Blogging - Whats It All About

A blog is a web page that contains brief, discrete hunks of information called posts. These posts are arranged in reverse-chronological order (the most recent come first) and each is uniquely identified by an anchor tag which is marked with a permanent link that can be referred to by others who wish to link to it.

A blog is a means of communication and there are many different types of messages carried by blogs. Some are nothing but pointers to other web sites, while others run long essays, some are personal diaries, others feature technology, and some are edited by one person, others by teams. There are hundreds of thousands of blogs on the Internet, and new blogs are created every day. Can anybody and more importantly can you blog? Yes, there are bloggers of all types, equipped with all levels of technical skills. Bloggers approach their sites with as much variety and passion as the general Net public approaches the Web itself.

The most commonly used blogging tool is Blogger. It requires the least amount of commitment in time or resources, allowing you to go from wanting a blog to having one in about five minutes and at no cost. The Blogger software is the property of Pyra Labs (www.pyra.com). Blogger is often credited as the reason for the explosion of blogging that's occurred in the last couple of years. It is a web-based tool, requiring no installation of software on your personal computer or on your server if you happen to have a web site. You access the tool through the Blogger web site (http://blogger.com) and the blog pages are posted to your web site or to Pyra's BlogSpot (http://blogspot.com) community blog server.

For more detailed information on this see O'Reilly's Essential Blogging.

Re-read anything before you publish. Electronic text can expose unintended meaning easily and it will also make what you say a lot more focused. If nothing else, it should help you catch spelling mistakes! Blogging is a way to share your opinions and thoughts to the rest of the world. If you post interesting things, share links with other bloggers and post comments on other blogs. Linking is the way of the Web that is the key of successful blogging.

In order to keep your blogs really fresh, invite a group of your friends / colleagues and give them blogging access. That way you will have several reporters blogging information and you won't end up killing yourself, trying to keep your blog populated with good information. If you use Blogger, upgrade to Blogger Pro. You can have your team post to the blog from email, create and syndicate your blog as an RSS feed, and a whole lot more! Adding the ability to post comments on your blog extends interactivity and usefulness to the blog itself.

Blogs are about community and information, and commenting is a real way to gauge your viewer's blogging efforts. Blogging is one of the quickest ways to update your site. Syndicating others' blogs into your own site is another. There is a wealth of information out there - just tap into it!

This article was written by Inka-Maria Kunz, CEO of a flourishing multilingual translations agency with offices in Germany and New Zealand.

This article may be printed or used in its entirety with full author contacts and details. For more information, translations or purchases of a new website/e-business, contact the author thru the official website http://www.linguatransl.co.nz or the blog http://www.linguatransl.blogspot.com

What Is RSS?

Recently I did an interview with a well known email Internet Marketer. He wanted to share with his readers a viewpoint on what RSS is from someone who is using it in place of traditional email marketing. Of course this interview was geared towards other Internet marketers so they all somewhat "get" what RSS is, at least in theory.
So, what IS RSS? Again, I find myself laughing, as I did in that interview because I'm fairly new to this RSS business myself. RSS is really an acronym for REALLY SIMPLE SYNDICATION - well at least that's ONE definition and the one I tend to use. Many people have heard the word syndication tossed around in other media venues, but not when it comes to the Internet until recently. Although RSS has been around for quite some time, it is finally coming into the mainstream like a snowball rolling downhill growing and gathering momentum.
Why? And really, what is RSS? First of all everyone who uses the Internet either in business, personal use, or both, have all come into contact with spam, viruses, spam laws, and heard a lot about it in the media. This whole mess has been extremely frustrating to those who make a living using the Internet, especially by direct email marketing methods. A lot of "fixes" have been tried and are being implemented to try and combat the ever growing frustration and hassle associated with delivering email newsletters to subscribers. This is where the "why" comes into play with RSS. Before I tell you what RSS is, let me explain a bit about email newsletter marketing.
Normally an email newsletter is sent out to a "list" by those who have supposedly opted in, or requested, to receive that newsletter. In fact, most list managers now require double opt-in. "Double opt-in" is just a way of saying you signed up for the newsletter, then received an email asking you to "verify" your subscription - the sender wants to make doubly certain you are the one who signed up for that newsletter. You were sent the verification email by an "autoresponder". An autoresponder is an automatic email sent to you by a service the sender uses and pays for to handle verification and other responses to subscribers. That is done to alleviate having to send out a personal email to every single subscriber which could become extremely tedious and time-consuming otherwise.
Still problems persist, because after all of that many subscribers still "forget" they signed up and file spam complaints, which can lead to investigations, IP bans and even shutdown and confiscation of all related lists, websites and software. Granted, there are some mass-mailers out there who deserve this, but the typical newsletter publisher is trying to deliver helpful, desired content and guards their list very carefully. If you're fortunate enough to get your newsletter through to your subscribers, what happens then? Well, typically, once a subscriber receives your newsletter, they read it and then naturally delete it once they're done reading it. So, you, the email marketer and publisher have gone to all the trouble to put together a newsletter, comply with the spam laws, etc., only to have your hard work deleted all the while dealing with spam issues, paying for list management services and/or paying for autoresponder service.
A much better, more viral method of online marketing can be done with an RSS feed. Let me explain that in terms that we can all understand (me included!):
Whenever we watch a television series, that series is called syndicated programming. The series is produced once, filmed once, and then put out to all the subsidiary stations across the country airing on the same day at the same time according to each time zone. So, the work is done once but duplicated all across the nation on hundreds of affiliate television stations.
RSS on the Internet works on the same concept. You input the "work" once, and every single website that carries your syndication code then receives the information you just input once. As you update your feeds those feeds are automatically updated on every single website that has your syndication code. Another upside to this is that your news does not get deleted by the reader - only you can delete it! Another plus is every website that carries your code gets regular content provided whenever you update your feed automatically. This all keeps those hungry search engines happy too.
So, you provide the content you want to market to your subscribers by providing them the links to your RSS feed from your website, meaning you don't have to send that out by email either. You can have your code posted on your website for anyone to read, and also offer it to webmasters to input into the websites they manage. No link swapping is necessary in this case either as links are not viral like syndication code. It's the difference between offering someone a Lear jet in place of a horse. It's much better to offer your syndication code in a "swap".
So, now you've avoided the spam hassle because anyone reading your feed is doing so willingly and you have not sent them anything by email so no subscription is necessary. You are providing content so not only are your readers happy, your website is happy, other webmasters are happy because you're providing consistent content without them doing a thing, and you've only done the work ONCE! No one is deleting any of your work, except you if you choose. Your work is also staying on the Internet forever. The search engines are way happy too!
So, before you start that email newsletter campaign, why not consider an RSS feed instead? It can be a much more dynamic option for you!
Kim Bloomer publishes several RSS channels using the Quikonnex system. She partners with another Quikonnex publisher, Cathy Carlton, in their Kick the Email Habit channel, where they offer syndicated online marketing services, channel building and management services, and recently opened a new RSS article bank to help others take advantage of the ease of syndicating and sharing RSS based content. Kim and Cathy built and manage the International Virtual Women's Chamber of Commerce (IVWCC) RSS channel. For more details on what she does and to subscribe to her RSS channels go to http://KimBloomer.com

Blogging for Dollars

Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show or some new drinking game, but it's the latest craze to hit the Internet. Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off.
Whether a blogger's focus is to communicate with customers or just to have fun, they have begun looking at ways to earn revenue from their blogs. The most popular ways for bloggers to earn some added cash for their pet projects are:
1. ) Google Adsense in Blogs Google AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content-relevant advertisements in blogs. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the blog, the website owner is credited for the referral. Webmasters need only to insert a Google-generated java script into the blog or blog template. Google's spider parses the AdServing blog and serves ads that relate to the blog's content. Google uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis to determine what ads should be served.
2. ) Affiliate Programs (Product Endorsements) Affiliate Programs work when an affiliate web site receives income for generating sales, leads, or traffic to a merchant website. Generally, bloggers will mention or endorse specific products and if site visitors purchase the product, bloggers will receive a portion of the sale.
3. ) Product Promotion Businesses use blogs to detail how specific features or product add-ons can increase functionality and save time. Content-rich product promotion will help with search engine placement.
4.) Banner Ads While less popular than in the past, websites with high traffic levels can still earn decent revenue by selling banner space.
As the Internet evolves bloggers will continue to seek out ways to monetize their opinions and thoughts. Daily journals and online blogs have become more than just a communication means to many.
About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com product lines. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.small-business-software.net

RSS & How to Use It (part 1)

Have you ever read an article, intended to explain RSS in simple terms that, begins well, but soon descends into confusing jargon or information overload?
If so, take heart, I was in the same place a few months ago.
Often the best way to understand something, is to use it. RSS is no exception.
So rather than try and create a definitive explanation of RSS, this article will tell you how to use it. I guarantee once you've done so, everything will that much clearer.
If a website you visit utilizes RSS, there are a number of ways it will communicate this.
The most common way is to show a little orange button with the letters XML.
Alternatively, you may see words such as "ATOM", "RSS", "Site Feed" or variations on these.
What they have in common is that they will link to a webpage that, in most browsers, looks like gibberish.
It doesn't matter one way or another, what is important is the address of the web page they link to.
To demonstrate, I will relate how to read a site feed for my website, The Nettle Blog. Don't confuse RSS with blogs (web logs). They are two separate concepts. The only reason you see them together so often, is that blogs are the perfect website to take advantage of site feeds. More on that later. Here we go?
Click on this link to go the site feed for The Nettle Blog. Ignore the content in the window, just make a note of the URL in the web address bar. It should read: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thenettle
Now you've got the web address for the site feed, keep it safe somewhere. You'll need it again in a moment.
The next step is to use an RSS reader to make sense of the site feed. There are lots of these available and if you are a heavy user you would probably want to purchase a nice piece of software.
But to begin with, start with something simple and free. Start with Bloglines.
Go to www.bloglines.com/register/ and create a new account.
From the "My Feeds" section of your account you can add new site feeds you want to keep track of.
Select "ADD", enter the URL you copied and hit "Subscribe". You can preview the results, but skip that stage for now. Select "Subscribe" again and the title of the site feed will be transferred to the left-hand window.
Well done. You have now subscribed to your first RSS feed.
To read it just click on the title and you can view all the messages in that feed within a selected time period. The feed will most likely record news related to the website the feed belongs to.
In this instance, the site feed to The Nettle Blog records each new entry to my blog. If you find something of interest, most entries have a clickable link you can follow.
Anytime you find a website you like with a site feed, make a note of the URL for that site feed and add it to your Bloglines folder.
Now comes the clever bit.
In the left-hand column of your account is an "Extras" list. Select Download Notifier and choose the correct file to download the Bloglines Notifier This file is only 100k so any half-decent connection should complete the download in just a few seconds.
If the download is successful, you should see a small, blue icon with the letter "B". Double-clicking it will short-cut you to Bloglines.
Right-click on the icon and you can adjust the settings. Specify how often you want Bloglines to check messages for you.
When Bloglines checks your site feeds and finds that one or more have been updated, a little chime will play and the Bloglines icon will show a little red marker. This means one of the feeds you have subscribed to has something new to say.
So there you have it. A spam-free, hassle-free way to keep track of websites you have an interest in. Providing of course, that they have a site feed. If they don't, ask them why not.
Part two of this article will show webmaster and ezine publishers how they can easily publish a site feed for their website and track the visitors, free of charge.
David Congreave is owner of The Nettle Ezine, the newsletter for the home business -- online.
David lives in Leeds, in the United Kingdom with his wife Leanne.

What Is This RSS, XML, RDF, and Atom Business?

It's been a long day at work and you're in no mood to cook dinner or go out. Time to count on the reliable pizza delivery guy. The order is called in and he promptly arrives with smokin' hot pizza within 30 minutes as promised. If it were only that easy with a picky family where no one can agree on the same restaurant for dinner. One wants Mexican, another wants Chinese, and another wants a burger and Mexican. Instead of running to three different places, you call a delivery service that goes to all of them and brings it to you. What could be easier in getting a meal without cooking it or fetching it?

RSS, XML, RDF, and Atom are the food delivery guy of the Internet. The content they deliver is mixed and cooked elsewhere on the Internet just like the meal isn't made on your door step and the acronym fellows bring the content to you via software or an online application. Instead of trying to remember all the places where you like to go to get the latest news, it all comes to you once you order your food.

Click on any of those orange or blue RSS, XML, or RDF buttons and you see unreadable text. Some of it is readable, but reading between the is slow and difficult. In this case, you've got the raw ingredients of the content known as a feed. To make it easily readable, download a feed reader that can interpret (aggregate) the ingredients or sign up for an online service that can do the same.

When the software or application is ready to go, click on the orange or blue button (or "Syndicate This Page," or whatever is along these lines) and copy the resulting URL from the address box. Paste it into the application to cook the ingredients where it's delivered to you ready for your enjoyment.

Syndication is a not a new concept on the Internet, but it's growing in popularity as more Web sites and newsletters are churning content to turn it into syndicated files, which are fed into an aggregator. Think of it as the content that's ready to travel anywhere it needs to go. Grab the feed and feed it to the aggregator, another way of bookmarking (or creating a favorite) a site because you wish to come back again another time. But how often did you go back to the site through your bookmarks / favorites?

Instead of schlepping from site to site in search of information, I have it all in front of me via the aggregator. The feeds are sorted in folders by topic for easy finding. If I'm writing about the latest virus or worm, then I open the security folder with the security-related feeds and scan them. Scanning content through aggregators is easier than on a Web site because it's in one folder with headlines and maybe a short summary. On a Web site, you're only getting the benefit of that site's news and no where else. The folder has news from over ten resources including blogs, news sites, and newsletters.

Any content can be syndicated. It's a matter of having the backend process in place, which is dependent on the application used for managing the content. If a site doesn't have such resources, then there is software for entering content to create a file with the feed for posting on the site.

Most aggregators have exporting capabilities so the feed can be shared with others interested in the same topic. If you're interested in my security feeds, I can export them into, in most cases, an OPML file and you can import it into your aggregator.

Spam filters are preventing readers from getting newsletters or they get lost in the spam pool. Offering a feed for the newsletter is a compromise. Readers can get the content, only instead of it coming to the emailbox, it comes through the aggregator. It's a way around spam. Like everything else, it has its advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

Filters can't stop the newsletter from reaching its destination.

The recipient will get it - if the server is down, it'll download next time and email can get lost.

The feed can be syndicated providing more exposure for your content.



Disadvantages:

Rely on readers to open aggregators like they open email client, but some aggregators are built-in with an email client like NewsGator and there are online aggregators like Bloglines, which can be your home page.

Metrics won't be as complete, but it's still there through the links.

Not as pretty as HTML-based newsletters.



If the feed is automatically created, what have you got to lose? You're providing another way for your readers to get your content just like you can get pizza in different ways: go to the restaurant, have it delivered, or make it at home. More applications are adding syndication capabilities, which make the process effortless. Some have said they won't read something unless it has a feed.

Syndication works better than bookmarks. With bookmarks, you click on a site that might have the security information and arrive there to find it doesn't. So, back to the bookmarks to click on another site. Lather, rinse, repeat. With aggregators, there is no jumping from site to site. Scan the headlines right there until you find what you need.

There was a time when we didn't have the option to have pizza delivered to our doorstep. When we're too tired, we know we can rely on the delivery guy. In term of content, expect to see it show up at your doorstep more often than the pizza guy plus it's cheaper with the cost only coming from the software though there are many free options available. Syndication is here to stay and should be added to a company's communication toolbox rather than as a replacement. Witness it by watching for RSS, XML, RDF, and Atom out there.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl.net who increases conversion rates by writing and editing content so organization can focus on their core business. She is the editor-in-chief of the eNewsletter Journal and Shavlik's The Remediator Security Digest. Visit her Web site at http://www.meryl.net/blog/.

How Bloggers Are Making Thousands of Dollars From the Google Adsense Affiliate Program

There is no doubt that the Google Adsense program for publishers and site owners is one of the most successful affiliate programs anywhere. There is increasing evidence that many bloggers have managed to find the right formula to make thousands of dollars every month from little more than a handful of blogs with carefully created and compiled content.
Unfortunately this has also led some unscrupulous bloggers to try and steal other writers work and post them at their blogs like it was their own. Alas there will always be some bad apples in most baskets.
So what are these successful Adsense bloggers really doing to rake in a couple of thousand dollars on a monthly basis? What's their secret?
Cashing In On The Blog Advantage for The Adsense Affiliate Program
When it comes to attracting traffic, blogs have a definite advantage over web sites. It is amazing how quickly a decent blog can attract quality links to itself. These links usually bring in lots of traffic very quickly. Bloggers carrying Adsense ads in their blogs are taking full advantage of this fact.
What this means is that a blogger can set up brand new blog now and within the next few hours will be drawing in traffic. If they already have another handful of blogs with some reasonable traffic, then by simply setting up a few relevant links to the new blog, traffic will take off in a hurry. And of the new blog is able o attract some high-paying Google Adsense PPC (pay-per-click ads) then the impact on their affiliate program income will be almost immediate.
The other advantage is that search engines love blogs so much that they will always tend to rank them higher than websites in any search. The fact that blogs are updated regularly and the rapid growth in links they enjoy are some of the reasons for this. This higher ranking means higher traffic.
When I was starting out in Internet marketing my first site took ages to attract search engine traffic. A new blog I started attracted a couple of serach engine hits within a day or so, even before I had done any serious search engine optimization.
No doubt, in making their decision to actively promote Adsense amongst blogs, smart Google executives must have been fully aware of this fact.
This advanatage that blogs enjoy over web sites is one of the key factors that many bloggers are using to draw the sort of monthly income that other folk need several months and in some cases a whole year to bring in.
Carefully Research Keywords For The Adsense Affiliate Program
While traffic is important in making money from the Adsense affiliate program, keywords are much more critical. Most keywords will attract the sort of ads that pay only a few cents for every click that happens at your blog. A few keywords will draw in ads that pay a couple of dollars. A single click can sometimes pay $100.
Bloggers who are making big money with the Adsense affiliate program are spending a lot of time researching Adsense keywords. What makes this task even more difficult is that keyword prices are constantly fluctuating as different advertisers bid differently for their ads. The clicks ads receive also have an impact on the bid price. With the new Google system, advertisers have an option of raising their bid price.
So if you want to join the ranks of Adsense bloggers earning serious money, there are really no two ways about it, you will need to be an Adsense keyword specialist. This is not as difficult as it may sound at first because there are tons of information available online for free that cover this subject.
Set Up Several Blogs For Your Adsense Affiliate Program
Adsense money is not easy money, at least not initially. One of the things that leading Adsense bloggers have done is to set up several blogs catering for different niches and then linking them to each other to maximize on the traffic received.
Christopher Kyalo makes money writing online and also writes content for some clients who make money from Adsense ads posted at their blogs. Read the rest of this article at his blog http://webcontentprovider.blogspot.com He can be reached at strongwallafrica at yahoo.com