If you were a woodcutter and loved cutting wood, imagine someone coming to you or you yourself finding that woodcutting is a crowded business. In that case, would you still cut wood or start some other work that you don’t like, for example wood processing(does something like that exists? If not, it does now! )

Of course you would choose wood cutting.

Because you are better at that and can cut wood better than most of the people.

Isn’t it the case?

But when it comes to blogging, more and more people are happy to switch to wood processing because wood cutting is crowded. And what we get is a bunch of mediocre wood processors rather than a bunch of awesome wood cutters.

Recently, news have surfaced that Google is going to block the content farms and similar websites that push SEO optimized content of zero value.

And chances are that, if you chose to be a wood processor, you are doing that.

But why?

To get rich?

To make more money blogging?

But you can make more money by doing what you love. That is success!

As regular readers already know, I am all about differentiating. Not mathematics one, but the real world one. I am a big fan of standing out from the crowd.

Why be a faceless nobody?

Be someone.

And best way for that is to choose a niche you love.

And it won’t help if you keep sitting back thinking, “Oh my God! I’d love to write about this but this niche is too crowded!”

That is not blogging.

Real Bloggers Publish!

You know what, an interesting thought came to my mind some days back. Can we benefit from opening a blog in same niche?

And the answer is…… YES!

There are several advantages that you can gain by starting a blog in a crowded niche you love.

Advantages

1. Guest Posting Opportunities: If you have several high profile blogs in your niche, the job is only easier for you. How? Just start guest posting on them. It is the most effective method for getting new readers quickly and will greatly help you.
2. Commenting: Commenting is another way to benefit from the competition. Good comments can get some traffic to you and additionally, you can also make some friends on the way.
3. Opportunity To Learn From Others: Learning from others is the best way to learn. Notice their strategies, their mistakes and steal whatever you can. And whatever you learn, apply it!
4. Easy To Dominate: Remember how to make your blog awesome? One point in that post was dominating. Now, think about dominating. What do you need for that? A good blog, lot of readers, and yes, some competition. Remember, 99% blogs in a niche are flop. They are not going anywhere. You have to compete with only a handful of blogs. And using guest posting and commenting well, that is not a big issue either!

Disadvantages

1. Hard To Get Search Engine Traffic: Search Engines are important. SEO is important. But if you are blogging solely for search engine traffic, forget about being a successful blogger. SEO does not make great bloggers. Community and great content do. Whatever the case, a crowded niche makes it a bit hard to get search engine traffic.
2. More Work Needed: With more competition(although only a handful of blogs), you have to work more. But remember how you can minimize “hard” work.

The choice is yours. Will you be a wood cutter or a wood processor.

Wood cutters, welcome! You will surely like the upcoming posts here on Blogging With Success. Just do not forget to subscribe.

Wood processors, move along. I have nothing to say to you. Bye bye! Have a nice day.

And, Thanks for your time!

So what you really want is for Blogspot to use the old url and go directly to the correct post in WP. Well, the only way to do that is with special software since Blogspot is not that cooperative when you abandon ship!

The hero plugin in this post is the "Blogger to WP Redirection" (B2W) which I could not get to work properly when I moved to WordPress a few weeks ago.  Hence the plugin was not used in the DIY tutorial series. Going on the theory of better late than never, I tried B2W again. Only after getting it to work did I realize this software replaces the Permalink Finder.

The B2W plugin requires you to overlay your Blogspot template with provided code. Not for the faint of heart! And it also may require special web host rule which can be tricky.  So you may want to just follow the tutorial through Part 4. I still recommend you try the Addendum at some point for a cleaner conversion. If there is a problem,  you can always go back to using the regular Blogger redirect via the yes-no menu.

The Key to Bypassing the Blogger yes-no Menu

The key is a combination of the plugin called Blogger to WP Redirection and the Mod_Security rule. Together your visitor will present Blogger with an old url like
http://yourUrl.blogspot.com/greatpost.html
and go directly to
http://yourUrl.com/greatpost.html with no questions asked!

The Plugin

The plugin sets up a 1-to-1 mapping between Blogger posts that have migrated to WordPress. For example,  an old subdomain address (e.g. BPWebNews.blogspot.com) moved to new custom domain (e.g. BPWebNews.com).When you use B2W you'll need to revert to Publishing on Blogspot rather than telling Blogger to redirect to your custom domain. Sounds weird, but you have to trust that the software in the revised template will safely carry your reader over the seas to WordPress.

The full directions for the procedure are here: http://bloggertowp.org/blogger-to-wordpress-redirection-plugin which are quite detailed. You need to follow each step closely. Unfortunately, the plugin assumes you have sufficient access on your web host to execute a database query. The query format looks like this

http://bpwebnews.com/?b2w=bpwebnews.blogspot.com/2009/11/adding-retweet-button-to-single-posts.html

In my case, the query did not pull in the WP post but instead went to the Home Page without any errors!  The web host had blocked the access.

The Host Mod_Security Rule

If you're on a shared web host, the plugin will not work unless you add a whitelist rule for Blogger to go directly to the WP url via the B2W plugin code. First your hosting must have Mod_Security enabled, then you need the rule created by support.  If you don't have the Mod_Security feature enabled you get a 403 Forbidden Error whenever you redirect in Blogger.

If the feature is enabled on your web host but the redirect goes to your HomePage, then you need a whitelist rule. This happens when you're on a Shared server. I had an online Chat with my Hostgator and they could see my WP blog was attempting to access a rule,

The domain http://bpwebnews.com showed to be hitting the mod_rule 1234xxx which requires a whitelist (the ID itself) to allow the query to work.

So support added the rule and everything worked. I then deactivated the Permalink Finder.

Notice I make no attempt to define what mod_security means! I leave that to the certified techies! Here's a definition I found:

ModSecurity is an Apache module that adds intrusion detection and prevention features to the Web server. In principle it is similar to an IDS you would use to analyse your network traffic, except that it works on the HTTP level and understands it really well.  ... In addition to detection, mod_security also supports attack prevention. Because it stands between the client and the server, if it finds that the request contains a malicious payload it can reject the request, performing any of a number of built-in actions. ... Semantic.com

Video:  Using the Blogger to WordPress (B2W) Redirection Plugin

See what the Blogger menu looks like and how it disappeared after the plugin.

I found that after I used the B2W software, my Feedburner count doubled-up to the pre-migration level. I suspect some feed Readers, using the default Blogger url, can't answer the Blogger question --- similar to a bot confronted with Captcha!

Please leave a comment if you have any questions. Let us know if you used this software approach in your migration.

Parts in This Series:

Part 1, Get a Custom Domain Name. It's never too late to do this while still on blogspot.
Part 2,  Test Drive WP. Use free WP to experience your future blog neighborhood.
Part 3, Bring Your Readers. Have Blogger forward old url hits to WP blog.
Part 4, Keep Search Engine Traffic. It's all about avoiding 'page not found' errors!
Addendum: Using the Blogger to WordPress Redirection plugin.

But they just overlook ideas around them. In this post, I will discuss 10 techniques that you can use to attract ideas like a magnet. Again and again and again and again and_________ (add as many "again"s as you like and proceed to list.)

1. Read Comments

Comments

You blog's comment section is an idea mine. Most of the comments have hidden ideas in them. All you need is to read them with some attention and new ideas will always pop up.

Once a week, take some time and look through comments area. You will find a lot of blogging ideas.

Here is a good example from one of our post's:

Writing content related to consumer products/services probably helps more than anything (placement and ad size is huge, too, but those are easy fixes). Writing about products (reviews, consumer information, etc) attracts visitors who were already thinking of buying that product. They’re a lot more likely to click on an ad than someone who surfed in for idle entertainment. - Lindsay.

Idea: A post can be written about using articles to promote the products. I can also integrate my experience with it. I have done it for Chitika and had good success.

2. Participate in Forums

Forums

By participating in forums, you get a lot of exposure and lots of ideas! People generally ask about their problems and you can also get some idea of missing things in your niche.

One of our most popular posts, Grab my Button, Promote My Blog sprang from a BlogCatalog Discussion Forum where Creative Junkie asked for help in creating one.

3. Read Niche Blogs

Niche Bloggers

Blogs in a similar niche are very helpful when you run our of ideas. Most of the posts contain what I call "openings". An opening is basically a topic left untouched or not covered in much detail. Posts can easily be developed with these openings.

Just write in detail on these and you will never be out of ideas.

One of my posts, How to Blog Again After Long Absense was born because of a post on Write to Done, 10 Mistakes that Could Be Killing Your Blog . Second point was "Infrequent Posting" and third point was "Writing about infrequent posting." I thought that it just the tip of the iceberg and went on to expose the whole iceberg (in other words, I took inspiration from the two points and wrote a post! )

I have left an opening in the above point! I just touched the topic and left it. You can get some inspiration and write "How to take Advantage of Post Openings" or "Get Ideas Everytime With Post Openings".

4. Browse Archives

Archives

If you are regular blogger and have a good archive list,  you will always find ideas there. Reading an older post can give you many new ideas. And if you are in hurry (you should never be!), even the titles alone can give some great ideas!

How?

Take a look at these these titles from our archives and how they have hidden ideas:

1. How to Make a 'Professional' Logo for Free: I wrote this tutorial a while ago but did not mention how you can add the logo to your blog theme/template. This can be helpful to many newbies who might be unfamiliar with template/theme structure!
2. How to Create a 125x125 Ad for Your Blog: SBA wrote this tutorial a while ago. After reading it, the idea came to my mind that you need to use the image for something too (Why would someone make a 125x125 ad for blog without any use in mind?) Result? Where to Use Your 125x125 Ad.

5. Analyze Lists

Lists

List posts are good for promotion. What I like most about them is the fact they are not detailed! You can pick a good tool/resource from the publiched list and write a post about it. However, it is better to not overuse this technique because this will make your blog look like a review site.

Here are some examples of how lists give ideas:

1. 101.5 Free Tools and Services for Bloggers: In this post we covered 101 tools and services for bloggers(+1 little one, hence 101.5). It was impossible to cover every service/tool in detail. Imagine 101 points each with a 2 paragraph detail for it. But some of the tools were really good. For example, Google Ad Manager, which is the best ad serving tool but is designed with corporates and big guys(with sales force) in mind. This renders it a bit confusing for newbie and small blogs. (It even took your dear writer 2 hours to get familiar with interface). A good tutorial can be posted on it.
2. 50 Must Have Plugins for WordPress 2.7: Similarly like 101.5 Tools list, it featured some excellent plugins like WP-Note and Zemanta which can be used for a full post or a small list with details. HeadSpace, my favorite plugin is very feature rich and at the same time complex. A good tutorial can be written on it too!

6.Tweet

Twitter

Twitter = short! Short posts, short urls and lots of short(and open) ideas.

Friends from this network can also help you a lot!

When we were compiling the "Top 100 Articles to Help You With Blogging" post, I wanted a strategy to find good posts in categories (nothing would have been worse than a list of 100 random articles) . I tweeted about it and moments later, RamKarthik from Blogging Tune (@RamKarthik came up with really good advice.

Also, some of my friends tweet a lot about blogging tips and since everything can not be summed up in 140 words, I get many good ideas from there too!

7. Listen to Readers

Readers

Keeping an ear towards your readers will never hurt.  In fact, many readers will drop some good ideas into your ear (Caution: Bigger Ideas may Hurt Your Ear! )

Creative Junkie asked me about Social Bookmarking icons and asked if I could write a tutorial on that. This is a really good idea as tutorials get more comments (and more complaints about them not working too!).

Make sure you install a good Contact Form plugin for WordPress or use a free contact form service like Kontactr and Formsmats so that your readers can reach you easily.

8. Watch Your Surroundings

Surroundings

As I said in the beginning, the world is full of ideas.

If you are really passionate about your niche, you can get ideas from almost anything!

Don't believe me? Then read this real world example(of mine):

I was in my village one day and was getting bored! It was hard to pass the time since I had no computer (or anything close to it, e.g. calculator!). I was thinking of some good ideas for blogging and in the process, I saw a bicycle. The idea hit my mind and Bicycle Approach to Blogging was born!

Two hours later, I began to feel sleepy. And guess what, another good idea, Beware: Are You a Sleepy Blogger approached me and will soon see the daylight on Blogging With Success!

9. StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon lets you discover new (and cool) websites on the internet. Since there are a lot of categories,  and when you surf for some time, you can always find something for your niche. Combine the "openings" method with it and you can have a really good post ready in no time.

Example? I knew you would ask for it! So here it is: After SBA and Fransiska forced me to Stumble (I was and am a loyal Opera user and fan but StumbleUpon toolbar doesn't love Opera! ), on first day, I found Newspaper Clipping Generator which was really fun! So I stumbled a bit more in internet tools category and found some similar tools and complied them into 6 Fun Image Generators for Bloggers.

10. Keep Eye on Social Bookmarking Services

Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking websites like Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit, Furl  etc. have some of the best articles in their listings. You can easily find realted articles about your niche and can either compile a list (Top 10 Articles about _______ , Top 10 Websites for______) or write a post inspired from them.

I decided to compile the 50 WordPress Plugins list after I noticed that WordPress was popular on Del.icio.us and many posts about WordPress design and plugins were bookmarked a lot.

Its not always necessary to go with popular choices but social bookmarking services give you insight on the trendy topics on which you can write.

Blogging With Successs Readers, Your Turn Now:

These are the top 10 techniques I use to get post ideas. It's your turn now. What techniques do you use? Tell us in comments.

This very post should give ideas for a month's  worth of articles.  And now, give us permission to leave. Hope to meet again in your feed reader! Subscribe Via RSS.

Update: Here's a 2010 list of "saving money bloggers' to watch:

The list includes Heather Hernandez who appeared on the Tyra Banks show to highlight her extremely popular blog Freebies4Mom. She has over 50,000 subscribers [that's not a typo!]

Update: Here's what Kari Henley said in the Jan 2011  Huffington Post article Mommy Bloggers are going to rule the world:

Mommy bloggers totally rock. They are unapologetic about their dual role of raising children and having a professional life. Many of these women came with their babies in arms, and no one cared because they are bad-ass experts in SEO optimization, personal branding, sponsor ambassadorship and networking. It was shockingly refreshing -- and for me, a mother of four, it was like a coming home.  -

In 2008 ProBlogger predicted that

"Mom blogs are poised to become the next big “It” when it comes to the internet–they’re gathering power like no other blogging niche and will only get bigger and better.

BloggingWithSuccess draws some interesting Mommy Bloggers. Many are, in their own words, "desperately seeking" our tutorial for creating a scroll box for friends to "grab buttons."  As a group, these "mommies" can teach the rest of us some important lessons about blogging.

Who Are Mommy Bloggers?

photo credit: Businessweek.com

According to Technorati's recent state of the blogosphere report, about 33% of all bloggers are women. Although being parents is the primary link among Mommy/Daddy bloggers, the owners, content, design and reasons for blogging couldn't be more varied. Some blog to build up a home business, interact with others, share parenting skills, chronicle their child's early years or write creatively. Many are not interested in the money-making aspects and are overly satisfied to use the free Blogger platform. Boy, to not have to worry about SEO!

Basically, Mommy Bloggers are a demographic of well-informed and socially connected women, many of whom are expert at networking. Companies see them as a resource for endorsing/advertising their products by offering free gifts for their readers.

Contrary to some stereotypes and misconceptions,

"These bloggers are educated, creative and take blogging seriously. "The creativity and writing chops some of them bring to the table would put some Ivy Leaguers to shame." Mashable.com

Lessons to Learn

Here's what I've learned from that particular genre of bloggers that can be applied to blogs in other niches like ours.

Play Well with Others

Andrea's Grab Button

Mommy Bloggers develop a loyal community of friends and supporters. They share parenting stories/advice/photos and extend lots of reciprocity. They consistently comment on each others' blogs (some average 30 comments per post); freely grab buttons to display ( Grab My Button, Promote My Blog); proudly show off GoogleFriends and other blogrolls.

They also share knowledge and take pride in their accomplishments, passing along details in blog posts, discussion boards and Twitter. As Andrea of CreativeJunkie said in her guest post about working the social net:

"As a “mommy blogger” I’ve joined The Mom Blogs and Mom Bloggers Club and TwitterMoms. As a humorist, I’ve registered for The Humor Bloggers. As a blogger wanting to improve her blogging skills, I joined BlogCatalog.

Show Your Personality

Amanda at GaribaySoup displays her button image above and says:

"This blog is a place for me to put these ideas in words, talk about my family, talk about my faith and hopefully bring a smile to your face.

Update: Amanda is no longer blogging at Garibay Soup. So let's hear from Roland of CouponProBlog:

"My name is Roland (picture coming soon, I promise!). I’m a 24 year old male (yes I said male!), fresh out of college and I run Coupon Pro by myself from my bedroom, my living room, my backyard, at Starbucks, in a parked car, while having breakfast/lunch/dinner, while at the gym or on Vacation.

Grab my button

Mommy Bloggers know how to express themselves and let the true person show in their writing styles. Within 10 minutes visitors should know what the author is all about. Many in the blogging tips niche rely on scattered bits of information unfolded over (hidden in) pages of posts.

Blogs with names like "Putting the fun in dysfunctional" set the tone for their content. Many don't have "about me" pages, just the typical Blogger widget in the sidebar. They use colorful language, plenty of images and humor to tell sometimes troubling stories from the past or hopeful sagas from the present. Personality can be a deciding factor when making friends and fans.

Create a Unique Playground

Comforts of home.

Many Mom blogs are decorated, happy places with a feeling of consistency and uniqueness, like a home. They carry on traditions like Friday "fragging," and link roundups, with lots of milk and cookies in the form of contests and giveaways. Many Mom blogs give their readers a warm, comfortable and lively visit. No wonder there is such active dialogue — it's like visiting the neighbors or having a video chat with a friend.

Some might call many of the blog designs "cluttered,"  but no one's complaining. Well, maybe I have cringed at a few double sidebars with dozens of buttons/icons of different sizes!

Get It Done

Hang in there!

Mommy Bloggers who have tackled the grab-button tutorial are professed "non-geeks," but show no fear in trying. Passion for blogging drives them to put their heads down and do what it takes.  Those who have problems work it out within an hour before I can respond or continue the dialogue until it's done. They hang in there!

I collaborated with Amber of Comeherelittlebug on a solution for bloggers on WP.com. Pulling the wool over WP's eyes ,we found the solution for displaying the scroll box, getting around the "no html" limitation. Update: Amber has not posted recently...

Those who host on Blogger often hire designers or barter with friends for small touches like the grab-button design itself or decorative backgrounds. Believe me, the full page backgrounds and custom icons make a huge difference on Blogger. The blog owners feel it adds value, so they either do it themselves with image software or find someone who offers it for free or for a small fee. They are not afraid to ask for help in areas where they don't have the expertise or inclination.

Applying Lessons to Blogging Tips Niche

1. Find blogger friends to play well with.
   Some of us act as if we are competing with other bloggers in our niche. We need to remember that 1) other bloggers are not the ones who click ads, and 2) readers enjoy learning from many blogs. Pick a few blogs to comment on each week and ask them to do the same if you're in a similar growing stage.  I did this with another person on Blogspot and he's gone so far as to nudge me when a post is long overdue.
2. Get personal with your readers.
   Even if you write a tutorial, add some humor and personal experiences. In my blogspot blog I mention "pitfalls'"I've found when using tutorials. Also use familiar terms like "trust me, just copy and paste." Don't be afraid to use your blogger's voice and let people see not just the words but something about who you are. Pretend you are talking to just one reader in a fireside chat — it works in public speaking!
3. Make your blog a comfortable playground for learning.
   Your internet presence may need to be professional and authoritative in your niche, but it can still be personalized. Show your pretty face above the fold, or below each post. I mean the photo where you look approachable. Even if you use a free template, there are easy ways to brand your blog. Leave no doubt as to who lives/does business in that blog "house."
4. Prioritize and tackle goals until done.
   Pick a goal and use all available resources to make it happen. You may feel stranded in unfamiliar territory, but ask questions. Above all else, try something until you see progress or find a better path to success.  At Blogging With Success we answer questions and give strategies that have worked for us and other experienced bloggers. Use the examples in our case studies of success stories and planning strategies.

I'm anxious to hear what you think of these lessons and if you have others to share. Do leave a comment and start the dialogue. Who are the up and coming 'mommy bloggers' ? What social networks do they use?

This article holds the index for tutorials on blog styling tips, related resources and some background on CSS/HTML for the beginner. Every successful blogger needs to know the basics for some Do-It-Yourself post formatting and template design.

Note: Tutorial code may contain a green arrow to mark line continuation. Hover the mouse over any line. Small toolbar pops up. Click second icon to copy the code to clipboard. Then paste into your html editor. Use third icon to print.

image by squidoo.com

We need to take a quick detour--- look under the hood --- before we get into some styling tips to personalize your blog design or gussy up blog posts. Skip this section if you know about using html to change page properties. The page source or html instructs the browser how to display your home or individual post pages. If you want to see html for this screen then right click the page, select ‘view page source’. You write the post content, but everything else comes from the blogging platform and template code. They work magic behind the scenes and most of us could care less.

Quick Definitions

These are some quick definitions and terms used in our tutorial:

1. Tag - this is the html language that tells your browser to interpret something. The 'something' appears between the less-than, greater-than markers: example for the image tag
   < img> -This interpretation is sometimes referred to as parse or read programming code.Tags come in pairs, one to 'open' and one to 'close'.
   </img> -The close tag starts with a slash and repeats the tag name.
   
2. Element - the 'something' inside the opening and closing tags that needs to be parsed or interpreted by the browser or platform editor like WP or Blogger. For example a text link for our blog's url:
   <a href="http://bloggingwithsuccess.net">BloggingWithSuccess </a>
   
3. Attribute - often you have multiple attributes for one tag, so you can specify different values and customize to your liking. For the link tag you can use href= for the url or image address and target= for the type of window. This example opens the page in a new window:
   <a href="http://bloggingwithsuccess.net" target="_blank">BloggingWithSuccess </a>
   

CSS/Html Background

We use WP or Blogger's WYSIWYG editors to style text color, boldness and alignment. The editors turn this into html instructions for the page source. For example, a bullet list displays :

On Your Screen	In Html Page Source
Item one	<ul><li>Item one</li></ul>

1. “External” - The method that makes us cringe involves CSS (Cascade Styling Sheet) and Html of the actual template/theme you’re using. Most bloggers’ eyes glaze over when you mention “opening up the CSS or Html code.” Although many bloggers on Blogger.com are more apt to dig into the ‘HTML’ tab using a good tutorial, most WP users search for a plugin or new template. Example of bullet styling of items in an unordered list:
   

   .post ul li {
   list-style-type: square;margin: 0, 0, 2, 15 ;
   padding-top: 1,0,0,0;}

2. “In-line” - The second method is used within the post or gadget to override template defaults. The html view in Blogger or WP lets you add and override template styling. The page source code for the bullet above would be
   

   <ul><li style="list-style-type: square; margin: 0, 0, 2, 15 ; padding-top: 1,0,0,0;">
   Item one</li></ul>

   Notice the same values but external style definition uses the { } while in-line uses the keyword style=" " with values in quotes. To override the bullet type for a circle image you would use:

   <ul><li style="list-style-type: circle;">

   letting other values default from the template.

Summary

Even if our tips show in-line styling, you can translate it to the template CSS if you want it to become your blog's default. You just need to know the element to attach the styling (e.g. header, post, comment, etc.)

Just take a minute to reread this and understand the methods rather than the details of what the keywords mean. One is your template language CSS while the second is your post or gadget html. The CSS guides the way each element of your page is shown on the screen and becomes html attached to each element. It's important to note that when you view html in the post Editor, you do not see the default or 'inherited' styling from the template! After all, that would get very very messy (take a look at that page source again if you dare!)

Bookmark this page for future tutorials which we'll add periodically.

Happy Styling. and Good Job, your eyes glazed over only three times! Leave a comment here to prove you read the highlights at least  .  We look forward to any suggestions.

The sidebar is another way to navigate and explore important content.  After all the menu can only hold so much.  Here's a quote from Bloggingforbranding.com on the purpose of sidebar widgets:

• Help readers navigate your site
• Encourage readers to go deeper into your site
• Help readers connect with you beyond the blog
• Encourage readers to leave comments
• Provide “social proof” that your blog is the best ever (e.g # readers)
• Help make you money (with advertisements or affiliate products)

Let's skip the issue of which widgets you 'must have' since this depends on the blog owner's niche, promotion strategy and personal preferences.  If you're a mommy or coupon blogger then the more widgets the merrier. Many have two sidebars to avoid widgets running long after the content ends.  The question is really one of prioritization and placement. The most important widgets need to be 'above the fold' and before the end of the post.  The footer (really a horizontal sidebar) is an exception since people expect to take a glance there --- just as they might eye the menu section.

So let's look at the first tip to tame the widgets you decide to use in your design and reclaim valuable real estate.

Tip 1:  Minimize Social Icons Space in Sidebar

Today many bloggers have accounts on Twitter and fan pages on FaceBook. Similar to RSS feeds, these connections help promote your site.  So rather than rely on the standard RSS icon in the header or at the end on the menu, we put those cute icons at the top of the sidebar in living color!

Separate widgets for each account can take up a lot of space.  This Twitter image is an eye catcher but a space hog (150 x 90). Compare that to the 4  icons which take up less space than any of the widgets!  Hover the mouse over each icon and you see text like "Follow me on Twitter".

Some bloggers may want to keep the full "get updates by email" box to really attract the reader's attention. Email lists are especially good for reader retention since they do nothing but open the email! However you can still promote that option at the end of each post.

4 Separate widgets	vs.	1 horizontal table widget
Subscribe by RSS

Lesson: Use large attractive icons across the sidebar. Carve out less space and still keep this widget in your reader's face.

If you have a wider sidebar, use larger icons. Most are square and you can easily scale to 48 x 48. Also make the icons blend with your design or blog topic. Here's an example from MotherRimmy's Culinary Delights:

How to: Create a Social Icon Table

Preparation: Open lots of  tabs/windows

1. Open a browser window to the accounts you want to open when reader clicks each icon. e.g.
   http://twitter.com/bwsteam   and  http://feeds.feedburner.com/BWS
   http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=BWS  and http://facebook.com/bloggingwithsuccess
   Of course you can use our links above, substitute your account name!
2. Use Table Code Generator, online software to create the table structure. Open in browser window.
3. Add a new draft post which you will not publish, but simply use to compose the widget table. Open in browser window, HTML view!
4. Select the icons you want to use, download to your pc and cull out the 4 you want to use in the size you want. There are tons available, e.g.
   41 Amazing Free Social Icon Sets for Designers

   http://www.iconshock.com/social-icons/

Video: Open video screen cast in separate window and follow along - using pause as necessary.

Summary of video steps:

1. Create table shell and put in the draft post Html Mode
2. In visual mode, upload each icon into a table cell, add the link that takes you to the account.
3. In Html mode, copy entire table
4. Create a widget and paste the copied table. You can also add the table to an existing widget, such as your About info.

So what kind of icons or widgets do you use for your blog's social connections? Leave a comment!

Always Running Behind Your Goals?

Are you running behind goals but not achieving them?

Or are you running so fast that you do now know where your goals stand?

In both cases, you need a “pause” button.

Pause may refer to a rest, hesitation, or temporary stop. – Wikipedia

The pause I am talking about is a temporary stop. In blogging terms, this refers to stopping a bit and then looking back.

This helps you to analyze and keep up with your goals.

Why Pause?

Remember VCRs?

When you fast forwarded them, what happened? Everything moved very fast. At twice or thrice the normal speed.

As a kid, I used to do this a lot as seeing people doing things very fast was kind of different and enjoying.

Ahh… Little did I know that I will myself live a lifestyle where this “fast forward” mode would be normal! Our lives are becoming fast and we are doing a lot of things at same time.

The problem?

We are doing same with blogging!

As bloggers, we are in fast forward mode doing lot of things at blazing speeds. As if God has pressed the fast forward button.

Wait, there’s one thing that I did not tell you about VCRs.

When fast forwarding, some frames were missed too!

And guess what, we too, are missing many frames. We are missing many important moments in this speedy life. We are forgetting many aspects of blogging in what has become fast-blogging.

Pause button will just stop everything and let you think. Let you reflect on your actions. Let you analyze the situations and take better decisions.

Most of us are either:

• Forgetting the goals and running ahead without any sense of direction or..
• Obsessed with goals up to a point where they are stopping our growth.

If you are from first group, you are applying lot of effort but not getting much result because it is spread in every direction.

If you are second type, you are putting in less efforts but expecting too much from those. You are also spending lot of time watching every goal. A good example is checking AdSense earnings 20 times a day!

The pause button will help you. It will let you get your direction back.

How To Use The Pause Button?

First, go to your doctor, ask him for a complex brain implant and remove one of your eyes to make space for pause button….

OK, now that’s a bit too much!(But isn’t it a perfect plot for a horror movie? )

Seriously, here’s how to use the pause button:

First, you need blogging goals. Set up some realistic goals. For more, check out: Why And How To Set Up Blogging Goals.(This is a post from 2008, so it might feel like it was written by someone else!)

Next, write your goals in a notebook or spreadsheet.

Maintain A Spreadsheet Or Notebook

Now comes the most important part. Maintaining that spreadsheet or notebook.

I’d advice using a spreadsheet and make columns for different stats like analytics stats, AdSense earnings or other things.

On regular intervals, update it to see how you are progressing. This will keep up you on path and let you know if you are doing something right or wrong.

But what do I mean by “regular intervals”?

How Often To Update

Updating frequency is very important. This is when you are in pause mode.

I’d advice doing it monthly or weekly.

By doing it weekly, you can make sure that you work six days at your full potential and then on the seventh day, rest a bit and analyze what you did and what output did it produce.

Doing it monthly is an option for those of us who are busy. This will give you bigger picture and tell which things to repeat to keep the momentum going.

Does It Work?

I have analyzed my goals and stats monthly since November 2010 and just finished compiling results for January 2011. And what I got was this:

Result of this graph: I am now even more energized to write more.

So, prepare to see more posts like the recent ones that made all of us think(Real Bloggers Publish anyone?) and the bigger ones like Ultimate Blogging FAQ.

What are you waiting for? Go, press pause, analyze goals and then share how it’s like!

Remember: Only analyze the stats on weekends or once per month and then forget about them. This will help you stay on track.

Thank you for reading!

Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life or come with me and change the world? -Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs said this in 1983 when recruiting John Sculley for Apple. Sculley was working for Pepsi at that time and couldn't make his mind about joining Apple. At that time, Steve Jobs convinced him using this legendary pitch.

But what is history doing here.

You are not reading a blog about history or Apple fanboy blog.

It is not related to blogging, or is it?

Confused?

Do not think much, just read on.

Working hard?

You know what, that's a big problem!

You are working hard. You are working very hard.

But results are 0 or if you are lucky, 0.1. Nothing more than that.

Why?

Because you are working hard and hard work does not guarantee success.

2 Hour Per Day = Blogger?

If you are thinking about working 2 hours a day and becoming a celebrity blogger, you are dreaming. You are day dreaming!

Why?

Blogging is not about just writing.

It takes a lot more. Promotion, commenting, guest posts and what not.

We need a lot of time to build a successful blog.

And working just 2 hours a day is not going to cut it. It might have worked for a few guys, but open your eyes!

I said open your eyes.

This is the real world.

You are not a full-time blogger.

You have hundred other tasks to do.

And if you think you are still going to make it, you are still day dreaming.

There are hundreds of others who have realized the potential of blogging and have jumped as a full-time blogger.

They are working hard.

And what are you doing?

Refusing to see them.

That's what an ostrich does?

Still, ostrich does not escape from hunter.

Closing your eyes towards the competition does not mean that it is not there. You have to take a look and learn from it.

It’s not enough to succeed — Others must fail.

Break out of your "I'll succeed" illusions!

If you have blogged for 3 years and still getting 3 comments per post and 30 page views per day, you are doing something wrong. And still you think you are going to succeed?

Do Not Be An Ostrich, Be A Lion!

What you need to do is to stop closing your eyes.

Do not overlook competition.

Do not hide your head.

Be a lion.

Treat competition like a pray.

Kill the competition.

Destroy it.

Hit with a knife.

Better, drop a bomb.

Better yet, drop a nuke on your competition.

How To Kill Your Competition

Before you start thinking about doing murder of a competitor blogger or assembling a nuclear bomb, just let me tell you that you should not be doing anything like that.

To kill your competition, all you need to do is to get ahead of rival bloggers. In stats, in subscriber numbers and in comments!

To beat them, all you need is to:

1. Write Better: They are writing great posts? Go one step ahead! Write awesome posts! In fact, you should not just write awesome but make your whole blog awesome.
2. Promote Better: They are spending 2 hours for promotion? Spend 2 hours, 1 minute. Even this 1 minute gives you edge over them.
3. Steal: See what they are doing. Often, bloggers will write about great things that happen to them. Take lessons. Avoid the mistakes they did, repeat their successful steps.

But You Have No Time

Right?

You have no time.

You have hundred other things to.

The best solution: Leave your job or school.

But you can not do that, right?

I can not do that and I am sure you too can not.

So, what is the way out of all this?

The way that does not need a lot of time but can still make you a great blogger, that can propel you straight to A-List.

Open Your Eyes

Look around, there are only two ways to become a professional blogger.

1. Blog Full Time.
2. Start A Team Blog.

Full Time Blogging

Full Time Blogging is, in my opinion, best option for you. If you become a full-time blogger, you will have lot more time to promote. More time spent on blogging will mean more traffic and income. However, this is a risky way.

What if you do not do well and fail?

You have responsibilities. You can spend 2-3 months without much income but at one point, you will have to look for a traditional job.

But if you do well, you will surely get bigger benefit.

Bigger risk, bigger benefit!

Team Blogging

Starting a team blog or group blog is another option.

Instead of a single person working on a blog, it is better to have several people. All the efforts will add. This way, team blogging helps you to keep your day job and still accelerating the growth. Yes, issues are there but if you have cooperative people around, you can easily solve these.

Choose A Path

This is the time to make a choice. Do you want to stay a normal nobody or change the blogosphere.

Do not continue your efforts on something small, aim for big target.

Do not be satisfied with 100 visits per day when you are capable of getting a million per day.

Do not be satisfied with three hundred subscribers when you are capable of getting three thousand or more.

Make a choice.

Either become a full-time blogger or start a team blog.

I am forcing you because this is going to be great for you. Just try!

And in the end:

Do you still want to be a nobody forever or change the blogosphere?

In this last article (part 4) we look at the final steps for a successful migration. The example continues with the migration of my BPWebNews  blog. There are two videos walking you through the plugins I used to keep subscribers and redirect traffic.

Parts in This Series:

Part 1, Get a Custom Domain Name. It's never too late to do this while still on blogspot.
Part 2,  Test Drive WP. Use free WP to experience your future blog neighborhood.
Part 3, Bring Your Readers. Have Blogger forward old url hits to WP blog.
Part 4, It's all about avoiding 'page not found' errors!

image-HotNewsWorld.com

Update to Part 4: Addendum - see newer post for the step that avoids the annoying message by Blogger asking if your readers want to be redirected to the new url.

Step One - Update and Redirect FeedBurner Account

Updated Feedburner details to point to new WP feed - Login your FB account. Go to "Edit Feed Details" tab. You'll see the " Original Feed ... (Feed published on your site)" contains the old blogger feed address ---  make a note of the url - you'll use it in step two. Then replace that feed with your new WP feed. In my case I replaced : http://bpwebnews.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default with  http://bpwebnews.com/feed . Then press and save details.

Added WP plugin to direct all feeds to my account including the wp/feed. Without the plugin anyone using the native  WP feed is not given a chance to go via Feedburner. The native feed look like the first image. The redirection is shown in second image.(clicks image to enlarge)

Before: After the plugin:

Step One Notes:

• Plugin used: FD Feedburner Plugin By John Watson

Step Two - Basic Redirection for Feeds and Posts

Video #1 - Using the Redirection Plugin for Blogger Migration

Video Notes:

• Shows an old blogspot post redirected to correct WP post. The same technique can be used to redirect old default blogspot feed to the WP feed. Current subscribers who did a browser RSS would have the old feed. Also Feedburner was giving them the old feed, so we need to redirect those subscribers!
• points out the difference in how WP and Blogger use the post title to create the url.
  old---  http://bpwebnews.blogspot.com/2010/08/moving-to-wordpress-loaded-question.html
  WP --- http://bpwebnews.com/2010/08/moving-to-wordpress-a-loaded-question.html
  Notice  WP has extra "a" in the name. So even if you got the new domain correctly from Blogger you'd still get a"404- page not found"  error. The plugin solves that problem.
• Plugin used:  Redirection By John Godley. Monitors 404 errors and manages your 301 redirects.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Video #2 - Using the Permalink Finder Plugin for Blogger Migration

Video Notes:

• Plugin used: Permalink Finder By Keith P. Graham - video shows how it relates to redirection plugin.
• Mentions a step 3 to permanently avoid Blogger on old search engine results, but unfortunately there's a new version of the plugin and it's not working. I'll followup with a post on this aspect. Update to Part 4: see Addendum - newer post for the step that eliminates Blogger asking readers if they want to be redirected on old search engine hits.

Step Three - Fix internal links that point to blogspot

If you used a custom domain name throughout most of your stay on Blogspot, then this step may not be necessary. I added the simple plugin to handle internal links but you have to be VERY careful that you key the correct domain names!  Backup your blog before you do this step... Here's a snapshot of the form: (click to enlarge)

Step Notes:

• Plugin used: Velvet Blues Update URLs - By Velvet Blues

Summary

As I said in the previous segment this series is for the those who want to learn by doing. Or if you used an inexperienced friend or freelancer, these videos can help clean up the mess. Oh, also helps if you decided overnight in a huff an puff to chuck Blogger and import from new WP using that nifty tool.

If you need any help in planning your move or just want to outsource the techie part, then try our Migration services at Word Press Blog Experts. Naturally I'll answer any questions about this series. Do take a minute to leave your experience with migration planning. I look forward to and appreciate your comments! Even if you're a freelancer, I like to keep track of the competition...

Get Your Readers Discussing

Comments are a big social proof. And most important, they generate a lot of new ideas.

As blog owners, getting more comments is one of the main priorities for us.

Comment

If you need comments, you have to leave more comments. Most of the blog owners respond to comments these days and additionally, comment back on one of your posts or retweet it. You can make a list of such blogs and start commenting regularly on them.

This approach works well most of the times but you need to spend lot of time commenting on other blogs. Definitely not for you if you are low on time.

Write Longer Posts

If you write a bit longer instead of blogosphere norm(300-500 words), you can get more comments.

I don't know why but this relation works almost everywhere.

Although length is important, also make sure to format the posts properly because after all, it's a human eye that will judge your content and formatting makes sure that attention is drawn to right places.

Some examples are 27 Ways To Take Your Blog From Good To Awesome and Ultimate Blogging FAQ: 101 Most Asked Questions.

Ask For Comments

Are you asking for comments?

If you are writing long posts and commenting on other blogs but not getting comments, this might be a fix. At the end of the posts, ask your readers to comment. You can include a simple pitch like "do not forget to comment on this post" or make it longer by asking questions related to the topic.

Post Less

If you write fewer posts, you can get more comments per post.

How?

Because your posts will get longer exposure. Let's say you are currently publishing 3 posts per week. So every post is getting 2 days on top of the blog. But if you cut it to 1 post per week, you are keeping it on top of the blog for 6 days and that will get it more attention from new visitors.

And since number of comments will be more on the post, more people will be further encouraged to comment.

A good example of this can be our holiday post, Why You Should Take A Break In These Holidays. We published it on Dec 20 and did not promote much. Still, it got lot of comments without much effort.

Write Something Different

Sometimes, taking a different angle on an issue can attract a lot of comments. Did you ever expect a comedy post on Blogging With Success?

No!

But I did that by answering to spammers and response was great!

What's your Method?

• How do you get more comments on your posts?
• Which methods have you tried?
• Any new method you think can work?
• Did you retweet this post?