Report Says Blogs Still Vital

With all the talk about social media these days, you don’t hear a lot about blogs anymore and the blogosphere has taken a secondary place in some discussions to talk about Twitter and Facebook and other forms of social media.

That doesn’t means that blogs have disappeared or will anytime soon. A new report from the Internet marketing firm eMarketer tells us at least half of all the people that get information on the Web still read blogs and 12% of Internet users in the United States have updated a blog in the last month.

What does all that mean? Well, it’s clear that search engine optimization techniques using blogs as their vehicle will never really go away for several reasons including:

• The fact that social media doesn’t directly affect page ranking. Sure, you can get traffic to your site from places like Twitter and Facebook, but you need the keywords and links that Google searches for page ranking and that doesn’t happen with social media platforms. Losing blogs or some form of longer content restricts the results you’ll get from any Internet marketing campaign.
• Blogs tell the whole story. Remember you’ve only got 140 characters to describe what you need to on Twitter. That means you should point those snippets somewhere if you want your tweets to have some impact. In short, social media works well as a beacon pointing to where you want readers and prospective customers to go. It’s the means not the end. That’s still the domain of the blog and other forms of longer content.

Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose

The report also stresses a very good point you already know if you pay attention to the Internet, namely that blogs will continue to change and by 2014, 60% of Internet users will be reading some kind of blog. Remember that’s some kind of blog because blogging has always meant something different to different people and as they morph, the trend toward more and more people reading them will continue.

Here is another great point. As blogs evolve, people may be reading something they might not even consider a blog in the more traditional sense. That could push the positive numbers higher so even more people are reading and involved with blogs.

It all comes back to content in the end. Always does and more than likely always will. Blogs will be part of the internet landscape for good because blogs, in all their different forms, have consistently been part of what drives the Internet forward. Putting a different kind of fuel in your car doesn’t change the fact you still need wheels to drive it.

Every time some new way of spreading information across the Internet comes out that has the potential to reach more people quickly, the death knoll sounds for blogs. That’s just the people talking who don’t understand content and blogs will constantly be evolving and people will always have more to say and a product or service to sell that demands more than 140 characters to get the point across.

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Blogosphere Trends + Humour

This column is written by Kimberly Turner from Regator (a great tool that gathers and organizes the world’s best blog posts). – Darren

Once again, we’re taking a look at the stories bloggers have been writing about the most during the last seven days (list provided by Regator). This week, we’ll be using posts about those hot stories to look at one of the toughest forms of writing: humour. It’s difficult because senses of humour vary so much. What you find hilarious, might barely elicit a smirk from me or vice versa. Plus, there’s the added challenge of determining when it’s appropriate to take the amusing route and when a serious approach is best. It’s a challenge, but adding a bit of LOL keeps readers engaged and, in many cases, encourages more sharing. Fortunately, despite the challenges, there are a few tried and true tips to upping the funny factor on your blog. Let’s see how some bloggers have covered this week’s hot topics with humor…

1.  Christine O’Donnell
Example: Huffington Post’s “The War on Lust Must Be Won”
Tip: They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but sometimes they are wrong. Sarcasm can be an effective form of humour, as shown in this example. It can often come across as sour grapes, so proceed with caution.

2.  Lady Gaga
Example: Cracked.com’s “Why It’s Time to Stop Paying Attention to Lady Gaga”
Tip: Sarcasm—humour at someone else’s expense—can be funny, but adding a touch of self-deprecating humour can make it doubly so. In this example, the author writes, “I showed up to the office with shoes that didn’t match. For 11 straight days. One of them was a flip flop and the other was a woman’s hat. I know nothing about fashion, is my point, which is why I’m uniquely qualified to talk about Lady Gaga’s wardrobe choices, because she doesn’t either.” By making fun of yourself, you seem less bitter and judgmental and more…well, funny.

3.  American Idol
Example: ROFL Razzi’s “ROFLash: Steven Tyler is Probs the New ‘American Idol’ Judge”
Tip: Some words are intrinsically funny. “Moolah,” used here is a funnier word than “money.” Onomatopoeic amusing words, like “splat” are often amusing. Other words are funnier than their counterparts for reasons that aren’t immediately apparent (but you’ll know them when you see them). For example, what’s funnier, “underpants” or “underwear”? “Spooks” or “phantoms”? “Canoodling” or “hugging”? There’s a theory that words that start with plosive consonants such as b, p, t, d, or k are intrinsically funnier. I’m not convinced this has been confirmed by science, but it seems plausible. Either way, use the funniest words you can find.

4.  Pope Benedict XVI
Example: Friendly Atheist’s “Dear Benny…”
Tip: The inappropriate can be hilarious. There’s a reason stand-up comics often write jokes about things that make people a bit uncomfortable, such as the Catholic sexual abuse cases. If you’re not inclined to be overly politically correct, approaching an inappropriate or sensitive topic with a healthy dose of humour can be very effective, as shown in this musical example.

5.  Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert
Example: Indecision Blog’s “Here Are the “Rally to Restore Sanity” and “March to Keep Fear Alive” Hastags You Ordered”
Tip: A conversational, informal tone that connects with readers directly is almost always funnier than formal language. This example addresses the readers directly, saying, “Oh my God, America, you were so annoying! Can’t you talk about anything else?!”

6. Katy Perry
Example: Ministry of Gossip’s “In the Katy Perry ‘Sesame Street’ scandal, is Elmo the real villain?”
Tip: The unexpected is funny. While everyone else was analyzing Katy Perry’s culpability in the scandalous Katy/Elmo video, this example focused on Elmo. “That Elmo character was totally naked.” Outrageous! … And hilarious.

7.  Joaquin Phoenix
Example: Cracked.com’s “Will Joaquin Phoenix Become The Craziest Celebrity Ever?”
Tip: Find creative alternatives to standard approaches. In this example, Cracked puts its own spin on the omnipresent five-star rating system and determines that Phoenix was (at the time this was written, which was before it came out that the whole insanity thing was a ruse) “officially as crazy as…” three Tom Cruises, six Octomoms, half a Charles Manson, and four point eight barrels of flaming monkey poo. Taking a standard cliché and giving it a unique spin is often funny or, at the very least, interesting.

8.  Blockbuster
Example: The Onion’s “

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Screen Capture Tools and Image File Size Reducer Resources

I was just finishing up a new post on PSD to HTML on SixFigureAffiliateBlogging.com, and wanted to liven the post up with some screenshots of each of the sites mentioned in the post. I would usually take a screenshot of a web site using the “Screengrab!” plugin for FireFox, then bring the image into my image editing software to resize. Before doing this, I decided to check out the alternatives and see what the web has to offer.

Here are a few image editing and screenshot resources you may find helpful.

Screengrab – If you are using FireFox, download this plugin and you will have a little button that allows you to capture, copy or save the full view, or a portion of the web site you are currently at. One of the best plugins around, and free!

ShrinkTheWeb – For a web based alternative, ShrinkTheWeb is a top site in the screenshot / thumbnail space. They have a paid version, but the basic six screenshot sizes they give you off their site should be good enough.

SnagIt – It’s always great to capture web sites, but what if you want to capture something else on your computer and the “Print Screen” feature isn’t working. A paid software alternative is “SnagIt”. I have this software on my computer and it’s pretty solid. If you do a lot of screenshots and image editing, it’s worth checking out. My SnagIt Review Post

Skitch – Simply one of my favorite screen capture and image editing programs around. It’s only for the Mac, but it’s amazing. The sizing and text/arrows options are just perfect and the ability to automatically upload images to private Skitch members pages is a huge bonus. This would be a product I would pay for if it wasn’t free. (Must have for Mac users!) My Skitch Review Post

Easily Change Your Image File Sizes

How many times have you had an image and wanted to upload it for your profile picture on a member or social network, then was told it was too big size? Not actual size, but memory size. This happens quite often, and the average internet user would probably just end up selecting a new picture. Instead you can visit any of the sites below and upload your image, then they will automatically crunch it down in size for you. I first came across these web site many years ago, and they are still useful today.

http://www.jpegreducer.com – Easy setup with “upload from computer” or URL of image.
http://www.shrinkpictures.com – Shrink images, with extra features and options.

These sites are extremely simple, fast and don’t require any personal information or software to download.

For any image maniacs, be sure to check out HongKait’s great post on 40 different screen capture tools for both Mac and PC. Feel free to post any useful image editing software and sites you like to use.

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Bloggers Mean Business

Here we go again. Another week, another “revolution”, another “rebel” stirrs things up.

To paraphrase a line from a movie …

“He’s not a rebel, he is a very naughty boy.”

Ideas should be free, says the latest link-bait, attack-post, call-to-arms, etc. Whatever.

It seems even in 2010 there are still people out there who think that bloggers should not profit from their content. Somehow they have come to the conclusion that even advertisements and affiliate links are unethical. We are, they think, bound to some “journalistic” standard.

Bull hockey.

Ethics in Blogging

The people who last are people who share the good stuff. They have their audience foremost in their minds.

Unethical is when you implant spyware onto a users computer, or use high pressure sales tactics to sell crap. Telling people about something you genuinely believe in and might be a great solution then allowing the reader to make up their own mind is just, well, helpful.

It’s a fair exchange.

We give lots of stuff away, and nobody has to read it. People have won contracts from using my free content, they tell me this all the time. No, I don’t ask for a percentage

Bloggers as Journalists

I am not a journalist and have never wanted to be. While I have nothing against journalists, and in fact have a great deal of respect for people who persue the standards and ideals of a true journalist, that is not something I have any interest in following myself. It’s not for me.

You can tell that the life of a journalist is not for me by the way I mangle the English language each week on this site. Sometimes I get through an entire post without a typo or grammar error, but not often.

I wouldn’t call myself a “reporter” either, which is a name Chris Brogan has used (in addition to “typist”) because I very rarely talk about the news or stuff that has happened, I don’t feel I “report”.

Why We Blog

You might want to spread ideas, talk to family, record your thoughts, win business, or you might want to make money directly. There is no right or wrong way so long as you are doing it for the best of intentions, whatever motivates you is all good.

It could be you do not set out to make money but have ads and affiliate links in order to support your hobby. Nothing wrong with that either. Monetization is not a dirty word (an ugly word, but not a dirty one). Someone paying for the content somehow helps keep content free for the reader.

Why hold new media to a higher standard than any other media? If Simon Cowell holds up a Coke branded cup on American Idol that certainly isn’t going to be the thing that makes me switch channels, and I am not going to write to my member of parliment about it.

My blogging is about giving people tips, ideas, stories that either make you think, understand something in a new way, or know how to do something useful. That’s not leadership, it’s just trying to be of value. Can’t recall ever describing myself as a thought-leader, even in jest.

My Awesome Business Model

You could describe me as a blogger, perhaps a Pro Blogger, even though my writing is not all that professional. Or a writer. Maybe. I have, after all, got my name in print a few times (somehow).

It took me a while to agree with Liz Strauss when she called me a teacher and I do struggle with labels, but if anything I am a teacher. My goal with clients is often to put myself out of work. Instead of doing the commodity implementation I teach them how to do stuff internally so they don’t need external contractors for every little thing.

As a business I train people and I am a marketing consultant. It says that right on this page. My site is subtitled “The business of blogging and new media” after all.

With that in mind you should not be surprised that my goal is not entirely altruistic. I co-authored a book about writing for money. It kind of means I picked a side in this debate.

I create what I hope is valuable in order to fairly earn from this value. If I do enough of a good job then you might consider buying either one of my own products or services, or one of the products I support and recommend and get a commission for. Or maybe you will tell someone else about my awesomeness.

If you don’t want to that’s fine too. People seem to imply that a blogger writing with the intention of earning an income is somehow unethical and not trustworthy. This seems odd to me. Does the fact that Seth Godin sells books discount his ideas? Uh, heck no.

Could my business continue without this blog? Sure. But I don’t want to.

I’m not going to give up a great marketing channel that is fun to work on because some other blogger has hallucinated what is the right way to do it. I will keep this blog going as long as enough people find it useful and a few people each month are willing to shell out dollars for extra stuff. If things continue positively I will be able to continue paying my mortgage (and now in addition to my mortgage, my rent!) and put food on the table. Glamourous stuff like that.

My business is sustained by me finding people with a challenge I can help with, and demonstrating my expertise and knowledge, to the point where people are willing to trust me to take the next step. I call it Authority Blogging but it happens just as much offline as it does on. The tactics change but the strategy remains.

It’s a nice business and it works. Customers are happy and I am happy. Why change?

Bottom Line

It’s actually a good thing when people disagree, it helps us clarify our own thoughts. If they don’t like you and unsubscribe they are doing you a favour because you won’t waste any time on them in future.

Unfortunately we do give the bad unfluences energy and attention because they are talented at getting noticed. The people telling you “You’re doing it wrong” the loudest don’t have your interests at heart. By feeding the trolls and linking to them we just give them more juice to distract people from what is really important.

Remember what you are doing this for. What is more important? Some angry stranger off the internets or persuing your goals while giving people genuinely valuable content? Thought so.

Keep doing what works, makes you happy, and helps people. Ignore the critics.

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5 Mistakes Every Blogger Will Make, Including You

There’s a simple truth to life that every human being will make mistakes. Since every blogger is human, at least the ones that aren’t spambots, then every blogger will screw up inevitably.

On BloggingPro, I recently wrote an article about how to recover from the mistakes you make but the question becomes “What kind of mistakes can one expect to make?”

With blogging, as with life, there are very few guarantees but there are a few mistakes that virtually every blogger, at least if they keep blogging long enough to make them. Here’s just a small sample of those mistakes with 5 blunders you can probably look forward to.

1. You Will Screw up Spelling, Grammar Etc.

If you type enough words, you are going to get a few things wrong. It doesn’t matter how good your grasp on your chosen language is, how careful your editing process is or how many eyes you have reviewing your posts, you will make typos and other spelling/grammar errors.

Fortunately, most of these blunders are very minor and can simply be corrected. People tend to forgive these errors quickly because they aren’t important and, quite literally, happen to everyone.

The key here is to just not make too many and you’ll probably find that your audience is forgiving. Still, that’s no reason to get sloppy.

2. You Will Bork Your Theme

At some point you’ll go into your theme, make a change, no matter how minor, and completely screw it up. You’ll get your structure wrong, add to many of a certain kind of tag, leave out space or forget a bracket and your site will be completely ruined because of it, at least until you fix it.

These mistakes are very similar to grammar errors but with code. We all make them and we all pay for them. The key is to repair them quickly and get the corrected version up as fast as possible. It also pays to make and keep backups before doing ANY changes to your site.

Remember, this is why you need to know the basics of HTML and CSS. You’re only human and your best-laid plans will often go astray.

3. You Will Say Something Stupid

Open Mouth, insert foot. We’ve all done it and you will do it with your site too. Eventually you’ll write something that, in your head makes sense but when put out on the Web is either taken a completely different way or is simply flat-out wrong.

No matter the cause of this, you should be prepared for it and take appropriate action. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this as every case is different but generally speaking the best approach is to be honest, apologize, correct the error and move on.

If you can do that, it’s usually pretty easy to put this kind of mistake behind you.

4. You Will Get Heated

A big part of blogging is dealing with people and whether it is via email, via comments or something in between, you will, almost certainly, respond incorrectly at least once.

Though we all know not to feed the trolls or start flame wars, inevitably someone says something that gets under our skin or we make the mistake or we let a civil discussion go too far. That creates a hostile situation that we have to deal with.

The best way usually is to disarm the argument by apologizing if necessary, seeking common ground and then highlighting differences in a more positive light. If you can’t end a flame war through being the bigger person, it’s usually better to just walk away.

5. You Will Anger Your Audience

At some point something you do will upset your readers, or at least a large number of them. Whether it is a change in direction for your blog, a new theme or even just a new logo, you’ll find yourself taking heat from a large number of your very loyal readers.

Strangely, it doesn’t matter how much warning you give about the change, how many people you ask beforehand or how many polls you take, many will stay silent until the changes go live. That’s not to say you shouldn’t take those steps, they can greatly mitigate any conflict and any warning is better than a surprise, but they don’t ensure a smooth transition either.

Here, you need to make sure that what you did was actually a mistake before backtracking. In many cases, some user heartburn is a worthwhile trade off for a clearly better site. That being said, if it is a mistake and you have a full user revolt, you need to figure out quickly if the mistake was the change or the way things were.

Either way, you need to engage your audience, listen to their concerns and make changes as appropriate. It will help you greatly soothe the heated debate.

Bottom Line

If you blog long enough and grow to be of any size, you’re going to make some mistakes, including these. Though you should work to keep such mistakes to a minimum, you also need to be prepared for them and be able to respond quickly.

If you can do that, you’ll likely find that your goofs aren’t that big of a deal and that most of the focus stays on what you got right, not the few things you got wrong.

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Procrastinating Lately? Remind Yourself of What Is Important In Your Life.

I believe we all need to deal with procrastination sooner or later. Bloggers and webmasters are especially vulnerable to this problem, because we work alone, usually from a home office, and the possibilities to do something else other than work are both plenty and tempting.

Why write that long blog post now if you can go play the Xbox 360 instead? What about going out for a bike ride, taking some pictures with the digital camera, or simply sitting in the sofa to watch that movie you rented? You get the idea.

If you have been struggling with similar stuff lately, here is a trick I started using that is working like a charm. In order to stop procrastinating and get back to work I remind myself of what is important to me, of the things I want to achieve, of the lifestyle I want to have and so on. Then I realize that playing the Xbox 360 or sitting in the sofa watching a movie will not get me any closer to these things.

Suppose your website is currently making $100 monthly, and you are working on it to see if you can reach an income level of $1,000 monthly, because that will allow you to buy that new car you have been dreaming about.

The next time you find yourself going to play a game instead of working on your website simply stop and think: “What is more important to me, the quick fun I’ll get from this game or buying my dream car? For sure the car, so let me roll-up my sleeves and get busy on something that will help me achieve that.”

There is a line from a movie I watched a long time ago that illustrates the concept. One of the kids in the movie was reluctant to do his homework, so his father told him: “We do what we have to do in order to do what we want to do.”

This guest post was written by Daniel, who started working on the Internet back in 2005. His latest project, HowToMakeAWebsite.net, is a step-by-step tutorial for those who want to make their first websites.

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The Responsible Blogger’s Guide to Dealing with Big Brother

“What should I be doing better with my blog?”

That’s one helluva question, isn’t it? As someone who blogs to support a thriving business, I think about that question every day.

There are a lot of answers, many of which involve sexy topics like traffic, subscribers, and getting one zillion followers on Twitter.

But when’s the last time you sat down and answered the question above with:

“I should be paying more attention to blogging ethics.”

Not so sexy.

But as bloggers, we have to face facts about the world we live in. It feels like an anonymous platform where we can do and say whatever we want. But 2010 has a lot in common with 1984, and Big Brother comes in some forms that George Orwell never dreamed of.

You need to be aware of one very important fact that many seem to forget:

You can’t unGoogle anything

When you launch your words into the blogosphere and social media universe, you’re laying a digital footprint in concrete. That concrete is the Internet Elephant, and it never forgets.

Old versions of your site are cached. Facebook privacy blunders have ugly real-world consequences. And the Library of Congress is even planning on archiving our tweets. It feels like you can’t be held accountable for your rash words, but you can.

Here are some tips on blogging ethics that will help keep your reputation clean. Especially if you’re going to make blogging a part of your business, you need to protect your interests.

Your comments policy

The bottom line is, it’s your blog and you have ultimate control over what gets posted in your comments section and what doesn’t make the cut.

Please realize that whatever policy you decide on, not everyone is going to agree with you. I personally have a “post all comments” policy, except in instances of spam or blatant self-promoting garbage that adds nothing to the conversation. I also hold all comments that include links from first-time commenters for moderation (legitimate commenters are then white-listed).

Some blogs allow trash talk, some don’t. Some allow profanity, some don’t. Every blogger needs to figure out what to do with the trolls. It’s your blog and your call.

It’s always smart to make your comments policy clear. My developer is working right now on coding my site so my comments policy shows up in a cool style below each post.

If you become known for deleting comments just because the reader isn’t a fawning yes-man, your credibility and authority will suffer. On the other hand, letting the trolls run free or allowing spam to trash up your comments won’t do your reputation any favors either.

Proper accreditation

If you use photos in your blog posts, use legitimate sources for images. (Assuming, of course, you’re not using your own images or photos.)

Photos purchased from stock photo houses usually don’t require photo credit, although a few do. On the other hand, images you get under a Creative Commons license do have various requirements, usually at minimum a credit to the image owner.

This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Don’t steal other people’s images or words and put them on your blog. That content doesn’t belong to you. It’s unethical and scummy.

When you love a blog post so much that you want to send it to your readers, it is not okay to copy the post and paste it into your own blog or newsletter (even with accreditation) unless you get permission from the blogger.

A better way to show your adoration is to select a handful of quotes (I prefer to stick with no more than 50-100 words) from the post and then provide a link back to the original post, with credit to the author.

Understanding libel

Ohhhhh — legalese! (The recovering attorney in Brian Clark will love this one.)

Some bloggers make a hobby of calling people out for what they consider to be inappropriate practices, stupid decisions, or the like. Other bloggers are just plain malicious.

If you’re going to go down this road, get your ducks in a row first. Read up on what constitutes libel. You owe it to yourself. What you might consider “free speech” could get you into trouble, as the line between opinion and malicious intent can be a very fine one.

Make sure you have a liability insurance policy in place (this is a must). If you’re a member of The Author’s Guild, they offer Media Liability Insurance. You can also contact your insurance agent for a general business policy, but make sure it also covers libel and slander.

You are not invisible

Some people imagine that the internet lets them don a Cloak of Invisibility that bestows permission to do whatever the hell they want.

It’s simply not true. You are responsible for your words on the web (and in life) no matter where you leave them or how anonymous you think you’re being.

I don’t accept anonymous comments on my blog (including commenters who give fake email addresses) and here’s why: it shows me you’re not willing to be held accountable for your words.

If you’re running a blog, there are some pretty cool tools you can use to verify identity or lend at least some level of “real world” status to a commenter you might hold in question.

• Email address verification tools: Did you know you can check any email address to see if it’s valid? Yep. And it’s free and easy. I use this one on a regular basis, but a simple web search for “verify email address” can point you towards others.
• IP address verification: Most comment systems (Disqus, InstenseDebate, and WordPress’s built-in system) display the IP address of every commenter to the moderator. I use WhoIs to verify IP addresses (I had to do this just last week for an unfortunate situation). If you continuously receive spam comments or inappropriate comments from a particular commenter, you can block an entire IP address from your blog. If you need help with this, just ping your comments system or hit up the WordPress Codex for tips on combating spam and unwanted comments. Disqus and IntenseDebate have built-in blacklist features.

The best thing I can do here is to put just a bit of healthy fear into you.

You’re not invincible, you’re not invisible, and you have a responsibility to both yourself and your audience.

While you might have been looking for a more entertaining post on ethics (given my propensity for, ahem, colorful language), putting your thoughts out there on the web is serious stuff.

As I said, nothing can be unGoogled. It’s not like a late-night TP-ing of your least favorite junior high school science teacher’s house. Drive-bys don’t work online.

Strong ethical guidelines can keep your brand and keep your blog shop clean. If there are other best practices I’ve missed, lob them into the comments section below. While we don’t want to go all George Orwell, you have to remember that 1984 still applies in 2010 … and beyond (and it’s not such a bad thing).

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