The Ultimate Blog Party #UBP13 + Win a Coaching Session with Me!

Ultimate Blog Party 2013
The 7th annual Ultimate Blog Party is now in full swing. From April 5 – 12, your fabulous hosts from 5 Minutes for Mom are providing prizes and linkies galore in an effort to connect mom bloggers from all over the world.

I participated in the Ultimate Blog Party last year for the first time. I “met” some great bloggers, discovered some cool new blogs and gained followers on my blog, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The best part about the Ultimate Blog Party is that you don’t need to dress up, find a babysitter or even leave your home.

If you are new here, welcome! My name is Jennifer Barbour and I am a copywriter, aspiring author and new media consultant. I tend to write about art, life, parenting, philanthropy, writing and other fun stuff. My aim with this blog is to inspire, to entertain and to make you think. My passions are writing, philanthropy, my awesome family and bacon, though not necessarily in that order. While you are here, feel free to read past posts, take a look at some of my work, find out about my coaching programs or read more about me.

There are even a couple of live events on Google+ and Twitter.

#UBP13 live events

And there are prizes. Lots and lots of prizes worth more than $20,000. In fact, you can even win a one-on-one coaching session with me!

Win a session with me through the Ultimate Blog Party!

Win a session with me through the Ultimate Blog Party!

So, what are you waiting for? Write a party post, grab a badge and start blog party hopping!

You can get all the details of #UBP13 on this page.

Are you participating in the Ultimate Blog Party?

Thank YOU

thank youIf you blog on WordPress, you are familiar with the annual report WordPress.com sends out at the end of the calendar year. The report gives you a nice snapshot of what you did with your blog over the course of the year.

Looking at my 2012 WordPress stats and those on Google Analytics, I am amazed at how much this blog has grown over just one year. My pageviews grew over 241% from 2011. A lot of the growth, I believe, has to do with consistency, – I blogged 248 times in 2012 – the power of social media, and commenting on other blogs.

Since it is National Thank You month, I wanted to take the time to thank you, my readers, for sticking with this blog.

I especially want to give a big shout out to my top 5 commenters on another jennifer for 2012. I read all of these amazing women’s blogs on a regular basis and encourage you to do so as well.

  1. Cynthia at Withywindle Blog
  2. Jen at We’re Living a Full Life
  3. Michelle at Callia’s Corner
  4. Chris at TheMomCafe.com
  5. Jenn at so this is love

Thanks, ladies!

And since nobody gets handwritten letters anymore, I thought I would honor National Thank You Month by offering real thank you notes to my readers. Seriously. Just leave me your address in a comment or via email, and I’ll send you a real handwritten note. One that I will actually take the time to write with a pen. I have some cool notecards I can use, and I’ll even throw in an another jennifer magnet and sticker.

Because, you know what? Taking the time to show your appreciation is also a simple way to give back.

Who will you thank this month?

Introducing the 2013 Writing Prompts & Editorial Calendar!

As National Blog Posting Month comes to a close (at least the November version anyway), it only seems fitting to reflect back on a month of daily writing.

Compared to last November, this year was a lot easier.

2013 writing prompts and editorial calendar

The 2013 Writing Prompts and Editorial Calendar is for anyone who writes on a regular basis.

Despite the fact that I’ve been blogging since 2007, I really feel like I found my voice by the end of NaBloPoMo last year. I wrote daily for the months of November and December and really got myself disciplined to the point where blogging was not as much of a chore anymore.

A big part of this transformation was planning. Knowing what I wanted to write about and when I wanted to write it. Timeliness counts in blogging, particularly if you are concerned with getting more people to read your blog.

The secret to my planning? I had a Word document where I would note upcoming days and months that celebrated things that interested me. Unusual holidays or awareness months that I might want to use as prompts to write a post, while also taking advantage of the fact that other people and organizations would be promoting similar thoughts and ideas. This helped me plan ahead for posts.

As I compiled these writing prompts by month, I realized that even if I didn’t want to use them, there are still various themes that come up when you look at what happens from month to month. Seasons, holidays, big sporting events, awareness campaigns, times of busyness or relaxation. They are cyclical.

Being aware of what is on the horizon helps me figure out what I want to write about now and in the future. I always have a few blog posts in my head now, and I fill in the blanks with the random things that come along and inspire me to write.

Content is easy to come up with when you let it come to you. So, I’m excited to launch my very first e-book that’s really more like an e-workbook. It’s my 2013 Writing Prompts and Editorial Calendar that delivers month by month ideas and resources to use for your blog posts, newsletter articles or whatever else you might be writing. You’ll also get a blank editorial calendar that you can use to plan posts ahead of time and/or document posts that you have written. It’s a great tool that you can use the entire year.

The e-workbook is designed to help you write more often, using timely content, in an organized manner. And you can get it for free when you sign up for my monthly newsletter.

Sign up, download the ebook, and let me know what you think. I hope it will help you come up with great content throughout 2013.

What’s your secret to coming up with regular blog content?

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