Blogging / Flickr Advice!

I know this appears to be long.. but, trust me.. this is a must read..
And may answer any flickr / blogging / blogging application questions you may have..

Music for the read!

Here we go!

I am in no way a professional blogger.. or, photographer..
There are so many bloggers out there, I completely envy!
With their flair for photos and, ability to create scenes…
I wish I had one fifth of their talent…
However, I work hard and, I still blog more for myself then, others..

That being said, I am very grateful for the designers that have chosen to include my blog in their blogging groups / subscribers and,
I work hard not to let them down.

With recent changes to flickr many designers have added a certain amount of views to your flickr photos as a mandate.
Meaning , you need to have anywhere between 200 – 500 views on your photos…
Most of the time, not all of them.. but, a good chunk of them.

I have seen many bloggers either complain that this is too hard or,
they are concerned because they are amazing photographers and, wicked bloggers but,
just do not have the numbers.
So, they do not apply when designers like, Nova Faerye of Little Bones, is looking for bloggers!
Or events such as, The Seasons Story.. which is one of my favorite shopping events!
Which is sad because, I think they would be awesome additions to any blogger list!

So, I have decided to share my advice with everyone… I started first in the,
SL Stores Looking 4 Bloggers group on facebook and, now I will share it with you!!

Here comes my best advice for bloggers… and designers!!
You want the flickr views? The favs? Follow this advice from lil ole me!!

1 – Join as many blogging groups as you can on flickr and well as facebook… even blogger pings because, believe me when I say it works… bloggers love to support each other. just remember to support them back.

2 – Go to your most favorite flickr blogging group and, add EVERYONE!
Again, bloggers understand how hard it is to either get a new blog off the ground OR, to get those views everyone is after!
If you support them, they will support you.

3 – Make a blogger support page for other bloggers on your blog.. (lol, word of the day… BLOG)..
You can do this either by a blog roll… which you share your favorite links OR, dedicate a page where other bloggers can come and share their link on that page in comments.
This shows that you support their efforts and in turn, any traffic they will receive will show YOUR blog as a link back and alot of the times, those bloggers will come back to your blog and use you as a refence in their posts…

4 – More flickr stuff… TAG TAG TAG…
Look at your photo while you are in the upload phase..
Say your a female.. and your wearing jeans and a tshirt…
Tag that… female, female avatar, second life female avatar, second life (always remember to tag second life… come on ppl this is a no brainer.. no offense, xoxo), jeans, mesh, tshirt, t-shirt, hair, brown hair, blue eyes, devil horns, hooves…… lol.. you get my point!

5 – Make sure your photos are available for the search menu..
If people are searching these tags, they have to be able to find them!

6 – Make sure your filters are proper..
Alot of the time someone on flickr will see a photo that is not flagged correctly and will either well, flag it and block you so they will not see the images… and that deal poorly for you in many ways… it will bring negative attention to your photos from both flickr and others checking you out..
I know that some say, negative attention is still attention but, NO in this case… it’s not..
So watch your content!

7 – I thought I covered this with TAGGING but, I suppose that I should make it clearer.. ALWAYS credit!!!!!!
With myself personally.. I always add the event or, mainstore location plus, designer name.. not their display name as, this can change at a whim but, their actual legacy name.
Also, you will go a VERY long way if you add the URL to the event or the designers main store location!!!!
There is nothing I hate more then to go to a blog.. see something I would love to have but, there is no URL and the store name is not included..
Or, it’s an abbreviation of the name..
Do you have any idea how many stores use that exact same abbreviation?
Too many to count!!
That is why I include the designers name..
What I include is like this :
Hair | Little Bones | Crimson | Nova Faerye | GROUP GIFT | Small Fee to join!  As you can see, the first parts, I have included the URL..  This is beyond important!

8 – Do not tag someone that has nothing to do with what you are posting.
This annoys people..
I know many of you have friends that are designers or, maybe you just really want someone to see your post.
My suggestion is to actually send them the link if it that important to share it with them..
If they are not included in the post… in any way.. then, do not tag them..

9 – It has been suggested that using the word “Sponsor” is not appropriate… since it tends to send the wrong message… So, I will follow this and change it just to “People I blog for”… I think this may be better. You should follow this advice as well!!

10 – Do not put auto play music on your blog.. this is an annoyance. I have seen applications requesting there not be auto play music. Personally, when I visit a blog that has auto play music, I just leave… heck, I run away from it.. You never know what volume the reader has their pc at… and , auto play music can be deafening. If you must have music try adding a link to your post or, if you share a video, make sure that the auto play option is off when copying out the html… or, for those with that player that is embedded on their page…. maybe make listening optional to the reader. This is not a big thing but, it is a HUGE plus, lol…

11 – Now this is the most important of all the suggestions..
HAVE FUN! Don’t expect the views… if you run yourself ragged looking for the views… your photos will suffer because you are so stressed out that your not getting the views that you want….
Sooner or later, you will… I promise!!

Thank you to my contacts on Plurk for your advice and pointing out mistakes or, flaws..
I worked hard to correct them and, if you have anything else to add, I will update this post as it comes in.

xoxo love ya always!!, Morgana Hilra

And if you are still with me.. I shall now share the items in this photo!

Decor

Magazine | Kalopsia | Magazine (Summer Edition) | Isabeau Baragula

Camera |  Tentacio | camera vintage lila | May Tolsen

Pencil | ::C’est la vie !:: | Eraser Tipped Pencil(green) | larcoco.mathy

Tablet | tabou irresistible | My Tabou Tablette | glamsoglamour

Book | [*Art Dummy!] | the edge of winter (sketchbook decor) | Gala Charron | Closed

Flowers |  Dysfunctional Designs | Pink / White Rose | Kalia Firelyte

Bed | :Cheeky Pea: | Delilah Bed – Blossom (PG) | Isla Gealach