Win a Free Domain Name

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If you are serious about blogging, you’ve got to have your own domain name! Seriously - go check your RSS feed. And tell me: how many of your feeds that you read frequently are of blogs that don’t have its own domain name?

Many people won’t take you seriously if you don’t have your own domain name. But I aim to change that: at least for one of you. One lucky blogger will win a free domain name for his blog!

Who Can Enter the Win-A-Free-Domain Contest?

Anyone who runs a free blog on blogspot or livejournal or wordpress.com or xanga or any other similar free service.

Note: Your free blog has to be at least one month old.A  You can’t simply put up a blog today for the chance of winning a free domain name.

How To Enter the Contest?

1. Tell your readers about any one post that you liked on this blog. If you can’t decide your favourite post, than simply review this blog. And link to that post and/or this blog.

2. Send a trackback to this post. Or send me an email - with “domain contest” in the subject line. (If you do send a trackback, you will also get a linkback to your blog. As all my trackbacks are crawled by the search engines.)

3. On 1st September, I’ll choose a winner with the help of random.org.

4. The winner gets a free gift card from GoDaddy.com that can be used to buy a domain name.

(Disclosure: I myself don’t use GoDaddy for my domain names.A  But my domain registrar doesn’t provide gift cards.A  So I’ll be using GoDaddy for this contest.)

Thats it.

Having Two RSS Feeds: Full Post Feed as well as Summary Feed

One of the blogs that I follow infrequently is LifeHacker.com

If you scroll down the LifeHacker blog, you will find that they provide two syndication options:

This is a fabulous idea in my opinion.

• If people prefer full content RSS feeds, they’ll get it with ads. So that you can make some money too.
• And if they prefer not to view your ads, they can opt for the partial content RSS feeds. And come visit your blog if they want to read the full post. You can then monetize your blog.

I always wondered what plugin LifeHacker uses to provide two feeds for their blog. But never did try hard to find such a plugin.

WordPress Plugin: DualFeeds

Yesterday, I came across a WordPress plugin that allows your blog to have two RSS feeds too: one with full content. And one with partial content.

You can download that plugin here: DualFeeds

I’m not sure if LifeHacker uses the DualFeeds plugin. But it serves the purpose.

The Profit Principle of Smart Gamblers

Disclosure: I’m not a big gambler.A  I’ve never ever won more than $20 at a Casino. I’ve never lost a lot either. Except once.

I’m playing roulette in a casino in beautiful Goa. The roulette ball lands on Red 7 times in a row! The crowd goes a little crazy. People start betting wildly on Black! I’m one of those people.

The ball is rolled again. And again it lands on… Red!

The house wins a bucket load of money.

The people place their bets once again. All money on the Black. To recoup their money, some people double their previous bets!

And once again the ball lands on Red!

Deja vu… Once again bets are placed on Black. Once again people double their previous bets. And once again the ball lands on Red!

What are the odds?!

You should have heard the cry of anguish in the casino after the roulette ball landed on red 10 times in a row!

The ball landed on Black on its 11th ride on the roulette. But by that time, no one had any money left.A  All the players had doubled their way to bankruptcy!

That day taught me an expensive lesson that smart professional gamblers and stock brokers know:

Cut Your Losses Early. Let Your Profits Roll.

Doesn’t matter what the probability says. Doesn’t matter what everyone else is doing. If you’re making a loss, you should cut it out quick. Because more important than the chance of making a huge killing is: taking care of your downside and making sure you can always play the game!

Conversation with a Website Gambler

I was recently reminded of this situation during a phone call. A person - lets call him Mark - calls me and asks me if I can help grow his website traffic. His website has all the bells and whistles. Mark had hired someone to create a website using all the latest buzzwords. Web 2.0. Ajax. Social networking. His site has it all.

What it didn’t have was a way of making money.

My response to Mark was: Traffic generation is easy. I could do that. But how was he going to convert the traffic and make money?

And his response: Oh once the website becomes popular, the money will somehow emerge automatically. Mark gave me an example: Google didn’t have a way of making money either when they first started out!

My suggestion was easy: Either find a way of monetizing the website. Or get out right now. Google had resources that you and me don’t have. They had venture capital funding to the tunes of millions. They could make million dollar losses yet stay in the game. But we can’t. We would go bankrupt if we follow the Google strategy.

Because Mark had invested a lot of his time and money already, he didn’t like my advice. And that is the problem: because most people invest a lot in their projects, they won’t get out of it even if they keep on making losses!

But you have to cut the ropes of an ugly project - or you’ll be dragged down along with it!

Action Summary:

• Does your blog have a way of earning money? If not, then without wasting more time, sit down and start thinking of ways to monetize your blog.
• Are your advertising sources profitable? If not, stop spending money and get out now. No amount of further effort will convert a poor advertising source profitable.
• Is your employee a slacker? Let him go now. Don’t wait and pray for him to get better.
• Is one of your clients taking a lot of your time - but you are holding on to him just because he could start sending a lot more business to you? Fire him!

Cut Your Losses Early! Because, chances are: you’ll lose your shirt before you can win the big promised paycheque.

Creativity 101: 5 Ways To Get Your Writing Groove On

A few days back, I came across a blog by Michelle aka BlogGrrl.A  And found her blog to be quite refreshing.A  Michelle has a very unique writing style of her own - very goofy, sometimes outrageous, but always entertaining. I started communicating with her via email and asked her if she would like to share her writing ideas with my blog readers.A  Michelle agreed - and here is her fantastic guest post:

Creativity 101: 5 Ways To Get Your Writing Groove On

Sitting around at home writing in your underwear is a pretty low-stress gig, but sometimes it can be too much of a good thing. Writing is a solitary pursuit, which can ironically leave you without the ideas that got you started writing in the first place. If you end up with severe brain drain, try one of these creative writing techniques to get your writing groove on.

1. Grab a trashy magazine and check out the headlines.There are great ideas both on the cover and inside. I like to use this “creativity exercise” as an excuse to grab a Maxim and check out whats going on in men’s heads. It scares me. I digress. At any rate, headlines such as How They Did It: Five Women Lose 100 Pounds in Five Months can be morphed into How They Did It: Five Bloggers Get 1000 RSS Subscribers in Record Time . If you’re the serious sort, instead of grabbing a trashy magazine, use The Economist.

2. Play cards with yourself.

Get three different colored markers and 15 index cards. Divide the index cards into three piles of five. On the first pile of index cards, write subjects from your niche. If you have a money blog, it might look like this:

• Saving
• Investing
• Making $ Online
• Frugality
• Career Advice

Then, using a different colored marker, write down five formats on the next five cards. For example:

• List
• Photo Essay
• Long Informative
• Link List
• Review

Finally, with the last marker and set of index cards, list some random things that come to your mind. You may want to add some more index cards at this point.

• breeds of cats
• personality types
• musical instruments
• fish
• tools

Now mix up the cards. You may end up with something like a list of ways to be frugal with illustrations of a Persian and alley cat next to one another. If you don’t like what you get, mix it up again. Eventually you’ll come up with something. Just don’t do what I did and include “underwear” in your last set of cards!

3. Lie awake at night and stare at the ceiling.

Eventually you will drift into a beta state where you think of all sorts of odd ideas, some of which might even be good. Keep a notebook and pencil next to you, because, believe me, you are not going to remember this stuff when you wake up. In the morning, review what you have written. The ratio of nonsense to brilliance typically runs about 99:1, but that’s okay, because that one percent pays off. Good ways to induce insomnia include having a teenager, drinking coffee too late, contemplating the nature of consciousness and owning a cat who enjoys “making biscuits” on your head with its extremely sharp claws at two in the morning.

4. Copy other bloggers.

Look at the structure of articles you enjoy and duplicate it using your own content. This is how I got the idea for 11 Mistakes Your Blog Makes in Bed. Likewise, if you see some content out there that you can do better, go for it. You can put your own spin on anything. Ultimately, it is your voice and perspective that make your blog unique more than anything else.

5.Read books.

Make a habit of keeping some Post-it notes next to you whenever you are reading a book. Whenever you get to a passage that relates in some way to your blog, however vaguely, stick a Post-it on the page. You’ll find that a single well-written book can spawn a dozen posts. Don’t disregard fiction–you never know when you’ll run across a quote, story or character that will spark a completely unique post.

If you liked this post, stop on by Bloggrrl and say hi. You might even want to try for the 50 smackeroos in this month’s strip poker contest. Check it out! See ya there.

• You can also read my guest post on Michelle’s blog: How To Not Write Stupid

Copyright Permission Strategy

1. World Wide Distribution RocksA 

In many concerts, workshops and events I go to - they have a strict policy: no cameras allowed.

But I read about this rock band - who instead of not allowing cameras, encouraged it!A  They would shout to their audience:

“Take a picture of us with your digital camera; when you get home, blog about us, and put our picture on your blog!”

As a result, the band gained fame and sold more CDs!

2. The Other Side of the Coin

I usually have the rock band frame of mind: I don’t mind others using material from this blog.A  But there is another ugly side: Google and other search engines don’t like duplicate content.A  If other websites copy your posts,A  they may rank higher in search engines for the keywords in that post.A  And all the natural search engine traffic will go to them instead of coming to you.

So what should you do?A  Have a strict do-not-copy notice and enforce it?

3. The Solution

The solution is finding the middle path. I don’t allow people to copy all my posts.A  But I’ll let them republish one or two of my posts on their blogs or websites or newsletters.A A  Here are some rules I try to follow:

i.A  I don’t allow scrapers: people who syndicate the entire RSS feeds on their websites.A  I actively go after them.

ii. But I don’t mind if people syndicate excerpts of all my blog posts on their website.A  Excerpts is fine.A  In fact, its more than fine - as people will click on to this blog if they like the excerpts.

iii. Linking to other posts you’ve written before - from your new posts is a good idea. Because even if people syndicate your entire RSS feed, they will be sending their visitors back to you who click through the link to other posts.

iv. Using the Feed Footer plugin is a good idea too - if you use WordPress.A  You can add a copyright notice and a link back to your blog from underneath all your blog posts.

v.A  If people email me and ask if they can re-publish a post of mine, I usually say yes.A  Even if its for commercial purposes.

vi. In fact, I’ll also go through the trouble of re-writing the introduction of that blog post to better suite their audience if I feel like it’ll be worth the extra effort.A  By re-writing the introduction, I also make sure that Google indexes both the posts.

vii. I do use a tool from time to time to find people who plagiarize my content without permission.A  But I usually leave those people alone who’ve just copied one of my posts - and that too - to make a point of their own.A  I only go after people who copy all of my posts.A  The tool I use is available for free.A  Its called Copyscape.

Action Summary:

• Don’t discourage people to republish your work.A  It could lead to increase in traffic.
• But make sure you take steps to see that they don’t duplicate everything you write.
• Make sure that people send traffic to you whenever they use your material.

Overcoming the Barriers to Guest Blogging

Guest posting on other blogs can attract more traffic than almost any other technique. Yet very few bloggers actively seek out guest blogging opportunities. Very few bloggers shoot an email to other blogs and send them a guest blog post pitch.

This post aims to break all your barriers to guest blogging. So that you too can start creating your own guest blogging opportunities.

Objection 1: The ____ blog is so popular. I doubt if the author has time to even read my emails. I’m sure he won’t allow me to write for his blog.

I’ll let you in on a secret: most bloggers will allow you guest posting on their blog if you approach them with a unique story or angle. It doesn’t matter how popular they are. Its true that your chances of getting published on their blogs shoots up high if you’ve spent time in building a relationship with the author first though.

The Trick to Getting Your Guest Posts Accepted on Over 90% of the Blogs You Approach

Approach blogs that have already published guest posts by other authors before and your chances of being accepted to write for them will increase tremendously. Because these are the bloggers that already know the benefits of allowing others to write for them (variety for their blog readers, more free time for them), you won’t have to spend time to try and convince them a lot.

The 3 Rules I Follow is:

• Only contact blogs that you like
• First make an effort to build a relationship with the author
• If you don’t have a relationship with the author, only approach blogs that have already published other guest posts before

Objection 2: I just don’t have time to write guest posts for other blogs.

If you don’t have time to write for others, here is the solution for you:

Co-Blogging!

Approach other bloggers and ask them if they would be interested in co-blogging - where you write one guest post for them, and they write one guest post for you.

Objection 3: I want to save the best posts for my blog - so that I attract all the traffic from social media sites and search engines.

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” - Harry S. Truman

Its very short sighted to save the best posts for your blog. Because if you write mediocre guest posts for other blogs, they may not publish it. And even if they do, their readers won’t like it - and won’t come visit your blog. Which is the main purpose of guest blogging.

Only if you blow the readers’ minds away with your guest post will they come and visit your blog. And subscribe to its RSS feed and keep on coming back to it.

Always “Put your best foot forward first.”

Action Summary:

• Start approaching other blogs with guest blogging requests - at least once a week. Make it a part of your strategy.
• Asking other bloggers to co-blog with you is a fantastic idea too - which makes sure you don’t have to write more than you are used to.

Link Clout # 8

Here are some links that can help youA  build a better, more popular blog:

1. The Emotions that Make Us Link

2. How To Use MySpace to Build a Blogging Audience

3. One Way Link Exchange Website

Rating Feed Footer Plugin

I need a favor from you.

If you liked the Feed Footer plugin, please go and rate it highly in the WordPress Plugin Competition.A  It’ll take all of 2 seconds.A  And will help me in making the useful plugin popular.

Click here to rate the Feed Footer Plugin

(Just take your mouse over the 5 stars - and click on the 5th star.)

Blog Publishing Frequency and Strategy

Instead of publishing one new post every week day on this blog, I’ve shifted gears a bit.A  I’ll only be publishing 3-4 new posts every week.

I won’t be reducing the number of posts I write.A  I’ll just not be publishing them on this blog.A  Instead, I’ll be trying to find other blogs where I can guest post.A  This way, more people will be reading what I write.A  And more people will visit this blog.

From time to time, I’ll also be asking others to write guest posts for this blog.A  So hopefully, the amount of useful content you read on this blog won’t reduce.

Action Summary:

You will do good adapting your publishing strategy too.A  Don’t post everything you write on your blog.A  Instead find other blogs to guest post at.

3 Ways of Differentiating Your Blog

Chelm Justice for Blogging

Eons ago, there was a small town named Chelm somewhere in Europe. To bring order in the city, the people had elected an impartial judge. One day, filled with rage, the town cobbler killed one of his customers.

The cobbler was bought up in front of the judge who sentenced him to die by hanging. This was really bad news for the town. One townsman gained some courage to stand up and speak: “If Your Honor pleases, you have sentenced to death the town cobbler! He’s the only one we’ve got. If you hang him who will mend our shoes?”

a_?Who! Who?a_? cried all the other townsmen in Chelm together.

The judge thought for a while, nodded in agreement and reconsidered his verdict. a_?Good people of Chelm,a_? he said, a_?What you say is true. Since we have only one cobbler it would be a great wrong against the community to let him die. As there are two roofers in the town, let one of them be hanged instead!a_?

Action Summary:

• You have to differentiate your blog from other blogs. If you fail to do that, the public will never let your blog become famous. They will never fight for you. And when the time comes to remove clutter from their blog reading lists, you will be the first one to go. So focus on differentiating your blog.

Painless Differentiation

It doesn’t take a lot to differentiate your blog from the crowd. A little effort can take you a long way. Dennis Rodman differentiated himself from other basketball players by making just one simple change.

For years, Dennis Rodman was a first class basketball player putting up impressive rebounding numbers on the scorecard. But he didn’t receive much publicity and hardly any endorsement contracts. That all changed when he coloured his hair red. By being bold and different, he instantly stood out from the rest of his mates. And made a fortune for himself endorsing products.

Dennis Rodman: Before & After. Black boring hair hid him in the pack. Red exciting hair made him rich and famous!

3 Ways of Differentiating Your Blog

In an effort to prevent this post turning into a book, I’ll keep the bullet points brief. You should focus on just 3 things to differentiate your blog.

1. Blog Design

Your blog design creates your first impression amongst your readers. So if you are really serious about blogging, you shouldn’t go for a ready made theme that 100s of other bloggers are using. But instead, create or hire some one to create your own blog theme.

Step 1: Audit your competitor’s blog. See how their blog theme looks like.

Step 2: Then create a blog theme that looks different than theirs. You can come up with a unique theme by simply focusing on three main elements of your blog:

• Colours
• Layout
• Header/Logo

Eg: North X East blog on blogging has one of the best blog designs I’ve ever seen!

2. Content Chutzpah

Your blog content is divided in two parts. 1: Writing. 2: Supportive audio-visuals and images.

Differentiating your blog simply based on your writing is hard work. But you can do it by finding your own unique voice. Two tips to find your own voice is:

i. Exaggerate. You can only find your voice after you have experienced the extremes. Write a post with lots of adjectives. Write a post with lots of big words. Write a post with very unusual words in it. Try to write a poem. By experiencing these extremes, you will come to know what you are most comfortable with. And will create your own unique writing style. (Don’t publish your exaggerated posts if you don’t feel like it.)

ii. Read and emulate. I used to read the onion and then try to write an article in their style. I used to read Monday Morning Memo’s and immediately write my own blurb using their writing style. By emulating various masters, you’ll find your own voice.

Eg: Bloggrrl has a very unique voice of her own.

It is very hard to differentiate your blog simply based on your writing. But you can easily make use of snazzy audio-visual and images to differentiate your blog.

Eg: Gaping Void differentiated himself because of his cartoon cards

Eg: Kathy Sierra differentiated her blog by making cool use of pictures and graphs

3. Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Of Your Blog

What does your blog offer that no other blog offers?

Pizzas are made and sold since at least a few dozen decades. But Dominos could still sneak upon the market and take a huge pie out of it for themselves because they came up with a USP that no one else did. They offered something that no one else before them had offered: quick delivery.

How can you build up on your blog topic and offer something that no one else offers?

Eg: Chris Garrett has coined a new term “Authority Blogger” and created a USP for himself.

Make Your Blog Famous

In the comments section of this post, write down how you differentiate your blog. What do you do that makes you stand out? It could be based on the 3 differentiation points in the post above. Or it could be some other element that you focus on.

I’ll make a follow up post where I will feature your blog and how it differentiates itself!