Disaboom blogpromotion Blog

Blogging Tip of the Day: MyHub, OurHub...YourHub!

ecrowley — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 23:31:00 GMT

Yourhub is a user-driven news site that accepts content from the public in California, Colorado, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Southern Oklahoma. The site is further divided into many “hubs” in each state. For example, Disaboom’s office is in the Greenwood Village hub. Users can submit content to as many hubs as they like, in sections including Stories and Photos, Events, Blogs, and Classifieds. The best content each week is published in newspapers, including the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post.

To use Yourhub to drive content to your blog, try promoting your favorite past blog post. Go to Yourhub and sign up for an account. You will need to verify your email address before logging in. Then look for the header that says “Get Published.” Click “Stories and Photos” next to that header. Select a category like “News” or “Opinion,” and copy and paste your favorite post. Add a tagline prior to or after the article that says, “This article republished from….” Then add the name of your blog, and a link.

Publish the article, and keep an eye out for it in the weekly Yourhub section of the paper!

Blogging Tip: 10 Sure Fire Titles for your blog entry

naomimimi — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:48:00 GMT

I was clicking through StumbleUpon when I "stumbled upon" this beauty of a list. These headline suggestions serve double duty as possible titles for a blog entry AND inspiration to defeat writer's block and get the creativity flowing.

List thanks to CopyBlogger.com.

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1. Who Else Wants [blank]?

Starting a headline with “Who Else Wants…” is a classic social proof strategy that implies an already existing consensus desire. While overused in the Internet marketing arena, it still works like gangbusters for other subject matter.

Who Else Wants a Great Blog Template Design?
Who Else Wants a Higher Paying Job?
Who Else Wants More Fun and Less Stress When on Vacation?

2. The Secret of [blank]

This one is used quite a bit, but that’s because it works. Share insider knowledge and translate it into a benefit for the reader.

The Secret of Successful Podcasting
The Secret of Protecting Your Assets in Litigation
The Secret of Getting Your Home Loan Approved

3. Here is a Method That is Helping [blank] to [blank]

Simply identify your target audience and the benefit you can provide them, and fill in the blanks.

Here is a Method That is Helping Homeowners Save Hundreds on Insurance
Here is a Method That is Helping Children Learn to Read Sooner
Here is a Method That is Helping Bloggers Write Better Post Titles

4. Little Known Ways to [blank]

A more intriguing (and less common) way of accomplishing the same thing as “The Secret of…” headline.

Little Known Ways to Save on Your Heating Bill
Little Known Ways to Hack Google’s Gmail
Little Known Ways to Lose Weight Quickly and Safely

5. Get Rid of [problem] Once and For All

A classic formula that identifies either a painful problem or an unfulfilled desire that the reader wants to remedy.

Get Rid of Your Unproductive Work Habits Once and For All
Get Rid of That Carpet Stain Once and For All
Get Rid of That Lame Mullet Hairdo Once and For All

6. Here’s a Quick Way to [solve a problem]

People love quick and easy when it comes to solving a nagging problem.

Here’s a Quick Way to Get Over a Cold
Here’s a Quick Way to Potty Train Junior
Here’s a Quick Way to Backup Your Hard Drive

7. Now You Can Have [something desirable] [great circumstance]

The is the classic “have your cake and eat it too” headline — and who doesn’t like that?

Now You Can Quit Your Job and Make Even More Money
Now You Can Meet Sexy Singles Online Without Spending a Dime
Now You Can Own a Cool Mac and Still Run Windows

8. [Do something] like [world-class example]

Gatorade milked this one fully with the “Be Like Mike” campaign featuring Michael Jordan in the early 1990s.

Speak Spanish Like a Diplomat
Party Like Paris Hilton
Blog Like an A-Lister

9. Have a [or] Build a [blank] You Can Be Proud Of

Appeal to vanity, dissatisfaction, or shame. Enough said.

Build a Body You Can Be Proud Of
Have a Smile You Can Be Proud Of
Build a Blog Network You Can Be Proud Of

10. What Everybody Ought to Know About [blank]

Big curiosity draw with this type of headline, and it acts almost as a challenge to the reader to go ahead and see if they are missing something.

What Everybody Ought to Know About ASP
What Everybody Ought to Know About Adjustable Rate Mortgages
What Everybody Ought to Know About Writing Great Headlines

Blogging Tip of the Day: Friend Feed

ecrowley — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:07:00 GMT

FriendFeed is a cool site that connects people through their interests. Users can link over 35 different services to their FriendFeed account including blogs, YouTube, Flickr and even Netflix. The site works similar to an RSS feed which automatically sends updated information to your FriendFeed profile. Any changes made using those services will be shared on your FriendFeed and visible for friends to see. Submitting new blog posts to your FriendFeed is a good way to keep your FriendFeed friends updated on your latest Disaboom activities.

To create an account, click on create an account from the FriendFeed homepage. Enter in your information. To add your Disaboom blog, click on the Edit/add button on the right rail (that’s the right-hand side of the page). Click on “Blog” and then enter in your Disaboom personal blog address (e.g., http://disaboom.blogspot.com/). Now, any updates or new entries made to the blog will automatically appear on your FriendFeed page. Add friends to increase your content’s visibility.

Third Weekly Popular Blogger Award: Congratulations To.....?

Saydrah — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:13:00 GMT

Yes, it's time again for the weekly Blogging Hero Awards! This week's Top Ten Most-Viewed Eligible Posts are:

1. Sex: The elephant in the room-- CherylBeryl

2. Michael Savage insists children with Autism are brats-- DeafMom

3. You are not taking your disability seriously if...-- StephenD

4. A wheelchair ramp over at Digg-- DeafMom

5. Steak and Shake plans no major access changes to their drive-throughs.-- DeafMom

6. Stuff White People Like: Special edition-- BunnyMay

7. Marijuana and MS-- Vicki

8. How disabled am I?-- CallKathy

9. What do the disabled ESPY winners have in common?-- KaraSwims

10. Writing your first Disaboom blog post-- LeftThumbBlogger

All of our top ten blogs this week are superb, and I love that we're seeing many repeat contenders! Without further ado, the award goes to....

DeafMom!!

Why?

It's very simple-- I don't even need to link the criteria this week. She's been in the top ten every single week, and three posts this week? Congratulation, DeafMom, the award is very well earned. Pick out an award graphic at your leisure, and enjoy your newfound status as a Blogging Hero!

The Dullest Blog ever!

naomimimi — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:28:00 GMT

Ever wonder what a dull blog looks like? Well, I've found the best example on the web. There hasn't been an entry since March 2006. The author must have bored himself too much and decided there were much more exciting things out there to enjoy besides logging every itch, scratch, and times he moved something on his desk.

4/21/2005 I was standing at a central point in the room. The walls were all at approximately the same distance from me. I continued to stand there for a few moments.
3/17/2005 A light in one of the rooms of my house was on. I decided that I didn't need the light on any longer. I pressed the light switch thereby turning off the light.
12/19/2004 I was sitting on a chair in the living room. My pen was lying on the table. I reached out my hand and picked up the pen.

I think he took the idea of a "weblog" a bit too literally ;)

Blogging Tip of the Day: Chain Letters

ecrowley — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:57:00 GMT

Start a chain letter! Those come from somewhere, right? Why not put Aunt Marge and her propensity to forward everything in her inbox to everyone in her address book to work for your blog? There’s no need to tell her that she’ll get seven years’ bad luck if she doesn’t kiss her left toe, fold an origami swan, and email this to 20 friends before 8:41 PM tonight; just send along an especially funny or touching post.

Just copy the body of the blog post into an email, add Found Here: and a link back to the original post, and send it to a few distant relatives or former coworkers. You know, the ones who keep sending you that email about how your cell phone number will be released to solicitors if you don’t call 1-800-YAY-SPAM right now, or the pictures of kittens doing cute things that you’ve already seen 100 times. They’ll appreciate something new to send around the office, and your blog will get traffic.

Promoting your blog: Tagging

naomimimi — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:11:00 GMT

Say "tagging" to most people, they'll tend to think of something like this:

But say "tagging" to a blogger, and they think of this:

It's called a "tag cloud", and tagging is the the bloggers best tool to organize entries.Tags are keywords that help identify the content of any particular blog post, forum thread, or response to either. It makes the post easily searchable for people looking for a specific theme, and it makes sure that your thoughts and ideas can be easily found by the Disaboom community.

Tags are easy. I'll step you through it.

The tag space is directly underneath the entry window for blogs and forum entries. This is where you can type in keywords, separated by commas. Each keyword you enter is one more way someone can find your blog when they're searching by topic.
In case you're writing a blog late at night or early in the morning before you're quite awake, you can get some help selecting keywords by clicking the button "Select Tags". You'll see this screen pop up:

Check the box next to the relevant keywords for your blog or discussion, and they'll be added to your tag list.
Wondering how tags do their job? If someone types one of the tags you've attached to your blog into a site search, your entry will be pulled up in the search results. Let's try it:

I typed "blogging" into the search field. This will pull up all community related content tagged with the word "blogging".
TaDaaaaa! And that's just the beginning of the list. Some entries aren't tagged but have "blogging" in the title. That's also a great way to make sure blogs get pulled up in searches. Tags give you the power to make your entry versitile. You can list every conceivable keyword that relates to your post without have a 50 word title.

So let's see some tags! You won't have to worry about getting caught or in trouble for this kind of tagging ;)

And the second weekly(ish) Blogging Hero Award goes to.....!

Saydrah — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:08:00 GMT

Due to technical difficulties (see below), we didn't give out a Blogging Hero award last week:

Our sincerest apologies!

This week's top 10 most-trafficked eligible posts are:

1. Marijuana and Ms (Vicki)

2. You are not taking your disability seriously if... (StephenD)

3. Gimp Sex (LaughSum2)

4. Unique punishment for deputy charged in wheelchair dumping case (KaraSwims)

5. Better dead than disabled? I don't think so. (SueBabe)

6. Sex, the elephant in the room. (CherylBeryl)

7. Writing your first Disaboom blog post (LeftThumbBlogger)

8. I need a friend who gets me and understands (Meme5567)

9. A Wheelchair Ramp Over at Digg (DeafMom)

10. Government policy screws us yet again (LeftThumbBlogger)

Remember, the blogs are judged on these criteria:

Overall appeal-- Essentially, is it a blog that people will enjoy reading? Is it formatted so as to be easy to read, is it interesting on-topic, and if graphics are included, are they relevant and appropriate?
Writing Style-- Are words spelled correctly? Is the grammar decent? Is it interesting and engaging? Do I feel like I know and like or trust the blogger?
Promotion-- Bloggers who promote their blogs successfully will get top points in this area. If you've gotten hundreds of hits from Digg, you're doing things right, and this judging category will reward you for it.
Interest to the Community-- Blogs that get traffic from Disaboomers, receive lots of comics, and are relevant and interesting to our community will score highly in this area.
Initiative-- We want to see prospective Blogging Heroes trying new and interesting ways to promote their blogs. Even if you only got a handful of hits from each, promoting your blog in several different places will get you top marks here. New promotional methods that we haven't seen in the contest before are also valued.

This week, the award goes to....

VICKI!

Vicki's excellent post, "Marijuana and MS," wins her a Blogging Hero award primarily for her Promotion and Initiative, as well as Interest to the Community. Vicki used StumbleUpon to get hits, which in and of itself is impressive; StumbleUpon is very useful but takes time and effort to use effectively. She also wrote a great post about a subject that is both controversial and interesting, and I love that her post did not take any strong opinion on the subject of medical marijuana, but instead presented facts and allowed readers to make their own choices.

Vicki now joins the Blogging Heroes' Hall of Fame, and can choose one of the Award Graphics to display on her blog if she would like!

CONGRATULATIONS VICKI!

Blogging Tip of the Day: Yahoo Answers

ecrowley — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 00:34:00 GMT

Yahoo Answers is an excellent website that can help drive traffic to your blog. The site allows registered users to ask questions on a myriad of topics. Yahoo Answers functions much like a message board and allows users to answer questions as best they can. The user who posted the original question can then select the best answer, which is displayed on the topic page. By providing good answers, as well as links back to your blog, you can generate more traffic to your posts.

The site is free and easy to use. To join, visit answers.yahoo.com. If you already have a Yahoo account, you can sign into it here and immediately begin posting. If you need to register a Yahoo account, click on the “Sign up” link near the top of the page. Registered users will gain and lose points based on their participation. By providing helpful information, you can not only assist people immediately, but also offer your blog as a future resource.

Tip of the Day: not yourspace, Myspace!

naomimimi — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 21:16:00 GMT

One of the features of the popular social networking site MySpace is the Bulletin Board. The Bulletin Board is a great place to share important information that you want to promote, as any posts show up on the Bulletin Boards of all of your MySpace friends! When you post an interesting item to your Disaboom blog, send a bulletin to your friends so they can check it out.

To post a bulletin, sign onto your MySpace account, scroll down to “Bulletin Space,” and click the option to “Post a Bulletin.”

The Different Types of Personal Websites

naomimimi — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:08:00 GMT

Ever get confused on what exactly is out there to bring your voice and ideas to the internet?

I found this great article via linroeder on Twitter.

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There are several different kinds of personal websites. There's the traditional personal website, where you create different webpages and link them all together. There are social networks, where you get a profile page and meet other people on the network. There are blogs and online diaries, where you can post entries about anything you want. Then there are wikis, where you choose the topic and then you invite other people to help you build the site. There are also online photo albums, where you post photos of you family and friends.
Website With Web Pages

A personal Web site tells your readers about your thoughts, ideas, interests, hobbies, family, friends, feelings, or something you feel strongly about, but that's not all. It contains many different Web pages that complete your website and tell people about who you are and what you like.
There are many different reasons to create a personal website. Building one of your own is easily enough done. Creating your own personal website can be done in as little as 10 steps.
Blogs aka Weblogs

In essence a blog is another name for an online diary but blogs are more than that. Online diaries have been around almost as long as the World Wide Web but blogs are newer. Blogs are still used as personal online diaries but they are also used to discuss news, sports and just about anything people have interests in.
Online companies use them as a tool to talk about different topics the site has interests in. You can keep one as a personal Web site to discuss your interests and hobbies or your life in general.
Social Networking

If you want to meet people online and create a personal Web site at the same time then a social networking site is for you. Sites like MySpace give you an intro page where you can tell about yourself and add photos, a blog where you can discuss whatever you want, more space for photos, and a way to meet other people on the site.
Meeting friends is as simple as surfing the site and clicking a button. Some also offer groups where you can meet people with similar interests. These are some reasons to join social networking, but there are more.
Wikis

A wiki is a personal website that you create and then let other people help you build. Your wiki can be public so that anyone can add or change things. Or you can make it private so that only people you choose can add or change things on your wiki.
I can personally think of 10 things you can do with a wiki. I'm sure there are a lot more. A wiki can be about anything. When your readers become builders and start interacting with your wiki, who knows where your wiki will take you.
Online Photo Albums

An online photo album is a place where you can put all your digital photos online and share them with your friends and family. You can share your photos with the general public too, but that's up to you. If your photos are not digital you can scan them and upload them to your online photo album too.

If you add descriptions of your photos you can use your online photo album to tell stories. I can think of 10 reasons you should create an online photo album.

Courtesy of Lin Roeder on About.com.

Blogging Tip of the Day: Twitter Me This

Saydrah — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 01:12:00 GMT

Twitter is a site dedicating to micro-blogging, where members, or twitters, can send "tweets" of 140 words or less. Twitter's character limit makes its effective use difficult, but interesting and informative tweets will encourage other twitters to click "follow" on your profile and receive all of your future tweets. To use Twitter to your best advantage, create a profile, follow Disaboom, and send a tweet about your blog!

First, head to Twitter's sign up page. Go through the very simple account creation process. Then, head to http://www.twitter.com/Disaboom and click "Follow"- it's the green button near the upper left-hand corner of the page. Now you're ready to follow Disaboom, and get updates on promotion-worthy content on the site, courtesy of the Social Marketing team!

Finally, send your very own tweet. You can do this easily from http://www.twitter.com/home. Just answer the question "What are you doing?" in 140 words or less. So, what are you doing? "Getting excited about my latest blog post" is always a great answer, and, of course, include a link.

Go forth and twitter! Or, if you're not clear on how to use Twitter yet, check out Naomi's blog for a short video and explanation of how to Twitter.

Blogging Tip of the Day: Care2

ecrowley — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:15:00 GMT

1) Care2 is a great social networking website for advocates of many causes including human rights, the environment, animal welfare and more. Users can join groups for causes and reach out to other members with similar interests. Care2 can be used to promote blogs on important issues such as health care, politics, and human rights. Just submit the blog post as a news story, post a hyperlink to the blog on the appropriate message board, or send a message to a group that would be interested in the subject.

To sign up, visit www.care2.com. On the let-hand side of the screen, click on the “Join Us” link. You can choose to have a free Care2 email address if you don’t wish to supply your own. Join relevant groups, submit news stories, participate in active discussions, and chat with others about how awesome your blog is!

Blogging Tip of the Day: Facebook

ecrowley — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 23:46:00 GMT

1) A great social marketing tool to use is Facebook. This is an extremely popular social networking site. At its inception a couple years back Facebook was solely for college students, but now anyone can join! If you don’t already have an account, go to www.facebook.com and sign up.

There are a few ways to help drive traffic to your blog via Facebook. Like Disaboom, Facebook has a “Groups” feature, on which we have a group for the website titled “Disaboom.” The group currently has 698 members. Join the group yourself, and use the “Invite People to Join” option to invite your Facebook friends to join as well! Then, post on the group wall about the latest topic in your blog (be sure to include a link for people to visit). Or, you could contribute to the group’s Discussion Board posts, or start a new Discussion Board post of your own.

When you’re a Blogging Hero with many fans, you can even make a fan club for your blog on Facebook!

Tip of the Day: Have you Reddit?

naomimimi — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:09:00 GMT

Reddit is a leading website which features popular links from around the web. It is a powerful tool that can help promote your blog. Any registered user can submit a site which the community can either vote positively or negatively on, affecting the positioning of an entry on the Reddit website. Here’s how to do it:

Visit the Reddit website (www.reddit.com) In the upper-right corner, click on the “register” link. Supply a user name and password and then hit the submit button. After registration is complete, click on “submit” in the upper-right corner on the Reddit homepage. Supply the URL you intend to promote and give your entry a reader-friendly title. After entering the CAPTCHA (letter verification), your article has been added to the Reddit database.

Reddit users now have the opportunity to raise or lower your article’s position on the Reddit homepage. By clicking the “up” arrow next to your article, users can increase the visibility of your submission. A “down arrow” click would lower your standing on the web page and subsequently decrease the visibility.

Reddit can also suggest articles that you might like based on other articles that you voted favorably for. Just click on the “recommended” tab on the home page. Additionally, users who like your submissions can add you to their friends list. Karma points are awarded on Reddit based on your submissions. Popular entries will accrue Karma, helping to increase your Reddit equity.