How Do You Explain Your Credentials as a Blogger?

by

It’s something I often hear when I attend events where I’m invited for being a blogger: What exactly do I do? I know a lot of people are familiar with social media. And at one point or another, everyone encounters blogs when surfing the web. But not everyone is familiar with what a blogger does. More particularly, not everyone is familiar with what makes an event relevant to a blogger’s field of expertise. [Read more…]

Are You Ready for the E-book Readers?

by

sonyereaders.pngMy crystal ball tells me that e-book readers will be a strong possible source of income or quality blogs in the near future. Not as the subscription service that is available from the Kindle, mind you, because I’m having a hard time seeing it being successful. Think about it, more and more mobile devices have internet access and great screens. Why pay to read on the Kindle when you can get it for free on your iPhone, right there in Safari or using Instapaper? And if that won’t convince you, then add the fact that more and more websites actually have mobile editions.

Back to the e-readers. High quality blogs already produce great content, obviously, and the e-book spinoff isn’t far off for a lot of them. They publish reports, how to’s, and other things they can hawk for a couple of dollars (or a small bundle) to make more money. If they’re good, we’ll pay. If not, we won’t. Add some marketing and social media and you’ve got a pretty solid business model right there.

If you’ve got the necessary following, that is. [Read more…]

Huffington Post to Expand With Tech, Sports and Books Channel. The future of News Blogs?

by

arianna-huffingtonAccording to Dylan Stableford, over at The Wrap, Arianna Huffington has plans to expand the Huffington Post with 3 new channels: books, technology and sports.

With this move The HuffPo, which started as a political blog, seems to prepare for a new times and is readying itself to become a main online magazine, newspaper. This move, already made by other blogs, fe. The Inquisitr might redefine the online news environment if Murdoch, and other conglomerates, continue their plans to put up paywalls.

In times when traditional news outlets are becoming smarter online and are competing directly with blogs for traffic, fe. by linking out directly to similar topic stories at other traditional media online presences like the BBC Online does, the news of paywalls is probably the best news since the crash in advertising revenue for blog and blog network owners. The battle for traffic can be won over the next two years, because even though mainstream outlets have recently endorsed blogging, their blogs are the first ones to suffer from the economic downturn. Paywalls will only help bloggers and probably result in even more financial loss for traditional outlets because if we learned one thing from the internet it’s that News should be free. [Read more…]

Are You a Daddy Blogger?

by

DadMommy bloggers are a force to reckon with. That is, if you’re in the business of marketing products and services, especially those meant for kids, households, and families in general. Businesses are jostling for attention, in the hopes that mom bloggers would review their products or services. A lot of mom bloggers I know get a lot of freebies from foodstuffs, to spa services, to kids’ toys, and a host of other things. After all, word of mouth does carry weight, especially if hearing or reading something from someone you trust.

Ethical implications of online reviews (whether sponsored or not) aside, I do wonder what people think of dads who are bloggers. Perhaps I can be considered a “daddy blogger,” myself. I work and run my business from my home. My wife and I share the responsibilities at home. We do take turns in taking care of the kids, and in most cases, we also share the household chores. [Read more…]

Why Doesn’t Retweet.com Use Its Own URL Shortener?

by

retweetcom.jpgEver since digging slightly around the retweet.com debacle I discovered the rt.nu URL Shortener. A great domain and most of all a really short URL. Perfect for Twitter you would think. So why doesn’t Retweet.com use its own shorturl service? Nothing more than a quick look at the service’s popular links is needed to understand why. [Read more…]