Written on September 12th, 2005 at 04:09 pm by Darren Rowse
Blog Herald’s WebProNews Expose
Duncan at Blog Herald has written an interesting piece pointing to a variety of pieces that Jason Lee Miller from WebProNews has written that allegedly fail to give attribution to original sources of information. Some of the pieces that Duncan compares show Jason using direct quotes from other sources without a link-back or even a mention of source which is a pretty big no no.
I have to say that WebProNews has been pretty good to me over the past few months since I started allowing them to use some of my content on their blog. They have responded to my suggestions and send reasonable traffic my way as a result.
However they are a professional site and have a reputation to uphold - as a result their authors should be writing with professional practices - especially staff writers like Jason who presumably are on the payroll. I’ll be interested to see what response Duncan’s piece gets when the rest of the world come back to work from their weekend in the next few hours.
Written on September 11th, 2005 at 10:09 am by Darren Rowse
Poll of the Week - Signatures in Blog Comments?
I don’t generally highlight previous posts but the comment thread in the Signatures in Blog Comments post is really kicking on and there is some worthwhile discussion going on there. I’m interested in your opinions so feel free to stop by and have your say.
I’ve also decided to add a poll to the sidebar of enternetusers for the next week to see what public opinion is on Signatures in Comments. Tell us what you think by placing your vote for or against the practice (at the poll over in the sidebar).
update - this poll is now finished - view the results here.
Written on September 10th, 2005 at 03:09 pm by Darren Rowse
YPN adds Ad Category Targeting
Jen has news of a new feature on the Yahoo Publishers Network - ad category targeting - which allows publishers to assign categories of ads to their website. Publishers can choose two categories of ads to target per website/page/directory. This doesn’t mean contextual ads won’t be served - rather YPN explains:
‘Your ad category selections, in combination with our matching technology, will determine what types of ads will be displayed. Selecting ad categories for a Targeted URL, however, does not guarantee that only ads from those ad categories will appear.’
There are 20 categories with 134 sub categories to choose from (they seem open to suggestions for new categories).
This is a distinct feature of YPN and is very attrActive to bloggers targeting niche topics. While I don’t know all the details of how to implement it as I’m not in the beta test still (not unless I’m willing to move continents) I can see some great possibilities with this. For example being able to target different categories on your blog would definitely be handy!
I’ll be interested to see what Google comes up with in this area. They already have the ability to target specific sections of your page for making your ads more contextual - but I’m pretty sure from talking to a few other publishers that they are also testing something similar to this feature. Time will tell.
There is more information on YPN’s category targeting at the YPN FAQ page.
Written on September 10th, 2005 at 12:09 pm by Darren Rowse
Welcome CBS listeners
Just a quick note to welcome CBS listeners who have tracked me down here after the interview with Frank and the mention on Market Watch in the past few hours.
If you’re looking for more information on the six figure blogging course - head here to get the free preview call and if you’re quick pick up the early bird discount which Andy and I have extended for a few hours (until Andy gets up tomorrow - so hope he sleeps in) so that those coming in from the interview can benefit from the discount. The discount is valid as long as you see it mentioned.
Also if you’re interested in Professional blogging you might like to subscribe to my free weekly newsletter. Otherwise - feel free to take a wander around my archives and say G’day in the comments below to introduce yourself to me and the wonderful community of readers here.
Update: the interview is available via iTunes as part of the Internet Daily Podcast. Do a search within the podcast directory for ‘Internet Daily’ or ‘Frank Barnako’ and hopefully you’ll find it. Apologies for my lack of animation on the call and muddled mind - it was 2am here when we recorded it and to be honest I didn’t realise who it was that was interviewing me - being an Aussie ‘CBS’ isn’t a name that immediately clicked as being a big deal in my sleep deprived state. I woke up this morning wondering just what I’d said - it was all like a hazy dream in my memory.
Written on September 10th, 2005 at 12:09 pm by Darren Rowse
Signatures in Blog Comments
Has anyone else noticed recently that a lot of people leaving genuine comments on blogs have also started leaving ’signature like’ links to their own blogs at the bottom of their comments? (NB: I’m not talking about links within comments that are relevant to the conversation happening in the comment thread).
I’ve noticed it happening more and more on my own blogs but also others. I’m a little torn on how to respond.
On one hand the comments are definitely genuine, on topic and from regular readers - something I love and want to encourage. On the other hand they have an opportunity to leave their link in URL field of the blog and to leave two is doubling up.
I have no follow tags on most of my blogs so doing it has no SEO benefits - but I still find it a bit spammy and have started emailing people who do it - politely asking them to refrain from doing so but I’d be interested to see what others think of it?
Written on September 10th, 2005 at 02:09 am by Darren Rowse
Google Adsense Change Log
A few weeks ago I was chatting to a Google Adsense consultant who was asking me for my opinion on how to improve Adsense. One of my suggestions was that they should add some sort of a ‘Change Log’ system which would help publishers to track changes that they make to their ads.
The reason I suggested it was that when you have multiple web pages with multiple types of ads on each it is difficult to keep track of what changes you’ve made and what impact they might have had. There have been many times where I’ve made a range of changes to my Adsense ads on different blogs and have promptly forgotten what it was that I did - so when I notice a few days later a change in my ad performance I have little idea what was the reason for the change. Frustrating.
Anyway - it was just an idea and I doubted (and still doubt) that the Adsense team would implement it - but today I noticed on the official Google AdWords Blog (ie NOT the Adsense one - but the AdWORDS one) that Google have just made a new tool available to Advertisers - it’s called the My Change History tool which - you guessed it - tracks changes made to an Adwords account over 3 months.
Of course it’s a lot easier to track changes in an AdWords account so I still doubt that we’ll get something similar as Adsense publishers - but I’d still love to see them add something to help us keep track of our Adsense changes. Even if it was some sort of note taking space (or what about a private, internal blog?) for publishers to manually keep track of their changes.
There is of course nothing stopping us all doing our own change logs - in fact this is what I currently do these days - each time I tweak an advertisement (ie if I change a design, placement or add or subtract an ad unit) I just jot a note down in my Change Log so changes in my results can be traced back to the appropriate action. I use my Back Pack It account to run my Change Log - but any word processing, spreadsheet or calendar program would probably work.
Do you track your Adsense changes? If so how? And what other features would you love to see the Adsense team add to the publishers tool box?
Written on September 9th, 2005 at 06:09 pm by Darren Rowse
14 Instant Messaging Etiquette Tips for Bloggers
One of the best parts about this blog is that it puts me into direct contact with hundreds of bloggers from around the world every week. This happens on a variety of levels - comments, email and increasingly Instant Messaging. I have my IM details on my about pages which is a great thing - but also at times a frustrating thing.
I don’t want to come across as a grump - I really do enjoy the interaction that I have with readers - but after a week where I’ve had almost 50 IM conversations with people I’ve not had contact with before I’ve decided it might be worthwhile coming up with a list of Instant Messaging etiquette when contacting other bloggers for the first time (let me emphasize that the majority of those who have contacted me this week have not inspired this post). I’ll also admit that I’m not always the best on IM - I need to learn to turn mind off more when I don’t have the time to chat.
Here’s my Top 14 Instant Messaging Etiquette Tips for contacting Bloggers:
- Introductions - When instant messaging a blogger for the first time - politely introduce yourself and don’t just launch into conversation. In fact it might be worth introducing yourself for the first few IM conversations - if the blogger gets a lot of readers contacting them they might not remember who you are form conversation to conversation. A good introduction might include your name, your location ad if you have one - your blog’s URL.
- Ask if the have time to chat - The blogger you are messaging might be halfway through something, might be about to go to bed or could have 37 other IM conversations going on at the same time. Check out if it is convenient for them to chat - if it’s not ask if there might be a better time to try?
- Have something to Say - Don’t IM someone with a greeting and then let them start a conversation with you. It’s probably not a good approach to simply say ‘Hi there…..’ and then say nothing else. This might be OK with someone you know well but with someone that doesn’t know you it’s probably not the best way to make an impression unless you’re going for the ’strong silent (and slightly freaky) type’ impression. Similarly avoid multi tasking if you initiate an IM conversation - if the phone rings consider not answering it or at least telling the other person where you’ve gone.
- Keep your initial IM conversations brief and to the point - again I’m talking here more about those first IM conversations. Many bloggers are busy people and while they might have time for a long rambling chat on some occasions, on others they may not. When I IM someone I don’t know very well I attempt to get to the point and then give the person a way out of the conversation. If they want to keep chatting then that’s fine - but it’s probably better to leave them hungering for another chat than for them to get to the conversation and block you for being long winded.
- End conversations well - first and last impressions are everything. Thank the blogger for their time and bring the conversation to a definite end. There is nothing worse than those awkward silences at the end of conversations when you don’t know if the other person is done or not.
- Don’t expect them to be there 24/7 for you - the great thing about blogging is the global nature of it. Of course this can be frustrating at times because people are in different time zones to you. Some people leave their IM client open when they sleep or while they are away from their computer (sometimes accidentally and sometimes on purpose). If they don’t respond to your greeting then it could be that they just are not there. Don’t IM them every three minutes for hours on end until they return while getting angrier and angrier (yes it’s happened to me). On a similar topic - if the person has an ‘Away’ or ‘Do not Disturb’ message showing - consider that they are ‘away’ or ‘do not wish to be disturbed’.
- Consider Cultural Differences - Another thing to consider out of the global nature of blogging is that your culture could well be quite different from other cultures. This comes out in IM in a variety of ways including different spelling of words, geo-specific words, people not having a grasp of your language and what is and isn’t acceptable to talk about. Consider what you’re saying before you say it and how it might impact the other person. If you don’t understand something that they say - politely ask them to repeat it.
- If you’re going to ask questions at least make some attempt to find the answers for yourself first - You may be getting in contact with the blogger in question to ask them a question about their area of expertise. It might be a good idea to head to their blog before you IM them and do a search for the information you’re looking for. At least make an attempt to do this before asking your question - you’ll probably find they’ve answered the question at least once already on their blog.
- Don’t get too personal too quick - You might not want to make your opening greeting to a blogger you’ve not talked to before - ‘hi - how much do you earn?’ or ‘what’s your wife’s real name’? While these questions might be appropriate to ask a friend or of someone in real life - remember that you’re online and people might be a bit hesitant to give such information out to a complete stranger that they’ve had no contact with before. There are also some questions that might not be appropriate to ask because they are business related and they might not want to reveal all their strategies. In general I’d advise building up to deeper and more personal question over a number of conversations. Establish trust, prove that you’re not just pumping them for information, be willing to share some of your own information and in time you might find it appropriate to ask what you really want to know.
- Try using words like ‘thank you’ and ‘please’ - Being polite will get you a long way with online interactions. One of the fastest ways to shut down an IM conversation is to be arrogant, rude or over familiar.
- Make contact before the IM conversation - While not essential - it could be helpful to email the person you wish to have a conversation with to introduce yourself and let them know that you’re planning on contacting them. I find IM conversations tend to go better if the other person has some idea of who they are speaking to first.
- Avoid too much jargon - Abbreviations and acronyms may make your job of typing faster but you might just disallussion, confuse or anger the other person. Try to keep your spelling at least resembling the language that you’re writing in.
- Be aware that some things don’t convey well in written form - sarcasm is one thing that often gets people into trouble with IM. Until people know what wave length you’re on it might be worth clarifying attempted humor. Sometimes emoticons (the little faces) can help with this - sometimes they can get you into even more trouble!
- Don’t be too Demanding - You might want to take a breath in conversations to allow the other person to ask a question of you. Don’t let your IM relationship get too one sided. Look back over your past IM conversations with bloggers and see who is getting the most out of your conversations. While there is nothing wrong with asking question - one way to wear out a relationship in real life is to always be taking and never giving. IM relationships can be similar. Similarly if you’re a fast typer you might want to slow down and let the other person respond - don’t overwhelm them with 10 comments for every 1 of theirs.
I guess a lot of these tips on instant messaging etiquette can be summed up by a reminder that you’re actually speaking to a real person. Remind yourself of this before you IM them and ask yourself how you’d approach them in real life - your answer might be a good starting point to how an appropriate IM conversation might start.
On the flip side I’m sure we could come up with a list of IM etiquette tips for bloggers who make their IM details public. Here’s two that I’ve felt like saying to a couple of bloggers that I’ve tried to contact via IM over the past few months:
- Don’t make your IM details public unless you’re willing to respond to people contacting you
- If you don’t want to be contacted turn your IM off or to ‘Away
I’m sure there are other instant messaging etiquette tips - feel free to mention yours in comments below.
Written on September 9th, 2005 at 02:09 pm by Darren Rowse
Introducing a Shoddy Blogger
Want to see a slimey blog? A blog that tries to pass off content of other people as it’s own?
Have a look at Blogger Tips (no follow tag used) - a blog that is filled with either posts that are ‘free articles’ or other people’s content. In both types of posts there is no credit given to the original author.
I’ve got nothing against using free articles (I don’t think its the smartest way to build a blog) - but this blog isn’t even crediting them. Free articles are able to be freely posted on your blog - but you’re obligated to include a signature with a link to the author.
Do a Google search for the title of virtually every post on the blog and you’ll find it somewhere else.
For example compare:
What is Business Blog (no follow tag used)
with
They couldn’t even get the title right.
Why am I posting this? Well I’m getting sick of this type of blogging. In addition to that they don’t have any way of contacting them - they moderate their comments so one can’t protest that way and they’ve stolen a friend of mine’s content and are bringing the ‘ProBlogging’ segment of the wider blogging community into disrepute with this approach (and plus I haven’t had a rant for a little while).
Written on September 9th, 2005 at 02:09 pm by Darren Rowse
Online communities and integrating blogs into mainstream marketing campaigns
If you’ve got a spare 10 minutes can I recommend heading to Rachel’s blog and downloading a PDF that she’s posted that is the verbatim of a talk that she and her partner (that’s blog partner and life partner) Regan did to the New Zealand Marketing Association on the topic of blogging.
Rachel showed me the powerpoint for this presentation a day or two before they gave it and my reaction to her was that it is perhaps one of the most useful summaries of how blogging can be used in business that I’ve ever seen.
The presentation is called - The power of online communities and integrating blogs into mainstream marketing campaigns
It’s not a short article but it tells the story of Rachel and Regan - two bloggers that have quietly carved themselves a niche as two of the most prominent ‘go to’ business blogging gurus in their country. Their most prominent work is the massively successful idolblog which is a fan site for the New Zealand, Australian and American Idol shows. In NZ Rachel and Regan have become not only sought after experts on blogging but also on NZ idol - in fact every time I speak to them these days it seems that they’ve just done some sort of media appearance or another as a result of idolblog. Their story is well worth reading.
Written on September 9th, 2005 at 10:09 am by Darren Rowse
Gawker Announces the ‘Deadspin’ Sports Blog
Gawker have gone live with their latest new sports blog - Deadspin.
If you want to know the power of having a successful blog network - check out their stats. At the time of writing this - the blog went live about 10 hours ago and has already had 7000 visitors.
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