Sunday, December 30, 2007

Fundamental Principles That Each Blogger Should Know

By: Noel Swanson, 2007-12-29

After going through several blogs and books on blogging, making money out of your blog or website and marketing on the internet, it has been my observation that all bloggers agree on certain things that each successful blogger has religiously followed throughout the years. Here are the principles I observed:

1.) It's all about passion - Articles you write in your blog should be something that you are passionate about. Topics that you have somewhat achieved a level of expertise in, topics that puts you on fire, topics that makes your eyes wide open when discussed about, topics that awes and amazes you and opens your mouth wide.

2.) Blog for people - Although search engine optimization is something that should be seriously considered by all bloggers, it should not take precedence over people. Blogs should not be all about keywords, tags or any other gimmick out there in order to make sure that we all each get a higher search engine. What is important that people keep coming back to your site because your post actually helps them or is relevant to them. I believe it was legendary marketer John Chow who said "People First before Google."

3.) Its not how long are your posts, its how many times you post. - What is important about a blog is that it is frequently updated. The length of your post will depend on the topic discussed. It does not matter how long the post are. What is important is how frequently you post.

4.) Blog anyway - Don't worry about your site statistics or that you still do not have comments on your site. This is especially true for new bloggers. It will probably take a while for search engines to index your site. Traffic will just flow if you don't stop writing good posts for people.

5.) Be a studious blogger - Bloggers are serious students. They should not stop learning about their craft. You must force yourself to learn more about topics on how to be effective on your blogging, how to bring traffic to your site etc. Remember this, if you stop learning, you stop blogging.

6.) Read, Read Read !!! - What can you possibly blog about if you do not read ? You must have a voracious appetite for learning. You must also have a passion to tell your readers what you have learned.

7.) Be organized, schedule the topics you blog about - Having a blogging schedule will force you to come up with something to blog about. Others may disagree with this idea as they just write on whatever they feel about writing. For me personally, I work best when I submit myself to an organized way of doing things. In addition to that, following a blog schedule will help me have a balanced number of posts on the categories that I blogging on.

8.) Be personal - Inject some humor if you have to ! Your readers must feel as if you they are talking to a pal when they read your blog. The language and words you use should be so understandable that your readers should not have to resort to a dictionary before they could understand what you are trying to say. Explain things in layman's term as much as possible, even if the subject matter is so technical.

9.) Aim for the best ! - Aiming for the best does not only apply in school or at work, it very much well applies when it comes to blogging. Among other things, you must go over and edit your posts. You must make sure your presentation and layout are user friendly and not an eye sore.

10.) Be a life blogger- Plan to blog for the rest of your entire life. Although there may be monetary considerations, it should only be secondary. Blogging should not be something that you only do temporarily just because you don't have anything to do right now or something which you do in order to achieve a certain level of richness and afterwards you will then stop blogging since you have already arrived there. As you go about your life, having an attitude of blogging for life will make you further appreciate the suprises that life brings since you will always be looking forward to writing about it and letting the whole world know that this is what life is all about.

Zigfred Diaz blogs regularly about internet marketing, blogging law, leadership, management, finances, investments, technology & faith.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Who Needs T.V. News, Newspapers and Radio News? “Not I!” Says The Happy Human Living In The New World

Who Needs T.V. News, Newspapers and Radio News? “Not I!” Says The Happy Human Living In The New World
by: M6.net

T.V. and radio News got you down? On-line current events and News blogs make being informed a much more enjoyable experience. For many the News on television has become a trying time of the day. Focused mainly on negative events, you may have to wait through the whole program just to hear the one story you were waiting for. If you miss the 6:00 p.m. show, waiting until the late night segment can be a real drag, especially if you’ve got a lot to do, or have to wake up early the next morning.

My friends, there is an answer to this problem: News blogs or on-line current events. You can find all of your favorite broadcasters (E.g.: CNN, BBC) on the Internet, getting up-to-date information at any time of the day or night. You can even read personal journal entries written by multiple correspondents out in the field reporting on several different stories down to the current minute. Instead of hearing all News from one voice (often an irritating one), now you can read different human opinions straight from the scene of interest.

Often News on-line has a section called “themes” which allows the reader to only hear about the specific areas that interest them. No more waiting through several wars to get to the positive story about the current medical breakthrough that could mean a cure for disease, or the technological idea that might mean the end to extreme pollution levels. Like a newspaper, you can go straight to the “jobs” theme and search through all the current employment vacancies available. If you are obsessed with the negative, themes such as “Disaster and Tragedy” and “Crime and Punishment are still readily accessible.

As the News is now on the Internet it has also become an interactive experience in numerous ways. First of all now you can send News stories straight to the News companies yourself! If the story is deemed worthwhile and verifiable, you may even be published. This is also the case with photographers who have pictures of important events. It really means anyone can become a part of the action as a freelance consultant. Some News on-line have “witness” sections where you can tell your story if you happen to have been in the right place at the right time. This option means that we can hear many different views on contentious issues giving a wider perspective to the ‘big picture’.

Some News sites also have interactive sites within. For example, on the BBC News Blog there is a learning site (BBCi Learning) that involves interactive activities and over half a million pages of factual information and resources available for children, adolescents, and adults. There are competitions and all sorts of games to help educate people in any and every area of interest imaginable.

Another great aspect of these on-line News sites is the ability to access archival information. You can watch video and listen to audio recordings of famous historical stories right on the computer. If the day is Feb.3, you can read articles from Feb.3’s from fifty years ago. Looking up any date and year recorded is as easy as pushing a few buttons.

Some services have subscriptions where instead of looking up the website, the News you want is sent straight to your email. Being in the know, and being in the now, has never been such an objective, enjoyable, and simplistic experience as in the 21st century. Partaking in a new perspective on life is what on-line current events and News Blogs are all about.



About The Author

By Jesse S. Somer
M6.Net http://www.m6.net

Jesse S. Somer is a human hoping to help other novices like him see the magic of the world of the Internet.

priyankaa@m6.net

Article Source :
http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/who_needs_tv.shtml

Writing Good Blogs

by: Jesse S. Somer

‘Bad blogs have got to go, blogging could be really cool if done properly, maybe even with a pinch of love.’

There’s a lot of blogs out there on the Web, most of which don’t entice one to go back regularly to read updates. What is missing from these on-line journals that would essentially make them ‘good’ blogs? Well, the answers in life usually come down to simplicities. So let’s look at the problem like we were children. Children don’t complicate life with miscellaneous information, and when they speak they tell you straight to the point exactly how they feel and think about a subject.

First of all, we should ask the questions,” Why do blogs exist? And what are they here for?” Well, in an ideal world ‘good’ blogs would help people connect, sharing knowledge and feelings about issues in life. As they are journals written by individuals we would hope that they’d be readable and open to comment by all other people, not just a select group of friends. The key is speaking in a way that is understandable by the masses, get rid of acronyms and local slang that only few will comprehend. Keep the sentences grammatically simple and generally short and concise.

Try to write in your blog as often as possible because if people enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas they’ll want to communicate or at least be filled in regularly on ‘your world’. Ask questions, comment on other blogs of similar content, start communities with others you’ve never met, based on your interests. Keep focused; if your blog is about thoughts on war and peace, keep your thoughts on the latest movie and how hungry you are for somewhere else. The idea is to incite intelligent communication so that in time our collective stockpile of knowledge and wisdom will gradually grow like a tree in fertile soil.

I think of most importance is the fact that you want this journal to be ‘good’ reading. Of course we all have ideas about what genres and styles we like, but writing from your heart and soul is imperative for the connection with others that you’re looking for. Share yourself; don’t hide behind walls of fear of ridicule and judgment. In real life relationships trust, respect, intimacy, and unity are all necessary for a bond to form. It’s the same in the ‘virtual’ world; people want to hear from real people-not just one-sided, highly opinionated arguments from egos that don’t want to hear the ‘other side of the coin’.

Now, in my last article I really tore apart most writers out there, and here I’m giving some pretty complex ideas on how to fix the problem of ‘bad’ writing. In my next article I’ll attempt to go back to the simple basics of how to write for beginners. I hope I haven’t come across as too judgmental, I just truly believe the ‘blog world’ could become a real asset to humanity, and at the moment it’s missing the mark.

Ideas about sentence structure, grammar, paragraphing, using a thesaurus (varying terms used so as not to sound repetitive), whether or not your blog is suitable for a personal or professional approach, are all important to creating a simple and enjoyable read for the blogging visitor. If you are a beginner, please check out my next article on the basics.



About The Author

Jesse S. Somer is a writer hoping to help potential bloggers to write interesting and informative on-line journals.
Jessesomer@hotmail.com

Article Source : http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/writing_good_blogs.shtml

Blog Problems

by: Jesse S. Somer

The real bloggers must come from another planet. I can’t find any here on Earth.

What in the world is up with the world of blogs? Blogs are meant to be this great new technology where people can share their ideas and interests with others around the globe. As far as I’m concerned the state of blogs is one of chaos, confusion, and anti-interactivity. The other day I decided to do some research on the Web and try to connect to some blog writers out there that interested me. Let me tell you it was not an enjoyable task as I had envisioned. I spent four painful hours surfing through around a thousand on-line journals, and I found only a few that interested me. What are we doing out there people?

First of all, just getting to a blog can be a pain in the arse. For example, you type in the words ‘Philosophy blogs’ and a whole bunch of sites come up. Some are conglomerate sites with thousands of journals, but the area you’re searching for may have only one blog in it! This is because they separate the blogs into a million different categories, like ‘love’, ‘lovers’, ‘lovable’ etc. Why not have just a few main categories to choose from?

The next problem is the content. People with ‘philosophical’ blogs are having personal chats with their mates about the local dance competition on Tuesday! Why not go to a chat room if you just want to talk to your friends? Blogs are supposed to be a personal viewpoint expressed to the whole Web community. Wouldn’t you actually like to meet more people like yourself? How is this going to happen if you talk in strange uncommon slang and acronyms that you and your friends can only understand? Please stick to the subject at hand, and take it at least half seriously.

Another major problem is the fact that you can find a really cool blog that sparks an interest, but then find that the writer hasn’t added an entry in over a year! What’s it doing on the Net? Have these people passed away? I seriously doubt it, as there are so many blogs in this ‘lost’ state. Having a blog is a responsibility; it’s a shared diary for the whole community. How can someone form a relationship if you only write in your blog once a millennium?

Back to the subject of content: These on-line journals are a real chance to communicate regularly with others with similar views to yourself. We can learn a lot from each other, as each human is an individual with special traits and skills that only they have. So why do we see so many blogs just talking about trivial nonsense like ‘Who the coolest movie actor is.’ Humanity is an intelligent species evolving everyday towards a higher consciousness. So where are all the thinkers out there, the people who have taken us to the next levels of spirituality and scientific exploration? I’d really like to hear what you’ve got to say, but all I can find are philosophical beliefs on why died pink jeans express one’s true inner self.

The issue of making comments on someone’s blog is also a controversial one. Why have comments sections if you’re not going to reply to people who have expressed an interest in what you’ve had to say? How is this community going to function if all the conversation is one-way! Come on people, wake up and smell the onions! Let’s change the blogging community into the awesome structure of shared knowledge that it was intended for. Please don’t let it turn into the small-talk world of chat rooms.



About The Author

Jesse S. Somer is a concerned human attempting to inform his fellow people of the real possibilities hidden in the Internet.
www.thepowerofeverythingthatis.com

Article Source :
http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/blog_problems.shtml

Blog Construction

by: Jesse S. Somer

Blogs like all forms of writing are an art form that takes knowledge and practice to do well.

Writing…Blogs…Blogs are on-line journals where people express themselves through writing. Writing…Writing is the process where one puts down words of a language on a format that others can read. This process has not been around very long, to use one of my writing teacher’s favorite sayings, “Writing has only existed for one day in the one year that humanity has existed.” Speaking and thinking come much easier than writing. These processes just flow out naturally like a river of consciousness; sometimes we hardly have to think about doing them. Anyone and everyone can write words down on paper but that doesn’t mean it’s ‘good writing’, myself included. Like most things in life, our society already takes writing for granted which is proving to expose more of our ignorance. Writing is a new form of expression, and if we want to do it in a way that the masses can connect with our ideas, we have to think much more simply and clearly about this art.

Now that was quite a big paragraph, you’ve got to wonder if I really needed to say as much as I just did to introduce this article on the best way to write your blogs on the Web. I didn’t even mention this main idea, and that’s what an introduction paragraph is meant to be for. This is a common mistake in many blogs out there. We try to get too many ideas across in one paragraph, sometimes even in one sentence! The key, as in all things in life-is to keep it simple. Simplicity means that readers won’t get confused about what your journal entry is actually about. Introduce your main general topic at the start, and use the subsequent paragraphs to discuss separate ideas that relate to this topic. Try to tie everything up in the concluding paragraph, your main argument and the reason why you’ve written in the first place.

Grammar and sentence construction are not easy systems to master, especially if you come from a school system that spent more time telling you about historical battles and quadratic equations than on how to read and write. This is a real problem. When we speak we can get messages across to others easily, but if we put these words down on paper, the writing just isn’t interesting and doesn’t connect with people’s curiosities and fascination. When you write you are not talking to a close friend. You can’t use slang and colloquialisms that only your local community can understand. The aim is to connect with all the people in the world, so let’s make it crystal clear and enjoyable to read.

Your computer has spelling and grammar checks, as well as access to a thesaurus. Use them, but remember that the machine can’t decipher all the intricacies of language. Language is a world in itself, and much of its territories are undiscovered by the masses. So, again keep it simple. Short, precise sentences with single ideas are great. Many words in the English language have the same meanings (synonyms). Use the thesaurus so you don’t repeat the same word over and over throughout the text. It keeps the story fresh and doesn’t turn the reader off. There’s nothing more boring than repetition. Using different words can be a lot of fun and a learning experience, just make sure you use a dictionary (also on the computer/Internet) to make absolute sure of the word’s definition.

Readability…Simplicity…Make your blog accessible by all people. You can even take into consideration that many readers will have learned English as a second language. As I’ve said in previous articles, keep to the point-don’t go on tangents. Stick with the article’s topic, and definitely stay within the realms of your blog’s main area. If your blog is entitled “Jazz music”, people who go there don’t want to hear about how your football team won on the weekend! Please be consistent. How irritating is it to visit a blog that hasn’t been written on in months or years?

I hope these little tips will help you on your quest to producing ‘good’ writing that brings new friends and acquaintances of similar outlooks into your world. If you want people to read, the aim is to produce an emotional reaction in your reader. Pretend you are writing to another form of yourself, if it were not readable, interesting and fun…would you stick around?

--

About The Author

Jesse S. Somer is a ‘grasshopper’ writer attempting to inform other beginner writers on how they might one day become masters or ‘sensei’s’.
Jessesomer@hotmail.com

Article Source : http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/blog_construction.shtml

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Make Money Online - The Basics On How To Start

Author: Kaushik

Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=211879&ca=Internet
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=211879

Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=211879

I believe most of us came here to look for ways to make money
online. So here I am, revealing ways to make money online!

Make Money Online with Google Adsense:

Google AdSense is the only way to make real money online.
Google AdSense, commonly just AdSense, is a powerful ad serving
program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program
to enable text, image and video advertisements on their sites.
All you have to do is places some code on your website and ads
will be displayed that are relevant to the content on your
webpage. These ads are administered by Google and generate
revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis.

Make Money Online with Affiliate Marketing:

Affiliate Marketing is one of the best ways to make money
online. An affiliate program on the internet is simply where a
website is selling a product and they will pay you a commission
on every sale you generate from the traffic you send them. So
all you have to do is send your visitors to another web page.
Popular websites like ClickBank and CJ serve the purpose to help
you do affiliate marketing by finding the right product. There
are a lot of techniques needed to do affiliate marketing so a
lot of ebooks are available online.

Make Money Online with Google Adwords:

Google Adwords is another pay-per-click advertising company run
by Google. In Google Adwords, you can put advertisements at
their search engine and get quality traffic. But the
conversation depends on well is your landing page. Imagine you
pay $0.10 for each quality visit and you got one sales of $30 in
every 100 visits. You are making a profit of $20.

Make Money with Online Auctions:

Make money online with online auctions is one of the 20th and
21st century's most reliable, true and tested, home businesses.
Simply buy low, sell high and take the difference to supplement
your income. Millions of people sell on eBay or other online
auctions web sites as a full time job and make well over 6
figures.

Make Money with Paid Surveys:

While not one of the most profitable of home businesses, Paid
Surveys are simple and easy to do and Yes, you can make money
online with them. You can make four or five dollars a pop, which
can add up especially if you do a few paid surveys each day in
your spare time.

Make Money Online Freelancing:

There is no such thing as a free lunch. Neither is there an
easy way to make money, especially from home. To make yourself
employable, you need to ensure that you have the required skill
sets as well as good marketing and interpersonal skills. A sound
portfolio (for aspiring writers, editors, photographers,
designers, etc.) is a must.

Today several private companies and MNCs are employing people
who prefer working out of their homes. A host of opportunities
exist for home employment in areas as diverse as telemarketing,
selling insurance, data entry, typing, data conversion,
copywriting, accounting , writing (academic and journalistic
writing), editing and proof reading, web design, content
development, Internet-based research for companies, graphic
design and desktop publishing, programming, audio and video
editing, translation work and etc is available.

With a fair bit of technology skills (typing and word
processing skills, being PC literate), entrepreneurs can use the
worldwide web to start companies and work from the convenience
of their homes.

Before you get into the home employment groove, make sure you
have the requisite qualifications, hardware, and time management
skills to convince potential employers that you are the right
person for the job.

There are a lot of ways to make money online, so you do not
need to limit yourself with just one way. Explore more ways that
you can to make money online.

About The Author: Kaushik is an Internet Marketer who has been
reviewing online money making opportunities for many years and
webmaster of http://www.manomanju.com ...He finally is making
$500/day! See how he does it by visiting
http://www.manomanju.com

Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=211879


For more free-reprint articles by Kaushik please visit:
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Monday, December 17, 2007

Why Blogs are Beating out Ezines and Matter so much to your platform

by Suzanne Falter-Barns www.getknownnow.com

I was all set this morning to write about something totally different in this issue ... but thanks to the power of blogs, I'm here to deliver a totally different message. Namely the ascendance of blogs over ezines.

First of all, you may notice that you're not getting a whole lot of issues of this ezine from me. Why? Because I've come to understand that blogging is faster. It's more immediate. It's got a wonderful airstream of energy that follows each post. And because it's less formal, it's less work -- but still communicates just as effectively as an ezine ... perhaps even more so.

This point was made wonderfully clear for me just this morning by Stacy Brice, who runs the noteworthy VA training program, AssistU. Stacy sent up a very thoughtful comment to my 'Painless Self Promo' blog, under the header 'The Future of the Ezine'. Which led to an email, which led to a lengthy ph�ne call. Stacy and I had a real heart to heart about this ezine vs. blog thing ... and here's what I've decided is the state of things at the moment.

1. We're in a transitional shift from ezines to blogs. This has mostly to do with people being reluctant to give up old comfy ways for a few minutes of learning new technology, downloading RSS desktop applications, etc.. It was like this just before we traded in vinyl for CD's, telepathy for cell phones and to-do lists for Palm Pilots. And some of us have nev�r moved forward. Those of us who did are pretty happy.

2. Blog technology has finally leapt up to the plate. It's happening; it's here; it's on the cover of Business Week. Blogs can no longer be dismissed as fringe techie territory. They've gotten so easy to use, and read, that there is simply no denying them. Blog creation software du jour is typepad and wordpress. Typepad blogs exist on their website for a small monthly fee.
Wordpress blogs exist on your own site for fr�e. Typepad's more elegant. Wordpress is more basic and functional. I'm running a test to see which will eventually work better for me.

3. It's no longer all about the list. I am still an advocate of ezines, but I believe the list/email connection is rapidly unraveling. My own lists have declined in size as have those of every Net marketer I know. Ezines have peaked and crested in their usefulness and appeal. Meanwhile, blogs are hot. AND you can capture names on them. (See my blog for details on how to do that.)

4. We're no longer happy with passive activities. Maybe as a culture we've grown completely sick of sitting around doing nothing ... all those hours of reality TV? We've n�w begun to expect to participate in our entertainment, even when it comes to reading websites. So blogs -- which allow comments from readers -- are the perfect medium. (This is also why my current theater project, at serenityhawkfire.com, is an entirely interactive theater piece.)

5. We've become a less formal culture. These days, our world is all untucked; clothing is big and slouchy, coffee is slurped in paper cups on the run. Even TV has let down its defenses, showing us as we 'really' are. So it makes sense that blogs, which feature faster, less formal entries more in the style of a diary, are becoming bigger than ezines. Blogs are casual. Ezines take planning, layout, require regular entries and take a lot more time.

6. Blogging is faster. How long does it take to make an entry? Five to ten minutes, I'd say. My ezine, meanwhile, takes 1-2 hours. Yes, you need to do more blog entries, but they're hardly brain surgery. Instead, they are quick insights you offer up from your life on the go. And so they are read in the same spirit.

7. Blogs are beloved by the media. This is where a majority of all media research on who's who and what they're up to is n�w done. It used to be that your credibility as a media subject was evaluated strictly by your site; that's where the media looked first to get a beat on you. Know they want to know what you're posting on your blog -- even if it doesn't have a 'media room' like your site (hopefully you'd have that linked somehow in your margins.) And they want to know what kinds of posts and comments your getting.

If you're still working on building up your ezine list, I recommend you beef it up by including a blog in your offerings. It will energize your website, attract Google and Yahoo ranking and generally create more buzz.

If you have a blog but have not maximized it by setting up a name capture tool, or do not post frequently, give that a whirl, too. You'll be am�zed at who stops by!

And if you have thoughts on the tender blog-ezine dynamic, email them to me -- or even better, drop by my blog and post them on the most recent comment. Then we'll all be able to see them and add comments of our own.

Here's to the continuing discussion. May your blog bring your platform, and set people talking!
Suzanne Falter-Barns' website at getknownnow.com offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her fr.ee ezine, Expert Status, and receive her fr�e report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents."

To reprint this article, please use with this bio box in tact. Thanks!

©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns LLC.