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Thursday, February 9, 2012

Google Reader and a Giveaway coming soon

Yes, I am still planning on posting the giveaway today. But let's face it, I'm tired. The last two days my little girl has decided to have weird napping times, which means she is not napping when the boys are and even though I don't nap all the time anyway, it's been wearing me out and I am wishing I could nap! ;)

Plus I'm still waiting to hear back from one person. But if I don't hear back from them, I'll just go ahead and post it anyway. :)

*****

I do have a question for you: Do you use Google Reader? or something similar? How do you do it? Do you have a system? Do you have lots of blogs in there? How do you keep up with them, or at least keep them organized to read the ones you want to all the time without getting overwhelmed?

I have finally jumped on the band wagon and am trying to use it on my phone - which actually works super great. BUT a few years ago I started following every blog that had something good on it... and now I have so many blogs in my reader that it's a mess. I have made a few folders to try to organize my blogs so I don't get caught in a mess of blogs I hardly ever read, but I still miss a lot of stuff, or forget which new blogs I want to start reading regularly. Anyway, I don't know if that makes sense, and if it doesn't, then you understand completely how I feel! ;) lol.

To simplify my jumbled mess, my question is, what is your system for keeping up with your favorite blogs? And do you always have to click to the actual blog to leave a comment? or is there a trick that I'm not aware of? Thanks for your help!! :D


I was going to find something funny, but I think this is fitting for today.

Source: pinterest.com via Diane on Pinterest

if only. ;)



Diane

9 comments:

  1. I use Google Reader. I have categories (Friends/Family; Homemaking; Sewing; Cooking; Church; etc.), but they're not crucial to my organization. I think the most important thing I do is every six months or so, I go through all the blogs in my reader and delete everything that I don't love, or is inactive, or just isn't worth my time at the moment. Except family members' blogs. ;) Gotta read those.

    Every time I do the big delete, I worry that I'll miss something important, but funnily enough, life goes on. And if I really, truly miss them, I can always find their blog again and add it back.

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  2. I use SEO Content Factory, which is both a feed reader and a blogging tool. So when I see something I'd like to write about, I can quickly quote it and create a blog post of my own.

    I'm a big advocate of unsubscribing from anything that you're subscribed to just in case they publish something good again, or that you only get marginal value from. Unsubscribing doesn't mean you don't think it's good, just that it's not extraordinary enough to be worth giving a slice of your limited time to.

    Disclaimers: I'm the creator of SEO Content Factory, and Diane is my sister.

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  3. I sat down and opened Google reader today and it told me I have 1000+ posts to read. Yes I have added too many blogs in my one month of going nuts. If you find a good solution. As for me I am siting here looking at this and wondering what Pandora's box I opened. Any way Back to my list I am behind.

    http//richardquilts.blogspot.com
    Make sure you stop by and put your guess in my quilt givaway by guessing my babys B-day or Birth Weight.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I use Google Reader, which is a wonderful tool. I organize my reads into categories so if I'm going through a stage where I'm not terribly interested in cooking, I can just mark all blogs in that folder as read, rather than having to mark each on individually. I have about 10 categories; quilting, general sewing, eye candy, cooking, baking, stitching, crochet....you get the idea. I go through a couple times a day and "star" the ones I want to go back to and leave a comment on when I have time. It works great for me.

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  5. i haven't used the SEO factory, but if you're Diane's brother maybe it's worth a check ;) i've just been reading blogs in my google dashboard, but with GFC going away (maybe??) i've been looking for other options... i've never really loved being told how many unread messages i have (since it is always a million).

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  6. I also use Reader, but as I go through I eliminate ones that haven't inspired me lately, like your bro said. I didn't even know you organize them, that's a good tip from Katie. And I think you have to click through to leave a comment. I know, takes more time. But, good news is, I still have yours on my Reader! :)

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  7. I use Google reader on my phone, and I read blogs while I take my daughters to bed. I do not have a system... But with the reader,its easy to go over many postings very fast.

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  8. I didn't know I could use Google Reader on my phone -- will definitely set that up, thanks! I use it on my computer and periodically make new folders and delete blogs -- like you, I love one thing and add it to my reader, and then discover there's not enough there to keep following it, or else my interests change. I don't think you can comment from the reader itself, which means I leave comments less often than I used to. For blogs I don't know well, I just skim them on the reader and look at the photos. If something intrigues me, then I'll read more carefully or pop over to the blog. Anything else becomes a huge time sink. If I see something I like but don't have time to read carefully, I'll check the box "keep unread" so I can come back to it later, and delete everything else.

    ReplyDelete

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