Liz, Author at Successful Blog Page

Thanks to Week 8 SOBs

December 16, 2005 by Liz

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

muddy teal strip A

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this badge’s validity, send him or her directly to me. This award comes with a full “Liz said so” guarantee. It is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame. Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Interview 4. Johan Sundkvist Knows Minimalist

December 15, 2005 by Liz

A Minimalist Interview with Johan Sundkvist
His Blog: Johan Sundkvist
URL: johansundkvist.com
Genre: Personal/Tech Blog
Audience: people who like to read about technology and culture
Thing to note when you visit: how the design and well-written content work together to make reading this blog an inviting and relaxing experience, no stress on this blog

Johan’s blog may be newer than some, but he’s been reading blogs for over two years. He understands and uses the values of minimalist design to keep his blog stressfree and focused on the content.

Johan, your blog and you share a name, what led you to that decision?

I wanted a personal blog, and therefore the choice to use my own name was pretty straight forward. It is hard though to choose a good site name. Some like me use their names (for example Kottke.org), but others come up with great domain names, such as Asterisk, StopDesign and Simplebits.

What made you start the blog?

Since I first discovered the phenomenon of blogging I’ve wanted to create a blog of my own. I’ve always liked writing and blogging as a writing style appealed to me; it’s somewhat more casual, and is focused to get to the point, to write stuff that is interesting.

How would you define a successful blog?

A successful blog is a blog that writes something that catches my interest and if the writing is unique, different, and entertaining it will certainly end up in my RSS subscriptions and daily surfing routine

What advice would you give a beginner?

I’m still a beginner, but I’m happy to share some thoughts with you anyway. I think it’s important to write stuff that matters, that is interesting for the readers. I don’t know if I am very good at this, but it is something that I strive to do. If you write about things you are passionate about, then people will sooner or later notice. Set a tone, distinguish yourself, and make an impression. It is about hard work, but it can be very rewarding in the end.

He may have just started a few months ago, but Johan has the world view of someone with more experience. This blog is both beginner and winner at the same time. Maybe that’s how he could achieve such elegant simplicity.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

12 Twelve Dream Gifts for 2005

December 15, 2005 by Liz

Since you asked . . .

9xMultiMedia [via digg.com]

Check out all twelve exciting Dream Gifts of 2005.

I’d really be happy with any of them.

Some people just say that, but I really mean it.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Google Homepage–Got Yours Yet?

December 14, 2005 by Liz

Here’s what Google says:

The personalized homepage was created to bring together the stuff that interests you from across the web. From an engineering perspective, this became an opportunity to create a framework for all types of content and information. Supporting RSS and Atom feeds was one step in that direction, and today we’re excited to start supporting richer web apps as well. With the Google Homepage API, developers can now create modules for the personalized homepage. It’s designed to be flexible and easy to use, and you don’t need to download anything to create a module. To get the ball rolling, the team’s created a few modules to add to the directory. So check these out and get started creating your own.

Have you got yours yet?

Or are you waiting for the reviews?

You can find all of the links and more about how to build your own Google Homepage at the Google blog.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Blog Basics 2: How to Code Links

December 14, 2005 by Liz

I found myself this week, teaching someone how to build links for the fifth time in so many months. . . . Yeah, sometimes I’m a little slow at realizing what I should be writing about.

Even if you’re a pro who already knows how to code links, you’re going to meet someone who doesn’t know. Showing someone how can be the start of a relationship. This document explains the how to of building links.

Before I begin, many people know that the quick-and-easy way to make external sidebar links is to use Blogrolling. Fewer know that the javascript of Blogrolling causes a blog to load more slowly or that search engine spiders tend to trip on it.

The healthy blog uses external linking built by hand. It takes longer to build links individually, but it’s not hard. It’s simple formula, fill-in-the-blank. Here’s the code.

The Code

Note the space after the first a. Note the quotes around the link.

<a href=“http://URL”>Link Anchor Text</a >
Voila! Get the characters where they go and that code shows this.

Link Anchor Text

The Code Explained: The Link Itself

“http://URL”

If you want to link to the blog itself, put the blog’s home page URL.

“https://www.successful-blog.com”

If you want to link to a specific post, code a Permalink, the permanent address of the post.

“https://www.successful-blog.com/1/blog-basics-1-comments-and-comment-policies/”

Some blog software offers a link below each post marked Permalink to take you to a post’s permanent address. In some, you get to the permanent address by clicking the title of the post. In Blogger, go inside comments. Once there, go to the top and click the title of the post.

You know you have the Permalink when the address in your browser’s address bar includes words from the title of the post.

The Code Explained: The Anchor Text

The link anchor text is the name or description you give the link. It’s a good thing not to name the same link with the same words every time. Search engines realize that humans are not consistent. See the anchor text I used to link my blog Letting me be . . . in the side bar of this Successful (and Outstanding) Blog for an example.

The little bit of extra time it takes to hand code links is good. It could be just the nudge we need to consider whether a link we’re planning is quality. The Checklist for Linking to Quality Blogs is a great test for making sure the link you’re about to build will add value and serve your readers.

There I go again talking about readers. In the end everything comes down them.

–ME “Liz” Strauss