This Week’s Top 5 Blog Posts

Why ending in 09/0*3*? Because I haven’t read anything today yet with how busy work has been. More importantly though, what’s this? A post on Stuart Conover’s homepage? The blog that refuses to die even with month long interruptions due to working on other things? Amazing I know! Today I return (briefly) to go over 5 articles I read this week that really hit it home for me. These articles either resonated with me, were good reads, had useful information, or all of the above and I felt they needed to be shared. Hope you enjoy!

1. Why should I blog and what should I blog about? by: Mari Walker
While I am of course interested in all things social media related I also have been spending most of my time applying this and being a part of the online horror community. Mari is someone who I’ve spoken to a few times as a fellow horror fanatic and at the same time is a web developer and internet junkie. This last week I ran across this post she made that is a great post that can be summed up as- “If you don’t blog but are interested, try.” What a lot of people forget is that blogging can be either for money or for fun and this is the point she is going with. Traffic, followers, etc doesn’t matter if you are blogging for fun and not money. Selling you on the fun part she than makes subtle suggestions on strengthening the content of anyone who does write in a positive way that isn’t overselling them on the idea of blogging but just to those who are interested. I’d suggest this article to anyone you know who is interested in blogging and has been unsure if they have wanted to take the plunge.

2. A Simple Way To Funnel New Traffic & Sales From Buried Blog Archives by: Lynn Terry on ProBlogger
This is an absolutely great article using a very solid method of using old content to obtain new readers and new sources of readers. It’s simple, it looks as if it will be effective, and something I hope to try later this year on one of the blogs I run as well as a slight variation of one of the ideas listed here. Lynn truly helped anyone who has had an informative site that has been running for awhile to properly convert old content into being a useful resource.

3. 10 Smartest Things You Can Do to Promote Your New Blog by: Christian Russell on David Risley
Honestly there is nothing “new” in this post for internet marketeers out there however it is a good overview of what to do while starting a new blog (which I read over while planning to launch a couple more in the horror niche I have not only found myself in but love working in.) This is the perfect post for anyone who has a new blog or is new to marketing their blog and worth a read for either category.

4. Social Media is NOT an End by: David Spinks
This one is short, sweet, and to the point. The title pretty much says it all and is a quick read on why social media is NOT an end and I 100% agree. Social Media can be used as a tool, a means to an end, however anyone who is into online marketing should more than know this to be true. It’s a quick read but one anyone who doesn’t agree with should browse quickly and take to heart. It’s an easy lesson to understand but not one always easy to learn for those who can’t separate fame and fortune.

5. When Should a Freelancer Barter? by: Thursday Bram
This read couldn’t have come at a better time for me. It probably wouldn’t have usually made it, even being a good read, aside from the absolutely perfect timing of it. I’ve been recently speaking with quite a few web developers trying to narrow down who I want to go with to work on a few sites on the off chance the developer I was speaking with ends up not getting back in touch. A few of these developers have mentioned being open to barter in products or services and this read helped a lot while speaking to them in ways that would benefit us both.

This Week’s Top 5 Blog Posts

1. Top 10 Myths About Freelancers by: Adrian Try on Freelance Switch.
While my income obviously does not come from freelancing full time, it is helped by it. So when I saw the post title being linked around Twitter I figured that I would give it a quick read and it’s amazing how right on the money this article is. Some of those on the top 10 I actually believed before I started doing side work freelance and it really is easy to see how these myths can be viewed as the truth until your actually doing it yourself.

2. The Secret of Work-at-Home Businesses by: David Atya Shakir on Successful and Outstanding Bloggers.
This is a post that many people who are looking to start an online, or even just home, business should read, however probably won’t. If they do I can see many also not listening to the advice within either even though it is exactly what needs to be done when your trying to get started.

3. Blog or News Site by: Jeremy Schoemaker on ShoeMoney.
This is a post that I actually enjoyed reading as it reminded me on how badly I’ve slipped into leaning towards that writing style on the majority of my posts. I was tempted to stick this as #1 today though I felt the Freelancing topic was a bit more useful. Still it’s easy to fall into writing news styled posts just because they are easy to make blurbs on and that’s what I do on most of my sites. It shouldn’t be the majority of my posts here though and I’m going to have to keep that in mind.

4. Timing Is Everything In Affiliate Marketing by: Yaro Starak on Entrepreneurs Journey.
Unless you feel like being sold on something I want you to stop reading this article after the 3 points for “Why You Need To Act Fast As An Affiliate.” The article ends there and the sales pitch begins. The quick writeup though is extremely useful if you are new to Affiliate Marketing or have been doing it for awhile and making limited profits in letting you know the truth- if you are going to be doing affiliate marketing you need to get in when something is NEW. It’s a good read with a demonstration on exactly why this is true. I’ve seen so many people want to jump into affiliate marketing and don’t get that. It’s rare to have a product to sell in this area that you can sell for years. (I don’t claim to make my living off of affiliate marketing but I make no secret it’s a nice side income.)

Now for the sales pitch, don’t get me wrong- I hear nothing but good things about Yaro’s Blog Mastermind Program. In fact if I didn’t have my hands in too many things already right now I would consider taking it as I believe from everything I’ve read it’s a good course to learn from. I just don’t want anyone to think I’m directing them to a sales pitch in the Friday 5.

5. 5 Funny Things Bloggers Do To Make Their Blog Look More “Official” by:Alex Fraiser on Blogussion.
Alex put together a list of a ‘few’ things that are done by bloggers to make themselves or their blogs look more official. The great thing is that this usually happens on smaller sites trying to help make a name for themselves. I know I’ve been guilty on the first of these complaints on a couple of my niche blogs in the past. It’s a good read though and semi-entertaining at the same time if you think of a few times you’ve seen this happen in the past.

This was a hard week to fully narrow down. I was staring at 7 posts for about an hour trying to decide which to cut off. I have a practical joke on here that wasn’t as useful but I felt needed to be included as well as a small review of a WP widget that could have been removed but it will enable me to be so lazy I just couldn’t make myself take it off the list!

This Week’s Top 5 Blog Posts

1. Twitter Unveils New Premium Accounts by: Brian Briggs on BBspot
Let’s start this week off with a laugh shall we? I can’t even begin to explain how entertaining to see how quickly this article got spread over Twitter! The premium account rumor spread throughout Twitter like a flash fire. Everyone was talking about it and no one was verifying the source of the information and that it was just a joke. The internet rumor mill is truly one of the best things to ever exist.

2. Advice For Part Time Bloggers Juggling Blogging with Work, Family, and Other Commitments by: Darren Rowse on ProBlogger
As someone who writes on multiple blogs, does freelance work online, has a full time job, AND tries to fit in a social life this is an article hand tailored for me. I know a lot of bloggers who fit into the same mold (though some replacing work with school.) It’s a great source of ideas on keeping things organized in your daily lives. If your trying to find ways to balance your life articles like this one can be invaluable on helping you do so.

3. The Value of A Comment by: Kathryn Jennex on Successful Blog
A great view on the social aspect of comments on blogs. On why some people comment, some don’t, why an increasing larger amount of the non “A-List” blogs have a decline in comments, etc. It’s a good read for anyone who tries to be active in the blogging community. On a side note- I am guilty for not commenting on her post and just linking to it as what seems to be one of the trends she mentions!

4. WP Plugin: Query Posts WordPress WidgetWP Plugin: Query Posts WordPress Widget by: Alex Cristache on Blogsessive
This one will be short and sweet. It is a plugin that encourages laziness for anyone who hates working with PHP (or just wants to speed things up.) All it does is allow for an easier use of the query_posts for WordPress. For those who aren’t sure what those are it’s when you have a set number of posts by “type” of post (using tags, categories, date, etc.) This plugin allows you to make any number of widgets and hand pick which types of posts you want displayed. Check the full writeup for laziness and possibly a few ideas on ways to use it!

5. Product Brainstorming For Your Blog by: David Risley on David Risley
While this isn’t true of all bloggers, many want to find ways to make money off of their blogs. I do that as well, just not on this one. In this article David explains the three type of bloggers and ideas for the ones who truly want to find new ways to make money past basic affiliate and banner advertisements. Selling a product or service. He also includes some great ideas on what to think about for the type of product or service you want to work with.

This Week’s Top 5 Blog Posts

1. How Bloggers Can Make The Most Of Twitter by: Jamie Harrop on Blogging Zest
Jamie brings forth a GREAT compilation to help bloggers everywhere make the best of Twitter. From simple branding, twitter awareness, and ways to encourage your posts being mentioned on Twitter itself. It’s a great read and has a slew of suggestions to gently encourage readers in ways to retweet posts. A lot of these have been discussed in various forms around the net but as a compilation it’s gold.

2. Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs by: Dan Schawbel on Mashable
Dan goes through a list of the top 10 social networks for entrepreneurs. Anyone who is looking to start off on their own or already and could use a bit more on the networking side (and let’s face it, who can’t?) these should be a must to sign up to. He goes over what each of these 10′s purposes, strengths, and who will most likely benefit from each network. From fellow business in your industry to investors you’ll get a good lead on just about anything using this list.

3. Time for a Brand Stimulus Package: Invest Now in Building Brand by: Kevin Randall on MarketingProfs
As someone who has a slight interest in branding I couldn’t pass up this article and neither should you! Kevin goes through the various reasons why this is the perfect time to push or establish your brand- from cheaper costs to an easier market to establishing your brand this covers the full range. It’s full of reasons and advice on why now is the time to move forward with building your brand.

4. How I Got My Job Through Twitter by: Kevin Smith on MarketingProfs
Kevin Smith (not the director) took the time out from his busy new job to write a feel good article about something great that happened to him due to Twitter- FINDING his job. While it is not something that will happen to everyone on a daily basis the article reinforces the ever important notion of networking and the use of Twitter as a practical application. Twitter has gained so much ground in our current online lives yet is still hard for many to see how useful it is. Stories like Kevin’s that brings a practical use to Twitter for those who don’t have vision will help continue to integrate the service into our lives.

5. Me And My Brand by: Evan Watson on: Brand Yourself
A feel good branding story that helps reinforce why people believe in personal branding. It’s been something more and more people are coming to realize is important in so many ways when networking and growing their business and ideas. He pushes the idea that you need to make people remember you by making them interested IN you. Short read but again reinforces why personal branding is important- from the social to the professional scale.

This Week’s Top 5 Blog Posts

1. 50 Self-Reflecting Questions To Ask Yourself As A Blogger by: Alex on Blogussion
If you are a Blogger these are 50 questions that Alex believes you should ask yourself. Just by honestly answering these questions to yourself you can better focus on what type of blogger you are as well as better assess your strengths and weaknesses. I actually ended up answering these posts here for anyone interested.

2. 5 Ways to Optimize Your Existing Links for Maximum SEO Benefit by: Gyutae Park on Winning The Web
Gyutae Park goes into details about 5 ways to optimize existing incoming links to increase your SEO. If you already have multiple incoming links to your site and have either followers or a built up relationship with other blog owners these are some great ways to make those links even more useful.

3. Using Gravatars On Your Blog – Why And How by: David Risley on David Risley
I recently wrote a post on Gravatars in a post on Avatars and feel that they are another aspect on social branding. David’s post focuses purely on what I felt is the most useful aspect for bloggers of the Avatar category and that is: Gravatars, why they are useful, and how to implement them on a WordPress blog without the use of a plugin.

4. How to Shape Your Blogs Brand by: Darren Rowse on Problogger
This is the 6th tip in a series that Darren has been writing recently. It’s goal is to teach you that a blog will develop a brand regardless if that is your intention or not. Since a brand will become associated with your blog this article has tips on how to shape the brand to be both positive and beneficial for you.

5. Living the Creative Life by: Nut on The Writer’s Coin
Nut wrote an interesting little motivational post on what we are doing compared to what we want to be doing. Most of us out there are working on any number of projects and real life responsibilities. We are focusing on things that we have to do but not always fitting in what we want to be working on. It’s a quick read and one that I feel is worth the time.