BlogCatalog

I have to say it always makes my day when I see @jaybetee or @BlogCatalog pop up on someone's #FollowFriday list on Twitter. Being the skeptic that I am, however, I have to wonder if making it on to various #FollowFriday lists has any real impact when it comes to gaining more Twitter followers. Except for when I first started using Twitter, I don't think I have ever added anyone from a #FollowFriday list.

So I am wondering am I the weird one? Do you regularly start following people your Twitter contacts recommend on their #FollowFriday lists? Or, is #FollowFriday more of an effective way of letting people you already follow know that you dig their tweets? Or, a little of both? I'd love to hear what the bloggers think about #FollowFriday and how you use personally utilize this hash tag.

Scrolling through the BC Blog Directory the other day, I happened to stumble across the graffiti blogs section. Until that point, I didn't even know there was a graffiti blog section in the directory. Being quite curious about the section I managed to overlook until this point, I went in and discovered many cool blogs showcasing examples of vibrant street art from around the world. I recruited some other members of the BC team to help me take a look through all of the graffiti blogs and put together a sampling of a few that we think are worth sharing. The blogs below highlight the work of street artists in the United States, Peru, Germany, Belgium, England, France, and Israel to name a few. Take a look and let us know what you think.

ArsTreets: A gallery of the art in the Parisian streets..."The Outside Culture, The Magic EveryDayLife, Your Museum..."

Graffiti on Trains: This site gives you what it promises...graffiti on trains. A collection of photos from around Belgium.

West German Street Art: Germans can create some wicked street art. This site is a great photo chronicle of the art created there.

Street Art In the City of Tel Aviv: A poignant blend of street art photographs and poetry.

Jason Rubacky: It's all about graffiti here. A collection of videos and photos showing pieces from across the globe as well as reviews of painting supplies.

The Crooked: A site that share lots of street art images and aims to start some discussions on the current state of things as they begin the journey to being a legitimate street art institution. 

Manchester Graffiti: A mix of graffiti, hip hop and culture from Manchester, UK.

Vandalog: Everything street art, and nothing not street art. Vandalog has interviews with street artists and gallery owners, info on print releases, reviews of exhibitions, and much more.

Mutando Urbano: A blog from Peru about urban art and artistic expressions in the streets.

Times are tough, and shoppers are cutting back. But, that doesn't mean consumers have stopped their holiday shopping all together. Americans are still giving and getting presents. In today's economy, being able to give the "right" gift can be a challenge, especially if the recipient is a high-maintenance, fashion-loving, trend-setting diva (that's a lot of hyphens). Being that I fit that description, I must share with you some tips and tricks for satisfying the designer demands of your favorite fashionista while sticking to your Walmart budget.

Speaking of Walmart, did you know you can buy designer fashion at this often chastised mass market? Norma Kamali has been designing since the 60s and is known for being innovative and creating functional, yet fashionable, pieces that can often be worn in various ways and in various settings. One of her most classic designs is the puffy sleeping bag coat, which is now available at Walmart for only $28. Her collection for Walmart even includes organic pieces. The entire collection ranges from a mere $4 to $28, so you can definitely find something stylish and inexpensive.

Norma Kamali for Walmart. Image from Walmart.com.

Of course, you must be familiar with Target's success with showcasing designer fashion. Currently at Target, you can find the Anna Sui for Target collection (price range: $20.98 - $104.98), Carlos Falchi for Target (handbag price range: $19.99 to $49.99) and Anna Sheffield for Target (jewelry price range: $13.99 - $34.99).

Anna Sheffield® for Target® Charm Bracelet. Image from Target.com.

Kohl's currently features a line from reality star turned designer Lauren Conrad. Named LC Lauren Conrad, the line includes jeans, leggings, tops and even pretty party dresses. Styles are trendy without being too young and junior-ish, so even the mature fashionista will appreciate the designs. Prices range from $13.99 - $44.99.

LC Lauren Conrad Shaker Cardigan and Asymmetrical Dress. Both images from Kohls.com.

Twenty-one years after writing her award-winning book The Cake Bible, Rose Levy Beranbaum--a.k.a the "Diva of Desserts"--shares more amazing cake recipes in her new book Rose's Heavenly Cakes. Featuring detailed directions and instructional photographs that guide readers step-by-step through her recipes, the book makes it easy for any home baker to create Rose's mouth watering cakes. The book features butter and oil cakes, fluted-pan cakes, baby cakes, sponge cakes, and the bravest bakers can even attempt one of her wedding cakes!

In the spirit of the Julie and Julia project, Rose's fans are baking every one of the cakes in Rose's Heavenly Cakes and blogging about it at heavenlycakeplace.blogspot.com. Rose also has her own blog, Real Baking with Rose, where she shares her thoughts about baking, lists her upcoming appearances and has a complete list of all of her popular cookbooks.

Learn a little bit about baking a great cake by watching Rose's video:

Click here for a larger version of the video.

When I was a child, my parents were my heroes. As a teenager, I often viewed them as adversaries. As I became an adult, they became more like great friends. Once that happened, I learned more about who my parents really are and were before my sister and I popped into the picture. And, I came to realize--as I think most of us do--that they are, well, kind of awesome. Blogger Eliot Glazer had the same realization. In fact, he not only realized his parents were awesome, but that all of our parents were awesome too. To celebrate this fact, Glazer has created a photoblog called My Parents Were Awesome.

Glazer says that he came up with the idea because as, "an editor at Urlesque, where we focus on everything webby...it's easy to get lost in the vitriol and snark of the blogosphere," and so to combat this cynicism he thought it would be great to "creat[e] a place that was 'warm and fuzzy'." But why did he choose to focus on parents? Were his parents really that awesome? "They're actually terrible, terrible people," he kids and quickly adds that actually "they're the best parents anyone could ask for." The reason he focused on parents is a bit more universal though. "[E]veryone has parents and most of us have pictures to commemorate them," he remarks, "and almost everyone likes sharing, so it seemed like an excellent fit."

He is definitely on to something. Glazer has received over 3,000 photo submissions in the little over two months since the site's launch and he jokes that he might have to hire an intern to keep up with all of them. The site has also received a decent amount of media coverage. I first heard about the site on NPR's show All Things Considered and later read a post about it on their blog. Fox News and ABC News have also interviewed Glazer about the site.

The site's success may not, however, stem solely from our simple desire to share. Glazer attributes it in part to the large number of people who really respect their parents and grandparents, and who have a sincere desire honor them. "I never would've expected so many people to come out of the woodwork dying to celebrate their own folks," he states.

Glazer, the proud parent of a 6-year-old Schnauzer mix, doesn't currently have children of his own. When kids do enter the picture, he hopes they'll attribute his awesomeness to his openness. "It would be great to have my kids know everything about me...It seems to make the parent-child relationship naturally healthy," he says. "How can one not think their parents are honest with them if there are no secrets? That's just pure respect, for better or worse." Even when there are no secrets, it can be hard to know everything about the people we call Mom and Dad. It can be even harder to imagine that the people who raised us--the ones who watched the nightly news, discussed local politics for fun, and played in the weekly Bridge club--were at one point the definition of cool.

Glazer's site provides the motivation for each of us to take a peek into our parents' awesome past and gives us a simple way to celebrate their coolness. My two favorite pictures so far are the hippies sticking out the top of the VW bug and the couple with the goats in the back of their car. Although, I am also quite partial to the pic above of my own parents on their honeymoon in Jamaica! I shared my favs with Glazer and while he agreed they are phenomenal shots, the one he loves is joan-submitted-by-elizabeth, "because it says so much about the subject and the era in which it was taken." Glazer seems to be having a ball celebrating the awesomeness of parents and says he has no plans to stop anytime soon.

November 11th is known by different names all across the globe. To some it is known as Veterans Day; others call it Armistice Day or Remembrance Day. No matter what you call it, November 11 is a day to remember the soldiers who gave their lives to protect our freedoms and to honor their memory.

Throughout modern history this day has been marked by parades, memorial services, speeches and other events that express the respect we have for our fallen heroes. Recently, with the coming of blogs and other social media platforms, our remembrance has also moved online. Social networks like Twitter and Facebook are allowing users to share their thoughts about the holiday and details about their activities with friends and followers. This gives us great insight into how people feel about this holiday and what they do to remember those who have sacrificed their lives for the greater good.

JoeMasiero tweeted "Thank you to all the veterans who have served and all those still serving our country." MissBonatide says "Thank you to all the veterans who have served and all those still serving our country." Mstigall shared this, "Do yourself a favor and personally thank at least one veteran and one current soldier today. They deserve it." Some even shared links showing what they are planning to do to sow their respect and urging other to join them. JazminAshlee wrote "I will be doing this ==>>http://bit.ly/1FrTfR<<== You should too!" Her link takes you to a page on parents.com where you can find information on sending letters and care packages to currently deployed troops.

Bloggers are also very active on this day. BloggersUnite.org, a website dedicated to raising awareness about important issues by asking bloggers to write about a certain issue on a particular day, is holding an event today called Veterans Day: Who Will Stand. The event is aimed at raising awareness and funds for nonprofit groups that support U.S. Veterans. Event organizers also hope to promote "Who Will Stand," a documentary that explores the issues U.S. veterans face when dealing with the physical and psychological scars of battle.

The bloggers participating in the event share their individual views about Veterans Day and their personal experiences. Julia Kelly's post "From Flanders Field to Silent Tears: Bloggers Unite for Veterans" is a great overview piece that spotlights several BlogCatalog members who are writing about their military experiences. She tells us about people like Susan Blake, a mother writing about her son's deployment to Iraq, and Leanne Koscsis who created a resource called Military Avenue that provides information and connections for military families.

Bloggers Jane and Beth also share their thoughts on Veterans Day through their fictional characters Margie and Edna, two elderly sisters from the fictional town of Jericho, KS. Margie reflects on the recent memorial for the soldiers killed at Fort Hood. "I saw the spouses who have to go it alone now," she writes, "the parents who have suffered the loss of a child, the children who will miss growing up with one parent, and all the brothers, sisters, grandparents, cousins, and friends who mourn. I mourn with all of you and I am grateful for all those who serve our country now, then, and in the years to come."

The birth of social media has changed the way people connect with one another. When it comes to a holiday like Veterans Day, it gives people the opportunity to easily share their thoughts about the day, let people know about planned activities and make meaningful connections. It allows organizations to reach out to millions of people and let them know how they can support Veterans. And, it even gives those of us stuck behind a desk today the ability to contribute and honor the brave men and women who have so selflessly given their lives defending us.

Thanks you to all the brave soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending my freedom. To those of you who are currently deployed, thank you for your service. Stay safe and come home soon!

This post was cross posted on Broowaha.com and was submitted to BloggersUnite.org as part of the Veterans Day: Who Will Stand event.

(posted by Jason Teitelman, Written by Deb Schroeder)

Have No Fear and Let Your Passion Lead You to the Next Level
The Opening Keynote at Blog World with Laura Fitton was very inspirational and a great way to begin the conference. Laura Fitton is referred to by many as the Queen of Twitter, wrote Twitter for Dummies, and founded Oneforty.com. Oneforty.com has reviews and information of all of the best twitter apps.

Laura recommends that you should just be who you are when twittering and don’t just post links, but ask questions and make connections.  She believes that in order for you to be “Awesome on Twitter,” you need to listen, learn, care, and serve.

Laura Fitton emphasized that you should not have fear or hesitance with blogging, twittering, and the use of social media.  We should always try new things since we all have something to offer.

If we hold ourselves back and don’t try, then we will be cheating everyone else out of something that only you can offer.  Discover your passion and let it lead you.

Internet Marketing for Smart People

The panel for Internet Marketing for Smart People consisted of Darren Rowse, Sonia Simone, Brian Clark, and Chris Brogan.   The hour long session had too many great points to jot down, so you can watch the entire session at JohnChow.com.  Below are some quick notes from the session.

• Posting: Keep a post rhythm with your blog so that your readers know what to expect.  If you post once or 5 times a week, be consistent with that rhythm.
• Content: Deliver valuable content to your readers.  Ask yourself “Is my content itself a reward for reading it?”  Does the content add value to your readers?
• Email Newsletter Marketing: Email marketing is still very important and email newsletters are the way to go.  RSS isn’t turning out the way they once thought it was.  More traffic is through email readers than RSS.  Some found that ads clicked doubled with email as opposed to RSS.  One way to get readers to subscribe by email would be a free e-book incentive.
• Community: Create a community among your readers so that they feel like it is “our community” not “your community.”
• What do you have to sell? Find something worth selling to your readers that provides value to them.  Build the audience first and create trust before trying to sell to your audience.  Get to know your readers and pay attention to them so that you know what they need and what is important to them.

Sponsored Conversations and the new FTC Regulations

Panelists were Ted Murphy, Jeremiah Owyang and Wendy Piersall

One of the common discussions at the 2009 Blog World Expo was the new Federal Trade Commission’s regulations for online advertising and sponsored conversations.  The new FTC regulations go into effect on December 1, 2009 and there was much debate about the topic.

What can be considered sponsored conversations?  Tweets, posts, and comments can all be considered sponsored conversations if the blogger receives payment, gifts or any other item for certain content.  It doesn’t matter if the blogger would have included the content with or without receiving payment.  Bottom line-- if the blogger receives a gift or payment, then it must be disclosed.

It is important to create transparency within your blog and having a disclosure policy encourages trust among your readers.  The disclosure policy should be up at the top of your site and clear to your readers.  The new regulations lack clarity, but from the discussions at Blog World, it seems that individual posts that can be considered “sponsored” would need a disclosure statement as well.

An online site created and funded by IZEA allows you to create a Free Disclosure Policy from DisclosurePolicy.org in which you answer a series of questions.  After answering questions pertaining to your blog, a disclosure policy is created for you to copy and paste into your site.

Blogging Super Panel Gave Live Feedback on Site Reviews

The Super Panel with live feedback on site reviews consisted of top money making bloggers Zac Johnson, John Chow, and Darren Rowse.  Below are some tips offered to the various sites reviewed that can be applied to most blogs:

• If you have a new blog, focus on content and getting readers rather than trying to focus on monetization.  Most bloggers shouldn’t expect to be making large amounts of money until they have been blogging consistently and gaining readership for about 2 years.
• Your signup box for email and RSS updates should be large and easy to find.  Many put the signup box in the top right corner.  It is good to end posts with an offer to signup to subscribe in addition to having the signup box.
• Newsletter updates are important and you should attract more readers with this. Offer incentives for them to signup, such as a free e-book or newsletters with free samples, discounts, or some educational material in your niche. You can use your newsletter to help monetize your blog by offering valuable products for purchase, ads, etc.
• Do not ask for the first and last names of your readers when asking them to signup for updates or to subscribe to the blog.  Make the process easy and seamless for them.
• A general estimation given was that if your site is getting about 1 million page views a month, then you should be earning about $10,000 a month if monetized correctly.
• As you grow, you can consider offering membership sites, educational material or e-books as a way to monetize your blog.
• View your site in multiple browsers to correct errors that others may be seeing.
• Don’t have a super-large header and make sure that your header design lets the reader know what your blog is about.

Drive Traffic and Build Readership Using Niche Communities

Kevin Palmer discussed the many ways to use niche communities to drive traffic and build readership.  Kevin runs his own consulting company, Social Media Answers, LLCwhich has an abundant of free resources for those interested in growing with social media.

1. Evaluate Your Audience: Who are they?  What describes them?  How are they using the internet?  What content would they be interested in?
2. Examine Other Bloggers: Look at other bloggers in your niche and find out what social media sites they are using to connect with readers.  Look at their sidebars and examine the social media buttons they display.  Do a search with their twitter name to see what they are doing and how they are using twitter.  You can useCompete.com to analyze the traffic that other sites in your niche are getting.
3. Join Niche Social Networking Sites:  You can find over 400 Niche Social Networking Sites with reviews at Kevin Palmer’s website. Use social networking sites to gain potential readers.  Social networking sites are smaller Ease your way into the community, engage within the rules and listen to the readers. Don’t just join and broadcast your message, but become an active participant to create trust.  Look at the message boards and join in the active discussion.  Completely fill out your profile and include a profile picture.

While the amount of mind-blowing, awe-inspiring new tools to play around with in the exhibit hall at BlogWorld Expo this year was a little lacking, I found a few tools that I think will be pretty helpful to bloggers.

1. wetoku: A tool from Zentium, Inc.that brings the talking head experience to your blog, wetoku makes it super-duper simple to record an interview online, save it and embed it on your blog.

What is required to record an interview? Well, at least one participant must have a wetoku account and both participants must have a webcam. To get a wetoku account just go to wetoku and sign up. To get a webcam...well, if you really don't know how to get a webcam contact me personally because you probably require more assistance than I can provide through this blog post ;)

Once you are signed up for a wetoku account, recording an interview just requires you to log in and click the Start Interview button. Then--unless you want to mess with the advanced settings--just title your interview, name both participants and click next. You will be provided with a invitation URL to send to your interviewee. All the interviewee needs to do is go to that URL and they will appear along with you on the weotku screen. Once you are both there, just click the red record button under the interviewer's screen and after a 3, 2, 1 countdown the recording will begin.

After the recording is finished, you will be sent to a new screen where your completed video can be viewed and the embed code for the interview is provided. Simply grab that code, pop it on your site and just like that you have a nice clean interview up on your blog. Like I said, it's super-duper simple! Here's a quick interview I did with Austin about the new BC dance we're developing Disclaimer: The dance is still pretty rough and we're both crappy dancers, so bear with us:

The only issues we had with recording the interview was the echo from the audio and a slight delay in the video. The echo is the same kind of echo I have experienced with some online seminars and conferences, and I'm not sure what can be done. I assume using headphones would solve this problem if you don't mind how they look. The video delay problem was minimized by bumping down the video quality and may have had more to do with the spotty internet connection in our building than the site itself. I'll have to try some interviews from other locations and see if that changes. Overall, still a good user experience despite the minor issues.

2. Lijit: "Using the power of people, their content, and their connections, Lijit enhances the way your readers search for and discover information on the internet. You serve as a filter for all of the results your readers could possibly receive, ensuring they only receive the most relevant results from the source they trust…YOU." -Lijit.com

Lijit provides a search function similar to what our own BC 360 Search widget does. When someone uses the tool to do a search, it will pull all the relevant content from your blog, your other networks, your bookmarks and trusted sources and display them for your reader. The driving idea here is that since you are a trusted source for your readers and they are interested in what you have to say, the results you return will be trustworthy and relevant. This is a fairly simple explanation of what Lijit provides; to see a list of all of the features and to see a sample search page, check out their site.

3.Jing: Another easy-to-use tool from TechSmith that let's you create a screenshot or a recorded screencast of your screen and easily share it with your readers. A great tool for technical bloggers, Jing allows you to record step-by-step videos as you install software, make changes to your blog's code or complete any process that can be made simpler with a supplementary video.

Installing Jing is quite easy and I was able to make my first screencast without reading the instructions or watching the instructional video. Of course, if I had watched it, figuring out how to share my video would have been simpler. Still, after realizing the screencast I had saved to my hard drive was too big to share and that I had to go to screencast.com to get URL links and embed code, I was able to login and proceed without any trouble. After that, adding the screencast to my blog was pretty simple.

To get the URL or the embed code for your screencast video, simply login at screencast.com using the email and password you registered with when installing Jing. Once in, click the My Library link at the top left. My screencast was in a folder titled Jing. I just opened the folder and saw my video there. When you hover over the video's icon, smaller icons apprear beneath it that allow you to view, edit, share or delete the video. Clicking share opens a window that provides a URL link, an embed link and an embed code for your video.

Here's the quick screencast of my iTunes screen I made using Jing (I shrank it down a lot to fit on the blog. Just in case you were wondering, the original was about 1100 pixels by 900 pixels). It takes a few seconds to load and play:

Obviously there are many, many  more tools out there that bloggers love to use. If you have any tools you use and love, please leave a comment and let us know about them. You can also add your favorite tools to the BC Tools page where you can discover, review, and rate the best tools for bloggers.

While in Las Vegas for BlogWorld Expo 2009, some of the BC team had a chance to go to the amazing Stirling Club to meet up with bloggers Jason Falls, The Bloggess and Jay Ehret as well as Rich Becker and Hadley Thom from Copywrite Ink. I, and the rest of the BC team, wanted to take just a minute and say thank you to all of the people who made our evening so enjoyable.

I first want to thank the Stirling Club for an amazing evening. It was, overall, one of the best meals I have had in a very long time. The food, the service and the atmosphere were all excellent. A special thanks goes out to our waiter who made arrangements for a last-minute arrival and helped us take a couple group shots too.

Second, I want to sincerely thank Rich Becker for both his continued support of BC and BloggersUnite projects and his efforts in setting up this meal. Without you, Rich, this great night would not have been possible.

Finally, I want to thank Jason, Jay and the Bloggess for taking time out of their busy BlogWorld schedules to come share a meal with us. It was truly a pleasure getting to know each of you and being able to share a few stories and a few laughs. Hearing your insights on the opportunities we plan to bring to bloggers in the future was invaluable. I hope that we have the chance to meet again in the future and, in the meantime, wish you all the best.

So this year's BlogWorld Expo is over and now it's time to start sorting through all of the information and experiences I had there and sharing the best of them with you. If you happened to read the review I did of Cirque Du Soleil's LOVE, then you know I really enjoyed it. It was definitely one of the high points of my trip and I have had the Beatles on the brain ever since.

After a late flight home last night, I woke up this morning…OK, this afternoon…with All You Need is Love running through my mind. And, I began thinking about how my LOVE experience, and this song in particular, could be valuable to bloggers. After pondering this during my car ride to work, I came up with a fairly simple idea. I thought I would break down the lyrics of All You Need is Love and explain the connections I found between them and blogging--believe me it can be done.

First, let's start with the three main verses:

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's easy.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

Listen to All You Need is Love

When I read the first two lines of the first verse, what hits me is the fact that our potential is limitless. I could just as easily add "Nothing you can blog that can't be blogged," although I don't think that's quite as poetic. The point is you can do anything, and when it comes to blogging you can write about anything.

Are you fascinated by the mating habits of ants? Write about it. Are you fascinated by the many varieties of mustaches? Write about it. Can you simply not learn enough about Snuggies? Write about it. Many successful bloggers are niche bloggers; so find what interests you and write about it. You may be pleasantly surprised by the number of people who share your interest.

The first two lines of the second verse seem to echo the sentiment expressed by the ones in the first verse. The line that catches my attention is the final line of this verse:

Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's Easy.

What I take from this is that each of us has a very unique personality and a unique writing style that we can discover. It may take some time, but I think as bloggers begin to write more and more, they find that it becomes easier and easier to connect with the creative voice inside and express themselves in a creative and engaging manner. And, when we take a look back at how our writing has progressed over months or years, this progression is quite evident and we'll realize it was very natural and effortless.

The final line of the third verse also holds some meaning for bloggers. Actually it holds meaning for just about anyone:

Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.

This line applies to bloggers because we all need to realize that no matter where we are with our writing it is exactly where we need to be. If, for instance, things are rolling right along, then enjoy it. It is probably a reflection of the hard work you've put into your blog. If you are struggling with your writing, then maybe there is a lesson you need to take from the experience about how to better organize your thoughts or how to create an environment that allows you to focus more on the task at hand. Just know that wherever you find yourself, it is the only place you can be and there must be a reason you're there. If it is a good place enjoy it. If it is a hard place, then there is usually a valuable lesson that can be learned there and applied to get to somewhere better.

The chorus of this song goes, "All you need is love, love. Love is all you need." What I take away from this is simple. If you love writing, love sharing and love connecting with people, then that is all you need. People who blog for money can be good. People who blog for recognition can be good. It is, however, the bloggers who blog for the love of it that are truly great!