When I started this blog several months ago — almost a year, actually — I had no idea where I was going with it. I didn’t know I’d meet some really funny, smart, interesting Gen Y bloggers, or that I’d go to South by Southwest, or that I’d end up moving to DC and working in social media. Like most things in life, I didn’t know what I was doing but decided to jump in anyways and figure it out as I went along — why not, when that approach has never failed me before?

So it was going great, until I started realizing where my professional interests were: politics, technology, and media. And I wasn’t as motivated to write about the same things I was writing about before (a.k.a my life, careers, “gen y” topics). I became more fascinated by the intersection of politics and technology, and I wanted to read and write about that. So my blog had a mini identity-crisis while I figured out what I should be blogging about and while I moved across the country and started a new job and all of that.

I know I’m not the only one who’s experienced that — I’ve watched several bloggers whom I really respect shift the focus of their blogs or start entirely new blogs devoted to their professional interests — like Monica O’Brien, Meg Roberts, or Jaclyn Schiff, or Holly Hoffman.

So now that I’ve had some time to figure out what I want to do with this thing, I’ve decided rather than start a new blog, I’m keeping this one, but I’ll be mostly focusing on writing about the intersection of politics and new media/technology.

I realize this means I’m losing some readers, since not everyone cares about the same (really nerdy) things I do. And I get that. But I hope some of the readership I’ve built over the past few months will stay even as I shift gears here!  I hope to be blogging a lot more often than I have in the past couple months.

Nisha Chittal is a writer and journalist who currently serves as Associate Editor of CitizenJanePolitics.com and is a political columnist for UniversityChic.com. Her personal blog is Politicoholic, where she offers commentary on a range of topics, including but not limited to politics, technology, and the changing role of women and Generation Y in politics today.

Lots of exciting things have been happening around in the great big blogosphere for Run DMT.  First, my Noggin Workout was featured on Riding with No Hands-Weekend Roundup.

Then, Run DMT was featured in the Week in Review-Round Up at

Five Minutes for Special Needs.

All this love is a great ego boost, but I am surely going to get a big head and everyone knows a big head will slow down my pace!  Plus, I don’t think my running hat will fit anymore.  Note to self: Invest in a clip on visor for swelled head.

But wait!  There’s more!  While twittering the other day, I stumbled upon an interesting little twit bit.  Run DMT is listed as #66 on the Top 100 Healthy Mom Blogs!  Check it out!  This just validates what I’ve thought all along: Reading Run DMT is good for your health. So, keep reading, my friends.

And finally, Vicki from Secret Mom Thoughts gave me an Extraordinary and Awesome Award, which is another validation affirming my already highly overrated opinion of myself. 

Now with this award, I am instructed to pass it along to five other extraordinary and awesome bloggers.  So, here they are in no particular order:

Momisodes

A Daily Dose of Toni

Living the Dream

Running with a Bottle of Wine

More than an Electrician

Thanks for all the blogger love and giving me a big head!

xoxoxox

Hoping to attend Blogher, the passes sold out before I could even save enough pennies for a trip to Chicago.  So, when I heard about a Tampa Blogher Meetup, I jumped on the chance to attend the event Saturday evening at Channelside.

Despite the numerous times I’ve arranged to meet cyber strangers through my moms group, this particular meeting made me a nervous wreck.  Perhaps I thought I would appear too new to this whole blogging thing or maybe I would come across too desperate or chatty.  Would they like the real life Run DMT or would they prefer the blogger better?  I decided to swallow my insecurities and set out to search for them in a sea of people at Channelside.

When I first arrived, I had difficulty finding the group.  Hooters was the selected meeting place and I anxiously scoured the restaurant looking for a group of bloggers.  But, without their laptops, how do you find a group of bloggers?  In my attempt to find the meetup, I randomly walked up to strangers asking them if they were with Blogher.  Of course, they had no idea what I was taking about.  I even confused the Hooter’s hostess.

Starting to feel sorry for myself and like a butt of a cruel joke, I stumbled upon a group sitting on a bench just outside Hooters.  Texting like fiends on their cell phones, I knew I had found the right group of people. 

Thankfully, the evening offered exactly what I had hoped for: an opportunity to connect and network with other bloggers.  Over dinner and drinks at Stumps, we talked about Twitter and other happenings in the blogosphere.  Noreen of Don’t Put Lizards in Your Ear (@DontPutLizards) shared some great tips to help me on my road to become published.  

Christina of The Green Mom Review (@TheCaffeinatrix) mentioned how she has been searching for genuine and witty product reviews for her site.  Upon hearing this news, my ears perked up for I knew I could deliver such a piece!  I was all over it like green on Kermit!   

I enjoyed putting a face to the tweeps I have been following on Twitter, such as @missbritt and @MommyMelee.  I also met some great new tweets: @AnissaMayhew, @CheekySweetie and @karlerikson. 

Mostly importantly, I learned that I was the only person at the table not attending Blogher in Chicago next month.  After meeting such knowledgeable and interesting people, it only made me long to be at Blogher even more. 

The ladies over at momdot.com are always creating craft ways for bloggers to help other bloggers.  Well, they’ve done it again with their mega blog roll scroll, which you can find in my sidebar.  There’s over 300 mommy bloggers listed, including yours truly.  So, be a mother lover and click on a link…or two…or a hundred…or all 342 links to show some blogger love.

I received a call on Monday from a reporter at NH Public Radio. She wanted my opinion about the newly proposed Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations for online product reviews by parents.

The reporter complimented me on being well versed on the subject. Honestly, I knew nothing about it when I received her call. I Googled the subject and absorbed everything I could about the topic before calling her back. I am confident I gave her some good sound bytes.

If this is a topic you are not familiar with, don’t wait until the media calls before you learn more about it. This is something that every parent blogger should be aware of since it will affect how product reviews are handled in the future.

My opinion is that if you are an honest blogger and you remain transparent and candid with what you write then you have nothing to worry about.

Here are a few articles you should read:

Blogging is easy. Blogging does not generate traffic easily. You need effort for that. If you want people to view your blog, you will have to work to establish attention. I have put together some tips about generating traffic to your blog. So, let’s explore some tips on promoting your blog.

Link your blog to all your profiles on the web. Add your link to your website, your signature line, forums, and any correspondence you may have. You also want to add this link to your profile pages on SUN, Stumble, Ryze, MySpace, LinkedIn, Facebook, AIM, Twitter, Facebook, Squido and anywhere else you have a profile established. If you have profiles on Classmates or on an alumni directory, add a link to your profile on these sites. Blogging is all about linking. Don’t miss an opportunity to promote your blog.

Drop comments. Post comments to other blogs as early as you can. People always see the first 5 posts. Sometimes they do not stick around to view post 152. Post often to get your name out there and into view. If people keep reading informative responses, they will click on your link because you’ve gotten them curious. Leave comments on other blogs in your target market or interest areas. It’s always good for networking and for marketing your own blog and business. Other bloggers and viewers will then click onto your link to view your blog. This is what you want.

Check your blog stats and see who is visiting your blog. Google Alerts is just one program you can use to receive updates on when your business is mentioned online.

Submit your blogs. Submit them to such venues as a Blog Carnival. This is a great resource that many people forget or just don’t know about. There are many and the subjects are varied.

Get your blog onto a directory. Technorati springs to mind. It seems that everyone knows about their company directory right now. However, there are more companies out there. Here are a few to consider: BlogHub, BlogHer, and BlogCatalog.

Again, these are just a few tips that I’ve come across. There are many ways to promote your blog. You just need to remember that you need to work to gain the traffic. You cannot just write a blog without promoting it.

So, how do you promote your blog? Did I miss anything? Let CMJ Office know.

Colleen Degnan Johnson
CMJ Office

  In my ongoing quest to create more awareness about The Mom Entrepreneur and build my blog subscriber list, I started doing research to learn what additional strategies I should employ.