Blogsolid - Ideas for better blogging

Wordpress 2.5 - Where Is It?

March 10th, 2008

By Imar at Blogsolid

So you may or may not be aware of the fact that Wordpress 2.5 is about to be released. The date planned for the release is today, yet the internet seems to be ominously quiet… So where is it?

Lorelle VanFossen reported on it for Blog Herald in February already, and you are able to test-drive the latest developments in a special WP 2.5 demo site.

If you would like to stay abreast of the latest WP developments, you could try subscribing to the official development blog or the development updates, but both were lacking in any recent news when checked a moment ago. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 1 Comment »

Taking Your Blog on the Road

January 20th, 2008

By Imar at Blogsolid

Me: “Oh, hey! How’s it going? Haven’t seen you in a while.”

Blogsolid: “Hmph.”

Me: “You look great. Have you lost weight? Wait, don’t tell me… It’s your header?”

Blogsolid: “Nice try. It’s the exact same random header I had before you left on your little holiday.”

Me: “Ohhh, I see - you’re upset that I left you here all alone?”

Blogsolid: “Without so much as a guest blogger! Why did you not invite me to go along?”

Me: “Don’t be silly, bloggers don’t take their blogs on holiday.”

Blogsolid: “Oh yeah? ALL the cool blogs are travelling. Scott Hansen just took his blog to Tokio, Bangkok and Amsterdam!”

Me: “That’s redicu… What? He did?”

So… Should you take your blog on the road? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 8 Comments »

Has Money Killed Blog Design?

November 1st, 2007

By Imar at Blogsolid

The cloning process

Have you noticed the similarity in layout and design of many “successful” blogs? The following popular blogs all generate revenue by placing ads and seem to follow a tried and trusted recipe for their layout: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 24 Comments »

FOMO

October 18th, 2007

By Imar at Blogsolid

It’s a tough age we live in. You’re expected to have several careers, a quality family life, keep fit, travel, try everything at least once and somehow find time to blog it all. You probably find yourself dreaming of a simple life somewhere far away in a time long forgotten… only to be jolted back to reality by your ringing cellphone and the realisation that you’re camping outside the Apple store two days before the release of the iPhone. Sound familiar? Don’t worry, you’re not alone, these are symptoms of FOMO - the Fear of Missing Out.

Here’s the theory: if you can build a blog that is so good, people will fear missing out on your next entry, they will have no choice but to subscribe. I know, it sounds so crazy it just might work! But where do you start? Here are my top five ideas for cracking open a big can of FOMO in your blog: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 4 Comments »

Blogging’s Deadly Sin: The Pause

October 8th, 2007

By Imar at Blogsolid

There are several unwritten no-nos in blogging, but I’m sure that many of you would agree - there is no greater sin than pushing your keyboard aside, and not blogging. Everyone knows that building a successful blog takes time and diligence. Even more important than posting frequently, is the quality of content. Attracting an audience and enticing them to subscribe is key to the growth of your blog, so you can’t afford to miss a beat! What would happen if you hit “pause” and stopped blogging - just for a while? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 17 Comments »

Exclusive Interview: Michael Pinto of Fanboy.com

September 26th, 2007

By Imar at Blogsolid

You know the feeling when you’re just aimlessly surfing the web and all of a sudden you strike gold? Well, that happened to me one day… I stumbled upon a blog filled with fantastic news about comic book heroes, space travel, arcade games and cult movies. The great thing was, fresh content just kept coming day after day. I was instantly hooked.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Michael Pinto - the man behind fanboy.com.

Welcome to Blogsolid, Michael. During the last few months, your blog fanboy.com has made a fanboy out of me. How did fanboy.com come about and how long have you been blogging? Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 6 Comments »

Start a Wordpress Blog on Your Own Site - Part 1: Finding the Right Host

September 20th, 2007

By Imar at Blogsolid

So you know a little about designing websites and you know a thing or two about blogging. Now you want to start blogging on your own website, or convert your old site into a blog. Everyone else seems to be doing it, so it can’t be that hard, but where do you start? This series will contain a few ideas about how to get going with your very own Wordpress blog.

Decide on a web host

I suggest you start doing some research about web hosting even before thinking of a name for your website. Consider the following: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 26 Comments »

Five Benefits of FeedBurner

September 14th, 2007

By Imar at Blogsolid

RSS is an essential technology for successful blogging. Since most of your regular readers will want to subscribe to your blog’s feed, it is a good idea to gain some knowledge about RSS and the value it offers. I assume your blog is equipped with at least one RSS feed, but do you use FeedBurner?

Owned by Google, FeedBurner is a free service offering tools to help you make the most of your feed. Here are five things I enjoy most about “burning” my feeds: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 9 Comments »

Blogger.com Custom Header

September 5th, 2007

By Imar at Blogsolid

Blogger.com is a free blogging service owned by Google and it is very popular among new and seasoned bloggers alike. A great benefit of Blogger.com is that it allows you a lot of control over the look and feel of your blog.

An original header creates a good first impression with your visitors, so why not get creative and surprise your readers with something special? It’s not as difficult as you might imagine… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 7 Comments »

Interview: Blogging With Adii - Freelancer & Strategist

August 30th, 2007

By Imar at Blogsolid

Adriaan “Adii” Pienaar calls himself a “freelancer and strategist”, but more importantly, he is a keen blogger. His gutsy and transparent approach to blogging delivers quality content and a surprising amount of exclusive interviews. I for one, would like to take a leaf from Adii’s blog, so I asked him ten questions to find out what makes him tick… Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Solid Growth | 3 Comments »