Baedon's Curious Web

Info for the masses…

Six Sources for Blogging Ideas

You have had a good run on your blog of ideas for quite some time but, as it happens to everyone, you have run into a creative brick wall. So, you decide to search the internet for ideas and come up empty. How do you find fresh materials for your blog? Here are just a few of the ways I come up with ideas for new posts.

By far my biggest source for blogging fodder is paying attention to the news. For some reason some of the most successful blogs are commentary and editorial in nature, so you really cannot go wrong with this type of material. There is bound to be someone out there that agrees with your assessments of a news item. Better yet, those who disagree.
Over the past year, the popularity of Twitter has grown with leaps and bounds, as such, you can harvest this wealth of chatter through searching the “hash tags” (those words preceded by the # symbol) on any given topic. Keep your attention on a narrow focus because it is easy to become distracted with the flow of the conversations.
Social tagging sites like StumbleUpon and Digg are also a great resource for finding ideas. Again, like Twitter, it is easy to become distracted, so try and stay focused on your topic.
One of the oldest and apparently falling into disuse ways of getting ideas is in the form of Memes. These are usually some sort of question another blogger poses on his or her blog and invites their fellow bloggers to respond either in comments or, and this is where it can help you out, on the respondent’s blog. Either way, some link love can occur and benefit both parties in that respect. Another form of Meme is a theme of the day such as “Wordless Wednesday” where bloggers are encouraged to post an image that reflects a given theme; original images are more desirable than snagging them from the net.
A place I find a treasure trove of idea for “From My Armchair” is Yahoo! Answers. If your blog has a very narrow focus, you can find all sorts of blogging fodder just by browsing through the questions that are posted in neatly segregated categories. You can also establish a little bit of traffic by posting links to your blog that might be useful in answering someone’s question. The fun on this site is finding the good questions amongst the fluff.
Question of the Day sites are useful as well. One such site is Plinky. They have some great questions and you can post your answers on the community site as well as your blog. Another source for this type of material is LiveJournal. I keep an account on there just to look at the Question of Day which can be found in the administration panel.

There are many other places to discover topics for your blog; these are just a few that I use. I hope this has helped you discover new topics for your blog.

What I Have Learned in One Year of Blogging (tipsblogger.com)
How can I generate clicks? (startups.com)
9 Things to Do To Make Sure Your Next Blog Post is Read by More than Your Mom (stevensreeves.posterous.com)
5 Ways To Bring The Social Media To Your Blog (bloggingot.com)
How To Get Website Traffic From Yahoo Answers (tlmarketing.net)

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And then, the well went dry.

Have you ever sat for hours trying to figure out what you are going to write about on your blog? I have. That is where I am at the moment, suffering from an acute case of writer’s block. And it is not just with my blog that I have hit a serious snag in the creativity department, it also seems that my idea for a novel has stalled out.

The crying shame about the whole blog community is that it seems that if you search for inspiration, all you run into are blogs that specialize in commercial blogging. While these have quite a few good ideas for that niche, what about the rest of us? The only good site I’ve found out there for the rest of the bloggers in the world is Plinky. Other then that, not much out there.

So, you have now sat and read this pathetically rambling post about not having something to post about, I think I’ll see what I can find for future topics. Until then, keep you eye in the sky praying that a bird does not drop something there while you are looking.

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Some Great Technology Blogs to Check Out

Tribute in Light by laverrue

One of the best ways to stay up with technology trends is to read a few tech blogs, here are a few that I read and get a lot out of.

The top blog for Technology news is, without a doubt, Ars Technica. They mostly deal with the computer industry, but that’s okay, there is enough to read here and you will find something that will grab your attention. Their reporting is also unbiased which is hard to come by in the tech world, check them out and see what you think.

Over the years, it seems that the Fourth Estate has seen the writing on the wall and have embraced the whole blogging idea. The New York Times has a great tech blog called Bits and their team of bloggers have some great content. Bits stands for Business, Innovation, Technology, and Society; and they cover all quite well within the context of each other.

If your thing is gadgets, then Gizmodo is the blog for you. They cover all gadgets from pen cameras to super sized TVs, it’s all here. They are not above making fun of gadgets either, which I find to be a bonus to my reading.

Most would not think of Lifehacker as a tech site, but they do help you with “tips and downloads for getting things done”. They gie you tips from the mundane to the unexpected. Check it out, you will enjoy your read.

My last blog to recomend is Geeks Are Sexy, just the name sounds cool. Well, the whole blog is cool. The topics covered here are science, technology and other things that makes geeks go weak in the knees. This is also a great place to find out what should be the next youTube viral video.

Well that wraps it up for me and what is cool and sweet for Technology Blogs. Check them out, you won’t be disappointed.

Engadget founders launch new crowdsourced site, Gdgt (digital.venturebeat.com)
Which Bloggers Generate the Most Buzz and Which Bloggers are the Most Paranoid? (newcommbiz.com)
Pirate Bay SOLD, goes the social media route (blogherald.com)

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Blogging For Fun and Not For Profit

Blog What You Love, The Money Will Follow

Image by gumption via Flickr

Everywhere you look today, you see blog after blog tell you how to make money blogging. The reality is, you will probably never make a dime; let alone be able to quit your day job. With the current state of the economy, you should consider blogging as more of a hobby.

Some start blogging seeking fame, but only a few will have a following larger than a handful of people. Most of the time, only your family and friends will read your blog. So, to begin with, just blog for your own enjoyment and about things you like. If, after awhile, you gain a large audience, bonus!

One lesson I am learning rather quickly is to read other blogs. You never know what tidbits you will glean from your fellow bloggers. Remember to leave comments, a few lines here and there, telling them how much you enjoy their blog or even adding your own thoughts on the topic of the post. However, if you disagree with the post, there is an opportunity to make post of your own on the subject, rather than post a negative comment. You don’t want to become known for only posting negative comments, a thorn in the side of all bloggers, or simply put, a jerk.

Commenting on someone else’s blog might get them to visit your’s or you might attract a few of the other members of the audience to your blog for a visit or two. This is the oldest way of getting traffic in the blogsphere. It also shows that you are actually reading and want to let the blogger know you are there, plus you learn how others have succeeded in blogging.

Remember, we all want traffic, if we make a little loose change along the way, that’s just icing on the cake. But, first and foremost, we should blog for fun, not money.

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The Facebook Meme Craze

Facebook headquarters in downtown Palo Alto, C...

Image via Wikipedia

Twenty Five Reasons Why I will not do the Twenty Five Random Things about me on FaceBook.

Too Much Information
If I really wanted to share all these tidbits, I’d post them on my blog.
Who really wants to know what you did in your younger,
stupid days?
How many of those 25 things do you believe about your
friends?
If people don’t know you by now, they never will.
Who knows who will see that post on Facebook, it might cost
you a job or a relationship.
Prying into my life might just be a one way ticket to the
funny farm.
It feels to much like group therapy.
There just isn’t 25 things that I could think of to share
that people don’t already know about me.
I’ve never responded to e-mail or snail-mail chain letters,
why should I start now?
Since everything you say on Facebook is the permanent
property of Facebook, you better be damn sure I’m going to think twice
before I post anything, let alone a list of obscure facts about me, to
that site. (see this site)
The whole things reminds me of a virual infection
It’s apt to mutate into something sick and perverted at any
time now.
I dislike anything that is compulsuary.
The whole idea sounds like an exercise from a self-help
book written by some second rate hack.
Because of this silly Meme, it’s going to be months before
we stop seeing every blog on the face of the earth postulising 25
Random Things About ________.
I’m not trendy.
I’ve never been Catholic, so the whole idea of confessional
doesn’t appeal to me. Besides, isn’t that just between you,
the priest, and God?
I have a handful of blogs that I post to, that takes care
of all my Narcissistic tendenacies.
I have three active blogs, one private blog, a Facebook
page, a Myspace page, A Yahoo! 360 page, An AIM Profile page.
I don’t think there is much more I could post about myself.
It just seems too silly of thing for me to spend my time on.