Archive for February, 2008

The Business Sense of Blogging

Feb 29, 2008 Blog Monetization, Blog Traffic, Blogging Tips

One of the easiest things to do, when you do decide to give it your best and quit your full time job to blog, is getting lost in the newfound “I have no boss!” feeling. But let me reign you back to the third rock from the sun for a while, and give you some tips on how to make it so you now don’t fail.

Here’s some of my quick tips and tricks for you.

Create a business plan, which includes step-by-step marketing ideas. This will be the blueprint for your business. Your blog is a business, so treat it like one!

Create a name of your business. On your site, always put contact information. Not only will potential joint venturists look for you, but also web site visitors.

Speaking about the name of your business, why don’t you make yourself official and get a business name. You can file directly online at www.irs.gov for a tax ID (or an employer identification number). Check with your state government to see how to file a fictitious business name, corporation, or other entity.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 38% [?]

Tags: , , ,

Add Flicker photos to your WordPress blogs with Photo Dropper

Feb 25, 2008 Layout/Design


Creative Commons License photo credit: F.d.W.

Adding photos to your blog posts can make a reader stay longer. However, looking for free photos to add on your posts is a hard task. Good thing there’s Photo Dropper, a WordPress plugin designed for easier integration of Flickr photos with Creative Commons license. It lets you choose pictures from millions of user uploaded photos in Flickr.

Download the plugin here.

Popularity: 88% [?]

Tags: , , ,

Overcome blogger’s block in 3 simple ways!

Feb 25, 2008 Blogging Tips

How to Overcome Writer's Block

Sometimes, we just run out of ideas on what to post on our blogs. Being a blogger myself, I’ve had several dose of those “blogger blocks” before. I write for 3 blogs (my main blog and health blog). Most of the time, I could only come up of a title but could not formulate the content that I always end up with more that 5 drafts stuck in my dashboard. See, writing is not that easy. Lately though, I found great ways to overcome blogger’s (or writer’s) block.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 50% [?]

Tags: ,

Things to Consider When Choosing Your Blog Host

Feb 21, 2008 Hosting and Domain

Looking for a good host for your blog can be a exhausting job. You need to compare every hosts you encounter.

I have experienced switching hosts. I first started with free hosts but lost everything in the end. My host either terminated my account (due to resource abuse, and yes without a warning) or they were terminated from their hosting accounts. See, some free hosts only have reseller accounts, which means they don’t have their own server.

Due to these incidences, I became meticulous in choosing my blog host. Losing your blog is one hell of a nightmare, especially if you already have an established blog i.e. you have already built your readership and obtained page rank.

Currently, I am hosted by WebHostingBuzz, and so far I am contented with their hosting. When I was host-hopping, I considered these things:

1. Price. This is one of the major considerations of a blogger looking for a host provider. Web hosting is like every product - an affordable one is most attractive. B2Evolution.net listed the top recommended budget hosts for the month of February.

2. Technical Support. A good technical support is one of the main reasons why a hosted member sticks to its current host. I usually get irritated when I didn’t get a reply to my support ticket within 24 hours, even if it’s set to “urgent”.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 57% [?]

Tags: , ,

10 Things You Need To Do Before Setting Up a Blog

Feb 16, 2008 Blogging Tips

Setting up a new blog is not as easy as everyone may think. Planning ahead is a vital step. You have to consider a lot of things - your blogging niche, layout, organization, minute but important pages like your about page, archives, contact page, etc.

So how do you plan ahead?

It’s simple! Draft everything. Setting up a blog is like writing a composition or essay. You have a rough draft first before you can arrive to your final work.

1. Look for a reliable hosting. By searching the web (use the keywords “top 10 webhosting”), you can find good reviews of the top web hosting companies. But prior, you have to decide how do you want your blog - self-hosted or freely hosted? Blogger and WordPress.com will give you a freely hosted blog. But if you are planning to be a dedicated blogger, it’s better to get a paid hosting account.

2. List and compare the domain registrars you are planning to register your domain with. An ICANN-accredited domain registrar is best recommended. Pricing can also be a factor in choosing a domain.

3. List the possible domains that may work with your website. It can be unique and reflective of your blog content.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 58% [?]

Tags: ,