Weblog Tools Collection Annual WordPress Plugin Competition

The best Plugin competition, The Weblog Tools Collection WordPress Plugin Competition 2009 (3.0), is underway. WordPress fans rejoice. The annual WTC WordPress Plugin Competition has rocked the WordPress Community since 2005. Each event brings out the best and most creative WordPress Plugin authors competing for prizes, and many of the award winners and entrants are […]

The Art of the Fan-Based Blog: Competition Means Collaboration

By DB Ferguson of the No Fact Zone The first and most important step before even starting a fan blog is to find out the dynamics of your fandom as it currently exists online. Is there an official site? Are there message boards out there dedicated to your subject? Are there already other fan sites? […]

Working at Home on the Internet Blogging Project Competition

Working At Home On The Internet has started “The Work at Home/Blogging Project”, a competition that encourages you to write a blog post on: …help people with a Home Business determine the Advantages or Disadvantages of using a Blog to enhance their business through Blogging on the Internet. It can be about direct income through […]

The Blog Widget Competition Begins

WordPress announced WordPress Widgets to accessorize the sidebar in WordPress.com Themes, then announced a WordPress Plugin for any full version WordPress user or WordPress Theme designer to incorporate WordPress Widgets into their Themes. Now, Typepad is launching Blog Widgets to accessorize Typepad blogs. The race is on. WordPress was first out of the gate, but […]

Blog Exercises: Which Stats Matter

In this ongoing series called Blog Exercises, let’s explore the stats that matter, the ones you should be paying attention to on your site and off. On your site, you should be paying attention to: Most Popular Posts: Are your most popular posts related by topic? If so, there is clearly a driving interest in […]

Blog Exercises: Trust the Crowds

In an October issue of “Science News,” an article on the “Deep Network” monitoring of the sea floor, reported on how the general public may monitor the sea floor through the Neptune system of underwater microphones and web cams through LIDO (Listening to the Deep Ocean) (requires Flash). New discoveries have been made by citizens […]

Blog Exercises: Push Your Writing Forward

Blogging is about writing. Let’s not forget that. And now is the time to test your writing skills. The Tomorrow Project by The Society for Science and the Public is promoting contest for a science fiction story about the kind of future you want to live in when the future comes to call. They are […]

Blog Exercises: August Current Events

Been watching the news lately? It’s time to blog the news and current events for August in our Blog Exercises. For some communities, August is the start of the harvest season, a busy month. For other communities, it is the quietest month. Some societies practically close down their towns to vacate for cooler locations, getting […]

Blog Exercise: When Was the Last Time You Got Personal

I walked into a friend’s home and found the fridge covered with refrigerator art from her seven year old. The traditional home often features such childhood artwork but this was extremely precious as the child has learning disabilities and drawing. The artwork was beautiful. I stood there transfixed at the crude scribbles, trying to find […]

Blog Exercises: Become Your Own Fan Blogger

Fan blogging is one of the most challenging types of blogging. Fan blogging is blogging about a celebrity, television show, movie, sports team, sports player, criminals, or other groupie subject. Today’s blog exercise examines the art of fan blogging and how to learn from fan blogging to create your own fan club around your blog. […]

Blog Exercises: Site Policies and Bloggers Code of Ethics

It’s time to start working on all of your site policies, one by one. So far, we’ve touched on some of these in Blog Exercises: The Don’ts of Blogging, Blog Exercise: Taking a Risk With What You Blog About, Blog Exercises: Comments and The Blog Bullies, and Blog Exercises: Quoting and Blockquotes. The basic policies […]

Blog Exercises: Backlinks

Known as incoming links or referrer links, backlinks are links pointing from an external site to your site, directing their readers to you as a resource. Timethief of “one cool site blogging tips” describes backlinks as: Backlinks to your content are like votes for your blog. The more backlinks your blog receives the higher it […]

Blog Struggles: SOBCon, Idea Whelmed, and Tell It To the Telephone Pole

A few people were concerned when I started my first Blog Struggles Diary recommending that I not blog every day thus changing the whole tone of my site. This confused me as I thought this was what my site was about. I had to take some time to think about that…then life and work interfered, […]

The Art of the Fan-Based Blog: Continuing to Fight the Good Fight

By DB Ferguson of the No Fact Zone Now, if you’ve been following my series on The Art of the Fan-Based Blog, you’ve got a blog, you’ve got readers, you’ve got content. Have I forgotten anything? Oh, yeah. Burnout and how to keep fighting the good fight for your celebrity, readers, and fellow fans. Here […]

The Art of the Fan-Based Blog: Cash is Necessary

By DB Ferguson of the No Fact Zone If you’re building a fandom blog to create a cash revenue stream, you’re better off getting a second job or setting up an Etsy account. Money can be made, but that should not be a priority for you when it comes to being a fandom blogger. As […]