Say Goodbye to Family, Friends and A Good Night’s Sleep!

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. [tweetmeme source=”ileane”]

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!

Fun Twitter Promotions for Your Blog

[tweetmeme source=”ileane” style=”compact”]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.

Blog Engagers That Make My Day!

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.

Promote Your Blog With a Podcast

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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.

Blog Engage Activity for Ms. Ileane Speaks in November

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!

Introduction: The Blog Engage Community [Video]

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:

Shvoong review

Whatawebsite review

Alexa Ranking