Do you Like Pepper Scraps? Do you want to Follow me? Learn more about the ways you can connect to Pepper and Pepper Scraps. Watch the video –>

Don’t you love I totally forgot to mention YouTube! If you subscribe to my YouTube feed you can get my videos faster and easier (I usually post them on there and schedule the posts for later in the week).

I found Leah Segedie (aka BookieBoo) years ago! Okay so really I heard of Leah years ago, but we were in two different worlds at the time. But as I change my life and lifestyle I find that I enjoy following her more and more every day. I have had a couple great chats with her on facebook and love connecting with someone who I know understands my struggles because she has been there herself.

Leah Segedie (aka BookieBoo)

Leah is one of the biggest advocates of healthy moms and healthy families. After her own personal struggle with weight and weight loss she now has dedicated her life to helping other moms turn their lives around.

 … a fitness matriarch in the social media realm who helps “digital moms” learn and sustain healthy living practices to combat obesity.

Leah has create two amazing communities (Mamavation & BookieBoo.com)  to help women connect, get healthy, and stay healthy. If you are looking to change your life then you need to follow her today!

Recommended Reads

Here are a few posts that I have really enjoyed and think you may also:

• Shaming the “Fat” Kid is NOT Solving the Problem
• Top 5 Weight Loss Dupes to Watch Out For in New Year
• Confessions: Shame & Weight Gain During Pregnancy
• Do It For Your Kids
• Top 10 Most Influential Females in Fitness for 2011

Today I want to introduce you to someone I just met.

Corbett Barr

I found his name on another site as someone to watch in 2012 so I decided to look at some of his projects that he has started. One word of warning his sites do not have a pg rating, but maybe that’s what caught my eye he has passion!

• Think Traffic
• Expert Enough
• Million Dollar Blog Project

Think Traffic had a great post up about being At Your Lowest Point with your blog and being ready to really build a blog that matters! Yes please I want to see passion like this in bloggers! I love that Corbett’s main goal is to teach bloggers How to Create a Blog that Matters! I want to do this and I’m sure you do to!

Then I pulled up his main blog, Corbett Barr, and saw that he is talking about motivation and this is what my real focus is all about this year! Building motivation and working hard!

Corbett is now in my Google Reader and I can’t wait to start reading more!

Recommended Reads

Here are a few posts that I’m bookmarking (yes I’m at my other job, can’t read them all right now!) to read more of:

• You have to Choose to be Awesome
• Starting a Business Isn’t All Unicorns and Rainbows (the Other Side of the Story)
• How Do You Know When You’re Expert Enough?
• How to Start a Blog that Matters
• 81 Topic Ideas for Starting a Blog that Matters

Last year I made a goal to blog every week of 2011, I was so close and I think I will still call it a success as the weeks I missed was when I was recovering from surgery. I also made a goal to have at least 70 subscribers by the end of the year. I know a small number compared to others but I don’t push subscribing like other bloggers because I believe in building a community and I’m looking for real plugged in subscribers. I blew this goal out of the water with now sitting at 113!

This year I want to focus on three areas of my blog: posting, vlogging, and subscribers.

Posting

My goals this year for posting is to post at least three times every week. I also want to do at least one 30 day challenge where I add a blog post every day for 30 days.

To help myself accomplish this goal I’m creating a weekly posting schedule, creating an editorial calendar and going to attempt to get at least 2 weeks ahead on my posts.

Vlogging

This year I really want to focus on my videos and vlogging so I’m making a goal to vlog at least once a week. This is going to be a little hard goal to accomplish as I’m still struggling doing videos with my noise little boys around. I’m also hopping to chose a month to do a 30 day vlogging challenge, there may be a few closet vlogs coming your way.

To accomplish this goal I’m hoping to get more involved with some other vloggers and maybe find a vlogging partner to keep each other accountable.

Subscribers

I’m hoping this year to at least double my subscribers on Pepper Scraps. I’m hoping to see my subscriber number hit 225 next December 31st.

I actually feel if I keep consistent with my posting and vlogging goals that my subscriber number will just grow and grow.

To Be Continued

I hope you will spend this year with me and enjoy as Pepper Scraps grows and expands. Now I have my goals in writing and it is time for you to go write down yours! Even if you don’t share them with others write them down!

I would love to here what you would like to see here on Pepper Scraps.

Last week I talked about 5 Things You Need to Start Vlogging. To add one more item to that list I would say a vlogging buddy or inspiration! Jendi from Simple Vlogging Tips has been a huge inspiration for me for vlogging. I have watched her vlogs for years. So to bring back Blogger you Should be Following I want to introduce you to:

Jendi Pagano

I think one of the reasons I have loved the chance to get to know Jendi is that she is such a wonderful and down to Earth woman. She loves to chat with you and she is the biggest cheerleader if you are looking into starting to vlog.

She is the founder of a great blog that is filled with amazing vlogs all about starting to vlog: Simple Vlogging Tips.

My purpose in creating this site is to inspire and encourage other bloggers to start vlogging – or video blogging. Online video did more for my online presence in 6 months than regular blogging did in a year.

If you don’t know where to start when it comes to vlogging start by watching Jendi!

Recommended Videos

These are currently some of my favorite videos from Jendi’s blog.

• How to Use Windows Live Movie Maker
• Creating an Audio Logo In Your Video Blog
• How NOT to Video Blog
• Gimmicks In Video Blogging
• 7 Video Editing Tips To Save You Time

If you have been reading about blogging you know the first rule that most professional bloggers will give you is “Find your Niche”. But what about niche-less (yes this is my own new word) bloggers? Does this mean you won’t be successful unless you follow the rules?

I say no!

Well okay after a lot of debating and thinking this year I say no. Every year when I look at my blog and think “do I need to split up my blog?” or “Am I writing on too many subjects?” But this year I’ve come to the decision this is what makes me different and this is why my readers like me. Why should I change things for supposed professionals who don’t know me, don’t know my blog, and are giving the same advice to the thousands of other bloggers out there.

Why do I blog Niche-Less?

I have been blogging since 1998. In 1998 blogging (well journal-ing) was a completely different world. You wrote because you wanted share your personal story with others, you wanted to share your laughs, your pain, your failures, and your triumphs. Blogging has changed a lot, but I can’t let go of this mindset of a blog taking on your personality.

What is the main goal behind my blog now in 2012? I want to help you learn through my experiences. But I don’t just experience one thing in my life, I’m experiencing everything from Blogging Blues to Weight Loss Surgery to Crafting with my Kids. I’m juggling multiple facets of my life at once, as I know you are too, and I want to help show you if I can do it you can definitely do it too!

I have tried blogging around one subject and it starts feeling like a burden. I start hating my blog and hating blogging in general. If I don’t have passion for my blog why should I expect anyone else to?

How do I blog Niche-Less?

After really looking at my blog last year I decided that I want to make my blog more like a magazine for my readers. If they were really interested in just one subject I wrote about then I would make it easy for them to find posts only about that subject.

• I first decided to choose 3-4 subjects that I love writing about. Last year I chose Blogging, Crafting with my Boys, and My Weight Loss.
• Second I created a posting schedule for each of these subjects so that readers knew when to expect to see posts they were interested in.
• I then made sure my menu was bold and easy to navigate, creating a menu tab for each section of my blog.

How can you blog Niche-Less?

I could keep writing for a while on how you can write niche-less yourself but I am going to take the easy way out and recommend two wonderful posts for you to read:

• How to Blog without a Niche
• Coloring Outside the Lines – My Self Discovery About Niches

Both of these ladies are great examples on how to write without a niche but are also great examples of how to build a blog without a niche your own way.

Do you have Niche? Do you wish you could write about different subjects? If do not have a niche how do you handle writing niche-less?

If you don’t have an editorial calendar you may find that your posting is sporadic, you may become stressed keeping up with posting, or you may get blogger burn out. Today let’s talk about how to avoid all three of these by setting up an amazing editorial calendar.

You will find two benefits from a great editorial calendar.

1. When you sit down to blog you have your idea already sitting in front of you. You don’t waste time trying to decide what  to write about.
2. You can schedule your posts so if something unexpected happens you have posts that will already be coming up on your blog.

The Tools

First let’s get the tools you will be needing to set up a calendar. My two favorite WordPress plugins to help me with my calendar are:

• Future Posts Calendar - This is a great tool to see when you have scheduled your posts on your dashboard and from you post. Plus when you are ready to schedule a post just click the date and it will automatically change your publish date.
• Editorial Calendar - This will give you a calendar to add ideas as post drafts, see where you have posts scheduled, and quickly drag and drop to change posting dates for your posts.

Weekly Schedule?

Now is a good time to decide if you want to  have a weekly posting schedule or just post as you go.

What is a weekly schedule? Many bloggers decide on daily themes for their blog. I use this here on Pepper Scraps (though I’m a good example of not having it set in stone).

• Mondays you will find my Project 52 posts.
• Tuesdays I’ve been doing a series on Android Apps.
• Wednesdays are my Weigh In Wednesdays
• Thursday I’m doing a series on Bloggers You Should Follow.
• Fridays is All About Blogging
• Saturday is a Craft a Day

To create this schedule just think about 3-6 subjects you write about on your blog. Now designate one subject for a day of the week. What is nice about this system is if you are stuck about what to write about one day you have at least narrowed down the subject to talk about. This will also give your readers a since of what to expect when.

Don’t feel like you are always stuck posting to your weekly schedule. If you have some exciting news that you want to share right away, feel free and break the routine. Also take some time and review your schedule every few months to make sure you don’t need to rearrange or update your weekly schedule.

Collect your Ideas

Now it’s time to start brainstorming. It is always a good idea to always have a running list of blogging ideas. Keep a notebook (or use your phone or tablet) in your purse to always have available for ideas.

One of my favorite ideas for brainstorming is magazine covers. I find mine at the doctor’s office.

Today take some time and make a list of 30 ideas, this will help you on the next step in creating your awesome editorial calendar. If you created a weekly posting schedule create an even number of post for each category. Example: if you have 5 subject per week you schedule you will want to come up with 6 post ideas for each category.

Enter your Ideas into your Calendar

Open up your calendar either your Google Calendar or  Editorial Calendar or even a written calendar if you prefer pencil.

First enter all your time sensitive posts (holiday posts, sponsored posts, etc) into your calendar.

Now divide your ideas into your categories if you are posting on a weekly schedule.

Look through your ideas. Are you really inspired by an idea or do you have a post already all planned in the back of your head? Post these next in the upcoming week or the first week of the month.

Now start entering your post ideas. Don’t worry about what date you have them once you have your posts in the calendar you can rearrange them by drag and drop (or eraser). Just make sure they are  in the slots for your weekly schedule.

You now have an amazing editorial calendar now what?

Try to stay ahead of the game. Sit down and try to write 2 posts a day for a week, then after that you should be able to write one week ahead. Or spend a day to go through your month and create the outline for each post.

Do you currently have an editorial calendar for your blog? If yes, what is your tip today? If no, I’d love to hear why not?

Kristi Hines

Kristi is one of my newest blogger finds. I just found her blog Kikolani.com this summer and am loving reading it!

Kikolani, a name I derived from combination of my middle name and my grandmother’s name, is home to my blogging tips and blog marketing advice catered to personal, professional, and business bloggers alike. – About Kikolani

One of my favorite must reads is her Fetching Friday posts! This is an amazing grouping of some of the best posts around the web on things like: blogging, writing, business, personal development and more.

Recommended Reads

These are currently some of my favorite reads from Kristi’s blog.