Despite the naysayers, I continue to use the free blogging software from WordPress.com. Several bloggers have warned me about the perils of free blog platforms. No control, no domain name, no plugins, and last but not least for Pete’s sake no ADS!!
But I’ve always been somewhat rebellious and then there’s that other thing I love about WordPress.com. It’s F-R-E-E! 
Automattic details the fundamental differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
Yet, I’ve been able to unearth a quick list of perks in favor of using WordPress.com that I’d like to share with you.
WordPress.com announced recently that a new theme is available for WordPress.com blogs. It’s called the Monochrome theme and knew right away I was going to give it a try. You can watch the YouTube video Change Your WordPress.com Theme – Ms. Ileane Speaks Episode #013 as I make the transition from Ocean Mist theme to Monochrome Theme.
The monochrome theme is also available for self-hosted WordPress users.
Let me know what you think of the new blog theme. The comments section is on the left.
As a blogger, you’ll find yourself short on free time. The hours you used to spend in front of the TV guzzling Diet Coke and eating potato chips – Gone. Those romance novels you used to read at night before bedtime – Outta’ here. Those family picnics on the beach or late nights up chatting for hours with your mate – Au revoir.
You’re a blogger which means you sleep, eat, breathe and dream about blogging. Don’t even try to convince yourself this doesn’t describe you. Because just when you’re ready to sit back and rest on the laurels of that fantastic post you just published and submitted to 101 different social sites – along comes 2 new ones that are so compelling you simply can’t resist. Well, at least I can’t resist and when you hear about them I think you’ll want to join me in pulling a few all-nighters to flex your blogging muscles, and perhaps earn some extra cash.
The first new opportunity is the latest offering from Brian at Blog Engage. This is a new site that’s run on software from WordPress known as Buddy Press. Brian has deemed this site Blogging Wire and I jumped at the chance to become part of it. I’ve started 2 new blogs already! Here’s the list of blogs from Brian’s post Who’s Blogging on The Wire.
We got Quirky Jessi
We got Keith Hughes as Dirty Chickens and Dirty Chickens 2
We got the one the only Ms Ileane Speaks
We have Online Marketing Secrets by Benjamin Hübner
We also have the beautiful Karen from Blazing Minds
Once again Ms Ileane with her new and amazing Pod Cast Blog
We also have Element 321 from Evolutionary Designs
The unique blog of Archon Digital
Next, we come to Hesham. If you’ve ever visited the Blog Engage website you’ll find Hesham there being very supportive. He is 
always shining the spotlight on creative bloggers by offering them interviews, guest posts and memberships in the Famous Bloggers Club. Now Hesham has introduced a network called the MMOSocialNetwork. This is another opportunity you don’t want to miss. Hesham is offering a contest with loads of prizes to commemorate the launch of his new enterprise. They are well worth the effort, see which one you like best.
- $100 via PayPal from Making Money Online Social Network (make sure you have PayPal account)
- $282 worth 6 months course “Income Blogging Guide Course” from WeBuildYourBlog &BlogTechGuy
- $97 worth 3 Day Money course from David Risley
- $67 worth Ultimate Blogging Theme package from Carl “Kidblogger” Ocab
- $19.95 worth ElegantTheme membership for one year from Lawmacs of Blogging The Future
So say hello to energy drinks, black coffee and brand new social networks to infiltrate. I’m taking roll call, and you can leave me a comment to let me know if you are coming along for the ride.
Smooches!
Using free blogging software from WordPress known as WordPress.com, such as I do here on this blog Ms. Ileane Speaks, is a great way to get started with blogging. I discuss the debate about blogging on WordPress.com over other free platforms like Blogger over at Ms. Ileane’s Blog, but using any free blogging software platform has several disadvantages. It’s much better to register a domain name, acquire a web host and download the software for a self-hosted WordPress blog.
I won’t list all of the disadvantages for using WordPress.com here, but one of the primary arguments against having a free blog is the fact that you cannot use plugins or various themes that can improve your SEO and Page Rank with Google, Bing, Yahoo! and other search engines.
For those of us that continue to use the free WordPress.com service you can rest assured, there is still hope. This morning I checked the page rank for this blog using Google Page Rank checker and I was pleased to see a score of 3 out of 10.
This is a pretty good score considering I haven’t applied many SEO strategies. I mentioned previously in Top 5 Blog Topics, that page rank has not been a huge concern for me on this blog.
In the upcoming year, I’ve made a resolution to learn more about SEO. I’m finding some of the SEO techniques pretty easy to do and you can get started today. Here’s a short video from Chuck at CyberSmartMarketing called Link Surfing Your Website for On-Page SEO to give you a hand.
If you are considering the move to a self-hosted WordPress blog or website, contact Chuck at CyberSmartMarketing. You can also follow him on Twitter @MrCyberSmartSEO
In the meantime, take a look at your page rank and leave a comment to let me know where you stand.
Smooches!
Using social media to promote your blog is a must. If Twitter is your social media outlet of choice, it pays to keep up with the latest Twitter tools and applications. Some are better than others, and not to long ago I talked about using Buzzom to manage your following. Here are a couple of tools that I think are fun to try.
Twitter Meets Screenr
Check out this short podcast I created and find out how to quickly send video tweets with Screenr, a web-based video recording application from Articulate. Screenr is surprisingly easy, fast and convenient to use. You can create an introduction video for your newest blog post, a quick tutorial, or share a slide show featuring scenes from your vacation. Be creative, video is a great way to personalize your blog and add something unique and memorable to your twitter stream.
For more information, check out the review of Screenr that I did over at Shvoong.
Developing a quality blog is hard work for some and second nature to others. Yet most bloggers all have one thing in common. We want people to read our blogs. Wether you make money with your blog or have an ad-free WordPress.com blog like myself, it’s nice to know that someone out there is paying your blog some attention and even better if they end up giving it some tender “link” loving care.
I was fortunate enough to find the Blog Engage community and if you are blogging, and you’re not already a member, I encourage you to join today. I became an instant fan and a huge supporter of the Blog Engage community. I created two introductory videos that can be viewed on Blip.tv and posted a monthly recap of my Blog Engage activity for November.
Podcasts on iTunes
I’m a self-admitted podcast addict. When I wrote Ode to My Podcasts in September of this year I had over 800 podcasts in my iTunes library. Today I have over 1,000. Watching podcasts can often be very entertaining but most of the episodes I subscribe to are tutorials and how-to videos created by those that are highly knowledgeable in their given field of expertise.
This video short pays homage to my favorites.
Blog Promotion With Podcasting
Here’s how Apple describes iTunes.
iTunes is a free application for your Mac or PC. It organizes and plays your digital music and video on your computer. It syncs all your media with your iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. And it’s a store on your computer, iPod touch, iPhone, and Apple TV that has everything you need to be entertained. Anywhere. Anytime.
We all know the powerful and lasting impact that videos can have, but unlike YouTube, podcasts are downloaded and stored by subscribers, who will most likely watch them over and over again. I encourage you to create videos and include them as a podcast on iTunes. Podcasting can extend your social network and expose your blog to new audiences that otherwise may never find your blog.
Joining a Community of Bloggers
In early November, I became an active member of the Blog Engage Community and it has been an amazing journey and an extremely rewarding experience. This image represents a small sampling of the bloggers that I’ve networked with since joining Blog Engage.
I was somewhat timid in my initial approach because I’d heard talk that it is not a good idea to join a lot of blog directories. You know, everyone is afraid of the big, bad, wolf known as Google and what might happen to you if you don’t follow every rule they make to a “T”. Yet, for every article that talks about not submitting your blog with too many directories, I find another that says directory submissions are the best thing since sliced bread. So I have to go with my gut, forget all about Google’s rules, and just “do me“.
Building a Social Network at Blog Engage
I looked around the Blog Engage site and right away I noticed something unique. I quickly caught on to the the fact that BE doesn’t look or feel at all like a directory but more like a place to hang out and rub shoulders with some of the finest bloggers on the planet!
Continue Reading »
Register Your Blog with Blog Engage
In my last post, Top 5 Blog Topics I mentioned how I am a member of the Blog Engage community and I urge other bloggers that are interested in promoting their blog to do the same.
In this first screencast, we will visit the BlogEngage.com website and I’ll show you how easy it is to sign up.
New Benefit - Google AdSense
The second video, explores additional benefits of the BlogEngage website and a major announcement from Brian, owner of the BlogEngage website that you simply do not want to miss!
I’m more than happy to answer any of your questions and after you join the community, please let me know so that I can vote on your posts.
You can follow my Blog Engage List on Twitter http://twitter.com/Ileane/blogengage. If you’re a member of Blog Engage and don’t see yourself on the list, let me know I’ll add your tweets. I also recommend that before you get started read 10 Tips for Better Blog Engage Results from Extreme John and check out Brian’s list of articles from Share the love, who’s talking about Blog Engage.
Smooches!
UPDATE: Blog Engage has seen a surge in activity recently including several new members and mentions:
Hmmm. Let’s see, I’m wondering, what should I blog about?
I’ve been researching several topics recently with the help of Addict-o-matic and here are my options:
- Page Rank
- Netvibes
- StumbleUpon
- Forums
- Commenting
Continue Reading »
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Ms. Ileane Speaks by Ileane Smith is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
