Weekly Digest: Interviews, Non-stop Writing, Setting Clocks, and Challenging You to Blog Better

It’s another week in the blogging neighborhood of Lorelle’s World with plenty of activity and action. A few minutes ago I competed a podcast interview with the Download Squad on the topics of blogging and blog writing. I’m working hard on my two upcoming big article series on blog writing and personal blogging. Working on books. And I’ll have a huge announcement for a big project I’m working on next week – so stay tuned for more fun with Lorelle.

Also, a word of warning. We’ll be raising the price of my book, Blogging Tips, soon as the price of shipping and handling is going up, and we’ve extended the introductory price as long as we can. Get your order in soon as the price and shipping will be increasing.

Remember, I write daily articles on the Blog Herald, including the popular WordPress Wednesday news reports. If you are looking for the latest on WordPress news, Plugins, Themes, security issues, new releases, WordPress.com, and all things WordPress, check these out. The most recent article was WordPress Wednesday News: Happy Birthday WordPress, Automattic Wins and Gets Lots of Money, Security Concerns Over Plugins and Core, WordCamp Hamburg and Hating the Name WordPress.com.

This is the Weekly Digest from Lorelle on WordPress. To subscribe to the Weekly Digest category of Lorelle on WordPress, you can subscribe by the Weekly Digest feed or by email with the Weekly Digest Email Subscription to stay up to date on what is happening in Lorelle’s world of WordPress and blogging.

The last issue of my weekly digest was Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success if you want to catch up.

What’s Happening with Lorelle on WordPress

Here’s the latest blog posts on Lorelle on WordPress.

Blog Challenge: Blog About Being Big – aka Successful is based upon something a friend of mine says all the time in Israel, “I want to be big!” What she means is that she wants to be successful, which she is, but she wants more successful moments in her life. The response has been wonderful as people share “big” moments in their lives.
Define Blogging takes a look at what many bloggers are asking about what it takes to define blogging. There are a lot of complicated and yet simple answers.
Setting Your WordPress Blog Clock helps you to set your WordPress blog clock to the right time setting for you.
Weekly Digest: Writing About Writing, Working on Books, Lots of Speaking Gigs, and Blog Struggles is a Success is the last issue of my weekly digest summary.

Blog Struggles Series

My ongoing series on Blog Struggles continues to go strong. People are really identifying with my stories of some of the struggles I’ve had over 14 years of blogging. So far, the series includes:

Blog Struggles: The Search for Blog Content: We put so much energy into “finding” blog content that we often forget the best source for good blog content: from within us. I offer tips and techniques for pulling content from your head.
Blog Struggles: Ideas and Drafts: We come up with such great ideas and then what? We jot them down, make lists, start post drafts, and they sit there staring at us, as we procrastinate over what to do with all these ideas and how to keep them in check. I offer tips on how to best keep track of your ideas and drafts.
Blog Struggles: The Blog Focus: As part one in a sub-series of posts on Blog Struggles, I look at the issue of the blog focus, your blog’s ability to turn you from a blogger into an expert.
Blog Struggles: Why Should Your Blog Have a Focus: Your blog doesn’t have to have a focus, but if it does, these are the reasons, and benefits, of why it should.
Blog Struggles: Finding Your Blog Focus: Continues the Blog Focus theme and offers tips for finding your blog’s focus and direction.
Blog Struggles: Changing Your Blog’s Focus: Once you find your blog focus, how do you change your blog? Or should you start a new blog? I cover the tips you need to know to redirect your blog.
Blog Struggles: When Spelling, Grammar, and Punctuation Interferes With Your Blogging looks at the issues around the impact of poor writing habits and skills and whether or not they impact the success and reading of your blog.
In Blog Struggles: When Are Too Many Comments Too Many Comments?, I share a struggle I faced not long ago about an over-enthusiastic commenter who left a ton of comments on my blog within a few hours, making me very suspicious. We are often faced with suspicious comments, so what do we do? How should we handle them?
Blog Struggles: Taking The Moral High Blogging Ground addresses the issue of deciding which ethical and moral road to take on your blog.
Blog Struggles: Blogger’s Depression looks at the rarely discussed by normal aspect of blogging: depression. When the enthusiasm for the effort is lost and apathy sets in, and how to overcome it.
Blog Struggles: It’s The Rituals That Help Us Focus: I share some of the rituals I use to get me “in the blogging mood” and ask you to share yours.
Blog Struggles: When An Old Post is New Again takes a look at some of the struggles I’ve had when a past post suddenly gets picked up and sensationalized. I discuss the methods I use for keeping my old posts up to date, especially when fame comes knocking.
Blog Struggles: Recovering From a Traffic Spike really touched a lot of people as they related to the addiction that traffic spikes bring, as well as the hassles.

Lorelle’s News

Download Squad: I just completed the interview with Download Squad and we had a great time talking about blogging, especially how to break down the stagnancy on the web by finding the passion in your blogging again. If you want the latest in hot computer technology information and news, check out their blog and podcast.

Alliance for Distance Education Summit: I will be among the key speakers in the Alliance for Distance Education in California in Pasadena on April 2-5, 2008. It’s an exciting opportunity to meet and greet educational professionals committed to integration of web technologies into the classroom. I’m also tired of hotels, so I’ll be soon asking for a place to stay in a home during that week if anyone has a smoke-free place for me.

SOBCon 2008: SOBCon: Be There for the Business of Blogging! I will be there, will you? The Successful and Outstanding Bloggers Conference is one of the hottest events for bloggers. The best of the best gather and I’m so honored to be one of the lucky ones. It’s in Chicago on May 2 – 4, 2008. There is limited space available so register fast.

WordCamp Dallas: I’m one of the fantastic team of speakers at WordCamp Dallas on March 29-30, 2008. Registration is required so sign up fast. The line up includes some top multimedia, WordPress Plugin and Theme experts, and other top bloggers and industry leaders.

Blogger and Podcaster Magazine: Blogger and Podcaster Magazine will feature me as a regular columnist this year. The next article coming out soon will be on the business of blogging, part of a series. Get your issue now!

Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging

We will be ending the introductory “cheap” price on my book, “Blogging Tips: What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging” very soon. So get your order in now before the price goes up, along with the shipping rates.

You can order a copy from SplashPress or the new Blog Herald Bookstore. If you would like to order multiple copies, please email me first as that requires special handling.

For more information on the book, see the original announcement and a recent update with reviews and other information, as well as the Blogging Tips Book official page.

Most Popular Articles on Lorelle on WordPress

The most popular posts on Lorelle on WordPress the past few weeks were:

Blasts From the Past

Here are some blasts from the past I’ve written that still are interesting today:

Blog Herald Columns

Recent articles on the Blog Herald included:

I Hate What I Blog About shares the stunning comment someone told me at a conference recently, and looks at the issue of really hating what you blog about, and why that’s not a good thing and how to get back to the love.
Edublogs Campus: Bringing Blogs to Schools is my take on a new way to help schools connect teachers with students and parents. Edublogs Campus is based upon WordPressMU and allows schools to replace their website with blogging software that allows each class, student, teacher, or whoever to have their own blogs. Just think what your school experience would have been like if your school newspaper was a blog?
The Art of the Weekend Blogger takes a look at a long-time tradition of a professional writing becoming one by working on the weekend. Many bloggers and writers have full-time jobs during the week, so their only time to blog is the weekend. I offer some tips to help the weekend blogger blog better.
Why Are You Really Blogging? And What Keeps You Blogging? I ask another of those deeply soulful questions about why are you blogging, and what is the real reason you continue to blog over time.
What Do You Bring to the Blog Table? A Remix or Your Own Special Recipe? This is a look at what goes into your blogging pot, a special mix of ingredients that makes your blog special. If you don’t know what the ingredients are, I’ve included a list.
Black Hat Commenting takes a look at bloggers using comments in ways that attract attention and traffic, but also get the ire of many other bloggers.
Does Your Blog Comments Strip HTML and Links? Many are tired of blog programs which strip out links and HTML tags from blog posts, taking away one of the great connectors of the web.

Some recent weekly WordPress Wednesday News reports included:

Blasts from the Past of Blog Herald Posts

I’ve been writing for the Blog Herald for a year now, and I thought I’d highlight some of the more interesting posts I’ve published there.

Lorelle’s Linkworthy Links

As I crawled through the web recently, I ran across some interesting posts and articles you should check out:

Is your paperwork costing you time and money? from Freelance Switch is a good look at the hidden costs of doing business.
How to title stuff From Seth Godin in a great look at titling your blog posts – and other things.
Standards mode is the new quirks mode from 456 Berea Street looks at a stupid idea (in my humble opinion) to prepare the world for more Internet Explorer trouble.
Beyond DOCTYPE: Web Standards, Forward Compatibility, and IE8 from A List Apart looks at the DOCTYPE and where it is going.
From Switches to Targets: A Standardista’s Journey from A List Apart has Eric Meyers covering browser switching issues.
Whose Internet is it anyway? asks a good question – who owns the Internet and who gets the money that will be coming when the Internet stops being “free”.
Palm closing retail stores, paying out Treo owners is a news story that breaks my heart. Palm had such strength and power going for it, really breaking rules and setting new standards – but they got caught in the age of litigation and their back has been broken. What will become of the future of handheld computers? We haven’t had a decent model released in, what, four years?
IE7 coming at you (whether you like it or not) talks about how Microsoft is going to push Internet Explorer 7 on users and businesses, whether they want it or not.

This is the Weekly Digest of Lorelle on WordPress.
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Lorelle VanFossen is a member of WordPress, WordPress.com, the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging.

One Comment

linksubs

Posted February 2, 2008 at 3:53 am | Permalink

I have something special for you. You might have heard of Blog Advertising before and how you can make some good money by blogging. But what about the payments?

Every blog (except non-family friendly blogs) is accepted at BlogPayz. Just visit the site at http://www.BlogPayz.com and sign up as a Blogger. Select the categories your blog is about and away you go.

Tasks will be sent to you via your nominated email address to either accept or reject each task. Once tasks are completed by you, you get paid. Simple huh?

You might want to be an Advertiser as well. You will need to sign up separately as an Advertiser and submit a task. It’s as easy as that.

BlogPayz has brought the best practises of all Blog Advertising services together under the one roof. No more strict rules, no more waiting around and bigger payouts for Bloggers.

Sounds good? You know what to do.

Enjoy!

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[…] blog post ideas I’ll subscribe to one of the WordPress tag RSS feeds. I don’t read them everyday, so sometimes the feed list will be a couple hundred, many of […]