Archive for February, 2008

Fascinated with Finance - for good reason

Published by Dock on February 27, 2008 in General. 3 Comments

Finance blogging is not boring.

You might not be interested in the economy, but I can assure you that the economy is interested in you. Finance and economy-relatied topics are, often as not, the story behind the story. Interested in Apple and all of its products? I can assure you that you’ll find something interesting about their story in the broader markets. Love your Google searches and applications? How about the high-quality food at Whole Foods? The blood-red excitement of Ducati motorcycles? These are all very interesting market stories, and the stories of the stocks behind these names (AAPL, GOOG, WFMI, DMH respectively) are equally interesting - in some cases more so. Do a quick news search for any of these names and you’ll see what I mean.

However, there is a much more pertinent reason to start to get your head around the markets. It involves your retirement - or your potential lack thereof. General sentiment among political figures (across both sides of the aisle) suggests that Social Security will likely not be around for the internet generation - at least as we know it. We will instead, in all likelihood, have to provide for our own retirement (or at the very least, supplement it ourselves) as best we can. As a general rule, even if your idea of investing is a generous donation to the Bank of Sealy or the Bank of Serta once in a while, you still have the corrosive efffect of inflation to deal with. That stash of cash will decrease in purchasing power over time - often in a much more serious way than you can conceive of. It wouldn’t hurt to put your money to work for you in some kind of market vehicle that you understand, if only to be able to fight the effects of inflation.

To do that, however, it behooves you to understand what you’re doing and there is no shortage of internet sites and blogs that can help you do just that.

Shifting gears here for a moment - let’s say you’re a finance blogger. I know that the above notes are not news to you, and that you might find them to be so basic as to be almost irrelevant. You’d rather talk about Forex trades or Iron Condors or cup-and-handles. However, I want you to think for just a bit about how you can serve a broader audience - the millions of people who genuinely need your guidance in figuring out market basics. If you could, spend some time talking about the basics of such topics as inflation. Talk about how money origination is really debt origination. Talk about the corrosive effects of inflation on purchasing power. Talk about the different types of price indexes (producer, consumer) and what’s included - and what’s not. Talk about the things that you think every person should know about the markets that surround and affect them.

I think your audiences will grow for it, and I know they’ll benefit from it.

Tips and tweaks for a better blog

Published by Dock on February 9, 2008 in General. 15 Comments

Hi everybody-

 

I know that as a blogger, you’re busy searching out the best information you can, in order to bring your readers (and our publishers) the most authoritative information possible. However, I would like to ask that you check on a few things that will make life easier for the Blogburst editors, and perhaps yield benefits for your readers.  

 

Archive!

 

It surprises me how many blogs I see that don’t have visible archives available from the front page. I have a specific need to find archives quickly - but I have no doubt that your blog’s readership would also appreciate the ability to get to all your previous posts in an easy way. Speaking simply as a reader, if there’s a blog I really like, I’ll read the entire blog beginning with its first post, and proceed in chronological order. Visible archives make this possible. 

 

Most blog platforms give you the ability to display archives in the sidebar - usually as a list, graduated monthly. I find those to be the most effective. There’s also the calendar-style ones, which I don’t find to be as handy - but anything beats paging through “previous post” links alone. Please consider activating your archive widget in your sidebar, if you haven’t already. 

 

Full Feeds

 

Much has been written on the philosophies and strategies behind partial feeds versus full feeds (here’s one small sample) but in Blogburst, we do need your full feeds. I have, in the past, seen major blog platforms flip everyone back to partial post output upon making platform-wide software upgrades. So, if you proceed with a software upgrade in your blog’s software (or your blog’s provider does it for you) I’d ask you to please check your settings and see if you still have a full feed output.

 

Be the main attraction

 

Think about your favorite blogs for just a second. Hold them in your mind. I’m willing to bet that these blogs that you’re holding in your mind right now are strong, and memorable, because of the strong voice of the blogger - the color and life that they breathe into the facts that they gathered for your perusal. I’m also willing to bet that they do not simply give you a link to someone else’s story, with a throwaway paragraph attached that simply describes what the story links to. 

 

I realize that it requires much more effort to create your own voice, but I would encourage you to try. I truly believe that the “authority blogging” path is the most rewarding way to go, and your readers will certainly appreciate it. Is it hard? Well, it does take more effort, and you might not be good at it right away. However, most things worth doing take effort - and as my voice teacher used to say, “You don’t get better at singing by not singing!” This goes for “authority blogging” too. 

 

Thanks!   

Wordpress has upgraded - have you?

Published by Dock on February 9, 2008 in Blog Tools & Technology and General. 6 Comments

Looks like Wordpress has upgraded their platform again - 2.3.3 is available. As this is a “point release” (2.3.2 to 2.3.3) then this release is meant to fix bugs, and security issues in particular.

 

Wordpress has this to say about it:

 

WordPress 2.3.3 is an urgent security release. If you have registration enabled a flaw was found in the XML-RPC implementation such that a specially crafted request would allow a user to edit posts of other users on that blog. In addition to fixing this security flaw, 2.3.3 fixes a few minor bugs.

You can find more information about the upgrade at the Wordpress download site for your convenience.

 

If you’re curious as to the benefits of upgrading (or the pitfalls of not upgrading) you can find that at the Blogger Resource Center.

A Monday thank-you to our bloggers

Published by Dock on February 8, 2008 in Blogger Profiles and General. 0 Comments

Let’s kick off the week with some praise.

“I joined BlogBurst about a year back. I had a personal email exchange with one of their founders who invited me to add my blogs on their network. Now this isn’t one of those online syndication services but instead a service that attempts to bridge the gap between mainstream media and the blogosphere. Both these mediums have often been labeled as being in direct conflict with each other although it never was true. I have always believed that the mainstream media and the blogosphere work symbiotically often filling the information gaps that each medium individually can never close.” - Patrix

All very good points from iPatrix, all of which I agree with wholeheartedly - and yes, our company is still small enough (and close-knit enough) that our founder and executives are deeply involved in the company, both internally and externally. Yep, you can talk to the top dog here, no problem.

Also a shout-out to Chuck Butcher III for his positive experience getting a leg up onto Reuters with his article. How cool is that? It’s very cool, and very do-able. If you’re politically active (as Chuck certainly is) Blogburst can provide a valuable leg-up to generate wider exposure, and that’s the name of the game.

We are of course grateful for the positive mentions, and also glad that we can provide a noteworthy service that people find useful and helpful. It’s all about bringing your blogs up front!

Chicken littles, or sunshine supermen?

Published by Beth on February 8, 2008 in General. 0 Comments

I realize that there remains a bifurcation of opinion on the ultimate usefulness of blogs. Bloggers see themselves as free from the shackles of potential gatekeeping, allowing them to remain more timely, relevant, and nimble than, say, print - while anti-bloggers still see blogs as upstart mavericks who are crashing the party with wild abandon and a lack of journalistic standards.

The reality of blogging as a source of timely, useful information has been solidified, in my mind, by the housing bubble blogs in particular. For years, these bloggers have been warning of a growing bubble in the real estate markets both regionally and nationally. The criticism for these opinions was unrelenting and harsh at first (generally from the industries whose reputations were taking a solid whacking) but reality is reality. As the numbers have rolled in, the mood of the nation has turned inexorably to agree with the bloggers. These housing blogs have been well ahead of the information curve for years, and as the reality of the housing, credit, liquidity, and confidence crises began to set in, it became clear that, far from being chicken littles, these bloggers really did have their fingers on the ever-weakening pulse of the housing market (and by implication, the wider markets and overall economy.)

I first got turned on to this subset of blogs around a year ago by Seth Jayson of The Motley Fool fame. Seth is one of the more forthcoming of the writers over there, and isn’t known to pull punches - always a plus in my book. He expressed admiration for one blog in particular - http://housingpanic.blogspot.com - which really lived up to Seth’s general praise. I found the blog to be fairly over the top in delivery, but hugely entertaining… and all the while the predictions set forth on the blog were coming to pass, like clockwork. The blogger, known only as “Keith” (represented hilariously in avatar by the infamous Pets.com sock puppet) started the blog in late 2005 and has remained diligent about posting frequently, keeping his topical focus, remaining timely, and sticking to his thesis - staying over the top and entertaining at the same time. To my mind, this blog is “The Beatles” of blogs - irreverent, entertaining, fun and also capable of being taken very seriously - recently, serious journalists like Diana Olick have done interviews with Keith because of his tenacity and style, as well as his accuracy.

Keith got it right when so many of the top names got it wrong (and some still do so!) It’s a bittersweet victory when being correct also means financial disaster for the country looms - but this underscores the kind of awareness that a dedicated blogger can bring forth.

HousingPANIC! (or “HP” as it is also known) is not a member of the Blogburst network, but one of it’s excellent peers (Housing Wire) certainly is, and there you’ll find a somewhat more measured and analytical approach to the same topics that Keith covers - and as you would expect in the blogosphere, there is a certain synergistic effect shared among the housing blogs that gives them strength as a topic sector. So there’s a little bit of HP in Housing Wire, and vice versa.

Housing blogs of this type, to me, are the clearest evidence that sunshine is the best antiseptic, and that the tenacious, nimble outsider status of bloggers can bring relevant information to light in a way that other media simply aren’t able to do. I personally am very grateful for this, and am glad to be a part of Blogburst where I can help bring voices like these to the forefront of mainstream media.

- J. Dock Myrick II

Give Me More… Placement, That Is.

Published by Daysha on February 1, 2008 in Placement Opportunities. 20 Comments

One of the most common requests I get from BlogBurst network members is the need for tips and tricks on how they can increase placement opportunities on publisher sites. I applaud any writer for taking an active interest in the success of their blog, but since publishers choose which posts appear on their sites, there are no set rules to guarantee instant pick-up.

It is my honest opinion that a blog that is well-written, stays on topic, uses alluring post titles, and publishes content that presents a unique perspective will always achieve success in the end. That being said, if publisher pick-up is your main objective, here are some ideas that may help you swing the odds for placement in your favor:

Meet the Publishers
Some of BlogBurst’s more well-known publishers include Reuters, USA Today, and FOX News, but can you name them all? Visit the Blogger Overview section of BlogBurst.com to view a full list. One tip to increase placement is to know the publisher. Spend some time browsing through their content. Read some of the blogs placed by your fellow BlogBurst members. Get a sense of the type of content they strive to deliver to their readers. Take note of the headlines that grabbed your attention and the stories that were so good that you had to read through until the end. What would you contribute to their editorial coverage for the day? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments section below.

Be Timely
Hands down, a timely post will always attract more readers than a post that is written out of the context of current affairs. Defining current may be more of a philosophical debate between you and your subscribers, but if you are stumped for post topics, read the news. Give your readers your personal take on the situations that are making the headlines. What did you think about last night’s presidential campaign debate? Who’s your pick for the Super Bowl? What are you cooking for Super Bowl Sunday? Brittney did what? Microsoft buying Yahoo!… really? Mars Rover transmitted images of an intelligent life force on Mars that is more than meets the eye? OMG!

Keep it Clean
If publisher placement is your top priority, understand that they may not want to introduce dirty language, graphic images, or hateful speech to their visitors. There are many times that beautiful posts are passed on because the image is not suitable for all readers. I cringe when I have just read a genius post, only to find the F-bomb in the last sentence of the last paragraph. If using explicit content, take a moment to ask yourself: “Is this really necessary?” If not, get rid of it. Your subscribers that are reading your blog from work or family room computers will thank you for it.

Have an Opinion
I believe that the blogosphere presents a unique opportunity for writers of every level to have their voices heard. Anyone with access to the Internet can start a blog and contribute to the world wide web of information. Reposting full articles from mainstream news sites and {gasp} your fellow bloggers is not only wrong, but serves as a great injustice to your readers. If you found a great article during your adventures on the Web, link to the story and tell your readers why they should click on it. Explain why the article is important or contribute your opinions to the subject. If including a quote from the original story is important to your commentary, only quote the essential text and provide a link to the rest of the article. No matter what you do, always give credit to your source.

Full Posts, Please
Publishers will only place posts that display the full article, so make sure that your feed is set to display full posts. For Wordpress users: download and install the CompleteRSS plug-in if you want to use the “Read more…” link while still maintaining a complete feed.