What Kaizen can Teach Us About Blogging

There are certain thing that can increase our possibilities to achieve success in business and in blogging, the other day I posted something called habits and values of success, where I explained some thing that can help you achieve your goals. Well this time I want to show you how what a popular business philosophy from Japan can teach you about blogging. For those of you who don’t know what Kaizen is, I’m going to give a very brief definition. As I said, it is a business philosophy that explains the way to success trough continuous improvement. It is improvement without spending much money, involving everyone from managers to workers, and using much common sense. Ok, now let’s see what this post is all about.

1. Success involves everyone. In a blog, it involves your readers, your subscribers, your writers, your partners and you, so don’t think you can make it just by yourself.

2. Continuous improvement is the key.In every aspect of your blog, from the design to the relationships with your readers, Always try to improve, always try to give more.

3. Standardization. Remember not to be too strict with yourself, but you do have to create an schedule and a method for your blog, like the hours you’ll destinate for research and the hours you’ll destinate to write content, stick to your schedule, but be flexible in some aspects, your blog is important but there are other important things in your life.

4. Eliminate Waste. This is another principle of this strategy, you must be able to eliminate all distraction while blogging, try not to look for other news on the Internet that are not related to what you are blogging about, because this is going to make you lose the original idea of your post.

That’s it, simple but effective tips, there’s nothing difficult in them, just remeber to follow your own Kaizen strategy for your blog and for your business.

Top 10 Most Valuable Blogs of 2007

This is a post with interesting numbers, because it is a list of the most valuable blogs according to Technorati, real money making machines that are breaking the rules of the blogging business, most of them were created just for fun or for hobby and now each one of them is able to generate thousands of dollars in advertising and affiliate programs, take a look to these 10 giants and learn from them. Here it is our Top 10 most valuable blogs list.

1. Engadget: A blog of Weblogs Inc. with a market value of $15,263,467 this tech blog is the flag ship of this powerful network acquired by AOL for $25 millions.

2. Boing Boing: One of the most popular blogs in the world, it currently has a value of $11,653,234, This site has won several awards too.

3. If…Else: A British blog valued in $11,359,673 take a look to this player because from my own point of view it is a very simple blog but it receives a lot of visits each day and that combined with AdSense ads makes the right formula for money.

4. TodayLink: This is a popular Iranian blog worth $9,623,713, you can take a look but it’s going to be a little difficult to understand unless you know a little bit of Persian, take a look to the stats at the bottom of the page.

5. Techcrunch: A tech blog that delivers the latest news and reviews about gadgets and other tech stuff, its value? just $8,976,750, quite impressive.

6. Gizmodo: This is the third tech blog in the list, it seems that its a very profitable niche, $8,648,188.

7. The Huffington Post: A popular blog is like a newspaper that delivers political news and all that stuff, it is maintained by Arianna Huffington and is worth $7,941,384.

8. Binary Bonsai: This danish blog has a value of $7,333,939, in my own personal opinion I really don’t know why, if you have an explanation please let us know, take a look to this blog and see.

9. LifeHacker: A Blog about computers and Software, tips and hacks, this masterpiece has a value of $6,981,666.

10. Daily Kos: This blog was created 5 years ago by a U.S Veteran, it’s one of the most popular political sites in the world, it has a deserved value of $6,283,330.

Of course there are other things to consider when measuring the value of a blog, like the power and relevancy of the brand, its resources etc. But the truth is that these sites really know what they’re doing, now let us know how much is your blog worth.

The Lounge is Back Again!

Yesterday you might noticed that Blogger Lounge was not available the entire day, that was because the main server was getting maintenance, but now we’re back again! Sorry for the inconvenience!

The Power of Popularity

This is something all blogs are looking for, it’s very simple, in some cases it is very common, but definitely is a very powerful resource, I’m talking about popularity. This can be defined as the quality of being well-liked among a large number of similar options. When you are a popular person, you become an important part of other’s values. Popularity forms a vital component of success in people-oriented fields such as politics, business and blogging. General popularity usually involves respect in two directions: the popular person is respected by his peers, and will simultaneously show them respect, thus reinforcing their belief that he is deserving of his popularity.

Now let’s talk about the power of a popular blog. As I said, it is something all bloggers are looking for, the first months it seems impossible to achieve it, but with a little bit of time, effort and of course, creativity your blog will be widely known and admired and so will be the author. When you have a popular blog , your chances of being successful and eventually earn a lot of money from it will be endless, the possibilities will increase as your popularity grows. Why? because your readers, in some cases admirers, will do almost anything to receive, your attention, reviews, links, your advice, your respect (of course this is something you always have to show), well, my point is that if you focus in increasing your blog popularity, your chances of succeeding will grow, as simple as that.

But, how do you become a popular blogger and person?

• Be respectful
• Show interest for other’s things
• Make a lot of PR , Public Relations, and always maintain them
• Never, never judge someone at first sight
• Be creative and always innovate
• Become a trend setter
• Try to be unique in everything you do

Now let’s see an example of a very popular and successful blogger, this will make my points clear. His name is John Chow, of course you all know him, he is the guy behind the popular John Chow dot Com, which main tagline is: a blog that helps you make money online. The popularity of his blog resides in the uniqueness and kindness of John, he is a blogger that understands what his readers want. He built his popular blog with outstanding and groundbreaking ideas like his Review My Blog campaign in which he offers a free backlink for all those bloggers that review his blog.

Another important element that show his popularity is the layout of his blog, there are hundreds of blog displaying the same layout and style of John, of course it is better to have a unique design for your blog, I’m sure John agrees with this. Anyway This is just an example, of the power of popularity, I mean, he makes more than $7,000 each month from his blog, Definitely he has something to teach us.

Learning from Rich People

The following is a large post because it is about how to become rich learning from rich people, the other day I was reading an article about “The secrets of rich people” and I found a phrase that caught my attention : “Think like the rich, act like the rich and you’ll be rich” simple but I think that there is a lot of truth in that phrase, so lets review some points. You can apply this principles in your daily life, even in the blogging medium just try to stick to them and you’ll notice a real change, I can assure you that.

What does a rich person believes?

1. Rich people believe that they are creating their own destiny and that nothing in their lives is already decided.

2. Rich people are always thinking about winning while most people are just thinking about not loosing, this attitude gives rich people an advantage, because if they fail in something they are going to try again and again until they succeed, remember that rich people do not surrender.

3. Rich people are committed to be rich. They have a strong desire to be rich and successful. And nothing less than that.

4. Rich people focus on opportunity. Other people focus on obstacles. If you are always looking at the black dot inside the white snow then you wont be able to focus on the opportunities. But remember that with every opportunity always comes an obstacle or many but , remember what I’ve just said in point 3, keep trying and you´ll succeed.

5. Rich people are visionaries and they think BIG. They set challenging goals for themselves and they have the ability to see further.

6. Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Because as we are doing they learn from their experiences.

7. Rich people are open mind and they are always open for new ideas. They are also positives and they mix with other successful people because they want positive energy and motivation they don’t have time for negative and passive relations.

8. Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their values.

9. Rich people are BIGGER than their problems. Never forget that, no matter what, the sun is always going to shine. For rich people each second is a new opportunity.

10. Rich people get paid based on results. They chose not to get rich by time. Rich people know that the wost possible way to be financially independent is to sell your time.

11. Most people think that if you want to earn a lot of money, you’ll have to sacrifice other things. Rich people believe that they can earn millions without sacrificing anything. Remember?, They have open minds!

12. Rich people are constantly learning and growing. Rich people are willing to learn from other people without looking at others’ education, age , gender etc.

13. Rich people have their money work hard for them. They are making money even while they are sleeping.

No matter what your goals are always try to achieve them, if you want to be rich and successful, try hard and visualize your dreams but never forget that success is more than just money. But hey! We love money!

Give a New Face to Your Desktop

When I’m working, at school or in my studio I like to feel comfortable, I don’t like to be working in a messy boring space, I like to sit down and relax, I like clean and fresh spaces, I have the same felling when I’m working with my computer with my computer. There are some advantages in being surrounded by a nice environment, some of them are:

• Your mind will be more agile, this means that ideas are going to flow more often.
• You Don’t get tired easily, you can be working for hours without getting bored.

Ok, but the main purpose of this post is to show you how to turn your boring desktop in a nice, clean and fresh space, suitable to work in. First of all I’m going to show you a screenshot of my own desktop, and after than I´m going to explain you how to do it. This is my workplace.

As you can see it has a cleaner style, all you need is a program called ObjectDock, its free and easy to download and to install, try it. The icons can be download in this site, just search for “Dock icons”. Give it a try and you’ll how good is to work in a place like this.

Logo Design for a Blog

Each day and at all time we are in contact with logos and brands, They are everywhere and play a very important role in our lives, as the Small Business Bible says “A good logo helps to attract customers, especially when your business is just starting.” The same happens with blogs. That´s right, a successful blog needs a good image that catches the attention of readers and visitors. A good logo design is simple but direct and strong, it has to transmit what your blog or business is about. A well designed image can distinguish your site from others in the medium.

If you are starting a new blog then think first in a good logo, but if you are thinking in a re branding, there are many ways to get a, good design you can either design it yourself if you know how or you can hire a professional designer. Here are some qualities of a good logo design for blogs.

• Promotes
• Gives a unique image and identity to your blog (Brand)
• Helps to attract visitors and readers
• Distinguish your site from others
• Image matters! As simple as that.

If you don´t know how your logo must be and if you think you need some inspiration take a look to these galleries, you might find something interesting, but remember be original and don´t copy. I don’t know if I told that I’m a designer too, in fact I’ve designed logos for companies and new businesses. From my own experience with brands, a good logo has to be:

• Simple
• Direct
• Unique
• And of course…Beautiful.

Here are some design I’ve created. I hope you like them. Just click the image for a larger view.

Looking for inspiration? Visit Logo Pond

Still looking for more inspiration? Try LogoSauce

Receive RSS Updates Into Your iPod

This is not the kind of things I usually post, but I really think you should take a look. Yesterday I was surfing a little bit on the Internet, and I found a blog about technology and gadgets, in fact it is a blog about gadgets for women but there are some interesting things to see, I thought it’ll be nice to share with you. There are some crazy thing like high-tech purses and strange devices for the kitchen, even a roll of paper for the bathroom printed with mind-training puzzles (who wants to buy that?!) anyway, If you are a real blogger this might interest you, even more if you use a lot your iPod.

A company called Carnglas Software developed something called iFeedPod, it is a piece of software that you can use to receive updates in your iPod, it works with any iPod and the best part is that it is free. You can download it here. But not everything is perfect, the only problem is that for now it is only available for Mac users. What a shame.

That’s it. If you have an iPod and if you have are tracking a lot of subscriptions give it a try, There are lots and lots of products you might want to check. If you want more information visit the original blog.!

Do You Have Something Planned for the Next Two Years?

This is another unveiled secret of most successful blogs , I call it “Idea Planning” and let me explain you what it is. IP is part of the blogging process, but the truth is that not all bloggers perform this step, in fact less than 20% plan the ideas for their blog, another fact is that those blogs that use IP are more successful and tend to generate more traffic and money.

The process is very simple, but you have to be creative, sit down in a quiet inspirational place and start thinking, think a lot, visualize what your readers want, think as a reader of your blog, not as the editor. Write down each idea that comes to your mind, no matter how crazy it may sound, remember that simple ideas sometimes become a real success. Now that you have all in your notebook, start planning, assign each idea a date to perform it. Remember to perform your best plans when your blog starts getting more traffic and becomes more popular. As I said, most successful blogs have plans for the next two years, mine included, these plans include posts, campaigns, reviews, everything you can imagine. Here are some of the thing I have planned for “The Lounge” for the next two years.

• Posts
• Contests
• Interviews
• Advertising Campaigns
• Internal Projects
• And much more!

Now, ask yourself, “what can I plan for my blog?” Please let us know in your comments what you have in mind, don’t give details if you don’t want to.

How to Define your Blog as a Brand

First of all let me tell you this, “Always think in your blog as a brand and as a business”, previously I published a post about how the power of a brand is measured, well, your blog can be a brand to, and its power can be measured as well, but that’s another story, I think I’m going to write something about that later. This time I want to show you how to define your blog as a brand. If you think in your site as a business and as a brand then you´ll act like, let’s say,… the CEO of your blog (just an example), therefore you´ll try to make the most of your site. To build a successful money making blog you have to give it a face, or better yet, a SOUL, that’s what branding is all about, your online space also needs a good signage system to make it unique and outstanding. Here are some steps to successfully define the brand of your blog, next time I’m going to explain you how to improve the power of your brand. Start asking yourself these questions, answer them and write down the results.

1. What kind of products, services or information do you offer? Define their qualities.

2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your blog?

3. What makes your blog different from others?

4. What are the core values of your products , services or information?

5. What is the mission of your blog? Is it just to entertain yourself? Or to offer something to others?

6. And, what about its vision? What plans do you have for the next 2 years?

7. What does your blog specializes in?

8. Who is your target market? If you define your market then it´s going to be easier to drive targeted traffic to your blog.

9. What is the main tag line of your blog? What message do you want to transmit?

10. Your partners? Are they strong enough? Do you have influential relationships in the blogging world?

Review your answers and create a profile of your brand (Blog) this is going to help you to establish an action plan. It’s always good to define the values of your blog, and to share them with your readers. Focus on your target audience when answering each question. Think in what kind of brands they like and how can you make your blog one of them.

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