A rant... about Blogger comments. Are YOU a no-reply blogger?!

Day 22. Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. 

I'm not in the mood to piss anyone off today, so I won't get too controversial on this one. But I would like to talk about something that drives me absolutely flippin' bonkers about this little blogging platform so many of us utilize. Yep, I'm looking at you, BLOGGER. And I hope the powers-that-be read this, because we need reform, dangit! 

Rant: The comment system here on Blogger sucks fantastically. It does, it really does.  

I'd like you to do a little exercise with me. Go to your Blogger profile. If you have to, leave a comment on this post that just says "testing, testing, 1, 2, 3!", then click your own name. Your Blogger profile will pop up, and if, under "Contact Me" it doesn't say "email," then you are NOT set up to properly enjoy the commenting system here on Blogger. Why they don't make it a mandatory field to fill out as long as you're a Blogger-user, I'll never know. 

It should look like this:

An NOW, if you have your Google plus account linked as your profile instead of the Blogger one, that means you automatically aren't set up correctly, either. Grrrr. 

Jenni, when you say "set up correctly, what does that mean?"  Good question.

Many if not most bloggers (at least ones that have been around the block a time or two), have their comments set up to be delivered straight to their inbox. You do this by going to your dashboard > settings > mobile and email > put in the address you want comments to come to.  Then, voila! All comments now come straight to your inbox, and you can actually reply directly to these comments by just clicking "reply" and typing up your note back to the commenter! It will go straight to THEIR email inbox, and a nice little conversation can happen behind the scenes. UNLESS. Unless you don't have that email added on your profile, which sooo many people don't. Then, instead of your email address popping up in the recipient field when I go to reply to you, THIS comes up:  

poor Melyssa is my example today. She has an amazing blog, by the way!

The dreaded noreply-comment@blogger.com. If you reply to this comment, your reply will be sent off into endless cyberspace, never to be seen again. 

Of course the other option is to reply to all comments right in the thread, but I don't love doing that because A) I always wonder if I'm wasting my time - will you even come back to read my reply? That's another way that Blogger sucks. There's no system to email you when I reply in-thread. BOO! FIX THAT 'ISH, BLOGGER!!!  >:(

So, go add your email, if you haven't already. And enjoy the community this platform has to offer. Go to your profile, click "Edit Profile" on the top right, and then check this box, and put in the email address you'd like to use a little further down the screen:

Even if you're on Wordpress, make a Blogger profile with your email and website link, so you can comment on Blogger blogs and enjoy cross-platform networking. Priscilla is a great example of a Wordpress user that has a blogger profile she uses to comment on Blogger blogs like mine, and it includes her email and her website link. There's no reason we different-platform-users shouldn't get along just swimmingly, eh?!

And that's my rant. SPREAD THE WORD. Let's fix this noreply-comment nonsense once and for all. Don't be a no reply-commenter!  

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Share your rants in today's linkup below....
  

the Fairytale Formula giveaway + $30 Visa gift card!

Hello my friends! Today I have a rather unusual giveaway for you - it isn't jewelry or clothes or pillows, but instead, it's knowledge. It's an e-book, actually. Two copies of it, to two winners! It's called the Fairytale Formula. Targeted at you lovely single ladies out there! So, if you're single and looking for that so-called Prince Charming, read on.

AND

Quick story: a couple years ago I was looking for freelance writer job postings on Craigslist, and one caught my eye. I applied for the job, and I got a response back from the poster. She seemed interested in hiring me, and we struck up a conversation about the job. Long story short, it involved working on an e-book all about relationships and the Law of Attraction. I thought it odd that the very first freelance job I would apply for would involve writing on the Law of Attraction, since I am such a HUGE proponent of it. I had recently written our love story, which gives you a little better of an idea how this particular way of thinking plays a role in my life.  So anyway, I got the job, and the Fairytale Formula founder and I became friends as we fleshed out some ideas and content together. The e-book has been revamped since our work a couple years ago (and frankly, the new writer did a MUCH better job than I ever did!), but I have been so thrilled to see it take off... I even have a copy myself. GREAT advice for finding (and keeping!) your Mr. Right. ;) Some self-help type books are cheesy and overly-obvious with their info, but I think this one gives a lot of really excellent pointers that are just practically useful, darnit! And our love story is even included in the book... how sweet is that?!  

If you'd like to take a look at what it's all about, go right over here. You can even get part 1 of the book for free on the main website there! (click the green button that says "get started now") And be sure and enter to win an entire free copy in the Rafflecopter below... TWO winners will be chosen!

PS - use the code JENNI30 for 30% off if you choose to buy the book. Look for the"have a coupon" button right above "Order Details" on the checkout page!

PPS - One of the two winners will also win a $30 Visa gift card... perhaps to help buy a cute new outfit for a date? ;)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Back in time...

Glory Hallelujah, another easy-ish one! Day 21 of the Challenge is a list of links to your favorite posts in your archives. Done.

The "surprise" - this was one of the very first posts I ever wrote on this blog, and I distinctly remember it as the one where I fell head over heels in love with blogging. I don't really know why. But I was exhilarated while writing it, and loved that this funny little story of ours would entertain others. I've been addicted to telling stories here ever since. :)

Your soul has a body - written a few days after we lost Edd.

A last photo and a last word - the last photo I ever took of Edd, and his words that left a lasting impression on me.

Ranch things - the photos on this post make me happy. 

How far would you go to please your man? - interesting post and even more interesting comments.

3 years of marital blish - it took me a long time to work up the courage to write this, and I was blown away by the response.

Favorite outfit posts: 1 | 2 | 3

Peru, last day. Machu Picchu! Photos from our time at one of the 7 Wonders of the World!

Gracie & Cooper: a love story. The story of how Gracie and Cooper came to be... it's really quite amazing. :)

Ask Matthew posts: Part 1 & Part 2

Aaaaaand I think that'll keep you busy a while. Have a great Tuesday, and be sure and link up your posts below, too!

daily battle

Day 20 of Blog Every Day In May. Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.

This May Challenge. I am struggling with this May challenge. Hehe. No but really. I am.

Besides that, I think my number one struggle at this juncture is keeping balanced and staying disciplined and being proud of the work I do every day. I guess that's three things. Let me set the record straight for those of you who may be confused about what I do. I run this blog semi-professionally, which is extremely time consuming, but I also launched my own photography business a year ago this month, and between those two things (the blog and the photography), I have more than a full time job working for myself. For all the time I spend on the blog, I spend twice as much on the photography. It's wonderful... working for myself... it really is, although the pay fluctuates and, honestly, I sometimes usually make less than what I made waiting tables in college. That's frustrating, but I know it comes with the territory of building your own business, and it helps that I can see a great statistical improvement from month to month over the last year.

I struggle, though, with a couple of things related to all this. One, I still get this nagging feeling that people in my life think I don't do anything.  That I have all the free time in the world. That unless I'm making a professional salary and going to a "real" job, it doesn't count. Like maybe it's a fun hobby I happen to make money off of? This really gets to me, and of course maybe I'm projecting those feelings onto people and they're not really feeling them at all, though I do still worry that they are. I also feel embarrassed, a little, that if I had a "real" job and contributed more to our bills, we wouldn't have had to move from our beautiful home and live with mom while something more affordable is being built. But I really, really try not to go there. I think doing what you love and what brings you joy is always, always more important, and will always, always pay off in the end. It's worth sacrificing for.

I work all day long and on weekends, too, but I think what I'm struggling with most right now is feeling proud of how my time is spent. I am someone who thrives off of accountability (preferably to a boss-type figure who actually pays me in praise for my work/a raise/a promotion/a good grade) and even after a year of owning my own business, I still find it difficult to take myself seriously in this role as my own boss. I lack discipline, and even though I work all the damn time, I recognize that my actual productivity could be lots better.  My boss - she's a pretty easy task-master. She doesn't crack the whip too hard. I'm not that scared of her. If I get really stressed out, she says to me, she says, "Jenni, I think the answer to this is a nap and a fig newton or three." And before you know it, there's two hours of our day gone. If you know what I mean.

So that's my current struggle. I struggle with being proud of what I do during this stage before it really, really takes off and gets legit in the eyes of others, I struggle with making and sticking to rules for myself, and I struggle with managing my time most wisely and most profitably. Working from home and being an entrepreneur seems glamorous or awesome or whatever, but it takes a certain kind of person to succeed at it, and I have this nagging worry that maybe I'm not that right kind.

But maybe, just maybe, that's exactly why I will be.

What about you? What are you struggling with right now? Lay it on us!

A Few Faves

Day 19! Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them. 

I'm glad to have the opportunity to rave about a few of my favorite blogs today. Blog love is always appreciated by those it's directed at, but you may feel like a bit of a creeper professing your undying devotion to another blogger without an excuse such as BLOG EVERY DAY IN MAY. Here's your free pass! Rave away.

I read and love a lot more than five blogs, but there are a few I wanted to mention. I'm actually writing this on Saturday evening and I'm in a bit of a hurry, so I'm only going to talk about three blogs today. To be honest with you, since I started up my photography biz and I've gotten really busy with it (hallelujah!), my actual blog reading has decreased substantially. These days the main blogs I read are those of people actually in my life, who I actually truly care about or even see in person sometimes. It's interesting the way you often come full-circle with blogging. At first, you're obsessed with the lives of others and reading all the fabulous content they come up with. It's fascinating, this peek you get into another's world. But for me, somewhere along the way, I reached capacity and felt like I could no longer hold another ounce of information, especially if it didn't even pertain to my life or someone in it. I think this all happened somewhere in the last year or so, maybe when things started getting really bad with Edd's cancer. Seizing my own life became so much more important to me. It felt good to let go a little bit of the obsession I had with blog reading, and I think it's helped some when it came to honing my own voice in writing. 

Annnnnyway. Not sure where I was really going with all that, but please enjoy a few of my favorite blogs. I love them all for different reasons (and if you're a blog friend I didn't mention here, it's only because I'm outta time... SOMEONE came up with this crazy idea to blog on weekends, specifically during the busiest month of my photography career so far... dumb, dumb, dumb...)


1. WishWishWish

There aren't very many blogs I read religiously, but WishWishWish is one of them. Carrie lives in London and her blog and photographs are absolutely stunning (as is she herself). I would say this blog is my #1 inspiration for storytelling through photography. I never miss a post.

2. Across The Pond

Megan is a blogger I feel lucky to count among my real friends, even though our time together has only been spent over the glow of a computer screen (i.e. Skype., emails, and blog comments). I adore this girl, her story, her humor, her heart, her crazy-amazing model-esque good looks, her hot Irish man candy, and the fact that she's finally moving back to the U.S. and we're gonna take this friendship offline, right Meg? ;) She's the best. 

3. The Doctors Fleming

Emily is this incredibly amazing human being who is not only a beautiful woman but also really, really intelligent - a doctor and a really great writer. I am fascinated by her journey because it's so different from mine, I suppose. She faces some of life's greatest and most heart breaking challenges daily in the ER, and often writes about them so beautifully. Emily is going through some really tough things in her own life right now (as evidenced by her latest post), but her story is certainly one worth reading and I feel so lucky to her friend. 

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OK, I'll have to rave about some of the other lovely ladies on my list another time. How about you - which blogs are your absolute must-reads?