Unlock the Possibilities - Enhance Your Online Presence: Blog It Baby!

My thanks to everyone who attended my workshop presentation, Enhance Your Online Presence - Blog it Baby! at the Northlands Storytelling Conference. I know there were other wonderful workshops you could have chosen and I appreciate and value your time. The links below provide additional information to help you take your blogging experience and storytelling business to the next level! 

  

For those of you who did not attend the conference and workshop, the links are here for your use as well.

EIGHT SITES FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN IMAGES

Pictures will make your blog more interested and help it to stand out from the others. If you find an image you want to use and it isn’t in the public domain, contact the artist and ask. You will be surprised how many are generous with their permission. Make sure you link back to their site as a “thank you” and as a professional courtesy.

Digital Gallery: New York Public Library http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/index.cfm
Clipart History -  http://www.clipart-history.com/
Dated Images -  http://datedimages.genpics.org/
Google Images - http://www.google.com/imghp
Karen’s Whimsy - http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/
Library of Congress American Memory - http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html (Check copyright information for separate items)
U.S. History Images - http://ushistoryimages.com/

ADDITIONAL READING

It never hurts to read what professionals have to share. When have some time stop by and learn their tips and tricks.

How to Add an RSS Feed to Your Blog
http://tinyurl.com/5uyqht6

How to Start a Professional Blog: 10 Tips for New Bloggers
http://tinyurl.com/447orr5

How to Write Searchable Keyword Phrases in a Blog Post
http://tinyurl.com/3qbz6v3

SEO: Search Engine Optimization Tips
http://tinyurl.com/3k7gwum

What is the Ideal Post Frequency for a Blog?
While this article is from 2008 it still offers interesting information. Take the advice with a grain of salt and the realization that the writer is a professional blogger. What is the correct frequency for him might be far too much for you. Remember, sometimes less is more. http://tinyurl.com/6b9ju8f

When’s the Best Time to Publish Blog Posts?
http://tinyurl.com/6ld9xwh and
http://tinyurl.com/5vyuzyc

  

OTHER TOOLS


Tagxedo – A word cloud tool that can also be used to create various shapes. The key shaped word cloud at the top of this page was made using Tagxedo. http://www.tagxedo.com/

Wordle – Another word cloud tool. I used it on my blog post about the tool when I first stumbled on it. I simply added my blog URL and you can see the word cloud it created here using words from my blog posts here” http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/04/wordle-patterns-of-prose.html  You may also use Wordle by keying in the words you choose. http://www.wordle.net/

Happy blogging!

Karen Chace ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.

Northlands Storytelling Conference - Party Till the Cows Come Home!

Did you receive your income tax refund before the impending government shut down? Don't know how to spend it? Well here's a fabulous idea! Make your way to Wisconsin this month for a weekend filled with workshops to help you bring your performance and business to the next level.

I have attended the Northlands Storytelling Conference since 2000 and it is one of the best ways to connect with your colleagues, network, learn new skills, hear amazing stories, make new friends, AND be pampered at the beautiful Grand Geneva Resort and Spa.

I can't wait to fly in and share the fun with my Midwest friends! I will present a new workshop on Saturday, Enhance Your Online Presence: Blog It Baby! as well as participating in a panel discussion with two award-winning storytellers, Linda Gorham of IL and Elizabeth Ellis of Texas. The topic will be Selling Stories, Not Snake Oil.

Elizabeth will be sharing her vast and valuable expertise on the business of storytelling, Linda on business ethics related to our work, and I will share ideas on how to use social networking carefully and creatively. Linda and I will also be in the Saturday night concert and Elizabeth will grace the stage for the Friday night concert. There will be a story slam and amazing fringes on both nights as well.

Whether you are an experienced storyteller or beginner, a librarian looking to spice up your programs, or an educator who wants to reinvigorate their curriculum, this is the place to be! Stop by the Northlands Storytelling Conference website to learn about the workshops and extra activities offered this year. We'll party till the cows come home! Join us, you won't regret a moooooment!

Wordle - Patterns of Prose

I was researching tonight for my upcoming workshop, Enhance Your Online Presence - Blog It Baby! at the Northlands Storytelling Conference and found this fun tool. I spent way too much time playing around with it  but the above is an example of my first wordle, a tool for generating word clouds.  This one was very easy. All I had to do was input the URL for my blog and voila, the above was generated, using words from my blog posts.

I've always wondered how others managed to do these designs when I've found them on other websites or blogs and now I know. I can think of many ways to use this tool and I am sure you will too. If you want to have some fun as well go to http://www.wordle.net/ . But make sure you do it when you aren't in a rush because you won't want to walk away too quickly once you fall down this rabbit hole!

Remembering Leanne

Today is the one year anniversary of the passing on my dear friend Leanne Johnson, age 47...gone far, far too soon.

As I was just typing her last name I realized it should have been Leanne Joy because she brought so much love, warmth and spirit to the world. Leanne loved people, penguins, stories, music, puns and laughter. We are the poorer for her passing but the richer for her having graced our world.

Leanne was one of the first people to reach out and offer words of wisdom when I began my own storytelling journey. Whenever I needed resources, advice, help or encouragement she was there. In fact, I still have her voice on my answering machine, singing the words to a song I needed for a storytelling performance, her exuberance palpable across the wires as she laughing sang "Baby shark do do do do..." That is the the kind of person she was, going the extra mile, across the miles. Whenever I need a lift she is there, her voice rings out loud and strong, and I smile.

Thankfully, her voice and stories live on in cyber space; her myspace page is still online. If you would like to enter into her wonderful world of folktales through words and music stop in for a visit. You can even see Leanne "in action" at her last Northlands Storytelling Conference performance in all her glory on my friend Gwyn Calvetti's blog. My thanks to Gwyn for making sure that Leanne's light shines on. I was blessed to be in that audience and I can tell you that Leanne absolutely glowed that night!

Leanne was a skilled wordsmith as well and when the question was asked on the Storytell listserv, "How did you know when it was time to call yourself a "storyteller?" Leanne penned this wonderful poem:


When everything you hear,
tells you a story,
When everything you see,
reminds you of a story,
When everything you taste
conjures up a story,
When everything you smell,
evokes for you a story,
When everything you touch,
summons up a story,

You might indeed be a storyteller.

But it is not until
you release those stories,
Allow the images to free form into the
imaginations of others,
Spilling their seeds
into the creation of more stories,
Funneled through the love and cares of family and friends,
who will love you
regardless
Enriched, enhanced,
amplified with the hopes and dreams of strangers
who have no other reason to love
or care for you,
Nestled into the unconscious mind of a growing child
where they will grow with goodness and strength.

Ahh, then, call yourself a storyteller.

And when they offer you praise,
compliments,
bravos,
endorsements,
money...

Remember,
the sounds,
the sights,
the tastes,
the smells,
the touch,

Of the Love of Story.

And today, as I do each day, I remember my friend Leanne with love.