Originally, back in January, I commented and made a little post about scoring systems. The first one I read was devised by Eve at Confessions of a Housewife.

Since then, I have seen a few posts on various blogs about implementing a point system in order to keep yourself productive while blogging. Recently, I have implemented the following daily point system on one of my websites for myself and my other writers. It is less-intensive than some of the other point systems out there, but it enables me to keep track of what is being done and how much promotion is being put into the website.

I will explain a few things. There is a slightly different grading ‘curve’ when it comes to longer posts and the amount of posts, because although I feel it is VERY important to have an excellent flow of content on a timely schedule, my ‘band’ and music industry experience tells me that promotion is sometimes MORE important than the actual writing. How many times have you heard the phrase ‘How did that band make it so big? They suck!’ uttered. Exactly my point. Promotion is still a huge key to success.

So this system rewards grassroots promotion and ways to generate traffic almost as much as content. The daily goal is to reach the standard 50 points (this is pretty common on most daily point systems). I require my bloggers (or yourself for that matter) to ‘work’ 5 times a week average. The way I look at it, is instead of worrying about ‘hours’ or ‘days’ worked, I focus on the number. 250 points per week is what I hope to get, per blogger, per blog. I personally know that I can get 50 points an hour if I really buckled down, so I do not feel these numbers are unreasonable.

The key to my system is the number 250. I really don’t care how fast you get the 250. If you do it in one day, take the next 6 off if you’re working for me!

• 5 points for any blog post that is over 200 words (content, not just a post linking to another site)
• 10 points for any blog post that is over 400 words
• 10 points for a ‘column’ (I like my blogs to have newspaper style columns weekly to keep people interested)
• 5 points for enhancing the theme
• 5 points for redesigning the theme, or implementing a new theme
• 1 point for every person signed up for the email list, or RSS feed (if it can be accounted for)
• 5 points for every bulletin or note sent out on MySpace or Facebook (limited 2 per day)
• 2 points for every blog commented in which you have commented before
• 5 points for every blog commented in which you have never commented on
• 100 points for advertiser conversion (generating a lead which in turn generates ad revenue)
• 100 points for every contest created (generating a prize in order to use in said contest)
• 100 points for a great promotional plan or tactic discovered and implemented
• 50 points for a guest blog post on a website with high traffic or RSS subscribers
• 10 points for every unique widget created (mainly for use on Facebook)

As you can see, my point system rewards usage of social networking such as Myspace. Why have a leaned heavily on those sites? Well, lets go to the stats! I will be referring to one of my blogs.

The first and foremost referral site has always been Google. People search via Google and Google alone. I don’t care what other search engines there are. I don’t see this trend dying anytime soon. But a quick scan down the list shows me that much traffic has been coming via Myspace and Facebook. You have a lot of ways to get your links out there on social networking sites. Bulletins, profiles, blogs, status updates. You name it. It is a promotional machine if you know where to use it.

So far today; I have done the following in accordance to my scoring system. I am not referring to this website. Mind you, it IS only 3:30am.

• 10 points for 2 blog posts over 200 words
• 10 points for creating a Facebook application
• 20 points for 2 bulletins and 2 notes on Myspace and Facebook.
• 22 points for comments on blogs
• 3 points for adding people from my AIM buddy list to the RSS feed

So as you can see, I am off to a good start for the week. I usually tend to hammer a lot more than 250 points in a week, but I don’t expect everyone to want to do it that way. I spent quite a bit of time getting that silly Facebook application working, but it has already driven traffic to the site.

I do tend to make scoring changes as I go, systems like these should always be fluid. Example, there is one writer that I expect to do about 400 points a week because of how fast he can write and promote. Another writer I only expect about 150 but she has a million other things to do, but her content is exceptional. However, so far this has seemed to work for me and my associates.

This week, I stepped away from the computer for a moment and headed to the local Borders. You know, the book store? Although the majority of my reading is done online now, there is still nothing like grabbing a new book, opening it for the first time and fully immersing myself. I had two purposes for this visit. One, I just love to scan around at the new releases to see if something interests me. The second was a business purpose. I wanted to pick up a copy of the new Problogger book. I figured two well known bloggers might shed some new light on the subject. Plus, like I always did when I was in the music industry, I feel it is a good idea to support people who are in your line of work because they encounter the same challenges and struggles you do on a day to day basis.

Time for the disclaimer. I love Chris Garrett’s blog and writing style and I am a frequent visitor to Darren Rowse’s Problogger.net website. I find them both very informative and well-versed in what it takes to succeed in blogging. I am also active in Chris Garrett’s Authority Blogger forum and follow them both on Twitter religiously. I consider both of them highly influential to me and what I have learned in blogging.

First off, I am not a fan of the title. Obviously, they needed to market it accordingly and if I had written the book, I probably would have named it something similar. In my opinion, It probably should have been called “Problogger - Secrets for Blogging Your Way to Potential Income’ because as any blogger knows, it is much more difficult to earn substantial income than the current title indicates. They do a good job explaining the challenges early on in the text, but I guess it needed a sexier title to grab the attention of a passer by. I also found the price tag ($24.95) a little steep considering its relatively low page count, but as with anything, had I purchased it early or online I would have been able to save a little bit of money.

Upon first glance, the book’s layout out is similar to many beginner technical books. It is obviously written with the novice in mind, and that is how it should be marketed. Isolated tips are located on basically every page, and usually they do not go ‘over the head’ of a non-technical person. Also included are exercises to help drive the information home. Chris Garrett has experience writing technical books and it shows in the quality. The book is broken down into 11 sections, with the first a brief introduction to the authors’ story and history. After which there are 10 specific chapters relating to certain aspects of blogging, ranging from setting up your blog to secrets from other successful blogs. Each chapter breaks things down in to easy to digest segments, and the book flows very well from chapter to chapter.

The authors try to convince you this book is for beginners and experts alike but it is just geared towards beginners, in my opinion. I had very high expectations for the ‘printed’ version of Problogger and I personally feel let down. I spent an afternoon reading this book, and it will probably sit in my bookcase for years to come. I was hoping for juicy secrets and a magic wand but what I got was stale (but accurate none the less) information. I probably built higher expectation than I should have, but that is how much I respect the authors. I compare it to watching Michael Jordan score 32 points in a game. If it was anyone else, 32 would be great! But with MJ, you grew used to those ‘average’ performances and held out for a 55 point outburst. This book was a 32 point game, not a 55 point outburst.

I want to like this book. I really do. It is very well-written but I don’t feel it gives any information that hasn’t been discussed at length on hundreds of niche blogs, including their own. Darren and Chris have always gone out of their way to explain in detail every aspect of blogging on their websites, and it makes the book seem unneeded for any blogger who has already spent time researching how to build a successful blog.

One big positive I took from this book is they prove once again that there is no easy way to having a successful blog. If a printed version of Problogger cannot give me anything new, then I need to stop waiting for the secret to success to arrive at my door and continue to work hard.

Have you read the book? I am interested in hearing opinions on the book. It is quite possible that my own expectation poisoned my perception of what this book is about.

In life, your reputation is something you should hold dear. In the blogging realm, it could mean the difference between a well received blog and a clunker. Sometimes a bad reputation can breed success (usually in a niche market, see John Chow), but it can lead to death of your brand if not handled correctly.

How do you recover from a well-publicized reputation hit?

I have looked to one of my idols, Bear Grylls, and the way he and his team handled his reputation hit in order to showcase some tried and true methods to regaining the trust of your audience.

For those who do not know, Bear Grylls is the host of the television show Man vs Wild. He has an extraordinary list of accomplishments including being the youngest Briton to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest and survive the trip down. He is charismatic, dynamic, and is an excellent speaker. Originally, the premise of the show was that of a survival expert being placed difficult situations with a 5 day window to reach civilization. It made for outstanding drama, and great entertainment. Bear would showcase his exceptional survival skills in the face of what appeared to be grave danger. A camera crew would follow but according to the introduction, they were only instructed to help in life and death situations. It was staged to appear in real time, and in a documentary format.

It also was a little too good to be true. Reports started surfacing about the staging of events and the fact he would receive assistance while filming these episodes. He was branded a fraud, Discovery Channel pulled the show off the air, and he was bashed all over the blogging and talk show realms. His reputation had taken a serious hit, and while it was in my opinion unfair, the damage had been done.

The problem with being labeled dishonest or fraudulent is that almost all other aspects of you reputation are now considered non-valid, at least to those who do not invest the time to know the full story behind the label. Most of what happened to Bear he had no control over. He didn’t edit the show, he just did what was needed to make the show entertaining from his end. There was no dispute that he was putting himself in difficult situations, or that his skills at surviving were exceptional. People were more fixated, however, on the fact that this gorge he just scaled without a rope or climbing equipment was near civilization and not isolated as the shows editing made it appear. The focus on him doing extraordinary things was completely lost.

So rather than running from this whole situation, Bear Grylls and the those associated with the show did some proper damage control. All the previous shows were re-edited to make sure that events that were stage were disclosed. New voice over spots also helped explain to people that these situations are controlled and there are people standing by to assist if need be. Producers behind the show identified that although some events may have been staged, Bear’s exceptional way of selling the situations is what made the show entertaining. After some careful re-branding, the show is now more of a survival ‘how-to’ guide and Bear’s reputation has been restored. The show is more popular than ever.

As a blogger, what can I take from this story?

If you feel your reputation has taken a hit, the first thing that has to happen is you need to identify the problem and correct it. In Man Vs Wild’s case, the problem was the producers didn’t trust that Bear Grylls’ survival skills and visual storytelling would be enough of a selling point for the viewer. They decided the make the show seem more dramatic by creating the whole ‘trapped in the wild, needing to find civilization’ storyline. It backfired on them when it came to light some events were staged. They immediately took steps to correct this. If you are an excellent writer, trust your content and your ability to storytell.
While rebuilding your reputation you need to focus on the positives. While the way they branded the show at the beginning was misleading, the show itself was entertaining. When you have a good product, you can take the occasional hit. After the show was re-branded, more of an emphasis was placed on Bear and the things he does, and this made the show more successful than ever. The producers focused on the positive while handling the negative accordingly.

When I was moonlighting across America as a rock singer, I heard the same thing over and over again. All publicity is good publicity. That is not entirely true. Bad publicity can destroy your reputation. But if you carefully spin the bad publicity, you can use it as a boon to bring traffic or new readers to your blog.

This post is about as subtle as a kick to the head.

As I mentioned before in my promoting with Twitter piece, I enjoy reading and discovering new blogs. I love to read and I never get tired of learning from exceptional writers. I check out anywhere from 10 to 50 new blogs a day and while I am hesitant to call myself an expert, I do consider myself educated enough to give suggestions.

What I am about to say may surprise you but 80 percent of the blogs I discover are trash. There is a good chance your blog is trash, too. If I had discovered my blog a few months back, the current me would have said the exact same thing. The reason is so many bloggers spend too much time hustling, promoting, and scheming their way to establish traffic that they offer nothing in the way of real content.

When I first started this blog, I was very caught up in the blogging for profit niche. I already knew how to create content websites and a fair amount of SEO, so I figured it would be a pretty easy thing to transition towards. I would make sure to follow all the trendy blogs, comment daily, work their ideas by creating pointless ‘pillar’ blogs and lists that were exactly like a hundred other websites. When traffic was slow to come to my website, I decided to rethink my approach and it has done wonders. I have started to focus more on delivering quality information and less fluff.

You should ask yourself one simple question: If you were a visitor your blog, would you stay and read it?

If the answer is no, you should rethink your approach.

Every so often, I don’t feel like typing out a blog post. I know what you are thinking, but it is true! Between my several websites and blogs I can easily suffer from keyboard mileage. I feel that way right now actually. If I don’t blog regularly, however, all the work I have put in to ‘professional’ blogs will quickly fade and my traffic will decrease. As it has been widely reported on over ten thousand blogs, traffic is the key to profiting on the web. I don’t plan on boring you by talking about that.
In addition to my professional blogs and websites, I maintain a personal blog. I post less frequently now because of my ‘web’ endeavors but it is still my preferred release of emotion.

In the case of keyboard mileage I usually ask myself a simple question. Why do I blog?

For me, there are a few variables. First and foremost I want to be an author. It has been a dream of mine for a long time. Blogging basically turns me in to a self publisher. I am opinionated and I seek a limelight. This probably stems from being able to command an audience from a stage. There is a certain thrill to knowing that I have a captive audience to basically say whatever I want to. I always try to make sure I have something relevant to say, but honestly, the attention is something I have always craved.

I like to blog because it lets me display my talent in writing. I know there are a million better writers than me out there, but I like to feel I can articulate better than some and usually have a straightforward and to the point way of discussing a topic. Some writers get intimidated because they will come across a writer who flat out blows their mind. Rather than be intimidated I tend to be inspired by them.

Another key reason I blog is because I feel I have something to share that may help people. That is the main reason I write songs as well. Obviously, people by nature seek attention and they seek emotional release. I would not spend time promoting my websites and blogs if I wasn’t looking for personal gain from them. It doesn’t mean I do not respect the art and medium however. Although I am looking to gain, I am also looking to share the knowledge. It was the same way in music. I would spend hours working on music that I had very personal attachment to. Once the song was written, however, it was all business. Just because I was working hard to make music a career didn’t mean I didn’t care when someone came up to me and said a song moved them. I cherish those moments.

Lastly, I can blog from anywhere. Before I started blogging, my main outlet was music. I would write song after song but it would take a long time to be able to publicly display those songs. On the web, it is almost instant gratification. I will post and within hours I will get feedback from various sources. That, in turn, helps me become a better blogger.

When people come up to me and say that I only blog for personal gain, all I can really say is “yes I do.” I hope that my writing will eventually lead me away from my current job. At times like that I am reminded of a something a great musician once told me.

If you are in it strictly for the music, then write and sing songs for your dog in your basement. If you are in it for the music and the ability to try to earn a living, take it public. -Matt Wydra

After going through the reasons in my head why I blog to begin with, I usually feel inspired to write and try to make my next post relevant and important.

Why do you blog?

After a show, when someone hands me a flier, it’s like they are saying ‘Here, you throw this away!’ - Mitch Hedberg

Two weeks in to my Twitter experiment I have made a lot of new friends, and have practically doubled the amount of people who have subscribed to my feed and my email list. But there is a lot of negativity around the approach I use. Without rehashing my last post, basically, what I do is add as many people as I can to my Twitter profile. They will possibly check out the website, and decide if they want to follow me back, add my RSS feed, or think I am worthless and move on.

Some people have called this fishing for traffic. Fair enough. I call it promotion in its most basic form.

One reason I like Twitter is because of the simplistic way in which you can quickly put yourself out there for people to see. I don’t hide anything, I explain who I am in detail in my About section. It is the closest thing to a flier as there is on the web. When using services like MySpace, you can really streamline your search for potential readers and fans. Twitter is just like handing someone a piece of paper with a name on it.

With Twitter, I am not invading anyone’s space. They will not receive a single note from me, nor will they receive a single tweet from me. I am adding their public page in hope they will check my website out. At the most, they will get an email saying Scott Sweeney is now following you on Twitter.

Example: If I go and follow everyone who is on ProBlogger’s Twitter profile (which I have), I might get a small percentage of people who think my information is worthwhile. Why does this sound familiar to me?

I remember now. I used to stand outside a sold out Jimmy Eat World show with a piece of paper and try to do the EXACT same thing to music fans. I would see 98 percent of the fliers I handed out in the trash, on the street, or folded up in to paper airplanes. I would do this 4 times a week, for years, in hope that I could convert just a few fans to listen to my music.

I do recall people making fun of me in passing, or in the distance. Maybe they would say under their breath that my band sucks. That would be the end of it. It is funny how the disguise of a computer icon makes people a little more trashy in the way they approach you when you are handed out a ‘virtual’ flier.

What seems to be upsetting certain members of the Twitter community is my Follower to Following ratio is skewed. This is, obviously, because I am adding every one I can. They feel this is an instant case of spam and decide that I should be added to Twitter spam lists and block lists. Which I take a little exception to because once again, I have not spammed anyone. I have never sent an unwanted email or message to someone. If someone decided to follow me and does not like what I talk about on Twitter, they can simply block me and move on. Why is the F:F ratio so important in that case?

I’ve had probably 20 new “friends” follow me in the last two weeks alone. Sure I’ll click on your friend link to see if I personally know you. If your followers/following ratio is hugely skewed as yours is, Scott, I immediately ignore you. You got lucky because I have insomnia (it’s 2am on the west coast) and wanted to see who does this sort of thing. - Dave on a comment from my original Twitter post.

If this was a concert, someone like Dave just refuses the flier, or takes it and trashes it. That part I didn’t mind. But because everyone (including myself to a degree) is hidden behind a computer, he felt compelled to come on to my website and speak his mind.After being slightly upset for a few minutes, I remembered the first rule of promotion. Don’t take promotion personal. I will gladly take 100 bad direct messages on Twitter for every one new person that says hello, or says ‘Hey Scott! I like what you are doing.’ I have found over 100 blogs and websites which are amazing, and I go to frequently through this approach on Twitter.

Am I missing something? Isn’t this what Twitter and blogging in general is about, sharing information? It shouldn’t matter how many people someone is following. What should matter is if that person who added you is worth YOU following back. That is not spam. That is promotion.

When I am in the mood for a laugh, I look back at my music career and listen to my old songs. I can hear the very obvious changes in my voice, but many people cannot. Here are links to three songs I have written at three different points in my career. Can you hear the difference?

Thank You For Dancing - 2001 [LINK]

Alone in A Corridor - 2005 [LINK]

On and On - 2008 [LINK]

Naturally, I feel that the last song is my strongest. 7 years of vocal progression have given my voice a more soulful delivery. Singing a song like On and On would have been impossible in 2001. How does this relate to what I am doing now in blogging?

Often times, people will jump right in to blogging before clearly identifying their voice. I know I did. The first mistake I made was not knowing exactly what I wanted to talk about. Initially, I started writing a column based blog. Then, like a lot of people, I became obsessed with the notion that I could easily make six figures blogging about how to make money blogging. The latter was extremely boring and tedious. My final progression has been to focus more on my experience, which is songwriting and music business, and how it can relate to blogging in general. This topic seems to be the easiest and most enjoyable for me to write about.

Although the progression only took about 8 months, I have landed at a place in which I feel happy and comfortable blogging on a regular basis. I also feel that what I contribute now is meaningful and worthwhile to someone, although obviously not everyone. I anticipate my blogging voice will continue to develop over time. Just as with singing, maybe in 5 years I will have a more soulful delivery.

If you are struggling with your voice, there are things you can try to help you figure out what is needed. Something I always did while writing a song was to ask myself what the song was about as a whole. Not specific lyrics or direct subject matter, but the broad overview of the song. When you figure out the broad subject matter, it becomes much easier to identify how to deliver the direct subject matter. Suppose you decide you want to create a make money blog. You can take the overall subject matter and strip it down to a way you feel comfortable delivering it. For example, maybe you want to focus specifically on affiliate programs. Once you streamline the overwhelming part of starting a blog, it is much easier to identify where you fit in and how to use your voice.

When I was struggling with a song, I would often shelve it for a fresh idea. If your current blog isn’t working the way you want it, try something new. If the original idea was good enough, you will find your way back to it with a fresh approach and attitude. I just finished a song that I wrote music to way back in 2004! Sometimes, an idea just needs to simmer for a while.

Writing a blog should be fun, but don’t be discouraged if at times it feels like work. This is part of the process of identifying what makes you tick as a blogger. When a blog feels like 100 percent work and 0 percent fun, that may be the time for you to look for a different part of your voice.

What challenges have you come across when establishing your voice?

Almost every day (occasionally I’ll take a break), I will spend a good solid hour or so at my RSS reader looking at posts from fellow bloggers. A post by David Kam at the MarketingDeviant caught my eye, and got me thinking about the importance of storytelling in marketing. Here is a bit of that post.

“Marketing is like storytelling where you are the storyteller. The story you tell gradually builds up throughout the years. The story becomes stronger as people talk about it as many people will grow fond of it. The better the storyline, the better it will be remembered by the people. If the people remember your story they will remember your business.” -David Kam

  Some of the best advice I received early on in music was make sure the song you write tells a story. It really didn’t matter what the story is, but people have to be able to relate to it.

After reading David’s post, I started thinking about how important that is in blogging. How important your storytelling is to building your brand and establishing your voice in an overcrowded marketplace.

Maki at Dosh Dosh is my favorite example of excellent storytelling in a niche blog. Early on, he set himself apart with excellent writing, a creative thought process, and a little bit of flair. People remember him and his business, because his posts and advice have a little something extra that you do not find in many blogs. It is easy to forget he has only been at this a little over a year! Amazing. Another writer I truly love is Ben Cook, the former author of the Blogging Experiment. Once again, he is another author in the make money online genre of websites. It would be easy for him to get lost in the crowd. He built a loyal readership with intelligent and a sometimes unorthodox writing style that kept the reader well informed and entertained. Unless you are John Chow or you come up with some clever gimmick, the only way to succeed in blogging is to make sure your storytelling is on point, no matter what your genre is.

One thing I think every blog reader likes is comfort. They want to open up their RSS reader and feel at ease with their normal daily reads. What happens when a blog they love is sold?

One of my daily reads for the past 9 months has been the Blogging Experiment. The website was started with the simple premise that a newbie will turn his blog into a professional blog within 12 months. In the process author Ben Cook detailed his journey showcasing his triumphs and pitfalls. I enjoyed going to my RSS reader to find out how he succeeded one month, failed the next, and gave us all well thought out pieces of writing. He would detail all his earnings on his quest to turning his blog into a full time income generator. It gave me a feeling I could use the web to profit as well. It was hardly a novel concept but it worked very well for Ben.

It worked too well in my opinion.

Ben was able to sell his website to a new author who has taken the reigns over at the Blogging Experiment. In the process, they have lost a dedicated reader. I am sure I am not the only one. Their stats remain high, and I am sure the new author is getting his money’s worth (although he did recently remove his RSS stats from displaying. At first I thought maybe the subscribers were dropping them, but it is possible he wanted the real estate for the ad he has in its place now)

The new author is Max Davis. He is now offering an e-book on how he sold 3 websites for $725,000. That is a bold claim. I have no idea where one would back up that claim, nor does he have to prove anything to me. I wasn’t interested in his e-book because I had never heard of him before. He did come out right off the bat and say he hasn’t been in the blogosphere so that would explain that part. He seems knowledgeable. His posts border on tedious with the amount of detail in them. I have no doubt he will help someone make money online. That someone just won’t be me. The main reason isn’t because I couldn’t learn to trust Max of feel he is leading me down the wrong path. I just like Ben’s writing much better. Ben was engaging and entertaining.

I will give you two examples of what I am talking about.

http://bloggingexperiment.com/archives/new-experiment-business-makes-nice-money.php

Max right off the bat comes out with a claim that this product (which he is an affiliate to) made him $222 an hour. It is a very boastful claim to make. He then spends a lot of time explaining how it worked. The product did work in his case study, so he proved himself credible to a degree. But the post was a difficult read in my opinion. Anytime someone boats so loudly about a product that will earn them money as well, I am always skeptical. There are many comments abound that feel the same way as I do. He responds to all comments, which is always the sign of a good author, but his claims are just words. There were no screen shots. Usually, on a money making post like this, the author would show some statistical screen shots to back up the claim. Max offered none.

I have used one of Max’s techniques and it works well. So he does know what he is talking about, I just don’t like the content of the blog or the writing nearly as much as Ben’s.

Fortunately for me, Ben is still contributing thoughtful articles to the blog, such as this one about style of blogging.

Max made a pledge at the beginning. It was going to be different but he hoped people gave him a chance. I did for a month like he asked, and I am moving on from being a dedicated reader to his site. I am going to keep the link up, however, as I feel people will get good advice on how to make money online from his website.

It just goes to show how quickly you can become attached to a blog author and their style, and how fast you could lose interest in someone, even if the intent of the blog is the same.

I saw a posting on Flimjo doing a weekly recap of what was discussed on the blog the previous week. I liked the concept a lot. It was a good way to put everything all in one tidy post, and give love to those who have commented this week. I like the concept so I will be giving it a shot to see if it is worthwhile or not for the reader. Let me know your thoughts.

This week was a slower week in general as I was putting more effort in to a new layout at Review Chicago. For those who don’t know, Review Chicago is my newest website. It is dedicated to my hometown of Chicago, and I intend to make it a contributor based website. If you know anyone who lives in Chicago and would like to contribute, email me!

Sunday, April 20th I posted at length on how I use Facebook to promote a website or a blog. There are several tips included within the post, including simple instructions to creating a Facebook application.

On Monday, I discussed using alternative methods to drive traffic to your website. This is part one of a three part post. The other two parts will follow this week. In an additional post, I talked about Max Davis at the Blogging Experiment and a class he is offering on buying and selling websites.

On Wednesday, I authored an article on how to use Twitter to promote a blog. It sparked up some intresting dialogue in the comment portion.

Top Commentators This Week:

On Cath Lawson’s blog, there was an excellent guest post by Tim Brownson discussing whether or not one is a leader or one is a follower. It was a well written article and because of it I subscribed to his blog.

Diane wasn’t really active this week, but her blog is an excellent read. Check it out here.

James Mann posted a good column about focusing and taking care of business. His blog is one of those how to make money blogs, but he offers some good advice. Read and see for yourself.

Highlights from the big boys (or girls):

Darren at Pro Blogger has a great post on staying accessible to your readers even after your blog becomes more popular. He practices what he preaches, he is the biggest blogger ever to respond to an email I had sent. Some of the others have not. Caroline Middlebrook has a great new course on using StumbleUpon to drive traffic. Check it out here.

Upcoming this week:

This week I have a slew of posts coming out. I am starting a new weekly series profiling inspirational people and how their life stories can be applied to your blogging techniques. The first one is on Michael Jordan and will come out tomorrow. I also have a new wordpress theme review, this one on the Mimbo theme and a post on using timestamps effectively.

I intend to be more active here in the coming weeks, I have hit a lull with some of my other sites.

Cheers!