Archive for the ‘Start a Blog’ Category:
5 Best CMS For Social Blogging
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So you want to own your own social networking website? Maybe you want to have a web service in place to help new bloggers host their blogs on your website or you just want to create a community around your favorite niche. Whatever the case, you won’t have to spend too much money to get started. There are plenty of content management systems around that help you start your own social network. You do want to have a plan and strategy in place, but the technology side of it has gotten easier to handle with all the open source tools that are available on the market.
If you are planning to start your own social networking community, here are 5 content management systems you should try:
Wordpress MU: the multi-author version of Wordpress is very dear to my heart. A few years ago, I started a network to allow people to start their own blogs using my host. That was based on an early edition of WMU. The solution is much more powerful these days.
BuddyPress: if you thought Wordpress MU was great, wait till you check out BuddyPress. It adds a “social” layer over your WMU installation and makes it easy for you to grow your community and build your own social network. Read more »
Find a Blog Domain with Nomaine
These days it’s very tough to find a blog domain that is easy to remember and brandable. Most straight forward domains seem to have been taken. After all, there are a lot of domainers out there that take pleasure in registering all kinds of domains only to sell them for huge profits in a short period of time. But there are tools out there that can help you find those hidden gems of domains that are still available. Nomaine is one of those tools. It’s a theme-based domain finder engine that can find you a decent domain (depending on your niche).
Nomaine is very easy to use. All you have to do is choose from the selection of themes available, define min and max limits for your domain and add your prefix and suffix words to optimize your results. The engine will go to work for you and searches for domains that are still available for pick up. The advantage of using this tool is that it can find you a general domain that applies to your niche. Keyword-based engines can be frustrating to work with and are often not that effective. With this tool, you can save time and find domain names that usually wouldn’t find with other tools.
Create Your Blog Sitemap with SlickPlan
As someone who has launched over 200 websites in the past couple of years, I can tell you that it always pay to plan ahead and design a structure for your blog. As a blogger, having a plan (flowchart) that you can refer to track your progress and expand your blog helps. Let’s say you want to start writing about pro blogging. Wouldn’t it be better if you had a breakdown of topics that you want to talk about on your blog? That not only helps you stay on topic, but it also comes in handy if you want to expand your blog. And let’s not forget that having a tightly structured blog can help you with your SEO efforts as well.
SlickPlan is a cool free service that lets you create a graphical site-map for your blog fast. The service is designed to help you create maps, flowcharts, and … on the web and export them easily to your blog. The service allows you to export your site-map as HTML, PDF, or just share your plans via a HTML link.
Let’s take our “pro blogging” project. The interface allows you to easily add topic boxes to your home box. It’s a great way to plan out the blog you are planning to start or give a better structure to your existing blog. Once you are done with your plan, you can easily export or share them with others.
All in all, SlickPlan is a simple flow chart generator that helps you put your plans on paper in a graphical manner. If you can’t afford software packages such as MindManager, SlickPlan is a simple alternative. It does help you plan your blog structure, and that’s what counts.
5 Domains Tools To Find a Good Blog Domain
Finding a domain for your brand new blog is one of the most important decisions you could ever make as far as your business is concerned. Having a domain that is “brandable” and easy to remember can be the difference between becoming a top blogger and failure in your endeavors. There are plenty of people who can right decent content online, but not every one of them makes it as a pro blogger. You need to treat your blog as a business, and the first step in that approach is to find a high quality domain name. So what makes a good blog domain? A domain that has some sort of meaning, is easy to remember, and gives a good first impression to your visitors. Take ProBlogger.net. You don’t even have to check the website to guess what the site is about. It’s easy to remember too. Owning the .com version is a must as well (it turns out Darren does own the .com domain as well).
Finding a domain like ProBlogger is going to be difficult these days. A lot of people own multiple domains these days, and it’s just not easy to find a decent domain that is not taken. That’s why you are going to need a tool that opens your eyes to domain ideas that you may not thought about. A domain tool that can combine words relevant to your niche can be a handy tool. Thankfully, there are plenty of these tools around, but here are 5 that stand out:
DomainsBot: my favorite domain finder. It’s completely Ajaxified and makes it easy to get ideas for your domain. It also has advanced features that you can use to come up with even more ideas.
3 Blog Logo Design Services You Should Check out
Anyone who knows anything about blogging knows that having an attractive logo can be a major factor towards making it big in the blogging world. Your blog’s logo is not only a great branding tool, but it also leaves a first impression on your readers. If you don’t pay too much attention to your logo, why should they readers pay attention to your blog? If you want to make it as a professional blogger, you are going to have to treat your blog as a business. Using an attractive, to-the-point logo on your blog can go a long way towards making your blog look more professional. Besides, you can always build your brand and use your logo on mugs, t-shirts, and more.
There are plenty of ways to get a logo for your blog. You can always design one for yourself though I wouldn’t recommend it if you are not a designer. You can use a DIY logo service to design a generic logo for your blog. Or you can use a custom-designed logo to set yourself apart from everyone else. Your budget may dictate the option that works for your business, but you should never think of your logo costs as expenses but rather as a long-term investment. With that in mind, here are 3 cool blog logo design services that make things easy:
LogoYes: an innovative service that lets you design your own logo from generic images. It’s so easy to get a handle on, and you’d be surprised how many professional looking logos you can come up with this service. You also get the files you need to make further changes, if that’s what you prefer.
Why You Should Have a Business Plan For Your Blog
Many bloggers don’t treat their blogs as a business. They treat it as a hobby, and that’s why they never manage to get it to the next level. I am not a big fan of this approach. When you start a blog, you either dream too high or too low. If your goal is just to write about what you are passionate about without getting paid or making your own life a bit more comfortable, then you better be ready to pull a 9-6 schedule during week-days and blog at the same time. But if your goal is to go solo and make a living online with blogging, then you need to approach your blog as a business and treat it seriously.
One way to treat your blog more seriously is by developing a business plan for it. In other words, you want to make sure you plan ahead for your blog’s growth and take all the steps that you will need to take your blog to the next level. Besides, a lot of bloggers start their business while they still have a day job. In that case, your business plan can help you figure out when you are ready to quit your day job to start blogging full-time.
What I really like about preparing a business plan for blogs is the research that you will have to do to complete your plan. By the time you are done with your research, you are going to know much more about your industry, your niche, your competitors, and ways you can position your blog to grab market-share in your market and achieve stardom. Read more »
Start Your Wordpress Blog with Elegant Themes
Wordpress has made it so easy for newbie bloggers to get started with their blog and manage their content more effectively. A few years ago (in the pre-Wordpress era), people used to have HTML and static blogs. You had to manage all your pages yourself as there was no system to do it for you. But these days things are so simple, you won’t have to worry about managing your content all by yourself.
A lot of newbie bloggers that I have talked to have raved about how fun using free themes it is. After all, you don’t have to pay any money for them, and all you have to do is leave those footer images in place. In reality, you are doing your blog a disservice if you get a free theme. The least you should settle for is a premium theme. Here is why: nobody wants to spend money if they don’t have to. But spending money on a cool theme is more of an investment than an expense. Besides, you can be sure that a whole lot of people will download the same free theme that you have. So your site will look the same as thousands of other sites on the market. Considering that premium themes are not that expensive, going with them is really a no-brainer.
Elegant Themes is a cool Wordpress membership site that gives you access to lots of cool Wordpress themes for only $19.95 a year. You get over 20 themes that you can use for any occasion. Not only these themes are well designed, but you also get all the PSD and Photoshop files that you would need to be able to customize the look and feel of these themes. And it doesn’t hurt that these themes are optimized for Wordpress 2.8 and are search engine friendly.
Here are some the themes that you get with this membership plan:
- ePhoto
- eBusiness
- CherryTruffle
- PureType
- Basic
- ColdStone
- LightSource
- eGamer
- eVid
- Cion
- eGallery
- …
This membership site has it all. eVid is a great way to start your own video blog. eGallery lets you start your own online gallery. And you can always build your gaming blog with eGamer. If you are into business blog, eBusiness comes in handy. Read more »
My Blogging Routine – Part I
There seems to be a new (maybe not so new) trend going on in the blogging world. Everybody, no matter how advanced they are in the blogging world, are writing blog posts about how they spend their time blogging. Whether it’s Darren Rowse or John Doe, every-one’s got a different approach to blogging. I have always thought that trying to mimic someone else’s blogging routines is an overrated approach anyway. You can clone exactly what a super blogger does on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean your blog is going to be any more successful. At the end of the day, no two people are born the same way which means no matter how effective someone else’s routine looks on the paper, you should try to come up with one of your own.
I am not going to be a teaser, and I will discuss what I do on a daily basis in the 2nd part of this post. But I don’t really consider myself a blogger. If you see me at a party, you are not going to hear me talk about what I do as blogging. I am an entrepreneur and far more interested in creating products than blogging. Don’t get me wrong. I love blogging, and I do it everyday, but I don’t look at it as a career but just a passion of mine. So my approach to blogging is very much different from someone who does only blogging for a living. I focus more on the big picture and less on little things. In my book, a top blogger needs to focus on content, promotion, networking, and research & development. It doesn’t matter which phase you start your day with, but you just have to pay attention to all parts of your business if you want to have any success.
The Big Picture
Content is king. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Of course, if you have a great piece of content, you are going to get more recognition if you get to display it on a site such as TechCrunch. But TechCrunch is worth millions of dollars and gets just too many visitors on a daily basis. These folks have done it by providing high quality, relevant content to their audience on a consistent basis. They have built up their reputation by showing people what they read on these sites is the real deal. If you want to get anything close to that level, you are going to have focus on your content. Good content not only brings you visitors but helps establish you as an authority in your niche. Writing great content is not easy work. You are going to do your research and focus on quality instead of quantity. Not everyone can write great content, but if you know what it takes, you have got a leg up on your rivals.Promotion should be a big part of your overall blogging strategy as well. I am not just talking about pay per click optimization, article marketing, and SEO. I am talking about every possible way you can get the word out about your blog. Whether it’s creating a podcast, sending videos to YouTube, or putting your brand on pens, mugs, and t-shirts for branding purposes, your goal should be to get the word out about your content to as many folks as possible. You got to have a marketing plan and move towards executing it everyday. Don’t keep things in your head. Create a real plan and stick with it. That’s what I do anyway.
Networking should be a big part of your blogging efforts as well. I’d be the first to tell you that I am not a big fan of networking. I don’t enjoy dressing up and going to meet ups, nor do I cherish getting on planes and going to conferences. You don’t have to do everything, but you got to do some networking. If you are not out there, you can’t let people know about what you do. As a small business owner, I try to make it to events that can give me access to my kind of audience (people interested in my products). You should do the same, no matter how much you hate the networking process.
Research & Development is the biggest part of my blogging routine. Whether I am catching up with RSS feeds or developing a brand new web service for my audience, I am always doing something in this area on a daily basis. If you are not researching, learning, and getting better, you are going to fall behind. Besides, you shouldn’t bank your everything on your blog. You should try to develop other products that you can sell to make a living. Who knows. You could end up writing your own book after a while. A lot of other bloggers have done it, and so could you.
All in all, having a great plan is better than having a great routine. Execution is important, so you should test and try new things to find a routine that you feel comfortable with. But think big picture and keep your eyes on the ball. That’s what matters at the end of the day.
Find a Killer Domain for Your Blog with Domainr
Whether you are a new blogger or have been in this business for a while, you probably know the importance of having a killer domain. A domain that is catchy and can help you with your branding efforts as well. How does Gee.ky sound? How about over.ly? Having a short, catchy domain makes it easy for your readers to remember your blog. And you will never have to spend an hour spelling your domain name again. Domainr is a cool domaining service that intends to help all webmasters and bloggers find the domain of their dreams. Unlike other domain search services on the market, Domainr looks for alternative domain extensions to help you secure short but meaningful domain name fast.
Domainr searches for killer domains and lets you know if one is available. You can always use the links on the page to find out who owns your dream domain and when it’s going to expire. Domainr also shows brokers that you can use to buy your favorite domain. And you can use the API to develop decent web applications based on Domainr.
All in all, Domainr is a great way to find domains that you never thought existed before. If you are looking for a cool domain for your blog and are stuck, you’ve got to give Domainr a try.
5 Best Blogging Books For Beginners
Starting a blog may seem challenging from the outside, but in this day and age there is no excuse for not having a blog. As long as you are passionate about a topic, and there is an interest in that topic, there is no reason you can’t start a successful blog about it. Obviously, what you don’t want to do is start a blog about what you like to eat everyday or what you did the day before. And you certainly want to put the wrong foot forward when it comes to starting a blog. You are going to need to work not only on your ideas but also the way you go about convey them to your readers. No-one’s born with great blogging skills. It takes time and effort, but as long as you put your best effort forward, there is no reason you can’t succeed. With that in mind, here are 5 best blogging books for beginners to get started with blogging fast:
Blogging For Dummies: if you have no idea how to start a blog or what to blog about, you can’t find a better book than this. It teaches you everything you need to know to get started with blogging.
No One Cares What You Had for Lunch: if you are just getting started with blogging, chances are you have no idea what to write about. If that is the case, you need to read this book. It shows you exactly how to develop new blog post ideas for your blog.
Clear Blogging – How People Blogging Are Changing the World and How You Can Join Them: one of the best blogging books that teaches you the fundamentals of blogging. This book
ProBlogger: written by the legendary blogger Darren Rowse, this book teaches you how the professionals go about setting up a blog and making money online from their efforts.
Blogging Heroes: a great book that contains interviews with the top bloggers in the world. If you want to learn how to blog, what a better way to do it than watching what the superstars do.
You should also take time to follow the top bloggers in the industry by subscribing to their feed. Nevertheless, the above books provide you with enough good information to get you on your way towards a successful blog.
