope our friends and family will be our consistent “cheerleaders”, but alas that isn’t necessarily the case. Blogging connects our world of individuals with new friends in a positive way. It also inspires our creativity. What could be better!?!
Thanks for your clarity and insight. I will definitely be following your blog.
Karen
Great post! Being a new blogger it really helps to have tips and wisdom from those with more experience! Thanks for doing this series!
Thanks for the great post. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one wondering why people aren’t visiting. I’ve already made a few of these mistakes, but hopefully I won’t make too many more.
I’m a new blogger and I just found your blog. This is the most helpful post about blogging that I found yet. Thank you!!!
Thank you so much for the wonderful tips for those of us who are still trying to figure this blogging thing out! You have encouraged me to keep at it!
Karee
Okay, I have dinner that needs to be prepped … Etsy shop pillows that need to be finished and shipped out … and here I sit reading through your blogging 101 series! Oh those link-backs in posts are killer! But Kari raves about what blogging geniuses you both are (like now I have the two side-by-side BlogHer banner towers now and am looking into backup advertisers for those towers) … so how could I not read this series!
And I hope my name isn’t a hindrance. It has posed some problem with Twitter and Pinterest (too many characters to be @it all started with paint!). Oh well. It’s done …
🙂
Linda
This was so informative, thanks so much! I have a question about pictures.. The difference between your pictures really is amazing. Did you have to upgrade to a new camera?
Thanks,
Buzzy
Hi Heather,
Thanks so much for all the amazing tips and precious advice! I joined your Inspiration Friday party this week and stayed a while to find this fantastic series! Love your blog and can understand how you girls got this far- the work and effort and creativity are evident. Thanks for sharing. I so related to tip #3. Gonna try to get out there more and mingle! The most important thing for me as a new blogger is to be yourself, as you said.
Am so psyched to be following you. Hope you’ll “pop” by my place, too!
Poppy