Tossing It Out

Showing posts with label Hijack This Blog. Show all posts

Friday, September 28, 2012

How Many Guest Posts Can A Blogger Host?

Hijack (2008 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A Success!

How many guest posts can one blogger successfully host in the course of a summer? The answer my friend is blogging in the wind. I tossed the Hijack! idea out there to you readers and you made it work. Over the past four months forty one bloggers signed up to participate in my Hijack! project and every one of them showed up.

I would have expected at least one or two no-shows in my line-up, but incredibly they all delivered their posts in a timely manner and made Hijack This Blog! a huge success. A diverse group of bloggers brought a dazzling array of topics and writing style to Tossing It Out, keeping in spirit with the eclectic nature of my site. I thank each of you for your contribution to my summer project.

Though I realize it will give this post an appearance of being very long, I wanted to thank my blogging friends by listing the links to their contributions. If you missed any of these posts you may want to click on a few of the links to check them out. Or you can scroll down to the end of the list where this post will continue.

Here is the complete listing of my summer Hijack! guests:

▼ September (9 Hijack! posts)

You Have Been Warned: This Blog Has Been Hijacked...Alex J Cavanaugh

▼ August (13 Hijack! posts)

Thanks to all of you!

Hosting Guest Posts

Sadly, I didn't get the writing done that I had intended to do, but I did reevaluate my writing goals and have come up with ideas about completing my work-in-progress as well as taking a sidetrack to another old work that has lain dormant for many years.

Hosting guest posts is something I have done in the past, but never as I have done it this year. It can be a lot of work from the standpoint of organizing everything as well as trying to promote each post, a task which I undertook with less vigor and dedication than I perhaps should have. Even so, I did put a lot into the effort. I hope you all enjoyed it.

If you have never hosted a guest on your own blog, I encourage you to try it. The experience can be very rewarding in many ways. And it's fun and interesting as well. Among my guests were several bloggers who were doing their first guest post ever. I was thrilled to be the one to give them that opportunity.

My blog will continue to welcome guests in the future and I have several scheduled in the months ahead. If you have something you wish to blog about on my site let me know and we'll discuss it.

Patricia Stoltey has put out a call for guest bloggers on her blog as well. She's especially looking for some humor or inspiring stories. I think she's pretty open to ideas so if you're looking for a chance to write a guest post go to Patricia's site for more info.

Also my dear online friend and sometimes guest blogger Dana Sitar posted about the guest blogging topic earlier this week on her blog DIY Writing. She's also provided some excellent links for you to explore.

Something's Going to Change

Several of you mentioned that you missed my own blog posts and that made me feel very honored. I am back for the most part and I hope you'll like some of the changes I'm considering. Next Friday I'll tell you my plan and then see how many of you bail on me. You can find clues in some of the Hijack! guest posts and in my #IWSG posts--I know I'm being ambiguous, but I'm just trying to create a little suspense. Be here all next week and then definitely stop by on Friday October 5th and weigh in with your thoughts. You can try to talk me out of it or spur me on.

But First #IWSG!

And speaking of Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group, I'll have my October edition next Wednesday October 3rd. Maybe I'll even throw in a hint about things to come in that post.

There are things coming for better or worse and it's nothing to do with me getting married, unless we are talking in the most esoteric symbolic sense. And that's really stretching it I guess.

What did you think of the Hijack! experiment? Did you visit many of the guest posts? Did you have any favorites? Would you care to hazard a guess about the direction I am considering taking on my blog?

Monday, July 2, 2012

8 Commenting Secrets Bloggers Won’t Tell You : Guest Hijacker Nicole Ayers

Nicole Ayers from The Madlab Post has been a frequent guest at Tossing It Out so she's very comfortable with stepping in and just taking over my blog. In this current post she offers some excellent advice about one of our favorite topics:

8 Commenting Secrets Bloggers Won’t Tell You

Blog comments impact our online and offline activities in many ways. They can start or expand conversations on any given topic, build relationships between people who are miles away from each other, create job opportunities and make you feel like you are part of a community that is larger than yourself.

At the same time, certain habits and behavior that you display in the comment section of a blog can also cause some bloggers to either consider moderating comments -- which delays the time from when a comment actually gets posted, or worse, question whether they should continue to allow comments on their blog at all. That is one of the dirty little secrets that bloggers won’t tell you -- probably because they don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, nor offend and alienate their readers or be seen as a finicky blogger.

Want to know another secret? Sometimes, there are things that you do when leaving comments that make you AND your comment much less favorable to bloggers -- but they’re not going to tell you (at least, not directly) that you’re becoming a nuisance. Here are eight more commenting secrets that bloggers won’t tell you but will mention amongst fellow bloggers or even discuss with their more favorable readers.

1. Leaving anonymous blog comments will almost guarantee that you will NOT receive a reply to your comment. In a day and age where people have screen names like “babeygurl48” and “DMon$$” on their social networking profiles, bloggers are not going to make time to acknowledge your anonymous comment when you don’t even have enough decency to at least sign your comment with your name.

"Shhh! You shouldn't be saying that!"

2. Instigating conflict or verbally attacking other blog commenters makes you look like a bully who wants to go to war rather than participate in a constructive debate or encouraging discussion. There is a difference between leaving a blog comment that says something like “I don’t care how famous Lady Gaga is, I’m not a fan of her music because it’s wack and she can’t sing” (regular disagreement, which could prompt open discussion) and posting a comment on a blog that says “You must be out of your mind. Only wack, gay people like Lady Gaga’s music. The world would be a much better place if people like you would stop promoting and enabling crappy celebrities!” (unnecessarily causing conflict and being offensive, which causes people to get defensive and starts silly arguments) on any blog.

3. Discussing irrelevant topics that are unrelated to the subject of the blog post that you are commenting on shows that you didn’t even read the post before putting your two cents into the comment bucket. Either that, or you did read the post but could not wait to make points about what you really wanted to discuss. If you are THAT interested in your own thoughts and what you have to say, then stop reading and start blogging -- that way, at least your written words will be on-topic instead of off-topic.

4. Placing several links in your blog comments makes it obvious that you are a spammer, or at the very least, a self-promotional jerk. Nothing says SPAM or self-centered reader more than leaving links to all four of your blogs, plus your commercial website, plus your Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN and Google+ profiles, plus the Etsy store that you just opened up 10 minutes ago -- especially if it’s accompanied by an irrelevant comment (see #3) and anonymous (see #1).

5. If your blog comment consists of one sentence that lacks substance, then why did you even bother commenting on this post in the first place?!! Let’s consider a hypothetical A to Z Challenge blog post about the sibject of Coffee for Letter C. A blog comment signed by someone named DMon$$ that says “Hi, I found you through the A to Z Challenge. Nice Blog” is flattering but less worthwhile for bloggers to read and respond to than babeygurl48’s comment, which says “I’d rather buy a coffee lover a gift that he or she can use such as a bean grinder than buying coffee beans because I don’t know what flavors the gift recipient would like and I don’t want to waste my money, you know LOL. It was nice to find your blog through the A to Z Challenge.”

6. The most loyal and engaging commenters are given precedence over any other blog visitor. You can call iit favoritism, you can call it selective blogging or whatever else you want to call it. The fact remains that blog comments frequently left by the same people over time will not only be taken more seriously but also handled with more care than one-off visitors and one-hit wonders. Repeat commenters get reciprocal visits (which oftentimes includes comments) to their blogs (if they have a blog), they are thought of first when blog changes are on the horizon and their opinions are weighed more heavily with regards to post topics and related blogging activities.

"But what if I don't want to visit your blog?"

7. Making blatant requests to visit your blog or read your blog, from within your comment, may reduce the likelihood of your wish being granted and could potentially even make bloggers weary of reading your blog in the future. It’s all about relevance, substance and context. A simple link to your blog inside the comment that you left will suffice. Bloggers will visit if they want to. There is no need to be loud, obnoxious and ask them to “come by and visit mine” or the like. Relevance is key -- also, no one likes a beggar!

8. Leaving the same comment on several blog posts will almost certainly get you noticed, but, for all the wrong reasons -- it means you’re annoying. You might also end up being blocked or blacklisted from leaving any comments on that blog in the future. There are only so many times a blogger will tolerate reading comments like “Great! I enjoyed this.” on more than one blog post.

Do YOU have any blogging secrets that YOU want to reveal? Have you ever implemented word verification on purpose -- even if temporary, just to deter some people from commenting on YOUR blog? What was the most offensive, annoying or just plain senseless comment that YOU ever received on your blog?

Bio: Nicole Ayers is a freelance writer and filmmaker who blogs at The Madlab Post. She is currently finishing a short screenplay to be produced this summer. In the meantime, she also contributes to the A to Z Blog on Fridays while hosting The Monday Movie Meme and can be found @MadlabPost on Twitter.

http://www.madlabpost.com

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

A Wacky Guest Blogging Debut From Guest Hijacker Steve Bailey

Nothing better than some hump day humor, which is what you're going to get on this installment of Hijack This Blog!. My guest today is Steve Bailey who can normally found at From the Mind of a Mad Man. Enjoy today's bit of zaniness from Steve and then hop on over to his blog if you want to sign up for more of the same. It's a fun funny world....

And Now Take It Away Steve!

All right so this is my first guest blog....
Im not sure what to wear?

Maybe my keyboard armor?

Maybe not...
Ah whatever...
Now today I have a confession... er... post.
Its a story I feel I must share with you all....
A TRUE STORY!

You see last weekend....
While making yet another creative breakfast....

The old severed hand breakfast...
...which is bloody delicious!!

Well... I got to some thinking..
I decided I needed to get out and get some fresh air...
I needed to enjoy me some nature...
So I talked my girlfriend into joining me...
On a short little hike..

Now first off... like any good "hikey"...
We had to get prepared for our "voluntary walking torture"... er... hike....

So I put on my hiking clothes...

And she put on her hiking boots.........

Which..... she would SO later regret...

(Bonus fact "People who hike regularly"- they also make ladies hiking sandals these days!!)

Which 9 out of 10 women reviewed as...
"Ankle Shattering!"

But anyways.... thats not what I wanted to talk about.
This story isn't about shoes its about "the hike"....
And so... for us.. being the novice hikers we are...
We picked out a short little 5 mile loop to hike...
And we set out.... cranked up the tunes....

And car karaoked all the way to the forest.
Man we were feeling good!

But we would NEVER COMPLETE THAT LOOP!!
More on that later.

Now at first the hike was fun....

We crossed streams... and hiked small hills...

And all was good...
We even met some very friendly fellow hikers who helped point us in the right direction....

But with the "pointer mother nature gave him?"

And so we hiked on.....
We.... even ran into a man stuck in some quicksand...

Who offered us booze... before he sank.
How nice was that!!
"Hiking rules!"... the couch potato in me said.

We were having so much fun....
I joked about coming back out here another weekend...

But in my bear costume...
I mean how great would that be!

We even talked about taking our hiking to the next level one day..

The over the edge level!

All was so good..
Hiking was stupid easy!!!

So we hiked on.....

And we crossed streams... and small hills...

And hiked on even more...

And we crossed streams... and small hills....

And it was less fun.

"Man shouldn't we be back by now" I thought to myself...
"Had I not seen this same stupid hill already" I thought?
And then it happened...

I realized we were lost.
You see I had been reading my girlfriends compass all day!

And it was dead wrong!!!

As it turns out we were now 8 miles in...
And tired....
And lost...

Now... I knew what to do when lost in snow...
but not nicer weather???

My girlfriend now upset and tired... was done with this!
I needed a plan!
So I thought and I thought...
And then I had an extremely "tough" power bar...

This one?

And then I thought some more.....
And then it happened...
I came up with a plan....

You see we needed to turn around and....
"Hike back some 8 miles" I told her.....

And explained to her with my fingers.

She responded to my plan .....

With hers....

So with nothing else to do... we turned around...
And walked...
And walked....
And walked....
And after seeing some rock formations that seemed to be only....

"Mocking us?"

We eventually made it back to the car.
Hallelujah!!!
We could finally go home...

However.... and sadly...

That was not to be.

You see it didn't start..
Apparently some car karaoke-er had left the radio on??

So we did what true hikers would do in this situation..

We walked home...
In what I now refer to as... "The long expletive hike home?"

Now I would like to tell you all a story of how we grew closer as we hiked home....
And that we now laugh about our adventure these few days later....

But I think that will have to wait....

Till her blisters subside?

Till then...
And from the dog house...
Blog ya'll later!

Coming up on Friday is some very useful information about self-publishing from author Linda Hoye. I am continuing to consider guest posts into September and beyond. If interested leave a note in the comment section or click the Hijack This Blog! tab at the top of the page to sign up.

The link for today's guest Steve Bailey is http://steve-bailey.blogspot.com/

Friday, June 22, 2012

Hijack This Blog! Update

Hijack (2008 film) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My Hijack This Blog! campaign has been taking shape rather nicely. Below I have the schedule that has been confirmed to date. The blank dates are still open for anyone who is interested. I have a number of pending considerations that will rapidly fill the remaining dates once confirmation has been made on those.

I already have several of the posts set up and ready to go. There is some good stuff coming that will inform you, entertain you, and make you think. Please be sure to check my site every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to show your support for these bloggers who are contributing such excellent content. And don't forget to comment. I guarantee you that a few of these posts will compel you to comment so if you've got something you want to say, be sure to express yourself. My guests want your input just as much as I do.

Here is the schedule as it stands now:

June 25 Tamara Hart Heiner
27 Steve Bailey
29 Linda Hoye
July 2 Nicole Ayers
4 #IWSG
6 Edward Hall
9 Sharon Hamilton
11 Andrew Leon
13 Michael Pierce
16 Callie Leuck
18 Lauren Shearer
20 Jericha Senyak
23 Clare Dugmore
25 Bridget Straub
27 James Callan
30 Anna Smith
August 1 #IWSG
3 Jarm Del Boccio
6 Ey Wade
8 Stephen T. McCarthy
10 Diane Kratz
13   Sydney Aaliyah
15   Brian Russell
17 Angeline Trevena
20
22 Ciara Knight
24 Mike Cushing
27 C. Lee McKenzie
29   Sandra Ulbrich Almazan
31   Lubaina
Sept. 3   Eve Prokop
5 #IWSG
7   Gwynneth White

If there is enough interest I will expand the calendar into and beyond September. In fact, I already have one guest lined up for November. So don't be shy or afraid. Be a part of my experiment and help yourself while you help me.

To sign up click on the "Hijack" tab above or click Here.

More Guest Post Opportunities Await

Let me also remind you that I am also accepting guest posts at my memoir blog Wrote By Rote and my dream blog A Faraway View. If you want to try your hand at memoir writing or impart some advice regarding what you know about writing memoir, you can submit your guest post on this blog that publishes every Saturday. On Thursdays, my dream blog is extending an invitation to anyone who has dreams to share or who would like to discuss their theories and thoughts on what dreams are and what they mean. Please check out both of those blogs to see if you might have something you'd like to offer. Creativity is calling you.

We are also accepting guest posts at the A to Z Blog. Many spaces are available on that site and we have a place for you. Your post there doesn't strictly have to be about the A to Z Challenge either. Stephen Tremp has been presenting a fascinating series on science every other Thursday. On Fridays Nicole Ayers offers fun and diversion to start your weekend off right. We've had many of you offer a whole range of topics at the site--everything from A to Z and I'm not talking about the Challenge. If you've got something you want to present to the A to Z community this is the place to do it.

My thanks to everyone who has signed up for Hijack This Blog! so far. And also thanks to those who have signed up on the other sites or who will be soon. I'm looking forward to the posts that are coming up.

Have you signed up for one of my guest posts yet? If so, would you like to tell us what you'll be presenting? If you haven't signed up for a spot, is there something that's holding you back?

Pages

This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

Friday, September 28, 2012

How Many Guest Posts Can A Blogger Host?

Monday, July 2, 2012

8 Commenting Secrets Bloggers Won’t Tell You : Guest Hijacker Nicole Ayers

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

A Wacky Guest Blogging Debut From Guest Hijacker Steve Bailey

Friday, June 22, 2012

Hijack This Blog! Update

2010 NaNo Winner!

NaNoWriMo Winner 2009

Pages

This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

Friday, September 28, 2012

How Many Guest Posts Can A Blogger Host?

Monday, July 2, 2012

8 Commenting Secrets Bloggers Won’t Tell You : Guest Hijacker Nicole Ayers

Related articles

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

A Wacky Guest Blogging Debut From Guest Hijacker Steve Bailey

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Friday, June 22, 2012

Hijack This Blog! Update

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