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Legal Risks to Be Watchful for When Blogging
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What better way for one voice their opinion to the whole world than through social media and blogging? Thanks to advancement in technology, today one can voice their views and opinions in an easily accessible way at the convenience of their home or office. But just because there is freedom of speech and expression does not mean you should abuse the rights of free writing; there are some legal aspects that need to be considered before you post anything on the World Wide Web. Here are the top 3 risks that you should be very careful of when you want to start blogging.
1. Defamation:
Defamation can be described as false statement or assumptions that can cause harm and embarrassment to another person or party. Unless you want to be involved in a vicious and unending legal battle, it is always advisable that you verify all the sources of information you use to ensure you give credible information; information that you can back up with tangible proof and evidence should it be required in a court of law. Telling the truth is one thing, but proofing it in a court of law is a different (and sometimes very difficult) thing altogether. Before you click ‘post’ in your blog, ensure you keep this in mind.
2. Intellectual property:
Respect to intellectual property available online is equally very important. Intellectual property in this case can be in form of videos, images, or text which are protected by copyrights. Never publish anything that you don’t have full legal rights on. Should you use anything that does not belong to you, always ensure you provide appropriate links and the right acknowledgement of the author?
3. Confidentiality:
Never divulge private and confidential information on your weblog, whether you have tangible proof or not, and whether you post anonymously or not. For instance, never post information about your employer on social media and Blogging. You could unknowingly or knowingly be giving out information that your employer sees as very sensitive business secrets. Giving out such insider information can interfere with the competitive edge of your employer. It goes without saying that a lawsuit could ensue. Actually, statistics indicate that most internet-related lawsuits are filed by employers and large business corporations.
Here are some quick tips and some accepted journalistic practices that will help you avoid problems on your blog.
- Always get consent of all businesses or individuals you plan to cover in your blog. Try to give them an opportunity to respond to what you have to say before you post for the whole world to see.
- Should you publish something and it turns out erroneous, and the concerned party asks you to publish corrections, always ensure you publish the clarifications and link them to the initial erroneous post.
- In case you make a mistake, you should admit and offer your apologies at the earliest available opportunity. This way, you will have some bargaining power should a legal action be taken against you. You will also attract more loyal readers on your blog as you will be seen as an individual of integrity.
Free Blogging Tips for Beginners
Free Blogging Tips for Beginners
This post is all about how to start blogging or say free blogging tips for beginners. Below I have tried to mention as much pre required information as possible including details and useful links to a resources of free blogging tips for beginners. It reveals the blogging basics and a lot of the decisions and strategies that one may feel like to consider before starting a blog.
There are many useful books in the market both online and offline loaded with up to date blogging tips for beginners. If you want blogging tips for beginners one should carry few things in mind.
1. Site Subscription – This is a useful blog related to free blogging tips for beginners which is updated almost every day with blogging news and blogging tips relevant to bloggers for beginners who really want to improve the quality of their blogs.
2. Look into the of site archives –There are many useful blogging tips for beginners published over the last few months to site. You can get into different sites’ archives related to blogging tips and how to start a blog or blog help. Otherwise use the search more and hunt for the topics you want to know more about.
3. Refer different resources – Don’t go on trusting one site resources blindly. Explore more, search more, understand the point and then apply it your blogs. Gather useful and free blogging tips for beginners from multiple resources, take a clear look and get started with your own blog.
Well don’t need to worry too much since initially it will go as a trial and error method. In any case you can edit your blogs any time. For more blogging tips for beginners stay connected to our site.
Blogs – What Are Blogs?
Blogs today are a lot like managing your own online journal. Blogs appear on the news section of any site quite often nowadays. For instance, some information source is tipped to a story by a blog or a blog reports something new on a already discussed story. Blogs are not online but they show up in magazines too.
But it is quite possible that many of you might never have seen a blog. (Let me first tell you the section you reading is a blog created by me). Blogs are also called as weblogs. Have you ever seen the blogosphere? Do you know what blogs are exactly? How blogs work? What blogs do? Do questions about blogs bother you..? Let me tell you what blogs are & what blogs do.
One of the things that is so amazing about blogs is their simplicity.
Think about a “normal Web site.” It usually has a home page, with links to lots of sub-pages that have more detail. Site with thousands of information pages all organized under a home page. A small business site follows the same format — it might have a home page and five or 10 sub-pages. Most traditional Web sites follow this format. If the site is small, it is sort of like an online brochure. If it is large, it is like an electronic encyclopedia.
A typical Web site has a home page that links to sub-pages within the site. Article sites are like that only, they contain thousands of articles all organized into big categories. The categories and all the latest stories are accessed from the home page.
More About Blogs:
- Blogs are quite simple.
- A blog is normally a single page of entries. There may be archives of older entries, but the “main page” of a blog is all anyone really cares about.
- A blog is organized in reverse-chronological order, from most recent entry to least recent.
- A blog is normally public — the whole world can see it.
- The entries in a blog usually come from a single author.
- The entries in a blog are usually stream-of-consciousness. There is no particular order to them. For example, if I see a good link, I can throw it in my blog.
There are some tools use for creating blogs are used by many bloggers since it is very easy to add entries to blog any time whenever they feel like doing it using those blogging tools. This is just how blogs work or what blogs do or you can say what are blogs. Well this was all about blogs I wanted to mention in my own blog. Next time I would add blog’s basics & how to create and publish your own blogs.
Get Your Comments Blocked or Deleted-we tell you how
Leaving comments on other blogs is one of the most efficient ways to promote your own blog, and to network with fellow readers and blog owners.
Given the rise of blog spam, however, getting your comments approved is not as easy as it sounds. Below you’ll find 10 ways to get your comments blocked or deleted (so yeah, avoid them if you can).
1. Use a keyword as your name
The field “Name” on the comment form refers to your name. It doesn’t refer to your blog name, and it certainly doesn’t refer to keyword you are trying to optimize for. Writing something like “John Doe – CarsBlog.com” is fine for most blog owners, but “Cheap Car Parts” would flag you as spam from miles away.
2. Use sensitive keywords in your comment
Even if you comment is a legitimate one, you should avoid using sensitive keywords like viagra, loans, and blackjack, because the spam filter of the blog will probably block your comment.
3. Use HTML to make your comment stand out
Sure, you want to make sure that people will read your comment and visit your blog after that, but don’t try to achieve that by using the bold or italic typefaces throughout your comment.
4. Write in capital letters
The same is true for writing in CAPITAL LETTERS. The analogy for this would be people trying to have a nice conversation while you come screaming at them with your thoughts on the issue. The blog owner will probably just delete your comment.
5. Write a one-line comment
Maybe you are in a hurry, maybe you just want to get a link back to your blog. Either way, if all you write is “Great post!” or “I will certainly try to use that information!”, there are good chances that your comment will be deleted.
6. Write a comment before reading the post
If it becomes clear to the blog owner that you wrote your comment without even reading or understanding his post, he’ll probably just delete it. Even if he approves your comment you’ll look a bit stupid, so make sure to read the post before commenting.
7. Include a link to a dubious page in your comment
Including a link to a related post inside your comment is usually fine. However, you should clarify where the link is pointing to. If the blog owner gets suspicious about the link he’ll probably just delete the whole comment to be on the safe side.
8. Include a second link to your site at the end of your comment
Most blog platforms allow you to include the URL of your website when leaving a comment, and that URL will be used to link your name to your site. Some people, however, like to reinforce that by signing-off their comments with their name and with a second link to their sites. Needless to say this practice makes the comment look spammy.
9. Use foul language in your comment
Expressing your opinion is fine, but don’t include foul language in your comment, even if you are upset or annoyed by something in the post. This is one of the quickest ways to get your comment deleted.
10. Attack the author or other commenters
Criticism is fine, and even appreciated by most bloggers. Personal attacks and confrontations, however, will only make you sound like a troll, reducing the chances of getting your comments approved.
5 Quick Ways to Improve Your Blog
3 years ago
Let’s say that you have a few hours free and you want to dedicate it to your blog. It’s not enough time to take on a major project such as building a new theme or completely redoing your categories/tags (at least not if you have a large site), but you want to do something to make your blog better.
If you find yourself with that blessing, here are five things that you can do right now to improve your blog, all of which take less than an hour and some only take a few minutes.
Best of all, doing these things will, in most cases, have an immediate or near-immediate impact on your site. Making it more approachable with better content.
So here are some ways you can improve your site right now.
5. Tweak Your Theme
You might not have the time you need to overhaul your theme completely, but what about tweaking it a bit? Why not see if you can improve your site’s typography, thus making your text easier to read? Maybe it’s time for a better logo?
Though, in a perfect world, the look of a site would not impact the way it is read, appearance matters a great deal on the Web, especially when it affects readability. Take a few moments to look at your site, analyze what its weakest points are visually and address them.
Even if it is as simple as adding new RSS buttons, it can be a huge help.
4. Run a Site Speed Test
How fast does your site load? What’s slowing it down the most? If you don’t know, run a site speed analysis and find out. Then all you have to do is eliminate whatever is slowing you down and you should notice a drastic difference in your site’s speed ,all without moving hosts or paying more money.
If you have files that are slowing you down but can’t remove them, consider hosting them on Amazon Cloudfront or Rackspace Cloud to greatly increase their download speed cheaply. Also, be sure to optimize images as needed to keep them from dragging your site down.
3. Tweak/Add Static Pages
Though most people read blogs for the day-to-day content, most people become regular readers, at least in part, due to something available on the static pages of your site.
If you check your traffic stats, you’ll likely find that your static pages are among the most popular on your site but, since they aren’t being constantly written, they fall out of date.
Take a few moments to update or add to your static pages. Write a little bit about yourself, include a picture if you can to forge a more human connection and add pages that compliment your regular blog topics. It works great.
2. Add a Feature
Though adding features to your blogs recklessly can get you in trouble, especially with your site’s speed and appearance, if you have been wanting to add Twitter interaction or a new widget, now is a great time.
Since WordPress and other blogging platforms make it so easy to add plugins, widgets and other elements, if you want to try out a new tool or service, you can do so with relative ease and safety. However, be sure to closely monitor how it affects your site and ensure that it does more good than harm.
1. Brainstorm
Though brainstorming isn’t as immediate with its gratification, it is something you will see benefit from tomorrow and for a long time moving forward.
The problem is that, if you’ve been blogging long enough, idea generation and blog post writing are likely part of the same process. If you don’t constantly have ideas ready when you wake up in the morning, you spend time coming up with ideas that should have gone to writing and crafting the perfect post.
If you brainstorm in advance, you’ll find that your posts are much higher quality. They are better thought out, have much tighter writing and tend to wonder off course less. If you post every weekday and you take an hour now to come up with 15 good ideas, you’ll have three weeks of high-quality posts in your future.
What can improve your site more than that?
Bottom Line
When it comes to making your site better, it doesn’t take a lot of time, just a lot of heart and willingness to sacrifice a few moments to spend on things that are not directly related to blogging.
Best of all, these are just some of the things you can do to make your site better. There are plenty of other things that you can improve on the quick. You just have to beilling to look around.
Blogging Success
3 years ago
Life is made up two different things: events and processes. A post on Seth Godin’s blog he talked about it.
An event takes a short time to occur, 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 week, 1 month or even 1 year. A process takes a longer time frame, 5 years, 20 years, 50 years or even a lifetime.
An event is for the short haul, a process is for the long haul.
A beautiful story in “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” a book by Robert Kiyosaki, will help explain this further.
There was a village that had a water problem. They villagers called a meeting to solve their problem and decided to give 2 contractors the contract of supplying water to the village.
The first contractor quickly ran out and bought 2 buckets and started hauling and supplying water from the stream to the villagers.
The second contractor was no where to be found.
The first contractor started making some money almost immediately. The villagers had complains about dirt in the water so he bought a filter. He later employed his sons to help in the work.
All this while, the second contractor was nowhere.
The first contractor toiled and worked very hard till one day the second contractor appeared.
All he had on him was a paper. The paper was a document that carried an agreement signed by his company, some investors and a construction firm.
While he was away, he founded a company, employed a president, got investors and contracted a construction company to build a standard water supply system for the village.
The water system would supply cleaner water at a cheaper rate, all year round to the people in the village.
He didn’t have to carry any bucket like the first contractor.
The only money he made was a few cent for every bucket fetched.
To cut the story short, the first contractor ran out of business while the second contractor travelled the world, enjoying the success he got from following a proven process.
What Does This Have To Do With Blogging?
Well, a lot.
Firstly, success in blogging or in anything at all, is a process. It takes time.
A lot of bloggers are like the first contractor, the wake up, set up a blog, slap Adsense ads on it and start making cents.
Well, there is nothing wrong with that, only that they neglect the things to be done in making their blogs successful in the long haul. They forget the necessary and important processes that will lead to blogging success.
The second contractor went through the pain of writing a business plan, building a company, hiring people and getting investors to support the water project.
He took his time to build his success. He followed a process. A time wasting process maybe, but it was worth it at the end.
So What Are The Processes That Lead To Blogging Success?
There are so many processes and things you must learn and do to succeed as a blogger. Frankly, I believe you know or have heard about the different things already. What you may have not been told or remember is that all these things are processes not events.
They take time to learn, to perfect and to succeed in.
Here are a few that you know already.
1. Content production and writing
2. Search engine optimization
3. Traffic generation
4. Product development and launch
5. Guest posting
6. Online networking
7. Social media marketing
8. Linkbuilding
And many more.
All of these things take time to do and perfect. They are more of processes than events.
Writing a single blog post could be seen as an event, but writing 100 great posts on your blog that will get people coming back to your blog is surely a process. It doesn’t happen in one day.
You don’t wake up one day and become a top blogger; even Darren Rowse followed and still follows a process.
You don’t just start a new blog and make $10 000 in 2 days. Making money with blogs is also a process.
The bottom line is, there are so many things to learn and do to become a successful blogger but these things are all processes and will take time.
So, be like the second contractor. Invest your time, continue in the process and build on every step made in every process.
5 Reasons to be Critical of Other Bloggers
3 years ago
This post may be considered edgy to some but I am here to say that I am not a rebel. Just read any of my posts and you will conclude that I am not a malcontent, a dissident, or a troublemaker. Probably my biggest fault is my brute honesty so I sought out one of the largest blogs in the universe to get my message across. Daniel Scocco has allowed me the honor of guest posting here on DailyBlogTips so I am taking advantage of his vast audience to speak my mind.
I read a lot of blogs and I am growing tired of the mutual admiration society. I think a lot of my fellow bloggers are becoming complacent. We are too concerned with how we will be perceived rather than speaking our minds. We are too concerned that the popular blog owner will be offended if we offer up criticism that comes straight from the heart. We’re afraid of being ostracized from the masses of commenters who have nothing more worthwhile to say than “Great Post!”, “You hit the nail on the head with this post”, or “You are a true inspiration to me and my life!”
I think we need to be more critical of other bloggers no matter how big or popular that their blogs have become. Why? Well, let me tell you…
1. We must be true to ourselves
If we disagree we should be true to our convictions and speak up! When I was just starting out with my blog I criticized a very popular blogger in the comments section of another blog who was reviewing the popular blogger’s book. Before I knew it the popular blogger responded to my comments which I thought was really cool. He didn’t respond with vitriol but with an honest reaction and counter-argument. What a refreshing concept…
2. Constructive criticism helps the Author
If I write a post I want my readers to be honest in the comments. If they don’t agree with either a premise that I made in a post or something I said, I want them to let me know. In fact, it’s the critical comments that I remember most because these are the ones that I tend to think about more than the others. Believe me, I welcome any comments on my blog but when someone takes a different stance or offers more information I find this really helpful. I belong to a few different blog forums and recently I asked other members to critique my blog site. I got a number of responses from members praising my site but it was the constructive criticism that I remember and it helped me to make positive changes to my blog.
3. A dialog will be fostered
When I criticized that popular blogger back when I started out, I have since been able to foster a relationship with him. I started a dialog that day and it has continued to grow. I think this is the true spirit of blogging. We can foster a dialog with people we have never met but have a common passion.
4. We’ll keep each other honest
I think that some popular blog owners feel that they can do no wrong. They feel that their words are pearls of wisdom and that their readers are blessed to be reading them. Well, I’m here to say that it’s not their fault! It’s our fault. It’s our lack of being critical at the risk of being called jealous, spiteful, or resentful of their success. We must continue to keep each other honest by offering up our true feelings in the comments and we’ll all be better for it.
5. Our blogs will improve!
As this New Year begins I have goals for the coming year that are based around my blog as I’m sure you do as well. All of these goals are pretty much geared toward one thing: improving my blog. We need to hear from our readers what they feel is good about our blog and what they feel needs improvement. Ask your readers and they will respond. If we are all honest with each other and give our opinions in a responsible manner then we can all improve as bloggers.
In the movie Wall Street the lead character Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, had a memorable quote that was “Greed, for lack of a better word, is Good.”
Well, I’m here to say that “Criticality, for lack of a better word, is Good!” Let’s all be critical of each other, no matter what you feel the consequences may be. Any blog owner who can’t take criticism isn’t worth subscribing to. Let’s step it up this year and be true to ourselves, foster the dialog, offer constructive criticism, keep each other honest, and improve our blogs as a result.
Blog from Zero to Hero
3 years ago
Blogging is hard work. It can easily take up to a year or two before your blog starts taking off, if it ever does. I’m not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic, because there are a lot of people out there that believe they can jump in, start writing and the money will start pouring in.
But when you mix passion with blogging savvy, the results can be amazing. Before I started my blog, I decided to join a blogging course. I have always been big on finding a mentor, someone who has done what I want to do and then learning everything I can from them.
If you are passionate about what you’re doing and have the determination to work hard, the internet is full of excellent blogging courses that will help take your blog from zero to hero. With all that said, let’s look at how you can find your passion:
1. The Elimination Method
The elimination method is extremely simple. You start by writing down every topic you’re interested in, you then compare each topic to each other one by one and eliminate anything that you do not like.
Say you like cats, dogs and parrots, just to keep it simple. Let’s start with cats. Compare cats to dogs, do you think you’re more passionate about dogs? If yes, then you discard cats and compare dogs to the rest. We only have dogs and parrots left, so whichever one you’re more passionate about, wins.
2. The Money Question
What would you do if money didn’t exist? Would you write about dogs? If you never had to worry about food, clothing and a place to live, you would have no choice but to do things you enjoy, because there would be no reason to do anything else.
This is a simple, yet powerful question. Really think about what you would want to do if money didn’t exist on the planet. There are no 9-5 jobs. Everyone is doing what they love. What would you be doing in this scenario?
3. Your Feelings
Most of us have been taught to ignore our feelings from a very early age, but the truth is that feelings act as signposts for if you’re heading in the right direction. If you’re working a 9-5 job that you hate, you will feel bad and it will only get worse with time.
Whenever you’re doing something you love, you’ll feel happy, content and at peace. Time just seems to fly by. This is how feelings were meant to be used. It takes some practice. It is easy to misinterpret your feelings, which is why many people think they are passionate about making money, which is basically a feeling rooted in fear.
4. Taking Action
If you’re not quite sure what you’re passion is, the best way to find out is to just start somewhere. You can sit there and analyze what it might be, but you will never get anywhere. It’s okay if you start a blog and find out that it isn’t what you like.
Mistakes are there to teach you. If you want things to be perfect before you start, you will never start. Believe me, I’ve been there and when I started feeling okay about making mistakes, my life became so much easier.
5. Feedback
Once you’ve been blogging for a few months, you’ll start to find your voice and start getting some traffic (if you chose a good niche). You will have a bunch of data that will tell you if you’re heading in the right direction.
Comments, e-mails, bounce rates and the average time people spend on your website. All of these factors vary from blog to blog, which is why it can get difficult and why a mentor can be so helpful. The main point I want to get across in this article is that without your passion, you will not have the fuel to keep going for the months or even years when nothing seems to be happening.
How to Make Your Blog Feel Like Good
3 years ago
Despite having already quit my job, I recently attended a “escape the rat-race” type workshop for people who were looking to start their own businesses. My main reason for going was to see the process that people teach in order to help others successfully transition out of the cubicle and into their own company.
After all, I had completely stumbled onto my current path so didn’t have a solid blueprint for the process. One thing that really struck me throughout the discussions was that every single person agreed with this: you must make your business feel like home to someone. It doesn’t have to be everyone, but it should be someone.
I started to think of this analogy in terms of blogging and within a few minutes, I was already flooded with ideas on how to make your blog feel more homely to your audience. Now, I’m going to share them with you.
Pick a Focused Topic (The Right Address)
If you pick a focused topic on your blog, the vast majority of your blog posts will apply to everybody. In other words, every time they read new content of yours, visitors will be thinking “Yep, I have the right address.” They’ll know they’re in the right place because that’s exactly what they want to read.
A few blogs do break this mould with one of the most notable being Steve Pavlina. He blogs on the topic of Personal Development but covers so many different aspects of that niche. One week he might write about dating products and the next he’ll cover religion. I can’t help but think only a tiny percentage of his readers get to read what directly interests them on a regular basis.
The more you can give your readers exactly what they’re looking for, the better the chance they’ll feel like they’re in the right place.
Keep a Consistent Post Schedule (Familiarity)
One thing I admittedly struggle with is keeping a regular posting schedule. Some weeks I might post four times and others I might not post at all. My blogging very much operates around my personal life and I know that’s not good. In fact, the only thing constant about my post schedule right now is inconsistency.
However, I’m working to change that because I know how important the aspect of familiarity can be for your blog. I know that Darren has said a few times how if he does not post on a day (which he usually always does) then he will get floods of emails asking if he is OK or anything has happened to him. His readers are often waiting for new content to be posted because they generally know when that happens.
Remember that a (surprisingly) large portion of your readers will not use RSS or Twitter to get your articles. Instead, they’ll go the ‘old fashioned’ route and regularly return to your site manually to see if you have updated. This is especially true in the non-technical niche’s out there, so try to keep to a regular schedule.
Be Authentic (Comfort)
Authenticity online can be described in many ways, but I simply like to think of it as bringing as many natural human components you would use offline, into the online world. To me, that’s what all the advice boils down to. Authenticity brings comfort to your readers because trying to be (or act like) someone else is not only difficult an act for you to keep up but difficult for your readers to relate to.
Have you ever had a conversation with someone who is trying really hard to impress you? Within a few minutes you instantly know how much money they have or how attractive their partner is? If you haven’t, then I have. And when it happens, it just feels…yuck. That’s the only way I can describe it, it just feels unnatural.
I have found the best results blogging when I talk to my readers like they are real people and I don’t try to bring an enhanced version of my offline self, online. If I’m comfortable sharing my failures and mistakes in life and lessons that I’ve learned, I find that people can really relate to what I’m saying and connect with the words. The more you can engage your readers, the more comfortable they will be around your site.
Interact in the Comments (Community)
I honestly feel like one of the few bloggers who tries to respond to as many of the blog comments I receive as possible. I do this not only to thank people for taking the time to check out my website, but I know that whenever I leave a comment on other websites, I really appreciate it when the author takes time out to respond to me.
I actually have to hand it to Daniel here because he is one of the few big bloggers I see regularly responding to reader questions, either as blog posts or comment replies. You may want to install a email subscription plugin so that blog commenters can also be notified when you reply to them directly. This step is so simple, and while it might take up 30 minutes of your time each day, I believe it is totally worth it.
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