life within a page

2 in 1 : Choosing a partner

2009-10-13T22:14:00.000-07:00

As I was saying a couple of days ago I just had an awful time with my internet provider . I had to make about 4 trips to their office and I barely managed to get a contract signed after 4 visits . Their client services told me I DIDN'T needed some paperwork . And I didn't take that document with me . And when I got there the lady at the office told me that I , in fact , did need that document . And eventually you know what I found out ?

That NO . I didn't need the respective document . The lady at the office had her stuff all mixed up . Anyway this was one more proof to support my way of seeing things and that is : in most cases , most of the time , it's best to work with small companies , instead of big ones .

I mean this internet provider that I just signed a contract has a couple hundred thousands users in just one city . And still ... they suck .

Never really understood why this happens . Do they not care about every single individual and they start treating people in dozens ? Or they simply cannot pay attention to everyone and people get ignored ?

I honestly don't think it makes much difference which is which ... what matters is , that for the most part of my life , working with big companies has proven to be at least troublesome .

I prefer the little guys . They need me . They know that . I'm not just another customer . I'm a guy that puts a little in everyone's paycheck at the end of the month . And they work for that . They get things done faster . Maybe it's because they don't have so much stuff to do ... but I don't care as long as I get my things done as fast as possible .

Now why did I bother you with this ? Well ... these experiences may be of use to some of you . Sometimes it's best to keep things small . A small hosting company . One that values quality . An individual developer ... one that knows first hand that your business , be it whatever it may be , will put food on his table .

Don't rush into the first big company just because they have a name for themselves . Do some research . Maybe you can find something smaller but faster , better .

Now , in another topic somehow related ... do you remember that guy that you used to party with in highschool ? The really funny one , great friend , knew a lot of jokes and all in all he was a great company ? Remember him ?

He was a great guy , wasn't he ? Boy ... the times we've had ... the parties and the fun .

But just because he could burp the alphabet ... can he actually work by your side and fulfill his tasks before his deadlines ? Can he be trusted to take responsibility for his part of the job ?

I recently talked to a friend of mine , an old colleague of mine . We haven't talked in ages . And at a certain point in the conversation we , evidently , reach the following question :

'So ... what do you do ? What have you been working ?'

He looks at me and after he tells me he is working for a company dealing with computer assembly and repair he asks me :

'Do you remember Catalin ? From highschool ?'

'Yeah . How is he by the way ?'

'I think he is good . Haven't talked to him in some time now . About 2 years ago we agreed we would start a small business together fixing computers for start and then maybe bigger things . But he is a dick . I mean ... he is a great guy and all that but he is lazy as heck and talks a lot of crap . Never knew that about him . I never had to work with him before . We started this thing , we got a lot of clients at first but I was the one doing all the work and eventually it blew in our faces . I couldn't keep up with all of them and he always seemed to find some excuse from doing things .'

The rest is irrelevant . I trust you know what I am trying to say , right ?

what causes a high bounce rate ?

2009-10-11T19:29:00.000-07:00

We all know that different stats mean different things for different types of sites . That's a lot of different , isn't it !? You need to understand that there is no real recipe for success with websites , blogging or any other type of virtual endeavor . In fact I don't think there is a clear recipe for success in any aspect of life ... but this is a talk for another session , on a different blog . It all comes down to thinking just one step ahead of your site .

What we do know is that some sites need leads , other sites just need people to stay on them for as long as possible , other sites may need word of mouth , and so on and so forth .

When it comes to web analytics , whatever your site's needs may be , it is - however - clear that all sites need a low bounce rate . The bounce rate is basically just a percentage of how many people see just one page of your site and then skip to the next website . And this simply isn't good for any kind of website .

So the rule is to keep your bounce rate as low as possible for as long as possible .

What causes a high bounce rate ?

3 things : bad content , bad design , bad information . Notice that I use both content and information . Some of you might ask : 'How come ?! Aren't they the same thing ?'

Not necessarily . By content I mean text ( quantity and quality - proper spelling , etc ) and the way the text is structured and placed while by information I mean the actual pieces of knowledge the user receives after reading your content .

So ... bad content . When someone stumbles to your webpage it is critical to have proper spelling , easy to read layout and correct use of grammar . Check your landing pages and make sure they are in tip top shape in terms of spelling , grammar , layout .

Now when it comes to layout and grammar there really aren't too many options out there . You can do some research in terms of layout ( you can start here ) and you simply must know proper grammar .

As for spelling there are plenty of online tools out there that can spellcheck text ( to name a few : spellchecker and orangoo's tool ) .

When it comes to content you need to make sure you optimize your pages for what your website is about , make sure - with the use of meta data and keywords - that your visitors know what they will find even before they click your link . This ensures valuable visitors instead of weary ones that just bounce off .

The design of a webpage can get highly underrated many times and this is strange because design is basically how a page looks . We all love beautiful women , right ? We all love beautiful cars , right ? People are fond of beauty ... and design makes no exception from the rule .

Obviously the best option is to hire a professional to do all of your design . But in case you can't do that there are tons of resources out there featuring free web templates , blogger templates , wordpress templates and so on . All you have to do is search . Seek and you shall find . Make sure the design keeps in touch with the general topic of your website .

Another thing to keep in mind is ad placement in case you have ads on your website . Don't crowd your landing pages with banners and link ads . Ads are a turn off . Learn to blend your ads with the overall look of your page . This way visitors won't think your page is just another scheme and they will see it as a genuine resource .

Bad information or no information at all . They both need to be avoided as much as possible . Make sure the message you are trying to send is visible from the very start . Make sure it is up to date . Fresh content has become the new mecca of our times . Make sure your message is real and has real world applications for the people interested .

These are a few things you should keep in mind when optimizing your website for a lower bounce rate .

stemming your way to the first place

2009-10-10T21:02:00.000-07:00

I've had me a horrific past couple of weeks . I've had no access to an internet connection . I could have surfed the web from some place other than my home but , for various reasons , I prefer to do my browsing/writing/chatting strictly from home .

Anyway , after a lot of dealing with incompetent employees and a lot of dealing with stupid , useless protocols I've finally got my connection set up and I thought it would be a good idea to start posting again . It will take some time getting back in line but I'm confident enough , especially with autumn knocking at my door ( for some reason I feel rejuvenated when it's raining and it's cold ) .

So ... what is keyword stemming !?

Probably everyone knows what it is ... but some of you may not know that it's called this way .

Keyword stemming ( sometimes referred to as conflation ) is basically the process of obtaining a base word , a stem , from it's various derived forms .

For example stemming is getting to the word 'sink' from it's derived form 'sinking' or maybe 'sinks' . Or getting to 'flow' from it's derived forms 'flows' or 'flowing' . You get the point .

Now I've seen a lot of incorrect use of this term ( 'stemming' ) when it comes to 'keyword stemming' . People tend to refer to it as being the other way around which is getting to a derived form from a basic word , stem .

For example getting to 'sinking' or 'sinks' from it's stem which is 'sink' .

Basically you get the idea . Just as a note on this the first definition is correct while the second one , the one most bloggers tend to use , is incorrect .

Initially search engines have had problems with this because it requires a tricky algorithm for a search engine to read the word 'sinking' and know that it's related to 'sink' . But we live in an age of wonders in which search engines ( at least the big ones ) no longer have issues with this stemming .

And because they no longer have these problems it is a good bet you can spruce up your position by taking advantage of keyword stemming .

Now , for the most part , you will not have problems with stemming a keyword and finding the right place for it , but if your english skills are not in top shape or if you stumble upon a tricky word you could go and check out this handy stemming tool over at indeksering .

6 pieces of web design

2009-09-02T00:54:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have featured any inspiration pieces so far and since I spend my days struggling to be a web designer I figured it was about time to start posting some pieces of things visual . So , without further ado I bring to you 6 pieces of web design . Original web design that is ... why 6 ? Well , why not 6 ?

Christian Sparrow

Max Shaman

Artistika

AceHigh Records

Bear Skin Rug

Hailey Winstone

the secret of blogging is ...

2009-08-27T23:26:00.000-07:00

Everything I've learned so far about blogging has lead me to one simple conclusion :

'Blogging is selling .'

Nothing more , nothing less . Every guide , every tutorial , every discussion , every book , every blog you've ever read about blogging is basically just another way of selling .

With the flow of information that the internet has allowed there is no longer a need to sell information . I doubt that there is anything anymore that you can't find online in several places . So blogging is no longer selling information . Years ago when blogging was just a kid sucking on a lollipop people read certain blogs because they offered information that they could not find anywhere else .

Today that is no longer a reality . The information that you can find in a place is most definitely available in other places as well .

Today you cannot come up with something brand new to say . So all you are left with is saying the same old crap ... but in a brand new way - your way .

And this is what I know about blogging . Successful blogging that is .

Absolutely everything there is to know about blogging can be summed up to one simple sentence :

'Blogging is about selling yourself .'

That's it . And now you know it . The secret to a successful blog is simply knowing how to market yourself .

Now all you have to figure out is if you're a good salesman .

writing in an F-shaped pattern

2009-08-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Have you ever bought a book just because of it's hardcover and fascinating design ? Without knowing what it actually contains and how good or relevant the information in it was ?

I did . In fact , I bought many books just for their hardcover . I like books . And most of the times I don't even know if I like reading them as much as I like having them around . They have a certain ... je ne sais quoi that I absolutely love .

How do you ensure that your blog has that special something that keeps people coming again ?

There are a lot of design rules that you should follow . And most of the times you might just get away with breaking a few of them . Why ? Because of your content . Having good content lets you skip a few design rules . And in order for that to happen you need to make sure people read your articles .

It all starts with headlines . Visitors see an interesting headline and they click to read the article . And this is where the fun part begins . A few years ago someone ( I'm sorry I can't remember who or where ) invested in a study on internet users reading habits . And using some cool gadgets they discovered that internet users tend to read in an F-shaped pattern .

This means that when they see an article they first read in a horizontal movement across the top part of the article ( the first 2-3 paragraphs ) . This is the F's first horizontal bar .

Then they read in a second horizontal movement across the next part of your article , usually covering less horizontal space ( this means they will no longer read the far right side of your text ) . This is the F's second , shorter bar .

And finally they scan the text's left side vertically .

What does this mean for us ?

It means that after we have our killer headline that gets people wondering : 'What is he talking about ? I'd better find out !' , we need to write our article in such a manner that the first 2-3 paragraphs offer the most relevant information . This is what draws them further into the article . If we manage to get them excited in the first 2-3 paragraphs we have a chance at getting them to read the next part of our article .

Your article's should be divided in 3 parts . The top part should contain the most information in a clear , concise writing . The second part should contain add-ons to the first part . And the third part should contain various information that the user could do without .

Chances are you will not get your readers to read the whole article from top to bottom . But if you manage to send the message to them and make them understand what you are talking about while at the same time not stressing their eyes and not forcing them to read an entire article just to find out 3 rules of dating ... you will most definitely get them to return to your blog .

People love quick to catch , easy to understand information .

So , how do you stop a train with your bare hands ?

2009-08-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

No . I'm not going to teach you how to stop a train with your bare hands . But that would be pretty cool , wouldn't it ? Maybe in a future post after I have been through a terrible science lab accident that left me with a bunch load of superpowers .

This post is related to Copyblogger's latest article by James Chartrand called 'The single most important thing your headline must do' . And they tell us what our headlines should do and that is : to promise something in return .

The article deals with a successful headline that promises to offer something weird , maybe funny or even emotional - “How a cashier stopped a train with her bare hands.” - as oppose to other headlines that simply deliver facts without promising anything in return - "Plane passengers survive shaky landing." .

So how do you make sure your headline stands out of the crowd ?

image by murat karakas

The key is to ensure your potential reader that when he has finished reading your article he will have learned something new , useful ... or maybe he will have had some fun ... or maybe ... well , you get the point .

"Hook readers with a promise and then seal the deal with your content ."

Fair enough . But we don't all have the skill or the experience to write a catchy headline just like that - poof - I have my headline . Some of us need some guidance . Some pointers , a couple of tips ...

Let's take that example :

"How a cashier stopped a train with her bare hands ."

The story is , obviously , about a cashier . A cashier that does something extraordinary . Stopping a train is not an easy task , unless you're the mechanic , but stopping a train with your bare hands ? And all this while being just your average Joe - a common cashier ? Now that is something amazing .

There is no story you could extract from the headline . You know that the headline must have a catch . I mean , there is no way that could happen ... so there must be some underlying story that goes with it . And this is were you get hooked . You get curious about how that phrase relates to something real , to a real story ? And you click .

A good headline needs a good story . You cannot have a good headline without a story that allows that headline . Think outside the box when it comes to writing your headline but don't overdo it .

Write a headline that gets people wondering : 'What could he mean by that ?' . Better yet ... when it comes to blogging ... you could even write headlines that have nothing to do with the content of your article . Write epic headlines promising amazing battle's with dragons and fairies . And deliver . Not the battle but the excitement , the reward . Headlines are a tricky thing . Make sure your article delivers what the headline promises .

People that visit your blog already have a general idea on what you are blogging about . So they suspect that the article with the weird title must be something related to your blog's topic . But what could it be ?

25 free ebooks for your blogging needs

2009-08-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

I originally wanted to post these by category but it's too damn late now and I have to wake up early in the morning so I will post them in alphabetical order instead .

So , here they are : 30 free ebooks / reports that you may already know of . If you do ... good for you . If you don't I suggest downloading and reading them . Some of them are pretty old ( in internet years ) and some of them are not , some of them have a lot of valuable information , some of them don't . But all of them offer , more or less , useful information which might just make the difference between success and failure . But only if you listen carefully .

If you know of any other ebooks/reports that you found useful don't hesitate to share .

The 8 Step guide to podcast marketing basics by Christopher S. Penn

Excerpt :

There’s a lot more to podcast marketing and marketing in general than this short little eBook guide can offer. This guide is intended only to give you a broad overview of some of the basics of podcast marketing. I’m intentionally giving a miss to more complex marketing topics such as affiliate marketing, viral marketing, etc. because the basics need to be in place before you can do anything else.

Download .

279 Days to overnight success by Chris Guillebeau

Excerpt :

How I Became a Full-Time Writer in 279 Days
The Complete Revenue Estimate for my Personal Site in 2009
The World Domination Strategy for Establishing Your Brand
Avoiding the Vampires Who Want You to Fail
Why Adsense (and most other Web Advertising) Sucks
How to Stay Off the Digg Home Page and Still Get All the Traffic You Need

Download .

Authority Rules - The 10 rock solid elements of effective online marketing by Brian Clark

Excerpt :

Authority is powerful stuff. Authority can be abused and it can definitely corrupt … But it can also build trust, admiration, and respect . And when it comes to online marketing … Authority is what works .

Download .

Blog profits blueprint by Yaro Starak

Excerpt :

What you are about to read is the result of three years of blogging and seven years of hands-on Internet business experience. This advice is unique because it comes from someone who knows BUSINESS as well as blogging and who has applied business principles to make money from blogs.

Download .

Effective internet presence by Ted Demopoulos

Excerpt :

A reporter from Investors Business Daily interviewed me yesterday. It was obvious he had googled me online before we spoke. If he had found nothing or nothing interesting, we wouldn’t have been speaking.

Download .

Enduring the road to success by Eric Hamm

Excerpt :

My point is this; whatever I put my mind and energies to, I expect success. But not because of a blind ambition, but instead, I expect this because of a formula of enduring the road to success that’s worked time and again and continues to show its value as I push ahead.

Download .

Get viral - Get visitors by Jim Burney

Excerpt :

Viral marketing is a term used for marketing which spreads itself , and so is named after the same convention as a human virus which spreads from one person to another person and so on . The point of viral marketing is that certain computer users who have been selected to receive targeted information will then choose to pass it on to others with a similar interest of the product or service .

Download .

The Insiders guide to becoming a rapid e-learning pro by Tom Kuhlmann

Excerpt :

This ebook provides an insider’s perspective on getting the results that make you a rapid e learning pro. In it, I’ll share with you the proven methods and techniques I’ve developed after 15 years of building e-learning courses.

Download .

How to start an internet business and make your first $1000 online by Yaro Starak

Excerpt :

Learn how to start your own Internet business and stay happy , healthy and balanced as you do it .

Download .

Introduction to good usability by peterpixel

Excerpt :

This guide is especially handy if you haven’t done a lot of webdesign yet or if you are involved in webdesign but don’t do any of the real work. I hope to shed some light on some common interface elements and mistakes people often make with them.

Download .

Marketing Apple by Steve M. Chazin

Excerpt :

APPLE DOESN’T HAVE SOME special place where their marketing secrets are kept, unless of course you count their charismatic CEO’s brain. The five secrets I offer here are careful deductions, empirical results and the product of my career as an engineer, sales rep, product manager, marketing executive, parent, son and avid consumer (although not necessarily in that order) . These secrets are super condensed learnings from my nearly decade-long tenure at Apple about how and why people spring to action.

Download .

Marketing is a contact sport by V.K. Singh

Excerpt :

To hardworking marketing professionals and small business owners. In the new era of Internet Marketing 2.0, there are better ways to reach out and touch some one. The time you invest in reading this book will be the best investment in marketing and growing your business.

Download .

The membership masterplan by Yaro Starak

Excerpt :

This report outlines the lessons learned and the process I implemented to successfully plan, create and launch my membership site. It is my hope by following the steps in this document you will be able to replicate my system and launch a membership of your own and add an extra $100,000 or more to your bank account within the next 12 months.

Download .

The plot thickens : Why case studies create new customers by Charles Brown

Excerpt :

Charles Brown is a freelance copywriter who specializes in writing case studies, white papers and SEO web content for business clients. The author of over 200 articles, Mr. Brown lives in Fort Worth, Texas.

Download .

A primer in social media by Eric Karjaluoto

Excerpt :

Social media represents a broad change in how people communicate with one another. This is exciting for businesses as it presents new channels and methods of reaching consumers. As such, early adopters have encountered both successes and failures in developing strategies that incorporate this new paradigm. smashLAB advises groups to remain strategic and pragmatic in employing social media.

Download .

We have a website . Now what ? by Craig Rentmeester

Excerpt :

Practical Advice to Improve Your Online Marketing Efforts

Download .

SEO for Wordpress blogs by Carrie Hill & Mary Bowling

Excerpt :

Blogs, by their very nature, are search engine friendly and give you built-in advantages in optimizing for the Search Engines. For a variety of reasons, nearly all SEOs agree that WordPress provides optimization benefits other blog platforms do not. By following our simple tips and using our recommended plug-ins, you can have an easy-to-use content management system which also ranks well in the Search Engines.

Download .

Stop slogging , start blogging by David Walker

Excerpt :

I created this guide to not only help a complete newbie get their blog up and running as quickly and painlessly as possible, but to also show exactly how the pro bloggers earn six figures per annum from their efforts.

Download .

The outsourcing conspiracy by Jon Morrow and Brian Clark

Excerpt :

haven't you heard? outsourcing is changing everything. you don't have to work the 9–to–5 anymore. you can stay tucked away at home, surfing the web from your skivvies and only subjecting yourself to a couple hours of actual work per day. all through outsourcing. you can even work on things you want to do. isn't that something? Just take everything that's confusing, boring, or otherwise undesirable and delegate it all to someone that's happy to do it. all through outsourcing.

Download .

The social web analytics ebook by Philip Sheldrake

Excerpt :

“...The social web will be the most critical marketing environment around."
“...The social web will become the primary center of activity for whatever you do when you shop, plan, learn, or communicate. It may not take over your entire life (one hopes), but it will be the first place you turn for news, information, entertainment, diversion.”

Download .

The Zen of blogging by Hunter Nuttall

Excerpt :

If you're into Zen and you're into blogging, read and share this ebook.
If you're into Zen but you're not into blogging, share this ebook.
If you're not into Zen but you're into blogging, read this ebook.
If you're not into Zen and you're not into blogging, read it twice.

Download .

A geek's guide to promoting yourself and your online business in 140 characters or less with Twitter by Geekpreneur

Excerpt :

Perhaps the question should really be—do you twitter? And if you don’t you soon will do. This guide is going to show you exactly what Twitter is all about, and how to make the most of it. You may well have heard of it before, but you may not have realized just how useful it can be when it comes to spreading the word about your business online.

Download .

Viral copy by Brian Clark

Excerpt :

Viral Blogging.
Link Bait.
Tagged.
Dugg.
If you know what those words mean, you’re likely looking to do the first, create the second, and have the third and fourth happen to something you’ve written. If you don’t know what those words mean, relax. They’re simply new terms for a timeless concept you likely already understand.
Publicity.

Download .

The new rules of viral marketing by David Meerman Scott

Excerpt :

Imagine you’re the head of marketing at a theme park, and you’re charged with announcing a major new attraction. What would you do? Well, the old rules of marketing suggest that you pull out your wallet. You’d probably spend millions to buy your way into people’s minds, interrupting them with TV spots, billboards by the side of the highway, and other “creative” Madison Avenue advertising techniques. You’d also hire a big PR agency, who would beg the media to write about your attraction. The traditional PR approach requires a self-congratulatory press release replete with company muckety-mucks claiming that the new attraction will bring about world peace by bringing families closer together.

Download .

What is social media ? by Antony Mayfield

Excerpt :

Social media is best understood as a group of new kinds of online
media, which share most or all of the following characteristics:
Participation - social media encourages contributions and feedback from everyone who is interested. It blurs the line between media and audience.
Openness - most social media services are open to feedback and participation. They encourage voting, comments and the sharing of information. There are rarely any barriers to accessing and making use of content – password-protected content is frowned on.
Conversation - whereas traditional media is about “broadcast” (content transmitted or distributed to an audience) social media is better seen as a two-way conversation.
Community - social media allows communities to form quickly and communicate effectively. Communities share common interests, such as a love of photography, a political issue or a favourite TV show.
Connectedness - most kinds of social media thrive on their connectedness, making use of links to other sites, resources and people.

Download .

are pillar articles nothing more than dinosaurs ?

2009-08-17T03:23:00.000-07:00

We've all heard the term 'pillar article' . And most of us have a vague idea of what a pillar article is . But now seriously , do we really need them ?

From what I know Yaro Starak first used this term and now I ask you : Do you think that a year after Yaro first used this term , a new blogger knows that Yaro used it first ? Or did this new kid on the block get lost amongst the thousands of 'pillar article' related articles that sprung like mushrooms in a matter of days after Yaro's first use of the term ?

A pillar article is usually a tutorial style article that ... is that really relevant ? It took just a few weeks before completely different definitions of pillar articles appeared from various bloggers .

So ... again ... do we really need pillar articles ? Do they offer anything of value ? For us , not for our readers - by definition a pillar article is supposed to offer value to the recipient .

A study released a good while ago , unfortunately I can't seem to track it down - I first read about it over at copyblogger , showed that more than 50% of students could not properly understand a table of blood pressure and exercise or a newspaper editorial's arguments . And this happened while at the same time these kids we're more literate than the average US adult .

What does this tell us ?

It tells us what we've always known about the average internet user : the attention span is very limited while online . Apparently , this lack of focus may be crossing the line from virtual to real life .

We all know that twitter has known an incredible success in the past year or so ... limited by 140 characters . Requires little attention , little concentration .

A pillar article is , by definition , a complex piece of writing with the sole purpose of offering a clear , concise definition of a concept/software/mechanism/etc . But most of the time ... this explanation requires more than 140 characters , doesn't it ?

Where do pillar articles fit in the developing micro-blogging age ?

image by neoheaven

focus manifesto

2009-08-16T20:07:00.000-07:00

Focus : A simplicity manifesto in the age of distraction .

This is the description you will find for Leo Babauta's ( ZenHabits ) latest book called , obviously , Focus .

Now why would I write a post on this book that is still in dippers ? Because of Leo's original approach on writing it . Now I'm not sure if he is the first one that's done this or not ... but this is the first time I see this kind of writing . In other words , here's how the book is going to be written in Leo's words :

Write just the core content, in short chapters.
Publish this on the web in "beta" form. Share it with a small group of readers, for free.
Ask them to comment and even make contributions. I'll decide what goes in, of course.
I'll revise and expand on the book, based on input from early readers. Will publish new versions as they're done.
More readers will be invited, and more feedback welcomed. More revisions will come out.
Finally, the book will be done, freely available on the web to read. Credits included for contributions from readers.
Will turn into an ebook, also freely downloadable, encourage people to spread it widely.
Will get a publisher to publish and distribute the print version, or failing that, self publish. Will sell this for a fee.There might be some additional info in the different versions, to encourage people to check out all versions if they like.

I find it to be an excellent idea that was due to arrive . It's definitely not going to change the way we write books , and it shouldn't , but it will prove to be an interesting project for some of us that might give a go at it . A chance to challenge our writing skills , our life views and , why not , get a little fame alongside .

You can find details about it at ZenHabits or visit it's home page at FocusManifesto .

the what , the why and the how of viral content

2009-08-16T16:36:00.000-07:00

In my last article I was talking about digg'like websites and how to get them to work for you . And my suggestion was something in the realm of simply following the web , as much of it as possible and putting in the work . Submitting various slices of web and hoping they create a buzz . Which in turn will bring you the title of Big Kahuna on the block and a considerable amount of followers . Once you've done that the key was to write a digg'worthy article and submit it thus getting a considerable amount of visitors to your blog .

Sounds good in theory , right ? Well , it does . If it works - I don't know yet . As I said in my previous article this is just a theory . But assuming that it works and you can manipulate a digg'like platform in your advantage ... what would a digg'worthy article look like ?

We are , obviously , talking about viral content . So what is viral content ? Content that everyone talks about and everyone wants to see , right ?

image by talk2frank

There are 2 main categories of viral content out there . And they can be distinguished by the type of feedback they get .

The first type of viral content . This one gets emotion . Cut your arm and film it and it and people will want to see that ( although I strongly advise against that - you may still need your arm ) . Catch a crazy thing on film and post it . People will want to see this . Chances are it will get hundreds of thousands of views on it . This example belongs in the first category of viral content . It does not offer anything of real value , but some crazy laughs or something to that effect . It offers emotion , be it laughter , tears etc , etc .

And the second type of viral content is content that offers some information , offers value and gets people's attention ( e.g. a great tutorial on creating a wordpress template ) .

This is the kind of content we are interested in . This is what you need to provide . And , if you get your buzz and followers , this is the kind of content you will want to create . Why ?

It does 2 things . Let's take the wordpress template tutorial as an example . It's content of interest . There are a lot of people who want to know how to do that . The beauty of this kind of content is that it will create some instant buzz while at the same time building up over time , becoming a sort of : 'ahh , you want to do that ... then go there' .

This type of content has many things in common with the timeless posts that I discussed a while back , so I suggest you read that as well .

But enough chit-chat . Let's get down to the point :

What is viral content ?

It's easy to understand ( needs no further documentation to understand , no background check ) .
It's engaging , it makes people talk about it , creates buzz ( read lateral action's latest post for an overview on the right kind of buzz )
It's worth sharing ( offers a certain level of reward to a person that shares it - something like 'thanks for sharing this with me , it really helped me/made me laugh/made me think/etc ) .
It's relevant ( needs to be relevant to people that receive it , something they can either identify with or that affects their life's on some level , or that helps them ) .

Why viral content ( this is obviously the 'why would I provide viral content once I get my authority set' ) ?

If it's viral , it's engaging . If it's engaging , it encourages comments . Comments are , as many people say , life source of a blog .
Generates buzz around your blog which in turn brings inbound links . And we all love inbound links .
Viral content is , by definition , made for sharing . And social media is all about sharing . You get what I'm saying , right ?
If you've read the article on timeless post then you know what a timeless post is . And if you know what viral content is and you know what timeless posts are and , by some miracle , you manage to create content that has both of those qualities ... what do you get ? Large streams of traffic over time .

Now that we know what viral content is we have a better understanding of what digg'like content is . And we are one step further to getting our followers .

One more piece of advice is : keep your eyes on the front page of these sites . See what circulates . See what gets . But I already said this ;) .

Ohh , and assuming that you managed to get your followers and you are ready to create some viral content that will get you thousands of visitors and millions of dollars and that brand new home and the hot blonde with big boobs ... here's the How :

Check out everyone else's viral content and see what works . There must be some clues that you can get from them , something they all have in common .
It's all about value , value and some more value . Stuff as much value as you can in as little space as possible . Avoid explanations and quotes and beating around the bush ( not the president , the actual bush ) and get straight to the point . Focus on what really matters .
Try to be today not yesterday . Don't offer content that was relevant yesterday , no matter how funny or interesting it is .
It's all about quality . And quality does not necessarily mean just the content . Make sure your article/video/etc is in tip-top shape , starting with the title to every word or fade out you have in there . Spellcheck your article , make sure there are no pixels visible in your video , and so on .
Ohh , did I mention the title ? Get a mind blowing title for your content .
Make sure your article can be read and understood without further documentation . I already said that , didn't I ? Well , also make sure you offer relevant links and further info for the few people that might want to find out more .
And , at last , just spread the word .

part II : all aboard the social train

2009-08-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

In the previous post we've established that you need authority before promoting your blog . And this is a puzzling concept cause reason tells you : 'How the heck do you get authority before promoting ? Doesn't authority come after people know about you ?' .

And , as always , you are right . The only catch is that we are talking just about digg'like websites . There is a whole mix of promotion/building authority that you need to perform ... at the same time . And we will cover them all here , hopefully .

But for now let's just focus on the matter at hand : promoting your blog on digg . So , as I was saying in part I in order to get something real out of digg promotion you first need authority on these sites . And authority means followers/friends - call them what you will .

How do you build a network on digg ?

Simple as pie : provide quality content . ANY quality content . What's different is the way you provide it . My point is that , in order to build a network of followers , you need to become a social beast . To know what happens , when it happens . And so on .

And this , as you probably have already guessed it , involves work . A considerable amount of work . Again , if you want fast success , you cannot achieve it by working just 1 hour a day . I honestly don't believe in that . I return to this idea : I've been surfing the web for a decade now and I still haven't found any decent get rich quick method that works . Of course , you can trick people , you can spam , you can steal ... but I believe in decent money . In providing good service/information/etc .

In the previous post I was talking about a method of getting authority on digg so getting back to the matter at hand ...

One thing you could do is analyze the front page a bit . See what works . What gets the high number of votes . Now all the results you will find on a google search of 'internet trends' tend to be ... well , kinda irrelevant . If you know any resource regarding trends and trend analysis please let me know . I've been unable to find one so far . One that actually worked .

The other thing you could do is go the decent way and simply follow the internet . Get yourself a dedicated rss client and subscribe to pretty much anything that provides quality content . Especially from your niche . But that should not be an important criteria .

Give people what they want and they will follow you .

I'm pretty sure some personality said this at some point in time but my history skills are not that good . What matters is that it's true .

If you provide people with what they want ... they will follow you . And when they do ... only then you have authority . And when you have authority ... you can successfully promote your blog on digg .

After you've subscribed to as many websites as you can follow ... you need to learn what a digg worthy piece of web looks like so that you can identify it and be the first to provide it . It doesn't matter that you didn't grew it , that you didn't make it big . What matters is that someone else with decent pull comes after you've submitted it and gives it a vote . And after that , if it's quality content , it should snowball .

And when you get a couple of hundreds ( or thousands ) votes on a piece of information ... everyone that sees it will see your name under : 'Posted by' . And what is the first thing that will come to their mind ?

You know what it is . This is how you can build a real , functional network of followers .

Next time ... how does a digg worthy piece of web looks like .

Remember to read Part I .

all aboard the social train : part I

2009-08-13T16:20:00.000-07:00

Content is king . Right !? You all agree with me . Everybody says that , everywhere . I'm gonna come and add a little something to that truth : ANY content is king . Anyone here understood what I am saying ?

In 'promote yourself' I didn't mention the use of any digg'like website ( in this article I will be using digg to refer to any site that is similar to digg.com for the simple reason that it's faster to type 'digg' then 'stumbleupon' or anything else like that ) . Well , I didn't mention this promotion tool for 2 reasons :

1 : I consider this method to be similar , if not - almost the same , to 'Article submission' . You submit your article and hope for the best . The only difference is that you only submit a short description instead of the entire article or , in some cases , just a link to your article .

2 : This method of promotion , although a subcategory of article submission , truly deserves an extra degree of attention .

On most blogs , from my knowledge - and if I'm mistaken please correct me , you only see stuff like : 'submit your article to digg , stumble upon , etc' .

But no one truly tells you : 'Look dude , this is how this works and you should do this to get your slice of the web' . Now I have a theory about this and about how you can get yourself some authority on digg and I will share it with you tomorrow .

Please keep in mind : this advice has not yet been tested so I don't guarantee anything . It's just a theory .

There is a great free report from Brian Clark ( founder of Copyblogger ) called Authority Rules . I recommend reading this report because it talks about something that most bloggers tend to forget . This is one of the main reasons , in my opinion , of failure when it comes to blogging . Bloggers get all mixed up with promotion ( granted - a very important part of blogging but not the only part of blogging ) that they , most of the times , forget to promote that which truly matters : themselves .

If you build authority then people will find your blog/s . But if you are nobody they will simply move on . And , of course , by authority I don't mean just slapping your name everywhere you can . Authority in your niche is about proving that you have the skill , the knowledge . Proving that you can lead . That you can teach .

This is in fact a criteria for bloggers . If you don't yet have the ability to lead , to control ( and I'm not using 'control' in the negative way ) then your blog is doomed .

The same principle applies to digg'like networks . It's all about authority , about building confidence . About getting people to say : 'Where the heck does he get them ? Jeez , this dude is everywhere . I should follow him . He knows his stuff .'

If you intend on taking this route ( as oppose to the route of promotion ) you need to first establish authority , and only after you do that , start promoting your blog . ( While at the same time making sure to do the minimum of promotion , of course - sign with your blog address and so on )

We all know how powerful a site like digg can be for a blogger . It can literally boost your visits by 200%-300% or even more if you have an established account over there . With one condition : that you have quality content .

Providing ANY quality content will let other users know that you have the ability to ... oh well , provide . They will know that you know what's going on , even if you don't create , you still get the cool stuff before anyone else , and after all - this is what the internet is about : being the first at ... anything . Once that is established you need to let them know that you have the ability to create . This is the second part , the part where you start promoting your grade A articles using your already established authority .

Get yourself a viral article and it will travel the web faster than you can say : 'Make me rich' .

Let's assume , for the sake of argument , that you already have the skill to put together such articles .

All you need to do now is make yourself famous on a digg'like site ( simple , right ?! ) and boom , there are your couple of hundred ( to say the least ) visitors at a click of the button .

So , we've established that you need to build authority amongst your internet peers and only then you can promote your blog to them .
We've also established that not only 'content is king' is true , but also 'ANY content is king' . And we've established that quality content attracts authority .

Now I will stop this article here and I will continue it tomorrow . Give myself some time to take it in , and give you some time to digest it . I know this all sounds simple ... but I guarantee you that by the end of your first month as a blogger most of you will forget this concept . And you will stand to lose because of this .

Good night now and see you tomorrow for the second part of this article .

when is seo bad ?

2009-08-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

So , when is SEO bad for your blog ?

I trust that everyone knows what SEO is ... and because everyone knows what it is most of you might answer :

'SEO is never bad for your blog .'

And some of you might even add : 'You must be crazy dude ...' .

But since most of you know what SEO is then it means that most of you also know how difficult good search engine optimization is . It's not something that your grandma can accomplish . And it's definitely not something that you can learn in one day .

So , again , when is SEO bad for you ?

Well , SEO for your blog/site is useless when you are not SEO'd for the web . This means that no matter how good your keyword density is and no matter how much time you spent designing the perfect meta data and so on and so forth , you still end up NOT on the first 10 pages of search engines because your blog/site is not optimized for the great wide web . If you don't have enough pull on the web , then all your SEO efforts are useless .

I know this sounds bad ... but it isn't . Well , not that bad anyway . One of the reasons I started this blog was that I was tired of big red headlines reading : 'Get 1000 visitors in one week' and so on . It doesn't work like that . And I intend on giving only down to earth advice on the matter .

To get high rankings in searches you need to have some weight first , which means your blog/site needs inbound links that tell the search engine : 'hey , this blog/site has relevant information on this topic' . Without this pull ... you will never end up on the first pages of search engines .

And the only way to get this pull is to promote yourself and pull your blog alongside .

So , I trust you understand what I am saying and we have established that SEO is useless unless you already have some pull on the web .

'Useless ok , but why bad ?'

Well , as we all know SEO is a bit of an art and to truly understand SEO you need to do more than just read a couple of articles on it . SEO is bad because if you're a new blogger then holy crap , you've put yourself in a pickle . It's time and energy consuming and it may make your hair jump up in terror .

And all this ... for nothing .

So , in conclusion , SEO is bad for your blog when you've just started because it doesn't help and it takes a lot of time . Time that may be put to better use in spreading the word about your blog and getting links to it .

Grow your blog a little , and make sure you get links .

The only thing you should worry about in the first 1-2 months is that your blog is included in search engines and that it shows up high for your domain name ( this way people will be able to search your blog if they forgotten your exact address ) .

And to do this just work up a unique domain name and include some meta titles .

dealing and scheming with trackbacks

2009-08-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago when I was still very much active on this blog I wrote a little slice of advice called : 'Why you shouldn't promote your blog' . And in it I made a list of things you can do to promote your blog . After that I wrote another article that was , in a way , describing the first method that I listed in that article .

Today I decided to do a follow up and deal with trackbacks , the second method that I was talking about in the first article .

( And just like that : I got myself 2 trackbacks on my own blog - these types of 'in-blog' links are very useful for search engine optimization and you should use them as often as you can without going overboard of course . But we will discuss about SEO in future posts . )

One thing that people seem to forget about trackbacks is that trackbacks are , in a twisted way , just comments . That's it .

And because they are just comments you should respect the rules that apply to comments and that is :

- post something useful .

- whatever you write , write from start to finish . ( don't just throw in an idea and move on , explain yourself and your thoughts so that people will understand them ) .

As with comments , be very careful not to step into spamming . No one likes a spammer . You see this with articles that are basically just links to various articles . Say what you will but that is just a cheap way to get some trackbacks . That is just spamming .

So ... the following 2 rules ( I don't think there are more than 2 - if you know something that I don't please let me know ) apply when working for trackbacks :

1 : Don't write for the trackback . Write cause you need to write . Don't just write an article and then , somewhere in there , throw in a link to a site dealing with something related .

For example don't write an article about search engine optimization and then link to an article about trackbacks just because you have the word 'trackback' in there .

This spells out : 'desperate' .

You might say to yourself : ' But it's good , I'm doing this to offer more info to my readers . '

No , you're not . If you we're doing it for that purpose you would have linked to a wiki page describing trackbacks , for instance .

Best possible trackbacks you can get are those that are focused on a precise article . You read an article on some blog and that article sparks an idea . Instead of posting a comment you write a complete article dealing with the very ideas written in the initial post .

This brings us to the second rule in trackback'ing :

2 : Fish your potential readers .

This means 2 things :

- make sure to use a certain title for your post , one that spells out : 'this article is related to what you are currently reading' .

One might use : '5 more ways to write a book' for a trackback to an article that is titled : '10 ways to write a book' .

- some blogs ( in fact , a lot of them ) allow a short excerpt of your article . This usually is the text around the link . So make sure you post your link within a paragraph that is eye catching .

going up when life points down

2009-08-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

I've always believed that blogging is truly an organic experience from start to finish . And it's time consuming and it's brain chewing and , ultimately , it's an integral part of your life .

It's been 2-3 weeks since I last wrote anything here . In fact , it's been 2-3 weeks since I last wrote anything anywhere ( I've mentioned this somewhere - I own several blogs ) .

Now I am not going to try to justify myself . I believe that there is always time to write for a blog . Even if you write just one article every couple of days it's still good enough .

But time is not a bloggers problem . No matter how hard they try to use that excuse . The problem is energy , or - to be specific : lack of energy .

You ignore your blog not because everything is crazy in your life and you don't have the time to write . You ignore it because you throw your energy at everything else in your life except for your blog . And when you get an hour or two of free time you no longer have what it takes to write a quality blog post .

In the past 2-3 weeks I've moved twice , I got a new job , I've spent some serious time at the vet's office ( with my dog which is healthy now , thank God for that ) and I've broken up with someone and met someone else ... and , oh well , you get the big picture .

And after doing all these things and , at the same time , completely ignoring my blogs I realized one crucial thing : I had time to write . I only lacked the energy to do it .

And I realized one other thing : it's crucial that you maintain your rhythm when maintaining a blog . Because if you don't you risk falling into this crazy downward spiral that seems to have no end . Unless you say : STOP .

I've experienced , first hand , this endless drop when , with every passing day , you end up further away from your blog , from what you enjoy doing . Because there will always be something ELSE to be done .

But today I said : 'Stop' .

And what you do when you say 'Stop' ?

You simply write .

I've read dozens of guides and tips on getting out of this kind of slump . But I honestly think that the only way you can do it is ... by simply DOING IT . By pushing through . Good or bad - write . Good or bad - press that frightening 'publish' button .

You will gain momentum and after a few articles you will get back to being your brilliant self again .

So ... in conclusion : when you don't have the time to write ... stop it . Don't lie to yourself . You can make time to write .

What you lack is energy . And how can you get energy to write ? Well , unfortunately there is no RedBull specifically designed for writers so the only thing you can do is simply write .

comments on other people's blogs

2009-07-21T17:15:00.000-07:00

I've been a little crowded , again , lately ( hey , this is a good idea for a post - making time to write ) and I've just got back and I decided to do a follow-up of an article - why you shouldn't promote your blog .

Let's start with the first item on that list :

Comments on other people's blogs

As we all know very well there are millions of blogs online , not all of them active but still ... this leaves you with countless related blogs to which you can post comments in order to promote yourself .

And you need to promote yourself in a way that matters . Don't just leave a blank comment saying : 'I digg your post .' You need to start a discussion , say something real .

And this means that , most of the times , one simple comment will become a 3-4 comment long discussion . And this in turn means that you need to somehow return to that page once in a while .

But you can't really subscribe to all of them . That would be useless because they eventually become those blogs ( which I'm sure you all have in your RSS reader ) that get the infamous 'Mark as read' .

And you can't really remember every single comment that you posted , right ? After all , a good self promotion campaign involves participating in at least 10-15 discussions a week on 10-15 different blogs . Don't think that you can hit the mother load of visitors by just commenting on one blog .

But you can bookmark them all , can you ?!

'Yeah , sure ... but I also have other bookmarks and I will eventually lose track of all of them in the great bookmark black hole .'

There is a way to do this . The way I see it blogs that you visit split in 4 major categories :

1 : The ones that you read everyday .

2 : The ones that you read just an article or two and decided they deserve a comment .

3 : The ones that have ongoing conversations .

4 : The ones in which you've had a conversation ( or maybe more ) .

Now we don't discuss the first category here because I'm assuming that the blogs in that category have a special place in your RSS client .

But we are interested in the 3 categories that come after it .

The way I see it , in order to do a good comments-campaign you need to have a browser that has a good bookmarks interface ( I heart Safari - you should give it a try : speed , stability , security , great bookmarks interface and many other abilities ) .

The main requirement is that it supports folders with your bookmarks ( I doubt that there are too many browsers out there that DON'T have that yet ) .

Once you get your browser in check just create 3 categories for those categories that I mentioned above :

- one folder for recently commented posts
- one folder for ongoing discussions
- one folder for closed discussions ( this may also be used as a junk folder for long lost blog posts )

And after that just bookmark posts that you commented on . When you get an answer to your comment and that comment turns into a discussion just move the bookmark in the second folder and keep it there until the discussion on that particular post dies - after that move the bookmark in the third folder .

If the comment doesn't turn into a discussion move it directly in the third folder .

I know , it's a very basic plan but ... it helps . Just make sure you don't have more than 15-20 bookmarks at a time in the first 2 folders . And do a quick check on them once every 2 days to see if there we're any replies .

Allow a post to be in the second folder only as long as a discussion lasts .

why you shouldn't promote your blog

2009-07-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

No matter how good your blog posts are they are literally useless unless people read them . And in order for people to read them , they need to make it to your blog . I mean , really make it there . It's a struggle for them to find good content . And it's a struggle for you to deliver and get them face to face with your good content .

And ... to be honest ... this isn't about showing that you have the best possible car for sale . I've already addressed the topic of cloud blogging here . And , wether we like to admit it or not , cloud blogging is a fact . Chances are your content is just a variation of someone else's ideas . But that's not a bad thing . Baby steps . Nothing more than baby steps . That's what evolution is . You take an idea and add a little something . Then someone else takes that idea and ads a little something else to it . And so on and so forth .

Picture a huuuuge parking lot with cars for sale . Every car is a blog . And every salesman is a blogger . Cloud blogging tells us that every car is a slight variation of another car from that parking lot .

And this is where the major rule of attracting visitors comes into play :

'Don't promote your blog , promote yourself .'

This is what it should all be about . There is a very small chance that you are truly adding something brand new to the scene . Even this very blog that you are reading is , most likely , just a copy of someone else's ideas . I just rearranged them and maybe added something new . That's it .

Don't try to reinvent the wheel . You will end up with a basket of frustrations and nothing more . Just use it .

This is what you are selling : yourself . It's about the salesman that gets attention , not about his car ( surely , his car must be at least the same as everyone else's ). The point is to get yourself in people's face. Not in an aggressive manner , obviously . Just let them know that you know something about something . Make sure that after they talk to you they think to themselves : "I like him . He knows stuff .".

Everyone tells you : promote your blog . Well , to be honest ... I think it's best to just promote yourself . It's a whole lot easier to get people interested in you than in your blog . It's easier to speak wisely and be funny and charismatic than it is to write original post after original post ( in fact - the ladder is basically impossible ) .

Ohh , and yeah ... charisma is an integral part in your blogs success .

I'm guessing you all know the basic methods of promoting your blogs . They work , only instead of promoting your blog , promote yourself and just make sure people know you have a blog .

And in case you didn't know them , here they are :

Comments on other people's blogs .

But please , don't post comments like : 'I like your blog . Good work .' . All they manage to do is get people to ignore you . Post only if you truly have something to add . And don't be afraid to write long comments . Those that are truly interested in the topic will read them and they will respond .

Trackbacks .

Use them only when they are necessary . Only if the post that you are linking to really has something to do with your post . And when linking make sure the text around the link is interesting .

Article submission .

Submit some of your articles to various article directories . If possible submit only articles that offer an overview . Or an introduction into something that you will later cover on your blog . This will get people to your blog . The point is not to say everything there is to be said in just one article because people will read it and after finding out everything about the topic they will no longer stop by your blog .

Listing your blog .

Just ... list your blog . Blog directories , forums , communities , personal pages , various profiles and so on . Everywhere it's possible to add a link ... post a link to your blog . Be careful not to cross the line between listing and spamming .

Paid advertise .

Obviously it works if it's free as well . But I don't really know of any service that offers free advertisements for your blog . So , if you really believe in your blog then open up your wallet and invest some money in advertisement .

timeless posts - what are they and how to write them

2009-07-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Since today was a day of great achievements ( I cut my own hair and I did a pretty damn good job at it ) I decided to post another thought on blogging .

In fact this came to me because I stumbled upon a nice article on timeless posts ( you can read it here ) . Timeless posts are great , aren't they ? The more , the better . It keeps new visitors reading . And instead of having 10 great articles on your front page you get a full archive of great articles . Now don't get me wrong . Just because an article is 6 months old doesn't mean it's not good . It means it's not great because , if it's not a timeless article , the information in it is no longer relevant to potential readers .

So I read this good article on timeless posts and ask myself : 'What exactly are timeless posts ?' .

In a nutshell they are articles that maintain their relevancy through great periods of time ( from 1 month to ... forever if possible ) .

The next obvious question was : 'How do you write these kinds of posts ?' .

In the pursuit of finding the answer to that question I wrote down a couple of qualities that a timeless post has :

Not software/hardware dependent .

A timeless post has nothing to do with some piece of software that will eventually be replaced by another version or , sometimes , a whole new software . Or that may become obsolete . An article on the latest video card from Nvidia is not timeless . An article on the best brakes on the market is not timeless . They will eventually be replaced by a newer , better model .

Not the next big thing .

A timeless post has nothing to do with what's hot or with what's the next big thing in terms of ... anything . By definition the next big thing will eventually be replaced by ... oh well , the next big thing .

Not event related .

Most definitely not event related . Sure , you can write a great article about the monthly bloggers meeting . And sure , this article may be valid for the next month . But , eventually , that meeting will stop . Or it will become something else . Or ... whatever . The point is that events are ... as the title says , events . One time occurrence's .

These are , I think , the key elements to a timeless article . Basically it's an article that has little to do with the present in terms of facts , people , dates .

Not all of your posts will be timeless . In fact , chances are very few of them will still have something to offer a month or a year after they we're published .

So what can you write about that's timeless ?

Just people ( unless you have a blog about astronomy and stuff like that - the universe is , I think , timeless - at least for us , humans ) .

Thousands of years of evolution and we still love the same way . Sure , we manifest differently but we still feel love the same way . We still hate the same way . We still feel the same way .

How can you apply this to your posts ? You can't write a post about love on a blog that deals with Wordpress plugins . Or can you !?

I can't tell you exactly how to create timeless posts on your blog because it's all very topic dependent . But I will give you 2 examples . One of them you are reading at this very moment . This post is a timeless one . These ideas will still be valid as long as we don't invent some time machine .

Another one is a post I recently wrote for Site Sketch 101 . These are timeless posts . Blogging will always need passion , no matter the size and shape it is delivered in ( be it podcasts , text , video or holograms ) .

Another tip is to always promote your timeless posts . The ones that proved to be successful .

writers block - getting unstuck

2009-07-18T14:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever hit a wall ? I mean really hit it !? Gone right smack into it ? Ever felt that you simply can't write even the simplest article ? You know that feeling that you get when starring at a blank page on a blinking screen and nothing , absolutely nothing comes your way ?

You stand up from your desk and you draw circles around your room and you chew on some pen and you still can't get anything done ?!

The deadline is coming , your visitors are breathing down your neck and you know you need that article . What can you do !?

Well , if you haven't followed rule 5 of what a blogger should not do then this means that you don't have a secret stash of ready to be published articles . ( Which by the way you should . Always have a couple or ready to publish articles in draft - you never know when you hit a dry spot )

Here is a way that might help you through this terrible time .

Take a breath .

Forget about your blog for a second. Relax , take a deep breath. Stare at the sky , watch some birds flying , listen to a song , see a movie . Anything to get your mind of your blog . You need to get your head clear in order to start fresh . All that struggle left behind a dirty page of scribble and scrabble and you need a brand new page . A clean page . So take an hour and go for a walk . Listen to some music . Take your girlfriend out . Catch up with a friend . Drink a beer . No more though . Alcohol has the wonderful effect ( in most cases anyway ) of freeing you . Drink a beer only if you know that this is the effect it has on you . If not ... stick to water or some coffee .

Gain perspective .

Now that you have your head clear of all the mess that you got yourself into you can start fresh . In most cases this is the part where you should be able to get an idea . You won't need the next 2 steps .

But if you're not most cases then you need perspective on your problem . Think of it as a puzzle . Take a piece of paper and write down all the pieces you already have . Take your topic and split in several categories . Then , if necessary , take those categories and create some sub-categories . Tick off the categories that your blog has already served .

I'm assuming that someone that has been blogging for 2-3-4-5 years already knows how to get out of a slump like this . This guide is best suited for bloggers with little experience , bloggers with just a couple of months of posting . Bloggers that can still get a perspective on their blog without getting lost amongst hundreds , if not thousands , of posts .

So , getting back to business . After you've broken down your topic in categories and sub-categories , try and tick off the ones that you've already written about . If you've written an article on all of them ... then try and see which one can be improved .

Think of this as a maze . It's hard to get from one end to another when you are in the maze . But it's a lot easier to do it when you have a birds eye view of the maze .

This is what you need to do . Step back and get a look at the big picture . Then break it down so that you can digest it easier .

Plan your journey .

Now that you have established what needs work and what can be left alone it's time to plan your road . Plan your article .

For example you have a blog about ... well , blogging . Let's say you've discovered that you have not written a post about time management .

Make a plan for your post . What does it need to communicate ? What's the point of time management ? Why does a blogger need it ? How can he do it ?

Basically ask any question that comes to your mind . And then do some research . See what others have come up with . See what they might have missed .

Think outside the box .

By now you should have a list with a topic for an article and some guidelines on writing that article . This is the hard part . You need to learn to write without knowing what to write . Put some headsets on and listen to music . Let your mind wander while at the same time keeping those guidelines in sight . Don't be afraid to come up with crazy theories , weird ideas and fun stories . Try them . Write them down . See how they look . Think outside the box .

5 reasons to check your stats

2009-07-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

What if I were to tell you that you should allow an hour of stats checking every evening ?

Would you listen to me ? Probably not . One of the mistakes that most bloggers do is ignoring their stats ( not just new ones , a lot of experienced bloggers ignore stats ) .

They just take a look at them and say : 'Yeah , they're good . I'm done .'

Why are stats so important ?

1 : They reveal the keywords that bring visitors to your site . This doesn't mean that you should focus on them . This means that they are already working and you should analyze them and see why they are working . Then apply those methods for other keywords . Think about what other keywords fit your blog . Try and introduce them to the search engines . Look at the keywords that bring little visitors . See what's wrong with them .

2 : They provide you with your visitors behavior . We all appreciate a quick answer when we post a comment . Check your stats to see which hours are the busiest . Try and make room in your schedule so that you can give quick replies .

3 : They also show you which days of the week are the busiest . Prepare your best articles for those days .

4 : They show you which of your articles are the best . And no , this doesn't mean you should write yet another article on dog grooming . This means you should read your best articles and see what you did that was so good ( how did you seo'd it ? what was it's length ? why is it different than the others ? etc ) . Write all these observations on a piece of paper and then start applying them to future articles . See what works .

5 : Bottom line they reveal patterns in your blog . Patterns can be copied . Copy the patterns that work best and apply them to everything else .

You should always experiment . That's a key element in blogging .

well , here I am !

2009-07-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

A while ago I bought this domain hoping to get a nice personal blog going . It would have been my first blog in english , which basically meant it was going to be my first international blog .

Didn't really got around to it . So the domain got left behind .

After a while I decided that I know enough about blogging and I can maintain a blog ... about blogging . And then it hit me while I was posting a comment for a blog : what the heck is blogging if not 'life in a page' ?

And this is how Life Within a Page took it's first breath . From a weird coincidence and a forgotten domain .

The past 2 weeks have been crazy to say the least ( I'm in the process of moving while on the same time I just started an interesting project with a friend of mine ) . This meant that I had little , if no time at all , to work on LWAP .

But tonight I finally got around to it and put together a decent design ( I like it ) and now I intend on writing what needs written .

Hope you will enjoy your stay here .

the 10 commandments of blogging

2009-07-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

1 : Be passionate about it . Don't blog just to make money or just because everyone else does it .

2 : Always respect your readers and other bloggers .

3 : Remember where you first started . Never forget that blank stat page .

4 : Be conscious . With great power comes great responsibility . Don't make up news , don't lie . Write truth . Write what you know . Don't gossip .

5 : Always seek knowledge . There is always something to be learned .

6 : Spread knowledge .

7 : Seek challenge . Challenge yourself . Challenge your blog .

8 : Organize your life . Keep your blog in line . Blogging can become a 24/7 job if you are not careful .

9 : Experiment . Evolve . Blogging is organic .

10 : You can't be original . But make sure you do not copy . Instead improve .

These are my ten commandments .

!Sketchy Times font

2009-07-15T16:22:00.000-07:00

This is the first freebie article of this blog . And what else should I point you towards then the great font that I used for my menu and header ( it is pretty cool , isn't it ? ) . And it's free .

You can download it here .

the cloud blogging conspiracy

2009-07-14T03:09:00.000-07:00

Who here has ever heard of cloud computing ? I'm pretty sure that many of you have heard of this . Some of you know what this is and some of you don't know what it is . Cloud computing is still in it's infancy but people all over the Internet say that this is the future . Especially with the recent promise that Google made regarding their Google Chrome OS . And it all sounds nice and dandy . Despite the implications that come with this style of e-life overall it sounds like an interesting concept . After all we have already started in the past couple of years to get more and more connected .

For those of you that don't know here is what cloud computing is according to Wikipedia :

'a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet . Users need not have knowledge of , expertise in , or control over the technology infrastructure in the "cloud" that supports them .'

But how many of you have heard of 'cloud blogging' so far ? I'm guessing no one . Because I just made it up . But even if it's made up it doesn't mean it's not real and it isn't working this very moment .

As a child blogger you are taught that content is king . Which is absolutely true . The essence of blogging is content . The engine that drives blogging needs to be passion . Nothing else . These are the two key elements involved in blogging .

Another thing you hear constantly and that is itching at the back of your skull is : 'create original content' , 'write genuine stuff' and other such advices .

But how many of you sometimes feel guilt when publishing an article ? It's nothing abrasive . It's just a small puff of air that whisper in your ears : 'yeah , but this article has it's roots in that other bloggers article' .

You don't have to answer to me . Just accept it . Because that little voice is right . Take a look at every article you published and think about this : how many articles have you written that have roots nowhere else but in your thoughts ? You will find that the number is very shy .

There is one major rule in the evolution of every species : there is a standstill at a certain moment in time . This is why we , humans , have entered the age of technology . Because our thoughts have evolved to a standstill . There are very little thoughts , feelings that we don't know . Pretty much everything that we can think of has already been thought by someone else .

And this is basically what blogging is about . What we humans think and do .

The only bloggers that have the chance of coming up with something truly original are the ones that write about technology and it's branches . Because , as I said earlier , we are in the age of technology . We have evolved to a standstill and now we need to improve the things around us because we can no longer add value to our thoughts and feelings .

And this is where cloud blogging comes into play . You rarely create something original . Most of your articles are just ideas found somewhere else that have been put through a different perspective or , best case scenario , have received a slight improvement from your side .

You need to come to terms with this . You need to stop lying to yourself and accept the environment around you and it's limitations . Depending on your topic of choice chances are you may never truly come up with something original .

For example how many NEW things do you think we can come up about dogs ? I dare say that almost everything that we can find out about them has already been found . Every method of training them has already been put to play . And so on . You get my point , right ?

Most of us work within a cloud of blogs . You hear something , somewhere . Then you add a little on your own . The someone else adds a little something . And so on and so forth .

The conclusion is this : stop chasing original content . Depending on your topic chances are you will never write something truly original . Your best option is to try and add just a little something to someone else's ideas .

Stop drooling when someone tells you : 'you need to create original content' . Not even they managed this . After all you hear about 'creating original content' all over the place .

You should accept this as this will prevent future frustrations .