As you are probably aware besides being known for kicking-butt (in a nice kinda way) this blog prides itself as the gold standard for blogs. Unfortunately some of the guest submissions that I get aren’t quite up to snuff and go against what this blog stands for. I’m big on quality and originality, and unlike my competitors I don’t recycle other people’s content (or my own) just for the sake of pushing content every day.

However, I have enjoyed having Diane since inviting her to write for this blog. She has quickly become a valuable asset and so I’ve decided to open things up a little.

Since starting this blog it has been all about helping others with their blog and how to make it better. That is still the mission. So if allowing guest bloggers to write here can help them (and my readers) along the way then I’m all for it.

You can read more about the benefits of becoming a contributor here.

Ok, lets get down to it shall we. Blog Bloke gets a lot of guest post inquiries but only some make the grade. So I developed a 6 point guideline to make it easier for guest bloggers who wish to contribute to Blog Bloke. After reading the list below please let me know if you believe you have the right stuff, and if you do congratulations and show me what you’ve got.

The 6 Guest Blog Post Prerequisites for Blog Bloke dot com are:

1. The guest blogger should strive to meet to the quality standards of Blog Bloke which prides itself as being the ethical standard for blogs. Blog Bloke isn’t like those other blogs and neither should it’s writers.

2. The guest blog post should be original, meaning it cannot be curated from other sources. Neither can it be published elsewhere on the web. All references from other sites must be properly quoted with links attributing to the original source.

3. The guest blog post should be a fit within the niche of Blog Bloke … i.e. on the topic of blogging, blog tips and social media. You are not obliged to have the same opinions as Blog Bloke and can speak freely.

4. The guest blog post should not be overtly self-serving. Blog Bloke is about benefiting the readers .. not just for the writer. You know what I mean.

5. The guest blog post should be impartial and not have affiliate links or links to the author’s sites and/or friends/partners within the article. A link at the end of the post to the author’s site is allowed.

6. Regular contributors to Blog Bloke may be granted contributor status with their own author page, to be determined on a case by case basis.

I know the list may seem daunting but then again Blog Bloke isn’t your average blog. The purpose of these rules is to retain the good standards of Blog Bloke and to ensure that guest posts aren’t abused for scurilous reasons. I have spent more than a decade blogging developing a good reputation so I have to be careful and I hope you understand.

Oftentimes I have to edit someone else’s work for reasons such as bad grammar, spelling, formatting errors or mediocre writing. This can be so time consuming for me that it can render the guest benefit moot. So if I have to edit the post to bring it up to standard then I reserve the right to at least credit myself as editor. It’s only fair.

One more thing, you don’t have to already be a blogger to contribute. Diane didn’t have her own blog until recently so this can be an opportunity for social media users to get their feet wet with blogging.

The way I see it is if you have the right stuff and become a contributing author to Blog Bloke you will be in good company and join the cream of the crop of blog writers.

The standards are high. Are you up to the challenge? Do have something of value you want to share with the Blog Bloke community?

Good, then I want to hear from you.

BB

———-

P.S.: Don’t be shy to submit your post. Send me a private email with your submission and it will be between just us. I won’t bite. Promise. Who knows I might offer some suggestions to make it even better, or I could love it from the get go and just say YES! So don’t let your inhibitions hold you back. I’m here to help. Cheers.

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Blog Bloke Is Accepting Guest Bloggers

Thank you for your contribution to making the web great. And a special thanks to the women contributors to BLOGBloke like Diane.

You’re terrific.

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

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Happy Mother’s Day!

In some ways I’m just like this person in the image. I have all my cleaning supplies and I’m a bit of a whirlwind trying to get everything done, but without any kind of a strategy I know that I will be overwhelmed in no time.

In many ways when it comes time to do spring cleaning of your blog, if you don’t have a strategy you find yourself overwhelmed in no time and that is usually when problems will occur.

In all honesty creating a strategy simply means setting goals for yourself (a check list of things to be done) so that your blog will function better, it will be a lot cleaner (not just spit and polish) and it will help you in a way that will get you the respect and the attention that you deserve.

My personal strategy is broken down into two parts; 1) the blog and  2) the social aspect of your blog and the way I look at it, it is about cleaning the inside and outside of your online home.

So lets get started:

The Blog

When “spring cleaning” a blog there are certain things you should be looking at:

1. Go through all of your plugins and make sure they are up to date. Are you using all of plugins that you installed? I don’t know about you, but I have uploaded plugins with the intent of using them, just to find something better. Delete the plugins that you are NOT using. It has been proven that one of the major causes of your site slowing down is (yep) … too many plugins.

2. I found out that when it comes to themes, you should ALWAYS have a default theme and the theme you are using, anything more than that is a waste of space so get rid of the excess themes - and oh, make sure that the theme you are using is up to date.

3. Now I know people will groan, but if you are using WordPress, keep it up to date. Those “minor” updates are usually “security” fixes and it is in your best interest to update to stop that nasty hacker from getting into your site.

4. Check for broken links. As time passes and your blog has a lot of content, how do you know that a blog or site that you linked to last month (or last year) has moved to a new address? This happened to me not that long ago and I have to tell you it is very frustrating. Now imagine how your visitors feel - yikes! There is a plugin called - Broken Link Checker . The great thing about this plugin is that it will scan your blog site automatically and let you know if any link is broken or if there are missing images (for me a bonus) on an ongoing basis. Set the timer for when it does the scan and you will be told. It won’t tell you how to correct the broken link. Sorry, but you will have to fix on your own.

5. Just as your computer can get malware so can your blog, and the fact is running a malware scan for your blog is important. If you don’t and malware gets onto your blog you can be restricted by the search engines to prevent your readers or visitors getting infected (makes perfect sense). There are tools that you can use to check your site and everything I am reading says that Sucuri SiteCheck is the best place to run a free scan, but there are others as well.  AVG Online Web Page Scanner is one tool and Norton Safe Web is yet another way you can check to see if your site is safe.

6. Thin out Your Tags. A while back I had done a guest post for Blog Bloke where I talked about tags. When you are doing the spring cleaning of your blog, take this time to go through your tags and delete the ones that are not useful to you (or your readers). Overwhelming your readers with a huge list of tags serves no useful purpose, so pick out the top 10 -20 tags that you use the most and delete the rest.

7. Spring Clean your Sidebars or maybe I should say, clean up your side bars and get them organized. Do you REALLY need everything there? You want your readers to come to your blog to read your content. If they come to your blog and are overwhelmed with too much “stuff” within the sidebars then it is fairly safe to say they will be driven away by the clutter. Think about what can be deleted. Can you shuffle the “stuff” around to make your content easier to see or could you move some of your stuff onto pages? These are all questions you need to ask yourself and then get at it!

Now that you have done the spring cleaning within your blog your readers will thank you, because without the clutter and waste your blog will be a lot easier to navigate and read.

Is that all there is to spring cleaning your blog? Well no, remember part 2 - the social aspect to your blog? Maybe this is a good time to have a cup of coffee and relax for a moment -  but don’t leave this page!

Your’e still here? - good lets get on with Part two of spring cleaning your blog…

Social Cleaning

Part two to your spring cleaning is cleaning up the “yard” of your blog. When I say that, what I am really talking about is the social aspect to your blog. As any gardener will tell you spring is a time where you prune the trees, dig up the soil and get it ready for planting and then of course there is cleaning up the yard, painting or getting your home ready for barbequing and having friends and families over. Doing a Social Spring Clean up, while not as physically exhausting, will help in many ways from bringing your readers to your blog, helping you define what you are doing and who knows maybe you will get a fresh perspective on where you want to go.

1. When was the last time you read any of your social profiles? This is the time to start updating your bios, your interests, contact information and even your profile pictures (or avatars as some would say).

2. Are you using Twitter? When was the last time you weeded out those followers who don’t add value and when was the last time you added people who do? This is the time to unfollow those who are cluttering up your twitter stream and adding people who will create more quality information. Blogbloke and I use a great service for un-following people and it is called Just Unfollow, which is simple and easy to use. I know there are many styles of applications that will do the similar function and if you have one that is better than what we are using I would love to hear about it.

3. Do you use Facebook? When was the last time you checked your privacy settings, deleted useless applications and updated any information that will more accurately reflect what you are doing. Make a point of going through the pages that you like - are they still useful to you? Have you created lists on Facebook where you can click and read about those things that have interest to you?

4. Take the time to go through your email and clean it up!  Unsubscribe from lists that are adding clutter to your inbox. I use Gmail as my email of choice, but I also have a few others. Think about consolidating your mailboxes so that you don’t have to keep signing in and out all day just to see what is going on elsewhere.

Am I missing anything? What would you add to your spring cleaning chores?

Spring cleaning your blog is going to take more than a day, but as with your home it is well worth the effort.  If you get into the practice of cleaning every few months I believe that you will find blogging, while it might be work, is well worth your efforts.

I believe it is now time to take a short break before you start your spring cleaning, so here is a small gift for you and thank you Blog Bloke for allowing me this chance to share with your readers my thoughts on spring cleaning your blog.

..edited by Blog Bloke

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Spring Cleaning Your Blog - Let’s Do It

But for some of us maybe because of life’s problems writing can become a chore, or even worse you can’t think of a thing to say and you wonder what to write about or even how to do it.

I am speaking from personal experience by the way and I can tell you it is a very unpleasant experience which has kept me up at nights, had me questioning myself and wondering if I will ever write again.

Instead of doing the typical inspirational post on how to get back on the horse with typical tips and encouraging words, I am going to say…

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK !

The reality is sh*t happens and so does life and you need to find ways and means to feel better so that you can indeed write again, and that means taking time for you!

Now I can hear many of you groan as you say, hey that’s all fine and dandy if you have only a few readers or blogging is just a hobby. But what do you do if your blog is your business and life blood? Taking time off for you is not an option, and in fact by not writing you could lose readers, customers etc.

Really?

My answer to that is then you have not planned very well have you?

As with any business, blogging is not a “sometimes” affair, but something that has to be nurtured and published on a frequent basis, for it to become a success - you are after all a publisher even if it is a self-publisher!

On that basis, I am (oh dear - blog tips!) going to make my top three suggestions:

1. When you are in a writing mood, create a lot of different posts and keep them on file. When you are going through a blog fugue then pull one of them out, clean it up if need be and then post it.

2. Everyone talks about having guest bloggers. Well it is a darn good idea, especially for those times when writing becomes a challenge for you. Keep at least 2 or three people in the background that will help write for you and lets face it, having a new face, a new idea or a different point of view never hurts your readers.

3. Keep talking to others via social media. You may not be writing blog posts, but your blog can stay alive just by communicating with others whether it is using Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or other communities. The reality is that when you talk to others it might give you the push you need to be able to write again.

Going through a blogging fugue is never easy, and if I have learned anything then my top resolution for this year (if the world does not end) is to be kinder to myself, to do the best that I can and to keep doing what I love.

What about you?

———————-

Edited by Blog Bloke. Many moons ago I found myself asking a similar question. And here is another guest blog post on the subject of inspiration for writing blog content.

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Give Yourself a Break!

So let’s have some fun and learn something along the way. Here are the top ten best kept secrets that your favorite a-listers don’t want you to know. I’m sure there is someone you know who fits this description.

If you want to be an a-lister then just act like a hustler um, a-lister:

1. First of all you will need a good foundation to build upon. Look around and choose friends who are of a like-mind to create your own self-serving clique network. So much for social media being “social”. Oh well.
2. Now give your network a cool name so that it will sound legitimate. While you’re at it give yourself the title CEO and upload a pic of you … arms crossed a-la-Fortune Magazine style. Looking good there. Who cares if you’re running your empire from your bedroom. Who’s to know?
3. Hoard all those blog backlinks, likes and plus ones for your network buddies. Take turns linking to each other and agree on a schedule. Shuffle it up a little so that nobody catches on. Throw the occassional bone to a loser who sucks up the most to make it look legit. (And don’t forget to “nofollow” the link. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)
4. Why stop there? Upgrade your new company to embrace all of social media. Stick the word “media” on the backend of your name (like BLOGBloke Media) and l’ouilla - you’re now a social media guru! Work those social networks for all its worth cause that’s where the sheople hang out.
5. Never (ever) preach about ethics. Teach them how to add affiliate links but forget about link attribution. It’s bad for business. That way you won’t have to set an example. What they don’t know can’t hurt you. And tell them to follow you blindly without question. Shun (filter) those negative trouble makers with extreme prejudice. That’s good for business.
6. Be an ego-maniac. Promote yourself like crazy. Promote, promote, promote. Don’t be too proud to upload pics of your kids, wife and dog to show everybody what a real nice family guy you are. Smile for the camera…
7. Write a book. Hell, everybody is doing it and you don’t even need a book publishing deal. So why not you? Looks can be deceiving and image is everything. Tip: Copy your old blog posts that you copied from the web. The next thing you know you’re on the New York Times Best Sellers list and being interviewed by Larry King Piers Morgan. How exciting. See you on the book tour.
8. Don’t practice what you preach. Tell your readers to be transparent and happily give up their data. After all social media is supposed to be fun, right. Never discuss topics like privacy either. Remember .. it’s bad for business.
9.  Pretend to befriend people that you can upsell on the flip-side. Don’t be too eager either - patience is a virtue. Did I say “virtue”? Make sure your email marketing service is up to the challenge. I think they call it permission spamming.
10. Last but not least (and perhaps the most important) pretend that you have all of the answers. Scour the internet for the best ideas on your topic and pretend it is yours. (They call it curating. Cool name eh.) You do that by not mentioning (hat-tipping) and linking (attribution) to your sources.

‘Gosh your smart. Can I follow you‘? (See what I mean.) Of course, brown nosing doesn’t hurt either. After you’ve become an a-lister don’t be a stranger (and don’t forget to link to me too). So now you know. (Snicker.)

Have I missed anything? 

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How To Be An A-Lister

In fact, I would say that our online friends are more like our real-world neighbors, don’t you think.

If they were able to go around town (in the real word) with a bag over their head they would probably be inclined (or less reticent) to reveal more about themselves because they know that nobody could pin it directly to them.

Now back to the virtual world — not too long ago I read a research paper that said anonymous blog comments were the best comments because they felt more comfortable to reveal their true feelings. Shocking isn’t it?

What I’m talking about here is the relationship between privacy and how we conduct ourselves in public.

Side note: As I was writing this post I had a childhood memory of when I was a boy and dealing with my need to feel macho that was conflicting with my new fascination with girls. I was too proud to admit that I liked them so I put on my halloween El-Zorro costume and road my bike around the neighborhood chasing the girls with my plastic sword.

So who was that masked man, er … boy? It was all good fun and the girls loved it. So now you know one of my longest-held secrets. (How’s that for transparency?)

No, I’m not suggesting that we should walk around in public wearing masks or bags over our head but the point I’m making is people who desire some privacy and use pseudonyms on the web are probably more transparent than most of us simply because they can afford to be.

When we feel insulated by a layer of protection we can release our inhibitions and really let our hair down so to speak. And that’s a good thing because I would rather have real comments than the phony kind (like some other blogs that I won’t mention).

I’m more interested in a real opinion than a contrived image.

That’s REAL transparency.

Let’s be honest, even if we don’t use a pseudonym or avatar we hold back and only reveal what we want to reveal. The image that we present of ourselves is carefully contrived. Even if it’s just a pic that’s a few years younger than we really are (nudge, nudge, winky, wink).

Think of the wannabe CEO who poses in a suit with arms folded a-la Fortune Magazine style. (My avatar is an intentional mock-up of that by the way). The rapper (like Zuckerberg for example) with the hoody, or the pretty girl with the vogue look and skirt all the way up to her (censored).

I could go on but you know what I mean. Everybody contrives an image for themselves, cheats a little, puts their best foot forward and holds something back.

In fact it’s one of the first things that we learn when we are kids. Everybody has been burned by someone who we thought was a friend. Loose lips sink ships and all that.

Since my real world friends / neighbors don’t reveal everything to me, why should we be expected to be any different online?  Good question.

Maybe (just maybe) the anti-privacy propagandists shouldn’t be making such a big deal over pseudonyms after all. Despite their best efforts they are in no position to play high and mighty.

So let’s not be hypocrites about this.

And no, Google … not all anonymous users are trolls. Trolls come in all colors, shapes and sizes. Just saying.

So the next time some Google exec/guru tries to tell you to give it all up .. tell them to put a lid on it. Cause that’s what I’m doing.

Well that’s my thesis in a nutshell. This will be a short post because now I want to know what you think.

1. Do you agree or disagree with me?
2. Do you think we should allow pseudonyms on the web, or more especially in social media?
3. Would you reveal more of yourself if you used a pseudonym?

Please let me know.

I want to hear from you.

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How Transparent are you Really

Yes it’s true. It’s the end of the line for Blog Bloke. Further to my rant about the proliferation of social network sites hijacking the blogosphere, I have seen the writing on the wall and decided it’s time to pack it in. It’s only a matter of time before the inevitable happens so I may as well go out while I’m on top instead of dying a slow death with a whimper.

It’s not just about the social networks either. I’m sick and fed up with the content curators ripping off my work. So you guys will have to find another source to steal your material because this lunchwagon is now closed.

Comments have been on the decline and a once thriving community has moved on to Facebook and Google+. I wish you all the best and good luck.

This is sad day for me as I’ve given so much of my time to the pursuit of all things blogging but I reckon it’s time for me to move on. So as of midnight this evening I will no longer be a blogger. If any of you want to leave a comment here I will be happy to reply but I will not be writing any more posts.

I will not delete this blog and it will remain as a testament to my body of work which I believe will stand the test of time. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished and I hope it will remain a valued resource for years to come.

I wish to thank all of my readers for the joy that you have given me by allowing me into your computer screen. If along the way I have in some small way entertained and enlightened then my mission has been accomplished.

I will miss you. Cheers!

P.s.: If you want to know the ‘real’ reason for my decision then please click here.

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The End of the Road for Blog Bloke

Social Media in the News:

Internet News:

Techology News:

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BB Trending News 24/7

BlogBloke and I have been having a bit of a debate about blogging and social media, especially social networking and today I thought it would be a good idea to get you - the readers involved! In todays’ post both BB and I are going to give our points of view on the topic of blogging and social networking and we invite you to come in and tell us your thoughts, if you agree with either one of us or do you have a different way of looking at the question.

For all of you who have been long time readers of  ’Blog Bloke’ you know very well that BB is a man of convictions and firm in his beliefs. We were talking earlier today and a statement was made where he said that “blogging is much better than social networking“.

Very strong words by the way and as always we had a discussion about it. I believe that social networking is very important to the blogger and in fact without social networking the Blog itself will fizzle and the only person you will be talking to is yourself! Is Blogging better than social networking? To me the answer is NO!

Now that I have said that, I need to explain a few things so that you have an understanding of where I am coming from:

I believe that the world of blogging has changed, maybe a better way to word this is … traditional blogging is changing and evolving and even though the stats say that the number of blogs have gone up, the way people are thinking about blogging needs to be revised. I believe that the blog should be thought of as your home base or home office and as such this is where you can express what you feel, what you think and what you do.

Blogging is incredibly important but without the input of social networking, all your hard work will be for nought!  Yes you can set up your blogs to be picked up by the search engines (and yes that is required), but without talking to people or sharing on networks such as Facebook, Twitter, G+ and maybe a few others, you are indeed an island where maybe the ships passing by will see you.

I believe that it is through social networking people have a chance to get to know you as a real person, a well rounded person and that will provide major benefits to your blog. We are all now realizing that the different networks have different focuses and when you actively engage and share with people, then people will be more inclined to go to your blog to see what you are doing.

The fact is social media and social networking is growing by leaps and bounds. Social networks are where your readers are so to discount them as being not important or less important than the blog is foolhardy and in the end will hurt you more than help you.

I believe that there are some things you can share better through social networks than you can on your blog - now those might be fighting words to the traditional blogger, but I ask you to hear me out. As a publisher of a blog, especially a very ‘targeted’ blog, you are limited by your niche.  If you are blogging about (and I am using only an example) social media, it is difficult to talk about anything else.

The reality is we as humans have many interests in life from music to politics and it is through social networking that we can share, discuss and even explore those interests. I see nothing wrong with this and in fact I see this as a more well rounded view of blogging.

The fact is blogging is always going to be important but I see over time that social networking and blogging being in an ever changing symbiotic relationship.

Mr. Blog Bloke, I now hand this over to you…

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Counterpoint:

For the record this discussion first started when I inquired why Diane has been so long absent from this blog. Diane’s initial excuse was other worldly matters until I found her yakking engaging over at Google+ and Facebook, and the truth finally came out.

BUSTED!

But that’s ok, I still love her.

Having said that, Diane makes some good points but she might be surprised to know we probably have more in common than not. I have already written extensively that Social Media is an excellent compliment to Blogging if used correctly.

But I stress that word “correctly“. Social Media should revolve around our blog, not the other way around as I have written previously.

Where I have issue is when people waste too much time on social networks rather than their blog. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)

I too am guilty of this because it is easy to be seduced by the immediate gratification of social networks as opposed to spending hours on a post and waiting on our blog for comments that might never come.

Believe me I understand the attraction very well. However, we need to first understand what the difference is between real blogging and social media. And the fact remains social media is not blogging.

Blogging is about fleshing out an idea as opposed to the idle chit-chat of social networking and character limitations. A blog is something that we own as opposed to being guests on someone else’s website. Blogging is about being in control of our online destiny as opposed to submitting to someone else’s draconian TOS (terms of service).

Social networks can be faddish and temporary. Whereas blogs are forever. Then of course there are the serious privacy/security issues that we need to contend with on social media. I could go on.

I would encourage Diane and my readers to read all of my posts on social media to get a better understanding on the differences between blogging and social media.

This post is a reminder of how often my enthusiasm for blogging is misunderstood and I thank Diane for the opportunity to clarify. Believe me I see both platforms as being complimentary .. if balanced “correctly“.

I believe the image on the left says it all don’t you think.

Perhaps I’m not so “foolhardy” after all? Welcome back to blogging Diane. We missed you.

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Why Blogging is Better than Social Networking - Or is it

The 5 common SEO mistakes made are:

1. No Value Proposition.
2. Segmented Approach.
3. Time Consuming Workarounds.
4. Following SEO Trends.
5. Slow Iteration.

The six good ideas for SEO improvement are:

1. Do something cool.
2. Include relevant keywords in your content.
3. Be smart with your tags and site architecture.
4. Sign up for email forwarding in Webmaster Tools.
5. Attract buzz and natural links, votes, +1s, follows.
6. Stay fresh and relevant (social media and accessibility on new devices).

I think it’s revealing Matt Cutts is no longer doing the video honors and the seo message that I’m hearing is loud and clear. Especially the part about not following seo trends and numbers 5 and 6 above.

What we used to know about SEO is quickly being replaced by social media influence. I hate to say I told you so, but …

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5 Common SEO Mistakes (and 6 good ideas)