Image via CrunchBase, source unknown Recently my blog experience some irregularity. This really shocked me when I see the sign Photobucket Bandwidth Exceeded all round my blog. In my mind I was thinking where in the world did I used "Photobucket". Later did I realized that the problem lies with the images with the free template that I uploaded. My blog bandwidth is riding on the free template ptovider's "Photobucket" account.I found out that during the 2nd week of the last 3 months I have been experiencing this problem and have no clue why?

After much research this is what I have discovered. Photobucket has 2.5G of Bandwidth monthly and on the 16th of every month the bandwidth will reset, therefore if you have high amount of traffic coming into you site, you will definitely hit the bandwidth limit before that.

This is what I did - to resolve this problem:

First - Get my own Photobucket account
Second - Download all the image files into it
Third - Login to your blogspot account, go to layout>edit HTML>click Ctrl F
> since the problem is from photobucket, type the word photobucket

The word photobucket from your edit template page will be highlighted. Copy the complete url of all links that has the word photobucket. Download them, one by one and save it to your own Photobucket Account or any filehost that you prefer. Then, replaced all the Photobucket link in your template to your own, one by one, make sure that you’ve replaced the correct photobucket link to the new link to avoid further problems

After when I have done all this my Blog went back to normal again. I hope this will help you solve your misery too.

Image via Wikipedia Why does Web 2.0 – a complex, subtle, yet practical topic – need so much definition? That question was addressed by social computing and Web 2.0 expert Dion Hinchcliffe in an end-of-year round up that he compiled all the way back in December 2005. To this day it makes a very handy starting-point for anyone seeking to get themselves up to speed.

Hinchcliffe's "Best (Or Most Interesting) Web 2.0 Definitions and Explanations" list was as follows. (Remember he was writing in December 2005, after what he called "the rough and tumble ride" that 'Web 2.0' as a term had in its first 12 months.)

O'Reilly's What Is Web 2.0 - The famous meme map alone is worth serious study and is the central work defining the interlocking elements of Web 2.0.  O'Reilly touches on Web 2.0 as having more of a "gravitational core" than being a concrete set of technologies.  He also introduces all the major planks of his vision of the next generation of the Web as a set of best practices from the first generation.  A terrific read worth every minute spent on it.  Finish this before starting the rest.

Wikipedia Definition for Web 2.0 - While this entry undergoes near constant revision, I recommend a visit to see what an amalgam of opinionated contributors brings to the table for Web 2.0 definition.  Devoid of hype or even many buzzwords, the entry has become somewhat disappointing but the key facts are present and is also notably lacking in major anti-hype.  In the end, a balanced if slightly boring view produced by a little wisdom of the crowds.

Richard MacManus Defines Web 2.0 in February, 2005 - It's amazing to see how far along things have come when you read the very interesting pieces hyperlinked within.  Richard does a bang-up job rolling up prevailing opinion at the time from around the Web.  He finally settles on Web as Platform for the time being, but of course, the concept would continue to grow.

The "Official" Web 2.0 Compact Definition - Tim O'Reilly realized his 5 page essay would not result in a pithy definition and so he obliged everyone in October with a more compact definition.  While quite the run-on sentence, the definition does capture the essence: "Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0 applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources, including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an "architecture of participation," and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich user experiences."

A Cumulative Web 2.0 Definition:  Here is an interesting one, if more than a little obtuse.  Incredibly, this is what comes up first in Google when you search on "Web 2.0 definition", presumably because the word definition is in the title and a few people have linked to it.  While technically not inaccurate, it's not very complete either.  I can't help wondering if partial definitions like this are a big part of the problem people are having understanding the concepts.

Jeff Clavier Tries His Hand At Web 2.0 Definition - And does a credible job.  He puts openness of data and services as job #1, then rich application experences, and then low cost of delivery using lightweight programming models and techniques.  A bit of a light definition in my personal opinion but highly accessible.

Paul Graham Weighs In On Web 2.0 - Here is one of the most recent explanations and one of the clearest headed.  While I certainly don't agree with everything he says, it's an excellent antidote to some of the most extreme Web 2.0 hype, while not throwing out the baby with the bath water either.  A must read.

Image via WikipediaThe success of your blog is solely base on User Generated Contents (UGC), therefore the level of comments you receive from your readers is a measure of how successful is your blog. Getting your readers to comment requires techniques, I have listed 10 Key strategies used by successful bloggers whom have attract massive comments to their blog post.

Be Controversial - Writing content that is controversial opens the door for more possibilities, as the controversial subject usually doesn't have a black or white answer.

Be Outlandish - Writing something outlandish can generate either positive or negative comments, depending upon how outlandish the content is.

Ask Questions - This tactic has been proven to work time and time again. Asking questions gives the reader a chance to really digest your content and encourage thoughtful participation. Although, this doesn't work all of the time. There are many bloggers who ask questions all the time which go unanswered. It's been known that if you are passionate about what it is you are writing about, you'll naturally ask questions that matter.

Be Wrong - I really don't like this method of generating comments as it could have a negative impact on your credibility. If you write content that is blatantly wrong, people will stop at nothing to let you know about what it is that is wrong while also giving you a beating. Only use this as a last resort if you are really that desperate for comments.

Be Open Ended - Content which is written in an open ended format tends to do very well with generating comments as it leaves room for the reader to expand upon the initial set of thoughts. Writing content which ends up being a complete thought is an excellent way to keep people from leaving comments. SO DON'T DO IT.

Continue The Conversation

If your content generates comments, the worst thing you could do is not respond. This in turn would end the conversation. Answer questions presented by the commenter's, further the discussion by conversing with those who took the time to stop by and contribute to your thoughts and expressions. Too many times I see blogs in which the author writes incredibly juicy content only to have the stream of comments stop because the conversation grinds to a halt from the failure of the blog author responding to the comments

Join A Social Network

There are so many different social networks now available on the web, there is bound to be one or two that are dedicated to your niche. These social networks are communities of people with the same interests. Joining a social network pertaining to the subjects you write about on your blog is an excellent way to expand your audience.

Join A Social Bookmarking Service

Social bookmarking services are those services centered around bookmarks being shared by users across the net. These bookmarks are sites in which a user as deemed useful, or quality content to come back to later. Social bookmarking services such as Ma.gnolia, BlinkList, del.icio.us and Technorati are all good ones to start out with. Use these services to your advantage to spread your content to a wider audience. Also, make it easier on your own blog for users of these same services to share your content.

Join A Related Forum

This still works. Joining a forum related to the topics you cover on your blog can help you create new one on one relationships with people of the same interest. Many forums also allow you to link to your own content as long as it relates to the forum thread being discussed. Also keep in mind that you can use the SIGNATURE line in forums to promote your site. This will come in handy when you write good quality forum posts and become a prominent member of their community.

Commenting On Other Blogs

I can assure to this method works. Find other blogs related to your niche and comment on them. I'm not talking about the "great article, visit my site" type of comments. I'm talking about the comments which could just as well be a blog post. Writing informative comments on blog posts can do wonders for your own blog. Ever have someone write an excellent comment on your own blog? I bet you visited the URL they linked to within their comment. I've used this method to spread the word about my blog while also discovering new blogs/websites which were worthy of subscribing to.

Conclusion

This post could go on and on, in terms of how to acquire more participation out of your readers. By now, you should have a good idea (or two or three) on how to increase reader participation for your own blog. Treat comments like gold. The majority of bloggers are lucky to see 10 comments in a week, let alone 100 in a day. Keep the creative juices flowing by sharing your thoughts and ideas on how to increase reader participation.

We all have times where it seems that there just isn’t any time to blog, even when there are a ton of ideas swirling around in your head. If you have regular life commitments that don’t allow you time to blog at your leisure, you have to make the most of the time you do have to blog. There are definitely plenty of ways to do this, but first and foremost, you need to make the commitment to do so. Here is how you can find the time to blog when it seems you just can never find the time to do it.

Making the time
Make a point of finding 15 minutes in the day to blog… and once you start looking, it might be quite easy to find. Is it making your coffee at home instead of taking the time to stop at Starbucks? Carpooling with other parents? Setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier than you need to get up? And when you make that time, use it to blog and try not to let other family duties interfere with your 15 minutes. This means no cooking, no laundry, no walking the dog.

Planning calendar
Mark off the days you should blog, then do your best to stick to it. It is surprisingly easy to keep putting blogging off, then suddenly discover it has been 7 weeks since your last blog post. So make a blogging schedule and keep to it as best you can.

Notes
When you come up with a blog post idea, write it down. Many bloggers who are pressed for time find that they sit down to blog and can’t think of a single thing to write about. If you keep a list of blog post ideas, even if it is just a title or a couple off-hand notes, this can work wonders for helping you get started when you know you only have ten minutes to blog before the kids need to get up for school.

Automate
Install a plugin to automatically post related articles rather than hunting them down yourself. Use an RSS feed reader to quickly scan industry news, I highly recommend Google Alert. Think of what you can do that relates to your blogging that you can automate… this way you can spend more time doing the actual blogging rather than the behind the scenes stuff that needs doing.

Hand write
You can spend your hour handwriting and editing blog posts, then when you have time, quickly type them into the computer. Because you aren’t having to pause to think up how you want to say something, you can enter your blog post pretty quickly, do a spellcheck and hit publish.

Set Goals
Do you know where your blog is going? Or where you want it to be in X number of months? If you blog without any kind of goal in time, you could be focusing on the wrong things. It could be something as simple as writing a blog post on something specific, or trying to publish 3 new blog posts a week for a month? Or even something longer term, such as getting to the point where you can quit your day job so that blogging can become your day job. Whatever your goals are, they can actually help you stay motivated and on track for what you want your blog to do in the long run. And when you have goals set, it can help you organize yourself and your time better to achieve what you want out of it.

You wouldn’t be the first blogger who tries to squeeze minutes out of a day to blog, when there are so many other things going on that demand attention. But if you follow these tips, it can help you find those precious minutes you can use to blog, and to achieve the goals you want to when it comes to your blog. There are many very successful bloggers who started out the very same way, when time was scarce but desire was strong.

What is tagging?

Tagging is commonly used for blogs, pictures, social bookmarking, articles, and more. Instead of the traditional categories, tags allow you to create categories "on the fly". They're then grouped together in a tag cloud, with the most popular tags in a larger font.

Using tags for maximum exposure.

Tags give you a lot of freedom and they're easy to use. Choosing the right tags can sometimes be difficult. If somebody is looking for specific information like blogging tips, they might look under the tag, "blog". But you tagged your blog, "blogging tips" and your blog won't be found.

A good strategy when it comes to tagging is to first see what tags people are using to help choose the ones to place.

I can start some of my own, though, and include "blogging tips" there.

Keep it simple.

Using your own tags to categorize your blog entries.

You can also use tags as a way to categorize your blog entries, though. Let's say you write primarily about 3 different subjects: movies, books, and humour. You can give these original tags that nobody else would likely use, essentially giving them their very own page.

More tagging tips.

Using simple, one to two word tags are best. If you create an complicated tag, it's less likely to be found.

When tagging a person's name, a title, or a TV show, though, use the full name or most popular name. "American Idol" and "Simon Cowell" are good examples of this.

Be consistent. For the same type of topics, use the same tags.

Happy tagging!

Recent study conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Project in conjunction with the College Board and the National Commission on Writing has come to some interesting conclusions about teens and the effects of blogging on their writing.

One find that was not so great was that teens are increasingly using the abbreviations they use in text messaging in their formal writing assignments. In addition, the study found that teens that text message each other on a frequent basis are not any more likely to write than other teens.

On the other hand, the study did find that teen bloggers are more likely to write online and offline as well. Apparently, 47% of those teens that blog also write for other personal reasons several times per week outside of school. Only 33% of teens that do not have blogs, on the other hand, write outside of school. In addition, only 53% of non-blogging teens say they feel writing is important in order to be successful later in life while 65% of blogging teens felt the same way.

Another benefit to blogging is that some experts believe the style of writing that teens use while blogging can actually be more beneficial to them than the type of writing they learn in school.

“In real ways, blogging and other forms of virtual debate actually foster the very types of intellectual exchange, analysis, and argumentative writing that universities value,” notes Bradley A. Hammer, who is a teacher at the Duke University writing program.

One reason for teens turning to blogging is the fact that they can write about whatever they want. According to the study, teens said they were more likely to write when they were able to choose the topic and when the topic was of personal interest and was relevant to their lives in some way. They also reported that they enjoyed writing for school more when they were allowed to write creatively. Similarly, teens felt more motivated to write when they knew they were writing for an audience. With blogging., all of these needs can be met. Isn't this cool???

If you are blogger with limited HTML knowledge and want to have a graphical header on your blog, this video is made specially for you.

In this 10 mins video you will learn a technique to install a graphical image as a header into your blog. A graphical header can make your blog unique and stand out of other blogs there in the blogosphere.

Now sit back and enjoy this video.

Today I will be touching on the most common Acronyms used in online advertising.
What are CPM (Cost per 1,000), CPC (Cost per Click) and CPA (Cost per Action)? These are methods use for calculating the charge for pages (advertisements) being served.

CPM is a holdover from traditional media advertising, and does not take advantage of the Hypertext nature of the medium. It charges purely on the number of times the advertisement is served. It does account for branding effects, that are not accounted for in the other models.

CPC is a cost associated with each click on the advertisement to the target page. CPA is a cost associated with each lead created from a click on the advertisement (CPL), or each sale (CPS).

Both CPC and CPA are much more accountable means of developing a price for the banner, and either are also used for affiliate programs. They become a variable cost in terms of generating the number of people exposed to the target page (this number is based on the CTR from the host vehicle), the number of leads generated (CPL) or the number of sales (CPS).

The downside for this vehicles are they do not control the design of the banner (poor design = low click-through etc. and they are not rewarded for the branding effect of the banner.

Think Of The Millions About To Start A Blog...Thinking they can be a Problogger making tons of $$... That's wishful thinking!!!

I like to stir things up sometimes. When I see someone
wasting their time I just want to grab them and say...SSSTTOOOPPP!

And the simple fact is that blogging is just NOT right for
the majority of people who want to start a real e-business.

o You're missing all kinds of key tools.

o It takes too much of your time, under pressure.

o Your traffic will not last unless you keep blogging.

o You won't make as much money (several reasons for that).

o You'll still need to learn how to market your blog.

o You won't be building a deep relationship with your
visitors and audience.



So here's the obvious question...

"Why not just do it the right way the first time?"

You know why?

Because people like "fast and easy." Somehow, "fast and easy
to nowhere" doesn't seem to matter. But it should, to smart
and serious business people. And as you, our partner-in-sales
knows so well by know...

THOSE are OUR kind of customers.

Blogging is also the "hot way." There are so many bloggers
talking about blogging who are talking about even more
blogging, you'd think that this is simply the only way.

So combine the herd mentality and the easy mentality.
That's blogging. This site gives you what you need to
dispel the noise that simply fails to make sense. Beyond
sense (cents), it fails to make dollars.

It's all to easy, with all this noise, to think blogging is
cheap and quick and will make them easy money fast. Tell 'em
they don't know what they are talking about.

Yes, a blog goes up fast (but after zero planning for the
long term, from keyword research to monetization plans).

Yes, blogs get indexed fast. That is the nature of blogs.

But content sites build traffic momentum. Take a two-month
vacation from your blog and see what happens.

Time sensitive information is like a 3-day old newspaper. Good
only for wrapping fish. How does Google know that? Because
it knows that visitors don't visit the old posts...

Build your site on a foundation of stone, not sand. Sooner
or later there's gonna be a "shake out" and your business
may come tumbling down.

Please tell them! And more importantly, don't just tell those
with blogs already. They may have to learn the hard way.

Be sure to tell those who are just about to start their first
blog, or their next one. I guarantee you that very, very few
are making money, nor will they make any, with blogs.

The site discusses that, too. And we're not talking short-term
success like a blog may occasionally see in early days....

So why the big buzz about Blogs?

On the surface they just seem like another type of "content"
site. And with some of the new features available they can
even look like a "real" site these days.

Blogging is indeed easy. So is Yahoo!'s sitebuilder. So
are a ton of WYSIWYG editors. But reinforce this message...

"Easy to nowhere" is still a waste of time and energy.

SBI!'s BlockBuilder? It TRAINS you. You actually build an
effective page, for both spider and human. You can graduate
to ANY sitebuilder, not be restricted to any particular one
after that, and it all works with SBI! seamlessly.

It seems pretty obvious which way leads to success when you
stop to think about it, doesn't it? :-)

When your are starting a blog choosing a domain name can be a mind bogging experience. You may not go through extreme length, but at least ask yourself this question. Do you have a domain name idea? Will people remember my domain name?

Try choosing a name that will enable people to create a mental image in their mind. For instance "Plenty-of-fish.com" & "nameboy.com", "eatafork" these words create a mental image, as people can see it in their mind and it leaves people a memorable impression. Being memorable will get you repeat visitors.

The other thing you will want to consider are these questions:

What is the topic of the blog? - an obvious starting point - most blog names reflect their topic

What do you hope to achieve with your blog? - is it about having a hobby, is it about building your profile/expertise, is it about earning an income via ads, is it to support an existing business

What style will it be? - is it a blog with one or many authors? What length of posts will it have?

What tone and voice will it be written in? - Will it be conversational, newsy, rant-ish, humorous?

Who is the intended audience? - Are you wanting to appeal to professionals, young people, cool people, teenagers?

I hope these tips will let you some idea when choosing the idea domain name for you blog.

It's "the next big thing" -- you can use it to get newsfeeds from CNN or
BBC, as well as just about anything else, including news on upcoming movies,
DVD releases, your favorite band's tour updates, etc.

Once you get started, it's like having your favorite parts of the Web
come to you. No need to go out and check for updates all the time.

No more bookmarks for me!

"RSS" means "Really Simple Syndication. But that is just a fancy way
of saying that you can keep up with all the updates to Abc Blog Tips without having to check the site every week to see "what's new." Whenever I put up a new page or update an old one, I release it through RSS.

Yes, RSS is amazing. If you can't tell, I'm completely addicted to it.
No e-mail. No spam. It's so easy to subscribe and unsubscribe.
If you get tired of me , you just have to delete the feed. It's awesome!

And once you start, you'll soon be tracking all your other favorite
interests and news in the world.

How do you get started? Very Simple!!!

Download free RSS Reader first.This is special software that reads the "RSS feeds" from the largest news organizations. After you have done that you are ready to syndicate any online post whenever RSS Feeds is available


RSS Feed

A picture says a thousands words, this video shows you how to add a picture to your post.



Recommended picture resources: alltheweb ,ask.com

Many people have been figuring out, how can they post a video into their Blog? It is very simple, basically it is done by copying the video embed code and pasting it into your blog, that's all. Follow this video tutorial and you will know what I meant

ABC Blog Tips was founded in 2008 by Harris Mak with the goal of being a no holds barred blogging resource blog, to share everything he knows about blogging using blogger. From basic blogging questions like "How to start a blog?" to more advanced blogging techniques like writing SEO content we have it all.

The idea of this blog is to bring the benefits of blogging to the masses.

ABC Blogging Tips focus is based on:
Aim- Niche Market Segment
Brand- How you should brand your blog and yourself as the Expert voice in the niche market Segment
Content- How to research and write content for that specific market segment

Blogging is one of the most cost efficient method to bring an idea to the masses through the internet. Ranging from "Writing your own personal online journal" to promoting your products online you can do all this through a blog.

At the end of the day the information here is to help you be more effective in blogging. Happy Reading!!!

Want to start a Blog? Just follow this 1 min 58 Sec video it's really simple you can't go wrong from here.

People blog for various reasons despite, whatever reason they blog there are only 3 main types of bloggers around and this are the following:

Bloggers Type No.1
They are those who keeps a blog as an online diary or personal journal. This is mainly the impression what a blogger gives to people. When I tell someone that I'm a blogger I believe most of the time what is going on in their mind is "This man is someone who have too much time to waste....spending time writing an online dairy and making the content available to the public" Hey!!! Do take note even a high profile politician blogs nowadays.

Bloggers Type No. 2
This is a business person who needs an online presence, but is not technically incline nor wanting to spend too much money, getting a webmaster to design a custom website. This is what I call "Business Blogging"

Bloggers Type No.3
These category of bloggers are the most popular, they are the ProBloggers or those trying to make money online. I guess the growing community of bloggers is due to this reason. Is it possible to make money online? The answer is "Yes".

If you ask me which category do I fall into? I will say all of the above.

What is a Blog?

A Blog is simply a website that is updated periodically with content display in chronological order; the newest content at the top, the oldest at the bottom.

Why people Blog?
A Blog can also be describe as a "Weblog" it is a web-based journal in which people can publish their thoughts and opinions on the Internet. There is a saying that goes this way "The freedom of speech is guarantee for those who owns one" therefore blogging does gives you freedom of speech, it is like you own a press.The good news is, anyone can start a blog, it is straight-forward and in a most cases, its free.