Every so often I get an email from a reader who just started blogging and who wants my advice.  Which is funny, really, because I feel like I’m the one needing advice.

And yet, when I think about it, I have learned an awful lot in my short time blogging… much of it the hard way.  So I’ve decided to share some of this hard-earned wisdom so that some of you can learn it the easy way. 

Here are the five major topics that I’ll be covering over the next few weeks.  As I post, I’ll link them up here.

1) Branding yourself.  (No, I don’t mean branding in a scorchy, hurty sort of way.  I mean the marketing kind of branding) 

• Choosing a name
• Why looks matter and what to do about it

2) Protecting yourself and your family. It’s not fun. It’s not glamorous. But, unfortunately, it is important. Especially for the “mommy blogger” genre, privacy, safety, and security are topics that bloggers can’t afford to ignore.  In this section, we’ll talk about strategies for being prudent without taking all the fun out of blogging.

• Blogging smart: how to protect yourself and your family online

3) Establishing a readership.  Without a readership a blog is really just a journal, right?  And yet, at times, finding and keeping readers can seem nearly impossible.  In this topic, we’ll cover;

• Building a readership through networking
• Basics of seach engine optimization
• How to convert one-time visitors to repeat readers

4) Finding balance in blogging.  You remember your life, right?  Come on, think really hard.  It’s true, blogging has a way of taking over and sucking the life right out of you.  Which is why it’s important to come up with strategies, checks, and balances to keep yourself sane.

• Fitting blogging into your life without losing your mind, relationships, and waistline

5) Taking it to the next level.  Ah, the golden egg of blogging. We read about Dooce, who purportedly supports herself AND her entire family through blogging.  How does she do it? We wonder. And, more important, how can WE do it?  In this section, we’ll discuss strategies for taking your blog to the next level.

• Taking your blog to the next level

© Jenny Blackburn. All Rights Reserved.

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Catch more of Jenny Blackburn’s humorous anecdotes on being a mom, a woman, and a whole lot crazy at Absolutely Bananas.  If you have questions, anecdotes, or topics for “On Blogging,” email jenny[@]seattlemomblogs[dot]com.