Successful Blog

Writing– The 2 PowerQuestions

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The Second Question

Power Writing Series Logo

When I start with that blank page, whether I think about it or I stare into space, two questions are waiting in white letters on the white space. I have to make myself see them and answer them before I will ever be able to write. The questions are basic and always the same.

What will your topic be?

and

What do you want to say about it?

If I can answer those two questions, the piece pretty much writes itself.

It really is as simple as that.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
How To Beat Writer’s Block
Questions about Burnout and Writer’s Block
Why Dave Barry and Liz Don’t Get Writer’s Block
The Power Writing Series on the SUCCESSFUL SERIES PAGE

Interview 5. Meet Peter Chen: Blogspot Expert for New Bloggers

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Meeting Peter Chen, Blogger

New Blogger Logo

Once in a while I surf the Google nav bar to see who’s there. It’s a fun way to do some random exploring and sometimes I land on a jewel as I did when I found the blog of a man named Peter Chen. What caught my eye about this blog, Blogger for Dummies, (now called Blogger Help) was that it had screenshots that were described and labeled with meticulous detail.

Blogger for Beginners Screenshot

Little did I know that this was one of several blogs that Mr. Chen has on two of which are dedicated to Blogger. This blog alone led me to want to interview the man.

Interview with Peter Chen
His Blogs:
Blogger for Dummies aka Blogger Help,
Blogger Tips and Tricks,
Enviroman Says, and
Food as medicine.
Liz notes: Peter has so many blogs. I went straight to the interview.

Peter, What led you to make your blog?

I am retired and have plenty of free time. I need some activities to fill up the free time.

I notice that you haven’t updated one blog since April 23rd. Why is that?

You must be refering to Blogger for Dummies. Someone told me of possible interference from Wiley Publications because of the “for Dummies” in the title. Rather than building up the content of the blog, and then having face the decision whether to take them down later, I decided to start a new blog at http://blogger-tricks.blogspot.com. There is still sizable, useful content at http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com plus significant inbound links, so I am leaving it as it is and will be making an announcement of the shift on the blog later.

What are your blogs and what are they about?

These are my blogs:

Blogger Help at http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com
A resource for those using the very popular Blogger blogging service. Although meant for Blogger, many of the tips are also relevant for those using other blogging services.

Blogger Tips and Tricks at http://blogger-tricks.blogspot.com

This is the replacement for http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com . It will eventually will be my main blog.

Enviroman Says at http://enviromansays.blogspot.com
An environmental blog. That blog was set up specifically for a cartoon character Enviroman and an artist friend was supposed to help out with it. That didn’t work out, so it has ended up with Enviroman making comments on the environment.

Food as Medicine http://foodasmedicine.blogspot.com
A blog focusing on using food as a mean to health. As Hippocrates had put it, let your food be your medicine and medicine be your food.

To what do you credit your very high site meter count?

This is probably due to the high number of people seeking solutions to blogging problems. And I think the content are well written, easy to follow and understand, so visitors tend to come back for more, as the statistics show.

What advice do you have for a new blogger starting out?

Pick on a topic in which you have an interest. Then you will never tire of the work involved.

What blogging platform do you personally recommend and why?

I use Blogger. It is free, unlikely to go out of business as it is backed by the Internet giant Google, relatively quickly picked up by search engines, easy to use even by beginners, and the template is highly customizable. Recently there were some glitches, and complaints about a non responsive support which has put off some people, but it has affected me relatively little, so I will continue to use Blogger. I personally had got a problem with a frozen blog unblocked by Blogger support after an email. And a reader has written in to say that his blog which he accidentally deleted got undeleted after a series of email. So Blogger support do respond to emails.

There you have it — the experience of blogger, Peter Chen. He’s made good use of Google’s free Blogspot platform and finds that it works for him. Using free accounts has it’s upside and it’s downside. Be sure you look carefully before you decide that’s the route you will go. Many successful bloggers, such as Improbulus and Freshblog have done fabulously and many others swear that you need an independent account.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Thanks to all who Attended Open Comment Night 2

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Open Comment Night 2

It’s that Open Comment Night 2 was also a grand success. 174 comments and at times they were flying so fast, it was hard to keep up. We’re already discussing ways to improve it.

  • Martin has volunteered to gather suggested topics of the week — things that people around the blogosphere have been talking about. Those will be posted early in the day so that folks will have something to think about if they want to come prepared with a thought or two to add to the commentary. This topics list is meant for inspiration only and is no way intended to fetter the free flowing fun of the conversational atmosphere that we’ve managed to get going.
  • Scott has suggested that we announced a starting time and I’m taking him up on that. I think it makes real sense for folks to know when the mike is turned on.
  • Everyone should be aware that like coming late to a party, there is no need to catch up on what went before you arrived . . . just join in when you get there.
  • If you have more suggestions, please leave them in the comments on this post. Comment night is a community event. So let’s make it for everyone.

One question remains outstanding. . . .

Does Tuesday night work for you?

Unless there is an outcry in favor of another night, Open Comment Night will be every Tuesday, starting at 7:00p.m. Chicago time. There sidebar is open and there is no closing hour. 🙂

See you here again next week!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Open Comments Night 2 Mike is On Open Comment Night

Happy Blog B-Day! Eric Setiawn

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My How You’ve Grown

What better occasion to send a Link Leak to someone you love than a Blog Birthday?

Eric Setiawan is one of the first people I met when I took over Successful Blog. He’s a fine man, a great writer, and a designer to watch.

Congratulations, Eric! Happy B-day to you. Everyone, if you have chance, stop by his wonderful, beautiful blog to give him the good wishes of the day.

Smiles,
Liz

Related
SOB Hall of Fame A-L

Net Neutrality 5-17-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’ve added these links to the Net Neutrality Page today.

Pro-Internet Democracy Blogs Run Ads for Corporate Takeover of Net: Another Example of Why BuzzFlash Won’t Accept Advertising
[via Truth Dig ]

The ad in question leads to an Orwellian flash that tries to convince the viewers that the government is trying to “interfere” with the Internet and that this will destroy it, which is exactly what the people behind the ads are trying to do. . . . (See http://www.dontregulate.org/)

If you watch the ad, you find it is sponsored by a coalition misleadingly called “Hands Off the Internet”.If you look at the members of “Hands Off the Internet,” they are the very Telecom companies who have given large donations to members of Congress to pass legislation — now having cleared a House Committee — to allow them to squeeze democracy out of the Internet in order to increase their profits. Members of the cynically named “Hands Off the Internet” coalition include AT&T, BellSouth and Cingular, along with some “front” organizations that again employ the Bush tactic of sounding like they are on your side when they are trying to get away with grand larceny (see
http://www.handsoff.org/hoti_docs/aboutus/members.shtml). As many on the Net have noted with contempt, the group is masterminded by former Clinton Press Secretary Mike McCurry.

A BuzzFlash reader pointed out this entire scam to us and how he had tried to get the progressive sites to have the ad removed on their sites, but to no avail.
The ad is part of a package offered by a company known as BlogAds. (See this url if you want to know which liberal blog sites financially benefit from BlogAds: http://www.blogads.com/advertise/liberal_blog_advertising

Proposed Rule Changes Would Tangle the Web

Many people believe the Internet’s decentralized structure guarantees that no company or oligopoly could control it. Internet censorship – whether by corporate or state interests – simply sounds impossible. Yet not only is it theoretically possible, but the history of telecommunications regulation tells us it is probable. By the time the telecoms start changing what you see on your screen, it will be too late to complain.

PDF Panel On Net Neutrality
[via The Original Blog]

Like it or not, the Internet is not a public entity. It is not a company for which others provide service and it is not a public good. It is a nebulous arrangement of interconnections between private networks. If the net neutrality guys would like the government to compensate the private companies that have invested hundreds of billions to make it work, and declare those pipes a public good, that’s fine. The tab will be staggering.

That will do wonders for the deficit and guarantee great service. After all, the government does everything really well, right?

If, instead, you want a competitive environment, then you keep what you have. Existing competition has moved us this far, so why not let it continue? Some suggest the answer is because there are only two competitors – cable and telcos. That ignores the possibility that the DBS guys will ever develop the technology to compete. That ignores the possibility that governments will provide wi-fi as a public good, and it ignores the possibility that Google or someone else will provide wi-max to compete with the cable and telco guys?

It also assumes that two competitors is somehow inadequate for real competition. Honestly, I think a football field would get crowded with four teams.

. . . Cable faces different competition on the programming side. They face competition from satellite and now telcos on video. They face competition for phone service from wireless, VoIP, and the telcos. They face competition for data services from telcos, cities increasingly providing wi-fi, PC by satellite (which admittedly is inferior currently, but that will change shortly), etc.

Competition works. But you have to let it. For Congress to act now, absent an actual threat, would be the height of folly.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Open Comments Night 2 Mike is On

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It’s Like Open Mike Only Different

Here’s how it works.

  • Comment ON ANY TOPIC you like. — Okay, okay, no mean language — I am the nice one.
  • Keep your comment less than a book.

It was really fun last week. Come on and join in!

Update: Don’t try to read it all. It’s like any rambling conversation. Just go to the end start talking.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
Open Comment Night