Have you seen Jon's "Drunk on Your Own Words" post at Copyblogger? It's a good piece, go read it if you haven't already. After reading it I realized blogging has some things in common with drinking the booze: Inhibitions - For some of us blogging can strip away inhibitions. This could be in the way people deal with criticism or trolls, lashing out in a way they never would in real life, or it could be just the lack of self censorship. I have seen people say stuff in a blog that they would … [Read more...]

Over at the Authority Blogger Forum my friend and super forum moderator, Jen has started a great thread about freelance blogging rates. What would you charge for freelance blogging? As she says, while there is a lot of information out there about freelance blogging, the one thing people rarely talk about is how much you should get paid. While in the thread I say The reason I don't mention rates in posts is because what I see as normal rates might not be for the people reading. I know … [Read more...]

Would you believe I have a blogger doppelgänger out there? Yes, it's true, and cruelly he is both younger and better looking. Not only that, he is a skilled designer. Luckily for me I can redress the balance somewhat by trashing his new blog. But no! That last piece of evil revenge has also been snatched from me! His new blog is bloody good. Should I just give up now? :) The "other" Chris Garrett (I am Chris Garrett number 1, after all, I was here first!) has launched a blog called … [Read more...]

One of the Twitter personalities I have been following is Sam Freedom who found one day his account had been suspended. It turns out from support there are several reasons this happens, mainly: you've followed a large number of people in a short amount of time there is a small number of followers compared to number of people you're following the updates consist mainly of links and not personal updates a large number of users blocking the profile and writing in with spam complaints … [Read more...]

I think bloggers might be the most self-critical people I have ever met. In some cases monitoring our own progress can be a great thing, I expect we have all worked with people who we wish would have cared more about their own performance! But when we routinely beat ourselves up, something has to change. Look around the forums and blog posts of struggling bloggers. Have you noticed how many ways we compare and grade ourselves? Comment count How many Adsense dollars we make Do we … [Read more...]

I am by no means a wealthy man but I do enjoy living well, given the opportunity. Vezeo is a blog especially for people who have a passion for the finer things; international travel, food, restaurants, resorts, and either have the means or the aspirations to match.The blog is off to a good start with a très elegant minimalist design. In fact most of the visuals comes from a mixture of typography and photography. A good idea considering the target audience of mid-twenties and upwards movers … [Read more...]

What are your daily reads? Which feeds can you not do without? I have just been trimming back my feed reading after realizing yet again I was just trying to consume too much. Luckily my feed reader allows me to mark each feed with a star rating, allowing me to trim from the bottom. Also I have my feeds in folders, so I was able to delete a full folder of items I never read. Here below are my 5-star daily reads, exported, unedited, exactly as they are in my feed reader of choice, … [Read more...]

It's funny but whatever you do, there will always be people who misunderstand you. The more public you make yourself the more you will be misunderstood. In many ways it is our own fault, in different scenarios we wear masks to shield part of ourselves so we feel less vulnerable. Our "work mask", the persona we have when with our friends, and another when with family. I often joke that my life online has been an open book, but even then I know there are personal and private things I haven't … [Read more...]

Digg users are famously hostile. In fact you could say the internet in general has long had a reputation for being hostile. What can we do to avoid the worst? What can be done? This post will probably kiss away any chance of me getting on the Digg homepage again but such is life. I'm taking a break from my "Making Money" online business series to talk about this for two reasons. First I was discussing the issue with a couple of friends who had both been upset by nasty comments from Digg … [Read more...]

So was Blog Action Day a success? I feel like it was. My post got a warm response and there was a lot of buzz around the intarwebs. It seems though my comment about the topic getting folks hot under the collar was spot on. I had the worst day for unsubscribes ever! I have FeedBurner email me whenever anyone unsubscribes. Every so often I will email and ask why people left. Up to now I have had stinker posts that send people away, but it is usually when people get tired of getting a daily … [Read more...]