The Opportunity Cost of Not Participating in Web Events

Problogger Tips

Just a quick post to followup on the April Fools post update that I did yesterday. While in general I find the day to be a distraction more than anything else (I'm sure many of us spent more time filtering pranks than doing much else yesterday) it is one of those days that has an 'opportunity cost' associated with it.

'Opportunity Cost' is a term I learned in my university Accounting subject and has to do with missed opportunities of not taking a certain action. When you have a choice between doing two things you forgo the benefits of the option you didn't choose (I'm sure my accountant readers will give us a better definition of it).

The Opportunity Cost of not participating in a day like April Fools day on your blog can be significant. I just checked Technorati again this morning and the volume of blogs linking to my prank yesterday bumped up considerably over night. While there were a few link ups yesterday as the prank happened the real benefit (and opportunity cost) revolves around the April Fools Summary Posts that many bloggers write around the blogosphere. These posts that sum up the jokes that people did are done in their hundreds (if not thousands) and the link juice that they provide can't be underestimated when it comes to SEO.

April Fools Day is just one of many web events that a blogger has the choice to participate in (or to ignore) - there are many hundreds of them out there - almost every holiday and most real world events have some sort of opportunity associated with them for bloggers. For a little more on some of this check out Seasonal Traffic and How to Capture it for Your Blog.

Note: a blogger can't participate in every web event - it would take over their blogs. I guess the lesson is to be aware of the opportunities and to choose to participate in those that relate most strongly to your blog.

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AdSense officially Launch Sliding/Scrolling Text Ads

Problogger Tips

After what seems like a very long test period AdSense today have announced that they've added scrolling ads to all CPC text ads. They announce it on their blog here. We started seeing them back in December.

These ads have been appearing increasingly on many publishers AdSense units of late and are little arrows at the base of ad units which allow viewers of the ad to hit forward and back to see more ads. Here's how they look.

As publishers you don't get paid when readers click the arrows or scroll through ads but I guess the theory is that they'll be more likely to click an ad if they see one that is more relevant to them.

Here's a little video of them in action:

Click To Play

What do you think of these ads?

Who Cares How Many Subscribers You’ve Got?

Problogger Tips

The following guest post on measuring a blog's success has been submitted by Mark Seall.
A guide to systematically troubleshooting your blog's performance by focusing on the measures that make a difference.

Apparently it's really easy to get zillions of subscribers to your blog - Just follow a few simple steps, work hard and write good stuff. I know this, because I read it every week on various pro-blogging sites which are keen to dispense the wisdom of their own success whilst making you feel inferior for having less than 20,000 RSS subscribers.

Unfortunately for many of us, the promise of multiple thousands of subscribers is unrealistic no matter how hard we try - sometimes because we work in less popular niches, sometimes because we just don't have the available time, and sometimes because we just don't have that magic mix of talent and luck.

Ultimately this leads to frequent disappointment among bloggers. Many of the bloggers I speak with are at a loss as to how to increase traffic, enviously regarding the multi-thousand subscriber club. Blogging is not a hobby or a profession for those without perseverance.

The reason that we obsess over our statistics

The only reason so many of us obsess over our statistics is because page views and subscriber numbers are the most obvious ways to measure our success. But are they really?

A business that only measures itself by its profits is unlikely to be successful in the long term. Profits are obviously important, but profit is only one measurement of success, and crucially, it is an outcome not a determiner. Outcomes are the things that ultimately we are judged by, but they don't tell you anything about the underlying factors which will make future success possible, and which are making current success difficult.

For example, a firm which is making roaring profits today is a poor investment if their products are so bad that few of their customers return tomorrow. A blog might have 10,000 hits today from social media, but that's hardly a success if visitors don't find any reason to return the next day.

So how can we measure ourselves

To truly understand and address what's driving your success it is necessary to understand the web of relationships between the different determiners which lead to the outcomes that you are looking for. The diagram below shows the network of measurable items which make up these relationships, showing how each is interconnected.

Some of these measures can be determined by statistics and some require a little more subjective judgement. What's important to grasp initially are the actual outcomes in which you are interested. Measures marked in red represent these outcomes. If you blog for money, then obviously ad-revenue is the most important outcome for you. But if you blog only for pleasure then perhaps your level of reader engagement (which can be determined largely by comments) is more important to you? If your blog is part of a longer term plan, then perhaps generating kudos within the blogging community is your best measure of success?

Next, consider (or don't consider) the things which you can't influence directly - such as page views. There is nothing you can do to directly influence these, so to a large extent you shouldn't waste time worrying about them. However, don't ignore them completely. These determiners can provide you with useful information as to why your blog is not performing as expected. For example, if you have few new visitors each month (often the case after the first few months) then perhaps you are getting poor search engine placement, or you are lacking in inbound links? If a quick check on Google shows that you are lacking in links, then perhaps it is time to re-focus on community interaction again? It is important to troubleshoot poor results in a systematic way to avoid firing random shots in the dark.

Finally, put all of your energy into the green items - the things that you can influence. Time and energy are always at a premium among bloggers, and it is usually unrealistic to expect that anybody can focus on everything. However, properly understanding all of the current performance measurements of your blog, and how they interact, will allow you to choose where to focus for the best results. It's worth noting that things which have multiple connections have a greater influence on downstream results - hence the constant emphasis on quality content.

Final thoughts

In reality, most bloggers (myself included) will continue to obsess over page views and find it difficult to walk past the computer without stopping to check on stats. However, putting a bit more focus on the wider measures of success can often delay the onset of the 'blogging blues' and give you the motivation to create that great content that we all love reading.

10 Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.5

Posted by: Aaron Brazell

WordPress is about to release version 2.5 into the wild (It just hit Release Candidate yesterday so the release date, though officially not known, is coming soon). If you've been using WordPress.com or have peeked at the demo site you will know the biggest change coming to WordPress with this release.

You might ask, "Where did WordPress 2.4 go?" The answer to this is that it was skipped. Yes, that's right, the 120-day release cycle was scrapped this time and you essentially have two releases in one. Again, the changes are vast and countless. This is a huge release.
So let's get into the nitty gritty shall we?

New Admin User Interface

By far the most comprehensive change in this release was the complete rethinking of how WordPressers do their administrative tasks. Happy Cog Studios was enlisted to do usability research and testing - with the emphasis being on usability research. Several of the items in this rundown are going to be broken into their own list item as they deserve their own description and, again, this upgrade is huge.

You'll notice that the WordPress admin is now bathed in a lighter blue, lighter grey and orange color scheme. I like the nice hues, but others are bound not to. If you're a developer or know your way around creating WordPress plugins, you can supply your own admin CSS with the wp_admin_css and wp_admin_css_uri filters, and WordPress is already supplying per-user options of "Classic" - the old dark blue feel - and the "Fresh" style which is installed by default.
function my_admin_css( $cssfilename ) { // Use name of the CSS file inside the wp-admin folder WITHOUT the file extension return 'my-new-wp-admin'; } apply_filters('wp_admin_css', 'my_admin_css');
I'd just stick with the default though. It's not too shabby.

Menu Layout

One of the first things you'll notice is the change in the administrative navigation. It struck me as very Movable Typeish. I don't know if the idea came from them or simply that Happy Cog had such thorough user research that it made sense. Either way… it makes sense.
Primarily, users interact with the WordPress admin in one of four areas - writing posts, managing posts, managing comments, and managing design elements. You'll notice that these items make up the primary navigation on the left side of the screen. (Sidebar: You'll also notice that the Presentation menu has been renamed Design - which was a usability decision. It makes sense.) Matt wrote more about this.

The rest of the formerly Primary navigation items - Plugins, Options (now Settings) and Users have been moved to a secondary navigation on the right side of the screen.

Sub-navigation is something that's a little weird. As both the Primary and the new secondary navigation used to be part of the same menu bar, the "submenus" all made sense to appear below the primary navigation. This is still the "right" place, I believe for the new Primary navigation points but seems awkward for the Secondary navigation items that are relegated to a different portion of the screen. I know this is something that is currently being thought about, I just don't know what the final results will be.

Also, as a bit of additional commentary, I think plugin authors need to go back and revisit their choice of where they have put their plugin subpages. Do they really make sense to be in the Options page (now Settings)? Do they really belong in the Manage page? In my opinion, plugin settings pages should be listed as a sub-page of the Plugins menu.

Widget Handling

Another MASSIVE shift in philosophy has been in the Widgets page. Before, you could drag and drop widgets into position. You can still reposition widgets by dragging within a sidebar, however, WordPress is relying less on Javascript "bling" for this release. Each widget is listed in a column on the left, you click the Add link and it jumps into the sidebar. Instead of having all sidebars displayed at one time, the user selects the sidebar from a dropdown to expose a different sidebar.

To me, this adds work to the overall experience, and so fundamentally I don't like it, but it feels more reliable.

Dashboard Overhaul

The second thing you will probably notice immediately on login to the WordPress admin (the color scheme being the first) is the new dashboard interface. Now it is completely modularized, and though there is no "tight" way of adding your own, plugin authors can create their own dashboard widgets. The architecture is primitive at this point, but will improve offering a much easier way for plugin authors to do their thing without feeling like they are "hacking".

A summary of your entire WordPress install is summarized in a widget titled "Right Now" informing you of the number of posts, comments, draft posts, tags and categories. Other useful widgets like incoming posts, etc are available and can be customized with your own RSS feeds.

Visual Editor Improvements

The Visual editor, a long time bane of many users existence, has been upgraded with support for TinyMCE 3. It even includes Full Screen mode for those of you that don't like to be distracted when writing. I cannot speak to the ability of this upgrade, as I don't use WordPress' visual editor, but I'm told it is a vast improvement over the older version. The TinyMCE team has worked closely with WordPress on this release as well.

Flash Uploader

For those of you using a lot of images in your post, the image uploader has been completely overhauled as well. Namely, you can uplopad and insert multiple images at once via a new Flash-based uploader. This will gracefully fallback to the original uploader if Flash is not installed, so never fear. There is now a new "Add Media" link in the header of the post window that handles all this now. For those of you who want to debate the philosophical decision to include closed source Flash into open source, and GPL'ed WordPress, knock yourself out.

Plugin Auto-upgrade

An ambitious new feature that is being included in WordPress is a new autoupgrader. By default, it will try to upgrade plugins that are already in the WordPress plugin repository by writing the new files out to the existing plugins. however, this is an inherent security risk as it would require your plugin files be writable by the world. So the fallback is to upgrade plugins via FTP/FTP over SSL. Though your FTP username and password are stored in your database, it's important to remember that FTP is inherently insecure. FTP/SSL is much more secure but is still not the best. Thanks to hooks in the filesystem functionality, I'll be releasing a plugin that I've been working on for Secure FTP (FTP over SSH). It's not ready yet, but hopefully will be soon and I'll let you know when it is.

Custom Sizes for Thumbnails

Since the image uploader was added back in, something like WordPress 2.0, many, many people have complained about the inability to modify thumbnail sizes. I believe the old default was something like 100×100. In WordPress 2.5, thumb-nailing became a whole lot more useful. You can not only set your thumbnail dimensions globally, you can also have a "medium" sized thumbnail, a la Flickr and an option to crop an oversize image instead of just resizing. I figured some of you would like that.

Tag Management

With the introduction of WordPress tags in WP 2.3, the development group took a measured approach to adding user interface around them. A minimal form field on the post write page allowed for a comma separated list of tags with no additional way of management. Fortunately, in 2.5, a bit more UI was added, though functionally identical. It works like Flickr tags where tags can be added via a list of comma separated tags or via a "type, click, add" mantra. In addition, the UI has a tabbed interface which allows for the selection of tags by checkboxes and by most used tags, useful to say the least.

Password Strength Too

The last major item (and trust me there are tons of smaller items or more obscure items) in the list of things you should know about WordPress 2.5, is the password strength meter. Passwords should be at least three characters or they will be deemed "too short" and should consist of two of three types of characters - letters, numbers or symbols - or will be considered too weak. Password security is a big concern for everyone in IT and blog security itself could be beefed up significantly by users choosing "strong" passwords.

Bonus Item: Timestamp Sanity

Thanks to Mark Jaquith (Disclaimer: Mark is one of my employees at b5media, but is also a core developer of WordPress), the timestamp functionality of WordPress has recieved a complete overhaul. By default, a new post has no timestamp module. Instead, it's a publish immediately, or you can click a link if you really do want to modify the timestamp. When editing a post with a timestamp, there is also no "Modify Timestamp" checkbox that caused so much confusion for so many years. If you modify the existing timestamp, it's assumed that you actually want to change the timestamp! In other words, WP is no longer insulting the intelligence of users (not that it was an intentional insult before, but the big brother protection from the blogger's own self was a bit tedious).

So if you feel like testing, you can grab a copy of the lastest trunk code at http://svn.automattic.com/wordpress/trunk. The usual disclaimers are in play when using a non-stable released version: No support offered, your mileage may vary, use at your own risk, don't feed the tigers. But if you want to contribute to the development process, testing AND reporting bugs is a good way. A lot of testing is going on right now before a release, so have at it. :-) Enjoy.

Update: Ozh describes how to create your own wp-admin stylesheet.

20 Types of Pages that Every Blogger Should Consider

20 Types of Pages that Every Blogger Should Consider

Posted: 28 Mar 2008 08:46 AM CDT By Problogger

When you use WordPress you’re given the choice when publishing between doing it as a ‘post’ or as a ‘page‘. Posts go up on your blog while ‘pages’ are static pages that you can publish without it having to go up on your blog.

There’s a lot of reasons why you might choose a post over a page or a page over a post (that’s for another post) - but today I thought I’d highlight a few ‘pages’ that I have here on ProBlogger as examples of pages that bloggers might want to develop to promote their blog to different groups of people. Some are more essential in my mind than others but all have been helpful in the development of my own blogs.

1. About Page - perhaps one of the most common uses of the ‘page’ function on WP is the good old ‘about page’. Having an about page is essential in my mind as it gives new readers to your blog a snapshot of who you are and why they should subscribe to your blog. This is the page that I go to every time I hit a new blog - if they don’t have one it decreases my chances of subscribing significantly. Read more on adding an about page to your blog.

2. Contact Page - I’m amazed how many bloggers don’t have any way of contacting them on their blog. While I understand the temptation not to have one you could be missing out of wonderful opportunities by not giving readers, potential partners, press, other bloggers a way of contacting you. Read more on Why your blog’s readers should be able to contact you.

3. Press Page - I don’t promote this page heavily (although do mention it on my ‘About Page‘) but use it more when interacting with journalists and mainstream media outlets. The way I use it is to show journalists what others have written about me. I find that in providing a list of previous articles in mainstream media you gain a little credibility and give journalists a head start in finding an angle to pursue for their own potential articles about you. It’s also handy to be able to provide this page to anyone else that you’re attempting to build credibility with that may not be that ‘new media savvy’. It’s amazing how a mention in mainstream media will open doors for some.

4. Disclaimer Page - I need to update this page but for the interests of transparency have it linked to on every page on my blog to show readers what I get out of this blog - ie that I make money from it and use affiliate programs. I also use this page to dispel some of the myths and untrue assumptions that people have about me and this blog by sharing some of the ‘costs’ of this blog. I find that this balanced ‘disclaimer’ works quite well.

5. FAQ Page - this page was written with a very selfish motive - to cut down my workload. I get asked a lot of question, many of them repeatedly. As an attempt to answer some of these frequently asked questions I put together some answers for them. I still get asked the questions but being able to point to this page helps. I also have it linked to prominently from my Contact Page.

6. Subscribe Page - having a page dedicated to how people can subscribe to your blog can be very useful. I don’t link to this from my sidebar any more (like I do at DPS) but do link to it from within posts at times. I find that having a page like this can be useful as some readers don’t understand the idea of RSS or can be worried about issues of privacy or what it means to ’subscribe’. Sometimes having a page dedicated to walking people through the process can pay off.

7. Advertise with Us Page - looking to sell advertising on your blog? An ‘Advertise’ page is an important part of attracting new advertisers and a well written one can cut down a lot of work for you as it’ll help to filter out people by giving them information that helps them to know if your site is right for them. Further Reading: Finding Advertisers for Your Blog.

8. Series Page - Compilation - I’ve used ‘pages’ in two ways when it comes to series of posts. The first way is to put together a compilation page of all of the posts in a series. I don’t do this that regularly but in the example linked to put together the content from all 25 posts on my series on Battling Bloggers Block. I found that some readers really appreciated having the series all in the one place.

9. Series Page - Central Page - the other approach to managing a series of posts with a ‘page’ is to use one as a ‘central links page’ that you update with a link to each post in your series over time. This is what I did in my 31 Days to Building a Better Blog Series last August. The beauty of this approach over the ‘compilation page’ is that it can drive a lot more page views as readers are ’sneezed’ in multiple directions into your blog. It’s also good because it allows readers to be more selective about which posts in a series they want to read rather than reading the full thing.

10. Affiliate Pre-Sell Pages - having a dedicated page for an affiliate program that you’re running can be a very smart move. If you refer to a product that you’re promoting regularly in your posts - rather than linking to the affiliate program link to a ‘pre-sell’ page on your own blog. This allows you to ‘pre-sell’ the product more with a personal message. This is what I do on my AdSense page here at ProBlogger. This doesn’t work for every affiliate program but I find with AdSense that it works well as their landing page can be a little off putting to new potential users of it. It also gives me a little more flexibility with how I mention AdSense in my posts as their Referrals program doesn’t allow html linking. Further Reading: 5 Tips for Improving AdSense Referral Earnings.

11. Services Pages - If you offer services to readers then develop a dedicated sales page for yourself and link to it prominently on your blog. The example here is my Consulting page - a page I used to point to regularly. These days I don’t offer these services any more (due to workload) so have not promoted it for a while. I find that when you have a dedicated page to selling your services you can sell yourself much more expansively than just a quick mention elsewhere on your blog.

12. Key Information Pages - Do you have information that you’re constantly providing to people over and over again (whether in blog posts, via email or in other ways)? Make a page about it and keep the link handy. That’s what I did with my b5media page and have found it to help me cut down my workload in answering questions about the network. I also link to it in my navigational bar here on ProBlogger and it’s lead to some great opportunities. You could do this with any business or product that you’re associated with.

13. Landing Pages - this page is an example of one over at DPS that I used last year as a landing page for an ad campaign that I ran. If you do choose to run an ad campaign to promote your blog then it’s much wiser to link your ads to a dedicated landing page than the front page of your blog. Read more on Advertising Your Blog and on Landing Pages.

14. Sneeze Pages - one great way to propel people deep within your blog is to develop a Sneeze Page or a ‘Best of’ page that highlights some of the better articles on your blog around a particular theme. Put links to these pages on your sidebar or refer to them in posts and you’ll see your page impressions per visit statistics go up.

15. Testimonial Pages - if you’re selling something (even if it’s yourself) to have some sort of a testimonial page can be very worthwhile. People base buying decisions increasingly upon the opinions of others - so capture some of these opinions and present them.

16. Event Specific Pages - speaking at an event? Create a ‘page’ specifically for those at it and mention that you’ve done so in your presentation. This way you can tailor a specific message to those visitors, their needs, your presentation and ’sell’ something to them (whether it be subscribing to your blog, buying a product, selling your services or getting them to read certain pages on your blog. The example I’ve given is from a conference I did this time last year. I also used to have a section on that page selling a product that I mentioned in the presentation and it converted quite well.

17. 404 Page - when people arrive on your blog to a page that has been deleted, follow a dead link etc and end up on a default error page on your blog you’ve got a wasted opportunity on your hands. Customize your error pages to help readers find what they’re looking for or at least find something else that might interest them. Further Reading: How to Create a Custom 404 Error Page for Your Blog.

18. Special Projects - Last year I participated in a charity event called (Movember). Rather than letting this event completely take over my blog for the month I created a dedicated page for the event that those who were interested in could follow my updates on.

19. Guest Blogger Page - I’ve never spoken publicly about this page on ProBlogger before but it’s a page that I provide to guest bloggers of ProBlogger with some guidelines on how to write for this blog. I’ve done the same thing for DPS and have found that it’s been very useful. I get more posts that are written in a format that I can use and it’s cut down a lot of work for me.

20. Archives Page - there are numerous ways that you can present that archives of your blog. It becomes more challenging the larger your blog grows to be able to direct people back to your best previous work and a dedicated page can be helpful in that process rather than just presenting a list of categories or dates on your site bar. What I’ve attempted to do with mine is to provide a page with dated archives but also categories with some suggested starting points.

Some of the above ‘pages’ can of course be created from ‘posts’ on your blog (and there might be some good reasons for doing so) however my preference is to make them ‘pages’. In most cases this is because I prefer these pages to not be date specific. The way I have my links set up here at ProBlogger posts have dates showing and in the link structure - but pages don’t. In many of the above examples I also didn’t want to page to show up in my blog’s RSS feed or categories - but preferred them to be standalone pages.

What page types would you add to the above list?Update: Some great suggestions in comments so far. I agree that a privacy page is a good one, as is a comments policy (I have one of these but wrote it as a post - I think it’d be more appropriate as a page though). Another one that I should have included is a ‘resource’ page - a page that lists recommended resources, books, courses etc. Lastly - I should have included a ‘blog roll’ or ‘links’ page. Thanks for everyone’s suggestions - keep them coming

Should I Change My Website Into a Blog?

ProBlogger - Latest Posts Should I Change My Website Into a Blog?
Posted: 29 Mar 2008 06:57 PM CDT

“Hi Darren, I’ve got a website at www._____.com which I’ve had for a few years and not really done much with. I’ve heard that blogs are a good way of building traffic and making money, should I change it to a blog?”
I get this type of question on a weekly basis so I thought that I’d tackle it as a post.

There are a number of factors to consider when deciding whether to change an established website into a blog.
6 Reasons to Consider a BlogMuch has been written on the topic of why blogs are a medium to consider for your website but here’s some that I’m particularly attracted to:

1. Blogs give Individuals, Companies and Brands ‘Voice’ - 5 years ago I was a guy with a ‘voice’ that reached a few hundred people on any given week - today what I write and say is sneezed out to hundreds of thousands of people on any given week. My blogs are the vehicle for this.

2. Blogs are Conversational - both in the style of writing, the way they interact with one another and the way that they are designed with comments at their heart blogs are all about the conversation.

3. Blogs build Trust - as a result of being a relational/conversational medium a blogger can build trust with their audience (something that most businesses would kill for).

4. Blogs build Profile - looking to become an ‘expert’ (or at least be perceived as an expert) in your field. Blogs have the ability to showcase your expertise and help you become the ‘go to’ person in your field. Just today my blog brought me the opportunity to appear in Australia’s national newspaper - the result has been numerous other opportunities.

5. Blogs are Immediate - blogs are a great way to communicate with people because they are so quick to use. Have a thought, write it down, hit publish and within minutes it can be being read and commented upon by your readers.

6. Blogs are a doorway to Search Engines and Social Media - one of the great things about blogs is that they are indexed so well by search engines which love sites that are focused upon a topic, updated regularly etc. Social media sites (particularly bookmarking ones) also love blogs. The list of reasons to blog goes on and on. Of course everything I’ve mentioned above can also be achieved with other types of websites and just because you have a blog doesn’t mean the above all falls in your lap (it takes work - see below) - however these are some of the attractive aspects of having a blog.

5 Reasons why a Blog May Not be for YouSome bloggers tend to build blogging up to be the answer to every problem you might have online without giving a full picture. Let me shed a little light on the flip-side of blogging and why it might not be the right medium for you.

1. Blogs Take Time to Mature - one of the misconceptions that many new or ‘PreBloggers’ come to blogging with is that they just need to set one up and people will come reading it in their thousands. This is rarely the case. Unless you get extremely lucky or have some existing profile or traffic source to leverage a new blog takes considerable time to build up when it comes to readership. When I surveyed Technorati’s Top 100 blogs last year I found that on average they’d been running for over 3 years to achieve their prominence (it’d be more now).

2. Blogs Take Daily Work - the key to successful blogging is to post quality content on a regular basis. Most bloggers post on a daily basis, many of the top blogs post numerous times per day. Combine this fact with the last point (ie that it takes years for a blog to mature) and you have this question to ask yourself:
“Can you write something of high quality on a daily basis on your chosen topic for the next 3 years?”
That’s 780 posts if you post each weekday for the next 3 years - 1560 if you post twice each weekday…..

3. Blogs Take More than Writing - I’m not trying to depress you but there’s more to successful blogs than writing posts. Bloggers face a lot of other practical challenges on their way to success. These include moderating comments (blogs are the targets of spammers and occasionally ‘trolls’ (trouble makers), design (making your blog look unique can be an important element in it’s success), marketing (new readers don’t just appear - it takes networking, self promotion etc) and more. The list of jobs that a blogger needs to do can be overwhelming to a new blogger. Of course a lot of these skills develop over time and become a natural part of your working rhythm - but it’s worth counting the cost of this before you get into blogging.

4. Bloggers Can be Anti-Trust/Profile Building - I mentioned above that a blog can be a wonderful tool for building your voice, profile and trust. However the flip-side is that you can actually hurt your reputation in your niche if you don’t use your blog well. Everything that you do on your blog has the potential to either build or destroy your reputation in some way. Remember that what you ‘publish’ online is permanent. While you might delete it from your actual blog there will be a record of it somewhere online. So publishing untruths, writing while angry, being manipulative or not being transparent on your blog can actually come back to bite you and hurt your reputation. The vast majority of bloggers have positive experiences from blogging but do enter into it with a little caution and care - the blogosphere can be a very unforgiving place if you give it reason to turn on you.

5. Blogs Rely Upon YOU as a Conversation Starter - I was chatting with a new blogger recently about their experience of starting a blog and they reflected back to me that they didn’t realize how draining it could be to be the instigator of conversation. They’d come from a background of using online forums previously - a medium where the community kicks off conversation. Blogs are similar to forums in that they are conversational, but where anyone can start a conversation on a forum a blog relies upon you to do it. This takes time, energy, creativity and a certain skill.

Once again, this list could go on (and on) but I’ll leave it at that and invite others to add their thoughts in comments.

My hope in exploring some of these themes is that those with established websites might have a better picture of some of the pros and cons of switching from their current website to a blog.

Blog or Website OR Blog and WebsiteThe last question that I’d pose to those considering the switch from a website to a blog is that it’s possible to do both.

My challenge to most people who ask me the question about making the change is to think about whether they really need to replace their current site with a blog or whether they could just add a blog to their established site. In some cases the established site is fairly poor and deleting and replacing it can be the best move - but if you have a site with some level of presence in search engines, traffic and reputation then it can sometimes be better to simply add a blog to it and let what you’ve already developed remain.

The thing is that we’re now seeing many bloggers add other types of websites to their blogs (forums, social networks, static pages etc). Bloggers are realizing that blogs are not the best medium for every situation and that there are opportunities to reach different people with different types of sites - so keep your mind open to the possibilities of keeping what you’ve already established and adding to it rather than replacing it.

Recommended ReadingAs I wrote this post I was reminded of a previous one that I’d written that I’d highly recommend those considering starting a blog read. It’s called 23 Questions for Prospective Bloggers - Is a Blog Right for You? This post explores some of the above themes plus numerous more and is designed to help you work out whether blogging might be the right medium for you. It’s one of the first posts in my series - Blogging for Beginners which is also worth a read if you’re at the beginning of your blogging journey.

What is Blog and Blogging ?

By: Paripoorn Trivedi

Blogging is very sparking subject now a days and thousands of people all over the world are using Blogs to attract traffic to their business sites and are earning a good amount of money. The term "blog" (short for "web log") is just another way to describe an online diary or journal. Blogs are very useful in many ways. Blogs are free and allow you to say whatever you want to tell to this world. Some people create their blog which contain their personal daily information, what they feel and experience in their routine life.

One can make many posts at a time in his/her blog related to the topic of interest. You can also upload videos and images to your blog and share with your family and friends. The best thing about a blog is that it never says you "NO" to post and to upload images, because the space you have on your free blog is unlimited. If someone charge something to you for providing space on Blog ,just ignore it and say bye, because Blogs are always FREE, yaa and please never pay anything for Blogging only.

Blog can be created on a single topic or it includes many topics and subtopics also. Author can put the links of other websites or blogs which is related to his own blog.Blog gives you freedom to express yourself in the way you like. One feature of blogs that sets them apart from other forms of information media is the ability of readers to provide immediate feedback by publishing a comment that accompanies the original entry. The scope of blog is so wide through internet that anyone can read your posts, your ideas, your thoughts and can also comment on it. It is something that you have your own website for free to express yourself. With this your idea or information can be distributed

globally in an instant and with a mere click of the mouse, it seems to be very simple and yes it is really very simple.

The another best thing about Blogs is they are very simple and everyone can start blogging within few minutes. Posting is easy, uploading images and videos are also very easy, you have to just click on option buttons and you will see your Blog is getting it's form. All members of the Digital Divide Network have the tools to create their own free blog, and DDN also provides step-by-step instructions on how to do so. Sometimes the best way to understand a movement is to participate! One great thing of Blog and Blogging is that you can Earn Money from it, yaa really , you can earn by Blogging just like many others. Many sites pay you to put their ads on your blog and in return they pay you money while some pays you just for posting, ya ! it is like that easy, so what are you waiting for, just start your own blog right now!
Blogging is very sparking subject now a days and thousands of people all over the world are using Blogs to attract traffic to their business sites and are earning a good amount of money. The term "blog" (short for "web log") is just another way to describe an online diary or journal. Blogs are very useful in many ways. Blogs are free and allow you to say whatever you want to tell to this world. Some people create their blog which contain their personal daily information, what they feel and experience in their routine life.

One can make many posts at a time in his/her blog related to the topic of interest. You can also upload videos and images to your blog and share with your family and friends. The best thing about a blog is that it never says you "NO" to post and to upload images, because the space you have on your free blog is unlimited. If someone charge something to you for providing space on Blog ,just ignore it and say bye, because Blogs are always FREE, yaa and please never pay anything for Blogging only.

Blog can be created on a single topic or it includes many topics and subtopics also. Author can put the links of other websites or blogs which is related to his own blog.Blog gives you freedom to express yourself in the way you like. One feature of blogs that sets them apart from other forms of information media is the ability of readers to provide immediate feedback by publishing a comment that accompanies the original entry. The scope of blog is so wide through internet that anyone can read your posts, your ideas, your thoughts and can also comment on it. It is something that you have your own website for free to express yourself. With this your idea or information can be distributed

globally in an instant and with a mere click of the mouse, it seems to be very simple and yes it is really very simple.

The another best thing about Blogs is they are very simple and everyone can start blogging within few minutes. Posting is easy, uploading images and videos are also very easy, you have to just click on option buttons and you will see your Blog is getting it's form. All members of the Digital Divide Network have the tools to create their own free blog, and DDN also provides step-by-step instructions on how to do so. Sometimes the best way to understand a movement is to participate! One great thing of Blog and Blogging is that you can Earn Money from it, yaa really , you can earn by Blogging just like many others. Many sites pay you to put their ads on your blog and in return they pay you money while some pays you just for posting, ya ! it is like that easy, so what are you waiting for, just start your own blog right now!

Major Traffic Source of Blogs

By: Nelson Tan

If you view web pages as the original publishing platform since the Big Bang of the World Wide Web, surely this variant platform called 'blog' and its increasing popularity heralds another mode of information publishing and communication. Maybe 10 years down the road another new platform is born ('wiki' is the latest). For now, 'blog' is in the spotlight.

The blog shares some similarities with the web page as well as being the anti-thesis to the newsletter. It has its own URL so it can also be called a site. You update a web page via FTP upload, whereas you edit an existing post or create new ones within your blog account, so it's faster in a sense. Moreover, the most popular blog services are free (for now) so you don't have to pay for a blog host service, and so is a good substitute for a site except that you don't have the luxury of web space to upload other files. Setting up a blog quickly greatly benefits those who haven't got a site up yet.

Every week we have to upload a complete newsletter in our autoresponder and click a 'mass-mail' button. Even so, it may get filtered out, but this is 'push' marketing. The blog gets read mainly on-site and with RSS newsreaders or aggregators. Through these software the blog invites the general public to opt-in if they want to keep their Inbox aside for other purposes, so that's 'pull' marketing. If they are flooded with mails they may miss yours, but with a newsreader they just click on your blog link to access all your posts past and present. The major weakness (sort of) is your readers are still 'out there' so you can't qualify them into a list unlike what you can do with an autoresponder, but if they like what they read, they will stick to you.

The blog's most powerful feature is that every post ends with a 'Comment' link. Know how to exploit this to the fullest and you can forge interactivity with your readers. Since the game of the day is 'communication', no more formalities and e-zine marketing. Write in the way you speak, keep articles short and regular, and keep your blog tightly themed by applying SEO.

Essentially, the blog becomes a communication tool which forms a very significant extension to your site. And Google loves them. So...

credibility + consistency + SEO + link exchange = high ranking leading to more TRAFFIC, yes!

If you already have a blog, you can submit to major blog directories for FREE and watch your traffic flood in. Do a search for "free blog submission".

Our little research tells us non-marketers outnumber marketers about 5 to 1 when it comes to blogging...except that only we have prosperity consciousness. If blogs are so popular, why not use it to enhance your online business presence?
If you view web pages as the original publishing platform since the Big Bang of the World Wide Web, surely this variant platform called 'blog' and its increasing popularity heralds another mode of information publishing and communication. Maybe 10 years down the road another new platform is born ('wiki' is the latest). For now, 'blog' is in the spotlight.

The blog shares some similarities with the web page as well as being the anti-thesis to the newsletter. It has its own URL so it can also be called a site. You update a web page via FTP upload, whereas you edit an existing post or create new ones within your blog account, so it's faster in a sense. Moreover, the most popular blog services are free (for now) so you don't have to pay for a blog host service, and so is a good substitute for a site except that you don't have the luxury of web space to upload other files. Setting up a blog quickly greatly benefits those who haven't got a site up yet.

Every week we have to upload a complete newsletter in our autoresponder and click a 'mass-mail' button. Even so, it may get filtered out, but this is 'push' marketing. The blog gets read mainly on-site and with RSS newsreaders or aggregators. Through these software the blog invites the general public to opt-in if they want to keep their Inbox aside for other purposes, so that's 'pull' marketing. If they are flooded with mails they may miss yours, but with a newsreader they just click on your blog link to access all your posts past and present. The major weakness (sort of) is your readers are still 'out there' so you can't qualify them into a list unlike what you can do with an autoresponder, but if they like what they read, they will stick to you.

The blog's most powerful feature is that every post ends with a 'Comment' link. Know how to exploit this to the fullest and you can forge interactivity with your readers. Since the game of the day is 'communication', no more formalities and e-zine marketing. Write in the way you speak, keep articles short and regular, and keep your blog tightly themed by applying SEO.

Essentially, the blog becomes a communication tool which forms a very significant extension to your site. And Google loves them. So...

credibility + consistency + SEO + link exchange = high ranking leading to more TRAFFIC, yes!

If you already have a blog, you can submit to major blog directories for FREE and watch your traffic flood in. Do a search for "free blog submission".

Our little research tells us non-marketers outnumber marketers about 5 to 1 when it comes to blogging...except that only we have prosperity consciousness. If blogs are so popular, why not use it to enhance your online business presence?
If you view web pages as the original publishing platform since the Big Bang of the World Wide Web, surely this variant platform called 'blog' and its increasing popularity heralds another mode of information publishing and communication. Maybe 10 years down the road another new platform is born ('wiki' is the latest). For now, 'blog' is in the spotlight.

The blog shares some similarities with the web page as well as being the anti-thesis to the newsletter. It has its own URL so it can also be called a site. You update a web page via FTP upload, whereas you edit an existing post or create new ones within your blog account, so it's faster in a sense. Moreover, the most popular blog services are free (for now) so you don't have to pay for a blog host service, and so is a good substitute for a site except that you don't have the luxury of web space to upload other files. Setting up a blog quickly greatly benefits those who haven't got a site up yet.

Every week we have to upload a complete newsletter in our autoresponder and click a 'mass-mail' button. Even so, it may get filtered out, but this is 'push' marketing. The blog gets read mainly on-site and with RSS newsreaders or aggregators. Through these software the blog invites the general public to opt-in if they want to keep their Inbox aside for other purposes, so that's 'pull' marketing. If they are flooded with mails they may miss yours, but with a newsreader they just click on your blog link to access all your posts past and present. The major weakness (sort of) is your readers are still 'out there' so you can't qualify them into a list unlike what you can do with an autoresponder, but if they like what they read, they will stick to you.

The blog's most powerful feature is that every post ends with a 'Comment' link. Know how to exploit this to the fullest and you can forge interactivity with your readers. Since the game of the day is 'communication', no more formalities and e-zine marketing. Write in the way you speak, keep articles short and regular, and keep your blog tightly themed by applying SEO.

Essentially, the blog becomes a communication tool which forms a very significant extension to your site. And Google loves them. So...

credibility + consistency + SEO + link exchange = high ranking leading to more TRAFFIC, yes!

If you already have a blog, you can submit to major blog directories for FREE and watch your traffic flood in. Do a search for "free blog submission".

Our little research tells us non-marketers outnumber marketers about 5 to 1 when it comes to blogging...except that only we have prosperity consciousness. If blogs are so popular, why not use it to enhance your online business presence?

Blogging Truths

By: Jeremy Long Chia Teik

What can be further from the truth about blogging? It is phenomenal and explosive. Admittedly, blogging brings bloggers together. There is no other way that communities can be formed so easily, with bloggers exchanging views and ideas so willingly and honestly. Blogging provides the welcome space for bloggers to speak their minds via their blogs. It is the landscape on the internet that has made web surfing to be much more diverse, interesting and appealing.

Blogging has its own truths. To be successful in blogging, it is imperative to realize and understand these truths. Progress can be made. Results will be amazingly positive. Before these to happen, truths must be unfolded and followed faithfully.

Whatever the profession is, blogging truths require the blogger to be real. Bloggers have the responsibility of thoroughly knowing themselves. They must be in control of their own directions, where they are heading to in their blogging, what aims do they have for initiating their blogs, and how do they plan to achieve what they have planned at the outset. They must control their own destiny. Besides these, they have to comprehend their fellow bloggers too. These are people on the other side reading and listening. They comprise the target audience who are looking for something specific to their needs. Put simply, there is really too much for bloggers to blog about especially when it is about everything. Bloggers have to be specific.

To succeed in any endeavor, there must exist passion. If there is passion in blogging, the result will be that blogs will be outstanding. Bloggers will use their voices passionately about the things they are passionate about in their blogging. It is not difficult to visualize the enjoyment of something developing into passion, turning the blog into an explosive connection with other bloggers.

Needless to say, good blogging requires constant posting. Blogging truths endorse this fact that posts must be made constantly and with the inclusion of fresh content. Numerically, posting has to be made at the minimum once a day within a five-day week. Anything less than that is unacceptable. This is imperative because of the fact that the blogs will be subject to the scrutiny of search engines. Blogs will be searched more regularly for fresh content. Fresh content is therefore important not only to readers but also to search engines.

In blogging, the process of links is fairly noticeable. Links can imply that the blogger expresses interest in a certain topic posted, or that the linking blogger wishes to express his respect to the other blogger for the interesting post. The quality of the links that the blogger is linking to have the possibility of commanding more respect from readers and fellow bloggers. Respect begets respect. Links provide the way for newer blogs to be noticed only if their outward links are of higher quality.

Blogging truths reveal that in blogging, it is important and useful to request for and leave comments on the blogs. This process opens up the way for traffic and relationships building. Through links on the comments, the community members will be able to know more about the blogger and vice versa. There is the opportunity to get blogs and content revealed to the community. It is the golden path to enlargement of networking.

On the flip side of seriousness is fun. Blogging can be made fun. In reality, it should be fun, as it requires a voice from the blogger. It is an understatement to say that it can change views and relationships between blogger and customer. The fun aspect of blogging should be unanimous.

The advancement in technology is changing our lives on the ground and on the web. There are the new innovation of podcasting and video-blogging technologies which should not be left on the shelf. Blogging will be more enhanced with such cutting-edge technologies incorporated into the blogs. There will be more expression and appeal on these blogs.

New posts written have to be communicated to the blogosphere. In the world of blogging, there is the 'pinging' action that blog-software takes care of. This action readily shows the new posts to the rest of the blogging world. Bloggers thus stay connected and updated. To complement what 'pinging' can do, it is essential that content can be readily received by other bloggers or readers. This can be resolved by the usage of feeds. Through feeds, content can be easily read anytime and anywhere.

In blogging truths, it is strongly recommended to write a good blog post title. This is to captivate readers and to make them read on. When there are more readers, the chances of more links are higher. In the eyes of search engines, these are the kind of post titles they are searching for and type of blogs that they are sending more traffic to.

Learn more of these blogging truths and keep them in mind when blogging. They are the sure path to blogging success.
What can be further from the truth about blogging? It is phenomenal and explosive. Admittedly, blogging brings bloggers together. There is no other way that communities can be formed so easily, with bloggers exchanging views and ideas so willingly and honestly. Blogging provides the welcome space for bloggers to speak their minds via their blogs. It is the landscape on the internet that has made web surfing to be much more diverse, interesting and appealing.

Blogging has its own truths. To be successful in blogging, it is imperative to realize and understand these truths. Progress can be made. Results will be amazingly positive. Before these to happen, truths must be unfolded and followed faithfully.

Whatever the profession is, blogging truths require the blogger to be real. Bloggers have the responsibility of thoroughly knowing themselves. They must be in control of their own directions, where they are heading to in their blogging, what aims do they have for initiating their blogs, and how do they plan to achieve what they have planned at the outset. They must control their own destiny. Besides these, they have to comprehend their fellow bloggers too. These are people on the other side reading and listening. They comprise the target audience who are looking for something specific to their needs. Put simply, there is really too much for bloggers to blog about especially when it is about everything. Bloggers have to be specific.

To succeed in any endeavor, there must exist passion. If there is passion in blogging, the result will be that blogs will be outstanding. Bloggers will use their voices passionately about the things they are passionate about in their blogging. It is not difficult to visualize the enjoyment of something developing into passion, turning the blog into an explosive connection with other bloggers.

Needless to say, good blogging requires constant posting. Blogging truths endorse this fact that posts must be made constantly and with the inclusion of fresh content. Numerically, posting has to be made at the minimum once a day within a five-day week. Anything less than that is unacceptable. This is imperative because of the fact that the blogs will be subject to the scrutiny of search engines. Blogs will be searched more regularly for fresh content. Fresh content is therefore important not only to readers but also to search engines.

In blogging, the process of links is fairly noticeable. Links can imply that the blogger expresses interest in a certain topic posted, or that the linking blogger wishes to express his respect to the other blogger for the interesting post. The quality of the links that the blogger is linking to have the possibility of commanding more respect from readers and fellow bloggers. Respect begets respect. Links provide the way for newer blogs to be noticed only if their outward links are of higher quality.

Blogging truths reveal that in blogging, it is important and useful to request for and leave comments on the blogs. This process opens up the way for traffic and relationships building. Through links on the comments, the community members will be able to know more about the blogger and vice versa. There is the opportunity to get blogs and content revealed to the community. It is the golden path to enlargement of networking.

On the flip side of seriousness is fun. Blogging can be made fun. In reality, it should be fun, as it requires a voice from the blogger. It is an understatement to say that it can change views and relationships between blogger and customer. The fun aspect of blogging should be unanimous.

The advancement in technology is changing our lives on the ground and on the web. There are the new innovation of podcasting and video-blogging technologies which should not be left on the shelf. Blogging will be more enhanced with such cutting-edge technologies incorporated into the blogs. There will be more expression and appeal on these blogs.

New posts written have to be communicated to the blogosphere. In the world of blogging, there is the 'pinging' action that blog-software takes care of. This action readily shows the new posts to the rest of the blogging world. Bloggers thus stay connected and updated. To complement what 'pinging' can do, it is essential that content can be readily received by other bloggers or readers. This can be resolved by the usage of feeds. Through feeds, content can be easily read anytime and anywhere.

In blogging truths, it is strongly recommended to write a good blog post title. This is to captivate readers and to make them read on. When there are more readers, the chances of more links are higher. In the eyes of search engines, these are the kind of post titles they are searching for and type of blogs that they are sending more traffic to.

Learn more of these blogging truths and keep them in mind when blogging. They are the sure path to blogging success.

Creating a Blog: Why Wordpress is the Preferred Choice

By: Zackery Lim

Wordpress is one of the most famous blogging platforms used by many web developers and users as it can do much more than just letting you post entries to your blogs. Using Wordpress as a Content Management System (CMS) for a website has many benefits which you may find useful.

Creating a blog using Wordpress has many advantages. Wordpress is easy to set up and use. And It requires only a few clicks if you have fantastico in your domain control panel (in your hosting account). If you don't have fantastico in your hosting, you can do a manual installation. This can take a little more time but is not too complicated to do as long as you follow the directions faithfully. If you have no plan to set up Wordpress yourself or if you just want to make sure it is installed properly, you can always hire a technician or someone who can do it for you. You can be assured that hiring someone to install Wordpress will not be expensive since it only takes a short time and a little effort to do this.

Wordpress can make updating your blogging website easier for you. You no longer have to hire a web page designer to work on your website for you. Websites are technically complex to set up or edit, but Wordpress allows you to input or update content for your blogs by just following simple steps.

You can easily outsource website updates or changes with Wordpress. If you have a virtual assistant, you can let her have her own username and password whenever she needs to log in to your website to work. You don't need to worry about having the most recent version of the website or overwriting the work of others.

Wordpress has other great advantages as well, including giving you total control and management of content for your website. You can use Wordpress to create categories and subcategories to assign your blogs to different sections in the website. With having Wordpress to make updating your blogs easier, you can update every time you want with no hassles, thereby making your website be among the top search engine rankings. RSS feeds also come with Wordpress, which will enable readers to be updated in real time every time you have updates on your blog.

To start creating a blog using Wordpress, it is advisable to have your own domain name which can easily be purchased for less than $10 a year.Wordpress is one of the most famous blogging platforms used by many web developers and users as it can do much more than just letting you post entries to your blogs. Using Wordpress as a Content Management System (CMS) for a website has many benefits which you may find useful.

Creating a blog using Wordpress has many advantages. Wordpress is easy to set up and use. And It requires only a few clicks if you have fantastico in your domain control panel (in your hosting account). If you don't have fantastico in your hosting, you can do a manual installation. This can take a little more time but is not too complicated to do as long as you follow the directions faithfully. If you have no plan to set up Wordpress yourself or if you just want to make sure it is installed properly, you can always hire a technician or someone who can do it for you. You can be assured that hiring someone to install Wordpress will not be expensive since it only takes a short time and a little effort to do this.

Wordpress can make updating your blogging website easier for you. You no longer have to hire a web page designer to work on your website for you. Websites are technically complex to set up or edit, but Wordpress allows you to input or update content for your blogs by just following simple steps.

You can easily outsource website updates or changes with Wordpress. If you have a virtual assistant, you can let her have her own username and password whenever she needs to log in to your website to work. You don't need to worry about having the most recent version of the website or overwriting the work of others.

Wordpress has other great advantages as well, including giving you total control and management of content for your website. You can use Wordpress to create categories and subcategories to assign your blogs to different sections in the website. With having Wordpress to make updating your blogs easier, you can update every time you want with no hassles, thereby making your website be among the top search engine rankings. RSS feeds also come with Wordpress, which will enable readers to be updated in real time every time you have updates on your blog.

To start creating a blog using Wordpress, it is advisable to have your own domain name which can easily be purchased for less than $10 a year.

Ultimate Blogging Secrets

By: Shawnlim

Blogging has become more and more popular these days, people are looking for ways how they can improve their blogs so that more people know about their blog and can hence visit their blog. I believe that you can find a lot of blogging tips, guides and even secrets in the search engine, blogging has become one of the most-seek topic because everyone blogs.

So what are the ultimate blogging secrets? In my opinion, those blogging tips such as submit your blog to Technorati, post constantly, get a FeedBurner account, submit your posts to social networking sites, ping your blog and many more are not secrets anymore. This is because by simply typing 'blogging tips' in the search engine, you will come out with tons of results of the same kind. Almost every bloggers out there knows about these tips and guides.

So what I'm going to tell you here about the ultimate blogging secrets are something much more 'mental', it is more to your mindset rather than something like all the blogging tips that you can find from the net itself. Therefore, for me, the ultimate blogging secrets are:

Secret #1 – Know why you blog
Know the reason that you blog. Everything happens for a reason, and if you create a blog today, there must be a reason for you. So, why did you blog? Is it because you are just following the trend? You see a lot of people are playing with blogs, and you decide to join them as well? Or is it that you want to earn money from your blog? Whatever reason it is, there must be a reason; you have to find this reason.

Once you know why you blog, then nothing can ever stop you. Just like if the reason you blog is because that you want to create an extra stream of income online, then do whatever it takes to achieve it. It is the purpose that keeps you going, motivates you, inspires you and keeps you moving forward. Today, if you don't know why you blog, it is most likely you are going to give up the moment you find that nobody actually visits your blog.

That is why the reason is important. Know why you blog before you start creating your blog. This is just like having a clear goal, if you have a goal, you will know where you are heading. However, if you don't have a clear goal, you will be lost somewhere. If you don't even know where you wanted to go, how can you ever reach somewhere?

Secret #2 – Serve your readers
Many people did not know about this. Did you know that the reason people visit your blog is because of the information that you have? Therefore, the main purpose visitors arrive at your blog is because of your content, so you will have to write quality posts. You will have to serve your readers. This is the one question that you have to ask yourself, "Are you willing to do whatever it takes to educate your readers and without asking for anything in return?" If your answer is yes, then you should start creating your blog right now.

Just imagine that if someone arrives to your blog, but your blog contains nothing, your visitors will leave immediately, because your blog has got nothing that they are looking for. I like to use this word when I talk about serving your readers, Value. Yes, you have to create value for your readers, the more value you created for them, the more likely they will addict to your blog, and thus, follow your advice, and purchase whatever you recommend to them.

This is how it works; creating value for your readers, provide something that they are looking for. I know you've heard this, 'content is king'. This is very true, your blog content is just like the heart of your blog, and the traffic is blood. Without the heart, your blog will die, and without the blood, you blog cannot live. So, often bring out valuable posts for your readers, write with original content and your readers will appreciate it.

Secret #3 – Treat their blog as a get-rich-quick scheme
I believe that almost 50 percent of people who start their blogs with the reason that they hope they can make some money out from their blog, fast. If you think it this way, then you are wrong, blogging is not something that can bring you money in a fast way. In fact, blogging is something just like real-estate, it will appreciate over time.

Meaning that you have to spend time and develop your blog. Your blog is not a money tree and it cannot earn you any money if you don't develop it properly. Most people start their blog and wish that they can make some money out of it; this is because they have heard that many bloggers are making a lot of money from their blog, easily. They think that by simply setting up a blog, throw some posts in it, set up Google Adsense, and checks will come to them automatically.

If you think that blog is something that can make you rich in a quick way, you are wrong. Indeed that some people can earn a lot of money from their blog in just a short period of time, but did you really think that they are just lucky? You have to spend a lot of time to build your blog, you have to treat your blog as a serious business if you really want to make money from it.

There you go, the 3 blogging secrets that you never know about. Well, maybe you've already known about these, but in my opinion, these secrets are also important compare with other blogging tips such as submitting to Technorati, pinging, bookmark, etc. I hope that this article can help you achieve much more in your blog.

Beginners Guide to Blogging

By: Christopher Lee Hardin

A blog is basically an online journal wherein you can digitally pen down your thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything that you want people to read. Blogs come in different styles, formats, and settings, depending on the preference of the user. Many blogging sites, offer built in features such as hyperlink, straight texts, pictures etc. Some blogging sites, even allow you to put video and mp3's on your blogs.

Instead of writing texts, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly, by using spoken word entries. This is called audio blogging.

Basically a blog contains these features:

title- which allows you to label your post
body- this is the content of your post
trackback- other sites can be linked back to your blog
permanent link- every article that you write has a URL
comments- this allow readers to post comments on your blog.

One of the advantages of blogging, is that it is made of only a few templates. Unlike, other websites that is made up of numerous individual pages. This make it easier for blog users to create new pages, because it already has a fix setting that include: slots for title, body of the post, category, etc.

This is especially useful for first time users, since they can start blogging right away. They can chose from a number of templates that blogging websites provide.

Anyone who wants to start a blog can do so by becoming a member of a blogging website of their choice. Once they've become members, they automatically become a part of that particular blogging community. They can browse through other bloggers pages, and link them back to their own blogs. They can also make comments on other members' blogs.

Blogging is not just limited to personal usage. There are a lot of blogs that follow a theme such as: sports, politics, philosophy, social commentary, etc. These blogs espouse on their specific themes. This way blogging becomes a medium in which people can share their knowledge and opinions about a variety of themes and topics.

Some bloggers even use their blogs as a means to advertise. Some authors advertise their books on their blogs. While other bloggers, use their blogs to shed light to currents issues, events, news and catastrophes.

Nowadays in education, blogs also play an important part. Professors use blogging to document the lessons that they have discussed and taught. This way, students who who have missed classes, can easily catch up with their assignments.

A lot of entrepreneurs benefit from blogging by promoting their businesses on their blogs, with millions and millions of people logging onto the net everyday, blogging has become a lucrative move. Some bloggers who run online businesses promote their merchandise online. While others profit through advertisement.

But by far, the most popular blog type is the one that takes the form of a personal journal. This is the kind that is usually used by first time bloggers. Individuals who want to document the daily struggle of their everyday lives, poems, rants, opinions, find that blogging offers them a medium in which to express themselves.

Bloggers usually communicate within themselves. This is one of the appeals of blogging. It creates a community of people sharing their ideas, thoughts, and comments with each other.

Blogs varying in topics, themes, and set-ups, can be found in blog directories. First time users who want to get an idea of what the blogging world is all about can browse through a number of blogs using these directories. This way they'd get an idea of what these blogging communities are like.

Blogging is popular all over the world. Blog is short for the term weblog. There are no rules when it comes to blogging. Bloggers have the freedom to express themselves how ever way they want, and the best thing about blogging, is that most blogging sites are free.

There are numerous blogging websites to choose from in the net. This give first time users the option of joining a blogging community that appeals to their interests.

A blog is basically an online journal wherein you can digitally pen down your thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything that you want people to read. Blogs come in different styles, formats, and settings, depending on the preference of the user. Many blogging sites, offer built in features such as hyperlink, straight texts, pictures etc. Some blogging sites, even allow you to put video and mp3's on your blogs.

Instead of writing texts, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly, by using spoken word entries. This is called audio blogging.

Basically a blog contains these features:

title- which allows you to label your post
body- this is the content of your post
trackback- other sites can be linked back to your blog
permanent link- every article that you write has a URL
comments- this allow readers to post comments on your blog.

One of the advantages of blogging, is that it is made of only a few templates. Unlike, other websites that is made up of numerous individual pages. This make it easier for blog users to create new pages, because it already has a fix setting that include: slots for title, body of the post, category, etc.

This is especially useful for first time users, since they can start blogging right away. They can chose from a number of templates that blogging websites provide.

Anyone who wants to start a blog can do so by becoming a member of a blogging website of their choice. Once they've become members, they automatically become a part of that particular blogging community. They can browse through other bloggers pages, and link them back to their own blogs. They can also make comments on other members' blogs.

Blogging is not just limited to personal usage. There are a lot of blogs that follow a theme such as: sports, politics, philosophy, social commentary, etc. These blogs espouse on their specific themes. This way blogging becomes a medium in which people can share their knowledge and opinions about a variety of themes and topics.

Some bloggers even use their blogs as a means to advertise. Some authors advertise their books on their blogs. While other bloggers, use their blogs to shed light to currents issues, events, news and catastrophes.

Nowadays in education, blogs also play an important part. Professors use blogging to document the lessons that they have discussed and taught. This way, students who who have missed classes, can easily catch up with their assignments.

A lot of entrepreneurs benefit from blogging by promoting their businesses on their blogs, with millions and millions of people logging onto the net everyday, blogging has become a lucrative move. Some bloggers who run online businesses promote their merchandise online. While others profit through advertisement.

But by far, the most popular blog type is the one that takes the form of a personal journal. This is the kind that is usually used by first time bloggers. Individuals who want to document the daily struggle of their everyday lives, poems, rants, opinions, find that blogging offers them a medium in which to express themselves.

Bloggers usually communicate within themselves. This is one of the appeals of blogging. It creates a community of people sharing their ideas, thoughts, and comments with each other.

Blogs varying in topics, themes, and set-ups, can be found in blog directories. First time users who want to get an idea of what the blogging world is all about can browse through a number of blogs using these directories. This way they'd get an idea of what these blogging communities are like.

Blogging is popular all over the world. Blog is short for the term weblog. There are no rules when it comes to blogging. Bloggers have the freedom to express themselves how ever way they want, and the best thing about blogging, is that most blogging sites are free.

There are numerous blogging websites to choose from in the net. This give first time users the option of joining a blogging community that appeals to their interests.

Top 10 Article Writing Tips

By M.S. Chavan

1. Give an effective title to your article. The title should tell the exact subject of the content of the article.
2. Write a summary before starting the article.
3. Explain the subject in paragraphs. The paragraphs should not be very large or very short.
4. Use subtitles if your article is large.
5. Use easy language
6. Give examples to explain your points.
7. Check the spellings and grammar.
8. Give illustrations
9. Give quotes
10. Ask questions to readers and answer your self in next sentence.
    

Blogging is not a Lazy Man’s Job!

-By Mahavir. S. Chavan

When the news about the bloggers who make a lot of money is published in the news papers and newsmagazines, many people wish to become a blogger. Most of such people think that blogging is an easy business. So they try it and in few days realize that it is not an easy business.

First of all things to remember is that blogging is not a lazy man’s business.

There must be consistency in posting new articles. If you are not able to write at least 4 articles per week, forget about becoming a successful blogger.

Another important thing is your writing skill. If you have a lot of and up to date knowledge in the subjects under your niche, and if you can write articles based on the knowledge and information you have in easy and well understood language, then people would like to visit your blog to read your articles. ButIt is said that writing in easy language is not easy!

If you are in blogging just for money, the chances of getting success are very less. You will waste your time in checking your earnings instead of writing new articles. You will find soon that you are earning very less than your expectations and you will leave this business.

On the other hand if you are in blogging to share your knowledge, the chances of success are more. If expressing yourself is your need, you will concentrate on writing articles and posting them regularly. This will attract more traffic to your blog.

A Blogger has to know about a lot of technical things, without which he can not achieve his goals. This includes basic knowledge of computers, internet, typing, Text Editors, HTML, blog/website designing and much more. He doesn’t need to be a Master of all things, but he must be at least student of such things.

Many people think that blogging is a business without investment. But remember that blogging needs a computer with internet connection, lot of reference books, subscribing magazines and newspapers and even if you are working from your home, you have to pay the electricity bill and to spend on maintenance of your computer. Isn’t it an investment?

So if you have the required qualities for a Blogger, and if you are not a lazy man, go on! There are plenty of bloggers who would like to guide you!

© M. S. Chavan

What is a Blog?

Web Blogs Defined, Explained and Understood
By Sharon Housley

Having heard the term previously but not having paid much attention most are just to afraid to show their ignorance and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets face it; the term blog does not conjure pleasant images. Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly, usually on a daily basis.

What are Blogs?

Having heard the term previously but not having paid much attention most are just to afraid to show their ignorance and ask the question, what is a blog? Lets face it; the term blog does not conjure pleasant images. Blogs are web logs that are updated regularly, usually on a daily basis. They contain information related to a specific topic. In some cases blogs are used as daily diaries about people's personal lives, political views, or even as social commentaries. The truth of the matter is that blogs can be shaped into whatever you, the author, want them to be.

Where Did Blogs Come From? The roots of blogging can be traced back to the mid 1990's. Who the very first blogger actually was is unclear, as the art of blogging did not really take hold until 1999. The original "weblogs" were link-driven sites with personal commentaries. The very first blogs were human guided Internet web tours. While initially thought of as diaries or online journals, blogs have evolved into the latest fresh web content.

The Future of Blogs A buzz word in techie circles, "blogging" is the wave of the future. Whether its a fad, or proves to be a new way to communicate with existing and potential customers it deserves at the very least a cursory look.

Why is Blogging Helpful to Businesses or Individuals? Just as animated .gifs were once cool, blogging is the trendy thing to do. That does not mean that it is not beneficial to businesses. Webmasters struggling to keep fresh, attractive content on their websites to lure visitors back, have found blogs the answer. Content is a necessity for online businesses, both for purposes of being found by search engines but also because it gives visitors a reason to come back.

Now that we have established that blogs are not only trendy but also beneficial to businesses, its important to understand how they can be used to your advantage. We currently manage and update two blogs on a daily basis. The first is our new business blog at:

http://www.notepage.net/blog.htm

This professional business blog allows us the opportunity to tell potential, or existing customers industry news, updates, or generally how mobile or paging software can be used in specific situations to alleviate problems. The bottom line is we control the content. Its updated daily, which increases the chances that search engines will spider on a regular basis and it helps with page rank because it's been submitted to all the blogging directories. Initially started on a whim we've found it beneficial to report tips, tricks or make visitors aware of new regulations related to the mobile or paging industry.

The second blog we manage is at: http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog.html

This blog is less formal and contains marketing tips, or promotional advice for software developers or online marketers. We found that we had overflow from our monthly newsletter. Generating a daily blog would require very little effort and would assist us in creating fresh content which our readers told us was of significant interest.

Blogs & Your Business
The bottom line is you need to determine how a blog will benefit your business, determine a schedule and adhere to it. Let your readers know what to expect and when to expect it. Blogs provide great supplemental content and direct attention to areas of your business that you want to showcase; you direct the content but let your readers guide you.

Creating a Blog
There are numerous online tools that can be used to create a blog. We found that because of security concerns, it would just be best to use a standard html program. In our case we used Dreamweaver and create daily posts. Its really not much more complicated than typing an email. The content is then sent via FTP to a web server. If you want to test the waters there are online web-based tool that helps you publish to the web instantly. The most popular web based tool is likely Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com.

Other Advantages to Blogs
While you may initially create a blog for your existing customers, you may find that you can attract new customers by illustrating your expertise in a specific field. There are numerous websites that act as "blog search engines", be sure to submit your sites to these websites to increase your exposure. This will also help with your page rank and possibly increase the likelihood you will receive decent ranking with Google. You can also create an RSS feed in order to syndicate blog content and gain additional exposure.

Top 10 Blogging Tips for Successful Blogging

Top 10 Blogging Tips for Successful Blogging
-By: M.S. Chavan

To become a successful blogger, you must know and apply some basic things. Following tips is a guideline for beginners.

1. The most important thing in successful blogging is the number of posts on the blog. You must write at least 4 times per week on your blog. This will give you more visitors.

2. In each post, the size of content is very important. Do not post articles with just 2-3 lines. Each of your article must contain at least 15 lines.

3. Stay away from copy paste work. No one will visit your blog to read what is already available on other websites and blogs. Moreover, copying other writers' articles is unethical and illegal.

4. You should submit your blog to all major search engines and blog directories. This is the main source for people to know about your blog.

5. Make your blog interactive by putting polls, comment box etc. on it. Many Visitors like to leave comments and take part in the polls.

6. Put links to all your posts in the blog at sidebar. The visitors like to see what are the other posts there.

7. Put an internal search engine on your blog.

8. Be specific and write in easy language. People like read to read articles having these qualities.

9. You should learn about HTML, RSS, PHP and other things which are very useful in success of a blogger.

10. Always keep yourself up to date. This will give you new opportunities.

Can I Become a Blogger?

If you are keenly interested in expressing yourself, you can become a blogger. That is the most essential thing for becoming a blogger. All other things which are essential for becoming a Blogger are technical, which you can learn easily in due time.

-M.S. Chavan