Guest Blogging, ROW80 and my Dorothy Gale Moment

Yup.  That’s me up there.  I am feeling rather sheepish in regards to my last over-the-top-drama-queen blog from Monday. I mean, here I am blathering on and on about statistics-- meaningless droves of faceless numbers, and here you all are, commenting, supporting my silly needs, being the funny, eloquent writerly individuals you are day in day out and putting up with my greedy whiney need to be popular.

Sigh.  Thank you.  From the bottom of my wannabe prom-queen heart:  Thank you.

So, I promised beguiling tales of my foray into guest blogging.  At the behest of another blogger’s good intentions, I checked out two links for guest blogging with a somewhat moderate return on my investment of time. In retrospect, I guess I was drawn into the whole idea of guest blogging with the intention of “growing my ego”—I mean “blog readership”. I set some goals for ROW80 and thought I'd follow through.  I’m not sure if it was the right avenue for exploration, but sometimes, getting lost is exactly what one needs to find out where the real destination is. (Watch "The Wizard of Oz" for further clarification.)

The first site is BloggerLinkUp. This site is free and hosted by Cathy Stuck, a.k.a. "The Idea Lady".  This site offers opportunities for writing guest blogs for  other sites or hosting a guest blogger of your own.  There are listings for contests, informational articles and the chance to network in the greater blogosphere at large. A rather dry site visually, but to its credit, it does have an easily accessible list of blogging gigs.  I liked that the list of opportunities is readily available for easy perusal by topic.  If one wanted to “get out there” and write an article for publication, or publish an already written piece, this might be one way to begin. 

The next site is MyBlogGuest. This site is huge, with thousands of members clamoring for guest bloggers and writers jostling for gigs.  The daily emails allow me to check out relevant posts from like-minded individuals seeking guest-bloggers and bloggers looking for places to post.  While the site is free, the premium membership, which allows you to peddle specific articles does have a fee. 

Frankly, I’ve had a hard time navigating this mega-maze of a site and that’s AFTER a five day tutorial.  It’s also a bit of a sensory Sahara and a little overwhelming when in comes to choices.  It is also rife with a lot of (gasp) non-writer-types, so typos, bad grammar and dead-end links abound.  However, I did follow up on one lead which has proved to be all right so far.  I am writing an article (for free) for a new online magazine about mothering and will be submitting it this week.  (Guess what: I'll keep you posted.)

So, after all the time and energy that has gone into this, will I be read by scads of people?  Will they care about what I write more than you, my loyal visitors and friends? Will people flock to my site in droves?  Um… what was I looking for anyway?  The feel-good-fuzzies I have received from YOU have been both heart-warming and thought provoking.  It has made me realize more of who I am and what I’m even seeking though this whole blogging thing.  I keep thinking of that scene in “Wizard of Oz”.  You know the one.  Where Glinda asks Dorothy what she’s learned, and Dorothy says,

“I know that if I ever to looking for my heart’s desire, I’ll never go any further than my own back-yard.”

 

I truly have learned to value this community we’re creating together.  I love hearing your colorful thoughts and opinions, and reading your interesting, funny and informative blogs.  It’s the realest (yes that's a word) thing I’ve got going.  Maybe I should’ve started with you first.  So, if you will allow me:  If you want a guest blogger for your site, you know who to call.  And conversely, if anyone is interested in doing an interview about your so-called writerly life, I'd be honored if you would be my guest.

There’s no place like home.

~Just Jill

A huge P.S.

Apparently, my blog address has been hacked by a Bible study site?!  What?  THAT'S not in the Bible.  The bible site only pops up sometimes and usually at the worst of times, like when I signed up my linky for ROW80 and now everyone thinks I’m a spammer, or worse.  Has anyone else experienced this?    I feel like changing my blog URL would unleash a backlash of unforeseen internet crap!  Any advice my People?

The karmic internet Gods are laughing at me!  LAUGHING! 
"Trying to increase blog traffic, eh?  Take that!"

 ROW80 Linky here