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North x East

North x East
North x East is a blog about business and entrepreneurship, blogging, marketing and startups.

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A Holiday Wish-List for Bloggers
2007-12-02 08:10:00
Every blogger would love to wake up on Christmas morning to find a few gifts under their tree. Whether you go with Word Press, Typepad, or something in between, this holiday might provide an opportunity to reflect on what’s really important to your blog. Whether you blog for financial reasons or just for fun, everyone wants one thing out of their work- more! We all want more success, notoriety, and a following that tunes out the competition and zeroes in on you and your message. Two things are important to remember in generating your wishlist: results that depend on you and those that rely on readership and other blogs. This is an important distinction to make because some writers get in the habit of blaming external forces for getting in the way of their success (”that darn Technorati ranking is holding me back!”). At the end of the day, blogging depends on persistence, creativity, focus and a good set of habits to generate content. Here are some items to incl...
More About: Holiday , List , Bloggers

What to do When the Domain Name You Want is Gone
2007-11-29 05:24:00
Finding good domain names can be a difficult thing to do, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Follow these simple steps, and find that perfect domain name. Finding domain names is getting harder by the day and is amongst the most frustrating things a person can do. You come up with a brilliant name that is going to be fabulous for marketing and branding, you start to get attached to it, then you search and find that either an obscure company or nasty arbitrage site is already there squatting away your lovely idea. It can be an infuriating experience and it leads me to my post today about what to do when the domain name you were looking for is already gone. There are a series of things I do when I run into this road block; I’d love to hear what others do (so I can copy your ideas in future): 1. Look for alternate extensions People are (very slowly) coming around to see that .com isn’t the only domain out there. I’ve noticed a rise in the number of .net’s around and als...
More About: Domain , Domain Name

The Idea Factory - How to Enable Your Creativity
2007-11-25 03:52:00
Every business, every project, every solution begins with an idea; a seedling in your mind that you bring to reality. Idea s and creativity are essential tools for success in every field from the sciences to the arts to business. At some points everyone has experienced the thrill of a great idea and its power to inspire, create, change and solve. Yet given such an extraordinary process, rarely do we consider how to stimulate, optimize or characterize it. What follows are six steps that I take to be more creative. I hope they will help you in your pursuits, whether it is in the context of business ideas, blogging ideas or perhaps some other activity. Encourage Randomness I do not believe ideas come out of nowhere. Given a certain set of events, experiences and stimulus your brain arranges and rearranges the information to produce beliefs, knowledge and ideas. It follows then that the more new events, occurrences, people and ideas you are exposed to, the more material your brain h...
More About: Factory , Creativity

Top 10 Off-blog Ways to Market Your Blog
2007-11-22 04:10:00
Finding an audience and bringing traffic to your blog is one of the greatest challenges faced by any blogger. There are millions of blogs out there, so why should people come to yours? And how can they if they haven’t even heard of it? The best way to market your blog is through your own content. You have to be able to: Differentiate yourself from the masses. Produce amazingly useful content. Write great headlines to draw people into the content. If you can do those three things, you’ll build a great blog, and people will want to read it. But how can you let them know about your blog in the first place? That’s where “off-blog” marketing comes in … finding ways to tap into other audiences and attract them to your blog. But remember: there’s no use marketing your blog if you don’t already have great content as mentioned above. You don’t want people to come to your blog for the first time, take a look around, and decide to leave...
More About: Market , Blog

All Things in Moderation: How to Responsibly Monitor Your Forums
2007-11-19 04:58:00
Managing comments can be a difficult task, as you want to encourage commenting but at the same time know when to step in to direct the discussion.Your responsibilities as a blogger don’t stop at the end of a post. If you’re the sole author on your blog, you’re responsible for a lot more than updates, and one of your biggest responsibilities is maintaining order in your comment forums. Whether you’re posting about the War in Iraq, the War on Drugs or Warren G, someone out there will have something to say about it. And the more readers you have, the more heated the discussion is going to get. As the moderator, you’d be wise to come up with a set of guidelines for proper comment behavior, and post it somewhere on your site. You can create this according to your pleasure – it is, of course, your blog – but make sure you’re coming up with rules you’re willing to enforce. You might hate swear words, but are you going to ban users who persistently swear on your comments o...
More About: Forums , Monitor , Things

Seven Practical Tips On How To Be A Good Guest Poster
2007-11-14 13:20:00
There are etiquettes you must follow when invited into someone’s home for tea. The same goes for guest posting. Would you like to do more guest posting and possibly increase your traffic or gain more exposure? Guest posting is a proven method in building brand awareness as well as new readership for your blog. It’s benefits were discussed in a previous article, Why Guest Blogging is a Powerful Way to Gain Exposure for your Blog. As I continually try to work on my blogging skills I have been spending some time lately guest posting on various sites like ZenHabits and ProBlogger and it also got me to thinking, “what makes a good guest poster?” Some brief tips for landing the big guest post Initially, of course, you have to actually get invited to post on another site. If you have a particular blog that you would like to submit an article to then you should ideally spend some time on that site leaving meaningful, constructive comments in order to let the author know you ...
More About: Tips , Poster , Good

8 Rules to Develop the Habit of Blogging
2007-11-08 12:06:00
A marathon is an endurance race with rich rewards. Blogging is much the same, but remember, a marathon runner does not make reckless bursts of speed. It’s all about a consistent and steady pace. For those who haven’t been blogging very long, one of the biggest challenges can be keeping consistent with blogging every day (or on some kind of regular basis). One of the best ways to kill your blog is to run a few posts, spaced a week or two apart, that say, “I promise to post more regularly from now on!” It just sends the message that you’re not serious about your blog. Which is fine, unless you’re trying to build up a regular readership. If you want to become a regular blogger, you’ve got to develop the habit of blogging. Not an easy task, I’ll admit, but thousands of bloggers have done it, and so can you. Personally, I had a hard time keeping a regular journal before I started blogging … but I’ve learned the habit of blogging, ...
More About: Rules , Develop , Habit

The Ultimate Guide to Monetizing your site through Donations
2007-11-05 07:04:00
You must provide something of value to your readers if want them to donate to you. There is no such thing as a free lunch - such is the law of our society. This article has been written by Ivan Brezak Brkan, a new media journalist and interface designer whose passion for all things online is only superseded by his interest in how people behave both online and offline - yes, he is a sociologist. Go beyond the dreaded classic donation button and harness the power of e-philanthropy, find out how it can jump start your blog and keep those pesky financial issues that are part and parcel of running a great website from becoming something you have to think about every other second. The web and blogosphere are all about giving great content and information to people for free. What about asking people to give back? Donations ? Oh come on??? Can you remember the last time you gave money to charity? What about the last time you paid for a magazine subscription? Oh, so you do remember your sub...
More About: Site , Guide , Ultimate , Monetizing

The Ultimate Guide to Monetizing your site through Donations
2007-11-05 07:04:00
You must provide something of value to your readers if want them to donate to you. There is no such thing as a free lunch - such is the law of our society. This article has been written by Ivan Brezak Brkan, a new media journalist and interface designer whose passion for all things online is only superseded by his interest in how people behave both online and offline - yes, he is a sociologist. Go beyond the dreaded classic donation button and harness the power of e-philanthropy, find out how it can jump start your blog and keep those pesky financial issues that are part and parcel of running a great website from becoming something you have to think about every other second. The web and blogosphere are all about giving great content and information to people for free. What about asking people to give back? Donations ? Oh come on… Can you remember the last time you gave money to charity? What about the last time you paid for a magazine subscription? Oh, so you do remember your sub...
More About: Site , Guide , Ultimate , Monetizing

10 Tips to a Successful Blog Sale
2007-10-30 07:07:00
So you have finally decided to sell your blog. It was a difficult decision - but nonetheless, your mind is made up. You wrote up a nice advert and listed it on a well known site marketplace. Then what? Here is my list of 10 tips to follow in order to make sure things go smoothly. A month or so ago NorthxEast went up for sale, and today I’d like to introduce you to its new owner - Cameron Low. Cameron is a fellow Australian (amongst other things, he also happens to be a web-designer, share investor and accounting student) and has been managing the blog for the last two weeks while we changed over all the ins and outs of Wordpress to his servers. Though I’m sorry to see NxE going, I’m confident that Cameron is going to take good care of the blog. Making the Sale Having sold my first blog I thought I would write up some of my thoughts on the process and how it went. First of all you might like to know that the site sold for $8,200 over on Sitepoint, though at various...
More About: Tips , Blog

Top 4 Ways To Apply Your Marketing Knowledge To Blogging
2007-10-27 06:05:00
The medium has changed, but marketing theories are still just as valid online as they are offline.This post was written by Aditya Mahesh of BlogOnExpo, a free digital conference for bloggers that will feature sessions about blogging and interviews with Robert Scoble, Darren Rowse from ProBlogger, RandFishkin of SEOmoz, and others. The conference kicks off on December 15th, 2007. From the marketing perspective, a blog is not really that different from an “old-fashion” media form. Surprisingly, some people, including your typical business and marketing majors don’t know this. Sure, the medium has changed, but the same marketing principle is still valid. As marketers, we need to strike a conversation with our audience. The tools and knowledge gained from marketing classes can just as easily be adopted to be used on blogs. Below, I have compiled a list of the top 4 lessons that I believe you can take out of marketing class. 1. Market research is crucial There are so many bloggers ...
More About: Marketing , Blogging , Knowledge

Top 4 Ways To Apply Your Marketing Knowledge To Blogging
2007-10-27 06:05:00
The medium has changed, but marketing theories are still just as valid online as they are offline.This post was written by Aditya Mahesh of BlogOnExpo, a free digital conference for bloggers that will feature sessions about blogging and interviews with Robert Scoble, Darren Rowse from ProBlogger, RandFishkin of SEOmoz, and others. The conference kicks off on December 15th, 2007. From the marketing perspective, a blog is not really that different from an ???old-fashion??? media form. Surprisingly, some people, including your typical business and marketing majors don???t know this. Sure, the medium has changed, but the same marketing principle is still valid. As marketers, we need to strike a conversation with our audience. The tools and knowledge gained from marketing classes can just as easily be adopted to be used on blogs. Below, I have compiled a list of the top 4 lessons that I believe you can take out of marketing class. 1. Market research is crucial There are so many bloggers ...
More About: Marketing , Blogging , Knowledge

Link Karma: How Linking to Others Can Get You Lots of Links in Return
2007-10-23 09:19:00
Linking is a two way street. Give and you shall receive. This is the unwritten rule that most successful bloggers follow. One of the things that makes a blog a blog is that it links to other blogs and websites, and comments on them. That’s pretty basic. But what many bloggers don’t realize is how to leverage the power of the outbound link to create even more inbound links. “Link Karma ” is a real phenomenon, and while you shouldn’t overdo it, don’t underestimate it either. Why does it work? Well, first of all, because bloggers love it when you link to them … and out of gratitude, they will likely link back to you. That’s basic human nature. But second, a list of links to a whole bunch of blogs, when done properly, can create a buzz of talk about your link post that will multiply that first effect. Let’s take an example: One of the most popular posts on NorthxEast.com I’ve ever written is the Top 50 Most Influential Bloggers...
More About: Links , Link , Linking , Return

Building Momentum: How Blog Action Day Got Going
2007-10-15 04:30:00
Today - October 15th ? is the very first annual Blog Action Day. As the international dateline passes over the world, over fifteen thousand bloggers will be waking up to prepare and post about the environment on their blogs. Three months ago “Blog Action Day” did not even exist. For my Blog Action Day post I thought I would tell you a little about how the day came about, the strategies we employed to build momentum and what we hope to achieve for the environment. An Idea I can remember growing up that my father, who at the time ran a large IT company in the Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea, would always tell me that every business should do work for the community. While this is important everywhere, in a developing nation like New Guinea, it was even more essential as there was much to be done. Years later my wife Cyan who blogs at FreelanceSwitch, Leo from ZenHabits and myself found ourselves trying to think of something we could do that would allow us to use bloggin...
More About: Building , Momentum , Going

Inside the Mind of the Intuitive Blogger
2007-10-09 03:00:00
If you’ve ever wondered what makes the top 100 bloggers so darn good, consider the mind of the intuitive blogger. Whereas the first bloggers simply produced content and hoped for the best, today?s master bloggers are part author, entrepreneur and community organizer. What is the glue that keeps all facets of his success working together? Intuition, pure and simple. An intuitive blogger knows when to blog and which content to cover. Oh and by the way, he knows when to publish and when to hit the ?pause? button on a post that still needs time to percolate. Here are some of the know-hows behind intuitive blogging: Know how to capture your ideas: Intuitive bloggers are always on the lookout for new ideas. You never know when a great idea will hit you so be prepared. This may mean that you keep your Blackberry at your side at all times or a 99 cent notepad in your pocket. A voice recorder might also do the trick. My rule of thumb: if you think it, ink it. Even if your idea doe...
More About: Blogger , Mind , Inside , The Mind

Inside the Mind of the Intuitive Blogger
2007-10-09 03:00:00
If you?ve ever wondered what makes the top 100 bloggers so darn good, consider the mind of the intuitive blogger. Whereas the first bloggers simply produced content and hoped for the best, today?s master bloggers are part author, entrepreneur and community organizer. What is the glue that keeps all facets of his success working together? Intuition, pure and simple. An intuitive blogger knows when to blog and which content to cover. Oh and by the way, he knows when to publish and when to hit the ?pause? button on a post that still needs time to percolate. Here are some of the know-hows behind intuitive blogging: Know how to capture your ideas: Intuitive bloggers are always on the lookout for new ideas. You never know when a great idea will hit you so be prepared. This may mean that you keep your Blackberry at your side at all times or a 99 cent notepad in your pocket. A voice recorder might also do the trick. My rule of thumb: if you think it, ink it. Even if your idea doesn?t m...
More About: Blogger , Mind , Inside , The Mind

In Defense of Lists: Why Readers Prefer Bulleted Posts
2007-09-25 10:24:00
Apparently without realizing it I’ve become known for writing list posts. It’s not so surprising: I’ve always been a list-maker, it’s just my nature. Writing articles with lists, I think, goes back to my newspaper days, when we were trained in the USA Today philosophy of breaking up long stories with boxes of information and bulleted lists that made things easier to read. While I’m not a huge fan of USA Today, there is something to the idea of highlighting important information for readers in a hurry. However, I’ve been criticized for list posts, by bloggers I respect. They aren’t fans of the “5 Ways to ….” posts, and I can understand that. Those kinds of posts can be overdone. I’d like to make a case for list posts, though, to present the ideas behind them and why they’re a good way to present information to your blog’s readers. And to do that, I’m going to present it in a list! 1. Readers are in a...
More About: Lists , Defense , Posts , Refer

NorthxEast is Up For Sale! … and About Getting Ready to Sell
2007-09-20 04:05:00
Ever felt like buying a nice, established blog? Well as of this morning NorthxEast is up for sale! Read on for details of the sale, as well as some thoughts on selling blogs. On Auction So first of all, if you’d like to see details of the auction, you can head over to Sitepoint’s Marketplace and if you’re interested in buying, place a bid. The minimum bid is pretty low and the reserve isn’t that much higher. I haven’t the faintest clue what the blog will go for, and am quite curious to see how it sells. If all proceeds to plan, I’ll post up about the process at the end before I hand over. How to Sell a Personal Blog For those of you who have been visiting this blog since it began back in February, you may recall that NorthxEast used to be a personal blog where I wrote about business, blogging and other random things. In fact the site was almost called CollisTaeed.com. Just before launching the blog however I had a change of heart and decided...
More About: For Sale , Sale , Ready

15 Ways To Become An Influential Blogger
2007-09-18 05:38:00
Here’s the deal: you are your own brand, and your blog is the product you produce. The way people think about you will change the way they think about your blog. If your readers perceive you as an authoritative source, they will see your advice as authoritative, and take it over the advice of others. If readers see your opinions as worth respecting, what you say will influence the way they act, or even the way they think. It’s much easier to talk about a blogger than it is to talk about a blog. Blogs are hard to describe. They contain thousands of words and dozens of ideas. People, on the other hand, are much easier to talk about. We have a lot of practice. We know how to put them into words. In this post, I want you to forget about your blog for a moment, and start thinking about you. Influential bloggers are talked about, debated, respected, and recommended. Here are 15 ways you can begin building an influential profile, right now. Play to your strengths. Influential ...
More About: Blogger

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