Monthly Archives: October 2011

Areavoices Digest #51 – Something for WWII buffs and more

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I’ve always been intrigued by the World War II era, the photos, the music, and the people. Maybe that’s why I’m so excited about the first of this week’s recommended blogs. Check it out and the rest of this weeks’ list. Enjoy!

Tri State Aviation
http://tristateaviaton.areavoices.com
Tri-State Aviation out of Wahpeton, North Dakota is a mainstay in the agriculture aviation world, but these days might be best known for its work restoring World War II fighter planes – P-51 Mustangs. This blog includes videos of the restored planes in action again. A sharp looking blog for WWII buffs all over the region.

 

Grapes and Grains
http://grapesandgrains.areavoices.com
After a brief hiatus Greg Rixen is back with recipes and ideas for entertaining with food, beer, wine and spirits. Great recipes. (Prosciutto wrapped asparagus? Yum!)

 

In the Black
http://intheblack.areavoices.com
Nancy Kvamme provides daily tips on how to save money and use it more wisely. Nancy is really consistent and I think that’s one of the things that makes her blog great. People have come to rely upon her advice.

 

Images of Fall
http://fall.areavoices.com
A photo blog celebrating autumn in the upper Midwest with photos submitted by you. I wanted to mention this to you again before it’s too late. We’re getting some nice photos into this blog from readers around the region. But you know soon enough, winter will be here, so I wanted you to capitalize on this one while you can!

 

Connecting Learning to Life
http://packerpaths.areavoices.com
West Fargo (ND) High School’s Career Center blog not only offers students information on part-time jobs and scholarship opportunities, but also advice on the best careers of the future. Great example of how schools can utilize Areavoices. Now if we could get every high school in the region to do this….Hmmmmmm….

 

Areavoices Digest #50 – Our most popular blogger and more!

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In this week’s digest of recommended blogs, I wanted to highlight a couple of old favorites and three newbies. Enjoy!

Astrobob
http://astrobob.areavoices.com
Celestial happenings you can see from your own backyard. I realize many of you are already reading this blog from Bob King of the Duluth News Tribune. But I thought I’d remind you about him just in case.He is consistently the #1 blog on Areavoices (excluding the Topics blog). His blog is well written, visual, and interesting. 41,000 people around the world read it. It’s really a great blog!

 

Confessions of a [Former] Fatgirl
http://fatgirl.areavoices.com
The emotional rollercoaster of losing – and – gaining weight over and over again. I really love this blog written by Celeste Beam. She writes about what so many of us live. The ups and downs of trying to live a healthy lifestyle. She gives us a weekly healthy recipe, but she also writes very honest, inspirational and sometimes funny posts about falling off the wagon. For example, she writes one morning about how she replaced her yogurt and fruit breakfast with 2 cupcakes and tortilla chips. But then she reminds us not to give up and shows us how to get back on track. Great information!

 

A Pinch of This
http://apinchofthis.areavoices.com
Home-created meals and ideas to fit anyone’s budget. This stay at home mom says she’s not a chef, but she wants to chronicle how she manages to put food on the table for her family every night.

 

Cobbers on the Brain
http://cobbersonthebrain.areavoices.com
Neurochemistry students at Concordia College (Moorhead, MN) break down technical information on brain science so the average reader can understand it. I love this idea. A chemistry professor at Concordia College wanted to teach her students, some of whom will go onto medical school, how to communicate complicated medical information to the average person. This blog is their effort in doing this. I hope it leads to some future doctors with great communication skills!

 

The Armchair Kicker
http://thearmchairkicker.areavoices.com
Mark Walters describes his blog as “The Best Minnesota Vikings Blog” in the Western Hemisphere.

The top five things to learn from our #1 blogger

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The other day I was looking through Areavoices Quantcast data because, well, you know that’s what all the cool people do. Actually, while it sounds a little dull, I find it fascinating. Quantcast breaks down how many people are reading each of our Areavoices blogs.

Almost every month the same guy is at the top of list. His name is Bob King and he’s a photographer for the Duluth News Tribune. But he’s not blogging about that. He blogs about his hobby: Astronomy.

His blog, Astrobob is the number one blog on Areavoices (I’m excluding the Topics blog here because that blog is not really a written blog, but a discussion center for the day’s top news stories).

About 27,000 people across the country read Astrobob every month. That’s double the audience of the second place blog, Bisonmedia. The gaps widens even more when you include the global audience. That puts Bob up to about 41,000 people a month.

I mention this now for a few reasons. I think bloggers and would-be bloggers can learn a lot from him.

First, I think Bob is a good lesson in writing about what you love. As a rule, food blogs and sports blogs will tend to have a higher audience, but this is evidence that if you write something well your audience will find you. You might think nobody cares about what you care about. You wouldn’t have an audience. Wrong. There’s a niche for everyone. Write your passion: find your followers!

Second, he’s consistent. He writes often. His readers know that they won’t go weeks without hearing from him.

Third, it’s visual. Not surprising from a photographer, but Bob includes stunning photography and impressive graphics in his blog.

Fourth, he breaks down sometimes scientific information in a reader-friendly format.

Fifth, don’t always look for the newest blogs to get your Areavoices fix. Sometimes the oldies are the goodies. Bob has been blogging for years and he’s great at it! Check him out! What are you waiting for for heaven’s sake!

Get it? “For heaven’s sake?” An astronomy blog? I’m punning you and it’s only 7:00am. This is going to be a great day!

Check out Bob and the other recommended blogs of the week in a post later today.

More outdoors news coming on Areavoices – Areavoices Digest #49

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For those of you craving more hunting, fishing, and camping news, we’ve got it on Areavoices. Brad Dokken of The Grand Forks Herald is supplementing his outdoors coverage from the paper with a blog. He hopes it will provide space for outdoors news that might not otherwise make it into the Sunday paper or is better suited to the timeliness of the blog.

It’s just the first  in this week’s recommended blogs. Enjoy!

Compass Points
http://braddokken.areavoices.com
Brad Dokken has been an outdoor writer for The Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald since February 1998. This blog will provide hunting, fishing, camping and other outdoor information.

The Hawthorne Neighborhood Blog
http://hawthorne.areavoices.com
Hawthorne is a beautiful old tree-line neighborhood in South Fargo. This blog shares news and happenings with its residents.

Volunteer Bemidji!
http://volunteerbemidji.areavoices.com
Your link to community stewardship in the Bemidji, Minnesota region

Not So Vintage Packers
http://notsovintagepackers.areavoices.com
Sara Boom is new to blogging. But as a Packer lover she has a lot to write about in what’s been a very successful season for the boys from Green Bay.

The Book Shelf
http://pleasurereading.areavoices.com
Sherry Pekas is also new to the blogging world, but is anxious to get rolling in her first book blog. Stay tuned for reviews, recommendations and more.