Scraping and Autoblogging: Why They Suck

Being such a lover of words and good writing, I thought I’d chime in on one of the filthier sides of blogging: scraper sites and autoblogging. The two terms are basically the same thing, but with a slight twist in semantics:
  • Scraping refers to automatically copying full articles from other blogs (or RSS feeds) for publishing on your own site.
  • Autoblogging just snatches the headline and excerpt for your site, and supposedly links back to the original article.
Some of the more sophisticated methods involve some sort of “magic bullet” software that does everything with a push of a button: you type in your keyword and the software just starts adding content to your blog from other sources.  At this point it becomes a fully automated system.

Why Do This?

Scraping content is a quick and easy way to get free content into your website, [Read more...]

John Chow Schools Wordful On Live Blogging

As fate would have it, I’ve been hanging out with problogger John Chow here at Affiliate Dot Com Live in Las Vegas and he’s shown me why he’s one of the best live-bloggers in the world. Live blogging is covering blogging an event you’re attending as it happens. Here are some powerful live-blogging tactics from John Chow that will sure to make anyone a better live blogger:

Always be present.

I’m not trying to oversimplify this, but it’s priority number one that you fully participate and be present in the event. This means not doing things the night before that you know will ruin you the next day. [Read more...]

The #1 Factor to a Successful Blog

It’s quality of writing, at least according to the results of this SEOMoz blog survey. I couldn’t agree more. While there so many factors to consider on a blog—such as topic, design, frequency, reputation, etc.—quality of writing represents “the heart of the matter.” Think of it this way: what makes a really great film? It’s not the length or the dazzling special effects, or even the good-looking actors (although that doesn’t hurt). It’s the writing, the story. And I don’t just mean copywriting—that’s what advertisers use when they want to sell the film. It’s basically the trailer, with that same familiar voiceover guy we’ve heard as long as we can remember. You know that voice, right? The one that always sounds a little edgy yet alluring, like you really better go see the film! That guy is great for getting butts in theater seats. That’s good marketing. But what happens once the film starts is really what matters to us. What we’re after is that gripping story, that deep connection. And that’s what good writing is all about—getting people hooked on your story, your content. UPDATE: Jon Morrow of Copyblogger contends that a successful blog is about making other people happy. That’s pretty hard to argue with, though I must say that if Copyblogger were poorly written, nobody would stick around. Photo by striatic.

How to Improve Your Blogging Quickly and Drastically

If you’re really serious about improving your blogging skills, try what I just did: publish a post every day for one month. Monday through Friday is fine.

Here are few improvements you’ll be sure to make:

Your writing will get better

Much better, in fact. Having the discipline to write and publish everyday is just like exercise: you eventually get into shape. You start sounding more relaxed and the act of writing doesn’t hurt so much. The first week is especially tough, I will admit. It’s painful to force yourself to do something that can feel so uncomfortable and strained. Getting past the second week is pretty rough, too. [Read more...]

Which Blogging Business Model is Right For You?

Today we look at two leading affiliate bloggers in the Internet Marketing space, Shoemoney and John Chow.  Both bloggers publish seven days a week in the same niche. How do their blogs power their businesses?

John Chow: The Blog is the Business

John Chow’s blog is the home base of his business. This means his content is written for the purpose of attracting a high readership, which he hopes to convert to paying customers. The more traffic John gets, the more leverage he has over pricing his services like site reviews, banner ad space and sponsored tweets. The last time I checked, John charges $500 for a site review, between $250-1,000 for an ad and $117.65 for a sponsored tweet. Not too shabby. [Read more...]