Keep Your Blog Reader Friendly

As a blogger and reader, one thing I’ve realized is that there are some blogs I don’t bother to read at all.  It’s not that these blogs are horrible; alright, some of them are.  However, my point is that I don’t take time to view some blogs that might actually be worth reading, simply because getting them to open is a difficulty in itself.  A lot of times, we find  blogs with interesting titles, only to get bored halfway through because loading takes a few minutes more than we’re willing to spare.

This is why I suggest bloggers keep their websites/blogs as reader-friendly as possible.  I know you want to put in as much stuff as you can in your online space, but do consider how these unnecessary additions may unwittingly hamper your blog’s growth.

Here are some ways you can keep your blog reader-friendly:

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Plotdog Press’ WOOF: Picks for July 4, 2008

Top 5 Picks

About Writing
Miss Write - “Rethink These Writing Myths”
Gargantua Stormcaller - “Ten Pitfalls of Fanfiction”
Tammy Searles - “Writers who are also photographers”

Fiction
Jenn - “An Unexpected Independence Day Celebration”

Poetry
Matthew S. Urdan - “Circles”

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PLOTDOG PRESS FEATURING:
A Novel Approach Series - DRAFT NOVEL - Intervention Chapter 1

Avoid Scams: Work for CustomPapers.Com

Previously, I mentioned working for a few essay writing (or academic writing) companies online. Almost always, I faced late payments and convoluted pay methods.

Both companies (Allwriting and EssayWriters) paid me, although AW owes me a bit and hasn’t responded yet and EW lacks projects. Unfortunately, I always get some sort of paranoid feeling in my gut when working for these companies, because you can find complaints against them all over the internet.

I’ve talked to people who have very good experiences with AW and EW; however, this doesn’t negate the fact that there are tons of people out there who rant about getting scammed. So, I decided to find another essay writing company that doesn’t have this baggage to begin with.

I finally found CustomPapers.Com — a company that has been in the business for more than a few years now. Length of service+lack of complaints is always a winning combination, so Custom Papers seemed like a good choice. At first I was put off by its long unpronounceable name (korepetycje.com) and was afraid that this was another of those “Russian” scammers. Still, the positive feedback that the rest of the writing world gave the company was more than enough guarantee for me.

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The Meme Experiment

You’re probably sick of the memes by now, but the wonders it does for my Technorati authority is just addicting. Anyway, I got tagged by Pinay Mommy and, well, I can’t help but answer it.

If you’re interested, just answer these few questions and follow the rules stated below.

RULES:

1. Add your blog/s to the list. Feel free to add all your other blogs. It’s okay if you only post these questions in one blog as long as you answer them.
2. Get back to Me {YEN} and I’ll add your blogs to the master’s list here!
3. Tag as many friends online you know. But you don’t need to be tag in order to join.

QUESTIONS:

1. I posted this experiment at URL: http://www.miss-write.com
2. I posted this on date (day, month, year): 6 July 2008
3. I posted this at time (24 hour time): 15:13
4. My posting location is (city, state, country): San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines
5. My blog is hosted by: Freehostia
6. My age is: 25 y/o
7. My gender is: Female
8. My occupation is: Sr. QA Analyst/Freelance Writer
9. I use the following RSS/Atom reader software: Feedburner
10. I use the blog format to post to my blog: Wordpress
11. I have been blogging since (day, month, year): Can’t remember.
12. My web browser is: Firefox
13. My operating system is: Leopard OS

Here’s the list of all the participants:

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The Demise of the Semi-Colon

I’m very, very fond of the semi-colon, despite the fact that few people can figure out how to use it. After all, it doesn’t seem quite as necessary as the comma, which allows you to pause in between your sentences, and the exclamation/question marks that reveal the speaker’s emotions.

The period, of course, needs no mention, given its already star status in the world of grammatical marks.

Anyway, a hoax some time back swirled around the death of the semi-colon; supposedly, Nicolas Sarkozy had initiated a crackdown on the much misunderstood little punctuation mark. By the way, if your eyes are sharp enough, you should have noticed my use of the semi-colon somewhere in the sentences past.

Ever since I learned how to use the semi-colon, it turned into some sort of obsession. I love using the semi-colon; I don’t think I can ever live without it. Some may think that using it is tantamount to some sort of grammatical snobbery, but that’s not true. It’s just addicting. I feel liberated from those pesky conjunction words.

So how exactly is it used? I am campaigning for wider use of the beautiful semi-colon, and would of course gladly share my information with you, dear readers. Here’s two ways you can use the semi-colon in everyday grammar. Once you learn how to use it, you’ll be thinking completely in semi-colons. Here goes:

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Help a Blogger Out!

You can call this shameless plugging, but I suppose I could at least use the small influence *ahem* this blog has over you loyal friends to introduce my friend and fellow blogger, Chorva.

Chorva is the webmistress of the up and coming entertainment blog, Chorva!, and though her content caters mostly to Philippine audiences, she does have pretty good things to offer when it comes to international music and film. She was recently nominated “Entertainment Blog of the Month“, and, well, she’s up against a few big names.

Speaking as a reader and fellow blogger, I think what makes Chorva stand out is the freshness of news. Most other entertainment bloggers rely on what’s the latest. They just feed off other blogs and news sites. Chorva, on the other hand, uploads clips she recorded herself. She also keeps abreast of the latest happenings in music through online and offline sources. Best of all, she’s completely passionate about her subject, and intends to improve her blog in the following months.

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A New Paid-to-Blog Opportunity: Snapbomb

So it’s been some time since I first talked about a paid-to-blog program here.  As you know, I’m a total newbie when it comes to this pro-blogging thing, and a lot of the moneymaking opportunities I mention here are the products of hours upon hours of research work.

I check out forums, other websites, etc., just to find the best and most reliable companies to work for online.

Unfortunately, one problem I’ve had with most paid-to-blog programs is that they don’t give you a chance when you’re green.  Understandable, because it wouldn’t make sense to market yourself on an unknown blog right?  Still, us bloggers will always want to find ways to join the world of blog marketing.

If you’re an advertiser looking to create some buzz for your products through blog advertising, I suppose you’ll want the best bang for your buck, too.

This is where Snapbomb comes in.  Unlike other paid-to-blog sites, it gives new blogs an opportunity to make some money, even though they may still be new and quite unpopular.  Instead of a fixed price for opportunities you can’t ever hope to get your hands on (thanks to those ranking systems), Snapbomb gives you a chance to earn depending on your site’s worth.

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