Thank A Blogger For Linking To You

Build A Better Blog Day 28

Everyone wants to be recognized and appreciated. Take the time to thank those who make your blog successful. I started a weekly Props to my Peeps post where I write about someone or something that helped me or turned a good deed during the week. I use their name, what they did and a link to a blog if they have one. I always get permission to discuss anything personal so I don't make the person upset or uncomfortable.

This tip doesn't have to be real complicated. Just pay attention to who reads your blog and who creates links to your posts, and honor them once in a while. Here's a great example. Jason Alba from JibberJobber gives out a 'You Get It" award each month. Liz Strauss gives out an SOB award, Successful and Outstanding Bloggers. Come up with your own award or keep it simple with a post thanking them.

ProBlogger's day twenty-eight post: What is Your Blog's Mission Statement

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Track of the day: Decoy by Red Blanket

Red Blanket
"Decoy" (mp3)
from "A Southern Manitoban Murder of Crows"
(C12 Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

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Protect Your Blogs Content

Build A Better Blog Day 27

Today's tip is a reminder to protect your blogs content. Over time you till undoubtedly create a large amount of content. You may want some of that content protected by copyright and some you may not. It all depends on what's important to you and what's not. However I would establish a terms of use statement on your blog just so everyone knows how you want your content treated. Will this stop someone from stealing your content? Absolutely not.

There is a great post over at DailyblogTips about Copyright Laws and blog content. I'm not a lawyer and I don't really want to get into a pissing match with Lawyers out there, but there are some good points in this article none the less. Here are a few ideas I like:

1. Make sure if you use someone else's material you either get written permission (this is pretty much what I do) or the material is explicitly marked public domain. You may lose any copyright to your own content if you use someone else's material.


2. Clearly mark on your site what is public domain and what's not. It may be that none of your material is public domain or all of it is. That's why I encourage you to create a static page, or some type of post that states you terms of use. I didn't have one until this post, now I do.


3. If you don't want to defend certain published material, don't make it available to the public. Did that make sense? Really, if you don't want the hassle of chasing down people that steal blog content, then don't post something. A good example may be an Author who posts a book, story or article. They may claim it's copyright but will have to battle anyone who uses it without permission, every time.


4. Do ask someone who has stolen you content to remove it or give you proper acknowledgment. This may be tricky but its the fight you may have to take on.


5. Remember images have a copyright too. Taking images from other sites and using them may put your content at risk. Again I would get some type of permission before using images. And refrain from directly linking to an image unless given permission. This puts an unwanted strain on the images web server.

The better your writing get and the more visitors your blog gets the more your content's copyright will play in the success of your blog. However, don't let copyright get in the way of blogging. Just make sure you have all the permissions you need, and you state your contents use and you should be pretty good.

Learn more about Creative Commons here, and view a presentation on blog content copyright given at the Bloggin4Business Conference by Rand Bateman.

I'm sure there are some lawyers out there who can add to this. What are your thoughts on blog copyrights?

Problogger's day twenty-seven post: Find a Sponsor for Your Blog

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Facebook Opens API To Mobile Developers

This is a very exciting addition to the Facebook developer platform. One major application I'm writing will definitely take advantage of these new features, specifically SMS. I use Facebook via my mobile device most of the time. I'm exciting this new addition to the API will bring richer applications to market.

Reading more about the SMS feature of the API it seems there is a throttle on the number of messages that can be sent out. That makes sense seeing how there is a cost to send out messages. However, I can also see this is as a drawback if you are writing an application and need to send out notifications each time an action occurs.

There seems to be 3 main parts of the SMS API.

1. User opt-in


2. Design features


3. User opt-out

One really cool option is a user can interact with an application via SMS. I assume this means I can send commands back to an application and have it perform some type of function. It will remain to be seen if this can be a feature that is usable or not.

The next part of the API is access to the profile and canvas areas. This gives mobile developers the ability to make mobile applications act more like the full web based version. And if I'm not mistaken, you can write one application that can be used via the web or on a mobile device. That is very cool.

As a budding Facebook application developer I hope to take advantage of these features. I hope there is more to come regarding the mobile API.

Link to the Facebook Platform for Mobile.

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Blogging For Love Or Money

Build A Better Blog Day 26

Today I'm asking a question; do you blog for love or money? You may be blogging for both but I doubt it. It's a very valid question and should be answered logically.

The logical progression for bloggers is to start introducing ads somewhere in there blog in hopes of earning some much needed income. If you ask most bloggers they would be happy with enough income to pay for their hosting costs. Personally I think you should be in one of two camps. One, you should build your blog template and content to drive advertising dollars, or you should just forget it.

You can look at it this way, when you dabble you never really succeed. Sure you may capture a few clicks that equate into a few pennys, but without a real plan you will be wasting your time. Looking at several of the major blogs who make money from ads, the site is all about the ads. If you are prepared to do that go for it. You have your work cut out for you. But if you are patient you can evetually make some decent money. It takes constant change to find the right advertising structure, be it banners, links, graphics, or widgets. There's plenty of opportunity but it takes a lot of work.

If you're into blogging for love, you can still earn something to offset the cost. As you build your blog, your readership and people get to know you, it's easy to make money from things like consulting, writing copy, building blog sites or creating educational materials and selling them. Or you may simply decide this is a great hobby which has a small cost each month.

One word of caution. Don't pay for these get rich quick e-book, or services, swearing they can get you at the top of the search engines or charge you to put their clients ads on your blog. With a little effort and research on your part you can find all the information you need to make money with your blog. You don't need to pay someone else to get it. If you are serious about becoming a Pro Blogger, then I suggest you start reading the ProBlogger. Add it to your RSS reader right now.

Tell us why you do, or don't, incorporate ads into your blog?

ProBlogger's day twenty-six post: Link Up to a Competitor

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