{a travelers guide - blogtoberfest day III}

Here we all are, three days in {or two days for my northern hemisphere friends}.  Thank you so much for your phenomenal response, for your support, for taking the challenge, for joining in.   It's so exciting and it really does feel like a time of renewal for me on so many fronts.  I've loved reading all your comments, feeling your enthusiasm and watching this amazing community come together.  Yay for Blogtoberfest!

So I know a few people have signed up for their first Blogtoberfest, and even a few old timers have said that they wonder how they'll make it through a month of daily blogging.  Here's my list of tips and tricks for getting through the month relatively unscathed.

• Have fun - that's my number 1 tip.  I don't think blogging should ever be a chore or a stress.  It's definitely a commitment and totally a challenge but if you're not having fun feel free to walk away.  For a day, a week, whatever you need.  Feel free to come and go or participate in whatever way works for you.  Feel free to just take the pretty button and post it on your blog and leave it at that.  Seriously, it's all in fun!
• Let out you're inner naughty kid - you know, the one who likes to skip school or has the best excuses for not doing their homework.  Let's see who can come up with the best excuse.
• A picture's worth a thousand words - if you've been around this blog a while you'll know I'm a huge fan of photography.  Nothing fancy schmancy.  Just simple photos of daily life.  If you've run out of words just snap a picture and post it.  I actually love photos with no explanation.  It's kind of like reading a great book, you know where you create the images yourself.  Well this way you get to create the story yourself.  You could even run a guessing game and get people to come up with different explanations. 
• Get someone to guest post - invite your kids, a friend, your partner, a blogger you admire, a complete stranger {ok, the last one might be a little hard logistically} to do a guest post on your blog.  Give them a topic or give them free reign.  A fresh perspective is always fun.
• Start a meme - in the blogosphere a meme is a post that you do regularly that you invite other people to join in with by also posting on that theme to their own blog.  Our Creative Spaces is a great weekly meme started by kootoyoo {definitely check out her amazing blog if you don't already know it}  {sunday snippets} is my weekly meme that I've been doing for the past couple of months.  Why not start one of your own.  It could be a regular thing or just a one off or just for Blogtober.  Another good one is to list 5 or 10 or a million things about yourself that nobody knows and ask others to do the same on their blog.  Oh and here's one that Cath of Chunky Chooky fame did last year that was really fun.  I'm sure she wouldn't mind if you fired it up this year.  If you've got any great memes you think people might like to know about or you decide to start one up shoot me an email at tinniegirl/at/optusnet.com.au and I'll put a meme list over in my sidebar as well.
• Here's my survival guide from last year if you want a few more ideas.
• The great big list - For easy reference I've put a link to the sign up list over in my side bar, just below the button.  That way you can easily come and find the list if you want to dip into some new blogs.
• Giveaways - if you haven't already be sure to stop by and visit the giveaway page over at CurlyPops.  There's already a few giveaways up for grabs and I'm sure there'll be more over the month.
• Have fun.  Have fun.  Have lots of fun.

OK, I think that's about all I can suggest.  If you've got any other great tips and tricks for cruising through Blogtober leave them in the comments so that everyone can have a read.  I'd love to know how you approach Blogtoberfest.

And if you see anything fantastic out there as you're traveling on the Blogtoberfest highway or you're doing something special yourself  be sure to shoot me an email and let me know.  I want to hear all about it.

Oh, and if you haven't signed up to join in yet you can do that here.  It's never too late.

See you tomorrow.  I've got something lovely to show you, and a story that goes with it.