So I asked my buddy Kim yesterday if she would ask her readers why only 4% of them subscribe to her RSS feed. She has a devoted following, so we know it wasn't because they weren't interested in her blog. Hers is also a largely non-technical demographic, too, so I knew it would be revealing if we could get some comments out of them. Well, the comments are rolling in. You can follow the dialogue and ... Keep reading »
Nate from Moller Marketing writes in a comment... What's the best and easiest way to teach new bloggers to come back to your blog? ShoeMoney is the only blog I go to directly on a regular basis. For everyone else, it's "out of site, out of mind." That's why I make sure to subscribe to any blog that I find interesting, so that I'll remember to go back. Because of that, I think the best way to keep ... Keep reading »
On Monday, Shawn Collins gave some advice to someone just entering the Internet publishing world. One portion of that in particular stood out to me because it was something that was on my list to talk about: After you've posted five to ten times to your blog, check out the affiliate networks for some relevant offers to promote. Don't fixate on the EPCs - rather look for what is most relevant to you. Pick two to three merchants that ... Keep reading »
Who loves Google Reader? I do. And apparently I'm not alone. On Saturday, Feedburner started using its new Google-given ability to reflect the number of subscribers using Google Reader and the result was astounding. I saw my subscribers on Unmatched Style jump a whopping 50%, and other bloggers are reporting similar gains. Why does that matter to you? Well, since being a good neighbor is so important ... Keep reading »
Torie writes... i was just wondering if you had any cool free add ons that i could put on my blog to make it get more traffic. Hmmmm...free add-ons that lead to more traffic..let's talk that one through. "Widgets" (those cool little add-ons) are all the rage these days because they allow you to add some really cool functionality to your site with very little effort. Sites like Widgetbox list thousands of different widgets in a variety of categories, and ... Keep reading »
Yesterday morning, Deacon Barry wrote... I've got an account with blogrolling, and it says paste the appropriate code in your HTML, but it doesn't say where. I've got a rudimentary knowledge of HTML, so I've found where the code for the sidebar should be. It's not just the blogroll, there's things like banners and quizzes I'd like to include, but everybody seems to assume you know where to paste. I've even bought a couple of books on blogging, thinking ... Keep reading »
Hey, a big thanks to Adventures in Baby Fat who, as far as I know, was the first person I don't actually know to add me to their blogroll :) You've got an excellent blog going there. It looks great, and you're super funny too. Into my Google Reader list you go!
So WordPress 2.1 came out 17 days ago, and, as with any upgrade, the question is whether to apply it, and if so when. If you're hosting your own WordPress installation and are in that boat, I'm happy to be your guinea pig :) I upgraded about 30 minutes ago. Just backed up everything, deleted everything from the server, and then uploaded all the new files. Easy as pie; just took a little time to upload everything. ... Keep reading »
If a website promises you something in exchanging for doing "nothing more than" installing a toolbar, run far far away and don't look back. Toolbars are the devil's spawn and will cause you untold nightmares. You can't possibly have enough skepticism for someone who wants you to install their toolbar (or anything else, for that matter). Because of that, StumbleUpon was a very hard sell to me -- not only because they require you to install a toolbar ... Keep reading »
If you're interested in growing your blog, "Can I interview you?" is one of the best questions you can ask. Here's why. Think about how it would make you feel if someone asked you if they could interview you? That would be pretty cool, wouldn't it? It would make you feel pretty good, and you'd almost certainly agree. Plus, you'd meet someone interesting and build a connection with them. That's the first benefit. The second benefit is ... Keep reading »
.org