Blogging: How it Started for Me...

How did you get into blogging? It is an interesting question, and one that I do get asked from time-to-time. So today I thought I’d write the story down publicly. Blogging was something that I never wanted to get into … yes, I know, I know … says she who is now rather addicted to it. But it is true. It was decided (though not by me) that my work needed a blog, and I was given the task of being the writer for it. I did start off very tentative wondering what to even write about, and what would be useful to let people know about, as well as figuring I didn’t have any interesting news to tell people … but almost 4 years later, I’m still the writer of that blog (Genealogy & History News), and now I simply don’t get enough time to write all the blog posts I want to. [DREAMJOB: that would be a full-time geneablogger]. Anyway after writing for the work blog for a while, I discovered two things. 1. I was getting the itch to write some things that just wouldn’t fit on the work blog. 2. I rediscovered my love of writing. I have vivid memory of being in primary school and having a relief teacher for the class, who then asked what we should do. Naturally I put up my hand and asked if we could write an essay, which was what we ended up doing. Needless to say I was NOT popular with the other kids after that. But that is my first real defining memory of realising that I loved writing. So October 2009 was when I’d made the decision to start my own blog, and Lonetester HQ was...

A Blogging Overview: The Bloggers’ Geneameme...

You know I love blogging, so how could I go past Jill Ball’s (aka Geniaus) new geneameme, “The Bloggers’ Geneameme“. Jill writes … “It’s NationaI Family History Month here in Australia and I have been procrastinating about hosting an online activity to mark the event. I am very interested in hearing about the practices and thoughts of fellow Geneabloggers so thought I’d dream up a little geneameme on the topic. You are invited to respond to the questions in this short geneameme via a post on your blog. Please write as little or as much as you like and don’t feel obliged to answer all the questions.” So here goes … 1. What are the titles and URLs of your genealogy blog/s? Lonetester HQ – www.lonetester.com Memorabilia House – www.memorabiliahouse.com 2. Do you have a wonderful “Cousin Bait” blog story? I have had some people contact me, but no-one close. What I have found very cool, is that my cousins are enjoying learning about the history of the family through me sharing the pictures and stories. 3. Why did you start blogging? Is there someone who inspired you to start blogging? I started my blogs because I had already been blogging for work, and decided I needed my own, as i had more I wanted to say and share with others. 4. How did you decide on your blog/s title/s? The Lonetester HQ one I took quite a while took quite a while to come up with, as I was deciding on my social media name at the time, so thought about it probably too long. And that’s what it ended up as. The Memorabilia House one just came to me one night. The name, together with the whole...

Tips for Geneablogger Writers and Readers...

Tips for Geneablogger Writers and Readers … actually should be called Tips for Every Reader or Writer of Blogs, as it is actually for everyone who reads and/or writes blog posts, which obviously includes those in the geneablogger scene, but this goes far beyond just them. From my two or so years that I’ve now been blogging, through my various blogs, these are tips that I have picked up along the way. You may agree with some, and not others. And others may have more tips to add. By all means feel free to do so. FOR WRITERS Tip 1. Allow comments on your blog. Yes you will get spam, but wouldn’t you like to know that someone enjoyed your post so much they wanted to comment on it. Or if someone has googled and has come up with the name of your great grandpa who you wrote a post about a year ago, and they wanted to get in touch with you – don’t make it hard for them to do so. It’s off putting. Tip 2. If you use photographs on your blog, label them. By labelling them, I don’t mean caption them (though you need to do that too). I mean the title you give your photos, rather than the P1200983 that your digital camera, or scanner automatically names it as. If you have scanned a picture of your grandma’s and grandpa’s wedding back in the 1940s, don’t just leave it as the default name, name it as “wedding of Annie Smith and Alf Harford 1941”. When people Google for the name, your picture will come up. Trust me you will get new contacts through this. Tip 3. Put share buttons on your blog. People do...