Monday, May 7, 2012
Sharing The Love: How to Improve your Blog by Helping Others
I'm going to talk about helping others. Blogging isn't just about writing. Alot of it has to do with helping others help you.
Start out by following other blogs that intrest you and are related to your blog. After you've sorted through all of the blogs out there, hone in on the one's that are posting most often. Start engaging in conversation with them, by posting comments on their posts. Don't get over whelming and make sure your not just posting come and check out my blog at whocares.com. If you do no one will take you seriously and your comments will be deleted.
After you have established relationships with other bloggers in your industry make sure you start giving them some love. How do you do that? Add a link to their blog from yours in a few of the following ways. On your links page, in your blog roll, in a related links section, by referring to a blog post bloggerX has posted their blog that relates to the next blog post you are writing.
The next couple of things take a little extra work, but are well worth it for not only you but your blogging buddies. Ask outdoor bloggerX if they would like to do an interview, if they say yes, interview them, write it up and post it on your blog. Make sure you add at least a link or two back to their blog as well. Example: http://www.thewilltohunt.com/2012/05/interview-melissa-bachman.html
How about asking another blogger to guest post on your blog? Ok, this one may require more work on their end than yours, but in actuality you're still helping them get the word out about their blog. Example: http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/2011/02/old-buck.html
Start asking every blogger you know if you can do a guest post on their blog, some will say sure and you won't hear back, some will say sure and give you a topic and post it, and other will say sorry maybe some other time. Now not only does this one help bloggerX out by giving them a break for one post it gives you a chance to get your name on another site and hopefully some links. Example: http://www.foremosthunting.com/Turkey/Gear/TurkeyGunsandAmmo/CreatingTheUltimateTurkeyGun/tabid/1474/Default.aspx
There is one extra step to make this work even better, ok, maybe three extra steps. 1. Blog (on your own blog) about your guest post on outdoor bloggerX's blog and send extra traffic their way. 2. Make sure you mention your guest post on all of your social media outlets. 3. Send an email to all of your friends with a link to your guest post (make sure you tell them how proud you are about it).
Doing all of this will send extra traffic to bloggerX's Blog and who knows maybe they'll ask you to come back and guest post again or not. Either way you've helped out anther blogger and you'll feel better about yourself.
One last thing create lists of your favorite blog post, blogs, bloggers, websites, and whatever else you can think of. Make sure you write a brief description of each and provide a link back to website or blog. This way you are giving love to lots of people at once. You'll help them out by giving them publicity, a link, and making them feel proud that you included them. If they like what you had to say, they might even give you a link or mention on one of their social media outlets.
That's all for now. Keep up the great blogging and I'll see you all next time
Ben G.
PS I'm changing my approach to blogging and hope you all like my new angel. I want to help everyone succeed in our industry and I hope all of my tips and tricks can help you out. Let me know what you think.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Human Planet Review
Warner Bros. Entertainment was kind enough to send me a copy of the Human Planet DVD for review. When I first received the offer I thought well you know this is semi related to the theme of my blog. Well after watching it I proved myself wrong. It was more related to Ben G. Outdoors than I thought. Follow along and I will explain why you should get your own copy.
As I started watching this I first realized it was right up my alley I really enjoy learning about how other people, their cultures and where they live. This DVD Series has seven different episodes each focusing on a different places and how humans live in each of them. It soon dawned on me a lot of the human planet DVD showed how these different Cultures hunted and fished for their food. The more of these hunting and fishing stories I heard the more I knew that I would not hesitate to put this review up on the blog. I will give you a brief review of each episode and you can decide for yourself if you want to purchase the Human Planet DVD or Blue Ray disc. (I say two thumbs up for sure).
Episode one
Oceans
Wow I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I saw here, spearing whales the old fashion way with harpoons that were man powered. (They were crazy). My wife actually sat down to watch some of this with me and started to get into it too. Neither one of us could believe how one fellow free dove down 20 meters to the bottom of the ocean to catch a fish. He was under water longer than I thought a human could hold their breath it was just plain amazing. The Pa-aling fishermen were nuts. These guys used a diesel engine to pump air through small plastic hoses, so they could stay under water and chase fish into a net. Oh and they didn’t make very much money for risking their lives.
Episode two
Desert
I have never been to a real desert before so this episode was the one I had the hardest time relating to. At the same time I learned the most from this watching it. It starts out with a young fellow trying to find water for his cows, but has a run in with a herd of elephants. Another cool part is the Dogon people who don’t fish in the dry season except for one day when thousands of fisher men try and catch fish in a tiny lake filled with fish seems easy right; not at all you will have to get the DVD and see for yourself. The Gobi desert in Mongolia is the scene where a family winter their camels. The only problem, they have to deal with desert wolves (huh kind of sounds familiar doesn’t It.) and pregnant female camels not a good combination.
The Arctic
From Ice fishing for four days to catch a Greenland shark just to feed you dogs. To a polar bear patrol in Canada this episode hit home the most, being from Minnesota I could relate to some of the stories, but not nearly to the extremes these folks go through. A couple of my favorite parts of this episode were Narwhal hunting/fishing it’s crazy how stealth these guys have to be to get their prize. My other favorite part is the guy who catches Auks (birds) in a net as they fly past his hiding spot. Oh and he catches at least 500 in a day. This is something I think I would like to try.
The Jungles
One of the best ways to survive in the Jungle is to hunt for food and there plenty of examples of that in this episode, but hunting in the jungle is very difficult. Kids learn to hunt goliath trantultia so they can eat, but they have to watch out for the hair on the spiders back. These hairs when they get on your skin itch like crazy. Then you have a fellow climbing a giant tree with nothing more than a vine to secure him to get honey for his family. He also has to deal with bees when high above the forest floor. (This one kind of scares me). One of my other favorite parts is logging with elephants. Not only is it safer for the jungle, but it is cool to see how strong these elephants are.
Mountains
I miss the mountains I sometimes wish I live back in north Idaho. The first part of this episode is set in western Mongolia a father and son grab a baby golden eagle chick so they can train it and hunt foxes and wolves with it. You have to see this young boy protect his family’s fields around harvest time from monkeys. Another of my favorite parts is the guys who catch bats in a giant net. The create a path in the forest which makes a short cut over the mountain for the bats then they put up their net which can’t be detected by the bats.
Grass Lands
The grass lands typically mean bigger animals, like lions and kudu. One part of this episode I just don’t understand it the part with the Dorbo people of Kenya. These guys attempt to steal meat from a pride of lions (they are just plain nuts in my book). One part of this episode did remind me of hunting deer here in the states. A couple of fellows set up a blind near a water hole and waited for the kudu to come in close enough to shoot with their bows. This is the part that I don’t think I could handle they stayed in the blind for at least four days. Now that’s what I call a dedicated hunter. Last but not least the Maasai children speak to a bird called a honey guide and the bird leads them to honey of course if they do end up finding honey the share some with the bird.
Episode 7
Rivers
This episode starts out with a very dedicated fisher man who uses nets on the very treacherous Mekong River in Laos he risks his life everyday to catch only a few fish and feed his family. The other story in this episode that really sticks in my head was the Father, son, and daughter team who follow a frozen river for quite some distance in order for the son and Daughter to go to school.
Episode 8
CitiesThis episode has a lot to do with pests New York City kind of takes the cake here with rats. I didn’t realize how many rats actually live there. Let’s just say I won’t be eating in any restaurants there ever. The story about the guy who uses a Peregrine falcon (which by the way is the fastest flying bird in the world) to chase away pigeons has some very awesome camera shots. The falcon however sometimes gets caught up in the game of chasing the pigeons and doesn’t like to come back to its keeper.
Over all this is a great DVD series and I want to thank WB for sending me out a copy to review if you get the chance go buy a copy and see for yourself all of the amazing camera footage. Oh I almost forgot to mention the behind the lens stories after each episode they seem to pick the stories that were the hardest to shoot and show you behind the scenes footage of how they made it happen.
The series is now avalivle on DVD and Blue-ray at www.humanplanetblog.com
Thanks Ben G.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Wyatt Learning to Call
My oldest son Wyatt wanted to start using some of my turkey calls so I grabbed my locate call and let him give it a try. It ended up being about a half hour ordeal and he had a blast. He'll be locating Toms for me in no time. Watch out turkeys here comes Wyatt.
This is just a short clip of Wyatt blowing on the call.
This is just a short clip of Wyatt blowing on the call.
Do you know what call he is using?
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Review of Stuffitts Shoe Savers
My good friend Nicole at Hanks Clothing sent me this new interesting product to try out. They are called Stuffitts Shoe Savers. When Nicole first asked me to do the review I was like what the heck are these funny looking things. After I did a bit of research I agreed and thought they would be great tool to make my wife not cringe every time she walked by my shoes and hunting boots.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Review of the Magnum Work Pro Ultra WPi CT boots
*note: Magnum Boots supplied me Free of charge with a Pair of Work Pro Ultra WPi CT boots to test.*
To tell you the truth I have never been much of a boot guy other than of course my hunting boots. After wearing these boots for almost two weeks straight I think I’m beginning to like boots more and more. Follow along as I fill you in on how I put these brand new pair of Magnum Work Pro Ultra WPi CT boots through a series of tests to see how they would hold up. |
| Spanking new just out of the box |
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Saturday, March 12, 2011
The Leap Frog Bloggers Prompt (1.2)
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image credit dmushrush |
Okay if you don’t know how this works here are the details. I am going to post a prompt whether it is writing, photo, or recipe (not likely as I’m not a good cook). If you would like to partake just fulfill the topic I select, link back to this post, leave a comment with the link to your post and I will pick my favorite one by Thursday of next week. Then who ever I pick will do the next prompt with the same rules. By the way this was started by Rory at R-Dub Outdoors. I hope you enjoy.
My topic is
Lost, Stolen, or Malfunction Gear which altered your hunting or fishing trip, and how did you overcome it?
I know this has happened to me on several occasions. Having my gun jam or my reel not function properly when I have a big fish on. The one that sticks in my mind the most is my first trout fishing trip with my Father-in-law and Brother-in-law.
It was about three years ago and I was super pumped to go on this fishing trip, so I went out and purchased a bunch of new gear, a small tackle box, a bunch of new spinners, a new net, a fishing rod that came apart in the middle, a new reel, and some new sun glasses.
After a four hour drive we stopped at the first river. I was so excited to use all of my new gear I forgot to zip my back pack all the way. I was fishing and having a blast when I decided to change my spinner. I looked into my bag and realized the top half of my new fishing pole was gone. At this point we had already walked a mile and a half up the river bank and let me tell you it wasn’t an easy walk.
Feeling rather deflated I walked back down stream looking for the top of my new pole with no luck. At least I had my ultra light which I had been fishing with the first hour of our trip and would have to use for the next three days.
On the way back down river I look all over again, but nothing I was so bummed. I was so looking forward to using my new pole.
What did I do to overcome this unfortunate situation? I was thankful I had brought two rods along, and concentrated on trout fishing and enjoying my time with my pals.
Good luck and let's generate some traffic to each others blogs.
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