bloggasaurus.com

     When you finally launch your new blog and even for sometime after, you may wonder what you should write about next.  Unless you have a friend who is an experienced blogger, no one is going to tell you what you should write about if you get stuck.

     When you do have ”writer’s block,”you may worry that you have run out of things to write about.  This is usually not the case.  All that is usually needed to help you get started writing again is for you to spend some time analyzing your subject.  Finding ideas for a post that will appear on a specialized blog is simply a matter of choosing a topic that is somehow related to the subject of your blog.  The obvious way to do this is to do some brainstorming; sort of like “googling” your mind for every meaningful connection to your blog theme.  For many bloggers, this process is second-nature and they do this unconsciously in their heads.  Other bloggers prefer to write down their ideas in outline or list form to map out the topics most relevant to the subject matter of the blog.

     I have done this with this blog: Bloggasaurus as an example, is mainly about “How to Make Money With Your Blog,” with an additional secondary theme about blogs and blogging.  All the posts in this blog are related in, some way, to the main idea, even those not specifically about making money because, in order to make money, you have to have a blog ( or full-featured website).  Some of my posts are “open topics” but are included in this blog as illustrations of “blogging technique.” So, everything is related to the main idea.

     To summarize: It is probably easier to write posts for a specialized, single-theme blog than for the personal narrative type blog because the field of possible topics is narrower and more manageable, i.e., instead of unlimited possibilities, you choose only the most relevant to your blog’s subject. 

     Another approach you can use to find good ideas for the specialized blog is to imagine that you don’t know anything about your subject and then to write down a long list of questions that you would need to answer so that you could thoroughly understand the subject.  Those of you who are just starting out may find, ironically, that if you do lack complete familiarity with your subject matter, you may actually be in a better position to write helpful posts that will answer the questions of readers who want to learn more about your subject.  To write an informative post, all you need to do is to find answers to your questions by doing enough research and you will be helping yourself and your readers to learn about the subject.

     There is another,  particular kind of specialized blog that provides an abundant source of material for posts.  The “collector’s blog” is a blog in which the blogger writes about the items in his or her collection.  If you collect coins, bottles, dolls, memorabilia, tools etc., you can review each item in your collection with information about origin, history, value, and anything else that you think readers would like to know.  If you have, for example, a tool collection, you can write about the history of the tool, its manufacturer, how to use it and so on.  Maybe you can provide a photograph.  If you have 100 tools in your collection, there is an instant 100 posts you can write by simply offering a review of each item in your collection.  If you collect “natural objects” such as shells, butterflies, rocks, minerals and fossils, for example,  you will be able to discuss habitats or locales, life histories, and perhaps how you added each item to your collection.  The addition of photographs make this kind of post especially informative and interesting.  When you are a collector, you will always have something to write about.

     Recipes, Candy reviews, book reviews, and any subject in which you can review items from a list that you continually add to are also a good source of material for posts and you will never lack useful material if you have a single-theme blog like one of these.

     There is still another category of specialized blog that, while it is focused on a single subject, posts are written as journal entries, more like traditional blogs.   An example of this would be a “Travel Blog” in which the blogger reviews his or her experiences including such things as “getting there,” culture, language, cuisine, festivals, architecture, history, etc.  The more general, journal type blog, in which the blogger can discuss anything will be discussed in the next post.

Thanks for reading—wil

    Blogs have come a long way since the early days when all you had to do was to briefly record your feelings and impressions about your life in your weblog on a daily or twice weekly basis.  Today, for the most part, blogs are more sophisticated and specialized.  They are used in business to alert employees and the public about company news and, of course they are used by bloggers to share information about the bloggers’ subject matter with interested readers.

     Because “the blog” is so fluid and versatile, there are, as you might expect, many ways to approach writing posts.  As you read through different kinds of blogs, you can see that bloggers have their favorite and often unique approaches to this task .  Indeed, there are probably as many ways to write posts as there are blogs.  Even so, I would like to suggest that most blogs can be categorized into two broad groups:   The “personal narrative/commentary” blog typified by the classical weblog and characterized by an intimate, familiar and warmly friendly tone and the  “specialized/single theme/ informational “ blog which may range in tone from  pragmatically technical and impersonal to the same breezy, conversational, warmly familiar tones of the personal narrative/commentary”blog.   Simply put:  I am making a distinction between the classical “personal” weblog in which  the blogger writes as if you are his or her best friend and confidante, guardian angel or therapist and the specialized informational blog which is often, but not always, less familiar and conversational.  This distinction, although it is not always clear-cut is important because when you come to a place where you are struggling to come up with a new post and a fresh approach to a topic, you will use a slightly different method for each category.  Of course, you do not need to do it as I suggest to you, but I am offering a structure for you to use which can make writing blog posts a bit easier.

     Whether you are writing a blog, a newsletter, a newspaper column or magazine article on a regular basis, there are times when you are not going to be able to think of anything to write about.  You are “stuck.”  This is the “dreaded” writer’s block.  What do you do?  Your public is waiting for your next informative or entertaining installment.  You need to write something useful or interesting for your readers without much delay but……It’s not coming together for you.

     In the next post we will examine ways in which you can get ”unstuck” and quickly dissolve your writer’s block so you can “jump-start” your creative writing process and reconnect with your “muse, your inspiration.”  In the next post, I will discuss writing posts for the specialized, informational blog and then, in a subsequent post, I will discuss post-wrting for the general, “open-topic” classical weblog.  

Thank You for reading–hope you stop by again.

 Take Care—wil

     Widgets are additional features that you can incorporate into your website to make it more visually interesting, functional and user friendly.

    The word “widget,”  is a general term, probably derived from “gadget” and another word to describe a hypothetical, unspecified, manufactured “thing.”  In computer terminology it is an application in the form of component of a “graphical user interface” (GUI) that displays information or provides a specific way for a user to interact with the operating system and the application.  It consists of a discreet, stand alone package or “chunk” of program code that you add to your files, usually by copying from the source and pasting to your files.

     You can easily customize your site and make it more uniquely yours by the addition of a few widgets which are, usually, free and  provide features like:

Who’s Online? ( shows where a vistor is from) clocks, counters, weather reports, sidebars, translation capability, contact forms, advertising boxes, maps, progress indicators, forms, icons, avatars, pull down menus, buttons, selection boxes, badges, live chat capability, and many other features that display information for inviting, accepting or responding to user actions.

     On this site you can see several of the widgets I selected including the “who’s online” feature, the translation/language selection box, EzineArticles badges, Amazon.com ad boxes in some of my blog posts, and most recently added, the spinning globe which shows the visitor’s country of origin ( not many are shown yet because I just added this to my site.)  This particular widget shows the earth as it appears through various seasons.  You can get this by clicking on the “revolving earth” button.

     Widgets are readily available online .  Your blogging software should list a number of widgets and will provide instructions for adding them to your site, or you can do an online search to see what kinds of interesting features you can find to customize your site.  “widitizing your site is, actually, lots of fun.  New widgets are constantly being devised and refined.  They are, as I mentioned. mostly free, but you can make a donation to the developer if you choose.

–wil

     As I said in the previous post, I will give some of the spammers who sent me “comment spam” (in the hope that their links might appear on my website) the attention they want but I will deny them the one thing they hoped to achieve by removing any web address, link or other device they used that was intended to promote their site, product or service.  I am keeping only their comments, some of which are quite creative. 

     I have found a way to appreciate the comment spam I get, but I do not like spam.  I’d much rather have a legitimate comment.  Spamming is a questionable business practice.  Spammers are like sellers who come into your store, not to shop or patronize your store,  but rather to set up their own sales booth to try to divert your customers to their product or service.  Again, spammers are like one who smiles at you and puts a friendly arm around you while picking your pocket with the other.  I say this because spammers will sometimes flatter you with the most excessive compliments and most fulsome praise that is quite obviously out of proportion to anything a normal blogger deserves.  They will, often, tell you what an awesome site you have and how inspiring you have been ( inappropriate unless it is true!) 

     Actually, spammers do not admire you or appreciate your efforts or your site.  They are self serving and want to use your site for their own benefit without contributing anything substantial and without doing any of the work that you have done in setting up your blog. 

      So, now I am going to examine, with you, some of the comment spam I have received and give these spammers some sort of recognition.  Most probably, these people started out as legitimate entrepreneurs, but in resorting to spam tactics they have compromised themselves and damaged their integrity.  They have crossed the line of acceptable business practice and have, in the eyes of many, diminished their stature and reputation.  They are spammers.

     What I am going to do now is to present each, selected spam comment, complete with the alleged author’s name (it may be a pseudonym) and then I will follow with my own reply using the signature “Bloggasaurus Replies”:

Spam comment- [From a "gay blog" :]  “Considerably the post is really the sweetest on this valuable topic.  I concur with your conclusions and will thirstily look forward to your future updates.  Just saying thanks will not just be enough, for the fantastic lucidity in your writing.  I will instantly grab your rss feed to stay informed of any updates.  Fabulous work and much success in your business dealings.”

Bloggasaurus replies:   

 This comment came with a link attached.  Without the link it would  be an acceptable comment, although, I confess, I was a bit alarmed when I read :

“…I will instantly grab your rss….etc.,” until I took a second, closer look and confirmed that it was, in fact, r-s-s (spelling really is  important.)

Spam comment:     Eloy Schalling wrote:  “John Cow has a cow? LOL  ”      

Bloggasaurus replies:

    This odd comment came with a link to “Mr. Shalling’s” website.  The sender is probably the only one who understands and appreciates his bizarre message .  My guess is that he is easily amused or may simply be displaying a new symptom of Mad Cow Disease-in any case; a little cow humor for you.               

Spam comment:

    “Great Lady” wrote:  I would say I’m 50/50 on this subject.  A lot of points were missed.

Bloggasaurus replies:

     I am not sure what “50/50″ means.  Perhaps the “Great Lady” means she only understood half of what she read in the post (Writing and Publishing Articles to Bring Visitors to Your Website.)     In that case, it is understandable why she missed a lot of points.

Spam Comment:

     [Someone, possibly named "Gragg" wrote:]  gragg advertising made the top tweets sites 100 tweets of whatever its called.  gragg is working towards trying to break the barrier on becoming the Kansas cities top twitter profile that has the most followers.  I am pretty excited about this endeavor.(Link deleted)

Bloggasaurus replies:

     Everyone needs a goal and if you can’t get excited about your own shameless self-promotion then what’s the world coming to?  If Gragg was 9 years old I would forgive him, of course, but I suspect he is much older.  A great example of spam courtesy of “Gragg” who is already, in my opinion a leading candidate for Top Twit.   If Gragg does get the most followers, we must do our best to set aside our disappointment that he is not, actually, a very intelligent Lemming.

Spam comment:

     Porter Alphonso wrote; Thanks for the amazing article.  I hope you had an amazing New year.  Hopefully you didn’t have to put on your tactical body armor (a link) with all those morons shooting their pistols above residential housing.

Bloggasaurus replies:

     Of course, submitted with a sender’s website address and the link in the comment.  Please note: The Hubble Telescope photos are amazing; Angel Falls is amazing;  The Great barrier Reef is amazing;  most articles and holidays are not really that amazing.  To properly answer Mr. alphonso, no, I didn’t need to put on my tactical body armor, but I have been very busy making sure my anti-spam plugin is in good working order with all the morons shooting spam all over the Internet.

Spam comment:

     Alonso Yoney wrote:  Hi, I’m from Korea.  Glad i bumped into your blog.  Splendid post by the way—You may think I’m crazy but I am bonkers for lumbar support cushion.( A link)

Bloggasaurus replies;

     I am not a trained psychotherapist so I cannot comment on your mental state Mr. Yoney, but I can give you two pieces of friendly advice: #1  Sounds like you need a companion; how about a nice inflatable woman?  You can tell her your troubles.  She will always stand by you ( or wherever you place her) and can give you the support and comfort you need.  #2  You are amazingly intuitive and have correctly read my mind.  You might well be advised to seek professional help.  You can “google” a good psychotherapist near you. 

Good Luck with your Lumbar Support Cushion Fixation.

    These are just a few examples of the comment spam I have received.  Spam can take many forms but these examples may help readers unfamiliar with it to recognize it and deal with it accordingly. 

 Thank You for reading.  Take care—wil

  

     Spam is a problem for everyone on the Internet—except the spammers. Spam is unwanted e-mail or blog comments that quickly fill up mail boxes and spam filters ( a sort of net designed to prevent spam from entering your published pages) and sometimes may carry attachments and even a virus. Most of all, spam is an annoyance that requires you to spend time processing comments and removing comment spam from your site. When you “Google” “spam” you will find the following definitions:

  

 1.   Spam in blogs (also called simply blog spam or comment spam) is a form of Spamdexng.It is done by automatically posting random comments or promoting commercial services to blogs, wikis, guestbooks, or other publicly accessible online discussion boards. Any web application that accepts and displays hyperlinks submitted by visitors may be a target.

Adding links that point to the spammer’s web site artificially increases the site’s search engine ranking. An increased ranking often results in the spammer’s commercial site being listed ahead of other sites for certain searches, increasing the number of potential visitors and paying customers.

From:     http ://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comment_spam

 

2.      Comment spam: Comments made with the sole purpose of gaining a backlink, which in turn will send traffic or link juice (provided the blog in question doesn’t use the no follow tag) to the site of the spammer. Some spam comments are very explicit and come with several links to drug or gambling related sites. Other forms are more subtle, where the commenter actually tries to leave a relevant message on the blog. 

  From:     http://aris-haryana.blogspot.com/2008/11/bloggers-glossary-part-2.html

  

3.      Often blog comments include URLs, as a result spammers will often post blog comments in an effort to boost the incoming links to their websites. Comment spam often make no sense and the comments are simply a product plug.

     To summarize: Spammers hope to send their comment spam to your blog so that the link they have embedded in their comment will create a “backlink” ( linking your site to theirs) thus making their site seem more popular and relevant to search engine robots. This can result in their site getting a better page ranking. You may not wish to be the unwitting host parasitized by spammers. Spammers do not ask your permission to use your site for their sole advantage.

 

Spam was not much of a problem for me (until recently,) but as anyone with an established website can tell you, as soon as your traffic increases , so to, unfortunately, does the volume of comment spam. Of the 63 comments I have received so far, on various posts, more than 80% of them were spam and was filtered out with my anti-spam plugin. I did not instantly delete these, but rather, I examined them and realized that some of these would be good examples to share with readers who may be unfamiliar with comment spam, and to show what they can expect if they have an active blog or other website. Experienced bloggers know very well what comment spam is but I want to share some of my more interesting comments with you so you can appreciate how entertaining some of these unauthorized attempts of self-promotion can be( so you may want to keep reading.)

 

What I have decided to do is to display some of the spam comments I have received. I will give the spammers part of what they want; they want to be noticed. In the next post we will have a closer look at how they work.

 

Until then, Take care and hope to have you visit again soon.—wil

 

 

 

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    I apologize to all the visitors, both new and those who have been here before, who tried to visit this site and could not because of an error message.  I have spent the missing time trying to recover this web site.  Apparently, there was some kind of a problem with the host’s servers and from my perspective it seemed like all the data in my database was lost.  I frantically did all the troubleshooting I could and sent off several urgent e-mails to the host but it seemed as if all was lost.  I had some of my posts but not all of them and everything you see on the web site now, is the result of months of experimenting, adjusting, tweaking and refining.   When I thought about having to do everything all over again, I was overcome with a sudden weariness.  I decided to “think about what I was going to do, for a while.”  Suddenly, the hosting company contacted me ( after a considerable delay) and said, they had some serious technical issues but that my web site was ok.  I had to do some reorganizing and changing of codes in some files but finally, to my inexpressible relief, I got the site back.  These things happen and that is the lessen of this post.  If you have a web site, be prepared for something not to work as it should, sooner or later.  It is an educational experience but I have learned something very important that should be obvious:   Back up everything.

     So,  I hope some of you who tried to get to this site and have been here before, will come back.  Again, I am very sorry that I wasn’t here where I was supposed to be when you visited.

   New posts are coming .  Four or five and I hope you will check back and visit again soon. 

Take care–wil

     Comments are important.  Some would say that comments are “The life of a blog.”  When people leave comments, they are interacting with the blogger and, sometimes with other readers.  This is a good thing.  It shows there is some “life”, something happening between you and the readers and is evidence that people are, not only reading your posts, but they are understanding them or are emotionally or intellectually, moved to respond in some way.  A blog is useless unless people read it and when readers leave comments, it gives them a chance to express their own views about a topic and this makes the experience more satisfying for them.  Sometimes readers can agree with you or other readers or disagree  and this means that there is  discussion.  Comments also give readers something else to read concerning a post and shows readers what others are thinking.  In this way a “community”  of a sort is formed in which everyone has a part and a place to be heard. This is why comments are so important.

      Suppose you are not getting comments?  Many people like to read blogs but do not leave comments.  They are known as “lurkers.” It sounds a bit sinister, like some misshapen, abyssmal , carnivorous fish waiting to prey on some unsuspecting, delicious-looking creature (or maybe that is just my imagination…)  Actually it is  simply someone who prefers to, anonymously and privately, read and enjoy a blog.  That’s ok.  Sometimes people do not feel ready to leave comments.  I am a lurker.  I visit blogs more than once before I will leave a comment, but I do try to leave a comment eventually because I am a blogger and I know that comments usually contribute interest to a blog and bloggers appreciate them.   I know I appreciate comments left by visitors to this blog, so I try to do the same for others when I can. 

     What can you do to encourage people to leave comments?  If you are not getting any comments, especially when you are first starting out, you might try asking friends and acquaintances to visit your site and leave comments.  Sometimes when other readers notice that a post has comments they will add their comment too.  Another way to increase the number of comments to a blog is to simply ask for them.  I haven’t done that yet and this would be a good place for me to show you what I mean:

  [ Friends, Thank you for visiting my site.  I appreciate your visit and , if I may, I would like to encourage you to leave a comment every now and then.  I am interested in your thoughts and I am sure other readers would be, too. ]   That’s really all you have to do….

 and, actually, I would truly appreciate your comments if you can take time to leave them.   

   You will find that if you write your posts so that they are interesting, controversial  or provocative, you will usually have some comments. In this way, comments may be an indication that you are connecting with your readers.    

      Comments are an important part of a blog only if they are relevant and appropriate.  Sometimes, someone may leave a comment that is offensive and insulting, verbally assaulting either the blogger or other readers who left comments.  It does happen, unfortunately, and it must be swiftly managed.  The people who do this are called “trolls” and generally disrupt the smooth flow of meaningful communication between blogger and readers, if the “toxic” comment gets posted.  

        This is a manageable problem and there are a few ways to do this: One is to moderate  comments. You simply monitor what is being posted.  The most effective way to do this is to preview each comment before you decide to post it.  blogging software usually has this feature to allow the blogger to preview all comments and then to approve and post a comment or to delete it. 

    Occasionally, you  may receive a comment which is appropriate and valuable, but for some profanity which you might not want to pass along.  In this case you could edit the comment.  When you do that, you should indicate that you have edited the comment.  I prefer not to edit comments, if possible.  Misspellings are ok because sometimes they are “typos” and sometimes people are just tired and may make mistakes.  Always let your web site be user friendly.

       Another way to monitor comments is to have your visitors register with their name and address and then use a user name and password.  This discourages some “trolls” but may also discourage visitors with legitimate comments who may find this system cumbersome and inconvenient.  Personally, I prefer to preview the comments rather than use visitor registration.  Eventually, if you find yourself in the enviable position of having so much traffic that you have more comments than you have time to review, you may wish to switch to visitor registration and depend, to some  extent, on readers to moderate comments by means of a rating system which, in the case of an inappropriate comment, might alert the blog administrator (You) that action needs to be taken and then you can deny the offending “troll” access to your site.  This might be more necessary with some blogs than others depending on the theme of your blog.  It is easy to see how this could be an issue with a political blog discussing some incendiary topic like “West Bank” settlements in Israel, global warming or any one of a number of contemporary hot topics.   Fortunately, for most bloggers this is not a serious problem and can be handled.

     The last type of comment is not a comment at all,   but rather “spam” masquerading as a legitimate comment.  Often you can identify it because it doesn’t make too much sense and may be totally irrelevant to your post.  Sometimes a URL will be included.  This comment should be examined carefully.  It may be spam.

     Spam is such a pervasive problem on web sites of all kinds that there is software that helps to filter it.  Spammers use all kinds of elaborate ruses to trick you into posting their “comment.”  They will flatter you and tell you what a really “cool” site you have and then try to slip in a link or url promoting their product, service or site.  To help in the fight against spam, there is software that can be used as a defense.  Wordpress, for example offers Akismet, which is a very effective anti-spam software.  It helps a blogger to control and filter spam much more easily so that the blogger can concentrate on writing posts for readers.    

 For a more complete discussion of comments and spam I would refer you to Blogging for Dummies by Susannah Gardner and Shane Birley: Handling Spam and Comments (Chapter 10.)

I wish You a Happy, Prosperous and Peaceful New Year—wil

   My coworker, Jim, took a few days off from work last week to marry his Sweetheart Kara.  They planned a simple, small wedding that included the Groom’s Family, the Bride’s Family and a few Friends.  

     The couple decided that they wanted something a little different from the traditional sort of wedding and settled on an unconventional red and black color scheme throughout (Kara’s favorite colors.)  Kara chose a stylish black lace dress and accessorized this with red shoes.  She would hold a bouquet of deep red roses.  Jim would wear a black suit with a red tie and red handkerchief.  The couple asked their guests to wear something red and black, as well, if possible.

     The appointed day arrived and even though the weather was bleak and rainy, everyone  happily assembled at the fine restaurant where the ceremony and, later, the reception was to take place.

     The ceremony commenced; vows were exchanged—sealed in the presence of Family, with the most important kiss ever.  It was time for photographs which were supposed to be taken outside the restaurant, however, the weather was not cooperating and a cold rain continued to fall steadily.  The Newlyweds, Family and Friends were all huddled outside, beneath a narrow overhang of the building, and there seemed to be no let-up of the rain.  Jim happened to turn around and was pleasantly surprised to discover an unused umbrella leaning against the wall in an unobrusive corner.  Everyone thought that it was amazing that an umbrella should be there at the moment it was so desperately needed.

     Jim grabbed the umbrella and opened it.  It was quite a large umbrella, a perfect size for two people.  Jim and his new bride were soon comfortably sheltered under its enormous, protective  canopy while the photographer took the wedding photos.

    Afterwards, Jim thought about the umbrella.  He asked everyone at his wedding if it belonged to them.  He asked the waitstaff at the restaurant; he asked everybody.  Oddly enough, the umbrella did not belong to anyone.

     Jim, revealing his mystic, Irish heritage, says:  “ I’d like to think that one of our departed relatives somehow arranged for the umbrella to be there exactly when we needed it.”  For some time after the wedding this was the main topic of discussion as everyone offered their view about the possible identity of the couple’s considerate Angelic Benefactor.  

     The appearance of the umbrella at the exact time it was needed could, of course, be dismissed as an ordinary coincidence.  William James, the eminent psychologist, who  studied coincidences, however, made a distinction between an ordinary coincidence and an extraordinary, meaningful coincidence which he labeled a “synchronistic event” or “synchronicity.”

    The unscripted and unexpected appearance of the umbrella at Jim and Kara’s wedding , whatever its source, was and will always be a very meaningful coincidence for them, especially because it fit so perfectly with their wedding plans.  If you look at the photograph which Jim and Kara have so generously shared, you will notice a very large , very nice red and black umbrella.

Jim, his Wife Kara and the Red and Black Umbrella

     An obvious and very useful resource for new and prospective bloggers ( and even information-hungry, experienced bloggers)  is a wide assortment of relevant books, some particularly useful titles, of which, I have listed in the “recommended Books” section of this site.

     The first book I purchased for myself is Blogging for Dummies by Sussanah Gardner and Shane Birley.  This book was so helpful to me that I want to make special mention of it here.   

     Blogging for Dummies is a comprehensive book about blogging.  Don’t be “put off” by the title.  There are many helpful books in the series by this name, on various topics.  These books are designed for people who want to learn something completely new, and who, it is assumed,  are starting from little or no knowledge about a subject.  The books then progress through increasingly advanced discussions of a subject, bringing the reader to a fuller and deeper  understanding.    

     In Blogging for Dummies, there is a very thorough overview of the art and technology of blogging.  The book is arranged in 20 chapters divided into six parts, totalling 327 pages.  Every conceivable topic related to blogging is discussed.  It begins with a thorough discussion of blogging basics and continues with advice about choosing your topic, software, hosting and customizing your blog.  Part III covers finding your niche (i.e. your specialty), how to create great content and how to handle spam and comments.

   Part IV is about promoting your blog through RSS (syndecation), building sidebars and using photos and podcasts.

Part V relates to my main blog topic:  Chapter 16 is especially useful if you want to monetize a blog, and has the tantalizing title : “How to Make Mad, Mad Money.”   

Part VI is about promoting and enhancing your blog, including  “10 Cool Tricks for Making Your Blog Shine.”  I will divulge just one of these here:  “Create a poll for your blog and display the results.” 

     I’d like to briefly elaborate, if I may: You can be wildly creative with polls that you design for your site.  People seem to like them and are eager to join in the fun.  You can even use a poll to find out what else your readers want to see on your site.  I may use this idea myself when I have a little more time ( this is a busy time of the year for me.) Polls are also particularly useful to encourage visitors  to participate and interact with your blog, since everyone registers their choices anonymously.  Visitors who may feel a little shy about leaving comments, may not mind participating in a poll.

     Blogging for Dummies  is basic enough  that the average reader can understand it but comprehensive enough that experienced bloggers can glean some knowledge from it as well.  I got many useful ideas from this book and continually refer to it when contemplating some new refinement to this site.  I wouldn’t be without this book.  If you are a new blogger, or are thinking about starting your own blog, I can highly recommend this book.  It will expedite your education and if you learn what it contains, you will be an expert and way ahead of bloggers who learn only by trial and error ( although trial and error learning has its place also !) 

     The Authors, Shane Birley and Susannah Gardner have very impressive credentials and are well qualified to write such an informative and authoritative book as Blogging for Dummies.

     Susannah Gardner is co-founder and Creative Director of Hop Studios Internet Consultants, a Web Design company specializing in web solutions for content publishers.  She’s also a free-lance writer and author of several other books on topics relating to Internet Communications.  From 1997-2003, she was adjunct professor at the University of California School for Communication.  You can read further about her extensive experience in the book.  Ms. Gardner, according to herself, keeps a poorly updated blog at www.unfavorablepink.com.

      Shane Birley is a web designer, creative writer and blog consultant with more than 14 years experience in developing Web sites.    

     These two Authors have produced an excellent highly readable, exceptionally useful book for beginners and seasoned bloggers alike.  If this seems like a book you want to add to your bookshelf, you can get it here:

     There are , literally, millions of blogs out there.  Technorati ( www.technorati.com) is a site that catalogs, reviews and keeps track of every blog it can find.  It is the definitive list and you can go there to find blogs according to your taste and interests.  They have recorded, to date, approximately 75,000,000 blogs and counting.  This is highly significant.  This number is a measure of supply.  It is also an indicator of strong demand because these bloggers are producing content that is avidly consumed by readers everywhere.  Now can you begin to grasp the artistic, social and commercial possibilities of blogging?

     I mention this because I recommend that you read a number of different blogs to “get a feel” for what sorts of style and content are used.  You can also find useful information in blogs about nearly everything, and in particular, some blogs discuss the artistic, technical and commercial aspects of blogs along with challenges that bloggers sometimes encounter.

     There are many places to find information about blogs.  If you have recently joined me here at bloggasaurus.com, you can go back and read all of my posts, of course.  You can take time and effort to work through the blog-building process yourself and you can put a good blog together.  It may take you some time, but, step by step, it is easy to accomplish.

     To tell you the absolute truth, I was so impatient to start a blog that I found a “short-cut.”  I knew so little about blogs and did not know anyone who had a blog or knew how to build a web site, so I decided to use a step-by-step plan that was developed as a short course in blogging by Rob Benwell, a phenomenally successful blogger/affiliate marketer from the U.K.  His presentation used videos to illustrate the process and it was remarkably easy to follow and understand.  I followed his recommendations and, from zero knowledge, became informed enough to create this, my first blog.

     If you know more than I did when I started, (and you probably do, already)then you can do this yourself with no additional help.  If, however, you are not clear about what you need to do, then you can use my posts as a starting point and, perhaps, check out Rob Benwell’s product to round out your education and nudge yourself more quickly to “expert status.”  If you want to examine Rob’s method of blog-building, you can do that here:  Click Here!
      By following Rob’s plan, you could be up and blogging in as little as 48 hours.  However you decide to get your information, I wish you good success and hope to read your blog someday soon.  Let me know what you have come up with.  Remember, I am not just a blogger, I am also a consumer of blogs, a “blogophile.”  Take care,

Wil

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