Another quickie

If you are ever able to make it into blogger's blogs of note category, I guess you aren't doing too bad. Some of the ones I have checked out, are not that great, but there are a few blogs that I found through the blogs of note and have been hooked ever since. They are Bent Objects , Print and Pattern , and Basic Instructions So if you ever are looking for a good read, check out blogs of note, you might be surprised at what treasures you may find.

One final post for the road

If you come to this blog today or before I post a new topic on top of this, make sure you read the last 3 posts underneath this one, a few days worth of blogging sensation that I had to suppress. Also if you happen to click on any of the links to other sites, and you leave them a commment, let them know how you found out about their site. Linkage and all that jazz. I know I hate it when someone says, "I found your blog through another site or blogger, and I have no idea who that is, it would be nice to know a little more about how peolple are finding your blog. The feedburner and technorati helps some, but it is not 100%. Well for me anyway. Signing off until next time.....

• P.S. Raghav left a comment on my Lines Overheard post, and that was a bit of inspiration for my sketch

What I learned online today: The challenge

So many cool and different things I have learned online recently, you know how I really prefer facebook over myspace, well I have just found even more reason to love it, I have found 2 very good blogging groups there. Also thanks to one of my blogging/facebook contacts-thanks shaz , I have realized the benefits of the Mashable blog site. It is the#1 blog about the most popular social networking sites. I signed up for it sort of by accident before, and really didn't give it much of a second thought, but they actually have very valuable info for utilizing the social network sites to the fullest, as well as keep you informed of all the new applications, and on top of all that gives some good info for bloggers often as well. Facebook has become such a popular social networking site, that Stanford University has designed a course about it . Gotta love the Ivy league schools, "Oh the things you can think, if only you try." Next item- Blog Rush , oh yes people it does work, I find myself scrolling down to the bottom of my page and checking the post titles, I have found 2 really good blogs through Blog Rush already. One of those blogs you can view here and the other is a Piece of Shirt , no that wasn't a typo. A piece of shirt is a blog about...you guessed it shirts, well t-shirts to be precise. The reason I like the blog is because it has links to really cool t-shirt sites. Two of them in particular are Johnny Cupcakes his story about how he started is another inspirational entrepreneur story, for those who have ideas, but are too fearful to give them a try. After you read his story though, be sure and check out the t-shirts! The other really cool T-shirt store is Threadless Chicago they have a really unique approach in that some of their fans are able to design some of the shirts. It goes like this, you have an idea for a cool t-shirt you submit it to them, and they post the ideas for everyone to vote on, if your design is made into a shirt, you get $2000 dollars + a $500 dollar gift certificate, and membership into the alumni club. In addition if your design is reprinted, you get an additional $500 everytime they reprint. If you are not artistically inclined, you can enter an original slogan and possibly win $200 dollars. Some bloggers who I think have the creative aptitude either though their ramblings, or their artistic display are Bent Objects , Kartoen , and The Ranting Monkey , I would mention Basic Instructions , but they already sell their own line of t-shirts. So if any of you happen to read this there is a challenge for you I would be interested to see what you could come up with. Moving on-I was considering moving my blog to another blog format, but I may change my mind after I check out some of the blog layouts that have been graciously formatted for blogger by Blog and Web . I may try to change the layout soon, and this time I hope I do not lose my links, I will take some different precautions this time so hopefully... Finally my new fav. online tool is Sketchcast.com. It is this really interesting widget that you can embed in your blog posts, or send your visitors to your channel, to view you sketches. You can record your voice into it, if you have a microphone, while you draw. Click here to see what I mean. I tried to embed mine in a post, but it did not work for me.

Gain More Traffic to Your Site for Free

Yet another blog community, and hopefully the last for me- Blog Rush Seems that it can be pretty helpful for anyone who is looking for more traffic to their site. So if you are interested and don't already have it, check it out, it's free so you don't have anything to lose.

Clarification 2

Just some further thoughts on a previous post ....I know alot of people may think that I am implying that bloggers who blog on a variety of random topics, are "sell-out bloggers" however that is not what I mean. One of the many blogs I read is Seth's Blog . His posts are on a variety of topics, but he gives his opinions on them. You can tell he either has a personal interest in them , or he has done his research. The blogs I was referring to are ones where the post seems to exist solely as an ad (and not a very good one either). We all know we are being pitched with an idea or product all the time, we just want to be ignorant to the fact that is happening. Would I make money off my blog if I could? Sure! Absolutely. Places like http://www.payperpost.com/ pay you to post on certain topics, and I would take advantage if I could, but I would try to pick the topics that interest me. If I did decide on a new topic that I had no knowledge of, I would at least research the subject and then formulate an opinion, so that my posts would have some clarity and direction. You may see me post about different topics and current events sometimes, but I will try to make sure I have invested some time in understanding the topic, and therefore relay it as I understand it.

Blogging Is Taking Over!-But Like the Starving Artist You May Have To Work Extra Hard Until You See That Big Break.

I can't believe how much of a phenomenon blogging has become! It is estimated that there is at least 71 million blogs out there! Now I must say that a good percentage of these are also said to be inactive as well, but that is still alot of people blogging. Which brings me to the few reasons people are blogging. Some people are blogging purely for self-expression and status updates for a small private fan-base such as family and friends, while others want to introduce their literary talents to the world. Still others are blogging solely with the purpose of profiting from their blogs. I think I along with many other bloggers, I fit into an evolved category of people which begin blogging to express themselves, and possibly gain a small following along the way, but then we are introduced to the possibilities of earning revenue from our blogs. You get caught up in the excitement of people who claim they have become rich and they will tell you all the secrets to being successful, "just like them!" While there are some bloggers whose tips actually work, many of them are just gaining more publicity-therefore more revenue- for their blog. I also happen to notice that many of the popular blogs that get top listings at places such as Technorati and Bloglog , are related to "Making Money With Your Blog" and/or technical blogs. Coming in a close second are the blogs that are about celebrity gossip, or just racy in nature. A few of the blogs that tell you they will show you how to make money, tell you to write about what's hot! While it may very well be true that alot of readers are into that type of content, I think it is watering down the essence of blogging, by writing just to keep up with the trends. If that is truly your style i.e you are a gossip queen or king who just loves keeping up with the latest news, then by all means that is what your blog should be about. However if you are randomly posting topics that you don't know about, feel any connection too, or like, why write it? This is not to say you can't blog about current events around the world, if your blog is about "dogs." If you are moved about a particular topic whatever it is write it down. Blog It. In my opinion a blog that is totally random, with the author all over the place babbling about topics that clearly you can see that have no real interest, expertise, or personal interest in, is a waste.... So blog about what drives and inspires you to write, and earn your fans and audience. Maybe it may take you awhile to earn revenue, but if you have a blog that shows some quality, you will have longevity, and a fan base that will follow you will all the others have died out......