How to Add Zemanta
I thought you might find this useful. For some reason, when I changed themes, it messed with my Zemanta download.
It’s Still Me
Sometimes, you just have to revamp. I changed my blog title back to the original name-Baby Steps Blogger. I liked it better. Besides, that’s what’s on Feed Burner and I don’t want to mess that up.
Oh, you want to know what Feed Burner is? Well, it’s an easy way for people to read all your posts in one place. For instance, if someone subscribes to your RSS feed, it will send posts right on over to Feed Burner.
It’s not automatic, though. You have to sign up for it and fill out all the necessary information. It’s easy.
How Long Will it Take for Your Blog to Get There?
Do you ever feel as though you’re going top speed, and going nowhere? When it comes to blogging, you have to remember that whatever your blog’s purpose, it’s going to take time to get to your goal. That’s if you know what you’re doing.
When I first started blogging for a client, she asked how long would it take to see some kind of traffic to her site. I have to admit, I really couldn’t give her a definitive answer. There were so many things to consider.
- How many posts and how often?
- Are you incorporating keywords and back links?
- Are you engaging in other forms of social media, such as Twitter, Facebook, Digg, etc.
Unfortunately, she was too busy to participate in any form of social media, and too limited in her advertising budget. Although, the posts were well received, she was unable to continue her blog.
What I learned was by consistently posting on the average of 3 times a week, it took about 6 months to see an increase in traffic without participating in any form of social media.
I wonder what it would have been like had I continued writing for her and she engaged in other social media platforms.
Found a Little Gem For You
It seems that I’m hung up with the graphics thing. I’ve been working with GIMP and learning how to do overlays. I made one for my niece who just started a great blog with a simple focus. Jumping pictures. You got it. Just jump. Have someone take a photo and submit to her site.
I think she’s got something there. 
Anyway, when I showed her my work of art, she said “Ahhhsome!” It’s now her Facebook profile pic.
At the moment, I’m trying to do something special for her. (I can’t tell you because she might read my blog and the beans would be spilled.)
During my attempts at that special something, I happened on another site for free photos that you might want to add to your list.
Now, go visit her blog!
How to Add a Photo Watermark
Now that I’m using a few more of my own photographs, I was anxious to learn how to add those watermarks the professional photographers use. After watching a few tutorials on YouTube, I found it relatively easy to create.
However, I was at a quandry as to how to apply batch applications and then I happened on a site. This is great for people who may not have the time or patience to teach themselves GIMP or other graphic software.
Batch Photo Watermarker3 makes this all as easy as pie!
Adding Visual Appeal
photo by Kathryn Boucher
You can’t deny the fact that we live in a visual world. When it comes to blog content, adding some type of visual is important for your readers. At first, you might want to start out simple by using public photo sources. I like using Zemanta. It’s a free download and easy to use. However, you may have your own photos that you want to upload and use. Once in a while you may come across someone that graciously allows the public to freely use their photos such as Tammy Strobel of RowdyKittens.
Here are a few tips to remember when adding your photos
- Other than publicly shared downloads, resize your photos before uploading them into your blog
- Do not add too many photos. Limit to one-third of your total content
- Try to stagger them within the layout of your content and vary the sizes
As you get more familiar with adding photos, you may get brave enough to add a YouTube video or add a personal vlog.
My First GIMP Success
MY FIRST GRAPHIC!
Finding the Right GIMP Tutorial
One area that I know nothing about, but need to learn more is graphics. I’ve been hearing a lot about GIMP which is very similar to Photoshop, but can be downloaded free. Since “free” is right up my alley, I decided I would see what GIMP was about.
There are numerous tutorials available on YouTube; it’s just a matter of trial and error to find one that you are comfortable with. The first tutorial had too many little details in the instructions which became confusing. Even though I wrote them down, I still wasn’t able to get the desired outcome. After more hunting, I found this particular video that was much easier to follow and gave almost the same results.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Blog
There was a time in my life when Clint Eastwood was my Hollywood heart throb. I even got the chance to snap a really good picture of him while he was shooting the movie Fire Fox at March AFB, California back in the early 80′s. Needless to say, those days are gone. When my friend sent me this video, my nostalgia was spurned. Not to mention that I was quite curious to see how ukelele’s could pull off a movie theme song. Read more…
Phishing Attempt Masks as PDF
This caught my eye from a fellow “tweeter” this morning….
Any site that asks for money, if it is not using SSL encryption with a URL that starts with “https”, it is not secure, no matter what it claims.
“Even if the site does use SSL, that does not guarantee security as the site itself could be designed specifically to harvest personal information,” said Hurcombe.
Computer News has the full article.
