Archive for the Category »Branding «

We can spend hours and hours searching for tools which will make blogging easier for us, or we can ask other bloggers what they use and like.

Today I’m sharing five of my favorite blogging tools.

Today’s Lessonwoopra homepage image

Although I continue to compare statistical programs, my favorite stats tracker is Woopra.

I’ve been using Woopra for over two years now and thoroughly enjoy all it offers. As the photos show, it’s colorful and has loads of options.

For blogs and websites woopra options My Fave Fivewith under 30,000 pages views per month, it’s free. After that, an upgrade is required (rates start at $4.95 per month).

Some of Woopra’s features are:

  1. Live, real time tracking
  2. Real-time analytics
  3. Ability to manage multiple blogs
  4. Deep analytic and search capabilities
  5. Live chat
  6. Rich user interface

Woopra also offers a plugin so you can easily review your Woopra stats from your dashboard, plus they also provide a desktop application for Windows, Mac & Linux, which I highly recommend.

A good spam blocker is essential to blogging.

I use Akismet which is preloaded in WordPress, in conjunction with Bad Behavior. If you look at the footer of this blog, you’ll see how Bad Behavior stopped over three thousand spam comments in the last week before they reached my spam filter. How cool is that?

CommentLuv is my all time favorite plugin.

I like how it rewards those who comment by adding a link to their latest post. With a catchy sounding title, chances are others will click through and this added exposure can possibly increase your readership, as well.

Gravatars, or avatars are another blogging favorite of mine. I like how just by using a small photo helps to brand us in blogosphere as well as on social networking sites such as Twitter or Facebook. The power of avatars was proven when we played a guessing game in the “Who’s Who In Blogosphere” post.

LinkWithin is a new favorite of mine. The thumbnails it produces and displays at the end of each post adds a little bit of pizazz, plus may inspire our readers to dig deeper into our blogs. Since adding it to this site and The Blog Boutique, I’ve seen an increase in my page views.

So there you have it. My fave five.

How about you?

Today’s Assignment

What blogging tools, plugins, or widgets can’t you live without?

Care to Share?

signature for blog post.

You know those little pictures you see posted next to comments on blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites which identify the author?

Photo for blog9 Whos Who In Blogosphere

Me

Sometimes you’ll hear them called gravatars (globally recognized avatars), but many just say “avatars”.

I like to call them ADvatars since they “ad”vertise who we are.

In some ways they are like our calling card.

Since they brand us in blogosphere, it’s suggested we use the same image on all sites we frequent and that they represent how we want to be known, whether by our photo, our logo or an image which best represents us.

Today’s Lesson

Recognition online is very important.

So the questions become, “What is the best way to brand ourselves?”, and “How will others recognize us?” .

By our name? By the name of our blog? By our avatar? Or, all three?

To test what brands us the best in blogosphere, I’ve created a little game.

Listed below are three columns with the names of 20 random blog authors, the name of their blog, and their avatars.

I then scrambled each category.

To play, take time to study each list and see if you can match the author to their avatar and to the name of their blog.

Don’t cheat. Honest answers will help all of us to gain better recognition in blogosphere.

Ready to match them up?

Good Luck!

AUTHOR
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1) George
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2) Keith Davis
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3) Kelvin
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4) Mandy
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5) Hilary
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6) Tess
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7) Raul
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8.) Lisa
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9) Tony
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10) Joella
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11) Heather
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12) Linda
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13) Chania Girl
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14) Julie
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15) Wendi
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16) John Hoff
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17) Evelyn
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18) Friar
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19) J.D. Meier
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20) Lori Hoeck
BLOG NAME
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Practically Intuitive
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Alien Ghost
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Heather Villa
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WP Blog Host/Blog
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Trottersville
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Blogs With Wings
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Positive Letters
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Mandy Allen.com
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Sources Of Insight
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Tumblemoose
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Puppet Kaos
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Easy Public Speaking
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Living Happiness
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jbulie’s blog
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Think Like A Blackbelt
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Life’s Little Inspirations
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Abundance Tapestry
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The Bold Life
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Roses 2 Rainbows
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Deep Friar
AVATAR
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Today’s Assignment

How did you do?

How do you recognize  fellow bloggers? Is it by their name? The name of their blog? Or their avatar?

Care to share?

signature for blog post.

P.S. To repeat what I mentioned in an earlier post, for those of you who haven’t added an avatar/gravatar to your profile; it’s very easy. Refer to my post titled, “How To Get and/or Add A Gravatar to Your Post Comments”. If you have any questions of need help setting up your avatar, please feel free to ask.

Want more of the game? See: How Branding Works In Blogosphere and Are Domain Names Overrated?; earlier posts in which we matched other bloggers to their avatars.

Idc7 Blog Sex   Is It A Reader Turn Off? In advertising, it’s a known fact, sex sells.

Whether it’s an ad for food or drink, clothing, vehicles or nearly anything else, advertising agencies often incorporate an implied message such as “If you buy or use a specific product, you’ll be more popular, get the girl/guy or you’re love life will improve.

Some people buy into that, and when sales soar, they know their campaign is working.

Today’s Lesson

When advertising agencies are writing and designing ads, they normally target a specific demographic be it an age group or a gender. What they include in the ad will often reflect that.

When we start a blog and think about our target audience, we may also have a vision of who will be reading our blogs.

Mommy blogs are normally targeted toward other moms, and blogs about sports, vehicles or technology are generally targeted toward the male population.

By looking at the theme the author chooses for those types of blogs, there’s often undertones of masculinity or femininity.

But what about a blog with a topic that’s gender neutral?

Should the theme also be gender neutral or should it reflect the sex of the author?

If it’s not gender neutral, can the theme or what a blog author chooses to display, discourage readership?

Today’s Assignment

What’s the sex of your theme?

What does it say about you?

If a theme is too girly or masculine, does it discourage you from reading or commenting?

signature for blog post.

In November of 2008 I wrote a post titled Are Domain Names Over Rated which included a fun “test” where the readers were asked to match the blog name, the name of the author and their avatar (or gravatar -globally recognized avatar).

It was an experiment to find out if it is our name, our avatar or the name of our blog which helps to brand us in blogosphere. From the comments received on the post, it appears our avatars may hold the most weight.

I’ve also read for proper online branding, we should use the same photo or avatar on all sites we frequent, such as blogs, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Facebook, etc.

Since everyone had so much fun with that experiment, I’ve decided to repeat it; this time with a set of different bloggers.

The goal is to match author with their blog name and their avatar.

Just as I did in the previous post, I’ve listed random blog authors, the name of their blog, and their avatars.

I then mixed up each category.

Take time to study each list.

Let’s get started.

BLOG AUTHOR
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1) Jay
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2) Mike
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3) Patricia
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4) Patty
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5) Keith
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6) Zeenat
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7) Karen
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8.) Jodi
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9) Sara
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10) Evita
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11) Julie
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12) Carla
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13) Nadia
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14) Dot
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15) Amanda
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16) Walter
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17) Kathy
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18) Lori
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19) Jan
BLOG NAME
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Evolving Wellness
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Positive Provocations
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A Beautiful Distraction
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Lionslinger
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A Sharing Connection
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Random Meanderings
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Think for Money
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Happy Lotus
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Deeper Issues
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Exit 78
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Porsidan
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Patricia’s Wisdom
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Green and Chic
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The Junk Drawer
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Look Far
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Joy Discovered
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Why Not Start Now
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Jane Be Nimble
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Writing To Exhale
AVATAR

ladybug avatar

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

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 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

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 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

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 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

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 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere

Today’s Assignment

How did you do?

How do you recognize a fellow blogger? By their name? The name of their blog? Or their avatar?

Did you find any bloggers you haven’t visited?

P.S. For those of you who haven’t added an avatar/gravatar to your profile yet, it’s very easy. Refer to my post titled, “How To Get and/or Add A Gravatar to Your Post Comments”. If you have any questions of need help setting up your avatar, please feel free to ask.

 How Branding Works In Blogosphere
Note: Although it’s recommended, it is not necessary to use a personal photo as an avatar. For the first 18 months of blogging I used this avatar (see right) to build my brand.

signature for blog post.

P.S.S. Not sure who all of these bloggers are? Just click on the blog link or the avatar to check out their awesome blogs.

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