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Stumbleupon is great. I cannot say that I have ‘met’ many people on stumbleup0n, but I have connected with people I met on other social networks. I learn alot about them through the types of stumbles they stumble. Stumblers are for the most part GREAT people.

That being said – let me give you a warning. Do you remember the DIGG fiasco of a few months ago? All of a sudden what seemed like hundreds of diggers were suddenly history – and the message they got: you are SUSPECTED of using a script to digg. OK – some newbees got canned too because they used the script advertised by a popular digger figuring it was OK since it was built on the digg API which was open to anyone. This popular digger did not intend to cause harm to other diggers, he thought he was helping them.

Further than the fact that DIGG suspended accounts due to SUSPECTED use, they also did not give anyone a change to redeam themselves. They did not give second chances, and did not listen if one said they were innocent. The axe fell.

I have heard that some of the DIGG management have moved into Stumbleupon. I do not know if it is true. But suddently in the past month, SU accounts have been put under review – which is the same as suspending them – for stumbling (discovering) their own work! It doesn’t matter if the site or post is worthy of a stumble, what matters is if the author discovered it.

What is the effect of this? Well – don’t discover your own posts. Don’t use the SU toolbar to share your discoveries with anyone. In fact, use the SU share very minimally, if at all. If you are in a social network forum, share your SU user names, but don’t share SU stumbles. And NEVER NEVER suggest discovering someone else’s post or site or photo, especially in exchange for them discovering one of yours.

One other NO NO. Don’t thumbs down anyone or report them if you want to stay on SU. It is way to easy for them and their friends to launch an attach on you and get you banned.

Where does that leave stumblers who want to not only enjoy SU, but also contribute? It leaves you in an underground situation. You can either put a notice on your site or blog begging someone to discover you, or you can get into a private email communication with other bloggers to ask them to stumble your works.

This leaves me in a quandary. I love Stumble Upon and I also love contributing to SU. Neither of these options above sound good to me. What do you think? And be careful. Big Brother may be monitoring.

If you have done anything with SEO on your web site or blog, you have heard about Links and link backs, and exchange links and the importance of linking to get a good SEO and hopefully a good page rank in the search engines.

There is nothing wrong with this.  I would suggest that if you exchange links you attempt to get one-way links as often as you can.  That simply means if  you have a blog you want someone to link to, offer to put a link from another one of your blogs to their blog.  That gives one-way links to both of you.

Here are some facts about linking I have learned:

1. One-way links give better credit than two-way
2. Links included in text, especially text that relates to the subject matter or keywords of your blog, give you more credit
3. Links in lists on a blog roll give you more credit than one listed in a blog post list of links simply because the blogroll usually appears on more than one page, thus count one for each page of the blog.
4. If you get a technorati account, technorati uses the incoming links to your blog to determine your authority.  Search engines pay attention to this.
5. Submitting posts to stumble upon, digg, redit, and a number of other high profile ‘news’ sites puts a link on that site to your site.  Can’t go wrong with that! And hopefully the submissions will bring traffic to your site also.

I have joined one group who suggested we all get technorati accounts and exchange ‘favs’ as well as links.  I have exchanged favs with some friends at technorati, but did nto think about item #4 above.  Thus, I have started a Link Luv page where I can put all my link exchanges.

Since I am a little picky, I do check out the links before putting them on my site.  I don’t need (and neither do you) to have a porn site linked to my blog – at least not from my site to theirs.  Search engines do notice that type of linking also.

That’s it for now.  And remember to give a little link luv through the day.

Having a blog on the Internet is great.  It is enjoyable.  But why do you have a blog on the Internet?  If it is your personal diary, why would you have it out there for everyone to see?

If you have a blog on the Internet, it is because you want people to see the blog, read it, and get something from it.  You may share your personal life experiences so others can find hope and help through reading it.  If you are selling something, you want them to read about what you are selling, see that it would be a help  in their life, and buy it.  If you are very knowledgeable in an area – an expert – you want to present this information and share it with others.

Your goal cannot be reached if the traffic, the other people on the Internet, can’t find your blog.  And to find your blog, they have to be looking for it.  So, if no one knows that your blog exists, why is it there?  That defeats your purpose.

In the brick and mortar world, how would you let people know your new store exists?  Signs, talking to people, leaving your business card, ads in the newspaper, on the radio, on the TV – these are some of the ways.

How can you do that on the Internet?  One way is to work your way up through the search engines.  If you do a search on the main point of your blog, you will find there are hundreds, even thousands, of sites listed there.  This is a little hard to climb through.  You could spend hundreds of dollars trying to purchase a more visible position and then still not get traffic.

One way to drop business cards on the Internet is to comment on other blogs with subjects that relate to yours.  Leave a link to  your blog – but don’t try to sell your blog.  Instead, make the link part of your signature.  Go into forums and do the same.

Another way is to make friends on the Internet.  Join Stumbleupon, Digg, Mixx, Delicious, Technorati, Twitter, Plurk, Blogcatalog – these are just a few of the social networks on the web.  Join in discussions, vote up others submissions, gather friends.  If you don’t believe this is powerful, try googling your name or online nickname after you  have been doing this a few months.  You will be surprised how many links you will find.

The more your name and URL is on the Internet, the more visible your site becomes.  The more trust you get from others and recognition of knowing what you are talking about, the more people will want to go to your site.

Just jump in and start joining.  A word of caution – watch what you disclosed about yourself personally.  And about what you leave as comments.  I guarantee there are things you don’t want published in a search engine when your name is googled.  Also bookmark your site URL where-ever you can.  Good luck!

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the social networking online that I don’t get my writing done.  Have you ever been in that situation?  I have been told one of the cures for that is to write several posts at once, then publish them later.

While this seems to be a good idea, I find that I write the posts, then schedule them, and then forget to continue to write posts even though I have some ahead.  For this blog, I use whatever is going on at the time, so it would be hard to write ahead.

My newest craze started yesterday with SezWho. I had a chance to get it with blogcatalog.com, but I didn’t understand what it was.  When entrecard announced it I finally got it.  So I registered all four of my blog sites.  I have been ‘meaning’ to get out there to some of my more favorite blogs and comment.  Since I am kind of a shy person (yes it is true), I have procrastinated.  At least this newest craze will help me get into the commenting habit.

Another new online activity I love is the HerProBlog.com social network I posted about in my last post.  The actual community blog is now live at HerProBlog.com.  Go check it out!  It looks great and promises to be one of the biggest resources for bloggers online.

I never could get into Twitter, but I love plurk.  I haven’t used it to share URL’s yet, but I love my dancing banana!!!   Be sure to look me up whenever you are there.

One craze I guess I must be a bit burned out on is Yahoo Answers.  I finally figured out how to use it and how to contribute quality to it.  It’s really not hard.  Due to my ’shyness’ I  haven’t ventured into forums yet.  I will get there.

Another good multi-author site is 5minutesforspecialneeds.com These authors write about their experiences with their special needs children and loved ones.  They offer hope and help.  They offer tips on how to handle situations, resources for information and help, and let other parents they are not alone.

My goal is to post here at least twice a week.  I hope you will visit and join in the 9 sites I mentioned above.  I think you will have fun with them.  What are some of your favorite places to spend time online?

These are exciting times online.  New opportunities are opening up for the social and the serious.  A new site -

HerProBlog.com is coming up soon for the professional blogging women with tips and discussions.  You can sign up for an email subscription now – don’t miss out on the opening!  Join the Women Bloggers Group now which is the social network for HerProBlog.com.  This is the opportunity to get in on the ground floor.  New members are being added daily.  And even though it is a women’s group, men are not banned.

The Women Bloggers Group is powered by Crowdvine.  You can interface with facebook to add your friends, and you can add your twitter stream.  Put your social bookmarking site or photo site to rss them.  And pick your favorite blog (we all have more than one, right  – OK, then put your one blog on it) to subscribe to.

Once you are settled in, go to HerProBlog.com and sign up for that subscription.  See ya’ll there!

]]> http://joyblogging.com/2008/07/a-new-woman-bloggers-community-herproblog/feed/ 2 http://joyblogging.com/2008/06/plurk-the-newest-thing-in-social-chat/ http://joyblogging.com/2008/06/plurk-the-newest-thing-in-social-chat/#comments Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:39:45 +0000 joyntheir http://guru-sites.com/joy-of-blogging/?p=27

Have you heard of Plurk?  I did and I joined.  It is really fun.  It is different enough to be confusing when you first join.  Start plurking, and you will see how fun it is!  A lot of tweeters, diggers, and stumblers are showing up, along with the blogcatalog members.

What makes plurk different is the time line.  It runs horizontally, appearing on a time line defined in 12 hour or 24 hour times.  The days are marked also.  The discussions can be read by clicking on a plurk.  The responses drop down with a space for you to add a plurk – with many fun emotions.  In fact, the more you plurk (without spamming) and the more friends you acquire, the more emotions and abilities you achieve.

If that isn’t enough, you can follow a person’s plurks without being their ‘friend’.  Thus you can join in the discussions and meet more people.  There is a link box on the left that shows how many response and plurks have been added since you last looked.  If you click on the ‘unread only’ you can find all the plurks with new responses.  Then you can click on mark all as read when you have viewed the ones you are interested in.

There is also a site that has a ‘Karma’ watcher, a plurktionary, and other fun things.  The plurk IM is non-functional at the moment until the bugs are worked out.  Remember, this is a new site.

Are you ready to join yet?  You don’t have to be a blogger or entrepreneur to join.

Help me get my dancing banana and my  guy hitting the other with a chair.  Click on this link and join me at plurk. You have nothing to lose, and you can be my plurk buddy!

OK, so I am now addicted to social web networks? Well, yes and no. Some are better than others. I have found a couple I really like. One of them is Blog Catalog. The folks there have quality blogs on a full variety of interests. There are groups which are there for any interest or objective you want. There are groups that support each other in other networks, there are groups that share tips on how to make your blog better, there are groups that just share on any subject.

Rather than being a place to submit your sites and posts and articles, this is a listing of all of your blogs (they have to be reviewed and accepted). You find other blogs you like and joint the neighborhood. You can add friends. And most members list the other networks they are a part of. That way you can find them on mybloglog, stumble, digg, technorati, and even entrecard – and a lot more.

Best thing is, if you don’t find a group for your specific interest, you can start a group. And you can announce it on the broadcast. You can even let people know your article, post, etc, is available to stumble or digg or bookmark or whatever. No one has to digg or vote for it – it is just an announcement so they can go look at it. Hopefully, many will find it good enough to give you a point.

So head on over to Blog Catalog and join in the fun now.

Being curious, when I started seeing the entrecard symbols on people’s blogs (mine is on Be The Weight You Want), I went to the site and joined. I found many unexpected benefits after joining.

1. Go to the site Powerdropping.com where you will find a list of 300 sites you can drop cards on in a short amount of time. Guess what? You will find a lot of interesting blogs you probably didn’t even know existed!

2. Go and advertise on others sites – check out the sites you decide to advertise on and see if it is one you would want it on, and also if you think people interested in that blog might click to see your blog. For my blog, I advertise on other health sites and fashion sites mostly.

3. Go to your ‘in’ box to see who dropped cards on your site. Be sure to reciprecate – visit their sites and drop cards. NOTE: you are only allowed 300 cards a day.

This reminds me of a scavenger hunt and a game like monopoly. You earn a credit per card dropped. you have to go to other blogs to drop them, and then the credits you earn, you spend to buy ads to get people to come to your blog. You also earn credits as others ‘buy’ads on your site. When someone wants to put their ad on your site, you can go see their blog and decide whether to let them or not. As you drop more cards and purchase ads, the cost to advertise on your site goes up. That gives you more credits, so you can advertise more, or purchase the higher costing spots.

If you also enroll at Blog Catalog, you will meet a lot of the same bloggers who are on Entrecard. But that’s another story

While stumbling around the net this week and dropping entrecards, I found another Social Network called Cafemom . They have profile pages, forums, message boards, and lots of mothers to interact with. They have journals, photo galleries, and a twitter type interface also.

It is “A Place for Moms: Stay in Touch with Friends, Make new Friends, Express Yourself.

If you are a Mom, head over there and check it out. No fees, just fun.

I think I have mentioned that I started all this blogging because I was looking for a way to supplement my income, both to pay off bills so I could retire and to supplement my retirement income. I believe I am now an official web addict.
If anyone thinks that online business is a spare time project, forget it. Maybe after you have become rich and have a thousand sites out there, but even then you have to stay up with the times. Reading, socializing, revising, researching, writing. These all take time and a lot of it.

I am lucky. I really enjoy this. I am learning something new, plus to be a success, I have to learn even more. I was correct – my previous experience in web site building as a novice. my knowledge of the various PC applications, and my use of the internet searching for products and for information all gave me a basic knowledge. What I am learning now is overwhelming. I can only imagine what it is to people who don’t have that background – not that it cannot be done successfully.

What amazes me is the amount of knowledge of the Internet and its world to absorb. Each search engine, each social site, each bookmarking site, each feeder site, has its own personality. It’s like going from city to city or learning to ride a bike, drive a car, drive a tracker, etc.

If my blog starts to look more like an advertisement, this blog really isn’t. I do get excited and want to share things with other. Things that impress me, or things I think others will like. It’s a deviation from my original intent. Maybe not. This blog is an outlet for me about things I am interested in and things that matter to me.

If any of you are on the web 2.0 sites like Digg, Facebook, Stumbleupon, Mixx, BlogCatalog, redit, myplace, etc, look me up. I am usually under the handle of Joyntheir.

I wrote a blog about shopping on line. I really do like the opportunity to buy online. I still love to shop, but after I do, I can look online for the products I like and even the size I like. And comparison shop for the best price for the quality.

In crossing stitch, I like to look on line for 2 reasons. One is that there are many more patterns to look at – more choices to find the exact perfect project. The other is that there are not very many places in our town to shop at for cross stitch or embroidery. Most of the stores like Walmart just have a token spot. Hobby stores have a larger selection, but seem to stick to a half a dozen venders. On line, the choice is much larger. I am excited about my project to open another site for cross stitch, embroidery, and more. Just think how many embroidery machines you can look at on one site. A brick and mortor store could never afford to keep stock of all the brands and models out there.

Christmas – a time of tradition – a time of joy – a time for memories – a time for memory making. I really have to get going on making Christmas stockings for each of my grandchildren. ’til next time – stay happy and safe.