The Art of Getting What You Want in the Blogosphere

Image by Mexicanwave via Flickr

In this post I'm going to tell you how I get what I want in the blogosphere. My needs are modest - you maybe lusting after something completely different - but the same principle may apply. So hold on and listen.

My blogging needs are simple -

1. Readers - Check
2. Engaged Readership - Check
3. Blogging Buddies - Check
4. Recognition - Check
5. Self-hosted WordPress blog - Check. [Note: Please bear with my false alarms. We're working on it.]

Getting readers

I did not get my readers by sitting on my ass all day marveling how powerful my latest post is. I get them myself by actively seeking them. I read both high trafficked blogs and those with only a handful of readers. True, I have a bias for blogs with large, bustling readership, but my heart beats as well for those who have only their mothers for a reader. I know how hard it is keep on blogging with no one giving you an encouraging pat in the back. I want my new found friend to remember me "as that guy who'd been there with me when no one else believed in me." Sweetness!

Promote your buddies with FriendFeed

When a visitor reads my post and leaves a comment, I check out his blog. Who is this guy? What does he need? How best to talk with him? Those are my concerns.

Now, this is very important. If he has a brilliant post, I leave a comment. And I share his post in FriendFeed. Why FriendFeed? Because it's the best social media aggregator there is - it pulls in your subscriptions to the various social media sites. If you want to simplify and make productive use of your social media presence, I recommend using Friendfeed.

So what, you say. Do you know that once I share your masterpiece in Friendfeed your post appears simultaneously not only in FriendFeed but also in my Facebook page and Twitter? If only two tweeters retweet what I've posted you've just gained possible eyeballs for your post. But what if an uber blogger retweets what I've shared? Think big - think Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, or Darren Rowse. Can you imagine the ripple effect of that single benevolent action?

About FriendFeed:

1. You can sign up for FriendFeed account or use it by signing in with your Facebook, Twitter, and Google account. Here's a link to answers to your other FriendFeed related questions

2. For easier sharing of post in FriendFeed use a FriendFeed bookmarklet and drag it to your web browser. With FriendFeed bookmarklet you can both share the post and a picture to go with it at the same time. Nifty, huh?

Note: If you think the blog author is not that social media savvy, you can tell him nicely that you've shared his post in the social media. Don't twist his arm and make him believe he owes you. That's bad form. Just say you're so pleased with the quality of his post that sharing it with others is the least you can do to repay him. Or something similar.

Giving incentives is a powerful blogging strategy

Giving incentive to readers is a fail-safe blogging strategy. You condition them that there's something in it for them when they visit you. Do it often. It's the best way to win their affection.

If my visitor prefers to lurk in my blog and refuses to drop a comment, I have no beef against that. Suit yourself, amigo. But let me tell you, I'm going to visit your blog, read your post and leave a comment. I'd break the ice. Get comfy with me. You're in good hands, buddy.

Cultivating engaged readership

You want an engaged readership? Be accessible. Get down from your ivory tower and talk with your readers. Spar with them in contentious issues - but be civil. It pays to be humble. It pays to show you're not Mr. Know-It-All. And that you're willing to learn from your readers.

They want banter? Give them fun. They want high brow conversations? Then engage them with your lofty thoughts and expertise. They need help? Help them - if you can't - find somebody who will. Being useful to them means you are -

1. ready to give them the gift of your time.

2. sensible enough to concede that sometimes your conversation with your readers is the main event in your blog. It's the star of the show. Not your post. Not even you - you're just the busboy that wheels in the topic of the day. Live with it.

Put your best blogging foot forward

Winning friends is an art form. There's no cut and dried formula to it. In my post Top 10 List of Influential Blogs of 2009, I said that to get what you want you've to ask for it. Clarification: this call to action is best said in your own blog - get your readers to do something for you. They most likely will because they like you in the first place.

But when you're out there getting readers, you had better be on your toes. Be subtle in your approach. Check out the profile of the author, observe how he handles his own readers, dig into his archives to see what makes him tick. Knowing these is essential so you will know how best to conduct yourself in his blog.

Bring out your best social media ninja moves

It maybe tough. You maybe intimidated with his erudition. But guess what - you have not come empty handed, right? So bring out your gifts. If he's really that good - well, be generous with your social media gifts. Tweet about him, give him a thumbs up or a review in StumbleUpon, bookmark his post in Delicious or in Digg, promote it in Yahoo Buzz, share it in Facebook.

If he knows what's good for him and his blog, he'd remember you. Visit him next time and repeat the process. Wear him down with your Mother-Teresa-meet-Chris-Brogan style of blog promotion and you'd most likely win a friend.

The art of getting recognition

Being cited as one of the Top 10 Influential blogs is cool. Makes your heart beat a little faster, right? Here are my marching orders for my top 10 nominees:

1. If the blog post is good, promote it in Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, and other social media you're comfortable with. Make it a part of your routine.This is a must.

2. If the blog post is average and you fear that posting it to your social media sites will irk your friends there, don't. What to do? Engage the blog author by leaving a wonderful comment. This means you don't show off your expertise. Express your thoughts in such a way that you make your comment contribute positively to his post. It's his show - make the author shine.

3. Subscribe to the comment feed. The author most likely will reply to you, or even his readers. You will never know that unless you're subscribed. Remember you're not only there to win over the blog author but his readers as well.

4. If you fail to get the nod of the blog author, keep at it. With all due respect to Janette Toral and her great writing project, it's just that at the end of the day: a writing project. You might not get the vote, but hey, guess what - gun instead for the ultimate prize: the respect of the blog author and the admiration of his followers. You're in blogging for the long haul, aren't you?

The blogosphere owes you nothing

In a nutshell, my point is this: To get ahead in the blogosphere you need to stop acting with a sense of entitlement. You maybe brilliant, you maybe pedigreed, you may have come from the perfumed set of society, but you're nothing. The blogosphere owes you nothing.

Be useful, helpful, and generous instead and watch your readership and sphere of influence explode.

Over to you, guys. What do you think of my master plan? Am I too full of myself in this post? Let's share insights.

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Tags: blogging tips, blogging promotion, social media, FriendFeed, getting readers to your blog

Grow Your Blog's Reach By Guest Posting

Image by rita banerji via Flickr

Here's another valuable way to attract readers to your blog: guest posting.

When you let a fellow blogger guest posts for your blog, you open your blog to new readers. Your guest writer has a blog community behind him or her. When you allow a fellow blogger to hold court in your own home, guess who'll be knocking at the door to check out what's up. Yes, it's the guest writer's friends, online buddies, fans and hangers-on.

The good thing about this is that the benefits are mutual. You both help each other out.

And it's not all about the return on investment for the blog owner and the guest writer. Think of the friendship being forged and cemented. These buddies will be there for you when the going gets rough farther down the road. I just hope you hold your end of the bargain when your blogging buddies need you.

So what's the latest? Let me invite you to check out the guest posts of our own friends:

1. Holly of Do I Have to Spell It Out? has a guest post in Elmot's Ani-mo: Don't Tell Me I Don't Value My Family!

2. Dan Miranda of Command Your Time has appeared in Darren's TwiTip: How to Avoid Making Twitter a Procrastination Tool

3. Sean of WriterDad has guest posted for diTesco: Make Money Online the Get Rich Slowly Way

4. George of Tumblemoose has featured Sharon Hall: Six Tips to Avoid Being an Overworked Writer

Go now, kids. Just say Grandpa Jan sent you.

And please greet my great friend Roy. It's his birthday today. Happy Birthday, Roy!

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I Have a Confession to Make...

Image by Leeni! via Flickr

And I'm sorry for keeping things from you.

Let me, however, start by quoting Woody Allen. He says eighty percent of success is showing up. What's this got to do with my secret? Bear with me as I meander for a while.

Where are we exactly? Yeah, about showing up. I have taken that to heart. I show up every day to write. Even when I'm not scheduled to write I show up. To listen to what you've to say. To read your latest posts. And of course to have fun while doing other blogging chores.

Showing up and the compulsion to write

Success is a good thing, but I'm more after the process - to perfect the system of my blogging routine. I need it to be a compulsion and to make it as fundamental as breathing and eating.

Wait - we're getting to the good part. Almost there.

What do you think makes up the other twenty percent? Passion? Could very well be.

When luck comes in handy

How about luck? Here it is - my little secret.

Luck has dealt me a generous card last May 2. Here's the deal: I won Rocky's WordPress blog contest.

This means I'd have a WordPress blog running on Thesis theme anytime soon. This also means I don't have to run around sa labas ng Mandaluyong anymore as I'd have a new home with my own domain name.

Thank you, guys

Let's stop the chest-thumping for now. Let me thank the following persons who made this possible:

1. Rocky of WeBlogZone for holding this contest. I'd also like to say thanks to his four friends who helped him pick the winner - John, Rob, Gigi and Pete.

And my friends who refused to join the contest to give me a better chance at winning:

2. Yatot and Elmot - for pointedly giving way so I'd have a fair shot at this.

3. Joji - who thinks tending to her carabao is far more important.

4. Lemuel - can't take his eyes off environmental issues to bother with blog contests.

5. Adrian - who'd rather obsess with cinematic art.

6. Jade - who can't be peeled from his new video blogging. thing

7. Earthlingorgeous - who threatened to join, couldn't wait and moved house all in the same breath.

8. DeepThroat - who offered free webhosting for my blog way before I joined Rocky's blog contest. I had to ask for more time since I decided to try my luck with this contest. DeepThroat is kind enough to assure me if I did not win our deal is still on. Thank you, DT for your generosity and understanding - even though I demoted you to Plan B.

9. DiTesco - for your brain-friendly SEO tips and most surprisingly your generous invitation. He asked me to consider him as my Plan C.

10. To all of you for wishing me well and keeping me less jittery these last few days. You all rock!

Domain name suggestions

Darn. I still have some problems with my domain name. Should I use my name as my domain name? Will keywords relevant to writing, blogging and the social media be more appropriate?

I'm open to your suggestions. I'm thinking of using my tagline: writing to exhale. Do you like it? Isn't it a tad obscure? I'd be happy to hear your suggestions. Anything. Be thoughtful. Be ridiculous. I'll consider everything you'd say.

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30 Blogging Tips, Links and Social Media Resources

Image by churl via Flickr

Here is a list of 30 hot tips, links, blogging and social media resources I've found on the web for your reading pleasure.

Best writing tips. The bottom line is that we need to be good writers to be read. I've skimmed the cream of the crop in writing and I've stumbled into Skellie, Terry and George.

1. How to Write Like a Painter
2. Aesthetic Poets and "To Thine Own Self Be True"
3. Your Writing is Killing Your Writing

What's hot right now. The sad thing about Philippine blogosphere is that some of us get off on assigning derogatory labels to our fellow bloggers who don't fit into our pet notions of class and what constitutes accomplished blogging. Here's Janette and Reyna Elena to give you the lowdown on this pesky issue. To make up for the heavy feeling you might have after checking out these links, I reward you with Holly's useful and humorous post on blog commenting.

1. Politics of Blogging
2. Are You Serious Carlo Ople?
3. Blog Comments: Conversation or Junk Mail?

Most viewed in this blog. In case you're slacking off, I'm giving you a recap of what Google Analytics says are the most read posts in this blog in April.

1. The Lost Art of Being Silly
2. CommentLuv Plugin for Blogspot Users
3. The Secret to Earning a Good StumbleUpon Review

Best blogging tips. Skellie, Daniel and Marko all conspire here to help you raise your blog to the next level.

1. 5 Content Strategies That Top Bloggers Use + 3 Things That Set Them Apart
2. Calculus of Blogging: The Whys and Hows of Blogging Success
3. 6 Steps to Make Your Blog Visitors Loyal Commentators

11 SEO power tools and 34 nifty techniques. We can't avoid being our own handyman in our own blog. We have to if we're into blogging for the long haul.

1. 33 Foolproof Headline Writing Strategies
2. 11 Tools for Effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO Tools)
3. A Headline Title Trick to Maximize Social and SEO Traffic - the One-Two Punch


Making heads and tails of the social media. Some useful read to help you manage the surfeit of social media sites you're subscribed to. Plus a valuable post on Friendfeed as the social media aggregator to beat.

1. Eight Forms of Social Media Depression: Are You Suffering?
2. Friendfeed as a Productivity Tool
3. Five Ways To Take Control of Your Personal Brand Today

Twitter: What can I say except that whenever social media is mentioned I snap to attention and burst into melodic tweets. Ahem.

1. The Science of Retweets
2. Twitter is the New Recess
3. How to: Get Twitter Tweets on Your Cell Phone

StumbleUpon. My original Significant Other. I've known it long before I joined blogging. Always has a special place in my heart.

1. How to Get the Most Out of StumbleUpon
2. How to Use StumbleUpon: A Step by Step Guide
3. A Comprehensive Guide to StumbleUpon: How to Build Massive Traffic to Your Website


Facebook: It's currently going after Filipino account users on suspicion that their user names are fake. No mystery there - Filipinos love nicknames with repeating syllables: Tonton, Jayjay, Leklek, and so on. These are not fake names, Mattt. Oh Facebook, you're so clueless. Never mind, we still love you.

1. How to Create and Promote Your Facebook Fan Page
2. 10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know
3. 10 Facebook Tips for Power Users

Digg: I can't stand the verbal abuse in Digg. Its comment section is not for the fainthearted. Tread slowly and carry a taser to protect yourself if you can't help lusting the rewards of Digg anointment.

1. Beginner's Guide to Digg
2. How to Play the Odds Game and Win with Digg
3. How to Level the Playing Field with Digg

Over to you, guys. Care to share valuable links and blogging resources you've stumbled into the last few days?

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The Lost Art of Being Silly

Image by Sebastián-Dario via Flickr

Melvin who writes about affiliate marketing, blogging and SEO has an interesting post in which he said that "replying to every comment is silly."

This post of course takes the contrary view. I don't find it silly replying to every comment made on my blog. Secondly, I'm a little peeved that my supreme silliness is being celebrated on another blog without at the very least inviting me as a guest of honor.

Levity aside, here are Melvin's main points:

1. Not all comments add value. Some are just spammy one-liners with a convenient link to the commenter's blog.

2. 85% of commenters just leave comments and go, without bothering to check if there are replies to the comments they left.

3. Blog writers' replies to comments inflate the number of comments made on the post.

4. Not every post deserves a comment and even those popular posts - example, a post about announcement of blog contest can generate hundreds of comments - do not reflect the popularity of the blog itself.

For the record, Melvin is a personable young blogger and he replies to comments left on his blog 15 - 35 % of the time. By the way, Melvin celebrated his birthday the other day and launched a blog contest to commemorate the occasion. You still have time to join his contest so pay Melvin a visit.

Why I reply to every blog comment

The first two months of my blogging had been a very lonely experience. I wrote every day and there was nobody around to read them. It did not matter that I opened a vein and smudged it on my post. It did not matter that I spent hours checking if my subject and verb agreement matched. But I stayed the course. It's a blessing that I've written before and I'm not exactly a stranger to being alone.

Here's a fine example of my anxiety as a blogger with no reader. Note the thinly veiled desperation in that early post.

I remember my first commenter. He's an American. Of course, I yelled "yesss! yesss! yesss!" while dancing the dance of joy - a silly little affair, so don't ask. It took me several minutes to contain my excitement. I felt like I should take a bath first, wear suitable clothes before I could even begin to compose my reply.

I seemed to have passed this phase in every new blogger's life when there seems no one around to keep you company. It's a baptism of fire. There's no getting around it. And quite necessary too because if you can survive the loneliness you're likely to survive pretty much else.

And yet I reply to every single comment because it's the decent thing to do. Turning my back on them while they're talking is not polite. I know how it is to be alone and I'll never let my guests feel that in my blog.

Blog comments are gifts of time and time is priceless

Call it silly, but I still feel giddy every time a reader leaves a comment. I still reply to them, secretly admiring the guts it takes to overcome their shyness. I feel awe that they will gift me with a few minutes of their precious time. They are being generous -

* Sharing personal experiences which under ordinary circumstances I'm not likely to hear about

* Pointing an important idea I may have missed

* Advising me to consider the contrary view

* Telling me I'm cool, helpful, or a pain in the ass - okay, that doesn't happen yet.

* Discussing with me ideas so candidly that they are almost blog posts unto themselves

* Lifting a veil so I can fill some gaps in their knowledge, implying I can help them.

* Dropping by to say hello and pretty not much else, which by the way all great friends do.

When blog comments become the main event

I'm humble enough to recognize that sometimes the blog comments can become the main event in my blog. The post - my post - is just a curtain-raiser, or a waiter presenting a menu for the guests to look at. I'm not sure if it has happened yet to my blog, but if it does, I'd pay it no mind. I'm big and old enough to merge behind the curtains.

I can be only be proud when blog comments - not my voice, not my post - become this blog's moveable feast. Just saying.

Dealing with spam comments and inflated comment count

Some comments are dressed up in fine clothes but if you look hard enough they're nothing but spam. That's tough, but I have no reservation in deleting them, although I've yet to exercise that right. But I will wield it.

And I'm not worried about my comments bloating the comment count on every post. Who's asking? Who's checking? I'm not worried about it - it's my blog after all.

"I just wanted to be liked for something that is uniquely me."

If guests leave a comment and never come back it's not their fault. They have no obligation to do that. It's enough for me they have come and shared a moment of their precious time. That's still a gift to me.

It all boils down to why I blog. And it's this - I write because I need to reach out. My posts are my hands extended to fellow travelers. Will they shake them? Will they clasp them warmly?

It's an act of faith on my part. It's also a naked plea to be liked. David of Blogger Dad said it best:

Part of it is curiosity about you, getting to know others, learning new things. But I must confess that part of it is also ego. I’d like to think I was above such things as selfish as ego. But, I’m not. I want to write things that you enjoy. As I wrote in a prior post, I want to create worlds where people will lose themselves. In the end, I guess, I just want to be liked for something that is uniquely me.

Building relationships is far more important

Replying to every post takes away precious time that can be better spent on other important blog activities. Maybe so. But what's more important than building relationship with readers and fellow writers? I'm looking at it for the long haul.

1. These are the people I want to grow up with. If I succeed, I'd take them with me. If I lag behind and lose heart I certainly hope they will remember their old buddy.

2. These are the people that I will tirelessly talk about in Twitter, in StumbleUpon, in my posts, in my private emails to somebody else, in my real life conversations. Because they rock.

3. These are the people that stand by me and are nice and can survive an occasional nonsense post from me. I will stand by them and be nice and by God will love them even if they spout nonsense.

The lost art of being nice

Here's George's fantastic article about the art of being nice . George who pens Tumblemoose said that being "nice does not mean spineless." Isn't he a genius or what. Here's an important part of that statement -

Being nice does not mean hiding under a cover, not poking your head up lest you offend someone. Being nice is a mindset that allows you to appropriately respond to others in a manner that results in positive outcomes. Not every result will be sunshine and roses, but if you are nice then you held up your end of the bargain.

And when lightning strikes?

Of course, lightning can strike my blog at any point in the future and from the ashes may rise a blog so famous it has 400 comments for every post. Yeah, yeah. Humor me now, okay? But in case shit happens - what to do? How to be nice then?

I don't know, to be honest about it. That's all conjecture for now. But I'm sure my friends - my think tank - will be able to help me grapple with that nightmare if it comes.

But for now my role is cut out for me. I'm comfortable being nice and a little silly.

Of course, I'm curious and would like to know how you deal with your own visitors. Do you reply to every comment left on your blog? Why or why not?

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Kick Ass Blog Tip: Demystify Blogging with Bloggity

News Flash: Reader Terry Heath has a new virtual baby and it's about simple blog tips.

Yeah, right. Just another generic blog obsessing about meta blogging.

Ding, ding. Guess what, Terry Heath is not a snake oil salesman out to separate you from your wallet. Gosh, no. He's a writer. Period. Meta blogs on blogging can induce brain paralysis at worst. At the minimum, they drive you up the wall or induce you to sleep. Not Terry, I assure you.

For example. Go check out his blog tips. I don't know about you, but here's the best example of using fiction technique to make your post truly sizzle. His writing is crisp, lucid, and humorous.

When you're done with that, let me send you on another expedition. Here's the thing. Visit his flagship blog on creative writing . Mosey around his blog, read and learn, and leave a comment like a good visitor. It has taken me a while to leave a comment, I admit. But only because there are lots of lovely celebs drinking tea and nibbling bagels in Terry's blog. It takes me a while to stop being star-struck and find affinity with the likes of Count Sneaky and Tumblemoose, among others. And you will because Terry presides over his blog community with an even hand and healthy dose of humor.

Just take a look at Terry's About Page - the best one I've read in a long time. To fully appreciate what makes it outstanding, please read it in its entirety. Here's a snippet:

My name is Terry Heath. I am a MFA candidate in Creative Writing and live on the scenic Key Peninsula in the Puget Sound region near Seattle, where I also raise and show designer-label pygmy goats. I have a llama, a shih-tzu and a cat.

Such an esteemed company, Terry. Now, I know where you get your writing mojo.

Over to you, guys. Discovered an inspiring blog author lately? Kindly tell us in the comment section why he or she inspires you so all us here can benefit from your recommendation.

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Photo: Guacamole Goalie

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10 Reasons Why My Father Could Have Been an Uber Blogger

There's an uber blogger in my family and it's not me. My father might have been the resident uber blogger and could have given Darren Rowse a run for his money. Here's why:

1. Respect and love for language. He knows English like the back of his own hand. And functional Spanish. And a host of dialects native to the Philippines.

2. Voracious appetite for reading. Where do you think I got my passion for reading? The old man can read me under the table any time of day.

3. Go to guy. He can take on any job. He's a farmer, stevedore, photographer, diarist, craftsman, carpenter, event organizer, fisherman, life of the party, and a great husband. He can draw from all these experience to enrich his writing. Blogging is a walk in the park for him.

4. People skills. He's great at networking. Give him five minutes of your time and he'd chart your family tree for you. He simply knows everybody.

5. Eye for photography. Okay, except for the initial mishap of ordering a camera which turned out was for aerial photography and thus utterly useless for him, he'd actually earned a living from his exploits in photography.

6. Generosity. He can be counted on to give the shirt off his back. Back in the old days, he had even given a piece of land in exchange for a pair of sandals for my mother. Of course, inflation was unheard of in those days.

7. Open mind. It's not enough our house is open for all cousins and friends who needed help. His mind is sturdy and wide enough to accommodate new and even conflicting ideas.

8. Optimism. I remember the time when I committed a grave error. Horrible personal story, this. So I'm not prepared yet to share it. But instead of giving me hell, my father had this to say to me: "Remember this, son, you're the apple of my eye." Since then I've mended my ways because I don't want to dishonor him.

9. Humility. I think of my father as a Renaissance man. He's all these things and more, but it's not in him to rub it in. He and Darren Rowse would have gotten along like a house on fire.

10. Persistence. He can apply himself to new concepts of doing things. Nothing fazes him. Okay, there's one exception. When my mother died, my father followed 15 days after. Cannot bear the thought of mother being out there all alone. That's my old man.

You're not here anymore, father. But you've left me a legacy that will serve me well in blogging. I will do my darn best not to disappoint you.

And hey, old man. Happy birthday! It's a pity I have not said this to your face when you're still here. But for once let me shout it out: I love you, man.

But don't go fetch me yet. I still have a blog to keep.

Photo: David Hensen

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Blogging Tip: How To Build Your Personal Brand

Image by bdgamer via Flickr

If you suppress your inner snark in your own blog in a noble attempt to be the voice of reason, calm, poise, and what-not there's a danger this two-headed beast might surface elsewhere. This is what happened to me two days ago

First, let me start by summing up how I think I conduct myself in this blog. As your host, I strive hard to write in a friendly tone. I believe setting the right tone in your blog encourages the readers to leave helpful comments. In instances when they are critical of your views, the tone of your post generally influences readers to temper their objections with reason and fairness.

Value of Blog Commenting in Personal Branding

It's been said too that once you go out and participate in other blogs' discussion you strengthen or sully your personal brand the way you write your comments. I forget this great lady blogger who said this, but it was she coined this phrase: your comments are your little passports. What you dropped as comments can reinforce what you've carefully built as your personal brand or destroy it in a flash.

Now back to the story. You might have heard about the venerable Hongkong journalist Chip Tsao who summarily insulted the Philippines as a nation of servants in an article he passed as off as satire. Online buddy Mizdi sent me a tweet about her post tackling the slight against overseas Filipino workers.

Danger: Tangent Ahead

I was passing my time in Twitter during that time, building up my followers list. Which meant I was trying hard to keep up with internet marketers who followed me. In real life, these are people who knock on your door and try to sell you something. In real life, of course you can slam the door in their face and feel better for it. Today, they are in Twitter and other social media in full force.

They are the good guys now, doing their legwork in the internet. Usually, they have dollar signs as user names so you will not miss the message. They are dying to make you filthy rich. You only have to watch this video, or read that sales pitch in their blogs. And you're all set to help unlock the secrets in getting your first million.

And then there are internet marketers who will make you a renaissance man if you so much as let them breathe down your neck. You know the type - the ones who will make you reach your full potentiality as a human being.

This is my frame of mind when I arrived at Mizdi's blog - excited to get my millions and almost sold on making myself a better man. And then I read Mizdi's post on Mr. Chip Tsao's tirades against overseas Filipino workers . Pfft goes my dream. Come to think of it, just throw in a little pompadour and I may have blossomed to be Donald Trump in a few months. I might have also achieved the stature of Steven Spielberg, but alas to an Asian brother named Chip Tsao I'm just a bloke from a long illustrious line of nannies. The Philippines is a nation of servants, he said.

Here comes Mr. Snark

Naturally, I wrote my comments on Mizdi's post with righteous indignation and solemnly advised Mr. Tsao to stick his satire in a place where the sun never shines.

And this is not the first time. Previously, I had brandished a palapa (dried coconut frond) in the air and warned Mr. Tsao not to come within spitting distance of this blogger or else I'd flog him with it. You can find my comments against Mr. Tsao's racist remarks in Elmot's post on the apology issued by the Hong Kong magazine which published Mr. Tsao's article. It had also taken down the article.

Mr. Chip Tsao had since apologized. I wish there's a metric for this but I'd like to know which tipped the balance for this development. Is it the threat to Mr. Tsao's pale little ass or is it the imagined whack from a lowly palapa that did the trick? I will never know, but I can live with that.

So, you see, dear Petit, I'm not exactly a nice person. I can also be snarky and can be counted upon to parade around the blogosphere with something sticking up my ass, if that's not too gross a description for you.

Be True to Yourself

In balance, I may have soiled my little passport with my candid but unfortunate comments, but hey, read my lips: so what!

Truth to tell, however, I feel I'm just being true to myself. If there's one thing to take away from this post it is to embrace your authentic self. I have vague feelings about this, but since discovering Terry Heath I have since felt braver in being foolish. Terry says:

Embrace all the varied and wonderful things that make you unique and unleash that on the world, even if you feel foolish. Your right people will find you if you’re not hiding behind something else, something that isn’t really you. Then sit back and don’t worry about what will come; the right things will come along with the right people. Just let your creative spirit go skipping down the halls, if that’s what it needs to do.

This will serve me well in my writing and blog commenting. Conventional wisdom has it I put my best foot forward. Up to a point. To show your vulnerability as a human being is not so bad. And that includes baring your fangs when the occasion calls for it.

But since you're here in my esteemed presence, notwithstanding my Mr. Goody Two-Shoes airs, I urge you to be your usual agreeable self. Biting each others head off here is still not allowed. Of course I can be arbitrary about this as this is my blog. If you feel much put upon and need to vent please go satisfy your blood lust in some dark alley, okay?

Now, over to you, guys. Two questions for you: How do strengthen your personal brand? And how do you rein in your inner snark to keep your online reputation intact?

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Tags: blogging tip, Twitter, personal branding, blog commenting

Leaving Behind My Dog Days as a Blogger

Image via Wikipedia

In this post, I'd tell you a little story about our dog Ditton. How fearful she is about bathing and how this relates to me as newbie blogger.

First things first, Ditton is an askal. A local variety of dog common in the streets in the Philippines. Pedigreed or not, the summer heat beats down on all of us. Today being a Sunday I have scooped Ditton up from his doghouse to give her a bath. She resisted me and wailed for all she's got - you would have thought I'd been prepping him up for dinner.

I suffered scratches from all her flailing about. She made up for all the aggravation when she licked me all over after I was done bathing her.

I'm telling you this little story because this was how I used to feel on my scheduled posting day. I used to drag my ass to the desktop to get my post done. Must be stage fright - the thought of a global audience can freeze any timid soul. And the peanut gallery might not take kindly to my half-baked ideas. Those kind of silly fears.

Four months hence, I'm eying deadlines with a lot less fear and irritation. I have hit my blogging rhythm. There's nothing like a supportive community of readers to keep you going. Even on my non-blogging days I feel an unexplained hunger to dash off a few notes to my readers. Blog post ideas swirl thickly about my head in my work and even when I try to sleep. I've even dreamed about writing risque posts and be laughed at out loud in the social media.

Have I tamed the online beast?

Not quite. But I have learned to work around it to get things done.Don't look now, but I have won over my habit of checking my AdSense earnings every single day - I haven't looked in the last two months. I can't give up checking Google Analytics though. If I do, how else will I find out that a lot of you, dear readers, are driving modest traffic to my blog. You not only fulfill my need for conversations, but you're also sending warm bodies to this quiet blog. Thank you, thank you.

To this day, I still haven't lifted a finger to understand SEO and all that mumbo jumbo so I will be loved by Google. Of course, Google still doesn't love me. I'm grateful, however, for some unexpected morsels that dropped my way from the bounteous Google table. It has rewarded me with a Page Rank 2.

I'm as perplexed as you are, my friends. Perhaps it's Google way of saying I had better stay put in Blogger? Whatever, Matt. Just a thought: I would have a made a post myself had I got a Page Rank 0 - that it's no skin off my nose. Just want to make that clear. I'm capable of that, too.

I have learned to value what is essential to my blogging. Frankly, I don't live for these metrics. I have found my self-worth on the things I write about and the conversations that spring from them. There's value in those interaction. I'd rather write for you. I have no love lost for a machine no matter how semantically gifted its algorithm may be.

Clarity of purpose. I started this blog writing on whatever caught my fancy. Three months hence, I have narrowed my focus on three things: writing, blogging, and the social media. Who knows much farther down the road I'd train my sights on a few more, or lose one or the other. The essential thing is that I write about things that make my heart leap to my throat, right?

At the core of the things I love is writing. We have a tenuous hold on life in this planet, living as we are on borrowed time. I just hope that in this short stint it will have been said - in my lifetime - that writing defines me. It's all I ask.

Sean Platt who writes posts as perfect as a boquet of flowers has this to say about writing:

Language is the landscape, populating the white space of an otherwise empty page. Our ideas are the seeds we plant and our words are the blossoms in spring time.

For the rest of this blog's natural life, I'd do my best to be more lucid as a writer. Like Sean. Because I'd like to gift you with those blossoms in spring time, too. Failing that, I'm not above dragging myself like I did to our dog Ditton for a quick dip to clear the cobwebs in this aging brain.

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Tags: blogging, writing, social media, Twitter

Give Me an Insightful Comment and I'll Promote You to Front Page

The previous post was a curious case of a comment that got promoted to the front page of this blog.

Several readers thought I wrote the previous post. I would love to pass it off as mine, but it's written by Adrian who ditched his dream of becoming a Filipino Fyodor Dostoevsky just so he can be an accomplished film critic. He may now sport a keen sensibility and air of high culture befitting a lover of high cinema, but I will not risk a scene here. We don't want a half-mad Raskolnikov - who knows for sure he's gone from Adrian's psyche? - trashing the furniture around here, let me tell you.

It's actually my fault. You're so used to hearing me from my bully pulpit. I should have prepared you in my earlier posts.

So Why Feature a Guest Post?

No, it's not a lazy blogger's way to fill his blog with content. Guest posts inject new voice in the conversations going on in any blog community. A fresh point of view - you can do no wrong with that. It defeats the likelihood of your blog community resembling an echo chamber.

I'd like to believe you're not reading this blog because of my personality. I recognize my skewed point of view somehow colors and determines how the posts here are shaped, but I trust you're here because of the content. And the discussion that these posts provoke. A more levelheaded voice - your voice - therefore will be to everyone's benefit.

Last month I suffered a mild case of writer's block. Remember? I invited several of you dear readers to submit a post here. You begged off. I understand your reluctance. I'm thinking of pitching a post to more well known bloggers myself, but I keep putting it off. I need more time. Lots of research. The usual excuses.

So when Adrian left a comment that obviously he gave a lot of himself into, I decided a simple thank you was not enough. I wrote him to tidy up what he wrote (We're all instant geniuses at 2:00 am after all). He did, adding a few relevant points. And so my first guest post came to be.

Thanks Adrian.

One more pitch for guest post. If you have a post feel free to submit it. Some ground rules:

1. It must be original. If you're bouncing off another blogger's post you have to put in the necessary credit or attribution.

2. It's best if you stick to topics that I get off on: writing, blogging, and technology

3. Not too spammy. I'd give two links to your site in the introduction. A relevant link in the body that points to your own post is all right. More than that and you'd have to ship me a Kindle2 e-reader.

4. There's no compensation, but every time I see you you'll get the red carpet treatment: Will wag my tail fiercely whenever I see you coming and slaver you up properly. Fair enough?

Of course you need not be regular reader or visitor here to contribute. You're all welcome.

Thank you Jena Isle for inviting me to guest post in your blog. Jena is interested in your contributions - inspirational stories, poems, articles and even drawings. This will be later compiled in a book. No compensation for now, but you get 5,000 Entrecard credits and a copy of the book. Plus you get your picture splashed on her pages. Now, isn't that marvelous?

A Film Critic's Take on Successful Blogging

Image via Wikipedia

I had a blast last night reading comments on my previous post. Adrian of Auditoire, a blog on serious explorations of contemplative and non-formulaic films, left an insightful comment about his progress as a writer and traits that make up a successful blogger. Seeing he put a lot of thought in his comment, I asked him to flesh out some points so I can put it here on the front page. End result? My first guest post.

Here is this blog's first guest post contributorAdrian:

I suddenly remember my first attempt to create a blog. I said to myself, "This is not a blog but a journal, a piece of writing, a mirror, a window to one's soul, and a remedy for a broken heart" (from my diary Feb 23, 2008)

I always felt euphoric coming out of my room, plunging into my daily life with a thought that I started something new: a blog. It changed me in many ways. It helped me a lot in battling writer's block, which plagued me for two years. I had always kept a diary, but I felt it wasn't enough to cure the blockage, so I started a blog.

I never thought of becoming a great blogger, but I always imagine myself becoming a great writer.

A great blogger is not necessarily a great writer. One has a quality different from the other. I find it surprising to find bloggers such as Bryanboy and Scott earning a lot of money without putting much effort in their writing.

After a year of immersion into the blogosphere I have realized that a great blogger should have the following characteristics:

1. PERSONA: This is the projected character of the author which manifests through his writing style. Although Bryanboy is known for his tongue-in-cheek and funny attitude as reflected in his criticisms on high fashion designers, he may turn out to be different when one meets him in person. If a blogger uses writing as a means to communicate with his audience, he should master his persona.

2. CONSISTENCY: Personally, I find it convenient to write about ONE subject that I know, a subject that i am interested in. I notice that most bloggers who focus on a particular subject (niche) e.g. cinema, art, fashion, self-help, current events, politics, photography survive well in the blogosphere than most who talk mostly of everything. One advantage of being consistent with a single niche is that it is easy! One topic to build, one niche to focus. It increases the stamina of blogging. Another advantage is the ease of finding an audience. Of course, a particular niche has a particular audience. You can never have a zero audience for a particular niche.

3. INFLUENTIAL: The best bloggers, like Scott and Mr. Manolo, have the capacity to influence current trends in both cyberspace and the 'outside' world. Scott is known for influencing some fashion designers across the globe because he photographs ordinary people, wearing extraordinary clothes on the street. Mr. Manolo, as we all know, continues to influence the current socio-political paradigms of our society.

Blogging has changed: the way we see it, the way it functions. It is not what we used to think in the past: a personal web log (contracted as 'blog') to record events of online techie geeks and college students. It has shaped our personal lives as well as the lives of others. It has carved a solid position in current media, in ethics and in the law. It has become part of the postmodern society where intertextuality (a principle which denies the existence of grand absolute universal truths) rules, and where opinions are much appreciated than the usual conventions.

We are moving into a different age. We are moving into the age of cyberspace. And as we are caught up into this dizzying swirl it's best to listen to our inner voice. The roles are cut out for us. Will we evolve into topnotch bloggers? Or will we transform into writers of note?

Beware: Rabid Commenter on the Loose

Readers' comments are the lifeblood of a blog. A high volume of traffic may come and go, ratcheting up your AdSense earnings, but they don't stick. I have read somewhere these kinds of visitors come to your blog, consume the free beer and off they go. Faithful readers who care to leave comments on your posts are different:

* They inspire you do more and make you feel you're not alone in the wilderness.

* They teach you with their inputs and open you to a different point of view.

* They challenge you and your core beliefs and make you accountable.

* They make you laugh -they have strange ways of making you lighten up when you sometimes become so full of yourself.

* They make you grow - after all they see a potential in you long before you have gained a firm assurance of your self-worth. You have no choice. You simply have to grow.

Yeah, right. Wait until you've seen me in action as a commentator.

You would have thought that with all your effort, a fairly reasonable man will assume I have progressed a lot as a human being. Alas, three months is not enough to hone that rough diamond you're interacting with on this blog. Because I have proven to be just a clump of carbon.

So basically it's your fault.

To get on with my story -here's my confession.

I spent the whole day comment sniping in Jaypee's blog - meaning I sneaked in every chance I got during lulls in my day job. He had a contest going for top commentator for February. At stake is a WordPress t-shirt, a fistful of dollars (okay, okay $15), and WP plug in of some sort. Up until yesterday, I thought I was comfortably ahead by several comments. Woke up this morning to see Elmot a fellow blogspot author literally blitzing to the top. I was second, but a far second.

So dear readers, guess what. Here's the ugly part. Your good friend here made a commenting frenzy never seen before at least in these parts. I became unhinged. Bah, I will not be denied that t-shirt. I already have seen it hanging in my closet after all.

In a matter of hours, I have commented about Ubuntu, defended my about-face about Kindle2 (sneezed at it in my previous comment), fell in love Shaq and his fancy dance moves, critiqued iPhones as if I had the means to buy one, and generally wrapped my feeble brain around many other technical topics - geeky stuff - that I'm so tired and irritated at this point.

It's not as if the whole island of Mindoro will sink to the bottom of the sea if I did not win it. It's only a t-shirt for crying out loud.

Update: As of this writing, me and Elmot are tied in first place with 42. I'm giving up though. I have made a good account of myself, I think. To go on will be simply ridiculous and that's putting it kindly.

Besides, I'm on the road to Manila as you're reading this and will not be able to add to that measly 42. Waaah. So there's my excuse for losing. :)

You can check out Jaypee's site to see how a sedate blogger can suddenly turn rabid. When a fellow reader on the blog asks you if you know me it's entirely probable we'd still be friends even if you denied ever knowing me. I understand.

I think I need a therapist more than I need a Kindle2 e-reader or even that prized WP t-shirt. As for Jaypee - maybe he needs a reflexologist because he took great pains answering every comment made on his blog by personal email - not an auto responder. Consider the stats at this point for the top two - 42 x 2. His keyboard must be darn hot by now.

Maybe I don't need a therapist after all, after imagining Jaypee's anguish. One more day, Jaypee. Just one more day and you're done.

Ciao.

Here's Elmot's account why the top commentator award slipped through his fingers.

Tags: blogging, blog commenting

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Little Known Way to Overcome the Fear of Writing

This post is inspired by Sonia Simone's advice to web writers who agonize over their writing. Is it good enough to be read? Will I be ridiculed for posting this idea on my blog? Preconceived notions have the power to shackle new authors, resulting in frustration and half-baked creative output.

She made a superb list of pointers for "growing" a blog post. The most helpful to me as a new web writer is her advice to just write the first draft. And never worry that it's horrible, full of gunk and stupid. There's a time for pruning and tightening what you write. But that is for later. The most pressing task is to first get it out of your system.

I find this advice remarkable because I'm the kind of writer who agonizes over every sentence I make. No wonder it's taking me hours to just nail a simple post. All right, I usually lock myself in my room, free from outside distraction. I close my email program and Facebook page. But I have let in an interloper in the room, an internal editor who keeps thumbing down this word and insulting me for coming up with that idea.

This grumpy interloper simply has to go. You're too much of a nuisance and just have to wait for your turn, Mr. Editor.

I'm making this advice a part of my creative process. Free writing is the key to unleash that creative burst of inspiration.

Says Sonia Simone:

You are not an air traffic controller. If you write a post that’s not very good, or that people just can’t get into, the world will not come to an end. No one will be maimed or die. No innocent puppies will suffer.

How do you make yourself productive? What inspiration have you found that keeps you winning in your battle with that empty page? Do your tricks do wonders for you, leaving your ego and puppies well enough alone and happy?

Tags: blogging tips, free writing, writing advice