Real Food Wednesdays

Wondering about “Real Food Wednesdays”?

What is “Real Food”?, What is a blog carnival?, How do I participate?,  How does it help my blog traffic grow?,  How do I ‘link back’?

WHAT IS A BLOG CARNIVAL?

A blog carnival is a way to compile many blogger’s posts about a certain topic in one place. It’s handy for the reader and a great way to learn more about real, traditional food. But it’s also good for the blogger, because it gets your website out there more and increases your traffic, too!

How does it increase traffic to your blog?

Not only because other Real Foodies can then easily find your blog, but also because sometimes readers will Stumble (and often Tweet, too) all the participants in Real Food Wednesdays.  This means that if you add your post to the RFW blog carnival (by using the “Mr. Linky” box at that day’s post), you’ll get some great traffic spikes, and other bloggers have said that it’s not just with that day’s traffic, it keeps going throughout the week and month!  (This is how I built up my traffic in the beginning.)

HERE’S HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

• IF YOU DON’T HAVE A BLOG, join in by adding your Real Food comment or recipe at the RFW post!
• IF YOU DO HAVE A BLOG, use a tool called, “Mr. Linky” (which you’ll see at the bottom of that week’s RFW post), to add a link to your post (recipes OR Real Food topics), keeping these RULES in mind:

1. PLEASE be sure to add a link in your post back to this post, so your readers can benefit from all the ideas, too. Also this helps out the other participants who are hoping to get more traffic to their blogs. Call it “blog carnival etiquette“.  (More on how to do this below.)
2. Do not link to your home page, only link to the specific post. (Otherwise later when new readers find this post and go to your link, they won’t be able to find what they’re looking for.)
3. Be sure to read through here so you know what RFW is all about and what I mean by REAL FOOD (see below) before you add your link.
4. Please don’t add 15 links from your blog archives.  One post from each person is usually the norm.
5. Leave a comment, especially if you add your link later. This way we’ll know to look for it later in the day – new comments have email notifications, but new links don’t.
6. Feel free to grab the RFW logo above for your post!  (A smaller one is below…)

I hate to play hardball, but I may delete links that do not follow these guidelines or else the carnival could get annoying for everyone involved.

WHAT IS “REAL FOOD”?

If you’re sharing a recipe, please make sure it qualifies as Real Food before joining in.  (If I’ve removed your post, I hope there are no hard feelings, but people come here for Real Food ideas, and I don’t want to disappoint.)  Someone who is striving and on the journey is one thing (as we all are), but if it’s really bad (canned bread, Velveeta, margarine, Egg Beaters, unfermented soy or any other fake food), please don’t add it here.  Also anything vegan or low fat most likely will not be a good fit for this carnival.  (Keep in mind, though, that I’m talking about vegan recipes with tofu, meat substitutes, or other similar foods.  Real Food vegan recipes are OK.)

***New update: why do we ask that you link back to our blog in your RFW post?  Often people are forgetting this and there are a couple reasons we ask it:

• We want everyone to benefit from the Real Food recipes or tips that you find here, so if you add a link in your post, then your readers can join in the fun, too.
• It’s only fair to the others who are drawing more traffic your way, to do the same for them!

PLAYING HARDBALL (I don’t like it!)

Recently I went through and deleted around 11 posts that didn’t link back to the RFW post.  It took me a couple hours AND it’s not fair to the others who participate and bring traffic your way, to not do the same for them.  HOWEVER, I realize some of you may be new to blogging and might not have a clue HOW to link back (I didn’t get it at first either).  Here’s how:

Up in the web address bar, copy and paste the URL (here’s an example: http://kellythekitchenkop.com/2011/03/real-food-wednesday-32311.html) and then in your post, say something like, “This post is linked to Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Wednesday blog carnival” or something similar.  Highlight the words “Real Food Wednesday” in that line, and then click the “link” button in your blogging toolbar and paste the URL into that line.  That’s it!  Now you have officially remembered your blog carnival MANNERS! 

HAVE YOU SEEN THESE PAST RFW TOPICS (from when we used to do “themed” carnivals)?:

It’s not too late to add your link or your comment to one of these past topics, as people are still going to these posts all the time! ***If you add your link, though, be sure to comment too, otherwise (as I said above) we won’t know to look for it – new comments have email notifications, but new links don’t.

• Healthy Meals for Kids
• Your best Nutrition Tip or Kitchen Tip
• Real Food Testimonies – how has Real Food changed us?
• Healthy fast food (last-minute meal ideas)
• Real Food on a Budget
• Low-Carb Ideas
• Gluten-Free Real Food
• Rookie Tips from YOU (advice for beginners)
• Recipes using nutritious bone broth
• Healthy Coconut Recipes
• Natural Body Care Products for Real Foodies
  
• Growing Real Food (What Are You Planting?