1.Ron Easton Dad's Unlimited
2. Ada Zdanowicz CollagePodge
3. Marta Szemik Marta Szemik's Blog
4. Nicole Ayers (3) Madlab Post
5. Kathleen Medina Living 2012
6. Dale Smurthwaite Smurfin' the Web
7. Tracy Jo Blowers Brand New Day
8. Reka Sang A Chronicle of Dreams
9. Nicole Ayers (1) The Madlab Post
10. Nicole Ayers (2) The Madlab Post
11. Rachel Morgan Rachel Morgan Writes
12. Jocelyn Rish Jocelyn Rish
The April A to Z Challenge is quickly approaching and I’m working on my blog posts for it. My month of blog posts will have a theme, but I’m not going to reveal what it is just yet. Instead I want to give you some tips from one blogger to the next if you are participating or thinking about participating in this crazy challenge. With a little prep work, you can totally have a great time. And if you are on the fence about whether you should do it or not, let me assuage your fears. You’re going to have a blast.
Granted, everyone does it differently, but this is what I learned from the 2011 April A to Z Challenge. Ready?
Sommer’s Top Ten Tips for A-to-Zing It In April
- Pre-plan your posts. Write them ahead of time. Schedule them before the month even begins. You’re going to want your posts to run smoothly without you while you’re out there checking out what everyone else is doing. Meeting new people is the best part of this month and you need to have time to read other blogs. Which reminds me, check out LOTS of other A to Z bloggers!!
- Make sure your blog is set up so that it is easy for everyone to post a comment. If you have Blogger, consider turning on Name/URL and Anonymous commenting to make it easier on those of us with self hosted blogs and those who do not have a blog or Google account.
- Turn off CAPTCHA or any other “Prove you are not a robot” gimmick on your comments. People are less likely to comment when you make them jump through a lot of hoops and all major blog services come equipped with a spam blocker of some kind anyway. Last year I read more than 400 blogs and the ones I didn’t comment on were the ones who had this turned on. After a while it was too much extra annoyance.
- Check your sidebar for the following items: Info about who you are and what sort of blog you run is always nice to find. What name should we call you? List your email address prominently. Make sure you have an easy to find RSS button so people can easily add you to their feed reader. Since only Blogger users can use Google Friend Connect starting in March, you’ll want to make sure you have the Google Friend Connect AND an RSS button. Clean house of any button that honks, blinks, flashes, or animates. These can be hell on your internet speed and they are super annoying to most people. Try to keep your sidebars clean during April so people can navigate around easier.
- Respond to comments that ask questions or need feedback of some kind. It drove me crazy whenever I’d go back to check blogs I’d commented on to see if my question had been answered only to discover the blogger wasn’t responding to ANYONE. I know I did not make a point to go back to blogs where we were clearly not very important to the blogger. It’s like talking to a wall.
- Write shorter blog posts and use pictures, video, and other media effectively. Reading a lot of blog posts is tough, but I appreciated the short and sweet with lots of great media. A good rule of thumb word count is 400 words or less. I broke this rule a lot last year but I wish I hadn’t.
- Be gracious, poised, and appreciative. The challenge is great because it brings a lot of new traffic to your blog. It can also bring a lot of trolls, too. Not everyone is nice and don’t let anyone who isn’t nice ruin it for you. In fact, don’t respond to them at all. If the comment is truly malicious, feel justified in deleting it. If it’s just kind of jerky, ignore it. YOU are the gracious, poised, and appreciative blogger who loves everyoneand is willing to play nice. Don’t degrade yourself by getting into it with people who suck. It never ends well.
- Take a deep breath. Exhale. This is not the most important thing in the world. If you miss a letter, so be it. If you post a letter late, that’s fine. If you don’t get to visit many blogs in the challenge, don’t sweat it! No one is going to show up at your door and flog you to death if you don’t do everything right every day. Whatever you do, do not let the challenge overwhelm you or make you unhappy. If you have to step away for a few days or a week or the rest of the month, it’s fine. Really. Take care of yourself first.
- Make a point during the month to stop by all of the host’s blogs. They are doing a tremendous amount of work to make this event a success and they deserve a pat on the back, a kind email, a small note of thanks. You don’t have to follow them if you don’t want to, but I think they deserve our appreciation by the buckets full. Remember, be gracious, poised, and appreciative.
- Spread the word. The more of your friends who are participating, the better. Right? It’s like a month long party and we’re all the guests of honor!
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A to Z Team for 2012
Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird)
Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas)
Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh)
Life is Good (Tina Downey)
Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons)
Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins)
The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence)
The QQQE (Matthew MacNish)
Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller)
Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson)
No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow)
From the A to Z Blog:
A to Z 2012 Challenge [Letter Schedule]
Week One:
April 01, Sunday – Letter “A”
April 02, Monday – Letter “B”
April 03, Tuesday – Letter “C”
April 04, Wednesday – Letter “D”
April 05, Thursday – Letter “E”
April 06, Friday – Letter “F”
April 07, Saturday – Letter “G”
Week Two:
April 08, Sunday – BREAK
April 09, Monday – Letter “H”
April 10, Tuesday – Letter “I”
April 11, Wednesday – Letter “J”
April 12, Thursday – Letter “K”
April 13, Friday – Letter “L”
April 14, Saturday – Letter “M”
Week Three:
April 15, Sunday – BREAK
April 16, Monday – Letter “N”
April 17, Tuesday – Letter “O”
April 18, Wednesday – Letter “P”
April 19, Thursday – Letter “Q”
April 20, Friday – Letter “R”
April 21, Saturday – Letter “S”
Week Four:
April 22, Sunday – BREAK
April 23, Monday – Letter “T”
April 24, Tuesday – Letter “U”
April 25, Wednesday – Letter “V”
April 26, Thursday – Letter “W”
April 27, Friday – Letter “X”
April 28, Saturday – Letter “Y”
Week Five:
April 29, Sunday – BREAK
April 30, Monday – Letter “Z”
