Update your website regularly
posted at 01:17 AM - Category: Blogging
"Last updated, February 23, 2003." That’s the last thing you want featuring on your website. It conveys to the reader that not only has the website not been updated but it causes doubt and uncertainty in the mind of the surfer. There is a very slight chance that a person would want to visit this website again if he doesn't find any useful information on it the first time and also notices the above statement.
A website is like the tip of the iceberg; the most visible part of a company or an organization. It is one of the prime sources of information for the visitors and readily speaks of any organization's values, beliefs and working. One of the most important reasons people go online to pull information from a website is because it is quick and (as they assume) up to date. They really don't expect a website to have stale and old information which would be of no use to them. In times like today when almost all the information is passed on through online, staying updated is extremely crucial. It speaks well of a company, an organization or an owner and shows that he/they are really concerned, tech-savvy and professional.
Leaving everything aside for the moment and just looking into the human mind would tell us that no one likes monotony. Even in our habits and working, we crave for change, especially after doing the same thing for a long time. Monotony leads to boredom which in turn leads to disinterest. Same is true for websites. Having the same website for a prolonged period without updating it would be a cause of disinterest for the visitors and would eventually hinder the number of people visiting it. New and fresh content dropped in regularly, puts exactly that spice back into a website as does a weekend on the beach.
For companies, it is very essential to update the content of their website since it is an interface between the stockholders, the staff and the corporation itself. Through websites, investors can keep track of the latest news and happenings within the organization. Keeping the website up to date becomes even more essential for companies promoting their products or services through them. Since innovation plays a big part in product development, it also does in exhibiting them. As they say to salesmen - "bring something new to the table every time". Updating sites regularly with fresh content would generate a curiosity amongst the customers or the readers and would provide them with an incentive to visit the website again. Even if you do not have new products, services or information, add new pictures, change the colours, fonts or the layout. This would work in your favour in ways more than one.
For clubs and social organizations, websites are a medium of informing the people about the group's activities, a prospectus for the new ones and for people willing to donate. Even if the associations are meeting regularly and working ardently for a cause and not updating the website with the same, people will tend to think that the group is inactive. This would be highly detrimental for a group's reputation. After all, who would want to join a club or donate money if they see that there has been no activity since February 23, 2003? In short, updating the websites religiously would highly benefit clubs and organizations and lead to membership growth and higher funds!
Thus, if you would like to be looked upon as a professional and concerned, then update your website regularly with fresh content. This would not only attract new visitors, members, customers, stockholders etc. but would also keep the existing ones satisfied.
Jul 12, 2007
Sep 02, 2005
Principal dooce's himself over blog posts
posted at 09:07 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan reports that a Warsaw, Missouri principal resigns over blog posts. No details on what the blog was or what was posted, but I bet it can't be all that good. My bet is either on racial slurs or sexual comments, but that's me being cynical. Though I'm probably right ;)
posted at 09:07 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan reports that a Warsaw, Missouri principal resigns over blog posts. No details on what the blog was or what was posted, but I bet it can't be all that good. My bet is either on racial slurs or sexual comments, but that's me being cynical. Though I'm probably right ;)
Aug 31, 2005
Blogger Jeremy Blachman is writing for the NY Times
posted at 10:24 AM - Category: Blogging
Blogger Jeremy Blachman is writing for the NY Times. Very cool. I hope this is the beginning of a trend!
Source: Micro Persuasion
posted at 10:24 AM - Category: Blogging
Blogger Jeremy Blachman is writing for the NY Times. Very cool. I hope this is the beginning of a trend!
Source: Micro Persuasion
Aug 30, 2005
The Blog Apprentice
posted at 09:19 AM - Category: Blogging
Darren brings up the interesting idea of having a Blog Apprentice who would learn from a seasoned blogger while getting paid and working for the blogger in turn. This is an idea that's crossed my mind (both having an apprentice and being one) the last few months. I think it is a great idea and one I think could work. Also, I've thought of having interns for colleges because you can often get them for cheap or free! ;)
posted at 09:19 AM - Category: Blogging
Darren brings up the interesting idea of having a Blog Apprentice who would learn from a seasoned blogger while getting paid and working for the blogger in turn. This is an idea that's crossed my mind (both having an apprentice and being one) the last few months. I think it is a great idea and one I think could work. Also, I've thought of having interns for colleges because you can often get them for cheap or free! ;)
Blogspot users are upset with "flag" option
posted at 09:16 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan is reporting that Blogspot bloggers revolting over flag option, which was only a matter of time. I'm sure this won't be the last we hear about it as more bloggers find out just how adversely this can effect them.
posted at 09:16 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan is reporting that Blogspot bloggers revolting over flag option, which was only a matter of time. I'm sure this won't be the last we hear about it as more bloggers find out just how adversely this can effect them.
Aug 29, 2005
The Blog Manager
posted at 08:30 AM - Category: Blogging
Peter writes about a new job that could work for the blogosphere. The job is "The Blog Manager", which is a person who would manage a blog's advertising efforts to maximize earnings in exchange for a percentage of the increased earnings. There are quite a few blogs out there doing well, but I know one of my own short comings in running a network solo is finding time to build relationships with advertisers and finding the right affiliate programs. The idea of someone handling that for a percentage sounds like a win/win situation to me. Great idea Peter. Kudos.
posted at 08:30 AM - Category: Blogging
Peter writes about a new job that could work for the blogosphere. The job is "The Blog Manager", which is a person who would manage a blog's advertising efforts to maximize earnings in exchange for a percentage of the increased earnings. There are quite a few blogs out there doing well, but I know one of my own short comings in running a network solo is finding time to build relationships with advertisers and finding the right affiliate programs. The idea of someone handling that for a percentage sounds like a win/win situation to me. Great idea Peter. Kudos.
Aug 26, 2005
Weblogs Inc contract revealed
posted at 08:49 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan posted Weblogs Inc., pay rates revealed by disgruntled potential recruit, which is a pretty interesting read. I've always been curious as to how they have things setup in case I someday decide to hire writers for my own network.
The part that is scary, and the part that Kate Hopkins was worried about, was the clauses that forbid you to write for any other publication in the same niche. Not just a blog, but magazines too! If that is true then it's a flat out insane contract. Freelance writers make money by selling their writing to multiple markets. Original content, of course, but to make a living, or even a decent second income, you have to really work the markets. It would be an odd day to find a food/travel writer who also wrote automotive. Sure, many do have more than one niche that interests them but many focus which makes their content better. And $500 for an exclusive contract is pretty damn crazy.
posted at 08:49 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan posted Weblogs Inc., pay rates revealed by disgruntled potential recruit, which is a pretty interesting read. I've always been curious as to how they have things setup in case I someday decide to hire writers for my own network.
The part that is scary, and the part that Kate Hopkins was worried about, was the clauses that forbid you to write for any other publication in the same niche. Not just a blog, but magazines too! If that is true then it's a flat out insane contract. Freelance writers make money by selling their writing to multiple markets. Original content, of course, but to make a living, or even a decent second income, you have to really work the markets. It would be an odd day to find a food/travel writer who also wrote automotive. Sure, many do have more than one niche that interests them but many focus which makes their content better. And $500 for an exclusive contract is pretty damn crazy.
Aug 25, 2005
Jim Logan asks Why don't more bloggers participate?
posted at 10:19 AM - Category: Blogging
Jim Logan Why don't more bloggers participate? This isn't just a problem among blogs. Having run several "community" based systems since the BBS days (pre-web) I've found that a small percent of users actually contribute with the majority of them just lurking. The old 90/10 rule where 10% of your users contribute 90% of your comments. The nature of people is not to comment, not to get involved. I don't know if they don't feel like they don't have something to add or they are just to busy.
I offered this explanation on Jim's questoin:
One thing I see a lot of is bloggers who fail to respond to comments on their own blog. I don't think a blogger should respond to every comment, but just like email, I think bloggers should make an effort to respond whenever possible. For starters, its the least you can do to repay the people for taking the time to comment in the first place. It also builds a relationship with readers and that is where the magic is. I know some big name bloggers who respond to almost every post they get comments on. They might not address each comment, but they do drop in an take part in the conversation they created. That's what sets them apart from the rest of the crowd.
Take away advice: comment on others blogs and respond to comments on your own blog. Everybody wins.
posted at 10:19 AM - Category: Blogging
Jim Logan Why don't more bloggers participate? This isn't just a problem among blogs. Having run several "community" based systems since the BBS days (pre-web) I've found that a small percent of users actually contribute with the majority of them just lurking. The old 90/10 rule where 10% of your users contribute 90% of your comments. The nature of people is not to comment, not to get involved. I don't know if they don't feel like they don't have something to add or they are just to busy.
I offered this explanation on Jim's questoin:
A lot of the blogs I read have quite a bit of conversation going on between various bloggers. And most of the comments are from bloggers, not just readers. On the other hand there are probably a lot of lurkers around, and most of them are probably non-lurkers who find the site through a search engine, read the info they want, and then click an ad and are gone to the next site.I think this is most likely the case. Most of the bloggers I know (and I don't know them all, obviously) tend to comment a lot. We tend to move in the same circles and I see the same names over and over again. This is how a community is built and the conversation is happening over all our blogs.
One thing I see a lot of is bloggers who fail to respond to comments on their own blog. I don't think a blogger should respond to every comment, but just like email, I think bloggers should make an effort to respond whenever possible. For starters, its the least you can do to repay the people for taking the time to comment in the first place. It also builds a relationship with readers and that is where the magic is. I know some big name bloggers who respond to almost every post they get comments on. They might not address each comment, but they do drop in an take part in the conversation they created. That's what sets them apart from the rest of the crowd.
Take away advice: comment on others blogs and respond to comments on your own blog. Everybody wins.
Aug 24, 2005
Be a blog "Maven"
posted at 01:34 PM - Category: Blogging
According to Paul Chaney at the All Business blog Why Blog? a "The Maven is a person who knows everything about something. Ask them a question about that topic and they'll give you more information that you care to know."
He suggests that focusing on a specific subject and being persistant could end up getting your blog more visitors. This goes right along with my line of thinking and fellow blogger Darren over at ProBlogger as well. Darren often tells people that the right niche combined with persistence is the key to getting traffic to your blog. Darren is one of those rare bloggers who makes a good deal of money from his blogging efforts and is nice enough to share that info with the rest of us.
Focusing on a niche isn't limited to blogs though, any site that has a narrow scope has a chance of doing better in search engines, which results in more people visiting your site. Most search engines like fresh content so blogs tend to do much better than their static counter parts.
Bottom line, focus on one subject and blog like crazy.
posted at 01:34 PM - Category: Blogging
According to Paul Chaney at the All Business blog Why Blog? a "The Maven is a person who knows everything about something. Ask them a question about that topic and they'll give you more information that you care to know."
He suggests that focusing on a specific subject and being persistant could end up getting your blog more visitors. This goes right along with my line of thinking and fellow blogger Darren over at ProBlogger as well. Darren often tells people that the right niche combined with persistence is the key to getting traffic to your blog. Darren is one of those rare bloggers who makes a good deal of money from his blogging efforts and is nice enough to share that info with the rest of us.
Focusing on a niche isn't limited to blogs though, any site that has a narrow scope has a chance of doing better in search engines, which results in more people visiting your site. Most search engines like fresh content so blogs tend to do much better than their static counter parts.
Bottom line, focus on one subject and blog like crazy.
9 Rules network opening up to Spanish Language Blogs
posted at 09:21 AM - Category: Blogging
9 rules Network is seeking spanish language blogs to expand their growing network of blogs. Scrivs says:
posted at 09:21 AM - Category: Blogging
9 rules Network is seeking spanish language blogs to expand their growing network of blogs. Scrivs says:
Why do this? It’s simple really, we are all about great content and understand that great content is not restricted to English sites. Since we do not own the sites in our network (besides our own personal ones) it only makes sense to broaden our reach and truly distinguish ourselves from other content networks.Weblogs Inc agress as they have blogs in seveal languages now.
Weblogs Inc needs writers for Engadget
posted at 09:19 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan has the scoop. Talk about a high profile blogging spot. This would be a huge leap for any blogger trying to get some attention. Do you have the stones?
posted at 09:19 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan has the scoop. Talk about a high profile blogging spot. This would be a huge leap for any blogger trying to get some attention. Do you have the stones?
Aug 23, 2005
Weblogs Inc to luanch "personal finance blog"
posted at 09:49 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan is reporting that "Weblogs Inc., is gearing up to launch a as yet unnamed personal finance blog". He got the tip from an "anonymous email", which I suspect is probably Jason Calicanis himself who knows a thing or two about building up some hype. I've lost count of how many blogs they run now. Have they reached 100 yet?
posted at 09:49 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan is reporting that "Weblogs Inc., is gearing up to launch a as yet unnamed personal finance blog". He got the tip from an "anonymous email", which I suspect is probably Jason Calicanis himself who knows a thing or two about building up some hype. I've lost count of how many blogs they run now. Have they reached 100 yet?
Aug 22, 2005
Geek bloggers are dead
posted at 08:48 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan over at The Blog Herald has a great post titled "The demise of the geek bloggers" which takes a look at the evolution from geek bloggers (generation 1) to extrovert bloggers (generation 2) and today's bloggers, generation 3. A very interesting take on how blogging has evolved and the old "A-List" just isn't what it used to be. Great post.
posted at 08:48 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan over at The Blog Herald has a great post titled "The demise of the geek bloggers" which takes a look at the evolution from geek bloggers (generation 1) to extrovert bloggers (generation 2) and today's bloggers, generation 3. A very interesting take on how blogging has evolved and the old "A-List" just isn't what it used to be. Great post.
Blogger "flag" feature fails as predicted
posted at 08:38 AM - Category: Blogging
Source: First report of blog censorship using Blogger "flag" option
posted at 08:38 AM - Category: Blogging
A new report alleging that Google's new "flag" feature has been used to censor a blog on the grounds that readers have disagreed with the opinion of a writer has appeared, in what if proven true would be the first case of the service announced last week being used in such a a way.That sure didn't take long. I knew this new "flag" feature was a mistake the moment I heard about it. Hopefully Google will wise up and get rid of it before more serious damage is done. This is a lame attempt to stop a problem by putting the power in the hands of people. Keep this in mind in any system you use: if it can be gamed, it will be. People will find a way to "win", in this case they didn't like what a blogger was saying so they decided to get him banned.
Source: First report of blog censorship using Blogger "flag" option
Aug 20, 2005
Big companies looking for bloggers
posted at 09:59 PM - Category: Blogging
Looks like some big companies are embracing blogging and looking to hire some bloggers along the way. Though the requirements seem to be aiming at the traditional employee type, you know, institution grown. I think they still have a bit to learn about communicating at the blog level. Hopefully they'll find someone who meets their requirements and gets blogging. I'm sure there are some.
Check out Successfactors Wants a Blogger Too!, Earthlink Wants A Blogger and Corporations Rushing into the Blogosphere via Weblogs Work for more insight.
posted at 09:59 PM - Category: Blogging
Looks like some big companies are embracing blogging and looking to hire some bloggers along the way. Though the requirements seem to be aiming at the traditional employee type, you know, institution grown. I think they still have a bit to learn about communicating at the blog level. Hopefully they'll find someone who meets their requirements and gets blogging. I'm sure there are some.
Check out Successfactors Wants a Blogger Too!, Earthlink Wants A Blogger and Corporations Rushing into the Blogosphere via Weblogs Work for more insight.
New version of Movable Type - Version 3.2 due next week
posted at 01:28 PM - Category: Blogging
Ducan reports that Movable Type will get a face lift next week. Improvements include better spam/trackback filtering which will be very welcome to the hoards of bloggers using Movable Type. Movable Type is one of the older blog tools in the blog scene and as such gets more than a fair share of spammers targeting comments and trackbacks.
posted at 01:28 PM - Category: Blogging
Ducan reports that Movable Type will get a face lift next week. Improvements include better spam/trackback filtering which will be very welcome to the hoards of bloggers using Movable Type. Movable Type is one of the older blog tools in the blog scene and as such gets more than a fair share of spammers targeting comments and trackbacks.
Weblogs Inc launches Food blog
posted at 01:25 PM - Category: Blogging
Prolific blog publishers Weblogs, Inc. have announced their latest blog titled "Slashfood". The blog looks like another solid offering from Weblogs, Inc. but the name is just doesn't cut it. (slash, cut it, get it?)
If you've got a taste for food and enjoy writing they are also looking for food bloggers. You could do a lot worse than blogging for a Weblogs, Inc blog.
Source: The Blog Herald
posted at 01:25 PM - Category: Blogging
Prolific blog publishers Weblogs, Inc. have announced their latest blog titled "Slashfood". The blog looks like another solid offering from Weblogs, Inc. but the name is just doesn't cut it. (slash, cut it, get it?)
If you've got a taste for food and enjoy writing they are also looking for food bloggers. You could do a lot worse than blogging for a Weblogs, Inc blog.
Source: The Blog Herald
WordPress gearing up to compete with TypePad
posted at 10:32 AM - Category: Blogging
What is is about blogging software vendors that they can't use a space in the name of their products? ;)
WordPress, the defacto "standard" for hip bloggers everywhere has decided to launch a hosted version of their blogging tool at WordPress.com. The product will directly compete with TypePad (based on Six Aparts Movable Type). Though their direct competitor is TypePad, they also have to compete with other blog hosting services like Blogger.com, Xanga, LiveJournal (also owned by Six Apart) and others.
With this many players in the game, and more coming, its only a matter of time before they start buying each other up, or get gobbled up by the bigger players. To some degree this has already started with Google buying Blogger.com and Six Apart buying LiveJournal. Both Yahoo and MSN would be likely buyers to help quickly gain market share.
posted at 10:32 AM - Category: Blogging
What is is about blogging software vendors that they can't use a space in the name of their products? ;)
WordPress, the defacto "standard" for hip bloggers everywhere has decided to launch a hosted version of their blogging tool at WordPress.com. The product will directly compete with TypePad (based on Six Aparts Movable Type). Though their direct competitor is TypePad, they also have to compete with other blog hosting services like Blogger.com, Xanga, LiveJournal (also owned by Six Apart) and others.
With this many players in the game, and more coming, its only a matter of time before they start buying each other up, or get gobbled up by the bigger players. To some degree this has already started with Google buying Blogger.com and Six Apart buying LiveJournal. Both Yahoo and MSN would be likely buyers to help quickly gain market share.
Aug 18, 2005
Weblogs Inc launches Blog Smith blogging tool.
posted at 10:31 PM - Category: Blogging
Ducan (The Blog Herald) reports that Calacanis spins blogware off into separate company with the suggestion that Blog Smith, the blog tool written to power the Weblogs, Inc. network of sites, will compete with Six Apart's Movable Type blogging tool I can't find specs or features and the blogsmith.com forwards to weblogs inc at the moment, but I seem to remember it was ASP based. That means I'll never use it. I have no problem with ASP, but I don't think I know one person who uses it. That might be because like minded people tend to clump together, and I'm a unix/php/mysql minded person. I would love to get my grubby little hands on a demo to check out though. See what kind of nifty features I can lift, er, get inspired by. I had a feeling this move was coming when I saw the big Blog Smith logo popping up on the Weblogs, Inc blogs.
posted at 10:31 PM - Category: Blogging
Ducan (The Blog Herald) reports that Calacanis spins blogware off into separate company with the suggestion that Blog Smith, the blog tool written to power the Weblogs, Inc. network of sites, will compete with Six Apart's Movable Type blogging tool I can't find specs or features and the blogsmith.com forwards to weblogs inc at the moment, but I seem to remember it was ASP based. That means I'll never use it. I have no problem with ASP, but I don't think I know one person who uses it. That might be because like minded people tend to clump together, and I'm a unix/php/mysql minded person. I would love to get my grubby little hands on a demo to check out though. See what kind of nifty features I can lift, er, get inspired by. I had a feeling this move was coming when I saw the big Blog Smith logo popping up on the Weblogs, Inc blogs.
Blogger tries to stop spam blogs with limp flag, reminds me of rel=nofollow
posted at 10:24 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan from The Blog Herald says:
Who's going to mount a campaign to report all the spam blogs out there when they are just automatically created and inhuman rates? Spam bloggers know their tactics are short lived so they keep creating new ones all the time. Google needs to step up and find a way to prevent the automated process of creating these blogs. That's the only way this will ever stop.
posted at 10:24 AM - Category: Blogging
Duncan from The Blog Herald says:
Not content with drinking and eating with the glitterati of the comment spam set, the folks over at Google have announced a half-arsed effort to appease recent critics of their inaction over spam blogs by launching a new option for Blogspot blogs titled "Flag As Objectionable"As always, he nails it. As progressive as Google has been, they really do botch things up from time to time. This is a horrible solution an one that will be widely abused and never, ever come close to stopping spam blogs. This will have more effect the average blogger who will be targeted by pranksters and enemies than it will on spam bloggers, who largely fly under the radar of the average blogger.
Who's going to mount a campaign to report all the spam blogs out there when they are just automatically created and inhuman rates? Spam bloggers know their tactics are short lived so they keep creating new ones all the time. Google needs to step up and find a way to prevent the automated process of creating these blogs. That's the only way this will ever stop.
Aug 17, 2005
Six Figure Blogging Teleclass
posted at 09:29 AM - Category: Blogging
I've sat in on a few webinars and other online class type things, but largely I'm a trial and error kind of guy. I run across a lot of "info products" and they strike me as the circular logic type scams "buy my free ebook on how to setup and sell a free ebook on setting up and selling a free ebook..." It drives me crazy. I've read dozens of free ebooks and even plunked down some hard earned cash for books/ebooks I thought might actually hold some real information. To this day I remain disappointed.
So when Darren from ProBlogger.net announced his Teleclass "Six Figure Blogging" (aff link) I was interested immediately, in spite of being burned by "info products" in the past. I've learned tons just by reading the free information that Darren gives via his blog and a bit more from the bonus tips he lets slip in his newsletter. I know Darren is the real deal so I'm very, very interested in this teleclass. I've got to check my finances and see if I can squeeze the $350 into the budget. I'm 100% sure it'll be worth it, I just have to make sure I can afford it. It's almost like, how can I afford not to.
I trust Darren and I would highly recommend him to anyone who asked. I don't think you can go wrong if you follow his advice. I hope a lot of people take him up on this, not to give him the money (though he does deserve it), but because it will benefit anyone who's willing to listen. Hopefully I'll be one of them.
Check out Six Figure Blogging (aff link).
posted at 09:29 AM - Category: Blogging
I've sat in on a few webinars and other online class type things, but largely I'm a trial and error kind of guy. I run across a lot of "info products" and they strike me as the circular logic type scams "buy my free ebook on how to setup and sell a free ebook on setting up and selling a free ebook..." It drives me crazy. I've read dozens of free ebooks and even plunked down some hard earned cash for books/ebooks I thought might actually hold some real information. To this day I remain disappointed.
So when Darren from ProBlogger.net announced his Teleclass "Six Figure Blogging" (aff link) I was interested immediately, in spite of being burned by "info products" in the past. I've learned tons just by reading the free information that Darren gives via his blog and a bit more from the bonus tips he lets slip in his newsletter. I know Darren is the real deal so I'm very, very interested in this teleclass. I've got to check my finances and see if I can squeeze the $350 into the budget. I'm 100% sure it'll be worth it, I just have to make sure I can afford it. It's almost like, how can I afford not to.
I trust Darren and I would highly recommend him to anyone who asked. I don't think you can go wrong if you follow his advice. I hope a lot of people take him up on this, not to give him the money (though he does deserve it), but because it will benefit anyone who's willing to listen. Hopefully I'll be one of them.
Check out Six Figure Blogging (aff link).