Blog News Watch

This week saw the official week-after-official-launch-week of my new “Blawg In A Box” business, an hour-long conference call in which I tried to impart my hard-won (through trial and a whole lot of error) “blawgging wisdom” to other lawyers, and a freakin’ steamy week here on the coast. Any day where it’s hotter than Phoenix? Is HOT.

But the A/C’s on, and I’m digging my cushy indoor job right about now. Let’s round us up some bloggy goodness, whaddya say? (Oh - and I’m trying a new linking format with this post. Instead of using the descriptors as my anchor text, I’m anchoring to the blog name itself, but to the post - not the main page of the blog. There is one exception with the Blogger & Podcaster entry. Let me know what you think.)

9:01 AM: Want to get to Gen Y purchasers? Use blogs and online groups . . . About Web Logs: Deb’s gonna let you in on some secret blog-ninja stuff! “What the Probloggers Don’t Tell You” - shhhhh . . . Better Blogging With Michael Martine: Michael gave us a three part (so far) series on “How To Start a Business Blog” - check his home page for the other entries . . . The Blog Herald: Does anyone else find this deja-vu-ish? “UK armed forces banned from blogging” . . . Blogger & Podcaster: Shelly asked some pointed questions about a dust-up in the podcasting community over standards and representation in trade associations, and got a little flak in the comments for it, too (not to mention a call for disclosure, which was given in a later post) . . . Blogging Basics 101: “How do I add YouTube video to my blog?” BB101’s got the goods . . . Blogging For Dollars: Angela takes on the scrapers, who are at it again (or still) . . . Chris Garrett on New Media: “The Secret to Freelance Blogging” talks about blogging for pay for companies, and some questions each party should ask when negotiating this kind of arrangement . . . Copyblogger: A guest post by Ryan Imel talks about “writing everything down” (and has one of the most … interesting pics I’ve seen to date on this or any other blog) . . . DoshDosh: One of my secret obsessions is productivity pr0n, and this post comes close, talking as it does about “opportunity costs” and my favorite/most hated distraction, the boob tube (c’mon, though, TNT’s running two whole hours of Angel every morning - how am I supposed to pass that up?!) . . . Deep Jive Interests: Tony writes about VideoCafe and “pimp[ing] your blog” . . . I’d Rather Be Writing: Tom rethinks “the Importance of Screenshots, Diagrams, and Other Visuals” . . . Lorelle on WordPress: “Are You Risking Your Blog With an Unofficial Or Vulnerable WordPress Theme?” - discusses the “sponsored theme” debate . . . Performancing: Speaking of, Performancing announces that the September 2007 theme sponsorship is open for bids . . . Problogger: WHOA, Kitty! Darren’s got himself a blog makeover! I like it a lot. And here he writes about exploring your blog’s stats (part of his 31-day Project series) . . . Instigator Blog: Ben suggests linking to new blogs to get more readers . . . SEO Round Table: OK, I laughed like crazy at this title, sorry - “Google Deletes Own Blog After Mistaking It For Spam.”  Hee. HEE!

OK, I’m done now. Time for a nice, relaxing ice bath and a nap in the deep freeze walk-in. Til next week - stay cool, bloggers!

Technorati Tags: blog news watch weekly roundup

For your blog design and all-’round-fun needs, Lifehacker’s got a list of what it considers the top 10 free wallpaper, fonts, and icon sources available. Last time I went in search of a particular font - admittedly, not something I do often - I was shocked by the prices. So free’s definitely a good thing in my book!

Check it out here.

A guest post by Mike Rundle at Business Logs takes 451 Press to task for … well, honestly I’m not sure. Not having enough writers for its many blogs? Not achieving PerezHilton.com-esque page views quickly enough for his taste?

See if you can figure it out.

He seems to be making some half-measure attempt to call 451 Press blogs low quality but you’ll note, he very carefully doesn’t actually come right out and say so. Instead we get linguistic gymnastics like this…

If I were running a publishing company with a traditional blog network model (pay writers to write for you, you own the sites and reap the ad revenue, rinse and repeat) I’m not so sure I’d be excited to brand my company the world’s largest. There’s nothing inherently wrong with having a large cache of sites at your disposal, but isn’t it easy to add more sites? … But what about quality?  … Starting and getting something going is not complicated, but continuing the upward trend and moving it higher is hard. Maybe that’s why it took 451 Press 300 blogs to make it to 10 million visitors per month … b5media is another traditional-type blog network, but they rank higher on the quality scale than 451 Press does because they’ve stopped adding “blogs every week�? like 451 Press but seem to be working harder on the quality end of the spectrum instead of just increasing girth on the quantity end.

Am I crazy or did he just call us bad bloggers simply because there are a lot of us?

Yes, I know he’s trying (however inartfully) to draw a distinction between number of blogs (which is relatively easy to manipulate, I concede) and quality. But there’s no correlation here - at least none that holds water. Simply because there are many 451 Press blogs, this guy would have you believe they must be bad. Or, at least, not as good (as b5? Please.) That’s … well - absurd.

My fellow 451Press writers and I work hard, and we do it because we want to see these blogs do well. If we were in it for the money, I can assure you, we’d be long gone.  And yes, some of us (former 451 blogger in the comments, maybe?) do cut and run when the paycheck isn’t what they dreamed of. Who knows - perhaps they’re just not committed to doing the work necessary to make their blog successful. I don’t pretend to know.

But here’s the thing - neither does Mike Rundle.

So howl away, naysayers, at the news that 451 Press is the largest network. We’ll just keep plugging away, doing our bloggy thing - you know, offering value to our readers, posting away, building traffic … that kind of stuff.

Technorati Tags: 451 press network

OK, so now we know most of the news reports got it all horribly wrong - there’s no blogger’s labor union being proposed, but an emergency health fund with group insurance coverage.  (If you don’t know, well, here you go.) First to sign up: Fake Steve Jobs.

So what do you think? Is this idea crazy enough to actually float?

If you haven’t joined the ranks of the uninsured, as I did about a year back, you might be tempted to dismiss this as so much self-aggrandizement (”We made the Democrats - they owe us health care!” - heck, I’ve been saying that for years.) But I know all too well - it’s kinda hard to write pithy rejoinders and be a thought leader when you’re tossing back Tums like it’s candy (well…) and praying the next time you throw up you don’t see blood. (Not that either have happened to me. I’m just saying - lack of insurance? Not a perk.)

Talk back - what do you think?

(Me, I’m all “Where’s the enrollment form, yo?”)

Ever since Wil “Wesley Crusher Who?” Wheaton landed his book deal on the strength of his blog, would-be bestsellers everywhere have been aching for the big break - the almighty book deal.

Here’s a story from the other perspective - book-then-blog. Author Tim Ferriss wrote  The Four Hour Work Week and used his blog as marketing device for the book. In this post, he recounts for us how he got to the highly enviable position of having his first book land simultaneously in the number one slots on both the New York Times bestseller and Wall Street Journal business bestseller lists.

As a would-be author myself, I’m especially heartened by learning that Tim’s book was “turned down by 13 of 14 editors.” Wow.  There’s hope for all of us!

Technorati Tags: tim ferriss, using blog to market book

Hola Campers and Camperettes! Let’s run down the bloggy goodness, shall we?

9:01 AM: Bratz Attack! My daughter cheers … About Web Logs: Deb wants you to be nice … Angela Booth’s Writing Blog: Mac Attack! Rounding up the best Mac apps for writers … Apple Gazette: More Mac Attack! 5 Free OSX Apps Every Blogger Should Have! … Better Blogging With Michael Martine: “Blogging doesn’t matter anymore” - Michael say what? (psst: read the comments, too) … Blog Herald: Here’s an inspirational tale for ya, if you don’t mind being shown up by some durned kid (oops - sorry - channeling grampa there for a sec) … Blogger & Podcaster: Why does iTunes make podcasters lazy? I give up - why? …  Blog-Op: Here’s a really good AdSense tip courtesy RT at Untwisted Vortex … Chris Garrett on New Media: Chris wants to know what kind of blogger you are … Copyblogger: Brian wants a story … DoshDosh: Need a blog makeover to attract an advertiser? … Google Blogoscoped: For those who’ve had enough of those three little letters … I’d Rather Be Writing: If you’ve got a technical post coming up, you really need to read this post from Tom … Lorelle on WordPress: Lorelle Greg Balanko-Dickson reminisces about what she’d do differently … Practical Blogging: Robyn asks if Vista’s ready yet … Problogger: Using MySpace to build your readership … Mashable: Two posts from Mashable - yep,  they’re just that good - first up, CMS Toolbox - 80 open source CM systems and second, 100+ tools to help you find your fortune online … SEO Roundtable: Once and for all - is cross-linking bad in the big book of Google? … Performancing: Matt wants to know what you’re doing to get ready for the Page Rank update - PAGE RANK UPDATE?! ZOINKS - I gotta run.

Technorati Tags: blog news watch weekly roundup

I am proud to announce the launch of my consulting business’s new service line - Blawg In A Box.

Through Inspired Consulting, I offer lawyers assistance and guidance on “finding the words that work” - copywriting, web writing, ghostwriting articles, etc. Here at Blog News Watch, I blog about blogs. So, it was perhaps a match made in heaven to marry the two into a service line that helps lawyers market their practices by blogging (blog + law = blawg).

I believe we’re going to see more of this sort of outsourcing in years to come. As more and more people realize their entrepreneurial dreams, they’re also going to realize that they just can’t do it all. Outsourcing of specific tasks is going to be even bigger than it is already. This makes for a good market to explore, I think. I also think we’re going to see other professionals start to explore blogging as a marketing tool. When you think about it, nothing helps create an aura of expertise faster than a well-maintained blog.

It was a natural fit for me; this new line has everything I love - blogs, writing, computers, the law, marketing. It’s like Christmas!

You can read more at the official announcement here, and find out more about Blawg In A Box here.