Archive for » January, 2008 «

24
Jan
Can Feng Shui Improve Your Blog
Barbara Swafford

I’ve read several books about Feng Shui, (pronounced “fung shway”) and how it can affect the Yin and Yang in your home.

For those who haven’t heard of Feng Shui, (literal translation is wind and water) it is an ancient (5000 years old) Chinese philosophy that deals mostly with understanding relationships between nature and ourselves. Bu using it, we may find more harmony in our lives/homes, by examining how qi or ch’i (chee), (energy) flows through it.

I recently got to thinking, if Feng Shui can affect our homes, could Feng Shui also be applied to a blog?

Today’s Lesson

I wanted to see what the experts claim are the basics of Feng Shui. I found a site named:Chart Planet.com where they list the following seven points to basic Feng Shui, “General Home Care”.

They are:

1. Make your home a welcoming place for guests, especially if you don’t have many guests and want to attract some.

2. Pay special attention to your front door. The condition of your entrance tells your guests if they’re welcome or unwelcome.

3. Let light flow to every place in your home. This welcomes positive ch’i into your life.

4. Fresh air bears positive ch’i. Welcome it into your home every day.

5. Live plants and flowers attract positive ch’i. Put some in every room.

6. Don’t allow your house to become cluttered – not even one room in it. A cluttered home means a cluttered, stagnated life.

7. Treat your home as if it is your ideal self. If you live in the ideal environment for you, your life will become more ideal.

If you were to replace the word “home”, with the word “blog”, and “front door” with “home page”, in the above blockquote, it begins to make you think.

Personally, I know how clutter (#6) affects my concentration and attitude. If I have too much clutter around me, I begin to get irritable. If I declutter, my outlook changes, almost immediately.

Although some call Feng Shui a pseudoscience, believers claim it can create a more harmonious home, aid in better sleep, encourage wealth to “enter your life”, and even help in your personal relationships.

Often you will read, by not using Feng Shui, negativity could result, and good health and/or wealth may elude you.

Not to sound like I believe in superstition ( I generally don’t), I did start analyzing both of my blogs. I looked at my homepage to see if it’s welcoming, uncluttered, and an ideal environment for me.

Hmmm! After decluttering a bit, I think I’m beginning to feel more positive ch’i. :roll:

If you have never studied Feng Shui, it is an interesting concept. Thousands of home owners and businesses practice Feng Shui, but whether it works or not, that’s up to you to decide.

Even if Feng Shui were to be classified as “snake oil”, the above seven points may be worth practicing…..not only with your home, but with a blog.

Today’s Assignment

Read the above seven points.

Apply each one to your blog.

Could your blog use a little Feng Shui?

Have you visited other blogs that don’t have positive ch’i?

Or….do you think Feng Shui is just hocus pocus?

Category: Archives, Blog Maintenance, Blogging Lessons  Tags:  10 Comments
23
Jan
Comment Luv Plugin Increases Traffic
Barbara Swafford

Recently, I noticed that Catherine, had added a new plugin to her great business blog.

It is called “Comment Luv”

The Comment Luv plugin, when activated, inserts a link to your most recent post, when you leave a comment on a blog that has the CommentLuv plugin activated.

Today’s Lesson

I have been analyzing the CommentLuv plugin to determine if it will, indeed, bring traffic to my blog,

Based on my stats, since Catherine activated it on her blog, I am seeing my referral traffic, from Catherine’s site, increase.

Here’s how the plugin works:

1) I leave a comment on Catherine’s blog.

2) I check the box that reads “enable CommentLuv” (if it’s not already checked)

3) After I hit “submit” or “submit comment”, a link is created, at the bottom of my comment, to the most recent post I have published.

4) Readers of Catherine’s blog comments, can click on the link, and come and visit my blog.

It doesn’t get much easier than that.

But….it gets even better.

Here’s another example.

Let’s say that you publish a new post every day. And…….being the loyal visitor that you are, you visit and comment on my blog posts every day. For each day you comment, a different link is created. On Monday, the link is to the post you published on Monday, on Tuesday, the link under your comment is to the post you published on Tuesday, and so on……..

How cool is that?

That, to me, is a priceless way of letting others know about your new posts.

Even Google may not update your site that quickly.

The CommentLuv plugin, is a real keeper.

Since we have been learning about the importance of commenting. over the past two days, the Comment Luv plugin becomes the icing on the cake.

Think about this: This plugin is a win-win.

Blog authors may see an upsurge of comments, and commenters should see an increase of referral traffic to their blogs.

Having seen the results of this plugin, I now have it activated on my blog.

Leave a comment, and see it in action, for yourself.

Thank you Catherine, for introducing me to this great plugin!

Today’s Assignment

Follow this link to the Comment Luv plugin. CommentLuv Plugin

Follow the instructions, and download it for use on your blog.

For this plugin, we will thank the creator: Andy Bailey

Great job, Andy!

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Comments, Increase Traffic, Plugins and Widgets  Tags: , ,  211 Comments
22
Jan
Wanted: New Bloggers Who Want More Traffic
Barbara Swafford

I’m on a hunt for new bloggers. It doesn’t matter what your call yourselves….newbie bloggers, nubes, first time, infant, virgin, etc….. I have a proposition for you.

Here’s my situation:

I have a full time job and am blogging, what could be called part time, however, my time spent on blogging is steadily increasing.

Today’s Lesson

If you happened to read yesterday’s post, titled:“New Blogger Begins To Feel Like An Abandoned Dog”, you will know, I am on a mission to find new bloggers. However, I can’t do this alone. I need your help.

I need you, to help me, find you.

As a new blogger, you want to “be found”

The biggest tip I can share with new bloggers is:

Leave comments on other blogs!

I cannot stress this enough.

By leaving a comment, you are also leaving a link back to you.

It is through that link, others will find you.

Visiting, and leaving comments on other blogs, must become part of your blogging routine.

If you leave a comment on my blog, I promise to visit your blog.

Some of my other visitors will also come and visit you.

Please use this opportunity to help your new blog “get found”.

BTW: I have found my “blogger of the week” Her name is Natasha, and her blog is Natasha’s World

I have created an area at the top of my sidebar. It reads, “New Blog Of The Week”. Every Tuesday, you will see a new blog highlighted. The blog will hold the spot of “New Blog of the Week, for seven days. Please visit these new blogs, leave a comment, and remember to share words of encouragement.

Even if you do not choose to visit these new blogs on a regular basis, I’m asking my loyal readers to pay the “new blogger of the week”, one visit.

And, to my “new blogger of the week”, remember to provide my readers with fresh content, on a regular basis.

To all of you, I say thank you, in advance.

Today’s Assignment

If you are not sure how to leave a comment on this blog, I will tell you, step by step.

If you know all about how commenting works, feel free to skip this assignment, and start commenting. :)

1) At the bottom of this post (article), is a comment section

2) Type in your name…it doesn’t have to be your full name, just the name you want to be known by, in cyberspace. I, and most of my commenters use their first name.

3) It will then ask for your email address…enter that.

4) Here’s the important part. It will ask for your website address. Type carefully

Type in: http://yourblogname.com. For mine, I type in http://bloggingwithoutablog.com

This is what creates a link back to you. After your comment is approved/posted, we can click on your name, and that will send us to your blog.

In the comment area, leave me a comment.

I don’t care if you just say, “Hi, Come and see my new blog.”

If you want to say more, please feel free to do so.

When you are satisfied with your typed comment, hit “submit”, and the comment will be sent to my “comment area” for moderation.

If it looks like you are operating a legitimate blog, I will approve your comment, and you can view it under the corresponding post.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to leave comments on other blogs. This will not only help you to grow your blog, but you will also meet great people in cyberspace.

It may sound like a daunting task, but in the end, it will pay off.

By the way, if you don’t want to leave a comment here, use this practice to visit other blogs.

Hint: Remember, if you are reading comments on other blogs, and are curious about, or like what the commenter said, if you click on the name of the commenter, you will be redirected to their blog. It’s that easy.

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Comments, Increase Traffic, New Blog Of The Week, New To Blogging  Tags: , ,  18 Comments
21
Jan
New Blogger Begins To Feel Like An Abandoned Dog
Barbara Swafford

If you’re a new blogger, you may start researching blogging, and think to yourself,

“I don’t stand a chance”.

“There are so many great blogs out there.”

“Others write better than I do.”

“No one is visiting my blog”

“There is so much to learn about blogging, I’ll never totally understand it all.”

“Then, I just read on Techonorati :

The World Live Web is incredibly active, and according to Technorati data, there are over 175,000 new blogs (that’s just blogs) every day. Bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second.

“It’s just too overwhelming”

” I will never find my place in the world of blogging”

Today’s Lesson

This scenario reminds me of an abandoned dog, that showed up on our job site.

We would show up for work, and she would be laying under our large excavator. With matted fur, and signs of malnutrition, she was starving, not only for food, but for affection. The crew would share their lunches with her, and at days end, she was no where to be seen. We assumed she went “home”.

But as the days passed, she began staying on the job site…never leaving. Signs of an infection in her mouth, alarmed us.

Without a collar, she had no name. The humane society and local newspaper confirmed, no one was looking for her. She was homeless.

Undoubtedly, she was in pain. We took her to our family vet. It was confirmed that not only did she have a bad infection, she had cataracts in both eyes, her hearing was minimal, she would need hundreds of dollars of dental work done, plus, it was obvious to the vet, she had been terribly abused by a previous owner. We also assume she was disciplined with a shock collar, as she did not bark.

Fast forward…

We adopted her. Soon she was on the mend, gaining weight, and becoming playful.

We named her “Lucky” – a name suitable, for two reasons. 1) We felt lucky that we were able to save her, and 2) She was lucky to have made it so far in life, based on her circumstances and perseverance (the vet guesses she is about 12 years old).

She has not only become a part of our family, but she also found a place in our hearts

When we start blogging, we may feel like Lucky might have.

We go visit other blogs, and hang out.

We have a (domain) name, but no one knows it.

Our eyes are blind to the chances that await us

Our ears are open, but the silence is deafening.

We hope someone will show us some attention, and come and visit our blog.

We dine on a scrap of one or two of comments, hoping there’s more where that came from.

We sniff out a master (mentor), who will hopefully help us avoid being sucked into a void of no traffic.

And then we find hope.

Hope in the form of fellow bloggers.

Bloggers who will stroke the fur of our egos, and fill the dishes of our comment section.

And then we’re happy.

We came home.

Home to blogosphere.

Today’s Assignment

To all bloggers. Let’s give the new bloggers a chance.

Join me on a mission.

Let’s all visit one new blog each week, and leave a comment.

Search the comment sections of your favorite blogs, or go online, and find a new blog you can identify with. I’m going to attempt to find ones that are less than 2 months old.

It may take a few tries.

Let’s not abandon the new bloggers.

Remember, you were once a new blogger too.

I will be posting a link to the new blogger I find, in a post, each week.

And….to the brand new bloggers, I have an assignment for you, too.

Your lesson will be posted tomorrow. :)

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, New To Blogging  Tags: , ,  22 Comments
18
Jan
Wife Sues Husband’s Blog For Alienation of Affection
Barbara Swafford

If you have had a blog for any length of time, you may begin to feel like you and your blog, have become joined in cyberspace matrimony.

In one sense, you may feel like you are married to your blog.

New bloggers..be forewarned, this could happen to you.

Today’s Lesson

Picture this scenario: A wife is distraught because her husband has become a blogaholic. She blames it all on the blog, and attempts to sue the blog,for alienation of affection.

In court, the questions to the husband, go something like this:

Do you check your blog stats before saying “Good Morning” to your children and/or wife?

Do you get out of bed in the middle of the night to work on your blog?

Do you close the door to your “room”, so you can spend one on one time with your blog?

Do you check on your blog via any type of telecommunications device that’s available, many times a day?

Do you take your blog with you, where ever you go, via laptop/notebook?

Do you check on your blog, one last time, before retiring for the night?

Do you find yourself checking your blog, in between your normal work/home duties…maybe sneaking in a comment or two on a friend’s blog

Have you claimed “I have a headache”, only to retire to your office to post to your blog?

Do you feel such an urgency to answer comments on your blog, that other duties, or family members, become less important?

Do you give others your blog address (URL), before you introduce them to your wife?

Do you show others your blog stats, but don’t have any pictures of your wife?

The husband answers “yes” to all questions.

The judge rules in favor of the wife.

She gains control of all of the blog’s proceeds.

Today’s Assignment

Have you been reading this, and answering yes to some of the questions?

Do you think you are becoming a blogaholic?

Did you remember, blogging is a hobby? Not to be confused with living life

Is it time for an intervention?

As much as a blog can become like a lifetime partner, don’t forget to take time off from blogging, and reconnect with friends and family.

In life, that’s what really matters.

I’m off until Monday, …..except for answering comments…………, and maybe visiting a blog, or two…..and maybe I’ll start a post…… :roll:

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Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Life  Tags:  9 Comments
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