Written on July 14th, 2005 at 09:07 pm by David Shawver
Reconsidering TypePad
I’ve always been a little skeptical of the TypePad blogging platform. I’m not really sure why that is - perhaps I always saw it as a poor cousin on MovableType, or perhaps it was because it was a paid service, or perhaps I was just too lazy to check it out.
This week I’ve been consulting with two bloggers to help them set up their own blogs - both after looking at the options have chosen to go with TypePad. Whilst it’s probably still not my first choice for a blogging tool, in playing around with it and helping them to get set up I’m actually beginning to come around.
Whilst you do have to pay and whilst it’s probably not as powerful or as versatile as some other blogging tools it is a very usable platform. I’m especially impressed with the ease in which I’m able to communicate with completely inexperienced bloggers the basics of not only posting but design. I particularly like it’s commenting options (they just announced comment moderation today) which put a stop to spam (or at least slow it right down) and it’s ability to add advertising options quickly and easily.
I’m not about to move all my blogs over to TypePad, but I’m toying with the idea of running an experimental blog with it to fully immerse myself in it’s functionality and I’ll definitely be keeping it as an option in my consulting with beginner bloggers.
In other Six Apart News - they’ve also today released the beta version of MovableType 3.2.
Written on July 14th, 2005 at 05:07 pm by David Shawver
Interview with Jacob Gower
Phoenixrealm has a good interview with Jacob Gower the recent purchaser of blogs including CSS Vault, BloggingPro, Forever Geek, and Blog Catalog and the owner of new blog top sites.
It’s an insightful look into the mind of a guy who is quickly making a name for himself in ProBlogging circles.
Written on July 14th, 2005 at 01:07 pm by David Shawver
Nellie Reaches her Goals
Just a quick update on the story I mentioned a few days ago about Nellie trying to raise enough money to complete her high school education. She’s just updated that the money is all in and she can now enroll in the subjects she needs to complete.
I made a donation on our behalf here at enternetusers both to show her some support but also as an acknowledgment of the support the community has given me here at enternetusers. I can’t send you all cheques but thought it might be a small way I can give something back to the wider blogging community.
Read more about it at HELP! Nellie’s Fundraising Blog: THANK YOU!
Written on July 13th, 2005 at 10:07 pm by David Shawver
enternetusers T-Shirt Design Competition
Ok - it’s time for a little fun.
Over the past few weeks I’ve had four people independently suggest that I put out a enternetusers.net T-Shirt. Each said they’d buy one and each thought it’d help with adding a revenue stream to this blog as well as promoting the brand of enternetusers.
I’ve put it off for a while because I wasn’t sure what to put on such a T-Shirt. This blog’s logo is good for a blog (thanks Rachel) but I’m not sure it’s really T-Shirt material (excuse the pun).
So I’ve decided to have a competition for all you budding designers. Design me a T-Shirt logo that I can offer to readers of this blog.
NB: darren at enternetusers dot net
I’m going to offer a prize for the design that I end up selecting (I’ll consult with three other secret judges - secret because I don’t want them taking bribes - and because I haven’t asked them yet). The prize will be products to the value of $100 at Amazon.com ($USD). (update - I’ve added to this prize - see below for details). You choose the products if you win and I’ll have them shipped to you.
Initially the T-Shirts will be sold via CafePress.com so you’ll need to follow their guidelines for design of images and submit (to me) a large jpg or png file.
Your brief is to produce something in keeping with the vibe here at enternetusers and something that readers of this site would see as a ‘must have’. Readers here are usually bloggers aspiring to make a few dollars from their blogs.
Ideally it should incorporate the word enternetusers in some form into the design - it need not incorporate ‘Helping bloggers earn money’ - as a slogan. Feel free to add your own if you like.
It can be serious, humorous, blatantly promotional, have a slogan, a picture - whatever you like. Let your creativity run wild. Please note that I’m not looking for just a slogan here - but a design. If you have a slogan you need to submit it as a picture file - a design.
By entering you’re giving me permission to use what you submit as I see fit (even if you don’t win the prize). I could use more than one design for T-Shirts, logos, etc but undertake to acknowledge you as the designer in a public way. I’ll feature a post with all of the designs and links to the designers blogs (if they have them) at the end of the competition and before the result is announced for readers comments.
T-Shirts with the winning design (and perhaps other merchandise) will be available for purchase at the end of the competition. Proceeds will go towards the growing running costs of this blog.
Submissions will be accepted up until the end of the day on 31 July 2005 and the winner will be announced in the week after.
If you have questions - let me know. To submit designs simply email the design and your contact details and blog’s URL to:
darren at enternetusers dot net
Update - I mentioned this to a friend earlier today and they just sent me one their 12 year old son did in photoshop for me! It’s below…
Update II - I’d decided to ramp up the prize a little. Here’s what you now get if you win:
1. You’ll still get your $100 (USD) worth of products from Amazon
2. You’ll get the very first T-Shirt free (worth around $20)
3. I’ll offer you 1 hour of blog consultation free for your site - you choose what you want me to work on (worth $60+)
4. I’ll link to your blog on my side bar for free for 1 month after the prize is announced (priceless - well not worthless)
5. I’ll highlight your blog in a ‘winners’ post (another not worthless give away)
6. I’ll add your blog to be the number one blog on my RSS feed which will mean I’ll check it multiple times per day and become your blog’s number 1 fan! (ok it’s not worth much - but you’ll get yourself a new dedicated reader)
Written on July 13th, 2005 at 02:07 pm by David Shawver
FeedBurner launches BuzzBoost
Feedburner have announced a few service that enables bloggers to cross promote their blogs (if they have more than one) using their new BuzzBoost system. They describe it like this:
‘If you have several blogs or other sites that have their own feeds, we’ll bet a few bottom dollars you’ve been looking for a way to easily cross-promote them. Or, perhaps you’re a podcaster who would like to list your latest podcast postings in a blog sidebar or other handy garden spot somewhere on the web. The bottom line? You’ve got feeds you want to get out there where people can see ‘em, and you’d like to allow people to see the feed headlines (or content itself) in some compact, convenient format.
Enter BuzzBoost. It’s the latest publicity and awareness offering for FeedBurner publishers, and it’s free. BuzzBoost’s job is to redisplay your feed content anywhere you can copy and paste a short snippet of HTML code — in a Blogger or TypePad page template, on a corporate website, or even in a “signature” block on a message board. BuzzBoost code is just a short line of JavaScript that displays content items and information from a FeedBurner feed according to settings you provide…’
It’s a handy service if you’ve got blogs that relate to each other that you want to cross promote although I’ve seen many others do this using other systems also (so it’s not completely unique). Might be handy for some though. If you use it let me know how it goes.
Written on July 13th, 2005 at 11:07 am by David Shawver
enternetusers Email Newsletter Sent… I think
I just sent this week’s enternetusers Email Newsletter. During the sending process there seems to have been an error so if you didn’t get it please let me know and I’ll shoot you a copy.
For those that are new here at enternetusers and haven’t hear of it before - my newsletter is simply a way of getting an update on:
- the hottest posts for the week just gone
- a few exclusive ProBlogging Tips
- my earnings (depending on how private or open I’m feeling from week to week!)
- enternetusers News (I sometimes break news about enternetusers.net to the newsletter before posting about it)
For instance in this week’s newsletter I talked about some of where I’m focusing my time this week and about a couple of enternetusers related projects that I’m hoping to launch in the coming months. I also gave a little more specific information on that May Adsense Cheque.
I see the newsletter list as the inner community of enternetusers.net readers and would love to have you subscribe.
You can do so simply by submitting your email address to the field in the top left hand column of this blog. Your privacy will be valued and your email address will not be used for any other purpose than to send this newsletter. You may unsubscribe at any time.
On submitting your email here you will be sent an email asking your to confirm your subscription. Let me know if you have any problems.
Written on July 13th, 2005 at 03:07 am by David Shawver
Playing with Adlink Units
I’ve been playing around with Adsense ad link units tonight and am trailing them in some new positions on a couple of my blogs over the next few days. Regular readers will no doubt spot their new position here at enternetusers pretty quickly. If not - look up.
I got my inspiration from Nathan at Inside Google. I’m not completely satisfied with how it looks on this blog - seems a little out of balance but I’ll let you know how they go after a few days.
Written on July 13th, 2005 at 01:07 am by David Shawver
Basic SEO Tactics
If climbing the Search Engine Rankings is your priority at the moment and you’re not sure where to start - give Duncan’s article on Basic SEO tactics for bloggers a read. It’s solid advice.
Written on July 12th, 2005 at 09:07 pm by David Shawver
A Question about Selling Documents from Your Blog
I have a question for readers who have experience with e-commerce.
What is the simplest way to set up the ability to sell a document/file from a blog?
For example if I were to have a file (pdf) that I wanted to sell to the readers of a blog for a smallish fee - how would the cheapest and most hassle free way be? I don’t want to have to set up a completely new site - or register as a credit card merchant. I do have a paypal account. I am willing to pay a service a small percentage of the income for a service that automates it.
Initially it would just be one type of document for sale - but down the track there could be others.
I’ve had limited experience with esellerate which I could use - but I’m wondering what other options there may be for a low level operation like this.
Written on July 12th, 2005 at 01:07 pm by David Shawver
BlogAds Mini-Networks
Blogads now has a page that has all of it’s mini-networks listed. I’m a part of the gadget network and have found a very slight increase in ads being placed on my site as a result. I suspect in time this (and other programs like it) will become a more popular way for smaller blogs to attract bigger advertisers (by pooling their impressions with others bloggers).
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enternetusers Sponsors
Team Blogs
Blogs from b5media management and staff members.-
internetusers
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Active Apparel website stock video social media
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Active Apparel website stock video social media
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network Apparel website stock video social media
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enternetusers
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Active Apparel website stock video social media
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b5media Mobile RSS
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And we just found out about get paid to. When your phone rings or you receive an email or receive a text message then you get paid. Could it be that my groom’s fantasies might actually be wilder than the site of me perfectly coiffed, bustled, and veiled?
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