Feedback Needed Please!

Badge artwork by A to Z artist Ada Z

    This post brought to you by Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out:         

         Today I had originally planned to post about the negatives of the A to Z, but instead something else came to my attention which I wanted to get your opinions on before I continued with the Challenge evaluation.   I will discuss the bad next Monday.

Something else we'd like some feedback on:

        Here's a link that was brought to my attention through my Google Alerts for "Blogging from A to Z Video Challenge"    You might enjoy checking this out. I found it to be quite a surprise.   I've never seen a YouTube notice like this which includes not only all of the entries for the A to Z Video Contest, but also many links to blogs that have something to do with the A to Z April Challenge.  Check this out.   Your blog may have been included.   Have you seen something like this from YouTube before?

            So far in the Reflections or the evaluations posts I haven't read anything about the A to Z Video Contest.   I'll tell you more of my thoughts about the contest in a couple of weeks, but perhaps you can tell us yours in today's comments.   Did you pay much attention to the Video Contest?   Do you think it added value to the Challenge?   Were the video promos that were later linked to on Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere effective in reaching those unaware of the Challenge?   

             Did you watch any of the videos?   If you missed them, you can find them at YouTube or at the A to Z Video Challenge.  How did you like this year's video entries?   What suggestions would you give to the entrants?

               Would you be interested in submitting a video for a future contest?  Would quality prizes such as gift cards, video related equipment, cash, or something else be a greater incentive to participate in a contest of this nature?

              What suggestions do you have concerning a video contest for the A to Z Challenge?   Are there other types of pre-April contests we might consider to bring more attention to the A to Z Challenge?

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Alphabet Soup - A Jumbled Jungle of J's

This post is brought to you by Nicole from The Madlab Post...

It’s time for Alphabet Soup - The Word Scramble Puzzle for A to Z Wizards!

Unscramble the following names of movie actors and actresses whose first name starts with letter J. The first commenter who has unscrambled all of them, or the most at best, wins this week’s Alphabet Soup game. Answers and the name of the winner will be posted here at the A to Z blog during next week’s “Friday Fun Time.” Word to the wise: Don’t let the spaces in these names fool you!

1

Jhcaknsooa Jus

2

otkeacaJnsn J

3

ernnnH fidoeuJs

4

nferCylonJen ine

5

tosifei nnAJrnne

6

errCJy mia

7

eeortJtl nuSelm

8

JrnOCo lelnry

9

NlckoncJiohas

10

kck acaBJl

Have an alphabetized weekend, everyone!

Need some extra blogging motivation? Sign up for the Monday Movie Meme, a weekly writing and memory activity that will have you thinking about movies in a whole new light. New topics are posted every Monday!

NICOLE
Read The Madlab Post.
Find/Follow/RT @MadlabPost on Twitter.

Beat that Bloggers' Block!

This post is brought to you by AZ co-host Damyanti, from Amlokiblogs.
--------------------------------------

April is long gone, and we've all moved on to new challenges.

One of the challenges I find on many A-Z participant blogs is bloggers' block--- after the burn-out of A-Z, many bloggers have found it difficult to get up and go again.

Here are a few ways to beat this:

1. Go blog-browsing: The more blogs you visit, whether via the Post A-Z Road Trip or otherwise, the more issues, problems, points of-view you'll come across. Some of them will trigger a response in you, and that could become your next blog post. Bonus: You'll have return-visits from the blogs you visited once your post is ready and published.

2. Dig up your old posts: That archive is good for something. You can re-post some of the posts you made long ago, which got you a good number of hits. Or, you could use them as an inspiration-- maybe you've learned more on the topic in the intervening period, or your point-of-view has changed. Bonus: When you link back to your own old posts, it helps search engines find you, giving you more hits.

3. Go wordless: A picture/ video really is worth a thousand words. You can also use them to jot down a few lines. 
Bonus: If you add titles and links to your pictures, this too would get picked up in a search-engine crawl.

4.  Avoid Whining: Sure, if you have a regular audience that loves you, you'll get a lot of mollycoddling when you make the occasional rant or whine. But tackling your block by repeatedly moaning about it would only turn off potential readers.
Bonus: When you avoid negatives, you make space for positives--- before you know it, you'll find your blogging vim back again.

5. Create Drafts: To quote yet another hackneyed proverb, prevention is better than cure. If you see an interesting picture, idea, issue--anything, in short, that could be of interest to your blog, copy it down in a blog draft. That way, when the lean times hit, you have a ready resource at hand to tide you over.
Bonus: When you have that many drafts sitting around, you might even be tempted to schedule posts in advance.

These are only a few tips to fight the dreaded block. I'm hoping the super-bloggers amongst you would add more advice in the comments. Now go beat that bloggers' block-- and get yourself a trigger finger instead!