Since I use WordPress for all of my websites I thought it would be cool to share some of my favorite WordPress Plugins.
Jetpack
If you want to protect your site from malware and other threats Jetpack is the way to go.
Akismit
Protect you r comments from spam using the Akismit plugin. It cleans up your comments so that you don’t have to go through time-consuming process of doing so yourself.
Broken Link Checker
This plugin scans your site and does at is stated in the title – checks for broken links. Pretty nifty plugin that I have been using for years.
Pretty Link
If you use affiliate links it helps to make your links “pretty” instead of those long links that are created for you. It also tracks clicks to the links as well.
Revive Old Post
Sick of having to go back in and share your own posts over and over on social media? This plugin does it for you! You can spend more time writing posts than sharing them.
Wordfence
This plugin is also a malware scanner and provides security to your website from hacks and malware.
WP to Buffer
If you use Buffer to share your posts this plugin helps you to do so quickly and easily. It automatically adds your posts to your Buffer queue.
WPTouch
This plugin creates a more mobile-friendly version of your website so that mobile users don’t have to waste their time scrolling up and down and back and forth. It enables a clean mobile website without having to add any additional code in the back-end.
What are your favorite WordPress plugins?
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
I have a problem. I like to read blogs. A LOT. And I have so many different interests that I always end up in the most random places finding the best posts. Some are entertaining. Others are serious. Some are educational. No matter what – I always find something that I enjoy.
Since the semester is over and I have more time (sorta) I thought I would share some of my favorite posts from the blogs I have been reading lately. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did.
10 things every basic bitch wants for Christmas
First I saw the title of this and a I giggled a little. I knew it was going to be a great post. It did not disappoint me one bit. I never really thought of myself as a Basic Bitch, but after reading that list (and wanting nearly everything on it) I may have to accept that I am one.
9 Ways to Put Your Blog on Autopilot So You Can Enjoy the Holidays
These are some great ideas (that I wish I had implemented at the beginning of November.) I do some of the things on this list already, however, this was a great reminder. Trust me. Your blog will wait for you to return and if you follow some of these suggestions you can take some time off and come back ready to go.
4 Ways to Maximize Your Day Off
Sometimes on our day off we just want to relax and not do a damn thing. We are exhausted from different aspects of our life and want to lay around, watch Netflix and take naps all day. I’m guilty of that myself sometimes. But these are some great ways to take advantage of your day off and get some sh*t done! Trust me, you’ll enjoy it.
Did you know if you follow me on Twitter you can see even more of my favorite blog posts?
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
Life has been really crazy lately. I have been super busy with work and school. The end of the semester is near and I have not been getting enough sleep lately. My body was like “enough already” last night and I fell asleep with my phone in my hand. HA!
Since I fell asleep earlier than usual my body also decided that I should wake up at 5:00am. Any other day I would go back to sleep, however, something inside of me said to stay awake. So I did. I decided to catch up on Twitter and to my surprise I found out that I was the Featured Blogger for this week at Blogelina! I absolutely loooooooove Tanya’s website and am so honored to be featured on Blogelina. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. It made my heart smile and was just what I needed during this crazy time in my life.
Make sure you check out Tanya at Blogelina and if you are interested in becoming a Featured Blogger be sure to fill out this application.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful week and I wish you the best during this holiday season. If you’re a college student – best of luck on finals!
What’s one thing that made your heart smile this week? Let me know in the comments
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
**This post includes affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you choose to purchase one of the services listed above. For more information please visit my Disclosure page**
I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed the holiday. While everyone is doing some online Cyber Monday shopping I thought it would be fun to share some Cyber Monday deals for bloggers.
Hosting
HostGator: Check out this great deal! If you have been thinking about starting a blog take advantage of this deal! HostGator is offering 65% off all new Hosting plans and $5.99 .com & .net Domains Coupon Code: CM2015
Bluehost: For November 30th the Cyber Monday special from Bluehost is blog hosting for just $2.95/month for 36 months. I don’t know when they will offer this deal again so check it out if you are serious about starting a blog and want to take advantage of an excellent price.
Strinkingly: If you want to create a FREE beautiful and professional looking website literally in minutes – personal, business, online resume and much more check out Strinkingly. Great for when you don’t have the money to pay for a domain and hosting just yet.
Social Media Management
Hootsuite: If you are looking for a great social media manager that allows you to schedule posts & publish across several social media sites. Sign up for a Free 30 Day Trial of HootSuite Pro. I really love their interface.
Postcron: Another great social media manager! Postcron is currently offering 1 FREE month of their Premium service.
More Cyber Monday Deals For Bloggers
Events & Courses
Finances Webinar: Check out “The Beauty of Being Financially Responsible!” FREE webinar hosted by The Finance Bar – not specifically aimed at Bloggers, however, if you do plan on turning your blog into a business (or using it for your business) I am sure this will be great for you to get prepared for business in 2016.
Blog Clarity: If you want to take some courses to take your blog to the next level, Melissa over at Blog Clarity is offering $10 off these two courses:
Online Personal Training:
Heather over at Fit Momma’s is offering a FREE 3 day trial of any Fit Mommas Personal Training Online Program. As I have mentioned before – being in shape can really help you in all aspects of your life, including your blog life.
eBooks
Amazon: Get your FREE 30-day trial of Kindle Unlimited. Now you can check out those blogging books you have been wanting to read on your Kindle, Tablet or PC.
Here are the ones on my list to read:
Blog Beautiful eBook: Get 40% off the Blog Beautiful eBook which is full of 50 Tips + Fixes to Make Your Blog Glow. Code: cyberthanks
Organize Yourself Skinny eBook: Get the Organize Yourself Skinny eBook for just $9.97. Living a healthier life is essential for everyone including bloggers.
Theme’s, Services and Other Resources
Bluechic: Feminine WordPress Themes for women in business and bloggers. They are the lovely people that created the current theme that I am using here. Save 38% OFF all themes with. Code: BCYAY38
Paradise Praises: Calendars, eBooks and gifts. They are currently offering 25% OFF everything. Code: MONDAYLUV
Pinterest Review: Save 50% off a Pinterest account review from Premier Executive Media. Time to overhaul your Pinterest account and drive more traffic to your site in the new year!
SHOTBOX:Get a SHOTBOX for just $99 (Regular price $149) and take your photography skills to the next level. If I had my camera already I would totally invest in this. Great for bloggers, photographers, Instagram users and anyone that wants to get great shots of individual products.
Dropbox: If you need a place to store all of your files for your blog – for personal use or collaboration check out Dropbox. They are currently offering a FREE trial of Dropbox Business for 30 days which includes 5TB storage for 5 users, Unlimited file recovery and Admin controls for secure sharing and collaboration.
Fiverr: Claim a FREE gig on Fiverr. There are a lot of great services for bloggers available – advertising & marketing, SEO help, design & creatives and much more!
Adobe: Students & Teachers deal – Save 68% off on Creative Cloud
I also found other blogs that had lists of Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals for Bloggers. You can check them out here:
I hope you find something here that benefits you as a blogger and please share in the comments any Cyber Monday deals for bloggers that you know of.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
Back in March 2015 I wrote a post about some of my blogging goals. A lot of things in my personal life have changed and some of the changes did result in me having to put my blogging goals to the side.
Now that I am working a part time job and going to school part time I have a little bit more of a set schedule, however, I still have more free time than I used to working at my old job. How I spend my time, however, is another thing.
Starting a new job after job hunting like a boss and going back to school; forced me to attempt to set a schedule for myself since I previously didn’t have much to worry about while I was not working. This slowed down my blogging significantly.
I decided since it has been a little over six months and I am trying to spend more time blogging and working on my blogging goals, I thought it would be a nice time to post an update about how I am doing with my blogging goals.
Goal 1: Post More Frequently
Even though I was still working on posts and editing drafts, I did not reach my goal of posting 2-5 times a week – I was lucky to have even posted 2 posts a month. I am working on scheduling (see Goal 2) in blogging time so that I can get to that goal and I have some blog series that I am working on as well to help me in that process. I look forward to sharing what I am working on in the near future.
Goal 2: Organize/schedule my blogging tasks
I have been more organized and been spending more time working on drafts than I have in the past so I seem to have found a system that works in favor of the behind-the-scenes. I am working on a post about how I do that.
Goal 3: Organize my blog
I have cleaned up my blog a bit but I am still working on a new layout and trying to clear out the “clutter” from it so it is a bit more easy on the eyes.
Goal 4: Networking/Increase readership
Since I didn’t have any new content to read I have mostly been sharing my older more popular posts. I have been getting some nice feedback and new readers that were referred mostly from Twitter. I think once I post more I will get more readers. Wish me luck!
I will continue to work on the above goals and will check back in 6 months with how I am doing.
Do you have any similar blog goals? What are your current blog goals? If you have posted about it, please let me know in the comments as I would love to read it.
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
How do you determine what is worth reporting from your life since not every moment of your day ends up on your blog?
I have been using the internet since about 1999 and sharing my life with the world since around the same time. I have always had a website, blog, journal or social media account in which I shared bits about my life. When I share my life online, I try to be as transparent as possible because I consider myself an open book. I like to know that the person writing a blog is a real person with real experiences and not just an online persona so that is how I choose to be as well.
When I read someones story on their blog about something they accomplished I get inspired or when they write about a tragedy I feel compassion. As bloggers, when we share our life with others we can often learn so much about ourselves. We can share common struggles or issues as well as praise each other’s accomplishments. Sometimes we connect on things and it turns into projects or even business partnerships.
When it comes to sharing my life on my blog I don’t have any specific formula that helps me to figure out whether the topic is worth a post or mention. If it is a major event I will usually blog about it. For example, I am currently working on getting a job and/or creating a business and I wrote about it. I shared my experience along with some resources. To me sharing is caring. And I care. I like knowing that if someone reads that post – or any of my more personal posts – that they get to know about me and benefit from any discoveries or resources I came across as well.
If something smaller happened in my life like I baked something from scratch, I may post about it on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook instead. I like to think I am pretty open when it comes to sharing what is happening in my life. When I blog I usually write and share about bigger moments so that people reading it can find out more about me or be inspired or laugh or cry. I enjoy the discussions that occur once I hit that publish button.
For me, blogging has been very therapeutic. I can write about things that are happening and share it with others. A lot of times when bad things happen in my life and I write about it people come and give me so much love and support. Though I am not blogging in order to find sympathy, I do feel that sharing what I am going through can help others with what they are going through and vice versa.
Bottom line… I am fairly open about my life when it comes to blogging and I have not published anything that I regret sharing with the interwebs.
Are you participating in NaBloPoMo this month? Let me know in the comments so I can read your posts.
Do you like to read blogs where people share their life with readers?
What do you share online? Anything you are completely uncomfortable sharing online?
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links which means I will earn a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you decide to purchase something featured here. This commission will be invested back into hertaintedlips.com as well as help me buy a cheap bottle of wine or some Starbucks. For more information please read our disclosure page.
. Now you can check out those blogging books you have been wanting to read on your Kindle, Tablet or PC.
