The BritMums Blog

14 tips on how to make the most of Twitter

Navigating the world of Twitter can be like trying to replicate that "Strictly" move after your nightly bottle glass of wine. Which is to say, at times challenging. Riding to the rescue is Karin of Cafe Bebe, dispensing her hardwon tips on Twitter Etiquette and Enjoying Your Twitter Experience. Over to Karin:

Back in March of 2009, I joined Twitter as it seemed to be “the thing to do.” Everyone was on Twitter, it seemed. Ashton Kutcher was posting pictures of Demi Moore, earthshattering personal news was being announced there and I felt that maybe I was missing out on something.
 
After signing up for a Twitter account, I sat and watched and watched and watched. I believe the appropriate term would be “lurking.” I didn’t know how to join the conversation. I didn’t know what people were talking about. What was an “RT?” And then there was something called Tweetdeck?
 

Join the #BMB New Member November Blog Hop

Every day we have new members joining BMB. There are loads of interesting new voices and great new blogs but unless you're trawling our "New to Blogging" board regularly you may find it hard to discover them.

So we're introducing the New Member Blog Hop. A Blog Hop is simple: it's a list of blog with links and you can pick up the coding to pop it into one of your blog posts so readers who come visit your blog keep hopping onto all the other ones on the list.

If you're a new blogger: Add your blog to the list and insert the code at the bottom of your latest post to take part. You don't have to literally be a new blogger, just in the mood to find new blogs and new reads.

If you're an old hand: Check out the list below to meet the gals (and guys) and drop by their blogs to say hello. You might find your new must-read. Add your blog and code too. The more the merrier.

It's a fun way to find new blogs and new readers.

So get hopping!

Here's the code for for Blogger and Typepad:

<script src="http://www.linkytools.com/basic_linky_include.aspx?id=56431" type="text/javascript"></script>

 And here's the Wordpress code:

<p><b>Powered by Linky Tools</b></p><p><a href="Click" _mce_href="http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=56431&type=basic">Click">http://www.linkytools.com/wordpress_list.aspx?id=56431&type=basic">Click here</a> to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...</p>

What the BMB Network is all about

BMB is the largest network of British parent bloggers, giving you a place to gather, share ideas and opportunities and support each other. It’s a place to meet new bloggers, hone your skills and find your blogging “voice”. For those who want to work with brands that have relevant information for your blogs, we present you with appropriate opportunities and help make introductions.

It’s inevitable that when you gather a roomful of dynamic, highly opinionated people together -- all at different places in their life and blogging – there will be disagreements and even clashes. Enter the world of the written word, where it can be so easy to mistake a person’s motives or to read something into a comment that was not intended, or for a legitimate disagreement to quickly escalate. Occasionally when this happens, it can be a recipe for ongoing negativity. Cue the fireworks.

Share your great blog posts with the bi-monthly BritMums carnival

Want to find new blogs and tell the world about your latest posts? Blogging carnivals are great way to do it.

If you are a newbie, it's a way to get new readers and if your an old hand, it introduces you to new blogs. It's also loads of fun and really give you the pulse of the parenting blogosphere.

This is how it works: every two weeks a different parent blogger “hosts” the carnival. Bloggers submit posts from the past month.

The rules are one post per blogger and it must be something written in the past four weeks. No commerical or sponsored posts.

The host blogger writes the carnival and the submitters help publicise with a post, link, tweet, etc. It's up to the host to decide if they want to have a theme.

Clear as mud?

Trust me, this is a great way to create traffic and link love for all sites involved.

We're always looking for new hosts -- just email mummybloggers (at) gmail (dot) com to be put on the list.

Go to the next page for the schedule, to see who to send your latest link to, and to see past carnivals.

- Susanna

Why do women blog?

I had dinner last night with some NBFs (non blogging friends). In between talk of Simone de Beauvoir, Guides and the proper way to eat French cheese, we discussed blogging. My friends (French, if you hadn't already guessed) were intrigued as to why women were flocking to the Internet in such vast numbers.

As I sipped my Chardonnay, I tried to find the words to explain. It has to do with connection. Being heard. Validation. Plus it's fun and slightly addictive. Not sure they got it though.

Holly Buchanan who blogs at  What Women Really Want spent a year researching why women blog. The result was this video.  I'll let you watch it, it speaks for itself.

 

My favourite bits are:

"Friendships are born at the moment someone says, what you too? I thought I was the only one."

"There Internet has given women a voice and they are screaming their heads off."

"There's simply nothing more powerful than a room  of women sharing their true stories"

Why do you blog?

-Susanna

Welcome to our new BMB Ambassador!

BMB is growing every day, with new bloggers joining and existing bloggers doing more and more interesting things on their blogs and adding discussions within the network.

In the interest of helping all new members feel welcome, we've named Becca Evans (@Beckicklesie) as BMB Ambassador. She'll be saying hello to newbies and around on the group discussion boards so if you have any questions or need some help, don't hestitate to ping her a message via the network or Twitter.

You can check out Becca's blog at www.beckicklesie.com.

Welcome aboard, Becca!

How to get 1,000 comments on your next blog post

I thought that would get your attention. The actual title for this post is "Your guide to running successful blog competitions" :D

Sooner or later your going to be asked to run a competition on your blog. This happened to me a couple years back, when Halfords wanted to give away some kit. I've learnt a lot since then and think I've finally got the hang of it. My current competition is going so well it has more than 1,000 comments.  I've put together a guide below for running competitions below. Enjoy, and if you have any questions please leave a comment.

Beginning Blogging: 10 Top Tips for Starting Out on the Right Foot

Everyone is bloggging! At least that's what it seems like sometimes. That can make starting your new blog a bit daunting. But it needn't be. Karin from the popular Cafe Bebe blog (follow her on Twitter at @CafeBebe) knows a thing or two about successful blogging. Here she guest posts her top 10 tips for getting started and making the most of your blog. Even if you've been doing it a while, these tips are valuable back-to-basics advice. Over to Karin:

Parent blogging is a wonderful opportunity to share your experiences, to find a sense of community and to create something that stimulates your brain that is yours and yours alone. Starting a blog is the easy part but growing your blog and moving forward are slightly more challenging. Here are 10 Top Tips for Beginner Bloggers. Good luck and most importantly, have fun!

1) Investigate the various blogging platforms: You can use Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad and other forms like Posterous. Have a look at each platform to decide which is the most user friendly and allows you the creativity you are looking for. Blogger and Wordpress.com are free platforms, as is Posterous. You can also look into self-hosted Wordpress but this will cost you money as will Typepad. If this is simply going to be a creative outlet for you and not a mini-career, you should be perfectly happy with the free platforms. If you are hoping to make some income from blogging or use it as a vehicle for bigger and better things, you may want to consider investing in a self-hosted platform which allows you to create whatever you like.

The quick start guide to creating a fab mummy blog

Mummy, or "mommy" blogging, a huge phenomenon in the US, is just starting to take hold in the UK. A staggering 36 million women worldwide participate in "blogosphere" every week and fifteen million women have their own blogs. A growing number of these women are British.

I've put together this guide to help mums who are interested in creating a blog, but have no idea where to start. I assume a bit of technical savvy (such as you know how to surf the Internet) but in no way do you have to be an IT expert. I'm not, and trust me, if I can do it, so can you.

So what are you waiting for? Sit back, have a read and get blogging!