How to Get to the Blog Linky Party First and Get Your Blog Post Seen

I have to admit that I'm glad that Halloween is over.  I think it may be my favorite holiday of all the year, but it sure is nice to move to new crafting ideas and themes.  I think I may have a form of Crafting ADD in that I like to jump all over the place with trying new mediums and doing new ideas.  It's kind of hard to keep my brain focused, which is why I have structured my blog to concentrate on one theme from beginning to end.

I'm not sure it's the best blogging style since it seems that a lot of readers like to jump in to get ideas for whatever party theme they are working on and then run off to find more ideas or start creating projects.  I am totally fine with that, but it means I have to constantly work to get my new ideas out into cyberspace for readers and creaters to find.

Which is why I absolutely LOVE blog linky parties.  They are such a great way to pin new ideas, meet new friends, and get that blog post that I love out to where people can see it and remember it for when they need it.  If you are into blogging at all, you have seen these parties and read the posts on how to make your post stand out in the crowd.  You need to have good pictures, creative tag lines, and get to the party early enough to count.

While I am no expert at the first two, I have learned how to get to the party early and my page views have really benefited from that.  There are thousands of blog parties out there with each one on a different day and starting at a different time, so it's really important to be able to find a system that works to keep each blog linky straight so I can be the first to the party.  That took me some serious trial and error to figure out.

I finally found the LocalCalendar.com website.  (I am not an affiliate or anything, I just LOVE their service.) It is an easy web calendar that allows me to add each of my favorite blog linky parties.  I can add all kinds of information to the entry so that I can know the name of each party, where it links up, the day and time that it starts, and any other information that I want to add. 

I try to add little notes to the entry if the party has a specific theme or I put an astrix by the party name if it's a group linky party so I can remember to try and get there first.

Since I always have my phone with me, I attend a lot of blog parties on there.  So to help me, I always have two windows up in my phones browser.  One has my Blog Linky calendar  (I posted it on the "Linky Parties" page on my blog so I would always have access to it) and the other has my most current blog post.

This allows me to quickly access the calendar when I know a blog party is about to start.  I can bring up the page and click on the next linky party.  Since I already have my post qued up and ready to go, I can quickly jump into the party and add my blog post.

Sometimes, the blog owner doesn't have a set start time, will start the party early, or I haven't quite pinned down the exact start time yet, so I will try and look ahead an hour or two in the party calendar to check out the upcoming blogs when I'm standing in the grocery store line, waiting to pick up my kids, or just sitting at work during a quiet moment. 

This system has worked wonders for me in my party attendance, and my blog views.

If you want to see where I like to party, I've attached my blog linky calendar.  If you want to be added to the calendar, just leave me a link to your party and let me know your start day and time (if you have one!)  I love to party and would love to stop by yours.