Bloggiesta finished up this morning and I’m finally able to put together my wrap-up post. This time around Bloggiesta was a little different for me. With the Mini-Challenge that I hosted about Stats, I was able to help answer some questions via email and Twitter. It was really really fun! Sorry for any of you that were on the receiving end of my long winded emails, but when I get going with that type stuff I can go on for a long time. So, most of my time with Bloggiesta was spent doing that, BUT I did get a lot of other great tasks accomplished and I’m feeling pretty good.

So, this is what I started with when I began Bloggiesta:

• Schedule at least 14 Posts.
• Post my reviews to the following sites: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Indiebound, Amazon, Kidlitosphere, Book Army, B&N, etc.
• Set up a Calendar on Google.
  
• Organize my Author Interviews & Websites into a separate page.
• Gather a List of Bloggers I love and post a separate page.
• Create a Book News Page.
• Create an Awards Page.

Here’s the skinny on what I really accomplished:

• Set up a Calendar on Google. I was able to put this together, plus coordinate it with my Google Docs & Reminder Fox scheduling data so that I’m all planned out! YAY!
• Add more “Guests” to my “When I Was Young” Feature. I sent out a total of 15 requests and just looked again, I have 3 more to send out. Wohoo! This is a huge thing, because this is one of my favorite parts of the site and I want to see it keep going. So yay!
• Scheduled a total of 2 Reviews, but set up about 16 posts/reviews so they’re ready to go when I am finished with the books.
• Post all of my reviews to the following sites: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Indiebound, Amazon, Kidlitosphere, Book Army, B&N, etc. I’m just about done with all of this (although, I did give up on Book Army, every time I entered a review it went away to nowhere, boo!), but I still need to add them to the Kidlitosphere. All-in-all pretty good I think.
• Gather a List of Bloggers I love and post a separate page. This is the page titled “Links” and so far it’s not looking so hot. So, this is definitely still a work in progress.

Things I’m still planning on doing this coming week:

• Schedule out a few more posts.
• Organize my Author Interviews & Websites into a separate page.
• Create a Book News Page.
• Create an Awards Page.

All in all, pretty good. I’m so glad I was able to help so much this time around and I can’t wait to join in Bloggiesta again next time around. Although, next time I may just be a cheerleader, I seriously need a nap now. )

On to Day 3 of the 3rd Bloggiesta! Today was kind of rough. My hubby was able to go help someone move this morning and The Turkeybird decided it wanted to be up at 4:30 AM, which didn’t exactly bode well for my concentration. I was still able to press on and got a few things I wanted done accomplished. How about everyone else? Any fabulous new progress to report?

• Set up a Calendar on Google. Done!
• Add more “Guests” to my “When I Was Young” Feature – So far, I’m up to 14 (and I’ve emailed them all!), but would still love to schedule more!
• Schedule at least 14 Posts. – So far, I’ve done 14 reviews and some templates. Not bad. Still need a few more
• Post my reviews to the following sites: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Indiebound, Amazon, Kidlitosphere, Book Army, B&N, etc. (I’ve done about 20 and I’m still plugging away!)
• Organize my Author Interviews & Websites into a separate page.
• Gather a List of Bloggers I love and post a separate page.
• Create a Book News Page.
• Create an Awards Page.

Wish me luck and I’ll be stopping by a few of my fellow participants to see how they’re doing during my rest stops!

Make sure to check out my two Mini-Challenges! Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: It’s All About the Numbers (learn all about how to utilize your stats to make your blog even better) and Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: It’s Not Cheating (learn all about backing up that data you desperately don’t want to lose).

So, it’s day two of the 3rd Bloggiesta, you’re starting to lose a bit of speed and need a bit of a push. Pick up your favorite Mexican snack food and your must-have sweet and dig in! Saturdays are always great for getting tons done and I can’t wait! I’ve only accomplish a few things, but still been able to cross some difficult tasks off the list. Hopefully today will be a banner day and I’ll be able to cross of most of it. What do you think? You think I can? Let’s see how it goes!

• Schedule at least 14 Posts. – So far, I’ve done 2, with templates set up for about 7, just need to add reviews. Not bad.
• Post my reviews to the following sites: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Indiebound, Amazon, Kidlitosphere, Book Army, B&N, etc.
• Set up a Calendar on Google. Done!
  
• Organize my Author Interviews & Websites into a separate page.
• Gather a List of Bloggers I love and post a separate page.
• Create a Book News Page.
• Create an Awards Page.
• Add more “Guests” to my “When I Was Young” Feature – So far, I’m up to 10, but would still love to schedule more!

Wish me luck and I’ll be stopping by a few of my fellow participants to see how they’re doing during my rest stops!

Make sure to check out my two Mini-Challenges! Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: It’s All About the Numbers (learn all about how to utilize your stats to make your blog even better) and Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: It’s Not Cheating (learn all about backing up that data you desparately don’t want to lose).

I’m very excited to have the opportunity to host a Mini-Challenge for the 3rd Edition Bloggiesta put together by Natasha of Maw Books. The last Bloggiesta was my very first and I accomplished so much that I knew I wanted to participate again. So, without further babbling on my part…

As a book reviewer or someone just looking to improve their overall site, stats can be a very useful tool. This can also be a source of great stress and confusion for most bloggers, even those of us who have been doing it for some time now. So in an effort to help sort through the numbers and get to the information you really need to know we’re offering up this mini-challenge. The overall goal here though is to have fun, learn something new and hopefully improve on your already fabulous site!

Your assignment: Set up one account with a Stats Site and have some fun with it!

• Google Analytics (Personally, this is the one I use and I really like how easy it is to use.)
  *Added* WordPress users may want to install this plug-in to make it really easy to access your GA stats: Google Analytics for WordPress
• Woopra (Similar to Google Analytics just a different style.)
• Site Meter (I also use this as a backup, easy to grab stats. They also email you once a week.)
• StatCounter (Simple to use counter showing number of hits and location daily. Also, one of the few that work with Wordpres.com websites.)
• IceRocket by Blog Tracker (Suggested by Stacy from A Novel Source)

Let’s Play Around with That Great Data Now: There are a few “Big” things that can get you started off in your journey with stats. Below is a list of suggestions to start with as well as some tips on where to find the information you’re looking for. Remember that the data you are looking at will only be from the date you started your Stats account, most don’t go back to your blog start date.

• Average Daily Hits. The number of people visiting your site everyday.
  Using Google Analytics click on the “Visitor Trending” Tab and then “Visits”. This will tell you the average number of visits per day based on the dates you put in the top right box.
• Average Monthly Page Views. The number of “pages” viewed each month. Pages can be tabs, menus, archives, anything that takes them away from the home page.
  Using Google Analytics click on the “Visitor Trending” Tab and then “Pageviews”. This will tell you the number of pageviews for your site based on the dates you put in the top right box. If you want to calculate your monthly number, just pull out your calculator and divide the number by of months during this time.
• Average Monthly Unique Visitors. The number of “brand new” visitors to your site.
  Using Google Analytics click on the “Visitor Trending” Tab and then “Absolute Unique Visitors”. This will tell you the number of unique visitors for your site based on the dates you put in the top right box. If you want to calculate your monthly number, just pull out your calculator and divide the number by of months during this time.
• Current RSS Subscribers.
  Make sure to head over to Puss Reboots Mini-Challenge to set up your RSS feed. Once this is done you can install a button that tells you how many subscribers you have or just check it from time to time.

Additional Tools:

• Problogger: If you haven’t subscribed to Problogger’s site, I would highly recommend it. He always has a ton of great tips for improving your site. His article 17 Statistics to Monitor on Your Blog is perfect for anyone at any level and will give you some extra fun things to look at with your blog stats over time.
• Google Analytics Blog: This is perfect because if you have a question, they’re sure to have an answer. If you are a beginner, they even have a category to use to get started called Beginner Topics.
• YouTube also has a great video by Google called, Beginning Analytics: Interpreting and Acting on Your Data, just don’t pay attention to the bit about e-commerce unless you’re really interested in it. There are also some other great Analytics videos on there you can check out.
• Smashing Voice also has a fantastic Guide to Using Google Analytics and Tools.
• Woopra has a great set of posts all about Using Woopra, as well as a video review that has me thinking about trying it out.

Remember, this should be fun! Play around with the stats and use them to make your site better. If you notice a particular month has low visits, take a look at what you blogged about and compare it to a more visited month. You may find that your visitors like a certain post more than another. Use these tools to keep improving and enjoying your blogging experience.

I’m by no means an expert, but if you have questions, again, feel free to contact me either on Twitter, via email (the1stdaughter {at} gmail {dot} com) or on my contact page.

Natasha has some wonderful prizes for those of you who participate in these challenges so once completed this challenge come back and let me know how it went in the comments below. You have until the end of Bloggiesta to complete this mini-challenge and report.

Enjoy the Bloggiesta festivities and ‘Ole’!

While you’re at it take a look at these mini-challenges new to this round of Bloggiesta:

• Kim and Jackie at the Blog Improvement Project (@kimthedork and @farmlanebooks) – Take a step back and view your blog as a whole.  Where do you want to go from here?  On goals and analyzing your blogs (I’d do this one early and first).
• Jennifer at Girls Gone Reading (@girlsgonereadin)- Do you have a review policy?  Do you even need or want one?
• Sarah at Puss Reboots (@pussreboots) – What is RSS and how to make it so your feed is easily discoverable.
• Pam from MotherReader (@MotherReader) – Be brave in your writing and push the limits of what your comfortable with.
• Cass at Bonjour Cass (@bonjourcass) – It’s often said the best part of book blogging is the community.  Go discover them in this commenting challenge!

This is my second Bloggiesta and it seems like just yesterday I completed my first. Time flies! Experience has taught me though to be more concise with my goals and expectations for the amazing weekend. That way I can enjoy more of the challenges and social aspects of Bloggiesta. So, without further adieu, my list of goals for the weekend:

• Schedule at least 14 Posts.
• Post my reviews to the following sites: Goodreads, LibraryThing, Indiebound, Amazon, Kidlitosphere, Book Army, B&N, etc.
• Set up a Calendar on Google. Done!
  
• Organize my Author Interviews & Websites into a separate page.
• Gather a List of Bloggers I love and post a separate page.
• Create a Book News Page.
• Create an Awards Page.

Good luck to everyone involved! Make sure to enjoy some fantastic food, cross off some goals, and enjoy the great company! I’ll see you around!
Make sure to check out my past Bloggiesta Mini-Challenge: It’s Not Cheating, for those of you in need of a “back-up” list, it’s perfect!

Also, for those of you wondering, what in the heck is Bloggiesta? It’s basically a weekend long event that bloggers (primarily book bloggers, but anyone can really) join together to focus on “sprucing-up” their blogs. It could be anything from adding buttons, writing posts, requesting guest posts or cleaning up tags & categories. Truly, the sky is the limit and it’s all about your blog for an entire weekend. Interested in joining in? Checkout the sign-up post over at Maw Books Blog for all the details.

Yes, I know, “wonderfulness” is not a word, oh well! I have to say I feel like I’ve climbed a mountain with a mariachi band in tow. It was a blast and I feel like I was able to accomplish more than I ever thought I would. Whew!

Here’s the short list:

• Hours Spent: 26
• Mini-challenges completed: 14
• Comments Left: 50+ (I think it was more, but I stopped keeping track.)
• Favorite Part: Feeling of accomplishing SO much!
• Least Favorite: Not taking enough time to write.

My long list of all I did:

• Pam’s mini-challenge on copyrighting.
• My favicon IS working! That’s was over at Trish’s site for those of you interested.
• Finished my Google Reader with Rebecca’s mini-challenge on how to get things under control. And boy did it help! My GR is amazing now!
• Over at Farm Lane Books Blog Jackie is hosting a super-easy mini-challenge that will be a life saver in the event you lose your blog sometime. I did it in a matter of seconds, honestly, it took longer to write the follow-up comment. Check it out and back up your blog!
• Great way to get your site organized: Label and categorize your posts! Check out Beth’s post at Beth Fish Read’s and start labeling. I was lucky enough to start doing this from the get go and man does it make a difference!
• Checked out my deadlinks with Karin at Karin’s Book Nook. Great reference material for future use as well!
• Jill’s comment challenge coincided nicely with Mother Reader’s and I was able to complete that as well. I’ve actually commented on well-over 20 new blogs and more than 50 total this weekend.
• Got listed at Kidlitosphere! Wohoo! Thanks to this little challenge at The Infant Bibliophile. And set up my button!
• Set up my Google Alerts thanks to Emily at Emily’s Reading Room!
• Completed the Anchors Away mini-challenge at GalleySmith’s site and know it’s been helping, my site is actually showing up in a Google Search now!
• Had my site graded and only received a 78…again. I’m thinking I’ll work on this for next Bloggiesta again. Thanks though Bookish Ruth!
• The Comment Challenge hosted by Mother Reader this has been really fun! I plan on keeping it up past Bloggiesta through the end of her challenge.
• Set up a few more feature spotlights. I’ve actually set up an extra months worth so far, but I’d really like to have more. If you’re interested in participating just let me know!
• Set up an RSS email feed option as well as added some new pretty buttons for them.
• I’m set up and ready to go in Kristen’s blogging mentor program.
• Made my blogging buddies “official”, learned all about that from Amy!
• Fixed my contact page. I think. If you notice any problems try and let me know, I’d really appreciate it!
• Chatted with tons of great new friends in Twitter land!

What I didn’t get done and am still going to be working on:

• Believe it or not, I did not finish my own cheat sheet! I did get a lot of it put together, but I still need to do some tweaking.
• Jenn had a great post all about creating 10 Post ideas that I wanted to take advantage of. Alas, I will be working on this one as time goes forward.
• Write at least this weeks worth of posts. This means I will be up typing away this week, but that’s probably okay since The Baker is still studying away for his Bar Exam.
• Update Goodreads, Glue, and Amazon with reviews.
• Clean up my archive page.

All in all I feel really great about all I was able to accomplish. I can always write more and that’s the large majority of what I didn’t get to. The technical stuff I’m really happy about and it was great to have such wonderful resources available to get through it all, as well as everyone on Twitter. Next time around I think I’d like to see more about what I didn’t do great on: writing, more on grading your website and how to improve visibility. I also think it might be fun to have a challenge to see how many review we can get transfered to sites like amazon, glue, goodreads, etc. It was all great though!

Thanks again to Natasha at Maw Books Blog for organizing Bloggiesta, getting all the mini-challenges together and gathering all the wonderful prizes that will be awarded. It’s been a fabulous weekend and I’m looking forward to it again in June!

Here it is, Day 3, wow! This really has been a whirlwind of a great adventure! Let’s start off with all the fabulous things I’ve been able to accomplish:

• Pam’s mini-challenge on copyrighting.
• Make sure my favicon keeps working, it comes and goes like it’s visiting other sites or something. That’s at Trish’s site for those of you interested.
• Finish my Google Reader with Rebecca’s mini-challenge on how to get things under control. That’s the first thing to get going! Yay! I did it!
• Over at Farm Lane Books Blog Jackie is hosting a super-easy mini-challenge that will be a life saver in the event you lose your blog sometime. I did it in a matter of seconds, honestly, it took longer to write the follow-up comment. Check it out and back up your blog!
• Great way to get your site organized: Label and categorize your posts! Check out Beth’s post at Beth Fish Read’s and start labeling. I was lucky enough to start doing this from the get go and man does it make a difference!
• Checked out my deadlinks with Karin at Karin’s Book Nook. Great reference material for future use as well!
• Okay, so I just keep adding and adding, but Jill’s comment challenge coincided nicely with Mother Reader’s and I was able to complete that as well.
• Got listed at Kidlitosphere! Wohoo! Thanks to this little challenge at The Infant Bibliophile.
• Set up my Google Alerts thanks to Emily at Emily’s Reading Room!
• Completed the Anchors Away mini-challenge at GalleySmith’s site and know it’s been helping, my site is actually showing up in a Google Search now!
• Had my site graded and only received a 78…again. I’m thinking I’ll work on this for next Bloggiesta again. Thanks though Bookish Ruth!

What I want to accomplish today:

• Keep going with the Comment Challenge hosted by Mother Reader, yesterday I made about 20 comments at all new sites I’d never commented at before and I’d like to keep that up. It has been really fun!
• Set up a few more feature spotlights. I’ve actually set up a few so far, but I’d really like to have more. If you’re interested in participating just let me know!
• Write at least this weeks worth of posts.
• Jenn has a great post all about creating 10 Post ideas that I’m going to take advantage of!
• Set up my Kidlitosphere button! I just found out today that I’ve been added to the site, which also helps to knock off another challenge!
• Believe it or not, I need to work on my own cheat sheet and get a little more organized that way!
• I’m really interested in Kristen’s blogging mentor program.
• I need to make my blogging buddies “official”, learn more from Amy! Done! Wohoo!
• Clean up my archive page.

Wow! That’s a lot to do today, but I think I can manage to get quite a lot of it done. If not, I’ll just keep going through the week. Thanks again to Natasha at Maw Books for organizing this event, it has been fabulous!

On a side note, I’d like to mention that Kristen over at Bookworming in the 21st Century is featuring yours truly! If you have a minute, take a look!

Well, here goes day two of Bloggiesta! Day one was fabulous even if I feel like I spent most of the day on cleaning out my Google Reader (and it’s still not done, almost). Hopefully today I’ll be able to accomplish quite a bit since I have no kiddos to keep track of for the most part. I do have to make a quick run to the library and to the store, but the rest of the day will be spent with my eyes glued to the screen. Here’s what’s on the agenda for today:

• Keep going with the Comment Challenge hosted by Mother Reader, yesterday I made about 20 comments at all new sites I’d never commented at before and I’d like to keep that up. It was really fun!
• Pam’s mini-challenge on copyrighting.
• Jenn has a great post all about creating 10 Post ideas that I’m going to take advantage of!
• Make sure my favicon keeps working, it comes and goes like it’s visiting other sites or something. That’s at Trish’s site for those of you interested.
• Finish my Google Reader with Rebecca’s mini-challenge on how to get things under control. That’s the first thing to get going! Yay! I did it!
• Set up a few more feature spotlights. If you’re interested in participating just let me know!
• Write at least this weeks worth of posts.
• If I get done with that I’ll refer to my first day’s list and go from there.

Just Added:

• Over at Farm Lane Books Blog Jackie is hosting a super-easy mini-challenge that will be a life saver in the event you lose your blog sometime. I did it in a matter of seconds, honestly, it took longer to write the follow-up comment. Check it out and back up your blog!
• Great way to get your site organized: Label and categorize your posts! Check out Beth’s post at Beth Fish Read’s and start labeling. I was lucky enough to start doing this from the get go and man does it make a difference!
• Checked out my deadlinks with Karin at Karin’s Book Nook. Great reference material for future use as well!
• Okay, so I just keep adding and adding, but Jill’s comment challenge coincided nicely with Mother Reader’s and I was able to complete that as well.

Good luck to everyone participating and I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around! If you haven’t signed up, it’s not too late, go do it!

So, here it is! Bloggiesta! Wohoo! I have a long list of what I want to accomplish and a pretty free weekend ever since I informed The Baker of my voluntary exile behind a computer screen for the duration. First things first, mini-challenges. There are so many, including the one I am hosting that you definitely need to check out if you are at all interested in saving time. I don’t think I will be able to get to them all, but here are a few I’m really looking forward to sinking my teeth into:

• I’m already in for the Comment Challenge hosted by Mother Reader, I just need to sign up on Mr.Linky.
• Believe it or not, I need to work on my own cheat sheet and get a little more organized that way!
• Definitely going to check out Pam’s mini-challenge on copyrighting, I’ve already seen some of my images and words dragged places I don’t want them.
• I’m really interested in Kristen’s blogging mentor program.
• Even if my site is relatively new I really don’t want to lose any of it. I’ve never had this problem with past blogs, but I’ve never used WordPress before so who’s to say it can’t happen? So, I’m heading over to Jackie’s post on backing up your blog at some point.
• And who doesn’t need an excuse to have posts saved for a rainy day? Jenn has a great post all about creating 10 Post ideas that I’m going to take advantage of!
• Done!!! YAY! I highly recommend doing this, so easy: I’ve really, and I mean really got to figure out my favicon thingy. It’s all added but for some reason, not working. So, that’s on the list over at Trish’s site.
• I need to make my blogging buddies “official”, learn more from Amy!
• Listed a few places, but could probably use some more. This is where The Infant Bibliophile comes in..
• Boy do I need to clean up my feedreader! Rebecca has got an excellent post on how to get things under control and I’m going to take full advantage of it.

That’s the list from all the places I plan to go this weekend, it may be more I just have to see how much I can get done. Here’s the list I want to accomplish all on my own:

• Get my business cards set up and ordered.
• Manage and set up all the reading challenges I plan on doing this year.
• Set up a few more features I want to have lined up and ready to go.
• Write at least 5 review posts.
• Clean up my archive page.

Those are just a few things, but I’m already getting worried so I think I’ll stop there for now. If I get it all done, maybe I’ll treat myself to a new book! Either way I think this is going to be a great weekend and one where I will be able to accomplish A LOT! I’m loving Bloggiesta and if you haven’t signed up, it’s not too late, go do it!

I’m so excited to have the opportunity to host a Mini-Challenge for the 2nd Edition Bloggiesta put together by Natasha of Maw Books.

My blog is relatively new, but I’m slowly learning that information can pile up before your very eyes. When I started out, my intention was to write reviews and do a few features, but oh how they can pile up when you get bogged down with the “little things”. And I’m not talking about doing the dishes or watching the kids, although those I can’t really control. But here’s something you can control: A CHEAT SHEET!

Your assignment: Create a cheat sheet for your blog.

Your cheat sheet could contain url’s, links, and html code or it could just be a template that you use every time you want to write a review. It’s also a good idea to have one available as a text file on your computer and another as a Google Doc so you can access it online if needed.  The great thing about having it set up this way is that it’s searchable.  If you want to refer someone to a book review or a post that you wrote a year ago, you don’t have to search your blog every single time you’re looking for the URL.  Rather, you can just do a CTRL-F in your cheat sheet and have the URL in seconds. I’ve created a “mock cheat sheet” of some simple headings you can use to get started, but I suggest starting your own page just for your site. Use tabs you already have set up in your blog as an easy guide and list any documentation under each heading.

Here are a few questions to think about when creating a cheat sheet:

• Are there URL’s that you are constantly looking for?  (Authors, publishers, archives, etc.)
• Links that you are continually referencing? (Affiliate relationships, photo sharing sites, meme links, etc.)
• Do you use the same format every time you post a review? Would it help to have a form/template ready to go?
• What happens if you lose content, a side bar or my about page? Can you throw together a new page or would it be easier to have the code saved somewhere?
• Do you have a template for author interviews or features you’d like to be more easily accessible?

I’m sure there are a lot of other questions you could think of when putting your own cheat sheet together. If you think of any or have any other tips let us know! I’d personally love more help on the subject, as someone whose fairly new and wants to get ahead of the game.

Natasha has some wonderful prizes for those of you who participate in these challenges so once you’ve put together your cheat sheet come back and let me know how it went. You have until the end of Bloggiesta to complete this mini-challenge and report.

Added: When you’re done here make sure to check out these other mini-challenges new this go-around.

• Rebecca from The Book Lady’s Blog – 2010 Resolutions.  You know you got them!
• Pam from MotherReader -  Blogging is about community, so check out this Comment Challenge (watch for a Mr. Linky to be up on Saturday for you to complete this challenge).
• Pam from Bookalicio.us – There is nothing worse than seeing your post on somebody else’s blog.  Talking about blog copyright and what you need to be doing to protect yourself.
• Beth from Beth Fish Reads – Using categories & labels to find what you’re looking for.
• Jackie from Farm Lane Books – Do not lose it all!  How to back up your blog.
• Karin from Karin’s Book Nook – There is nothing worse than landing on 404 error pages.  It’s time to go on a dead link hunt!
• Chelle from Tempting Persephone – You have some great content.  But can people find it?  Here’s showing off the best of the best.
• Kristen from Bookworming in the 21st Century -  Introducing a new blogger mentoring program and forum.
• Jenn from Jenn’s Bookshelves – Got nothing to say (not likely – that’s why you’re blogging in the first place!) but here is an opportunity to brainstorm blogging topics.

Enjoy the Bloggiesta festivities and ‘Ole’!