I Heart My Mouse
My old computer mouse sucked. BIG TIME. It was sticky, and cranky, and slowed me down considerably. Guess how long I’d been dealing with my old lame mouse? Almost a year. I don’t really go to the office supply store much, and when I have gone, I put off getting a new mouse. Why? Rational: The old one sucks but it does still work, it just takes a little more encouragement.
Finally on Saturday I’m blogging away and there goes the mouse… stick, won’t grab a link, sticks again. Egad. Something in me broke. I had seriously had it. I turned off the computer, and left for the office supply store.
It took me forever to choose a new mouse, so I lost some work time, then I got it home and almost killed myself trying to open the package. Was it worth it? YES! I just adore my new mouse. My mouse moves, slides along links, and clicks so fast I almost can’t keep up.
Long story short. My blogging experience is faster, I’m happier, and I should have bought the thing a long time ago. Next time I need some little old computer item that will make my workday better, I’m just going to go for it. No more of this messing around nonsense.
Is there some useful blogging or office item you’ve been putting off getting? Why not just go get it today! If it will speed up your blogging time; it’s worth it.
Taking Your Blog to the Next Level with Radio
I’m not going to do this too often, I promise. I won’t spam you with stuff from my day job.
I wrote a post today at BlogTalkRadio featuring 7 Reasons to Take Your Blog to the Next Level with Radio and I thought it might interest many of you. If you’re looking for new ways to promote your brand, build community and talk more about topics that interest you, radio is a good way to do it.
Anyway, it’s something to consider. What do you think of using radio for blogs? Is it something you could do? I was nervous about using video and it worked out well. I think radio will be fun too. In fact, I’ll probably be on the air soon - but more about that at another time. Many bloggers don’t want to appear on video, is radio better for the anonymity factor? I’d love to know your thoughts.
16 Things You Need to Make it as a Blogger
Think anyone can blog? Think again! While it’s true that anyone can start, the fact is very few people can successfully pull it off. If you want to truly make it as a blogger, you need to have several things. I’m not talking laptops and software, indeed those are important. Most of what you need to become a successful blogger can’t be found in stores, or even blogs about blogging.
1. A good idea –Not the same idea as everyone else. Not a copycat of someone else’s blog, but your own unique, good idea. If you want to make it as a blogger, you have to have content and a fresh idea. You have to be able to say something different.
2. Creativity –You’re going to need to update your blog, at the very least, several times a week. A successful blogger is creative enough to come up with fresh, engaging content every time.
3. Passion for Your Topic – If you choose a topic you love, your passion will show through. If you choose a topic you don’t know much about, that will be apparent as well.
4. A good work ethic – If you think blogging is just writing a quick five minute post and forgetting about it until next time, you couldn’t be more wrong. You’re going to spend hours on your blog writing it, promoting it and more.
5. A thick skin – Trolls, chronic malcontents and basic rudeness can be commonplace. People are going to pick your blog posts apart and call you names. You can let it get to you or you can develop a thick skin.
6. The ability to work alone – Most bloggers work alone. You have to be able to shut out all of the distractions of home or the coffee shop and concentrate on creating a good post.
7. A notebook. You’re going to come up with ideas at the oddest times. It’s helpful to have a notebook or PDA handy so you can jot down ideas.
8. A thriving social network. It helps to have people to talk to, network with and shoot ideas off. Plus social networking eliminates the loneliness some probloggers experience. By interacting with others you’re sure to come up with fresh new ideas and avoid some of that solitude.
9. Motivation. What keeps you motivated? Passion for your topic? The adoration of your public? Whatever it is, channel it and use it to keep you driven.
10. Longevity – Blogging isn’t a fly by night operation. If you want to succeed, if you want your readers to trust your name, you’ll want your blogs to last through the ages. The most successful blogs have been around for a few years. It’s the people who cut bait and run after two months of blogging that fail.
11. Long term vision – Sure, you have a month’s worth of posts written in your head, but what about a month from now? Two months? Two years?
12. The ability to work odd hours – Blogging isn’t exactly a 9 to 5 gig. Ideas hit at any time. Many probloggers even work well into the night or the wake at the crack of dawn to fit blogging into a busy day.
13. A willingness to learn new things – As a blogger you want to continue to feed your readers new information. This means you’ll have to set a portion of your day aside to read other blogs, books, magazines and websites in your niche.
14. An open mind – Sometimes bloggers need to completely change their line of thinking. What might have worked a year ago, doesn’t work now. Tools and techniques become obsolete. Keep an open mind, don’t be afraid to admit defeat and always be on the lookout for new trends and ideas.
15. The ability to teach – Blogging isn’t always talking about yourself. It’s about sharing what you know with someone else. Many bloggers are teachers, not story tellers – though it’s not a bad thing to be able to tell a story either.
16. Patience –Blogging isn’t instant gratification. It takes time and patience to build up a successful blog. Traffic doesn’t happen over night and any network penalizing you for not having high numbers in the beginning doesn’t know enough about blogging to succeed.
This post originally appeared at About.com Weblogs, I thought it was appropriate here as well. - Deb
Try Adding A Current Event Link To Your Posts
Over at Tree Hugging Family, co-blogger Peggy and I have been trying some different blog traffic building techniques out. If they work out, I may be sharing some here so that you can give them a shot at your blog. The first new trick we tried in May was a current event link.
A major issue at THF is that we post a lot, always have some sort of feature and poll going on, and we often have contests too. Who can keep up? We were trying to keep readers up to date with links before, but it got super annoying to end each post like this:
“Don’t forget to enter our contest, oh and this contest, and check in at the poll. We’re also running some special features this month like blah feature and blah feature, AND hey, are you signed up for our current green challenge?”
That’s like six links and it’s obnoxious. Plus, although we have a contact us page, it seems that people can’t find it, because we’d get comments like, “How do I contact you?”
We decided to try a current event link. Here’s what we did:
At the start of May we wrote one post and titled it current events. We made one basic link back that says, “Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in May 2008” Now, if you click on it, you’ll see that we have all our contests, features, and events, posted in link form in this post, plus we included easy to find contact information.
We’ve been updating this one current event post all month, and then we’ve been simply inserting this link at the end of each and every post we write.
Has it worked?:
So far on our end, it’s been much simpler than a massive reminder link at the end of posts. This also fits our main goal of having THF be a reader friendly experience. We want folks to find what they need without much work. Also, both page views and links to our blog have increased this month. It’s tough to tell if the master link is helping there, but it seems like it. We’ll know better after doing this a few months in a row.
Why not give a master current event link a try at your blog, and see how it works for you? If you do try it out let me know if your traffic goes up, or tell me what sort of response you get to it.
Blog World Expo Registration is Open
Last year I attended the Blog World and New Media Expo in Las Vegas and it turned out to be the best thing I could do for my blogging career. I met some wonderful people, learned about great new tools and products, turned others on to my blogs and sat in on some top notch classes led by the best bloggers in the business. I was hesitant about traveling alone, but I’m so glad I went. I’ll be there this year too, with bells on.
Registration for Blog World is now open and there’s even an early bird discount in place. If you register before June 20th, you can receive a 50% discount. That’s $200 off the $400 full access fee.
I’m going to see if I can get one of the Blog World Expo people to do a guest post here to talk about why you should attend, but in the meantime visit the Blog World and New Media Expo website for more details. BWE takes place September 20th and 21st at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Why Busy Bloggers Need an Offline Editor
A busy blogger’s best friend is an offline editor. Trust me when I tell you it will make your life more simple. My weapon of choice is Windows Live Writer. As someone who juggles dozens of blogs for several clients, I’m here to tell you your productivity will increase once you download one of these puppies With an offline editor you can:
- Use the same dashboard for each of your blogs without having to leave the page. Simply use the drop down menu to switch to a new blog.
- Post ahead of time. When I can, I blog a week’s worth of posts at one time and just let ‘er drip.
- Use the WYSIWYG template in the same manner in which you’d use a word processor.
- Post video and go back in and edit without screwing up the code.
- Have more image placement, sizing and design options.
- Post offline when you don’t have access to the Internet and set up your post to publish at another time.
As I said above, I like Windows Live Writer. It’s open all day on my desk top and put it to good use. Other choices are Blog Desk and for Mac users, Mars Edit. It’s been so long since I logged into some of my WordPress dashes I actually lost the password, it’s that helpful.
Do you use a offline editor? If so, which one and why?
Blog Improvement Advice From Problogger Easton Ellsworth
Easton Ellsworth blogs at Know More Media, a blog network with a focus on business. He currently blogs for Business Blog Wire, an excellent blog, covering daily blogging tips and advice. He’s also a Know More Media editor, and in the past helped to to run the Know More Media Author Certification program, which was created to help bloggers improve their blogging skills.
Read the interview:
Read more
Using Affiliate Advertising in Your Network Blogs
A few weeks ago, we talked about the different ways blog networks pay. Did you know there are other ways to earn money with network blogs than with base pay and traffic bonuses? Many networks allow you to use affiliate advertising in your blogs. Now, I’m not saying you should go ahead and slap on some ads, but if this idea interests you, do talk to your editors about the possibility of using affiliates.
Here’s a sampling of the affiliates and advertising methods allowed by some networks:
Amazon - Amazon if the most popular affiliate program in use by network bloggers. This can be quite lucrative, especially if you put an ad or link for a book or item pertaining to your day’s topic at the bottom of each post.
All Posters - This was a new one for me, celebrity bloggers might especially enjoy this one. Use one of the poster images from All Posters to illustrate your post. The images are legal to use as long as your affiliate link is there, and you have an image for your blog. It’s win-win.
Video ads - If you use video for your blog, you can sell advertising to appear at the beginning and end of your video. Video sponsors pay handsomely and love the exposure.
Other affiliates - If you sell a particular product and use an affiliate link to sign on others, you might be able to use these in your blog posts providing your not spamming your readers. For instance, I know a food blogger who is allowed to sell cooking items on her blog as long as she’s not pushy or spammy.
Keep in mind…
While affiliates are a good way to earn money with your network blog, you don’t want to do it in a manner where you’ll turn off your readers. If every post is a sales pitch, you’ll find yourself with no traffic. There are subtle ways to advertise. For instance, use your affiliate to illustrate your post. Don’t tell your readers to click or buy. Their eyes will already be drawn to the ad and they can make up their own minds whether or not to buy.
Talk to your editor
If you think your network blog can benefit from affiliate advertising, do check with your editor. Many networks are happy to allow affiliate ads as it motivates their bloggers to action. As long as you don’t turn into a spam blogger, your readers will understand too.
Image: stock.xchnge
Where To Get Blog Contest Prizes
Since Deb did the previous post on the benefits of contests I thought I’d follow that theme with where to find prizes for said contests.
Sit around and wait: People will come to you if you’ve been blogging long enough. Companies and PR folks will email you and just offer stuff up. Loads of stuff. It can depend on your blog topic though. I never get any decent free prize offers at my blog about weird homes because frankly no one give houses away 
or other stuff related to weird homes. At my other blogs I get many offers a week though. To make sure folks can contact you, a solid contact page and email is an essential blog component.
ProfNet: Deb and I have both mentioned them before but they’re seriously a great place to get prizes. The downside, you’ll also get plenty of offers that don’t match your blog at all. I got an offer for free bleach-based products - at my green blog! Sorting all the emails can be a major pain. Other PR contacts ans sites can work as well.
Amazon.com: Or any bookstore site really. Keep up on which books are soon to be released. Often book authors are looking for people willing to do a book review and will send you a copy or two if you ask. Book contests in my experience do well.
New companies: Brand new companies and online stores are way more willing to give you prizes in trade for some promotion than say Hallmark - believe me, on one particularly brave night I asked Hallmark for some stuff. They were nice but um no. That said, don’t be afraid to ask big companies either - some will give you items.
Use your reader comments to your advantage: If you found a product you liked, wrote a review about it, and got great reader response, email the company and tell them. Companies love good responses and will often send you a prize thank you.
Other bloggers: If you get a prize offer you can’t use send the email you got with the offer to another blogger, they may reciprocate one day.
Local specialty stores: In your area there are likely little specialty stores that would love some free promotion on your blog. Visit said stores, build relationships, and set up a contest. Note that the store is more likely to particiapte if they have an online shop too - not all shops do - so check.
Spend your own money: A gamble that could or could not pay off. I did this at my blog I mentioned above; my weird home blog. Since I never get product offers there, I never do contests. One day I randomly decided to have a contest though because I do appreciate my readers there. That contest I think brought in some 300 plus comments and pumped my traffic up considerably - the extra traffic was enough to cover the amount of the cost of prizes and then some. Plus the traffic never went back down, so I’m assuming it brought in quite a few new readers. That was a good gamble. But just be forewarned I’ve seen blog contests that have zero entries so… It is a risk.
Where else have you scored prizes for blog contests?
Why Bloggers Love Twitter
It’s no secret I’m addicted to Twitter. This virtual water cooler makes me feel like I’m not working alone - even when I am. I can send out a Tweet and receive advice, answers to questions and drink orders. Plus, I can let everyone know when a new blog post is up. Really, what’s not to like?
Darren Rowse recently asked Twitterers why they love Twitter and then put the response in this clever video:
Why do you love Twitter?
