When I first started blogging I just blogged as I felt.  I didn’t have a schedule and I would often times let days or weeks go by without posting anything.  In January of this year, I really wanted to be more pro-active in my blogging approach.  However, I was still at a loss – what should I blog about??!!  I enjoy having this little old blog & I enjoy the people I’ve “met” (in real life now & only online) through it.  But when you don’t have a “niche” blog it is sometimes hard to answer that big question – “What should I blog about today?”

So, in January, I decided to create a schedule.  And maybe more importantly (for me) I decided to structure that schedule around a series of memes, or link ups (like Top Ten Tuesday).

So, here are the Top Ten Reasons Memes have been great for me:

1. It keeps me on schedule – each month (ok, I’m not that good – maybe week or day is more appropriate), I can look at the calendar & know what I “should” be writing about.  Of course it’s not set in stone.  I don’t have to participate in any of the memes but it does help!

2.  Provides built in traffic – The 2nd most important thing you can do when linking up to a meme is visit others that have linked up as well.  (The first is to link back to the host of the meme!!)  When you visit others that have linked up, they’ll likely visit yours too.  On smaller link ups I try to visit as many as I can.  On the larger ones I try to pick 5-10 that sound interesting.  Either way, I can always see a spike in traffic on days I’m linked up versus days I’m not.

3.  A little community – I’ve “met” alot of people through memes.  I usually find that the same group of people that linked up to Top Ten Tuesday last week, will link up the following week.  So even if I don’t read their blog on a daily basis, I might be reading it weekly & therefore we’re still keeping up with each other.

4.  Comments – The saying is true – Comments are crack in blog-world.  I love getting comments!!  Don’t you??  And as I get to know bloggers more (see #3 Community above), I find that the number of comments I receives grows too.  (Thank you!!)

5.  Opportunities – A month or two ago when Amanda was having some technical difficulty, she was unable to host Top Ten Tuesday … so she asked me!!  I’ve been linking up to her meme regularly since the very beginning and she was so thoughtful to give me the opportunity!  It was alot of fun and alot of work b/c I wanted to keep up with her awesome, high standards – she does a great job at tweeting & commenting, doesn’t she!!!  But I’ve definitely seen bloggers “pass the torch” to some of those that regularly link up if they’re unable to host one day.

6.  Gives me content – Most importantly for me, that question “What should I blog about today?” is answered.  Sure sometimes I have a hard time coming up with the actual posts, but to narrow the direction is HUGE!!

7.  Twitter Friends – So many memes also have hashtags, be sure to follow the hashtag and you can find some great new friends to follow that way.  It’s also a great way to promote the meme – remember the more bloggers that know about it, the more it helps you too!!

8.  Gives direction for your Readers – When you don’t have a niche blog it’s kind of hard for your readers sometimes to figure out what you’ll be posting about.  I don’t expect any one to recognize my exact schedule, but a schedule does help.  For instance, I have a pretty strong guess that tomorrow (Wednesday) Amanda will post one of her fun Retro Photos!  I kind of like knowing some of my favorite bloggers’ schedules.

9.  It’s a win/win – One thing that’s awesome about the blogging community, is that for the most part, everyone loves to help spread the word for others.  By linking up to another blogger’s meme it really is a win/win for both parties!!

10.  Find new Blogs to Read – Ok, so yes, this may not always be good!!  I know most of our readers are overflowing anyways – but there’s lots of good reads out there!!  It’s fun when you find a new blog post through a link-up that you enjoy – and then it’s really fun when you start reading more of their blog & you become hooked!!  That’s exactly how I fell in love with Christine Satterfield of iDreamofClean, The Diaper Diaries ,Vanderbilt Wife, and Not DIY Life!

So, memes – that’s the top ten reasons they work for me!
Next week, I’ll post my Favorite Top Ten to participate in.  But if you’re looking for a good list of ones that might work for you, I love this Memes List by Mom’s Blog Resource.

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