I thought about changing this blog's look so many times. I finally did.
I knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park, it wasn't! I made a mess of things and it took me most of Good Friday to make it look, well, this way. I'm not doing that again unless Blogger makes it as easy as changing shirts. I do like how it turned out though.
A huge THANK YOU goes to Blog U and to Jim!
I wouldn't of made it through this happy ordeal without their useful blog.
I perceive writing as a trustworthy friend who is always ready to sit down with me and listen without judging. It has a relaxing and soothing effect on me that rivals any kind of relaxation therapy that I have experienced. I think most people feel the same way too because of the number of personal blogs that are put up and maintained daily. Most don’t care if anyone reads the entries or not. What is important to them, and me, is to get a thought, a feeling or an emotion out there in the open.
Pleasure and pain can be derived from writing. I say that because a writer can have instant gratification when he is able to express his feelings and emotions clearly and unmistakably. In his book, Politics and the English Language, George Orwell said, “A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus: 1. What am I trying to say? 2. What words will express it? 3. What image or idiom will make it clearer? 4. Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?” Once a writer has the right answers to these questions, you will see him with a big smile on his face merrily tapping away in front of his computer. Writing can also be a source of extreme displeasure. This is especially true when words just escapes a person who is trying to finish a simple essay or a complicated manuscript for a book.
Every writer starts out writing for themselves but eventually the situation changes as the writer matures and essentially wants to be recognized. The only way that is going to happen is if his works gets published. There is no way for that to occur unless he makes some compromises. So, sooner or later, the writer has to take into consideration other factors such as what is currently a popular subject so as to have some kind of a chance to be noticed.
Fortune smiles upon the writers of today. The Internet has made it possible for aspiring writers and those who are just starting out as one to have a launching pad of sorts to propel, if you will, their articles to greater heights and to a broader and wider range of audiences. For the would-be writer, the Internet offers rich ground where they can hone and improve their skills. To those who have been around and has started to make a name for themselves, they will still be able to speed up the process of being acknowledged by utilizing websites that exist mainly to receive and distribute articles thereby giving their works the proper exposure that it deserves. This does translate into more people reading and more people recognizing the authors because of that. These sites make the writer’s life a bit easier, now they only have to worry about the essential stuff, which are inspiration and the dreaded writer’s block. Being a writer these days do have its advantages after all.
I always wondered if I could have one of those cute and diminutive icons found in the address bar when I go to Foxnews.com or any other "big" sites. Now, I know I can, thanks to Annie of Blog U. I was able to make it work by following the simple instructions found in her blog. I'll add this to one of life's simple pleasures...seeing my favicon beside my blog address.
Nice, isn't it?
Article Submissions- The Quickest and Most Cost-Efficient Way To Promote Your Website
Author: Gloria Smith
Websites are all about information. There is a website for almost anything you can think of or imagine. News sites are aplenty and so are technology centered websites catering to the techie in all of us. Just the other day I stumbled upon a website that taught its visitors how to take game consoles apart the correct way (with the proper disclaimer of course). The text was very accurate and complete in that the step-by-step process were guided with images and detailed specifications. This would have been very useful if I wanted to take my Playstation 2 apart either to fix it or make some modifications. Sadly, not all websites are created equal. Some are better than others in terms of content, aesthetics and overall coolness.
So if you are the webmaster of one cool and exceptionally useful site, you have got to let the world know of your site’s existence. I mean, it would be a crime not to. Right? If your reason for having the site is monetary, the mantra of “more traffic equals more commerce” is very appropriate here. If you put up the site for non-monetary reasons, you would still pine for more traffic if only for awareness and appreciation causes. So what do you do other than employ the usual word of mouth promotions to friends and colleagues? Instead of annoying people with your constant physical advertising campaign, why not have a go with a tried and tested method. I am talking about link building. One way of doing this is through article submissions. This approach involves two steps. The first step is having an original article concerning the subject matter or focus of your site. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy but it should be relevant and center on keywords that pertains to the subject of your website. The second step is the tedious labor-intensive process of giving away your original article. Why and how should you give it away you ask?
Why do we usually give something away? It’s to get something in return. In this case, we want links back to our website. Let’s say someone with a website takes a liking to your article. He/she uses it on his site that includes a link back to your site and someone else who visits that site sees your article and link and puts it on his/her site and so on. That’s basically how it works. Now onto how you’ll go about giving away your article in the fastest most effective way possible. Remember I mentioned tedious earlier? If you’re up to registering and signing up then you’ll have fun doing this but most people would rather have other people do it for them. There are hundreds of sites that pool articles according to category and detail types readying them for use. They’re either in text or html format for easier download and website integration. Visiting each one to sign-up and submit your article would be fine if you are not busy with other aspects of running a website. Outsourcing this task would be a more cost-effective way of doing this.
Noticing an increase in your number of hits will just be the beginning, as the article submission method will take your site to new heights.
About the Author:
This is article is brought to you by Gloria Smith at LegalHomeForms.com. Created by a former, licensed Real Estate Agent, LegalHomeForms.com was designed to offer instant access to the most sought after type of real estate forms. For the cost of what others charge for one real estate contract, you can have instant access to over 60 downloadable real estate forms. You can find all these real esate contract forms at: http://www.legalhomeforms.com
If you don't have any idea what blogs are or if you're new to the wonderful world of blogging, read up...
Learning How To Create The Ultimate Blog - By: Tom Takihi
One wonders where all that pent-up rage, radical views, strong opinions and peculiar beliefs would be deposited without blogs. For some people, blogging offers a cathartic experience in that they are able to write about who or what is troubling them. Yet for others, by simply being able to put an idea out there is help enough for their egos and self-esteem. Writing in a blog would definitely be much cheaper than a session with an overpriced shrink. Entrepreneurs, newsmakers, tech tutors and a whole lot of others also employ the use of blogs for profit or for up to date information. There are numerous reasons for putting up and maintaining a blog but all of them have one common goal, how to get your thoughts across clearly and effectively.
Blog 101’s are as ubiquitous as blogs themselves in the Internet. The obvious way to go here is to look for an excellent site that will be able to deliver the goods on creating and keeping up a blog. These sites offer guides, tips, how-tos and even some useful tools that will help you in the wonderful world of blogging. The topic commonly discussed initially is finding a home for your blog or the seemingly thankless job of looking for a host, free or otherwise. You might think that it’s easy enough to look for a host, google “blog host” and you’ll see that it’s not as painless as it appears. The wealth of choices available simply overwhelms the soon to be blogger. Now, let’s say you finally found a suitable home for your blog, the next challenge that you need to hurdle would most likely be the design. If you build an attractive and well-arranged blog, then they’ll most certainly come. Most blog hosts have built-in tools that will help you with that but the myriad “ready-to-wear” designs will almost certainly baffle the unversed. Blog tutorials have simple yet useful guides about designing blogs that includes topics ranging from text positioning to color schemes. Now comes the best part, content. A truly good blog tutorial site will stand out from other pretenders when it’s able to supply bloggers with relevant information concerning content. Ideas on where to get content are very crucial. The only way you are going to get considerable amount of traffic in your blog is if people are INTERESTED in it. Your content plays a very critical role in your blog’s success, it is the lifeblood of every single blog out there. If you keep good content flowing steady and fresh, that can only stand to help your blog achieve a level of greatness. Tips on the finer points of increasing traffic for your blog are very abundant in the tutorials. Be sure to take heed because dealing with keywords and search engines will be a joyful task if done properly and with decent supervision.
Bottom line is that blog tutorials are essential partners in your blog making travels because they serve as competent and experienced guides. Up until such time that you get your blogging legs true and steady, I recommend not letting go of these sites.
Tom Takihi is the proud owner http://www.blog-tutorials.com – a site that gives you daily tips on how to create a popular and profitable blog.
Another interesting read...
Free Blogs: Electronic Windows to Our Soul
By Tom Takihi
It is often said that the eyes are the windows to our soul. The interpretation of that saying would depend on people’s point of views but for me, this is because how we perceive or see things through our eyes often conveys who we are. True or not, I’ll leave that to the pundits of human behavior. What I do know is that there are other portholes into our soul. In this day of stem cell research, mobile phones, computers and the internet, I say that blogs are the new windows to our soul.
Web logs are all the rage these days that we see them popping up by the hundreds every few hours. Commonly known as blogs, these online journals give their authors a stage where they are the central character in a theatrical piece rivaling that of a Shakespearean play. The drama, adventures, misadventures, hobbies and dreary day-to-day happenings are the usual subjects of a personal log. The author’s thoughts, ideas, concepts and opinions on anything that strikes his or her fancy would be the object of an entry. Fiery comments and views are common logs to anybody who has a blog. It does serve a cathartic function for many, providing a very economical and accessible means to blow off some steam rather than hurling inanimate objects or visiting a shrink. In the process of reading someone’s blog, we get a glimpse of who or what the author is all about. More importantly, for people who do maintain these internet-based diaries, a journey of self-discovery also takes place when they embark on such an excursion. You really do not know who you are until you see your thoughts in black and white or in the case of blogs, you’ll see your thoughts in any color that you want printed on a background of your choosing. Confused feelings and how you hold certain events in your life often goes unobserved. This is because when that fleeting moment of rushing emotions and sentiments has gone by, the clarity that you experienced at the time will degrade exponentially. How long before you lose the lucid thoughts depends, but “writing” it down helps very much in this situation. Leaving yourself wide open for other people to see, prod and judge takes a lot of courage. You won’t always like the comments that people leave in your entries but that is all part of having a blog.
Of course blogs aren’t just glorified diaries. It has become a staple tool in news agencies utilizing them like they would a bulletin board where they’ll have regular updates on news postings. Photo and video blogs are also numerous as various enthusiasts and other organizations discover the ease to which they could disseminate information to members.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have something that I need to get off my chest. It’s about life’s intricacies and the triviality of experiences that we all go through that make us who we are. You are welcome to read it by the way.
About the author:
Tom Takihi is the proud owner of the Bloggy Network. To sign up for your free blog, please visit: http://www.aBloggy.com
Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com
Webmaster Tools All For Free - By: Tom Takihi
Just about anyone with a computer and an internet connection can make a website. Creativity and purpose though, solely rests on the author’s shoulders. There are plenty of free web hosting services out there and you only have to look for one that suits your needs. Features like customizability, available space, uploading/downloading method and scripting are usually what sets these free hosting sites apart from one another. If you find these sites too limiting for you, paid web hosting sites are available and they do provide more advanced features like larger web spaces and a more intuitive interface for site management. The good support, bandwidth and uptime percentage absolutely makes the paid web hosting sites a favorite for people who are trying to create a website for their business.
Whether you are putting up a website for your business or if you are just a hobbyist, you will have needs that both the paid and free web hosting sites won’t be able to satisfy. That’s where tools that enhance your website comes in. Like a site director supervising in an actual physical site, the webmaster needs certain tools and apparatus’ that are essential in running a website. Basic web tools like guest books, counters and link checkers are some of the staple tools that every good website should have. Aside from increasing the efficiency of your website, these tools also enable site administrators to gather some statistical data that will help in the upkeep and development of the site.
A byproduct of that statistical data, personally, is the gratifying or dejecting experience to see how many hits you had (or lack of it) in your site for one day or since its inception. More advanced web tools like meta-tag generators, link popularity and Google predictors assist in making your site’s net presence more visible to a bigger and more relevant crowd. More utilities and tools that function to augment your website are out there. Fortunately, there are websites that exist for the sole purpose of being a “toolbox” for webmasters. These nifty sites are invaluable in that aside from providing free tools, they also include information about how to use the tools provided.
Nothing is more frustrating than having to figure things out for yourself in a trial and error manner, which consumes too much time. Crafting, constructing and designing will really be easier and faster with the aid of these toolbox websites. The time you save in formatting, organizing and devising your website can be used in making or researching for the content on your site. Content being the primary reason as to why people would visit your site.
What better way to get you started on the internet than by making your presence known via your own personal website. And, what better way to create the perfect site than to use free and readily available tools in the net. If you know your way around cyberspace then you’ll surely appreciate the advanced tools that make maintaining and gathering information from your website a breeze.
Tom Takihi is the proud owner of http://www.Webmaster71.com - a website that offers a mass of free tools and resources to webmasters.
This is my third attempt to put up and keep a blog. I hope I do a better job this time...because the last time I did this, I just didn't know what to write about or what to do in general. I must say....ravings and rantings is an apt title for this blog because I plan on talking about a lot of things without actually saying anything. Does that make sense? I hardly make sense but then again, so do half the people on this lovely planet.
