PureBlogging

7 Tips On Building Relationships Through Blogging – Relationship-building is probably the most important factor when trying to find success through blogging and/or social media. There’s some good advice in this post.

19 Strategies to Help Turn New Visitors Into Loyal Readers – Getting them to your blog is one thing, but getting them to come back can be even harder. This article has some good strategies.

4 Secrets to Getting Press for your Blog – This is a really useful post that points you in a few directions to help you gain some exposure from the media.

How to Find Your Unique Blogging Style -  A look at some strategies to use so that you stand out from the crowd. Being yourself is a big part of it (unless of course you’re too dull )

The Psychology of Blogging -  Darren Rowse shares some tips from Life Coach Tim Brownson.

Popularity: 5% [?]

How a blog post becomes popular – A “step by step story” about how one blogger got his post to become popular and drive lots of traffic to his blog.

10 Tips for Becoming a Great Corporate Blogger – Businesses are always struggling with making their blogs effective. This provides some tips to do so.

10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work – A nice look at specific templates that you can use for effective headlines.

Be a Comment Rockstar: 10 Terrific Tips! – An informative post on how to write posts that will ispire large amounts of comments.

How to Launch a Group Blog Project – Group blogs are not discussed often enough, but here is an interesting post on getting one set up.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Wired has posted an article by Paul Boutin, which talks about blogs not being the useful medium they once were, and how networks like Twitter and Facebook are taking their place. I disagree. That’s not to say that such networks don’t have their place, but taking the place of blogs? I don’t think so. A quote from the article:

Writing a weblog today isn’t the bright idea it was four years ago. The blogosphere, once a freshwater oasis of folksy self-expression and clever thought, has been flooded by a tsunami of paid bilge. Cut-rate journalists and underground marketing campaigns now drown out the authentic voices of amateur wordsmiths. It’s almost impossible to get noticed, except by hecklers. And why bother? The time it takes to craft sharp, witty blog prose is better spent expressing yourself on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter.

It may take some effort and some content worth reading to get notices, but if anything, it just pushes bloggers to strive for excellence, which in my opinion is not a bad thing. In response to that article, Dwight Silverman at chron.com in a post called “Are Blogs Obsolete?” writes:

This type of nonsense surfaces every few months from folks who think that, just because blogging is no longer the latest shiny-shiny, it’s no longer relevant. That’s shallow and silly.

Like any other publishing medium, blogging is a tool for getting information to other people. The fact that other ways of doing it have come along doesn’t mean blogging doesn’t belong in your toolbox. It’s still an effective way to communicate ideas, news, images, video, audio. It remains a simple and powerful way to not only share your thoughts, but point others to valuable info and insights elsewhere on the Web.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Blogs are not obsolete. You know why? Because I still read them everyday. I still write for them nearly everyday. And so do countless others (that probably includes you). If you ask me, blogs are more relevant than they’ve ever been, because they are more mainstream than they have ever been.  Thoughts?

Popularity: 12% [?]

Let’s continue with the “Blogs on…” series, our little series of “getting to know you” posts, which were intended to give my readers a little insight on the stuff I read in various categories, and likewise for readers to share some of their favorites in the comments as well.

I started out with blogs on blogging, then blogs on movies and blogs on music. Now, let’s move on to blogs on sports.

Also, just so this post doesn’t seem totally off topic, I should mention that blogs in all industries can often provide insight into good blogging strategies, whether it be in the are of design, marketing, or writing. Even if you have a blog about making money online, you can learn things from blogs about movies, football, or pottery. I think you get my point.

Deadspin – Deadspin has a variety of writers, but the posts tend to combine current events in sports ith a bit of humor, making for some enjoyable reading for sports fans.

Intentional Foul – Like Deadspin, there is usually a more humorous angle to the posts here, and they cover a variety of sports. It’s not the place to go for breaking headlines, but for some humorous commentary and pictures, they deliver.

ProFootballTalk – I like PFT a lot, mostly because NFL football is really the only sport I truly get excited about (ok, I like NCAA football too). It’s not that I don’t like other sports, but none of them appeal to me in the way that pro football does. It’s the only sport that I’ll actually plan elements of my life around. Let’s put it that way. PFT has breaking NFL news all the time. I often see stories there before even ESPN. If you’re an NFL fan, it’s a must-subscribe.

There you have it. What are your favorite sports blogs?

Popularity: 5% [?]

WordPress Creators Acquire PollDaddy – Polls (with a number of features) will become easier to integrate into WordPress blogs now that Automattic has acquired PollDaddy.

How To Launch A Successful Blog In The First 90 Days – Self explanatory – broken down into what should be done in 15-day and 30-day segments.

The 25 Basic Styles of Blogging … And When To Use Each One – A slideshow with a different slide dedicated to each style.

13 Tips to Recession Proof Your Blog – Again, self-explanatory – And it’s from Darren Rowse, so that should help too.

The 7 Most Dangerous Countries for Bloggers – An interesting look at where blogging is getting people put in jail.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Blog action day is a day out of the year where bloggers are called upon to discuss important topics to spread awareness. This year, that topic is poverty. The aim is to trigger a “global discussion.”

Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

At the Blog Action Day Website, they say, “Every blogger has a unique voice, audience and perspective. By speaking to their readers on topic about an important issue we can discuss global issues like poverty in a new and hugely multi-faceted way. And from discussion springs action.”

They highlight examples of what different types of blogs can do to participate:

- A Design Blog might analyse a set of charity posters and how they convey their message.

- A Tech Blog might look at pro-poor technologies and projects.

- A Political Blog might examine the relevant agendas of leading candidates.

- A Sports Blog might look at recent charity activities of a major sports franchise.

Since we are a blog about blogging, I think the fact that I’m writing about Blog Action Day itself should suffice. That said, I still welcome comments regarding the issue at hand – Poverty. Or you can discuss the significance of Blog Action Day itself.

Popularity: 5% [?]