This month our ActiveRain challenge is being hosted by Jeff Dowler, CRS and Brian England, titled "The ActiveRain Members Guide to Blogging Success - Do's and Don'ts". For this challenge they are asking us to share what members can do to improve their blogging and results, and what to avoid doing.
For the first part of their challenge my two suggestions and advice were very simple. Simply blog about what you know. If ActiveRain members do this they will not only get the coveted gold stars (featured posts), but also several views & clicks, many followers without begging members to follow you, as well as an endless source of blog topics. For my second blog in this month's challenge are a few of the No No's in blogging, what not to do.
The very first No No for me is plagiarism. DO NOT steal someone else material. For me stealing 
someone else's material is the same as a thief picking someones pocket. When it comes to blogging, stealing mainly happens in a couple of ways:
- Copying and pasting someone else's blog, and claim it as your own. This is plagiarism, and besides being unethical, it is also illegal, and can end up costing you money.
- Copying and pasting some else's pictures, or graphics. This is also plagiarism, unethical, illegal, and can end up costing you money. A former member of ActiveRain Lenn Harley, made a nice sum of money from blogger who would copy and paste her maps.
If you can't write your own material, then why should anyone read it, and follow you. Also when a blogger does that, it says to me they are not very good at what they do. If they were good at what they do, then they would not have a problem writing about it, and would not be stealing what someone else has written.
When it comes to pictures or graphics, there are several sites with free graphics, or programs that can be purchased which come with graphics. I use CorelDRAW to create several of my graphics. CorelDRAW also come with thousands of graphics which can be customized to the message I want to blog about.
My second NO NO is on what not to do when commenting on another members blog. First, DO NOT advertise yourself on another member's blog. This is mainly done when a member comments on another member's blog and:
- Puts their contact information in the comment, or
- In the comment redirects others to their website, or one of their blogs.
Doing this makes you look bad, and will actually accomplish the opposite of what you are trying to do.
Second, NO NO on what not to do when commenting on another members blog is, do not insult others period, or pick fights with other members, especially in a comment on their blog. Again this makes you look small and petty, and a great way to drive other members away from you. I would also add that it is a NO NO to insult or pick fights with other members in the comment section of your own blog as well.
A great way to avoid these two No No's, as well as several others, is to periodically read the:
If you follow this guidelines and standard, you will avoid most of if not all the No No's in blogging.
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