As bloggers we participate in memes, we start memes, sometimes we even end memes. In my Abridged Ethnography of the Blogosphere, I asserted the fact that there is a blogging culture, so it seems fitting that a commonly used word by bloggers has its roots in the culturally relevant study of memetics.

A meme, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is as follows: “meme (mi:m), n. Biol. (shortened from mimeme … that which is imitated, after GENE n.). An element of a culture that may be considered to be passed on by non-genetic means, esp. imitation“. In a grander sense, an oral history can referred to as a meme, or even language itself it transmitted by memetics. A blogging meme is much like this: When one puts up a meme post, they are imitating the post of another before them because they have been tagged. Then they are imitated by others as they are tagged.

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Posted: July 25th, 2007 under Blogthropology, Blogging.
Comments: 10

A few days ago, I received my blogging book Secrets of Successful Blogging by Ted Demopoulos in the mail. I won this from Matt Huggins’ Entrepreneurial Blog. I was super excited to receive my very first book about blogging. :)

I have already read a few important points in this blogging book already. And one thing Ted says in his book is: “Almost the whole world will be able to see what you’ve written.”

And I think about that often so I:

1. Use spellcheck to check my spelling.
2. Read over what I have written.
3. I try to be my usual dynamic and interesting self. :P

Thanks Matt for my great new blogging book! I look forward to reading more because I think that I could use 101+ tips for blogging.

To learn more about blogging yourself:

55 Essential Articles Every Serious Blogger Should Read on Matt Huggins’ blog

Posted: July 23rd, 2007 under Blogging.
Comments: 12

I would like to announce that the header is now clickable. I think I have had about 10 requests to do so, and I have made it happen.  :)

I followed Terence Chang’s suggestion to just get rid of the PHP and just do a link with img as I would in html. Thanks Terence!

As well, have you noticed that my RSS Feed Bear is blinking and licking his lips over the past few days? I thought for sure someone was going to get spooked! :P

So if you want to find my home page, JUST CLICK THE HEADER!

Posted: July 22nd, 2007 under Blogging.
Comments: 13

Last night I went out with three girls (one was my friend, one is my new friend and my long lost twin sister, and the other thought she was better than the rest of us because she practiced… uh… restraint and self-discipline). We went to Under The Volcano, a Mexican restaurant in London, and had a great meal of nachos, flautas, quesadillas, four layer bean dip and onion rings. Oh and several pitchers of sangria. Yum!

Afterwards, me and my friend went to the martini bar and who did we run into but our waiter from Under The Volcano. He was wearing this cool sort of vintage T-shirt that said something about Texans making better lovers or something bizarre like that. We started talking to him and I don’t quite remember what I said, but he says to me: “You know what you need? You need a blog.” And I laughed so hard, and so did my friend. And in unison she said “She has a blog!” and I said “I have a blog!”.

It was super funny! And he was so right: I do need a blog! He asked me some web stats questions, and seemed pretty impressed with what I told him because I don’t think there are many high traffic blogs in town to compare me with, and it is pretty good what I have done with my blog in a few weeks. Of course after hearing a boy at a bar use the word BLOG I was all gaga and being a silly girl with a crush. :P But either way this was the first time that I had heard someone use the word blog in normal conversation, and here was the cute guy telling me I needed a blog. I don’t think he has a blog though, because he did not know what Alexa was.

Posted: July 21st, 2007 under Personal, Blogging.
Comments: 6

I think that there is a great deal of value to be gained from attending conventions aimed at bloggers, and it is something that I will consider in the future. I would not go now because I would say: “Hi, I am Danielle from Pink Internet Marketing” and the blogger in front of me would respond: “Who from what?”. But even so, I think that I would benefit a great deal from attending one of these, and likely even if no one knew me, they no doubt would by the time I left. :)

So what would be the value of attending a blogging convention?

1. You would have the opportunity to meet other bloggers. This means you can really flex your schmooze muscles, in a real life, real person situation. You meet, you network, and then when you all go home and blog, your neighbourhood is suddenly a lot bigger.
2. You would have the chance to meet the bloggers you already know. This can help to solidify any relationships you have with other bloggers.
3. There is no doubt a lot that can be learned from other bloggers and presenters at conferences, which can in turn enhance your blogging efforts.
4. By networking at conferences, you could stand to gain money making, sponsorship, guest blogging or marketing opportunities that you would not otherwise get.
5. LOTS OF FUN! No doubt that actually hanging out with other bloggers could be very enjoyable.

On Mike’s blog I made mention of a Schmoozevention, and that would be so much fun! And not an A-List blogger meet - something for people who couldn’t care less about that kind of stuff. Just a fun party for bloggers like me. I know about PostieCon, but I am not sure if that is the kind of convention for me.

Are there any other blogging conferences?

Would you come to Schmoozevention 2009?

Posted: July 17th, 2007 under Blogging.
Comments: 5

I recently recommended coComments as a great way to help manage your blog commenting activities.

I am the Queen of Schmooze and you can find me on the home page of coComment as a Top Commenter with 172 comments in under a week! Welcome to the Schmoozosphere, the place formerly know as the Blogosphere. :)

Posted: July 17th, 2007 under Blogging.
Comments: 17

BlogCatalog is currently promoting Blog For A Good Cause that will occur this Wednesday, July 18. On Wednesday I will blog about organ donation, and I am hoping that others will join in if they do not plan to already. This is an opportunity for bloggers to help raise awareness about this important issue, and I think we should take the challenge! :)

So join me and I imagine many others and blog about organ donation on July 18.

Posted: July 17th, 2007 under Blogging.
Comments: none

You may recognize the name Matt Huggins, and if you do not, I am sure you soon will. There are many make money blogging blogs you can visit, but what makes Matt’s blog unique is that, unlike so many I have read over the past few months, he is a really nice guy who works hard to provide extremely high quality content for his readers.

While playing around in Alexa, I decided to check out how he has been doing, as I know he has recently had some great posts get noticed around the blogosphere. And what I saw shocked and amazed me. He has a bunch of other interesting projects as well, and I am kind of glad that I have gotten to know Matt Huggins as I know his success is impending and inevitable. Matt’s blog is about the “vision and progression of an internet entrepreneur“. I have viewed the progression over the past few months, and it has been interesting to watch as very well-written and informative posts about what he is doing to make this happen have launched his blog into the spotlight. Though I don’t see myself as an internet entrepreneur, I like monetizing my blog to a small extent, mostly out of interest in the process. Plus money is kind of nice, I can buy stuff with it, such as poutine and new dresses.

Some posts that really stand out:

55 Essential Articles Every Serious Blogger Should Read

A Definitive List of Social Networking Websites to Help You Succeed

So, thanks again Matt for all the support and help you have given me over the past few months in my SEO and blogging projects, and I look forward to watching your “inevitable success”. :)

Posted: July 17th, 2007 under Reviews, Blogging For Money, Blogging.
Comments: 4

Hernan has made me yet another fabulous graphic for my site - this time a great RSS feed button! So if you need some food for thought, and like Dannibear you are hungry for a delicious RSS feed from Pink Internet Marketing, then subscribe using your feed reader of choice.

Thanks Hernan for your great contribution in helping me brand my blog!

Posted: July 16th, 2007 under Blogging.
Comments: 12

As a new blogger, I am very conscious of what I am writing and I always try to think to myself: “Am I writing this for me, or am I writing this for others to come read. And when trying to market your blog and increase traffic and readership, you always want to keep this in mind.

Blogging for yourself

This involves posting things that interest you, and that may not necessarily be “hot topics”. This may include, but is not limited to, being vague about what your are writing about, perhaps using language or metaphors that most people will not understand, making posts about mundane
details of your life. When blogging for yourself usually you will not post regularly, but only when you feel like it or when you have something to say. These blogs can be extremely attractive to people who want to get a glimpse of someone else’s life, experiences and beliefs. They get their links by being placed in blogrolls, but likely never get links for particular posts.

Blogging for the masses

When blogging for the masses, you make sure that your posts are about things that people are really interested at the time, they will cover hot topics and other issues that are relevant at that particular moment in time. Blogging for the masses means using language that is accessible by everyone, and is usually very clear and unambiguous. When blogging for the masses, usually there will be little or no personal touch, they will be posts that are speak about certain topics, but that do not contain “a voice”. These types of blogs easily accumulate links because the posts are related to topics that will create a buzz.

The Middle Ground

Some bloggers prefer to be a little more eclectic, and will combine these two strategies. I consider my blog to be among that group. I blog for myself and for the masses, and I try to combine these strategies not only by posting some posts of myself and some for everyone else, but I also try to personalize my “mass readership” posts so that they contain a bit of me as well.

Which approach works best?

Well, I don’t know that any approach is more favorable. I would suggest doing what comes naturally to you. Some people are brimming with so much charisma and personality that they would never be able to contain themselves while trying to blog for the masses, and some people are more keen on reporting things and commenting on issues than speaking of their personal lives in a blog. You cannot force yourself to be something you are not, at least not comfortably, and when creating a blog you need to consider: Can I maintain this for a prolonged period of time? Blogging requires some level of consistency and your readers will soon come to expect certain things from your blog.

So there is no one approach that I would recommend - it is a personal choice. What works for one person might not work for another, and whether you blog for yourself or blog for the masses, or somewhere in the middle, your blogging and the style you adopt should be something that you can stick with, and something that comes naturally to you. Happy blogging! :)

Posted: July 15th, 2007 under Blogging.
Comments: 17