Blog Parties, Linky Parties, they are everywhere, are they for you?

As I was checking out some of my twitter feeds I came across something I have been seeing all over blog land.  What are these "Linky Parties/Blog Parties" everyone is talking about?  There seemed to be a lot of different opinions on how these parties should be done correctly.  In our audience of homemaking, DIY, and cooking blogs a lot of people are investing their time in these endeavors and receiving tons of traffic to their blogs.  If you have the time to spend to do a little advertising, there can be some great advantages to participating.  You meet others of like mind who may become dear friends, you get a chance to see what others are doing, you may be asked to do feature articles on other people's blogs… and the impact of these things on your own audience, should grow your following if you participate correctly and stick with quality posts.

I started to do some research, as I was interested in the link exchange and the benefits of free advertising.  I found a bunch of great articles.  I am going to share three amazing resources I found that discuss this process, its rules, and its advantages.  I know that some of you will definitely learn a few things from this that perhaps have been confusing.  All of these articles are exceptional. 

The first link I want you to visit is from Serenity Now - What is a blog party series.  It is a great in-depth discussion on the subject and it really shows you the basics. 

The second blog post I want to share is from Craftminders.com - Linky Party Etiquette a more common sense approach to these parties as an analogy of dinner parties.  If anything from the previous blog post was a bit confusing this  surely will help you to better understand.

The third post is a more technical explanation from ItsSoVeryCheri - Linky Party Etiquette, SEO, and How to Get Featured More.  I would recommend reading these three posts and I am sure you will come away with a strong understanding of this process, and how it can impact your blogging experience.

Both of these articles bring something different to the discussion, and are excellent resources.  This next link I am about to share with you comes from Tools Are For Women Too and is a rather large resource of blog parties organized by the day of the week they are posted.  I am positive you will find a party or two to attend.

Due to my 5 year break from blogging, I have to say that this is all very new to me, but I at least will feel comfortable when I do decide to join in on the fun of these blog/linky parties.

Do you party?  Which are your favorites and why??  Do you have any advice for those just thinking of joining a party for the first time?

Thanks for stopping by,

Kylara