Jenny McCarthy Blogs On Oprah
Filed under: Archives, At Home, At Work, Blogging, Food Items, For Women, Helping Others, Parenting, Weight Issues, decluttering
On Monday, May 4, 2009, Jenny McCarthy will begin blogging on Oprah.com. Jenny is calling it her “give it up before summer” blog.
She’ll be blogging about how to give up such things as sugar and/or chocolate. If you have anything you want to give up, you can sign into the blog, join in the conversation and share with Jenny McCarthy what it is you’re struggling with.
Like Jenny, is it chocolate? Is it gossiping? Or how about white foods or caffeine?
It’s easy. Just log into Oprah.com. Look for the link to Jenny McCarthy’s blog and leave a comment.
It sounds like a fun endeavor. We all get to weigh in and have our say and read what others are saying, too.
For more information on Jenny McCarthy and her crusade on autism, check out Children With Autism – Help For Parents
Or, you can find some of Jenny McCarthy’s books here:
- Healing and Preventing Autism: A Complete Guide
- Belly Laughs: The Naked Truth about Pregnancy and Childbirth
- Louder Than Words: A Mother’s Journey in Healing Autism
- Mother Warriors: A Nation of Parents Healing Autism Against All Odds
According to Oprah.com it appears Jenny McCarthy’s blog will last for thirty days. If it’s a hit, maybe Oprah will keep Jenny as a permanent blogger on Oprah.com.
Tags: addicts, blog, Blogging, blogs, caffeine, chocolate, comments, giving up, jenny mccarthy, oprah, oprah.com, sugar, weigh in, white foods10 Blog Traffic Tips
In every bloggers life comes a special day – the day they first launch a new blog. Now unless you went out and purchased someone else’’s blog chances are your blog launched with only one very loyal reader – you. Maybe a few days later you received a few hits when you told your sister, father, girlfriend and best friend about your new blog but that’’s about as far you went when it comes to finding readers.
Here are the top 10 techniques new bloggers can use to find readers. These are tips specifically for new bloggers, those people who have next-to-no audience at the moment and want to get the ball rolling.
It helps if you work on this list from top to bottom as each technique builds on the previous step to help you create momentum. Eventually once you establish enough momentum you gain what is called “traction”, which is a large enough audience base (about 500 readers a day is good) that you no longer have to work too hard on finding new readers. Instead your current loyal readers do the work for you through word of mouth.
Top 10 Tips
10. Write at least five major “pillar” articles. A pillar article is a tutorial style article aimed to teach your audience something. Generally they are longer than 500 words and have lots of very practical tips or advice. This article you are currently reading could be considered a pillar article since it is very practical and a good “how-to” lesson. This style of article has long term appeal, stays current (it isn’t news or time dependent) and offers real value and insight. The more pillars you have on your blog the better.
9. Write one new blog post per day minimum. Not every post has to be a pillar, but you should work on getting those five pillars done at the same time as you keep your blog fresh with a daily news or short article style post. The important thing here is to demonstrate to first time visitors that your blog is updated all the time so they feel that if they come back tomorrow they will likely find something new. This causes them to bookmark your site or subscribe to your blog feed.
You don”t have to produce one post per day all the time but it is important you do when your blog is brand new. Once you get traction you still need to keep the fresh content coming but your loyal audience will be more forgiving if you slow down to a few per week instead. The first few months are critical so the more content you can produce at this time the better.
8. Use a proper domain name. If you are serious about blogging be serious about what you call your blog. In order for people to easily spread the word about your blog you need a easily rememberable domain name. People often talk about blogs they like when they are speaking to friends in the real world (that’’s the offline world, you remember that place right?) so you need to make it easy for them to spread the word and pass on your URL. Try and get a .com if you can and focus on small easy to remember domains rather than worry about having the correct keywords (of course if you can get great keywords and easy to remember then you’ve done a good job!).
7. Start commenting on other blogs. Once you have your pillar articles and your daily fresh smaller articles your blog is ready to be exposed to the world. One of the best ways to find the right type of reader for your blog is to comment on other people’s blogs. You should aim to comment on blogs focused on a similar niche topic to yours since the readers there will be more likely to be interested in your blog.
Most blog commenting systems allow you to have your name/title linked to your blog when you leave a comment. This is how people find your blog. If you are a prolific commentor and always have something valuable to say then people will be interested to read more of your work and hence click through to visit your blog.
6. Trackback and link to other blogs in your blog posts. A trackback is sort of like a blog conversation. When you write a new article to your blog and it links or references another blogger’’s article you can do a trackback to their entry. What this does is leave a truncated summary of your blog post on their blog entry – it’’s sort of like your blog telling someone else’s blog that you wrote an article mentioning them. Trackbacks often appear like comments.
This is a good technique because like leaving comments a trackback leaves a link from another blog back to yours for readers to follow, but it also does something very important – it gets the attention of another blogger. The other blogger will likely come and read your post eager to see what you wrote about them. They may then become a loyal reader of yours or at least monitor you and if you are lucky some time down the road they may do a post linking to your blog bringing in more new readers.
5. Encourage comments on your own blog. One of the most powerful ways to convince someone to become a loyal reader is to show there are other loyal readers already following your work. If they see people commenting on your blog then they infer that your content must be good since you have readers so they should stick around and see what all the fuss is about. To encourage comments you can simply pose a question in a blog post. Be sure to always respond to comments as well so you can keep the conversation going.
4. Submit your latest pillar article to a blog carnival. A blog carnival is a post in a blog that summarizes a collection of articles from many different blogs on a specific topic. The idea is to collect some of the best content on a topic in a given week. Often many other blogs link back to a carnival host and as such the people that have articles featured in the carnival often enjoy a spike in new readers.
To find the right blog carnival for your blog, do a search at blogcarnival.com.
3. Submit your blog to blogtopsites.com. To be honest this tip is not going to bring in a flood of new readers but it’’s so easy to do and only takes five minutes so it’’s worth the effort. Go to Blog Top Sites, find the appropriate category for your blog and submit it. You have to copy and paste a couple of lines of code on to your blog so you can rank and then sit back and watch the traffic come in. You will probably only get 1-10 incoming readers per day with this technique but over time it can build up as you climb the rankings. It all helps!
2. Submit your articles to EzineArticles.com. This is another tip that doesn’t bring in hundreds of new visitors immediately (although it can if you keep doing it) but it’’s worthwhile because you simply leverage what you already have – your pillar articles. Once a week or so take one of your pillar articles and submit it to Ezine Articles. Your article then becomes available to other people who can republish your article on their website or in their newsletter.
How you benefit is through what is called your “Resource Box”. You create your own resource box which is like a signature file where you include one to two sentences and link back to your website (or blog in this case). Anyone who publishes your article has to include your resource box so you get incoming links. If someone with a large newsletter publishes your article you can get a lot of new readers at once.
1. Write more pillar articles. Everything you do above will help you to find blog readers however all of the techniques I’ve listed only work when you have strong pillars in place. Without them if you do everything above you may bring in readers but they won’t stay or bother to come back. Aim for one solid pillar article per week and by the end of the year you will have a database of over 50 fantastic feature articles that will work hard for you to bring in more and more readers.
I hope you enjoyed my list of traffic tips. Everything listed above are techniques I’ve put into place myself for my blogs and have worked for me, however it’’s certainly not a comprehensive list. There are many more things you can do. Finding readers is all about testing to see what works best for you and your audience and I have no doubt if you put your mind to it you will find a balance that works for you.
This article was by Yaro Starak, a professional blogger and my blog mentor. He is the leader of the Blog Mastermind mentoring program designed to teach bloggers how to earn a full time income blogging part time.
To get more information about Blog Mastermind click this link: Click Here!
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Online Business Mentors
Filed under: Archives, At Work, For Entrepreneurs, Web Surfing
Photo courtesy of MRk. Cool
If you have a business, or are planning to start one, it’s often difficult to find a mentor who understands the dilemmas you may encounter.
Just as there may be numerous places to turn to within your own community, often business owners forget to look online for mentors.
The latest “craze” is to turn to blogs, which are web logs. Blogs differ from typical websites, in that they provide a comment section, where you can “have your say”, and also communicate directly with the author.
As a business owner, I try to utilize all sources. Many of my mentors have been in the same situation, and it is from them I gain expert advice.
When researching online mentors, I landed on a fabulous website/blog. The name of it is Catherine Lawson’s Business Advice Blog. Granted, Catherine is in the UK, but when it comes to business, we all face similar challenges.
What I like about Catherine’s blog, is that she teaches others, and willingly shares mistakes she made in business. Since she tells her readers how she corrected the problem, others can often apply her techniques to their situation, as well. Catherine likes to engage her readers, by encouraging them to comment, therefore, the comment section that follows each article, often has more enlightening ideas. By scouring through her past articles (archives), you’re likely to find an article (post), that may address your concern.
Never underestimate the power of a blog. Although you may have heard a blog is “just an online journal”, the authors of thousands of blogs are experts in their field, and freely share what they have learned, with anyone who cares to listen.
Search the internet. Chances are, you’ll find a blog author, who will gladly become your online business mentor.
Amber Alert Ticker
I just added the Amber Alert Ticker to both of my blogs.
I’m encouraging all webmasters and bloggers to add the Amber Alert Ticker to your websites and blogs. It could help to save a child.
Since Amber Alerts are normally only posted on TV and the radio, this will give more exposure for the abducted child, and hopefully bring them home safely.
If you need more information on the Amber Alert Ticker, go to http://codeamber.org. If you would like to learn more about Amber Alert.gov, go to www.amberalert.gov. (They provide a free “wireless alert” – to your cell phone.)
If you don’t have a website or blog, you can add the Amber Alert Ticker to your desktop.
Let’s join together, and help to save abducted children.
BTW: There is also an Amber Alert Ticker for Canada
Tags: blog, blogsWhat Is A Blog? Can I Have A Blog?
What exactly is a blog? A blog is a web log. What you’re seeing as you read this page, is a blog.
Just a short time ago, I wrote an article on my other blog, or website, about the same issue. I give a short explanation of what a blog is, and the different types of blogs you’ll encounter as you “surf the web”. If you would like to read it, go to Bloggingwithoutablog.com.
Can you have a blog? Absolutely.
Do you like to write?
Do you like to spend time on the computer?
Do you have some extra time in your day when you could sit at your computer and write short articles about issues that affect your life, and how you deal with them? Or, are you an expert in a specific field?
Are you willing to share what you’ve learned with others, for free?
Do you know the basics of computers, but are willing to learn more?
Would you like to make extra money by blogging (writing)?
If you answered yes to these questions, you may be a future blogger.
To “blog” is actually quite simple. The difficulty in blogging comes from issues other than actual “writing”. Blogging has a language of it’s own, and learning that and all that goes with it, is what can be time consuming.
To make a decent living, or even additional income that will amount to something, with blogging, takes tenacity. Most professional bloggers spend 50 or more hours a week on their blogs. Some claim to make six figure incomes, but, most of them have been blogging for many years. As for me, I won’t be quitting my day job, anytime soon. 
Can a new (“newbie”) blogger get recognition, when there’s already over 70 million blogs? I think so. If you’re reading this, you found me, and this blog was “born” on March 29, 2007.
With that being said, if you’re interested in blogging, a great website to get started at is a favorite of mine: Problogger.net. You can also check out my other blog at Bloggingwithoutablog.com. where I’ve been documenting what I’ve learned since I started blogging.
If you get a blog started, drop me a comment, and I’ll visit your site. We all love lots of visitors, i.e. high traffic numbers.
Tags: blog, blogsHow To Get A Split Screen On Your Computer
Filed under: Archives, At Home, At Work, Free Stuff
If you’re on your computer, and you’re like me, you’re spending lots of time “surfing the net”. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to see two or more websites, at the same time? Wouldn’t it be great if you could “split” your screen?
Well, you can.
In order to use the split screen, (which is called an “add on”), you must first be using a Firefox toolbar. If you don’t have a Firefox toolbar, it can be downloaded for free. Then just add the Firefox addon Split Browser.
Once your toolbar is in place, just click on “Tools”, “Add-ons”, “Extensions”, and then “Split Browser”. Once the Split Browser add-on is activated, you’re ready to start splitting your screen.
You can split your screen either vertically or horizontally. You can also place your cursor on the “split” line, and make one “screen” either smaller or larger than the other, by dragging.
After activation, you will also end up with a “Split” category at the top of your toolbar. From here, you can choose to “Close or Collapse All Split Browsers”, “Gather All Split Browsers as Tabs”, plus several other options.
To split your screen, all you have to do is place your cursor on the top, right, left or bottom edge of the page, When you get to the correct area, you’ll see a small arrow (inside of a rectangle). Click on this arrow, and another browser window will open. To get information into this browser, you can “drag and drop” links, bookmarks, or a site from your “Navigation” toolbar, etc. into this new window.
You can split your screen as many times as your RAM and your screen will allow.
For more detailed information, “right click” on the “Split Browser”, and click on “Visit Home Page. This will take you to the instruction page of “Split Browser”.
As I write this article, I am using a split screen. The ease of incorporating links onto this page is awesome. I’ll definitely be using this feature, as I continue to surf the web, and work on my blogs.
Try it, and let me know what you think.
Tags: blog, blogsRelated Posts (Articles) From The Past – New Feature
Today I’ve added a new feature to my site. It’s called “Related Posts From The Past”. It can be found of the bottom of each individual article, below the “comment” area. It will give you links to related (posts) articles to click on, which are similar to the one you’re currently reading. This will also help you to navigate my site a little easier.
In my other blog, Bloggingwithoutablog.com, I write about how I’m learning to create my blog sites. This new feature was something I recently found, which I absolutely love, as it’s a real time saver for me. In the world of blogging, it’s what’s called a “plugin”. This one is written by a very talented man, by the name of Mark Ghosh.
As my blogs grow, it may become more difficult for my readers to navigate my sites, so I’m adding whatever “plugins” I find, in order to expedite travel within my blogs.
I hope you enjoy the new “Related Posts From the Past” feature.
If you have any problems navigating my site, just drop me a comment, and I’ll work on correcting the problem.
Thanks for visiting!
Tags: blog, blogsProduct Review: Orange Glo Wood Cleaner and Polish
Filed under: Archives, Cleaning Tips, Product Reviews
I just found another great product. It is Orange Glo Wood Cleaner and Polish.
If you’ve been reading my blogs, you’ll realize I’ve been doing my Spring cleaning. I love finding products that don’t have fumes, make the job easier, and leave surfaces looking like new. Orange Glo Wood Cleaner and Polish is another favorite product of mine.
I use Orange Glo Wood Cleaner and Polish on all of the wood surfaces in our home. I like the way it makes the wood surfaces gleam, but they don’t feel oily or greasy. The orange scent is a great addition, as it almost makes cleaning and dusting fun…if that’s possible.
I highly recommend Orange Glo Wood Cleaner and Polish. It makes my life easier, doesn’t have nasty fumes, and leaves wood surfaces looking great.
Remember to read the warning label on this product, as well as on all of your cleaning products.
Orange Glo – Wood Cleaner & Polish
Tags: blog, blogsWhy This Blog Shows Ads
If you have found my blog, you will see ads on each side, and some mixed in with the text. As a new blogger I have researched a lot about blogging, and continue to research as I learn. To blog, is not a free service. It costs money to register a domain name, to have a web host, and time (which is money) out of my day to micro manage my blog, and to write posts.
By placing ads, some advertisers give small commissions if a reader “clicks” on their ads, however, other advertisers don’t pay you, unless the reader makes a purchase using the link that is on the blog website.
Will I get “rich” by using these ads? The verdict is still out on that. My goal is to make enough to pay for my overhead, and reimburse me for the time I spend writing, and sharing information which I hope is of value to others.
Blogs are ranked by the amount of traffic they receive. With my blog being so new, my “traffic numbers” are pretty low. If you are a regular visitor, thank you. By having others “link” to my blog, also helps my blog rating.
With that being said, if you enjoy my blog, create a link to it, and/or share it with friends. If you have a blog that is similar to mine and would like to share links, let me know. As time goes by, I’ll keep you posted on my progress.
See you in blogoshpere.
Tags: blog, blogsLife Saving Tips
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