One effective way to increase your blog’s pageviews

February 2, 2010

I’m currently conducting a bit of an experiment with the recent reinvention of WithPurpose.com.

I’ve kept this little blog of mine limping along since blogging antiquity. Uh, that would be May of 2004. (I like to say that makes me about 117 in blog years.) During that time, I’ve had ups and I’ve had downs but somehow my little piece of cyberspace has managed to survive.

Well, you know how life is — it’s all about priorities. Until recently, I was doing good just to keep some semblance of order in my roles as wife, mom and pastor’s wife. But 2010 has brought with it some change and I’m looking ahead to some new opportunities. Woohoo!

Part of that change has to do with this blog. For the last 6 years, I have been keenly observing a bunch of people around me jump into the game and make money blogging. I’ve dabbled a bit and have made a little extra cash (and I mean little). Frankly, it takes a whole lot of time and energy to turn an income and I’ve never had much of either to spare.

But now I’m gonna give it a shot. Because why not? That’s what I’m thinkin’. I have no idea if I’m going to be successful, but I’m going to try. By the way, if you want to watch me, be sure to subscribe! ::coughshamlessplugcough::

That was a lot of blab, I admit, but it leads me to my first lesson learned on this little journey of mine. It’s this:

Making money blogging is complex, but one thing that’s significant is pageviews. You want lots of them. So, my tip?

Link internally. Intentionally link to other posts within your site to keep people clicking around. See how I did it in the beginning of this post? Yeah, do it A LOT. It makes your site “sticky” which means lots more pageviews. Pageviews, I’m learning, are powerful blogging currency.

Want more blogging tips? I’ve got more here. And check out Works for Me Wednesday for even more!

Comments: 15 Comments
Category: Blogging & the Internet, Blogging How Tos

Parenting tip: How to reboot a sluggish outing with kids

February 2, 2010

I told you about how I keep kids occupied while out and about. And I told you the simple tip that has improved our kids’ behavior in public. Now I have yet another! (This parenting thing is all about hacks to make the system hum, right?)

So say we’re out somewhere and things start to fall apart — kids are going in all different directions, no one is listening and chaos is taking over. This is when I call a huddle.

I say, “Huddle!” and squat down so I’m on their level. We’ve done it so many times now that they know to come right away and they all gather around real close. I say, “Look at my eyes, look at my eyes.”

Once everyone is attentive, we regroup. I may or may not tell them what is happening that should not be happening. I always tell them what we are going to do and what I expect (“It’s too loud. Please use your inside voices.”). I always try to remember to reference “Go Team Andrews!” in some way. Sometimes we even put our hands in the middle and do a little cheer. Cheesy? Why yes, yes it is. But fostering a “we’re in it together and we have to count on each other” atmosphere is quite effective in encouraging everyone to shape up.

I love a good huddle — it’s like rebooting your computer. Everything seems to work just a little bit smoother.

What about you? What are your tricks to encourage decent behavior in public?

Comments: 2 Comments
Category: Kids, Parenting Tips & Tools

One easy tip that has drastically improved our behavior in public

February 1, 2010

Whether it’s the store, a restaurant, church, someone’s house, the Dr.’s office — anywhere outside of our house — there is great potential to encounter “issues” when galavanting around town. I already told you how we try to keep little people occupied while we’re out and about, but there’s another simple thing I do in an effort to nip any nonsense in the bud: I simply go over the expectations for behavior in the car prior to arriving at our destination.

So, for example, a few minutes before we are going to pile out of the car at the grocery store, I turn off all music and make sure everyone is listening. I then say something like:

“We’re going to the grocery store. Use your inside voice. J & A, you will ride in the cart. H & I, you will WALK close to the cart. Do not ask to buy anything. You may look but you may not touch anything in the cash register line. Does everyone understand?”

The key is to keep it short, sweet and clear. If there are any problems in the store, a reminder about what we talked about in the car is usually enough to straighten things out. Of course it doesn’t work every time, but it’s amazing how often it does.

Comments: 6 Comments
Category: Kids, Parenting Tips & Tools

One way I find lost items lickety split

January 29, 2010

This is a little trick I discovered recently and it works within minutes almost every single time. I can’t say it’ll work for everyone, but you just never know when you might find yourself in a situation where it’ll come in handy.

We’re forever losing stuff around here — someone’s shoe, my keys, my phone, whatever. It never fails right? You’re running out the door and you can’t find that thing you need to be able to run out the door!

I used to race around like a chicken with my head cut off searching for said item. Now I yell this:

“First one to find the _____ gets a quarter!” (Amounts may vary.)

You wouldn’t believe how quickly my house has 3 headless chickens running around…and I am no longer one of them. As far as I can tell, there are 3 things about it that provide much incentive: (1) money (2) competition (3) the chance to be a hero…because I make a BIG deal out of the person who finds whatever there is to find. You know, hugs and kisses and “So-and-so saved the day!” and a gold start sticker or something.

They have an uncanny ability to find stuff when they’re motivated. And I have an uncanny ability to pat myself on the back for thinking of such a brilliant idea.

(Your results may vary.)

Comments: 3 Comments
Category: Kids, Parenting Tips & Tools

How to use Twitter as a cleaning tool

January 28, 2010

Twitter ain’t all bad. Here’s one cool thing to do if you tweet. Check out #speedclean and the explanation of it by Kelleigh Ratzlaff.

Here’s the basic idea: At set times during the day, you’ll see Kelleigh tweet that it’s about time to #speedclean. Then you set your timer for 5-10 minutes and tackle the spot she suggests (or another spot that’s applicable to you).

I just did it with her and in 20 minutes I washed the dishes, wiped the counters, swept the floor, started the pizza dough and threw a load of laundry in the washing machine.

(My own addition: I also thought I should multitask a bit so I prayed for Kelleigh as I was doing it. I don’t know Kelleigh, but hey, why not?)

It was cool knowing she was somewhere doing the very same thing I was doing. Made it a lot more pleasant. I love ideas like this!

Comments: 2 Comments
Category: Blogging & the Internet, Cleaning, Lifehacks, Twitter
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