5 Awesome Celebrity Blogs to Follow

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Celebrities. They’re just like us, only rich and surrounded by loyal followers eager to bow to their every whim. Some of them even have blogs—and if you’re looking for a good lesson on engaging an audience and building a cult following, look no further than these 5 celebrity blogs. [Read more…]

You’re Hurting Your Blog: Get Involved in Social Media Before It’s Too Late

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Maybe you’ve read an article with this same or a similar title before. You know Twitter and Facebook are important for your brand, yet you just haven’t made yourself sign up for Twitter yet. And your LinkedIn profile is barren, with an incomplete job  history and no portfolio examples. Your blog seems to be doing OK, but you know it could be better.

If this is you– I challenge you to get set-up with social media ASAP. And once you’ve done that, create time in your daily routine for social media. Even 15 minutes per day can help you craft a regular online presence.

You know you should be on social media, but if you are a blogger or representing any of your work online, not having a regular social media presence can hurt not only your blog traffic, but your online persona as well.

[Read more…]

What’s Your Blogging Personality-Type?

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I recently read an article where 64 graphic designers were asked to record their Myers-Briggs personality type results. For those of you unfamiliar with The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI), it asks the taker a series of questions (there are no incorrect answers) and then generates a four-letter acronym that lumps people into one of 16 personality-type categories.

An argument on the validity of the test is for another day. Plus you have to pay (anywhere between $29 – $100) to take the questionnaire. Since most of us are fiscally-challenged, let’s take an unofficial poll. [Read more…]

Blogging for Schwags and Maintaining Impartiality

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The LA Times is currently running a good and timely story that deals on one sensitive issue related to blogging and bloggers. Mommy bloggers getting woed by food firms with schwags and other freebies in exchange for some write-up and publicity buzz  for their products.

It’s a pretty interesting read especially since blogging in exchange for a “taste of company products” and other freebies that come with it is no different from tech bloggers receiving demo units of new gadgets for review. Tech bloggers would die to get those sample demo units and review them on their blogs ahead of rival bloggers.

So what are we now bloggers? Purveyor of truth or corporate pimps? [Read more…]

Around the World in 365 Days with Coke and 3 Lucky “Bloggers”

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Coca-Cola is engaging into a huge marketing campaign for its “Open Happiness” product branding. Dubbed Expedition 206, this campaign will send 3 bloggers on a trip around the world in 365 days for free. In exchange, these lucky 3 bloggers will use various social media tools such as blogs, Twitter, and YouTube videos to share their experiences and interaction with locals. For what purpose? To find out what makes people around the world happy. [Read more…]

IAB Denounces FTC’s New Ruling on Bloggers

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If you find the recent FTC Guidelines on bloggers and other social media participants, unfair and restrictive, well you are not alone. Luckily for us bloggers in other parts of the world, we are not covered by this ruling. (Or are we?).

Anyway, the latest internet and online media player who opposed such FTC ruling was the Interactive Advertising Bureau. The IAB called the new FTC Guidelines as unfair and unconstitutional and they are asking the FTC to withdraw the said guidelines. [Read more…]

Gawker Hires Los Angeles Times Editor

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defamer.jpgMore Gawker Media news coming across the wire, err, feed reader. Simon Owen’s Bloggsam has published an internal memo from Gabriel Snyder regarding Gawker hiring a new West Coast Editor. From the memo:

Ever since Defamer was merged into Gawker earlier this year, I’ve been looking for the right person to hire in L.A., so I’m pleased to announce someone who was worth the wait: Richard Rushfield is joining Gawker as its new West Coast Editor. From his Venice bungalow he’ll proudly fly the Defamer flag as well as pitch in with charting the general editorial direction of the site.

Richard Rushfield is slated to start at Gawker on August 31st. He was previously the Entertainment Editor at Los Angeles Times, which should fit the Defamer part of Gawker perfectly. The Defamer brand was merged into the main Gawker site in February this year, after failing to sell it. Read the full memo at Bloggasm.

Bad News for Theme Designers (or is it?)

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Darren Rowse has posted the results of a poll he ran on ProBlogger.net asking the readers who designed their blogs. The results are discouraging for theme designers focusing on doing custom work. Only 8% of the ProBlogger.net readers answering the poll (there was 2 513 of them by the way) had paid for a custom design, whereas 13% had paid for a premium theme. Most people run a free theme. Check out the full results.

So 8% of 2 513 people, that’s just over 200 potential clients for someone like me, although the poll doesn’t state how much these people actually paid for their custom theme. On the other hand, let’s say I do two themes per month, then I don’t need more than 24 clients each year, and some clients are recurring ones (obviously). It would be interesting to know what people who do buy custom themes are paying at an average, wouldn’t it?

What kind of theme are you running on your blog?