Blogger Secrets:
Things You Probably Didn't Know
By http://MCPromotionsPress.com
Blogging is a pretty popular activity online these
days. It's a great way to connect with your audience on the Web
and create a sense of community.
There are many ways to start your own weblog but
one of the easiest is with a free service called "Blogger."
Owned by Google, it's a feature-rich service that makes it simple
to start a blog of your own.
If you think blogging is just about typing text,
think again. There are many fun things you can do once you're
up and running withyour very own blog.
1) Photo Blogging:
Post photos to your weblog with this free software
called "Hello." Get it at http://hello.com.
It makes it easy to upload photos to your blog.
2) Audio Blogging:
Post to your blog by phone. Once registered, you'll
receive a special number. Call it, leave a message and it's immediately
posted to your website as an MP3 audio file. To sign up, go to
http://www.AudioBlogger.com
3) Email Posting:
Post to your blog by sending an email from any
email application. To set it up, you'll need to log into your
blogger account and go to "settings" then "email."
You must specify if you want your posts to publish automatically
or saved as drafts for later publishing. The subject of your email
will be the title of your blog post, with the email body making
up the rest of it.
4) Team Blogs:
This allows groups of people to contribute to
one blog. One person must create the blog, then invite others
to join in.
5) Templates:
Blogger has over 30 templates to choose from.
Make sure you back up your blog before attempting any changes.
There are also third party template providers you can choose designs
from. See:
http://BlogSkins.com
http://BlogDesigns.com
6) Blogger Toolbars:
Google has one built into its toolbar that makes
it a snap to post to your site while visiting any webpage you
might want to comment on. Firefox also has a toolbar of its own
with blogging components. See it at http://FireFoxToolbar.com/blogger
or Google's at http://toolbar.google.com/
7) Feeds:
Blogger users can syndicate their content via
an Atom Feed. Former Blogger Pro suscribers can choose between
Atom and RSS formats. You can find this feature in your Blogging
account under "settings," then "site feed."
If you'd rather syndicate in RSS, your only choice is to use an
outside service like http://FeedBurner.com
8) Comments:
If you'd like your readers to participate on
your Blog, you'll want to turn on "comments." Found
under "settings," you can choose from preferences like
allowing anyone to post a comment, allowing only regular users
to post comments, or allowing only members of the blog to post
(if it's a team blog).
9) TagBoards:
Different from comments, TagBoards also allow
your blog readers to post comments. These act more like a discussion
board or chat room for your blog. However, they're not aimed at
individual posts but attached to your entire site. You'll find
free providers of this service at:
http://Tag-Board.com
http://ChatterBox.com
This is a great way to add a feeling of community.
10) PhotoBlogs:
If you'd like to share a lot of photos with your
readers on a regular basis you may want to add a "photo album."
You'll find many sites that offer this free service such as:
http://Shutterfly.com
http://Ofoto.com
http://DotPhoto.com
11) Polls:
Do you know what your readers think? Running polls
on your site is a great way to get inside your readers minds and
get them involved with your blog. A few free poll service providers
are:
http://FreePolls.com
http://PollHost.com
http://BraveNet.com
http://WebPollCentral.com
12) Advertising:
If you'd like to run ads on your blog and get
paid per click, you'll want to look at Google Adsense. Since Google
owns Blogger too, they make it simple to add their advertising
to your site. See http://tinyurl.com/3j3k8
13) Camera Phones:
If you have a SrintPCS cell phone with a built
in camera you can send your pictures directly to Blogger. You'll
need to set up an "email address" to post to. For instructions,
see Blogger's Help section on "posting via email." On
your phone it works like this: you snap a picture, select "share,"
pick your specific blogging email address, then ok. Your picture
is uploaded.
14) Keyboard Shortcuts:
Blogger has many different keyboard shortcuts
you can use while making a post.
cntrl + B= Bold
cntrl + I= Italics
cntrl + shift + A= Link
cntrl + d= Save as draft
cntrl + s= Publish Post
cntrl + shift + P = Preview
15) FTP:
You can host your blog on Blogger's server, or
host it on your own via FTP access. You'll find this option under
"settings" then "publishing."
16) Email Posts to a Friend:
If you'd like to allow your visitors to email
your interesting posts to their friends you can enable this feature
under "settings," basic tab, then where it says "show
email post links?" say yes.
If you'd like to watch some free tutorials on
"Learning Blogger," see these by Molly Holzschlng at
http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=113
So what are you waiting for? Now that you know
all of the really cool things you can do with Blogger, why not
experiment. Who knows, maybe there's been a "born Blogger"
hiding inside of you all along. Blog away my friend; the world
is waiting.
Merle of WebSiteTrafficPlan.com offers a Free
ebook and an e-course that will teach you how to promote and market
your website. Grab your copy now at http://WebSiteTrafficPlan.com
