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Lessons Learned

It's that time again—Senile Saturday and since TW just returned from Blogpaws, I figured I'd let her share some of the tips she learned at the conference.  I'm gonna get a little shuteye.


TW here. I had a fun time meeting all CK's bogging and Twitter friends last week. As an added bonus, I even learned stuff. At the Blogpaws 2011, I took mostly courses on eBooks because I've always wants to make CK's blog posts into a book. That, however, seemed too much like work; and, as CK would say, I'll break out in hives at that 4-letter word work. This year I chose many informative sessions about blogging. I did waste my time going to one or two although I had the sense to walk out on the Photography session when she said she'd be dealing with mid-price $400 cameras. Too rich for my blood. Unfortunately, I wound up at the Political Animals' session where we were stood up by Congressman Moran. No big surprise, I suppose.

Although most of the sessions dealt with WordPress and the moderator didn't seem to know Blogger or any other platform existed, some of the knowledge can be applied universally.

Here are some sites I learned about that you may be interested in:
Akismet, a WordPress plugin to protect you from web spam

Research sites:
The Cat Libraries
Habri Central
Journalist's Resource

Also to dispel rumors:
Snopes.com
Urbanlegend.com
thatsnonsense.com

Wanted for copyright
infringement.
Robin Bisha in her excellent presentation also gave advice on doing interviews and spoke about images. When I need an image for this blog,  I usually do a Google image search. Yes, I'll admit I'm guilty but usually just to steal a hat or prop for CK. Not only can we get into legal trouble for using copyrighted images but WordPress will even take down blogs guilty of using too many Google images. Whoops! I found out that I should be looking at Flickr Creative Commons and PhotoPin.com for images that are being made available to others,  but even these images should be credited.

CK tries to credit most everything on this blog that we don't write but some things slip through the cracks.

Do you want to see if other's are using YOUR photos without permission? Check out Tineye.com.

I also learned about the best ways to boost traffic to your blog and to not be afraid to promote CK and her blog. We don't write for ourselves. It's all about the readers.

Nothing like clothes right out of the dryer. TW is home and she's still boring.

19 Comments

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  1. UnknownMay 25, 2013 at 5:35 AM

    Those are some interesting tips and links. Have a super Saturday.
    Best wishes Molly

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cats Herd YouMay 25, 2013 at 7:29 AM

    Thanks for sharing the tips! We had never heard of Photo Pin before, and sometimes we think we have been to the last page of the internets, so that's a big win!

    ReplyDelete
  3. GizmoGeodogMay 25, 2013 at 10:32 AM

    Thanks for the tip to PhotoPin...Hadn't used that one before

    ReplyDelete
  4. brokenteepeeMay 25, 2013 at 11:03 AM

    You are a very special cat to share your knowledge

    ReplyDelete
  5. GLOGIRLYMay 25, 2013 at 11:08 AM

    We hadn't heard of PhotoPin before either! We tried out TinEye for fun and it pulled up a photo of me in my jail cell on a site in the Netherlands. They must have caught me in one of their so-called "coffee houses."

    We hear you on the Blogger thing too. We're thinking about switching (ok, we've been thinking for about two years) ... but we're still undecided.

    Thanks for all the tips, CK!
    ...and I'm sorry TW is still boring.

    xo,
    Katie

    ReplyDelete
  6. MariodacatsmomMay 25, 2013 at 12:46 PM

    Great post TW - Very helpful and I've made a copy of some of your sites. Keep hoping I'll get to Blog Paws to meet everyone - who knows - maybe next year.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Katnip LoungeMay 25, 2013 at 2:06 PM

    We want to know, were there any good sites for STARTING rumors? Or are us Cats good at that already--of course we are!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Summer at sparklecat.comMay 25, 2013 at 2:38 PM

    My human has a couple of ideas for sessions she wants to pitch for next year's BlogPaws... one of them is How to Take Good Photos Even If You Only Have a Cheap Camera Phone! Sheesh. She was on the shuttle with that photographer who did this year's session, and she told her that a lot of bloggers only had camera phones or low-end point-and-shoots. Sheesh.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Deb BarnesMay 25, 2013 at 3:14 PM

    Well, clearly our human is an abysmal failure at blogging. Here she was at the BlogPaws Conference and she learned more from your post than she did wandering around pretending she is a cat. As if.

    Anyhow,our human says to tell your human that she enjoyed finally meeting her!

    Purrs from the Zee and Zoey gang.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Random FelinesMay 25, 2013 at 4:13 PM

    thanks for the links. agreed - needs to be more on blogger. I tried switching to wordpress, was intimidated and switched back. I think they tend to forget that a lot of us do this for fun.... but whatever.

    ReplyDelete
  11. CATachresisMay 25, 2013 at 5:02 PM

    I tried wordpress once!! Nuff sed!

    That was actually very helpful TW, those links and all. Tineye looks useful!

    ReplyDelete
  12. TamagoMay 25, 2013 at 7:09 PM

    Thank you for the tips. I did not know about PhotoPin, gotta check the site!

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Island CatsMay 25, 2013 at 8:25 PM

    Good summary, TW! The mom said she actually learned a couple of things at BlogPaws, too. She thought the copyright session was helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnnStaubMay 25, 2013 at 8:44 PM

    Sounds like you learned lots of great stuff. I don't find it surprising that the speaker didn't know much about Blogger... I moved to WP and then moved back over here. It's easier to maintain and I feel like I can make it my own, design wise.

    You can also check out morguefile.com for photos to use and they don't require attribution. That and flickr are my two faves.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Kitties BlueMay 25, 2013 at 9:40 PM

    Thanks for this exceptionally good information. Mommy didn't go to Blog Paws so any info we get from other kitties and blogs is much appreciated. Purrs and hugs from the kitties at The Cat on My Head, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette

    ReplyDelete
  16. Cat and DOG Chat With CarenMay 26, 2013 at 10:18 AM

    thanks for posting this! The Cat Library link doesn't work :(

    If you want some sites with hats and things for CK you can go to www.picmonkey.com and www.ribbet.com
    That's what many of us use that aren't "techies", have a budget, and are not "gifted" in PhotoShop!

    ReplyDelete
  17. meowmeowmansMay 26, 2013 at 9:35 PM

    Such an informative post, TW. We learned a few things at BlogPaws, too!

    ReplyDelete
  18. ClooneyMay 26, 2013 at 11:24 PM

    That's all interesting stuff, especially the tineye, thanks for sharing the info.

    ReplyDelete
  19. UnknownMay 27, 2013 at 12:43 AM

    What a interesting post! Thanks!
    Nellie's Mom

    ReplyDelete

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