There are many different blog publishers that offer free basic blogs and all of them have slightly different features. Choosing a blog publisher that has all the features you need can be difficult and time consuming. This article is designed to make that process a little bit easier for you.

Before choosing a blog publishing application, here are a few things to consider:

• Ease of use – you want a blog publishing application that is straight forward.
• The purpose of your blog – what features will you need?
• Are you planning on monetizing your blog? If so, you need a platform that will allow for advertising.
• Do you want the ability to make individual posts private or password protected?
• Will you be featuring a large amount of photos or other media?
• If you want a personalized domain name, choose a blog publishing application that allows mapping with domain names.
• What aesthetic are you looking for? Different blogging applications have varied ’skins’ to choose from. Some are more customizable than others.

The Pros and Cons of the Top Four Blog Publishing Applications

The following free blog publishing applications are ranked in order of ease of use. As a newbie to the blogosphere, it’s best to start with software that will be easy to operate.

1. Blogger is a Google owned blogging application. It takes just a few minutes to create a blogger account and the interface is simple for the novice to navigate. But with a simple interface, you get simple features so if you’re looking to expand your blog and add a lot of plugins, this probably isn’t the best choice. Further, Blogger has limited media space (only 1 MB).
2. Wordpress is a little more advanced than Blogger, which means the user interface can be more difficult to figure out. A Wordpress blog is easy to open, but more difficult to customize because there are so many options. Wordpress does allow the user to choose privacy options per post rather than per blog. However, unlike Blogger, you must pay for an upgraded service to map a domain name to your blog.
3. Movable Type is a more complex blog publishing application. To use Movable Type, you first must download software onto your computer, which can be difficult and it takes up space on your hard drive. Movable Type allows the blogger to post future blog entries on a schedule, and it also allows the user to edit several blogs/templates at the same time. While these advanced features might be nice, Movable Type is created for people who have some knowledge of code and blogging.
4. GreyMatter is, like Movable Type, a server-side blogging service. This software requires a download before you can begin blogging, and it requires some coding experience. GreyMatter was one of the original weblog services, and provides many features that other blogs publishing applications don’t provide. Because Greymatter is no longer in active development, it is not a promising choice for a blogging application.

Whatever your decision, have fun! What blogging platform have you chosen?Related Posts:

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Say goodbye to Tweetmeme! Twitter has just released an official Tweet button for people to install on their websites and blogs. This Tweet button allows users to easily share content on Twitter and see how many times the content has been retweeted.

How to Add Tweet Button to Website

Adding the Tweet button to your website is a very simple process. Just navigate to the Tweet button page, and then follow these steps:

1. Choose your button

There are three options for button layout, two of which include the tweet count. You then select what the Tweet should say (yes, there are dynamic options), what the URL should be (also has dynamic option), and language. All very self-explanatory!

2. Recommend people to follow

This is completely new – after people use the Tweet button on your site, they will see who you’ve recommended they follow. The first account you should list is your own Twitter account; then you can also add another account to recommend. Perhaps in this space, you could add your company’s Twitter handle, an official blog Twitter handle, or a coworker/mentor. Or leave it blank.

3. Preview and install Tweet button

Next, just grab the code and install it on your site!

How to Add Tweet Button to Wordpress Blog

It’s even easier to add the Tweet button to your Wordpress blog thanks to Blogessive; they’ve already created a very easy-to-use Twitter Button Wordpress plugin. This is also a great option for Thesis theme users if you’re not sure where to put the code so that it appears on both the homepage AND single posts.

Just download the plugin, upload it to your Wordpress blog, and customize the following settings (here are mine):

Let me know if you have any installation questions in the comments below!Related Posts:

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Whether you’re an individual blogger or a giant corporation, it’s very important to monitor your brand and industry’s social media presence. Millions of people flock to social media sites to share their thoughts and opinions, so even companies without Facebook or Twitter profiles would benefit from monitoring the conversation.

Once you nail down the monitoring process, you can monitor your social media presence in 10 minutes a day. There are numerous tools, such free tools like Google Alerts or Google Reader, and paid tools like Radian6 and HubSpot that streamline the monitoring process. But why should you bother?

1. Learn what people think about your brand

Monitor keywords including your brand name, product names, and key executives. This way you can learn what people are saying about your brand in the social space. This is an easy and free way to garner insight on people’s opinions of your brand. You can then tweak your social media campaign messaging accordingly.

2. Discover unmet needs in your industry

Monitor industry terms such as product types, niche topics, or relevant terms people might use when referring to your brand or industry. This serves a couple purposes:

• Direct people to your solutions. People may voice their needs for your products without realizing your product exists. You can reach out to these individuals and, without sounding overly self-promotional, make these people aware of your company’s solutions.
• Get product ideas. People come to social media to ask questions and voice their frustration when they can’t find a solution to any given problem. This gives you the opportunity to fill that untapped need and high-demand market.

3. Join the conversation and answer questions

If people have questions about your brand or industry and you have a great answer in mind, join the conversation. Only provide an answer if it provides high-value insight; don’t participate just for the sake of of participating. You also don’t need to answer every question about your brand or industry otherwise social media can become a full-time job. But answering a few questions a day can help increase brand exposure and establish your brand as a knowledge leader.

4. Become a knowledge leader in your industry

Tools such as Google Alerts will also notify you when your target terms are mentioned in blogs or news articles. Here, you’ll often have the opportunity to reply to the author in the comment section of their blog post or article. Rather than spam the comments with an ad messaging and links to your site, add value to the conversation by crafting a message based on their author’s content. You can either agree or disagree with the author, but maintain a friendly and professional tone. You can even add a disclaimer that you work for your company/blog if you want to add the plug.

5. Provide customer service

People often come to social media to rant or voice their concerns, and some of these negative remarks may be directed at your brand. This doesn’t hinder your brand; rather, it gives you an opportunity to reach out to these individuals, give them your customer service contact information, and publicly show that your brand cares about your customers and audience.

6. Keep tabs on the competition

You can also add your competitor’s names as keywords you track to keep tabs on what they’re up to. This way you can make sure you’re ahead of the curve on their latest product launches and promotions.

7. Generate content ideas

Monitoring social media will provide valuable information, including content that people are writing about your industry. Take note of at least 1-2 ideas per day; since you know people are discussing these topics in the social sphere, you know there’s interest in the topic so that if you write a similar piece on your blog, you’ll likely gain traffic and interest.

What is your biggest reason for monitoring social media for your brand/industry? Share your thoughts in the comments below!Related Posts:

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Last week Facebook began rolling out the new feature Facebook Questions, which allows users to get answers to their questions from the entire Facebook community. Users can click the “Ask Question” button on the homepage, and you can see friends’ questions and answers on their profile and in their newsfeed.

How a Fan Page Can Ask a Question

Fan pages can also participate in the asking and answering Facebook Questions! If you want to post a question as one of your fan pages, just go to that fan page, click “Ask a Question” above the new status bar, and create a question to ask.

These questions will then be searchable by topic (based on keywords in the question) so that the Facebook community can find and answer your questions. This is a great way to garner free insights for your brand.

How a Fan Page Can Answer a Question

When you’re in a question, you can change which persona you answer the Facebook question as. The default is to answer the question as yourself (your personal Facebook profile).

But you can change this persona to a fan page from the dropdown menu, and answer people’s question as though the fan page is answering.

How to Find Relevant Questions to Answer

Facebook is already sorting questions by category pages; these are the pages that were automatically linked to your profile interests a couple months back. You can type in a category in the “Questions About” field, or you can select from suggested categories (which are populated from your personal profile interests, so they may not be relevant to your brand page field or industry).

How Fan Pages Benefit

Previously, fan pages had no way to reach out to Facebook users who have not yet liked the page besides purchasing Facebook ad units and marketing the fan page from their website or advertising messaging. This new feature allows fan pages to meaningfully engage with users who have not liked the fan page.

Now companies can search for relevant Facebook questions people are asking, whether about their brand, products, or industry, and answer these questions. By contributing to the conversation, fan pages can:

• Extend their exposure to users on Facebook
• Drive more traffic to their fan page
• Establish themselves as knowledge leaders in their field or industry
• Directly answer questions people have about their brand or product

If you’re an internet marketer using social media as part of your campaigns, you know how huge this is! Brands both big and small can benefit from the Facebook Questions feature. The product is still rolling out to users, so if you have not yet seen this feature, you will soon!

How will you integrate Facebook Questions into your online marketing plan?Related Posts:

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*SPOILER WARNING* Inception was brilliant. It’s definitely the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. If you haven’t, stop what you’re doing and buy IMAX tickets immediately. If you have seen Inception, you may have been confused by the ending, no matter how impressed you were with the film. So I created an infographic with a theory about the ending of Inception.

Since infographics big in social media for visualizing information, this Inception Ending Explained Infographic is still somewhat on-topic. And as a disclaimer, yes, I am fully aware that I am a dork.

Download the Inception Ending Explained Infographic PDF

You’ll notice that there is a two distinct levels: Cobb’s Dream and Limbo. My theory on this stems from the fact that at the very end (and beginning) of the movie, Saito is old while Cobb is still the same age. Many people guess that it’s because Saito loses grip on what’s really reality while Cobb realizes that limbo is a dream so he doesn’t age, but I don’t buy that. I think a more reasonable explanation is that Saito dies in Eames’ dream from the gunshot wound before Cobb dies of the stab wound from Mal in Cobb’s dream, so Saito spends more “time” in limbo before Cobb dies and gets to limbo.

Backing this theory up is the fact that Ariadne “kicks” herself from Cobb’s dream by jumping off the building. If Cobb’s dream really was limbo, that kick would have been unsuccessful, as the only way out of limbo is to kill oneself. If Ariadne’s fall had killed her, she would have gone directly to reality (the plane). Instead, she joins the rest of the team and swims out the van in Yusuf’s dream.

Oh, and as for the question if the VERY ending is a dream or reality for Cobb? It’s reality. The top gets wobbly, and supposedly you can hear the thud of the fall a few seconds into the ending credits (though I admit I have to go see the movie again to verify). Also, throughout the movie Cobb wears his wedding rings in all dreams, and not in reality. At the very end, he is not wearing the ring, and therefore is in reality. His wedding ring may have been another totem. If you argue that the children are the same age at the end as throughout his memories, I have this question for you: do we know how long ago Mal died before the Inception mission takes place?

And to give credit where it’s due, this infographic was inspired by the awesome infographic by DeviantART. I wanted to see one with more visualizations, such as the cast and the imagery of the levels, and I thought the timeline element was a bit confusing, so I wanted to make one of my own!

EDIT: To answer the emails I’ve been getting asking how I made this infographic: PowerPoint is more awesome than you think. Also made some minor tweaks in Photoshop (image sizing and white silhouettes). Also, I respect all other theories out there; that’s the beauty of this movie, there are so many ways to interpret it.

What is your theory about the ending of Inception? Share your thoughts in the comments below!Related Posts:

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Whether promoting content on your website, blog, email marketing campaigns, or social media channels, one of your goals is for readers to engage with your content. One primary form of engagement is clicking on links; links to fill out a form, links to download a free eBook, links to product specifications, etc.

These links are your calls-to-action, which aren’t just limited to the “big red button.” If you think about it, every link you create is a call-to-action, since there has to be some reason you’ve linked to some internal or external content. And the more internal links users click on, the greater chance they will become a customer or lead, and lower your bounce rate.

So here are eight easy ways to optimize your links within content to get more clicks:

1. Underline all links

This might seem obvious, as underlined text is commonly recognized as linked text. However, many designers prefer a more sophisticated non-underlined look, so it’s important to make sure your links are obviously links by including the underline.

2. Make links a different color

It’s important to make your links stand out so users know to click on the link, so this is the same principle as underlining your links. You don’t need to use neon colors here; just make links a different color than your regular font color using one of the colors in your design scheme.

3. Bold important links

Bolding every link just looks obnoxious, but if you bold important links within your content, it will attract your readers’ eyes and make it clear that whatever content is behind that link is important.

4. Use relevant and descriptive anchor text

Adding a linked “click here” to your content is simply a wasted SEO opportunity. Instead, delete the “click here” and add the description you’d written before or after it into the link itself. That way, you’ll get the added SEO juice if linking internally, and if not you’ll give your readers a better idea about what they’ll be clicking on.

5. Open external links in a new window

If you link to external sites without opening the link in a new window, you’ve lost the user unless they hit the back button. But it’s likely that they will close the tab when browsing a new page, and then you’ve lost them for good. If you add  the target=”_blank” attribute to a link, the external page will open in a new window, and when the user closes the new tab, they’ll be right back on your website. I’m very surprised at how many blogs and websites I see that do not have links set to open in new windows; I often have to go back, right click the link, and click “open link in new tab.”

6. Place important links high on the page

Ideally, your primary calls-to-action will be above the fold. But when writing a long blog post on a blog that has a big header, ads, or additional content above the post, this may not be possible for every link. The farther people have to scroll down your page to see a link, the less likely they will be to see it and click on it. So make sure your links are close to the surface.

7. Make sure image links have associated text links

If your links within content are syndicated via RSS, you can’t guarantee that people receiving your RSS feed via email will see the images, since many email services block images by default. So if you include image links, make sure (1) that your images have descriptive ALT tags and that (2) you include text links either as a caption or within the preceding or following paragraph.

8. Look at your data!!!

Go look at your data right now. Which links generate the most clicks? Take a look at those links and take note of what makes these links different than the rest on your site. Is the call-to-action language more persuasive? Is it bolded? Is it above the fold? And then once you implement the tips above, what sort of difference do you see in your data?Related Posts:

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Twitter can be a very powerful networking tool. While you want to increase your amount of followers and have your Twitter profile stand out, you’ll also want to follow individuals who will comprise a useful Twitter stream of information and knowledge. Direct messages are especially useful so that you can do some of your networking behind the scenes.

But with all the spammers and self-promoters, your direct message inbox can quickly fill up with garbage links, and your Twitter stream bombarded by promises of increasing your Twitter count by 10,000 overnight.

Here are four easy ways to eliminate spam from your Twitter stream and direct message inbox:

1. Don’t use auto-follow tools

Auto-follow tools make it easy for spammers to get into your Twitter stream and direct message inbox. Instead of auto-following, you should be selective about who you follow on Twitter. If you think it takes a lot of time to visit the profile of each person who follows you, think of how much longer it would take to go back and sort through all the people you follow every couple months to eliminate the spammers!

When trying to decide who to follow back on Twitter, refer to the Top 10 Signs Not to Follow Back on Twitter. In summary, here’s what to watch out for:

1. 1. Spammy Twitter username
   2. Lots of followers with few tweets
   3. Multiple identical spammy tweets
   4. No replies
   5. No retweets
   6. All inspirational quotes
   7. Very sporadic tweets
   8. Missing a Twitter icon
   9. Only tweet the mundane
   10. They’re not interesting to you

2. Use lists to “follow” businesses

You don’t have to follow everyone you want to keep track of! For example, I might want to keep tabs on top brands on Twitter, such as JetBlue, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Whole Foods, but I don’t want to see their promotional tweets in my regular Twitter stream. So instead, I’ve created a Twitter list called “companies-brands” so I can keep tabs on companies when I want to without having them invade my Twitter stream.

3. Block persistent spammers

Ever get email notifications telling you that the same person has followed you again, and again, and again? Some spammers will set up lists of Twitter users to target, will flush out people who haven’t followed back, and re-follow those same users. This is spam itself, as it’s filling your actual email inbox with unwanted follow notifications. Of course, there’s an easy fix: just block these users! That way, they won’t be able to bother you any more.

4. Use follower validation tools

There are several Twitter validation tools that allow you to verify people from robots, avoid Twitter spam, and save time managing your followers. Two popular choices are TwitBlock and TrueTwit, on which you can set up a free basic account. After signing up for the basic account, all new people who follow you are sent a validation request via direct message. If you follower successfully completes a CAPTCHA, you are sent an email notifying you that you have a new (legit) follower.

What tools do you use to keep spam out of your Twittersphere?Related Posts:

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There are lots of blogs out there. 50 million or something like that. I’ve started freelance designing blogs, leading some of my friends to wonder if they should start blogs of their own (knowing they would get a massive friend-discount).

But is there a point to starting a blog when there are 50 million other blogs out there?

Is there any way to possibly break through the clutter of 50 MILLION blogs? First of all, that’s a silly question. Not all blogs are about the same topic, and I’d venture to guess that 40 million have been abandoned after a month or two. But even if you never rise to the likes of Mashable, or become a bald head of wisdom like Seth Godin, there are many personal benefits to starting your own blog.

1. Become an expert.

If you blog consistently on any topic, you’ll be an expert on that topic within a year. Sure, there might be some exceptions. Like organic chemistry or astrophysics. Or Latin. You might actually have to go to school for that.

But generally speaking, you will become more of an expert than the majority of individuals interested in that topic, and at the same time you’ll be learning yourself. There’s no better way to learn than to teach.

2. Let others know you’re an expert.

After a while, you will establish yourself as an expert. U Stand Out has definitely opened doors for me; my current employer was impressed with my blog during the interview process, so who knows where I’d be now without it? It’s also giving me the opportunity to start a freelance blog design business, and people email me, Twitter DM me, etc. to ask me questions about social media and blogging. Having your own blog will make others perceive you as an expert in your field.

3. Fuel your passion.

It’s so important to blog about something that you’re passionate about. Otherwise it simply won’t be fun. Blogging can be quite a chore, especially if you’re writing about something you don’t love 3+ days a week. But if you’re passionate about your topic, not only will you learn more about what you love, but your passion will resonate with your readers and your blog will be more successful.

4. Build your online presence.

These days, if you work in marketing having a blog is pretty necessary to establishing your personal brand if you really want to make it big. So why not in other niches? If your blog is search engine optimized, when people search for your topic in Google they will come across your content. Add an author box to the bottom of each of your posts to let readers know who you are, and you’ll gain loyal readers faster than you’d think.

5. Network in your industry or niche.

Once you build your online presence and establish yourself as an expert with your blog, it will be easier to network on sites like LinkedIn and Twitter. Prominently display your blog URL, RSS feed, etc. on your profiles, so that when you reach out to industry peers, they will look at your profile and see that you’re someone worth replying to.

6. Learn how to write

Blogging will help you learn how to write. For me, this is one of the most valuable benefits, since I’d like to write books someday (ebooks, novels, you name it). Writing is an important part of any career path, whether you’re an engineer, historian, marketer, chemist. Blogging will help hone your blogging skills, and can also help you find your unique voice.

7. Have fun.

Sorry to disappoint, but “making money” is not on this list. Such a small percentage of bloggers actually make money from blogging that I honestly didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. You shouldn’t start a blog with the sole purpose of making money (though blogging certainly helps to market a company or product you’ve already launched). The point is to have fun and learn more about what you’re passionate about.

I recently came across a blog post about how bloggers should stop blogging about blogging. (Did you have to read that twice?) They have a good point in that social media is still under-utilized by the mainstream, so there’s so much opportunity for people who know how to blog to succeed in other niches. But if you’re passionate about blogging about blogging, then blog about blogging! Don’t let anyone tell you not to blog about a certain topic just because other people are doing it; who’s to say you can’t do it better?

If you choose a niche like blogging that has a lot of competition, pursue it anyway. What’s important is that you’re passionate about what you blog about. Just because other people are blogging about the same thing doesn’t mean that you can’t do it better, or that your presence in that niche community wouldn’t be appreciated. And you’d be learning more about what you’re passionate about.

What’s your top reason for blogging? Let me know in the comments below!Related Posts:

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If you use FourSquare, you know that checking in is addictive. No matter where you go, whether it’s to work, to a local bar, to the movies, or to the grocery store, you immediately reach for your smart phone to see if you can oust someone as mayor or unlock a new badge.

As you know, you can share your FourSquare updates on your Facebook profile and Twitter page. But it’s easy to get carried away with that “Quick Check-In” button, and suddenly your newsfeed and Twitter feed are overflowing with FourSquare updates. This has the tendency to annoy your friends and followers, which can lead them to hide your status updates or unfollow you. And nobody wants that. So it’s time to decide what’s worth sharing.

FourSquare Update Types

On FourSquare, there are three different types of updates that can be shared on your linked Facebook and Twitter accounts:

• Check-ins. You can check in with a “Shout,” which is how you can customize your update to let people know what you’re doing. You can decide which of your check-ins are shared with Facebook, Twitter, and FourSquare. Shouts and sharing customizations aren’t possible with the quick check-in, which are shared or not on Facebook and Twitter depending on your Linked Accounts settings.
• Becoming a mayor. When you become a mayor, either as the first mayor or after ousting the previous mayor, the update is shared or not on Facebook and Twitter depending on your Linked Accounts settings.
• Unlocking a badge. When you unlock a badge (of which there are many), the update is shared or not on Facebook and Twitter depending on your Linked Accounts settings.

FourSquare Linked Accounts Settings

FourSquare makes it easy to control which updates are shared on Facebook and Twitter.

All of your quick check-ins are automatically shared with your FourSquare friends, regardless of these settings. If you want to be completely “off the grid,” check in manually and deselect “share with friends.”

Which updates should you share?

As you can see above from my Linked Accounts settings, I only automatically share updates on becoming a mayor and unlocking a badge, not each check-in. When I’m out with other people and want to spend as little time on my phone as possible, that quick check-in button is key. I also want to make sure I’m not overloading by Facebook and Twitter feeds with FourSquare updates that nobody cares about, because this isn’t pretty:

I took the train to work. I shared it with the world, because apparently I thought the world would care. Or I just clicked quick check-in. Sorry, world.

Even when you disable automatic sharing, you can still share individual check-ins with your friends and followers. This way, you can share what people will find interesting, unlike trips to the grocery store or pharmacy.

Get bragging rights

Mayorships and badges are brag-worthy by nature. Some businesses are even offering mayors discounts and free drinks as incentives for becoming or staying the mayor. Badges are fun, especially when you least expect them (I’m particularly proud of my “I’m on a Boat” badge). And who doesn’t want to show off their “crunked” badge to their parents and employers?

Again, when it comes to check-ins, it’s best to limit sharing to venues that your friends and followers would be interested in, and that would spark conversation. These tend to include:

• Tourist attractions, e.g. Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Golden Gate Bridge
• Sporting events or concerts, e.g. Fenway Park, Madison Square Garden, House of Blues
• Conferences, e.g. SXSW
• Adventurous activities, e.g. rock climbing venues, boat docks
• Vacations, to let your friends know what you’re up to
• Funny check-ins; although it’s not a real venue, the “horrendous traffic” by my apartment is worth a shared check-in every now and then

You get the idea. Sharing your check-ins is a judgment call, but it’s worth limiting your shares to meaningful check-ins that won’t persuade people to unfollow you.

Privacy and Stalker Issues

Although I’m not an advocate of paranoia, it’s worth noting the potential risks of over-sharing your check-ins. First, there’s the theft risk. When you check-in somewhere, you’re obviously not home. The website Please Rob Me was created to create awareness around the dangers of location-based social media.

Second, there’s the stalking risk. Although the chances of this happening to you are slim, it’s important to be aware of the risk. If such an individual with ill-intent is keeping tabs on you on Twitter, which is open to the public, they will be able to see exactly where you are whenever you share your check ins. Do you really want someone following you to CVS at 10pm? Probably not.

Which FourSquare updates do you share on Facebook and Twitter? Let me know in the comments below!

This article was originally written as a guest post on 4SquareBadges.com.Related Posts:

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If you’ve ever tried to change your Facebook profile picture before, whether for your personal profile or fan page, you know how frustrating it can be. On top of Facebook’s technical glitches, which leave you wonder if you’re permanently stuck with that question mark of doom, the thumbnail never seems to look right.

On your personal profile thumbnail, you’re either a tiny speck in the distance or you’re showing off your left eyebrow. On your fan page, your brand’s logo is cut off. Here are some fan pages that still haven’t gotten it quite right:

Facebook recommends that profile pictures should be 200px wide. They height can vary up to three times the width. However, they don’t make it clear how the thumbnail that Facebook uses is generated from this picture.

You’ll find that Facebook crops images when generating a thumbnail, losing information around the edge. You can edit the thumbnail to drag it to a different part of your picture, but you cannot expand the thumbnail selection. So when you create your profile image that’s 200px wide, allow a 12 pixel border around crucial information such as a brand name or logo to allow for automatic cropping.

Also remember that Facebook thumbnails are always square, regardless of the shape of your profile image. So when designing rectangular profile pictures, make sure to keep your desired thumbnail imagery within a square boundary. Then you can edit the thumbnail selection accordingly.

What brands have you found with awkward thumbnails on Facebook? Share the links in the comments below!Related Posts:

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