Tag: group-writing-project

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June Group Writing Project Day 2

We aren’t losing any steam in the middle of the group writing project week! I’m really quite impressed with not only the number of entries that are rolling in but more so their quality. (And I gotta say, Karen at PediaScribe is really working this project—I find that she’s commenting on some posts even before I can! Awesome job!)

Today we have another nine entries in the writing project, which means we’ve received almost as many entries in the first two days as we did in the whole first group writing project!

These posts range from the hilarious to the inspiring, so get to reading! And of course, submit your posts, too.

I had a strange idea for my list today: Three things I want Hayden to forget.

  1. My yelling. I have a temper sometimes (today has been one of those days 🙁 ). Usually I’m good about not yelling at him, but it always terrifies him when I slip. I also hope that I grow in patience and understanding so that as he gets old enough to form lasting memories, this will be less of an issue.
  2. How dirty the house gets some days. I try, I really do, but some days it’s just too much—either the house is just too messy for me to even begin to clean it or I just have too many balls in the air and that’s always the first one that gets dropped.
  3. Where we keep the cookies. ‘Nuff said.

I can’t wait to read your posts!

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Contests

June Group Writing Project Day One

Wow, guys, we’re off to an amazing start in the group writing project! Seven entries today, and all absolutely wonderful! I’m beyond impressed with the entries so far. Thank you all for taking the time to participate!

Without further ado, here’s today’s list:

Discover new blogs, read, comment: they all deserve it! And don’t forget to submit your posts.

My contribution today, as hostess, is “three things I’d like for Hayden to grow out of quickly.”

  1. Temper tantrums. Good luck there, since I’ve been known to throw them occasionally . . . like . . . in the last few months . . .
  2. Completely unintelligible speech. Yes, it’s cute, but it would be nice if I could understand him. Sometimes I think I almost can. On the other hand, he’s suddenly picking new signs with alarming speed: this weekend he learned milk, today he learned bird (which, sadly, he signs just like dog…). Actually, to be fair, I think he’s really begun saying “Daddy,” consistently.
  3. (I always get stuck on #3!) The “everything is food” phase. We’re nearing the end, but a few things still go straight to his mouth.

I’m sure there are better ones, and that tomorrow he’ll assault me with three new things that I want him to grow out of quickly, but for now, as I’m remembering the past few days, all I’m seeing are adorable little traits and habits that will be gone all too quickly on their own.

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Contests

MamaBlogga Group Writing Project, June 2007

This writing project has ended. Please view the full list of wonderful entries at the June GWP Finale, and subscribe to MamaBlogga to find out about the next group writing project!

Last month’s Group Writing Project was such a success, I decided to do it again. So, as promised, this week is the second MamaBlogga Group Writing Project!

The theme for the June Group Writing Project is “Three things I want my kids to . . .” You can finish that infinitive with whatever verb you like (do, say, be, wear, have, get away with), and add any qualifiers you like (today, this summer, before they drive me crazy).

Your post can take any form as long as it reflects this theme—this includes anything from serious to sarcastic, addressed to your children, your future children, your neighbors’ kids, your pets, etc.

You can participate with a blog post, a podcast, a video, a page on your website, etc., etc. If you don’t have a website, contact me and I’ll be happy to publish your entry here on MamaBlogga.

Only NEW posts (i.e., posts have not been published prior to 24 June 2007) are eligible. Posts must be submitted through the submission form before Sunday, 1 July 2007.

Why participate?
There are lots of reasons to participate! All entries that meet the guidelines will be listed and linked to here on MamaBlogga. This an opportunity for you to discover new blogs (and for others to discover yours!). Last week, I came up with thirteen good reasons to participate.

And, of course, there is one more incentive: one lucky post author, drawn at random, will receive a $30 gift certificate to Amazon.com.

Finally, we’d appreciate it if you linked to this post or to the guidelines/submission form on your entry post so that others can learn about the project and participate.

Now get writing!

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Random

Thirteen Reasons for the Group Writing Project

Yep, next week is the MamaBlogga Group Writing Project II. I finally came up with a good idea for the topic and I’m really excited to see what people will say about it!

Wondering if you should participate? I recommend it! Here’s why

  1. It’s fun. Really, it is.
  2. It’s challenging to fit into a topic, even though it’s really general.
  3. You don’t have to think of a topic for once. Aren’t you glad I made your life a little easier.
  4. It brings you visitors. I saw my traffic increase by 46% that week. See the redux to see how many visitors I sent out last time.
  5. It brings you comments. Almost 60% more comments. Again, see the redux for details.
  6. It’ll make me happy. I know that’s your ultimate goal in life 😉
  7. It’s a great way to find cool new blogs. I know I found a bunch last time around.
  8. It’s a great way for people to find your cool blog. Maybe they’ll even subscribe!
  9. It’s a great way to make new friends in the blogosphere. And we all need more of those, don’t we?
  10. It’s a free link that says whatever you want. And let me tell you, those free links are hard to come by!
  11. It can improve your search engine ranking. Pick a good phrase in your title and you can really see some traffic. The free links from me (and others!) can help.
  12. It improves your Technorati authority and ranking. Every link from a new blog moves you up the totem pole. One little a href at a time.
  13. There’s a prize. Nominal, yes, but fun, too. And no pressure—the prize winner is chosen totally at random, so everyone has an equal chance of winning!

Hope to see your entry next week!

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Contests

MamaBlogga Group Writing Project: Redux

The MamaBlogga Group Writing Project was pretty successful—and not just for me here at MamaBlogga.

I told you when we started the project that participating in a Group Writing Project was a good way to find new blogs and get visitors and comments to your blog. I took a look at the numbers (which took forever!) and thought I’d let you know how much the GWP made a difference for our participants (see the full list of participants here).

Visitors from MamaBlogga
I looked at my stats for seven days during and after the group writing project. Here’s what I found:

  • Participants received 150 visits from clicks on my pages during those days.
  • During those days, as many as all ten of my top ten most popular outgoing links were visits to participants.
  • At least half of all my outgoing visits were to participants during this period.

Participant Comments
Participants in the Group Writing Project didn’t just get visits from our site. They also got one of a blogger’s favorite things: comments.

  • Entries received nearly 60% more comments than other posts on their blog did that week (after removing an outlier; with the outlier it was still more than 50% more comments).
  • On average, entries received more than nine comments each.
  • The winning entry (which was chosen at random) received the most comments, with 26 comments.
  • That was nearly four more comments than the average number of comments on that week’s other posts.

Visits
I don’t have access to all my participants’ data (though if you’d care to share, I’d love to hear it!), but I can tell you what a difference the GWP made in my visits:

  • On average that week, I received just under 125 visits per day
  • On average, that was up 45% over the same day the previous week (after removing one outlier).
  • My top traffic day that week was the day I posted my own entry. I received 170 visits.
  • My highest improvement was up 76.6% over the same day the previous week.

If you’d like to share your visitor stats, please do!

Why Are You Telling Me All This?
Of course, I’m just trying to get you excited for next week’s MamaBlogga Group Writing Project II!

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MetaBlogging Fulfillment

A hug, metaphorically speaking

When I came across the blogging metaphor group writing project on Successful-Blog.com, it didn’t take me very long to figure out the correct metaphor for my blog. Really, what I want to accomplish with this blog is to not only focus my search for fulfillment, find fulfillment daily and stop overanalyzing everything and just enjoy the moment, but to be able to help others do all those things. I want other mothers to realize that it’s okay to be a mom—not “just a mom,” but a mother.

It’s okay to stay home with your children. The work you do within the walls of your home is more important than anything you can do outside of them. Even the million dollars in future earnings that you’re supposedly giving up by “putting your career on hold.”

But just knowing it’s important isn’t enough. I want mothers to feel appreciated and to know that what they do is important and worthwhile—and fulfilling. I want them to know that motherhood isn’t just drudgery. It’s not just boring, horrible work and endless laundry and diapers and stupid games and wrangling toddlers away from outlets.

I want to tell mothers this because it is so easy to forget that something as mundane as motherhood can be, it is the most important thing you can do with your life. And if you try (or if you let it), it can also be the most worthwhile and fulfilling venture you’ll ever undertake.

That’s what I want my blog to be. I’m thinking about lots of other projects that might help with this—another group writing project (next month, ladies!), maybe a podcast (would you be interested in this?), etc. But to choose a metaphor for what my blog means or what I want it to mean to others is very easy. Because if I could, I would take every mother in the world one-on-one, and tell her how I feel—and give her a hug.

But since I can’t do that, I’ll reach out and put my words around you to reassure you that you matter and that what you do matters and that your work is appreciated.

*squeeze*!

On a related note, see also The Mitchell Group’s entry, Blogging is Like a Mommy[tags] blogging metaphor [/tags]