Give Your Blog The Ol' Spit And Polish

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Every now and then, we could do with a bit of a makeover. You know the kind of thing I mean - hitting the shops to buy a new jacket, getting a new haircut, and buying some slick new shoes. It’s great for our self-confidence, but it also helps us keep up to date with all the current trends.

And this is the case with our online personas as well, specifically our blogs. Imagine if you had kept the same blog design that you had when you first launched it? It would certainly look very out of date by now! So, every few months, it’s time to go over your blog and make sure that it’s all up to date and is looking as good as it can. It’s what I like to call the good ol’ spit and polish! Here are some things to add to your blog checklist.

Update The Design

When was the last time you changed the design of your blog? As I’ve mentioned above, if you haven’t done so for a while, it might look decidedly outdated right now. And this could be putting off new readers - after all, no one wants to spend time on a blog that looks like it’s straight out of 2007! So, if you are using a hosting platform like Squarespace or WordPress, it’s a good idea to take a look at some of the other templates on offer. Don’t worry; changing the template shouldn’t lose any content, but it’s always a good idea to backup just in case!

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Watch Your Language

How is your language on the blog? If all of your blog posts are filled with spelling mistakes and other typos, your readers will be instantly turned off. It really is worth going through your most recent posts and making sure that all your writing is up to scratch. Got a few grammar questions that are bugging you? You can also check out this blog to see if it holds all the answers. It’s also worth getting a friend to proofread your posts before you publish them as they will probably find it easier to pick out your mistakes.

Review Photos

As well as regularly updating your website’s design, it’s a good idea to review photos on a semi-regular basis too. If you are using someone else’s photos and images, it’s important that you go back to check the license for them. Sometimes these can change and an image that was creative commons might not be any longer. If this is the case with a photo on your blog, you need to change it.

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Go Mobile

Is your blog mobile responsive? If not, it needs to be so that it can improve its SEO. Mobile responsive just means that it can be viewed on a smartphone or a tablet device easily. If you use WordPress or Squarespace, they will have guides that can help you create a mobile-responsive design for your blog.

Once you’ve given it the ol’ spit and polish, your blog will look great!

Weekly Geek Outs - 08/05/16

Greetings!

Here's what is on my mind this week:

• Creativity

I had a great chat recently with Craig Bidiman for the podcast about art therapy. We got into the creative process and the value of having creative hobbies. I write, I podcast, and I enjoy engaging with the creative products of others. Other people draw, do coloring books, paint, sing, or any number of other things. It doesn't matter what you do or if you do it for others or just yourself. It just matters that you do it. It is important to nurture different parts of ourselves outside of our day to day lives and work.

• Collaboration

I've had the opportunity recently to collaborate with Kayley Robsham writing for the Check I'm Here blog. I really enjoy bouncing ideas around and I think active, positive, and focused collaboration helps produce better outcomes. I work now in a far more collaborative environment then where I came up before, so I feel spoiled with all the different venues for great collaboration going on right now. I also enjoyed featuring a lot of great content from other writers for my #SAGeeks series. They were able to write about a lot of different things that I could never get to myself. It is important to bring other people in to help us do the things we can't or the things that don't come as naturally for us. The world would be better for it if we all could contribute our unique strengths to the greater good.

• Communication

In addition to my writing, podcasting has been a very fulfilling creative endeavor for me in many ways. I've been able to have conversations with amazing people in our field, learn many different things, and build up skills I wouldn't have the opportunity to otherwise. My new job also really helps me cultivate my communication abilities. I have to talk to a lot of different people about a lot of different things every day. Communication has always been a struggle for me. I'm very grateful for this opportunity to build these skills as well as use my experience and expertise from student affairs to help serve students in a very unique way.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 12/18/15

Greetings!

Here's what is going on in my world this week:

• The Blog

As you can see, the blog has gotten a bit of a face lift. I switched platforms and am working on refreshing my logo as well. I wasn't intending on doing this switch so soon, but I got pulled down a rabbit hole when looking at different options, and just decided to take the plunge. A nice part of this process was I found a bunch of random broken links on the site that I had no idea were there (frustrating that I didn't notice them). Here's to a new and improved site!

• Job Search Update

Just to give a quick update here, I've steadily been interviewing for various Residence Life jobs between Boston and Baltimore, have some leads dwindle on their own for different reasons, and some I have refused myself. I just haven't felt great about any of the offers or places so far, which has lead me to chase a bit of a wildcard option, which may or may not pan out but I'm excited about it. I'll keep you all updated as it goes. I'm also thinking I'll write at length about this experience for future reference, since it has definitely been a unique adventure.

• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

I saw this movie last night, after waiting for what feels like a very long time, and to not spoil anything, I will keep my thoughts brief. I enjoyed it, and I think pretty much anyone who sees it will have fun too. Go check it out this weekend my fellow geeks and nerds! (Also, public service announcement; don't spoil anything for anyone else, at least give folks the weekend to see it)

Thanks for stopping by!

Higher Ed Geek 2.0

Higher Ed Geek started in April of 2013 as an effort to allow for me to nourish a creative outlet in my life. I wrote a few blog posts when I could, but I wasn't consistent and often forgot about it. I committed in January of 2014 to put more effort into the blog. I invested in the site and I found that the more I put in, the more I got out. I was able to reach a wider audience, make more connections with people about the stuff I cared about, and was able to spread a message that had a positive impact on others.

I'm excited to commit to put even more energy into the site now.

I have some big ideas of where Higher Ed Geek can go but I need help to get there. Any donations people can give helps get the site towards the next stage in it's life. I'm hoping to at least refresh the design of the site, commission a new logo, maximize the back end of the site, and get more people writing on a regular basis. (If donating isn't your thing, check out my book of collected blog posts. Proceeds from that helps fund the site as well.)

Depending on how far this crowdfunding campaign goes, I could do even more (trust me, I have plenty of ideas!).

I appreciate anyone and everyone's support. Either donating, sharing, or giving feedback is all helpful in reaching the goals I'm setting for this effort and the site as a whole. I'll be keeping up the page until the end of the month of October so make sure to help get the word out and show your support!

Stay geeky, weird, and proud, everyone!

Announcement: My First eBook is LIVE!

I am very excited to announce the release of my first eBook; Talk Nerdy to Me: Connections Between Work & Geekdom!

This book is a collection of some of the best posts on the blog (from myself and others) surrounding how the geeky world influences our perspectives, beliefs, and everyday lives. It has revised, expanded, and exclusive content that won't ever be released anywhere else.

If you've ever wanted to support me and this blog, please consider buying this book. With your help, you can help it become something more, and do your part working towards a world where campuses are safe places for everyone to geek out about something.

I appreciate you all buying the book, reading it, sharing it out, and leaving a review on the platform of your choosing (book is currently available on Kindle, iBooks, and NOOK). It all counts!

Cheers!

On Two Years of Blogging

I like to celebrate milestones. No matter how small they might be.

I'm pretty proud to have been blogging now for two years. While my first few months of blogging were pretty sporadic, I am now leaps and bounds ahead of where I was then. We all have to start somewhere and I'm glad I've kept with it.

Some other little milestones I've had recently; I'm at almost 300 total posts, I've started to have my first guest posts, and last year was my first full calendar year of blogging. I'm getting more views in a month now than I did in the entirety of 2013 when I started, and I've built the site out way more than what it was when it began.

I'm always trying to continuously improve my content, my layout, and my outreach. There is always more that I can do and that is part of the fun for me, that I can always do more and do better. Every time a blog post takes off, I get likes, comments, shares, etc., it motivates me to keep the momentum going. I always appreciate hearing feedback and thoughts from people and it is nice to know that people read what I write and have feelings they want to share. I write for myself mostly but I also write to share information, stories, and my own feelings with people. It's nice to know when it resonates with others.

I'll be sure to look back again at the end of the year, but until then, thank you for taking time out to read and connect with me here, it means a lot and I look forward to many more blog posts and years to come!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 02/06/15

Greetings! Here's what is going on in my world.

• Bob's Burgers

I just started watching this show on Netflix (link above) after hearing a lot about it. It seems like a show that is very popular on the Internets. It is quirky, odd, silly, and a pleasure to watch. It's the perfect kind of mindlessness for me to enjoy after work. I'll consume a few episodes and then move on with my evening. I look forward to continuing to binge through this series!

• New Tech City's Bored & Brilliant

I was recommended to check out this endeavor by a good grad school friend of mine. It is an effort to help people be more mindful and detach from their various smart devices. It recommends some easy tips that you can immediately put into action so that you can let go of the hold our modern technology has on us. I've started to do some of these things and it really does help. I'm still not where I feel like I could or should be, but doing some of these things are a great place to start.

• Medium

I've seen various random blog posts hosted on Medium over the years. It has a distinct, simple interface and now that I have started to ship some of my content from here to Medium, I've seen the publishing side of things as well. It is impressive in how simple but functional it all is. It tickles the minimalist part of my brain where it only has what it needs and it does that well. Nothing more or less. If you're looking for a quick and easy way to get into the blogging game, I'd recommend starting with Medium.

Thanks for stopping by!

2014 Year in Review: My First Full Year

"...you make time for what you want to make time for."

Now that the sun has finally set on 2014, it is due time to look back on the first full calendar year of the blog (!) and see where we have come. It has been a big year compared to 2013, especially since I've been willing and able to blog far more regularly now. I had almost 700 views in the fraction of 2013 I was blogging, and 2014 garnered almost 8,000 views which is a hugely awesome jump for the site which I am very grateful for.

In terms of posts, I kept regular with movie reviews, geek outs, and other random things for 2014. I had 177 posts over the year, which I hope to maintain at least that level of writing. I look forward to continuing creating a large library of posts to keep sharing out as "throwbacks", since this helps promote everything and gives me some breathing room on the weeks I'm light on new content (I highly recommend folks do this!).

Some reflections on the whole process though, it is definitely hard to write on those days when you're tired, creatively drained, or just busy and physically can't sit down to blog. I like to always say that you make time for what you want to make time for. I want to make time for this so I make the time in my life, even when it is a late night or weekend when I should just be lounging around or not working. I enjoy writing for this blog so it doesn't feel too taxing on me to do most of the time. My main takeaway for blogging this year is that you have to force it a bit until it becomes more habitual. The dedication and investment will pay off. I feel very happy and satisfied with the milestones I hit this first full year. It can be hard too when I feel like I should be doing more or worrying why more people aren't following or liking or commenting. It will take time and a huge part of success is just perseverance. I know that if I keep up with it, it will only go up from here in terms of achieving the goals I set for myself.

In terms of what is coming next for the blog, I hope to continue to promote the site regularly and get some guest posts from some cool geeks and nerds (if you're interested, please reach out!). I enjoy podcasting and it would be cool to do one for the site but I would want to build a bigger audience on the site first before I do a podcast or videos. I hope to read more books and do reviews for the site more often, since I feel like there is so much I want to get to and share.

Thank you to everyone that visited the site, liked, commented, shared, and found something fun and/or useful in what I posted. I look forward to continuing to serve up awesomely geeky stuff for you all!

All the best and Happy New Year!

Thanks for stopping by!

My Writing Process: From Stray Thought to Full Out Geekery

"I hope people can have fun with what I write but also learn something useful for their lives."

I recently go a shout out from the marvelous Marci Walton to write about my writing. It's meta and I dig it so I figured I'd jump on here and leave some thoughts from my work here for the past year and a half of writing.

I have only been writing weekly since January of this year with my geek out posts and movie reviews, with other stuff sprinkled in between, but 2014 has been a good year for me to get in a regular habit of writing. I've written around 160 posts for this blog, covering all sorts of geeky topics that matter to me. I hope the framework of stuff below helps others get into a flow of writing however they wish about whatever they want.

On My Writing Process 

What are you working on? 

I'm currently working on a few different blog posts about stuff that has been popping up in my head recently just as stray thoughts or from reading books, articles, and keeping up with the news. I'm also working on reading more books to review and keeping my regular schedule of movie reviews from Netflix and geeking out about new, cool stuff. Keep an eye out for some awesome posts coming soon!

How does your work differ from others of its genre? 

I feel my work is pretty unique since I always try to find connections to student affairs in geeky topics, such as Star Wars, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Spider-Man, and Green Lantern. I don't see a lot of that out there in the blogging world and I enjoy being something original and unique. I think we should all seek to do our own thing and not just create an echo chamber for the usual zeitgeist.

Why do you write what you do?

I write what I do because it is what interests me and it is how my brain works a lot of the time. I always joke that I take my entertainment seriously. I look into their subtexts or symbolism to see what they have to say about society or greater topics like choice, love, friendship, family, or any number of other things. I hope people can have fun with what I write but also learn something useful for their lives. I seek to provide value and happiness to my readers!

How does your writing process work? 

I usually just let my mind wander and allow for ideas to pop in. Whether that is something about one particular show or movie or is about a general topic, I usually make sure to draft up a blog post for it so I don't lose the idea. A lot of the time I'll be watching or reading something and find something relevant in it, like with Green Lantern. For something like Star Wars, I was surprised I hadn't blogged about it specifically already. I also just think a lot about topics like positivity, social media, sustainability, or nerdy stuff in general so ideas will come to me all the time. I typically will bounce ideas off my partner to see if they make sense or not instead of always just having them rattle around in my head all the time. I don't have a formal, structured, or detailed process for getting the content together. I just let the writing flow out and then I'll proof myself afterwards. This works well for me but I know it might not work well for everyone! I'm also a very brief writer so I don't feel the need to prepare too much for posts since they're just quick bits and thoughts I want to share.

Thanks again to Marci for sharing her process and for the shout out! I nominate Tom Krieglstein & Jennifer Keegin. Why do you write what you do?!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 08/08/14

Good tidings!

Welcome to another week of what I am geeking out about. Check out what is going on in my nerdy life below!

• Dr. Nerdlove

I've followed Dr. Nerdlove's advice blog for the past year or so and have always enjoyed what he puts out there. I think it is highly valuable, important, and needed for men today. I have a personal curiosity and interest in dating as a unique form of communication and his nerdy lens creates a great combination that is right up my alley. I think it would be useful to you all as well, men, women, parents, anybody who has someone in their life who is looking for love. You can either learn for yourself or share some pertinent posts from his blog. He is also working on a new book so be on the look out for that as well!

• Legend of Korra

I was a big fan of the Avatar: The Last Airbender show when it was on the air. It was a fun kid's show that had some great messages behind it. Legend of Korra has those same great elements as well as exploring the greater mythology of the show universe and having a great female lead. I've just recently caught up with the current season and this show is a lot of fun to watch. It holds up to the high expectations of its predecessor in its own way, in my opinion. Definitely check it out if you haven't and if you haven't seen the original series, go watch that right now! It is all available on Amazon Prime Instant Video!

• Heroes

Oh, Heroes. You tragic show. This show had so much potential when its first season aired on NBC back in 2006. I was a fan and have found myself stumbling upon old episodes lately out of nostalgia. With the recent news of a reboot, limited series "Heroes Reborn" coming in 2015, you should definitely watch the first season of this show now, if you haven't before. It is great television. The entire series is streaming on both Netflix and Hulu Plus. Watch the other four seasons at your own risk, as the quality just falls precipitously as the show goes on.

Thanks for stopping by!