The Internet is now a major thoroughfare for information. Nowadays most people rarely use “physical mediums” to fill up pages or meet certain requirements. This can be emancipating and nerve-racking at the same time.

How can you tell the ideal length of each post or article? If it is too long, readers may get bored, but if it is too short readers may feel that there is not enough information. The first thing you should remember is that most readers have a short attention span. It is best to keep articles concise. Paying attention to common lengths of other blog posts is also an option.

Technorati Top 100 English blogs for example contain 77 up to 1,449 words.  A portion has a 100-500 word range, but most average from 100-249 words per post. Short posts are quite rare; they are usually blogs which contain more pictures, videos or audio instead of content. Gossip blogs on the other hand may be lengthier as they share stories or incidents.

The main difference in writing refers to its purpose, if the post is meant to entertain or used as a reference. Wikipedia for example has long articles in order to provide all the information you may need on a certain topic. The bottom line is that there is no limit as to how long or how short blogs should be, but keeping it simple is always the best option. Your readers will definitely appreciate it.

Image from roland

Blogging is a very interesting and money making task but to make it successful dedication is the most important aspect. One need to be completely dedicated to the blog, if want to make money out of it. Updating the blog on regular basis is the thing which keeps the blog active and holds the readers and viewers. If you do not update your blog regularly, the readers would move on to the next blog, which you will surely not like.

If you are a blogger and want to increase your visitors and to hold the existing visitors you have to update it regularly with new and fresh contents. You can’t skip the updating more than a week in any case. So what would you do if you want to go for a vacation? This editorial has some very good tips of keeping the blog active even when you are traveling. Keep on reading to know more.

1. Prepare and schedule posts in advance

The best way to keep it updated is to write all the posts for the days you are away for vacation. The post will automatically publish at the time you have scheduled it. Make sure that you schedule the post for all the days you are unable to work, right from the day of journey to the day you return, so that you get the time to relax and set up the mood back for work.

2. Bring guest bloggers

Asking the guest bloggers to give their content is another very good idea to keep the blog updated when you are busy in traveling. This would help you to schedule the post before leaving. Convince your guests to comment on your posts and on those which you shared on Facebook. But don’t forget to go to your profile page and click yes to welcome all comments, otherwise all the comments would be in draft and line to be moderated and approved.

3. Syndicate or plan your social contacts

You can also schedule your Facebook status and tweets by using su.pr or Hootsuite tools. You can also personalize the posts with any attractive question, which brings clicking and interactions to answer it. This indirectly will promote your content organically.

4. Prop up other blogs through social networking sites

Do visit the other leading blogs of the same niche and comment there with a relevant and genuine post including the link of your blog, then like the post with Facebook like button or tweet it. This will promote your blog along with that particular blog. The readers coming to that blog will prop up to your blog too even while you are away.

5. Repost your old content

You can also schedule your old posts again, as there are chances that many readers doesn’t noticed your posts previosly. This is again a very useful method to keep the blog updated while you are enjoying your vacation.

6. Check comments you get and status once in a day

While traveling don’t forget to take your iPhone, smartphone, laptop etc. to check out comments and status. If you don’t have any of these go to cafe and check comments, type some comments, or schedule some posts if possible. In nutshell we can say that it is very important to come online once in a day to keep the blog updated.

7. Identify peak times

Correct timing is also very important in blogging. The peak time of blogging may vary according to your targeted audience. Make sure that you schedule the post in the peak time of blogging when most of the readers and viewers are online. Timely feature or Clicky or Su.pr are good tool to check the peak timing.

8. Plan your blogging while traveling

If you have prior notice about your traveling plan you can create the blog posts in advance and if you can’t do it for any reason, you can write, search images, resize images or schedule the post when you are sitting in train, bus or just waiting on railways stations or airport. All you need to do this is a laptop and a wireless internet connection device.

9. Take pleasure and enjoyment from vacation

Last but not the least, if you are on a vacation, enjoy it to the fullest. All points will help you to be active and visible in all social networking sites to promote interactions with readers while you are away for vacations.

Johnny Vinnel is an accountant and loves to study Accounting Principals, anything related to accounting. He is also interested in roth ira and other retirement related studies.

Long hours in front of your computer can lead to a sedentary lifestyle. There are cases when bloggers or writers become hermits in order to meet their deadlines. Yes, this may mean eating and sleeping with their laptops. Just like when you are in love, it is difficult to part ways with your beloved net/Macbook. Unfortunately this love affair can be unhealthy, because you end up sitting all day.

As a blogger, the first thing you should do is watch your diet. This doesn’t mean starving yourself. Just watch what you eat. Go for healthier food. Avoid junk and snacking too often. It also helps to have a regular exercise program. Walk, jog or do physical activities before or after you write. If you are the lazy type, then simply perform exercises at your desk, to improve blood circulation.

Back pains, eye irritations and headaches are also common for people who work online. These can be avoided by improving their work conditions. Ensure that your work table allows you to sit and type comfortably. Go for short walks and drink lots of water. If you are prone to headaches, ensure that there is good lighting as you write. It is also suggested that you look away from the screen every thirty minutes and focus on an object to prevent eye strains.

I personally recreate the whole process of going to work at times to make things interesting. I get dressed and go to another area of my home or I go to the nearest coffee shop/ restaurant where I can write. For me, being healthy is not just physical but psychological too that is why it is important to make sure that online work is not just a job but an alternative lifestyle, so there must be extra effort to liven up the whole experience.

Photo Courtesy Of:   Andrew*

If you are a blogger, you might also get stuck at some or the other point with your blog posts. A time comes when we run short of the ideas about the idea of creating a new blog post. If you are one among millions of such blogger, you are now at a right place. You will come across some great places where you can get new and innovative ideas for your blog posts.

Updating the blog with new and fresh posts on a regular basis is very important for the success of your blog and thus if you are running short of the ideas, that might be a risk factor for the success of your blog. Below is a list of few places where you can get the new ideas for your blog posts.

Facebook Page

This is one of the best places where you can interact with your readers. If you see any questions on your Facebook page from any of your reader, this would be the best idea to create a blog post on that question. Turn the question into a blog post. If users are not that active on your Facebook page, do some efforts and make your page active. You can also see the other Facebook pages of the same niche and get the latest questions from there too. read on

If you like to read and write the chances are you would enjoy blogging for a living. This can be a very fun and interesting job. You learn all sorts of new things by doing research for the blogs you write. Some people are artistic with words while others are artistic with a website. These people should consider doing website designing for a living. Right now we are interested in writing blogs for the websites that other people create. Online stores and other businesses need blogs to attract customers to their business website. Some stores that only sell in person will still pull people to a website so they can tell of their wares.

read on

There are many bloggers in the blogosphere. Some have just started their blogs, while few have been around for some time. Though, blog owners are eager initially to blog and explore the opportunities to earn out of blogs, very few understand the significance of a blog network.

Blog networking, along with website hosting is the stepping stone to make your blog popular and get noticed. A lonely blogger will eventually not get much out of blogging.

Here are few striking advantages of being in a blog network.

When you blog on a website hosting platform, you are likely to come across many forums, and chat sessions on a web hosting platform, which can be carefully used to make new friends in the blogosphere. It’s no use blogging on your own. New friends and relationships developed on a blog network will get your blog out in the open. Many will notice your blog.

A Blog network if hosted on a webhosting platform can get a blog lot of traffic. Imagine when you start a blog and you find utterly difficult to gain viewership from other blogs, but as soon as you enter a blog network, you turn your network into a traffic machine for your blog.

A blog network helps you gain a lot of understanding on the administration part of running a blog. A new blogger will find a lot of clues and information pertaining to finding advertiser, and learning aspects of web hosting.

The murder of a couple in Florida became headline news all over the US, but the pronouncements of a blogger has turned the case on its head.

Byrd and Melanie Billings, a couple with 13 adopted special needs children, were murdered in their home after an apparent robbery attempt. This was the official police report. But if you ask Rick Outzen, a local blogger and publisher of an alternative weekly, the real reasons for the deaths are far more sinister.

Outzen said that based on what he has heard, Mr. Billings has a seedy reputation and that according to some of the seven people who were charged with the murder, it was actually a contract killing.

Outzen shared his thoughts on the killings on his blog by posting a 277-word post. This has obviously made him quite a controversial figure and his blog an overnight sensation. Six weeks after the incident, Outzen has proven to be quite a pivotal figure in the investigations. In an interview, the Escambia County sheriff (where the killings took place) said that Outzen’s anonymous sources are largely correct in the information that they give.

Outzen’s case has put blogs in a very different light. Blogs are something that can also be taken seriously and also becoming an integral part of the fourth estate.

Geocities was one of those free internet services that, to my mind, really contributed to the explosive growth of the internet. It was also instrumental for many kids learning how to build their own websites.

But as with all things electronic or internet-based — its existence is fleeting even though its impact was undeniably massive. Yahoo!, who acquired the service in 1999 for $3.57 billion in stock, has announced that it will be closing the web hosting service on October 26, 2009 — and with it another chapter in the still morphing life of the internet.

The sobering note said that by the aforementioned date “your GeoCities site will no longer appear on the Web, and you will no longer be able to access your GeoCities account and files.

“If you’d like to move your web site, or save the images and other files you’ve posted online, please act now by downloading your files or upgrading to Yahoo! Web Hosting.”

It’s really quite sad to see another pioneer shutting down. Geocities, at its height, was THE place to be. AEveryone wanted to build their own websites and Geocities was the place to put them in. Geocities was also considered the first online community (remember those webrings?) — the larval stage of what will eventually become the social networking phenomenon that we see today.

Goodbye, Geocities.

Michael Jackson’s death last Thursday shocked the world. And despite the general consensus that Jackson is a has-been, his death proved that he has made an indelible mark on the world. In fact, the outpouring of sentiments on his death almost bogged down all of the social media sites.

Twitters from thousands of people reporting or giving their opinions on Jackson’s death slowed down the popular micro blogging service to a near crawl. It got so bad that Twitter had to temporarily disable its home page search field. Imagine seeing the number of tweets doubling per second! That could be a record of sorts.

But even non-social media sites were also affected. The web sites of Time Warner, Walt Disney, ABC, CBS and the Los Angeles Times, all experienced slowdowns.

So what is the significance of this? It puts into question how different networks — social media, blog networks, corporate sites — and its respective servers are addressing the growing number of internet users. Is there really a proper scaling strategy to account for the continued explosive growth of the internet, especially when we consider that social media sites are actually enticing more and more people to go online? Heck, even my wife’s 70 year old aunt just opened a Facebook account.

The network discusses the growing rift between Steve Jobs and his former CFO regarding and issue that surfaces regarding Jobs landing in hot water with the SEC over some stock options that were seemingly over the edge. Stock options to major companies have always been part of corporate culture and the same is with Apple, one of the biggest earners in today’s technology driven world. The scandal has some millions of dollars in question regarding the value and amounts of shares the former colleagues used to share that some accuse the former CFO of blowing the whistle out on which led to his eviction from the board of directors in 2006. After all the finger pointing and accusations, Steve lands in the sights of the SEC read on