Blogging Basics 101

New Blogger Checklist

Today's Guest Blogger is Karla, who blogs at Looking Towards Heaven, where you can find her writing about the chaos and joy of life with four children. She can also be found at Fruition Designs, where she designs mommy cards, blogs and announcements, and at Blissfully Domestic, where she is the managing editor.

When I started blogging, I jumped, nay, DIVED, right in without looking. I didn't have much of a choice at the time. I started blogging right at the tail end of the wave just before blogging really exploded, and at that time, there wasn't much information on doing it well. You just did it.

Not that there is some manual on how to blog. When it comes down to it, all you need is a blog account on the platform of your choice and then type away.

But if you want to do it well? Now, that is different.

What does it take to do this blogging thing? This thing that everyone is addicted to?

Here is a basic run-down. It is by no means inclusive of every detail, but it is a good solid list to get you off on the right foot.

Decide what and whom you are blogging for.    

{This is also referred to as finding your niche.} Are you blogging to share with family and friends (that is the way most of us got sucked into it)? To make money? To promote your business? Consider this first, because this will help establish the tone and voice of your blog. This can always change. But if it changes drastically (ie: switch from writing about family to mainly promoting your business) you may need to start a new blog altogether.

Think good and plenty about what you'll name that blog and what you'll go by (if you'll use your real name or a nickname).    

You'll be glad you did. For every Bossy and ProBlogger, there are people who are stuck with names that were created at a frat party. It's not always a simple change, if you decide to go by something else. Remember what happened to new Coke? Change confuses people and sometimes irritates.    

And make sure it doesn't just identify that specific time of your life. My First Year of Underwater Basket-Weaving School may be appropriate now. But some day, you may be an underwater-basketweaving school dropout. And then what?

Draft your posts in reader friendly formats.    

If you want people to stick around and read your blog, please please please consider some visual basics. There is more to creating a reader friendly blog than just a nice design. One very simple suggestion is to break your text up into smaller paragraphs. Seriously.    

When a post is written in one long paragraph, only your mom will stick through to the end. And she may have to bandage her eyes after doing so.    

(For info on the design aspect of your blog, see my post on Basic Blog Design Principles.)

Provide a way for readers to contact you.    

Comments only go so far. Sometimes, people may want to contact you and ask something behind the scenes; maybe just a sincere "thank you" for something you wrote. It's just nice to have that available. Create an address dedicated solely to your blog if you are worried about spam.

How will you deal with comments?    

Eventually, you will have more people reading your blog than just your mom or BFF. And when that happens, you'll be glad you have some sort of commenting policy in place. Will you delete comments by trolls? What about people who disagree (vehemently) with a point you've made? Don't wait until something happens to determine what to do.    

Along with this, how will you respond to comments? In the comments? Or via email? Remember, blogging is a lot more fun when you can create a sense of community and be an active participant in it.

Once you get yourself set up and ready to go, enjoy the ride.

Blogging is fun; there is no doubt about it. If it's not fun, consider your reasons for continuing. Or just scratch what you are doing and start all over. You may not be the next blogging rock star. But is that really the only benefit to blogging? It's so much more than that. I've seen blogging open up all sorts of opportunities for people off of their blogs. (hello, HP? Disney?)

For a very thorough article on beginning blogging, be sure to read The Blogging Starter Checklist on Squiddo.

Basic Blog Design Principles

Today's Guest Blogger is Karla, who blogs at Looking Towards Heaven, where you can find her writing about the chaos and joy of life with four children. She can also be found at Fruition Designs, where she designs mommy cards, blogs and announcements, and at Blissfully Domestic, where she is the managing editor.

We all want our home on the web to have personality. Frankly, all blogs have some sort of personality. But is yours showcasing the proper one? Or does it suffer from an identity crisis?

When we begin working on our blogs, most of us understand that design is important, but just don't know the rules of design to follow. Unless you pay someone to create your design, this will be left up to you. So it is helpful to have a basic understanding of simples changes you can make to create some visual impact on the web.

If you can keep these things in mind, you can create a lovely space on the internet, regardless of the blogging platform you use.

Remember the rule of threes. Try to stick to three main colors for your blog. When you start throwing more than that into the mix, it confuses the eye.

Solution: choose three colors based on the suggestions in principle #2, below. This doesn't mean you can not have additional colors in your design. It just means that there should be no more than three main colors.

Site that provides a good example of this: FlowerDust.net

Color Balance (using the color wheel)    

• Be careful when choosing a background pattern. What looks lovely in a small image can be very distracting when covering your screen.
• Vibrant text colors are hard to read.

Solution: Choose colors that fall side-by-side on the color wheel or colors that are opposite on the color wheel.

Site that provides a good example of this:  Out on a Limb

Fonts - avoid Comic Sans, and other hard to read fonts. Serif vs San Serif - Serif fonts are fonts with tails; like this. Sans Serif fonts are fonts that do not have the tail; like this. Traditionally, Serif fonts are considered the easiest to read for printed material, because the tail pulls the eye across the word. However, blogging and other web design lends itself to a bit of flexibility on this due to the frequent use of short/one-line paragraphs.

Solution: Try to stick with the common fonts provided on blogging platforms, especially Times New Roman, Arial and Verdana.

Site that provides a good example of this: Baboo Baby

Keep your sidebar tidy. We probably all start out with this as a goal. But before long, you get cute little graphics for posts you've written, or for carnivals you participate in. Before you can say "I all of this clutter is making my eyes bleed", you've got a mess in your sidebar.

Solution: Consider creating a page dedicated solely to buttons and awards. When you receive them, place them on this page. Link to it from your home page, so that others can check them out when they choose to.

Site that provides a good example of this: Balancing Everything

Consider the emotion of the colors you are using. Do they match the words and posts you use on your blog? Do you use a cheery tone on your blog, but use dark, gloomy colors for it? Do you write with a sarcastic, biting tone, but have a romantic, floral print for your background? It's your blog, so seriously, you can do whatever you want with it. But it you don't want to confuse your readers, choose colors that are inline with the tone of your blog.

Solution: For a detailed look at the emotions of color, take a look at this article on color meaning.

Site that provides a good example of this: Oh! How Lovely!

A well-done blog banner has a lot of impact.

Solution: Even if you can't afford a full blog makeover, consider purchasing just the blog header from a designer. They will most likely be happy and willing to suggest colors to use to finish the rest of the look.

Site that provides a good example of this: LucyKate Crafts

You can do it. Stick to these principles and you'll have a blog that is visually equal to the awesome writing you publish on your blog.

Branding As Applied to Blogging

Karen Lewis can be found daily at her personal blog, Simply A Musing Blog, and her design blog, Simply Amusing Designs. Recently she and I have been working together on an online radio show called Behind the Blog. Please welcome Karen and her expertise in design and branding!

What is a “brand”? Applied to the world of blogging, a brand is what determines the volume of subscribers and traffic. But what makes a reader want to subscribe to a blog, you ask? Simply put, they get what your blog is about, your brand, and they are attracted to it. If a reader doesn’t understand what you are dishing out at your blog, then they won’t know if they will like your future content. By having a clear brand, readers will know what to expect from you in the future. If they like that then they will subscribe.

A stronger, clearer brand will yield more subscribers.

Most bloggers are social creatures. We crave interaction with our own readers and when we discover the euphoria that comes with our first comment, we are almost instantly connected with a new breed of community in the virtual world. People are either drawn to us or repelled by us based on what they experience on our blogs, both visually and mentally. Of course, the most highly desirable option would be that people are attracted to us from what they bring away from our blogs.

I have compiled a list of things you really need to consider in order to establish a brand for your blog:

Your Blog’s Name – If you’re just about to start a blog, then pick an original name for your blog.  You should also consider registering the .com version of your blog name, if it’s available. The name of your blog should be short and sweet, but still convey what your blog and its topics will be about.

If you already have a blog, does your URL match your blog name? It’s very confusing for a reader who is looking for “Simply A Musing Blog” to have to remember that the URL is actually “theadventuresofourfamily.blogspot.com”. So try to make them match if at all possible.

Design – This is without a doubt the easiest and most common way to distinguish yourself from others. An original design can do wonders for branding purposes. How many other blogs are out there running the same default theme as you are? Even if you don’t want to pay for an original design, there are some things you can do to set yourself apart – change the header image, play with the fonts and colors – but do something.

Focus on consistency with your design. Use your blog’s colors or graphics in your emails and feedburner subscriptions, (see Mamablogga’s post on Seven ways to Master Feedburner) and on other social platforms you use, such as MyBlogLog.com and Twitter. Do you have a “logo” – something you are known for? Have that turned into a favicon for your blog – include it where ever you can. The key is being consistent so when your readers come across something, they immediately recognize it as being you. When you think of Coca Cola…what do you see? What about McDonalds? You had a visual of the golden arches, right? That’s design branding at its best.

I’m known for my little blue birdy – I have incorporated it into both my personal blog as well as my business blog and even if I wanted to, there’s no way I can get rid of it now – because it’s an integral part of my brand.

Write Well and with a Purpose – A catchy name and beautiful design are not enough to keep readers coming back, especially since many people use feed aggregators such as Bloglines and Google Reader to read your posts. Spend a little extra time polishing that post before you send it out into the webosphere for everyone to read.

In addition, consider having a clearly-defined purpose for your blog. You might need to sit down and brainstorm this on a pad and paper – ask yourself the following questions:

• Who do I want to reach with my blog?
• What do I want to accomplish with my blog?
• How much time am I willing to invest in writing for my blog?

Defining your blog’s purpose will accomplish several branding goals:

• you’ll have a focused topic,
• you'll narrow what keywords to target for SEO purposes, and
• you'll have ideads about what to post that will (hopefully) set you apart from other blogs in your genre.

With over 80 million blogs out there, it’s important to find your niche. You might consider addressing your mission statement on your “About” page – Darren from ProBlogger has done a fantastic job of this. See also ProBlogger’s post about creating a blog mission statement.

Being Social – Advertising yourself through commenting, emailing and using social media like Technorati, Twitter and StumbleUpon are great ways to bring new visitors to your site. Another way that I’m using right now is guest blogging, which not only gains links to you, but it also raises awareness about your blog and highlights your writing for an audience you might not otherwise have.

When you comment, remember to leave your blog’s name in the name field. I usually sign off as “Karen {simply a musing blog} on everything I do, because it helps garner attention to my blog. ProBlogger has compiled a list of 10 things that will hurt your blog’s brand when commenting – which I highly suggest you read to avoid making those mistakes, at all costs.

Finally, remember that all of the above components work together to create a well-rounded before, during and after experience – otherwise known as your brand. And just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither will your brand be. I encourage you to take time to create a memorable experience for your readers that will leave them hungry for more and keep them coming back to visit and comment – because as we discussed in the very beginning of this entry, once you’ve had one comment as a blogger, you want more, right? 

Mighty Helpful Links

• Three Simple Secrets to Reducing Your Blogging Stress via Daily Blog Tips.

• Three Simple Steps to Driving Your Audience to Action via copyblogger.

• 101 PhotoShop Tips in Five Minutes via deke.

• Nine Free Tools to Monitor Your Online Presence via BlogWell.

• Blogger's New Features in Detail via Blogging Tips.

Writing For Two Blogs Or Are You Completely Insane?

Today's guest blogger is Jan Ross of Mrs. Who's Open Book and Bluegrass Moms.

In January of 2007 I started a blog. I was young and naive and blissfully stupid about what was involved. OK, I was naive and stupid. Not so much young. I had heard of blogging at the librarian and technology conferences I had attended and understood that they were basically an online journal but I mentally dismissed them as being something only geeks and losers did. Who in the world would want to document everything they did for the entire world to read?

And then my daughter got pregnant, began doing research on the Internet and stumbled on two hilarious mommy bloggers. Amalah and Sundry. She started forwarding their posts to me and as I cackled aloud at the hilarious doings of these two young women, I admired their ability to write, to stay focused, to come up with so many good ideas. How could anyone possibly do that? And then my daughter started a blog. And I thought, "If she can do it, then so can I."

Like most bloggers, I had always written. Through high school and the school paper and the yearbook and college and the terrible poetry and even as a professional, I had written for magazines and newspapers. So, just how hard could this be?

Because I am extremely organized (when one has no memory, one is forced to be organized) and perhaps a tad anal, I decided I would write every single day. I didn't restrict myself to any topics, just wrote about pretty much anything that occurred to me. Family, friends, TV, movies, books, travel - pretty much anything was grist for the blogging mill. And so it began. First, my loyal family members read and then close friends and then friends of friends and then complete strangers. I never had to look for my "voice", my blog always sounded just like me. Or so people told me. I began to get more organized and participate in giveaways and events to drive traffic to my blog. I started regular weekly features, like a Monday giveaway and a Friday list of links. I had always shared lots of web sites with my teachers, so this was no different. I was comfortable and enjoying myself and I had an appreciative, albeit small, audience.

I had been writing for about a year when an editor from the local newspaper called and asked if I would be interested in being a blogger for a new website for moms they were starting. Offering another blogging gig to a dedicated blogger is kind of like offering water in the dessert to a man who is dying of thirst. You take it, you gulp it down, you enjoy it. And you hope that it doesn't make you puke.

I have been writing for both blogs for about five months now and I feel pretty comfortable that I am doing a good job with both. I get frequent compliments, my traffic has gone up considerably on my personal blog and the professional one also has a lot of readers. I haven't had a stranger stop me on the street but I have had parents at school that I don't know very well stop me in the hall to tell me how much they liked one of my posts. There is no high higher than telling a writer you like something they have written.

There is no one answer to the best way to manage more than one blog, but let me tell you how I do it and what I have learned and what I am still in the process of learning.

1. You must love writing to be a blogger, whether you are writing for one blog or ten. If you don't love it, you won't stick with it. Eventually, it will become a chore instead of a giddy pleasure and you will write less and less until finally someone stumbles on your blog and the latest post is a year old. I can't tell you how many times I have found blogs like that. So, write. Write all the time. Write about anything and everything. Every single word may not make it into a post but some of it will and some of it may inspire other ideas.
2. Be organized. Melanie wrote a post recently about keeping an editorial calendar and I was extremely impressed with myself because I had been doing that for a while in a spreadsheet but I didn't know it was an editorial calendar. Much more impressive title. I try to stay at least a week ahead and even more than that with the Monday giveaways and the Friday links. I probably have them done 3-4 weeks in advance. I don't want to be up at midnight, stressing myself out because I have to write a post for the next morning.
3. Be creative. I have much more flexibility with my professional blog because, well, it's a professional blog. For a professional newspaper. When I ask for giveaways, people are much more impressed with the newspaper blog than with my personal blog. But the personal blog picks up traffic from the professional blog because I link them together. I used to review children's books for a professional magazine so I decided this was something I could do again for this blog. I contacted dozens of publishers of children's books and, using my new credentials as a professional blogger, asked for review copies. Within days, I had a pile of books to review and give away on the blog.
4. Extend your blog beyond the computer. When I realized I was going to be reviewing books that people would want to buy, I went by the local bookstore and had a chat with the manager of the children's department. She agreed to display the books I reviewed, with a printout of that post and my picture. More readers followed from that display to the blog.
5. Think about how your everyday life could give you a great blog concept. I say concept and not idea, because I like things that have an arc, like a good story. Something that continues that makes people tune in and read. One thing I enjoy in the summer is eating on restaurant patios. A couple of months back, I thought "Huh. I should tell people about all these patios. I should review them. I should write about them." Hey. I should. And maybe I could give away some gift certificates, along with the reviews. I wonder if the restaurant managers would GIVE me gift certificates. I had professional business cards made, I introduced myself to the restaurant managers and, somewhat to my astonishment, they ALL gave me gift certificates. Hundreds of people are reading these reviews and making comments so they can enter the drawings.
6. Be persistent. But professional. A couple of restaurants I went to had managers without the power to give me gift certificates. I had to talk to the owners. I had to call back, go to the restaurants, follow up. I did all that. And they all gave me gift certificates.
7. Only do it if it's fun. If you are not having fun, enjoying yourself and just getting a kick out of what you are doing, it becomes a chore. And who wants to read about that? The patio dinners with my friends are a blast. Writing about them is easy. It's FUN. And so it should be.
8. Keep track of your ideas. I have seen this advice numerous times, but you have got to get those ideas down while they are fresh. I have notebooks in my car, by my bed, and I have been known to ask my husband to pause a show for just a second while I go type an idea on the computer. I have to keep track of those ideas because they are going, going, gone. I can't tell you the number of times I have written an entire wonderful, hilarious blog post in my head and then thought "Wait. What was I going to write about?"
9. If you want to be a good writer, you have to read. Read books, magazines, the newspaper, other blogs, and pretty much whatever you can put your hands on that has words in it. It will give you ideas, it will inspire you, it will help your vocabulary, your spelling and its fun. If you love to write, you probably love to read. Feed that love.
10. Do what you can handle. And don't feel guilty you can't do more. When the newspaper editor called me, I said I would write for them but only two days a week. I knew I couldn't write two blogs and write them daily. It would be way too much. Two days a week is manageable.
11. Have some long term goals. This is not a requirement, but I like the fact that I know I eventually want to make money from blogging. I want to do a lot more with the professional blog and I am building relationships now that will help with that goal.

I hope at least some of this advice will help one of my fellow bloggers. Stick with it. You are doing a great job. And I love your haircut.

Men vs. Women: Is There a Blogging Difference?

Sarah is the wife of Jesse, a very cool motorcycling husband, and the mommy of two sweet, amazing kiddos: a little girl (two and a half) and little boy (one). You can find her at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee. Please give her a hearty welcome!

"Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and soccer games and romances and best friends and favorite foods and secret fears and hopes and dreams. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house."
 
"There are 2 times when a man doesn't understand a woman - before marriage & after marriage."

We’ve all heard the above type jokes, right? With every joke, however, comes a hint (or more) of reality, and the difference between men and women is certainly very real. Want proof? One word: blogging.

The majority of the top blogs that men write and flock to are "tech" blogs. What do the majority of women flock to? You guessed it, mommy-type blogs, a.k.a., women writing about random things in their lives. In fact, one of the things I read most often on sites such as Problogger (which I love) is not to be too personal. Women defy this.

A prime example of a successful female blogger who defies the "no personal" rule: Dooce. This lady could write about poop (and I’m sure she has) and she will have a million readers. Why? Because she writes well and is relational. She’s a woman. Women, mainly, read her posts because they relate.

There’s your key: relate.

One of the number one rules on how to have a successful blog is to have a niche. Well guess what? Women don’t need a niche! We can write about what we darn well please and if we’re good at it, we’ll get noticed.

I have another example for you: This woman has approximately 50,000 people visit her two sites each week; in fact, she wrote a book called "No One Cares What You Had For Lunch, 100 Ideas For Your Blog." You wanna know something funny? She wrote about what she had for dinner. So why is she so popular? She writes well and is relational. BINGO!

In the men’s world of successful blogging, personal is out, business is in. For women, flip it. I’m not saying that women who have a niche are not successful (hello Huffington Post). I am saying that, in general, women can get away with not having a real niche and still become extremely popular.

So, what am I getting at with this post?

1. It’s a good idea to follow the main rules: content, niche, networking.
2. However, if you are a good writer, go ahead and write about what you had for lunch - you're a woman so you never know, you may become the next Dooce.

F.Y.I. - I do not necessarily support or read the linked bloggers, I am simply pointing out their popularity.

Blogging & PR Relationships

Stephanie Precourt blogs daily at Adventures In Babywearing. She is also the Managing Editor at 5 Minutes for Parenting. Please welcome Stephanie as she touches on the fragile PR/blogger relationship. This one is sure to encourage comments!

Ah, the blogger/PR relationship. It can be a touchy subject these days. Just as no two bloggers are alike, not everyone agrees with how reviews and advertising on blogs should be done. Mommy Bloggers are a target market. Possibly one of the biggest. Because when someone in our online entourage says something, we listen. And that has more power than any magazine or commercial you're going to fast forward during TV tonight.


How do you want your voice to be heard? How do you want to be approached about product reviews?

You first must understand that what you have to say is worth something. To each other, as friends, we share freely. But when companies want to cash in on this "something special" that we all have, we have to wise up. The idea of a free box of cereal bars or bathtub cleaner might excite you for a while, but is it really worth posting about on your blog- where your deepest thoughts and rants and raves make their home? Decide if that is the feel you want for your blog, and- if this is something important to you- determine how it might affect your readership as well. And then, how much is it really worth to you?

I feel the best way to maintain the feel of your blog as well as your integrity is to be mindful of what you agree to review or put in your sidebar. It should accurately represent you and your blog. One of my personal guidelines is that the products or advertisements must be something I honestly would consider buying or recommending in real life.

Understand that although you might be getting a free product or payment of some form, you are also doing a favor for that company. Recently I had an encounter with a business owner who was less than respectful to me about featuring her product. The entire time we spoke- in person!- she kept implying that she was doing me a favor by allowing me to review her product. Truthfully, most often we are not going to earn what is really worth our time to try out a product, form an opinion, and then type up a blog post. The belittling nature of this person toward me was enough to make me not want to even consider her product. But at the same time, it also reminded me that she was probably not familiar with just how to successfully work with and understand bloggers quite yet. And also, just as my blog is my product and important to me, she most likely felt the same way about hers.

This brings us to another issue: respect. You will see many heated blog posts all around the blogosphere bashing the PR folks and their unprofessional pitch emails and/or behavior toward Mommy Bloggers.

One thing I definitely think is so very important: just as we demand respect as Mommy Bloggers, we must also show equal respect to the people marketing us. Many times they are Moms just like you- and possibly unfamiliar with the blog world and how it all works. They make plenty of mistakes, too. I’ve received many an email pitch addressed to the wrong name or “insert blog name here.” It’s up to you how you’d like to handle such situations. I often choose to use the power of my voice to positively guide and direct the person so that they can have a better understanding of how to reach me.

Don’t be afraid to ask for more. Ask for an additional product to giveaway, or turn it into ad revenue by offering ad space in your sidebar. And don’t be afraid to say No. If it’s just not something you are interested in or worth it in the long run, then let them know. I’ve been contacted about products that clearly weren’t consistent with who I am and what my blog is about, so I’ve let the PR person know. Often this is a wonderful way to inform them about just what you would be interested in reviewing. So next time they will have something more “you” to offer.

Some bloggers want to be contacted and pitched to, but don’t know where to start. I encourage you to check out marketing programs geared toward Mom Bloggers such as Mom Select. Be bold and contact companies directly that you’d like to work with. Most company websites have a contact page where you can easily let them know your interest in working with them. Be prepared to provide traffic statistics and how many readers you have. If you are interested in putting advertising on your blog, consider groups such as Blogher Ads or Google Adsense, both of which do not discriminate how big or small your blog may be.

Remember that cultivating the blogger/PR relationship can be a wonderful thing for both sides. A mutually appreciated partnership can go a very long way. It has taken me to Disney World and, later this week, all the way to Blogher in San Francisco. If you are pleasant to work with and value yourself, you never know where future ideas and opportunities might take you… which can lead to just about anywhere these days in the blog world.

How to Upload Your Own Header in Blogger

Lani from The Wooden Porch is guest blogging for me today and explaining how to put your own banner on a Blogger blog. Let's give her a hearty welcome and leave lots of comments!

Here's a step-by-step guide with pictures to show you how easy it is to upload your own banner into your Blogger blog and make sure that it's positioned well and looks just as you want it without the Blogger lines around your new banner. It's easy. I promise. I'm going to hold your hand through it all. Seriously, my grandchildren's kids' great-grandma can do it, and she's a bit of a slow learner.

First, the header looked like this:

On my computer, I made a header that I wanted to insert instead of the regular option Blogger give me.

To begin the upload, I went to "Dashboard" and clicked on "Layout":

"Page Elements" should be automatically open:

You now want to click on the "edit" option on the header portion:

 

A new screen will open up. You want to do three things:

1. Upload your new header from your computer.
2. Choose "Instead of title and description".
3. Choose "Shrink to fit" (this resizes your header so it will fit your blog if your header ends up being too big).

A small version of your header will appear. Click "save".

By now you may be excited because you finally have your header up on your blog! However, it probably looks something like this:

Double lines are all around the header.

If you like the look, great. I don't. I want to get rid of them. To do so, choose "Edit HTML" under the "Layout" tab.

Before you do anything else, BACK UP YOUR TEMPLATE! (Which means highlight and copy the whole HTML code and paste it into Word.) I can tell you about a popular blog designer who accidentally messed things up quite a bit for herself once when she forgot to save her template. She even knew what the heck all the HTML stuff actually meant, so that should just go to say that the rest of us need to be extra careful before we go messing around with the template. 

Scroll through the HTML code. Look for the word "header". (Here's a quick tip for MAC users: Click on your "apple" button + F, then type in "header" in the box that opens on your screen. You'll find it faster that way. For PC users: use ctrl+F, then type "header" in the box that opens.)

Delete the lines that refer to the border.

Now it looks like this:

Now, click "preview".

Look! No lines!

Now save your template and you are done. Enjoy!

Mighty Helpful Links

Today's Mighty Helpful Links are brought to you by the ever-popular and knowledgeable Jordan from Momma Blogga. She has graciously agreed to guest post for me all week while I bask in the glory that is a family reunion. Welcome Jordan (as you always do) and leave her many comments so she'll come back!

• Using HTML in blogging: a quick reference on formatting text in posts (and comments) with 9 common HTML elements

• Images can make your posts pop—here are 10 best ways to find a perfect image for your blog post

• ProBlogger, always a good resource, gives us 10 ways to optimize your popular posts.  You can find popular posts on your blog with an analytics package like SiteMeter or Google Analytics or an on-site widget, depending on your blog platform.

• How do readers feel about blog ads?  See the results of a blog advertising survey.

• Blogger has a bunch of new features coming soon including an embedded comments box below posts (like TypePad and WordPress blogs).  You can use these new features on Blogger in Draft, and read about them on the Blogger in Draft blog.

• Couldn't get enough RSS goodies this week?  Check out these seven ways to master FeedBurner!

How can I encourage more people to subscribe to my blog?

Today's post is brought to you by the ever-popular and knowledgeable Jordan from Momma Blogga. She has graciously agreed to guest post for me all week while I bask in the glory that is a family reunion. Welcome Jordan (as you always do) and leave her many comments so she's come back!

Blog subscribers are one metric that bloggers often use to promote their blog, encourage advertisers and mark their progress.

Probably the most important thing you can do to encourage your readers to subscribe is to write good content.  (That's always the first tip in blogging!)  After that, though, you have to let your readers know what to do—encourage them to subscribe and make it easy on them.

One important way to do this is to add a standard RSS button to your blog.  People familiar with blogging will recognize the universal RSS symbol.

Also important with that button is to include text with it to explain it to people not as familiar with the RSS icon.  A good idea is to use a phrase like "Get updates to a feed reader" (or email) to help people who aren't familiar with the terminology of the blogosphere.  You should make this text, like the button it will accompany, a link to your feed.

Offering e-mail subscriptions opens up your blog to more subscribers than just people who use feed readers.  Once again, changing the default text in the widget to read something like "Get updates from this blog in e-mail" can help more people understand the function of this feature.

If you have a good number of subscribers (at least a few dozen, though professional blogs might want to wait until they reach at least 100) already and you're using FeedBurner or FeedBlitz, adding a feed count chicklet can encourage more people to subscribe.  This is called "social proof"—it sends the message that "all these people have found this information valuable, so you might, too."

Finally, if you're able to edit your blog template (as in Blogger, for example), you can add a line of text that will show up at the bottom of all your posts.  This has been called the "magic sentence," and usually takes the form of "If you enjoyed this post, you can get updates from this blog" or "subscribe to this blog."  This sentence should include a link to your RSS and/or e-mail feed.