Hot Links - Episode 10!
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This week in Hot Links:
This week I am looking at how easy it is to find good and informative articles through Blog Carnivals. Are they good places to find blogs to read and comment to, and to find fellow bloggers?
Here are three articles that I found on blog carnivals:
The Blog Me Cash carnival had this article about blog commenting strategy.
The Carnival of the Struggling Bumbling Newbie had an article about managing multiple Wordpress Blogs.
And the All Women Blogging Carnival has this article about the importance of being optimistic.
These carnivals were easy to find through blogcarnival.com, and I feel these posts are helpful and informative to me. So on that point I feel this experiment was successful. All in all I find blog carnivals good places to meet bloggers and find interesting blogs to read. But I do look around to find my favourite carnival and pick the blogs carefully. Some people only use them for marketing and don’t always use their best work, so I only pick my favourites.
Just look at the articles above!
And last but not least a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:Blog CarnivalsHave You Made These Mistakes When Starting a Blog?
I have started a new blog recently which I have been doing a case study on, following its creation and statistics - The Photographer Blog, and I didn’t want to make the same mistakes I made when I started this blog. Which on the whole I didn’t, but I did come across a new set of problems with trying to write to two blogs at once.
- Posting became less frequent on this blog due to researching the new blog, and then posting a lot to it because it’s new.
- Researching took a lot more time than I thought it would and put out my posting schedules for both blogs. Consequently the new blog launched over a month later than I had planned.
- If my organisation had been better could I have avoided this happening? Organising and planning the blog is fine but if it’s not carried through then it all goes wrong.
- My two blogs are about completely different subjects, digital photography and blogging. So they do not overlap very well, if I had two blogs in similar subjects they could help each other more and link together better.
- Writing to two blogs is a lot more work than I thought it would be. Therefore I have been spreading myself too thinly when it comes to marketing them. Which is a major problem as that is where I will generate traffic.
The positive thing that has come out of this is that I have recognised the problems, and can work towards changing them, learning from my new mistakes and improving for the future.
Has anyone else experienced similar problems when writing to more than one blog?
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:Top 5 Ways to Increase RSS Subscriptions
I have said before that the main aim for the case study blog - The Photographer Blog is to attract readers and then try and convert them into RSS subscribers. Here are 5 ways that I have used to make it easy for readers to become subscribers:
1. Large RSS button/icon
2. Place the button above the fold on the blog (area visible when the blog loads)
3. Write an article explaining what RSS is and how it works
4. Place a call to action at the bottom of each article
5. Post regularly
I have only listed 5 so as not to overwhelm you with information. I may be wrong but when I see ‘top 35 ways…” it puts me off a little because that is a lot of information to take in. But also when you are listing that many items I think they can get a bit diluted, so I try to stay 10 or under and use what I feel are the most important ways.
So I’ve set up the case study blog using these methods, and hopefully they will help readers to see the benefits of subscribing to an RSS feed, and make it easy for them to do so. You may also notice that this blog uses these methods as well, although I haven’t managed to post as regularly as I would like recently. But it is all for nothing if I haven’t got readers or traffic coming to the blog in the first place. So that is the next job on the list!
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:RSS, the photographer blogHot Links 9!
This week in Hot Links:
Here is a fun way to see what level your blog is aiming for with readers, or in other words what is the reading level of your blog: The Blog Readability Test
This is a great post from Blogging Tips, and especially good if you are just starting a blog like I am. 75 websites you can submit your blog to! Although it may take me a while to get through!
Caroline Middlebrook is a blogger that I have followed since she started her blog. It’s a really good read and full of great information and strategies. But it’s her writing style that really stands out, conversational, honest and to the point. Like me she gave up her 9 - 5 to make her own path, and I respect how she has done it. It’s definitely one to follow as I have found myself doing.
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:blog readability test, blogging tipsWhat are my two most important plugins?
My main aim for The Photographer Blog is cultivating and fostering a community where photographers can talk about their love. And I aim to do that by attracting readers and building the RSS subscribers to the blog. Therefore the two most important plugins to to let me do this are Google Analytics and Feedburner Feedsmith.
Google Analytics
This will help me to track my visitors and let me see where they are coming from and which articles they like. So I can then choose the best traffic generation for the blog. Using this in conjunction with AWStats or Webalizer statistic packages will give me good information about my blog trends that I can use to help it grow further.
I have an account already so I can just add the new case study blog to the websites being tracked. It will give me a unique code to place on the blog on whichever pages I want. Then it will track my visitor’s, what they read, what they click, where they have come from and how long they stayed, plus more. It really gives a great insight into what my readers and visitors like and how I can make the blog better.
But it can be a bit messy placing code before the body tag on all the pages, so that’s why I use the google analytics plugin to make the process a lot easier. Once installed I put in the my unique id number and the plugin will read the code from google and place it automatically on all the pages of the blog. The only thing you have to remember is if you change your theme like I have done recently on this blog, then you need to move the code across in the templates or the tracking will not work. You can tell if it’s working and receiving data on the analytics site.
Feedburner Feedsmith
To build my RSS subscribers I first need to make it as easy as possible to subscribe to my feed. The first thing I want to sort out is my feedburner feed so visitors to the blog will be able to subscribe. So I went to my account on feedburner and burnt the new blogs feed, which just means entering my url and feedburner checks for it’s feeds and identifies them. Then you pick the feed you want because there can be more than one, I went with RSS 2.0. It then creates a feed url, and that is how my visitors will be able to subscribe to the blog.
Because there can be more than one feed and there are lots of ways to subscribe to a feed, it is best to use the feedburner feedsmith plugin and this will gather subscribers from any of the subscription methods and direct them to the right feed. It will also make the feed easier to find and more importantly subscribe to.
Then putting the orange RSS icon on the blog with the feedburner choice of subscribe options will make it easier for visitors to subscribe.
These are the first plugins to be installed onto the blog, so that the RSS subscription option is up and running straight away. What is the main aim for your blog? Which plugins would you install first?
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:Feedburner, feedburner feedsmith, google analyticsHot Links - Episode 8!
This week in hot links:
Decision time is upon us. It’s the final chance to join Blog Mastermind, it’s doors close today! Here are the free resources that Yaro has given out again, don’t miss out!
Video Case study - How to get more traffic to your blog
Sample Lesson - Marketing through conversations
I’ve been having a few problems with the Adsesne Deluxe plugin and getting it to work, so just in case anybody else is having the same problem, here is an alternative I have found: Adsense Manager.
And here’s a good article for finding out the latest and up to date news on Wordpress, which is always good to find out. Saying that I must remember to upgrade to 2.3.1 asap, I never knew they had a shop though! Find out more at Wordpress Wednesday News!
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:Blog Mastermind, Yaro StarakHow Can You Get More Traffic To Your Blog - Video Case Study
So how can you get more traffic to you blog?
“How To Get More Traffic To Your Blog - Video Case Study”
Because after all that is very high on most bloggers agenda. With the current interest in blogging you may find that niches are becoming more crowded. And while that is good for the readers with loads of great content to choose from. It makes our job as bloggers trying to promote our blogs a lot harder. So we need all the help we can get our hands on.
Traffic through networking
Well that’s how I feel, I think the best way to bring more visitors in is to get out there and introduce myself, and get to know other bloggers in my niche. When Blog Mastermind was released I was yearning for someone to show me the best way to go. I joined on the first day of it’s launch and it’s been great to see it grow, and become a great place to network and interact with other bloggers. There are hundreds of members now and that brings up loads of networking opportunities.
Traffic from links
Yaro has recently posted about the program outline for Blog Mastermind including lesson subjects and reviews of it from other bloggers. Now I wrote a post some time ago about what I thought of Blog Mastermind, and Yaro has linked to it in his article. Which just shows the power of review articles, because I now have a link from a top blogger who has well over 5,000 RSS readers a day! And hopefully it will attract more traffic, top bloggers linking to you is a great source of traffic and some may become regular readers or RSS subscribers.
Getting the help you need
Now you may be wondering why I am going on about this again? Well it’s because I feel that Blog Mastermind is that important, it has been to me. If we need all the help we can get, then I want to be taught the best methods and given support and help along the way. With real content in the course that I can use, and naturally to get my moneys worth out of it. Now that’s a fair old wish list but I feel I have received all that in Blog Mastermind, and it is giving me the best chance to build my blogs into successful sites with a stable income. Now that is help!
Free Video Case Study
Yaro has sent out another free resource from within the members area, showing how you can increase your blog traffic in a video case study of a members blog. Now that’s a great resource to read on it’s own with no obligation to join. Here it is:
Click Here for the Sample Video Case Study
That also goes for the free sample lesson from within Blog Mastermind that you can also read here.
Click here for the sample lesson
Taking the leap!
If you are interested in Blog Mastermind, remember that there are only 3 days until it’s doors close, on Monday 10th December 2007. Take this opportunity to look over the free resources and see what you think before the deadline.
Don’t forget the 30 day money back guarantee. If the doors do reopen in 2008 Yaro has said the price will undoubtedly go up.
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:Blog Mastermind, Mentor, Yaro StarakBlog Mastermind is Closing it’s Doors!
I have just had an email to let me know that Blog Mastermind will be closing it’s doors to new members on Monday 10th December 2007. Yaro has not said how long this will be for, it could be a while, so it’s time for a decision!
It is the only mentoring program for bloggers that I have heard of and I have been a member of the program since it opened on 21st June 2007. I have found it to be a brilliant resource and I have learned a huge amount. It’s also a great place to network and get to know other bloggers like yourself. My blogging now is unrecognizable from what it was when I started, and I am still learning more. This is one course that I would definitely recommend without hesitation.
But to be able to focus on the students already in the program Yaro has decided to close it to new members. So if you have been sitting on the fence waiting to see what happens, or if you have only just heard about it, then now is the time to take action.
Below you will find a link that has been sent to me by Yaro, and it will take you to a video and sample lesson (lesson 11) from Blog Mastermind itself. It will give you an inside look into the mentoring program and let you see if it is for you. Go and take a look and see what it is all about, this is a fantastic chance to take a look behind the scenes. Don’t forget only 5 days to go!
Click Here for the Blog Mastermind Sample Lesson
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:Blog Mastermind, Yaro StarakHot Links - Episode 7
This week in Hot Links:
I have been looking at the top commentator plugin this week. It displays the top commentators on the blog and links to them in the list. Which in turn encourages the bloggers to comment on your blog in the hope they will get a link. I only hope is that they comment because they like the blog or have something of value to add, rather than chasing a link!
Here’s a good article from Writing Career Coach called reaching more people with your blog.
This is a good article for a link post! I found it over at Your Website Profit: 5 reasons to share the link love.
Thanks
Mandy
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Site Search Tags:top comentator plugin
