If you are using gravity forms plugin to manage form management system of your blog then you should surely check this list of wordpress plugins because it might be useful for you to empower your gravity forms in all aspects. It makes your work much easier than before.

1. Gravity Forms HubSpot Add-on

This wordpress plugin uses Hubspot Lead API to allow you to send landing pages based on your gravity forms to pass lead information to Hubspot.

Download

2. Gravity Forms Highrise Plugin

Highrise is a web based contact manager application  which act asa central place to keep all of your customers and user information like data’s, email ids, notes and much more organized at once place. This plugin will integrate gravity forms with highrise account so you can upload user information directly from gravity forms dashboard.

Download

3. Gravity forms Stripe Addon

Stripe allows you to process credit cards securely and easily directly on your site without having to deal with merchant account. This nifty wordpresss plugin will integrate stripe with your gravity forms plugins so you can process all credit card information from gravity forms.

Download

4. Mad Mimi Add-on

It is a simple and powerful email marketing utility for wordpress powered blogs. It is the simple way to create brand by many customized emails newsletter and promotions. This madmini wordpress plugin will adds all functionality with gravity forms so users email and data’s stored in gravity forms database can be accessed via madmini.

Download

5. iContact

iContact is the popular email marketing software from vocus. This tiny addons wil integrate gravity forms with iContact account so whenever an user signup or register in your site their email address will be automatically added to your iContact dashboard which can be further used for sending newsletter and other messages.

Download

6. PixCaptcha Image Captcha

This tiny wordpress plugin will add unique image identification CAPTCHA to gravity forms of your website to protect your website from spam and invalid entries.

Download

7. Gravity forms Toolbar

A lightweight plugin which adds gravity forms related options and settings to your wordpress admin / toolbar that makes easier for you to change the gravity forms setting s on –the-go.

Download

8. CapsuleCRM Add-on

CapsuleCRM is excellent customer relationship management software that helps you to track of the people and companies and make communication with them. By installing this plugin it will completely bridge the gap between capsule CRM and gravity forms plugin but it required premium version of gravity forms plugin.

Download

9. Gravity forms Pop-up

A small wordpress widget to add Gravity Form in dialog popup style box that add a delay, a position, and an introduction page.

Download

10. Placeholders add-on

It adds HTML5 placeholder support to your gravity forms plugin with a JavaScript fallback. You need JavaScript and jQuery to run this plugin.

Download

11. ShootQ add-on

ShootQ is powerful cloud based photographer studio management software that helps you to connect with users, photographers and all client contacts easily. This tiny wordpress plugin will connect gravity forms with your ShootQ account for collecting all leads you get.

Download

Enjoyed reading the article? If you know any other wordpress plugin that will helps to power up gravity forms please share with us in comments.

About the Author

This is a guest post by Ron Davis. A freelance blogger and a passionate social media marketer, who is currently working on the site Gravity forms discount where you can buy gravity forms at 40% off and get detail information about gravity forms addons.

This is a guest post by Mandy Kilinskis, who works as a content developer for Quality Logo Products.

You found your inspiration, you tackled the demons of procrastination, and you just cranked out a fantastic blog post.

Congratulations!

But don’t you dare hit “publish” just yet.

The best blog posts (and white papers, about us pages, projects for clients, etc.) come after revising your work.

While it might look more attractive to click “publish” and be done with the post, I can assure you that taking the extra time to follow these steps will leave you with better, smarter, and more shareable posts.

1. Take a break

As soon as you type the last sentence of your blog, get up and walk away from your computer. Give your brain a rest from writing while you grab a snack or take your dog for a walk. Work in a corporate setting? Go say hi to a coworker friend or refill your coffee. You’ll come back to your computer with a fresh pair of eyes.

If you don’t have the time to get up, then still give your brain time to refocus. Check your email, some of your favorite blogs, or one of your social media accounts. Spend at least twenty minutes on another task to wipe your mind’s slate clean.

2. Check for silly grammar errors

You know which ones I mean: to/too/two, they’re/their/there, affect/effect, and the rest of the usual suspects. Everyone makes these mistakes, but not everyone takes the time to go back and correct them. Leaving the wrong “to” in a post can be enough to turn off readers.

Then double check that your tenses are all the same. Did you start off the post in active, present tense and then switch to past? Kick your writing into shape and make it uniform throughout.

3. Cut empty words or phrases

Phrases like “in my opinion,” “what I mean to say,” and “it goes without saying” do not hold weight and should be eliminated from your blog posts. Don’t mean to say something, say it.

Now evaluate your adjectives and adverbs. Do you really need all of them? Use descriptive verbs to kill generic verbs and adverbs (e.g. “dash” for “run quickly”). Your readers want a comprehensive but quick read.

4. Check the flow and tone

Take another break and then read over your blog post from start to finish. Does it read too fast or too slow? Do any of your sections sound incomplete? Did your writing change from a serious voice to a comical one? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then go back and whip your post into shape.

If it sounds awkward to you, it will sound ten times more awkward to the reader.

5. Steal a second pair of eyes

Even the best of editors miss something. This is why you should ask a friend, parent, neighbor, stranger in the coffee shop, or trusted online compadre to read over your work. Your writing must be readable and creative, and your editing companion should be under specific instructions to tell you exactly what does or does not need work.

Are you still ready to hit that “publish” button without a revision? Let me leave you with this thought: Time is money. But spending the extra time to write and edit content that rocks will bring you even more money, email signups, social shares, or whatever your primary goal is.

That seems like a pretty great reason to me.

Mandy Kilinskis works a content developer for Quality Logo Products. When not writing gripping product descriptions and killer blog posts about commas, she’s generally busy collecting as many promotional pens as possible. What? She really likes pens.

An interview with Rachel Taylor, who shares information about current social media marketing practices.

Why do some social media campaigns fail?

Not every social media campaign will be successful, so use failure as a learning experience.

Dig deep and figure out why it failed; you could have targeted the wrong audience, had disconnect between execution and desired results, or, failed to provide interesting and sharable content. Social media marketing doesn’t follow the same equation as traditional marketing.

You no longer push your product on an audience; you have human interaction, feelings, opinions and personalities to take into consideration. If you familiarize yourself with the needs of your audience and aim to provide a solution to their needs through your brand, you are more likely to run a successful campaign.

When possible, think of your audience first and your brand second.

Don’t get discouraged if and when a campaign fails, social media marketing is still relatively new and we are all learning as we go.

How should a business choose a social media manager?

Businesses need to understand that their social media manager is the voice of their company across multiple platforms, and potentially before a large number of people.

Don’t get sucked into a company that offers their own large following, a certain number of tweets or a certain number of likes/follows per month. An authentic and engaged following means more than a large number, so look for someone who emulates your brand well.

I highly suggest meeting with potential candidates to make sure their personality fits your company and brand.

If they fit well into your company culture, they are more likely to successfully communicate your brand’s message to your audience. When in doubt, ask for samples of previous work and/or referrals.

How and where did you train yourself in social media?

Being a “digital native”, I have used Facebook since it was for .edu addresses only and used Myspace in high school. It took a little time before I warmed up to Twitter, but now I’m not sure what I’d do without Twitter and Foursquare.

I think Twitter is an especially powerful tool for business.

I learned how to grow a business using social media tools while working for a startup social media platform. The platform itself was meant to help local business owners connect with customers, so I learned a lot about the value of social media based off our platform.

On top of that, I was the entire Chicago office (the rest of the company was in Silicon Valley) so I quickly learned the power of social media marketing. Instead of telling one person about our platform, I had the ability to interact and engage with a large group exposing our brand to a much larger audience.

Facebook and Twitter connections led to business meetings and sales, and proved to be the most effective way to increase brand awareness.

Since learning the ropes with this company I have worked with local businesses, online companies and non-profits.

I have had the pleasure of seeing how social media can positively impact each.

What’s your favorite style of food?

That is a tough question, because I LOVE food.

I recently realized that my favorite cuisines seem to be those that rely heavily on cilantro.

Mexican, Thai and Indian are definitely my favorite at the moment, and Mexican and Italian are my long time favorites.

How much time do you spend blogging?

Blogs are a great from of personal expression, and an invaluable way for businesses to communicate their message to, and with, consumers.

I have two small, personal blogs and am the food & beverage editor of a much larger blog, so I spend quite a bit of time blogging.

Between research, writing and editing, on a week when I write content for both of my blogs (if I’m short on time, I normally skip writing my food & beverage blog) I spend at least eight hours a week blogging.

Blogs are a great from of personal expression, and an invaluable way for businesses to communicate their message to, and with, consumers.

Why do you love social media?

What I love most about social media is the amazing people I have met.

Some people, that I now consider good friends, were met via tweet ups or just chatting about shared interests on Twitter.

I also love being able to keep in touch and up to date with friends who live across the country.

For business, I enjoy the positive impact that social media can have.

When used properly, a business is able to expose their brand to an entire new consumer base and has the opportunity to turn those consumers into customers.

Among other things that I love, social media enables a business to enhance customers experiences and gives businesses the opportunity to provide customers service in real time which can have a large impact on brand perception.

It’s easy to spend lots of time online. How do you find balance in life?

I don’t…(only kidding) but it is hard to turn off when you know there is always something you could be doing for a client or your own brand.

I try to spend an hour an evening away from the computer.

On the weekends, I aim to spend more time off the computer than on.

I can’t say that I’m always successful, but setting goals is key to finding balance for me.

About Rachel Taylor

I am a digital native with deep experience building brands and marketing companies via social media.

I founded Simply Social Chicago out of desire to help business owners who were being led astray by company’s claiming to be social media experts. I realized my true passion for social media marketing after helping these business owners understand social media and seeing its positive impact on their brand. In my spare time, I work with my favorite national non-profit, helping to develop and implement their social media strategy.

If I’m not talking social media I’m typically talking food, wine, sports or photography. I recently received my advanced certificate from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and am the food & beverage editor of an amazing blog, 12 Most. I also enjoy blogging about my food & wine adventures on my personal blog, Mouth Glass Lens. I route for the Bulls, the Bears, the Cubs and the MIZZOU Tigers and some day soon, one of these teams will win a title!

About the Contributor: The Social Marketer is a social media marketing training site that is filled with quality marketing tutorials and a forum/community of digital marketing professionals.

Cathryne H. was kind enough to recently send in some thoughts in regards to the Smart Boy Designs blog.

Her list of pros and cons were worthy of sharing.

It’s my hope you might learn from this simple case study.

Hello Christian,

I truly like the navigation on the site. It’s straight-forward, you don’t have to search for a contact link or buttons for linking to your social platforms. I like that if I hover over the navigation, I get a small (somewhat sarcastic, yet amusing) blurp about what I’ll find in those links.

What I didn’t like right away was the ad that’s almost glaring at you as soon as you open the page – I understand 99% of the time it’s necessary, the flashing is almost obnoxious though depending on which ad you get.

The colors on the site aren’t too bright or hard to read. I like that you have an archive – maybe another feature you can add down the road will be a search feature for someone looking for a more-specific article.

Otherwise – thank you for the incredibly easy navigation! You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find a contact button or about someone on most blogs.

Cathryne H. 

In what areas would you like to change the design of your own blog? Do you routinely audit your blog? Do you look at your blog from the reader’s perspective?

After running a poll on the blog (I like to let them to gather more than 100 votes), we found the majority (36%) of bloggers don’t comment on other blogs.

This was surprising to me.

As you might notice from the graphic above, 44 out of the 122 people who were surveyed related their non-existing daily blog comments. Only 10 people comment on over 21 blogs per day, and just 6 people comment on 11-20 blogs per day.

A few weeks ago Justice Wordlaw IV and I were talking about the importance of blog commenting.

After using my dofollow blog directory to find quality blogs, and spending time daily leaving “well thought” blog comments, he was able to quickly bring his blog up to a PageRank of 4. I thought this was rather impressive.

For myself personally, this has also been my standard approach to building links and a network of blogging friends.

1. Find related blogs
2. Leave quality comments
3. Engage
4. Learn
5. Repeat

Commenting on other blogs is valuable.

Not only does it promote engagement, but I’m always surprised by how much I learn when I spend time commenting too.

And the amount of friends I’ve found through blog commenting is unparalleled by any other form of networking.

It’s been a huge benefit to my personal and blogging life.

How many blogs do you comment on each day? Do you plan on commenting on more? How long do you believe a blog comment should be? What tips have helped you leave better blog comments?

Jeevan Jacob John is a young blogger who blogs about everything that is related to building a better blog. If you like what you are reading here, then you should probably check out his Why You Should Give A Damn Page. You can also find Jeevan at his blog – Blog Networking 101.

Generation traffic is one thing. Maintaining it is another. You know, as humans we have a bad behavior (in fact, we have many, this is just one): We have a desire to get certain products. And once we get that and use it for a while, we tend to forget/ignore/hate it.

I will give you an example from my life:

You know, I really wanted a game for my Wii system. I had a desire for it, and when I got it, I was excessively happy. After playing it for a week, I began to lose my motivation to play the game – the game was not interesting as it used to be.

If you have been a follower of my blog posts, then you would know my good food example: After you eat your favorite food for a while, you get tired of it; You want to taste something.

Well, the same principle applies with blogging.

After you generate consistent traffic with your blog, you get bored with it. You lose your motivation to generate traffic and maintain it.

As I mentioned earlier, maintaining your traffic is really important. You want those visitors to come back to your blog. You just don’t want to lose your desire to generate traffic and maintain it.

Well, in this simple blog post, we will talk about certain ways through which we can maintain your traffic and keep them coming back (we will also talk a little bit about increasing the strength of our desire to generate traffic and maintain it).

How To Maintain Your Desire?

Step #1: Make Yourself Understand: Identify that Generating and Maintaining traffic is not a desire, but a need. Write it down on a sticky note and put it somewhere you can see it daily. Remind yourself of the importance of generating and maintaining traffic.

Step #2: Diversify the ways you get traffic and maintain it. Most bloggers will tell you to stick with your most popular traffic sources. Don’t do that. Yes, invest more time onto sources that you get the most traffic, but at the same time, work on improving your methods with other sources – to get more traffic and maintain it. For example: If your top traffic source is Twitter and top 10 is Google Plus, invest more time onto Twitter (but at the same time, improve/change your methods with Google Plus, so that you get more traffic with it).

Step #3: Most bloggers will tell you to focus on just your clients. In fact, that is right. Business is always about you and your profit (Only a few thousand companies actually care about others – whether they are a client or not). My personal opinion is that you should indeed focus on your clients, but at the same time, care about your readers too (readers who are not clients). You know one thing, the world would have been so much better, if everyone cared for their society – for others, instead of focusing on their gains.

But, that’s the point. With our human nature, it is hard not to be greedy with money and power (And other personal gains). But, we can certainly do it, if we are determined.

How To Maintain Your Traffic?

Well, we all know the basic ones, don’t we? If you don’t, let me summarize all that in one sentence:

Interesting and Informative Content, Smart Marketing, Networking, Tracking and Tweaking Your User experience.

Well, I am not going to get on all that. I will just give you a single tip, a tip that explains everything else:

Just Be Creative: I am not talking about being creative in just one field: You need to be creative with writing, marketing, networking and even your blog design. For instance: All of us have the typical layout/design of blogs? Well, I want to say is that be creative. Choose a different font, customize everything you can. Change the color of your titles (How about Green? Blue? Orange?). Most bloggers just confirm with others on blog design and managing their blog. Don’t not follow the crowd! Always be different.

The most successful businesses are the ones that are different from others – it doesn’t matter whether you are providing something new or you are providing the same product with variations that make it better. What matters most is that your product (in blogging, your product is content) is different from others.

Well, as a blogger, I think bloggers should be unique in everything that they do, whether it is their blog design, writing style or thinking a blog post.

Let me give you another example: If you write your blog posts after planning extensively, then try writing articles without much planning and vice versa. Just do it.

Do what you can do and realize your power. Now, many of you guys who know might ask me why I am not that creative with my blog’s design. Well, right now, I am trying to learn some coding so that I can “redesign” the whole layout. I am also trying to be creative with others things that is related to blogging. People always like variety. So, give it to them. Write on different topics (while at the same time writing for your target audience).

So, what can you do with your blog? Realize your power and make changes. Give people something beyond they expect. Surprise them and they will come back for more. Build anticipation. Just be creative.

What do you think?

How do you maintain your visitors?

How do you maintain your desire?

Of late, blogs have become a new buzzword in the world of business.

In the past few years, you can see a massive increase of bloggers and blogs over the internet.

Now you can see blogs for any topic in the world! In fact, many of the topics and subjects that are pretty similar are seen on blogs catering different perspective and opinions.

There are many reasons why blogs have flourished over the internet.

These include their search engine friendliness and ease in creation.

You don’t have to struggle with coding and technical part while making a blog, which is generally required for developing any website.

But surviving in this cut throat blogging competition is difficult, hence when you are building a blog to make money, make sure you go with the goal of building a business and not just a blog.

In order to achieve this goal, you need to run your blog with the mindset of entrepreneurs.

Let’s discuss the tips on building your business out of your blog.

Have a clear direction & idea

Today, you will find any Tom, Dick and Harry coming up with their blogs and joining this bandwagon without any proper preparation.

They simply build a blog without a clear idea in their minds.

If your blog lacks a clear goal or direction and comes out without any preparation, then you’ll end up going nowhere fast.

Hence, always set your goal and direction, then move ahead.

Use creativity but do not change the rule

Every blogger has their own creative skills, which they apply in their blogs.

You have the liberty to run your blog as per your whims and fancies.

Running things with creativity is good, however, instead of changing and reinventing things on your own, you must try learning things which can give you the desired results.

Check a number of business blogs and explore their strategies which make them successful and try incorporating them in your blogs.

You can even attend a number of seminars to learn from the experts and professionals.

You can therefore try incorporating the things learned, which suits your business best, rather than trying to create your own.

Seek the help of mentors

Having a mentor is a must when you are looking to have a blog to make money.

Make sure your blog isn’t solely expressing your personal feelings or trying something odd; but serious business.

If you are interested in having a business blog, seeking the help of someone who is an expert in this field can be a worthy experience.

Always consider having one mentor or mentors to help you build a successful business blog.

Remain financially committed

There are many places where you can find free space to build your own blog for any purpose.

Freebies aren’t bad, however, when you are looking forward to build a blog to make money, you should be prepared to invest some money in it.

When you remain financial committed, you will gain the motivation to reap the money invested for business blog.

Always stay green

The online business world is dynamic and keeps changing.

Hence, you need to keep yourself updated with the modern trends involving your business blog.

Make sure you invest money in learning the new skills and ideas you attained at various seminars and workshops.

When you learn something new, make sure you implement it.

Stay green by acting upon the new things and knowledge you acquired.

The sooner you do this, the better.

Conclusion

Building a blog can be an easy thing, but reaping true business from your work is really a big deal to crack.

If you are looking forward to have a business blog, rely on the above discussed ideas and tips; they will certainly help you in coming up with a successful business blog.

Build a business. Not just a blog.

Alyssa Clarke is a blogger who also happens to be a tech lover. She loves spending time on tech stuff and recently bought a cool pair of Nikon binoculars and a gaming mouse.

Kim Peek was a famous savant in America.

Having the magnificent capability of remembering everything he ever read, he was literally a walking encyclopedia. Nearing the end of his life he could easily recall the information from any of the 10,000+ books he had read.

Due to his phenomenal abilities, the movie “Rain man” was even created based on his life.

I remember watching that movie for the first time and being utterly amazed at what the mind is capable of doing. It stores memories. That alone, is a miracle. The brain is able to store, assimilate and recall thoughts, words, smells, sights and more.

To me, the brain is fascinating.

If Kim Peek were still alive today, I believe the following might be some of the advice he’d give in regards to crafting endless blog content.

“Christian, I don’t have anything to write about. Where can I get blog content ideas?“

I’m asked this question over and over again.

For quite some time, I really didn’t have a specific answer. In my mind it was a foreign thought to think there wasn’t enough to write about. Isn’t endless blog content everywhere we look?

If you ever get a sneak peak of my blog’s dashboard you’ll see I have almost 300 draft posts. My Evernote is filled to the brim with hundreds upon hundreds of songs, notes, blog post ideas, thoughts, opinions, worries, inventions & beliefs. Anyone who knows me personally will notice I keep a spiral bound notebook with me almost everywhere I go. Journals litter bookshelves.

So, the question remains. Where do I find my endless supply of blog content?

Let me tell you.

Let’s get a list going. Let’s make it endless.

To paint a better story of where I find blog content, I thought it might help to give you a list of examples.

Visual examples through words are one of my favorite ways to understand abstract concepts.

• Your blog niche is gardening. Let’s follow the example of Kim Peek and go read a book; the first place I’d check is the library. Once you get to the library find every book related to your niche. Bring those puppies home and read, read, read. Write notes. Think. Analyze. Without plagiarizing, use your new information and skills to compile more blog posts.
• Sometimes when the sun is about to set, I’ll take a moment to find a spot where I can watch it. Thoughts and ideas usually flood to my mind during a setting like this. I never forget to have my notebook with me.
• Remember that often, you won’t have the same spark of genius twice; so write everything down.
• Read other blogs. You’d be amazed at how much you learn by becoming involved in your niche.
• On the same front, be sure to comment on other blogs. When you post a blog comment, you’re helping your brain to remember what you’ve learned. As you ponder and process the blog post you’ll also have many more thoughts and ideas come to your mind.
• Use Amazon. I love buying books and after I finish each one I write a book review blog post. Bam! Another piece of content.
• Don’t forget to use your friends and family as a resource. Ask them to help write for you. Maybe you could create an interview with them that you’d feature on your blog? Ask them, “What’s it like living with a blogger? How do you feel about this hobby of mine?” The question possibilities are endless.
• At the moment I’m taking some college courses. It’s a great way to refresh some of my web development skills, while also gathering an ample supply of notes upon which to draw blog content from. There are many blog niches, of which have a matching course to take at a local community college. For example, if you write about art – have you considered taking a class in a medium you’ve never worked with?
• Be sure to have lots of desk toys. Every 25 minutes I try and take a few minute break. If you know me well, you know I have lots of desk toys. Squishy things, putty, NeoCube and more. Get your hands working with something and often the blog content will flow naturally.
• It sounds a little counter-intuitive, but you’d be surprised how often blog post ideas come to me while watching TV. It happens. A lot. Just don’t make this your excuse the next time your husband or wife comments on how much TV you’re watching. “It’s okay, sweety, Christian told me it would be good for my blog project!“
• Browsing through the daily news pertaining to your blog’s niche is a great way to “spark” the mind with new blog content ideas.
• Have patience. Some days you’ll have no ideas, while other days you’ll pump out ten posts. Just as the seas ebbs and flows, so are minds do too.
• Hit up Google Images. Enter your niche as the search term and become inspired by the photos that pop up.

Now, here’s the “takeaway” secret that comes after you start using all these blog content ideas:

If you start compiling a list of draft posts, notes & thoughts – you’ll have the comfort in knowing you’ll never be without blog posts. Have the urge to publish a post? Pull up one of those drafts you’ve been saving, spend 15 minutes editing the content, and you have a great post in a jiffy!

Some Parting Thoughts

The brilliant part of putting these practices to work, is something I cannot teach through blog post.

You’ll learn. You’ll grow. You’ll think. You’ll write.

By continually searching for new blog content ideas, you’ll really start to see the endless pit.

There are ideas everywhere.

They’re contained within books, our hearts, thoughts, friends, family, television, theater, movies, poems, ballads, songs & the internet.

So get out there and start writing!

Where do you find blog content ideas? Do you believe the blog content “pit” is endless? If you’re struggling to come up with post ideas, share your concerns in the comments – and myself and others would be happy to give you some feedback and thoughts.

Jeevan Jacob John is a young blogger who blogs about networking, marketing, social media and traffic generation. He tries to come up with new analogies and perspectives to make it easier for others to understand and apply. Find him at his blog – Blog Networking 101.

We hear the word Creativity a lot of times. But, most times, the word is misinterpreted. Let me ask you: What is creativity?

As I understand, Creativity is just a simple act of looking at the familiar in unfamiliar ways. Everyone in this world is creative, whether they agree with it or not.

We use creativity in our day to day life. But, each of us use it in different measures. Some, like artists use it to express themselves through different colors and shapes. Others like writers (like me and you) use words to express our thoughts (are we really expressing our thoughts?).

The extent to which we use it is what matters.

We should try to use “more” of our creativity; be more creative.

I mean, you don’t have to take paint brush to paint or read books or write more articles or whatever.

All you have to do is “do things differently“.

For instance: Try using your hand to brush your teeth instead of your tooth brush. Yup, that’s creativity

As I mentioned before, Creativity is the act of approaching things different. Let’s say that you are going to check Facebook. Instead of doing your daily activities, do something different. For example: If you daily activity is to comment on your Friends’ wall, then stop yourself from doing that. And interact with your fans on Facebook Page (As a blogger, that would be a great thing to do ).

The Apple.

Last week, my Art professor asked all students to draw an apple – from our mind. All of us drew a nice little rounded apple – red in color (We didn’t color it; but if we were to, it would be red).

She gave us some time to work on it (say like 2 minutes). And then she told us to stop drawing and to compare our apple to the apple she drew. And yes, our apples looked similar.

After that, she took out an apple, that she brought along with her, and told us to compare our apples with the real one.

Of course, we noticed lots of differences – the real apple is not perfect in shape, not fully red in color – it had some green and yellow, didn’t have a petal of leaf and many others differences like in texture.

And then came the important part. She told us that what we drew were our mind’s “concepts of apple“. Our mind constructs a concept for every little thing that we see. And when we are asked to think or draw it, we usually think of that concept.

The reason why I gave you this example is to signify the importance of mind’s concepts (and to allow myself to be creative – it has been a long time since I have included a personal story in one of my blog posts ). We usually do things based on these concepts. Whether we are blogging, painting, cooking or even knitting.

Let me explain what we can do, as bloggers:

Spend more time doing things that you aren’t used to doing.

For the past week or so, I have been spending a lot of time on reading and commenting blogs (Usually, I don’t do much commenting). Well, I did that for a couple of reasons:

• To Be More Creative
• To Get More Blog Post Ideas
• To Engage With Other Bloggers
• To Get More Link backs
• To Get More Traffic
• To Motivate Myself to Guest Post on those Sites

The list goes on (the longer the list, the stronger my motivation, the easier I can keep up with it).

I have also been writing every day for the last few days (The first time I am doing that for blogging).

What things do you do usually for blogging? Writing? Commenting? Reading Blogs?

There are a lot of things you can do instead:

• Write for your subscribers – Write tips for your subscribers only.
• Interact with your subscribers
• Engage on Twitter and/or G+
• Etc.

Well, it depends on who you are on and what you do every day.

You could so something new or do the same thing that you do in a different way.

For example: If you are going to write for your blog, stop that, and guest post. Or you could write on a topic that you haven’t written for a long time.

Or start a personal blog and write on a different niche.

Or write a blog post without any planning.

If you are going to comment, stop that and engage with people who commented on your latest posts (via Twitter, G+ or Facebook).

The possibilities are endless. You just have to choose one that helps your blog in a beneficial way.

Do things creatively.

Do things differently.

Do the things that you do in a different way.

Be a Creative Blogger!

P.S. I think I have been creative with this blog post too. Because usually I don’t like this. A change is good. Isn’t it?

P.P.S Like the article? Will ya help me out by writing your thoughts or marketing it to the world? Thanks a lot!

Jim Blogger loves fitness. He was a jock growing up and he never gained his “freshman 15” in college, where he majored in journalism and minored in sports medicine. Now he teaches weightlifting classes at the local gym, and writes a fitness blog with really good articles. But he has a problem: Even though he has great articles, he doesn’t make that much money from his blog.

Sound like anyone we know?

Like Jim, most bloggers are like come from writing backgrounds or were interested in their niche before they started blogging. This means that even though many bloggers make great content and know a lot about what they write about, few have the business know-how to make money off their writing.

I’ve worked in online marketing for over a decade so I know a thing or two about how to make money with a blog. I want to help other bloggers succeed, so I’m sharing a few ways that you can make money blogging:

Affiliate marketing

Merchants (also confusingly called advertisers) will pay bloggers money to get people to sign up as leads (a lead is someone who’s either signed up for a trial or registered their personal information, such as their email address, to a merchant) and/or buy products. Usually, you will get a percentage of the product sold if you’re getting paid to sell products. You get paid a flat amount for each lead you sign up.

Newsletters

The most common way bloggers run affiliate programs is by placing banner ads on their site. However, it’s also common for blogs to allow people to sign up for their mailing list, and send out a newsletter each week. Instead of selling people’s email addresses to spammers (which decreases the value of the blog) or sending them spam yourself, email them relevant information that they’ll actually read. This will increase the value of your blog to your readers, make them tell their friends about you, and gives you an excellent opportunity to place some affiliate links. Make sure to choose high quality products: Readers won’t want to read your blog anymore (and certainly won’t click on any of your affiliate links) if your newsletter points they feel like they are being pointed to products that are rip-offs.

Pay per click ads

Pay per click ads don’t work well in newsletters because you’re not being paid that much per click. As a result, many of the people clicking on your ads need to be people new to your blog, not your hardcore readers who’ve signed up for your newsletter. That’s why pay per click ads don’t work in newsletters but they work great as banner ads on your site. Pay per click banner ads on a website are usually less targeted than affiliate ads for a hand-picked product in a newsletter to a very narrow niche (such as people who like weightlifting, as opposed to people who like fitness in general) audience, so you need a lot more clicks to make the same amount of money. However, Google AdSense tailors ads based on an individual reader’s search history, so AdSense pay per click banner ads can be more profitable than affiliate banner ads.

Don’t stop here!

I’ve shared a few ways to make more money on your blog, but this article’s by no means the end-all be-all of content monetization. To make even more money, you should look for more articles online and watch webinars about content monetization, like mine on Friday the 27^th of January. Space is limited so register ASAP!

This is a guest post by Murray Newlands. Murray and his company Influence People do blogger outreach for a variety of clients, such as INTENTclick.

If you are a beginning blogger or are a seasoned blogging vet, you may occasionally need a blogging tip to help you create content or to get you back on track.

However, if you are a new blogger you might need a lot more help.

Regardless of how long you have been blogging, the following dos and don’ts can help you to be a bigger blogging success.

• DO post regularly. This blogging tip may be old news, but if you are a new blogger you may not really know what regularly means. You should try to post at least once a day, maybe even more.
• DON’T put a ton of ads on your blog. If you are a beginning blogger, this might not seem like a good blogging tip because you want to start making money. Your visitors don’t like ads, and if there are too many, they won’t click on any of them because they won’t come back. Put up a few pertinent, discretely placed ads to have readers and income potential.
• DO tell people you are blogging. If you are a new blogger, a quick way to initially get visitors is to tell people you know that you have a blog. Let folks know via your social media networks and tell the folks you know in real life, like family and coworkers. Even if you have been blogging for a while, let these people know about your site, as they may become your biggest fans.
• DON’T have music or video autoplay on your blog. If someone clicks on a link to your site while slacking off at the office and the newest Rihanna hit starts blaring though the speakers, he or she will be embarrassed and won’t come back. Even if the aforementioned scenario doesn’t play out, music and other audio like this is annoying.
• DO comment on your comments. A new blogger often doesn’t think of blogs as social media, but they very much are. If you comment back on your comments, readers will come back more often because they feel like they are in a discourse with you. If you don’t comment, they will feel ignored and may stop visiting.
• DON’T post just for posting’s sake. If you are trying to build a legitimate blog, this could be the best blogging tip on here if you are struggling to post one or more times a day. If you don’t have anything relevant to post, don’t toss just anything up. Your readers may not appreciate a scattered blog with off-message content and may stop visiting.
• DO comment on other blogs. And leave links to your site when you do so. Make sure that these are pertinent, honest comments about the other bloggers content. Your comment will lead to some folks clicking to your site through this comment, and it could cause your blog to squeeze just a centimeter up the search rankings.
• DON’T use spammy methods to get visitors and readers to your site. There are plenty of black hat SEO tricks a beginning blogger may be willing to try to get instant success, but don’t do it. If you do things that are funky, fishy and maybe a bit spammy, you won’t get off to a good start. Your blog could end up with a bad name, and you could even get it blacklisted from search sites. Ouch!
• DO subscribe to your own blog. You need to know what your readers see through their RSS feeds. If something is difficult to read, you will know before your readers start running away.
• DON’T forget share and social media buttons. This blogging tip is a big one. These share features let you readers market your blog for you. Without these you are severely limiting your blogs potential and drastically cutting down on the amount of people who will be exposed to your amazing work.

This article is provided by Kevin Moor who writes for different sites, which inter alias are working to find perfect uninstaller.

If you know me well, you know that sled dogs are one of my passions.

Having been involved with the sport of dog sledding since I was a young boy, I have a fond love for the sport.

I have three huskies. Kia, Keeva & Cabo.

We also have a chihuahua named Chiquita. She’s the official ”Hollingsworth Huskies” kennel mascot. During the winter months you’ll often find my brothers and I training the dogs and enjoying the cold of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

For the sled dog community, I thought I’d publish a list of currently available domain names revolving around the topic.

There’s a gold mine of available domains below if you wanted to start a sled dog blog or racing kennel website. 

• emushingblog.com
• sleddogssite.net
• esleddogs.com
• mysleddogblog.com
• sleddoginfo.com
• mysleddogs.net
• mysleddoginfo.com
• emushingspot.com
• mysleddogtips.net
• sleddognews.com
• thedogsledding.net
• mysleddogspot.net
• thesleddog.com
• sleddogsinfo.com
• esleddogspot.net
• esleddogsite.com
• sleddogsnews.net
• emushing.org
• mymushingsite.net
• esleddogsspot.com
• mushinginfo.org
• mushingsite.org
• mushingspot.com
• esleddog.org
• sleddogssite.org
• mushingnews.org
• sleddogsspot.net
• sleddogsnews.org
• mydogsledding.org
• esleddogsblog.net
• sleddogsite.net
• mymushingtips.net
• mushingblog.org
• esleddognews.org
• emushinginfo.org
• mushingtips.org
• mysleddogs.org
• esleddogblog.org
• esleddogsspot.org
• mysleddogsite.org
• mydogsledding.net
• emushing.net
• esleddogblog.com
• mymushingspot.org
• esleddogsnews.org
• mushingspot.org
• mymushing.org
• thesleddog.org
• esleddog.net
• themushing.org
• emushingnews.org
• mysleddognews.org
• emushingsite.net
• mysleddogsblog.org
• mymushingspot.com
• mymushingsite.org
• mushingsite.com
• sleddogspot.org
• sleddogsspot.org
• thesleddogs.net
• mysleddogsspot.org
• esleddogsinfo.org
• mysleddogtips.com
• esleddogsblog.org
• mymushingblog.org
• sleddoginfo.net
• sleddogstips.org
• sleddogsinfo.org
• sleddoginfo.org
• edogsledding.org
• emushingspot.org
• emushingtips.net
• emushingsite.com
• emushing.com
• emushingspot.net
• esleddogspot.org
• sleddogstips.com
• sleddogsspot.com
• mysleddogsinfo.com
• mymushingnews.net
• mushingblog.net
• sleddogtips.com
• thesleddog.net
• emushingnews.com
• esleddognews.com
• mushingblog.com
• emushinginfo.com
• edogsledding.com
• mymushingblog.com
• mushingtips.net
• mysleddogssite.com
• esleddogstips.com
• sleddogsblog.com
• mysleddoginfo.net
• mushingnews.com
• mysleddogsnews.com
• sleddogsite.com
• esleddogsblog.com
• themushing.net
• esleddog.com
• emushingblog.net
• esleddogssite.com
• mysleddogsinfo.org
• mysleddogspot.com
• mushinginfo.net
• mymushinginfo.net
• mysleddogsblog.com
• mysleddogsnews.org
• themushing.com
• esleddogs.net
• mushingsite.net
• emushingnews.net
• mysleddogsite.net
• sleddogsblog.net
• esleddogsnews.com
• esleddogblog.net
• mymushingblog.net
• esleddogsinfo.net
• mushingnews.net
• mysleddogs.com
• mymushingspot.net
• mushinginfo.com
• sleddogssite.com
• mydogsledding.com
• emushingtips.com
• esleddogstips.net
• mymushing.com
• thedogsledding.com
• esleddoginfo.com
• esleddogspot.com
• esleddogsspot.net
• mymushingsite.com
• esleddogtips.net
• mushingtips.com
• sleddogspot.com
• mysleddog.com
• mysleddogblog.net
• mysleddogsspot.com
• mysleddognews.com
• sleddogsinfo.net
• esleddogsite.net
• edogsledding.net
• mymushingtips.com
• esleddogssite.net
• mushingspot.net
• sleddogspot.net
• sleddognews.net
• mysleddog.net
• sleddogstips.net
• esleddogtips.com
• esleddognews.net
• thesleddogblog.com
• mysleddog.org
• thesleddogs.org
• sleddogsite.org
• esleddogsite.org
• esleddogtips.org
• sleddognews.org
• esleddoginfo.org
• esleddogstips.org
• emushingblog.org
• mymushingnews.org
• emushingsite.org
• thedogsledding.org
• mysleddogblog.org
• mymushinginfo.org
• esleddogs.org
• mymushingtips.org
• mysleddogtips.org
• mysleddoginfo.org
• mysleddogspot.org
• sleddogsblog.org
• emushingtips.org
• sleddogsnews.com
• esleddogssite.org
• mysleddogstips.com
• themushingspot.com
• mysleddogsnews.net
• esleddogsinfo.com
• mysleddogsinfo.net
• sleddogtips.net
• mysleddognews.net
• mymushinginfo.com
• esleddogsnews.net
• emushinginfo.net
• mysleddogsite.com
• mysleddogstips.net
• mysleddogstips.org
• thesleddogspot.com
• mymushing.net
• esleddoginfo.net
• mymushingnews.com
• mysleddogsblog.net
• mysleddogsspot.net
• sleddogtips.org
• mysleddogssite.net
• mysleddogssite.org
• themushingsite.com
• themushinginfo.com
• thesleddogsite.com

The above sled dog domains were available as of January 3rd, 2012.

rose·bud – an unopened flower of a rose.

There shall be no Citizen Kane spoilers here, but if you’ve seen the movie you’ll understand in greater depth my reason for choosing “rosebud” as my one word theme for the new year. As inspired by Mari Smith.

Apart from cinematic meaning, I choose the word rosebud because of the physical object of which it represents.

The unopened flower of a rose.

To be blunt, I feel unopened.

During the past year I’ve had my share of incredible blessings, discoveries, advancements and achievements. I’ve also felt the opposing force of life. Health difficulties caused by disease of which I am still trying to fix, and other ailments.

Simply, I feel like a rosebud.

Within, is my soul. Waiting and ready to open itself. To live for more and become the beautiful rose of which it was intended.

I’m not about to make a long list of resolutions of which I won’t accomplish. I’ve tried that method multiple times in the past and it doesn’t seem to work for me.

Feel, is really where I thrive.

I’ll feel out this year. Within the recesses of my mind lie countless dreams, aspirations, goals and lists. I know what they are. I know how to accomplish all of them. The past week has consisted of dedication to prayer & meditation in coming to know what I might do this year.

this year I will let my dreams unfold (like a rosebud) with the help of constant determination, hard-work & a constant desire to be a light in this world.

The world of blogging is my playground of which I bounce around like a giddy child. Laughing and learning. Continually cataloging what I learn in life; sharing the lives of others & finding joy in the process. This year will be no different.

The rosebud is ready.

The beautiful sunset photo was provided by Lozula. That man has wicked talent.

If you’re a regular blogger, you probably already know that staying organized can sometimes be a hassle.

From time constraints to cluttered blog posts, it can be easy to let your own blog overtake your sanity. However, by following some simple steps, you can not only be more organized in your blogging endeavors, but you can also save time and produce better quality posts.

1. Write Topic Ideas Ahead of Time

If you find yourself unsure of what to blog about, or you find yourself jumping from topic to topic, you might be able to benefit from writing out post ideas ahead of time and then using the list for future reference.

Doing this can also help you to craft the overall theme of your blog.

Instead of jumping from topic to topic, having a clear set of ideas already chosen can allow you to deliver a more focused message. Of course, if your blog is based around random happenings through the day, you can still keep a notepad around to jot down ideas you want to cover.

2. Keep Up with News/Current Events

Another way to stay organized is to keep up with news and current events.

By doing this, you can avoid rehashing old information and weed out clutter, all at the same time. An example of this would be if you ran a political blog. Because things change on a regular basis in politics, it’s important to keep up with what the latest news is so you can avoid posting old info that just becomes clutter on your blog.

3. Set Aside Specific Blogging Time Each Day

In order to avoid posting poorly written material, set aside a specific time each day to blog. This helps you avoid feeling rushed, leads to better writing and allows you to organize your thoughts more effectively.

Make sure you come up with a writing schedule and stick to it.

You may want to let your friends and family know that you are not to be disturbed during this time so that you can devote all of your attention to organizing your thoughts.

4. Utilize Mobile Blogging Technology

Mobile blogging lets you get info out as the event is taking place, leading to better organized material.

With all of the laptops, smartphones and tablet mobile devices out there, it’s important to take advantage of blogging on-the-go. Mobile blogging is great for organization in that it allows you to update your blog in real-time, meaning you can get information out while it’s still fresh in your memory.

Of course, if you don’t have access to these tools, you could always carry a pen and pad around to take notes on, but that means you have to piece together details later.

Mobile blogging lets you get info out as the event is taking place, leading to better organized material.

5. Work with a Team

Working with a team is a great way to stay organized, as each team member can have their own special page dedicated to their area of expertise or interest.

Instead of you trying to run the whole show, and instead of posting about topics that you’re unsure of, having a team to work with allows you to each have your own separate areas on a blog, leading to more organized information.

6. Organize Posts According to Topic

Many blog providers allow you to categorize your posts using tags.

Tagging your posts gives you the chance to organize them in a way that they can easily be recalled later.

For instance, if you want to reference or link to a post you made years ago, it would be much easier to find that post by searching for key terms instead of scanning post after post for them yourself.

Organizing your posts using tags is also a great way for readers of your blog to find similar posts on topics that interest them.

7. Be Concise

While it may be easy to just let go and start typing out a post, before you know it, you may have a novel on your hands and you’ve drifted from one point to another.

Try to remember that concise writing is the key to good information organization.

Before starting a post, you may want to write out an outline to stick to, allowing you to organize your information before you even stroke a key.

James is employed by a British printer cartridge website where he works with accessories like Samsung toner. James mostly spends a lot of time blogging and creating content, as well as keeping up with all the latest news on the web.

Do you realize the amount of information you are exposed to while you are blogging? It’s immense, something you would probably never be able to reach if it wasn’t for the all this connection.

It is incredible how, for the first time, we have a private teacher for each one of us. For the first time, one can learn whatever he wants; when he wants; at the speed he wants. It’s incredible.

You are exposed to hundreds of people’s thoughts and perspectives – you are exposed to old philosophical or psychological works. If one joins that to his critical thinking and a small dose of skepticism, one can develop theories and ideas about almost everything one sets his mind to.

In my last article here “Why I Won’t Stop Blogging” I rambled through what blogging meant to me and how it changed my life. Today I want to approach a different but not exclusive idea – the idea that blogging helps you in becoming a better human, a better person.

By blogging, and being exposed to all the information we become better human beings, we evolve, we develop ourselves.

“I just think that fiction that isn’t exploring what it means to be human today isn’t art.” – David Foster Wallace

I am going to be bold here and say that David Foster Wallace’s affirmation can be applied to all types of writing, or even all types of art. I believe that if you are not writing something that makes people reflect, think and evolve, it’s not worth it.

Writing should be solemnly about conveying information from people to people and not about fame or popularity, and there are bloggers who are consistent in presenting extremely valuable writings.

We Develop the Intellect

The amount of information that is available on the Internet, for free, is the best way for one to develop one’s intellect. We are exposed to studies, theories or essays we can read. We can become knowledgeable of the history of whatever we want. Or about the modern topics we have a special interest about. This is a straightforward benefit of blogging or, at least, reading blogs.

Developing the intellect with a dose of skepticism and critical thinking is essential for educating humanists, that are disappearing in today’s world at a fast pace. You can argue that developing the intellect doesn’t necessarily make you a better person, you’d be right, but you can’t argue that developing the intellect develops us as human beings. At least, at its fundamental level.

The consequences of developing the intellect can be tremendous. By doing this we can challenge dogmas or pre-conceived ideas, argue theories or even make an impact with an important discovery. You never know what you’ll find in the web.

When I started reading Art of Manliness I was injected with a large dose of culture and a whole new perspective about life that really changed it for me. I had one of those “Ah ah” moment. I sent an e-mail to the owner of AoM just to thank him:

“Hi,

My name is Hugo Martins as stated above and i’m 17 years old. Also just to beat the odds once again, I’m from Portugal (a country in Europe).

I just wanted to say that from the minute I’ve discovered your blog i’m hooked. I can’t get out of it, I’ve literally spent hours and hours reading and re-reading your posts. I think i’ve finally found what I was looking for in this world. As you may understand guys my age don’t usually have this kind of concerns about the state of the world’s manliness but that was something i was always searching for answers and never found them.

So i just wanted to make sure you knew that you helped a boy in his evolution towards becoming a man in a very positive way, and for that i thank you.

Best of luck with the blog for years to come.

Sincerely,
Hugo”

The English was not very good but it worked. I got an answer and a free poster that is now properly displayed in my manly room. Since then I’ve challenge myself daily in order to learn something new every day. I’ve started reading much more, and writing. I’ve challenged myself to grow into what I wanted to be.

Had I never started blogging or reading blogs I’d have never found the Art of Manliness blog and probably wouldn’t have placed such an emphasis on my education at such a young age.

Social Interactions

It may sound like a paradox but emerging into the Internet can actually improve social interactions, why not?

I’ve recently (couple of months) found a great blog called 30vanquish that documents the journey of a guy in becoming social more capable. The goal is destroying all social barriers. It’s a crazy website because its author Matt actually does all the social experiments he preaches. He was a simple guy with lack of social skills and now has evolved into a guy who has no problem in approaching a girl and asking her what she’s reading, just for the sake of destroying social barriers.

He inspired me to start making social experiences too and I’ve been happier and more social ever since. Not much more though. Small steps they say…

Like this blog, I’m sure we can find several others that help people battling their problems with social interactions.

Another cool perspective is that while you are wandering through the Internet, you are bound to meet new people, if you really want to. You just need to take advantage of those opportunities.

Becoming better in social interactions can only benefit us. Mind that you don’t have to be popular, just be friendlier.

You Learn To Help Others Not Expecting Anything In Return

While this is not necessarily true, most times it is. When you comment, retweet or simply share someone’s content, you are helping them without wanting them to do anything for you. You just share, probably, because it is worth it. When you are doing it for the sake of obtaining something you must not be normal, you are selling your reputation (sharing content that possibly is not good enough or adequate for your audience) for cheap links or comments. Don’t do that. Learn to share and help other people just for the sake of feeling better with you. You comment on a blog and they don’t comment back – don’t stop commenting. Commenting should not be a transaction. It’s something you do because you feel the author deserved.

The same goes for retweets. Don’t retweet if you are expecting someone to retweet back. It just doesn’t work that way.

Likewise, if you believe you are producing valuable content then you must surely be helping people without wanting anything from them, right? Just keep at it.

Blogging Is The Art Of Becoming A Better Human

Bring back the spirit of the old days. The days when people shared with other people their reflections, thoughts and opinions, and together they reached new conclusions. Blogging is, for many people, the only way to do what they really love. For most of them, their jobs occupy most of the time, and blogging is the only way to truly be them.

I’m not saying no to monetization. People deserve to be paid if they are doing something great that occupies most of their time but you have to deeply care about what you are doing and about the people who read you first, and then monetize.

Gary Vaynerchuk gave an interesting presentation about this topic in 2008 that it is still relevant today.

Some Great Blogs I’d Like To Share

• Brain Pickings
• Almost Bohemian
• Andrew Caldwell
• In Over Your Head
• The Minimalists
• Mark Robertson

I bet you can find something that you’d be personally interested in every single one of this blogs. Whether you visit these blogs or not, I have a small favor to ask you: please share with me your favorite blogs and share your opinions about how blogging can have a positive impact in humanity.

Thank you.

This post was written by Hugo Martins. Hugo writes about freethinking and life at his blog Connected.

When I say “He” understand that I’m talking about “He/She”.