Friday, October 31, 2008

Reading What Other People Wrote

Inspiration comes in many ways from reading. It begins by reading about what people are writing about in your industry. If they wrote it wonderfully, then you can cite them on your blog with a comment or two to encourage your readers to visit their site and read the article. If you want to talk about what they wrote, you can cite their post and include a blockquote or two from the article, and then say what you want to say.You never know where a bit of inspiration will come from, so keep your mind open to all possiblities. The following includes a wide range of resources for finding articles and archived articles. I’ve also included a list of some aggregators, sites that display content from other sites to help you keep track of what is going on through blog feeds. Some of these you can personalize and customize, while others are just lists to read through. If you like what they wrote, but you think you can write it better, use their article as inspiration to write your own. Reading what other people also write helps you to keep up with what is going on around you, the trends and the news.

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Top Search Results

There are several different types of reports for tracking top search results. Old style but useful lists include top search keywords and phrases from seardh engines. Another method of finding content is to find out what people are searching for. Search engines and other search engine monitoring resources are always keeping an eye on what topics are most popular by counting up the top search keywords and phrases.More modern style top search results show you live, as-it-happens search action, which may or may not reflect the most popular searches but shows you what people are searching for in the moment. Which ever method attracts you, there is a lot of information and inspiration that can be gleaned.

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Most Popular/High Traffic

Most popular lists are based upon a variety of criteria. For a few, it is just what is most popular to them, the individual or group, as they see it, often with their own criteria. For most “most popular lists”, though, popularity is solely based upon measurable data such as actual purchases or highest visitor traffic.

For high traffic sites or blogs, there is a lot to learn as well as be inspired by. What are they talking about? How are they talking about the subjects? Where are they getting their information and resources? Should you be following their lead? Use high traffic and most popular sites and blogs as resources for possible content and ideas.

If you don’t see a specific “most popular” topic of interest to you, in a search engine type in “most popular” with a keyword for your interest, like WordPress, and the search results will include the most popular WordPress Themes, plugins, tips, techniques, blogs, and other WordPress related most popular items. From here, you can find sites to monitor for the “most popular” topics for your blog.

There are many lists online that list the “most popular” websites, blogs, topics, news, products, services, and more. By monitoring these sites, you can stay on top of what is attracting the most attention.

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Tag and Social Bookmarking Services

Tags and social bookmarking services are similar but different. Social bookmarking actually is the term that refers to users recommending which topics are most popular with them. This is done through votes and by tags.

A site or software tool that collects and stores your recommended or “bookmarked” sites is called a Social Bookmarking Manager. Some Social Bookmarking Managers are private, but the ones that will usually serve you better are the public ones, which show the world what you think is important information, and asks others to “vote” for your recommendations as you vote on theirs, and the winners rise to the top.

Tags are mini-categories for blog content, tagged by the blog owner or visitor. Used in combination with social bookmarking, you can search through tag services for the most popular posts within a specific tag category based upon traffic, voting, or other recommendations.

Tags and social bookmarking help Internet users talk to each other, sharing favorite posts and articles. They also help let you, the blogger, get a feel for what topics are popular at the moment. If it is popular enough, you may want to blog about it. By monitoring these “most popular” lists, whether by overall category or tags specific to your interests, you can keep a finger on the pulse of public opinion.

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Comment on Blogs From Within Google Feed Reader

One of the most frustrating aspects of reading blogs through feed readers is the process of commenting on blogs. The typical step-by-step process is:
  1. Scan through the blog post titles.
  2. Find an interesting title and click on the title to open it and read.
  3. Want to respond or read more? Open the post title in a new browser tab.
  4. Scroll around your tabs to get to the tab you just opened.
  5. Read the blog post.
  6. Comment on the blog post.
  7. Close the tab (or leave it waiting for a response or add the comments feed to track comments).
  8. Hunt for your feed reader tab.
  9. Find it and move onto the next post title of interest.
  10. Repeat.

How would you like to cut this down to only a few clicks? And how would you like to comment on blog posts directly from Google Feed Reader?

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Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won’t Tell You About Blogging.

Lorelle VanFossen has put together hundreds of the tips you need to know before you start blogging, and after, in

  • Explore the pros and cons of blog design.
  • Learn more about writing interesting and attention-getting content.
  • Develop your blog writing voice and style.
  • Learn how to define your blog’s purpose.
  • Learn how to build your blog’s plan.
  • Tips on writing with keywords and search terms.
  • Learn how to encourage your readers to respond.
  • Deal with comment spam and other nasty comments.
  • Explore the new PageRank, TrustRank, and SEO techniques.
  • Learn how to improve SEO with podcasts, video, and other multimedia.
  • Tips to prevent blog burnout.
  • Tips on developing a blog plan of action in response to disasters, emergencies or accusations.
  • Learn how to respond to copyright violations.
  • Learn about your rights as a blogger.
  • Tips on administrating and maintaining your blog.
  • Tips on online social networking and interaction.
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Finding Content for Your Blog

here are several resource that you can use to get content for your blog. If I have missed a favorite resource of yours, please add it below in the comments. I love looking up new avenues of inspiration.

I’ve grouped the different resources for finding content for your blog into the following categories:

  • Top News Stories
  • Industry News and Resources
  • Tagging and Social Bookmarking
  • Most Popular/Highest Traffic
  • Top Search Results
  • Research: Reading What Other People Wrote
  • Facts, Figures and Statistics
  • Search Engines, Search Blogs, and Search Resources
  • Tracking Stories
  • Internet Traffic, Web Trends, and Page Rank
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