WooThemes Competition & Community Blogging
This month the London Bloggers Meetup theme is all about multi-author and community blogging.
We’ll be looking at topics such as:
- how do you manage a diverse pool of bloggers
- what are the editorial needs of a multi-author blog?
- how do you maintain motivation within your community to produce content for your blog?
- which blogging platforms and plugins work best?
- is a blog the best way to communicate with a community?
We will have the usual panel of speakers giving us their opinions and advice followed by open questions from the audience.
The WordPress experts at WooThemes have offered our members the opportunity to win some fantastic prizes this month too. There are offering our community the chance to win:
1. 5 standard WooTheme packages
2. one $300 coupon for WooCommerce extensions
3. one copy of Sensei, WooThemes’s powerful learning management plugin
If you would like to be in with a chance of winning, simply add a comment to this post telling us about one blog you really enjoy reading and why.
And no, this can’t be your own blog…
For example… I really enjoy reading the RAF Airman blog (http://rafairman.wordpress.com/) because it gives me an insight to what it’s like serving in the military in Afghanistan. Alex has a fantastic collection of images hosted on flickr too which paint a really clear picture of life in the military.
The winners will be chosen at random on the 11th March from all those who enter. You must attend the London Bloggers Meetup on 11th March 2013 to win.
Quick plug, look out for a podcast with Alex from RAFAirman coming to you soon.
About WooThemes
WooThemes is an international, market leading, bootstrapped business providing a platform to extend standard WordPress-powered websites via a range of innovative themes and plugins. With WooThemes businesses and individuals can get professional WordPress sites launched quickly and affordably.
I’m sure I shan’t be the only person on here to mention it, but Seth’s Blog over at http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ is always my main port of call. Not only is it a constant source of great content and inspiration, but it is a community leader, in that he openly discusses his inspirations, and where he learned from to get to where he is now.
There are no secrets on Seth’s Blog. There are no gimmicks, SEO cons or cross promo ads. Seth has built his blog on trust and by being a constant man of integrity.
When Seth gets it wrong or has to correct himself he has no problem publishing a correction, or even an apology. He doesn’t hide behind what people think he should be, and embraces who he is.
In Short, he is what being a leader is all about, and so is his blog.
I like http://www.inspiredgiftgiving.com as the author does a lot of work so she stands out in a busy self-help niche. She demonstrates excellent curating abilities and has a thriving community.
I also like http://www.thesoulagentblog.com (client) as Sarupa writes spiritual business advice that isn’t off-putting or in your face. Already she’s one two awards and her site is only 3 months old.
Finally check out http://www.jackiewalker.me I love Jackies nature walks and how she sees the joy in everything and then writes about it. Again she’s won awards and has a thriving community in what would appear to be a saturated niche.
The ones I’ve mentioned all stand out out because they are not afraid to be who they are, they don’try to please everyone and they are truly authentic.
Although I am Male I really enjoy reading the womens platform http://www.birdsontheblog.co.uk. It always has such a wide, varied amount of content which is a mixture between light hearted (great after a stressful day) and up to date hard hitting topics.
The women all seem quite feisty, I particularly like the blogger Charlotte Ball who writes about education and young enterprise on the site. She is always quite honest and frank with her thoughts, as well as providing great factual info about the latest reports and initiatives.
I have to admit this is a much better read than the majority of male dominated business sites I subscribe to, well done ladies and particularly the editors who seem to have the tough job of keeping it all together and controlled.
I am nominating Sarah Arrow at http://www.sarkmedia.com – I find her writing really easy to access and she makes it possible for me to understand about blogging in a way that doesn’t bambooozle me with technical stuff. It’s real, it’s useful and to the point – I do think she is one of the UK’s premier blogging experts and has a brilliant approach and a lot to offer the blogging community.
My favourite blog is Addicted2Success (http://addicted2success.com) because it has some very cool articles about life, inspiration, motivation and the blog titles are all creative and well thought out.
In particular, my favourite article on that blog is the one titled ‘5 Regrets by those about to die’ – a chilling reminder about what we should actually be focussing on during our lives rather than the things we *think* are important, but are actually not.
I also want to nominate Michael Robinson at http://www.foodontheblog.co.uk a newbie to the food blogging world but a blog I love to read and hang out in, makes food stuff seem more interesting than just recipes that show off how good he is and the content is engaging.
My favourite blog is HammyEnd.com, a Fulham FC fan blog which has excellent coverage of the matches, the players, any gossip around the team and transfers and great analysis of the team. Seriously, those guys should be commentators!
I’m currently addicted to http://chemonights.blogspot.co.uk/, which is a heart-wrenchingly truthful account of what it’s like to undergo cancer treatment. I’m learning a lot, and it’s inspired me to compete in this year’s Swimathon!
Like Sarupa, above, I am also a huge fan of Sarah Arrow and http://sarkemedia.com
What Sarah doesn’t know about social media isn’t worth knowing. I always get great ideas, and she’s always up on the latest effective tools for better blogging.
A huge thank you for my nomination – I could start a fan club as really Sarah Arrow hits so many nails on the head over at http://www.sarkmedia.com – her ability to call a spade a spade almost outdoes my own, and that’s what makes her special!
I’m also a huge fan of Lea Woodward http://leawoodward.com who has a similar capacity of seeing the wood from the trees which in a world full of hype and sensational guff in the business world is very refreshing.
More spade calling goes to Angela Boothroyd for her ability to teach English online … and so many of us need it! This is her site – http://online-english-lessons.eu/wordpress/
http://aseasyasridingabike.wordpress.com
An excellent example of a blogger doing incisive and deep analysis, which shapes public debate, in this case about cycling infrastructure.
It’s got to be Instances of a changed society (http://instancesofachangedsociety.blogspot.co.uk/). Ian Waites looks at how British society has changed from a Gainsborough Council estate.
One of the blogs I really enjoy is Ziba By Nature (http://zibabynature.wordpress.com/). It’s a beauty blog focused on natural products, healthy lifestyle and all things French. I like her in-depth reviews and a sense of humour.
I want to nominate the blog londonwallah (http://londonwallah.com/) because it is deals with UK politics, art and culture in such a witty way! I always feel a bit enlightened after having visited the blog.
I really enjoy http://londoneer.org/ for its quirky take on London life. Always discovering something new about the city every day.
I love reading The Project Girl (http://www.theprojectgirl.com/). I really can’t recommend a more useful blog if you’re into interior, craft, and household organisation. Jen provides a style of writing that makes the topics interesting even if it’s not really your cup of tea, and her “meal planner” section has helped me lose nearly 30lbs (and save me a bucket-load of money) simply by planning what I’m going to eat over the next week or so! Head on over there for an absolutely stellar example of what a blog should be like – fun, natural, accessible, user-friendly and concisely informative.
One of my favourites is Zen Habits by Leo Babauta – http://zenhabits.net/ – he has a nice “voice” and puts across spiritual stuff without being preachy.
I enjoy reading http://www.modculture.co.uk/ – it consistently covers all things Mod going on across the UK and is a great reference for Mod fashion, trends and goings on.
Being a fan of wordpress, I always find WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg’s blog (http://ma.tt/) inspiring. The links he shares, mostly related to wordpress are interesting to follow.
I really enjoy reading Tim Ferriss blog because the posts are full of details but not too long, and because there are pictures and videos to support what he is saying
I forgot to point out the blog http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
I alwsys used to read piece oof writing in news paapers but noww as I am a userr of net so from now I am using net for articles or reviews, thanks to web.