photo credit: VOD Cars

I’ve written them. I’m sure you’ve written them. The post you’re not sure you should put out there. You might have thought long and hard about the consequences. The pros and cons balancing like two eggs on a scale. One may hatch an influx of traffic, the other a hated thumbs down from readers. This article looks at some sketchy topics for blog owners. This doesn’t mean these topics cannot be covered, but they should be done so with kid gloves.

You could also look at this list as a viral marketing article ideas. These topics have controversy tattooed all over them. They’re guaranteed arguments — the barb wire wrapping a bicep.

1. Abortion – not many blogs can hook a reader with the abortion debate. Of course, a Christian, atheist, political blog could shuffle this topic in, but it would be hard for a MMO blog to incorporate this ageless debate.

2. Politics — outside of democratic, republic, green, and independent blogging platforms there’s not much room to talk politics, or at least argue them. It runs the risk of alienating readers. The recent election coverage probably saw a large amount of readers jumping ship over support of one candidate over another.

3. Religion – Most talk of religion can be handled quite nicely, if its wrapped in historical accuracy. The problem begins when spouting opinions of religion. Other times, little things, like analogously comparing a religion to something inane can also spark controversy. Who wants an inquisition on their hands?

4. Mac vs. PC — The commercials put out by Mac steal most of the thunder here. For tech blogs, this is the fan-boy dream post.  What can be a well informed article might turn into a comment bashing haven for weeks afterward. Engadget had to turn off their comments for just this reason recently.

What topics do you steer clear of on your blog? Is there really anything you won’t discuss?

Do You Write Controversial Posts? from Jason Boom

photo credit: ahhyeah

I’m destined to work for the man, slogging away in a pile of papers for the rest of my days. It’s true. I’ve shaken the magic eight ball and had ‘future is blurry’ pop up one too many times. Let’s face it…there has to be some who just don’t break out of the mold — they’re all around you, and they’re riding this giant rock just like the fat wallet guys. In fact, they’re the component that makes success stories possible. Without failures, no one would care about success.

So don’t be like me. I took time away from blogging for life reasons, and from being burn-out. I crashed in on my own expectations. I thought blogging would bring me fame, fortune, and a Rich Jerk lifestyle. But then I found it was more like slaughtering the pig than bringing home the bacon.

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr><td><img src="" /><td></tr><tr><td><td></tr></table>I made mistakes. I walked away from several projects, while still maintaining my freelance business. (I did some things right.) For those who don’t know, I started JasonBoom.com two years ago, with the hopes of helping other bloggers to learn about blogging tricks, SEO ideas, and general social media tools. It was a good run, and I met a lot of people along the way. I’ve built a few friendships from that experience, and also watched many, many others fall victim to blogging’s cruel and unyielding blade — time.

You see, blogging takes time. Writing isn’t like watching TV. I can punch a button and have a story told to me with a television. I become a sponge and take in as much or as little as I like. With blogging, I NEED a story. I NEED an angle on whatever my topic might be. I NEED some sort of validation afterward too. That’s one downfall, I suppose. I like to have people read what I’m writing. Call me narcissistic, but without someone reading it — why write it? It’s why I’ve never kept a journal.

So let’s see, that’s one reason I’ll never make it as a pro blogger. I’ll just keep going.

1. I seek validation.
2. I have no blogging focus. It’s clear everyone has this whole blogging for business/enterprise niche covered. I love so many different topics it’s just too hard to define the one I should stick to on a regular schedule.
3. I’m not controversial/critical enough. I can see flaws in things, but I get a little shaky about writing on them. I don’t like pissing people off. I’m not a drama seeker — I’m actually, quiet and reserved in life. Confrontations get my blood pumping, but don’t do much for my confidence level.
4. I’m too this or that (you fill in the blanks) — I’m black coffee when readers are looking for cream and sugar.
5. I’m not an expert on much, really just a student. I’m fairly good with SEO, web design, content management systems, writing, editing, and most everything, but I’m not an expert. I might stumble onto a neat idea here and there, but I’m not going to blow your mind every post.
6. I’m too hard on myself. As I mentioned before, blogging takes time. It’s largely solitary time, but it also takes time because of fear. I’m afraid my post has errors, no one will like it, it’s not poignant enough, etc. With all this double think, I really lose sight of what I love about blogging — helping others, building community, interaction, etc.

I feel relieved in telling you this, actually. In getting this off my chest, I feel like I’ve given myself a chance. It’s a new year and, yes, amazing things are possible, but I’m still me. I’m going to be carrying these insecurities, fears, and shortcomings with me. Nothing has really changed from 2009 to 2010.

Where does this leave me?

Blogging is also about discovery. So let’s see what the future holds — it is, after-all, still blurry.

Why I’ll Never Make It as a Pro Blogger from Jason Boom

This is a guest post by TJ Aaron from LaptopLogic.com.  LaptopLogic provides laptop reviews and news on a regular basis. They cover everything for the laptop enthusiast, including accessory reviews and other useful information. Check out their Latest Review section to see what’s cooking in the world of laptops.

Bloggers are like any other PC user and have their own specific computing needs. We’ve compiled a list of the best notebook computers for bloggers, but you will notice that these machines are all very different from each other and offer different benefits for different bloggers.

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr><td><img src="" /><td></tr><tr><td><td></tr></table>Sony VAIO P

What could be better than an ultraportable machine that was designed around the smallest, functional keyboard? With over four hours of battery life, under 2 pound weight, and a high resolution 1600×768 resolution screen, the VAIO P has some great specs on paper. But in the end this machine will have a very divided following: some will hate it, while others will love it. It is also rather expensive for what is a glorified netbook, starting at $899 but surging to $1200 or more with a reasonable configuration.

HP EliteBook 2730p tablet

While it’s no surprise that HP made this list, but what may surprise you is that it is a convertible notebook with a tablet screen. You can fold this diminutive 12 inch convertible in half and use the tablet functionality to write by hand with the stylus. Another great use of the tablet is reading. Yes, reading; bloggers tend to do a lot of that. With the tablet in slate mode you can view a ton of text and easily scroll with one hand.

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tr><td><img src="" /><td></tr><tr><td><td></tr></table>Asus Eee PC 1000HE

You knew you would see a netbook on this list, and here it is. Many netbooks are difficult to distinguish thanks to the ubiquitous Intel Atom platform and meager specs. However the new 1000HE model from Asus has the latest Atom processor and accompanying chipset, but more importantly a high capacity battery! Asus calls for up to 9.5 hours and with a pre-order price of $399, this is the netbook to get if you can stand the small keyboard and pokey performance.

Lenovo ThinkPad X200

Cool, quiet, tiny, powerful, and a perfect keyboard make this machine a top pick for any user, but it is especially great for someone who needs to be typing anywhere, anytime. Users are reporting over four hours of usage on the 6 cell battery or you can nearly double that on the 9-cell, which does stick out the back. The keyboard is a true full-size design with the impeccable ThinkPad quality we all know and love. Did we mention it’s super light, doesn’t get warm in your lap, and has your choice of blazing Core 2 Duo processors? The price is pretty reasonable too.

HP Pavilion dv2

HP’s latest notebook has a lot to offer with its 12.1 inch screen, 1 inch thick design, and 3.8 pound weight with an LED-backlit display, nearly full-size keyboard, discrete graphics, and plenty of other goodies. The optical drive isn’t integrated, as with the Lenovo X200, but a matching external drive is available with regular DVDRW or Blu-ray capabilities. AMD’s new Athlon Neo chip is at play here, with a respectable ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3410 graphics chip under the hood. While it is small and slick, the $699 starting price tag is even more attractive.

Five Great Notebooks for Blogging from Jason Boom

As most of you are aware, Feedburner has two separate metrics by which they measure your feed — total subscribers and reach. The subscribers number shows the estimated number of subscriptions. The only real concrete number you have there is your email subscribers, but even then those subscribers could be filtering your messages to a junk folder or simply deleting it without reading. The real RSS metric is the reach of the blog.

The blog’s RSS feed reach tells how many of your subscribers actually took a look at the feed and what posts they read. You might have 35 subscribers who read the latest post, with 10 or so reading the previous post.  What if you had 130 subscribers? That’s about a quarter of your possible reach. How could you possibly increase that reach?

How did you obtain your subscribers in the first place? Did you run a contest or were they all organic additions? If you ran a contest to gain subscribers, then the subscriber may have used a secondary email or filtered the feed out in their email software. It could be advantageous to contact your email subscribers one-by-one to create a dialog. This would help gauge their interest in your content. If you run a photography blog, then inquire about their needs. Find out what makes them tick. Do they need support on their particular digital camera model, photo development tricks, or software enhancements? Once you create that dialog with them, they’ll be more likely to interact with your content in the future.

All email subscribers are listed in your Feedburner account. You just have to dig a little to find them. Go to the Analyze tab –> Subscribers under the Feed Stats (on left) –> Scroll down to Email Subscription Services –> Click on it then open the link to Manage your Email Subscriber List. From here you can see every email subscriber in Feedburner, including their email’s status, like whether they’ve verified their subscription or not.

While I don’t condone using these emails to spam a copied letter, I do think it would be fine to send them one email asking them if they’ve returned to your site in a while, what they think of the content, how you could improve the content, and possibly if they remember how they found the site. Realistically most won’t respond, but many might. Those that do can help you improve your brand. I would only send one email though…don’t force the issue if they do not respond.

RSS Reader Subscribers

To increase the reach of those RSS subscriber readers who use a feed reader rather than emailed updates, the solution becomes much more difficult. The reach really is dependent on whether they check their RSS reader software or not. Once you have them open your feed, you need to keep them interested, so they survey all the information. I would also include branding logos inside the feed, which Feedburner allows, as well as a footer message to encourage their interaction with your site. I’ve seen this done quite artfully in the past. A little personal message enticing them to check out your new feature or site design can do the trick. At this point though, you’ve already accomplished what you set out to do — increase your reach.

Aside from stepping into someone’s office and pulling up their Google reader to your feed, there’s not much a blogger can do. We can make our content stand out a little from the other feeds in our readers, write quality content, and ask for feedback at regular intervals. Most of all we need to keep at writing content and the challenges that our blog presents.

Increase Your RSS Feed’s Reach from Jason Boom

As web publishers, many of us sink our teeth into tasty affiliate offers only to find they’re not the perfect fit for our audience. The network we’re on may give us a demographic but if we don’t create leads, then we’re out of the game, so to speak. Motive Interactive created an affiliate network that takes a lot of the guesswork out of which offer to push and which we should just pass over. The Advent 2.0 system was developed from the ground up to keep up with industry changes and publisher friendliness.

The Advent 2.0 Interface

When you log into your Motive Interactive account, you’ll be introduced to many of the publisher offers through a spotlight feature. You’ll also notice the graph showing your account’s performance metrics, like the number of clicks, conversions, the rate at which you convert, and more, like the amount of revenue you’ve earned to date.

The site breaks down the offers so you can search for four different types like CPA, CPL, CPS, and CPS%. Each offer has an associated distribution type, like email or banner ads. By narrowing down your search criteria you can find the offer that works for your method of affiliate marketing. This means less of a time sink for finding those ads that work for you, and more time generating leads and creating revenue.

The Advent 2.0 dashboard greets you with a lot of AJAX, allowing for on-screen changes and quick searches of existing offers. The affiliate network really shines with the various tracking features. I would say the campaigns should be broken down into user-generated campaigns. If I push a product through my emailed newsletter then I would want to see specific performance metrics related to that campaign. Right now the system only allows for an overall view of every campaign you run. This waters down the feature somewhat, but for those interested in only doing one type of campaign, like banner ads, then this shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

Reporting Features

The reporting features gives you what you would expect. You can select a specific time period to view the conversions, and you can narrow down the results to the different types of offers you’re running. Although the same limitations on custom campaigns exist here too. The reports can be downloaded in Excel format with the click of a button. It’s a nice feature many publishers would probably use frequently.

Referral Program

Motive Interactive’s referral earnings program is 5.5% lifetimes referral earnings. That’s a pretty good chunk if you happen to refer someone who makes a decent amount through the network. Imagine sending 20 people who each make around a $100 a month. That could add up month after month. You have to remain active as a publisher with no lapse greater than 12 calendar months to continue receiving your referral income. The referral system is accompanied by the rewards program they have in place as well.

The rewards program gives users a tiered bonus type of reward system, similar to the one Amazon affiliates enjoy. The rewards program pays out according to how well you do within their system. The tiers are based on how well you’re doing with their offers and the like. So if you want to make more of an impact, you’ll push their offers more. The tiers for the reward program look like the following:

Commissions – Rewards
$1,000 – $10
$2,500 – $25
$5,000 – $50
$10,000 – $100
$15,000 – $150
$20,000 – $200
$25,000 – $250
$30,000 – $300
$50,000 – $500
$100,000 – $1,250
$150,000 – $2,000
$200,000 – $3,000
$500,000 – $10,000
$1,000,000 – $20,000
$1,250,000 – $25,000

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and work towards that 25K reward!

Conclusions

Overall the Motive Interactive Advent 2.0 site offers publishers and marketers a great place to find decent types of offers. The site caters to publishers of many types, like those who may own a good email list or website. Every user has access to slick features, like the stat tracking and decent reporting. What about the payout? You can choose to receive payment through a number of methods, including check, bank wire or Paypal. They pay out after you’ve earned $50, which isn’t too bad and shouldn’t be too hard with the number of offers they have available to each and every publisher. If you’re interested in trying out a new affiliate network, then I suggest you watch the video that follows. It should help to give a good view of the network and introduce you to Advent 2.0.

Motive Interactive: Advent 2.0 Review from Jason Boom

It was several weeks ago. I came home from the office and made a quick stop at the mailbox. On the way through the front door, I noticed a nondescript white envelop amidst the bills and magazines. I looked it over and quickly realized the return address was from a website I had signed up with some time before. Although it was a mass mailing, I still felt valuable to them. I opened the letter and found no postcard, no note, but three different stickers. The took a look at the stickers and before the night was over I was back on that site, digging for reasons for the stickers and making myself part of their community.

I must confess this is a paid review for a label and sticker manufacturing business. I only took the review because I liked what they had to offer and felt it could maybe help one of my readers with a need either now or down the road. This review presents the idea of the business to you, as I have not purchased any stickers from the company at the point of writing this.

Stickers and labels offered from Frontier Label could be used to promote a startup or to improve packaging for any number of products. The company uses state of the art technology to reduce costs and to improve output of the stickers. They use digital printing to create the custom labels and stickers. The savings get passed on to you.

The Sticker Ordering Site

The Frontier Label site has a lot to offer the end-user. The site looks terrific and really lends the company credibility from the start. You can quickly see they types of stickers they’re offering from the home page. You can also go through the site to create a custom order for everything from coffee bag stickers to bumper stickers.

Once you select the quantity of your desired sticker, then you can begin making decisions about its printing, quality, and size. They offer a wide variety of options for the laid back consumer and the need-it-now type. The prices are dependent on the type of printing your have done — HP Electroink or thermal transfer.

Buying from Frontier Label

Purchasing stickers couldn’t get any easier. The site offers a wide variety of stickers — good for any marketing venture, product image enhancement, or simple goodwill gesture. The site caters to small businesses, startups, and even bloggers if you had the need. Sending a bumper sticker through the mail to a reader might seem like a trivial thing, but it could encourage loyalty to your brand. If you have a need for stickers or labels, then you at least have one new place too look.

Frontier Label – A review of a sticker manufacturing company from Jason Boom

Google released their free Chrome browser today. This open source browser promises to be fast and quick with javascript applications, securing computers by sandboxing the websites they browse inside the tabs, and more than adequate with dynamic sites. I checked to see if G Chrome was downloadable when I first got online today, but found it hadn’t been released just yet. By mid afternoon, I was visiting www.google.com/chrome to see how it worked.

I was pleasantly surprised by the simple interface. Google created the browser from scratch, knowing that users like to watch videos, play flash games, and browse quickly from site to site. They also know most Web 2.0 sites have dynamic code to make them work. When I browsed to sites like Digg or Youtube, I was amazed at how fast they loaded. Others are comparing it to Opera.

Everyone should at least download the browser to see how your site looks in it — make sure it renders properly. There are also some neat features to mess around with, like the address bar suggestions/search and the incognito window.

The Incognito Window

I love the description of the Incognito window. They say to be wary of the following: 

Going incognito doesn’t affect the behavior of other people, servers, or software. Be wary of:

• Websites that collect or share information about you
• Internet service providers or employers that track the pages you visit
• Malicious software that tracks your keystrokes in exchange for free smileys
• Surveillance by secret agents
• People standing behind you

Yes, be wary of the people standing behind you, secret agents, and other tin-foil hat wearing paranoids. Google’s got your back on this one. 

The Skinny

My sythesized thoughts on the new browser. Tell me your thoughts in the comment section. 

• The browser has no obvious IE 6 type of errors for my site. 
• I can access many sites faster now, especially dynamic sites. 
• I’m also scared of Google owning all the web. 
• It will likely work well for dropping EC, except the EC toolbar won’t work with it. Well, no plugins work with it now. 
• The “Most Visited” default tab rocks! It lets you quickly search, click on recent sites, and view recent bookmarks. Definitely a smart default screen. No reason why the IE one couldn’t do something similar. 
• I like the search on both the history and favorites. It’s nice, not sure how much I’ll use it, but handy. 
• I’m excited to see how they integrate other Google products with the browser, like Google Reader and Gmail. Any plugins related to those apps would be great. 

The Google Browser Chrome Released Today from Jason Boom

I have to admit, this post is shamefully late. The idea behind the Micro-blogging Olympics was to test out the three major Micro-blogging sites — Twitter, Plurk, and Pownce — to gauge their effectiveness towards site traffic. The experiment was a lot of fun. I met a lot of cool people and found myself enjoying new Twitter apps and the Plurk site more and more each day. I honestly never took to Pownce though. It just seems too void of performance. I actually enjoyed Rejaw better, which is a new MB site that allows 1000 character posts, which may be moving into mini-blogging, not micro.

I can’t say the experiment was a complete success. I don’t think I have the social ability to push out tweets every five minutes or get into debates with random users, like some do. Most of the time I’m too busy working to bother with updating. I used the services to unwind and to catch up with people I’ve come to know online.

All in all, I Plurk much more than I Twitter. I think its because Plurking allows me to converse rather than just speak into a void with the hope of someone echoing back a statement or two. On Plurk I’m almost guaranteed some eyeballs on my thoughts or a funny conversation to look in on.

What Results Did I See?

The immediate results have been tangible. I know I’ve attracted a few new readers to my blog, making friendships along the way. I’ve networked and found someone to help with another project of mine. I’ve received a few link backs from various people who found me through Plurk. On the scale that I used the service, it helped me branch out and find new people to read my blog, comment and to network with me both on the Micro-blogging site and in my other networks.

The statistics show a much blander result. Throughout August I had 17 visits from Plurk. Of those 17, 58% were new visitors. They stayed on average 2:37, which is well above my site average. Unfortunately Twitter sent me 10 new visitors and they didn’t stick around long. (Just noticed Squidoo sent me a decent amount of traffic, but not sure for what.)

Proportionate Results

You really do get what you put into these networks. I know I’ve made a few new connections, laughed a lot, and learned a lot too. Micro-blogging sites may cater to a specific personality, but everyone can enjoy at least some aspect of one of these sites — you just have to find the right one for your tastes. I gravitated towards Plurk, but maybe your message can get out there better through Twitter.

Micro-blogging Olympics Closing Ceremonies from Jason Boom

Do you know how to build back links to the blog, e-commerce store, or site you’ve started? Link building may be one of the most sought skills for any site owner. After all, links help your site become found by search engines, build traffic, and increase your site’s readership. At LinkBuildingWiki.com you will find a vast resource focused on the art of link building. The wiki makes it easy to find resources related to link building.

What is the Link Building Wiki?

The LinkBuildingWiki.com compiles links to authoritative articles, blog posts, forum posts, and their sites for users to find information quickly.  The  site is completely free to use. If you’re new to link building or SEO, then this wiki should be your first stop on the journey.

Unlike other wikis, the Link Building Wiki is not open for everyone to edit. Those who would like to participate in building content can apply for the privilege. I understand why they have it closed. Imagine the amount of spam a link building wiki would receive — now you understand too.

The site lists link building resources including SEO blogs, forums and active posts in those forums, link building articles, and link building tools. The resources are first rate and should help anyone become acquainted with tips, tricks, and lessons related to link building.

Throughout the site, you may notice recommendations for certain material from two of the creators, Rob and Jarrod. They make it easy for you to spot their favorite material. The recommendations guide you towards quality information on link building.

The Hands off Approach

For those who simply want someone with the know-how to build links to your site, you can hire the experts behind the Link Building Wiki. From their link building services page offers everyone the information needed to hire their staff for link building work.

Conclusion

The wiki introduced me to quite a few sites on link building and SEO I hadn’t heard of before this review. If you’re looking to build back links to your site, increase your search engine rankings, or just gain SEO knowledge, then the Link Building Wiki should be part of your arsenal.

A Review of the Link Building Wiki from Jason Boom

Hi there,

I see you came to my site looking for “web 2.0 skills”. I’m not entirely sure why you found my page, but I’m glad you did. I’m afraid you didn’t stick around to learn any skills, but maybe that’s already a sign you have web 2.0 skills. It says here you bounced from the first page you visited? How did I lose you so quick?

I guess you came to my site expecting big buttons to push, tons of videos instructing you on the neo-art of converting social activity into dollars, and titillating internet memes. I’m sorry to have disappointed. I can tell you my site will give you tips on writing, marketing, and various blogging tools.

I could have inspired you to begin writing a blog of your own, if you didn’t already own one. You might even have been able to quit your day job. I’m not a money making blog, but your writing skills would have improved. Trust me. You would have wanted to take this route.

If you did own a blog, then I could have helped you write powerful messages to your readers.

I know Web 2.0 skills are hard to come by, just like computer hacking skills.I’m wondering where you went. Were there other Web 2.0 skill sites to visit? I’m checking now.  I see now that I come up on the first page of Google for Web 2.0 Skills (not anymore). It’s not a huge surprise. I’ve got skills like that.

If you’re here looking for web 2.0 skills, sign up for my RSS feed so you don’t miss my skill building seminar.

A Letter to a Random Search Engine Visitor from Jason Boom