Twitter has been the newest and biggest thing on the web for some time now, and yet still many people haven’t signed up, while others don’t even know what it is. For a quick summary, read the definition of Twitter as found on their support page:

Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. People write short updates, often called “tweets” of 140 characters or fewer. These messages are posted to your profile or your blog, sent to your followers, and are searchable on Twitter search.

You can update and manage your Twitter account on the web, or even get an application for it to use on your phone or other portable device. This makes Twitter always available as a handy on-the-go resource, and you’re always able to keep in touch whenever needed.

Using Twitter, you can follow other users who you want to keep up with, as well as gather your own following. You can communicate with other users through private message or by @replies, which are done through the “tweet” messages themselves. As you see, Twitter is a great social networking site which can be used to do many different things. I will share some of the top reasons with you from a blogger’s point of view.

Promoting Your Blog/Site

Twitter can be used nearly better than any other social networking system to promote your visibility and reach on the web. Gathering a stream of followers is simple if you have people who are interested in what you have to say, and increasing your amount of followers is as easy as word of mouth and updating. Not only that, but putting yourself out there in front of all of these users is more simple than posting a 140 character message. If you’ve already got a blog, converting your current visitors to Twitter followers won’t be too hard.

After you have people who are keeping up with your Twitter account, you can share information about your blog and posts you have made by “tweeting” them, which in turn draws more visitors and pageviews to your site. And apart from that, it also increases the interactivity and closeness you have with your niche and your readers.

Twitter can also be used as a source to draw in new readers to your blog, not just as a way to provide interest for the old ones. As your presence on Twitter grows, so does the amount of traffic and new readership coming in to your site.

Getting to Know Your Readers

Twitter can be a fantastic way to develop relationships with other bloggers and your visitors. Don’t just make Twitter an extension of your blog, make it something a little more – bring your activity there down to a more personal level. Let your readers get to know another side of you there. And make sure you focus on your readers as well, and get to know them too. Ask questions where you value people’s honest opinions, and whenever you receive a message or a reply, take time to read it and respond if you can. Help as many of your followers as possible. Use any feedback you get to better your blog, your content, and what your site provides.

Learning New Things

And last but not least, use Twitter to broaden your knowledge and experiences. Keep up with and follow any person whose updates teach you about things you didn’t know before, and ask questions whenever you need to. If you have a following on Twitter and you need help with something or would like an opinion, just post an update discussing it. Twitter is one big caring, helping community. Give as much as you can to your followers and they’ll be happy to help you out whenever that time comes.

To learn more about how to use Twitter alongside your blog, read How I Use Twitter to Promote My Blog. And if you’d like to follow SuperBloggingTips.com on Twitter, you may do that here. Post your Twitter profiles in the comments box so we can follow you as well! And if you have any questions, feel free to ask. :)

A couple of weeks ago a contest began here at SuperBloggingTips.com, in which there would be two lucky winners who each received one month’s worth of 125×125 advertising here at this blog. All you had to do to enter was subscribe to the feed via email (all subscribers prior to the contest were automatically entered). If you want, contest details can be viewed here.

This contest ended on Friday and I’m very happy to announce our two winners:

shindevijaykr [at] gmail [dot] com
jennybeth [at] mindspring [dot] com

If that’s you, you’ll be receiving an email from me in which you must respond to to claim your prize. If I don’t get an answer from either of the winners within a week, then another winner will be randomly selected in their place.

These two winners were determined by using a randomizer, after giving each person in my email subscribers list a unique number. Randomizer.org was used to generate two random numbers as the winners.

Thank you to all who subscribed. Keep on the lookout for other contests like this in the future! And if you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do that here.

Don’t forget that the deadline for the contest I announced a little while back is coming up very soon. In fact, it’s on March 13, which is Friday - giving you just a couple of days if you’d like a shot at the prize.

Up for grabs are a month’s worth of two 125×125 banners featured in the sidebar of SuperBloggingTips.com. These prizes will be awarded to two different randomly selected subscribers (EMAIL ONLY) of this blog.

If you’d like a chance to win, subscribe here. Hurry, you’ve got until Friday, 11:59 PM EST. Thanks and good luck!

(See HERE for Details)

Hey, guys! I’m glad to be finally be back and updating SuperBloggingTips.com on a regular basis again, so I thought I’d show that with a quick little giveaway. This is also a big thank you to everyone who’s stuck around, and of course any new readers as well. If you’ve got a blog or a website, or even if you have a friend who does or any organization you want to get the word out about, here’s your chance at a grab for a little free promotion. Absolutely anyone can enter!

There’s not much involvement in this one; all you have to do is subscribe to Super Blogging via email. You can easily do that here. After that, all you’ve got to do is go the email you used and confirm your subscription - then you’ll be registered to win. And if you’re already subscribed by email, then your entry still counts and you’re ahead of the game. ;)

This simple contest will end two weeks from today’s date, on March 13. After that I will go through the list of subscribers by email and choose two random winners to each receive a free 125×125 banner that’s worth one month of advertising. Everyone has an equal chance, including YOU, so get in on it now by clicking here.

What are the bonuses of subscribing to Super Blogging via email? You’ll be among the first on the web to receive new updates and content conveniently in your inbox. That way you’ll never miss out on a thing.

Thanks, and I cannot wait to announce the winners. Good luck to you all!

Most sites that you see in the blogosphere these days are excessively “Web 2.0″ with shiny colors and gradients; rounded edges; Flash; Java; complicated layouts; and widgets, forms, videos, and graphics all over the place. This kind of design can look very impressive and, if implemented correctly, can really set your blog or website above the rest. But when is it just too much?

Take a look at the famous blogger John Chow and his site’s homepage, for example. I believe that a new first-time visitor to his site would be very overwhelmed. At the top you’ve got the horizontal and floating pop-out ad box hovering there, as well as several buttons, widgets, links, and yet another rectangle ad for PepperJam Network. You see the “Featured Articles” box that scrolls through five different posts too quickly. There’s a push for a free “Make Money Online” ebook, encouraging you to fill out the form and sign up to get your copy. Then you scroll down a little more and see nearly a dozen excerpts of his recent blog posts, all stacked one over top of the other. Beside that is the featured video, a large graphic advertisement for a premium sponsor, five lines of recent photos that light up as you hover over them, ads for TTZ media, and then an excerpt of a biography of John Chow himself. Even further toward the right of the page are eight 125×125 advertisements, a large chunk of link advertisements, recent Tweets from John Chow’s Twitter account, a poll, a top commentators list, and then half a dozen links to his social networking profiles. Below these three columns, at the bottom of the page, is even more “content”. You’ve got a box linking you to all his blog’s categories, and three more boxes for recent comments, a MyBlogLog community widget, and a blogroll linking to many other sites. Last but not least, the page ends with copyright information and a small line of other important links.

Whew, that was a mouthful! At first glance John Chow’s site looks like it’s full of content, but so much of what he displays is just a filler and not truly relevant. Upon visiting his blog even I don’t know where to look or to begin, and it’s not only intimidating but also somewhat frustrating. As a reader, where do I find what I actually want to read? John Chow only gets away with this because he’s, of course, John Chow. He can write hundreds of posts about food and cars and have a migraine-inducing design but still have thousands of beginners flock to read all about what he says. If someone starting their new blog or someone lesser-known tried to pull this off, they’d get dozens of complaints and little visitors.

So instead of trying to be all flashy, think about going with a minimalistic design. Everyone has a different idea of what classifies as minimalism, but in the end you should try to eliminate unnecessary elements while still managing a beautiful look and feel. Choose or create something with a simple color and font scheme. Don’t get too complicated with the organizational system. A main column and a sidebar will usually suffice, apart from four different sections divided into three columns apiece with a large header, footer, and sidebar to boot.

Apart from all else, only include the content and information that is absolutely relevant and necessary. That would be things such as your navigational links, header, your blog posts, RSS subscription area, search bar, categories, and advertisements if you have any. Of course you can add more, considering what I listed is normally the bare minimum. But going all out with all kinds of images, widgets, and unneeded areas will only hurt you. If there is something you’d like to show on your blog but isn’t essential to most or all your visitors, then put it on a separate page that only someone who is interested has to see. Less is more! All of your readers will thank you for minimalizing the clutter and making your blog easier on the eyes.

Good blogs with minimalistic themes that I read include Traffikd, Vandelay Design, Court’s Internet Marketing School, Skelliewag, and BlogStorm. I have also chosen to go in the direction of minimalism here at Super Blogging. Another good resource is the compilation of beautiful minimalistic themes over at Vandelay Design that you can use for inspiration.

It’s also possible to have a clean and simple theme while still adding other aspects and have a good-looking blog. This is demonstrated at Pro Blog Design, Anywired, and Freelance Folder, among others. They choose to cut the clutter and only show what is necessary, but spice it up to make it a little more interesting.

Basically, the importance is to keep a good balance. You can’t have your site looking so bare and bland that no one remembers it, but even more so, you shouldn’t have it too overdone and cluttered as to annoy or frighten away your visitors. If you can land right in the middle you’ll be on the road to success and your site will be appreciated by all. Appearance and readability of your blog is essential to making that first impression and capturing a new reader.

Coming up with a new domain name is usually quite difficult, and most all bloggers have gone through that struggle at least once in their lives. You’ve got to come up with something catchy, memorable, and preferably short. It obviously should be relevant to your site’s topic and contain a good keyword or two. Your domain name should reflect your site perfectly and always have the capabilities of being very marketable and doing well in the search engines. So with all of these aspects in consideration, and also knowing that once you make up your mind you cannot change it, figuring out a domain name is a stressful task.

Luckily, there are some free handy tools to help you along this tough path. Whether you’re struggling to come up with good keywords to begin with or you already have an idea but would like some variations or want to know what else is available, these domain generators are tremendously helpful. I hope that this list compiled here will help you in your journey. And, as always, if you need any advice or suggestions, don’t hesitate to leave a comment and ask.

1.) NameBoy - This is a helpful generator which allows you to enter keywords and ideas and comes up with a unique and intelligent combination for your domain name. It also has a couple checkboxes such as allowing hyphens or rhyming. When it gives you your results it shows the possible extensions that the domain is available in.

2.) Domain Name Generator - This is a very intelligent tool which comes up with great name creations based on the criteria your provide. It is very detailed and offers options for languages, prefixes and suffixes, character length, and more. Highly recommended.

3.) Whoix? - The Whoix? Domain Name Wizard is great if you already have an idea of what you’d like to call your site, but you need plenty more suggestions and variations. It’s simple: all you do is enter in a domain name and extension you would like, and Whoix? offers you other ideas. Quick, easy, but immensely valuable.

4.) NameDroppers - With this, you can quickly search for, create, and register your domains if you’d like. There are a lot of options you can select through, including keyword order, character length, excluding numbers and certain keys, what extensions you’d like and which ones you don’t, and more. There’s even the ability to choose whether you’d like to view only nonexistent domains, already registered ones, or both.

5.) Domain Name Generator - This one is extremely simple to use. You only have to fill in one box, which is your relevant word or phrase, and it offers you possible domain names and alternatives. On top of that, this site also has some other great tools, so check them out as well!

6.) SnapItNow - This neat domain generator has nine options, including ones for keywords, categories, hyphens, flip-flopping your keywords, hiding taken domains, choosing certain extensions, etc. There’s not much involved so it makes your job a whole lot easier.

7.) Name Generator - And last but not least, there’s the Web 2.0 Name Generator. This one is different from all the others but it still has something to offer. Instead of coming up with domain alternatives, this one randomly gives you unique names that you can use to title your own site or blog. Upon clicking the “Generate Name!” button it offers you a new choice, so you can go through them until you find one you love - and then when you do, you can click another button to check its availability. And so you don’t lose any names, it neatly lists all your previously viewed ones in the sidebar. Try it out!

Other places to find great tools and resources: VandelayDesign.com, Traffikd.com, SmashingMagazine.com, SEOBook.com, SEOChat.com.

I’m asking you this question because I’ve come to realize that I am subscribed to so many blogs that just rehash topics and things that have already been said elsewhere, or write new content that their readers don’t even need, just to have something else to publish on their blog. I want to make sure that Super Blogging can be a site of quality in which you’re always able to learn something new and not waste your valuable time on.

That being said, what you like to see covered on this blog? What do you think there needs to be more of? I am open to all suggestions, whether it be a general topic or even a very specifically planned case study. Please share your opinions; I am looking forward to hearing them and I’ll also be glad to link back in a follow-up post to every site and blogger that shares their thoughts in a comment.

Thank you, and don’t forget to subscribe to Super Blogging so you won’t miss out on all the great content that’s to come. (:

Attention: This is a guest post by Jason - Jason Pereira blogs at The University Kid… grab the feed!

Without traffic, your blog is worthless.

Okay… while it might hold a personal value to you, it’s probably not going to fetch more than a few dollars if you put it up for auction. All of us want our blogs to grow as big as possible, as fast as possible… but what if you don’t have the money to buy exposure?

Yes, you could run a contest… but if you’re new in the industry without much credibility, you probably don’t have the funds for prizes or the pull for sponsors to donate prizes. No one’s going to join a contest where the main prize is advertising on your two day old blog with no traffic, especially if you want them to follow the rules of a regular contest (subscribing, blogging about it etc).

You could guest post, but what if other blogs are tied up and can’t accept your posts at the moment, no matter how good? Guest posting tends to work better if you do high quality guest posts in bulk, and this isn’t possible if your blogging neighbours won’t take your posts.

The next option… and an option I’ve used well in the past it to start things off by writing a controversial post. If you pick a topic that people love to discuss, and go against the common belief (or over-support the common belief) people are going to get riled up… and if they do, you gain instant exposure… especially if you manage to annoy a person established enough who gets ticked off enough to link to your website.

A friend of mine once wrote a post criticizing the grammar of a few top bloggers – guess what, he got featured on both sending him quite a bit of traffic. There was also another incident shortly after where a startup blog criticized Shoemoney’s SEO techniques, which again got a mention and sent traffic (I believe first month uniques for the blog were 90,000, which isn’t bad at all!). Obviously do not go out of your way to be an annoyance, but if you see something you don’t agree with, mention it and who knows… you just might be able to send some traffic your way.

The two hot topics in the blogosphere, especially in this niche tend to be John Chow or Entrecard… write up anything that displays something other than a neutral feeling and you’ll get people annoyed – those very much in favour and those very much not so. Although posts about the latter have died down, the former is still very much a hot topic… write about him tomorrow and see the reactions you get.

Of course, you can’t just expect people to find your controversial post of their own accord; a match will not light itself. If you promote it at the various social places – for example, Twitter, Blog Catalog’s discussion section and related blogging forums, well who knows – your post may set off a bit of dynamite. Do not be scared to explore the art of writing controversial posts; it is a difficult art to master, but if you do so you are guaranteed some debate… which is always a positive for your blog.

photo credit: kevinmarsh

Hello and welcome to another edition of ‘The Best of the Blogosphere’. There are plenty of great articles featured here today so I hope you can grab a snack, settle down, get comfortable, and have a good time reading. Enjoy!

How NOT to Ask for Sponsorship or Advertising: 6 Deadly Mistakes at DailyBlogTips.

Use a Flagship Blog to Provide a Boost to Your Projects at The University Kid.

Get Lots of Traffic by Exploiting Social Groups at The University Kid.

30 Simple Ways to Battle Poverty with Technology at Skelliewag.

23 Affiliate Networks for Monetizing Your Website at Traffikd.

10 Firefox Add-ons for Bloggers at Traffikd.

7 Ways to Scratch Your Niche Itch at MeAndMyDrum.

How Do Cheaters Redesign and Still Win? at ProBlogDesign.

25 Ways to Spice Up Your Blog Post Photos at ProBlogDesign.

How to Measure the Value of a Blog Link at Winning The Web.

Introduction to Keyword Authority at Court’s Internet Marketing School.

5 Warning Signs of Overselling at Blogging Tips.

Link Building - 11 More High PR Do-Follow Social Sites at JR’s Internet Marketing Strategies.

Ditch the Digital Itch: Drop Feed Readers Today at Putting Things Off.

Blogging on a Holiday: Should You Do it or Ditch it? at Men With Pens.

Designers Beware: 10 Warning Signs of a Bad Client at Mirificam Press.

Too Much Effort and No Progress? Something is Wrong There at DailyBlogTips.

It’s All in the Backlinks at How to Make Money Online for Beginners.

How to Smash Through Google’s Class Ceiling at BlogStorm.

Should You Blog About Sarah Palin? at Blog About Your Blog.

Top 4 Small Business Marketing Blunders at John Cow.

CommentMILK (beta) - the NEW John Cow Plugin at John Cow.

25 of the Best Photographer Portfolio Websites at Vandelay Design.

Why I LOVE Spam at Jonathon Volk.

Wordpress Plugin to Replace Post Titles with Fancy Fonts at Daily SEO Blog.

Also, if you ever have anything you’re looking to promote, shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to help you out by including it in a following link roundup. This includes new projects, contests, digital products, or even simply a great article you’ve written. Thanks, and I hope you’ve all been having a great weekend!

When I hunted down the above image for this post, I searched for the term “carefree”. Think back, when was the last time you felt completely carefree with no worries, burdens, or responsibilities? Maybe it was quite a long time ago. Maybe it was never. Everyone would like to experience the feeling of being carefree and having no stress, but few people actually do. So don’t take yourself so seriously.

This advice not only applies to your actual and personal life, but to your blog as well. All you see and hear and read all the time is how you should treat your blog like a professional business and nothing else, or if you want to succeed you have to do this, this, and this but if you do this or that then you will fail. Try turning the statistics around for once and do the opposite of what people tell you. Most of the success stories you’ll ever hear don’t come from a specific formula, but instead they come from experimentation and trying something new. You can’t always replicate another person’s success, which is what most bloggers or internet marketers try to do. You have to define your own path.

You might think I’m crazy with the advice I’ve been giving because just the other day I told you to DECREASE your posting frequency, which is usually the opposite of what you’re used to hearing. And today, I’m telling you not to take yourself so seriously, when the rest of the blogosphere insists that your website is a serious business and if you ever consider it anything but one, you’ll never get anywhere. This isn’t true!

When you stop taking yourself so seriously, a lot of the truth comes out because the excess and what isn’t needed is cut. That’s the time when you focus more on what truly matters. If you’re worrying all the time about writing the perfect content and publishing it only on set, planned dates, you’re creating more stress for yourself. If you’re trying to be an overachiever and setting bigger and better goals than your competitors, you’re being unrealistic and creating more stress for yourself. If you’re constantly thinking about your blog, how you’re going to promote it, or what you’re going to do next, you’re unnecessarily creating more stress for yourself.

This turns into a very bad habit. The more you worry, the more you’re going to want to put it all off. As you continue to take yourself too seriously and invent more problems for yourself, they’re going to pile up and you’re not going to know where to start anymore. And then even more tasks will arise for you to do because you never completed the original ones, and this will continue, turning into a very horrible cycle. You’ll have too much work to tackle and it will be overwhelming, so you’ll get to the point where you just want to give up. It won’t feel worth it anymore. Trust me, I know, I’ve been there.

I’m writing from experience here. I made goals for myself that were too much for me to handle, and I felt that if I didn’t do things perfectly that I shouldn’t be doing them at all. But the truth is that there is no such thing as “perfect”, only what other people DEFINE as perfect. You should put your effort into writing quality content, but just because it’s not perfect based on someone else’s standards doesn’t mean it’s never good enough, period. You shouldn’t follow the “laws” of blogging that have been set out by others. It’s fine to go by guidelines, but set your own rules. Like I said earlier, you have to carve your own path. What works for you? Not what works for everyone else, what works for YOU? The only way to discover the answers to these questions are by experimenting and by trial and error. You’ll never be right all the time and you’ll definitely have your fair share of mistakes, but once you find the answers you’ve hit gold.

Don’t be afraid to step out of the box or to try something new. If something that works for everyone else doesn’t work for you, don’t keep doing it just because everyone else does - ditch it. Try writing with a new style or voice. Step out there and try something no or very few bloggers have before. If that doesn’t get you noticed and catch people’s eye, nothing will.

Don’t take yourself so seriously. If you’ve been restricting yourself to a certain formula or a certain way of life, drop it and let loose. Cut yourself some slack and find motivation in something else. When you sit down to write just let the words flow out and don’t stop, even if you think they don’t “sound right”. That doesn’t mean sloppy writing - go back and correct the spelling and grammar errors - but don’t go back and change your words to cover up their true meaning.

I’m definitely not saying to be messy or let the quality of your blog drop, but be down to earth with yourself AND with your readers instead of being uptight - they’ll be able to relate to you better and feel more connected, which results in lots of loyalty and friendships.

Basically, learn to be carefree! Set your own standards and definitions instead of following those of someone else, or just sticking to the norm. Work on your own accord and do it for YOU. Cut out what doesn’t matter and focus on what does, because not only will you be happier and more motivated then, but people will also be more attracted to your website and what you have to say. By not taking yourself so seriously, you can actually become more successful than you ever have been before. Try it. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

photo credit: JOVIKA