My Blog = My Life: BLOG

When you start any Blogger blog, it automatically installs a navigation bar or banner running across the top of the screen with the links: "Follow," "Share," "Report Abuse," and "Next Blog." This is called the "navbar" and is a real eye sore to most visitors. The good news is, removing the navigation bar in Blogger is easy.

"But, wait? Don't I want those links?" you may ask... Not generally. The only two links that are really useful to you are first the "Follow" link, but you took care of that in a much sexier way when you installed your classy and sexy follow buttons, right? And the "Share" link, but there are much better ways to setup sharing on your blog (which I'll discuss soon).

The "Next Blog" link takes visitors away from your blog. The "Report Abuse" button let's people report your blog to Google which could lead to Google taking action against you (and, subsequently also leaves internet trolls the easy opportunity to try and sabotage you, though this isn't generally a problem).


But more than anything, it's amateurish and ugly. It screams "I have an out-of-the-box Blogger blog!" So, my advice is to ditch it. Here's how you do it (please note that this doesn't work in the old version of blogger, but you can still do it. Check out this page for more info on that. Be sure to scroll down to the section about Classic Blogger templates).
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Well, I just went on my first major vacation as a blogger. It was a 20 day vacation to visit my brother in England, far from my home battle station PC. And with summer in full-swing, chances are you'll be going on a few vacations of your own. So, what have I learned about blogging while on vacation? And what will I probably do differently next time? A few things. On both counts.

There were three ways I could go about blogging while away. First, I could not blog at all and pick it up when I got back. Second, I could repost some of my older popular posts (a common thing to do in the blogging world). Third, I could keep fresh posts coming each day. Obviously the third option would be the biggest commitment. And, despite what some women might think, I'm not afraid of commitment, so I took door number three. ;)

To not blog at all while on vacation is to shoot yourself in the foot (as I learned by not blogging here on WW4F). A big rule of blogging is that you should post often enough that people always have a reason to come back. In this big, fat, crazy internet world we live in, people will forget you pretty quickly if you disappear. It will probably take me a little while to remind everybody that was following that I still have posts coming on WW4F. Others will never find their way back, I'm sure. If I had it to do over, I would have prewritten and pre-scheduled several posts for WW4F.
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I know I said I wasn't going to write on WW4F until I got back from England, but I had a few extra minutes so I thought I'd discuss an interesting phenomenon that I've seen take place since the end of May/beginning of June. It seems that summer has changed my best time to post on Single Dad Laughing in a big way.

One way that I have gauged what time is best for posting is how many of my friends are currently available on Facebook chat. Since I started using this as one of my measurements, 8 AM MST has been just as good a time as any other, and often better than any other time.

The last few weeks though, I haven't been watching it too closely and my traffic has been dropping even though I've been posting at the same time I usually do. I was surprised when I realized this, and so I started looking at different traffic influencers to see where things might be causing the dropping. What was the first thing I noticed?
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Well, I'm outta here for the next three weeks while Noah and I travel on a very overdue vacation! While I'll still have daily posts going on Single Dad Laughing during that time, I'll won't be posting to Will Work 4 Followers until after we return.


Until now, most of what we've covered here on WW4F has been foundational and blogging constructive. We've been working on the look of our blogs, the setup, feel, functionality and more. While I'll still be uploading many posts that are instructional and foundational from here on out, I'd like to start moving WW4F to what it was originally intended for... real discussion about blogging life, growing blogs, etc. So, here's your big chance to let me know what you'd like me to write about in the future here at WW4F. If you'd like to be as awesome as I know you are, take a sec, and answer the following three questions in the comments section of this post:
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Last week we talked about the need to make your blog posts look good. Today, I want to talk specifically about resizing your Blogger images to fit perfectly within your content. This will apply to bloggers on other platforms if they use Picasa to host their images. Making your images look right is key to having blog posts that people will like and will want to share.

If you blog on blogger, you probably are aware that you have five size choices after installing your images. Small, Medium, Large, X-large and Original Size.

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When is the best time of day to upload and publish new blog posts? This is a question that readers keep asking me, and the answer is simple... it depends.

Each person's blog is different. Each person's content is different. Each person's audience is different. And, each person's best time to post will be just a little bit different. Some bloggers will do far better posting in the evening than they will in the morning. Other bloggers will see a lot more traffic if they post early in the morning.

Over the past ten months, I have heavily experimented on my best times to post, and I can tell you that there is no exact science to it. I believe there are a few different times of day almost anybody can post to get maximum traffic to their blog, and that each blogger needs to pick a time that works best for them, and for their audience.
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To all of my awesome, faithful compadres... I haven't been able to get anything new out on WW4F since Tuesday as I've been trying to get on top of the aftermath of the launch of my new book The Real Dad Rules.

I promise next week I'll have some great stuff for you! Until then, everybody have an awesome weekend full of rainbows, blue jays, and kettle corn. Or whatever else makes you happy...

Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing

We've talked about having a nerd blog, and how that can affect your ability to attract followers. Today I want to talk more specifically about the time you take with each post and what you need to do to make your posts look good.

Too often I visit other blogs and leave before reading anything because the posts themselves are visually unappealing or headache inducing. And I'd be willing to bet a lot of other people leave after landing on those blogs as well. The sad thing is, no matter how good they are, those posts never get read, and so I never know whether the blogger is worth reading or following.
So, today I want to give you my six big rules for making each and every post look awesome.

1. Break your blog post into readable paragraphs. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, that will send me away from a blog post (or an email) faster than something that was written with few or no line breaks. Looking at a huge, solid chunk of text will make your blog unfollowable. Even paragraphs that are too large will be an eyesore. My advice, keep your very longest paragraphs to around 125 words and your average paragraphs to 40-60 words.

At the end of each week, I run a feature here on Will Work 4 Followers with a rundown of the last week's worth of posts on Single Dad Laughing. The purpose of the feature is to discuss any lessons I've learned, as well as the reasons behind each post so that you either a) learn from what worked for me, or b) learn from what didn't work for me. Sometimes the lessons will be extremely simple (and almost seemingly non-important), sometimes they'll be bigger.
Since the ultimate goal is for us all to get better at blogging together, I hope everybody will participate in today's discussion below. After all, I'd like to learn from you and your blogging successes/mistakes as well!
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One of the big differences between the average blogger and an exceptional blogger is that an exceptional blogger always keeps a finger on the pulse of his/her blog.

Thoughts for the average blogger:

What would be good to post today?

Now, take a deep breath...

Thoughts for the exceptional blogger:
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One of the questions people often ask me is, "how do you come up with fresh content every day?"

To many people, the thought of coming up with something new or different every single day is overwhelming. I've had a lot of people ask, "what's going to happen when you run out of content?"

I'll tell you right now... coming up with fresh content every day is easy, if you keep your thoughts organized and easily accessible.

Every time I have an idea, or I find myself laughing about something noteworthy, or I have a life observation, I hurry and add it to a list in my phone or iPad (which sync together). I have different lists for Single Dad Laughing and Will Work 4 Followers.
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Due to the big Blogger fiasco that has been going on the last few days, I wasn't able to do my Single Dad Laughing Lessons Learned post this week.

So, I thought I'd take a moment and talk about this big bad Blogger problem instead!

Now... by raise of hands... who panicked when Blogger went down?

Also by raise of hands... who on WordPress (or any other blogging platform) took a moment to say, "see... proof that WordPress is better!"

I have to laugh about this whole Blogger fiasco. I mean... how often do you see a web Goliath go down, and who slung the rock that made it happen?
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Today, let's talk about your blog numbers and what they actually mean.

How many blog followers do you have? 5? 10? 20? 100? 1,000? 50,000?

Sometimes, especially when starting out, it's easy to get discouraged or feel like your own follower count is insignificant when comparing it to other blogs. Here on WW4F, I keep hearing the comment "I only have x number of followers."

From here on out, no matter what the number, let's all make a conscious effort to change that to "I have x number of followers!" Be excited about it. Be thrilled! After all, it's amazing.

I remember what it was like when Single Dad Laughing was still fairly new and people were just beginning to find it; specifically, I remember when the first person who wasn't a family member or friend started following.
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Today, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Losing blog followers is a part of blogging, and it’s going to happen to you. A lot. Don’t get frustrated about it and don’t panic when it happens.
It’s called attrition.
There is no doubt that most bloggers work hard to gain a following. Almost every blogger who's trying to build a following watches their subscriber and follower counts on a daily (or hourly, or minutely) basis, no matter how big their blog gets. They know when new people follow and they know when their numbers drop.
I remember when I started Single Dad Laughing and my Facebook Page still had around 200 followers. I remember watching that number, excited every time it went up one or two, and I remember how devastated I was the couple of times that I saw it drop one or two. I took it personally, wondering what I did that drove those people away, wondering what I did that wasn’t good enough for them, and wondering if there was any way to get them back. I spent a lot of time worrying about it, tracking down people who I noticed stopped following, and asking them for feedback to gain insight, etc. It took a while for me to realize that some people just stop following, and there’s nothing I can do about it, there’s nothing I necessarily did wrong, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it from happening in the future.
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At the end of each week, I run a feature here on Will Work 4 Followers with a rundown of the last week's worth of posts on Single Dad Laughing. The purpose of the feature is to discuss any lessons I've learned, as well as the reasons behind each post so that you either a) learn from what worked for me, or b) learn from what didn't work for me. Sometimes the lessons will be extremely simple (and almost seemingly non-important), sometimes they'll be bigger.
Since the ultimate goal is for us all to get better at blogging together, I hope everybody will participate in today's discussion below. After all, I'd like to learn from you and your blogging successes/mistakes as well!
Read & Comment >>

One of the greatest debates in the blogging world is whether or not the Alexa Rank of your blog matters.

When I started Single Dad Laughing, I had no idea what the Alexa Rank even was or why it was important. Today we'll discuss what it is and we'll also discuss whether you should worry about it or not. Today's post is a little long, but hopefully it's simple and thorough. And believe me, it's important.

The Alexa Rank (which can be viewed for any website at www.alexa.com) is a number assigned to almost every domain on the web. The number assigned to your domain simply tells how your website compares to every other website in the world. The lower the ranking, the more popular the website. For example, Google.com is the world's most visited domain, so it has an Alexa Ranking of 1. Facebook is the second most visited, so it has an Alexa Ranking of 2. As of writing this, Single Dad Laughing has an Alexa Ranking of around 62,000. That means (if it were exact) 61,999 websites currently register more daily traffic than mine does. We'll talk more about what that means in a minute. First, let's talk about how Alexa.com assigns that number.
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At the end of each week, I run a feature here on Will Work 4 Followers with a rundown of the last week's worth of posts on Single Dad Laughing. The purpose of the feature is to discuss any lessons I've learned, as well as the reasons behind each post so that you either a) learn from what worked for me, or b) learn from what didn't work for me. Sometimes the lessons will be extremely simple (and almost seemingly non-important), sometimes they'll be bigger.
Since the ultimate goal is for us all to get better at blogging together, I hope everybody will participate in today's discussion below. After all, I'd like to learn from you and your blogging successes/mistakes as well! Read & Comment >>

When it comes to personal blogging, I've done a lot of experimenting, and at the end of the day I'm convinced of one thing. Every blog should offer these five ways for their followers to follow along. Facebook, Twitter, Email, RSS Feed, and Blogger. Less than that, you're losing potential followers. More than that is simply unnecessary with the exception of YouTube if you also have a YouTube channel.

I've had a lot of followers write in and ask me how to put the buttons that I use on Single Dad Laughing and Will Work 4 Followers onto their own blogs. And until now, you couldn't because they were buttons that I made custom for my blog. They are by far the most effective subscriber grabbers I've tried (and I've experimented with many methods). And, since I'm not a button hog, I've put together several variations that you can easily put onto your own blog. Doing so is as easy as 1, 2, 3.
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Last week and this week, I'll be focusing on a few things you need to have setup if you want to attract as many long-term followers to your blog as possible. In my opinion, there are five major ways that people will subscribe to follow your blog. Neglecting any of these methods will leave a percentage of your potential followers behind since some people only follow via each of these methods. Last week, we discussed the importance of a Facebook Page for your Blog as well as the importance of Twitter when blogging.
The fourth "following platform" that every blogger should have setup is email subscription via Feedburner (or some other similar service) for their blog. There are some people who don't know anything about RSS, don't use Facebook or Twitter, and will only remember to follow if they get an email telling them you've posted something new. Others just prefer following via email even though they do use those other platforms. The latter often are people who never want to miss a post. Which is why having this available for your readers is crucial. Read & Comment >>

Last week and this week, I'll be focusing on a few things you need to have setup if you want to attract as many long-term followers to your blog as possible. In my opinion, there are five major ways that people will subscribe to follow your blog. Neglecting any of these methods will leave a percentage of your potential followers behind since some people only follow via each of these methods. Last week, we discussed the importance of a Facebook Page for your Blog as well as the importance of Twitter when blogging.
The third "following platform" that every blogger should have setup is Feedburner (or some other similar service) for their blog. Feedburner is a free RSS Feed Management system that gives you much more control over your blog's RSS feed as well as making it easy for your followers to follow. It also has some extra tools which we'll get into more on Wednesday. Read & Comment >>