November 28, 2020

November’s Blog Audit Challenge 2020

Blogging Friends,

This year I’m participating in Blog Audit Challenge 2020 hosted by Jo Linsdell. The plan is to work on making our blogs even better and setting our goals for the coming months. Each month will have its own challenge to work through. Join us!

 I hope that if you are reading this that you continue to be well and that your area is opening up for business and recreation with social distancing precautions. Our area is back to increased lockdowns due to an increase in COVOD-19 cases. Hoping the vaccine will soon turn things around. Stay safe and mask up, blogging buddies!

November’s Challenge Focus: Press and Collaborations

Over the last few months, the challenges have allowed me to improve content, design, and readership. Now let’s discuss Media Kits and Collaboration.

Honestly, the first part of this challenge is not entirely applicable to my blog, so I’ll briefly present the idea. I have more to say about the second part of the challenge!

1

Media Kit

Because I have a book review blog, I don’t really have or need a traditional media kit and press page as explained and modeled by our host, Jo Linsdell. Maybe if I were an author I would need a Media Kit/Press Page, and I would definitely need one if I were a business. I guess I have my own version of a Media Kit: I have an About Page (which includes a mission statement), a Policy/Disclosure Page, and a Contact Page. Perhaps I need to combine them? I do tweak these pages occasionally. Because I’m not selling anything, I’ve decided to skip the official Media Kit/Press Page for now….maybe I’ll come back to this concept later. If you have input or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

***EDIT***

I’m adding an editing note here to share  Jo Linsdell’s (host of the Blogging Challenge) comment on this post:

“A Media Kit is useful for book reviewers too as it allows you to showcase your blog and social media stats, and let publishers/authors know what genres you review. It also looks professional when requesting ARCs or other review copes.”

Thanks for commenting Jo!

I can definitely make my information look more professional! I think what I need to consider is the following 1.) my Media Kit content is spread over three pages! I can consolidate all that info into one professional looking page following Jo’s model (I would like to find a book reviewer who has a professional-looking Media Kit). 2.) The only thing I do not have listed on the blog is my actual stats (although my hit count is listed at the bottom of the sidebar). Most of my contact with publishers is through NetGalley (where I have listed all my stats in my bio). Since I’m not a money-making business, I’m not sure I need to include blog stats on my blog. 3.) If I were reviewing as a business, I think a Media Kit might be helpful! Right now, blogging is a hobby and I’m getting more review requests than I can handle.

A Media Kit is definitely needed for bloggers who are running a business or want to attract sponsors. It’s something I need to consider in my future updating ventures!

2

Collaboration

This year we’ve explored increasing readership and Collaboration is one of the most fun ways to promote readership and drive traffic to your blog! I’ve often stated that the blogging community is the BEST and brings the JOY to blogging! I have contributed to collaborations and have hosted my own collaborations. It’s a great way to promote other bloggers and to provide fresh content for your own readers. The GOLD is found when each of the collaborators shares the post on their own social media. It’s a win-win all the way around!

My challenge for you is “Would you consider a Collaboration Post of your own in 2021?

• My Own Collaborations: For two years now I have hosted the “ONE Must-Read Book of the Summer” collaboration post. The first year, I scrambled for bloggers that I might be brave enough to approach with the idea (I’m an introvert and so this isn’t in my comfort zone). I was amazed and pleasantly surprised at how receptive each one was to the project! The second year, wasn’t difficult at all and I felt like I was contacting friends! I’m thinking that this next summer I will need to expand the post to include the many new blogging friends I’ve made this year.
  • Your own collaborations can be by invitation only or a Google form that anyone can fill out. You do you!
  • Collaborations can be book related or feature opinions on a topic…or…be creative!
  • Karen at Booker Talk presented a series on blogging (Blogging Tips A-Z) in which she solicited contributions from several bloggers on certain topics. This is a great example of collaboration. It’s also a wonderful 26-post series on blogging for you to check out!
• Collaboration Opportunities: I encourage you to look for opportunities to collaborate! The few posts I’ve collaborated on have been the result of a request. Two bloggers (who are no longer blogging or I’d link you up) put out a request…I filled in the Google form each had created and my paragraph appeared on their blogs. These were blogs with significant readership, so I gained views and followers! Plus it helps your SEO if you have a link on a blog that has higher SEO than you do. I also recently responded to a bookstagrammer’s request for collaborators. In anticipation of her 38th birthday, she wanted 38 readers to respond to her Google form and give the title of their most recommended book and a brief summary. Later, she published these 38 blurbs on her blog. So fun to collaborate! Collaborations increase readership, views, followers, and SEO.

Have I piqued your interest in Collaborations?

---

---

December’s Challenge will focus on Stats.
I hope you are enjoying this Blog Challenge Series and finding it helpful! Please join the conversation in the comments!

---

---

QOTD:

Have you participated in or hosted a Collaboration?

Tips or Comments or Questions?

---

---

ICYMI

Bloggers might be interested in my recent experience with the WordPress Block Editor:
A Week in the Life of the Block Editor and Me.

Find all the Blog Audit Challenge posts:

Find January’s Challenge Here.

Find February’s Challenge Here.

Find March’s Challenge Here.

Find April’s Challenge Here.

Find May’s Challenge Here.

Find June’s Challenge Here.

Find July’s Challenge Here.

Find August’s Challenge Here.

Find September’s Challenge Here.

Find October’s Challenge Here.

---

---

Happy Reading Book Buddies!

“Ah, how good it is to be among people who are reading.”
~Rainer Maria Rilke

“I love the world of words, where life and literature connect.”
~Denise J Hughes

“Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones.”
~Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

“I read because books are a form of transportation, of teaching, and of connection! Books take us to places we’ve never been, they teach us about our world, and they help us to understand human experience.”
~Madeleine Riley, Top Shelf Text

---

---

Let’s Get Social!

Thank you for visiting and reading today! I’d be honored and thrilled if you choose to enjoy and follow along (see subscribe or follow option), promote, and/or share my blog. Every share helps us grow.

Find me at:
Twitter
Instagram
Goodreads
Pinterest

---

---

***Blogs posts may contain affiliate links. This means that at no extra cost to you, I can earn a small percentage of your purchase price.

Unless explicitly stated that they are free, all books that I review have been purchased by me or borrowed from the library.

Book Cover and author photos are credited to Amazon or an author’s (or publisher’s) website.

© ReadingLadies.com