Social Media Marketing

Blogging Made easy – Part 1:

About Blogging / Websites / Top websites / Buying Websites:

Thanks for the numerous responses to our earlier post “Blogging Platforms”.

Hope all of you received my replies to your queries.

For any further queries, you are free to contact us at: socialmedia@techdivine.com

Now to answer your other queries I am putting across few resources & links which I am sure will help you get a deeper insight into the same:

1. “What can I write on a blog”

One can write anything depending on his / her focus & expectation from the blog. Depending on whether you want to offer your writing to a niche market or your blog as a journal / story / personal sightings & stories or reviews for some practical tips / advice on products / services etc based on your experience, your blog needs to slowly evolve for that target audience.

You can also write biographies of people, few personal success stories with examples etc

If you are creatively inclined as in terms of traditional or graphic / photography / digital art, you might make a gallery & showcase your works too to the world across.

Writing an imaginative story, discussing case studies can also be a great way to work on a blog.

Other than these, one has the option for writing their travel adventures, their passion for music, art, cars, books, education, career, parenting and so much more.

2. “How much is a blog useful for a business”

Life is not always about selling. It’s most important aspect is to connect with people at varied levels. At the end of the day, one needs to sell too to survive. Here again, a blog is a great medium. So the answer is Very much yes.

It keeps the customers  / readers updated and their responses over a period of time generates brand loyal customers.

3. “Functions, widgets & Plugins”, what are they used for in a blog / website?

They are tools.

Some refer to them merely as decorations, while I would prefer the term organized & systematic tools for planning and getting your message across to readers / customers / target audience easily.

Eg.1. These tools, lets say a widget that allows one to scan through only a particular category topic which is of interest to him / her, would be definitely popularly used and useful as one does not then need to scan across pages which might run into scores of posts otherwise. Thus, here a “Category” widget (tool) would be great.

Eg. 2. Plugins: Ratings plugins are very common and popular allowing new users to know by a single look whether the post has got positively notable ratings / review. Though it might not always be correct, but a rating allows the user (reader) to take control.

It also shows the reader of the trust & confidence a writer has, so as to share this power of reviewing his/her write up with the world across to judge it.

http://www.simplescripts.com

Widget

Plugin - Ratings

4. What are Statistics / awstats / Hit counters

Some more examples of the same:

• Google Analytics
• Sitemeter
• Awstats
• My Blog Log

http://www.google.com/analytics

http://awstats.sourceforge.net

They tell the reader of the number of Hits / readership views on the page  / website. They can be many a times triggered or hyped but with sites such as WordPress etc, the advantage remains for the reader to know the actual readership hits as such sites do not count the admin / main authors Machine IP hits. So what you see is what really is.

Great examples are “awstats” & Google analytics. It not only gives the viewers & visitors a brief peek into the site hits, but gives the creator of the blog / site many important details to plan ahead for.

For eg. “awstats plugin / tool lets the designer of the site know not only the page hits, but also, the number of people from which country / which page has main hits / keywords / search terms used to land here/ external links / time spent of page / site / most viewed content on site and many such other important info including user id, Unique users on the site etc.

“Share” Buttons at the end of the Blog:

They let you share an interesting post with others using social networkign sites like Orkut, facebook, MySpace, email, Diggit, Stumbleupon etc

awstats

www.orkut.com

www.facebook.com

www.digg.com

www.stumble.com

http://in.myspace.com

http://blogger.com

www.linkedin.com

5. Can you name few good Blog Editors

Qumana / Illuminex / BlogJet / w.bloggar / Ecto are few which are popular.

Few links:

www.qumana.com

http://Illuminex.com

www.scribefire.com

6. What are RSS / Twitter feeds / Blog feeds / Tags: When a Blog / website says, Click here to subscribe: How does it work and what does it tell the reader. Who is it useful for, reader or blogger? What are tags in a blog / photograph? How is it useful and for whom?

New readers / even regulars many a times may not be always there to check or visit your blog.

If a reader likes a blog and you as an author / writer / publisher / content developer want your prospective and regular readers to stay in touch with your site, be updated on new blog posts, new content etc, you can add FEEDS to the site. Best Eg RSS feed / Twitter Feeds.

What it does is, it takes at times few snippets from the new blog post / or the whole post / sometimes only the headline / title of the blog as modified by the user / writer of the blog and keeps the user updated on his machine if a new blog post arrives from that site.

Thus Blog feeds are great, both for the reader and the creator as the feeds contain recently updated content from a website without having to bookmark and keep visiting to check for updates or inform of updates.

RSS (most commonly translated as “Really Simple Syndication” but sometimes “Rich Site Summary”) is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works

Twitter Feeds:

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications.

Tags:

Tags are basically labels to objects. They help to describe a post / photograph / place / person / item/ object / a specific purpose and allows it to be found again by browsing or searching on clicking it. Tags are chosen informally and personally by the item’s creator or by its viewer, depending on the system. Eg. Tags on a blog post tell the users different aspects that have been part of this post (blog / write up / photograph etc)

www.twitter.com

FEEDS for website or blog

7. How does one post comment. I always find it difficult to comment, It says REGISTER first. What & how is it done?

Comments can be posted in blogs  / sites many times without having to register.

But professional blogs usually require its users to register & comment as it also helps them keep away unwanted spams and moderate comments to control the quality of comments & language used.

One can find REGISTRATION link at the website or blog Top / Bottom Side. Saying, click to register.

Many blogs today also have Register buttons as a Widget under the META section, giving the blog a more professional look.

User Registration: For Readers to comment

8. What is a domain name & Why do I need to own it. Can I get it free?

Like the old saying goes, if you want something free, buy the giant size first.

Majorly, you can get a domain name free ONLY if you buy website first. There are always exceptions. Still, having your own Domain name URL (web address – Uniform resource locator) can give a sense of professionalism to a site / blog with of course loads of control over it in terms of add-ons,  features plugins etc.

9. What is a hosting service?

A company that is letting / subletting / selling Plots of land (so to speak webspace) on the internet is a Hosting service. Eg. http://bluehost.com

Thus in order for people to find your web site on the Internet, the site has to be on a computer called a web server. The web server runs programs to serve web pages, send and receive email, look up domain names and so on. It has to connect to the Internet, preferably through a fast connection.

10. Is there a free website to create available.

Yes.

Yahoo / Tripod

www.tripod.lycos.com

http://in.geocities.yahoo.com/index.php

11. If yes, why do I need to pay for one?

If you don’t own it, it ain’t yours to control buddy.

Free websites often run their own advertisements on your created content etc. If you want to try website creation & design just to start with, you can try with free websites with Yahoo / Tripod etc. Once you are sure you can build and run the same, go ahead get one and get creative.

12. Cost of a website & a domain name.

Tricky question.

Site costs range depending on what you are looking in for. Business site/ personal site / premium packages / Deluxe and so on. It can range anywhere form say $5 to more than $1000 including web site design / maintenance etc.

Domain names usually cost around $10 with the packages of buying the websites and many offer it free once the whole webspace is purchased.

You can refer Bluehost for more such services & cost: http://bluehost.com

http://bluehost.com

13. Do I need to be a computer programmer to build a website?

No, not necessarily to start with. One can use a content management system (CMS). It is a computer software that handles the presentation of your web site’s content to your users.

Few Good CMS: Joomla, Drupal, Mambo

http://drupal.org

http://mambo-foundation.org

14. Where can I learn more about designing websites, Creating blogs etc.

CONTACT US.

We have, whole range of services with us. We can help you build one from scratch or give you access to get the ultimate pool of knowledge for the same for a training material / workshop fee.

Email: socialmedia@techdivine.com

INTERESTED In Availing of Our Professional Blogging Services: Visit us here

Keep visiting

Admin

Techdivine Creative Services

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There was a total blackout. I could hear blaring sounds in my head. Voices, objects and people in scores, thumping and banging around with drums of steel making clanking noises so loud that it seemed my eardrums were to come apart.

Soon enough there was absolute silence as I dwelled into the beautiful home of ‘nidra’ meaning sleep, without a reason and without my own realization of it.

It was only after about another 10 minutes or so, that I regained consciousness. My severe attack of migraine had just passed me with a small objectionable visit that was impactful, but was thankfully not prolonged.

I left my workplace and was heading towards home as one of my workplace employee got me a rickshaw to get back home safely.

The drive was going to be lengthy so I rested in the luxurious and cramped vehicle.

Luxurious because anything and anyplace that let me just slide in now felt so comfortable and cramped as the ‘jhankar beats’ in the rick was in full swing all of a sudden that was clobbering my head.

I asked him to ‘Just shut it’, as he looked back with a not so contented face, he sure did.  I was in no mood to explain why to him but damn, I just should have.

As the alacrity of that awesome machine and the not so positive feelings of the driver got together, the vehicle kept swirling across many bewildering lanes and pathways, I felt as if I was being taken for a ‘ride’ and I double checked to look at the roads.

He was heading in the right direction. I guess it was just my head that was still raging with the earlier impact then.

Soon enough the resentment and frustration of not allowing him to play the wild and horrible songs in his vehicle caught up with him and he was showing no signs of slowing down.

Bang….. Bam….. thrash!!!

Our awesome flying saucer was hit by a ‘lorry’ and the little vehicle rolled sideways.

Strangely and by god’s grace nothing happened to me as I came out of the vehicle with not even a scratch, except for my head that was now screaming with the rising agony called migraine.

The rickshaw-valla was hit roughly and I with few others took him out of the vehicle.

He was still able to stand as he looked at himself and then at me as if I was some alien.

I took him to the nearby traffic policeman who escorted him to the doctor as I left for the close to railway station.

I was in Sion station soon enough.

Now the effect of the collision and my now very active and boisterous headache was taking its toll on me. I was getting extremely exhausted and could not even descend the steps to reach to the platform. But it was me, so I eventually did.

I got in the first class compartment and just lied down inside. It was noon and it was quite empty.

I was woken up in a not so subtle fashion by someone who by looking at my face which was too weary by now probably thought I was drunk. It was the TC.

He asked me for my pass and as I reached my hand towards my pocket, I realized I had unknowingly donated my wallet apparently in the road accident. I explained to the TC but in vain as he asked me to get down and go to the place where the ticketless travelling classes of people are given due and generous attention by more than one TC.

All my explanation was futile but I told him of what had happened from the start of the day, he then looked a little bit more convinced. I was not in a position to talk as I sat down on the seat and it was just then that one of the sessions from my management class just hit me hard.

Brand sells.

I searched for my bag and showed him my student id that I had with me of one of the most elite institutions in India and the name just hit him hard. I guess, it is true, Brand does sell.

He mellowed down and asked me where I work and got few other details. He also asked me if I had any money to buy a ticket. I told him, my wallet was gone and had none.

He asked me to get down with him in the next station and believe it or not, he bought me a ticket for second class for my way back home and got me in the train compartment safe and sound.

That was a very positive experience I had that day.

Sure I have heard of gruesome stories about them, but that day, needless to say, I was impressed to see humanity still to be so much in existence. They too have too many cases of not so genuine reasons many a times I guess. Anyway, I was also glad that I was awake when the lecture was taught in the class saying, Brand sells!

As I continued my routine journey in the train from the next day, I met with the same TC by the end of that week again. It was the same TC in the compartment of the first class and I reminded him of the incident.

I gave him my fine that was due from the other day, took the receipt and for a change happily got out off the train.

It was never about the money I guess. It annoys people normally because of the way they treat you many a times.

But I guess, You give something good and you get something good in return.

I don’t know whether every person could deal things this way always like that TC did, the world would be so much a better place then and if they don’t, as the old saying goes….. Even this shall PASS! No pun intended.

Let me know your views and comments on the same as you always do:

Be well

Ananthanarayanan V

Visit Editred.com

http://www.editred.com/techdivine

Ups and Downs! « THE ROAD TO ETERNAL BLISS!

Ups and Downs! « THE ROAD TO ETERNAL BLISS!