In the comment section, both Wendi of Life’s Little Inspirations and Jennifer of Down To Earth Girl had questions regarding avatars (also know as gravatars).

Wendi, who uses her photograph, asked:

…But as time goes by, we all change and age…do I keep that picture forever? Just because it is my Brand now?

I can just see me at age 65 with that same picture out there…lol…

” MY Wendi, you are looking GOOD!”

Jennifer (Danifer) who uses a graphic for her avatar, went on to add:

…To touch upon what Wendi Kelly said, do you think that if someone changed along the way, that it would throw people off? Or ruin their chances of being identified by those that knew them before? What would be the best way to let everyone know, “Hey, I have a new Avatar - check it out!”?

Having promised the girls we would discuss this further, I’m throwing it out to you.

Today’s Assignment

What do you think? Should we change our avatars as we change/age?

When we do, should be announce it?

Would changing an avatar reduce our online presence or affect our branding?

With this blog being about blogging and many of you asking questions in the comment section, I’ve decided to add this new series named “You Asked For It”. I’ll be taking random questions out of the comment section and throwing the questions out to you, the readers. By doing so, we can better help each other, and the blogger(s) asking the question will have more choices to choose from when determining what will best work for them.

I’m hoping this series becomes a great resource for you, the readers of BWAB.

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Have you ever said you would like to be a problogger? You know, quit that job for “the man”, blog for a living, only have yourself to answer to and watch the dollars roll in?

I have.

It sounds like a great job. You can pick your own hours. In fact, with a laptop and Wifi you can blog from almost anywhere in the world. You could even blog in your pajamas. Sweet!

I’m sure many of you know who Lorelle VanFossen is. She’s a problogger. She authors three blogs including “Lorelle on WordPress”, writes for other blogs, is on the Woopra team, teaches/speaks at WordPress WordCamp conferences, authored the book“Blogging Tips -What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging”, plus works with schools, businesses and non-profits as a consultant and teacher. She also travels a lot. Within a short period of time she was in Dallas, Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Portland Oregon, and Hawaii.

Sounds glamorous, doesn’t it?

Today’s Lesson

The other day I visited Lorelles’ blog and read her post titled “Blog Struggles: I Just Need Two Seconds Of Your Time”.

In this post she describes a typical day in her life. In the second paragraph she says,

My day begins at five in the morning. I used to make time for exercise but more and more my work life creeps into those precious hours of the morning as email, Twitter, Facebook, and all my blog responsibilities demand more and more of my time.

She then goes on to say,

Even as I write this, the guilt of 150 emails still waiting in my inbox, 16 comments that still need an answer, and 6 messages on my voice mail nags me - not to mention the thirty-plus posts I have to publish every week that are slowly getting more and more behind as I feel like I’m chasing my tail.

When we think of blogging professionally it’s often common to only look at the good part. You know, the travels, the notoriety and the money. We don’t look and sometimes don’t know, or see, what goes on behind the scenes. We don’t realize just like other self employed people, the problogger job stays with them 24/7. We don’t see the demands on their time. Nor do we realize how accountable they must be to their audience. Much is expected of a problogger, and even though the fame, fortune and travels look glamorous, when we calculate their hourly wage, they may be making much less than if they worked for “the man”.

After reading Lorelle’s words, I began to wonder. If a person is a problogger, can there be a happy medium? Can you “have it all” and not have to sacrifice the important things in life? And if you do, can you really reach your full potential as a problogger?

Today’s Assignment

Would you like to be a problogger?

Have you thought of the responsibilities it entails?

Can you think of ways a problogger could find balance between work and their life?

Since I’m rethinking if I really want to go the problogger route, your answers are important to me. Please feel free to share.

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P.S. When I interviewed Lorelle in July (2008) she shared tons of knowledge. The interview resulted in a nine part series which is recapped in the following post; Interview With Lorelle VanFossen, A Recap Plus A Bonus. Each part is well worth reading.

Photo Credit: Scott Ableman

It’s these negative emotions that can reek havoc on us, our daily lives and our creativity.

Today’s Lesson

When we read/see another blog or blog author that’s growing fast and gaining recognition in blogosphere, our first thought may be, “How is it they and/or their blog is growing so much faster than me/mine?”

Our first reaction may be to jump to conclusions. Negative feelings surface. We may become angry. Maybe we begin to feel “less than”. We may even let those feelings overpower us, get discouraged and just give up.

That doesn’t have to happen. In every life experience is a lesson. Instead of using that jealousy to ignite anger or hatred, we can use it to our advantage. Let’s study the other blog(s) and determine how it, and the author, are different from us and ours.

Listed below are some questions we can ask ourselves. Answering each one honestly can often disclose the truth.

1) Is their niche more popular than ours? Or, are we in an already crowed niche?

2) Is the blog author using SEO (search engine optimization) in their posts?

3) Do they have a “plan”? How much homework did they do prior to starting their blog

4) What is their presence in blogosphere? Are they actively commenting on other blogs? Using social media to their advantage? Joining blog carnivals? Twittering? Joining online forums?

5) How much time do they dedicate to blogging?

6) How aggressive are they in asking for Stumbles or Diggs ? (often landing them on the front page)

7) What is their knowledge of technology and blogging terminology?

8.) How self confident are they in submitting guest posts to bigger named blogs

9) Is their writing better than ours? What is their writing experience?

10) Have they hired a blog consultant?

11) How long have they been blogging?

12) Are they getting more inbound links than us, thus increasing their page rank and/or Alexa rating?

13) Is their site more professional looking than ours, and/or easier to navigate.

14) How consistently do they blog?

15) How do they project their personality in blogosphere? Do they appear authentic and genuine?

16) Do they answer the comments on their blog and make their visitors feel welcome?

17) Do they respect other peoples opinions?

18) Do they give credit where credit is due and link out to other blogs?

19) Are they looking as their blog as a “business”? A stepping stone to bigger and better things? Or are they treating it as a hobby?

It’s when we weigh the differences, we begin to understand why some blogs/bloggers succeed faster than others. In truth, when the answers are revealed, in most cases they have earned their spot in blogosphere and for that, they should be congratulated.

Today’s Assignment

Do you see other blogs that are doing better than yours and ask “Why”?

Do jealousy and envy enter the picture?

How do you explain those feelings to yourself?

By sharing your answer, others can benefit. I’m anxious to hear your thoughts.

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Photo Credit: TravelJunkieoz’s photostream

I can’t remember exactly how I found this blog, but from the very start, I knew I would like it. How could I not. This New Blog Of The Week (NBOTW) author has written about my home state of Michigan and another favorite; Alaska.

Depending on when you’ve landed on this blog, will determine what you’ll read. Some posts like “Seward” will share the history of a small town in Alaska, along with pictures.

But, if you land on a “Compass”, the author(s) gets you to think right from the beginning.

“How do we get to who we want to be? What are the precision points in our compass? When directions compete, how do we prioritize?

It goes on to say (in part):

Much of our prioritization comes from a basic need for approval. We want to emulate those we admire and we want them to admire us in return. Earliest, this would be our parents. Later, we turn to our peers, moving away from the influences in our home and traveling in the outside world. Suddenly, too, we proclaim that “we’re different.” But we take care not to be too different. While we might not want to conform, there generally is a sameness to our non-conformity!

In the post titled, “Proceeds”, the author(s) shares how words have always been a part of their life and why they chose to start a blog,

We wanted to eventually be free to travel and work at our own ventures. We didn’t want to be dependent upon single-source income, especially in recessionary times. We decided to begin this blog to document our journeys - posting about ourselves, our travels, our plans and experiences. And we looked around to see what else there might be. We knew we’d be embarking together, but what we didn’t know was how frequently we’d encounter others who had reached similar conclusions and had begun working on like-minded goals.

The words resonate with many. In fact, if you’ve been on this blog, you’ve probably subscribed. For those who haven’t found it it, the time to introduce it is now. The name of the blog is “Passing Thru”, and is authored by Betsy and Pete.

With a tag line that reads “a repository of thoughts, photographs, and observations from wherever we find ourselves”, you know you’re in for a special treat.

Please join me in re-welcoming Betsy and Pete to the BWAB community.

Hello again, my friends.

Enjoy your reign.

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If you were to ask me, I’d say blogging is still in it’s infancy and has the ability to change how we receive/transmit news and information that’s important to us.

But, what about those who have been blogging for years? What is their thought on the future of blogging? When I interviewed Darren Rowse, author of Problogger and co-author of ProBlogger: Secrets Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income for my A.S.K. (Answers Sharing Knowledge) series, I wanted to know what he thinks and my question was:

I’ve asked Lorelle (of Lorelle on WordPress), and I’ll ask you. What do you see for the future of blogging? How will it change, and what’s the best way for a new blogger to stay abreast?

Darren answered

Blogging continues to merge with other types of sites. We’re seeing more and more bloggers start forums, add social networks, experiment with microblogging (Twitter) etc. I think this will continue to happen.

This can be a bit daunting for some new bloggers but I think my main advice would be for them to start now and to blog prolifically. You can always expand your blog later - the key is to get your foot in the door, build a readership and learn how to use the basic technologies.

Reflecting On The Answer

Darren, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to participate in this series and share your answer.

When I reread Darren’s answer, and Lorelle’s answer (in my interview with her) I am hopeful. Although blogging is changing, as Darren shared “the key is to get your foot in the door”.

Today’s Assignment

Are you happy you got into blogging when you did?

Knowing what you know now, do you wish you had started earlier?

What do you see as the future for blogging?

Please feel free to share your viewpoint in the comment section.

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A.S.K. Darren Rowse of Problogger - How Do We Increase Our Readership
A.S.K. Andy Bailey - What Was The Inspiration Behind The CommentLuv Plugin
A.S.K. Liz Strauss - How Do You Inspire Readers To Join Your Community
A.S.K. Liz Strauss - How To Format Blog Comments To Maximize Comments