Blogging Gal

I read a lot of great blogging and technology blogs, but MeAndMyDrum is one of my favorites. Authored by Mark Sierra, the blog features blogging tips and software reviews, as well as information on current events and whatever other topics happen to catch Mark’s attention.

Though Mark may not consider himself a professional blogger, his work is some of the most professional I’ve seen. In addition to MeAndMyDrum, he authors two other blogs - Darn Good Reviews and Family WebWatch. He also contributes to Blog About Your Blog, BlogsWeLuv, and Digital Journal. Yes, he’s a blogging machine! And whether he’s blogging about the latest technology or how to stop stuffing your pie hole, each post is well thought out, exceptionally well written, and a joy to read.

MeAndMyDrum was launched in February 2007. It recently broke into the Technorati Top 10K, currently boasting a rank of 8,420. There are nearly 200 RSS subscribers.

Perhaps the best way to introduce you to MeAndMyDrum is to highlight a few posts that I enjoyed.

Wendy’s Doesn’t Know What I Deserve - Mark reflects on his lunch at Wendy’s, and more specifically, how advertising can influence a person’s behavior.

Twas My Blog Before Christmas - A very clever, creative post that all bloggers can relate to.

How to Find Hot Spots on Your Blog - A review of Crazy Egg, a free product that uses heat maps to display where your readers are looking and clicking on your blog. This information can be used to determine ad placement, thereby increasing your online income.

2 Tips for Eliminating Blogger’s Block - Reviews of Google Notebook and Diigo, two of the tools Mark uses when generating ideas for upcoming posts.

There are lots of other great posts you’re sure to enjoy, so head on over to MeAndMyDrum and give it a look. This blog will make a great addition to your feed reader!

Here are a few great articles to help you make improvements to your blog.

One Simple Way to Generate More Comments on Your Blog - Copyblogger discusses how to write a conclusion that encourages readers to comment.

How to Redirect a Feedburner Feed to Another Feedburner Feed - If you’re considering moving to a new domain, this article by Kyle of Slickmania will help you to smooth the transition for your readers.

Entrecard Review - David Cooley of CyberCoder just started using Entrecard, a link exchange system that is quickly sweeping the blogosphere. He has written about his experience thus far and will report back after a 30 day trial.

How to Run a Successful Competition on Your Blog - Darren Rowse of ProBlogger offers great advice on hosting a blog contest.

PepperJam Affiliate Networking Already Viral - Matthew of Blog About Your Blog posted a great review of PepperJam. If you’re interested in affiliate marketing, PepperJam has a lot to offer.

Every now and then I run across an undiscovered gem in the blogosphere - an absolutely fantastic blog with no regular readers. Most of us would blog even if we had no readers, but let’s face it. Our readers provide an extra incentive. Their comments give us support and encouragement to keep doing what we do best.

Does your blog suffer from lack of readership? Do you post great content that no one actually sees? Building a community is easier than you might think. Here are a few tips for finding your readers.

1. Register with blog directories. Sites such as Technorati, MyBlogLog, and BlogCatalog are a fantastic source of traffic.
2. Promote your blog on the social networking sites. If you have Facebook and MySpace accounts, let them work for you. Add your blog link to your profiles.
3. Comment on the blogs you read. If you don’t comment, no one will know you exist, which could explain why you have no readers.
4. Host a contest. Submitting your contest details to various contest blogs will send a stream of new traffic your way. Check my Recommended Sites page for a list of some great contest blogs.
5. Set up a signature containing your blog URL for all outgoing emails.
6. Do some offline networking. I carry cards to pass on those I discuss my blog with. The cards contain my name, blog details, and contact information. I recommend VistaPrint, as they often offer business cards for only the cost of shipping.

If there are any of the above tips that you’re not utilizing, give them a try. I’m sure you’ll see great results.

I intend to keep Blogging Gal commercial free; however, I recently started writing some paid posts on my personal blog, The Kat House. All of my work has been with SponsoredReviews, which I have found to be an excellent source of income.

The way it works is simple. Just register with the site, and once your account has been approved, you will be able to browse a list of available opportunities. Each opportunity will display a range of bids currently being accepted. Bids can range from $5 to several hundred dollars per post. If you see an opportunity that catches your eye, bid on it. Be patient, as some advertisers take a while to respond. Others respond right away.

Your earnings are posted to your account as you complete your reviews, and your account is paid out via PayPal every two weeks. By writing a few posts every two weeks, you’ll have a steady stream of income.

I’d like to offer a few tips if you are considering using SponsoredReviews.

• Bid only on opportunities that fit the theme of your blog. Don’t put articles about video games on your cooking blog. Personal blogs offer the greatest flexibility.
• Check available opportunities daily. By getting your bids in early, you’ll have a better chance of having them accepted.
• Before bidding on an opportunity, read it in its entirety. Do not bid unless you are certain you want to write the review. SponsoredReviews may suspend your account for not following through on accepted opportunities.
• Consider a site-wide disclosure as opposed to identifying each post as a sponsored review.
• Make your blog details visible to all advertisers as opposed to only the ones you initiate contact with. Advertisers browse through the blog directory and may contact you directly to purchase reviews.
• Install a word count plugin or compose your posts in Microsoft Word to ensure that minimum word count is satisfied.
• Take advantage of the referral program. You can earn up to $175 per advertiser and $90 per blogger referred.

Keep in mind that if you are concerned about your Page Rank, SponsoredReviews may not be for you. Blogs with paid reviews may be penalized by Google with lowered Page Rank. If income is more appealing than Page Rank, I recommend signing up and giving it a try. Good luck!

If you’re looking for a little free exposure for your site, please consider visiting BlogsWeLuv. Mike Wheeler and I co-founded the site in June 2007, and it has since expanded to include several other contributors. We highlight unique and interesting sites by posting blog reviews and conducting interviews with bloggers.

The quickest and easiest way to have your blog featured on the site is by participating in our 10 Question interview. All bloggers are welcome. In fact, many of the blogs we have chosen to review on the site were discovered through the 10 Question interviews. This is your opportunity to share your thoughts on blogging and to promote your site. Even if your blog has already been reviewed on the site, you are still free to participate in our interview for some additional publicity.

We host a contest on BlogsWeLuv each month, with the winner receiving a blog review written by yours truly. You still have plenty of time to get your entry in the January contest. All you need to do is subscribe to the BlogsWeLuv feed and leave a comment on the contest post. One random winner will be chosen at midnight on January 31st. A review of the winning blog will be posted during the first week of February. And don’t fret if you don’t win. As I mentioned, we host a new contest each month.

Speaking of contests, you still have time to get your entry into the Blogging Gal Contest #1. You can win a review of your blog as well as a 125 x 125 pixel banner ad spot for the entire month of February! Good luck!

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.