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Blog Day 2007: A Celebration of New Blogs Everywhere!

August 31st 2007 23:50

Blog Day 2007 Badge - red


Blog Day 2007: Celebrating New Blogs Worldwide

Today is Blog Day 2007: A day to celebrate new blogs all over the world! In honor of Blog Day, bloggers have been asked to list, describe, and link to five new blogs--preferably representing a different country, culture, or focus than our own.

Here's what the Blog Day website has to say:

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors.

After writing our Blog Day posts, we are also asked to notify the bloggers we've chosen, which I plan to do via a comment on each one's blog.


Five Great New Blogs You Should Definitely Visit

Here are my choices (in no particular order) for five of the best new blogs from different parts of the U.S. and around the world. (Well...only one is currently outside the U.S: Confident Writing, which comes to us from Scotland; though one will soon be moving to Germany: Content Done Better. Yet, for some of you, the U.S. is on the other side of the world!) All these blogs are either only several months old or under new ownership.

I will let the bloggers who create the magic of the written word on their blogs speak for themselves, via quotes from their About pages and blog posts.


Pro Blog Design

Pro Blog Design. Michael Martin has this to say about his very helpful blog and also about blog post formatting:

I have been designing websites for a few years now, and enjoying every minute of it.

Over time, I’ve learnt a lot about working with blogs, and through Pro Blog Design I hope to share that knowledge with others. Content on a blog is of course, King, but does the King get the attention he deserves when draped in ragged garments? Of course not! In the same way that the grandeur of the King is crucial to his success, your blog’s design is crucial to yours. (from Michael's About page)

As bloggers, we write pages upon pages of content each week. We spend hours promoting the articles, choosing the right words and trying to get our point across as clearly as possible. How can formatting be used to further improve our posts?

There are a few basic tools that you will have heard mention of time and time again, such as bolding words. The first section re-explains their purpose, and the second will explain how to perfect your usage of them to achieve optimal formatting. (from Format Blog Posts for Readability and Legibility)


Confident Writing

Confident Writing. Joanna Young says the following about her quality site and about why she writes:

Hello I'm Joanna Young, The Confident Writing Coach...My aim is to get people writing with confidence. To realise the power of their words. How we work is partly up to you - but my approach is based on a blend of coaching, teaching, editing and writing - tailor made to your needs. (from Joanna's Welcome and Work With Me sections)

(Post Title: Why Do You Write?.) For me, it's something to do with the power of connection: the connections we can make with other people, the connections we develop between our own ideas, making sense of our experience, pulling together spaghetti strands of random thoughts and creating something new, connecting back to our roots and our selves and coming out with a stronger sense of who we are.

But then again maybe it's that thing I call realising: the sweet, slow dawning of realisation. Recognising the things that you always knew to be true. Recognising - with a jolt - your self in your words. Realising the power of your words, and taking responsibility for their power and impact: on yourself, on other people, on the world. Grounding yourself with the specificity of words. Validating your experience with words which are not real - but can make us feel that our experiences are. Allowing ourselves to be changed by the words that we write. (from Why Do You Write?)


ChrisBlogging

ChrisBlogging. Chris Bibey describes himself and his insightful blog and shares a few words of wisdom on freelancing:

For more than three years I have been earning a full-time income online. My main sources of income include a wide range of freelance writing projects, and of course, blogging.

But although I do not know the first thing about web design or coding, I still earn three times as much as I did as a corporate slave.

The goal of Chrisblogging.com is to show you how I make money, how you can join me, and much more! (from Chris's About page)

There is no denying that a few big jobs make up a large part of my monthly freelance writing income. But guess what? I also believe that smaller jobs are every bit as important. Sure, I would love to work on high paying jobs only, who wouldn’t? But the reality of the freelance writing industry (at least for me) is that this is not always possible. For this reason, I always think twice before I turn down any small jobs that I am offered. (from Don't Always Turn Down the Small Jobs)


ProBloggers Matrix

ProBloggers Matrix. Mark gives us this inviting welcome to his blog, and some great info about blogging (taken from one of his excellent posts):

Hello, I’m Mark.

Welcome to ProBloggers Matrix. I’ll be sharing blogging tips. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to post them in the comments. (from Mark's About page)

If you’re like me, you love to write, you love to publish great articles on your authoritative blog and you also enjoy reading excellent articles in many fantastic blogs. That can be very time-intensive, but you need to get out and exercise! Get the blood flowing! Get into The Zone! (from How to Stay in the Zone and Keep Wowing Your Readers with Spectacular Articles)


Content Done Better

Content Done Better. Michi Beck's blog has an intimate, inviting atmosphere, due to her personal, engaging writing style. Her Under New Ownership section tells us this about her background, followed by an apt quote from one of her posts:

During her career she has written many informative articles on various subjects including economics, technology, local happenings, and human interest stories.

In addition to the newspaper and Internet work, Michi has had poems published and is currently working on her first novel, of which the first draft is nearing completion. She enjoys both fiction and non-fiction writing, and often takes the time to write about the smaller things in life, as she believes those things have lessons behind them that most people do not realize. It is not only the big things that are important in our daily lives, and since she is often reminded of that it appears frequently in her particular style of writing. (from Michi's Under New Ownership page.)

(Post Title: When It Rains, It Pours.) Have you ever noticed that? You could be in a ‘dry spell’ in your work life and then all of a sudden things go crazy, and you’re left shaking your head and wondering how you’re going to get it all done.

I mention this because it happened to me, rather recently. I’m not sure whether to be overwhelmed and annoyed that everything showed up at once or happy because of the work and income. Hmmm
..I think I’ll go with “happy because of the work and income.” (from When It Rains, It Pours)


Five Great Blogs to Bookmark and Visit Again and Again!

Be sure to visit the above blogs soon--and often! And don't forget to give these hard-working and insightful bloggers a little link love! It will be more than worth your while, as you continually enjoy their latest words of writing wisdom.

Congratulations go out to these five new bloggers for making their blogs places where we can go to pick up the best info, tips, techniques, and advice, to make us all better, more responsive, and more productive bloggers!

Happy Blog Day!
Jeanne


Technorati Tag: Blog Day 2007


P.S. I realize I posted this a little late in the day--particularly for those of you on the opposite side of the world to the U.S., where I live! My apologies. But, I believe I did manage to post it in time--though barely! If I missed the deadline in anyone's time zone, Happy Belated Blog Day!







Did you enjoy this post? Don't leave me lonely--Please comment!


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Comments
14 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by AmyHuang

September 1st 2007 01:07
Happy Blog Day!!!!
Thank you for sharing your favourite blogs. I will sure to check them out!

Comment by Jeanne Dininni

September 1st 2007 01:19
Thanks, Amy!

Good deal! You won't regret it! There's some fantastic info for writers/bloggers on these sites! (When you visit, delve into their prior posts for some buried treasure!)

I wish I could have gone into greater detail, highlighting some of the specific posts that are filled with helpful tips, techniques, advice, and inspiration; but, as you can see, this post was already too long! LOL!

Thanks for the visit--and, again, Happy Blog Day!
Jeanne

Comment by Anonymous

September 1st 2007 07:57
Hi Jeanne, thanks for the mention and links I'm feeling a bit disappointed that I was just out of time to create my own post for Blog Day, but I'm going to enjoy exploring the new sites that you and other bloggers have pointed me towards.

Best wishes

Joanna

PS I'm actually in Scotland rather than England - big difference in this wee part of the world!

Comment by Jeanne Dininni

September 1st 2007 08:11
Hi, Joanna!

So sorry about the error in your country. I will fix said error forthwith!

I actually checked Whois.com and it said the server was in England, so I took that as your location. Should have realized something wasn't quite right though, because, come to think of it, I now recall your saying your home town was in Edinburgh. But, of course, at the time, with one thing and another on my mind, I never even gave it a thought. I think I was on automatic pilot! My apologies--and thanks for the correction.

I do agree that there's a big difference between England and Scotland--even in this part of the world!

Also, sorry you missed writing a Blog Day post! Wish I'd gotten around to writing my post earlier in the day, if that would have enabled you to write one! I started my post rather late, and then it ended up far longer than I had planned for it to be--which didn't help me get it finished any earlier! I barely made Blog Day in Australia, posting very close to midnight, so I imagine it was similar in Scotland (though I don't know my international time zones very well).

Take care!
Jeanne

Comment by Michae Martin

September 1st 2007 11:57
Hey Jeanne,

Thanks for including my blog. I'm glad you still find it worth reading!

I love the sites you picked, they're all fantastic. I haven't read Micki's before, but if you're recommending it, I think I'll go and check it out now!

Michael

Comment by Jeanne Dininni

September 1st 2007 12:09
Hi, Michael!

No problem at all! I certainly do find your blog worth reading. Yours and the other four I wrote about in this post are a few of the better young blogs on the internet--though each is very different! You're all doing great! Keep up the good work!

Great to see you!
Jeanne

P.S. Have you had a chance to enter any blog carnivals yet?

Comment by Michae Martin

September 1st 2007 13:51
Yep, I did!

There were none specifically about blog design (Maybe I'll start that one up someday? ), but I did find a few on advertising and blogging that I was able to enter.

Thanks for the tip.

Comment by Jeanne Dininni

September 1st 2007 19:24
Michael,

Glad to hear that you were able to enter a few blog carnivals! Let me know which ones they were and I'll visit. (I know they'll just be links to content you already have on your blog, but maybe I can go and insert a timely comment in support of Pro Blog Design!)

Great idea to consider starting a blog carnival of your own since none currently cover your blog's topic! That's the spirit! I'm sure there are quite a few other bloggers out there who have design-related blogs who would jump at the chance to enter! And it would certainly give your blog greater exposure, as well.

Thanks for the visit!
Jeanne


Comment by Michae Martin

September 1st 2007 20:20
There were a couple, but I can't remember the links.

Going through some pages on Technorati did bring back these two at least.

You don't need to say anything though. The carnivals were your idea, so you've already done more than enough.

I might try running a carnival someday. It could be fun, as you say, but not for a little while at least! xD

Comment by Jeanne Dininni

September 1st 2007 20:53
Thanks, Michael!

The Carnival of Bloggers Helping Bloggers sounds like a great one! Maybe I'll enter it sometime. Thanks for the lead!

Many of my readers may want to enter it, as well. Thanks for helping us all out by letting us know about a carnival that many blogs already qualify for, because they already contain content that's helpful to other bloggers!

I have to confess that, since moving my blog carnival feed out of my sidebar and into a post (because of problems with a slow-loading blog,) I haven't been checking the available carnivals as much as I'd like to, lately. (Of course, I've also been busy with various writing projects, as well.)

Thanks again, and good luck with future carnivals!
Jeanne

P.S. Let me know if and when you do decide to host a carnival. Maybe I'll enter!

Comment by Michae Martin

September 1st 2007 21:39
lol - I will!

Michael

Comment by Jeanne Dininni

September 1st 2007 21:44
Thanks!

Jeanne

Comment by ProBloggersMatrix

September 7th 2007 06:24
Thank you very much Jeanne for your gracious link to my blog! I really appreciate it very much!
I like your blog, and I will visit the other blogs your linked to as well. I am already familiar with Pro Blog Design's first-rate articles.

Have an excellent day!

Comment by Jeanne Dininni

September 7th 2007 08:03
No problem, Mark!

Happy to link to a great blog! Glad to see you've decided to start a ProBloggers Matrix outpost here at Orble! Welcome! Hopefully everyone will pop on over to read the great content you'll be posting!

Thanks for the comment--and the compliment!
Jeanne

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