Feedburner has come out with a new service - PingShot. Tris has always been big on following the Feedburner services, so it’s no surprise he got there pretty quick. He had it on the Qumana blog right away, as well as his own. And, subscribers went up. Hard to tell how much of that was more accurate/thorough pinging, and how much was the content we’ve been delivering, but it was good new nonetheless.

What is PingShot?

Well, basically, it takes the ping burden off your blog server. Pings are those little bits of data that get sent out to tell the word (search engines & RSS readers) new content has arrived. Now, instead of leaving this entirely to your server, and you having to configure whom you choose to ping yourself, Feedburner steps in.

PingShot is feed-based, and can therefore has some advantages. Built to guard against spam. Open Registry - all engines can access the data. Works great for podcast directories. Passive system - set it up and forget it. Free.

To set it up:

Go to your FeedBurner feed. On the “Publicize” tab go to the left to PingShot. Check the boxes and add in all of the 5 optional ping services. Right now there are only 5 to choose from, later there will for sure be more. I’d say check back in a month and decide which of the 5 alternate ping services you want to use and stick with it.

Technorati Tags: feedburner, pingshot

I’ve uploaded the second part to the blog survey being conducted at Qumana.

This series looks at RSS - how many blogs people read and which aggregator they use. I was really floored by the data. It was seriously amazing how fragmented the RSS reader market is - apparently none of us do a good enough job of giving people their blogs in a way they want to see them.

Anyway, stop over, view the results, and let me know what you think.

So, I’ve joined up with b5 and have a couple of new blogs to announce:

Cooking Gadgets - this one came out of a pattern I was noticing on Blogaholics. Looking through my archives, I found that the gadgets I was blogging every here and there were almost always cooking-related. So, it was a natural evolution of something I’m already interested it. It could be a dangerous blog for me, since I really do love lots of kitchen goodies. And I really wish I’d caught onto this blog earlier! Such a good topic!

She Knows Best - we can thank Jeremy for this one. We were brainstorming and he had this idea of a fashion/lifestyle-for-guys blog, and She Knows Best was born. It’s actually been a blast writing for. The comments - oh my! It’s obviously a blog that was needed! It’s so much fun to have that interaction, though. So far, I’ve been really surprised how much I can write about socks - and that guys appreciate the info! I have a few requests for haircut info, so I’ll be digging around for that soon. BTW - I have experience in high end menswear, so this one isn’t totally outside my realm of expertise.

So, why am I involved in b5?

Well, it’s a good question. I am not really a join-the-network kind of girl. After all, I have my own little projects and slowly growing list of blogs. I could have just started up these blogs on my own, right? Well, yes. Easily. However, working as a part of b5 has its merits. First, I love working with all three of these guys - Duncan, Jeremy, and Darren. Lots of fun. Granted, I would have loved to be invited in as more than just a blogger, but this is a good start!

Networks, in general, have many blogger benefits. First, they get a lot more attention collectively than a single blog does on its own. Plus, they have ongoing benefits of increased ranking from the interlinking. So, overall, they will make more money. Therefore, the fact that I’m not getting 100% of the revenue is less of a cut. Perhaps I’ll change my mind on this in a year or so when the blogs take off, but for now I’ll stick to that. Another network plus is not having to set up the blog, design it, or really manage all the tedious parts of it. I just get to do the writing, which is where I have no problem (if that wasn’t obvious already!)

I think, of any network to join, this is the one for me. The guys did a great job at launch time, and the attention has been great. It was fun for me to get back out there and have some visibility for doing something as well.

So, hope you go over and take a peek at the new blogs. And keep an eye on b5 - they have big plans!

Technorati Tags: b5, b5 media, blog network

I’ve started to release some of the data from the Qumana Survey we did a couple weeks back. I think there is a lot to learn from the data, and I am so excited to be sharing it. The survey covers a lot of things in the blogosphere, including blog experience (today’s post), advertising (I can’t wait to blog that!), RSS and more!

I’ve released three questions now, and have done a bit of digging to see how certain questions fit together - I think understanding these patterns is really important.

Anyway, have a peek over there and stay tuned to the Qumana blog for the rest of the survey - I hope to get a post out every couple of days. The digging does take a bit of time!

Some data to crunch on:

Most people taking our survey had 3 to 5 blogs

A fair number of bloggers spend more than 6 hours per week blogging

More…

Technorati Tags: qumana, survey, blogging, blogosphere, bloggers, blogging survey

Well, the exact figure is 16 (17 soon). Can you guess the whole list?

You’re sure to find them one way or another, but I bet you never thought it was so many! I am a Blogaholic, after all. Do I want to write on more? You betcha!

Give it a shot. Find them all. I dare ya!

Technorati Tags: blogging, arieanna, blogaholics.ca, blogaholics, problogger, professional blogging, professional blogger, blogger for hire

This is something I have been thinking. I wanted to know how people interact on the web, how people interact with blogs, and what types of blogging types I could derive from that.

From what I can tell, there are people ‘blogging’ in the following ways:

1. Readers

This type of person likes to read blogs and follow what they are doing, but does not interact or have their own blog. This is more of a “newspaper” like reader, or a reader of Web 1.0.

2. Interaction Mavens

This type of person may or may not have a blog of their own, but spends significant amounts of time reading and commenting on other blog posts. They are the type of person who love to interact and create bonds.

3. Linkers

This type of blogger likes to interact, but does so on their own blog. Rather than leaving comments, this blogger will write a post, long or short, linking to the original piece and letting that be their “comment” field.

4. Individualists

This type of blogger likes to break news first, or write something in their own line. They write a majority of original content, and therefore do not send out many links to other bloggers.

5. All Round Bloggers

This type of blogger likes to read and write on what other people have talked about, sometimes putting out original stuff, and sometimes commenting instead of writing.

6. Social Circle Bloggers

These bloggers fall into a heavily social blogging category - they write to share with personal friends and family. These bloggers are heavy Live Journal and Blogger users, and tend to work within the inner blogosphere circle of friendship, rather than looking outside it. They tend to subscribe to blogs of friends and very few others.

7. Comment Attractor

This type of blogger writes in such a way that comments are encouraged, and interacted with openly. This is more of a writing style than a type of blogger, and may mix more or less with other blogger types.

—

So, I am sure people don’t neatly fit into these categories, but it’s been something I’ve been watching for some time. I think I fall into more of the Linker or All Round Blogger types. I don’t comment much and do tend to reblog info rather than use a comment box - with so many blogs, the stuff that interests me usually has some home to go to :)

One of the primary reasons I looked into this was because I was trying to figure out why I was not a social bookmarker or a huge user of social tagging. For me, I find no value in social bookmarking because I do tend to blog most of what interests me. I tag mostly to attract readers to my content, which is a more selfish use of social tagging. I do search tags, but usually to built up my stock of blogs in a niche topic. Anyway, it all boiled down to the same idea - I don’t social bookmark because I don’t comment, and I don’t comment because I blog at such a high volume.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: bloggers, blogging, what blogger type are you

Northern Voice 2006 has just been announced. This was a big thing for Vancouver, and blogging, last year, and promises to do the same this year.

Ianiv & I made our official “entry” into the blogosphere there - we had just launched a new design, and our blog was getting picked up from our live event blogging. We met a whole bunch of bloggers, locally and from abroad, and really started to get immersed in the whole blogosphere.

So, now that Ianiv & I are both working in blogging full-time, and have both joined Qumana, we’ll be going back less as newbies and more as leaders in the industry. It’s a really crazy chain of events, but it’s been great.

What is Northern Voice?

Northern Voice is a community-based blogging and personal publishing conference that started in February, 2005. This year’s conference will take place on Friday, February 10 and Saturday, February 11, 2006 at UBC’s downtown campus.Twice the Fun

The Saturday will be the traditional panels and speakers, but the Friday will take a more casual spin with Moose Camp. I love that the schmoozing day comes before the conference day - it sets a different stage for the conference and should make for a more interactive conference altogether.

It’s probably the cheapest conference around. $30 per day or $50 for both days. Plus, you get to come to Vancouver, which is even better ;)

They are still seeking speakers (hopefully you’ll see me there) and panelists, as well as other sponsors (Qumana is stepping up for that).

So, go to Northern Voice. And we’ll meet you there :)

Technorati Tags: nv2006, norther nvoice, vancouver, conferences

How many posts have you written? Are you near or above 1000? Well, if you are, consider that a milestone worth celebrating. One blogger, Shai Coggins, has even started up a running tally of those who have passed this mark and created a button for people to use on their blog.

What does hitting 1000 posts mean?

Well, that you’ve spent many hours sitting at your computer.

No, really, it’s actually a milestone for many things. For dedication. For perseverance. For ignoring nasty comments. For tolerating spam. For developing relationships with readers. For forging bonds with customers. For listening. For thinking, reviewing, and posting.

For all the ups, the downs, and the long hours, it means you’ve stuck it out, gained your stride, and really started to see why blogging can bring personal satisfaction and business excellence.

For those of you who have made it thus far, congrats. Consider the next milestone at 5000 ;)

Have I made it? Of course. Cumulatively for all blogs, I’ve posted about 1500 articles and average around 15-25 posts per day.

Via Blog Business World

Technorati Tags: 1000 posts, 1000, blogging, blogs, bloggers, professional blogging, professional blogger

Seth Godin has a new eBook out now called “Who’s There?” - I’ve just downloaded it an plan on reading it, along with some of his other books I received from Gnomedex. I’ve read Godin before and always love his stuff - easy to read, sensible, and really makes you realize how simple solutions really are.

Who’s There is not an ebook about how to write better or how to follow the traditional conventions about formatting and building a blog. It’s not designed to sell you one service instead of another, either.

Instead, I divide the blog world into three groups and turn my attention to one. And in particular, I try to sell you hard on how building a blog asset can have a spectacular impact on you, your career, your organization and your ideas.

I promise this ebook is incomplete. I hope, though, that it encourages you to pay attention to some of the underlying forces at work online and off. And it’s small enough to email to your colleagues or to post on your own site. Hey, it’s free and it comes with its own carrying case.

Technorati Tags: seth godin, whos there, ebook, marketing, blogs, blogging

Not a big word person? Struggling to tag your content, add keywords, or define your categories?

Well, why not give the Keyword Phrase Building Tool a shot. I’ve tested it, and it’s good. All you do is enter some primary keywords, secondary keywords, and tertiary keywords. The closer to your main topic, the more primary the keyword. The tool then makes a whole ton of keyphrase combinations.

I’ve used it for a couple of my blogs very recently and I do have to say it’s been a great help in adding more specific and powerful tags to my repertoire.

In the future it will enable you to connect those phrases directly with AdWords campaigns, if you are an advertiser, via the Google API. For now, it’s still a powerful tool for advertisers and bloggers alike.

I have already added it to my to do list for the campaigns I have running in Google!

Via Search Engine Roundtable

Ok, you won’t be surprised if I put the “Dilbert Mission Statement Generator” on the “do not do this” list. However, you might be surprised that it actually does an ok job at it. I don’t suggest it, but here’s a taste.

Statement:

Our goal is to continually promote low-risk high-yield deliverables so that we may interactively negotiate principle-centered infrastructures in order to solve business problems

From:

quickly, proactively, efficiently, assertively, interactively, professionally, authoritatively, conveniently, completely, continually, dramatically, enthusiastically, collaboratively, synergistically, seamlessly, competently, globally

Not bad, hey?

Technorati Tags: dilbert, business, mission statements