Today, I’m pleased to launch a new one.

Blog Internship was developed as a direct response to my readers, listeners and mailing list subscribers who have been keenly interested in how I work with my blogging interns at Mom’s Talk Network.

In my internship, I take brand new bloggers and teach them the basics of social networking and successful blogging.  Week by week they learn new habits and strategies and put them into practice on my blog network. They get feedback and constructive critique on their writing and blog formatting. They learn how to make relevant, natural affiliate recommendations that help to monetize the content. They give me ten hours a week and in return I give them coaching and access to my learning resources.  Basically, it’s a super sized barter agreement.  We both give, we both get.

Naturally, I can only accept a small number of interns in each session.  This past spring I received hundreds of applications and accepted ten.  That left a lot of dissappointed baby bloggers out there – and they where among those who have been asking me if I would ever consider selling access to my intern’s training program.

These requests were interesting, but my first thought was that it wouldn’t work.  The lesson plans are great – but the real benefit to my interns is in the group coaching sessions we have each week and the feedback and brainstorming that takes place when we’re communicating about their intern projects.

What’s more interesting to me and what ultimately spurred me into action is that I have been receiving multiple requests from other bloggers as well.  Bloggers who did not apply for the internship and who are not interested in spending time working on someone else’s blog.  They just want to help doing what my interns do on their own websites.

After chatting with some past interns and a few friends, I realized I could develop a curriculum that provides the best of the internship offered in three levels.  I have recorded a special version of the ‘group coaching’ session to go with each week’s lesson plan so that a blogger that wants to go it alone can do so and still get the benefit of my explanation and encouragement. Bloggers who want more help can choose a higher level of membership.

I never would have thought about creating something like this if my market hadn’t asked about it.  And sadly, I may have never acted on their requests if there hadn’t been a few who were darned persistent about it.

Are you listening to your people?

Do you regularly ask your readers, listeners and subscribers to talk to you?  Sometimes it can be as simple as asking them what they want to know. Or just ending a message with a ‘what do you think?’

Over the years I’ve come to understand and appreciate that my personal mailing list subscribers are a mouthy bunch.  They tell me what they think.  They encourage me.  They ask for what they need.

I can’t always give them what they ask for but I do pay attention.  Sometimes the nuttiest requests lead to an amazing new idea.  Hopefully, Blog Internship is one of them.

This is a guest blog post by Alice Seba, the Internet Marketing Sweetie.

We work writing great content for our blogs and to be honest, it can suck if we don’t get the traffic we deserve (or that we need to earn a decent income!). It feels like a vicious cycle…you can’t get the traffic without doing the work, but it’s tough to justify all the work if you aren’t getting decent traffic. Here are 11 ways you can increase blog traffic and break that cycle.

1. Be Extraordinary

This tip is numero uno for good reason. If you do this, much of the rest will fall into place. Being unique will increase blog traffic long term even if you do little else.

Be extraordinary by:

• Teaching – Teach your readers what they need to know. Convey the information in a way your audience likes.
• Entertain – Inject a bit of humor (if you’re funny – if you’re not, skip it) and don’t be afraid to let a bit of your personality show in your writing. Get the reader’s attention by being genuine.
• Connect with Your Readers - Understand and speak to their problems, concerns and even their dreams and goals.
• Be a Little Controversial – Share your opinion…not everyone has to agree with you, and some people may be loyal readers even if they disagree. Noone wants to read a blog that’s always middle of the road on everything.

While the “if you build it, they will come” attitude is not totally realistic, there is some truth to it. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proactive in your efforts to increase blog traffic.

2. RSS Feed

At this point it should be a given, but there are still plenty of blogs without an RSS feed or without it being prominently displayed. If you’re not familiar with the term, an RSS feed allows your readers to be notified automatically when you write a new post. Unless your audience is very tech-savvy, it’s probably best to set up a feed that allows your reader to sign up for updates into their feed reader or email if they prefer. An easy way to set this up is to use a free service like FeedBurner.com.

3. Ping!

Make sure your blog is set up to ping the various weblogs. Many blog platforms allow you to set this up easily in your publishing settings. This lets a variety of information/search sites know that you’ve updated your blog without you having to manually notify them.

4. Leave Comments

Make useful comments on popular blogs related to your blog’s topic or that interest your target market. Usually, you can link back to your site when you make a comment on another blog. Don’t spam! Only use the space provided for your link…don’t write ads or fancy signatures AND make sure your comment is relevant and useful to other readers. Not following these rules of etiquette may get your comment deleted.

5. Trackback

Many blogs allow you to expand the dialogue and make commentary about their posts on your own blog. When you link to a particular blog post, a link to your own blog post appears in the comments area on their blog. For trackbacks between WordPress blogs, all you need to do is link to a blog post and it’s automatically set up. BE RESPECTFUL: If you’re going to trackback, say something meaningful. Just summarizing and linking to someone’s post does NOT add to the discussion. Don’t be a magpie, put your own spin on the story.

6. Use Your Email List

You already know that your mailing list is one of your most valuable assets in your business. Utilize this asset to the full – send them to your blog to read the posts you think they will enjoy.

7. Distribute Your Content

A great way to increase blog traffic is to get your content out there to a wider audience. You can distribute your articles, your videos, you can guest post on other blogs…just get some good stuff out there and lead people back to read your blog.

8. Get Affiliates Linking to Your Blog

If your affiliate program allows your affiliates to link to any page on your site, encourage them to link to and write about your various blog posts. They’re likely already talking about you on their blog. Now encourage them to do it more and reward them for it! Quicksales.com (a private-label 1ShoppingCart) allows your affiliates to quickly and easily link to any blog post they want.

Affiliate referrals are cookied when someone follows a link and if that referral eventually buys, they get the commission. The conversions on blog links aren’t likely to be as high as linking directly to your sales page, but it gives your affiliates the opportunity to bring value to their own readers (by linking to your incredible content) and the potential to benefit by increasing their commissions.

9. Social Media

You can use various social media sites (such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace) to increase blog traffic. People you connect with socially are likely to want to read your blog. Make sure you follow proper etiquette and use good common sense. Just because someone is your “friend” on a social media site doesn’t mean you should spam them. Also, set limits with your self so you don’t overdo it and spend too much time with this. There is more profitable WORK to be done to boost your blog. Plus, if you are remarkable, those who use social networks will be doing much of the marketing for you – they’ll talking about you and refer their network to you.

10. Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking includes sites like Digg, del.icio.us and Stumble Upon, where you can share links to a variety of content. Some people self-bookmark, but realize this could put your account in jeopardy, so read all the rules first. Others choose to work with others in helping each other bookmark. Being remarkable also encourages people to spread the word on your behalf.

11. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is mentioned last. While many marketers would put it first, your goal is repeat visitors who become loyal readers and customers. Putting SEO first may hamper this goal. Do SEO on your article or static html pages where first-time or drive-by visitors may visit.

Too much SEO on your blog can be a turnoff. An extraordinary is written with interesting subject lines (rather than boring keyword phrases) and isn’t always on topics that people use a search engine to find. Of course, you can keep SEO in mind as you blog and there are tools and plug-ins available for your blog that can assist you with this. Just remember to write for your reader first, and search engines second.

If you’re looking to pull more profit out of your business blog, check out the IM Blogging Bootcamp. This 4-week intensive program designed to get you actively and effectively blogging to reach more of your prospects and convert more of them into lifelong customers.

MyBlogLog is having a Become A Problogger Contest. One Grand Prize Winner will get some kick-butt prizes that will help even the most newbie of bloggers turn a profit:

• One Year Pro MyBlogLog Subscription
• $500 Yahoo! Search Marketing Credit
• A 1-year membership to SEOmoz Premium Membership
• 1 Complete Blog Redesign
• One Year Subscription To Yaro Stark’s Blog Mastermind
• A Featured Community for the month of December at MyBlogLog
• An invitation to the invite-only blog gathering, SOBCon 2008, in Chicago

Interested?! Go register today! 

I always try to test things out before having to go live, so since eMoms was a WordPress-powered blog, my first move was to push my own blog from Google’s Blogger to WordPress to get a real feel for using WordPress.

If you have a blog, you probably know Blogger and WordPress are the two heavyweight tools for writing and publishing blogs – - – they comprise something between 60-75% of the market (determining blogging tools market share is more art than science— if you know of a good, comprehensive and recent report on blog usage, please comment).

As a primer, WordPress.com and Blogger.com (bought by Google in 1999) are free, easy-to-use, web-based blog publishers… if you’re thinking of making a move or getting started, here’s a good comparison…..

There is also WordPress.org, which provides free software that you need to install on a server — WP.org allows for tremendous flexibility at the cost of being more involved and requiring more technical know-how . Here’s one ex-Blogger’s rationale for switching.

Ever wonder how the two are doing relative to each other? There are a lot of Google toys out there many people don’t know a lot about and go under utilized. Here’s Google Lab’s Trends feature to compare Blogger and Wordpress based on search trends.

Anyway, word on the street is Blogger is superior to WordPress.com if you’re just getting your feet wet. If you want ultimate control and things like ftping and editing some text files don’t scare you, WordPress.org is by far the best way to go. If you know about the power of Drupal, you’ve probably already stopped reading this post.

But for a faux-hacker like me, playing with WordPress(.org) was kind of like Christmas… all the loads of free templates and plugins and widgets, all floating in freely distributed, mildly supported, and horribly commented code… yum! Sure, it was fantastic time sink, but luckily there are a ton of great resources out there. Find them, use them, and share them.

And I must say, once I did some reading and made the transition, going from Blogger to WordPress was like going from a bike with training wheels to a Ducati or like moving from Solvang to Las Vegas. Pretty much out of the box, I went from a vanilla text blog to an ultra-customized, multi-media, monetized website in nothing flat. Is it currently over-complicated? Sure… Is that a good thing? Well, we’ll see.

So what’s all this talk about 2.0?

Exactly! So in my pursuit of creating the next version of my blog, I wondered what else I could do to 2.0-ify my site… unfortunately, there really is no consensus about what it even means to be Web 2.0 anyway.

So while I was foolishly thinking Web2.0 was all about using the web as a universal platform and outlining new standards for web usability and empowering user-driven content, apparently all I had to do to make my blog web2.0 compliant was use glossy fonts, some glass badges, and call it beta, and I’d be all set.

And boy does that sure ring true, when even mainstream sites that have been around for 10 years, like BabyCenter.com, have decided to switch to slick new graphics and stick on the the moniker “beta”. Oh, OK…. I can do that.

Are you wondering if your site is 2.0? Here is a hilarious tongue-in-cheek Web 2.0 Validator. My blog got a 16/66…. I guess I have a ways to go to true 2.0 status yet.

Okay well what did you learn?

I actually learned lots from this exercise… chief among them:

• There’s a ton of rapidly evolving technology out there that can really make a difference to your online business.
• To avoid getting lost in the avalanche of new things, find a few key blogs as resources and get involved posting comments and asking questions. One of the best things about the open-source movement is there are a lot of people willing to help you.
• And ultimately, if you lose your way, there’s always things like the 2.0 validator or watching ok go on treadmills on YouTube to remind you not to take things all that seriously.

Next week I will tackle some great business resources I’ve come across in my starting up my startup.

Geekiest thing I found this week: “Visualizing people’s music listening trends” Boy do I love a good visualization.

Since this is a question that friends, colleagues and clients all ask me, I thought I should give it some thought.

I used to be able to get all my blogging tasks accomplished in 90 minutes. 90 minutes?, you might say. Does that seem like a lot? Does it seem unrealistic?

Remember, the key phrase above is ‘used to.’ Now, I spend closer to 3 hours a day between all my blogging and social media tasks. Why so much time? Well, I’ve clearly seen that my blog and my use of social networks like Facebook, MyBlogLog and Twitter, can lead to relationships that lead to business. So the most important marketing effort I make around my business is through social media.

But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. My current blogflow (as I call it) evolved out of a 90-minute program I established in the first few weeks of blogging. In the beginning, it gave me enough time to do the things that I needed to begin growing my blog’s reach. Here’s how it went:

1. Step One: Read the Feeds
   If we’re blogging, we’re all doing this. I had about 50 feeds I tracked the first couple of months I blogger (eMoms was one of them). I had them ordered in three folders based on importance to me and my business niche. I spent 15 minutes looking at headlines. When I found a post that either inspired me writing a post or that I wanted to comment on, I clicked it – which opened it in a new tab in my browser. But I didn’t read it yet. And when my 15 minutes were up, I marked the rest of the feed posts as ‘read’ and moved on.
2. Step Two: Write my post
   After looking at my feeds, I was often inspired by a topic to write. The key for me, however, was that I could write a post in 60 minutes or less. For me, post writing was the most important part of this process. If someone visited my blog, I wanted to have high quality content for them to read. My hope was that they’d become long-term readers.
3. Step Three: Commenting
   Once my post was published, I pulled up my browser window with all the links I’d opened when I was viewing my feeds. Now, I went tab-by-tab through those posts, read them quickly, and commented on as many as I could before the end of my 90 minutes. Sometimes I’d have 15 minutes left and would only get to a few comments. Other days I’d have 40 minutes or more and could comment on a ton of posts. I tried to make my comments always engaging.

That was it. That’s how I blogged on 90-minutes a day. I’ve taught a number of clients to work in a similar way – some exactly as I did, others four-times-a-week for two hours each day. What’s important is finding a routine that works for you – especially in the beginning.

What is your blogging routine? What do you try to do each day or each week around social media?

Hi, I’m Dawud Miracle. Professionally, I’m a blog and marketing consultant, business coach, educator and web developer who helps people use their websites to grow their business. I’m also a devoted husband and father to two, soon to be three, children. Please let me know if I can help you in any way.

In the right hand column of your Create New Post screen look for the Post Timestamp section like this:

Enter the date you want it to post and be sure to check the box to “Edit Timestamp“, otherwise even if you change the date the post will go live immediately (learned THAT one the hard way!).

Once you hit Publish, you’ll see the post on your main admin screen under Scheduled Entries:

One thing worthy of note :: the Timestamp option is regulated by the time on your hosting server.  So if your hosting company is in a different time zone, you need to know where they are if you need PRECISE posting times (I don’t). I did use a hosting company who’s servers were in India once – so I had to experiment a bit to get the timing closer to what I wanted.

Happy DAYS OFF from Blogging!

I was going to send her an email, then I realized that if she was asking, perhaps a few others might want in on the action as well. If you like this post, I might make a habit out of this!

What the heck are tags?

Tags are basically keywords, and Technorati is the only site that pays attention to the fact that you add them to your posts. When you search for a blog on Technorati, you can search by regular keywords AND by tags. When you put up a post, you add just a few tags (keywords) that you think are the most relevant and most common to the content in the article.

So if you did a keyword search on SEO, you will pull up EVERY post that mentions SEO. But if you did a tag search on SEO, you would only pull up the posts specifically ‘tagged’ “SEO”, which would narrow your search results to the posts that authors have written more specifically about “SEO” rather than mentioning it in passing (like I just did).

For the complete lowdown on tags – and it’s way more than I could ever *yawn* write on the subject, A Consuming Experience wrote an, um, “Consuming” post on everything you could ever want to know about Technorati Tags.

What’s the difference between Technorati and FeedBurner?

They are related, but do two totally different things. Your blog automatically produces a feed – which enables feed readers everywhere to pull, or “syndicate” your content to wherever it is that your blog readers want to read your posts. Different blogging platforms have different feed formats, which raises compatibility issues. Additionally, some blogs generate several different feeds just from one blog – I know, confusing.

All you need to know about this is that FeedBurner takes care of all of this, so you don’t have to. It is super-simple to set up. Then they will also provide statistics on the number of people who are subscribed to your feed, how many items are clicked, and several other things.

Technorati, on the other hand, is basically a blog search engine. Technorati pulls the feeds of millions of blogs into one place so that people can search them, organize them, read them, etc. They also track who links to who. Because they were the first to do this for blogs, they became the industry leader in knowing which blogs were the most popular based on who got the most links. This is where your Technorati rank comes in – the more links from the more blogs, the lower (and better) your rank. The way that they track all of this is with the feeds that FeedBurner (and a few others) provide.

Why would someone want to set up a web site vs. a blog?

Well, a blog is a web site – the difference being primarily that blogs display posts in reverse chronological order. Some blogs platforms ONLY show posts, whereas others (like WordPress), also have pages. You would want to set up pages for anything that you want people to access on a regular basis, such as an About or Contact page. I use pages frequently for things such as advertising info, email subscription confirmation pages, landing pages, and to highlight areas of the site that I want to drive traffic to, for example, this Top Articles page.

I originally set up this site as a site, with an added blog. Once I realized I could manage almost everything within WordPress, I pretty much gave up on the rest of the site. But there are a few times I want pages completely outside of the blog:

• Ecommerce - you don’t want a sidebar stuffed with links and widgets distracting potential customers from buying a product. If you are selling products, you want the entire focus to be on that product, and you want to control that page much more closely than you would in a blog post that is intended to drive interactivity with the rest of the site.
• Lead generation – same as above. If you are trying to build a mailing list, you want the ONLY option on that page to be one thing -> grab the email address. You want to control these pages even more than a product page. A product page might still have site navigation or product reviews. This page for my 10 Days to a Better Blog free email eCourse is this kind of page. Although this is the fourth or fifth revision of it, at this point about half of the people who land on it sign up for it – that is a really, really great conversion ratio.

Sites like Entrepreneur.com aren’t blogs, but they are still run on what’s called a Content Management System (CMS). With THAT much content, they really need something more powerful than a blog, but they both work on the same premise – content is stored in a database and pulled up into pages by the CMS. Their site is kind of like a blog on steroids.

Um… what is PHP? Will I need a professional to set up a WordPress Blog, or will pure tenacity and strength of will get me there?

Lorna, I didn’t know PHP when I started and I STILL really don’t know it. Many hosting companies offer one-click installation of WordPress (and after much trial and error, Blue Host is my absolute favorite ).

I will say that you do need to know (or learn) some html. The extent of my web development skills is putting a table together in DreamWeaver in WYSIWYG mode (and I can’t even get that right sometimes!!).

To customize your blog, yeah, you will want to dig around in that PHP code. But pure tenacity and strength totally can get you there – I basically just stared at that damn code for a long time until I understood the concept of it. PHP does use some natural language, and with what little I understood of HTML, I was able to change font colors, fonts, and manipulate at least a little bit of where things appeared on the page.

***

Got a Blogging Question you’re afraid to ask? Send it to me, and I’ll post your answer – and even give ya a link in the process!

I’ve been having some chats with Ponn Sabra lately (my total new soulmate buddy!) and Jeri here on the blog in regards to feeling stretched and time starved. I guess you could also say I’ve been suffering a little bit from a case of perfectionism… (my, erm… confession!).

I have always really enjoyed being a solopreneur. I’ve certainly outsourced work in the past on a project basis. But these two fine ladies have pushed and challenged me recently to rethink how I have been managing my time. And they both have gently suggested that I should value my time more and get an intern.

They are right.

So I’m looking for a PR intern / Blogging Assistant.

If you know of someone who needs an internship for college credit and they live in the Chicago area, please entice them with the fact that I used to be an advertising recruiter and have some great local contacts who I will give glowing recommendations to upon graduation!

If you, or someone else is interested in taking on this internship, it is unpaid, but the experience, exposure, links and free advice I will gladly hand out may make it worth your while. This could eventually turn into a paying gig.

PLUS, you’ll get to work from home! (Of COURSE!)

Please send a resume/LinkedIn profile, intro letter, and any relevant URLs to contact [at] emomsathome.com.

I even had some steep leverage in place!

And now it’s done, ahead of schedule!

The eMoms Blogging Forum is LIVE!

Come to ask blogging questions you are embarrassed to ask!

Come to figure out this whole BlogJolt thing once and for all!

Or just come to hang out with other work at home parents and interact with adults for a change!!

I certainly can’t tell you what to blog about. I can provide you with some great questions and some guidance to help you determine what is right for you.

First of all, come up with a list of potential subjects that interest you – the longer, the better. Once you have your list, ask yourself the following questions about each of your ideas. Some ideas will quickly fall out of consideration, while others will start to emerge as stronger options for you.

And you don’t have to pick just one – especially if there is some crossover between a few ideas. Kittens, finance and art may be a stretch – but you could blog about kittens and breeding as a business, or building a business as an artist, or a create a kitten art blog.

1 :: Are you certain you know enough about this subject to write about it on a consistent basis?

Alternatively, if you are writing a learning blog, are you certain that there is enough for you to write about as you become more proficient in this subject area?

You want to have a LOT to say about your blog topic, so if this is a subject you can talk a lot about in life, chances are you have a lot to write about for a blog.

2 :: Will this subject offer you enough variety and opportunities to go off on a tangent or two?

You want a topic that is specialized so that you can attract a niche audience – but ensure that you don’t box yourself in too closely or no matter what your passion, you’ll run out of things to say.

3 :: Does this subject offer you a way to connect with other people, with yourself, or with the outside world?

We are social creatures – and blogs are a natural tool for connecting with others via trackbacks and comments – but does your topic offer a way connect? For example, can you be a little personal every now and then if you wrote about this idea? Does this topic require that you dig deep within yourself to come up with content? Or will creating a blog in this niche eventually foster a community as the blog matures?

The more you can predict your chosen topic will foster a sense of connection, the more enjoyable it will be to write about it. Even if you can’t predict it right now, that’s fine – it’s just a factor that will greatly enhance your desire to continue to write as your blog matures.

4 :: Can you write with some authority on this subject?

Call this the ego factor – do you know what you are talking about? Will readers look to you for guidance, advice, leadership? Are you a guru in this field?

We all need to feel important – so as you review your ideas, consider how each of them helps you to feel significant.

At the same time, too much ego tends to diminish the previous factor of connecting with your readers – so make your choices wisely when the ego is the one influencing your choice!

5 :: Do you really love this subject?

I don’t know how much more explanation this needs..

6 :: Is there room for growth in this subject area?

Is this a topic that is continually changing or expanding? Or is it just hot right now, but in danger of extinction? (Read: Brittany Spears). Consider the long-term viability of your ideas, as well as the growth opportunities the topic will offer you. Do you have more to learn on the subject? Will it stretch you a bit to take on this topic?

Growth is good.

7 :: Is this blog topic one that gives back and contributes to others?

To really be fulfilled long-term with your blog topic, you can’t just write for you. We are here to make a difference in this world, and each person has their own unique experiences that offers value to others.

Successful businesses are ones that add value to their customers’ lives – your blog is no exception to this law of physics.

~

Your answers to each of these questions will help clarify what will be the best fit for you as you consider launching your first blog – or a new blog. The more you can say “yes” to these, the more you will enjoy writing about the topic.

If, on a scale of 1 to 10 you are at a level 15 for all 7 questions, you have found yourself a winner. But then you had better watch out for blogging addiction… which is another post for another time

The community that is building up around the project is the biggest blessing of all – and they taught me a good lesson today about listening to the needs of your “customers” (they aren’t really customers because the whole thing is free).

Some members were concerned about the large volume of email the group can generate (myself especially). I didn’t want inboxes getting overwhelmed with hundreds of emails a week from this warm and chatty group. So I discouraged too many communications to keep things at a ‘tolerable level’.

What I found out today is that nearly all of the group members really wanted to talk to each other more.

My BAD.

So I made them all a promise today, and put some leverage in place to make sure I stick to my word. (AND I learned to not make so many ASSumptions in the future about the needs of the communities I am a part of!!)
I’ll be starting a NewbieISH blogging forum on eMoms at Home and I promise to have it up and running by October 31st.

So what’s my leverage? If I don’t meet my deadline, I will send EACH of the 86 BlogJolt members a $20 Amazon gift card if I don’t deliver. That’s $1720.

I love these ladies, don’t get me wrong – but not enough to shell out $1720! So I can promise with absolute certainty that I’ll have this forum up and running in a timely manner.

Any suggestions or moderator volunteers? Let me know!!

It is interesting to note that different blogs generate revenue in different ways. Some do well with AdSense, some not so well. I read an interesting post from ProBlogger on the subject – from the depths of his archives – on Why AdSense is Not Suitable for All Blog Types.

Key points from his article:

• Certain topics simply won’t do well with AdSense because of the nature of the material – including political blogs, religion blogs, and gossip/celebrity blogs
• Some of the biggest blogs out there aren’t using AdSense at all – likely because high volumes of traffic opens different (or more appropriate) doors of revenue opportunities
• He makes mention that his Digital Photography blog is his highest earning blog to date.

This is exactly the kind of market research I need as I decide what new blogs to launch. Darren sent me a really cute and enjoyable post from his Digital Photography School Blog :: How NOT to Tip Your Family Over with Digital Photography While on a Vacation (relevant to us as moms too!!).

I was super impressed with the content (as I just got my own new digital camera!!) but also with the blog’s Alexa Rank. Darren’s suite of blogs is a smart move in that he offers comparison shopping as well as how-to content – turning surfers into loyal readers of his content across several domains.

Hhmmmm…. somthing to think about

I’ve also compiled a list of a wide variety of types of blogs – if you think of any others – please add them to the list!

• Advertising supported – blogs that run like newspapers or magazines – lots of good content with ads to support the blogger
• Consulting blogs – for the self employed and entrepreneurs, these blogs create visibility and help them build a mailing list and attract business leads
• Tutorial and how to blogs – these sites earn revenue off of product recommendations or advertising
• Shopping blogs – featuring products in a certain theme or niche
• Review blogs – can be a shopping blog or just commentary
• Company blogs – as a supplement to a company web site
• Group blogs – written by multiple authors
• Book Author blogs are a given – they generate interest for their books and build a following and reputation simultaneously
• Personal blogs – online journals and communities built to connect family and friends
• Vlogs – video blogs
• Photoblogs – photography blogs
• Podcast blogs – content delivered via downloadable audio files
• Political blogs – pretty self explanatory

It’s important to note that many blogs are a combination of these things in a certain niche – so add to the list “Niche Blogs”.

I know my blogging needs are not the same as everyone else’s on the planet. I have had to do a lot of research since the beginning of my blogging days, and even more recently as I begin laying the groundwork for a few other blogs I will be launching (Oooo… she just dropped the hint!! Yes, more on this to come!!)

Though I am sticking with Wordpress, I don’t like messing with the server installation. Thankfully, many hosting companies are now pre-installing the database and Wordpress software so all I have to do is click a few buttons and I have my WP ready to roll.

I have collected this info over the months, knowing full well some of you would probably need it yourselves as you start or add to your own blogging efforts. So I [very!] painstakingly have put together a rather large table to compare the following blogging platforms. (It will open up in a new window and I broke it down into sections to keep it easy to read).

My focus in the table is on business blogs, or blogs that need customization and will likely carry advertising. Platforms included are:

• Wordpress.org
• Movable Type
• TypePad
• Wordpress.com
• Blogger
• Expression Engine
• Squarespace

I’ve also dug around to find a few hosting companies to recommend – I’ve tried all of them but one (and hope to give that one a whirl sometime soon). They all have the blogging software and database pre-installed. If you are up for your own server setup for Wordpress or Movable Type, your hosting options open up – just check the fine print for server specs before you start.

Features on the comparison chart include:

• Hosting company support, if applicable
• Costs
• User help features
• Ability to add/customize advertising
• Statistics
• Various sidebar features
• Domain mapping (use your own domain name)
• Static page creation

Please drop me a line or a comment and let me know if it helps, or if you would like to see another feature/platform added for your comparison needs. I’ll be happy to add more info as needed.

This project has taken a while to finally get published – I am SO dang relieved to have it done! Phew! Happy Blogging Everyone!!

Comparison Guide to Blogging Platforms and Hosting Companies Table

The recommendations, if you want to hear them:

If you are brand new to blogging, want to make money with your blog, and don’t already have a website, I recommend using WordPress, which is pre-installed on BlueHost. After several major and minor problems with other hosting companies, BlueHost is the only hosting company I feel comfortable recommending to my readers. They also have a very large selection of free open-source web applications that you can easily set up on your site as you grow, such as Joomla, OpenAds, SMF Forums, and Zen Cart.

If you already have a site, don’t want to mess with the database set upand/or don’t want to self-host your blog, use TypePad - they can even make the blog appear as though it sits on your domain name (very, very important for a professional appearance!). (I don’t use them, but know enough about them to recommend them highly – if Wordpress wasn’t around, I would go to TypePad in a heartbeat!)

Some things have been huge successes. Some things still need… er, tweaking.

Yet in my quest to find the good in everything, here’s what I have learned so far from blogging my heart out to you wonderful readers:

1. All AdSense sites are NOT created equal

   I did my due diligence and spent a good amount of time researching AdSense design, placement, etc. Thank GOD I didn’t drop hundreds of dollars on some information product promising me millions. I was doing all of the right things, but making less than $5 a day.Why?

   Because of my niche. I don’t think people really trust home based business ads. Why do I know this to be true? eSelfHelp is still up and running – and languishing, because I put it on hold to develop this blog. But my click through rate on that site – with less than 50 visitors a day (more like 20 at times) is astronomical (One page in particular is nearly 9%). I am actually making more money off of eSelfHelp AdSense ads than I am off of this site, with hundreds of DUV.

   Lesson learned: Though I won’t change what I write on this blog to make more AdSense dollars, it has given me much food for thought for additional projects that will generate alternative streams of income.

   ~

2. Competition is Really Coop-e-tition

   After enjoying a successful career in the cutthroat recruiting industry (actually, I really did enjoy it!!), coming into the blogging community has both surprised and astonished me at times. Now, it could be my peer group choice, but every single person I have encountered (well.. except this one) has been open, honest, willing to help, and seriously | downright | GENEROUS.

   I didn’t expect it, and in hindsight, I’m not really sure why it surprised me so much. But I am honored to be a part of this community of the best and the brightest, and readers you can rest assured I LIVE to take my good fortune and pay it forward.

   Lesson Learned: Take advantage of the community nature of bloggers by creating joint ventures or simply reaching out to bloggers you admire. But don’t blow it by expecting something for nothing or by being too darn pesky.

   ~

3. Traffic Spikes ROCK

   The whole reason eMoms at Home is what it is today is thanks to the LinkedIn Bloggers group. They worked together and a group of individuals linked to my blog over two days.I really didn’t understand the sheer power of this medium until this experience – the power to literally transform who I am, as well of the lives of others via blogging is astounding. This is why I started the BlogJolt project – and now I am seeing the same effects on the participants of that group.I watched it as well with ProBlogger’s List Writing Project, and also watched some really talented and funny bloggers emerge and really come into their own as their blogs received the attention they deserved.

   Lesson Learned: If you have good content, you owe it to yourself AND to the rest of us to do what it takes to bring it to a wider audience. To quote Nelson Mandela,

   “We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world…”

   ~

4. Traffic Does NOT Equal Dollars

   The few times I have seen traffic spikes, it has not automatically translated into dollars. Now, there are times when this is absolutely true. But I have also been honest all along that I am learning this stuff along the way as you are. Don’t assume that just because you can get a lot of visitors they will pull out their pocket book (or their AdSense Ad clicking finger, for that matter). Converting visitors into revenue is a fine art – one I am working on all the time .

   Lesson Learned: Don’t get hung up on PR and numbers. Be sure to balance your time between generating traffic AND creating revenue streams.

   ~

5. “Stats Addiction” Needs its Own 12-Step Program

   Probably the most costly lesson of all is the amount of time I could (and HAVE!) spent on checking traffic and referrer stats. “Addiction” is a kind and generous term in my mind . It’s more like an insidious time sucking machine…Lesson Learned: I have put limits on the number of times I allow myself to check stats – 3 times a day, 5 if it’s a ‘busy’ day on the blog. Otherwise my home based business will rapidly turn into my home based GONEiness!!

   ~

6. Online Networking is Exceptionally Effective

   Boy, is it ever. I’ve talked about networking before, quite a bit. It’s a bit different doing it online vs. in person. Each has its own pros and cons. It took me a little while to get comfortable emailing people I had never come in contact with before. I was frankly uncomfortable with the whole darn thing – fearful of being a pest, being branded a spammer, or breaking some unwritten rule I hadn’t found out about yet.

   Lesson Learned: Make it mandatory to get outside of your comfort zone and meet other people online who can help you – or YOU can help. I can’t stress this one more highly. Make it a MUST.

   ~

7. Integrity is King

   Our blogging community is a fragile environment, with tidal waves of change hitting us on a regular basis. The ONLY way to stay above the fray and ensure the work you are creating will serve your career goals is to make integrity one of your highest priorities.This includes pay per post opportunities (be transparent with your intentions), book and product reviews, and simply the truth behind your content. We can police ourselves, or open ourselves up to legislation – sooner rather than later if we aren’t vigilant about honesty and ethics in our work.

   Lesson Learned: Just like in life, NO dollar amount is worth having if it’s had at the price of hurting or misleading others.

   ~

8. We Live in and Write for a Small World

   I used to be intimidated by the amount of blogs created on a daily basis. But considering 40% of them are splogs, and hundreds of thousands more never get beyond a post or two, I’m finding the ones that last are literally needles in the blogosphere haystack.Though it makes it a bit easier to stand out in the crowd for now, it also means that much of the time, we are really only reaching a very small percentage of the world with our blogs.

   It’s a bigger topic than I can take on in a list post… but it begs to ask some good questions:

   What are we doing to expand our reach?

   Is there a way for blogs to make a social difference? (Toby has a thing or two to say about this subject!)

   How do we get our work in front of the people that need it – but don’t even know to look for it?

   Lesson Learned: The big picture is always there for us to look at. It’s up to us to contribute our part to the Big Painting of Life.

   ~

9. Blogging is a Journey, not a Destination

   For some, this one perhaps isn’t so relevant… for the REST of us, though, it’s something to consider. There WILL be blogs that are, and will be, a stand-alone business. But a more likely scenario is that they will launch you into a different career or business.

   I’m not telling you to stop building your blog – in fact, DO build it into a stand alone business. BUT, in the meantime, take this opportunity to build up other revenue streams. It could be another blog, another site, an information product, a book, who knows?And JUST IN CASE your blog doesn’t make it to the “big time”, at least you have a backup plan (and if you DO make it to the big time, you’ll have even more money to enjoy at the top if you build a strong foundation now!!)

   Lesson Learned: Just like in any business, don’t put your all your eggs in one basket.

   ~

10. I Have Come a Long Way – and I Have a Long Way to Go

    I am SO damn grateful for the journey to date. My thanks goes out again to those that have helped along the way – as in, hand over my heart thanks. You know who you are. (Hint :: if you are reading this, I’m thanking YOU.)But I had made some assumptions about blogging (thinking AdSense was the be all, end all… traffic would equal dollars…) that just aren’t true – at least all of the time for all bloggers. Silly me.

    Building a name and getting lots of visitors doesn’t mean much if I’m not making a difference or earning an income. I’ve had a ton of fun, experienced massive growth, and now it’s time to get down to business.

    Lesson Learned: I’m working feverishly on the front end to ensure I continue to add value – and on the back end to build my surprise success into a profitable business.

    This blog has put me into a position with great potential. If I never had another visitor again, I can honestly say this journey has been extraordinary and I would do it all again in a heartbeat.

    What I do with it now will make or break me as a blogger. But not as a person, mom, entrepreneur, business woman or leader.

eMoms at Home is running a big link-building project to help mom bloggers – and bloggers who write about topics of interest to moms (yes, that does include a lot of GUY bloggers too!!).

The BlogJolt process is simple.

One Blog. One Week. Lots ‘o Traffic.

We pick one blog each week, and everyone in the group writes about and links to the target blog. We raise their Technorati Rank, give ‘em some Google Page Rank action, and give them a traffic jolt they won’t soon forget.

So. What do you have to do to get in on this link love action?

Just join. Isn’t that easy? And to top it off, the group communicates regularly about blogging $$ opportunities, tech tips, and business advice. Check out the FAQs if you need more info.

Spread the word! We want to spread LOTS of links and LOTS of traffic.

A topic is chosen.

A bunch of bloggers write a post on the topic.

All of the bloggers send a link to their post to the Carnival host.

The Carnival host writes one big post talking about all of the submitted entries, linking to all of them.

Done!

A way to get even more traffic from a Blog Carnival is to volunteer to be the Carnival Host for an edition of the Carnival topic. Speaking of which, I am hosting the Carnival of Home Business here at eMoms at Home for the September 1 Edition. Yay me. The topic is on balancing work and home life – so relevant to what I normally write about!

If you want to do this, just go to Blog Carnival, find a Carnival you want to participate in, and send a quick email to the main Carnival contact, letting them know you want to host an upcoming edition. That way you get traffic throughout the month preceding the Carnival, and get to raise your blog’s visibility in your niche.

Using this nifty little tool is the perfect excuse to answer some questions my friend Steve sent my way recently. He’s rather new to blogging, and asked some really common questions in regards to getting his blog set up.

First of all, Steve wanted to know what cheap or free blogging platforms are out there to use. The stipulation is that they are available to use on his own domain name (this is because he listened to my advice to blog on his own site rather than on a hosted solution. Good job, Steve!! ).

Free blogging options that you use on your own site are really only Movable Type and WordPress. There are certainly others, but these two are the most robust, most widely supported, and have the most extensive online help. Technically, Movable Type should only be free for personal use. Commercial use requires a license fee (on the honor system). I have little experience with it, because I use WordPress, and LOVE it.

In regards to hosting, I use GoDaddy , who I also LOVE. I also buy all of my domain names from them, which I say because Steve was wondering that too. But to use GoDaddy also requires that you be willing to set up WordPress yourself. [ Update :: GoDaddy now has WP preinstalled too! ] It’s really not that hard, but not for the technologically faint-of-heart. You need to create a SQL Database, upload some files to your server, and then configure the blog (which is done simply in your web browser).

For those who aren’t so technologically savvy, Yahoo! Web Hosting and BlueHost offer WordPress setup via just a few clicks. I have not been entirely thrilled with Yahoo (and am considering switching back to GoDaddy), and I don’t have any experience with BlueHost, though have heard good things generally about them.

Now I had mentioned to Steve that even though I am a raving fan of WordPress, it isn’t exactly the right platform for a content-heavy site, especially if you need different layouts for different pages, or some more advanced functionality. It sounds as though he is also considering adding some eCommerce components to his site. If that’s the case, then WordPress isn’t his solution. Joomla is. I consider switching to it every now and then – and would have for sure had eSelfHelp not gotten hijacked by eMoms at Home. Joomla is also a free open-source CMS (Content Management System), and all of my research tells me it’s got THE most functionality for the price ($0). Actually, more functionality than even some paid resources, for that matter.

Steve also asks about posting to a blog. He wants an easy tool he knows well, like Word or Photoshop. Technically, you can’t post to a blog from either of these programs. And whenever I copy and paste out of Word into my WordPress entries, all havoc wreaks loose in my blog stylesheets. I then have to go and copy the text into NotePad, then back into WordPress to strip the text of the bulky formatting tags that Word automatically adds to document.

This brings me full circle to the start of my post, Windows Live Writer. You can download this nifty little tool for free (it’s in Beta). And it’s about as close as you can get to posting to your blog from Word. You get full WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editing, and some added cool tools such as map insertion, better control over text formatting, and… KICK BUTT! I just discovered it has SPELL CHECK!! I know EVERYONE will be grateful for THAT!! It does lack my auto-smileys, though… my bad – they are there after publishing as long as you have them set up on your blog already!

Oh, and Steve, you also asked about creating newsletters. Don’t do it in Word. There are way too many CAN-SPAM requirements that you need to be in compliance with, and it would take you forever to research it all. Just head over to Constant Contact . It’s free until you get your mailing list established, and they have an online interface that makes it easy as pie to create your newsletters CAN-SPAM compliant. I highly recommend them.

Ah – I did just notice one thing I don’t like about Windows Live Writer – no Technorati Tags. Use them lavishly in your blog to ensure you get lots of great targeted traffic – and for now, they will have to be added back in the WordPress interface. Beta2, anyone?!

From my professional background in online business development, plus with my passion for psychology and helping people, I will have to admit I have a knack for getting into the heads of people. So I have been carefully studying what I have done to date to determine what I am doing right – not only so that I can duplicate it in the future, but so you can duplicate it yourself.

Some of my ’secrets’ aren’t very sexy, and certainly some aren’t even fun. Some sound totally fluffy and inconsequential. A long time ago, I would have even dismissed some of these items. But I do believe each one are key ingredients to my success thus far, so here they are:

1. Search your soul before you start.
   I mean dig deep, too. As in, the big questions of life. What are you on this planet for? What is your ultimate purpose in life? If your family was reading your eulogy after you had passed on, what do you want them to say about you? I have spent years getting very clear on who I am, what my values are, and defining my professional, personal and spiritual paths. I made the decision long ago that anything I say is worth saying from the heart. Everyone I talk to in person, whether they be friends, family, or clients know this to be true about me. My authenticity comes through as I write, and people pick up on that. My ultimate purpose on this planet is to help people get in touch with their own hearts. This is what led me to start eSelfHelp and eMoms at Home. Your ultimate purpose is probably different. You need to know what it is, and let that purpose be the compass for your content development.~
2. Let the real you shine through.
   I talked with several individuals who I highly respect, and their feedback was overwhelming. eMoms at Home is my voice, my experience, and especially with photos, people can connect with me. I wouldn’t put pictures up of my children online unless I was the real deal, with nothing to hide. I have shared my successes and my challenges – the transparency of the real me on the blog allows the readers to relate to me. Not everyone will, but of course, not everyone is reading my blog. Simply put, those that don’t read this blog are finding other bloggers that they can relate to. But in the end, people are drawn to people who have common interests and values. The more you can share about who you really are, the more people can find something to relate to.~
3. Study the success stories.
   Some of my favorites include StevePavlina.com, ProBlogger.net, CopyBlogger, BlogHer, Guy Kawasaki’s Blog and one of my new favorites, Duct Tape Marketing. To be even more honest, I haven’t even been around long enough to know about many of the other big bloggers. I’m certainly not advocating any form of copying, which is why this tip comes after the first two. These blogs are doing lots of things right, and I am always looking to learn from people more successful than I am. I analyze what I like about their work and figure out how I can apply the knowledge in my own way.~
4. Add value in every post – well, almost every post.
   You wouldn’t care a bit about me if I didn’t offer you something to come and read this blog – even if I was the most charismatic person on the planet (and as much as I like to think I am, I know I’m not ). I’m here to impart knowledge, to make sure that when you come, you come to get something of value. And my goal when you leave is to tempt you back with the promise of more things of value. I’ll admit to a bit of self-indulgence every now and then, but my goal in nearly every post is to give you more than I expect to receive from you.~
5. Network like crazy.
   Although my traffic is growing in leaps and bounds, I have gotten my biggest boost from associating with other bloggers online. I’ve learned a lot from them, offered them my expertise when appropriate, and by doing so, I’ve started to rapidly grow inbound links and exposure to the blogging community. This is true of any offline business, so it makes perfect sense that it would be critical to online blogging success as well.~
6. Be passionate about your chosen topic.
   If you are bored, your readers will be too. Same goes for blogging about a topic that you think will bring in the traffic and the money – but in the end, isn’t really what you are passionate about. I LOVE starting businesses. I LOVE online marketing. I LOVE coaching people. I could write about this stuff for free and be happy – which is the key right there. If you are happy with your work, I mean really happy with what you are doing, the fun and passion will be so obvious to your readers they will catch the great feelings from you. Everyone wants to feel good and be happy – the more enthusiasm that comes through in your blog, the more your readers will catch it and come back for more.~
7. Trust your intuition and your instincts. Be true to them.
   I’m certainly not the biggest blogging success story around, not by a long-shot. But something within me said, “Write This Article”. I kind of backed away from it for a few days (weeks, even!), thinking, who the heck am I to be writing about this? I am no BoingBoing or Engadget. But I do know businesses, I know sales and I know people. I know what motivates us to take action, and what keeps us in inaction. I know in my heart the eMoms at Home blog is the start of something bigger than I had dreamed it would become. So I took the leap of faith and listened to my intuition and wrote the article. I may get flamed, I may get laughed at, and I may make a difference for many, many people who really want to be professional bloggers. If I help one person do that, then this article is a success to me. [Added 8.18.06 :: mission accomplished!!]~
8. Do your homework about blog set up, SEO, and site design:: Techy Stuff.
   This is basic online marketing and eBusiness stuff. If you want your blog to go anywhere someday, use a strong blogging platform such as WordPress, TypePad or Movable Type . Be sure to incorporate good keywords into your posts and post titles (but not at the expense of good copywriting), and get the blog listed in as many directories as possible. Use Technorati tags. Set up your feed accurately with someone like FeedBurner. And make sure your blog has a clean design and is aesthetically appealing. All of these things are like going to a professional networking event in a business suit with your business cards, rather than your grubby painting jeans and no contact info on hand.~
9. Be disciplined.
   I post a bare minimum of 4 times a week. And now that my blog is getting consistent traffic and subscribers, I am posting more often. There are definitely days when I don’t feel like writing and when I don’t have a lot to say. But I have made it a MUST to continue to write and make the content good. On my dry days, I turn to a list I have made of blogging topic ideas as my backup content. As one blessed with ADD, I really don’t “enjoy” being disciplined. But with ANY business comes frustration and boredom at times, blogging included. It’s up to you to get over these things and continue to deliver valuable content to your readers who are depending on you, period.~
10. Blog with a higher purpose in mind.
    The big bloggers are blazing a trail for the rest of us – and thus, are making a huge impact on the internet as we know it. Even blogs with commercial content are adding value to society, by putting information out there in a format that invites a conversation vs. pure marketing hype. They are spreading information on how to start your own blog and make money at it, they are giving great advice on personal and business challenges. All of these things inspire and help us to become more informed, grow our expertise, and enable us to connect with others all over the world that we would never otherwise know. I really want to help moms who want to work at home, but even more so, I want to inspire people to pursue their dreams and follow their hearts, no matter if they do it in a home office or not. Can I do this via blogging? Absolutely. And other ways too of course, but blogging has laid such a strong foundation for future success; it has been a critical component to pursuing my own dreams. There are others out there who need this platform for the pursuit of their own dreams, and I am happy to be a stepping stone on the way.

Are there other “Success Secrets”? Of course. Even things that aren’t so secret. Visit some of those favorite blogs of mine mentioned in #3 to learn even more from the pros. Study up. But don’t spend too much time researching – it’s more important to find your own voice than to spend all day listening to someone else’s.

Then go dig deep and get writing!

Related Posts:

Preparing for a BlogJolt – Turn your One Night Stand Blog Traffic into a Marriage Proposal

Top Ten Key Success Ingredients for Home Based Businesses

Achieving Consistent Productivity from the Inside Out

New eMoms BlogJolt Yahoo! Group

I was intimidated by the WordPress installation – because I had to create a database. I may be a bit more technologically savvy than many moms, but I am NOT a coder; nor do I want to be. But in my desperation for a blogging software platform that had plugins that work, and was widely supported in the blogging community, I decided to give the installation a shot. Besides, WordPress is free too, so what did I have to lose? Nada. And you know what? The “Famous 5 Minute Installation” was pretty darn close to that – OK, maybe 30 minutes for me – but fairly harmless all in all.

Customizing the page is always a challenge, because I don’t know PHP or CSS. But I do know a little (and I mean little) html, and I have found that if I look at the code long enough, it starts to make at least a little bit of logical sense and I have had some success in getting the layout the way I want it to be. I think I can hire a freelancer to make some quick changes to appearance and it will cost me very little, so it will be worth it.

And I was even able to get most of my current posts imported into the new blog by saving the blog as an RSS file. I will have to manually add my comments in, but I don’t have a lot to add anyway . And now I am resting easy knowing my trackbacks will work, that I will be able to obtain some REAL analytics for the blog to track where traffic is coming from and track what readers are most interested in so that I can create more of it! If the blog is to succeed, it’s better that I recreate it now with 32 posts rather than a year from now, when the site is much bigger, and I have hundreds of posts and readers to migrate.

So now I am happily and heartily recommending WordPress. Go tell your friends!

I’ve had a couple of people ask me just what the heck a blog is… so I figured there were even more people wondering and NOT asking, so I wanted to answer the latest inquiry I received here. Although I assume by the fact that you are reading this, you may already know much of this information. Maybe not!

If you don’t know what the heck a blog is, trust me – you are NOT alone. Even I had to do a ton of research to get mine up and running – and it has been my CAREER to stay on top of this stuff for the past two years…

A blog, or a Weblog, is kind of like an online journal. Some blogs are highly influential and have some of the largest readership on the internet while others are written for personal reasons to simply be shared with family and friends. Blogs are as unique as the people writing them, but tend at least to stay focused on one subject area.

An author makes entries, categorizes them, and posts them to their blog. It’s an easy way to create content and publish writings without having to know any coding or how to put up a site. At the same time, a blog is fairly simplistic (generally speaking. There’s very limited ways to lay the page out, and it’s not the kind of thing you would want to create a big eCommerce site with. But serious writers use the format frequently because it is an easy publishing tool.

The reason blogs are getting so popular is because they are also very social. Each entry made is open to comments by readers, so a blog is really more like a conversation. It?s a format that is starting to change the way people use information on the internet, turning passive readers into active participants.

Also, if you get what is called a feed reader, such as MyYahoo, My Google, NewsGator or MyAOL, you can “subscribe” to any blogs’ feed and pull updates from the blog to your news headlines (this is free). You can read more about feeds at FeedBurner or at All RSS Feeds.

The most useful thing about blogging is the way they are indexed. When an author updates their blog, they automatically let all of the blog search engines know that new content is posted. So blog search engines have REAL TIME blog information. Regular search engines like Yahoo and especially Google take a long time to index/update pages (Google took 2 months to index eSelfHelp.com, for example). Blog search engines include:

technorati.com
blogdigger.com
blo.gs
weblogs.com
bloghop.com

So if you want to do a search on a topic that just happened today, for example, searching what’s called the “blogoshpere” will yield a lot more results than on a traditional search engine.

And finally, here is a list of the current top 20 blogs. They do tend to skew a little towards the subject of technology, because early bloggers needed to know a lot about technology in order to create one in the first place!

Hope the information was helpful and now you feel a little more like you can hold a conversation with your geeky friends like me when the subject turns to the internet.

Feel free to Save This Page on del.icio.us, or forward it to your own friends who may want to know more about blogging as well!