How to Become a Better Blogger in One Weekend

I participated in my first weekend blogathon last summer, and I’m still benefiting from it … a lot! The free Winter 2013 Blogathon is this weekend, January 25-28! It starts at 8:00am EST today and ends at 8:00am EST on Monday.

Although the blogathon runs for 72 hours, it’s hoped that you’ll commit to 24 hours of work on your blog during the weekend. If you can’t spend that much time, that’s fine, too. Just start when you can and do what you can.

Don’t Miss the Mini-Challenges!

The biannual blogathon is really intended for us to get caught up on our blogging to-do lists. It’s great for that. But when I look back on the Summer 2012 Blogathon, I’m AMAZED at how often I use information from the mini-challenges I took. They were lots of fun, and my blogging was greatly helped by learning how to use Google Calendar with color-coding (I’m a calendar-challenged person yet I’m still using it!!!), how to create collages in PicMonkey (which I’ve used countless times since the blogathon), and tips for Twitter and SEO.

See How I Improved My Blogs in One Weekend – Summer 2012 Blogathon for a list of the mini-challenges I took. You can still take them … although you won’t want to miss the new mini challenges for this weekend! The blogathon mini challenges have been put together by some of the participating bloggers to help others learn a new skill or get better at doing something they already know. You can pick and choose the ones you’re interested in. Read over the information and then do whatever the mini challenge requires sometime during the blogathon for an extra chance at winning prizes. (There’ll be Twitter parties with chances for prizes, too!)

My Goals for the Winter 2013 Blogathon

Since I LOVE the mini challenges, I plan to complete a number of mini challenges.
I’ll also work on fixing broken links here, at Living Montessori Now, and at Spring Snow Publications using the Broken Link Checker plugin.
I’ll plan my blog posts for next week and set up my Google Calendar for February.
I’ll write and schedule two blog posts.
I’ll work on adding watermarks and photo collages to some archived blog posts.
I’ll work on affiliate ads and monetization.
I’ll work on the final revisions/editing of my eBook.

Whew … and that’s just a bit of what I want to do. I need more than 24 hours of intense blogging to catch up on everything, although I know that 24 hours of focused blogging this weekend will help me make some significant progress. I hope you’ll join me for the Winter 2013 Blogathon so you can become a better blogger in one weekend, too!

UPDATE: What I Accomplished during the Winter 2013 Blogathon

I spent around 24 hours working on my goals during the blogathon, although I can never give an exact number of hours. I always wonder if certain of my online chores should count. But I was definitely much more focused than during a typical weekend.

I made progress on all my goals, although I didn’t get as much accomplished with broken links or affiliate ads as I would have liked. I was especially happy with the amount of work I completed on my upcoming eBook.

I completed six mini challenges. I would love to do them all, but I decided to complete two per day to allow plenty of time for my other goals, too. As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed the mini challenges. Even when I was quite familiar with a particular area, I liked reviewing the tips to be sure I hadn’t missed anything. And completing the challenge requirements helped me focus on improving what I was already doing. Here are the mini challenges I completed:

Ad Management for Bloggers @ Geek With Style
Tips for Promoting Blog Posts on Facebook @ Biannual Blogathon Bash
Why Social Network Promotion is Important for Blogs @ Biannual Blogathon Bash
Google+ (Google Plus) Guide for Bloggers @ Biannual Blogathon Bash
Blogger’s Guide to LinkedIn @ Biannual Blogathon Bash
Tips for Food Photography @ Confessions of an Overworked Mom

You can find the complete list here to complete mini challenges whenever you can: Mini Challenge List – Winter Blogathon 2013.

Note: Completing the mini challenges during the blogathon probably helped me win a blog makeover from Cafe Blogelina!

The Next Blogathon

Mark your calendar for June 21-24, 2013 for the Summer 2013 Blogathon! Thanks to the mini challenge from last summer’s blogathon that taught me how to use Google Calendar, I have the dates scheduled (and color coded)!