Blogging Gal

This site is for sale, as I just don’t have the time or energy to keep up with it any longer.  If you’re interested, send your offer through the contact form.  Thanks!

Call me crazy, but I just purchased yet another domain name. I have a great site idea that I feel has a lot of income potential if managed properly. But seeing that I work a full time job and already have three blogs, it is going to be difficult to put the amount of time into the new project that I’d like to. Ideally, I’d like to partner with another experienced blogger.

Qualifications for a business partner include:

• A good working knowledge of WordPress
• Exceptional writing skills
• Ambition
• Creativity
• Technical ability
• Experience with site monetization and SEO preferred
• U.S. resident preferred

With the right partner, I think the site could be very successful. If you’re interested and feel that you have the time, energy, and qualifications necessary, please drop me a line through the contact form. I will give preference to bloggers I know personally and have established a level of trust with.

If you’re a WordPress user and haven’t yet upgraded to version 2.3.3, it’s time to do so. This critical update fixes a security flaw that allows a user of a blog to edit another user’s posts. For more information on the upgrade, you can read the official report and instructions from WordPress.org. If you’re intimidated by the instructions or just prefer a simpler upgrade process, I highly recommend the WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin. Once installed, the plugin will automatically upgrade to the latest version, so you can use it again and again as new versions are released. I’ve used it with great success on the last two upgrades.

I’ve been anxiously awaiting the launch of Blogging Startup, a blog dedicated to providing “support, advice, and warnings for those starting a blog.” The official launch date is today, January 23rd.

Blogging Startup is authored by Jim Lockwood of U-Turn Ahead and SevenActions.com fame. With his new blog, Jim plans to share his passion for blogging and the Internet by posting articles to make the process of starting a blog as simple and painless as possible.

Please take a moment to stop by and welcome Blogging Startup to the neighborhood!

Professional blogger Garry Conn is really shaking things up in the blogosphere with his post entitled Smorty Offers Advice On How To Thwart Page Rank Loss. Like most other articles on GarryConn Dot Com, this one was written to pass on helpful advice to those who would like to attain the level of success that Garry has worked so hard for. In the post, Garry injected a bit of his brand of humor, comparing paid posts to prostitution.

There are currently 51 comments on that post, with the majority of them being personal attacks on Garry. It has gone far beyond expressing opposing viewpoints. Readers apparently have nothing better to do than to scrutinize Garry’s blog and point out spelling and grammatical errors. Frankly, I am disappointed and ashamed at the level of immaturity displayed.

I recently signed up for SponsoredReviews, but when my readers began to warn me about the dangers associated with paid reviews, I chose not to participate. Garry’s article has convinced me that I made the right decision.

Perhaps Garry’s humor didn’t come across as he intended, but the article is informative and full of great advice. Those who choose to look at the photo instead of reading the article have missed the point.

On a personal note, Garry is a great friend of mine, and I’d like to point out that there are few in the blogosphere who can match his kind and caring nature. In addition to the advice he posts on Garry Conn Dot Com, he works with a number of bloggers on a more personal level, giving valuable tips without asking for anything in return. I am proud to call him a friend.

If you’d like to see what all the controversy is about, I encourage you to read Garry’s post and its comments.

Garry, thank you for continuing to pass on your wisdom!

Like many of you, I spend entirely too much time online. Managing email, surfing the web, and writing for three blogs easily consumes several hours per day. I justify my Internet usage by the fact that I’m doing something productive, not harming anyone in the process, making a few extra dollars, and darn it - I’m just having fun! But when does “fun” cross the line and become an addiction?

I recently read an article about Internet addiction in HR Magazine, a publication of the Society of Human Resource Management. As an HR professional, I am quite aware of the growing concern of Internet abuse in the workplace, but I had never really thought of Internet use as being a legitimate addiction that can severely disrupt both professional and personal lives. When I read about Renae, a state government analyst who spends six of her eight daily work hours surfing the net, I decided to do some further research on the topic.

According to a 2006 study by Stanford University School of Medicine, one in eight Americans exhibits signs of Internet addiction. The typical affected individual is a single, college-educated white male in his 30s. He spends approximately 30 hours per week on “nonessential computer use.” Elias Aboujaoude, Clinical Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Director of Stanford’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic, believes that Internet addiction is not unlike substance abuse or other impulse-control disorders. Sufferers experience “a repetitive, intrusive and irresistible urge to perform an act that may be pleasurable in the moment but that can lead to significant problems on the personal and professional levels.”

The Center for Internet Addiction Recovery defines the warning signs of Internet addiction as:

• compulsive use of the Internet
• preoccupation with being online
• lying or hiding the extent or nature of online behavior
• inability to control or curb online behavior

Forms of Internet abuse include cybersex and cyberporn, online affairs, eBay, online gambling, compulsive surfing, and multi-user role playing games. I find it interesting that blogging wasn’t mentioned.

National surveys indicate that more than 50% of Internet addicts also suffer from some other form of addiction - usually drugs, alcohol, smoking, or sex. Many of them also battle emotional problems such as depression and anxiety. Female internet addicts focus their online efforts on chatting and shopping, whereas men participate in games, porn, and gambling.

The Center for Internet Addiction Recovery offers a number of services and resources, including a Recovery Blog and a podcast, to help those suffering from problematic Internet use. If excessive Internet use is creating problems in your daily life, please take a moment to check out the links I have provided.

As for me, I have no time for that. I still have several hours of blogging left to do!