The Blogging Advantage: March 2015

My First Event as a Blogger: BPI Auto Madness

One of the nice things about joining a Blogging Group is the opportunity to blog about events. Many companies tap blog groups to create articles on their events. Cebu Blogging Community was asked to send bloggers to the BPI Auto Madness Event in Ayala and I volunteered to join this particular event. While I have been concentrating on my Kalami Cebu Food Blog, I have other blogs where I can put my article for the BPI Auto Madness.

My 5 Tips on Overcoming Blogger's Block

I am in the middle of a 30-day blogging challenge. For 23 straight days, I am able to post at least one blog post in at least one of my blogs. I am really concentrating on my Kalami Cebu Food Blog and I think I have written in that blog for 24 straight days already. It was not that easy, but I did manage to survive, so far. One of the most instrumental factors in making me write every day is actually the 30 day blogging challenge FB Group. I am practically forced to write anything because of the challenge. I am really determined to finish it. I have been blogging on and off for years already and the past month has been my busiest blogging month of all-time. Once I finished the challenge, I think the new challenge would be how to sustain the momentum.

Some psychologists say that it takes 21 days to form a habit. I guess I am well past that, but there are days that the creative juices are just not there. Here are some of the things that I usually do when it happens:

1. Watch TV for like an hour. I usually watch television and check on news and also food and lifestyle channels. A lot of times, the information that I get from TV shows inspires me to write something. There is a little risk that you might get too engrossed with TV show that you watched and you end up wasting some valuable time.

2. Exercise. One of my biggest enemies is procrastination. Sometimes, the mind is willing but the body would just want to laze around. To snap out of it, I usually do some push-ups or walk around the neighborhood. Doing some household chores could also have a similar effects. Exercise is really a good starter.

3. Meditate or Nap. Basically, I try to "unthink". I want to defocus myself from blogging and what I want to write about. I try to just focus on my breathing for around 5 minutes. After a brief meditation, I usually come up with something so different than the paragraph where I got stuck. In other times, I just take a short nap to refresh my mind.

4. Go to a cafe and work there. I write about food and sometimes a change of environment can do a lot of wonders. Ordering a delicious-looking food could even spark my creativity. Having coffee also helps me in improving my focus.

5. Write about anything for 10 minutes. You can write a haiku, a story, a daydream, or a rant. Sometimes the best words and sentences come out after doing free writing. I am actually writing this article as part of my free writing phase because I got stuck writing about a new restaurant that opened near our office.

The 5 tips that I wrote worked for me and I hope it will work for you. If you happen to have a bright idea about overcoming blogger's or writer's block, feel free to comment. ;)

#365DayBloggingChallenge: 5 Things I liked about the CBC Ultimate Meetup

Date: March 7, 2015
Venue: Diamond Suites and Residences
Event: Cebu Blogging Community Ultimate Meet-up and Pool Party

Last week, I joined the first ever meet up of the Cebu Blogging Community. I officially joined the group just a few days prior and I really did not know anybody there. I was even a bit hesitant to come, but I was able to force my self to go to the meet-up.

I left home early but I arrived at the venue a quarter past 1pm because of the unusual Saturday traffic in the F. Cabahug area. I have to go to Subangdaku to avoid the logjam. I thought I was really late. Good thing, the event have not started yet. I was really happy that I pushed through in going there.

Here are 5 things I love about the CBC Ultimate Meet-up:

5. Venue. I am quiet thankful that Diamond Suites and Residences were generous in letting the group use one of their meeting rooms for the event. General Manager Aneth Galoy was even there to lead her team in greeting the participants. Sales Executive Keene Albert Tan also did his part to make the group feel at home. Diamond Suites and Residences provided snacks for our afternoon program. After our program, we were even a given tour to their hotel rooms.

#365daybloggingchallenge: Joining a Blogging Community and its advantages

Blogging has been my pastime for several years now. I can do it in spurts and sometimes it will take me weeks before I have another post. Recently, I have been writing a lot to the point thatI fantasize to become a full-time blogger. The hours that I spent blogging and trying to improve my search rankings led to some Facebook groups of people that are into blogging. I joined a few of them and see if it can help sustain my interest in blogging.

One of the newest group I joined is the Cebu Blogging Community. It is a group of bloggers from my city. I like this group because first we are from the same city and second, it is a fun mix of people and personalities. A lot of the members are just like me who just blog for fun but there are also many members who are really serious bloggers.

Here are some advantages about joining a blogging group:

1. Meeting like-minded people - Meeting people who has the same passion to create will definitely improve your interest in blogging. These people are the ones who can courage you to continue what you are doing and they also understand the challenges that blogger/writes face in making an awesome blog. You can learn a lot from fellow bloggers and you can even good ideas for your future posts.

2. Link-Building Opportunities - Having blogger friends can improve your search rankings by linking articles to each other's blog.

3. Blogging Together - There are people who likes to do things alone but sometimes having a companion can also make the activity more fun. Having someone to talk to could give you some ideas that could make a post more interesting.

4. Syndication - Syndication activities can help in Search Engine Optimization and in generating likes, shares, and comments to your posts. Fellow bloggers can definitely help generate buzz into your blog.

5. Guest Blogging - You can easily find people who blog about the same thing in a Blogging Group. Food Bloggers for example can guest post in each other's blog to promote their blogs.

6. Event Invites - Some blogging groups are really active in events. There is power in the collective and being in a very proactive group can really widen your blogging opportunities.

7. Tips and Tricks - You can learn a lot from fellow bloggers. A group can facilitate training in writing, SEO, monetization, design, and many other important aspects in blogging. Some groups hold meet-ups and coaching sessions that can enhance the skills of bloggers.

#365dayblogging challenge Tips: Save drafts and schedule posts

There are just days that you are inspired to blog. On those days, words and ideas flow seamlessly from your brain to your keyboard. You have to take advantage of these days. It is the perfect time for you to switch to a higher gear and just write every idea that pops out in your head. Those are rare moments but when it comes, you have to make the most out of it. You would be lucky to be able to get that kind of concentration for a day. Sometimes it could just be for an hour but the same principle apply. Just write anything.

Writing consistently is really the hard part of full-time blogging. It is really difficult for someone to practically write anything everyday with the same quality and output. One of the best tips that I have received in blogging was to schedule posts. Scheduling allows you to plot your posts in the coming days. The best blogs run buy 1 person do not post too many articles in one day. It is not ideal to post 5 articles a day unless you are a news blog. You have to give each post a chance to be read and appreciated by your readers. You also have to devote some time sharing your posts to social media and forums. Good thing blog platforms now allow you to schedule posts and make drafts.

In the past, there were weeks that I became "silent" in all my blogs. The lull made me more lazy and it usually takes me weeks to recover. By reading the I can "pre-post" some entries I think those silent moments will be a thing of the past.

Another good idea is to make a calendar in excel and plot your posts on scheduled dates. I may call it a blog planner. You can write in a notebook or plot it via excel. It is a simple to make you more organized and also tp prevent non-writing days.

In the end, I want you want to remember to pre-write some posts and schedule its final editing and release. It is also good to have a monthly or even a bi-monthly planner to be more productive and organized. Happy Blogging!