NeoBluePanther

Writing, Among Other Things

Author: NeoBluePanther (Page 33 of 47)

Why BlogRush Failed, and Entrecard succeeded?

April 2, 2008 / / 22 Comments

Most Bloggers would be familiar with the two recent services to hit the Blogosphere: BlogRush and Entrecard (those who are not familiar can find the widgets for both these services on the sidebar).

BlogRush started with a bang, but has now died down to a whimper. Entrecard started slow, but is now becoming popular among bloggers, and most bloggers seem to be satisfied with the service (are you?).

Both the services are almost alike in what they offer as service, but one failed and the other succeeded. Why?

I think the reason is : While BlogRush tried to provide exposure to a Blog without leaving any room for the blogger to take steps that would improve his chances of getting traffic, Entrecard left scope for the blogger to work towards getting traffic for his Blog. In principle BlogRush assumed that bloggers are interested in reading other blogs, while Entrecard assumed that bloggers will be active participants on the site, and in the hope of getting traffic to their own Blogs, they will click on the widgets on the other Blogs.

It is obvious now that the latter assumption worked, while the former did not. This also brings into focus another important fact: A Blog will be truly successful (that is have a readership that actually reads, and not just flies by) when some of the readers are non- bloggers, or are, at least, readers first and Bloggers second.

Do you agree, or do you think there are other reasons for the failure of BlogRush… and the success of Entrecard?

Is a blog that doesn't update still a blog?

March 27, 2008 / / 12 Comments

The definition of a blog has changed quite dramatically over the last few years. From being an amateur, the blog has come a long way, and it is now impossible to differentiate a website from a blog.

A criteria often used to separate the blogs from the websites is the frequency of updation. A website, they say, is more static in nature as compared to a blog.

For example, a company’s website could talk about  its area of operations, client-base,  employees etc. The website would only need to be updated when there has been some major development in the company. A blog, by the very same company, could talk about something like the new coffee machine, boss’s new tie, the new pizza place near the company’s premises. In short, it would be dealing with the interesting things (or not so interesting things) that happen on any average day in the company.

So, if frequency of updation is the criteria by which you judge a blog, how often should a blog be updated? How often do you update yours? And if a blog hasn’t updated for a long time (the definition of a long time is again subjective), do you call it a website, or a dead blog?

Not Another Upgrade!!!

March 21, 2008 / / 9 Comments

WordPress is a great thing. It is perhaps one of the best things to have happened in the cyberspace. It has enabled many people – like me – who were not very familiar with html and other web site building languages, to set up, run and maintain good looking sites.

Going by the number of upgrades that have been made to WordPress,  the people behind WordPress seem to be working quite hard. Usually, by the time I have  one version of WordPress set up and running, they release a new one. Not being very tech -savy, I ususally stick to one version of WordPress (or any software for that matter), till it becomes absolutely necessary to upgrade.

As of now, I am using WordPress 2.3.1 and even though everytime I log in, my dashboard tells me that my  “WordPress 2.3.1 is out of date,” I still have not felt the need to upgrade. It is pertinent, I think, to mention here that the last time I tried to upgrade WordPress, I did something wrong and was forced to resort to a fresh install.

It appears that WordPress is now almost ready with WordPress 2.5, and from the sneek peek provided by the WordPress team it seems that upgrading to 2.5 will not only be necessary, but will also make using WordPress a better experience. So, I am waiting for the new version of WordPress with great eagerness, and a little anxiety.

What do you feel about WordPress upgrades?

Apologies!

March 18, 2008 / / 0 Comments

The site is backIf you visited the site in the last 24 hours, you might have seen some unexpected things on here.

There was some site maintenance being carried out by  the hosting service providers, and it went on for longer than expected.

But, when I woke up this morning and the site was still not working I mailed the hosting provider to ask them about it. It turned out that they were thinking that everything was working all right.

So, after getting my mail they quickly fixed the problem, and consequently the site is up and working now.

I would like to offer my apologies for any inconvenience caused to any of you who visited the site during the  time the site was offline.

Social Networking and Blogging!

March 14, 2008 / / 5 Comments

Did Blogging come first, or did Social Networking?

If you think about it, social networking, in one form or another has existed since time immemorial. So, the better question would be : did YOU start blogging first, or were YOU social networking even before you were blogging?

And, how is social networking affecting your blogging?

It is often said that social networking can be a powerful tool for bloggers; that it is a good way to get the word about your blog out there, and to get people to visit your blog!

But I don’t agree with that. Social Networking CAN be a powerful tool for bloggers but, before it can be  that, a blogger has to make sure that he is doing the other things right. One can not have a good, or even a popular blog, solely on  the basis of social networking. A good blog has to have  good content, a good layout and regular posts (it goes without saying t hat the quality of the posts has to be good). And if you have a good blog, you stand a better chance of having a popular blog!

Social Networking is good for making friends, but if you want  to be a better blogger (the definition of a better blogger is again subjective), just work harder on your blog!

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 NeoBluePanther

Theme by Anders Norén — Up ↑