Within the Blogosphere

How to create a blog is probably one of the most asked questions on the Internet these days. To start a blog really is very easy, despite the belief that most bloggers struggle with their blog setup. The quickest and best way to make a blog is to create a free blog with one of the many platforms readily available. The following are the most widely used blog platforms:

* WordPress
* Blogger
* Live Journal
* Weblog
* Xanga
* Blog
* Vox
* Others(some new ones)

Whichever blog platform you end up choosing when starting a blog, you will be guided along step by step as long as you read the onscreen information. To create a weblog (blog) will take you no longer than 10 minutes in most cases to set up. The blog setup is normally straight forward and doesn't require any coding knowledge. This is only necessary once you want to start to personalize your blog. I see many question people ask on discussion boards that, "how do I start a blog", "how do I create my own blog", "how do I start a weblog", "how do I start my own blog" or "how do you set up a blog" and my answer is always the same.

It depends on which blogging platform you are thinking of using. I could give you tutorials for each and every one of them, but this would really make this blog post endless and boring. Plus, many bloggers have already written articles on starting a blog. The best way however is to create a blog for free.

Whether you decide to create a business blog or create a blog with WordPress, you need to understand that as long as you use free blogging platforms you will be severely limited in blog design, setup, using additional tools and creating a truly personalized weblog.

If you read the instructions on the respective blog platform you will find all relevant information. WordPress is by far the most powerful blog software to startup with. You can create a blog for free in minutes. Then you just write a post and build on this. Just be aware that there are free WordPress blogs and self hosted which are totally different. If you intention is to make money online by starting a blog, then you should seriously consider getting a webhost and setting up WordPress. To create a blog on a self hosted domain, you will need to get the WordPress software from WordPress.org instead of WordPress.com (which is only for free blogs).

Should you still wonder how to create a blog right now, I suggest you visit one of the mentioned blogging platforms and choose an appropriate one to create a free blog. It is best to get comfortable with a free blogging software first and learn the ropes before paying for hosting and not knowing what to do.

I think this list might be of a good help for those who use MaxBlogPress Ping Optimize .

http://rpc.pingomatic.com/

http://api.feedster.com/ping

http://api.moreover.com/ping

http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2

http://ping.amagle.com/

http://ping.bitacoras.com

http://ping.blo.gs/

http://ping.feedburner.com

http://ping.rootblog.com/rpc.php

http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php

http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php

http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2/

http://rpc.blogbuzzmachine.com/RPC2

http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/

http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/

http://rpc.newsgator.com/

http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping

http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2

http://topicexchange.com/RPC2

http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2

http://www.blogoole.com/ping/

http://www.blogoon.net/ping/

http://www.blogsnow.com/ping

http://www.blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi

http://www.lasermemory.com/lsrpc/

http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud

http://www.popdex.com/addsite.php

http://www.snipsnap.org/RPC2

http://www.wasalive.com/ping/

http://www.weblogues.com/RPC/

http://1470.net/api/ping

http://2rss.com/index.php

http://a2b.cc/setloc/bp.a2b

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/my/cgi_rss_submission

http://api.mw.net.tw/RPC2/

http://api.my.yahoo.com/ping

http://api.my.yahoo.com/RPC2

http://bblog.com/ping.php

http://bitacoles.net/ping.php

http://bitacoras.net/ping

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC

http://blogbib.com/submit.php

http://blogbot.dk/io/xml-rpc.php

http://blogdb.jp/xmlrpc

http://blogdigger.com/RPC2

http://blogflux.com/add.php

http://blogion.com/?p=submit

http://bloglines.com/register

http://blogmatcher.com/u.php

http://blogmighty.com/link_submit.php

http://blogmopolis.com/submit.php

http://blogoole.com/ping/

http://blogoon.net/ping/

http://blogoriffic.com/add_blog.php

http://blogpeople.net/servlet/weblogUpdates

http://blogpulse.com/submit.html

http://blogrankings.com/addblog.php

http://blogroots.com/tb_populi.blog?id=1

http://blogscholar.com/index.php?option=com_registration&task=register

http://blogsdominicanos.com/ping/

http://blog-search.com/blog-submission.html

http://blogsearch.google.co.uk/ping/RPC2

http://blogshares.com/rpc.php

http://blogsnow.com/ping

http://blogsoldiers.com/links/links.php

http://blogstreet.com/xrbin/xmlrpc.cgi

http://blogsweet.com/suggest_link.php

http://blogtopsites.com/register.php

http://blogtree.com/

http://bloguniverse.com/

http://bloguniverse.com/radlinks/

http://blog-watch.com/add-url.php

http://blogwise.com/submit

http://bloogz.com/man_en/add_your_url.php

http://blurtit.com/

http://boingboing.net/suggest.html

http://bulkfeeds.net/rpc

http://bulletize.com/add.php?sid=0

http://canadiantechmob.com/form.php

http://catapings.com/ping.php

http://chordata.geckotribe.com/suggest.php

http://contentsmatter.com/add.php

http://coreblog.org/ping/

http://crayon.net/using/suggest.html

http://csthota.com/blogmap/submit.aspx

http://diarist.net/

http://dir.nooked.com/submit.dir?action=Start

http://dmoz.org/

http://effbot.org/rpc/ping.cgi

http://esperanto.se/kiosk/engindex.html

http://everyfeed.com/addsite.php

http://feed24.com/?c=add

http://feedage.com/submit.php

http://feedbomb.com/

http://feedboy.com/

http://feedcat.net/addfeed1.php?lng=en

http://feed-directory.com/addfeed

http://feedmap.net/BlogMap/submit.aspx

http://feedminer.com/addfeed.aspx

http://feeds2read.net/Suggest-A-Feed

http://feeds4all.com/AddRSS.aspx

http://feeds4all.nl/AddRSS.aspx

http://feedsfarm.com/a.html

http://feedsky.com/api/RPC2

http://fgiasson.com/pings/ping.php

http://findingblog.com/add_blog.php?cat=

http://findory.com/submit-blog/

http://findrss.net/A55711/rsscatalog.nsf/submit?openForm

http://flookie.net/

http://focuslook.com/ping.php

http://fybersearch.com/add-url.php

http://geekphilosopher.com/MainPage/gpBlogLinkAdd.php

http://getblogs.com/

http://globeofblogs.com/register.php

http://gnoos.com.au/submitFeed.jsp

http://gob.phaeba.net/register.php

http://godesigngroup.com/blog/feed

http://headlinespot.com/site/suggest.htm

http://holycowdude.com/rpc/ping/

http://icerocket.com/c?p=addblog

http://imblogs.net/ping/

http://industry-blogs.com/submit.php

http://lasermemory.com/lsrpc/

http://lsblogs.com/howtosubmit.php

http://mod-pubsub.org/kn_apps/blogchatter/ping.php

http://mod-pubsub.org/ping.php

http://myst-technology.com/mysmartchannels/sign-up

http://news-feeds.org/addfeed.php

http://newsgator.com/ngs/subscriber/Folksonomy.aspx

http://newsisfree.com/RPCCloud

http://newsisfree.com/xmlrpctest.php

http://newzalert.com/AuthorCenter/

http://ngoid.sourceforge.net/sub_rss.php

http://octora.com/add_rss.php

http://ping.amagle.com

http://ping.blogg.de

http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc

http://ping.blogmura.jp/rpc/

http://ping.blogs.yandex.ru/RPC2

http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc

http://ping.exblog.jp/xmlrpc

http://ping.fakapster.com/rpc

http://ping.myblog.jp

http://ping.weblogs.se

http://ping.wordblog.de

http://pinger.blogflux.com/rpc

http://pinger.onejavastreet.com

http://pingoat.com/goat/RPC2

http://pingqueue.com/rpc

http://plazoo.com/addrss.asp

http://plazoo.com/en/addrss.asp

http://popdex.com/addsite.php

http://portal.eatonweb.com/add.php

http://postami.com/rss.finder/submit_feed.php

http://pressradar.com/suggest

http://pubsub.com/add_feed.php

http://queerfilter.com/ping

http://rcs.datashed.net/RPC2

http://readablog.com/AddFeed.aspx

http://rpc.britblog.com

http://rpc.newsgator.com

http://rpc.pingomatic.com

http://rpc.tailrank.com/feedburner/RPC2

http://rpc.wpkeys.com

http://rss-clipping.com/

http://rssfeeds.com/suggest_wizzard.php

http://rssfwd.com/xmlrpc/api

http://rssmad.com/

http://rss-network.com/submitrss.php

http://search4rss.com

http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/xmlrpcping.aspx

http://shas3.com/submit/

http://signup.alerts.msn.com/alerts-PREP/submitPingExtended.doz

http://smallbusiness.com/wiki/Weblog_directory_company_blogs

http://snipsnap.org/RPC2

http://sphere.com/feedback

http://strategicboard.com/?s=h:addblog

http://syndic8.com/suggest_start.php

http://tailrank.com/import

http://thevital.net/

http://thingamablog.sourceforge.net/ping.php

http://topix.net/member/register

http://trackback.bakeinu.jp/bakeping.php

http://truthlaidbear.com/addtoscan.php

http://w.moreover.com/cgi-local/site/sourcesubmission.pl

http://wasalive.com/ping/

http://weblogalot.com/Ping/

http://weblogues.com/RPC

http://xianguo.com/xmlrpc/ping.php

http://xmlrpc.blogg.de

http://xping.pubsub.com/ping/

http://zhuaxia.com/rpc/server.php

https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/pingPodcast

Let your blog post be seen!

- Always create a login page for you back end. There are lots of new clients on existing sites whose entire back end does not even have a login page. It is simply just asking for trouble and it shows the lack of knowledge the previous developer had.

- Try to avoid using Internet Explorer to access your login page if you have any. Internet Explorer is vulnerable to some hacking tools like spy ware, and other security issues, which make it a constant security threat. Install “Firefox” or any other alternative web browser when using the web application or when training your clients on your new web application

- Do not forget to update your open source applications. If you do maintain any web sites than you need to check it regularly for updating the web applications and install them on their web site

- Always encrypt your web application with SSL to avoid any one sniffing the data you are transmitting back and forth. Sniffing is another way by which hackers can gain usernames and passwords easily and get full access to your application.

- Change your password after 1 or 2 weeks. This method is typically used to get resistance from hackers who manage to steal passwords.

- Always use strong passwords. Avoid using your last name, first name as password or simple word for logging into your system. A good password is the one, which does not make any sense and is hard to remember. Use combination of upper and lower case letters, digits, and punctuation to help prevent against dictionary attacks.

- If you have installed a common open source application like “MediaWiki”, “Movable Type”, “Word Press” or “phpMyadmin” etc then these applications are normally installed at default locations like “wp”, “admin”, “phpMyAdmin”, or other folders which provides hackers a good guess at where your login screen is. As these applications are open source so hackers can easily find old security laps in the code and then exploit them if you have not yet upgraded your system. If you are going to install one of these applications then install them to a unique directory, which will be different than the default location. You will be safer from most hacking attempts

- Another threat is the “SQL Injection attacks” which can grant a hacker direct access to your whole web application. To avoid SQL injection attacks; make sure you are escaping variable data before running SQL scripts to return login information for your system in nutshell.

- Always link to open source software. Use a search engine to find web sites that link to WordPress.org and you will find thousands of blogs, which link back to Word Press because they use the popular blogging software. Now in this case hacker has a list of potential word press blogs to exploit. Do not to link back to the software you are using. It will prevent your site as a potential hacking victim

Here is a site that has just about everything a webmaster needs. SITE PRO NEWS is an extensive resource site with articles and links to top notch SEO, search engine, keyword and software information.
Read what the experts have to say on HTML authoring, site promotion and submission, marketing , and income generation. They also have a free newsletter and Blog.

rssHugger is a new social site for bloggers. As been said, by rssHunger, that it's to bring bloggers and readers closer together.

With a professional look of the homepage, clean, and nicely colored. It is brand new, so jump in while you can. One of my philosophies is to jump into a site as soon as you can, and gain all the authority you can while the site is in it's first stages of growth. Then, when the site becomes popular and much more powerful, you have a lot of weight to throw around. It's run by human administrators, and your blog will only be accepted if it's good quality.

They've got a very interesting strategy going here to get publicity. They require a post about their site on your blog in order to put submit a blog to their directory. You can also pay a 20$ dollar one time fee, but no one's going to do that.

It makes a great one-way link, and when rssHugger gets bigger, it will be a great way to get direct traffic through the link as well. It's exactly what they say on the homepage, "quality, spam free, and viral rss directory strictly for bloggers".

Join now for free while you can.

Facebook has grown large and with millions of daily users, you can use it to increase your readers and RSS subscribers.

If you're currently not a Facebook user then you've done well avoiding it. you want to know why? Anyway, it's the latest craze in online social interaction (despite being little more than Myspace) with more than 60,000,000 users. However the key difference is that you can install applications onto your page - and that's the key to leveraging Facebook to your own advantage.

Get more readers and more RSS subscribers
Facebook offers a great opportunity to expose your content to new readers through it's native "notes" area (or through installable applications that add your syndicated content to the page directly).

There are a few ways of getting your content republished on Facebook. As normal Wordpress users get the easiest option with the Facebook plugin which allows you to show the latest posts (and comments) on your Facebook profile.

However there are many of us who don't use Wordpress so what can we do? Fortunately the "notes" application on Facebook allows you to import posts from other journals/blogs via RSS. Therefore if you click on "notes", you can then view "my notes" and "import notes from an external blog". You provide Facebook with your RSS feed and theoretically each time your feed updates it is added to your notes.

Importing it through RSS APPs
There are losts of APPs on Facebook now that can help in you displaying your blog contents via RSS on Facebook easily. All you have to do is click on the 'Application' link on the left panel

Then click the 'Browse More Applications' link to your right

On the 'Application Directory' Page, use the search box to search for the word RSS.

On your search result page, you will see a list of RSS Applications you can add to your profile. Select the ones you prefer and add. I basically made my option from the daily active users counting or the most activity grouping.

Other ways to get your content on Facebook
It's not a big step to write your own Facebook application to add your RSS feed information into your profile. Hell, you could do almost anything with your own Facebook app, far beyond the limited constraints of things like "notes" or the Wordpress plugin.

I found that Facebook is an exciting place to broadcast your content to; increasing my viewing statistics and potentially converting new users. Ultimately it's more exposure and that's a good thing for almost any blogger. Plus many of the high profile bloggers do it too.

I hope this tip is useful, cause am currently giving it a taste. Good luck!

What is Paypal ?

Paypal is a sort of online bank account and has become an invaluable resource for anybody who buys, sells or conducts business on their computer. Paypal was introduced in the year 2000 and an estimate of $27.5 billion was traded on Paypal in 2005 with 100 million account members worldwide. As it's known that Paypal goes to great lengths to ensure online security and also offers a Seller Protection Policy, but some members are getting hard on with their paypal.

I am writing this to put users through some steps that can prevent them from being deceived. With these easy steps, I hope youy should be able to identify a valid paypal website.

1. Always type the URL (the Web address, for example https://www.paypal.com) into the address bar at the top of your computer screen rather than linking to it from another Web site. Online security experts advise this is a good general rule to avoid being directed to phishing sites.

2. Look for basic spelling or grammatical mistakes as well as “amateurish” Web pages. Many fake sites and phishing emails also address you as subscriber, account holder or a similar term–rather than by your name.

3. Be suspicious if you receive an email supposedly from Paypal that asks you to verify your account or for personal information–Paypal doesn’t do that. And don’t use the link to the Paypal Web site which may be in the email. To check your account, always type in the URL in the address bar as describe in step one.

4. Determine if the Paypal address in your browser is the actual PayPal address. There should be a backslash ‘/’ immediately after "paypal.com." The real Paypal Web site should read: www.paypal.com/ (If you noticed this in the step 1 - figure 1). An example of a fake site might be www.paypal@accounts.com.

5. Look for the little padlock symbol in your browser address bar. If you are on the real Paypal site, it is a secure site, meaning your transactions and passwords are protected.

6. Don't click on any links or open any attachments from pop-up boxes or advertisements in email. It’s a red flag; Paypal never uses these.

Paypal is being use by millions of people every day for secure financial transactions and is(paypal) widely recognized for it’s online security, protective features and has received almost twenty awards for technical excellence. So don't ever thing paypal will do things that are common on other websites.

You can get more tips and lists of several basic ways to improve online security and safety on paypal main website and also various tips for buyers and sellers.

Typing in the URL in the address bar is advice not just for Paypal, but for any website that you want to visit, especially financial sites.

Paypal normally call you if they spot what seems to be a suspicious or unusual transaction or activity in your account.

So don't be scammed! Beware!

If this post is useful and helpful please post a comment.

What is the first step you should take when starting an online business?Many of us (myself included) start our quest to make money online by reading about it. You will read about SEO, Internet marketing, making money on eBay, making money with affiliate marketing, and anything else you can find to help you make money online. You might buy one or more info products about making money online. Then after learning how to make money online for a while you will either:

1. Purchase a web domain and start setting up the website to make money using the knowledge you have gained.
2. Continue to read and read about Internet marketing and never take any action on your knowledge.
3. Make a sound business plan and then take action on that plan to build a successful online business.
4. Make a sound business plan and then NEVER take action on that plan.

Which of these paths do you think is the best way to get started online?

The answer, of course, is number 3.

3. Make a sound business plan and then take action on that plan to build a successful online business.

If you start trying to make money online without a plan then you will never know where you are trying to go. You might get there on accident, but it is better to have that defined up front. In other words, choice number 1 is not ideal, but it is MUCH better than choices 2 and 4.

With choice number 2 you gain knowledge but never use it. With choice number 4 you make a plan and never act on it. Neither choice 2 or 4 result in an actual online business being created. You would be surprised how many people follow paths 2 and 4.

YOU WILL NEVER MAKE MONEY ONLINE IF YOU DON’T TAKE ACTION!

If you are just starting out trying to make money with an online business, then the first thing you need to do is make a plan for success. Not just any plan, but a good solid plan based on YOUR strengths, skills, needs, and desires.

In the next post in this series we will delve deeper into planning the online business of your dreams.

Vizu Answers is an ad network that allows you monetize your website by including interactive poll widgets that provide targeted content to your audience.

How does this work?
After registering for an account and choosing a poll template that fits your website, simply copy and paste the code for the widget on any place on your website. You’ll make money on a CPM (cost per thousand page views) basis. Here’s something you don’t expect: As a publisher, you’ll get to set the minimum CPM price for each poll you put up on your web page.

How do you get paid?
Payments are made monthly subject to a minimum of $50 in accrued earnings from paid research polls served. Their section on ‘Prohibited Uses’ states that publishers cannot directly or indirectly induce their readers to participate in the poll. It basically functions exactly like Adsense: You can’t ask your readers to click and participate in the poll.

CPM Rates and Ad Placement
One poll widget is allowed per page and Vizu advises that you base your CPM rate on factors such as the placement of the Poll Zone. Polls placed on a prominent position on your page can be priced higher than Ads near the bottom of the page. Visu suggests that high-performing sites may have their CPM rate automatically increased.

Poll Size & Design
The polls are usually between 150 and 300 in width and 300 to 600 pixels in height. Note however, that the actual height of the poll zone depends on elements of the poll itself, such as the number of answers required.

Therefore you should try to put the poll in an area that allows it to expand if needed. According to Vizu, clients will pay more money for additional graphics so the taller the poll, the more you’ll stand to earn.

Content in polls are usually related to your website, although this might not always be the case. You have the additional option of removing specific polls that you find objectionable. Here is an screen shot of a poll widget:

Setting up a Poll Zone
I registered for Vizu Answers and was accepted immediately. There are no prerequisites to fulfill and basically any website will be approved on the spot. Setting up a poll was pretty easy.

You’ll just have to submit the URL and description of your site, along with some keywords which advertisers can use to find your website. You can then coordinate the color and size of the widget to fit your website. It’s pretty much like how you set up a MyBlogLog readers widget.

After completing the customization for the first time, you’ll be given a script to copy and paste onto your blog or website. If this is your first time running a poll, it’ll take up to 4 days for your Poll Zone to be become active and available for purchase by Vizu’s clients.

In the meantime, Vizu will run basic polls to characterize the site’s audience and demographic (age/gender/income) in order to make your Zone a better fit for their clients.

What’s Cool.

* Adds additional element of interactivity for users
* Ability to set your own CPM price
* Easy to blend widget with site color theme

What’s Not.

* No guarantee that advertisers will choose your website
* Sites might go without a poll for a long time.
* Visitors might not take well to demographic mining polls
* Payment is only made via Paypal.

Verdict

I’m not too sure how all visitors for any website will react to a poll that basically asks these questions and so you’ll have to decide if you wanna use Vizu Answers as part of monetization strategy. The polls are not contextual ads and so it’s not a problem to use them alongside Google Adsense and other contextual CPC networks.

I like the fact that the poll widget adds an additional element of interactivity for any website. I actually don’t mind and enjoy doing polls when I come across them on other blogs. They’re not terribly intrusive and should be fine on most blogs or websites.

An additional benefit is that the results of the polls are displayed within the widget itself, this means that users will not be directed away from your site to an external webpage.

However, being a ad program that is based on client patronage means that you’ll only earn when someone chooses to run a poll on your website. When there aren’t any polls, a message stating “Your Market Research Here” shows up.

You don’t earn anything from this at all so it’s not really a consistent monetization strategy. I’ll probably run Vizu’s polls for a few weeks to see how it turns out.

A Look at Explorer Destroyer

Recently, I came across a free service by Explorer Destroyer, which can help you to make more money from Adsense by switching users from Internet Explorer to the Firefox browser. As you probably already know that Google’s Adsense referral program will earn you a fix $1 for each downloads of Firefox from your referral link.

Explorer Destroyer expedites the task of getting more Firefox referrals by offering a free script that allows you to automatically promote Firefox to IE users visiting your website. Once the script is installed, a message which sells the benefits of using Firefox (along with your referral link) will appear to IE users when they visit your website or blog.

There are three types of configuration for this script, depending on how aggressively you want to push for conversions. Full installation instructions are clearly provided at the Explorer Destroyer website.

Level 1 will make IE visitors see a message across the top of the page, encouraging them to download Firefox.

Level 2 will direct IE Visitors to a splash plage with a download link and a link to continue to your site.

Level 3 will not allow anyone using IE to access your website. A splash page is shown instead with a Firefox download link. This seems to go against Google’s TOS, so you’ll have to use a regular, non-Adsense referral link instead.

It is interesting to note that Explorer Destroyer was started by a team of four people with the sole aim of overturning Microsoft’s dominance over the web browser market. Their manifesto offers more clues into Explorer Destroyer’s mission:

Firefox is one of the most important software applications in the world because it can play a big part in determining the future of the web. It is crucial that an open-source, standards-based web browser becomes the most popular browser, and Firefox has a shot at being that.

We’ve spent days fixing computers of our family members that have been hobbled by spyware that Internet Explorer allowed in. These annoyances alone more than justify a aggressive campaign to switch people to Firefox.

But what really matters is putting the Internet back in the hands of the public and ensuring that the technology that will remake so much of our world in the next 30 years is a public resource not a corporate one.

The Explorer Destroyer idea does seem like it would lead to more Firefox downloads, although it seriously affects web usability because it interrupts the viewing experience of all visitors to your site.

Level 1 of the script setting is the least intrusive and will probably be the only one that is doable for most blogs or websites. Level 2 and 3 might be more successful in getting sign-ups but they will most definitely drive visitors away from your site as well.

See this parody website for an alternative perspective on Explorer Destroyer’s campaign to win more Firefox users.

I haven’t seen any other websites using the script so I’m not 100% sure if the script still works. If anyone has used it before or am currently using it, do leave a comment to let us know if it still works.