This post topic kind of came about as a joke at work. I have this book titled, "How to Manage Your Boss". I added that book to a bunch of other ones on my desk and one of my co-workers found it can gave it too my boss. She and everyone else got a big laugh out of it and gave me a little ribbing. Well, the other day my boss sent me a link to Seven Tactics to Manage Yourself because well, I guess I need to be my own boss. And as I read through them I knew that they could be adapted to help bloggers manage being their own boss as well.

We often get caught up in making sure that we manage our time, money and other people. But what about stepping back and managing yourself. This ability will determine the extent of your career success so don't overlook this important concept. Take action today. Here are the Seven Tactics to Manage Yourself for bloggers.

1. Establish a Professional Network - In your professional network you should have people who are Maintainers and Propellers. A Maintainer is a person who will help you get the job done effectively. In the blogging world those are the technical gurus who can help you fix a theme, write some code and even figure out widgets. A good Maintainer is worth their weight in gold. A Propeller is someone who is going to push you into a new area so you can grow and develop as a blogger. This is the person who is pushing the boundaries and encouraging you to do the same. They are always ahead of the game and are challenging. Each person adds value to your blogging career and so you should have a good mix of both in your network.

2. Set up your own Board of Advisers - Your Board should have three individuals. They can be a spouse, parent, childhood friend, mentor, coach or anyone else who knows you and cares about your growth and success. Each person should provide you with a different element to help you insure success. The three elements are clarity, comfort and challenge. One person should be able to provide you with clarity in regards to your ideas. If you are having trouble expressing something they can cut things down to the core meaning. The second person will make you feel comfortable with the choices you have made and your growth as a blogger. They encourage you and tell you to go for it. The third person is a person who will challenge you to move beyond your comfort zone and can help you when real challenges arise.

3. Identify Your Symbols of Significance - What fulfills you, is it money and power? What if those are not motivating factors for your blogging. Maybe you are a photo blogger and it jazzes you up to have others favorite your photos. Or maybe you feel significant when you have a high number of people reading your blog. For me, the best feeling is when someone leaves a great comment on one of my posts. For someone to take the time to stop, read my blog post and make me a comment, well that is the best feeling. For me numbers are just numbers true interaction is what is key.

4. Schedule Time with Yourself - You might schedule time for blogging, family and work but what about time for yourself. Schedule one hour a week with yourself, unplug from the computer as it causes distractions. Take a pen and pad of paper with you to a place where you can be productive. This meeting will be important for a couple of reasons. First you should identify two things that you are doing that support your success as a blogger. The second thing is to identify two things that you would like to do over the next 6 months to make your blogging stronger and more a part of your everyday life. Keep a record of the meeting. You can transfer your notes from the pad to a file on your computer. That way if you need to refer back to them to stay motivated you can easily review those goals.

5. Replenish Yourself - Give yourself some rewards and recognition. If you are making money blogging, take some of that money and buy yourself something nice, something that you can see and touch and say, this is here because of my hard work. Or maybe you take a day off after some grueling weeks of blogging. Maybe you've done some elaborate contest and it was very successful, reward your work with a little time off. You've earned it.

6. Write Your Own Review - Many bloggers write reviews of products, blogs and anything else you can think of. But what about yourself and your blog. Once a year I have to write my own review at work. I have to write up my strengths and weaknesses and what I can work on to improve for the future. I suggest that you do this as a blogger. Where did you excel this past year? Where were you weak? Is it time to change the blog theme and shake things up a bit? Or are things running well. Look at your blog critically and write a review of it as you would write a review of another blog and blogger. Make six month and one year goals for the blog. Save your reviews and refer back to them during each year's review.

7. Hold Positive Thoughts - If you think you are a failure then you are right. If you think that you can do amazing things then you probably will. I keep a file of all the e-mails of praise that I get at work. That way I refer back to them when I am having one of those tough days. You could do the same thing. Did you get a great comment on your blog? Did someone write a glowing review of your blog? Was one of your posts stumbled and you got 7000 visitors in one day. Take a screenshot of that and save it in a file that you can refer to often. Positivity goes a long way in being successful.

If you can think of some other tactics to help manage yourself and to become a better blogger please leave a comment and let me know.

Drew writes four blogs, is an avid kayaker and a Transformers fan, he also does a mean cake plow. He recently completed taking 1170+ consecutive photos in 1170+ days. You can visit him at The BenSpark, The Wired Kayaker, Read To Me, Dad, Google is not God.

Posted by BenSpark at 11:32 AM in Blogging | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Orlando's hot right now.  Really, really hot.  And I'm referring to the weather.  It'd be wonderful to visit Cape Cod, where Postie Drew lives.  It has to be refreshing there.  He sent us this beautiful postcard of Falmouth Harbor.  Can we trade places, Drew?  If only for just a week!

Haven't sent us a PostieCard from your hometown?  What are you waiting for?  We have enough now to start displaying them in our office, but Ted challenged us to fill an entire wall.  So we need your help.  All you have to do is grab a postcard from a local store, and mail it to:

Posted by Ashley at 03:15 PM in Blogging , Posties | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

A linky-love (blog review) post should accomplish several goals. It should introduce readers to the blogger, inform them about the content and nature of the blog and, of course, provide some quality links. A good linky-love post will also compel readers to visit the blog. There's no set formula beyond that, but most of us who write reviews have a routine we follow. Here's what works for me:

The About Me Page

I always start my research with the About Me page. Some are a useless waste of space while others are goldmines of information. The About Me page is where we should be able to get a feel for the blogger and a general idea of what to expect from their blog. Aahz's blog, Philaahzophy, has one of the best it's been my privilege to explore lately. He won a linky-love post in my weekly photo puzzle contest. I was not familiar with his blog and was not feeling confident that I could do justice to a review for a man who self-identifies as an anarchist. His About Me /Usage Guide (Yes! Navigation aids - what a concept!) laid my fears to rest and allowed me to approach the job with an open mind. (He's a pussy-cat and a very likable guy, despite his radical politics. Follow his link and see if you don't agree!)

Categories

Exploring the blog's category menu is my second step. If it's well-organized and lists the number of posts in each category, that's a real bonus. It allows me to point my readers to the topic(s) that the blogger writes about most frequently. Laura Williams' Musings doesn't have category post counts, but she's accomplished the same thing by placing important categories on tabs in her header. I'm one of Laura's fans and knew her linky-love post would focus on her daily listings of blog contests, so her categories made it easy to find what I needed. Are you a contest junkie? You really should subscribe to Laura!

Current posts

Make sure you read at least the last few weeks of postings before you start your review. Blogs are organic in nature and the focus may have shifted from what the categories lead you to expect. Celebrity gossip may have the most posts, but it's also important that your review should mention that the blogger has a new baby or was on the evening news for rushing into a burning building to save a rare South American parrot. Discussing what's currently going on in the blogger's life is a great way to create a sense of immediacy that will encourage your readers to click on their links.

Relevancy

Ideally, each blog you review will share some topics in common with your own blog. (This might not be the case if you use linky-love posts for contest prizes. Sometimes you'll have to dig to find a "hook" that makes a review relevant to your blog.) Chatbug Karen and I are both small-business owners, so I used her business category as a link in her review. Such direct relevancy adds value to the links and contributes to the natural flow of the reviewer's blog. Karen and her husband have many years of experience, so they're great mentors for someone like me who is still learning the ins-and-outs of business ownership. She's also fun and funny, another reason you should visit her blog.

Critique

A linky-love post is no place to be bashing a blog. Save that for link-baiting aimed at arrogant, so-called A-Listers. Your review can contain some thoughtfully-worded constructive criticism. The blogger might appreciate knowing that their categories are confusing or their About Me page isn't terribly helpful. Apply the Law of Parsimony (Keep it Simple, Stupid!) and handle it gently. The reviewer's job is to help the blogger, not destroy their confidence!

Other Stuff

The length of a linky-love post and the number of links it contains are at the discretion of the reviewer. I try to give each review enough weight and space to create good buzz for the blogger, along with information or entertainment value for my readers. When I stumble across two-line reviews with only a home page link, I always suspect that the blogger had no real interest in the site they were reviewing. They probably got themselves talked into a review they didn't really want to do, or maybe they needed an interim post. It's too bad that some bloggers don't realize that a well-written linky-love post can benefit the recipient, the reviewer and everyone who reads it.  Pick a blog that's looking for love and try it yourself!

Posted by skeet at 07:11 PM in Blogging | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

I recently suggested that putting more of yourself into your blog might open the door to more linky-love reviews. That's not the whole answer, though. Many who have great blogs with good readership still don't get the lovin' they need. If your blog is link-worthy, why aren't the reviews popping up often enough to suit you?

Maybe it's because you didn't ask!

Sometimes it's as simple as asking for a review. We all know that blogs need link-love, but few of us think to do them spontaneously. We do them because the needs of a specific blogger are brought to our attention. They ask!

Ask the people who know your blog

Most of your friends and regular readers will do a review if you ask them. It makes sense that if they enjoy your blog, their own readers will enjoy it, too. They'll be doing their visitors a service by pointing out another good blog for them to read. It makes solid content for the reviewer, so everyone gets some benefit out of the deal.

Ask your new readers

If a first-time visitor posts an enthusiastic comment to something you've written, ask them to share it with their own readers. "Aloha GameGal! Welcome to skeet's stuff and mahalo for your kind words. It's always great to meet another hidden object game enthusiast. Could you do me a favor and let your own readers know you've found new source for game reviews? I'd really appreciate it!"  I've rarely failed to get a positive response to this approach.

Does asking make you a pest?

In the comments for my last Izea post, Drew's inquiring mind wanted to know how one can ask for linky love without being a pest. I don't think asking once is obnoxious. If the person says no, drop it. If they're regular readers, though, chances are pretty good they'll say yes. You can do it publicly, as I did with Mistipurple in that same comment string. I'll admit that was an experiment, though, and I wouldn't suggest doing it unless you're pretty certain of a positive response. An email or private message doesn't put anyone on the spot and will usually result in a review. You can also put out a general call for linky-love in a post on your blog, but I've gotten lackluster responses to that method. Making it personal by addressing someone privately has always worked better for me.

Ask outside your current readership

Ask for linky-love on message boards and public forums. Check out the Sparks forum on the Izea Message Boards. Posties are asking for love and they're getting it. Other posties are offering to give reviews. Take them up on it! Ask in the other communities you frequent, too. Ideally, you share some common interests with the members of those communities and they'll respond as enthusiastically as your postie pals.

Next up: Rewarding your reviewers. Stay tuned!

Posted by skeet at 04:19 AM in Blogging | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

I'm always thinking about things I can blog about. It is a part of my brain that I can no longer turn off. So today when I was handed my lunch from the deli counter at work I got inspired.

I went to the cafeteria to get a Southern Style Brisket & Cheddar Panini. Doesn't the name sound delicious? My mouth was watering thinking about it all morning. So, you can imagine my disappointment when I was handed this.

I also had the added benefit of watching the apathy of the sandwich maker as he grabbed a tiny handful of chips and dumped them and the pickle spears on top of the sandwich. I took the container and looked at it incredulously. Now my chips were not only sparse but they were casually tossed on the sandwich, the pickle spears and pickle juice was also on top of the chips and the sandwich making them soggy. This was not right, where was the awesome sandwich I had in mind. As I contemplated this culinary travesty, in my mind I began to formulate a blog post.

Presentation. It is a large part of what makes food appealing and it is also a large part of what makes your blog appealing. The sandwich I had was so tasty, but I wasn't that thrilled about it after I saw how it was presented. Had I seen the photo above photo before I went to lunch I certainly would not have ordered this sandwich even though what was on the inside was so delicious. The presentation was so poor that it actually made me less excited to eat the sandwich.

So I took less than 30 seconds and rearranged the sandwich to look better. This is what I came up with.

Look at that! You can see the thick slices of brisket, tomatoes and the grill marks of the panini machine. The chips are nicely placed to one side and the pickles aren't leaking pickle juice all over the sandwich. It looks better doesn't it?

So, how does this relate to blogging and your blog? Well, your blog could be the funniest, most well written blog ever but if it looks like everyone else I'm not going to bother to read it to find out. Why? Because you didn't take the time and effort to present your blog in the best way possible. You didn't take the time to make your blog visually appealing to your readers and potential readers. Using a standard template from a free blogging service is like sandwich #1.

Now, you may think that you are only limited to the standard templates that a free blogging service provides you. Nope, No Way, you couldn't be further from the truth. This is a mistake I had made as well and am still making on my blog The Wired Kayaker. With a custom blog theme you can have an amazing blogspot blog that looks nothing like a blogspot blog. Using the templates provided by blogger, wordpress and typepad screams inexperience, apathy and lack of care in your blog. It screams sandwich #1, while the substance may be awesome the presentation is terrible.

Your blog and your blog theme are reflections of you as a blogger. The look of your blog is what you are presenting to the world. As bloggers we have unique perspectives on the world and our blogs should reflect that unique vision. No one will see that you are unique if your blog looks exactly like everyone else. Take a look at either buying a custom theme from a theme design company or from another blogger. There are even bloggers who can help you with a free custom theme. Make that blog of yours reflect you and you alone.

Drew writes four blogs, is an avid kayaker and a Transformers fan, he also does a mean cake plow. He recently completed taking 1140+ consecutive photos in 1140+ days. You can visit him at The BenSpark, The Wired Kayaker, Read To Me, Dad, Google is not God.

Posted by BenSpark at 03:29 PM in Blogging | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Nah, I'm not prying into your romantic liaisons. I'm more interested in your link love. Has anyone done a great review of your blog lately? Have you had any reviews at all? Do you wake up most mornings to find a slew of new links have come in overnight? If you have a niche blog you may be answering "yes to all." What about you personal bloggers, though? Are you attracting the links that you need to promote your blog and keep readership growing? If not, have you thought about why?

I do link love posts pretty often on my blog, but every now and then someone asks me to do one and I have to turn them down. Not surprisingly, some of these same people are seen from time to time on the Izea Message Boards asking why it's so hard to get links. They usually get polite answers that don't really give them the information they need. It's difficult to be blunt, but someone has be the bad guy. Here I am.

Is your blog something I can be proud to talk about on my blog? Do you feature original content that invites your readers' interest? Having a personal blog is a good way to chronicle your daily life for family and friends. Your mother wants to know how the weather looks outside your window and what you're wearing to work today. Most of the rest of us don't and won't become regular visitors if that's as good as your content gets. If you want to build your readership (and get some linky lovin') you have to give your readers a bit more of yourself. How many blogs have you seen that look something like this:

Day one:

Day two:

and so on, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

I was also once asked to review a blog that contained nothing but daily memes. On Monday list five things you don't like for breakfast; on Tuesday quote the first line of your favorite poem; on Wednesday post a wordless photo, etc.

Most of the blogs I like the most and visit regularly are personal blogs wherein the bloggers share their daily lives. Many of us do memes from time to time. or even weekly. The problem comes when your posting is formulaic, with no personality coming through. You're meeting the bare minimum to qualify for sponsored posting, but giving nothing of yourself to the blog or your reading audience.  How comprehensive can a review be when all we know is that you have lousy weather but the baby is feeling better? Why would anyone want to put more effort into reviewing a blog than the author puts into writing it? Aren't there other interesting things going on around you that you can share?

If you want quality link love posts, give us something to say about you. Flesh out your bare-bones posts and let us get to know you. We want to know about the restaurant where you ate the sexiest chocolate dessert ever. Review it! Some of us are reading the same books and watching the same TV shows that you're fanatical about. Start the conversation and we'll join in. Share your hobbies and leisure-time interests - you may know more about them than the rest of us and have some special insights to share. Heighten our interest with photos and images and links to great sites you've found. Give us something of yourself and we'll blog about it. It's what we do! When you've got your blog pumped up and pimped out, go back to the Marketing & Promotions Forum on the Izea Message Boards and let us know you're ready for some linky love. Posties will be there for you, eager to review your blog, and they'll be proud to have you review their blogs, too.

The image is a Wordle I created for this post, titled "What do you blog about?" Fun site, major timesuck and a nifty way to create customized images you can use for all kinds of applications. Enjoy!

Posted by skeet at 04:50 AM in Blogging | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Another PostieCard to add to our soon-to-be "PostieCard" Wall.  We've still yet to figure out exactly how to display them so if you have any ideas, send them our way.  (Right now we're thinking of a giant map.)   Soon we'll have cards from all over the US...and then some!

Here's a PostieCard from the beautiful state of Pennsylvania, courtesy of Postie Jenn:

Jenn's blog url is Jenn.nu if you'd like to pay her a visit.  You can also get to her site by clicking on either of the photos above.  By the way, thanks, Jenn!

If you're keeping track, we've also received cards from the following states:

- Alabama
- Iowa
- Las Vegas
- Minnesota
- Tennessee

And a few from our International friends:

- British Columbia
- Isle of Man
- Nova Scotia

If you'd like to send us a postcard from your city, state, province, or country, feel free!  You can address it to:

P.S.  Anyone know off the top of their head what pious means?

Posted by Ashley at 03:42 PM in Blogging , Social Media | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

There seems to be some confusion, for SocialSpark posties, on what to do when you get to step 5, Paste the HTML code of your post, on the take opportunity screen.  Hopefully, this will clear it up.

If you've taken a sponsored post/opportunity, then you have seen this screen:

Using blogspot, I will show you what needs to be placed in step 5.  Here is what the screen looks like when you write a post.  Look familiar???  There should be an option to view the HTML code for the post.

If you click the "Edit HTML" or "View HTML link, you will then see this:

This, 3rd image, shows the HTML of this post.  This is what needs to be copied and pasted into the box, under step 5, of the take opportunity screen.

I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion.

Posted by Gordon King at 03:03 PM in Blogging , Opportunities , Posties , SocialSpark | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

The Postie-cards keep comin' in...and we love it!  Soon we'll have enough to start our display here in the IZEA office.  Veronique and I have a creative idea of how we'd like to display all the postcards we've been receiving, but we'd like to see if you have any interesting ideas.  If you do please leave it here in the comments field -- we might actually use it!

The cards we received today are from Des Moines and Las Vegas.

The first card was sent by Postie Jody, who manages three blogs:

- Iowa Geek
- The HKWT Blog (nominated for "Best Travel Blog" at the Blogger's Choice Awards)
- Fab Food Friday

The second Postie-card comes to us from Postie Julie by way of Las Vegas.  Here's Julie's blog:

- Julie's Journal

Posted by Ashley at 05:02 PM in Blogging , Posties | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

So you've got your shiny new blog all set up. You've decorated with a nice theme, installed some tools, put a few useful things in the sidebars and written your first few posts. You've gone to the Izea Boards and other online communities and invited everyone to come take a look/see. Now you need to convert them to regular visitors who will return time and again. There's really only one way to do that. Content, content, content!

Find your voice. Comb those first few posts and look for your voice - the personality that you portray through your blogging. As your blog matures your voice will develop its own distinctive characteristics. Are you letting it shine through in each post? Blogging allows us to connect, personality to personality, and your most faithful readers will be the ones with whom your voice resonates most clearly. Don't stifle it! If it comes with a Southern accent, allow it to shine through your choice of words and phrases. If it craves action and excitement, let that energy power your posts. Be sincerely you in every post. You'll soon begin to build a community of faithful readers who want to read every word you write.

Be consistent. Post on a regular schedule - every day if you can. Examine each post to insure that it is consistent with attitudes and ideals you've previously shared. This is especially important when it comes to your sponsored posts. Your readers will recognize your insincerity if you fill your blog with posts that don't speak with the voice they've come to know. If your readers know that you are devoted to a healthy lifestyle, they'll see the contradiction if you encourage them to check out a new fat and sugar-laden snack. Look, instead, for opportunities that fit your voice and the natural flow of your blog. Try to find a personal tie-in with each sponsored opportunity, an anecdote or reference that make the connection real. Your sponsored posts should be an enhancement to your blog, not a distraction for your readers to skim past.

Offer some ongoing content. Establish features that your readers can look forward to. Start a weekly contest or meme, share silly headlines on the same day each week or tell the story of your fascinating life in installments. Regular features give your visitors the incentive to return for more.

Encourage dialog. Let your readers know that communication is two-way. Answer every comment. Encourage reader feedback by asking questions or soliciting opinions. Request their home remedies for a toothache or their  best comfort food recipes. Answer their replies with more questions: Will margarine work as well as butter in that dish? Do you know if that comes in family-sized packages? Email your responses to each of your commentors so they'll know to return and keep the conversation going. Postie Owen Cutajar has created a Comment Email Responder that will do this automagically for you. It is, in my opinion, the most useful plugin you can add to your blog.

Blogging is a flexible artform. Bend and shape the ideas and tips you find and to make them work for you. Building a community around your blog takes time and work, but will be well worth your efforts. You'll be rewarded with new friendships, increased blog traffic and a more marketable blog.

Posted by skeet at 10:21 PM in Blogging | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Yep, afraid it's true.  This may be our last $1K Tuesday for a while so I wanted to let you know as early as possible.  And, man! is it early!  Or late, I guess.  Whichever, I'm sleepy but excited to get $1K kicked off this week!  The first Opp's been released already.  Are you the lucky Postie who's in the process of making $50 right now??  If you are, congrats!

And if you're hearing about $1K Tuesday for the first time, here's how it works:

* A total of 11 Opp's will be released via PayPerPost by IZEA between midnight (beginning of Tuesday, March 25) and 11:59 p.m. (end of Tuesday) Eastern Standard Time.
* The total payout of those Opp's will be $1,000.00 to the lucky Posties who grab them.  Ten of the Opp's will be worth $50.00 each, and the granddaddy Opp is worth $500.00!!!
* Any and all Posties with an approved blog in PayPerPost's Marketplace will be eligible for these Opp's.
* They will be open to all locations, all ranks, all categories.
* Each will require a link & a Disclosure Badge (you'll need the ITK Tools for the badge).
* Once you accept one of these Opp's, you will be temporarily benched so each Postie can grab only one of the $1K's.  No worries - that has no effect on your Tack Ranking.

Once you snag one of these Opp's, just follow the simple instructions in the Opp.  We'll review these just like any other Opp, and send you an email with the results!

As before with $1K's, the last thing we want these Opp's to be is predictable.  The Opp titles will most likely not give them away as $1K's.  And you may be just as likely to see one released at 2:00 a.m. as 10:33 p.m., or any time in between.  Maybe we'll release 5 in a row that are exactly an hour apart, or maybe 6 of them all at the same time.

If you're still not sure if you want to join in the fun, maybe some of the Posties who have grabbed a $1K before can leave a comment here - was it worth it for $50 or $500 to watch for the opps on Tuesday?  Were you making plans for the money while you were typing your post?  Did you get writer's block when you realized you actually grabbed a $1K? 

Good luck, Posties!  We can't wait to read those $1K posts!!

Posted by Karen Allen at 01:49 AM in Blogging , Contests & Sweepstakes , Opportunities , PayPerPost , Posties | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

When I first signed on for PayPerPost I didn't know anything about promoting my blog. I had only been blogging for a few months and had a small group of regular readers, mostly people who knew me from various online communities. I quickly discovered that the best-paying opportunities were out of my reach because I had no status, as determined by a mysterious algorhythm that apparently controlled my fate. I also discovered that there were people who were willing to help, but I had no idea what they were talking about half of the time. To all of the new posties who find yourselves in the same position today, this is for you.

One of the most exciting aspects of IzeaRanks is that we know how our RealRank is determined and can take steps to improve it. It's all about traffic and links. One of the best ways I've found to get both is through the postie community. There is no substitute for quality content built up over time, but using methods posted in the Marketing and Promotion forum on the Izea Boards will get you off to a good start. Below are some of the most popular ways posties support each other.

Install a blogroll: A blogroll is a list of links to blogs. There are several blogrolls listed in the forum. When you add your blog to one you'll be linked to everyone else who is already listed. Check with the blogroll administrator to find out how to be added and how to display it on your blog.

Ask for some loving: No, this isn't the kind of loving that requires a moral compromise. Ask for some linky love. You'll be asking other posties to either link your blog through their blogrolls or to write a post promoting and linking your blog.

Visit and comment on do-follow blogs: Do-follow blogs have had the no-follow attribute removed or disabled, so you'll get a linkback whenever you comment. There's a do-follow blogroll in the forum. Make genuine comments relevant to the posts you're commenting on. Most bloggers delete comments that don't contribute to the discussions they're posted in. "Good post" is not a good comment. Neither is "Thanks, I didn't know that."

Have a contest or promotion: There are numerous good examples in the forum. Everyone likes to win prizes, even if you're just offering a linky love post.

Participate in a meme: There are two basic types of memes. For one type you may be tagged by another blogger and asked to post on a particular subject and to tag other bloggers. If you see one you're interested in, it's fine to ask to be included. The other type of meme is a regularly recurring feature, usually weekly or monthly, and doesn't involve tagging. Cass's Self Portrait Sunday is a good example. Both types of memes encourage other bloggers to link to you and visit your blog.

There are many more ways to promote your blog to your fellow posties. Visit the Izea Boards, get to know the community and scroll through the archives for some more ideas. Posties are generously supportive, whether you're a newbie or an old hand. If you join in with that same spirit you'll always find someone there who is willing to help you out.

Posted by skeet at 08:45 AM in Blogging | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

The Blog Battle Royale IV Champion has been determined, and it is the owner of Besenjimom.com.  The post she submitted for the contest is:  http://www.basenjimom.com/2008/02/19/blog-battle-royale-pancreatic-cancer-awareness/.

The all-around awareness raised for Pancreatic Cancer, coupled with this blogger's recent experience of loss of her mother to the disease, were the determining factors in being named the Champion.  If you have a few moments visit her blog and click on the "Pancreatic Cancer" category to read about her contribution to this cause.

We'll be working with this blogger in contributing $1,000 to the charity she supports!  Please join me in offering-up congratulations.

Technorati Tags: Blog Battle Royale, blog contests, blogging

Posted by Ashley at 10:15 AM in Blog Battle Royale , Blogging , Contests & Sweepstakes , Posties , Weblogs | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

This might be a rather basic "tip," but it's certainly something every Postie should be familiar with (and we get many tickets associated with it). The post is a little long but there's a wealth of information included so try to stick with it!

So....

Your blog has been accepted.  You’re poised to be the best blogger the world has ever seen.  You find a great PayPerPost Opportunity (Opp) you want to write about on your dashboard, reserve it and…. then what? 

What does it all mean?  How do you make sure that your post meets all of the requirements?  What on earth is buzz?  Don’t panic!  With these simple tips and techniques you can make sure you craft the perfect Opp every time, and eventually make more money.

The first thing that you want to do is to read through your Opportunity description.  You do, after all, want to know what the heck the Opportunity is, don't you? This will let you know what the advertiser expects from the post you're writing.  It will usually contain background about the advertiser as well as what information they wish (and do not wish) to be included in your post. It should also give you a general idea of how they would like that information to be presented.  This section may also include additional links that the advertiser would like included in the post, so please be sure to read this carefully.

Tip: After you've reserved a post you have six hours to write the post, publish it to your Blog and submit the post URL to us.  If you have not submitted the post to us within the six hour reservation window, the reservation will automatically open back up to the Marketplace.

Just under the Opportunity Description is a box containing the required link.  This is the link that must be present in your post in order for it to be submitted successfully to the Marketplace and accepted in review.  All links will start with "a href=".

Tip: Anchor text can always be found between the >< of the required link.  For example, in the link  <  a href= http://payperpost.com>PayPerPost   "PayPerPost" is the anchor text.;

Under the required link will be any tracking image links or required image links that will also need to be added to your post.

Tip: Although a Custom Tracking Image is used for tracking purposes, it does not actually produce an image. Sometimes you might see a dot or a small square where you have inserted it, but there is no actual image. However, as long as you have pasted it into the text of your post, we'll find it.

Next to the opportunity description you will find a quick rundown of the Opp. requirements including the main category of the Opp., it’s expiration date, the minimum number of words your post should contain and what sort of type and tone your post should be.

There are three different Post Types in the PPP Marketplace, Buzz, Review and Opinion.  We will be discussing these individually and giving examples in upcoming blog posts, however, here are our definitions of each. 

Buzz: Meant to get the word out, spread the word.

Review: An honest review of a site or product, a detailed or analytical evaluation.  These may include the pros & cons, improvement suggestions or ease of use of the product or site.

When providing a review, Posties may be asked to walk through certain areas or processes on a website, or share an experience they've had with a product offered to them by the Advertiser.

Opinion: Input, feedback, thoughts, opinion a Postie may have on the topic of the Opportunity.  What do you think:  Good or bad?

Finally, at the bottom of the Opportunity Details page, you will see all the segmentation information for the Opp. There are several factors involved in the segmenting of Opps including domain, rankings, location and categories.  If even one of these is a mismatch with the advertiser, the Opp will be segmented and you will not be able to take it or post it to a non-qualifying Blog.   

Even More Tips:
Before accepting a post submission, the PPP system checks that the required link, tracking image and any required image links appear in your post exactly as they do in the Opp.  Should you receive a submission error, be sure to check that your blog host did not add or misinterpret characters or text to this link in HTML.   

In order for your sponsored post to be accepted, your Interim posts do need to be comprised of at least 3-5 sentences of original content. Interim posts are defined as the posts immediately before and immediately following a PPP sponsored post.    These posts should be non-sponsored, original content that is engaging.  These posts should not be simply fillers to satisfy sponsored content requirements.

Categories must match EXACTLY for an Opp to be available to you.  For example, if an Opp chooses Blogs with a "Technology" category and you have chosen the specialized category Technology/Gadgets, this would NOT be a match.

The system will only allow you to hold one reservation at a time.  If you take a second reservation before you have submitted the first, the first reservation will cancel and open back up to the Marketplace.

Posted by Ashley at 05:54 PM in Blogging , Opportunities , Posties | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

It's one of the most frequent laments posted on the Izea Message Boards. The RankSpank minimized opportunities for most of us. That's out of our control, though, so we need to move on. We're all looking forward to the elimination of PR as an opportunity requirement in Social Spark. Let's concentrate until then on things we can control. Mr. Fab offered some excellent tips for tidying up our blogs. Now let's look a at a specific improvement that might bring us more available opps.

There are six general categories and twenty-five specialized categories available to us on our "my blogs" tabs (under the "my account settings" tab on the PayPerPost Dashboard.) How well do the categories you're using on your blog fit into those categories? You may benefit from some re-organization and tightening up. I blog about many topics on my general blog. I have forty-six categories. That's entirely too many! Several of them can be eliminated by combining them under "entertainment" or "living," and my blog reviews should be categorized under "blogging" instead of the topics for the individual blogs. Once I've finished re-organizing, I can take a new look at the categories I've selected on the "my blogs" tab. Properly categorizing my posts can increase the opps available to me.

Niche bloggers may have the opposite problem. If you blog exclusively about one topic, you may be very limited in the categories you can claim. Last week I suggested that some niche bloggers might benefit from injecting more material from their personal lives into their blogs. Use that personalization to broaden your categories. If you write about blog monetization, consider adding a regular feature about what you do with your own earnings. Are you financing a college degree with your blogging income? Maybe you're investing in the market, remodeling a fixer-upper or finally coming to visit me in Hawaii. Share it! Maintain your focus on your niche, but look for ways to tie in your other interests. A regular feature that your readers can come to count on will build their loyalty and allow you to begin accumulating posts in a new category. It's a slow process. Two posts about your Disney vacation won't qualify you to add travel or entertainment to your "my blogs" tab, but a series of posts over several months will. Your patience will be rewarded when you can add a new category and new opps become available to you.

Be honest with yourself when you're selecting categories. Claiming categories without the content to back up your choices is asking for grief. Advertisers and reviewers routinely evaluate blogs to make sure that the categories are fairly represented. Poor choices can lead to bans and rejected posts. If you're not sure what categories best fit your blog, ask for help. Posties frequently assist with such requests on the message boards, and Customer Love is available to offer expert guidance. They can help you make the category selection process work for you.

Posted by skeet at 07:21 AM in Blogging | Comments (16) | TrackBack (0)

Ever since I was a kid and could hold a camera, I did. I've used film, VHS, and digital cameras. At any family function you will see me behind a camera documenting the events of the day. I shoot photos on a daily basis. Often I am asked by friends and family alike my advice on buying a digital camera. I own quite a few and use them all for different purposes. I have a few more but I ran out of hands.

A digital camera is an essential tool for a blogger. Why? Well, for one thing you can't do some opps without one. But beyond taking opps and using the digital camera for them a digital camera allows you to communicate your ideas visually. Think of some blog posts that you have read lately. Was there an image on the post? Did the image draw you in and make you want to read more?

I've been seeing posts written that say that you should cull Flickr for legal images to post to your blog. I think that is cheating a bit. Today's digital cameras are so easy and inexpensive that you should be taking your own shots and including them in your posts. I might be a bit biased because my daily blog post focuses on the photo that I take each day. My own personal rules dictate that any photo I put up on my blog has to have been taken by me. This goes for my Photo-A-Day as well as the photography memes that I participate in. There are tons of different photo themed memes out there. Participating in them can help drive more traffic to your blog and photos that you took yourself are always better (in my opinion) than anything you snag from Flickr.

So, what does one look for in a digital camera? Ask yourself these questions:

How much can I afford to spend? If you are buying a digital camera for blogging purposes remember that you may be able to deduct it as business equipment. That is well and good but you still have a budget to contend with. Budget the amount you want to spend on a camera. If it is for basic snapshots I would say about $150 for an adequate to $250 for a really cool Point and Shoot (POS) camera. If you are going to try and sell your images then we are talking many more dollars say $600 - $$$$. Remember that you are going to pay for bells and whistles so make sure you want them before you decide.

What the heck are megapixels? If you see ads for cameras and when you go to stores you are going to see cameras with 2MP to 14MP (yeah there is a 14MP DSLR one out there, *drool*). What does that number mean. With more megapixels you can blow up an image and print it out without distorting or pixelating the image. So are you going to be printing 8X10 prints or higher? Probably not but you may print out 4X6 photos. So if you are primarily printing 4X6 or not printing at all you could get by with a slightly lower megapixel camera.

Here are examples of a 2MP, 4MP, 7MP and a 10MP image.

Image taken with a 2MP camera phone.

Image taken with a 4MP digital camera.

Image taken with a 7MP digital still/video camera.

Image taken with a 10MP DSLR using a 70mm-300mm lens with macro.

Do you see much of a difference in quality between the 4 images? Not really. Now if I printed each of these out in their full resolution there would be some major differences. However, we are not going to be printing the images instead we will be posting them to our blogs.

Each of those images above was cropped to 450 pixels by 350pixels (a dimension that fit well on my first blog and I haven't seen the need to change). I also set the pixel size to 96 dots per inch or dpi. Why? For load time, unless you are planning on reselling your images through a photo hosting site you don't need to post them with the highest dpi. Usually 72dpi or 96dpi works great.

In the case of the images from four cameras above I could get by easily with a 2MP camera, but it sure is nice to have all the advanced features of the 10MP Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera. But talking about those features will be saved for the next post.

Are you using photos on your blogs? What kind of camera do you use?

I am splitting this post into two parts. Part one asks a few basic questions about selecting a digital camera to buy. Part two will talk a little about bells and whistles of digital cameras.

Drew writes five blogs, is an avid kayaker and a Transformers fan, he also does a mean cake plow. He recently completed taking 1000 consecutive photos in 1000 days. You can visit him at The BenSpark, The Wired Kayaker, Read To Me, Dad, BenSpark 2: Electric Boogaloo, Flatwater Tech and The BenSpark Utterz

Posted by BenSpark at 03:11 PM in Blogging | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

Several folks have been wondering what's going on with the latest round of the Blog Battle Royale contest. Well, the Finalists have been determined (by myself, Karen, and Glennis), and they are (in no particular order):

Submission #1
Title: Blog Battle Royale - Pancreatic Cancer Awareness
url: http://www.basenjimom.com/2008/02/19/blog-battle-royale-pancreatic-cancer-awareness/

Submission #2
Title: Why I Walk
url: http://www.3daymom.com/2008/02/22/why-i-walk/

Submission #3
Title: What cause does Family Caregiver Info support?
url: http://familycaregiver.info/what-cause-does-family-caregiver-info-support

We've reached out to some of our Advertisers who have previously run charity Opportunities/campaigns within our marketplace to help us decide on a Champion! We'll announce that individual at noon (12pm EST) next Wednesday, March 19th.

Great job on all the posts, and thanks to all who submitted an entry! Keep up the good work on supporting your causes, and please feel free to continue sharing your blogs with us.

For our three Finalists, please e-mail me directly at ashley[at]izea[dot]com with your mailing address and t-shirt size so I can mail out your Finalist PostiePack.

Technorati Tags: Blog Battle Royale, blogging, charity, contests, non-profit

Posted by Ashley at 09:44 AM in Blog Battle Royale , Blogging , Contests & Sweepstakes , Posties | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Did you know you were supposed to move the clocks ahead ('spring ahead!') this weekend?  Or did you make it through all of Monday without even knowing you are an hour off from everyone around you?  Maybe you don't live where daylight savings is observed and you think the rest of us are a bit odd for changing time.

No matter - it is important to know, though, that it is less than 1/2 hour until midnight EST, and another $1K Tuesday!

Are you ready to get paid $50 or $500 for one post?  We offer 10 Opp's for $50 each, and 1 Opp for $500 during the hours of 12:01 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. during $1K Tuesday!  We have several advertisers who already pay $50 or more for one post, but our Posties tell us it can be difficult to grab those Opp's.  The recent changes to pagerank made it even more challenging.  So these posts for $1K Tuesday will be open to everyone.  Check out the details on the last $1K Tuesday post.

Have a great Tuesday - we'll do our best to make you part of this $1K Tuesday!

Posted by Karen Allen at 11:38 PM in Blogging , Customer Love , Opportunities , PayPerPost , Posties | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

As Ted mentioned in a post last week, we're going to be traveling quite a bit in the coming month or so. Right now we're in Austin for SXSW 2008, Interactive Festival! Day one is already off to a good start. We'll keep you posted on the events over the next few days. ** We are also Twittering the event if you'd like to stay updated that way. **

Technorati Tags: SXSW

Posted by Ashley at 01:35 PM in Blogging , Conferences & Tradeshows | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Well, here we are in March.  I was born in March, which means I am a Pisces.  Being a Pisces means that I am sensitive, creative, and I love cheese.  Guilty on all three counts!

I will be 46 years old this month.  Does it strike you as odd that I could actually have grown this old without having matured a whole lot?  Physically, I feel every bit of 46 but mentally I think I will likely always remain stuck in my early twenties, much to the chagrin of Mrs. Fab and whomever I happen to be working for at the time.

The other day I had what I thought was a good idea: a paintball battle between IZEA and Posties.  I like the thought of stalking those guys through the forest or on a structured course.  Then I got to thinking about what good shape the IZEA peeps all seemed to be in:  Ted; with his feline grace and agility, Peter; with his lithe frame and runner's build, Gordon; with his rippling athleticism (seriously, the dude could have been in 300), Ashley; with his...um...with his...well, Ashley would be on our team, I guess.

In retrospect, perhaps I won't mention that idea.  However, I still am considering staking out the roof of their office building and dropping water balloons on them as they leave for lunch.  That's just the kind of guy I am.

As the release of SocialSpark grows ever nearer, I have been toying with the idea of writing a song about it.  I have been churning out quite a few song parodies lately, and I'd really like to turn one into an IZEA anthem of sorts.  The trick is finding just the right song that lends itself well to a re-write.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

Did anyone notice the revamped look of the IZEA Boards?  The ranking system changed as well.  I don't remember what I was listed as before, but now I am listed as an "initiate".  I'm not sure how I feel about that, to tell you the truth.  To me, it kind of feels like there may a chance of some hazing in my future.  That, in turn, reminds me of my old fraternity days, aside from the fact that I was never actually in a fraternity.  Maybe I was thinking of Animal House...

Oh, should anyone out there want to run me through a spanking machine, you know where to reach me!

Posted by Mr. Fabulous at 08:32 PM in Blogging | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

We've been having a friendly debate on the IZEA message boards about how long a blog post should be. Some interesting studies have been referenced and The Elements of Style (the definitive guide to writing) has been cited. While some good points have been made, some of them just aren't relevant to what we do. Many bloggers focus tightly on conveying topic-specific information in each post. Their posts tend to be concise. Some bloggers are more interested in weaving a story or making a connection with their readers. They may need more words to accommodate their style. Neither style has to be wrong for the other to be right. Blog posting is not "one size fits all." Other than satisfying the minimum word requirement for our sponsored opportunities I think it's okay for us to relax and stop worrying about word counts. If your post says what it needs to say, it's the right length.

Readers come in many varieties and the way they read my vary depending on what they're reading. If I'm looking for a recipe for that gritty, Southern-style cornbread my mother used to make or a pair of red shoes to match a new outfit, I may scan dozens of websites, quickly eliminating those that don't supply what I want. In our forum discussion, Magnusgrafex (a prickly character we have to read because he makes us think)  referred us to some studies which seem to conclude that most people read the web that way. While I have no reason to doubt these findings on web-reading habits, I question whether they are applicable to blogs. The amount of time that visitors are willing to invest in reading any website depends on what they're looking for. If we're seeking specific information on a typical website we are likely to use the hit-and-run method the studies identify. Blogs are not typical websites. Blogs invite visitors to enjoy the reading process itself, as well as to absorb whatever material is being presented. Many of us read blogs the same way we read books, savoring each word regardless of how long it takes us to finish reading.

Condensing our writing to suit arbitrary word limits might result in a bad fix for something that isn't broken. This can apply even to niche blogs which are more information-oriented than creatively-driven. Using the "no more than 300 words" limit discussed in the forum, here are some posts we would have recently missed:

From Mrs. Mecomber, our current Blogger of the Month: Lake George and Fort Ticonderoga, NY (1246 words)

From Dan Rua: Where is Jason Calacanis's Disclosure, to People AND Machines (551 words)

From Ted: IZEAFest 2008 (383 words)

Would you immediately click away from these posts because they're too long? If you had written them, what would you have trimmed away to get them below 300 words? Each of them could be condensed to dry facts, but the voice of the blogger would be lost in the process.

Bloggers who are typically long-winded (raising my hand meekly) may very well need to apply more stringent editing standards as they write. Those with "just the facts, ma'am" blogs might find their readership increasing if they inject a little more personality (and a few more words) into their posts. Look at your stats for "length of visit." Are you satisfied with the number of visitors who are staying long enough to read what you've written? Do your comments indicate that you're engaging your readers' interest? How many of them choose to subscribe to your feeds? Adjusting the number of words you choose to use could have a favorable impact on your traffic, but brutal trimming to satisfy a self-imposed words-per-post limit might leave you with a blog that you don't enjoy writing and visitors don't enjoy reading. Likewise, imposing limits on the number of words you'll read could rob you of a lot of good information and some entertaining reading. If producing and reading quality content takes precedence, the importance of word counts diminishes.

How long is a good blog post? As long as it needs to be.

Posted by skeet at 08:20 PM in Blogging | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

So, Posties, what lasts 24 hours, results in 10 different Posties receiving $50.00 each and one Postie receiving $500.00, is open to all Posties, all ranks, all locations, all categories and adds some extra fun to your average sponsored blogging day?  It is . . .

And it's going to begin in about 5-1/2 hours!!  Place some good snacks near your computers, program your DVR's to catch up on your fav tv shows on Wednesday, put your email notices on 'out of office', and double check your internet connections!  Starting just after midnight (maybe . . .) is the next $1K Tuesday! 

For those of you who have recently joined us as new Posties, well - first, WELCOME!!  Also, here's what $1K Tuesday is all about. 

* IZEA sponsors 11 individual Marketplace Opportunities, totaling $1,000.00 in offer amounts.  One Postie will be able to grab the Opp worth $500!!
* These Opp's are open to all bloggers with an approved blog in the PPP Marketplace, no segmentation specifications are included.
* Opp's are released any time between 12:01 a.m. - 11:59 p.m., EST (That's Orlando & New York time) on Tuesday, March 4th.
* Link and Disclosure badge are required for each post.  You'll need the ITK Tools for the Disclosure badge.
* Once you have accepted a $1K Tuesday Opp you will be benched for 30 days from other IZEA promotional Opp's.  This won't affect your Tack rating at all, we just do this to reach as many Posties as possible with the $1K Opp's.
* We try to keep these Opp's fresh and surprising so the titles and short descriptions of the Opp's will not give away they are part of the $1K Opp's.  Simply follow the instructions in the Opp's long description if you happen to grab one of these.  They'll be reviewed just like any other posts.

Keep in mind we have a lot of fantastic Opp's in the Marketplace from our advertisers right now so even if you aren't able to grab one of the $1K's tomorrow, you still have a great group of Opp's to choose from!

Good luck, Posties!  And Happy Blogging!

Posted by Karen Allen at 06:42 PM in Blogging , Opportunities , PayPerPost , Posties | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

It's time for that time-honored tradition of spring cleaning.  What's that you say?  It's still cold out?  There is still snow on the ground where you live?  Hey, it's not my fault you don't live in Florida.  The calendar doesn't lie: tomorrow is March 1st.  In my mind, the first day of March is the first day of spring.

Oh, I know that the purists will tell you that March 20 is the official first day of spring.  I say vernal equinox, vernal shmequinox.  I like my seasons neat and orderly, and as far as I am concerned spring runs from March 1 until May 31.  So there.

In any event, spring means spring cleaning.  I'm not talking about your house or your yard.  I don't know anything about that stuff.  I mean, my house gets cleaned and my yard gets spruced up, but it's a mystery to me how that happens.  Gremlins, maybe?

I'm talking about spring cleaning for your blog.  This is the perfect time to take a look around your site with an eye toward tightening, tweaking, organizing, and making sure everything is crisp, clean, uncluttered, and attractive.  And it's especially important this year because of what lies just around the corner...

SocialSpark!  Whoo-hoo!

I've already done my cleaning over at Pointless Directives.  I've got a nifty new template, my sidebar is cleaned up and orderly, my blogrolls and categories and other lists and rolled up and floobled, and everything is right where it belongs.  I've never felt so pretty!

Oh.  In the interests of full disclosure, my sister Shelli actually did all that stuff for me.  But it still counts.

I've also joined a couple of new enterprises, Entrecard, an ad exchange network, and Blog Writers, a networking site for bloggers.  Both are working out very well for me. 

So take a look around your blog.  I bet your blogroll needs updating.  There are always links to add and links to drop.  Does your sidebar need some tidying up?  Can some of those lists be floobled?  Do you really need all those badges and signs and graphics and awards on the front page?

Cast a critical eye toward your blog.  Look at it from a brand new reader's point of view.  Or better yet, look at it through the eyes of an advertiser.  That's what I tried to do, and that's why I came to the conclusion that I need to make some changes in order to make my site as appealing as possible.

Hey, don't get me wrong.  Content is still king.  But a pretty package doesn't hurt, either!

Posted by Mr. Fabulous at 06:11 AM in Blogging | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

I'll try to keep it brief 'cause I don't want you to miss the awesome post below by Drew.

Apparently Ted thinks I've been getting too much sleep because $1K Tuesday continues this week!!!  The Opp's will be released from midnight, beginning of Tuesday through 11:59 pm, end of Tuesday, all times are Eastern Standard Time.  We will release 11 non-segmented Opp's, with offer amounts totaling $1,000.00! That's 10 opp's at $50.00 each, and one big opp at $500.00!

Check out the specifics in last week's post if you need.  Remember, grabbing one of the $1K's means you'll be briefly benched.  So if you got one of the $1K's last week, you are benched for 30 days from the next $1K's to share the fun with as many Posties as possible. 

Good luck, Posties!!!

Posted by Karen Allen at 02:38 PM in Blogging , Contests & Sweepstakes , Opportunities , PayPerPost , Posties | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

Just a reminder that if you plan on submitting a post for