Don't Forget the Audience You Already Have

With all the frenetic buzzing around A-to-Z preparation, it struck me that I was forgetting one important factor: my current followers. Last year when I participated in the A-to-Z, I had two followers (no idea how they'd found me), so it wasn't an issue. I hadn't really established what I was even blogging about from day-to-day. I think I had three posts, total. This year, however, I'm approaching the A-to-Z with some actual followers and a fairly regular schedule.

While many of those followers were gained during last year's A-to-Z, not all of them were, which means putting my regular blogging schedule on hold isn't necessarily feasible (or the best thing to do). I'm in the A-to-Z to meet other bloggers and writers, as well as to challenge myself and have a good time; I'm not in it to lose the followers I currently have! As such, my plans have changed a bit on what I'll be posting during the A-to-Z. I can't forget the readers I already have, while reaching out to those who are new to me. My regular schedule will be worked into the theme of my A-to-Z posts to insure everyone is included.

So, as you plan (or not) what you'll be posting during the A-to-Z, consider taking a moment to figure out how to keep your current followers happy, as well, especially if there is a theme or meme that draws a lot of readers your way on any given day. You want to include them in the fun!

May you find your Muse.

Shannon Lawrence
The Warrior Muse

Survival Hints for the A-Z Challenge: How to Pre-Schedule a Post

Hello again, Alphabet Fans! Lots of excitement out there in Blogland! It's been such an adventure already to meet so many of you, visit your blogs, and hear YOUR excitement about the upcoming challenge. As you've probably noticed, this blog is an equal opportunity posting place. If you're going to be joining us for the challenge, you're invited to submit a post for approval and be another contributor here! If you'd like more info, check out this invitation post. 

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may have noticed that a common thread is the idea of pre-scheduling posts. That way when April rolls around, you've got some already set. For example, let's say that you're going skiing for the weekend and will have no time to blog. No need to fall behind! Write your posts for those letters, schedule them for the correct alphabet days, and then enjoy your trip.

What's that? You don't know how to schedule a post in advance? I didn't either. I've been a writer my whole life, but didn't start blogging until a few years ago. I've been learning how to best utilize all the great features that blogger offers one baby-step at a time. Let me show you how easy it is to do.

Go to the “new post” screen and enter your post. Before publishing, click on “schedule”, which is on the right side there, being pointed to by the pointer that I just figured out how to add to my screen shots (I love to learn almost as much as I love bragging about what I've learned...)

Click “schedule” and you'll get the following screen where you can set the date and time for your post to go live. (There's another nifty pointer in this shot, too)

Now all that's left to do is hit “save”!

So be careful out there on the slopes, and just leave it to blogger to post your brilliant piece while you're swishing down those steep hills, in that wonderful champagne powder...(can you tell I'm a frustrated former skier?) (If you want to know why it's former, check it out this post at my own blog, Life is Good).

Any questions? Please leave them in the comments, or email me at

tndowney at gmail dot com. I'd be glad to walk you through it.


                                                                                                          Tina @ Life is Good


Update!!!!


We have a video entry to showcase.  Soon a list of entries will be started and put on a tabbed page so you readers can access the list in order to view the videos.  Watch for that page.  In the meantime, enjoy this video by Marta Szemik from Marta Szemik's Blog :

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My A to Z Blogging Challenge Secret: How I Survived....

I must confess that this was truly challenging! Like with any huge project, I planned ahead of time. I thought of a theme I'd stick by through out the entire month and created a list per alphabet letter on a spiral bound notebook, writing as many words that started with each letter.


example:


A: anaphora, alphabet, allegory, artist


so on so forth till I reached Z.

(sneak a peek at my posts here!)


Next, I went down my list and circled one idea per letter to post about it. I wrote my entire alphabet post in two days a month ahead of time. Why? Because I wanted to enjoy visiting everyone's fabulous blogs and leave comments on as many as I could per day! 

Since we aren't posting on Sundays (but for April 1st for 2012) it gives us a fabulous opportunity to catch up on the comment love!


And that's my secret. What's yours?