BlogCatalog

Site Of The Day:

So, in case you've been living in a cave in Turkmenistan for the past day and haven't heard the news, BlogCatalog has been named the Site of the Day by Top Site Tally. In recognition of this award, we have prepared a few words:

BlogCatalog: We'd just like to say thank you first and foremost to our families for standing behind us no matter what, and...

Kanye: BlogCatalog, I'm really happy for ya and I'm a let ya finish, but Facebook has one of the best websites of all time.

BlogCatalog: Uh, thanks to Top Site Tally and all of our amazing members.

Changes To Our Site:

There are many changes underway at BlogCatalog. First, you may have noticed the new holiday theme on the home page courtesy of Oscar (TN9Design). That's his little holiday gift to all of you out there in cyberspace. He is also working on a host of other design changes that will will make navigating the site easier and will make the ads on our site less intrusive. Overall, the changes are estimated to increase the sites level of usability by over 400% (these figures are based on a quite biased survey of approximately 2 BlogCatalog employees).

Dan (thegoodknife) has also been working like a mad man in order to improve the user experience on BlogCatalog. His changes may not be quite as apparent to the everyday user as the upcoming design changes, but they are vital to improving the BlogCatalog experience. You see when BogCatalog was acquired, there were tons of bugs in the source code. Since Dan got his hands on the site, he has been meticulously combing through that code, making updates, removing the bugs and moving it all over to a new framework. So, now the BC source code is comprised entirely of Dan's original code. This means that all the code is now super clean and streamlined. For the users that means things should run a bit faster and account updates should happen a bit quicker too. If-- as they say--time is money, then Dan just saved you about $ .35 while you read this post. Tell him thank you the next time you bump into him. He'll like that!

Popular Blogging Discussions: Find out more about one of these topics or share a piece of sage advice.

Is Wordpress Better Than Blogger?

Complying With FTC Disclosure Rules

How to Generate More Blog Traffic

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a photo blog is worth a few million at the very least. Photo blogs are widely used by amateur and professional photographers, travel bloggers, artists and many others as an easy way to share their work with millions of viewers worldwide. Attractive, contemporary and often minimalistic blog themes are used to frame the shots and make them stand out on the page.

The BlogCatalog directory is full of stunningly beautiful photo blogs. To show you what we mean, we had Austin compile a list of a few favorites. Check out his favs below and hop over to http://www.blogcatalog.com/directory/art/photography/ for a list of all the photo blogs on BlogCatalog.

 

The Estetic of Senses:A photoblog by two bloggers from Belgium. Featuring a collection of regularly updated personal photography of nature, architecture, artistic nudes, and other scenes from the Belgium area.
 

On November 17, 13,200 bloggers from across the globe participated in BloggersUnite: Fight For Preemies. Their posts about the rising rates of premature births raised the awareness of approximately 3 million readers. Through a mix of sobering facts, statistics and moving personal accounts, these bloggers poignantly illustrated the impact premature births have on both the individuals involved and on our society as a whole.

Thanks to all who were involved, the Fight For Preemies ranked as the top event on BloggersUnite before and during the event with a total of 495 registered participants (approximately 3.8% of total participants). The March of Dimes saw the percentage of blog posts in which they were mentioned double on the event date, and Fight For Preemies was mentioned nearly 5 times as much on November 17th as it was in the month leading up to the event.

BlogCatalog and BloggersUnite want to thank each and every blogger who participated in this event. Thank you for taking the time to make a difference. Thank you for sharing your stories; they moved us more than you can imagine. Below are a few of the posts BloggersUnite and The March of Dimes felt deserved recognition for truly capturing the spirit of this event:

Love My Lily: "Having a preemie means having to say goodbye to a lot of things that most first time parents take for granted..." http://lovemylily.blogspot.com/2009/11/prematurity-awareness-day.html

Baby Tea Leaves: "I learned something that day. I learned that even though we forget so much, that some memories will never ever lessen. They will remain as vivid as the day we experience them." http://babytealeaves.blogspot.com/2009/11/post-that-almost-wasnt.html

Sophie's Journey: "Nonetheless, every night we were there, we noticed another couple who spent hours and hours sitting next to their baby's crib, reading to him from Harry Potter. They never missed a night. Their dedication was incredible." http://sophiejourney.blogspot.com/2009/11/prematurity-awareness-month.html

Mothers Who Write: "He knows her better than I do. I have a baby too ticklish to touch and Ididn’t even know. I feel like crying, but don’t want to cry here. “Take me back,” I say. “I’m ready to go.” http://motherswhowrite.blogspot.com/2009/11/fight-for-preemies.html

Life And Times of the McTripletts: "I could give you some statistics about how many babies are born early each year, how much it costs families and businesses, what percentage of babies die from complications, the average time spent in the hospital, the percentages of these babies who have life-long complications... but to ME - those are just numbers. The statistic "1 in 8 babies is born prematurely" wouldn't have ever meant anything to me... unless that 1 baby was mine." http://themctriplets.blogspot.com/2009/11/prematurity-awareness-day.html

Sayer's Journey: "Aidan spent 66 days in the NICU. Aidan lived and thrived in the NICU thanks to many doctors, nurses, specialists and research done to help babies born too soon. Aidan came home a month before he was even supposed to be born." http://sayersjourney.blogspot.com/2009/11/prematurity-awareness-day.html

Our Stork Got Lost: "I definitely wasn’t prepared for the feelings of guilt, sadness, jealousy, anger, confusion, and fear that I would feel just because Max and Wes were born prematurely." http://ourstorkgotlost.com/2009/11/blogging-for-preemies-a-mommys-point-of-view

As of December 1, 2009, new FTC guidelines went into effect requiring bloggers to disclose any time they are compensated for endorsing or reviewing products or services. Bloggers should now be disclosing any time they receive payment, free products or services, or perks in return for a post on their blogs. Also any relationship with a company or organization that can be viewed as creating a conflict of interest should be disclosed. It is also a good idea to add disclosures to any past posts that still receive a decent amount of traffic.

The main focus for the blogger should be transparency. Tom Chernaik, one of the developers of http://CMP.ly (Comply), has had several discussions directly with the FTC. In a phone conversation yesterday, Tom told me that "what the FTC has said is that they're not looking to go after bloggers. What they want is for people to comply and be transparent and to be open about what they're doing." He stated that most of the burden will fall on advertisers. They will be responsible for "lead[ing] the discussion about disclosure...and having a monitoring plan in place to monitor those disclosures as they occur."

This does not mean that bloggers are without responsibility. Although the FTC may focus mainly on advertisers, bloggers are still required to include disclosures on their blogs and can be fined if they don't include them. Because many bloggers are confused about what they will be required to include on their blogs, CMP.ly is making it easy for bloggers to include disclosures. By creating a free account at CMP.ly you will have access to six standard disclosures and a custom disclosure that can be pasted into your post. If you feel like taking a more relaxed approach to the whole disclosure issue, humorous illustrated disclosures can be found at Louis Gray's blog. Whatever path you take, just be transparent and you should be OK.

This week, @TonyBerkman and @AngieAlaniz are out of the office and that means Rocky and Ariela, the office pugs, are gone too. While the office isn't quite the same without our trusty pugs--it is quieter and smells a whole lot better--it does give us a chance to appreciate a new addition to the BlogCatalog office.

Tom Wilkinfish is a little fish in a little bowl, and he is often overlooked by everyone other than his friend and caretaker, @ithinkdancan. Until now, that is. Tom now has his own twitter page so that everyone around the world can keep up to date with everything that happens in his little 6x4 inch world. It's pretty riveting stuff that you will not want to miss...if you're into swimming and breakfast pellets. You can follow Tom at http://twitter.com/tomwilkinfish and we'll be sure to check in with him now and again and keep you up to date on the word from the tank.

Sometimes it can be cumbersome to update your status on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin by having to visit the individual sites.

Your readers want to stay connected to you in various ways and some prefer different outlets.  You have to make sure that if you create a social media stream for your users to follow you, then you need to continue to use it so you don’t lose your reader’s interest.

I am a part-time blogger since I am also a full-time stay at home mom and involved in various organizations.  Even though I am considered a “stay at home mom,” it seems like we are never at home!  So staying connected in different outlets took a lot effort, but not any longer with HootSuite.

HootSuite
HootSuite is first and foremost a Twitter toolbox that has received rave reviews for many of its features.  HootSuite was recommended by many probloggers at BlogWorld 2009, so I decided it was worth trying out and I have never looked back.

Some of its features I love include:

• Easily RT, DM and Reply by selecting the username and the appropriate icons
• Ability to schedule updates
• Shorten a URL quickly and easily
• Provides analytics to track links clicked
• View the conversation for @replies

Other Features I Haven’t Tried:

• Ability to Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts
• Feed RSS to Twitter automatically
• Import Existing Lists and Create Lists
• Easily upload photos and documents

HootSuite Works with Facebook, Linkedin, and Ping.fm
HootSuite updated its application at the end of November to allow you to provide current and scheduled status updates on Facebook, Linkedin, Ping.fm, and Twitter.

I have been using this feature for about a week and it has not only saved me time from going to various sites, but it allows me to stay connected and be more active with my readers and friends.  Now I can update my status in Twitter, Facebook Fan Page, and my personal Facebook account with one application.

Will all updates go to all streams?
You can be selective in which stream you want your updates to be posted, so something that you would want to go to your personal Facebook update, won’t automatically be posted in all streams.  When you enter your status update, you select the icon for which stream(s) you want that to be posted in.  You can also update all of them with the same status.

Can you view your Facebook Friend's updates from HootSuite?
Yes, and with pictures!  After you import your other social media streams (ex. Facebook) into HootSuite, you will see Tabs for the different streams.  Click on a tab and you can view the wall status updates of your friends and can make comments to their updates.  You can also rename, add, and delete tabs.

It Gets Even Better…
You can easily add your social media stream as a column in HootSuite so you can see your Twitter and Facebook info on the home screen.

The Downfall…
There isn’t an iPhone application for HootSuite yet.  If we could just get this awesome application on our iPhone then I would have no more excuses for not staying updated.

Do You HootSuite?
Just give HootSuite a shot if you haven’t already fallen in love with another Twitter Toolbox.  I have found that it saves me time and I love its organizational structure.  Hopefully you too will find it useful.  If it doesn’t work for you, then at least you have nothing to lose.

Writing in an office environment can be difficult. Distractions are everywhere. I hear coworkers talking about the details of Tiger Woods' alleged affair and I get distracted. They ask me a question about updating a profile on BlogCatalog and I get distracted. The UPS man shows up, asks for a signature and I get distracted. Even on the days when I find myself alone in the office, I still get pulled off track by the various tones emanating from my phone and computer alerting me to a new email, a new text message or an incoming call.

So, how does one eliminate all of the outside distracters and get back to the simple task of putting words down on a page? This is the question I asked myself at the beginning of the week, and after a few days I have come up with three tips. I have no illusions that these are ground breaking pieces of advice. In fact, writers have probably seen them expressed one way or another a thousand times. Still, even when one knows something already, it is nice to have a periodic reminder.

1. Schedule time to write when you know you will not be distracted. I usually get to the office between 8:30 am and 9:00 am in the morning. By that time, most of my coworkers are here too and so I come into an environment where there is already a lot of activity. By arriving between 6:30 am and 7:00 am, I give myself anywhere form an hour and a half to two hours of alone time when I can concentrate on my writing and nothing else.

2. Turn off your phone and any alert systems you have on your computer. I put my phone on silent, shut down my email program and turn off all my social media applications. I turn everything off completely because even if I don’t check my email or pick up the phone to see who is calling, just hearing the beep, buzz or ring can distract me from my thoughts. And, when you get knocked out of your writing groove, it can sometimes be hard to get it back.

3. Use a basic writing program. The first part of writing is getting your thoughts out on the page. So, pick a program that allows you to do just that without being distracted by spell-check and formatting errors; these can be fixed later.

This week I have been using Ommwriter, a new application for Macs developed by Herraitz Soto & Co. Recently launched in beta form, Ommwriter is "a simple text processor that firmly believes in making writing a pleasure once again, vindicating the close relationship between writer and paper." Forget formatting, inline spell checking, hundreds of font choices. You'll find none of that here. What you will find is a clean, simple application that allows you to focus on just one thing--putting your words onto the page. Ommwriter does have a few options. You can choose one of three backgrounds--a clean white page, a clean grey page or a minimalistic grey and white snow scene. There are also three font choices--serif, sans serif and script--and three font sizes. There are seven meditative soundtracks and seven different keyboard sounds from which to choose; or you can turn the sounds off and type in silence. For those of you looking for a meditative space in which to write all you really need is Ommwriter and pair of headphones and you’re there. For more information about the Ommwriter application you can go to: http://www.ommwriter.com/

Ommwriter (click the link to watch the full-size video on Vimeo.)

As Thanksgiving approaches and we begin to focus our attention on buying and preparing dish after dish for our holiday feasts, it becomes more apparent than ever that there are many people in our communities that will be going without a Thanksgiving meal this year. In fact, many of these people often go without meals for themselves and their children and some struggle daily with hunger.

Food banks and nonprofit organizations all across the world do their best to help those in need, but it seems no matter how much they do there is always more that can be done. This year has been especially tough for these organizations. As millions of people worldwide feel the impacts of the current financial crisis, less and less people are in a position to give time, food or money.

That is why BloggersUnite has asked bloggers to join the Brown Bag Project. The aim of the project is to get bloggers to help in the fight against hunger. They have asked that today, 11/21/09, bloggers pack a bag full of food and deliver it to a hungry family, deliver food to a local food bank, donate money to a nonprofit fighting hunger, or anything else that will help feed those that are hungry.

The BlogCatalog team got in on the action a day early. Yesterday, we packed up 6 boxes full of food and delivered directly to families in need. We know our efforts are just a proverbial drop in the bucket, but seeing the smiles on the faces of those we helped and hearing their gratitude lets us know that we made a difference in their lives. And, that's what this project is about--taking just a little time out of your schedule to do something that will not only keep someone for being hungry tonight, but also make a positive impact on someone's life.

We want to thank St. Josephs's Downtown Church and Country Home Learning Center for helping us locate families in need. Anyone in the San Antonio area who would like to help someone in need today can donate a frozen turkey to the SA Food Bank's Holiday Turkey Round-Up until 7 pm today. Look for the refrigerated trucks at these SSFCU locations:

• 281 North Service Center
• The Rim Service Center
• 410/Rigsby Service Center
• SW Military Service Center

Links for maps to the donation centers can be found on the SA Food bank website.

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.

~  Lt. Col John McCrae,  In Flanders Fields

Whether you know it as Veterans Day, Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, November 11 is a day set aside to honor the fallen.

It is a day we honor all service men and women who wear the uniform of their country, overcoming fear to do what is necessary in a dangerous world.

The path of a soldier is one in which emotion is tempered by duty and discipline, and peril is balanced by the tedium of constant readiness. There are a thousand partners in the journey down the soldier’s path – family and friends, strangers and compatriots. We glimpse the experience of these many through the blogs they keep – through their poetry and personal stories, as they support loved ones and each other.

BlogCatalog lists the blogs of many service members, veterans organizations and military families. Blogging, although relatively new, has become an indispensible way for soldiers and veterans to connect with family and express the sometimes raw emotions that are a part of military life.  It is also a way to discuss everyday routines and to take comfort in a community that understands the challenges of military life.

Occasionally, blog-authors use their writing to share experiences that are deeply personal.  Such is the case with BlogCatalog member, Susan Blake.  Recently, Susan took the brave step of writing about her son’s deployment to Iraq. As she describes on her blog, Erasing the Bored, it was a difficult topic, but one she hopes will enlighten others’ perception of soldiers and their families.  Susan writes eloquently about saying goodbye to her only son on the day he shipped out, reflecting on the very moment of goodbye,

He stripped himself of himself in so many ways - and became what? A soldier? I knew in my heart I was losing a huge part of my son that day. He would not come back. This was the official ending of his childhood. I could no longer protect him. He would have experiences there that would change him forever.

Susan’s writing spoke to my heart and brought tears to my eyes. In that moment of transformation, her boy became a soldier and she became a military mother.

Military families bear a difficult burden. They stay and wait and wonder; the homefront is their battlefield.  And yet, the blogs of military families are rich -- full of highs and lows, ordinary days and extraordinary trials.  Many create networks of support, sharing information on policy changes and programs. Krystel at ArmyWife101 has certainly done that, promoting VetsPrevail, answering questions about on-post life,  and sharing ways to reach out to loved ones during the holidays.

Leanne Koscsis at Military Avenue has created a great resource for Military families. Military Avenue hosts a question & answer forum for members to connect with one another and provides policy information and links to businesses who support the troops. Most recently, Military Avenue has compiled a list of 101 ways ordinary people can thank veterans every day of the year.

At times, blogs are the places to share lessons learned from the past. Lynne Cole's writing contrasts the treatment of returning Vietnam veterans with those coming home from Operation Desert Storm. The difference was made, in large part, because of the amazing troop greeters (of whom Lynne was one) who gave their time and energy to throw their arms open in welcome, embracing tearful soldiers grateful to be taking their first steps back on home soil.

And when the lessons of the past and the needs of the present converge, there are groups of bloggers who will stand together, dedicated to raising awareness of the ongoing needs of soldiers and veterans. BloggersUnite -- Veterans Day: Who Will Stand is a just such a group.

Veterans Day: Who Will Stand bloggers are writing today to help raise awareness and funds for nonprofit organizations that support U.S. Veterans returning from service with physical and/or psychological scars. According to Military Medicine magazine, 46.5 percent of solders with post-traumatic stress [PTS] have suicidal thoughts and 33.5 percent of PTS sufferers have tried to commit suicide – clear evidence that battlefield trauma can follow a soldier home. Veterans make up a significant portion of homeless men in the United States as well. In many ways, our Veterans are in crisis; now is the time to come together to help.

You can help veterans by informing yourself and by spreading the word to raise awareness of their needs. You can contact your Representatives and Senators and local leaders in government to express your support of Veterans. Be vocal.  Support your local chapter of Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, or your local VA hospital with your time, talent, and funds. Or learn about and support these organizations that help Soldiers and Veterans every day:

• The Soldiers Project helps provide free counseling and support to military service members who have already or who expect to serve in the Iraq and/or Afghanistan conflicts and to veterans of those conflicts. The services are completely confidential and are not reported to any  government agencies.

• Blue Star Mothers provides support for active duty service personnel, assists veterans organizations, and is available to assist in homeland volunteer efforts. The organization consists of mothers who have had children honorably serving in the military.

• Wounded Warrior Project raises awareness and enlists the aid of the public in meeting the needs of severely injured service men and women by providing direct services that honor and empower wounded warriors. They also advocate for legislation to provide critically-needed services to family caregivers of severely wounded warriors.

These organizations and others are featured in the film Who Will Stand, an independent documentary that covers the plight of physically and/or psychologically wounded soldiers after they have returned from war. To learn more, you can watch excerpts from the film, shared by producer/director Phil Valentine on YouTube.  Who Will Stand will also be featured at a special Veterans Day screening in Las Vegas on November 11, 2009.

I will close with a quotation from Iraq veteran and BlogCatalog poetry-blogger, Tony L. Jefferson, Jr., from his blog, Poetic MindState. Tony’s poems are powerful expressions of his life as a soldier and as a man. In his poem Silent Tears, he writes,

…
I carry this pain, this hurt, this distrust
Like a soldier carries his bags in Iraq
How can I love while crying these silent tears?
How can one person live with so much pain?
All I could do was cry
Cry for you
Cry for me
Cry for the world
…

Today, we at BlogCatalog invite you to read about and support the men and women of our armed forces and their families. Please do so with an open mind and heart. And then take action to support soldiers, veterans, and their families in your own community not just today, but throughout the year.

Winner of an Amazon Kindle: Mike Magdaleno
Mike has been solving problems and studying human performance for over 25 years.  He has a Bachelor of Science degree (with honors) from the University of Redlands.  He has also been a student of Far Eastern philosophies and holds a second degree black belt in Korean Hapkido.  He brings a special talent to my coaching in that I have seen many of the problems people have and tested what works and seen what does not.

Winner of Bose on-ear headpones: Jay Ehret
Jay Ehret is Chief Officer of Awesomeness of The Marketing Spot in Waco, Texas. He is a small business marketing coach, consultant, speaker and writer. Jay started blogging about small business marketing in March 2007 and joined BlogCatalog in July. He blog specifically about marketing issues as the apply to specifically to entrepreneurs and small businesses. He give practical advice on topics such as branding, the customer experience, word of mouth, social media, advertising and promotion.
www.TheMarketingSpotBlog.com

Winner of a $100 Apple Gift Card: Robert Richardson
Robert has been involved in online marketing for about 10 years now. Currently he is the online Marketing Manager for a large bank. He also runs a number of websites including http://networkinvegas.com, http://offgridsurvival.com, and
http://richardsongraphics.com.