Worst Blogging Mistakes

Being a blogger is probably the easiest and one of the most common activities online.  Everyone, from students to celebs, are at it, sharing loads of information for others to read and share. Even big companies utilize this increasingly popular web platform for marketing and advertising their own products

Remember, like everything else on web, blogging too has its share of rules and guidelines, which if followed, can do wonders for your blogs. There are numerous tips to be a successful blogger but it is easier to mention the worst blogging mistakes, which you must avoid at any cost. Let’s have a look at some of the common blogging mistakes which can prove to disastrous for you:

Top Blogging Mistakes:

• Title: Title is the most important part of a blog. It shows what’s the blog is all about. Whether you are a technical writer, an entertainment columnist or just write for fun, your title must always complement your article. It must give the readers an idea of what your write-up is all about! A misleading title or a wrong title can not only irritate the audience, but also term your blog as a trash.
• Wrong Information: And that is the worst thing you can do to your blog. Nothing can be more jeopardizing for your blog than wrong information. Users will not only make it a point not to visit your blog ever again but also mark it as nonsense. Make it a point to validate and crosscheck every bit of information before you put it online.
• Lack of unique Content: With so many bloggers running in the race, what are your chances to be a popular one? Well, it is not only enough to attract visitors to your site and get them added to your followers list. The main challenge is to retain and keep them interested in you (that is your blog). And, the only way to do so is by keeping your content unique. Nobody wants to read the same article published on web over and over again, in different styles.
• Lack of Marketing: When the entire industry moves on marketing, why not be a part of it! Learn to market yourself, your skills and your blogs to the readers. Decide on your target audience and spread the word among them. Add a bio to your blog and if possible a profile picture.
• Not implementing ‘Share’ and subscription: Spread the word as much as you can. Implement share buttons for Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Digg, Delicious, and a lot more. Also provide an option for your readers to subscribe to your blog through email. Let users do the marketing for you.
• Being Impatient: What do you think, it very easy to be a popular blogger? No, actually it is not. It takes a long time for a blog to attract large number of visitors and be popular with its target audience. So, all you need to be a popular blogger is patience. Bring impatient or inconsistent is not going to work for you.

Besides keeping in mind the mentioned pointers, it is also very important for you to select the right blogging platform. My personal favorite is WordPress for the fact that it is flexible and simple.  Please do let me know if you have any other points in your mind. 

Expression Engine CMS: Reasons to love it!

With Expression Engine CMS creating such a ripple in the industry, the definite and obvious question that arises, is what makes it such a popular CMS with the developers. Is it equally workable for big and small websites? What extra features does it provide which makes it a tough competitor for other Content Management Systems like Joomla, WordPress, Drupal and the rest.

When it comes to your website, you would definitely want your CMS to do more than just manage and publish contents. You after all want a CMS and not a blogging tool! Let’s see how can Expression Engine help you come up with reasons to have it for your website.

• Expression Engine is not free, okay. But which one actually is! If you consider the entire development cost and associated expenditure, I really doubt if you’ll feel the same for other CMS! You need to pay a license charge for EE and renew it annually.
• The development team is small, but extremely supportive and active. You can get considerable help from their forums or the brilliant documentation of the product, which almost works as a hand guide.
• You can easily extend and modify the CMS with various plugins and modules. Expression Engine comes with the source code and knowledge in PHP/MySQL will just work fine for you. It also supports HTML, CSS, and Javascript.
• Expression Engine can be installed in your browser and operated through the control Panel. In fact, according to many, the catch of the system is its amazing control panel. From managing access for other users to managing page templates, you can also customize it according to your projects or clients.
• EE also has numerous features for security and safety. From IP Banning, anti spamming tools like white lists and captcha, email banning features to throttling…EE has proved itself excellent in terms of security issues.

Despite such flexibility and features, some people do not consider Expression Engine good enough when used for bigger websites, forcing developers to code things in a longer, harder way. Some say, WordPress is the best CMS ever. What do you say to it…let me know. 

#indianenglish: Twitter trending on the way we speak!

Welcome to the world of opinions, where notions form and break in a day. Welcome to Twitter where hundreds share and support your views. I would not have guessed the intensity of a user’s involvement with this social networking website, hadn’t I been interacting on it two days back.

Like always, my twitter timeline was busy with ‘tweeps’, talking about politics, sports, countries, and what not! There were numerous hash tags (#) and even more school of thoughts operating from every corner of the world. It was then, that I spotted few interesting tweets tagged #indianenglish.  And, in no time, my timeline flooded with tweets tagged the same. Curiousity got the better of me and I went on to check out what was going on there in #indianenglish. What was it all about?

I was completely bowled over by what I saw! There were thousands of tweets coming in from all over the country, discussing the way and styles of English, we Indians speak! Some were hilarious!  Following is a list of few I liked the best (Original twitter handles removed).

• name @name I have two daughters, both are girls #IndianEnglish
• name Please press my pant #IndianEnglish
• name LOL @name Lift any sari 100/- rupees only! #indianenglish
• name Myself Non veg What are you #IndianEnglish
• name We don't take guarantee of your goods. Please leave your values behind #IndianEnglish
• name RT @name: ;) RT @name: Teacher : "why are you looking at the monkeys outside when i am in the class?!" #indianenglish
• name And the classic! "I didn't knew that!" #indianenglish
• name Convent -educated, wheatish complexion, single and innocent, caste and creed no bar #IndianEnglish
• name #indianenglish teacher in class.. I have to daughters, i married my elder daughter last year.
• name Both my two sons are highly educated boys, perfect match of your daughter. #indianenglish :D
• name Teacher : "Either you hang this calender or I'll hang myself !" #indianenglish
• name How many childrens you have? #indianenglish
• name #indianenglish First we no talk, then we talk, then make friendship, but then i wanted loveship.. She said no loveship before marriage!
• name Open the fan #IndianEnglish
• name RT @blabla42: These papayas are from my backside #IndianEnglish ha ha ha ha!! :D
• name Don't get wet in the rain. You will catch cold. #IndianEnglish
• name  SMH. Pure comedy RT @name: my father will kill me if i steal his cigarette n not put it back after smoking #IndianEnglish
• name #IndianEnglish My mind thought about that thought just now today
• name "I would like to thank the President of the United States from the bottom of my heart and my wife's bottom too"- #IndianEnglish
• name Since I have to go to my village to sell my land along with my wife. Please sanction me one-week leave. #indianenglish

(For more such tweets, visit #indianenglish.com at http://bit.ly/dvjAgH )

While some laughed their minds off over these one-liners and real life situations, some were not too comfortable with the idea of making a mockery of Indian English on a global platform like Twitter. They protested vehemently against the tag and typecasting Indians as fools, who don’t know what they talk about (in English). Even a news website went ahead to discuss the topic in their own website!

• name RT @name Indian English (#IndianEnglish) gets attention on #Twitter, some object to idea. http://bit.ly/cKAU1n #news
• name Indian English gets attention on Twitter, few object the idea: Indian English (#IndianEnglish) gets attention on #... http://xyz
• name @name Enough of u tweeting abt #Indianenglish! Its not even in top 100 trending topics!
• name Why are we talking about #IndianEnglish #AmericanEnglish is worse - Refudiate, Misunderestimated, Wee-wee'd up
• name But I speak english pretty well. No real advantage of mocking #indianenglish
• name I thought effective communication is more important than scoring full marks in grammar exam #indianenglish
• name that is not fair... those who tweeting this are insulting the country :) #indianenglish

But again, these sentiments were not taken too lightly by tweeps who were really loving #indianenglish. According to them, it was just a way of having fun and had nothing to do with insulting the country. Moreover, it proves that Indians can laugh at themselves and still be proud of what they are!

• name @name Trending #IndianEnglish wasn't criticism. Simply recollecting all the funny & stupid things (now that we know) we've done & said.
• name Wonder why people are taking #IndianEnglish so seriously!  Some of these are truly memorable! They should all be compiled somewhere :-)
• name Nothing 2 b ashamed if it is poor/Incorrect. Not our Mother tongue anyway @name: #IndianEnglish . on #Twitter http://bit.ly/cKAU1n
• name Sum tweeps today frustrated by the tt #indianenglish ;) It's just for fun. I enjoyed today's tt lot..
• RT @name We aren't insulting our own nation!we're just showing how we have our own form of English & how cute it is! #indianenglish

The debate is not yet done with, neither is the thread closed. People are still having fun at #indianenglish, while the rest are fuming. The question that has come up amidst all this is, whether or not Twitter has given birth to a new generation of patriots. You may feel irritated at the issue been blown out of proportion by some of the tweeps who have taken this joke personally. After all, people must learn to think simple and enjoy a joke, without complicating it. However, no one can deny that many a people have come forward to announce #indianenglish as a disgrace to the entire nation on a global platform.

Patriotism or over reaction, what do you think of the ‘indianenglish’ episode on twitter? Is it a blow to our respect being Indians, or just a fun activity? Let me know. 

How to make e-commerce site popular

To be a successful name in e-commerce industry…it is tougher than it sounds! With more and more businesses coming online, it is just not enough to have a web presence. Your webshop has to have something different, something unique that can make it stand out from the rest. Brick and mortar shopping has its own challenges but when it comes to e-commerce, make sure you are acquainted with all the rules and tricks of the game. If the audience finds sufficient reason to come back to your portal, be sure of its dramatic success.

Adding to the popularity of your webshop and publicizing it is not that tough if you know the right way to do it. Let’s have a look at some of the basic steps to make your e-commerce site popular.

Design & Layout: The first thing that hits the user about your website, is its design and layout. Make sure the design of your portal compliments the type of products you sell and the taste of your target audience. For instance, an e-commerce portal for children can always use motifs like flowers, teddies, balloons and the like. Whereas, a lingerie site may use sensuous patterns and warm colors like red and orange. The goal is to make the site appealing enough to attract more and more audience. Also avoid using cluttered layouts with images of products, reviews, multiple colors, motifs, columns and other sections, all into the homepage. Make sure the pages are well categorized and in order.

Focus on products: Products are the catch of your website and your prime focus should always be on the presentation of your storefront. Arrange for multiple views of every single item. From extreme zoom in to side views, make sure users get all round view of the products they want to buy. Arrange the products in neat categories for the users to find it easily. Also mention the availability of products clear. For the ones out of stock must belong to a separate category.

Payment: It is not easy to win the trust of your users. It takes a lot of time to convince the buyers. The best way to start with the process, is to keep your payment terms and prices transparent and clear. Make sure the price of every product is mentioned clearly. The taxes involved should also be displayed and there should be no hidden cost involved.

Shipping: The most challenging job is to make the shipping terms and charges understandable for the users. Make sure the delivery date and charges involved are explicitly mentioned. Also mention the mode of shipping for the merchandises.

Payment modes: There is no doubt that credit cards are the most popular mode of payment on web, but not all users are comfortable with it and therefore, your portal must have alternative payment modes like Internet banking, check payment, cash payment on delivery, and the like. This will naturally add to the popularity of your website.

Spread the word: No business has ever survived without being popular with the target audience and this is where publicizing your portal becomes important. Spread the word on social networks, online communities, forums, discussions, threads and wherever you feel it’s relevant to talk about it.

Discounts & Offers: Shoppers love discounts whether it is at a shopping mall round the corner or at your online store. Promote your website by giving out discounts, offers, and free gifts.

Get the customer talking: Encourage users to comment on your portal, on whatever aspect of your website it maybe. This will not only keep the users involved and interested in your website, but will also help you to understand the status and flaws of your website. You can do the improvements based on their comments.

You don’t have to be a pro or a technical expert to make your e-commerce portal popular with the users. All you need to have a little business sense where customer satisfaction comes above everything else. Let me know if your have other ideas…it will truly help many. 

Chat Lingo? OMG it’s Uber Cool!

“Hey guys..!!! ‘Howdy’?

Chatting…who isn’t into it! Infact, a day ‘wthout’ ‘talkn’ to ‘frens’ on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Meebo, Orkut, or on ‘othr’ ‘IMs’, is a day wasted! I ‘luv’ my ‘frens’ & so ‘mk’ it a point 2 meet ‘thm’ ‘evryday’ on Gtalk, ‘FB’, ‘YM’, and ‘smtyms’ on Orkut. & ‘m’ sure, ‘u’ ‘2’ do ‘d’ same. ‘Aftral’, ‘lyf’ ‘wthout’ ‘frens’ ‘wl’ ‘b’ ‘sch’ a bore! & ‘thr’ is no ‘betr’ place ‘thn’ these ‘on9’ platforms to ‘b’ in touch ‘wth’ all ‘frens’, ‘whrevr’ ‘dey’ ‘mayb’, ‘whtevr’ ‘dey’ ‘myt’ ‘b’ ‘doin!’...”

OMG…ahh sorry, I mean Oh my God! What’s wrong with my spelling! What did I write? It doesn’t make sense at all, does it? Well well well…you’ll be surprised to know that it actually does, to more people that you can ever imagine! These misspelled words are consciously known as chat room abbreviations, popular chat lingo that teenagers consider to be cool and linguists consider to be nonsense.

Instant-messaging lingo is increasingly becoming a part of our mainstream conversation and life. Not only the young crowd, but all users who are active on web have accepted this lingo. As exclaimed by Professor David Crystal, "I see a brand new variety of language evolving, invented really by young people... within five years! It's extraordinary." And true to every word of it, it is really extraordinary, how these simple yet meaningless ‘words’ (If I may say so) have become a trend.

What is it about this lingo that makes it so popular with the Gen-Y? “It sounds smart and cool” says a user, though most will agree that it is also quick, fast, and prompt. Who wants to type an entire word when you can convey a message typing just two alphabets! It not only saves time but also money, when it comes to mobile text messaging.

A student once wrote in Chicago Maroon, the newspaper of University of Chicago “These abhorrent abbreviations are nothing less than an insidious linguistic plague”. Well, people may hold different opinions, but no denying the fact that chat slangs are here to stay! I have found some of these extremely interesting. Take a look…

• LOL: That’s the most common one, means ‘Laughing Out Loud’….hahahaha!!!
• L8R: ‘Later’ = ‘L + Eight + R’ = Whoa!!!!
• LMAO: ‘Laughing My A*** Off’…Ahem! Slang but funny…LMAO!
• IMHO: ‘In My Humble Opinion’…humble??? Wow!
• BFF: ‘Best Friends Forever’. Sure…!
• 2nite: ‘Tonight’. 2 nights?? ;)
• OMG: This one is my personal favorite meaning ‘Oh My God’…seriously!
• WTF: ‘What The F***’… How frustrating!
• SITD: ‘Still In The Dark’. How true!
• BTW: ‘By The Way’…this one is quite common btw .
• BRB: ‘Be Right Back’..ohh sure!
• XOXO: Means ‘Hugs and Kisses’, don’t ask me how.
• WYWH: ‘Wish You Were Here’. Simple.
• RBTL: ‘Read Between The Lines’… You bet!
• PAW: ‘Parents are watching’. Parents Beware!
• GAL: ‘Get a Life’…hmmm!

There is lot more and you can get some help on web too. Make it a point to go through it or you may end up being confused! Also, let me know what are your favorites or which ones do you use very often.

So, bye for now, happy chatting…Catch you guys L8R. 

Blogging is Dead!

Hey…did you know the blogs are dead? That they have been murdered! Yes, they are no more with us… blogging is dead! Let’s observe two minutes of silence for the poor souls…

Hey just heard, the poor blogs have been replaced. Now, they are on the way of going obsolete in its true terms. Who took their place?…ahh…microblogging of course!

Microblogging…What is it? 

Ohh, c’mon guys, welcome Microblogs, the new member to the world of web! The web giants like Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, and others are quite tensed of their future now. Who would want to use them now that microblogging has paved way for faster and prompter communication! Also, not to forget the attribute of reaching out to larger number of people. Well, not a bad deal after all!

Microblogging is relatively a newer concept compared to other platforms on web. It refers to small updates of maximum 140 to 150 characters that have become instantaneously popular with the bloggers. ‘Twitter’ is a living example of it, which enjoys the maximum market share followed by other microblogging platforms like Jaiku, identi.ca, Yammer, and Plurk. The most attractive feature of these microblogging sites is that they can also be updated from your mobile phones! So keep blogging while on the go! There is even more to it…

Top Features of Microblogging:     

Besides being mobile compatible, there are other features to these microblogging sites, which attract more and more users to it. Let’ have a look…

• Speed: Not only when you post your stuff, but also the speed with which it reaches out to the remotest corners of the world! Doesn’t matter if everyone on the network is connected to you, your message will for certain travel across the world. Thanks to features like’ Retweet’ and ‘Share’. You followers, the followers of your followers, and their followers and so on…all you have to do is keep your post interesting and it will reach people in lightning speed.

• Hassle Free: All of us bloggers know, if the blog doesn’t look nice, you’re out of the race. Decide on the themes, the font, the right images….it takes more of your time than actually writing a blog! Microblogging comes hassle free…no need to change your profile theme, no worries about fonts, nothing doing with the page layout…you just keep on posting your say and that’s it!

• More Fun: Just imagine getting the first hand information from live locations and situations itself! Thanks to mobile blogging, you can always be posted about the latest happenings around, even before the media is informed…and that’s the fun of it! Just imagine your friend attending your favorite rock band concert (which of course you could not make) and reporting live from there on microblogs…amazing huh!

• Real-time Responses: You won’t have to login again after sometime to check out if your post has got any responses. The best part about microblogging is that, the real-time users and live bloggers are always there to read your posts, as it shows up in their timeline and comment immediately. 

Challenges: 

Microblogging might be fun but it can be pretty challenging to deal with your ever-growing timeline. You continuously have to monitor your timeline or wall for new posts or you just miss them! And once missed, trust me, it takes quite an effort to go back where you had left.

What Next?

Whether you too are going to go for micro-blogging as other bloggers are doing or just leave it here, I don’t know But I know, microblogging is on its way to be the next big thing with bloggers, who have already abandoned conventional blogging. . It’s upto you whether or not you want to utilize its potential.

So, now that we know the reason behind this death, the death of blogging…who would you blame…Microblogging or the Bloggers?!

The Magic of Twitter and Why!

What is it about Twitter that makes it so popular with nearly everyone having some kind of an online presence? Why are celebs choosing this platform to express their views? Why even the politicians are talking up a storm in Twitter? Well, as we all know, now-a-days it takes ‘Twitter’ to be heard. Some say it is a great marketing platform and some say it is yet another waste like other social networking sites. But whatever said and done, fact remains, hundreds of people around the world are joining Twitter like there is no tomorrow.

When I joined Twitter, it was just the desire of being close to the personalities I adore (even if it was in the virtual world!). From world famous authors to the representatives of glamour world, they all shine in there. With thousands of followers, they enjoy quite a presence in Twitter. But as I grew old following celebs, connecting with friends, and joining the communities of ‘#’ tag and ‘@’, I faintly realized the further potential that this network has! Probably it is the best online marketing platform as of now. People may differ, but it really pleases me to reach out to even the remotest corners of the world and people living there, and that too without being acquainted to them! I really want to believe, when my favorite star thanks his fans and thereby me, and convince how he couldn’t have done without me (fans)! And all effort that you need to put in, to enjoy this experience, is travel through a couple of ‘clicks’ and follow your favorite profile.

I am active in Facebook, MySpace, Orkut, and many social networking websites, but what appeals to me about Twitter is its ever-growing busy timeline! So many people sharing their views, so many businesses coming up with their unique ideas, and posting interesting links, it seems to be a whirlpool of activities that never ceases to be! The first hand news from the horse’s mouth, people tweeting from real life situations giving you first hand details of it, it is just too tempting to resist.

I remember, I was in Kolkata during the massive explosion followed by the fire that happened in Stephen Court, Park Street, claiming hundreds of lives.  And, even before the media could air the news, it was on Twitter! Some brave heart who somehow was stuck inside the building was continuously tweeting from the location. I bet that day people cared to talk to him more than sitting before the television and watching the news on some local news channel. Some were comforting him, some were asking him to be brave and patient, some were frequently dialing numbers for help and the others were just awake on him.  He was saved, yes, but it brought out a new fact before me, the power of ‘live tweeting’.

The catch of ‘Twitter’, I feel, is its vitality. It gives the users a feel of being a part of continuous flow of activities. There is a strange urge that I feel, to frequently check out my timeline for new updates or information that interests me. Or, for what my favorite celeb is saying. I don’t know if Twitter will wear out like the rest, once a better alternative hits the market, neither I’m sure if it will keep growing like now, but one thing that I know for certain is… ‘Twitter’ is here to rule and enjoy the limelight for some time now. 

iPhone in Politics?

Hey...just heard iPhone apps have entered the political scenario!!! Candidates are getting their own iPhone apps developed and spreading their message. Hmmm....wonderful how technology savy these politicians are becoming. First it was Facebook, then Twitter, and now iPhone apps! Great! I just wonder whether Indian politicians will too be thinking of something like this or will they stick to their conventional demonstrations and political meetings. Can't wait to hear your views on it. Let me know fast!