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Scribnia recently hired David Spinks, a social media guru who will serve as our Community Manager. I wanted t...
A picture can draw the reader in. It provides visual stimulation that can lead into your content. It can serve...
This post is part of the Guest Blog Grand Tour over at Life Without Pants – an epic two-month journey of ove...
We've been thinking about how we'd like to design this blog and how we can keep it simple and effective. ...
There have been a lot of discussions about whether or not blogging is dead. Some great posts to check o...
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Posted by: David Spinks - 1 July 2010 / 18:08
Scribnia is very proud to be sponsoring the Famous Bloggers + Comluv blogging contest. We believe both of these sites have created lively communities of bloggers and we were honored when they reached out to us to contribute to the more than $3000 in cash prizes.
We also loved how this contest works because it’s a lot more than just “omg tweet this link for a chance to win!”. In the true spirit of a good blogging contest, the only way to win this contest is to blog!
On top of that, the posts aren’t meant to support the hosts of the contest…they’re meant to support the community. The topic that you have to write about is “blog comments”. It’s general enough that you have creative freedom, but focused enough that we can come out of the contest with some great content to help bloggers on an important topic.
The best posts, based on a number of factors, will win one of many prizes.
So it’s an honorable contest, with noble goals, and cash prizes. What more could we ask for?
Ready to enter?
You can read the official contest blog post here. It includes:
- The announcement
- The rules
- Topic ideas
- …and any help/resources you’ll need.
So go on! Enter, write some good content, share it around, and win some money.
Happy blogging!
Posted by: David Spinks - 19 February 2010 / 0:17
Photo cred: "mugley"
Starting a blog isn’t easy. It’s intimidating. For many, it’s the first time they’re speaking out to the public.
But you’re supposed to suck when you first get started!
It’s tempting to think that you need to be good right away. You probably read a lot of blogs and start to compare yourself. Thing is, they’ve been blogging for a while.
It’s not easy to suck at something in the public eye, but every blogger started somewhere. We all sucked at one point or another. I might still suck, but I know I’m a hell of a lot better than when I first started.
Over time you develop a rhythm. You become more consistent. You pick up on what works and what doesn’t. Your writing becomes more fluent and you figure out how you can better keep your readers engaged.
So give it a shot; Just start writing! It’s okay to suck at first. If you don’t suck at first, you probably cheated, and no one likes a cheater.
Posted by: David Spinks - 12 February 2010 / 11:09
Photo cred: Maria Antonia Paez Duque
If you’re like me, one of the most important goals for your blog is to drive conversation. It’s to make readers think about things a little differently. How far will you go to reach that goal?
Would you lie?
Calm down…I’m not talking about false information. Unless content is clearly focused on providing entertainment, it should never pass on lies as facts.
What I’m talking about is personal opinion. Are you willing to commit to a devils advocate position? Can you force your readers to look at something in a new light?
The fact is, if you start a post with “I don’t actually feel this way, and I’m just taking a devil’s advocate stance”, readers will not take the point as seriously. It’s when you take a strong stance on something and stand by it, that readers really think about it and determine their own stance.
So are you willing to say something that you may not believe in, and stick by it without a devil’s advocate disclaimer, for the sake of your readers? For the sake of conversation?
Posted by: David Spinks - 27 January 2010 / 18:30
There was a great question in the bloggeries forums from a user that wants to start a blog, but wasn’t sure if they should focus on the smallest niche possible and reach less people, or go with a broader focus and appeal to more people right off the bat.
Here are my thoughts…
If the video isn’t working, you can view it here.
Posted by: David Spinks - 5 January 2010 / 12:05
We were not asked to write this post. Brian and the team at copyblogger doesn’t even know I’m writing it. I am simply writing this post because I have found a ginormous (yea I said it) amount of value in their content and felt compelled to share it with you guys, here.
Every time they talk about a common mistake that writers make, I can think of a time when I’ve made that mistake. They help me fix it.
Their advice on headlines and on writing blog posts in general has completely changed the way I approach blogging, and the way I write.
They bring in some extremely interesting and talented guest writers that provided a different perspective on writing. I’ve discovered and followed quite a few of them.
When Brian Clark gives advice, you don’t feel like he’s talking down to you. Posts can be lengthy, and yet still extremely easy to read/browse. The content is always very relevant and extremely easy to consume. They’re great teachers.
They’re not pushy at all about selling their products like some other blog tip sites.
In a nutshell, CopyBlogger rocks, and anyone who writes, should subscribe over there. You won’t regret it.
Impress me once, good for you. Impress me every damn time I visit your site, and I will share it with as many people as I possibly can.
Spinks out.
Posted by: David Spinks - 29 December 2009 / 11:57
Photo cred: Nicole Simon
We’ve been thinking about how we’d like to design this blog and how we can keep it simple and effective. That means keeping the sidebar nice and neat with limited clutter.
One of the first things I thought about was the blogroll, and whether or not it’s necessary. When sharing links to other blogs on your blog, there are 3 common options:
- Manually create a blogroll with the links to blogs that you read.
- Install a blogroll widget.
- Create a seperate page on your blog for links (this way, you’re not linking out from every page on your blog)
Adding the links manually seems to be of fading efficiency. Today, a lot of people hop around from blog to blog, and tend to change their tastes quite often. The static list of links hardly ever gets clicked, as the blogroll doesn’t tell you much about the site, just names and links.
Where people once relied on blogrolls to find new blogs, networks like twitter have quickly become the go to resource for blog discovery for many readers.
If you want something more dynamic for your blogroll, that will change with your tastes, you can add a widget…but your options are limited. All the widgets I’ve seen are based on random links, or on your RSS reader, which by the way, is dying… is the blogroll dying along with it?
Do you still use the blogroll? Is it effective? Do we just need more options?
Posted by: David Spinks - 23 December 2009 / 12:03
Guest Blogger: Carlos Miceli is the Argentinian blogger behind OwlSparks. He’s a freelance writer and entrepreneur, but most of all, a questioner of things.
Photo cred: Crystian Cruz
The long vs. short posts discussion has been present for quite some time in social media. As a writer who became “popular” because of his short posts, now that I transitioned to longer ones, I wanted to share my thoughts on this debate:
- Marketing-wise, long posts are for the writer, short posts are for the reader.
- It’s more interesting and fun to write a long post. It’s more interesting and fun to read a short post.
- Long posts leave a deeper sense of fulfillment after written. Short posts leave a more powerful effect after read.
- You learn more writing long posts. You impress more writing short posts.
- Long posts sell less than short posts because of people’s attention span decreasing everyday.
- Also, we are now all expert scanners, judging content quicker than ever. This doesn’t mean we can’t see good content, but that when the content is bad, we know it faster. Better to write a bad short post than a bad long one because of the time it takes.
In the end, the reason why I used to write short posts, is because people want them. It was a marketing strategy. Short sells more, even if the quality is mediocre. Now I decided to write longer posts, and I’m enjoying my writing a lot more. The downside is, the growth of my blog has decreased.
Sadly, it’s the marketing decision you have to make. Satisfy your readers, or satisfy yourself.
Posted by: David Spinks - 17 December 2009 / 12:32
A picture can draw the reader in. It provides visual stimulation that can lead into your content. It can serve as a visual representation of the topic. Overall, it just provides a more enjoyable reading experience. The tricky part is finding pictures that you’re legally allowed to use in a blog post.
There are legal restrictions on pretty much every image on the internet. Some have more restrictions than others.
Photo cred: Darwin Bell
While many of these legalities aren’t often enforced, you are liable if you use a picture in a manner that violates their terms of use. Luckily, it’s not hard to find pictures that you are allowed to use on your blog.
So, what can get you in trouble? DeviantArt explains it briefly:
What is Copyright Infringement?
To simplify this question, copyright infringement occurs when you do certain things with a creative work which someone else produced without first getting the proper permission.
Some examples of copyright infringement (this is only a partial listing) can include:
- Placing a photograph or creative work online without proper permission.
- Using a creative work commercially.
- Adapting a creative work of one medium to another, such as making a book into a movie or a photograph into a painting.
- Modifying or editing a creative work without proper permission.
You can read the full page here. If you haven’t checked out DeviantArt, I highly recommend it. If you’re going to use an image from this site though, you have to get written permission.
You may hear that you can get around copyrights by attributing the work, by only using a portion of the work, if you don’t use it commercially etc… You may be allowed to do these things, but no matter what, you need permission, either from the specific copyright guidelines, or from the owner.
Etiquette tips when using images:
- If you can, ask for permission first. Even if you don’t have to due to the copyright specifications, the owner might appreciate knowing how you’ll be using their work.
- It’s always good form to attribute the picture’s author. Remember though, that attributing the owner doesn’t override the copyright restrictions.
- Link to page where you found the picture. It drives traffic to the artists’ work. They’re helping you, so why not help them?
So now that you know the general rules, here are some great resources to find legal pictures for your blog posts.
1. Flickr Creative Commons
Flickr‘s creative commons is a great resource. In fact, it’s my go to website. Just type in a search term, then when it brings you to the results page, click advanced search under the search bar and check off the Creative Commons checkbox at the bottom.
Different pictures have different limitations based on the specific copyright though so be sure to check the copyright info on the right of the picture page. Usually, the owner just wants attribution.
There are tools that you can use to search through flickr’s creative commons. Try Compfight out for size. It’s amazing.
2. Stock.xchng
Stock.xchng is a great resource. I like how it provides a number of relevant free pictures, but also shows you better quality “premium” pictures that seem to be very affordable, if you find something you really have to have. In my experience so far, there are less results than on flickr, but they’re more closely related to the keyword.
3. Photobucket
Photobucket has been around for a long time and I really love how they’ve changed over the years. Not only do they gather some truly captivating photos but they also encourage users to use and share them across their blogs and social networks by providing you with the links.
On photobucket, ALL content is available for you to use, with pretty much no strings attached. Quoted from their terms of service:
By displaying or publishing (“posting”) any Content on or through the Photobucket Services, you hereby grant to Photobucket and other users a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, worldwide, limited license to use, modify, delete from, add to, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce and translate such Content, including without limitation distributing part or all of the Site in any media formats through any media channels, except Content marked “private” will not be distributed outside the Photobucket Services.
4. Stock Vault
Stock Vault has some pretty good stuff. They offer a lot of free stock photos and also provide cheap options if you see something you really like. According to their terms of use you can use their photos:
- In digital format on non-commercial websites, multimedia presentations, broadcast film and video, cell phones.
- In printed non-commercial materials, magazines, newspapers, books, brochures, flyers, CD/DVD covers, etc.
- Along with your non-commercial identity on business cards, letterhead, etc.
- To decorate your home, your office or any public place.
5. Unprofound
Unprofound is a bit different from other sites. You’re free to use their photos for your projects, and even to edit, as long as you let them know where you use the photos. By their own admition, their search feature isn’t that great unless you use really generic keywords. They make up for it though by allowing you to search by color, in case you really want your pictures to match your blog design.
Sources: Virtual Hosting
6. MorgueFile
Thanks to Charles J. Orlando for sharing this site in the comments. It’s definitely worth checking out. You can search by keyword or browse by a bunch of different categories that they offer.
Right up front they say it, “Free images for your inspiration, reference and use in your creative work, be it commercial or not!”
Definitely worth checking out.
So, go find some amazing pictures and bring some life to your blog. Using these guidelines, and these sources, you’ll be safe from any legal ramifications.
Let us know if this was useful and if you know of any other great sources for legal pictures, share them in the comments!
UPDATE: Props to Danny Brown for sharing the Photodropper Plugin for you wordpress users. Makes finding and attributing Creative Commons licensed photos really easy.
UPDATE: Thanks to Deb Mallett for reminding us in the comments that sometimes the people that upload photos to sites like flickr don’t understand the copyrights themselves. If there are brands or pictures in a photo, they need their permission to submit the photos to the site. Every site that I’ve seen has provided a message that makes sure the user has the rights to upload, but not everyone follows those rules.
Thanks to Calvin Lee for shedding some light on this topic.
Posted by: David Spinks - 1 December 2009 / 16:31
At the last blogchat, Michael Schechter brought up the topic: “going from casual blogging to more consistent blogging”. There were a number of responses which touched on many concepts from the blending of “personal and professional” to blogging goals and best practices. I thought I’d share my thoughts a bit more on the topic…
Photo cred: Guillermo R. de Loizaga
As I see it, there are three general types of bloggers. Keep in mind, these are generalizations, and will of course have many exceptions.
The Casual Blogger
- Can post whenever the urge to write hits them, at random times.
- Can write about whatever they want.
- Doesn’t necessarily worry about stats (hits, comments, etc)
- Doesn’t take into account search engine optimization.
- No clear goals.
The Serious Blogger
- Clear set of goals.
- Posts with relative consistency. May use a schedule and post on the same days every week.
- Consistent topics. Can have multiple topics but they all fall in line with the focus of the blog.
- Consistent post formats “types” (interview, video, debate, informational etc…)
- Pays attention to statistics to optimize the content that is most successful.
- Uses keywords with search engines in mind.
The Professional (Revenue Driven) Blogger
- Clear set of goals that leads to revenue.
- Typically uses ads and/or affiliate programs.
- Very consistent in post format and rate of content production.
- Lives by statistics, and aims to optimize the #1 statistic: revenue.
- Search Engine Optimized in many aspects.
So basically, the major differences that define the three different types of bloggers are goals, strategy and focus.
So what do you think? What are the best ways to make the transition from casual blogging to serious blogging? From serious blogging to professional blogging?
(best responses may be included in future posts covering these topics)
Posted by: David Spinks - 27 November 2009 / 8:08
This post is part of the Guest Blog Grand Tour over at Life Without Pants – an epic two-month journey of over 50 guest posts. Want to learn more about Matt Cheuvront and see how far the rabbit hole goes? Subscribe to the Life Without Pants RSS feed and keep in touch!
Photo cred: Scott Kinmartin
When it came to reading, as a kid, I always looked for the easy way out. Every time we had assigned reading – the first thing to do was to go check the local video store in hopes that someone else hadn’t already rented the movie. I must have watched the 1998 adaptation of Great Expectations starring Ethan Hawke & Gwyneth Paltrow (which in hindsight had very few similarities to the Dickens classic) at least 10 times throughout high school.
Call me lazy – because that’s exactly what I was.
Blogging has allowed those kids who were always looking for the easy way out when it came to reading the ability to digest information in small bites. We no longer have to read an 800 page Dickens novel at a time, with our lovely Google Reader, we can read about 50 completely different topics with the click of a mouse – then comment, discuss, and interact with other like-minded readers.
But here comes video – doing what it can to bring us back to those lazy childhood days; although this time, it might not be such a bad thing.
Video blogging is on the rise. From the top down, video is being used as THE new way to share thoughts and ideas. If you take a look through the Archives of Life Without Pants, you’ll see I’ve done a lot with video over the past several months. The question is, does video ENHANCE traditional
blogging, or will it be responsible for its slow and painful demise?
I asked that question to some folks in my Twitter community, and got some interesting responses. The general consensus? Video lowers barriers, allows for the targeting of wider audiences, easy sharing, and can act to thoroughly enhance a blogging experience. But video blogging is not without its obstacles.
So I turn the question to you. What obstacles and challenges do you see with “vlogging”? How do you use video on your own blog or website? Do you think video will be responsible for the death of traditional blogging?