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It’s a Wrap! #28DBC Days 16-27

March 4, 2013 by

Last week concluded the 28-Day Blog Challenge hosted by Katy Widrick. It was a busy month for my blog:

If you don’t know from participating, this challenge was completely free, and I learned so much. Thank you to Katy and everyone who joined in to share knowledge, advice and feedback. I will definitely participate in another blog challenge – which I hope to see (hint, hint)! 🙂 If you weren’t a part of this #28DBC, make sure you get in on the next one.

On the first day, I set some goals for my blog during this challenge and got many of them accomplished:

  • Add an ‘About Me’ box to my sidebar Finally!
  • Update my header Love my new header!
  • Organize my Google Reader (or alternative)
  • Comment more regularly on blogs I follow (and discover some new blogs) I discovered several new blogs thanks to this challenge.
  • Fix the comment link on my blog to make it easier to find It’s now at the bottom.
  • Make it easier to pin images from my site to Pinterest

Plus, some exciting additional changes:

  • I updated my Remember page
  • Had my blog header re-designed by Rita at Blog Genie (love her!) and also changed the columns on my blog
  • Published my blog to Kindle
  • Updated my Facebook Page and cover photo
  • Started replying to every comment left on my blog
  • Transferred my domain name and email to DreamHost (love them!) so all of my blog services are now in one place

And…

  • I am staying up to date with blogs I follow by commenting on a more regular basis

My favorite change? My new header!

I am still struggling with my Google Reader (I don’t really like it and I think it is overwhelming to manage). What do you use?

I am still looking for a Pin-It Plug-In that allows readers to easily pin images to Pinterest. The ones I tried seem to not work on my blog. Have you found one you like and wouldn’t mind sharing?

Did you participate in the #28DBC? What did you learn?

Until the next mile marker,

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It’s a Wrap! #28DBC Days 15-21

February 22, 2013 by

It’s the second to last week of the 28-Day Blog Challenge hosted by Katy Widrick. I have enjoyed this challenge so much and have been learning a lot:

This week was a little more stressful for me because I did some work with my blog domain that was not only difficult, but I spent about 24 hours worried I would somehow delete my blog. I did manage to cause the site to go down for a little while, but Dreamhost was able to fix it in no time, which makes me even happier I moved all of my business to them. Here’s what I accomplished this week:

  • I moved my domain and email to DreamHost so now all of my services are handled there, including hosting. I love DreamHost!
  • I published by blog to Kindle! I’m pretty excited about that, and I am hoping to expand my reader base, including gaining new readers who are searching for specific things to read in the Kindle store.

  • I’m still replying to all comments left on my blog and staying caught up on subscriptions I follow in Google Reader.
  • I started following two new blogs this week, both are very inspirational (so visit them too!): Ann’s Running Commentary and Beyond Limits Magazine.

Have any of you published your blogs to Kindle? Has it brought in new readers for you?

What have you learned from the #28DBC? Share any blogging tips you have in the comments below!

Until the next mile marker,

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It’s a Wrap! #28DBC Days 8-14

February 15, 2013 by

Another week of the 28-Day Blog Challenge hosted by Katy Widrick is wrapping up today. Compared to last week, I haven’t made a ton of improvements on my blog, but sometimes, it is the small things that count, right?! It’s not too late to join the challenge with just under half the month of Fenruary left.

This week-

  • I’m still replying to every blog comment that is left. I don’t get very many it seems so this isn’t too hard right now. I plan to keep it up no matter how many comments I get.
  • I added a comments section and Featured Post plug-in to the bottom of my blog.

  • I fixed my Daily Mile Training Widget so it appears updated with my most recent run on my sidebar.
  • I got caught up with a 1,000 + posts in Google Reader and commented on many blog posts.
  • I followed a new blog, whose author shares my passion for rasing awareness about blood clots and blood-related diseases. Check her out at Living ~ Not Just Surviving. Her title is awesome and where I hope to be at some point in my life.

Looking ahead (leave your comments below!)-

What tips do you have for increasing comments on your blogs?

Yay or no on my footer addition? Does anyone know how to make the Featured Posts plug-in display a random post and not just the newest post?

Do you have any great fitness/health/running plug-ins you can’t live without?

Until the next mile marker,

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Leave a Comment Filed Under: Blogging and Writing, Blood Clots (DVT and PE)

It’s a Wrap! #28DBC Days 2-7

February 8, 2013 by

The second week of the 28-Day Blog Challenge hosted by Katy Widrick is coming to a close and this has been a very productive week on my blog! If you haven’t joined the challenge, you should! I am learning so many things and the support from the community has been wonderful. Everyone is very helpful and willing to share their advice, projects, priase and advice. Sign up today! I am really excited to share what I have accomplished-

  • Started replying to every blog post comment – I’m listening and I want my readers to know!
  • Updated my pages (Including adding run, write, remember)

  • Updated my blog header, which I am most excited about thanks to the help of Rita at Blog Genie.
New Header FEB 2013
  • Also with the help of Rita, I moved the Comments link to the bottom of the post so it is easier to find.
New Comments link
  • Updated my Facebook Page to reflect my new design and new badge.

New FB cover with page FEB 2013

  • Followed a new blog, which I suggest you also check out too: And Her Little Dog Too written by Leslie. Head on over because she is currently conducting a reader survey.

And, that is a wrap!

Are you participating in the #28DBC? If so, what is your favorite accomplishment of the week? Do you have a blog that I must see? Leave your links in the comments, and I will stop by!

Until the next mile marker,

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It’s a Wrap! #28DBC Day 1

February 1, 2013 by

I joined the 28-Day Blog Challenge hosted by Katy Widrick. For those of you who don’t know, Katy is a big blogging inspiration to me (I used her advice to design my own media kit) and I was super excited when I found out about this challenge. For 28 days, the plan is to spend time reworking, refreshing and rethinking our blogs, social media spaces, community and more.

What I like about this challenge so far is the participation from fellow bloggers – once you join, begin posting your projects and you will see some awesome ideas from others! There are bloggers from all over and a variety of subject matters, not just fitness and health so I am looking forward to signing up for some new subscriptions as well. I don’t really have any specific goals for this challenge because I don’t want to be limited in my thinking to what improvements can be made, but here are some things I have been wanting to do:

  • Add an ‘About Me’ box to my sidebar
  • Update my header
  • Organize my Google Reader (or alternative)
  • Comment more reguarly on blogs I follow (and discover some new blogs)
  • Fix the comment link on my blog to make it easier to find
  • Make it easier to pin images from my site to Pinterest

It’s a Wrap! #28DBC Day 1

Today, I created a box in my sidebar called ‘Meet Sara.’ I have been wanting to do this since my blog re-design this summer, but haven’t figured out how. Thanks to Katy, I did it today!

Katy gave me two great resources to help do this, if you want to create the same (it was really easy once I stopped being afraid of what the word ‘Gravatar’ meant):

  • The plug-in — How to Set Up the Genesis User Profile Widget
  • You can use it in combination with some of these (I did not need to, but I plan to investigate these plug-ins!) — Helpful Wordress Plug-Ins

If you want to create one too and need help, let me know, although the instructions are very easy to follow.

What about you? Are you part of the 28-Day Blog Challenge? Did you post about it? If so, let me know in the comments! And, be sure to use the hashtag #28DBC for all of your awesome improvements. Let’s create something wonderful together!

Until the next mile marker,

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