If I haven't been by for a visit, it's because I can't find you and other helpful tips

I have been getting a lot of questions about growing your blog and please understand I am not an expert here but I will offer any help I can. My blog will be 4 months old tomorrow (although I have had a family blog for @a yr) and I have learned a great deal since starting this blog.  God has been gracious in allowing my blog to grow so rapidly and bring so many wonderful people into my life-that's you gals (and guys too) that  I'm talking about.  I have been blessed this week--let me tell me-so blessed that my socks were blessed off and now I can't find them anywhere.  My blog rankings hit the front page this week and have stayed on the front page all week--HAPPY DANCE, HAPPY DANCE, everyone do it with me and I will do it with you too when you hit the front page.  As of this morning Its So Very Cheri is # 42.  I hope to grow it even more so it is #1, sorry Layla at the Lettered Cottage I love ya but hey a girl can dream.  I work hard to bring you great ideas and inspiring info.  I have been blessed to have almost 16,000 visitors since starting and I am having between 700-1000 visitors each day, as of this week and I anticipate next week being even more.  I can not wait till we get moved and I can inspire you through all my home designs.  So, when I say I am no expert-I want you to know that my blog is young and there are others who have been doing this a lot longer than me but I also know many blogs out there are not anywhere near these numbers after a year, let alone 4 months, so I am happy to pass on the things I find that work.

 Here are a few tips for today:

Make your blog easy to read.  Example:  A red background with glowing green lettering is not easy on the eyes.  Some backgrounds are so busy that it is distracting- white space or blank space is a good thing.  Some backgrounds are busy, even where you actually type your posts and although, it may be a cute background it is really hard to read. Why a blog background designer would even post something like that is unbelievable to me. Look at your blog from a viewers standpoint.  Make it easy to read, easy to find things and easy to navigate.  I am still working on mine.  I have added buttons to my top bar and those are not my perm design but something that I could get up quick so I could start cleaning up my front page, but I am working on it as I have time. If hubby wasn't in school I would have a blog makeover by a professional to free up my time and do the things I would like but that is OUT OF THE QUESTION right now so I do what I can, when I have some free time.  (Everyone laugh with me-I have 4 kids and home school--free time-what is that???)

Some blogs have done surveys and the overall opinion is to get rid of word verification.  I still recommend keeping your comments moderated so you can delete spam or cruel blogger remarks-yes there are mean spirited people out there-don't let them get to you-don't give them the satisfaction that they GOT YOU, just delete and go on.  It's not you, they hit blog after blog doing it, trying to get a rise out of people.  Word verification does NOTHING to keep your blog safe and it takes so long to get through, some of the busy, big bloggers will not even leave a comment if you have it and I know why-it just takes too long, some of your blogs take me 4 steps to get through the process of leaving a message.  It is your blog, and you do what you want, I'm just giving you my opinion but it is the opinion of many others as well and if you want your blog to grow-get rid of it TODAY.  I recommend logging out and send yourself a message to see what the process is on your blog set up.  You may have 10 people to visit a day but imagine having 200 to visit, would you give up and pass by a blog with word verification, when you have 20 other things besides visits, on your TO-DO list, probably so. I know I am about at that point.  I just have to decide what things I can get accomplished and what I can't, people with word verification will get pushed to the bottom of the list.  In reality, all day long things get added to the list and by the next morning there are even more things to do and you may never get a visit, just because of word verification.

There are 3 different ways to have people leave a message-full page, which takes you to a different page, I used to have this but recently changed it ( I don't like it because you can't look at the post if you forget something-so then you have to go back and forth-ughh.  I am so sorry to everyone out there that I ever had this set up) so I decided to try the pops up window, you can still see what my blog post is about but it is still separated from the blog post and then I am going to try the one where you scroll down to leave a message and I think that will probably be the one I stick with because you can scroll back up to look at the blog info if you forget something.  In my opinion I think it is the most user friendly.

I recommend having your name and your blog name, as your set up your account, so people can see both, when you post a messages.  I don't have that because my name is in my blog but unless your name is in your blog title I recommend changing it to read EX: Lisa@My4Blessings.  That way someone knows immediately who you are.  If you just have Lisa, I can get 10 messages a day, from people with the name Lisa.  When I look at my followers and there is someone new and it just says SUE, that can be a problem.  If I can't get to Sue because of her set up (NO LINKS), I have no idea of her blog name to even try to find her.  If it said Sue@ My Old Cottage, I can probably find her, eventually.  This will not be on the top of my TO-DO list, just because of the time it will take to research each one but eventually I will be able to get to you.  If you fix your account to have a LINK you will get a visit within 24 hours (unless I am sick in bed or out of town with no computer access).

Leave lots of messages and build a relationship with other bloggers out there.

If you have a product you want to get out there do a give-a-way with a big blogger.  Maybe you offer them a free item and then they do a give-a-way on their blog, showcasing your item (give-a-way) and they go to your blog to look at your items or catalog etc--so now all of their readers are aware of you and your blog.  It may cost a little money out of pocket to do something like this but if you have the ability to do so, you have access to a lot of new people.  If you want to talk to me about give-a-ways I would be happy to have you e-mail me a picture of the give-a-way, I have already done this with some people who have asked me about doing a give-a-way for them.  I just want to make sure the product goes with my blog and that is why I ask to see a picture first.

I say, in my posts, "If you sign up as a follower, I will come over and do the same" but I can not get to many of you.  Can each of you do me a favor?  Go over to where my follower section is and click on the follow button, it will bring you up (if you don't have a picture there or there is a silhouette and you want a picture and don't know how to get one on there-leave me a comment and I will give you instructions.) NOW, I need you click on you and it will show your info. (EX: When I do mine, it shows "about me" and when I scroll down the next thing I see is the word LINKS and then it shows my blogs.)  If you click on your name and there is not a section called LINKS -I have no way of coming to visit you.  You need to go in and change the way you are set up, unless you just don't want visitors.  If you need help-leave me a comment and I will help you.
Some of you leave me a comment but you have your account set up to not show your e-mail and it doesn't show your blog either, so I can not even respond to your e-mails.

SO, If you have not received an e-mail from me or a visit to sign up as a follower, it is not because I have lied to you , it is because I can't find you, help me out by changing your info and believe me-- you will want to resolve this issue for yourself if you want people to be able to find you as your blog grows. Once you get to a certain size you are busy with other important things and this is not something you want to bother with when you have hundred of people in your lists.

If any of you have any questions-let me know.  These are just a few suggestions for today.

I will be doing a fun post after I have fixed the G-Force some breakfast--buttermilk pancakes anyone?
If you want to get to know me better, you can read all about me under the button the G-Force Family.  I love reading all of your comments and visiting you.  Comments are how I get to know you .