Archive for August, 2006

Happy International Blog Day

Published by Beth on August 31, 2006 in Blog Industry News. 3 Comments

Today is International Blog Day.

[International Blog Day] is a day in which we celebrate our right to express ourselves online, and help each other to be heard above the din of spin and bad news… and in some places, help people to be heard despite efforts by governments, politicians or companies to silence independent speech online. - Rebecca MacKinnon, Global Voices

Take a moment to think about how blogging has changed your life. Do you remember the very first day you blogged? Go back and read your first entry and reflect on how you felt posting your ideas for the world to read. What ways have you changed as a writer? Do you feel the power and responsibility you have as a citizen journalist?

Every day, new bloggers begin their online journey, and blogging is such an important representation for the complete pictures of the news. Please take a moment today to introduce a non-blogger (especially somebody completely different from you) to your world and empower them to express themselves through your medium in celebration of International Blog Day.

We, at BlogBurst, are constantly amazed and inspired by the incredible research, journalism, and stories that lead to blog articles from around the world. We think what you do is very important, and we’re excited whenever we can convince a publishing partner to include blog coverage in their sites.

Thank you again for allowing us to help drive exposure to your work.

Katrina blogs

Published by Beth on August 29, 2006 in General. 4 Comments

On the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, BlogBurst has compiled many great Katrina posts from across the network. Here are a few that we are currently promoting to our publishers for use on their sites this week:

Bag News Notes

Beyond Katrina

Think Progress

Anderson@Large

I make it go! Verification and Image FAQ’s

Published by Beth on August 25, 2006 in General. 0 Comments

Hi kids!

I’m J. Dock Myrick and among the many hats I wear here at Blogburst is the shiny Editorial Tech Specialist hat. I am the go-to guy, to make it go, when it doesn’t want to go! Think of me as a slightly myopic MacGyver with administrative privileges, and you’re pretty close.

I get a lot of questions during the course of the week, and I thought I’d share a few of the most common questions with you, along with the answers. Check it out!

Q: How do I add my pictures? I don’t understand how to upload an image.

1) Save the .jpg or .gif picture (that you want to use for your blog) onto your desktop in Windows, so that we’ll know where it is for a later step.
2) Log into your Blogburst account by going to http://www.blogburst.com/ and clicking on “workbench” at the top right corner of the screen.
3) When you login you’ll see your blog listed under “Summary.” Click “Edit Blog Profile” for the blog in question. You’ll be taken to the “Edit Blog” page.
4) On the “Edit Blog” page you will see a “Blog Image” section, with a “Browse” button beside it. Click the Browse button.
5) You should be taken to a File Upload pop-up window that has an icon for “Desktop” somewhere, probably in a column on the left hand side. Click the “Desktop” icon.
6) You should now be able to see everything on your desktop, including the picture you want to use. (if not, make sure “files of type” says “all files.”) Click on the name of the image you want to use, then click “Open” in the lower right.
7) You should be returned to the “Edit Blog” page. Scroll down the page and click “Save.” You should be taken back to the “Blog Profile” page.
8) If you don’t see the image you selected beside your blog, hit the F5 button on the top row of your keyboard to refresh the page, and it should show up.

Q: Why isn’t my blog/user image updating? I submitted it but I don’t see it.

It doesn’t appear instantaneously, since your browser is caching the page. Hit F5 on your keyboard and you should see the updated image.

Q: I put the verification script in the sidebar/header/main page but it says I’m not verified. Why?

There are lots of potential problems with this approach. Put the code in a blog entry instead, and if that doesn’t work, let us know.
I hope that helps some of you out there in Blogburst land, and if you have others, feel free to write to blogburst-support@pluck.com and I’ll do my best to make it go for you!

- J. Dock Myrick II, Editorial Tech Specialist

“Falling” for great blogs

Published by Beth on August 21, 2006 in General. 6 Comments

We Need Your Blogs!

Is it fall yet? Where are the piles of leaves, apple cider, and corduroys? While it may be too early for leaf-raking in Austin, it’s not too early to start thinking about those blog topics that make fall, well fall.

As mentioned in a previous post, we’re still looking for great back-to-school content. What exactly is back-to-school content? Just about anything related to getting back into the groove: school fashions, lunches, education, homework, testing, you name it.

We’ve got a healthy set of blogs around NFL football, but if have or know of a great blog about your favorite team (college or high school), please send it in and we’ll review it.

We’re also looking for the following topics to build out our network in September:

- NCAA Football (both team-specific & general)
- NASCAR
- Labor Day
- 9/11 5-year anniversary
- Immigration

Please watch this space, as we’ll be regularly calling for topics to help round out our coverage based on the needs of our publishers at specific times. We’re also always looking for great year-round content in all topic-areas.

BlogBurst Questions: Displaying Full Feeds

Published by Beth on August 17, 2006 in General. 2 Comments

Q: How do I set my RSS feed to display full content?

A: No easy answer for this one, as setting up your RSS feed to display full content is dependent on what platform you use (i.e. WordPress, TypePad). If you are having trouble figuring out how to set your RSS/atom feed for the network, please contact our editors at blogburst-editors@pluck.com

Q: What if I don’t want to provide a full feed?

A: One of the requirements to join BlogBurst is to set up your RSS feed to display full content on our publisher sites. This enables the publisher to properly showcase your content while increasing your blog’s visibility and driving traffic back to your site. When your content is displayed on a publisher site, it is fully accredited with your byline, avatar (image you provide us) and a direct link back to your blog. This will help you pick up new readers and gain additional exposure.

Some bloggers that have expressed concerns about providing full posts through their RSS feeds have set up separate feeds specific to the BlogBurst network. This might be another option for you to consider.

Autumn in the Blogosphere

Published by Beth on August 15, 2006 in General. 4 Comments

Here at Pluck headquarters in Austin, TX, it’s hard to imagine our weather will ever cool down from the current onslaught of 100 plus degree heat we’ve had for weeks. But, kids are already going back to school here, so Fall must be just around the corner.

So, if you are a teacher or parent who blogs and need some material for the coming weeks - try blogging about anything related to “back-to-school.” We are currently looking for posts on education and fall fashion.

Houston Chron is syndicating Middle East bloggers!

Published by Beth on August 11, 2006 in General. 1 Comment

We are really excited to report that the Houston Chronicle is now syndicating some of our Middle East bloggers, such as:

Iran News Blog

thesuperheavy

Wizard of Beirut

If you are looking for truly compelling, more emotionally charged, personalized coverage of the Middle East crisis, you need to check out these blogs. The fact that mainstream media is now recognizing their immense value is truly exciting and a huge step in the blog syndication momentum!

We are in the process right now of encouraging more of our publisher partners to follow in the Chron’s footsteps and place BlogBurst’s insightful, unique set of Middle East bloggers on their sites soon!

“State of the Blogosphere” and “State of BlogBurst”

Published by Beth on August 8, 2006 in General. 0 Comments

The blogosphere is over 100 times bigger than it was 3 years ago. Back then, most folks didn’t know what blog meant or what a feed was - much less predict how blogging would evolve as a major resource of information and cultural influence. Everyone from politicians, to celebrities to CEOs at large fortune 100 companies are taking note of the blog effect.

According David Sifry’s State of the Blogosphere report (which he publishes every 3 months) in July alone, 175,000 blogs were created each day.

The blogosphere is busting at the seams almost. Can there be enough people to read all these blogs? BlogBurst was designed in part to find some resolution to the growing blogosphere and its growing influence over topical, relevant industries and interests to a wide audience. The majority of everyday bloggers need an audience beyond their family, friends and neighbors - they need and often want to be read outside their sphere of influence.

Here are some happy stats that show how we have been able to bring more bloggers to a larger audience since launching BlogBurst May 2 this year:

  • 2,000+ bloggers through recruitment and requests from bloggers to be accepted into the network
  • We have more than 12 publisher partners, who are among the top-tier publishers in the U.S. and U.K., and the list is growing.
  • We’ve successfully generated millions of page views for syndicated bloggers on these sites.

Latina bloggers

Published by Beth on August 3, 2006 in Blogger Profiles. 0 Comments

Marisa Trevino is the author of the blog Latina Lista, which covers issues, services and products that impact Latinos across the U.S. Her blog is currently syndicated on the Houston Chronicle’s web site. We saw Marisa out at the BlogHer conference, where she spoke on a panel entitled “Identity…and Obligations.” The discussion focused on people who blog about race, sex and culture.

We wanted to follow up with Marisa on the BurstBlog to get her insight on culturally motivated blogs such as hers. Latina Lista, in her words, is “always presented with definite opinion that strives to point out the good, the bad, the nonsensical or the benefits of a particular issue ‚ and always with the goal of Giving Voice and Being Heard to the Latina perspective.”

Q: How long have you had the blog?

I’ve had Latina Lista for almost two years now. I named it this because 1) I’m Latina and 2) “lista” has multiple meanings in Spanish: ready, smart/intelligent, and a list. I wanted a name that I felt reflected today’s Latinas while addressing the fact that blogs are of a larger community.

Continue reading ‘Latina bloggers’

Do you know the way to San Jose? La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, laaaa

Published by Beth on August 1, 2006 in General. 0 Comments

Back in good ‘ole Austin after the BlogHer show in San Jose, California. Texas won’t see the likes of the northern California breezes until maybe October. It was a sad day to come home and step off the plane into the oven we call home. So, let’s reminisce about the show, shall we?

Here is what Day Two at the conference looked like:

BlogHerbythepool.jpg

Roughly 700 bloggers and interested folk (mostly women) attended BlogHer on its second day. So, the BlogBurst booth received a lot of traffic, and lots of positive response from all those who stopped by. Including Rita Arens of Surrender, Dorothy blog, whose parenting/family blog was recently picked up by the Austin American-Statesman. Here is a picture of Rita standing behind her syndicated blog on the screen:

BlogHerblogger2.jpg

We like to call this picture, “Syndication in Action” - it shows that BlogBurst indeed works.

Thank you to the BlogHer organizers - we enjoyed being at the show, meeting new bloggers and spreading the word about BlogBurst.