“Type 11″

Caller: Hey, can you help me? My computer has locked up, and no matter how many times I type eleven, it won’t unfreeze.Agent: What do you mean, “type eleven?”

Caller: The message on my screen says, “Error Type 11!”

“Plug, un-plug [bar]”

On one call, the caller seemed to be taking an inordinately long time to complete each instruction she was given.

Agent: Ma’am, I can’t help noticing that every time I give you an instruction, it takes a really long time before you get back to me. Is your computer that slow?

Caller: Oh, no, it’s just the stupid, stupid design of this computer. Every time I want to click something, I have to unplug the keyboard to plug in the mouse. And then every time I want to use the keyboard again, I have to unplug the mouse. Because there’s only one jack.

Agent: Ma’am, you do realize that there’s a jack on the keyboard itself? You’re supposed to plug the mouse into the keyboard, and the keyboard into the computer.

Caller: Are YOU KIDDING ME!? Oh, wait a minute—yes, I see it now! Oh, holy cow. That’s going to be so much easier!

Agent: Just out of curiosity, how long have you been using your computer that way?

Caller: Six weeks!

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Nokia Launches Morph Concept Phone- A sleek, morphing phone from Nokia at Brown Baron’s blog.
HDR Merging & Tweaking Tutorial- teddY teaches you how to merge + tweak on Photomatix and Adobe Photoshop. Very detailed; nice work! :)
And The Winner Is…- A contest just ended at Mark’s blog– and the winner is… Tay from Super Blogging!
9 Wordpress Admin Themes to Spice up Dashboard- Spice up the ol’ blue WP dashboard you’ve been seeing!
Diary of the Dead Short film contest entry- Mike has made an excellent video! Go on over and leave him a comment or vote for him! :)

Be here for the next Monday Linking!

I got my Entrecard a few days ago. And since then, I’ve been busy scouting out bloggers who use this service, and dropping. (Please drop on mine!)

How it works- You publish the widget on your blog, and start dropping on others who have the widget, and you earn credits.

How are credits earned?

1. You earn 1 credit every time you drop your card for someone else.
2. You earn 1 credit every time someone else drops their card for you.
3. You earn credits every time someone advertises on your widget.

The credits can be used to buy advertising spots on other bloggers’ blogs, and as they described it, can be valuable.

The problem with that is, when you’re only a few days old, and since the ad prices are calculated according to the drops you’ve gotten, rounded up, x2, the price for an ad per day for a person who’s just signed up would be 2, which can be made by dropping 2 cards.

This can be very unfair to your advertisers who’s paid way more than 2 to advertise on your blog, so watch out!

I’ve got a full ad queue lining up for ad spots, unfortunately for 2, and I don’t think it’s very fair for my other advertisers, so if your ad was rejected, please don’t take offense! Feel free to reapply later, when this issue has been solved. :)

P.S. I’ll drop on yours if you let me know. Or we can exchange. :)

Like the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”, people still do it, and the same to anything else– like blogs or websites– design is a huge factor in its judgement. In fact, a bad design may stop you from your web goals; e.g. more ads, more hits, etc. So if you don’t think you can handle it, take your pick of web designers and marketters throughout the web.

Visual Scope Studios is a Seattle-based company offering website design and development services.

On Showcase

They have a large and growing portfolio, with different a range of categories, every one reaching down below the fold (complete with screen shots!), showcasing previous work they have done. This shows that they have experience; in web design, and in business management, not only specializing in one topic, which is definitely a plus.

Design

One of the services Visual Scope specializes in is Web Design. They have a clean style, matching colour schemes; priorities above the fold. I’m not sure if there is more than one designer or if they were from 1999, but some designs are less “modern” than others, using an old and un-user-friendly design, so I decided to take a look at the source code to see why.

A Shock.

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Blogging is fun. Especially when you’re blogging about your interests. How about spreading the love and blog on your friends’ blogs? Or maybe invite a friend to blog for you! But why?

• Comes with benefits. Most people aren’t willing to blog for nothing. They usually are offered a service or product or maybe even money!
• More exposure. Opened up a new blog and need more exposure? Guest blogging is a good way to let people know that there is a new blogger in the community.
• More friends. You have friends from your blog, and you have friends on your friends blog (where you guest blog). Isn’t that double the friends?
• Wider audience. Besides blogging for your blog, you’re also guest blogging, so your audience is twice the usual size!
• Gain experience. Experience is priceless… where else can you get an established blog with an audience who’s willing to read?

Hiring a guest blogger comes with many benefits, too, including:

• More opinion, different viewpoints. Surely, not everyone who reads your blog is objected to your opinion, but it’s nice to have different viewpoints once in a while to get their minds working on which side they want.
• More topics. Not a good accountant? No worries! Just hire an accountant blogger to guest blog for you! It gives your audience a wider range of topics to read about.
• A break. Everyone needs a break once in a while for something different.
• Less work. Relax! Have fun! Do something else for a change!
• New friend. Or improved relationship.

When choosing guest bloggers…

• See their previous work. Can’t risk having poor content! Even if they don’t offer it, remember to ask!
• Get to know them a little first. You should know the blogger at least a little, if you’re going to trust them to take your blog in their hands, even for one post.
• Have an idea of what they’re planning to write. Ask them about what they’re planning to write if they’re chosen. This way, you know for sure you get what you choose. (Or see next point.)
• Have them submit and article beforehand. This way can be a little hard, and can cause disputes if you don’t have a regular amount of readers; remember to state that once submitted, you have the right to use or not use the article, all rights given (or something similar).

Lastly, getting the word out to the world that you need guest bloggers may sound hard, but here are just a few tips.

• Announce it. You have a blog, so where else can you get free advertising?
• Tell your friends. Offline friends, online friends, friends’ friends. Tell anyone and everyone!
• Forum posting. Make a new topic on a forum announcing your news. Put it in your signature. Send it to everyone in your friends list. If you aren’t in a forum, search “Blogging Forum” on any search engine and they will come up.
• Visit others. Maybe if you offer to blog for your friend, they will do the same?
• Create a “Write for Us” page. This page should include the contact form, email, any terms and conditions you have, any benefits, extra information, etc.
• Do it on a special occasion. Sometimes, when there is a reason, people are more likely to volunteer, e.g. your birthday, because they will more likely be thinking they are doing you a favour in honour of the occasion.

Has anyone had any special guest blogging incidents? Please share!

P.S. Would you like to guest blog here? Subscribe to the RSS feed to be notified!

Everyone has different interests and therefore writes about different things. I want to know more about my readers– what do you write about? In your blog, a journal, or diary?

I would like to know what you think! Please share in your comment.

Monday Linking is a gesture of appreciation here to the active readers and commentators.

Every Monday, I will link to a list of 5 posts. This is the criteria:

1. Join my MyBlogLog community and BlogCatalog neighborhood
2. Be a ‘regular’, visit and comment regularly
3. Write Quality posts
4. You’re on this list!

*This list is subject to change anytime with or without notice.

Timeless posts usually feature tips, techniques, thoughts, stories, whereas news posts focus on current news and a certain news event.

News posts can be used for reference in the future, and a few minutes of enjoyment when reading the post. Other than that, it’s going back to the archives.

Timeless posts are timeless; you can have as much time as you want to push it to the front page of a social networking site.

Why you would want News Posts:

1. Grab headlines. The latest news, on the latest posts.
2. Attract new readers. Even though these have an expiry date, you can use these to attract readers by using catchy headlines such as “How name Could have Saved Millions” and including your own views and tips.
3. Be “in”. You don’t want to be all focused on certain topics; a news post to let readers know you’re still connected with the rest of the world may be helpful.
4. Become a reference. Remember the phrase “Oh yes, I heard about it on so and so’s blog!”? Now you can be mentioned.

Why you would want Timeless Posts:

1.  No expiry date. These can be read whenever– in April, in May, in December, after elections– anytime.
2. More chances of making it big. A lot of people have made it big because of one extreme post, and usually those posts are timeless. They also give you a lot of time to work on advertising.
3. More time. Because there is no expirty date, you can take as long as you want to tell your friends or edit it.
4. Help others. Help your fellow bloggers. Help friends. Help, help. When others get better, you do too.

Everyone has a preference– one, both, or something else? Which one would you prefer, and why? Tell me in your comment!

A delayed Monday Linking this week, since I just got back, and I’m still settling in. :)

Dear Adsense: You Broke My Heart- Darren of ProBlogger writes his last letter to Adsense.

Dancing Colours- teddY gives us some edited photos to wash your delayed Monday Blues away!

35 Free Photoshop Actions- Feeling lazy? Use Actions. Or maybe switch to PSP and use scripts.

10 Simiple Productivity Tips for Bloggers- Skellie shares 10 simple productivity tips for bloggers.

Why Write When No One is Reading?- Bush shares the ultimate tip about getting more readers– commenting on other blogs.

How to Get On This List

1. Join my MyBlogLog community and BlogCatalog neighborhood
2. Visit regularly
3. Comment regularly; a big part of this list is chosen from the Top Commentators list
4. Write Quality posts
5. You’re on this list!

Click on image to enlarge.

I stumbled upon this image, which basically explains how some projects go on:

1. Clients find someone to do their work.
2. They get misunderstood.
3. They are assured and talked into feeling good about their decision.
4. They don’t get what they want.
5. They are billed unreasonably.
6. The project was not followed up.
7. They really needed something else.

The way it happens with professionals:

1. Clients find them.
2. They listen and suggest.
3. They talk the client into choosing them.
4. Work is planned out.
5. Work is done.
6. Clients are billed a reasonable amount.
7. Project is supported.
8. Clients leave happy.
9. Clients come back with more work.

The same should happen with blogging:

1. Readers come to a blog they are interested with.
2. They read and contribute.
3. Bloggers make new friends.
4. The content tempts the reader back next time.

People who purchase ads on your website are also clients, and should also be treated the same way; you can offer to make a plan which works for them– weekly ads, monthly ads, or even yearly ads. But if you do not like the client’s suggestion, do not be afraid to say NO. No matter what threats the to-be client makes, if you don’t like it, no, and make another suggestion. Saying NO doesn’t have to involve the word ‘NO’. You can politely drive around it by making a suggestion that’s more suitable, and give reasons.

To sell your service:

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