Who doesn’t like a good party, right??!!  Well, back when I shared about the idea behind Savvy Blogging, we had this virtual party planned all along. And, tonight’s the night you can party with us at 9p (EST).

There are some great prizes and tons of sharing on how we can make our blogs better!   If this sounds like fun to you (and I’m sure it does), go ahead find more details and RSVP for the Savvy Blogging Twitter Party now!

You can see a few questions and the schedule for schedule for the evening so you will know what’s going down too!

Of course, none of this would be possible without the many great sponsors including our main sponsors for the dinner in Nashville, Cracker Barrel and Savings.com!

On December 1, the FTC came up with some new regulations for the blogging community.  Essentially, if we have a link included in our posts that we may make money with, they are suggesting we disclose in the post so our readers are aware.

I have always been open about anything I have received, or trips I have taken.  Those are from companies and you may remember seeing a disclosure at the bottom of each post.  I also do posts as a partnership with my Ad Network a lot too.  I have always disclosed that information as well.

With these new rules, I will be changing up posts a bit and here’s how it will affect what you see.  I just want to lay this out now so you aren’t like “What, Huh, Why are you telling us this?”  I want to over-communicate then leaving you with questions.

So, going forward, if there is a post in which I have an affiliate link, meaning I may benefit from your clicking, purchasing or looking (just kidding, not really if you look) at that link, you will see the following message at the bottom of the post:

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. See my Disclaimer Policy for additional information.

Whew, that was a LOT of work!  While the regulations do not state this is necessary for products or deals that I am simply advertising, I am just gonna play it safe and include it in any post where an affiliate link is included.  Which means all of my store posts since I am an affiliate for many coupon printing sites.

You can also always review my Disclaimer Policy here (which also resides in the footer on my home page).  As a matter of fact, I will be including a link to this very post in my Disclaimer Policy just so I’m square :)

If you are interested in a great recap, my friend Jessica wrote an interesting post here on the new law and how it pertains to the blogging community.

I do think the FTC would be better off putting their energy in, say, celebrities who endorse the latest diet fats and earn millions rather than bloggers who are providing a FREE service and earning a small income (I do realize there are some shady bloggers too though).  However, I understand the true goal with these regulations is about being transparent.  And, my ultimate goal is to follow regulations, not end up in jail (I doubt that would happen, but I really don’t want to go to jail) and to remain transparent to anyone that reads.

I feel I should also clarify that nothing on the site, content-wise or other will change.  I hope you have seen that nothing has changed since you have read (and since I have become an affiliate for some companies).  My mission stays the same:  to help you save on what you need so you can spend on what you want. That’s it – period!

With all of that, do you have any questions or concerns?  If not, then back to helping you SAVE!

Over the past few months, I have worked with some supa-cool ladies to organize an event.  The purpose for this event is to truly help other bloggers be successful.  Many want to make their blog a profitable business.  There are hundreds who are willing to share how they have been successful in doing this very thing.

Savvy Blogging was born.

The Savvy Blogging team is passionate about helping others.  We want to inspire people to make the impossible a reality.  Our community of blogging is influenced by everyone who is a part of it – the good and the bad. We want to encourage as many as possible to be successful.  Frankly, it’s a community I want to be a part of.  It’s one I want to see more of.

Because of our teamwork, in a matter of weeks we pulled together a dinner (for February) that sold out in an hour. We crafted a web site and made it official with a Facebook Fan page :).  The most surprising part was how twitter was overtaken with tips from people using the hash tag #savvyblogging.  There was an impromptu party that lasted nearly four hours, on a Saturday nonetheless (and that timeframe is just when I participated).  That was and is an affirmation that people are hungry for sharing and learning.

SavvyBlogging.net is alive and indexed and we are ready to share with guest posts and tips to go along with our mission.  Many bloggers will be generously sharing their wisdom to inform and inspire.  The first item on our agenda will be discussing blogging goals.  On January 4, we will have a linky for you to share your 2010 Blogging Goals.  I will share mine yet this week.

You can follow Savvy Blogging on Twitter, our Facebook Fan Page and at SavvyBlogging.net.

Be sure to follow #SavvyBlogging and the Savvy Blogging team on Twitter too.  @happyhousewife, @5dollardinners, @thethriftymama, @mommysnacks,  @crystalpaine!  Warning: we tweet a lot :)

Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.

I know I haven’t finished the Begin to Blog series. So many things have gotten my attention. But, I have had so many people ask about creating Facebook Fan Pages. They are really simple to create, but there are several steps involved in the process. Unfortunately, I haven’t found one post that explains each step to create a Facebook Fan Page…until now!

Sign into your Facebook Account and follow the steps below to Create a Facebook Fan Page!

Create Networked Blog

In order to have an automatic feed make updates to your Facebook Fan Page wall from your blog posts, you will need to create a Networked Blog.  If you want to manually update your Fan Page yourself, you can skip this step.  Although, I would highly encourage you do this because it leaves you less work to do your own updates.

• Add the Networked Blog Application to your Facebook account.
• Click on Add New Blog.

You will be required to verify you are the networked blog owner.  I believe you must have 10 people verify before your feed will pull to the networked blog you just created.

Once you are verified, you will see the big red box above on your Networked Blog Page.  Follow the prompts to update as follows:

• Clicking on “Click Here to grant the required permissions” (in the Red Box).
• Click “Allow Publishing” to allow posts to be updated without prompting you.
• Say “Yes or Agree” when it asks if it can access your data when not using the application.

Now you’re ready to create a Fan Page!

Create Fan Page

• Go to the Create Fan Page site of Facebook.
• Complete the information and submit/save.

Once your page has been created, you can now set up the auto-feed from your networked blog.

Setting up Auto-Feed to Fan Page

Your networked blog feed will post to your Facebook Fan Page Wall and Personal Profile Wall Updates automatically with these steps:

• Go to your Fan Page
• Edit Page (left hand side)
• Scroll down to the Networked Blog Logo
• Click Edit
• Check the “Publish to Wall and Show on Tab” for your Blog
• Click Test Publishing

Finally, make sure the update you just made took effect with the Application Settings by going back to:

• Go to your Fan Page
• Edit Page (left hand side)
• Scroll down to the Networked Blog Logo
• Click Application Settings
• Additional Permissions
• Make sure the box “Publish to streams” is checked

Your networked blog feed should now publish automatically to your walls.

Removing Auto-Feed from Personal Page

I don’t have my networked blog updates show on my Personal Facebook page.  I like to keep them separate.  If you want to keep your updates on your Fan Page only, follow these steps:

• Settings (at top of page next to your name)
• Application Settings
• Networked Blogs
• Edit Settings
• Additional Permissions
• Uncheck the box that says “Publish recent activity (one line stories) to my wall”

By doing this your auto-updates will now only show on your Fan Page.

Now Start Getting Fans!

Vanity URL

When you have 25 Fans and you can get a Vanity URL, which is essentially a URL that you can name whatever you want.  For example, my vanity url is:  http://facebook.com/mommysnacks.  To create your own go to:

• http://www.facebook.com/username
• Complete the information and press save
• Do this for your personal profile too if you haven’t already

Manual Fan Page Wall Updates

You can still create manual fan page updates.  Just take the link to whatever post or site you want to share and manually update your Fan Page (in your “What’s On Your Mind” section).  It’s a great way to share something quickly and not doing an official post.  It’s also another way to cross promote other blogs and continue to build our community!

Manually Pulling Networked Blog Feeds

Sometimes it takes a while for the updates to show up on your Networked Blog and Fan Page. You can manually pull the feed to have posts show sooner on your Networked Blog Page.

• Go to Your Profile Page
• Select the Blog Tab
• Click on your Networked Blog
• On your Networked Blog Page, scroll down until you see your most recent posts
• Click on “Pull Feed” and your feed should update immediately

There have been times I have received error messages stating the manual pull wasn’t successful, so I just try again. It always works.  This may be beneficial to do when you have a timely offer that you want your readers to see.

Note Updates versus Feed Updates

I see several people have a Notes update in Facebook rather than a Networked Blog Feed Update.  This is fine if you’re not concerned about getting a click over/traffic to your site.  As a blogger, I would encourage you to try to get traffic to your site and not a micro-site (like the Notes application).

If you have a Networked Blog, I would highly suggest you update as shared above to get your auto-updates on your Wall.  If you want to remove the Notes feature from your Personal Wall, simply:

• Settings (at top of page next to your name)
• Application Settings
• Notes
• Edit Settings
• Additional Permissions
• Remove the check to “Publish to Streams”

If you already have a Fan page and you have Notes publishing to it, you will need to follow these steps to remove them:

• Go to your Fan Page
• Edit Page (left hand side)
• Scroll down to Notes
• Application Settings
• Additional Permissions
• Remove the check to “Publish to Streams”

Your Notes should be removed now, and hopefully you set up the Networked Blog feed to have auto-updates take effect and get traffic to your site!

UPDATE: A great post about the difference between a Facebook Group Page and a Fan Page written by PR Professional, @JennaSnacks.

Leave comments/questions if you have them!

If you have questions on other Blogging Tips, check out the Begin to Blog posts to see if something has already been answered :)

There have been several new affiliate programs to help me diversify income and monetize the blog. I have been a member of each one for a while, but just haven’t had anytime to share each one individually.

If you are interested in a few more companies that I am using, I have updated my Monetize Your Blog page.  It’s all a part of my Ways to Earn in this little piece of web!

And, I haven’t forgotten about the Begin to Blog series I started.  There really is a lot more I want to share on that, but I need more time!  One of those aspects will cover monetizing your blog, so at least sharing these new programs will give you a head start!

Establishing goals are great for everything! And, don’t forget your personal blog could use a few too.  These can be as simple as creating memories for your family.  Or, it can be as big as having your blog earnings pay your mortgage!  Whatever that goal is, think about them in a SMART format.

I’ve created several goals for my blog.

As I mentioned while discussing Blogging Platforms, I said I would not invest anything into my site (other than my time) until I had been blogging for a year.  That year passed and you see the changes evident here today.

At the beginning of 2009, I established a goal for Mommy Snacks.net:  increase my subscribers by 1,000.  I achieved that goal in a month.  Little things I did like offering an entry in a giveaway to subscribers helped tremendously!  I see value in having subscribers (and being a subscriber) so this goal made sense.

Again, it is your blog to do with what you want.  Someone once asked me “What if I just want to do XYZ?  Do I really need goals?”  Honestly, no.  But, if you want to execute XYZ in a realistic way knowing you can achieve it by a specific date, goals aren’t too bad to have!  I consider it much like a schedule. Just one that focuses on the future of my blog.

Your goals will be specific for your site.  Think about what you want your passion to achieve and map it out!

Action Plan: Write down five goals for your blog. Use the SMART format. Mark them on your calendar and stay committed!

Photo Credit

The writing and formatting of your site can really make or break getting that return visitor.

Have you ever visited a site that is written in all caps or an unappealing font?  Did you want to go back?  Me either.  Here are some general tips for formatting your posts/site:

Use images

It can immediately help the reader know what the topic is about without reading.  It also just makes words appear more interesting. If you are using images through flickr, photobucket or other online sites (more on those in a bit), be sure to ALWAYS give credit to the source.  Copyright laws are applicable with pictures just like anything else.

Caps

Don’t write in all caps UNLESS of course you are trying to make a bold statement.  I see many blogs written in all caps and that isn’t proper type.  It just hurts my eyes!

Spell Check

Now, I’m not the grammar police (truth be told, I spelled grammar incorrectly in this draft :-).  Your writing is an expression of YOU!  Unless you are trying to make a point by purposely misspelling something, grammatical errors aren’t cool.

Paragraphs

Several sentences form a paragraph.  That paragraph express one general thought.  Start a new paragraph so you don’t jumble thoughts all together.  You will lose someone trying to skim to find the point.  To make it even easier for some to find that point, create words or sentences that are bold.

Try to break up the paragraphs and make sure there is proper spacing between paragraphs.  Sometimes HTML gets funny and while it looks like you have the spacing right in the draft, when you publish it, it messes up.  When that has happened to me, going into the HTML Draft view, editing and adding those hard enters usually works.  Sometimes you have to edit formatting several times to get it to look right.

Everyone has that one hot button they are annoyed by when they read or visit a site.  For some, it’s music.  Others can’t stand entering the verify text when trying to leave a comment. You never want one minor format issue to prevent someone from returning.

You want your work to represent who you are. The written word and formatting is forever!…well, until you edit it that is :)

Also check out Blogging Basics 101 who shared other great tips for new bloggers.

Action Plan: As you write, be conscious that it is a representation of you. Edit carefully and throw in the improper grammar/punctuation (or smileys, I love me some smileys) as you see fit!

Photo Credit

Content is KING! Seriously, whatever niche you are in, quality content is a MUST!

After you understand what you will be writing, see if there is an opportunity to schedule posts throughout the week.  Having this schedule will give your readers some predictability for your site.  It also allows you to create impromptu posts or engaging discussions throughout the week.

If you are working in a time-sensitive posting environment (i.e., deals, politics, entertainment news, etc), you could work out a schedule each day you commit to publishing.  This will help you set your personal limits and YOU controlling your blog, not the other way around.

For me, having a general schedule of events for the week helps me have balance (which is still a struggle).  It also helps me to interact more in comments, with other blogs, and social media sites!  If I’m scurrying to share something, post a store deal or other topic, I can’t always respond to comments, emails, facebook, twitter (you name it).  Not that I can always respond, but it helps having a schedule to keep me focused so I can try!  I also try to fit some time in each day to share really good deals.

Each blog will be different regarding how much time they spend.  In just content, I probably spend about 15-20 hours a week.  I feel like the weeks I plan better and schedule posts, I have a more efficient week.  Now, with the social network sites, I spend more time too.  That time is more about building my brand and creating relationships (plus, I get to talk to lots of my friends :).

Oh, and there’s the thing about having a family too (I’m not taking that lightly either).  I am a work at home mom.  That means, I work for my family and I work on my business (my blog).  Because both of these require a lot of my time, having a schedule I can be focused on and committed to during my *business time* helps me be accountable to self-imposed deadlines.

Working from home is challenging.  Try to find a balance that works for you.  I used to work part-time from home for a large corporation.  I have also been running Mommy Snacks.net for the past year and a half.  It is easy to get working and home-life blurred. 

Working from home takes so much self-discipline and motivation. Those behaviors make people give 150% to everything!  It can be easy to give too much if you aren’t careful.  This paragraph comes from love and experience :)

Action Plan: Determine if you want your blog to have a schedule. It may not be a fit for your blog. If you do, make the schedule and try to stick with it.

Photo Credit

With any platform above, you can make your blog design be a great representation of who you are.  There are so many themes, colors and customizations you can do so think a lot about what you want it to look like.  Chances are you will not want to change this for a while.

For any platform, you can find FREE themes if you just search on google. My previous Blogger theme was FREE.  My current Wordpress theme is FREE (for just a few colors).  You can also purchase themes and hire designers to make you a custom theme.

If you do hire someone to help you, get feedback from previous clients. Chances are, the good designers and great coders are booked up.  Think a lot about what you want your site to look like so when your turn in que comes up, you are organized and ready to spit out your ideas!  Some things to consider:

What type of look are you going for?

Magazine Style: The home page has revolving images.  Post titles act as teasers for readers to click for more details.

Columnar Style: I’ll call this the *standard.* The content space will have sidebars/columns to add other information.

With any format, you can choose to have teaser posts, or *click here for more* link added.  If you are interested in doing this in blogger (as I used to do), here are the instructions. Since I’m talking Blogger, you can also number your comments (many people have asked me about that one too).

How many columns/sidebars do you want?

What do you want on your sidebars?  If you want advertisements, know that the most popular ad sizes are:  160×600, 728×90 and 300×250.  And, of course the 125 x 125 buttons are more popular too.  Keep this in mind so you have your options open for potential ad space.

What size do you want your content area and columns/sidebars to be?

Again, depending on what you decide to display will depend on what your size may be.  Bloggers who do not have the option of a 300 x 250 (the ad size for my RGN ad in the top right) lose out on opportunities for advertisements.  I have also seen sites who use this size for YouTube videos or pictures.  It’s all up to you but having your options open isn’t too bad, right?

What color scheme?

I used the HTML color codes from my blogger scheme so my colors matched.  You can easily find out what your colors are with a blogger site by going to Layout :: Fonts and Colors.

What images do you want included?

Do you want a big ginormous picture of a bear?  Try to find any examples on sites to have the url’s or images ready to share.  This will provide some inspiration or help the designer know where to go to find a similar image.

All of these suggestions makes it easier for the designer to get to work.  You will have your ideas in your head ready to go and it can be a matter of having them paint the beautiful picture!  Not to mention, having your thoughts at the ready may make it less expensive since that cuts down on the hours they will need to edit and manipulate the design.

Also, if you are interested in making changes to your overall blog design, there are some awesome affordable designers out there.  Ask your friends or if you see a site design you like, send an email to get a name.  A site owner LOVES to share the name of a design and designer they LOVE!

If you really want to learn to do this yourself, there are so many great sites to help you.  From standard widget design to editing your CSS (all that crazy coding that makes your blog look awesome).  Google (or Swag Bucks :) is your friend when it comes to this!

Now that you have the basics down, focus on getting your writing on!

Action Plan: Determine design elements and design. Think about how your site look will truly be a representation of your voice.

Since we talked about the Blogging Platforms yesterday, I thought I’d take a minute to share about transferring Blogging Platforms.

I didn’t want to transfer platforms and start to pay for a service until I hit my one-year anniversary. I told myself from Day 1 that I would only invest my time since these hosting companies cost money.  Since most blogs stop publishing within 6 months, I wanted to make sure it was something I really enjoyed. Obviously, I am still very passionate about it since I’m here!

If you do make a switch from one platform to another, consider hiring someone to help you with the transfer. I tried to do this on my own. I did quite a bit, but was overwhelmed with the new CSS (cascading style sheet) language and many features that Wordpress offers.

I’m not a coder. I’m not a designer. I have aspirations to have a better than average understanding of the CSS language one day. But, trying to learn the language and implement at the same time is NOT ideal, especially if you want to maintain a bit of normalcy in your day to day routine. I should have remembered that from my Corporate days of implementation!

Create and maintain a project plan for your move. It doesn’t have to be anything major or advanced. Use excel in google docs, even, to track each action item. But, DO have a project plan! Yes, it does seem formal, but it’s not as simple as going from point A to point B.  You have to consider your old posts, images, comments, feed and on…on…on!  If you care about your site, the formality is necessary to ensure your transition is seamless to your customer – your readers!

Also, remember your readers in any transition. I have found with anything, advanced communication helps your readers be aware of what is going on for the smallest to even the largest site changes!

Do you remember my domain switch when my blogspot went *private* for a few days? Even though I shared the move on the site, it wasn’t done far enough in advance for my *casual* direct readers (by direct, I mean those entering my url versus subscribing for site updates).

I lost 2/3 of my readers that weekend – they couldn’t find me! Bloggers kept telling me they were getting emails with *Where did Mommy Snacks go?* Hey, my subscriptions still worked though :) That’s another great benefit of having a feed/subscription for your readers (more on that later).

I opened my blogspot site back up so people could find me. I only have one post viewable on the page. All links on the blogspot direct people over here. I will eventually shut the it down completely.

So, take it from someone who has been there with a transfer:  experience HELPS!

Action Plan: If you are one one platform and considering a switch, create an action plan for yourself to make it a seamless transition. Hire experienced help if necessary. It’s so worth the money for the headaches you will avoid (trust me on this one).