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10 April, 2008 4:43 PM
One of the things that I've been doing over the last 12 months is writing.
"Writing? Don't you mean Blogging" you say...
No, actually writing in a non blogging form - writing a book.
Bouncing off my blog ProBlogger (a book about how to improve your blog and even make a living from it) I was approached last year by an editor at Wiley Publishing to write a book on the topic of making money from blogs.
I'd previously rejected such offers but the timing seemed right this time and so I asked a UK blogging buddy of mine (Chris Garrett) if he'd co-author it with me. While Chris and I had never met (and still haven't) we work well together so we decided to give it a go.
And so the journey of writing a book began. It was a long long journey. We planned, wrote and submitted the book over the last 12 months and in just a couple of weeks (28 April) it will be officially released. A few days later it should hit stores in the US, followed by an international release 4-6 weeks later.
The book is called 'ProBlogger' (it seemed to be the logical choice).
You can already pre-order it at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble (also at Amazon's international stores) with Amazon offering a pre-order discount.
We've set up a site for the book here and have an email list that you're welcome to sign up to if you'd like to sample the book with a free taster chapter. The list also will get you a weekly email with free blog tips from Chris and I. You can of course unsubscribe from it at any point.
12 October, 2006 7:20 PM
Cory is running a great series of posts over at Church Communications Pro on Pastors blogging in which he's written some good posts and is interviewing some 'believer bloggers'. Check it out here.
17 October, 2005 2:33 PM
A number of fellow bloggers have emailed me this past couple of weeks to ask if I'm going to the God Blog conference.
To be honest I didn't really consider it for a couple of reasons - Firstly it's been a question of Expense Distance and Time - I'm not critiquing the conference - it has to be held somewhere but wherever it is the distance makes it hard for some bloggers. For me I couldn't justify the expense or time away from other priorities to go.
Secondly I have been pondering the question 'Am I a 'God Blogger?'
This blog (LivingRoom) has become less of a focus for me of late for many reasons including a lack of time, many other competing projects needing time, a maturing of the LivingRoom community (we're probably not in such a phase of learning/development now so there is less to share) and (if I'm honest) a frustration with where I saw the 'God Blog' community as going.
I don't want to write this as an attack upon those who identify themselves as God Bloggers - but after a couple of years of heavy participation in the God Blog scene I began to grow increasingly frustrated with it. I met many wonderful Christian bloggers along the way and learned a lot about blogging, faith and relationships through it - but I also saw a lot that concerned me including:
- attack - I saw some of the most vicious and personal attacks on people that I've ever experienced in online forums. Having spent the last year blogging in the wider blogging community I can honestly say that while there is bickering across the whole blogosphere - that what I saw in the 'Christian blogging community' was often at the more vicious end of the spectrum. At times (and especially in the first year) I found myself being drawn into this negativity at times (something I'm not proud of) and at times found the God Blog community took more life than it gave.
- insular focus - Something that I wrote about many times on this blog was the insular nature of the 'God Blog Community'. I saw some amazing and rich discussion on many occasions (I don't want to paint it as all bad - it wasn't by any means) yet I saw a distinct lack of Christian bloggers engaging with the wider blogging community. I think I used the term 'holy huddle' on many occasions in my critique of the Christian blogging community - on reflection I'm not sure if my critique was completely fair. I do see the need for 'holy huddles' from time to time - I think it's a biblical thing to gather with fellow believers for worship, learning and encouragement - however I also see a call for action/engagement/mission/justice. These were things that I felt a distinct lack of of within the Christian blogging community.
At LivingRoom we have three core values/journeys - inner journey (worship, prayer - spiritual formation), outer journey (mission, justice, service) and together journey (community, fellowship etc). If I was to 'review' the God Blog community as it stood a year ago I would have rated it pretty highly on the 'inner' and 'together' journeys (although as I've written above there was also a lot of disunity) but I would have been forced to rate it pretty low on the 'outer' journey.
It was this area of lacking that was probably largely the reason that I've slowly withdrawn from active participation in the 'God Blog' community and an increased involvement in the wider blogging world.
I have been amazed by what I've found as I've undergone this transition. I don't wish to discuss all of these lessons and experiences here in a public forum (because much of it has to do with individuals who I have had opportunity to build wonderful and personal relationships with) however I will say that in the past 12 months of blogging outside of (or less connected with) 'God Blog' circles I've found and experienced God working in some pretty profound ways. I've also seen God's invitation to join him in his work both in the lives of individuals but also on a larger scale.
I'm also really encouraged to see quite a few Christian bloggers exploring similar things - some of whom have in the past (and even continue) to participate in 'God Blogging' but many of who have widened their focus.
I'm not sure this has been one of my more articulate posts - I've been considering writing it for months but have hesitated for fear of it being seen as a critique - but I guess I'm interested to see if anyone else has been pondering any of these things. Perhaps the God Blogging community has changed in the last 12 months since I've pulled back - I hope it has - but I'd be keen to hear of how others view the health of the God blogging community? Where is it strong, where is it in need of growth and how has it been changing and growing?
21 September, 2005 6:10 PM
I've been quiet of late because I'm working on some new projects and finishing up some old ones.
The emerging church research I've been doing for three local denominations finishes up in a couple of weeks and today we (two other bloggers and myself) launched a new blog network called b5media which so far consists of 14 blogs on a range of topics.
It's a pretty massive project but has loads of potential. We're still in beta testing but would love to get any feedback you have on it.
18 August, 2005 4:00 PM
I just met one of the first bloggers that I ever read back a couple of years ago - Martin Roth. I was really sad when he stopped blogging a year or so back but today was really excited to see that he's baaack! His new blog is on the same domain but has a different spin to it - it's on the niche topic of Southern Gospel Music. Check it out at Southern Gospel Beat. All the best with the new blog Martin!
13 February, 2005 9:23 AM
Thanks to those who have placed a vote for my ProBlogger blog on the Business Blogging awards. Voting is getting close so if you havn't cast your vote yet head over to the Best Overall Blog category - check out ProBlogger and if you like what you see - add your support. Thanks again.
9 February, 2005 9:34 AM
I'd like to introduce you to a good friend who has just started a blog, John Jensen - otherwise known as the rev.
John describes his blog as 'the ramblings of a fighter, pastor, artist, husband, and father' which are some good words to describe who he is. In short I'd describe John as one of the more interesting people I've met in the emerging church scene - many layers yet underneath a genuine and incredibly giving heart. He's living in Melbourne but is originally from elsewhere (but we love him anyway). Here is his profile from his blog - if it doesn't get you over there nothing will:
'Rasberry is my favorite Jello flavor. My wife is a blue belt. Sometimes I eat too much cheese. My daughters make me feel old. I have had seventeen kidney stones, but still drink too much coffee. I like art museums, red wine, dancing and quiche. I use product in my hair, like shopping for shoes, and cry at movies. I like women. I can bench press 275 lbs, except when I am on the OG then I bench press twice as much. CROWNTOWNPUNKS I like Thai food better than Thai boxing. I think bullfighting is a beautiful art form. I don't love the smell of Napalm in the morning. I think Chuck Palahniuk is a poor mans David Foster Wallace. Bukowski makes me want to be a writer. Rothko makes me want to be a painter. Jesus makes me want to be a better man. Ringo was my favorite Beatle. I really like peanut butter on a hot English Muffin. Soccer is stupid. Cricket is better than baseball. Wrestling is the toughest olympic sport, but sometimes it looks pretty gay, not that there is anything wrong with that. Beating up pacifists is like shooting fish in a barrel. The Tick was a great cartoon. my brother Keith is funny. I am scared of horses.'
So please go over and meet John - say g'day - you won't be disappointed I'm sure.
25 January, 2005 11:09 AM
A few readers have asked me recently why I haven't been doing many 'blog tips' recently - It's actually been a while since I've stopped writing about blogging specifically on this blog - a few months back I decided to move all my Blog tips over to a new blog at ProBlogger. Over there I'm writing about the lessons I'm learning as someone who earns a living from blogging as well the latest relevant blogging news and some other general blog tips.
The move has gone well so far and I've 'met' some pretty amazing bloggers through it from around the globe who are doing some highly innovative blogging.
So if its blog tips you're after - that is where you should head.
11 January, 2005 5:29 PM
I'm really pleased to announce a new blogging project that I've been working on for the past few days - Depression News - a blog that will report the latest news and information about the symptoms and treatment of Depression. It is still in beta form but is at a stage where I'm happy for people to start to use it.
Over the past 10 years in my work as a minister I have encountered many people who suffer from depression and have always had an interest in seeing them reach their potential in terms of health. In more recent years I have had more personal confrontations with depression and have always kept an eye on the latest news on treatment and studies into it. I am also passionate about advocating on behalf of those who suffer from depression or mental illness.
It seemed natural to extend this personal interest in the topic into a blog where others could benefit from my own research.
I have felt a growing urge within me in recent months to look for ways to extend my blogging in a direction where it not only is about making me money or satisfying the consumeristic urges of my readers to have the latest gadget - Depression News is one of the responses that I'm making and is an project that I hope to repeat many times over in the future as I develop my blogging.
Depression News is being hosted with the Breaking News Blog collective and uses Word Press as its backbone. I am funding it (and hoping to raise a few dollars for a local mental health charity) using Google's Adsense and Amazon Affiliateship at present but am also open to other forms of sponsorship. The design is based upon one from Cre8d design but tweaked quite a bit in CSS by me.
I hope that you or someone that you know finds it a helpful resource. I'm open to it becoming a group blog if others wish to join in with some posting - at present it is focused more upon news and information but I would like to also add some personal stories. Just let me know if you'd like to get involved. Your comments suggestions on design and features are also welcome in comments below or via email.
10 January, 2005 9:51 PM
Bene Diction's Blog is having some issues at the moment - If you've been looking for it you can get it here til it goes back up on the normal domain.
8 December, 2004 7:59 AM
Bene asks 'Why do you Blog' - thought I'd give it a go.
My reasons for blogging have changed quite a bit since I started. Originally I just wanted a place to record my journey, to keep ideas and to talk out loud as I sorted through what I was doing and thinking. I also saw it as something of a discipline that would help shape and refine me. I reflect upon these reasons now and think it was a fairly insular view of blogging - all about me really. My ideas soon evolved to also include a relational aspect to blogging.
It didn't take long to realize that blogging wasn't just about bloggers themselves but that it was a medium that had incredible potential to connect people with one another. Blogging became about mutual learning relationships, sharing ideas and experiences and building friendships.
23 November, 2004 3:58 PM
Looks like Emerging Church Bloggers are hitting it big time now - Jordon Cooper and Leighton Teebay have made it to the Wikipedia!!! Although by the looks of the 'candidate for speedy deletion' note on the entries they may not be there long!
12 November, 2004 5:24 PM
Congratulations to Rachel and Regan who have just taken out an the 'Best Youth Site in New Zealand' award for IdolBlog.
Looks like all that hard work has paid off!
4 November, 2004 2:09 PM
The Salvation Army's War Cry magazine did a feature story a couple of weeks back on Christian bloggers. They are based in Melbourne and so as a Christian, Blogger and Melbournian I was the lucky guy to get photographed for the cover. Anyway - the article wasn't online until just now when Bene typed it up at Connexions (great job Bene). So now you can head over and read the full article which features comments from Bene, Martin, Gordon and myself.
4 November, 2004 8:03 AM
I just linked up to the best blogging story that I've seen for ages over at ProBlogger and I couldn't help but post it here also. I'd like to introduce you to the blog of 8 year old Professional Blogger - Delaney who is blogging over at Horseshues.com.
The blog is an attempt by her to earn enough money to buy a horse. The concept is simple - she takes old horseshoes and she decorates them and sells them from her blog for $15US. Its quite the little cottage industry.
She's already made enough to pay back her parents for the set up costs and now she's saving for the horse!
What a great idea - head on over to Horseshues.com and leave some encouragement and buy a horse shoe!
1 November, 2004 3:54 PM
Thanks to Ganns at Superblessed for a Christian Blog Award - I appreciate the encouragement Ganns - you really are an encouragement to so many of us.
Thanks to Bene for letting me know about it - I'd missed it while traveling over the past week. Congrats also Bene for taking out the top award!
8 October, 2004 12:35 AM
Can I introduce you to another Melbourne guy who's exploring what it is to do the communal faith thing in this great city I find myself living in. His name is Pete and he's a guy I've got a lot of time for - although don't end up seeing too much these days. But now I can in a virtual sense because he's blogging. Here's a snippet of his first post describing the community he finds himself in.
"I have been told that we do not really 'worship the Lord' because we don't have music, 'its more a Bible study than a real Church' and I love this one, 'this is a cutting edge church'. To be honest we a group of people trying to understand faith in the context of our homes, workplaces and the greater world we live in. We are not trying to be an amazing new cutting edge venture. Sometimes I would love to fall back into being a charasmatic movement with singing and preaching from the platform and rosters and structure, but that would be far removed from our call and expression as a group of people."
Read more at Rivett: A another new Begining
5 October, 2004 7:35 PM
Wayne has a good post on Activist Blogs. He writes - "Activist blogs usually are single issue, and for good reason. The blogger wishes to concentrate the entire blog's efforts toward a single goal....
Whether you are tying to change the world, or just your own little corner, activist blogs might provide the ideal outlet for your ambitions."
It's similar thinking to what I was trying to express in my post about blogging giving a voice to the voiceless a few weeks back.
Wayne points to Trudy W. Schuett's who is an avid blogger (she has as many blogs as I do!) who runs Desert Light Journal - a blog tackling issues of Domestic Violence.
Another good Activist Blog is Gambling Watch Global which keeps an eye on gambling issues.
This is still an issue I'm pondering and wondering how to respond to. Anyone else thinking through this stuff? Know of any good activist Blogs for me to take a look at?
5 October, 2004 1:55 PM
I'm running this competition on my other blogs and thought some of you might like to participate.
Do you own a digital camera, printer, scanner or camera phone? Would you like the chance to win a $100 (US) gift from Amazon simply by writing a short review of your experiences with it?
Digital Photography Blog, in conjunction with Camera Phone Zone and Printer Blog are giving you the chance to win a $100 gift voucher from Amazon for each review of a printer, scanner, digital camera, camera phone or photo editing software package. You get one chance in the draw for each review submitted in the next 30 days. Entries close on 5th November 2004. Please carefully read the following Conditions and Guidelines before submitting entries.
Entries should be submitted via email to Darren at:
darren at livingroom.org.au or by using this contact form (please ensure you leave a contact email address so that we can contact you regarding your prize if drawn on November 5).
Conditions of entry:
- Reviews will be published on one or more of the above mentioned blogs.
- Reviews must be at least 500 words in length and include a rating out of 10.
- Reviews must be your original work.
- We don't mind if your review has been previously published but we would like to know the URL of where it appears (we will publish a link to it).
- The prize is a $100 gift certificate from Amazon. You may spend it in any way you wish. We will purchase and forward the certificate via email within 14 days of the announcement of your winning the competition.
- If you would like to include a link back to your own blog in your review we would be happy to credit you in this way.
- You may submit as many reviews as you wish and will receive one entry into the competition for each entry. The more you submit the better your chances of winning the $100 gift.
- You may write the review in a format that suits you but we would strongly recommend that you include some or all of the following categories in your format.
- We reserve the right to reject any reviews that do not meet the above requirements or that we feel do not meet a reasonable standard - if we do this you will not receive an entry into the competition. Your reviews do not need to be super technical - but they do need to be reasonably written and show genuine knowledge of and experience with the product under review. We reserve the right to do some editing of the reviews for spelling, grammar and other reasons.
Suggested Review Format/Categories
- Introduction to the cameras features
- Your First Impressions
- Description/Comments on Layout and Design of Product
- Description/Comments on Quality of results (images, printing, scanning, phone) produced
- Description/Comments on Ease of Use/Usability
- Comments on Value for money
- General Comments/Recommendations
- Rating out of 10 and your reasoning for such a rating
- You may wish to provide 1 or two sample pictures with your review
- What you like/What you don't like
- Any relevant links/sources for your review
Once again - we're not after highly technical reviews (although if you're a techy person please submit them) - rather we want real comments about digital imaging products from real users. So be yourself - speak the truth about the product and send your reviews in.
1 October, 2004 3:53 PM
Rachel at Cre8d Design asks the question Which Blog or Blogger do you Aspire to be Like?
'I’m looking for a list of blogs you’d like your blog to be like - what is it about these blogs that makes you say this? Their hits, creativity, ideas, humour, interesting stories, breaking news, community of commenters?'
Head over and answer the question there.
29 September, 2004 5:19 PM
Calling all bloggers - lay your top 5 blog tips on me. I've been asked to write 200-300 words on blogging for a national publication with a few blog tips for beginners in it. I'm going to put 5 short and simple tips to help people who have little or no idea about blogging together and would love your input. So give me your top few - keep them short, simple and sweet. Will write the piece (and post it here) tomorrow so you've got 12 or so hours! Thanks
24 September, 2004 4:26 PM
I know one or two of your out there are going to think I've completely lost it now but I've started another blog.
One of the constant pieces of criticism/feedback that I've had here on this blog is that I tend to talk too much about blogging - especially blogging to make revenue. I personally don't see the problem with having that topic covered in the fuller mix of this blog (which is a reflection of who I am and what I do) but I can understand that the topic doesn't appeal at all to some of you.
As a result I've started a more focussed blog for those of us interested in creating revenue streams from our blogs and finding ways to make them self sustainable and even income earners. It is called ProBlogger and it is currently very blue (forgive my basic webdesign skills - I'm still working on it).
This will allow me to post more freely on the topic without worrying what impact doing so is having on some of my readership. This will allow posting on this blog to be more focused upon my own life and that of the LivingRoom - with a mixture of other general silliness from around the web. All my old Blog Tips are now both here on this blog and over there - but all new future ones will only appear on the new site.
17 September, 2004 2:34 PM
I've got a couple of new blogs on my regular blog rounds that I'd love to share with you. One is tribe m - which is written by a good mate 'D'. Knowing who he is and what he does - I'm sure it will be an interesting read.
The other is AgeWatch which is an interesting concept written by 'NorthcoteKnob' who will be taking a bit of a critical look at Melbourne's newspaper - 'The Age'. Aussie might know the show 'Media Watch' this is a blog version focused upon one newspaper. Interesting.
Both will be blogs worth following, both are by Aussies - drop by and say G'day!
14 September, 2004 7:25 PM
The Greenman has an interesting post titled That Blog Is Bad For Your Health which looks at a study into characteristics of people who write diaries (which can't be that dissimilar to bloggers). Should be some uplifting findings shouldn't it? After all blogs are great aren't they!? So what are these findings?
'They are more likely to suffer from headaches, sleeplessness, digestive problems and social awkwardness than people who do not maintain a diary, on line or otherwise.'
Hmmm - ok. So how many of you bloggers out there does that describe?
Here is my response over at the Greenman
'eerrr....
- headaches....only generally before morning coffee....
- sleeplessness.....ok - now you're talking about me
- digestive problems....peppermint tea is a wonderful thing
- social awkwardness.....MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS - STOP PRESSING MY BUTTONS - WHO ARE YOU TO MAKE JUDGEMENT CALLS ABOUT ME - I'VE GOT FRIENDS....A COUPLE OF THEM I'VE EVEN MET IN PERSON!....'
So the question remains - does blogging give us these ailments or do we blog because we have them?
11 September, 2004 10:49 AM
Fellow Melbournian blogger, Luke Phillips, has finally gone and registered a domain name for his blog - very nice one too. I think I should be able to remember lukephillips.com
Nice.
5 September, 2004 11:30 PM
Douglas Rushkoff and Jeff Jarvis are having an interesting 'discussion' on whether advertisements on blogs can corrupt a blogger's work.
Douglas Rushkoff writes - 'there might be a value in ad-free blogging; that doing it for money, for ads, may not change our writing on a conscious level, but that we may be changed - yes, corrupted - by the ads we're endorsing, er, displaying....' Douglas adds another post here.
Jeff Jarvis replies - 'But if you want ads to help support yourself in this new medium -- and thus support the growth of this medium with more contributions from more voices and more perspectives with more information and conversation and value, then you can do that. Maybe you can even quit working for The Man; what could be more counterculture than that?
The beauty of this medium -- yes, the rave quality of it -- is that I can do what I want to do and you can do what you want to do and our freedom is not zero-sum. It ain't a slam dance, man.'
Ken Layne enters the debate writing - 'In the media world, rejecting Capitalism is the exclusive realm of those who have succeeded as capitalists. I'd love to be rich and not give a damn about those BlogAds or Google ad strips. I'd be real happy to have CBS and BBC and a bunch of publishers sending me checks. But they don't. I work on the Web. And telling me I shouldn't be able to make a living as you do -- not that there's any chance in hell of that happening -- is like telling starving kids in Sudan how lucky they are not to be corrupted by McDonald's.'
Whilst I've always acknowledged that
blogging for dollars has the potential to compromise bloggers I tend to come down on Jeff's side of this debate. Really it comes down to choice. I agree with Douglas (and Jeff) that putting ads on one's site does lead to some interesting decisions and choices - but I'd argue that this is true for all bloggers as they navigate the medium of blogging.
You see I think a blogger can be 'compromised' simply in who they link to. How many bloggers out there link regularly to A list bloggers with the hope that it might get them noticed by that blogger? How many bloggers have left comments on other blogs with the hope of others surfing back to their blog from the link? How many bloggers write about a topic they are not really interested in with the hope of creating some controversy to generate hits?
Of course not all bloggers blog this way - but they are some of the issues/temptations that most bloggers face - especially when starting out.
I guess whether it comes to these issues - or putting ads on your site - it all comes down to character, being aware of the possibility of compromise, staying true to yourself and being transparent. I'm also a big believer in being honest in your blogging. I have no issue with the fact that this blog has a few ads and they earn me a few dollars. My other blogs earn me more and are emerging into something of a business - and I think that that is pretty clear from their set up. If however I posted about books that I'd never read or movies I'd never seen just to put ads for them up (without a disclaimer) I'd be compromising myself somewhat.
2 September, 2004 4:36 PM
You're cruising the internet - searching Google on some of your pet topics of interest to see if you can find anything new and interesting. One search result catches your eye - there is something about the title that triggers something in your mind - it looks like something you'd be interested in - could be that perfect site that will answer all your questions on the topic at hand.
You click the link and wait for the site to load. It is a pretty simple web page - uncluttered - just an article and some ads. The first sentence or two of the article are intriguing - they resonate with your experience - the person who has written this article is really coming from a similar perspective to you. In fact as you read you discover that they really really have had a similar experience to you - its like they are reading your mind even.
But then you come to a puzzling sentence - the author of this article makes reference to a couple of blogs that THEY run - blogs which REALLY resonate with your own experience - because they are your blogs!
It suddenly dawns upon you as to why title of the article grabbed you so quickly on Google - it was because you'd written that title a few months before. In fact you'd spent a whole morning writing this article (posted in its entirety) - researching, thinking, planning and writing it out.
Someone has lifted it straight off your site - including the title, personal comments and even internal links to other articles on your own blog. There is no attribution to your work, no crediting link to your blog and no acknowledgment that this is not original content. You've never seen or heard of this site before - no permission has been sought or given and what's more the site is commercial in nature and making money from your work.
So how does one respond in such a situation? An email to the site concerned asking for an explanation and removal of content raises no response initially.
Update: I'm happy to report that the threat of shame seemed to work. I appreciate the advice and encouragement set out below. The site in question emailed to say that they'd made a mistake in publishing my article - it was a 'test page' they say (despite them having it linked from their footer on every other page in their site). Anyway - dilemma over - until next time - this about the 10th time this has happened to me in 18 months (just the instances I've found).
1 September, 2004 11:24 PM
Well it seems that Google have decided to let bloggers who use the Blogger system actually earn a few dollars from their blogs using the Adsense program. These are the ads that I've been running on my blogs for some time now - but they were previously not allowed on Blogger blogs. Before this latest development Blogger blogs had ads run on them which Google/Blogger took all the revenue from - now they are willing to share it with you as is outlined here. This is an interesting, and I suspect smart, move from Google/Blogger - don't think that they will lose out from giving you a cut of the ads - they will be counting on blogger who sign up being motivated by the reward to blog in larger numbers, quantity of content and about topics that pay higher paying ads which will not only bring bloggers money but increase the cut that Google take.
Those of you considering using the Adsense system on your blog should know that its not a get rich quick scheme but it does add a new dimension to your blogging experience. As I've written previously, there are ways of maximizing your adsense income. Have fun with it - you might find it pays for your blog hosting costs, ISP fees or even provide you with a bit of pocket money.
30 August, 2004 12:26 AM
In just a few hours the Olympics finish up for another 4 years. With it we'll be tying up some loose ends at the Olympics Blog and then sleeping for weeks. It has been a pretty amazing experience to run a blog on such a global event. I've learnt a heap about blogging in the past few weeks which I'm sure I'll utilize in the months ahead in considering the starting of some new blogs.
I guess the most exciting realization has been a confirmation of the amazing potential of blogging as a medium to communicate with people on a global level. By the end of today over 1.5million people will have stopped by the site (over 4 weeks) to read what a couple of guys sitting in front of their TVs in the middle of the night on the other side of the world from the event itself are reporting about it.
The mind boggles really as to what blogging can achieve with a bit of planning, effort, creativity and foresight.
The question left in my mind tonight is around 'what next?' It has been an exciting couple of weeks of experimenting but what do we do with the lessons learnt? There are a few more ideas for commercial/business blogs percolating in my mind - some of us have been talking about some interesting dreams and possibilities to capitalize on what we've learnt but I'm wondering if there might be something more?
One of the streams of thinking I'm currently pursuing is 'blogging for social change'. Bear with me here, it's late and I'm thinking out loud.
You see one of the remarkable things about blogging is that it gives ordinary people a voice that they might not have had previously. On a personal level this is true - when I started blogging my network was very local and quite limited in number. Blogging has opened this up considerably - I've 'met' people world wide who are doing and thinking about very similar things to me. It has given me opportunity not only to learn from them but also to contribute - to have my say in the emerging conversation.
This is a story that is not unique to me but that is world wide in nature. Blogging has given millions of people voices - some have used it for good, some not so good.
The thing is that there are a lot of people in our world without voices. The voiceless include the poor, the sick, the grieving, the marginalized, the ignored, the hidden, the abused, the minorities etc of our world. I believe as that its part of my responsibility as a human being is to be a part of a life giving process to these groups of people. This comes partly from my faith and understanding of God who has a heart for these people, but also out of something deep within me that I think we all have - a desire to make a difference.
One of the few things I do know when working with the marginalized is the importance of being given permission to speak - to have a voice - to be heard.
Could blogging be used more in this process? I've heard of a few instances of this kind of blogging - there is the Homeless Guy's blog for example which has had quite a bit of press but I'm wondering if others know of others?
I'm wanting to do a bit of research into this - but am also wanting to do something with what I find and am really open to ideas. I saw a story on TV a while back of a young paraplegic guy who was given a blog a few weeks after an accident that took him mobility from him and how it gave him a real sense of purpose in life to have his story told and know thousands of people were reading it. I havn't been able to find his blog yet (anyone know of it?).
I really see some incredible potential in this and would invite others to share their own ideas, journey and links.
2 August, 2004 4:11 PM
Blog Count is a great blogging stats resource that is trying to measure the spread and influence of blogging. One of their latest posts estimated that there could be as many as 70 million bloggers globally and up to 110 million blog readers world wide. The spreads of these estimates are pretty wide (as follows) but even at the lower end its a fairly large number. The %'s are those of total internet users.
"Blog Authoring: 2% - 7% (Is this a huge spread?) =
3.7 - 13.0 bloggers in the US
20 - 70 million bloggers worldwide
Blog Readers: 11% =
20.4 million blog readers in the US
110 million readers worldwide"
Source - blogcount: 110 million people read weblogs? Blog recognition rises: Blogs beat Britney Spears by 23%
28 July, 2004 10:10 AM
Jenn has started blogging again at Sunburned - Yay!
This time its a photoblog - very cool.
Jenn lives in Melbourne so its a good way of seeing a bit of my city. Enjoy.
27 July, 2004 12:09 PM
Andrew Careaga has blogified his old e-vangelism.com website. Looking good - will be one to keep an eye on.
25 July, 2004 12:27 PM
Rachel is starting a campaign for people to wish Darryl (currently away) a happy birthday.
She wants us to come up with a:
"* A verse/saying/quote/cool memory you have of him as encouragement to Darryl
* And for fun, a picture somewhere on the Internet that makes you think of Darryl or you think he'd have fun seeing."
23 July, 2004 1:14 PM
This is my first test blog using Ecto Blogging Software. It allows me to blog while off line (uploaded later) which will change the way I blog for sure!
If this works I can see myself spending a lot more time in my local cafe blogging.
Update - I have to say that this is one of the best blogging tools I've every had the pleasure of using. Check out the great features for the Mac Version and the Windows Version.
Remote blogging, drag and drop image upload (including thumbnail functionality), full functional html editing (hard to get on a Mac in Safari on MT - previously I had to know a lot of html code), multi blog enabled plus heaps more.
Its sped up my blogging heaps - using the "New entry with selection" feature all you have to do is highlight text that you want to quote in your web browser and you can blog it (complete with the URL) with just a click or two. Excellent stuff.
22 July, 2004 12:07 PM
Jeff Jarvis was asked to provide a starter list of suggested blogs. Here is his list which contains some quality blogs. Who would you add to his list? I'm sure he wouldn't mind you popping over to make a suggestion or two... Well I hope he won't mind.
It reminded me that I should close nominations for my Celebrating the Underblog Project for 2004. I've posted the nominated blogs alphabetically (I'm sure there are some errors as I was overwhelmed by the response) as follows. There are hundreds - maybe even a thousand (anyone got the patience to count?) - of blogs. I've surfed through a lot of them and there are some quality ones. Head over and have a surf and link up to your favorites to help get some under rated bloggers the attention they deserve.
A - C | D - H | I - L | M - Q | R - T | U - Z
It is interesting to see what some people consider an Underblog to be - there are definitely some included that I don't think fit the category - however each to their own. Have a look and see what you think.
Nominations are now closed for the 2004 intake.
22 July, 2004 10:39 AM
I got a bit of a buzz today while I was down the road having a coffee and I was flicking through the newspaper to find that one of my blogs is 'Blog of the Week'.
20 July, 2004 1:10 PM
I just stumbled on this touching photoblog of a father who is documenting the first days of life of his prematurely born child. What an amazing idea - the photos are beautifully shot and the stories/updates really draw you in.
19 July, 2004 1:04 PM
Just had a coffee with fellow blogger from Canberra, Darren Wright ('the other Darren' as he signs comments on my blog). Darren has a fair bit of online presence with blogs such as An Accidental Theoblogian and The Alternative Hymnal both of which are excellent examples of blogging. I especially enjoy The Alternative Hymnal for its suggestions on ways songs that wouldn't normally feature in church can be used.
Its nice to meet fellow bloggers. I didn't mention it a couple of weeks ago but I also meet Melbourne blogger, Nathan from My Virtual Faith. We ended up chatting for hours at a local cafe - great guy. His blog has been quiet lately while he rethinks the site and develops some new excellent online resources.
17 July, 2004 11:17 AM
If anyone out there wants to help a couple of blogs we're working on climb the rankings in search engines we'd sure appreciate your help with any links you might like to offer to the sites. They are:
Olympics
and
Australian Idol
If you feel so moved and would like to link to either or both (using the words Olympics and Australian Idol) on your blogroll, in a post, on a footer, in your links page....where ever....that would sure help us heaps.
By the Way, we're still looking for bloggers to join in our Olympics Group blog - it is a good way to expose your blog to thousands of readers of the next 6 weeks. Shoot me an email if you'd like to contribute a post or two every day or so.
16 July, 2004 1:34 PM
Flying Space Monkey has bounced off my Underblog campaign (calling for nominations of underrated blogs) with his own Overblogger campaign where he's asking for nominations of 'overrated blogs'.
He's got a little criticism to say the least - but its an interesting idea.
3 July, 2004 7:38 PM
In the comments to my last post where I said:
'To be honest I get a bit turned off by blogs that are 'overtly Christian' too'
Felix responded by asking why I wrote that. I thought I should explain as it is a comment that two people have already emailed to ask about. Thanks to those who have asked for clarification and expressed concern at my statement. Let me attempt a response.
Perhaps I shouldn't have used the terms 'turned off' or 'overtly Christian' - I was just using Fat Buddha's quote as a basis for what I was saying.
Rather if I was to put it into my own words I would say that I personally find that SOME 'Christian' Blogs a tad dull and one dimensional.
I'll probably get in trouble for saying that but I just don't read many blogs that post only about faith issues these days. Maybe its a stage I'm going through but I guess I get enough 'Christian' input from other mediums and from life in general.
I like to read blogs that are more diverse in their subject matter - that don't just talk about the spiritual life of their owner or issues of theology or spirituality. Its not that I never read such stuff, but rather I like to see what else a blogger is interested in.
In my 32 years of life I've met a lot of Christians whose whole life seems wrapped up in their Christianity. Whilst I see some good in this (who I am is very linked to my faith in Christ) it also worries me. It is possible to go through life without really interacting with the world one lives in and living in something of a holy enclave. I think we're called to engage with our world and not isolate ourselves from it.
Having said this I am not against blogs that choose to only write on Christian issues - I think there is a place for such focused writing on blogs (similarly to the place for 'Christian' books. I respect bloggers who choose to take this approach - however blogging for me is not about this. It is an extension of a variety of areas in my life (including spirituality and my church) and therefore I tend to be drawn to other blogs that are like this. I still read a variety of Christian Blogs on a daily basis but they tend to be one's that pick up a variety of topics and themes such as Tall Skinny Kiwi, Jonny Baker, Bloggedy Blog, Jordon Cooper, Cre8d, Backyard Missionaries, Bene Diction, Neurotribe, Flying Blue Sky and Serenity Dawn (to name just a few).
I hope that clarifies things a little.
3 July, 2004 12:44 PM
From The Whole Wide World of Fat Buddha
'I keep finding my way back to The Living Room. Instinctively, I don't like it, because it is so overtly Christian, but bugger me, it has some good stuff on it, especially for bloggers.'
Thanks Fat Buddha - I try and mix it up so that there is something for everyone. To be honest I get a bit turned off by blogs that are 'overtly Christian' too (but don't tell anyone).
2 July, 2004 12:26 PM
Here are the nominated Underbloggers starting with letters M to Q
Wow - what a response we've had to the Celebrating the Underblogger 2004 project. For those of you who don't know about it yet, last night I invited blog readers and owners to nominate quality blogs that deserved more attention than they get. 12 hours later over 260 blog have already been nominated - eclipsing last year's 100 Underbloggers. This was largely due to one big link up and the ensuing generous links from many other bloggers. Thanks to all who have nominated and linked up so far - it is not too late to participate - nominate your favorite under bloggers here.
(If you are an underblogger you might be interested in these Blog Tips)
Due to the large response I will be breaking down the nominated Underbloggers into alphabetical sections - here are Underbloggers starting with the letters M to Q.
Madanthony.org | mad adventures of a straight boy living in a gay world | Maggi Dawn | Making Light | Management by Baseball | Man of Lettuce | Marc Cooper | Marcus Slease: | Marn's Big Adventure | MartiniPundit | Master of None | Matt Presidential Blog | Matt's Internet Extravaganza | Meaty Fly | Medic Mom | Medienkritik | Michael J Totten | Michael Main | the mighty geek | Miniluv | Minipundit | The Moderate Voice | Mommy Lemur | The Monkey Cage |
The Mont-Sterreport | Moogaloo | Moore Thoughts | monkeytales in sydney | MrHappySad | Mr. Minority | Mr Pseudopsalms | Ms Musings | MuD and PhuD | The Mulatto Advocate | Murdoc Online | Musings of the Goddess Crow | My Pet Jawa | Mysterium Tremendum | Nancy Nall: | Nattering Nabob | neon article (german) | NeoTheo(b)log | neotope | NeoUltraCentrist | New Blog Showcase | New Covenant | NewsAmuse | Newsfeed | The Nomad Tavern | Nonsensical Musings | A Note To Myself | Nude Highway Driving | The Nudik File | Nykola | Obernews | Oblation | Octopus Dropkick | Olympics Blog | One Good Thing | One Hand Clapping | One Hundred Or So Ways To Get An Ulcer | Open Book | Open Wide | Outside the Beltway | Palace of Regan | Paradox | Pesky Apostrophe | PFBLOG.com - My Personal Finance Journey | PBG's Path |pause. rewind. erase. | Pen-elayne On The Web (Elayne Riggs) | The People's Republic of Seabrook | Pengwen | Pennmans Lair | Pennywit | perfect.co.uk | The Pervert Club | Peter Fallow | Phlegma | PhotographyBLOG | Pinko Feminist Hellcat | The Player's Journal | Political Theory Daily Review | poons | Positive Stories | Pranagraphy | Press Action | profundities | Prometheus Unleashed | Protein Wisdom | Psych Watch | Physics... | Polemic Propaganda | Post-Modern Pilgrim | Powerline | Precinct 333 | Procheinamy | Pseudopsalms | pstupidonymous | Pursed Lips | Quibbles 'n Bits | Quiet Reverie | Quiller Thoughts
See the Complete Collection of Underbloggers: A - C | D - H | I - L | M - Q | R - T | U - Z
The key now is to do some surfing of some of these quality blogs. This project is useless unless we check out some of these bloggers and link up to them ourselves. Lets help some of these underbloggers to get the attention they deserve.
All care has been given to getting above details correct, however due to large numbers of bloggers nominated I have not been able to quality control links yet and have relied on the code submitted by nominators. I'm doing my best to get it right but feel free to email me with corrections.
2 July, 2004 12:21 PM
Here are the nominated Underbloggers starting with letters I to L
Wow - what a response we've had to the Celebrating the Underblogger 2004 project. For those of you who don't know about it yet, last night I invited blog readers and owners to nominate quality blogs that deserved more attention than they get. 12 hours later over 260 blog have already been nominated - eclipsing last year's 100 Underbloggers. This was largely due to one big link up and the ensuing generous links from many other bloggers. Thanks to all who have nominated and linked up so far - it is not too late to participate - nominate your favorite under bloggers here.
(If you are an underblogger you might be interested in these Blog Tips)
Due to the large response I will be breaking down the nominated Underbloggers into alphabetical sections - here are Underbloggers starting with the letters I to L.
i am what i am">I am What I am | Iddybud | IMAO | Imaginary Conversations | IBOM: The Incoherent Babblings of Me | Incogblogo | Incoming Signals | INDC Journal | Instapunk | Ipecac | Iraq the Model | The Iron Blog | Irreconcileble Musings | In the Fight | Irritation Station | Israellycool | JaBbA's Hut | Jack's Personal Growth Chart | Jay Pinkerton's blog | Joan Jacobs | Jodi | The Joy of Knitting | Joe. My. God. | http://www.joeham.com/ | Join Cross | Julie Anne Fidler | Just Above Sunset | Karmalised | Kartooner | Kempa.com | The Key Monk | The King Of Fools | The Kirk Report | Kleffmanstyle | Knowledge Problem | Kris Heding | Kudzu | reflections - Just My Opinion | La Shawn Barber's Corner | The Last Man Dancing | La Vita Nuova | Law Meme | Lawrence of Cyberia | Leah Guildenstern | The Legal Reader | Left Coast East | Left Is Right | Lenny the Gardener | Le Sabot Post-Moderne | Lethal Thought | Letters from Babylon | Liberty Blog | Liberty Dad | Life in the Pink | Life Being Beautiful | Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness | Literal-Minded | Law Meme | Life as a Rock and Roll Wife | The Limitless | Lincoln & Liberty | the llamabutchers | The Lonewacko Blog | Losing the Cow | Lucy's Island
See the Complete Collection of Underbloggers: A - C | D - H | I - L | M - Q | R - T | U - Z
The key now is to do some surfing of some of these quality blogs. This project is useless unless we check out some of these bloggers and link up to them ourselves. Lets help some of these underbloggers to get the attention they deserve.
All care has been given to getting above details correct, however due to large numbers of bloggers nominated I have not been able to quality control links yet and have relied on the code submitted by nominators. I'm doing my best to get it right but feel free to email me with corrections.
1 July, 2004 11:16 PM
Do you know of (or run) a quality blog that deserves a bit of extra attention? What blog/s do you read that you wish others knew about?
Last July I ran a Celebrating the Underblogger series. The reason for this series was that whilst there are plenty of blog awards that identify the most popular bloggers, best designed blogs, best photobloggers etc. - unfortunately only a few select blogs tend to win these competitions whilst thousands of excellent blogs go unnoticed and uncelebrated. 'Celebrating the Underblogger' seeks to identify and promote these bloggers - the Underbloggers.
Last year we uncovered over 100 Underbloggers - the response was quite overwhelming. I myself found some excellent blogs through the process - many of whom I continue to visit to this day.
So we're going to do it all over again. Here is how you can participate:
- Leave up to 5 blogs that you wish more people knew about in the comments section below. Please include the name and URL of each. (hyperlink them if you know how)
- Leave a short reason why you like the blog
- You can leave a link to your own blog if you think it fits the category of 'underblog' - if you do please consider linking to at least one other blog also - lets share the blogging love!
Over the next couple of weeks I will collate your nominations and put them on a central prominent page on this blog for the rest of us to view and visit. Hopefully we'll all find a new quality blog or two to visit and make some new blogging buddies.
Update - Thank you to all who have linked up and nominated Underbloggers. The response has been fantastic so far (you can still nominate).
Here are the Pages with those blogs that have been nominated as Underbloggers (collated by Alphabetical Order) - A - C | D - H | I - L | M - Q | R - T | U - Z
Update 2 - thank you to all who have nominated. I'm now closing nominations as its been three weeks now. We have an amazing list of underbloggers in the above links and I encourage you to visit as many as possible. You can still leave your suggestions below but unfortunately I will not be updating any more to the lists above.
27 June, 2004 9:51 PM
Do you love the Olympics? Are you passionate about your country's team or an Olympic Sport? Want to contribute to a fast growing Blog?
This past week a couple of us have been working on a new blog focusing on the up and coming Athens Olympics. I've always been a huge Olympics fan so we thought it might be a fun thing to do. It still has a fair bit of work to go into it, but so far we've added 100 pages of latest news and have plans for heaps more.
In the lead up to the Olympic Games in August it will no doubt grow in size of content and visitors which will be fun. If anyone out there wants to be a contributor we'd love to have a some people passionate about sport join in. In particularly if you have an interest in one of the sports or a country we'd love to have you come on board as a category coordinator. We can't pay you - but will give you links back to your blog on every post that you contribute.
Let me know if you'd like to play with us for the next couple of months - Otherwise, feel free to stop by and catch up on the latest Athens Olympics News.
14 June, 2004 5:11 PM
I'd like to thank Warren from Warren's World for his apology to me for some of the remarks he made on his and my blog. I appreciate his words and hope that we can be 'blogging buddies'. Once again, I am sorry if any of the ads on this site have or do offend any of my readers - I work hard to keep them relevant and as helpful as possible to the content of this site.
Whilst I was a little offended at the time of reading his comments in question it was never my intention in posting about it to cause a big stir in the blogosphere or to cause Warren any grief from me or my readers. I appreciate those who've made comments in my 'defense' whilst I've been away the past few days but think perhaps we could all move on from it now.
Warren was and still is entitled to his remarks about me, my blog or anything else he sees fit to comment on. I'm totally open to being criticized about anything appearing on this blog, but in future I'd ask that if possible that people give me the benefit of the doubt and shoot me an email to clarify my intentions behind dubious links in future. I genuinely appreciate the emails I regularly get from readers who give me heads up about dead links, ask questions of clarification etc and will always attempt to respond constructively where ever possible. Anyway - as my great blogging friend Bene so often says - lets 'Blog on'.
22 May, 2004 8:07 AM
Blogads just released the results of their survey of over 17,000 blog readers. The results are interesting showing 'that blog readers are older and more affluent than most optimistic guestimates: 61% of blog readers responding to the survey are over 30, and 75% make more than $45,000 a year.' Also 79% were male.
This surprises me a little as previo
