Coutorture’s latest BlogTalk Seminar will talk place this Sunday at 6pm EST.  We’ll be discussing “What Is Twitter?” with our co-host Maria Palma, author of The Runway Scoop and Beauty Is Within. The

 call in number is (347) 996-3983, so please call in with any questions and comments you might have during the course of the show.  For this segment, we’ll also be enabling the chat feature to share links as we discuss them.  If you’re unable to participate due to the holiday weekend, the segment will be archived for future listening.

We’ll be discussing: 

• Best practices for utilizing Twitter as a blogger
• Networking possibilities
• External programs, features and enhancements
• How to turn Tweets into page views
• How to avoid being a Twitter spammer
• Who does Twitter work best for?

Unable to participate but have a question?  Leave it in the comments below.

One of the biggest challenges we face as bloggers is advertising.  There are three categories of bloggers when it comes to advertising:  those who don’t care and refuse to devote space to advertising on their blogs, those who are curious about advertising, and those who go all out in an effort to fully monetize their blogs.  If you fall into the last two categories, you’ve undoubtedly asked yourself how you can make money from your blog.

Blog monetization isn’t an exact science.  It’s entirely dependent upon the type of blogger you are and the type of audience your blog attracts.  There are many monetization options including:

• Google AdSense
• Banner ads in your RSS Feed
• Individually brokered banner ads
• LinkShare/Link Synergy product links
• Affiliate banner advertising
• Reader donations
• Pay Per Post/Sponsored Posts
• Ad networks

One blogger, who shall remain anonymous, makes it a point to support her fellow bloggers by clicking Google AdSense whenever she leaves a blog.  

What are your methods of monetizing? What methods are your curious about?

• Blogging Strategies: Slow Your Load Time
  • As social media grows, it can be tempting to embed every badge, widget and toolbar into our sidebars in the hopes that it will drive traffic and further promote your blog’s brand.  Aside from an aesthetic standpoint, you can have too many embedded objects in your site leading to a virtual traffic jam.  These objects can delay your site’s load times, frustrate your reader or cause your site to be completely unusable.

• Discussion: Favorite Blogging Features
  • When we started our first blogs, the majority of us were inexperienced.  We had passion for our chosen topic, but knew little to nothing about the technology and methodology essentialto creating a successful blog.  Web 2.0 has literally exploded, with blogs dedicated to the subject of blogging, tools, and services designed to make the blogging experience a little more interesting.  

• Essential Blogging: Product Giveaways
  • Network partner Sharon ofThe Bread and Butter posted the following question in our Google Group: I’m curious to know how most of you started putting together your first “Contest” on your blogs. I have no idea what to do and I’m interested in eventually offering “giveaways” and “contests” sometime down the road as well. 

• Essential Blogging: Brush Up On Blogging Vocabulary
  • These days everyone has a blog, so how do you set yourself apart? One of the greatest parts of “everyone” having a blog is the free flowing transfer of information from one expert to another.  The key to setting yourself apart in the crowded blogosphere is continuous education.  Daily Blog Tips has compiled The Bloggers Glossary, a mini dictionary of terms and definitions essential to any blogger’s vocabulary.  We’ve selected a few essential and surprising terms from the list.

These days everyone has a blog, so how do you set yourself apart? One of the greatest parts of “everyone” having a blog is the free flowing transfer of information from one expert to another.  The key to setting yourself apart in the crowded blogosphere is continuous education.  Daily Blog Tips has compiled The Bloggers Glossary, a mini dictionary of terms and definitions essential to any blogger’s vocabulary.  We’ve selected a few essential and surprising terms from the list.

• Anchor Text:  On most blogging platforms, the anchor text is the part of the URL where the title of your post is inserted.  For example, this post’s anchor text is: http://coutorture.wordpress.com/2008/06/27/essential-blogging-brush-up-on-blogging-vocabulary
• Blog Carnival:  An event held throughout a group of blogs, with posts focused on a central topic. 
• CSS: Cascading Style Sheets are the latest in web design, using a cross between HTML and XML to create fantastic pages.
• Favicon: The icon seen accompanying a URL.  The Annex has a favicon from our platform host, WordPress.com bearing it’s symbol. Some platforms allow you to upload a custom favicon that will appear in your reader’s bookmark menu when they bookmark your site.
• Text Link Ads: A company could approach you about purchasing a link to their site from a specific keyword such as diamonds, watches, jewelry, etc.  Google penalizes sites who buy or sell these types of links.

To brush up on your blogging vocabulary, visit Daily Blog Tips.

Network partner Sharon of The Bread and Butter posted the following question in our Google Group:

I’m curious to know how most of you started putting together your first “Contest” on your blogs. I have no idea what to do and I’m interested in eventually offering “giveaways” and “contests” sometime down the road as well. 

Great question Sharon! Most bloggers receive numerous product pitching emails daily.  One option to get started would be to respond to those emails, to inquire about giveaways with that product line or any others that the firm might represent.  If you already have a relationship with a firm, why not drop them an email telling them you’re interested in doing giveaways and ask what clients they represent that might be a good fit.  You’d be surprised how far this method will get you.

Another tactic would be to visit Who Reps What and search for a product you’d be interested in receiving releases on and perhaps product reviews. Once you build a relationship with the firm, securing a giveaway should be no problem.  

The Blog Herald brought our attention to a free teleseminar on blog monetization with The Blog Squad & ProBlogger taking place Thursday, June 26th at 7:00 pm. Registration is required, but the seminar itself is free.  

Blog monetization is a vast topic, and this seminar sounds like a very informative way (and cost effective) way of learning more about the topic. 

When we started our first blogs, the majority of us were inexperienced.  We had passion for our chosen topic, but knew little to nothing about the technology and methodology essentialto creating a successful blog.  Web 2.0 has literally exploded, with blogs dedicated to the subject of blogging, tools, and services designed to make the blogging experience a little more interesting.  

Tools like ThisNext, Twitter, Del.icio.us, FeedBurner, FriendFeed, Disqus, Polyvore, and Flickr have enhanced our blogging experience to the point that we’ve begun to expect more from our platforms. 

Depending upon your post types, some platforms are more beneficial than others.  If you’re looking to make the most of your blog, here are some features to consider:

• Multiple post types (photos, videos, text, roundups, etc)
• Easily understood interface and dashboard
• Embeddable media types (some platforms limit these features)
• Flexible theme types
• Rich text editor (simplifies HTML)
• Customizable CSS
• Multiple blogs under one account
• Free features vs costly upgrades
• Domain mapping
• Multiple pages
• Strong SEO
• Future publishing post option
• Draft auto save
• Email notification of follow up comments

With so many platform and hosting options, it can be difficult to understand which is the best option for you.  Please share your favorite features of your current platform and which features you wish you had.  We’re excited to see the results!

As social media grows, it can be tempting to embed every badge, widget and toolbar into our sidebars in the hopes that it will drive traffic and further promote your blog’s brand.  Aside from an aesthetic standpoint, you can have too many embedded objects in your site leading to a virtual traffic jam.  These objects can delay your site’s load times, frustrate your reader or cause your site to be completely unusable.  Google has now taken a stand against slow-loading sites, calculating a site’s load time into the Ad Words Quality Score, which ultimately effects the minimum bid for an ad.

Using WebsiteOptimization.com, I compared the load times of three very different websites - StyleITOnline.com, Coutorture.com and the Learning Annex. The results are below.

Ask you can tell from the results of the page load time test, the amount of script and flash embedded in a site significantly effects the page load time.  WebsiteOptimization.com breaks it down into major categories:

• Total Objects
• Total Images
• Total Size
• Total Script
• Total HTML
• HTML Size
• Images Size
• Script Size
• Multimedia Size

There are several ways you can effectively reduce your site’s load times.  

1. Use HTML embeddable objects instead of Java/Flash.  Most sites, such as Twitter or ThisNext, offer a variety of different types of embeddable objects.  Choose the most simple (usually HTML) object to give your site a boost.
2. Place large posts behind a jump/cut.  If you’re posting images, multiple videos or wordy reviews, find a good stopping place and put the rest behind a cut.  Not only will it slow your site’s load time, but you’ll get a bump in page views when your readers have to click through.
3. Be sensible.  The best way to feature your content is to keep it simple.  Don’t insert too many bells, whistles, flashing objects and resource hogs into your site.  You’ll appreciate how much better your site looks, and your readers will appreciate the usability. 

What are your tricks to keep your site loading fast? Or do you not even think about it? 

For years, we’ve all been lectured on the importance of backing up our computers.  External hard drives, flash drives, rewriteable dvds and more have been marketed as our personal data’s saving grace.  Trusting your blogging platform to keep your blog safe and sound is very similar to trusting your hard drive not to fail.  How do bloggers protect themselves from hackers, server failures and other bugs which could result in the loss of their blog’s data?

Most blogging platforms have a simple export function that will export all of your blog’s data into a compact xml file.  

1: For WordPress.com blogs, login to your Dashboard and select the Manage tab.  You should see a sub tab labeled Export.  Simply click the Download Export File button, and voila! Your blog is backed up.

2:  For Blogspot blogs, the directions are far more complex, but the outcome is achievable with a little coding help.

3:  For Tyeppad blogs, select the List Posts option under the Weblogs tab after logging in.  Select the Import/Export option, and right click on the Export Posts link to “Save Target As”.

When we first started using the internet, anonymity was key. We struggled to maintain a reasonable distance between our true identities and personal lives, and the life we shared in the online world.  Fast forward to 2008, when the job market has become incredibly competitive thanks to the struggling economy and the internet is leading talented workers to the few jobs available.

If you’re looking to advance your career, it’s time to start thinking of the way you’re represented online.  After a quick search for your name, you will most likely understand why such steps are necessary.  An arrest, a death or even an unflattering tag in a gossip column could mislead your next potential employer.  As Computer World points out, “someone who has no information online might be perceived as not being as tech-savvy as someone else.”.

So how do you properly control your online persona? Web Worker Daily has 4 tips: 

1:  Buy your domain name

Controlling your .com is one of the most important steps you can take.  Chances are there is someone out there with the same name, so snapping up the url is important.  You don’t need to build a professional site around it, just domain map it to a free blogging platform and include your basic contact information and your current projects.  A little goes a long way.

2: Understand your Google profile

As Web Worker Daily points out, most potential employers are going to use Google as a first source. Make sure you appear somewhere within those results, but also know that some of those results aren’t you.

3: Own your brand

Make sure you create a LinkedIn, Myspace, Facebook and other social networking sites in your name. Even if your .com doesn’t show in search results, these sites will. Use these sites to showcase your many talents and projects.

4: Destroy the evidence

Remove anything incriminating or embarrassing, and be sure to project an image you’re proud of.  The purpose of controlling your own brand is to take control of what is placed online.  You want to be represented in an appropriate and positive manner, not by random bits and pieces aggregated into a search result.

Do you find it appropriate to control your online persona? Or would you rather remain anonymous in your pursuits? What steps have you already taken to control how other’s perceive you online?