Archive for the ‘Interesting’ Category
by Jennifer Brown Banks on March 31st, 2010
Truth be told, there’s a bit of an exhibitionist in every writer.
(Wouldn’t you agree?)
No matter how private or reclusive we may be in our own personal lives,
I believe we go “public†because it’s inherent in our “wiring†to want to change the world, inspire, and “win friends and influence people.â€
And for us it’s through our creative ability.
As such, many of us set our sites on becoming bloggers as a way to expand our platforms, our influence base, and our bottom lines.
We in fact are told through an array of sources that we must!
Blogging has become the “new blackâ€.
SIDEBAR…
This kind of reminds me of how when a new, “popular†fashion or fad is introduced in the women’s clothing arena, many females will embrace it regardless as to whether or not it’s appropriate to their lifestyle, size, figure or age.
And some really shouldn’t.
Case in point?
(Spandex is not every woman’s friend!)
The point of this piece?
Not all writers should necessarily become bloggers just because it’s the “in†thing to do.
In other words, blogging should not be considered a natural “write of passageâ€.
This revelation came to me some time ago when I put out a call for bloggers for a creative project I was working on.
I got submissions from folks from all walks of life, with all sorts of degrees, awards and credentials.
And some, to be quite honest, with more impressive backgrounds than my own!
Unfortunately what I ended up with were blog posts that were too technical, or too cerebral, or too long, or too “vanilla†and bland in nature.
I hate to say it, but I was over worked and
underwhelmed.
These very talented authors were skilled in “communicating†but not “connectingâ€.
(Are you with me?)
Here are a few reasons that “all†writers do not necessarily make good (pro) bloggers.
They lack one or more of the abilities that fall under the categories I like to refer to as the 3C’s.
• Conversational tone-–Blog writing calls for an informal style, smooth flow, and brevity. Some writers, in their desire to impress, use hundred dollar words, uncommon acronyms, or technical jargon that is not easily grasped by the average reader. Don’t be one of them.
• Consistency—Bloggers with paid gigs, or those hoping to cultivate a solid following for their own personal blogs, must blog well and blog often. One has to produce with or without a “museâ€.
• Creativity-–Gifted bloggers know how to take an old topic, theme, or event and give it new life in the way that they spin it. Like good chefs they take the same everyday ingredients and blend them together differently to yield “food for thought†for readers’ enjoyment.
Should blogging have standards?
Do you think that blogging calls for different writing skills than more formal forms of writing?
Are all writers “blogging material”?
What are your thoughts on this?
Categories: General, Interesting, Opinion
by Jennifer Brown Banks on March 29th, 2010
Frankly I don’t get it.
Folks requesting organ donations have had greater success than today’s blogger seeking comments on their blog posts.
And I say this with affection: I’m amused but confused.
In my mind, reading an enjoyable (or minimally interesting) blog and not leaving a comment is like dining at a restaurant and not leaving a tip. And isn’t “food for thought†just as gratifying?
Ask any blogger and they’ll tell you that comments left on a blog by visiting readers are the equivalent of finding a 20 dollar bill in a back pocket of some old jeans, or receiving extra chicken nuggets in your value meal package that you didn’t have to pay for.
Or getting a date with Keanu Reeves.
Okay, well maybe that’s just me. 
But anyhow…
Consider this a public service message: We wanna hear from you. Read More
Categories: General, Interesting, Opinion
Tags: Comments, Community, Participation
by Regnard Raquedan on December 15th, 2009
One of the most common tips top bloggers give to novice bloggers is to blog about something they are very passionate about. But as we all know, people’s interest level fluctuates and is rarely constant. Today, you may be so inspired you could write a new treatise on food blogging, tomorrow, you could barely even write a word about cupcake.
So how do you avoid that kind of inconsistency? The answer may be found outside your notebook computer.
It has been found that moods can affect work and an improvement in a person’s mood results in a positive outcome at work very often. There have been studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and Ohio State University’s Fisher School of Business that strongly suggests that mood you bring to work sets the tone for the rest of day and affects productivity.
Mood improvement differs for person to person, but here are a few tips that may help bloggers:
- Blog in a comfortable place – Blogging on the go can be exciting but really stressful. In order to come up with a quality post, try to find a place where you can site comfortably and has good lighting.
- Take a little break – So you’re a blogging junkie, but that doesn’t mean you should be in front of your computer 24/7. Little breaks can be a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively.
- Work in your own machine – Have you tried blogging in someone else’s notebook? It feels like you’re visiting a foreign country if you ask me. Try as much as possible to bring your own machine if you’re blogging actively and on the go.
- Avoid blogging right off the bat – Athletes always warms up before competition and there’s wisdom in that. Some bloggers may find it refreshing to watchthat funny viral YouTube video before opening WordPress or Blogger.
Like I’ve said, ways of improving one’s mood vary. But one thing is clear: a better mood will result in better, more enjoyable blogging.
Categories: Blogging Sense, Blogging Tips, Interesting
Tags: blogging, self-improvement, tips, work
by Karlo Licudine on November 12th, 2009
Performancing Hive is a dedicated forum specially built for professional bloggers. Their membership usually costs $10 a month but right now they’re giving it away for free to anyone who is interested to join. Yes, you’ve read it right, free!
All you need to do is to sign up by filling in the form found here using the code 093588648A.
This promo is valid only until the 11th of December so you may want to sign as soon as possible!
For questions or comments regarding Performancing Hive you could leave them on the post found here.
Categories: Interesting
by Karlo Licudine on November 6th, 2009
We all know that there are millions of WordPress users all over the globe. Wouldn’t it be nice to see where they are located? With WPWorldMap.net, now you can!
WPWorldMap.net is a new website created by Oliver Schloebe of WPSeek.com that lets WordPress users mark their location onto a map for others to see. Each marked location reveals user profiles complete with personal information, a link to their blogs, and also their Twitter accounts.
Powered by Google Maps, the site is relatively easy to use. To map yourself all you need to do is to place a pin marker on your location and then signing up by filling in the required fields on the site’s registration form. It’s so easy that it only takes a few minutes.
Surveying the world map, on the other hand, is as easy as clicking and dragging. You can zoom in and out and even display the world in terrain, map, or satellite form. There’s also a search functionality that let’s you search according to users. You can even add a filter if you just want to display WordPress users, developers, core developers, WordPress related companies, or even fans.
The great thing about this new site is that it gives us a good picture of how many WordPress users there are, not just in the whole world, but also in a particular country or area. This is great tool if you want to find out if there are any WordPress users near your location which is ideal for making new friends and for blog networking!
But of course, the site needs the cooperation of the community as it cannot populate itself. So if you don’t mind revealing your location to others, why not sign up and map yourself now. Oh, and don’t forget to share it to your friends!
Go WordPress Warriors!
Categories: Important, Interesting
by David Peralty on September 28th, 2009
I’ve used SimplePie for a few projects, and so I was sad to find out, via WPTavern, that SimplePie is shutting down development.
From the Blog Post:
So effective immediately, we are ceasing development of SimplePie and shutting down the project. We will shortly be pushing all code to GitHub. The mailing list will continue to serve users for the time being, but my sincerest hope is that someone will take up the charge to fork SimplePie, fix all of its issues, and continue on with this project that’s been such a huge part of my life for the past 5 years.
While I am not sure what this means for the long term use of the code as they are going to give away the final release to whomever wants it via GitHub. It is always interesting to me to see big projects loose steam, despite the sadness that surrounds the demise of an otherwise great project and product.
The question now is: who will continue on helping people parse RSS feeds in the future? WordPress 2.9 was set to use SimplePie version 1.3. What will they use for WordPress 3.0? Only time will tell.
Categories: Blogging News, Interesting
by David Peralty on May 19th, 2009
Thanks to @problogger, I found out that Eyetrack III had released a study, a few years ago, that you might be interested in if you want to know how your readers are likely viewing your site.
During the study, they “observed 46 people for one hour as their eyes followed mock news websites and real multimedia content.”
The results are pretty interesting, and a bit surprising in a few places. They talk about the effects of homepage layout on how people read the content of the page, the best placement for images, using font size to increase reader focus and avoid having them quickly scan through text rather than reading it all, and even the effects to paragraph length on how/where people’s eyes drift around the page. It’s all pretty damn cool.
Especially important might be the results of what happens when people get to a break in the text (say, from an ad), that could cause some people to rethink the layout of their ads, and site in general. They actually go into pretty good detail about advertising. The study is worth checking out for that section alone if you run ads on your site.
There is also a bit about navigation placement that could help some sites struggling to get people to drill down into their site past the initial entry page.
All in all, if you want to learn a TON about how people are likely to be reading your blog, and get a lot of tips about how to control the flow of their attention, I’d highly suggest reading through the Eyetrack III study. It’s a bit lengthy, but it’s so packed with useful info that it’s well worth it.
Categories: Blogging Tips, Interesting
by David Peralty on March 11th, 2009
First Web Designer has a nice post up reflecting some logo design trends that they have witnessed.
It is always interesting to me to see how people brand themselves, and I think a logo can say a great deal about a brand, and its goals. That being said, I also wonder if with a big site like LogoPond, if you couldn’t find at least three or four logos in the last few months under almost any “trend”.
I enjoyed the selections though, and would love to hear about any of you using the trends listed on that post.
Categories: Interesting
by David Peralty on January 30th, 2009
Recently, the subject of applications relating to blogging, development, and more have come across my desk more than once.
The first was my own attempt at writing a free college software guide on College Crunch which then was noticed by Online College which built upon the list, adding more things that students (but really anyone) could and should use.
Then, I found another great post, on noupe, one of the blogs I frequent, relating to Mac Applications for Web Designers, and so the question then is, what do you all use as a blogger? I don’t just mean blogging software, but Twitter applications, day to day software. What is installed on your computer that you rarely go a day without launching? Let me know in the comments, and don’t forget to mention which operating system you use, and please no OS snobs.
Categories: Blog Software, Interesting
by jim on October 1st, 2008
If you’re a WordPress theme developer you may want to keep your themes technically aligned to new commenting features that will most probably make it to WordPress version 2.7. Otto, who is a well-known and respected WordPress community member has published this article regarding his commenting features. Check it out! There is a preview to the new 2.7 commenting system at that page too.
Here are some of the enhancements that Otto covers:
â–ª Creating a 2.7 compatible comments.php file
â–ª Password protection check
â–ª The comments loop
â–ª The power of Ajax
â–ª Styling
We all know that commenting is one of the great features that WordPress is known for. Apparently the development team is taking this feature a step further by offering important feature upgrades like threading, paging and javascript enhancements.
I bet ‘ya this will result in better blogs as people can now interact intuitively from one comment to another.
Categories: Interesting, WordPress Themes
13 Comments
