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<channel>
	<title>How To Blog &#187; Bloggers</title>
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	<description>blogging 102</description>
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		<title>Follow The Link</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/how-to/non-seo/follow-the-link/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/how-to/non-seo/follow-the-link/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:28:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Non-SEO]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/non-seo/follow-the-link/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 2 &#8211; 3 minutes
If you followed this post over from Blogging For Noobs, then you know this mornings story.  The summation is I found a potential spamback link in my comments at the Celebrity Rumors and decided to follow it with due diligence before allowing it.  it was a spamback, but it had [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 2 &#8211; 3 minutes</p>
<p>If you followed this post over from <a href="http://bloggingfornoobs.com/what-is-blogging/where-should-i-comment/">Blogging For Noobs</a>, then you know this mornings story.  The summation is I found a potential spamback link in my comments at the <a href="http://www.theotherblog.net">Celebrity Rumors</a> and decided to follow it with due diligence before allowing it.  it was a spamback, but it had links to a wealth of good sites worthy of showing you.  Here they are.</p>
<p>While not the most important thing in a theme, the color scheme is certainly the first thing noticed by a visitor to your blog.  This handy little <a href="http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html">color scheme picker</a> will help you come up with an appropriate scheme quickly and easily.</p>
<p>I also found this three part series on usefull css code snippets.  Part <a href="http://tutorialblog.org/25-code-snippets-for-web-designers-part1/">1</a>, <a href="http://tutorialblog.org/25-code-snippets-for-web-designers-part2/">2</a>, <a href="http://tutorialblog.org/25-code-snippets-for-web-designers-part3/">3</a>.</p>
<p>This is a nice graphically based use of <a href="http://www.schillmania.com/projects/dialog/">rounded css corners</a> complete with free graphics and code.  The size they give you could easily work as a background image for your blog page.</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.cssjuice.com/13-online-generators-for-web-20-design/">Web 2.0 Generator</a> link page had a lot of great links for theme builders as well as just general bloggers.<span id="more-160"></span></p>
<p><a href="http://wpthemes.info/">Sadish Bala</a> had some interesting links and advice of his own on his blog.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.emilyrobbins.com/how-to-blog/">Emily Robbins</a> hasn&#8217;t updated her blog, How To Blog, in along enough that I consider it abandoned, but that doesn&#8217;t stop the old stuff from being worth reading.</p>
<p><a href="http://designdisease.com/">Design Disease</a> has some great themes of their own for free.</p>
<p>I also found a really nice site, Web Designer Wall, with some recent articles on using <a href="http://www.webdesignerwall.com/tutorials/how-to-css-large-background/">large image backgrounds</a>.</p>
<p>My limited programming knowledge didn&#8217;t make the next site very useful to me, but the more I am learning about Wordpress code, Devlounge&#8217;s article on <a href="http://www.devlounge.net/articles/php/how-to-write-a-wordpress-plugin-introduction">how to write a wordpress plugin</a> is where I am going to start reading.</p>
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		<slash:comments>9</slash:comments>
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		<title>Wordpress Custom Fields</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/how-to/what-else-you-should-be-reading/wordpress-custom-fields/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/how-to/what-else-you-should-be-reading/wordpress-custom-fields/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 21:45:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/what-else-you-should-be-reading/wordpress-custom-fields/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 3 &#8211; 5 minutes
The least utilized option in Wordpress, the custom field, is also quite possibly the most powerful function of the entire platform.  I have been writing up my own tutorials on this option for several days now and thought I would share with you a few of the other great [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 3 &#8211; 5 minutes</p>
<p>The least utilized option in Wordpress, the custom field, is also quite possibly the most powerful function of the entire platform.  I have been writing up my own tutorials on this option for several days now and thought I would share with you a few of the other great posts on the subject.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.oakinnovations.co.uk/blog/2007/11/26/the-top-5-uses-for-wordpress-custom-fields/"> The Top 5 Uses for Wordpress Custom Fields  by  Oak Innovations Blog</a></p>
<blockquote><p>For the vast majority of bloggers, this incredibly usefull, and versatile piece of functionality goes unused. At the moment you may be thinking that the reason you don’t use it, is that you have no use for it. This may very well be true but, its also likely that no one has really explained what’s possible.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.kriesi.at/archives/how-to-use-wordpress-custom-fields">Learn how to use Wordpress Custom Fields | Kriesi.at &#8211; new media design</a></p>
<blockquote><p>WordPress gives an author the ability to add extra data to each written post and page. This data is called meta-data and is stored in custom fields.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2007/02/wordpress-custom-fields-contest/">WordPress Custom Fields Contest</a></p>
<blockquote><p>If you are a wordpress blogger, how many times have you used the often overlooked feature called Custom Fields. It is sitting below this post page as I type and though I look at it everyday, I never got around to using it. Technosailor is organizing the WordPress Custom Fields Contest to bring forth the usefulness of this feature and its possible applications.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://performancing.com/wordpress-tips/jazz-your-site-28-ways-use-wordpress-custom-fields">Jazz Up Your Site: 28 Ways To Use WordPress Custom Fields | Performancing.com</a></p>
<blockquote><p>Reasons To Use Custom Fields</p>
<p>You create a custom field, then choose on a post by post basis what information you will add. That information can be manipulated by custom WP/PHP code to present additional textual or visual content when a visitor views a post page. To summarize:</p>
<p>1. Add metadata for reporting or other purposes.<br />
2. Add visually cohesive elements to your site.<br />
3. Manipulate information and control its display programmatically.<br />
4. Make global changes across all your posts with a single code change, instead of manually updating each post.</p>
<p>The lists below show some ways that WP custom fields can be used to provide more textual and visual info to your site visitors. If you decide to change something, say a border or background or even placement on the post page, without custom fields you would have to make changes manually to each and every post. If you have hundreds of posts, you&#8217;d have a daunting task. With custom fields, you have structure and homogeneity through custom handler code.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://www.redswish.co.uk/the-power-of-wordpress-custom-fields/">redswish &#8211; a web design blog » The power of Wordpress Custom Fields</a></p>
<blockquote><p>I can’t believe I’ve been playing with Wordpress for so long and never explored the Custom Fields feature. A website I’ve been working recently has required me to push the boundaries of Wordpress, or more appropriately my understanding and knowledge of it. In doing so I’ve bravely slipped deeper into the Advanced Options and lived to tell the tale &#8211; the tale of the Custom Fields…</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://5thirtyone.com/archives/875">WordPress Custom Fields; laying text over your lead graphic</a></p>
<blockquote><p>WordPress Custom Fields; laying text over your lead graphic</p>
<p>For WordPress users, there are certain scenarios when the typical reverse chronological presentation of content is just not enough. I have experimented with different methods of presenting content on <a href="http://5thirtyone.com/">5thirtyone.com</a> each time a redesign is uploaded &#8211; from the text-centric to the image heavy version in use right now. With hundreds of WordPress driven blogs being published on a daily basis, it’s difficult to stand out; even more so if you stick to the standard two-column blog layout.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://theundersigned.net/2006/09/wordpress-how-to-custom-fields/">The undersigned » Blog Archive » WordPress how-to: Custom Fields</a></p>
<blockquote><p>WordPress how-to: Custom Fields</p>
<p>Most WordPress users have seen the custom fields section when they write a new post or create a page &#8211; but what is it exactly?</p></blockquote>
<p>Post 12 of 100 of <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.bradstinyworld.com%E2%80%9D">Brad’s Tiny World</a> Scribefire Challenge.</p>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Guest Book</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/wordpress-2/theme/the-guest-book/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/wordpress-2/theme/the-guest-book/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:07:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/?p=122</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 3 &#8211; 4 minutes
In the early days of web design one of the few interactive things you could do with your readers was set up a guest book.  At first this was next to impossible because almost anyone and everyone who had a website was operating on free sites like Geocities, Angelfire, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 3 &#8211; 4 minutes</p>
<p>In the early days of web design one of the few interactive things you could do with your readers was set up a guest book.  At first this was next to impossible because almost anyone and everyone who had a website was operating on free sites like Geocities, Angelfire, or Tripod.  There was no cgo access unless you paid for it, so there was no interaction beyond the simple mail form.  Eventually most of them had heard the call for interaction and offered up ready made guest books. By that time it was really too late to do anything about it, blogging had been invented and was taking quick hold on sites like LiveJournal and <a href="http://www.blogger.com">Blogger</a>.  The world of interactivity was upon the average website owner, and we went from simple users to publishers.</p>
<p>The advent of blogging with threaded post and comments we respond to or at the very least should be responding to left behind the old guest book format.  Users could now interact with authors directly over on subject specific ideas.  Simply put the guest book was stiff, bereft of use, pushing up digital daisies, had run down the curtained screen saver, had emptied the recycle bin with ccleaner, overwritten multiple times with randomized ones and zeroes, and joined auto-starting background midi files as things Skippy should never put on a site.  The guest book was and ex-webpage!  That was until I figured out a use for it.<span id="more-122"></span></p>
<p>I know you are thinking this guy is ought of his bloody mind.  Well I might be, but never the less I know how to make the guest book useful once again.  Every blogger gets comment like &#8216;this is nice&#8217; and &#8216;I like the post&#8217;.  For those of us kind bloggers using a dofollow system this is annoying crap.  However with a nofollow guest book and a <a href="http://www.zirona.com/software/wordpress-move-comments/">move comments plugin</a> we can preserve those comments, because some of them actually mean what they say and could give a damn about the backlink, and keep our blogs from being fodder for spammers.  The second plugin you will want if you wish to keep dofollow status is a <a href="http://yoast.com/wordpress-noindex-specific-posts-and-pages/">conditional plugin</a> that allows for conditional nofollow noindex posts and pages.</p>
<p>Once you have your plugin installed you can start by creating the guest book.  If you are a nofollow blog the process is pretty simple, just create called guest book add a few lines of text and stick the post link in your menu.  Alternately if your theme allows for comments on pages you can make it a page and it should automatically go into your navigation structure.  Assuming you are a kind dofollow blogger honoring your readers comments, you are going to need to do a few things differently for the guest book to work like it should and not screw up the rest of your blog.</p>
<p>After activating the plugins the next thing you will want to do is make a copy of your single.php and rename it guestbook_template.php.  This is the file we will edit.  Top the top of this file you will want to add the following code:</p>
<p>&lt;?php<br />
/*<br />
Template Name: guestbook<br />
*/<br />
?&gt;</p>
<p>Once this page is uploaded create a new page using the guestbook page template.  Say a few words of kind warning about the kind of comments that should go in posts and the kind that belong here.  Set the page to nofollow and noindex and you are ready to go.  Move your comments at will and enjoy your new found guest book.</p>
<p>Post 8 of 100 of <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.bradstinyworld.com%E2%80%9D">Brad’s Tiny World</a> Scribefire Challenge.</p>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<title>Quit Being Such A Pussy</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/comments/quit-being-such-a-pussy/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/comments/quit-being-such-a-pussy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:59:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/?p=85</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 4 &#8211; 6 minutes
Those were the words I heard often enough at as kid when I was being cautious.  I heard them from friends who tried to goad me into trouble making either with or for them. I heard them from many a male relative who simple mistook caution for timidity and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 4 &#8211; 6 minutes</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those were the words I heard often enough at as kid when I was being cautious.  I heard them from friends who tried to goad me into trouble making either with or for them. I heard them from many a male relative who simple mistook caution for timidity and didn’t really know what else manly they could say.</p>
<p>Now that I am older and wiser those words keep coming back to me.  No, they don’t pertain to my blogging for the most part.  When they do I shudder with revulsion and take action.  This time though they apply to a lot of my fellow bloggers.  So I say unto many of you, “Quit Being Such A Pussy!”<span id="more-85"></span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.forward-moving.com/blog/2006/10/12/spam-a-battle-worth-fighting/"><img class="attachment wp-att-86 alignleft" style="float: left;" src="http://bradtheblogboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/spam2-150x150.jpg" alt="spam" width="200" height="170" /></a>Most bloggers want their blog to be a source of income, a business if you will, but they won’t treat it like one.  Almost every time Firefox highlights a comments section with <a href="http://www.zigire.net/2007/01/09/wordpress-and-relexternal-nofollow/"><strong>nofollow</strong></a> tags, I shake my head in wonderment.  These people just don’t get it.  They are letting timidity or laziness get in the way of their business’s goals.  The most often heard response of why they won’t turn it off is they don’t want the hassle of dealing with comment spam.</p>
<p>If you are getting a few hundred comments you don’t need to remove it, because some other part of your business model is working really well.  That is a different story altogether, they are offering such high quality or value that they can get away with offering nothing else to their customers.   Everyone else, that claims they want to make money, need to quit being pussies and take off their <a href="http://www.niftygaloot.com/2008/01/31/commentluv-dofollow-and-nofollow-free/"><strong>nofollow</strong></a> tags for comments.</p>
<p>Here is why you need to do it from a small/new business perspective.  If you keep the <strong><a href="http://www.dailydomainer.com/200781-to-follow-or-nofollow.html">nofollow</a></strong> tags and aloofly say “I don’t want to deal with comment spam,” this screams you are just lazy and don’t care about your customer.  It also puts you in the arrogant beyond belief category thinking you are so important you will spend more than a few minutes cleaning up spam a day. Your blog readers are your customers.  They might only come to browse, but if they comment they are leaving the store with the crap you are selling.</p>
<p>If they leave a botted comment that akismet picks up, they shoplifted and your auto-theft system picked them up and hauls them away no trouble for you.  If they left a “Hi, this was interesting,” comment they bought the cheapest thing they could. Maybe they meant it or maybe they didn’t.  <a href="http://saltwaterc.net/xhtml-video-embed"><strong>Nofollow</strong></a> tags on those mean you took their money, scowled, and didn’t bother to even say thanks with a smile.  In fact if you are moderating your comments you probably said “Fuck You!” and hit the spam button.  Whether they meant it or not you have alienated them, by playing king of the sandbox and acted like a six year old bully.</p>
<p>Then there are the customers who really mean something to your business.  These are the ones who give good relevant comments.  You don’t have to remove the nofollow links the first time.  You can use <strong><a href="http://www.pastymuncher.co.uk/why-i-dofollow-say-no-to-rel-no-follow/">Nofollow </a></strong>Free or some other plugin and make it several comments if you like.  You should of course have a page marked <a href="http://myseoblog.net/2008/05/05/make-your-blog-a-dofollow-and-attract-more-visitors/"><strong>Nofollow</strong></a>-<a href="http://www.madwahm.com/wordpress/i-dofollow-do-you/"><strong>DoFollow</strong></a> Policy and let them know your posting policy. It is no different from a brick and mortar store posting the return policy or “we will prosecute shoplifters” sign.  By removing the nofollow tags you are saying: “I thank you for making my blog better.  I appreciate your comments and am willing to do a little work in the area of spam control to keep them coming.  Here is your reward.”</p>
<p>If you want your blog to be a business, then you need to start acting like it is a business and treating readers like paying customers.  Put out quality merchandise.  Post your store policies.  Say thank you to all of your customers.  Honor the really good customers.  Last, but not least, don’t be a pussy when it comes to doing a little work.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Link Note:  The links on this post all go to good people who have the <a href="http://trcoach.com/2007/08/16/u-comment-i-follow/"><strong>nofollow</strong></a> tags removed.  They understand the value of doing this, so don&#8217;t screw with them by leaving spam.</p>
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		<slash:comments>7</slash:comments>
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		<title>Blogging For Bucks</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/monetizing-your-blog/blogging-for-bucks/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/monetizing-your-blog/blogging-for-bucks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:15:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/?p=79</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 3 &#8211; 5 minutes
If you read my blog, it is most likely you are either a) a friend who is trying to get inside my head, or b) want to make money from blogging. I am going with the latter. You, like me, may be frustrated with Google for a variety of reasons [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 3 &#8211; 5 minutes</p>
<p>If you read my blog, it is most likely you are either a) a friend who is trying to get inside my head, or b) want to make money from blogging. I am going with the latter. You, like me, may be frustrated with Google for a variety of reasons that we won&#8217;t go into, but I am here to say there are alternatives. I am partial to <a href="http://www.bidvertiser.com/bdv/bidvertiser/bdv_ref_publisher.dbm?Ref_Option=pub&amp;Ref_PID=149758">BidVertiser</a> myself, but I am looking into a number of affilate programs right now to replace Google on The <a href="http://www.hartblognetwork.net">Hart Blog Network</a> blogs.</p>
<p>The latest new affilate I have found is ScribeFire which I also see Darren Rowse has up on his website, <a href="http://www.problogger.net">Pro Blogger</a>.</p>
<p>John Cow wrote up about the soon to be gone <a href="http://www.johncow.com/say-good-bye-to-adsense-referrals/">Adsense Refferals</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>Instead of their Adsense Referral program they are now going to use the <a href="http://www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork/">Google Affiliate Network</a>.  What this is going to allow is now publishers are going to apply for an  advertiser program and then get paid based on advertiser-defined  actions instead of the usual clicks or impressions.</p></blockquote>
<p>Darren Rowse of Pro Blogger has an interview with Kristopher Jones of Pepperjam Network</p>
<blockquote><p>Earlier in the week I posted that PepperJam Network was giving all <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/07/03/want-10-sign-up-for-the-pepperjam-affiliate-network-today/">new publishers who signed up with their network a signup bonus of $10</a>. Today I’ve managed to get a quick interview with <a href="http://www.pntra.com/t/QDtEPz9DO0FERDtBQ0M">Pepperjam Network’</a><a href="http://www.pntra.com/t/QDtEPz9DO0FERDtBQ0M">s</a> CEO and President Kristopher B. Jones to ask him about the network, why  he started it and what tips he could give us as publishers for using it  in a way that earns us the most money.</p></blockquote>
<p>John Chow has been pushing NeverBlue Ads pretty hard of late. I am also interested and owe them a return phone call. It seems these days even the bigger blogs are abandoning google so fast we can smell smoke. Possibly it is the guys at google taking the torch to ever more bloggers. It is hard to say for sure.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.thetechzone.com/neoads/adclick.php?bannerid=169&amp;zoneid=43&amp;source=&amp;dest=http%3A%2F%2Fnbjmp.com%2Fclick%2F%3Fs%3D904%26c%3D8357%26subid%3DbannJCB08%26promo_code%3DJCBLOG1" target="_blank"><img title="Please Visit my Sponsor" src="http://www.thetechzone.com/neoads/adimage.php?filename=neverblueads-panel-300250.gif&amp;contenttype=gif" border="0" alt="Please Visit my Sponsor" width="300" height="250" /></a></p>
<div id="beacon_169" style="position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="http://www.thetechzone.com/neoads/adlog.php?bannerid=169&amp;clientid=148&amp;zoneid=43&amp;source=&amp;block=0&amp;capping=0&amp;cb=fe2f12667820e12e93228250e5e572a4" alt="" width="0" height="0" /></div>
<p><noscript></noscript></p>
<p>Earlier in the week John also wrote on <a href="http://www.johnchow.com/a-little-shopping-can-make-you-money/">TinyMasive.com</a></p>
<blockquote><p>What do you get when you combine the contextual advertising of Google  AdSense with an interactive shopping widget that can offer some pretty  good deals to the visitors of your site. In some respects, <a href="http://www.tinymassive.com/">TinyMassive.com</a> may just look like another shopping-based ad network, but over the course of doing this <a href="http://www.johnchow.com/go/reviewme.php">review</a>, I came to discover that it has a few unique qualities as well.</p></blockquote>
<p>There are many other networks available. Some of them are sketchy. Some of them just hard to get into. Some of them only in beta, like Yahoo. They are out there though and for those who are frustrated with Google, fear not there are options.</p>
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		<title>CYA For Bloggers</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/how-to/hosting/cya-for-bloggers/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/how-to/hosting/cya-for-bloggers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:54:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/?p=76</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 4 &#8211; 6 minutes
BlogBoy doesn&#8217;t often make political stands when it comes to the online world, but this is one that can&#8217;t be ignored.  There isn&#8217;t a blogger alive who doesn&#8217;t need to consider freedom of speech issues in fact.  In Yahoo news this morning they write about public online spaces [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 4 &#8211; 6 minutes</p>
<p><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/7753843@N02/2505160337"title="Omphalos" ><img style="float: left;" title="Belly of The beast" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2350/2505160337_12db6069a7.jpg" alt="The freedom to show yourself for who you are" width="300" height="376" /></a>BlogBoy doesn&#8217;t often make political stands when it comes to the online world, but this is one that can&#8217;t be ignored.  There isn&#8217;t a blogger alive who doesn&#8217;t need to consider freedom of speech issues in fact.  In Yahoo news this morning they write about public online spaces not having the same freedom of speech rights as say your public park.</p>
<p><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080706/ap_on_hi_te/tec_disappearing_freedoms">&#8216;Public&#8217; online spaces don&#8217;t carry speech, rights</a><br />
&#8220;Companies in charge of seemingly public spaces online wipe out content<br />
that&#8217;s controversial but otherwise legal. Service providers write their<br />
own rules for users worldwide and set foreign policy when they<br />
cooperate with regimes like <span id="lw_1215391845_1" class="yshortcuts">China</span>. They serve as prosecutor, judge and jury in handling disputes behind closed doors.&#8221;</p>
<p><span id="more-76"></span>That might sound ominous and horrible, just like everything that the Bush administration has done for the last seven years, and in a way it is all of that.  On the other hand that is the nature of doing business.  Suffice it to say blogging is a business or at least you should be thinking of it as such if you ever plan to make money.</p>
<p>These companies be they <a href="http://www.village-idiot.org/archives/2008/07/06/why-myspace-is-evil/">MySpace</a>, <a href="http://aralbalkan.com/1404">Yahoo</a>, <a href="http://sodevious.net/2008/07/06/google-adsense/">Google</a> or even your own hosting company all have an image to maintain.  If you associate yourselves with them and threaten that image they have every right and not to mention a responsibility to their stock holders to maintain that image even if it means pissing off a paying subscriber.  That is called risk management, the world revolves around it.  Yes, sometimes it seems unfair, but life isn&#8217;t fair.  If you think life should be fair take your candy ass somewhere else because I can almost bet I won&#8217;t like you or really care what you have to say.</p>
<p>Do you see how that works or get the subtle of what I have just told you?  This space is mine and there is very little you can do to stop me from saying what I want.  if this was <a href="http://www.thatsfit.com/2008/07/04/generation-myspace/">MySpace</a>, <a href="http://scottishtoryboy.blogspot.com/2008/07/politicians-and-facebook.html">Facebook</a>, or <a href="http://codezeror.wordpress.com/2008/07/07/livejournal/">LiveJourna</a>l I could could still get away with telling you to &#8216;go fuck yourself&#8217;, however there are plenty of places I couldn&#8217;t and keep my account very long.  Just as i could get  away with  saying what I would like to do to <a href="http://theotherblog.net/celebrities/cat-deeley-pic-spam/">Cat Deeley</a> or Kourtni Lind  on those same places, I couldn&#8217;t tell you the same thing about the teenage girl who lives across the street.  Not that she interests me in the least, I could tell you what  I would like to do to her on my my own blog if I had such an interest.  While I don&#8217;t have an unlimited ability to say those things because of the agreement I have with my hosting company, it certainly lets me go a lot farther than any community blog will.</p>
<p>Now if I wanted to write twisted  perverse stories about the girl, i am pretty sure I couldn&#8217;t get away with that very long with Host Gator, especially if I used any sort of details.  More precisely, I could until someone told on me and my account just disappeared.  I am not willing to run that risk, even if I do get daily backups of all my databases and have every post stored locally for all of my blogs.  I like the price I pay for hosting and get good service, so my risk management assessment says no to cute blond mid teenage girl meets thirty something blogboy who turns out to be the sperm donor that gave her life porn stories.  There are hosting companies that would let me host that and wouldn&#8217;t even bat an eye because it is tame compared to some of what people post.  Those companies have made risk assessments too, and charge you accordingly.</p>
<p>When it comes right down to it if you are a blogger and want to say what ever the hell you want, there are some rules you need to pay attention to.  First unless your speech and ideas are very tame, you risk losing an account almost anywhere you go.  If you want to say what is on your mind pretty much unfettered then you need to get yourself a domain account with a good hosting company, click the Host Gator ad to your right for a really good deal.  Lastly if you are going to publish what amounts to porn, get a hosting company that specializes in and allows it.</p>
<p>Before you say you shouldn&#8217;t have to put up with a company interfering with your right to say what ever you want while using there service it is time to ask yourself if you want to be called a hypocrite.  If you blog and use any sort of spam filter or moderate comments you are censoring another person&#8217;s speech.  Know the game, know the rules and know that you will always be playing by someone else&#8217;s rules&#8230;</p>
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		<title>Problems At Technorati</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/rank-and-ratings/problems-at-technorati/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/rank-and-ratings/problems-at-technorati/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 May 2008 15:56:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/?p=69</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 4 &#8211; 6 minutes
Something is up at Technorati.  For more than a month now I have been having problems with them properly indexing one of my blogs.  Despite the fact that it was being updated either manually or automatically with daily digest posts, http://www.bradsotherblog.com was simply not getting its ping through [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 4 &#8211; 6 minutes</p>
<p>Something is up at Technorati.  For more than a month now I have been having problems with them properly indexing one of my blogs.  Despite the fact that it was being updated either manually or automatically with daily digest posts, <a href="http://www.bradsotherblog.com">http://www.bradsotherblog.com</a> was simply not getting its ping through to Technorati.  This just isn’t me, either.</p>
<p>The first suggestion they made was to manually ping your blog at <a href="http://www.bradsotherblog.com">http://www.technorati.com/ping</a> this works for all of my blogs except <a href="http://www.bradsotherblog.com">The Other Blog</a>.  After trying that and a ticket submitted with no answer I finally complained on the post board and the blog was quickly taken care of.  They apparently want to take care of people who open their mouths in public a lot faster than they do those who wait patiently for returned emails.  Well that one ping they did worked exactly once, the blog updated and jumped from an authority of 8 to 14 when all was said and done.</p>
<p>I checked back a week later and nothing since that day had been indexed.  I sent another ticket and posted on the bulletin board the same day.  Three days afterwards I received a reply to the first email and was told the blog had been indexed, what they didn’t say was it was done shortly after I made the problem known on the bulletin board.  I have since had to make more than half a dozen posts in order to get the blog regularly indexed.  Who ever is in charge of doing that does it pretty speedily and should be rewarded for it.<br />
<span id="more-69"></span><br />
I have received several answers as to why this is happening from the board admin, and none of them are very likely.  First I wasn&#8217;t given an answer.  The second time I was told there was just a delay in indexing.  The next time they blamed it on the number of anchor links some of my posts contain.  They have blamed it on the number of tags.  They have always fixed it an done an auto update but they refuse to address the key issue many bloggers are having.  Neither the automatic ping services nor the manual ping at Technorati are working for many of us.</p>
<p>As I said this isn&#8217;t just my problem either.  If you surf over to the <a href="http://support.technorati.com/discussions/">Technorati discussion board </a>you will find quite a few people who have gone a couple of days without being tracked to those who have gone weeks.  One blogger reports his blog hadn&#8217;t been indexed for more than a year.  I have no idea how often he posts, but Technorati simply can&#8217;t say his problem was a simple delay in indexing.</p>
<p>If you are a serious blogger with a Technorati account don&#8217;t just assume it has been working for you, go check it out.  I know some of you are asking what the big deal is.  First off if you are displaying the Technorati logo on your blog, you are advertising them in exchange for a service which includes indexing and providing search traffic.  If they aren&#8217;t providing that, then they are operating on a fraudulent principal and should be paying you for the advertising.  Secondly they are getting paid advertising because of the service they provide, I think the advertisers that pay them should be made aware that they aren&#8217;t getting everything they are paying for.  I know I certainly would if I were paying big bucks to advertise on a site making claims of tracking a hundred million plus blogs, but only updating three quarters of their claim.  The fact is they are a corporation and all corporations private or public need to be held accountable to proper standards.</p>
<p>I won&#8217;t debate whether they have the right or not to deny tracking of individual blogs, but the fact is they have an obligation to tell people that their blogs will not be tracked.  They don&#8217;t even have to provide a reason, they just have to be honest about doing it.  Of course none of us know if this is a softwarer glitch, which they have never admitted to, but they need to come out and say something one way or another.  Failure to do or say something is the best way for them to lose their credibility.  I can live with it being some sort of technical problem, we have all experienced those, but the fact is something needs to be done and done soon.</p>
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		<title>The Problem With Niche Blogs</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/how-to/the-problem-with-niche-blogs/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/how-to/the-problem-with-niche-blogs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 May 2008 12:35:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bloggingfornoobs.com/?p=72</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 2 &#8211; 4 minutes
All blogs have their problems and niche blogs are no exceptions, especially micro niche blogs. The biggest problem is the amount of content one person can write about. Darren Rowse of ProBlooger mentioned last week that one of the emerging trends were multiple author blogs for smaller blogs. This is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 2 &#8211; 4 minutes</p>
<p>All blogs have their problems and niche blogs are no exceptions, especially micro niche blogs.<span> </span>The biggest problem is the amount of content one person can write about.<span> </span>Darren Rowse of <a href="http://www.problogger.net/">ProBlooger</a> mentioned last week that one of the emerging trends were multiple author blogs for smaller blogs.<span> </span>This is one of the solutions to this problem, but it is only a stop gap in my opinion.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Micro niche blogs, especially in the blogosphere of blogging will eventually run out of crap to blog about no matter how many authors they have.<span> </span>Many long time <a href="http://www.johncow.com/">blogging bloggers</a> I have been reading for a few years now are really just starting to repeat themselves.<span> </span>They aren’t simply giving a new take on an old subject; they are basically rewriting posts they wrote a couple of years back.<span> </span>In my less than humble opinion, this is when you know a blogger has started jumping sharks and needs to move on.<span> </span>As a blogger if you find yourself doing this, you need to realize if you can’t pull it out you will be eaten by the sharks.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are workable solutions though.<span> </span>First, you can <a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/05/16/5-emerging-trends-in-blogging/">add multiple authors</a> which will help keep you going until you really have something new to write about.<span> </span>Two, you can slow down the pace of your posting.<span> </span>This is especially true for very small niches.<span> </span>Lastly, you can <a href="http://kaylowmedia.com/2008/05/07/defining-your-blogs-purpose-and-goals/">redefine</a> or <a href="http://blogtipz.com/2008/04/27/10-facile-steps-to-reviving-a-dead-blog/">refocus</a> your blog.<span> </span>There is no sin in slowly moving from one niche to another.<span> </span>An abrupt change might cost your readers, but so will spouting the same tired information.<span> </span>If you want to know what else you should be covering ask your readers, they will let you know.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the end starting a niche blog has a lot of potential as a money maker, but you need to <a href="http://www.bloggingtips.com/2008/01/28/5-tips-to-create-a-blog-plan-for-long-term-success/">think about the long term</a> when you’re starting it.<span> </span><a href="http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/02/26/building-a-blog-plan-for-success/">Plan a year in advance</a> if you can.<span> </span>Make the best uses of the resources at hand and know when it is time to move on.<span> </span>As always <a href="http://www.generalmarketingblog.com/15-tips-to-social-networking-success">network</a>, <a href="http://moneybites.com/social-media-part-one-building-the-network">network</a>, <a href="http://hartblognetwork.net/">network</a>!</p>
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		<title>Must Have WordPress 2.5 Plugins</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/wordpress-2/plugins/must-have-wordpress-25-plugins/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/wordpress-2/plugins/must-have-wordpress-25-plugins/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2008 13:08:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/?p=83</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 7 &#8211; 12 minutes
There were several old combinations that worked well together but since WordPress 2.3 came out many of them stopped working properly or stopped working altogether. Fear not there are replacements out there. Unlike many of the regurgitated idiot lists currently out there, everything I list will work in WordPress 2.5 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 7 &#8211; 12 minutes</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There were several old combinations that worked well together but since WordPress 2.3 came out many of them stopped working properly or stopped working altogether.<span> </span>Fear not there are replacements out there.<span> </span>Unlike many of the regurgitated idiot lists currently out there, everything I list will work in WordPress 2.5 the only version of the blog software you should be running.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ultimate Tag Warrior hasn’t been supported by the author since WordPress 2.3 came out. Many of its features and those of Bunny’s Technorati Tags, Jerome’s Keywords, and other tagging programs are easily replaced in better plugins. <span> </span>The All in One SEO Pack can even be replaced now.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The new power plugin combination consists of Headspace2 and Simple Tags. Between these two plugins you can hand every task that you used to require half a dozen plugins and tweaks.<span id="more-62"></span><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Simple Tags takes over most of what was done by most of the old tagging plugins did.<span> </span>While it alone doesn’t do everything UTW did that can be handled by Headspace2.<span> </span>There are two more tagging plugins you may wish to consider as options.<span> </span><a href="http://gormful.com/projects/wp23-technorati-tags/">Gormful’s Technorati Tags</a> will give you another formatting option.<span> </span>Tag This will allow users to add/suggest tags at will or with the parameters you set.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/headspace2/">Headspace2</a> while a more complicated option than the much love All In One SEO Pack, is simply a <a href="http://knowledgeconstructs.com/tag/headspace2/">more powerful tool</a> and one you would do well to learn.<span> </span>Mani at the Daily SEO Blog has a very good <a href="http://www.dailyseoblog.com/2008/03/seo-green-version-101-updated-and-some-headspace-tutorials/">tutorial on Headspace2</a>.<span> </span>He also confirms my suspicion if you are using Google XML Sitemaps you can’t use both Headspace2 and AIOSP without causing plugin clash. <span> </span>This video will give you a nice look at Headspace2.</p>
<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="355" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T8um7a0fUfc&amp;hl=en" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="355" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T8um7a0fUfc&amp;hl=en" wmode="transparent"></embed></object></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The two standard plugins most people list and I will confirm is the default Akismet for spam control and Google XML Sitemap plugin for indexing.<span> </span>Both of these are pretty standard among power WordPress Bloggers because they work.<span> </span>There are other options like GT Site Crawler that may be better for indexing your site if it contains more than just a blog.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The next problem one faces with their blog is linking.<span> </span>In my opinion if you are using a good spam plugin like Akismet and practice good comment policy like requiring name and email and a previously approved comment then turning off the nofollow will gain you more than you lose in time.<span> </span>I have used the <a href="http://kimmo.suominen.com/archives/2005/02/dofollow/">DoFollow</a> plugin for some time but have just recently started looking at the more customizable <a href="http://www.michelem.org/wordpress-plugin-nofollow-free/">NoFollow Free</a>.<span> </span>Either way you go the plugin works well in WP 2.5, but don’t use them both.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">Once you decide which nofollow plugin to use.<span> </span>You need to think about how the nofollow and duplicate content affects your SEO.<span> </span>To clue you into this plugin I give you the words of Andy Beard the plugins creator.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">“This plugin is intended to be used in advanced linking structures such as those described in <a href="http://andybeard.eu/2007/06/wordpress-seo-masterclass-for-competitive-niches.html">Wordpress SEO Masterclass For Competitive Niches</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">Rather than blocking duplicate content pages, they can be used to your advantage…. (NFTD) has a method of channeling &#8220;Google Juice&#8221; away from pages that are receiving the majority of links, to pages that you wish to rank well, and also to your homepage to enhance monetization.”</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">For the record I recommend <a href="http://andybeard.eu/2007/06/wordpress-seo-masterclass-for-competitive-niches.html">Wordpress SEO Masterclass For Competitive Niches</a> wholeheartedly.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span> </span>WordPress comes with the Tiny MCE editor, but the <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tinymce-advanced/">Tiny MCE Advanced</a> plugin will greatly expand the functionality to almost the point of being as good as MS Word for features.<span> </span>The good thing is depending on the kind of blog you run most of these features are useful and easily added or removed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The next three are really optional plugins, but I have included them because of how useful they are.<span> </span>First as a writer and avid reader I like two spaces between sentences. This is what you get with the <a href="http://coffee2code.com/wp-plugins/extra-sentence-space/">Extra Sentence Space</a> plugin from Coffee to Code.<span> </span>The <a href="http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/disable-wpautop/">Disable wpautop</a>, removes WordPress’s automatic paragraph formatting.<span> </span>This is useful for those who wish to have more control of elements from their style sheet.<span> </span>Excerpt Editor does a great job auto-generating your excerpt and can easily be customized.<span> </span>This is important for your front page SEO and channeling Google Juice to the right places.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Along with post style controlled<span> </span>from your style sheet I believe that most of your image and video styling should not be plugin control, but rather be a function of either WordPress’s native image/video functions or controlled from your CSS.<span> </span>There are a few image video plugins that I do find handy though.<span> </span>The only Image related plugins I use at the moment is <a href="http://blog.japonophile.com/flexible-upload/"title="Visit plugin homepage" >Flexible upload</a> and <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/seo-image/"title="Visit plugin homepage" >SEO Friendly Images</a>.<span> </span>Flexible upload handles some of issues that were present in 2.5’s first release.<span> </span><a href="http://www.prelovac.com/vladimir/wordpress-plugins/seo-image"title="Visit plugin homepage" >SEO Friendly Images</a> takes care of some of the extra bits like image description and alt info automatically.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Last but not least important are your social plugins.<span> </span>The first one to mention is the LiveJournal Cross Poster (LJXP) I am hosting the hacked version of this that is friendly to both 2.3 and 2.5 installs.<span> </span>If you still have friends there or want to simply post excerpts with links back into some of the promo communities this plugin will be your best friend. You can also download the excerpts from LJ and post them to any number of other blogs easily enough.<span> </span>I aggregate all 4 of my blogs LJXPs on WordPress.com.<span> </span>You can also snatch the HTML code from the LJ post and post it to a fair number of other blogging communities like Blogger and MySpace.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(There is a MySpace crossposter but I have never made it work and no one I have ever met has been able to either.<span> </span>If anyone gets it to work please let me know)<span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span> </span><span> </span>The next group of social tools includes <a href="Twitter%20Tools">Twitter Tools</a> which is very good about posting your blog post updates to twitter, but it sucks for posting your tweets on your blog.<span> </span>For tweet posting I prefer <a href="MyTwitter">MyTwitter</a> which will allow you to hard code your tweeting and place it anywhere you want on your blog.<span> </span>You can also use the hard coding methods described on your Twitter account.<span> </span>The one thing you do need to know about twitter tools and the 2.5 widget layout.<span> </span>You have to uninstall the plugin or change themes to remove the widget.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span> </span>The plugin I feel you almost certainly need to have if you are a serious blogger is a social bookmarking plugin.<span> </span>I prefer <a href="http://sharethis.com/index">Share This</a> for two reasons.<span> </span>One it has a small footprint and can be hard coded for exact placement.<span> </span>Secondly it has tracking available for your blog.<span> </span>If you want a bigger selection of Social Sites on hand, especially if you are using non US English sites I suggest using <a href="http://push.cx/sociable">Sociable</a>.<span> </span>You will have a bigger footprint and its gaudy but it gets the job done.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span> </span>The last plugin in the category I want to mention is <a href="http://wp.uberdose.com/2007/11/09/auto-social-wordpress-plugin/">Auto Social</a>.<span> </span>This handy little plugin will automatically submit your posts to Del.icio.us for you using all your own tagging information.<span> </span>It makes a powerful end of day digest post when you combine it with the Del.icio.us Thingy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;"><span> </span>There are some site specific plugin for Digg, Sphinn, Reddit, and Technorati.<span> </span>I however think it is far better to hand code these links for better layout control.</p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0in;">In the end there are other tools and new ones will come along, but with this list you can quickly turn an ordinary blog into a power blog</p>
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		<title>Digg This!</title>
		<link>http://bradtheblogboy.com/social-networking/digg-this/?source=rss</link>
		<comments>http://bradtheblogboy.com/social-networking/digg-this/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 04 May 2008 16:39:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Blogboy</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Networking]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Digg]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://bradtheblogboy.com/?p=81</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Reading time: 2 &#8211; 2 minutes
Digg is probably one of the best tools you can use for driving Traffic right to your sight, but it is not for the timid. Getting Diggs is like selling cars. When I started selling cars I was on the used lot and my Sales Team Manager told me something [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Reading time: 2 &#8211; 2 minutes</p>
<p>Digg is probably one of the best tools you can use for driving Traffic right to your sight, but it is not for the timid.<span> </span>Getting Diggs is like selling cars.<span> </span>When I started selling cars I was on the used lot and my Sales Team Manager told me something the first day which has held true any time I have sold things.<span> </span>Bill told me, “Brad selling cars is like getting pussy.<span> </span>If you don’t ask them to do it you aren’t getting it.”  Getting a Dugg is a lot like getting pussy too.<span id="more-61"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have been following a couple of posts elsewhere.<span> </span>There seems to be a lot of bloggers that want the traffic Digg can bring but aren’t willing to ask for it.<span> </span>Instead of getting pussy, most of them are pussies.<span> </span>If you aren’t willing to promote yourselves, then why the fuck should anyone else waste their time promoting your worthless ass?<span> </span>If you want to be popular do your own part in making it happen.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you are worried about looking like some self promoting ass with no more manners than you have guts, then join a Digg team.<span> </span>Hell if you are willing shout to your entire friends list a dozen times a day for the team I might even let you join mine.<span> </span>It will never matter how good your content is if you are the only one stroking yourself.<span> </span>If you want to be noticed in the ever expanding blogosphere then you need to be proactive and quit waiting to be sexy on Digg.<span> </span></p>
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