This post is part of a weekly series, Fetching Friday, featuring the resources mashup, Blog World Expo Poll, Akismet commentary, and what’s new on kikolani.com.
The Resources Mashup
Here are some of the best articles I have stumbled upon and retweeted on @kikolani this week.
Blogging / Writing
- Guest blogging contest – the biggest cash contest in blogging history is now open to new and experienced bloggers. Enter today!
- 8 legal issues for bloggers: part one and part two – good to know.
- How to create your own blogging continuing education plan – if you want to stay on top of your blogging game, you must continue to learn.
- How to get more comments on your blog posts – if no one’s talking on your blog, you may need to try these tips.
- Why you shouldn’t blog – if you don’t have these things, you probalby shouldn’t be blogging.
Business / Career / Finance
- 7 brand building tips for you b2b blog – if you have trouble making your b2 blog standout, try these tips.
- Are you afraid to care deeply at work? Do you (or should you) put yourself fully into your work?
- 7 ways to generate buzz for your business – great ways to get people talking about you on blogs and social media.
- The #1 habit of highly effective business owners – if you do this, you are almost certain to succeed in any endeavor.
- 9 expert tips for small business SEO – good tips for small businesses that can be applied to any website’s SEO plan.
- An experiment in platform exclusive content – metrics from a free ebook available on Facebook only.
- 35 impressive Facebook fan page profile pictures – great ways to utilize your 200px by 600px space on your page.
- How to customize your fan page using static FBML – a good beginners guide to FBML plus useful ways to utilize it.
- 11 ways to promote your Facebook page outside of Facebook – great ideas to try if you want more fans!
- 31 Facebook applications to enhance your fan page – great roundup!
Humor / Infographics / Inspiration
- 45 mobile web designs to show future trends – great designs to view on your smartphones.
- How to design your business card – tips and examples.
- HTML 5 showcase – 48 potential flash-killing demos that are hopefully more SEO advanced than Flash as well as mobile friendly.
- 55 beautifully made single page designs – learn how to make your web precense amazing with just one page.
- History of RickRolling – I’m sorry I missed this infographic last week, but it’s too amusing to leave out.
Link Building
- Link building with press release optimization – does it really work?
- Link building tools interview with Taylor Pratt of Raven SEO – great response to dofollow vs. nofollow.
- Link building with bloggers and the meaning of relationships – aka, how link builders can entice bloggers the right way.
- Differences in opinion on quality links – covers traffic, PageRank, incoming links, images, spammy links, and more.
- SMX Advanced 2010: Show me the links presentation – click on replay to see commentary on one of the best link building sessions at SMX.
Making Money Online / Online Marketing
- Are you being seduced into affiliate marketing? Or should you focus on affiliate marking vs. creating your own product.
- The secret behind successful PPC advertising – I’m not that familiar with PPC, but these guys are the gurus of conversions, so it will be a good read for those using pay per click.
- What I want you to learn from me – the best articles on how to make money online.
- Donate buttons – do they work?
- Complete guide to blog advertising – everything you need to know including site examples that show how to do it beautifully.
Personal Development / Self Improvement
- 21 things my dog taught me about being a better man – a very moving blog post.
- The best productivity system – try out these tools and create a system that helps boost your productivity + 6 rules of productivity to live by.
- Do you see blessings in challenges? A better way to look at the obstacles that you encounter.
- Who would you be without life’s struggles? How they build character and teach you important life lessons.
- Opportunity is everywhere – how to create opportunity by creating value.
Photography / Digital Art
- Top 10 photo fixing and image editing tricks HDR, tilt shift, and more.
- 33 amazing examples of monochromatic photography – making black and white look beautiful!
- 40 beautiful examples of car photography – these photos could make any car look good.
- 40 real time saver Photoshop actions – free downloads for cool effects.
- Splendid examples of conceptual arhictecture – I would love to live in some of these rooms.
Search Engines / SEO / Analytics
- Client feedback exercise to kick off a SEO project – great way to get to know your client and their goals.
- The blog post SEO checklist – 5 things to make sure you include in each blog post for search optimization.
- How a three month old site gets massive Google traffic – how to get traffic from Google News, mini-sites, Youtube videos, and more.
- SEO hacking – hacking for links and how to make sure your site doesn’t fall victim.
- 18 must read SMX advanced highlights – a great selection of beyond the basic tips for SEO, link building, and search engine news.
Social Media
- How to use social media for crisis management – my first post for Social Media Examiner on one important way businesses should use social media.
- How to set social media goals – if you have no plan, here’s how to gets started.
- Is social media dangerous for your brain? I would say so, in some cases.
- 10 golden rules of social bookmarking – what you need to do to become a power user on any social bookmarking network.
- Online profiles can make or break your social networking success – how to utilize particular elements on your profile to capture the right kind of attention.
Tech / Tools / Tips
- What is the difference between viruses, trojans, worms, and other malware – just what you need to know to figure out what is going on with your PC.
- Stream your social networks from a single location with Vinehub – looks promising, but so far only handles Twitter and Facebook – Myspace + LinkedIn coming soon, plus Google Buzz integration.
- 25 Safari extentions you can install now for Apple’s new Safari 5 – I’m a Chrome user, but these will come in handy for my hubby’s Mac.
- iPad essential business tools – RSS reader app comparison.
- Open letter to business owners to embrace Twitter now – 9 ways and reasons to use Twitter for business.
- 20 resources to display Twitter on your website – go beyond just an icon with these ideas.
- Huge collection of Twitter applications for business and social sharing, search, analytics, monitoring + monetizing, maps, polls, translators + RSS feeds, and mashups + visualizers. This was a series started in May, and includes over 500 Twitter apps. A must see!
- Is Twitter going to kill URL shorteners? Personally, I’m a bit.ly fan all the way.
- Twitter de-addiction camp – 6 steps to get yourself unhooked from Twitter.
WordPress
- Ways to optimize your WordPress RSS feeds – simple tips for images, videos, and more.
- 10 useful WordPress plugins for multi-author blogs – great ways to manage multiple site authors and contributors.
- Top 10 WordPress theme tweaks – with tips on how to implement the in WordPress 3.0.
- WordPress from Kubrick to Twenty Ten – a quick look at WordPress basic themes from the start to 3.0
- 25+ extremely useful tricks for the WordPress functions file – you will certainly find at least one good trick for your WordPress install here.
Blog World Expo 2010
This year, I plan on attending the Blog World Expo in Las Vegas on October 14 – 16th. Assuming nothing crazy happens in the in-between, I should definitely be there for Friday and Saturday – Thursday is still up in the air.
I wanted to take a quick poll to see if any of you, my readers, will be there as well. It will be open until June 15th!
Also, be sure to let me know in the comments if you are a maybe or definitely coming!
What’s New on Kikolani
This week, I have added a new mailing list option, which you can see near the top of the sidebar. Instead of a free ebook, I wanted to offer something a little more personalized. If you sign up for the mailing list, you will get a free quick review of your website, blog, or social media profile. I’ll let you know if I see anything that could be improved in terms of design, functionality, or optmization.
Why a mailing list? As many of you know, I write about a lot more than just blogging on a variety of sites (including Search Engine Journal, Famous Bloggers, Social Media Examiner, etc.) and I want to take all of that information and compile it in one place and make it useful to the bloggers and social media enthusiasts that read Kikolani.
As you know, most mailing lists are also an avenue to promote products for affiliate marketing. Yes, I do some affiliate marketing, but you can be sure that any product I share with you will be something that I fully believe will be beneficial to you – not just something that will make me a little commission and good luck to you to figure it out.
So if this sounds good to you, be sure to scroll up and subscribe today!
Are You Missing Comments?
There is some great discussion that has developed about how Akismet is blocking commenters that you may want on your site. There is one setting in particular on Akismet that you may have turned on in the beginning that you may want to reconsider.
If you have a self-hosted WordPress blog, check your Akismet Configuration and make sure the “Automatically discard spam comments on posts older than a month” is unchecked. Otherwise, any comments from those readers who normally fall into the spam filter will be deleted before you ever see them if they comment on posts that are over 30 days old. I don’t know about you, but I have some regular commenters that have wound up in the spam filter consistently. If you have this box checked, you will never see them.
If you have a WordPress.com blog, check under Settings > Discussion, and make sure the “Don’t discard spam on old posts” is checked for the same reason as above.
Also, please take some serious consideration into what you mark as spam. Certainly it is a personal decision, but remember that what you may consider spam, others may not. If you’re uncertain, just delete the comment.
Most Exciting Movie Teaser Ever
Want to be featured in Fetching Friday posts?
Looking for some link love? Articles featured in the resources come primarily from people I interact with in the comments, and on the social networks. So comment away (DoFollow, CommentLuv, and KeywordLuv enabled), and join me on the networks below, and if your article/photo/video catches my eye, it may appear in following Fetching Friday posts.
The Fetching Friday archives – tons of useful resources on blogging, social networking, and more- Fetching Friday – Resources Mashup, Blog World Expo Early Bird Deadline & #FBCLcontest Update
- Fetching Friday – Resources Mashup & Less Than a Week to Blog World
- Fetching Friday – Resources Mashup and Blog World Celebrities
- Fetching Friday – Resources Mashup & Best Keynote at Blog World
- Fetching Friday – Resources Mashup & Blog World Meetups Tweetups and Parties
This post brought to you by Kristi Hines
Kristi is a blogger, freelance writer, online marketing consultant, and social media enthusiast. Connect with me on Twitter and Google+.
Kristi has written 453 awesome article(s) for Kikolani.
Kikolani runs on Thesis, but also likes using Genesis. Learn more about Thesis vs. Genesis.
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{ 36 comments }
Kristi, once again thanks for this extensive list of info. I’ll check it out in detail this weekend when I have more time.
About spam comments. I am very careful what I mark as spam, both on my blogs and with e-mail, and I encourage everyone else to do the same.
And a suggestion to blog owners. If you moderate comments, please do something (plugin or settings) to let commenters know their comments are being held for moderation. Twice yesterday I submitted comments on well-known blogs just to see them disappear with no explanation — just gone. Both were there when I checked back later in the day. But still, it’s frustrating to write a thoughtful comment and have it go poof. It also makes me wonder if I got caught in a spam filter.
And finally, I’ll follow your advice on Akismet and comment settings.
John Soares recently posted..The Importance of Free Time Alone
Twitter: kikolani
June 11, 2010 at 12:47 pm
I believe that mine does the “awaiting moderation” notification. But I know what you mean, I have left comments and just emailed the blogger just to make sure the comment really went through, because with all the spam filtering, you never know what they will see in the backend. And thanks for changing the settings. I hope it helps you find some good commenters!
I e-mailed Andrew Rondeau after my comments didn’t appear. He got right on it and approved what I said.
John Soares recently posted..Donate-Tip Buttons on Your Site — Do They Work?
Kristi … I have not even completed your last Friday resource and we got another one.
Will you please do one thing please add top most first … so that we can the best one.
What do you say ?
ZK @ Web Marketing Blog recently posted..Online Profits re-opens and now its FREE
Twitter: kikolani
June 11, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Hi ZK,
I actually, upon the suggestion of many readers, shortened each section to just 5 (sometimes 6 if I just can’t help myself) instead of it being a free for all number of posts to do just the top 5. Usually I have the ones I consider best at the top, although sometimes there are late editions, as I start collecting them throughout the week. You can be assured that they are 5 out of many though, as I subscribe to a lot of blogs and follow lots of Twitter lists, so I have a lot of great content to go through.
It took me a moment to find the area where to deselect “Automatically discard spam comments on posts older than a month.” For anyone who forgot where this is you’ll find it under Plugins>Askimet Configuration. The little checkbox is located underneath your Askimet key. It was checked in my configuration so I appreciate your advice about that for sure!
I have been wondering how to handle those comments that are borderline spammy (“great site and your writing style is amazing. just found your site on yahoo” is a recent example). I marked that one as spam, but normally I just delete most of those out of fear of accidentally marking as spam a comment that’s really not meant to be spammy but may just be written poorly.
Annette @ SocialBigTop.com recently posted..Imagine A Social Media World Without Your Business In It
Twitter: kikolani
June 11, 2010 at 12:43 pm
I remember checking it while thinking that it would automatically delete any comments that have been sitting in the spam filter for 30 days. Now I realize what it really means is just no good at all!
It’s a hard call on borderline spammy. The way I see it though is one person’s spam may not be another’s, and I don’t want to contribute to them missing out on a comment they may want by telling Akismet it is spam. So I just delete. That way they always have the chance elsewhere.
Twitter: FamousBloggers
June 11, 2010 at 7:48 am
Wonderful, I just wakeup and found your post published early today
I wish I can attend the Blog World Expo 2010 in Vegas, I am still planning to visit Egypt after a few months so I am not sure yet, I have voted for maybe!
I like the idea of giving a quick blog review, that would be awesome, so I will subscribe to immediately, maybe you can review our FamousBloggers.net blog and I will et an advice from you!
I have unchecked the Akismet check box, for me.. comments are more important the blog itself!
Deleting is better than spamming the comment, but some people really force you to do that!
Wonderful read while having my first coffee
Hesham recently posted..You Are Your Own Social Media Brand
Twitter: kikolani
June 11, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Yes… I wanted it to go live early to greet any new visitors from my Social Media Examiner post today.
Glad you enjoyed the post, and absolutely I’ll take a look at Famous Bloggers, although off the top of my head I can’t think of anything wrongdoing on that site.
Kristi,
Thank you for including me in the list and I love these resources – I clicked and read several already! Great way to start the day, especially a Friday.
Shane Ketterman recently posted..5 iPad Wallpaper Resources You Don’t Wanna Miss
Twitter: kikolani
June 11, 2010 at 12:38 pm
You’re welcome. I like to think of Friday as the day most people will have more time to look over the best of the week. And I’m trying to give readers on the “least popular blogging day” something to be excited about.
Thanks for the info on BlogWorld. I never hear about conferences until deadlines loom for registration, when I’d like to ideally speak at such venues. So, I just submitted their online form to make a presentation. Let’s see what they say.
Ari Herzog@Online Media Strategies recently posted..Protect Your Online Privacy: Say NO to Ad Cookies
Twitter: kikolani
June 11, 2010 at 12:37 pm
I usually don’t hear about local seminars / conferences until the day before they happen. I’ve been trying to keep up with the local news to prevent missing out on something good more now. Blog World is one I wanted to do last year but didn’t get the chance, so I’ve been waiting for them to open up registration! I wish you luck on getting your proposal accepted!
Blogworld is an option for me. Might even drive rather than fly.
For all who are considering attending: Plan time to go hiking in Zion National Park. It’s stunningly beautiful, and it’s only a little over two hours from Las Vegas.
John Soares recently posted..Donate-Tip Buttons on Your Site — Do They Work?
Twitter: kikolani
June 14, 2010 at 3:04 pm
Sounds like a good idea… I might be in Vegas for a few other occasions, so maybe I can convince the hubby to give it a try!
One of these days, I’m going to make it to a Blog Expo, but unfortunately – not this time. I really admire how you always go out of your way to bring the best of the blogosphere neatly organized in place.
As always, I’m totally honored to have my post shared with your readers – especially among such great content. Thanks again!
Kiesha @ We Blog Better recently posted..4 Quick Tips for Writing Engaging Blog Content
Twitter: kikolani
June 11, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I wanted to go last year, but didn’t make it, so this time I’m making a more constructive effort to go.
Thanks for listing my blog again! I appreciate it. Also, I am going to BlogWorld this year. Let’s try and meet up!
Tia recently posted..Comment Spam: Sex, Lies, Videotape, and Ponies
Twitter: kikolani
June 11, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Awesome! We definitely should. This is why I wanted to ask, because I don’t want to come back from it and realized I missed meeting my readers who were there!
Kristi, thanks so much for mentioning one of my posts.
Much appreciated!
John Soares recently posted..Donate-Tip Buttons on Your Site — Do They Work?
Just wanted to say thanks for two things, that history of rick-rolling (which was quite excellent, and has been stumbled and bookmarked), & the details on the Comluv/Famous Bloggers contest (I had been waiting a while to see what the actual rules were, but got tired of checking back every so often).
ashok recently posted..Paul Hoover, “To the Choirmaster”
Twitter: kikolani
June 14, 2010 at 3:05 pm
I couldn’t resist the rick-rolling one when I found it. I hope you get to participate in the guest blogging contest. It’s going to be one of the best ones ever.
Great resources. I clicked through to a few. I read the SMX Highlights article and discovered 301s may affect load time. Very interesting. We have quite a few 301s, so I’ll have to weigh this one.
Colleen@Kennewick Real Estate recently posted..West Richland’s 2010 Hogs & Dogs Event
Twitter: cks1988
June 12, 2010 at 5:17 pm
Hi Kristi! I love to read the “8 Legal Issues for Blogger”. I’m using Akismet in my blog too. However, i will always moderate the comment even it is in the spam section. Usually, i will just treat it as spam when there is no value for that comment. Comment that full with compliment and link will be deleted without a second thought.
KS Chen @ Blogging Guide recently posted..MyBlog2Day Contest – $800 Cash Prize and Premium Themes Giveaway
Twitter: kikolani
June 14, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Sounds like a good policy. That is why turning off that automatically delete feature is important, as if you do get a valuable commenter on an old post, you still want the chance to save it!
Twitter: scotty_webb
June 12, 2010 at 9:18 pm
I’ll have to check out the akismet issues and featured. Anyone that takes the time to actually comment needs to be getting approved and not ending up in the spam. I would hate it if someone came back and looked for a response to the comment and didn’t even see it.
As for Blog World, I would love to go. I haven’t really considered it yet. It’s still a ways away but don’t know how crazy it is with registration – do you need to book way in advance? I’ll look into it but it seems cool and it gives me a reason to go back to Vegas! I want visit the neon sign museum aka boneyard and shoot photography. It will probably depend on funds at the time. Time to add it to a dream board and envision myself already there!
Great number of links here again to go through over time! Thanks
Scott Webb@Online Small Business Help recently posted..How the World Cup and Embryo Are Connected
Twitter: kikolani
June 14, 2010 at 3:41 pm
If you want to get the lowest registration price, you have to book by July 15th. After that, it starts going up.
Never heard of the neon sign museum… that definitely sounds like a good photo op!
WOW! What a resourceful post. Thank you for sharing all of these hacks and tutorials. I’ve found several that I’ll be implementing in the next days across my blogs. I’m having trouble with one of them, but hopefully the plugin’s author will prove to be helpful.
Aisha recently posted..Links for 2010-06-11 [del.icio.us]
Twitter: DennisEdell
June 13, 2010 at 5:34 am
Man how I’d love to go to blog world; just not possible quite yet.
Personally, I sure think people should skim their spam folder a LOT more often then every 30 days anyway.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing recently posted..Attention Commenters: VALID Email Addresses PLEASE!
Twitter: kikolani
June 14, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Definitely, they should. I try to do it every other day at least. But if you have that option that I mentioned checked, the problem is that Akismet automatically deletes what it considers spam on posts older than 30 days without giving you the chance to see it at all.
Twitter: DennisEdell
June 16, 2010 at 11:17 am
Personally I see that as operator error, not an Akismet problem. The very first thing any blogger needs to do before they begin blogging is getting to know the inner working of their blog.
I said “personally” as in “in my opinion” so as not to upset some; truth be told, that’s pretty darn near fact.
I check spam, every time I’m in my blog. With only a few each time, it takes mere seconds.
Dennis Edell @ Direct Sales Marketing recently posted..6 Blogs – 6 Blog Themes. All the Same or All Different? It’s a Branding Issue…
Twitter: kikolani
June 16, 2010 at 11:24 am
It’s a wording translation error. I’ve talked to several people who interpreted the option “Automatically discard spam comments on posts older than a month” as it will automatically delete anything that is in the spam filter for longer than a month as opposed to what it actually means, which is that it will automatically delete comments (never to be seen by the blog owner) that are considered spam that are added to posts that are over a month old. Not necessarily a Akismet problem, but a little on the confusing wording side for those of us who read sentences a bit out of order.
Great work Kristi, as always.
Really loving the Facebook links this week. Also found a bunch that I’m checking out now. Always bringing the quality!
Murlu recently posted..Hello World Cup 2010, Good Bye Productivity!
The akismet system has it’s pros and Cons… Hopefully akismet listens to the post over at GrowMap, but unfortunately I highly doubt it as aksimet seems to have a mind of its own
I’ve had friends how have been unjustly blacklisted in the akismet system, and akismet could careless, which is not right at all!
What on earth is that filum about I wonder?!
Jorgen @ Personal Branding recently posted..Should my Personal Brand be my Face or a Logo?
Twitter: andrewrondeau
June 16, 2010 at 1:41 am
I’ll definitely check my akismet configurations. Thank you for sharing that information. And as always, this is another great edition of resources mashup. I like 21 things my dog taught me to be a better man. It is the greatest tribute that you can give to a wonderful pet.
Andrew@BloggingGuide recently posted..Blogging: Who’s Made It Work?
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