How to Approach A Potential Linking Source

I know you've come across blog posts online which you really liked.

That's great!

So why not use this to your advantage?

Instead of just reading the post and not taking it any further - take it further!

Contact the person who created the post.

Tell them what specifically you liked about the post.

Then you can tell them you'd like to link to their post on your blog (if you want to)

Then the ball is in their court!

But if you don't want to wait for them to "grant" you permission to link to their blog you can link to it to begin with and then say in your comment:

I hope you don't mind but I really loved your post and linked to it on my blog. If for any reason you'd like me to remove the link just let me know.

If the blogger has a direct way to contact them such as an email or a contact form use that, but if they don't you can make a comment at the bottom of the blog post. Generally these comments are moderated by the bloggers themselves so they'll read your comment.

Wait what about the potential linking source you mentioned in the title?

Well because you're linking to something you like, there's no harm in it, and it may additionally earn you a link from the blogger you linked to.

Of course you're leaving it up to them to decide to link to your blog or suggest it to their readers and/or friends.

But I find this non-pushy approach is much nicer than saying "If you link to me I'll link to you" - that just reminds me of a second-grader mentality. Why not just link to them because you enjoyed it?

Not asking for a link could = getting a link

Who knew?

Creating wacky approaches for you,
CB Webmaster

P.S. If you want to link to a specific post you liked you may want to make a brief blog post about it. Here's what I suggest.

Blog Length

I've spoken about this topic before, but I want to clarify what blog postings I think tend to fit into different blog length categories.

Tutorials - LONG

I consider these full length tutorials that really teach a process.

How-to MEDIUM

These are going to give the reader information on how-to do something. What makes it different from a tutorial is that it's not a step-by-step process. It's more of a general concept.

Quick tip - SHORT

This is something which a person can initialize pretty much immediately. And so why not just make it really easy for them to grasp by not weighing it down with tons of observations.

Sharing a Link - SUPER SHORT

Sometimes I find a blog posting that I didn't write which is just far superior to anything I've read online. When that happens I'll create a blog post just to notify my readers of its existence. And say a few lines about why I think it's so great!

Oh an just think how much happier your readers will be getting the information they need in a speedier way!

Whoopie!

Love ya,
CB Webmaster

See how this one was medium? And it was a how-to! Well there ya go!

P.S. In case you need it here's my post on: How to Hyperlink.

Not All Blog Ideas are Created Equal

You've gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk away, know when to run." - Don Schlitz

The same goes for blogging.

Not all blog ideas are created equal.

Some are just absolutely great and deserve a Bloggy Award.

While others sounded good at the time but.....

So there's no need to clutter up your blog with the ideas that should've been thrown out way long ago like those socks you have with holes in them.

Just because you wrote a post doesn't mean you can't delete it any time you want!

Just think - if you came across a blog with 95% great ideas wouldn't you be thrilled? I know I would!

So toss the junk and add more valuable content to your blog by simply generating better material!

There's no doubt this will make your existing readers even happier and happier readers could definitely lead to more referrals!

-CB Webmaster (creator of CB Success - home of the happiest blog readers! lol)

P.S. I know how personal blog writing is - like your babies - but just because you delete a blog post from your blog doesn't mean you have to wipe it out of existence - you can always save it on your hard drive and then some day down the road you can read through them and laugh and say to yourself "What was I thinking? :)

Fulfill Your Promises!

There's a difference between a snappy title and a crappy title - and it's only crappy because you don't fulfill your end of the bargain! The title can't just sound great - you have to deliver the great content which the title indicates!

A big disappointment for me is to click on an amazing sounding headline like - "25 Ways to Get to the Top of Google's Results" - only to find out that none of the "25" things mentioned have any way of helping me get to the top of Google's results. Talk about a way to bum a person out!

If this has ever happened to you then you know what I'm saying.

So the simplest way to avoid disappointing your readers is to fulfill your promises.

If you promise to tell them 25 Ways to Get to the Top of Google's Results - then do it.

If you only know 2 ways, then tell them those 2 ways. I'd rather hear two great methods as opposed to 25 useless ideas.

What if you don't know how to get to the top of Google's results? Then don't say you do! lol That seems like a pretty simple obvious thing to me, but it brings to mind stories I've heard of people interviewing for a job who say they have the qualifications but they really don't!

So the easiest way to avoid this trap is just to make a comprehensive list of your qualifications and then write on those subjects in detail. The clearer you can be, especially if you are sharing some instruction of some sort the more grateful your readers will be!

What if you don't have any qualifications? Don't panic. It's okay - you can teach yourself! Yep, just like in life, when you've wanted to do something you taught yourself how to do it, right? Same goes for blogging.

Just begin by investigating a topic that really sparks your interest. Then if you follow the steps I've outlined in the process for becoming an expert on any topic you'll be on your way!

So good luck! And I can't wait to hear your ideas!

Sincerely,
CB Webmaster

P.S. If you've read several of my posts you can see how I always fulfill my promises (well to the best of my ability!)

P.P.S. I know there's all kinds of pressure out there to make sure and title your posts well just don't let that pressure get to you. Keep your head and you'll make out alright.

Profiles - What to Put in Them!

So what should you include in your profile?

You may notice my from my "About Me" section on the right side of this blog that my profile isn't really about me as a person. That's what most people usually use it for.

But as you can see, you can write it up to address the needs of your readers instead of just blabbing on about how you like monkeys.

I think that's probably the biggest thing you can do for your profile - make it about your readers instead of making it about you!

As you saw in my profile instead of writing about me I hyperlinked to a blog posting about me - and actually if you followed the blog posting to the page about me called The Creator then you saw how even there although I spoke about my personal experience I made the entire story's goal to be about why I am like my readers and how every thing I do is about making the best possible site for them. One word of caution here - be sincere - people can spot insincerity instantly even on the internet!

As you may have noticed in my profile I took my readers on a little walk - I let them click on different blog posts and even go directly to my webpage to find out more instead of just letting them sit on my profile. Here's why I did that.

Of course this is just a suggestion, if you want to list all your interests then go right ahead and do that! Just think in terms of universal appeal to your readers and you'll be fine.

Sincerely,
CB Webmaster

P.S. I excerpted this post from another of my posts called: Create a Great Blogger.com Profile because I kept finding myself wanting to refer to this part of the post, and since it's a long post it was hard for my readers to find this part. So I apologize if you've already read that post.

Give Me Less, Give Me More!

Can these two opposites exist in the same space?

Why yes they can!

Here's how:

1. Give me less - less length is basically what I mean.

There's no denying we live in a fast pace society. People value their time - and they want to get what they need fast.

So make your blog posts short enough to make it easier for them.

I recommended 5 paragraphs - each paragraph no longer than 2-3 lines.

2. Give me more - more means more quality not more content.

This actually is still part of saving people time - if you give your readers high quality content they'll return and especially if you can give them that content in half the amount of time it would take them normally to get.

This is a no-fail approach to blog writing that will make your readers happy!

And remember to ping your blogs whenever you add new posts so people can find your new posts!

Sincerely,
CB Webmaster

Your Philosophy Affects Your Success!

I've spoken many times about my "philosophy" which is about coming from a place within yourself where you want the best in life - not just for yourself but for everyone.

Well I came across an article today that really hits that point in terms of blogging:

Want. Want. Want. Blogging is About Giving.

It's pretty great to get a confirmation like that!

It's almost like realizing that what you're thinking is not only in your mind - that there are people "out there" who also grasp the same concepts/experiences.

I guess that's why people get so much out of support systems.

It's a way of reassuring ourselves that we're on the right track.


Hope this helps,
CB Webmaster

P.S. With this perspective I believe you can create success for your blog.

P.P.S. out of control!!!

lol okay I've been there done that!

Sometimes I have one more thing to say and oh one more and wait just one more and I end up with three extensive P.P.P.S.'s!

So if it really is more a part of the blog posting rather than an afterthought - then just integrate it into the posting.

Which would you rather read a posting that:

-tells you its over?

-gives you one more great tip in a P.S.

or

-one that said it was over (aka signed off with a signature) and then goes on and on and on

It's like the bell ringing in school and the teacher keeping you ten minutes late!

Ay-yi-yi!

You just want to get out of there!

Which means your reader (most likely) won't stick around to hear your relevant comments because they've moved on to another post.

Brief works,
CB Webmaster

P.S. I know you're laughing right about now if you've read any of my posts because they are usually let's just say the "opposite" of brief - but I have my moments! ;)

Permalink How To in Blogger.com

At this time Blogger.com does not clearly display the permalink on each blog posting for your readers to easily view.

You can fix this!

This is the method I came up with to show people how to find the permalink on my blogger.com blog postings.

First off, in case you didn't know the permalink for your blog postings IS actually at the bottom of the post - the problem is blogger.com has it labeled as the timestamp!

And trust me most people won't realize that if they click on the timestamp they'll be brought to the permalink for that post.

So here's how you can edit the text of your to timestamp to state it's a permalink.

In case you're thinking of using another word/phrase such as "Link to my blog post" -you should be aware that the reason I suggest the word "Permalink" is because it is the word most people will be looking for on your page when they want to link to your posts.

Steps:

Go to your layout page

In the center of that page it will have a large box labeled

"Blog Posts" and in the bottom right corner of this box it will

say: Edit

Click on that.

A window will pop up with a list of settings you can change (by

the way you can change any of these! Cool, huh)

Under: Select Items

Go to the third item on the list

By default it will say: at

and then there'll be a box next to it with the date/time options

Click into the box with the word: at

Now erase the word "at"

Then copy or type in this: <br><b>Permalink =></b>

Note: By default on my blog the comments were displayed right next the timestamp making it even harder for readers to distinguish the permalink.

At the bottom of this pop-up window you're in look for this phrase:

Arrange items

Then simply drag the comments box down to make it appear below the permalink instead of next to it.

I also dragged my labels down so they appear on their own line.

Then scroll to the bottom and click on: SAVE.

Then make sure you also click on the SAVE button on the Layout page.

Then your changes will be saved successfully.

Although it doesn't actually create a hyperlink for the word "Permalink" like most sites do - the little arrow we've created using the equal sign => should make it clear enough to people that the permalink is to the right.

When people place their mouse cursor over the timestamp a little label will pop up saying: permanent link

That will confirm to your readers that you're not making it up - that yes the time stamp is the permalink they need to use.

So who knew life could be this complicated? Maybe someday blogger.com will give us the option to clearly display permalinks at the bottom of our blog posts and then I'll celebrate being able to delete this post as it's purpose will become obsolete!

"Destruction, hence, like creation, is one of Nature's mandates." Marquis De Sade

Being bold as ever,
CB Webmaster

Who Are Your Readers?

More likely than not - other bloggers!!!

So that's perfect because you're a blogger - you already have something in common!

Now just think what do you want as a blogger?

Make a list of your needs, wants, and wishlists for:

blogging

blog improvement

blog success

blog readers

etc.

then you've got an idea of what your readers want too!

This should help you always keep your readers at the center of your posts - remember they're why you're doing this in the first place!

Meeting the needs of your readers will make your blog a success!

Wishing you much success,
CB Webmaster

Place Your RSS Feed at the Top of Your Blog!

This is very important people!

Now if you know anything about me, you know I value labels very highly and definitely believe they should be at the top of your blog.

RSS feed is the one exception to this rule!

Trust me once you get going on the labels you're going to get quite a long list of them and your RSS feed will get buried somewhere midway down the page - making it hard for people to just sign up for you RSS feed instantly.

So if you're on blogger.com - on your layout page you can drag your gadgets around with your mouse! That's how I do it - it's really easy to do!

Remember your RSS feed is how people stay up to date on your new blog posts - yep that's why its sooooo important that it deserves its "Reserved Space" at the top of your blog!

Always at the top,
CB Webmaster

Title Your Blog Posts! Don't Skip This!

I can't believe I missed this one - title every single one of your posts! I guess I just assumed everyone would do this automatically - but if you haven't made this your habit make it now!

People use the title as their "IN" into your blog post.

Without a title why should they dig into a posting which they know nothing about?

And this is not to mention of the most important things about why you should create a title for each and every blog posting - titles are how people find your blog in the search engines!

So please please don't get lazy and think - oh I can title it later - or even worse miss it altogether because you're so busy creating the content of the blog post.

Always providing titles,
CB Webmaster

P.S. Here's a link to blogger.com's help article on how to change the settings to your blog to use the title as your permalink URL: How do I add title tags to my template?

But you should know that unless you altered the code of your template, this setting should by default automatically be set to display the title of your blog post as your permalink URL.

Save Yourself Time!

Menial tasks got that name for a reason - that's why it helps if you get them out of the way every time you post a blog posting.

Trust me if you don't they'll accumulate over time and you'll feel so overwhelmed it's unlikely you'll go back and do your essential housecleaning!

So here's some things you should do after you publish a post:

1. Label it - for the love of God do this please!

2. Title it - I cringe at the very thought that you aren't doing this!

3. Add hyperlinks - click here for my post on what to hyperlink.

4. Check your Hyperlinks - make sure they actually work!

5. Proofread - your and you're are not the same! Accuracy is a nice quality you can give to your readers for free!

6. Hyperlink your signature - I just have this code in a text file so I can copy it whenever I'm posting!

7. Backup your post. That means copying and pasting it in its entirety (hyperlinks HTML code and all!) to a text file on your computer! That way you won't end up flipping out in the event that your blog posting one day just ups and disappears! Just think if you do this now then you won't end up crying into your cheerios about how you've lost your baby! By the way blogger.com actually offers its bloggers a way to Backup their entire Blog! I haven't tried this yet but when I do I'll let you know if it works.

8. Ping Your Posts - well even I'm guilty of forgetting to do this one! But it's essential because it's basically how the search engines and RSS Feeds know that you've created new posts on your blog.

Think about how many thousands of blogs are out there that are outdated - well if you are keeping yours up to date you might as well get credit (and readers) to your blog! Here's a link to a site that submits the ping for your blogs

Personally I could really stand to find an excellent free automatic ping service because at Chatblog I have to ping over 50 blogs and that's just tooooooo much upkeep for me! But I guess if you have only one blog it's not that big of deal to enter your URL in a ping site every time you update your blog.

Though I have to think even you could stand from an automatic submission on your behalf - sign up once and bam it does the work for you! lol! Well I can dream, right? Heck, if you know of any free automatic ping services tell me about it so I can share it with all our bloggers! Thanks!

Well that's all I can think of right now, if I come up with any more I'll make a Part 2 for this post. Oh and if you can think of any I missed let me know!

Take care,
CB Webmaster

P.S. In case you're wondering - keeping it clean isn't only for your readers - it is for your ability to retain readers, gain new readers, keep your blog improving its rating, and increase your blog's success. Maintaining high quality is one of the best self-promoting things you can do for your blog!

Advertise Yourself!

Shameless self-promoting?

Nah, that's not what I'm talking about!

I'm talking about making a habit of linking to your other relevant posts.

If you do that you'll gain more blog readers and people will stick around because you're giving them more than what they asked for!

Don't you just love getting 2 for 1?

And even if you have another blog or a website you can link to those too whenever it's appropriate - the key word here is appropriate - people don't wanna hear you going on and on about how great your other blog is - unless it's relevant to the topic they're reading about in this blog posting.

I often mention my website Chatblog whenever it comes up "naturally" in context. See an example of how I do that here.

So there you have it! Be your own spokesperson!

Free advertisement never hurt anyone!

Plugging along,
CB Webmaster

Don't Worry About Pissing Off Your Readers

What? Shouldn't I care about that?

Well what I mean to say is - you don't have to tip toe around your readers.

You have the right to express your opinions as you choose - and trust me if you do express it the way that's most natural for you then your blog postings will become much more reader friendly than reader repulsive!

People are more likely to read a post by someone who is confident than someone who's so concerned about pissing them off that they never have any stimulating remarks to make at all!

BORING!!! Zzzzzzzzzzzz.....wake me up when you have an actual opinion!

People can pretty much get whatever information they are seeking anywhere online for free - so why would they choose to read what you have to say over that other guy?

Because you've got spunk, hutspa, an original comment, a quirky sense of humor - whatever it is you've got - you've gotta share it!

Thats all folks!

Your sparkling genius,
CB Webmaster

Write from Experience

Speak from experience.

For example I use blogger.com to blog with - so since every day I am becoming more and more familiar with their features I am able to write about my experience using them.

Now I know that there are several important and popular other blog hosts out there such as wordpress but since I don't have any hands-on experience using them and I don't have a particular interest in them I don't write about them.

But because I have users who are interested in them I make sure to keep my eyes open for other people's posts about the features of these services that sound fantastic - then I just make sure to write a quick blog post linking to their post.

Why not just write about what you know and let other people write about what they know? Then you don't waste your time and anyone else's time!

Who wants to read a blog posting by someone who knows little or nothing about the topic?

Or even worse, who is only writing about it out of an obligation to write blog postings that will bring in the masses?

Stick to what you love and what you've got under your belt and you can't go wrong!

Oh and keep open minded! Just because you don't know something, as long as you have have a passion to learn about it - you can write about it and even become an expert in it!

No kidding,
CB Webmaster

P.S. What if you have no experience but tons of passion? Well then I recommend joining one of Chatblog's 50+ topics because they are group blogs which means the pressure is taken off of you to be the only one producing posts!

P.P.S. In case you missed my post on how to get new material you might want to check it out: Blog Material For Life!

Display Blogger.com Labels on Your Blog!

When you create labels they automatically appear at the bottom of the post you add it to, but unless your readers know that if they click on this label it will bring them to all your posts on this topic then they are losing out!

So make it easy for your readers to clearly see all your blogs by topic by adding a gadget through your LAYOUT called: LABELS

Click on it and a window pops up. It allows you to customize your title for these labels - I call mine: Posts by Topic:

That way people can clearly understand what these links mean.

It also allows you to organize these topics alphabetically or by the topics with the most posts - you decide!

So get to it - trust me this is one thing you should do immediately on your blog!

Don't have any labels yet? Start creating labels now.

Just call me the labeler (lol),
CB Webmaster

P.S. Just think how many readers you can gain this way? People often want to find out more information about SPECIFIC topics - you're just saying "Hey I get that - so here you go - here's everything you've always wanted to know about Dolphins Breathing Underwater" lol

P.P.S. If you've noticed on this blog I've intentionally put the blog labels - what I call "Posts by Topic" at the top of the blog so people can easily and immediately view the "Table of Contents" so to speak.

Tell Your Readers Why You're Different!

Same ole same ole is boring!

Plus it doesn't spark excitement in your readers minds!

So what your readers really want to know when they find your blog is:

WHY SHOULD I READ WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY?

Now you can tell them this in a couple of ways:

1. Create a profile about why they should read your blog (on blogger.com you can choose to have this profile displayed on your blog!)

2. Write a blog post telling them why you're different and worth their time. I wrote one here that you can see as an example:
How CB Blog Success is Different from other Blog Tip Blogs

People have busy lives - they need to know why they should spend any time reading your blog - so tell them now!

See ya in the presses,
CB Webmaster

P.S. Also check out my post: Profiles - What to Put in Them - which discusses why your profile should not be "ABOUT ME" (of course me means you lol) A very important and often overlooked point.

Psssst....One more thing!

Always give your readers: one more tip!


Yes I've said before that you should keep your blog postings focused on one idea - and while that's true (in most cases) that doesn't mean you have to give just the "bare minimum!"

If you can give your readers just one more tip, they'll appreciate it!

And if you're really focused on your idea a new tip will come more readily to you.

But how will my readers know it is a "bonus" tip?

Well since it happens to be my last thought - or sometimes even an afterthought I use our basic letter format of P.S.

It's a friendly approach that makes that last tip stand out.

Your friendly Webmaster,
CB

P.S. Btw your new tip may give you an idea for a whole other blog posting! Great, huh? (see how I used the P.S. here - it makes you feel like I'm talking to just you! As in "Psssttt...I have one more thing to tell you!

P.P.S. Not to mention that one more thing you can say is "Here's a post I wrote that's related" OH YES! I know you like that one ;)

Labeling = Organizing Your Blog Posts for Your Readers to Find!

If you use Blogger.com you may have seen this at the bottom of your blog post screen and thought - what the heck is that for? Is that for keyword ranking? Well those were my questions anyway - but alas my dear sweet fellow bloggers it is not for improving your blog's ranking - but...it is something even cooler! NO WAY MAN! YES WAY GARTH!!

When I read Google's help file on Posting Labels I was floored!

You mean I can categorize all my blog postings by keyword? How awesome is that! So anytime I have a blog posting on "how the man sticks it to me" I can enter that phrase into the label post box. lol Then whenever I'm in the mood to read all my postings on that topic I can click on that label and see them all! WHOOPIE! lol

And of course you know what that means - your readers can do the same!

What a great way to provide a string of related blog posts without having to create a blog just for the best postings.

Of course right now this feature only works within one blog not across multiple blogs - but hey Google is always working on new features maybe you should suggest it to them and see if they do it!

And check this out you can even label several blog posts at once !

Especially good if you've already written them and didn't know about this feature!!!

Plus you can add more than one label per post - you can add it to as many categories as it is relevant in. As you'll notice from my posts I sometimes get excited and include information that belongs to other blog topics within one post, so with the multi-labeling, people who are looking for either topic can find the post!

You'll gain more readers by labeling because some people may be only interested in one topic you're discussing in your blog and if you've written something about that topic elsewhere and not labeled it under the topic they are looking at it's very unlikely that they'll ever find it. Cross-reference baby!

Oh and you can show all post labels when you are labeling. There's a hyperlink at the right of the "Labels for this post" textbox which is called "Show All" - click on it and a drop down list will appear will all your existing labels. This is a great feature because then you don't accidentally call the label something different - like: Blog Success one time and another time Blogging Success. Using
this feature allows you to make sure all your related posts end up in same category.

As if that wasn't enough - you can also link to search results for whatever keyword or phrase you enter.

For an example scroll to the bottom of the posting titled: Blogging Success at its Best and you'll see I've included a link to search results within our blog for the keyword: success. How awesome is that?

You think we're done? Not yet! Here's one more great thing you can do:

You can hyperlink directly to the post labels! For an example see number 3 on this posting.

As you can see blogger.com has tons of great features! To anyone interested in an easy to use blog host I highly recommend blogger.com - it's really intuitive!

In fact I'm so glad I chose blogger.com as my blog host because now that I have almost 60 group blogs on their site I can easily manage them all with the greatest of ease!

So if you're interested in joining a group blog then check out my website called Chatblog. It's free to join and you can begin blogging without having to set up your own blog! To see what other benefits Chatblog offers click here.

Peaking your interests,
CB Webmaster

P.S. If you need any help learning how to use blogger.com I'm more than happy to help you - you can contact me directly at: webmaster@chatblog.net78.net (oh and you don't have to sign up for chatblog for my free help - I just like to help bloggers succeed!)