I love ice cream. You could say I am an ice cream fan. One of the wonderful things about ice cream is the huge variety of styles and flavours. Something for everyone, right? Remind you of anything? From the title of this post you can guess I think blogs are a lot like ice cream. Loads of variety, something for every taste. Another way blogs are like ice cream, it is possible to like more than one, and swap and switch as the mood takes you. How does this idea, delicious though the … [Read more...]

Is blogging a good way to make money? It might surprise you, it might even disappoint you, but I don't recommend it. A friend is looking to make some money fast. His business is slow and needs to make up the shortfall. He asked about blogging, and I told him that wasn't the answer. I suggested he get a job instead. Me. A blogging advocate. OK, here comes the clarification. It depends on how much you need to make and how soon. Can you make a good income from blogging? Yes, it is … [Read more...]

What is a Blog Carnival? A Blog Carnival is a list of reader-submitted posts all on one theme. Sometimes a blogger will host the carnival on their own blog each time the carnival runs, other times the carnival will move from blog to blog and be hosted by another person each time. Why Take Part in a Blog Carnival? Blog Carnivals are a great way to meet the other bloggers in your niche, people who write about the same things you do. It is also seen as a way to get more exposure, links, comments … [Read more...]

As you might have already read, I find Scott Adams Dilbert Blog endlessly fascinating. I don't always agree with his "philosotainment" but it is always entertaining. In a recent post he told a story about how readers determine what your theme is ... Readers tell you what your comic is about, regardless of how many times you address a theme. Essentially he says no matter how many times you write about a certain topic, the subject that connects with your audience is what they will remember and … [Read more...]

A great discussion is happening over at the Authority Blogger Forum started by Khalid about leaving links in comments. Head over and leave your thoughts?Personally I agree with the excellent first answer by DazzlinDonna I would only leave a link in a comment if it was necessary - such as to prove a point, or people really need to get more information that only the link could provide. In other words, I'd have to feel it was essential to the conversation.I don't really like it when people drop … [Read more...]

Just lately I have been the target of some pretty clumsy linkbait attempts. A couple of readers prompted me to look at one particular blog where the author on three separate occasions (that we know of) has goaded me to react. First of all this makes me super grateful for my loyal readers. Not only did they notify me that this guy is trash-talking me, they also tried to stick up for me. This particular guy has been pressing buttons, questioning my motives, implying I take part in cliques, … [Read more...]

I just got back from a trip to Budapest to see the Hungarian Forumula 1 Grand Prix. While we probably imbibed rather more booze than is advisable we had a great time exploring a fascinating city and of course the excitement of watching our boy Lewis do the business in the race itself. What struck me most though was how friendly and interesting the people we met were. Despite our absolute lack of any other language but English, everyone we bumped into made conversation and not always about … [Read more...]

I was discussing blogging with a couple of marketers the other day and the inevitable "aren't blogs online diaries" comment surfaced. While I patiently explained the different types of blogs to those guys I realised many of us probably have some sort of cross-over between types and rarely consider what our dominant blogging style is. Then I thought, I could have a poll! Before you answer the poll, here are the types of blogger from my point of view, feel free to disagree in the comments … [Read more...]

What is the Summer Slump? The Summer Slump is a dip in attention and traffic. It affects many areas of life and business, not just blogging. Round about now our audience is thinking about vacations, slacking off, going to the beach, spending more time outside and less at their computers. The slump pretty much covers the whole of summer and only picks back up around September. Blogs are affected in many ways Less traffic Slower subscriber and link growth Fewer comments Lower … [Read more...]

A couple of people asked recently how I send those automated emails that thank people for commenting. The answer is quite simple, it is a fantastic plugin called Comment RelishComment relish is a Wordpress plugin developed to send an e-mail message to users who comment on your website who have never commented before.A simple and elegant solution!I first heard about it in a forum thread started by Ben Cook. He was having some trouble with the plugin but it has worked very well for me (so … [Read more...]