31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog

Does your genealogy blog need a kickstart?  Do you want to learn more about successful blogging?  Have you gotten in a rut and need some fresh ideas to make blogging fun and interesting again?

Then join me as I spend the next 31 weeks putting into practice tips and tricks from ProBlogger, Darren Rowse.

This program is based on Darren’s highly popular challenge “31 Days to Build a Better Blog,” which he has made available as an e-book.  31 days does not work for my schedule (especially in the summer), so I’m switching it to a weekly challenge.

How It Works

1. Each Sunday, beginning July 3, I’ll post my take on a chapter from Darren’s book, including at least one action item (which may have a genea-blogger twist).
2. After you complete the action item, come back and let us know what you learned (or what you thought about the challenge) in the comments section.  If you write a post about it, leave a link.  I’ll be doing all the action items, as well, and reporting back on my experiences.  If you don’t want to do all 31 weeks, that’s okay.  Jump in and out as often as you like.

Prizes

Yes, that’s right, there will be weekly giveaways.  I got so much awesome stuff at Jamboree that I want to share the love.  Each week will offer an opportunity to win something.  In fact, we are going to start this week.  The first prize is a discount on an annual subscription to GenealogyBank. The regular price for an annual subscription is $69.95, but I have a coupon code for 20% off, which equals an annual cost of $55.95.  I would keep this for myself, but I don’t have time to take full advantage of another subscription, right now.*

This coupon expires on 6/30/11, so we have a short window of opportunity.  Leave a comment on this post by midnight, 6/28/11.  On 6/29/11, I’ll choose a randomly-numbered comment and contact the winner with the coupon code.

What Can You Do to Get Ready?

All these are optional.  You don’t have to do any of them to participate, but some will make it more fun.

1. Buy the e-book:  This is strictly optional.  I’ll be summarizing key concepts from each chapter and posting them every Sunday and you can find a lot of the information at the Problogger site.  But, if you are like me, and like to have everything in one place, the e-book is the way to go – (I converted it to Kindle format and have been reading it by the pool).  I’m dipping my toe in the affiliate-link waters, so if you decide to purchase the book and you click the image to the right, I’ll get a small portion of the purchase price.  The cost to you is the same, either way.
2. Roll Call:  If you want to play, leave a comment below with a link to your blog and your Twitter ID.
3. Get Connected on Twitter:  What?  You mean you are not already using Twitter?  Come on and join the fun!  If you are already on Twitter, the hashtag for this challenge is #31WBGB.
4. Grab the badge:  Tell your readers that you are building a better genealogy blog by displaying the button on your website.  They might want to play, too!

Check back next Sunday and we’ll get this party started!

*And just so we’re clear, I received the GenealogyBank discount as part of the Geneabloggers Welcome Bag from the Southern California Genealogical Jamboree.  I’m not affiliated with GenealogyBank and receive no remuneration from them.

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