For Aron: Affiliates

Aron said: I'm trying out an affiliate program, but I feel like a scumbag for doing it. What do you think of blogs which use affiliate programs and is there an honest way to include affiliate links.

Wow, you may have figured out a way to stump me. I have no idea. In fact, I have only a vague idea of what an affiliate is.

If the affiliate is an organization you're pleased with, proud to be associated with, I wouldn't worry about any guilt. By all means, promote it.

If it's more of an ad thing, I wouldn't be ashamed of that either. Be cognizant to ensure ads aren't run that offend you or preach against your own views, but, other than that, I wouldn't worry about it. There's nothing wrong with making a little on your blog.

I have no objection to blogs who do either method, profit or support for organizations they admire. In the end, the blog should reflect who you are and your priorities. Do what works for you, and let the chips fall where they may.

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For Shakespeare: Finding Good Blogs

Shakespeare said: My problem is in the other direction: I have trouble knowing where to go to find more good blogs to read. I'm pretty eclectic about it all, but I like people with intelligence and humor (like you and JD, for example)... and I haven't found enough of those to keep me entertained. How can I go about finding more good blogs to read?

This is a fairly easy one and I bet you're already doing it.

There are some good ways to find blogs, of course, including entrecard, blogexplosion, blog catalog, even clicking on "next blog" at the top of one's blogspot blog. And I bet there are dozens more options that my readers will bring up. I've used these and I still do, to an extent. I've found good blogs this way (particularly EC).

However, the best way I've found to find good blogs, the kind worth filling up my blog list with, is exploring the blog links of my favorite blogs. True, you start slow, if you start from scratch, and might only have a handful. Follow intelligent comments back - it's almost always worth it. And, when you find a blog worth revisiting, take some time to explore their blog lists and trace back their commenters.

Chances are, the people who like your favorite blogs are writing blogs that would appeal as well. Pretty soon, you find you have a fine circle of quality blogs, filled with the kind of things or thinking that interests you.

And, of course, others will add to this advice.

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For Aron: Speed Droppers

For Aron: How do I slow down speed droppers. I'm offering free advertising on my blog and I've seen free advertising on other blogs and no one takes the offer. It's more free advertising for me, but still contests go unentered on this network and comments are rare, what do we do?

Wow, I wish I was better qualified to answer this. My following is limited, but what readers I have are the best. The best I can do (as I'm not a mover and shaker in the blogosphere) is tell you what I strive to do. And implore those readers of mine who are fantabulous and beloved by hundreds (JD and Kathy come to mind, for example, but there are others) to add to or correct my recommendations.

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

First, it's important to know what you're shooting for. Are you looking for conversation? An airing, perhaps, of different views? Or are you looking for traffic for advertising? What you're looking for is a factor in what you want to stress.

I, for example, want interaction with people, to connect with them via my blogs. I want to encourage people to think. I want to do so to the extent that they want to respond, interact so I can learn from them just as I share what I know. Traffic flowing through without that doesn't much interest me. There are no money-making bits on my blog so the traffic stats are irrelevant. I'd rather have twenty views and ten comments than 100 views and 2 comments. If you're looking for something different than that, my advice is probably something you should discard.

• Be original. With the exception of my saturday quote-a-thons (which are original only in the way my brain groups them), I try to write something different than whatever else is out there. Oh, I'm sure it's not always as different as I like to think, but it is always my interpretation, my take on a particular subject, even if I'm writing my reaction to what someone else wrote. If I don't have some interesting take on the subject, I'd be better off just supplying a link.
• Don't get stale. It's all well and good to write on the same subject every day, but you need to say something different. Repeating the same old arguments or position day after day won't get you anywhere - those who agree will still agree; those who refuse to won't change their mind by being beaten over the head.
• Try to identify with your readers. If you're writing about your kids' antics, make sure you're talking about things that other parents can identify with, at least part of the time. I like to mix it up - sometimes funny, sometimes erudite, sometimes serious, sometimes playful, sometimes angry, sometimes educations, sometimes whimsical, sometimes fun. I like the idea that no one really know what they'll find if they stop by.
• Respond to commenters. Someone's taken the time to respond to what you wrote. Acknowledging that not only thanks them for their trouble, but also can start an interesting dialog. The best bloggers interact back.
• Stay calm. Don't get belligerant with those that might not agree with you. You can, of course, drum up more business that way, but getting too emotional shuts down minds and leads to hard feelings. (Okay, I strive for this but I don't always make it.) Remember you can't open someone's mind if yours is shut tight.
• Read and comment on other blogs. You can't read or comment everywhere, of course, but find blogs you like, people you identify with and you might very well get some good readers out of the bargain.
• Add humor. People love to laugh even if they don't necessarily agree with what you're saying.
  

OK, brilliant readers (and I know I have some), feel free to pipe up with your own ideas.

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For Flit: Why Are So Many Torqued at Today.com

flit asked: why are so many people so perturbed with today.com?

Why indeed. You might want to sit down for this.

Today.com is a blogging site that touts itself as a place where you can be paid to blog. I'm going to tell you my side of my story and then you are welcome to add your own bits or more questions or whatever. Many of us are putting stories on a blog called today.com exiles.

Let me start by saying: don't quit your day job. My sister was a member there and I pointed it out to flit and then flit convinced me to join (and, if I can figure out how to put flit into the conversation one more time, I can link her fourth blog). Anyway, I started out at the brilliant pay of $1/blog (up to one a day), minimum 150 words. Well, I wasn't in it for the money, which is a good thing. If you write a post that takes any effort, any time at all, you're drastically underpaid. But it's better than nothing. We are also paid for our traffic at what was described as $2/1000 hits. Every month they pay you and review your posts for "quality" and popularity wherein you can be bumped to a lower (or, in theory, higher) pay grade. You can't have ads because they are running ads on your blog.

Seemed fine to me. I was out in the blogoverse and, truly, I was enjoying myself. There were a number of high caliber today.com blogs, and a diverse world of other worthy blogs out there as well that I had never known. I started to have fun. Wasn't getting paid, really, but I was enjoying myself.

Then they started to change things. First, they made us all use the same template, presumably for their own comfort. Not that the template was terrible or couldn't be worked with, but many were disturbed by the uniform look of today.com and the loss of individuality. Then came the pressure to hawk products in our blogs and they'd give back a portion of the kickback on that (how much? Who knows? I don't. I refused to do so. If I'm going to take to writing advertisements, I'll damn sure be paid better than $1/post).

Still, even those that were disappointed mostly trudged on. After all, today.com was paying us. Then some people started noticing posts missing, money missing, discrepancies between the actual traffic and the traffic being paid for, etc. Unbeknown to most of us, they'd query on a private today.com forum and then be quietly kicked out, often without any prior notice.

Grumbling brought out belligerence from powers that be (and whiny stories about hardship from the leader of today.com) that we could suck it up or leave. Then Entrecard's new policy meant today.com was kicking us off EC. With many of us having limited methods to garner traffic, it was a blow. Then we were told we could keep it but would be given nothing for EC traffic. Then we found out that much of the traffic was paid at a different (and lower rate) than we'd been told. New blogs were no longer being paid per post but were just paid for traffic (using their calculations and their foggy and undefined but lower than advertised rates).

Well, I was losing interest in today.com, though I was still getting paid when a friend of mine let me know she'd been locked out for writing a blog that said she was sad to be losing EC. She was sent an email - your account is closed. Bye. If she hadn't been logged in at that time, she would have lost everything. She was able to clean things up and leave a "find me here note" - though they deleted it next day.

Well, that decided me to make my transition. I moved this blog, Ask Me Anything, but I wasn't changing anything yet, just getting set up. I moved my old EC widget here. A blog pal noticed I was being duplicated and let me know I was being ripped off, so I put up my, "I'm moving my blog here" post for "Ask Me Anything".

Bam, within hours I was locked out. Well, OK, I took my award-winning (Today.com's editor's choice for December!) Rocket Scientist label and moved it to a new blog I built on the fly. Then I notified my pals where to find me. I was irked but not livid. I wasn't moving the material in Rocket Science - just the label and myself, though I liked to think of myself as a boon. For some reason, they unlocked it the next day, so I took out my custom banners and all of my family photos from there. But I wasn't posting any more.

Then I heard about a few more like my friend that had been kicked. Flit and I discussed amongst ourselves. What with the drastic rate cutting and the constant hounding to build traffic and hawk stuff (and, folks, exactly how many people travel to blog to read advertisements - sheesh - that's kinda counterintuitive, isn't it?), we didn't think they'd be around long. Sure enough, on payday, dozens if not most of the today.com bloggers were no longer being paid per post, just on traffic. And being pressured to buy today.com ads (I did before I left - couldn't change it to my new site and 300 views/0 clicks last I saw. I won't be recommending it). Complain on a forum or your own blog - you were locked out with an email like this.

Can I just pause a moment to express my disgust with an organization so STUPID as to take bloggers (many of them exceptionally good) and toss them out in the world for speaking out in private. What did they think, they'd go "Damn, without ANY OUTLET in the entire world to express myself, I'll never be able to complain about today.com again." Folks, this is the internet. You'll be getting way more ugliness than if you'd been honest or respectful or polite or patient. The idiocy of their current policy blows my mind.

Many of the exiles started to get together and compare stories and the stories weren't pretty. You can find links to a number of them here. Today.com started getting all sanctimonious about the enforced exodus and harsh to any and all dissenters (even if the dissension was somewhere other than today.com). Then Today.com announced (in their private forum) that they were not only keeping the content of anyone who left (and NOT paying anyone who left a "find me here" blog - which they would erase - or saying anything derogatory in the private forums), but they'd give the established blog to someone else.

AS IF! Good luck finding another rocket scientist at the jolly sum of $5/month for traffic only.

So, if you find a fresh blog out there where they writer is just a wee bit angsty, don't be surprised if they're a today.com exile.

Oh, and today.com? If you were thinking of starting a blog there, seriously, think again.

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Someone Loves Me

Woohoo, another award. Man, I'm hot.

Although, living in Houston, that's not unusual.

In this case, a charming blog called Got Quads? about a mother and her adventures with her darling little quadruplets passed the "Let's Be Friends" award on to me. Really, I'm desperately flattered.

[UPDATE: I'm also a ditz - squared. Quadmama's blog is Got Quads (and I'd forgotten the link) and she was right - Oldwestmom of Forever Family also gave me this award on March 18. Ack! I'm so sorry I didn't acknowledge it in the midst of my move! Sorry, oldwestmom and quadmama!]

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to those bloggers who then may choose at least 5 more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

Of course, the hard part about awards like this is picking just five superlative blogs to pinpoint. Really, it's all but impossible. After more than six months in the blogosphere I've been inundated with clever, charming, funny and/or remarkable blogs. How to pick just five?

*Sigh*

So, I'm going to go this time by pointing out five blogs I've found rather recently that nearly always induce me to comment because I find them charming (albeit sometimes in off-nominal ways). Sometimes they make me think. Sometimes they make me laugh. Always, I'm enticed to read. These five are NOT the extent of the charming blogs I know, by any stretch, but they are a worthwhile read. And I'd be honored if they'd be friends with me.

Observations of a Nerd
Clarity 2009
Predator Press (I know it's been around a while, but I've just really gotten involved)
Occult View
Blanca DeBree Blog (so I find excessive sarcasm charming. Sue me.)

Now I'll notify all the lucky recipients so that they can laugh at me for my presumption. Have a good one. And believe me, if you're in my blog catalog favorites or my blog list, I'm a fan. Seriously.

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For Shakespeare: Making a Blog

Shakespeare asked: How do I start up my blog here, and what do I do with the old one once I've started this one?

This was pretty simple and straightforward.

First, up on the banner at the top of my blog, there should be a part that says, "Create Blog". Click it.

It will prompt you to either set up a profile with Google or, if you already have one, you can click the sign in link and there you go. If you don't, fill out the information and get one. It's easy. I had one because it makes commenting on many blogs so much easier.

Then, put in the name you want for the blog and a proposed name of the blog. Click the "check availability" until it tells you that blog is available. Then fill out the rest.

Click continue. Then pick a template. Most of these have different colors and styles, but I suspect most are customizable. I used "Minima Dark" for Rocket Science and this one. If you don't like the color, you can change it later. Some templates might prompt you for more information.

They have a starting guide.

Getting started on Blogger

If I remember correctly, you get a "congrats" page and your settings page. You can go right to posting or you customize. Places I'd start:

Settings. This is where you describe your blog and make choices, including descptions, settings, word verification, how you want to do comments (there are several options), but it's all pretty self-explanatory.

Layout helps you figure out what you want. I love this one. You can upload a new header (if your template has a customizable header) by clicking "edit" on the header. Ditto with the "About Me", "Blog Archive" or "Followers" widgets (which are standard at least on mine). To add a widget, click either of the "add a widget" and it takes you to google's huge list. Some of the best are on the front page. The Bloglist is fantastic, in my opinion, and you just have to provide URLs. It finds the names, etc. itself.

Then, when you have the elements you want, go to fonts and colors (still in layout) and update to suit yourself.

I suggest playing with it.

As to what to do with the old one? I'd leave a "follow me" blog and tell your friends where to find you.

I'm going to devote another blog to your second question. And I'm hoping others will chime in with their suggestions. That's one of the many cool things about this blog.

I'll also talk to some others about other template ideas in case you want to do something different than the options provided. I hope that helps.

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