Blogs are becoming more popular nowadays. You will notice that the numbers of blogging sites are increasing. In addition, there are innovations already making its way into blogging.

For instance, instead of pure text content, there is now photo blogging where you can now share your pictures with other bloggers. Aside from the usual call and text features of cellular phones, now you can use it if you want to post your blog. It just manifests that blogging is really becoming popular to people.

If you are not reached yet by the popularity of blogs, continue reading and see for yourself why blogging is just popular to almost every Internet users. ………………..to be continued !
 

Blogs have come a long way since the late nineties, but most people still don’t really know much about them. The terminology confuses them. They have absolutely no desire to leave comments, and don’t know why anyone would. All the widgets in the blog sidebar are incomprehensible. There are millions of people online who barely know what they’re doing on the internet. Can you blog for them? Oh, YEAH. You absolutely can! How? Well, I’ll get to that in a minute, but to set the stage, let’s put ourselves in the mind of a person who isn’t tech-savvy. We’ll call him Jeff. Portrait of a Low-Tech Surfer Jeff knows how to use the back button of Internet Explorer (not Firefox) and uses Outlook Express for his ISP-given email address. He doesn’t know how to set the home page of his browser. He doesn’t know how to use Favorites (he’s managed to add a couple, but he doesn’t know how to open them). When Jeff wants to go to a website, he does it by “search navigation.” In other words, he types in whatever.com in the search box at MSN (or Google, but only after doing the same thing at MSN to get to Google). Then he clicks on the most promising search result. That’s how he navigates the internet. Jeff’s (and many others’) searches might land them on your blog. If you know what you’re doing, you can deliberately target Jeff and others like him. Being less net and tech savvy, Jeff is more likely to click on ads or affiliate links. Jeff is less likely to be skeptical of the source of the information he’s reading. Jeff is less likely to suspect he might be reading a paid review. Jeff is NOT stupid. He’s just at an earlier stage of learning the ways of of the web. We are all at some point along this path, and some of us are farther along than others. All that blog bling and weird blog terms like trackback and permalink are going to make Jeff uncomfortable, and that makes him less likely to convert (do what you want him to on your site). Traits of a Blog for a Low-Tech Audience If you want to create a blog for a low-tech audience, try the these tips: * Use a blog theme or template with a left sidebar and left or horizontal navigation * Use Feedburner to host your RSS feeds, because it has email subscription capability, and then create a prominent email subscription area on your blog * Don’t create a prominent RSS subscription block with a big RSS icon or a feed count–you will scare off your low-tech audience * Get rid of comment links, use a contact page instead–low-tech people are far more comfortable with email * Don’t use the word “permalink” anywhere–they don’t know what it means * Don’t put any JavaScript widgets in your sidebar unless it’s some kind of regular news link list that anybody could understand * Don’t use blog or tech jargon in your posts * Design the blog’s hyperlinks so that they are blue and underlined * Use a theme or design that’s compatible with Internet Explorer 6 This entry was written by Michael Martine

MARKET DEMAND When I chose a niche based on market demand, and kept my passions out of the equation, I had a life. I focused on my niche during working hours, then I had my passions to enjoy and relax with during off-hours. Generally, our passions are our hobbies. Our hobbies are things we do to relax and immerse ourselves in something we thoroughly enjoy. It’s our downtime, away from work and the chaos of our lives; our sanctuary. When you start to monetize and market your passions, they tend to lose their tranquil effect and before long there is no distinction between what we do for work and what we do for fun. You know the old saying…."all work and no play….". When you choose a niche based on business reasons, and you go to your computer to start your business day, it’s all business. It’s the part of your day where you are focused on providing products or services in exchange for financial compensation, and that’s that. Of course you do so with integrity and compassion for your customers, but at the end of the day, you can leave the work and "go home" to your life and your passions. It sounds very black and white. And for most folks it will be. But there’s also a gray area to consider.

ARTICLE: Beginners Guide to Blogging by Anthony Bowen A blog is basically an online journal wherein you can digitally pen down your thoughts, ideas, opinions and practically anything that you want people to read. Blogs come in different styles, formats, and settings, depending on the preference of the user. Many blogging sites offer built in features such as hyperlinks, straight texts, pictures etc. Some blogging sites, even allow you to put video and mp3’s on your blogs. Instead of writing texts, some bloggers choose to make their blogs more audio friendly, by using spoken word entries. This is called audio blogging. Basically a blog contains these features: title- which allows you to label your post body- this is the content of your post trackback- other sites can be linked back to your blog permanent link- every article that you write has a URL comments- this allow readers to post comments on your blog. One of the advantages of blogging is that it is made of only a few templates, unlike other websites that are made up of numerous individual pages. This make it easier for blog users to create new pages, because it already has a fixed setting that includes: slots for title, body of the post, category, etc. This is especially useful for first time users, since they can start blogging right away. They can chose from a number of templates that blogging websites provide. Anyone who wants to start a blog can do so by becoming a member of a blogging website of their choice. Once she or he has become a member, they automatically become a part of that particular blogging community. They can browse through other blogger’s pages, and link them back to their own blogs. They can also make comments on other members’ blogs. Blogging is not just limited to personal usage. There are a lot of blogs that follow a theme such as: sports, politics, philosophy, social commentary, etc. These blogs espouse on their specific themes. This way blogging becomes a medium in which people can share their knowledge and opinions about a variety of themes and topics. Some bloggers even use their blogs as a means to advertise. Some authors advertise their books on their blogs, while other bloggers use their blogs to shed light on current issues, events, news and catastrophes. Nowadays in education, blogs also play an important part. Professors use blogging to document the lessons that they have discussed and taught. This way, students who who have missed classes can easily catch up with their assignments. A lot of entrepreneurs benefit from blogging by promoting their businesses on their blogs, with millions and millions of people logging onto the net everyday, blogging has become a lucrative move. Some bloggers who run online businesses promote their merchandise online, while others profit through advertisement. But by far, the most popular blog type is the one that takes the form of a personal journal. This is the kind that is usually used by first time bloggers. Individuals who want to document the daily struggle of their everyday lives, poems, rants, opinions, find that blogging offers them a medium in which to express themselves. Bloggers usually communicate within themselves. This is one of the appeals of blogging. It creates a community of people sharing their ideas, thoughts, and comments with each other. Blogs varying in topics, themes, and set-ups, can be found in blog directories. First time users who want to get an idea of what the blogging world is all about can browse through a number of blogs using these directories. This way they get an idea of what these blogging communities are like. Blogging is popular all over the world. Blog is short for the term weblog. There are no rules when it comes to blogging. Bloggers have the freedom to express themselves how ever way they want, and the best thing about blogging, is that most blogging sites are free. There are numerous blogging websites to choose from on the net. This gives first time users the option of joining a blogging community that appeals to their interests. Just search any blogging directory and you’ll get a listing of a lot of blogging sites that are available on the net. It’s easy to search a blogging directory, because it is organized according to category. This way you will get exactly what you are after. Blogging is really for everyone. It is fun, simple and easy. Copyright © 2006-2007 Anthony Bowen