3 Ways to Increase Your Blog Following + $250 Giveaway

One of the most important things that I learned about blogging is finding a balance between sharing glimpses of your personal life and offering something of value to your audience.

I absolutely hate it when someone says that blogging should be solely about your audience and that as a blogger, you need to write for them. On the other hand, I also hate it when someone says blogging should be solely about your personal values and stories and to disregard your readers' needs and wants.

There is a balance in blogging. Successful bloggers know that the medium between blogging about your personal life and sharing awesome content that your readers enjoy and can take something away from is the best way for you to feel authentic with your blogger voice and to welcome readers to keep coming back for more.

So here is a post that showcases three ways to increase your blog following and also showcases glimpses of my own life. See what I did there? I hope you find value in reading it and actually try it out as well! You know what else is something of value? Cash. How can you get some? Enter the $250 PayPal Cash Giveaway along with some extra goodies below!

Now, let’s talk resources for bloggers to grow their blogs and get a following!

Actively Be a Part of the Blogging Community
A lot of times people think that by setting up a blog and publishing it on the Internet, people will automatically find it and become loyal readers. NOT TRUE. Being a part of the blogging community plays a big part in what type of people find your blog (whether they are stay at home moms, entrepreneurs, business owners, lifestyle bloggers, or fashion stylists) and what type of people become your blog's targeted audience.

Now, once you start finding out what niche belongs into (there is always a niche to put your blog in and if there isn't, start one!) you'll begin to discover other bloggers who discuss similar topics or have similar blog aesthetics as yours, or share the same readers as your blog. These bloggers are a part of your community! Reach out to collaborate with them, sponsor them or ask to do a sponsor swap, and most definitely notice the different topics they talk about, the social platforms they use, and see what you can do better for your blog using their examples.

Beyond that, another great way to participate in the Blogging Community is by joining Facebook groups. Facebook groups are becoming the most popular way for bloggers to communicate and collaborate. Join one (or even three), introduce yourself, comment on others' posts, share some advice on what you know about blogging, make friends, and gain followers!

Something I do to actively participate is answering any questions or concerns other bloggers have regarding registering their domain name or finding a web host for their blog. Basically, I see other bloggers who need help getting started and because I have already been through it, I simply share what I did and in turn the blogger who asked the question becomes a reader of my blog and others in the group who see I have helped this person want to read through my content to find other helpful tips! It works and it's awesome so go do it!

Some great Facebook groups that I love and am a part of are:

Being Boss | #GirlBosses | Blogging Boost | Blog + Biz BFFs | Coffee & Creatives

Host a Giveaway
America's most favorite word is FREE (It's a fact, google it)! If you offer something for FREE to your followers, they are more likely to come back to your blog often and much more likely to stay loyal followers. Giveaways are a great way to collaborate with others and share the follower wealth!

Now there are mainly two types of giveaways. One giveaway is solely hosted on your blog and could be an individual or group giveaway usually run using the RaffleCopter widget. These giveaways are great when you are working with a specific brand, collaborating with other bloggers to giveaway a BIG prize, or when your sole purpose is to gain followers on a certain platform. For example, let's say you just started using Periscope (an app I absolutely love! - read why here) and you have only 2 followers, but your blog has 200 followers. SO you host a giveaway asking people to follow you on Periscope and in turn they get entered to win a Starbucks gift card or something. This way you will increase your following on these platforms and your blog readers will love the incentive.

The other type of giveaway which is pretty popular are Instagram loop giveaways. These giveaways are run solely on Instagram and loops several bloggers and business owners together to giveaway a costly prize such as a Macbook, Apple Watch, Beauty Products, and even PayPal Cash. These giveaways are a lot of fun and your Instagram following increases a whole lot in a short amount of time.

Plus, the more Instagram exposure you have, the more exposure you gain for your blog and these Instagram followers soon become blog readers so it's a win-win. Want to take part in said Instagram loop giveaways? You can sign up to be a host through this link right here. Buy-ins are as little as $14.50 so surely check it out!

Engage with Other Bloggers 
Many bloggers have several followers popularly known as "ghost followers" that do not comment on posts, engage with them on social media, or leave a mark in some way, shape, or form that tells the blogger that someone read their posts. For that reason, a great way to increase your following is by commenting on other bloggers' posts and engaging with them on social media. The blogger you are engaging with will surely notice your comments or interactions and comment back and/or check out your blog!

SO right after posting a new blog post, go over to a few of your favorite bloggers and comment on their posts and then go through the comments, visit at least 5 new blogs, and comment on their posts. This way you are getting your blog's link out there and also engaging with fellow bloggers and in turn get traffic back to your blog!

Do you know of any ways you can increase your blog following? Go ahead and share it in the comments!

The following giveaway is hosted by: Kristen | Abby | Stephanie | Erin | Selma | Crystal | Natasha | Ashley | Erica | Susan | Misty | Charlotte | Penny | Holly | Stacey | Alexis

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3 Ways to Use Instagram to Grow Your Blog or Business

Instagram has been around for quite some years now, but it has been being used as a marketing tool as of late. People use their Instagram accounts to not only make personal connections with their customers and clients, but to acquire new customers, clients, and blog readers.

It seems one of the first things people do these days to figure out what kind of blog, business, or person you are is by looking to Instagram profile. It has become essential for your customers, clients, or readers to browse through your Instagram presence so here are 3 Ways to Use Instagram to Grow Your Blog or Business and make that impression count.

Create a theme for your photos.
This is something I have seen a lot of successful Instagram accounts do. They use the same filters, same background colors, same fonts, and even the same type of subjects in their photos to create a particular feel for their account. This is completely intentional and they plan these photos ahead of time because they want to make sure their the photo fits in with their theme and the asthetic of their Instagram account.

A few bloggers in a Facebook group I am a part of questioned why "staging" their photos is more effective than randomly posting photos from their everyday lives and I have an answer.

It's fun to post photos from your personal life to share with friends, but often those photos seem to get attention from your circle of friends and family. A "staged" photo on the other hand - a photo that is planned to fit your particular theme will resonate with far more of your followers then just your circle of friends and family.

Here's my rule of thumb: If you post every day, throw in a wild card or two from your personal life in a week and if you post a few times a week, post one wild card. This way you're connecting with your friends, family, and giving your followers posts that resonate with your brand or business.

Use up to THREE hashtags in your photos.
Repeat after me. I will not EVER use more than three hashtags.

People have this perception that by loading up your captions with every hashtag that comes to mind will allow more people to find your Instagram posts. Not true. In this case, it's definitely better to look for quality rather than quantity. So instead of making up hashtags like #atmygrandmashousehavingdinner and piling it in between other useless hashtags, how about searching keywords that fit your image and looking for which hashtags have been used most frequently and picking from those?

Plus, by using hashtags of relevance to your photos, people will land on your Instagram page, then hop on over to your blog or business and that means more business and more readers!

Join an Instagram loop giveaway.
This is a great way to meet other bloggers, business owners, and acquire customers, clients, and readers. If you don't know what an Instagram loop giveaway is, here's a brief explanation.

An Instagram loop giveaway is a giveaway solely hosted on Instagram where blogs/businesses who have Instagram accounts, post the same giveaway image at the same time. People then enter the giveaway by liking the photo and following that person and then continue following a series of accounts which will lead them back to where they started. 

It's a lot of fun for the hosts and easy for everyone to enter! Plus, you get a ton of Instagram followers!

I have done a few giveaways before and they ran pretty successfully. I have gained 1,000 loyal followers and am super excited to be hosting more Instagram loop giveaways in the future! You can sign up to be notified when new giveaway opportunities are available as well as find out everything you need to know about Instagram Loop giveaways here. 

I hope you enjoyed this post! If you have any Instagram tips of your own, please share!

Balancing Work & Life

Photo Credit

For me, I have always done my homework first then all my computer work (business, blog, novel, freelance writing) after. However, lately that's not the case. More and more I feel that in order to be as productive as possible I must save my homework for last and do that at 2 AM rather than my other work. Why? Because I am a blogger and then a writer which is why, why is not the question, but why not? Yes, that's the question! Why not?

Turns out neither one of those daily routines balance me as an average or productive person. If I wind up doing my homework at 2 AM, I feel upset about having to go back to school four hours later to well, come home with more homework, but if I don't do my computer work before I do my homework, I am not motivated to do any of my homework at all. See my problem yet?

There is no balance. All I do is work, homework, work, and then more homework. Where in this sequence do I just live a normal life?

Balancing your work life and your actual life is hard. Sometimes (or perhaps just in my case) you feel the need to say "Well...all this work is my life." Here's the truth. It's not. Work is part of your life, but if you aren't a healthy well-being living a life you are comfortable and content with then your work means nothing.

So how do keep work and life balanced...
ONE...Take a BREAK! Take an hour off, a day off, a week off, or even a month. Life is too short to pile up your your schedules with lots of work and no fun. I am very guilty of trying to convince myself working is fun, but we all have an adventurous side that just wants to be worry and work free.

TWO...Take another BREAK! One is probably not enough!

THREE...Make a work schedule that allows you enough room to make plans with your friends and family. This is essential to balance your work and life because you'll feel more motivated to work when you know you'll also be able to have a dinner, watch a movie, or go shopping with your loved ones.

FOUR...Get some rest. Can't balance work and life without rest!

FIVE...Start eating healthier! If you're going to survive days where you work and have a wonderful life, you need to make sure that you're eating a well-balanced diet.

Speaking of health, that Special K Challenge has been working pretty well for me. I lost four pounds in a week! Plus, I feel so much less of a slug. Bonus points for that!

SAT Test Taking Strategies & Tips

This time of year seniors in high school as well as juniors feel overwhelmed with college applications and standardized tests such as the SATs. SAT stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test and colleges look at your SAT scores to determine whether you are college ready or not. So how do you achieve a score that your college choice would be pleased with?

I was not the student with a nearly perfect score on the test but, I have researched and experimented quite a lot while studying or even during the exam itself. There are several factors that come into action when trying to achieve a great score. My target score was a 1700 out of 2400 which is an above average score. This is the score my priority college Steven's Institute of Technology more or less requires.

I took the test twice so far and will be taking it a third time at the end of January. I have learned two major concepts when studying for this test:

1. The SAT measures how well you take the SAT and not as much as how knowledgeable you are in the subjects you will be tested on. 
2. It's okay to understand where you went wrong. 

These concepts may surprise you because you would normally think knowing every math formula and how to figure out the values of x and y will get you a high score in the SAT math section or being a fast and accurate reader will get you a high score in the SAT critical reading section or that being the top writer in your English class will not fail you in the SAT writing section, but you're wrong. All the material you've learned in school will definitely help you, but it takes more than knowledge to score high on the SATs. 

SATs are about strategy. The scoring is strange and without familiarizing yourself with this test, you might find yourself to be lost. This test is different, so let's not consider it a test. Let's consider it a game. Using your knowledge in math, reading, and writing, you need to develop a strategy to score your best! 

When studying for the SAT...

*I strongly suggest you buy an SAT practice book. The book I used was from the Princeton Review and it was about $25. For that price, I received a book full of strategies, practice tests, and a grading scale. It helped me plan out my own strategy for the score I was aiming for.  

*Create a little SAT notebook with tips from the book or from the internet, sample questions, and your SAT strategy. I also took the liberty to write myself motivational notes (notice my How I Met Your Mother humor?) and used colorful highlighters to make studying a little more fun! 

*Consider taking an SAT class offered at your high school or online through CollegeBoard. They will help you understand the strategies you could use when taking the test, although could be a bit pricey. Luckily, my high school offered SAT classes for $25.

The day of the SATs...

*Eat/drink what you usually do for breakfast. Do not eat too much if you usually have a small breakfast. Changing your natural morning routine could make you feel less comfortable when taking the SATs.

*Dress in whatever you feel is most comfortable.

*Bring a healthy snack along with you. Fruit, granola bars, fruit snacks, trail mix, or even dry cereal. 

*Be sure to bring a bottle of water. 

When taking the SATs...

*Remember for every answer you get right, you get one point and for every answer you get wrong, you get 0.25 points off. So for every four answers you get wrong, one point gets taken away. 

*DO NOT GET NERVOUS! Your nerves WILL get in the way of your thinking process and slow you down and confuse you. Stay calm, if you do not know an answer or the question confuses you, circle it and move on. You can come back to it before time is called for the section you are working on.

*Whatever you do, do not change your pace. Start taking the test at a steady pace you are comfortable with. Do not slow down and DO NOT speed up.

*Try to keep track of time so you could pace yourself accordingly.

*Pay attention to how you are marking your answer sheet, do not mark in your answers in the wrong grid. 

Using these simple tips and strategies, you can do your best!

5 Steps to Creating a Blog

I have had a variety of friends over the years and every time I get around to showing them a website/blog I started, they say "You can do this because your life is interesting, no one would read my blog." That's where they are wrong! My life really isn't any more or less interesting than their lives would be. The trick is, I cherish my thoughts and like to let all of them out through my hobbies. That's all, nothing so intensely interesting to it.

Since, all my friends wonder in amazement at the "interesting" life I live, I decided to create a post guiding them to create their own blogs. One of my friends is really looking for an easy way to blog and keep it updated so I'll share some blogging tips as well!

1.  The Story: Every blog has a story or idea that becomes the purpose of the blog. Your story doesn't have to be mind-blowing. Actually, it doesn't even have to be a story, it just has to describe what your blog will mainly be about and/or why it was started. For example, I needed a website of my own where I can showcase all my social network accounts and projects and so The Eternity Journal was born. That's my story.
2.  Give Your Story a Name: This is something I am terrible at. I have changed my blog's name a thousand times. I'm very indecisive with that aspect of my blog and hopefully my current blog name is one I will still love years from now. That is what you have to do. You need to find a name that you know you will be able to live with for the whole lifetime of your blog as well as it's afterlife. (Keeping in mind that your blog name may still appear on the internet even after you decide to delete it). So how do you choose the perfect name that fits your blog's story? You experiment. It's the best way to get a feel of what you blog name would sound like and look like all over the internet. Browse through blogs and conduct a list of names that you'd like and see where you can fit your name or your personality into. For example, if you like a blog called "In the Middle of Love", you can personalize it to "In the Middle of Amy's Life." Now you have created a whole name that fits your blog and is entirely yours, you see? Keep experimenting until you find one that you think you might want to keep.
3. Find a Place for Your Story: This step takes a bit more research than thought. There are plenty of blogging services that you can use to showcase your blog, but finding which one is right for you is the tricky part. The service I use for this blog is Blogger, although one of my blogs, It's Technologic was created through Wordpress.org. I have tried several blogging platforms before and in my opinion, each service has it's own community of bloggers and trends that the other service does not. In my case, I used Tumblr for quite a while as a blogging platform, but blogging about my life on a service that solely relies on media was a terrible idea. Then I switched over my personal blog to Wordpress.com. I hated it. The service itself is great, it's so great I use the professional version for my technology blog, but the community on Wordpress was too sophisticated for me. Plus, with a free blog on Wordpress.com there aren't too many customization settings to create the perfect personal blog. I moved on to Blogger and was pleased with all the blogs I had discovered and the community that came along with it. Not to mention, all the customization I want! Blogger was the perfect home for my personal blog and Wordpress.org became the home for the professional/techy side of me. 
4. How Will You Showcase Your Story? Now that you found your story, gave it a name, and a home. Think about how you can showcase it. For instance, my blog is in one word about me. It's about my interest in business, technology, writing, and my love of life. Therefore, you'll find posts about how my small business is going, some technology thoughts I want to share, and a narration of my life's moments through writing and photos.
5. Update and Promote Your Story: Your blog is all setup! Now all you have to do is keep updating your blog with posts that showcase your story and promote it! Send it to all your friends, write your blog URL on all your social networking accounts, and let other people know your unique and personalized story is live! 

Some Easy Tips to Help Get You Started

• Research Blogging Platforms such as Blogger, Wordpress.com and Wordpress.org. Google it, check out their features from their website, or check out this article I wrote titled "Which Blogging Platform is Right for You?" on my technology blog. 
• Remember what you are blogging for (your story, your purpose). It will help you write.
• Don't write a post because you haven't updated your blog in a while. Write a post because you have something to say. Blogging wouldn't be fun if it was just another thing on your to-do list.
• Include links to your social network accounts on your blog and include your blog link on your social network accounts also. It's just an easy way to get connected with your readers while gaining new ones.
• Go to BlogLovin.com for some blog inspiration.
• Represent who you are and you're blog will be perfect!

I hope this was a useful post! Be sure to comment and share your thoughts! Feel free to share your own blogging tips!
xoxo,

My Data Recovery Nightmare

FILES! FILES! FILES! Wait for it…FILES! With our daily adventures, all your documents, your bookmarks, your precious photos, and unrecoverable videos are saved and documented on to your computer for safe keeping. Because, hey, what can possibly happen to them there? Until one day, you try to download a program you think you need desperately and find yourself with a Trojan Win32 Virus a week later.
That’s what happened to me. Usually I save all my important stuff on my computer and I occasionally back up my data to a separate hard drive. However, I haven’t backed up any data or organized any files lately so if my data was gone, all my life’s work will be too. (Really!)
The program I was trying to download was located on a blog, one that didn’t look professional at all. It just looked like a cluttered blog, no pop-ups, and nothing that was obviously suspicious. After I downloaded the program, I could not find it any where in my programs. Instead, I found it as a file located on my computer. I assumed the download was unsuccessful, deleted the file, and carried on with what I was doing. That was the first sign of the virus, a hidden program installed on my computer.
The next day, I opened  up my browser and I noticed my homepage was completely different. I changed my homepage and didn’t look much into why it was there and how it got there. (And, you’d think that I probably would). Soon after, a random “Security Program” popped up saying that there was a threatening virus on my computer that may put my data in danger of being lost. This, I found out was the Trojan Virus’s scamming program that would tell me to pay money to get the virus fixed and then state “All Clear” while its trying to take over my computer.
After that, I ran some security tests and found that I indeed had a Trojan Virus and tried my best to manually remove it through a bunch of online web sources that gave me instructions on how to do so. I backed up all the files I could and started the process. Eventually, I had help from my Dad, but I did what I could. My computer had to be clean, and then restored to factory default. Learned my lesson, back up everywhere and everything, every time you get the chance.
In conclusion, we rely on our technology too much, we need to start creating back up plans for all this stuff, because once you get a virus or cannot recover your files, it won’t be pleasant at all.

xoxo,

Earning, Coding, and Enjoying

I haven’t posted something in a while and I just thought that I should recap on what I’m doing right now and how things are. The first couple weeks of the New Year have been really weird for me. I’ll spare the details. I guess the important part is that I got through them.
Anyway, over the past few weeks I’ve been trying to earn some extra cash on this Website called Fiverr. This site is great it allows you to write, draw, craft, code, or anything you can think of for someone for $5. I’ve been writing reviews, writing lyrics, and even research papers. People will actually pay you for this. It’s unbelievably great!
I’ve also been learning how to code JavaScript from Codeacademy as part of my New Year’s resolution to learn how to code. I signed up for CodeYear in the very beginning of January and I’m doing my best to follow through with it. Although, I have been slacking off, just a tad. (I need to finish the first and second lesson in order to move on.)
Besides that, I’m just trying to enjoy life and take on the challenges and adventures I go through everyday. It hasn’t been the best of year far, but it just started. I’m sure it’ll get better along the way. “Life’s never perfect, but you can have a perfect life if you believe it is.” – Zobia; a quote written by yours truly!
By the way, if you’re interesting in purchasing a review, custom lyrics, or anything. Please feel free to check out my Fiverr page: My username is writesavvy. I will be more than happy to fulfill your requests.

(Picture accredited to owner)

xoxo,

My First Set of Business Cards!

I just received a set of 50 Free Facebook Business Cards from Moo.com! The website is celebrating and sharing its new idea of using your Facebook profile information to create customized business and/or personal contact cards. Moo is giving 200,000 free packs of cards! Get them while they last!

My personalized set of cards! (Information was whiten out for privacy)

The front side of one of my cards. The front side includes your profile picture, your name, your Facebook Timeline cover photo, your education, and work.

Back side of the card, here you can write a quote or anything you would like at the top and provide your Facebook profile link, contact number, and e-mail on the bottom.

The cute little box the cards came in!

The back of your Moo business card box.
I thought these little cards were wonderful! They look really cool and I was glad I was lucky enough to receive my first box for free. As soon as these cards run out, I’m definitely planning on buying my own box. Moo has really won me over with their great idea to turn your Facebook profile into a card you can hand out. Instead of having people spend hours searching you on Facebook, just hand out your Facebook card and they can instantly access your profile!
Easily get yours while they still last. Sign into Facebook > Go to your profile (Timeline) > Click About > Click Contact Info> Click on Print Cards and customize your cards then order! First box is free if you get it in time! Plus, you can order your own pack! They are definately worth it! Start making your own cards now!

xoxo,

Money, Shopping for Gifts, & the Economy

      Money is hard to earn these days with the economy and all. Finding the perfect gift for your loved ones couldn't be harder while you have almost no cash in hand. I have maybe about five people on my gift list, besides my family. Our family doesn't celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. If you didn't already know, I come from a Muslim family. (Yes, my secret has just been exposed) Anyway, when the holidays arrive, I still exchange Christmas presents. Even to my friends who don't celebrate it either. Last year, I hardly had any money to buy anyone a Christmas present. A group of my friends decided to do a "Secret Santa" thing and I saw this as a window of opportunity to get out of buying presents for everyone. However, I winded up feeling absolutely terrible when I got presents from them. 

         This year, I want to avoid feeling that way and trying my best to get everyone a present. Now the problem is where do I get the money? I have a few blogs and I definitely considered writing reviews and advertising. One problem though, my technology blog doesn't have many loyal readers yet and neither this blog. (I need a certain amount of audience in order to start monetizing my work.) I also considered selling the copyrights to lyrics I've written or selling some of my old stuff on eBay. One of my close friends gave me an idea too. I'm still thinking of how to make money. I don't have much time until the holidays though.

        The economy is no help for my mission. Time to face the truth. Everyone is trying to save money this holiday season to buy that someone the present they've been wanting. Any idea I have to make money, I could maybe make a couple extra bucks, but I won't make much. Besides that, everyone's probably out there looking for a way to save up to make someone really happy this year. 

        In conclusion, I want to make a few important people in my life very happy. They deserve it and I hope I really can. Got any quick money tips or tricks? Please feel free to share. 

xoxo,

Procrastination at it's Finest!

                       We all procrastinate once in a while. Except when you're me and you procrastinate all the time! I guess it's a natural born quality. This month, I had a lot on my plate and next month I'll have even more. I'm still planning to enter the NaNoWriMo 2011 contest, publishing that novel this year, and gaining more loyal subscribers to my blog. (Thanks to the 11 subscribers I have. You guys are awesome! ) Also, special thanks to the 13 people who subscribed to my technology blog. Anyway, with everything I have to do, I get easily distracted. 

                         For example, when I'm using my laptop to blog or write, I search the topic I'm writing about and find a great blog that posted something similar. After finding the blog, I'd probably scroll down to see comments, pictures, and other posts. Enter a giveaway (if the blog has one), find a sponsor site, or click on the blog of a commenter. When I'm using my phone, one notification can cause me to delay on what I'm doing by far. And even when I don't get a notification, I find myself constantly updating and checking Twitter and Facebook. My point is, I get distracted easily! 

How to cope with procrastination? (Here's what you can do & most likely what I SHOULD do) 

1. Use a task manager- Personally, I'm not a fan of task managing however, I've realized you don't have to schedule every single second of your day and waste all your time scheduling and not leaving time to complete the tasks.
2. Say no, give some things up- For me, THIS IS THE HARDEST THING to do because once I dedicate myself to something, I have to finish it no matter how long it takes or how much it'll stress me out. I need to learn to say no to some things I can't fit in my schedule and give up on things I can't finish on time. There's always next time. (Although, this lesson is still not effect with me because even though I've only written about 2,000 words of my novel, I'm going to do all 50.000 by the end of this month. Wish me luck?)
3. Make time for relaxation- Don't stress yourself out, take a break.
4. Do something fun- Take your mind off a really big project and give yourself a treat by doing something fun whether it's by yourself, with a friend, or your family- go out and do something.
5. Sleep early, Wake up early, & start your day right- (I really got to start doing that) Sleeping early means you'll get the rest you need for another great day. And, when you wake up early, you'll have tons of time to have a great day. 

That's all I had to say for today. Hoped this post was interesting and somewhat helpful! Thanks for reading. :]

xoxo,