Everyone who reads this blog on a regular basis hopefully knows how important the blogging community is to me. I have said it before, but it bears repeating – the connections I have made, and the people I have met, are what has truly made this experience worthwhile for me.
I can’t remember the last time I have been involved in something that has left me speechless with gratitude, but that is exactly how I feel day after day – plain and simple. Every day I wake up and see the remarkable way we support one another – whether it is via contests like Full Time Fabulous or Refinery29’s The Next Big Style Blogger, retweets of posts that resonate with us, helping when someone needs blogging pointers, or rising up together when someone is wronged – the people in this community are there for one another. That deserves more recognition and applause than I could ever give, but I am honored and humbled to be a part of it.
So… that was a rather long way of coming to the main point of this post. For the past couple of months I have been trying to think of a way to GIVE BACK on a regular occasion. The “Your Favorite Post of the Year” Blog Event I held at the beginning of January was a huge success, and I plan to repeat it, but I want to do something more than that. Which brings me to today.
Link Love… with a TWIST
The inspiration for this new feature is – undoubtedly – IFB’s Links a la Mode (LALM). I think LALM is one of the best platforms available in the blogosphere today to spread link love while introducing other bloggers to your own work. It’s a wonderful resource that every blogger should take advantage of (if you aren’t sure how it works, V from grit and glamour just recently posted the king of all tutorial’s on how to submit a post to LALM).
So how is this different? Instead of promoting your own work, Link Love… with a TWIST is about promoting the work of others.
Here is how it will work:
- I have added a page to my blog called “Link Love.”
- Each week I will publish a new post to the Link Love page where you will be able to submit entries for the upcoming Link Love date.
- Note: The inaugural post will be published on February 7th, giving everyone plenty of time!
- You will have until noon EST Sunday to submit a post written by someone else for inclusion.
- Include the post name and direct link.
- Feel free to include a sentence about why you picked that particular post and I will include it.
- Pick a post that made an impact on you that week – something you really loved. For example, this week I’m going to nominate “Nudity: Naughty or Natural” by the-loudmouth.
- Please try to avoid submitting an entry that has already been submitted.
- Everyone who submits a post will be linked to as well (except me!).
- For example, “Nudity: Naughty or Natural” by the-loudmouth (submitted by Beautifully Invisible).
- I will compile the submissions and post the finalized list on my blog on Monday.
- I will also include a way for participants to copy the post onto their blog as well, just as is done in LALM.
I *think* that is everything you need to know for now to get started. If there are any questions or if anything is unclear, please let me know in the comments below.
Further, I would love to hear your thoughts about this idea, and the process, below. I was a bit unsure about it at first, but I do think it would be a great way to shine the spotlight on others, which is something I love doing. When I mentioned this idea to Kristy of Full Time Fabulous, she said:
“It inspires reading the blogs of others which is so important… [it’s] an excellent way to grow the community and wonderful to help introduce everyone to new bloggers!!”
I hope you feel the same way, and I look forward to seeing your submissions and hearing your feedback!