Blogging Gal

Here are a few interesting articles I discovered while browsing the blogosphere this weekend.

• Promoting and Earning Money with Affiliate Programs - If you’re looking to get started with affiliate marketing, or to increase your affiliate income, Blog About Your Blog has some great tips.
• Dilectio: Smashing Free WordPress Theme - Brown Thoughts highlighted this fabulous new theme by Design Disease. It is somewhat of a cross between a blog and a magazine - probably the sharpest theme I’ve seen in a long time!
• 7 Qualities Acquirable From Blogging - Fresh Geeks put together this list of some of the great qualities we pick up from blogging.
• Don’t Just Have a Blog - Learn to Think Like a Blogger - Darren Rowse of ProBlogger offers some great advice on how you can begin to think like a blogger. By doing so, the blogging process will become much more natural. You’ll find your voice and ideas will flow freely.
• Who Else Wants to Increase Their Technorati Rank? - Ben of The Blogscape offers several simple tips on increasing your rank with Technorati.

Christy from Christy’s Coffee Break is hosting a very worthwhile contest that I hope some of you will decide to participate in. She is asking each of us to go out into the community and perform one random act of kindness. It doesn’t matter how big or small; the important thing is to make a difference.

The contest deadline is February 15th. Prizes include $25 cash, $15 cash, and a t-shirt. You can help sponsor the contest by donating additional prizes.

Being the big hearted blogger she is, Christy will be donating $35 for clothing to children in need for every 100 random acts of kindness! She will donate up to $105. Each $35 donation is combined with donations from multinational organizations to provide $455 worth of clothing!

I will be participating in the contest, and I hope you all decide to join me! Let’s make a difference!

I recently cautioned against paid surveys, stating that the only legitimate survey site I had discovered was Harris Poll Online. Since that time, I’ve been reading about CashCrate and the many bloggers who have had success with it. Some of these bloggers are earning hundreds, and even thousands of dollars per month with CashCrate.I signed up for CashCrate a couple of weeks ago, and though I haven’t been as active as I should have been, the time I have spent on the site has been fruitful. Just a few minutes per day participating in surveys and free offers quickly adds up. The greatest earnings potential, however, comes from referrals.

CashCrate has a very generous referral program, offering you 20% of what your direct referrals earn, as well as 10% of what their referrals earn. You also receive a $3.00 bonus for each referral who meets the $10 minimum payout. Monthly earnings are paid on the 20th of the following month, provided that the minimum payout has been met.

Another interesting feature of CashCrate is that you can be paid to shop at the online stores they have partnered with. By using the links provided, a percentage of the money you spend will be credited back to your CashCrate account. Cash back ranges from 1 to 100% of purchase price!

If you’re interested in earning some extra cash each month, I highly recommend CashCrate. My only advice is that you sign up with an alternate email address so that your main mailbox doesn’t receive any related spam. I haven’t received a lot of spam from my participation in this program, but I have received a few emails here and there.

I wish you the best of luck if you decide to give CashCrate a try!

For the past several weeks, I’ve been plagued with spam on Yahoo! Messenger. At random intervals, I receive messages containing a blowfish graphic accompanied by a man’s voice - “Hey sexy!” This has gotten to be quite annoying, as I leave my messenger running in invisible mode nearly all the time. Thousands of other users are experiencing the same problem.

These instant messages are sent by bots, and if you respond to them, you put yourself at risk for malicious viruses and spyware. There are two ways to deal with the problem.

First, you can report the messages as spam. Yahoo makes it simple by displaying a link at the top of the instant message. Just click to report as spam, and the user will be added to your Ignore List. The only problem is that you’ll continue to receive the same messages from other user names.

If you’re looking for a more permanent solution, go to your Messenger menu and select “Messenger - Preferences - Ignore List.” Choose the option to “ignore anyone who is not on your Messenger list.” You’ll never again be bothered by the bots.

Here are a few great links for your Monday morning!

The Best of Copyblogger in 2007 - This list contains links to Copyblogger’s best posts of each month in 2007. If you’re unfamiliar with Copyblogger, this is a great way to introduce yourself to their fantastic content.

Best of 2007 on Blog About Your Blog - Blog About Your Blog also recently put together a list of their best posts of 2007. There are lots of terrific blogging tips here!

No Comment Notifications After Upgrading WordPress? - Some bloggers have experienced problems with comment notifications after upgrading to WordPress 2.3.2. If you’re one of them, check out this post by Mark of MeAndMyDrum.

Do You Have a Globally Recognized Avatar? - A gravatar is an 80 x 80 pixel image that follows you from blog to blog and appears beside your name on gravatar enabled sites. Read more about them in this post by Kyle’s Cove.

Learn Everything About WordPress - Garry Conn explains just how to get the most from WordPress.org.

Having co-founded a blog review site, I have a lot of experience when it comes to writing reviews. It is a time consuming process, but very enjoyable. I hope that you will consider my 10 tips for writing an outstanding review when you’re ready to pen your next review.

1. Keep a notepad handy. Use it to record the information I’ve listed below. Don’t start typing until the notepad is overflowing with material for your review.
2. Get to know the author. Reading the About page and the initial post to the blog will often supply you with biographical information as well as the author’s purpose and goals for the blog.
3. Collect data. Gather information such as age of the blog, frequency of posts, number of RSS subscribers, Technorati rank, Alexa traffic rank, and any noteworthy accomplishments.
4. Familiarize yourself with the layout and design of the blog. Take note of the features you like as well as those you don’t.
5. Read through the archives. You should dedicate a significant amount of time to the archives. You can’t write a great review without actually reading the blog. Skimming will not suffice.
6. Highlight your favorite posts. When you find posts that you particularly enjoy, share them with your readers.
7. Find suitable graphics. The use of logos, photos, or screenshots will make your article more interesting and compelling.
8. Offer suggestions. Most bloggers appreciate honest feedback, so be sure to offer a few suggestions for improvement.
9. Put forth your best effort. Keep in mind that your article is a reflection of you. Quality content will keep your readers coming back.
10. Proofread. I cannot stress enough how important proofreading is. Before you publish, read the article twice. Use a spellchecker if necessary.

I spend an average of 4-5 hours per review, and you should be prepared to as well. A well-written review should entice your readers to visit the subject blog. The subject blog will often link back to your post. It’s a win-win situation.

If you’re a WordPress user and haven’t upgraded to version 2.3.2, now is the time to do so. This release applies a critical security fix to a bug that allows others to access your drafts and timestamped posts.

Many hosting companies offer a one click WordPress installation through Fantastico Deluxe. When I last checked my cPanel, version 2.3.2 was still not available. I looked at the WordPress upgrade instructions and was a bit intimidated. Certain that I would make some horrible mistake and wipe out my entire blog, I looked for other options. I found the perfect solution.

Keith Dsouza of Techie Buzz has released a WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin. The plugin automatically upgrades your WordPress installation to the latest version provided by WordPress.org. It is an unbelievably simple process. Just download the plugin, unzip it, upload it to your “wp-content/plugins” directory, and activate the plugin. From there, go to your Manage tab and look for the WordPress Automatic Upgrade option. With just a couple of clicks, you’ll have version 2.3.2! You can use the plugin to install future WordPress releases as well.

It really is that simple. It took me no longer than a minute or two, and there were no complications whatsoever. Check it out, and while you’re there, please consider making a small donation to assist Keith in further plugin development.

Despite its simplicity and ease of use, there are a number of bloggers who haven’t yet embraced RSS. If you continue to visit your favorite blogs through bookmarks and blogrolls, it is time to consider making the move to Really Simple Syndication.

RSS is used to publish frequently updated web content such as blog entries. RSS documents, or feeds, can be read through aggregators (readers) such as Google Reader or Bloglines. These readers keep your favorite blogs neatly organized and even indicate which of them has new content for you to read. You can view new posts right in the reader without ever actually visiting the blogs. And if you feel compelled to comment, clicking the post title magically transports you to the blog.

It’s simple - really simple, in fact. Just choose your reader and look for the RSS icons on your favorite blogs. With a simple click, you can subscribe to the feed in your reader, or even through email. Don’t see an icon? No problem. You can find the feed by entering the URL directly into your reader.

I’ve tried several different readers, but my favorite is Google Reader. It is powerful, yet easy to use. It allows you to create folders to more easily organize your blogs. You can star items for future reference, and even share interesting articles with friends. Keeping up with my favorite blogs now takes a fraction of the time it took when I was manually visiting each blog.

To begin using Google Reader, just sign in to your Google account. If you don’t have one, create one and you’ll be well on your way. Upon signing in, you’ll see a link for Google Reader. If you have something against Google, you can register for Bloglines or any other reader.

When it comes to your own blog, make sure that the feed is easy to find. I’ve visited a number of blogs that have no RSS icons to be found. If you would like new readers to return, an icon should be prominently displayed on the page, preferably near the top. If you’re interested in seeing subscriber stats for your feed, I suggest burning a feed through Feedburner. Though the icon I have included in this post is the universally accepted icon for RSS, there are many others to choose from.

RSS will save you time, help keep you organized, and ensure that you never miss another post on your favorite blogs. Give it a try. Let it make your life easier.

Here are a few great links to help you make the most of your blog.

Quick Way to Increase Comments - Many blogs have seen a decline in comments as feed aggregators have gained popularity. Garry Conn has some great advice on how to encourage your readers to comment.

DnScoop - Get Your Blog’s Worth & Stats - K of ShanKri-la posted a great review of DnScoop, a website that can provide a wealth of information about your blog.

The 7 Characteristics of Good Domain Names - Before purchasing your next domain, check out this article on Daily Blog Tips.

What is Blogging? Blogs Explained in Plain English - Do you have friends who just don’t understand why you blog? This video does a fantastic job of explaining blogs and their appeal.

10 Wordpress Plugins Every Blog Should Be Using - Just how many of these plugins are you making use of?