Blog Popularity Why Blogs Become Popular

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Blog Popularity

Lets step back for a moment to examine the top, singular goal for your blog:

Forget for now the myriad strategies and tactics that lead to blog popularity such as link building, networking, social media, search engines and all the other stuff.

Focus just on the fact that you want your blog to be popular like the bloggers you admire and follow.

Getting away from the trees (specific tactics) so that we can see the forest (what makes a blog popular?) is a crucial element in helping to define what popularity means and how we go about getting it.

Why Some Blogs Become Wildly Popular:

1. Content worthy of praise by a target group of people: But not only praise. It has to be content people will go out of their way to tell others about in tons of different ways.

2. Simplicity: Navigation, purpose, topic range, and cleanliness of sidebars and the posting area itself are determining factors. Blog design!

3. Networking: Getting connected with the right people online is not just a goal for regular surfers who use social sites. It is a most vital factor in the length of time a blog takes to become popular. Win friends and influence the influencers in your niche and youll become popular.

4. Usefulness: Aside from your content being useful, which is understood in point 1 above, most popular blogs offer some kind of popular, needed, wanted, highly desired service to their community. One that gets linked to as the only place on the web one would go for such utility. Think resource lists, simple software that helps people do something that is otherwise manual and time consuming for them. Things like that.

5. Uniqueness: Popular blogs do overlap with each other in topic areas, but in some important way they are different than everyone else. This could be a simple as a different style of writing by the blogger, more or less attitude, opinion, creativity. Or it could be an overall sense that, while there may be a lot of similar blogs in topic, yours is considered the defining blog in the niche by which everyone else is measured.

6. Likability: Literally, are you writing as a likable person? Are you reaching out and making people identify with you personally? The person behind a blog is the only true determining factor of the difference between them and someone else. It is the only truly unique factor. Everything else can be copied by someone else: design, topics, posts, etc.

7. Dependable: All popular blogs have some sort of publishing schedule they adhere to. Readers come to depend on bloggers they like to provide content on some sort of regular basis that doesnt change radically or often. In the same way, other bloggers must feel you are a dependable supporter of their efforts to build buzz.If you get a favor from another blogger, like a link, they expect something in return down the road. If that something in return never appears, that blogger is not only likely to never pay attention to you again, but they can end up telling other influencers in your market that you arent dependable. That youre not one of them.

8. Exciting: Shaking things up in any niche is a good thing. Bloggers who run contests and have the ability to pull other bloggers together for a common campaign, whether a contest, their content or marketing-based, seem to always put themselves in the center of the action.

9. Respect: All popular blogs come to be so because of respect. Respect for their ability to define, entertain, teach, provoke thought, provoke laughter, incite intense bouts of commenting, and to gather lots of voluntary links from all over their niche from people who are normally very hard to get links from. Respect from your readers and respect from thought leaders and bigger blogs is absolutely essential in gaining serious popularity.

10. Being Fast: Popular blogs are always on top of whats going on in any niche. They are always among the first to break stories, new ideas, gossip, insider secrets, or other news their market relies on.

Ive found that the less a blog looks like it is trying to be making any money, the more it is probably making for the blogger. The more a blogger looks like a selfless giver, the more money they can make. The more readers feel like they get for free, the more they spend when the time comes for the blogger to launch a book, product, service, or announce an affiliate product.

In the end, blog popularity is much like high school popularity. And it works both ways. Most people immediately think the cheerleaders and football team are the only popular ones. But remember all the other groups and cliques that were popular precisely for not being in the clich groups.

So in your market, be a cheerleader. Or be a Goth. Either way, get popular in your niche by being defined by the 10 examples above!

Social Media In Recruitment

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Last year, Microsoft saved $88,000 in recruitment fees by using LinkedIn, while brewer SAB Miller saved $1.7 million employing 120 people directly from the site. KPMG found recruits through Second Life by holding a 48-hour virtual world jobs fair in September 2008, with more than 10,000 applicants registering for the event through KPMGs global website.

So what are the advantages of utilizing social media in terms of recruitment? Firstly, it is more efficient. Organizations can use social media to tap potential recruits much more easily by advertising vacancies and searching for recruits on LinkedIn, for example. However, LinkedIn and other social media applications can actually be used for much more than simply a job post site. Indeed, social recruiting can be used to increase effectiveness and forge new and deeper relationships between employees and employers. Rather than simply recruiting the person with the best-looking CV, social media can ensure that that person is also the best fit for the company.

Technology is essentially being used to provide better quality links to potential employees, developing and maintaining a relationship over a number of years, which can be tapped in to at later date. There are a number of ways in which this can be done, for example, LinkedIn, Facebook and other social networks offer the chance to form a community based on a topic determined by the organization. However, while an organization like Goldman Sachs globally invests over 100,000 hours each year in conversations with prospective employees, it is not always practical for organizations to put this much effort into their recruitment. That said, social media does make it simple for any organization to proactively develop some kind of relationship with potential employees to the best if its ability.

Social media applications are also being used to rate and compare employees, determine cultural fit and extend internal initiatives, like the referral scheme, to an external audience and using social media to compliment their hiring process: 75 percent are using LinkedIn for background checks and 48 percent are using Facebook for background checks. In fact, more than two-thirds of all HR professionals now run internet searches on job applicants. According to Microsoft, one in four HR employees has rejected a candidates application based on their social networking profile, while only 37 percent of people see it as their responsibility to protect their online reputation.

It is interesting that despite a full 35 percent of employers who screen job candidates online presence choosing not to hire an applicant, so many job seekers continue to make mistakes or fail to clean up their profiles, particularly at a time in the market that is so competitive.

A difficult dilemma

While social networks are undoubtedly here to stay, whether they become a more central part to the hiring process or not is yet to proved, either way they are a resource that needs to be handled with care, using common sense and appropriate practices to avoid legal entanglements. A recent report from Taleo, Social Network Recruiting: Managing Compliance Issues, outlines some of key points to consider when using social media as a recruitment resource.

Firstly the report cites the potentially discriminating impact of using social networks in the hiring process because the labor pool does not fully represent the demographics of the general public. According to media analytics firm, Quantcast, only five percent of LinkedIns members are African Americans and only two percent are Hispanic versus 12.8 percent and 15.4 percent of the population total respectively. Taleos report quotes Jessica Roe, Managing Partner at the Minneapolis law firm Bernick, Lifson, Greenstein, Greenze & Liszt who says, I anticipate more race and age claims over the next two years, and a significant proportion will be from sourcing through social networking sitesWell see lawsuits.

While the practice of using social networking sites to help screen candidates is littered with legal dangers there is nothing wrong with rejecting a candidate due to personal characteristics. However, if this information is obtained through a social network it is impossible to ensure whether all the information uncovered will be job-relevant. While some information will undoubtedly be found on an application form or through an interview (such as gender and race) other information that is related to a country of origin, religious preference, disability, age or sexual orientation might not be.

And the mere appearance of discrimination can cause potential problems. If a business can prove that a hiring process was based on a test then a candidate wont have a case, but if its based on softer criteria then it is difficult to prove that discrimination wasnt involved, particularly if a candidate is a fan of the Facebook page of Gay Rights or belongs to groups for expectant mothers, for example. If this is the case then some are bound to conclude that they werent hired because they were gay, pregnant, disabled and so on.

The report concludes that due to the associated legal issues, social networks pose a difficult dilemma for HR departments. However, they are the best way to headhunt potential candidates, as well as verify resume claims and gain insight into a character. Currently there are no Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations regarding the use of social media or networks in recruitment. It is also important from a screening perspective to ensure that social networks are not used as a sole means for advertising, as this is perceived as discriminatory.

A federal court opinion that appears to be the first published decision that deals with social networking was in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in December 2008, in which a would-be teacher named Stacy Synder who was unable to receive an educational degree required for a teaching certificate in the state. Snyder was engaged in a required teaching program she was assigned a high school teacher to supervise her, who was critical of her abilities, noting an ignorance of basic grammar as well as inadequate classroom management and inappropriate manner with students. When another teacher discovered Snyders MySpace page where was wearing a pirates hat, holding a plastic cup that said drunken pirate and had a stupid expression on her face, according to Snyders own testimony. Also on the page was information that suggested her supervisor was the reason that Snyder would not by applying for a job at that high school.

Synder was suspended from the student teaching program and in the ruling against her it was decided that the school had no legal authority to award her a degree in eduction where she did not complete the required teaching program. While the decision does not deal with private employers, the case does contain important lessons for employers and recruiters.

The Taleo report suggests that HR departments can minimize risk by truly evaluating the use of social networking in certain situations and whether an alternate approach will work in its place. For example, if qualification verification is required there are well-established approaches to screening that pose no legal risk whatsoever.

There is no right or wrong way to use social media in recruitment the best employers and employees will stay on top of the evolving trends by keeping an open mind and logging in these tools will inevitably bring benefits of their own, but only time will tell just how important social media becomes to the recruitment world.

Social Bookmarking Guide Slashdot

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Slashdot is a technology site that is founded by Geeknet Inc. It was started by a computer science student called Rob Malda in Hope College computer. Rob Malda is also known as Commander Taco. The name Slashdot is derived from the format of the URL. The name was chosen because Rob wanted to confuse people with the pronunciation of the URL (http slash slash dot org)

Slashdot.org has a page rank of 8 on the homepage. It is a dofollow site so the URL which you submit will be followed by the search engine spider. If you can get your post ranked on the front page, you will get a free high quality backlink to your site. High quality backlinks are more valuable than tons of other useless links.

You dont have to create an account to create a new bookmark at Slashdot. To submit a new bookmark, you should click on the submit story link on top to be redirected to the submission page. In the Title Your Story field, enter an interesting title for the content. In the Mainurl of submission field, enter the web address of the content in the form of http://www.domain.com/news.html. You must write a description for the bookmark post. The description should be kept as short as possible. It should be a short summary of the real content in approximately 150 characters. You should tag the bookmark post so that people can easily find it. The tags are keywords used by people to find your bookmark post when performing a search through the search box on the site. Finally, you should enter the characters displayed in the captcha code. When you are done, you should click on the preview button. After reviewing the post, you can click on the Save button so that it will displayed on the site to the users around the world.
If you want to create a bookmark, it is best to create an account. If you did not register for an account, it will display the post as submitted by an anonymous reader. To create an account, you simply click on the login link on top. When the login page pop up, click on Create a New Account.

After creating an account, you can update your profile. You can access the profile at slashdot.org/my/login. In the Real Name field, you should enter your name. If you hold a PHD or master degree, you can use a title in front of the name. In the Homepage field, you should enter the web address of your company site. In the Sig field, you can enter any message that you want them to be visible to other users. The signature will be appended to the end of the comments. You can include links in the signature. In the bio field, you should write a short description of your company. The biography word count should not exceed 120 characters. You can also upload a profile picture. If you are an individual, you can upload a professional photo of yourself. If you are a company entity, you can use the logo of your company. When you are done, you can click on the Save User button.

Sociology How Past Experiences Affect Your Life

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Sociologist Herbert Mead developed a theory known as social behaviorism, which helped explained why past social experiences help form an individuals personality. Mead did not believe that personality was developed by drives or biologically, but more on terms socially. He stated that the self only developed when people interact with one another. Without the interaction of other people an individual cant develop a personality. An example of this is if a child is left in total isolation for a long period of time then they dont mature both physically or mentally.

Next, social experience is crucial, and this includes the exchange of symbols. Only people attach meanings to words and symbols. If you tell a dog to sit and it obeys then you may give it a snack. However, this doesnt mean it knows why to sit down, but it does so to get food. You can tell a dog to sit for numerous of reasons such as wanting to impress your friends, or to calm it down because it is running all over the place. Also, Mead noted that understanding individual intentions is critical. This will help us to analyze how an individual will respond even before we act. For example, when were driving we all anticipate what others may do because of experience. If an individual behinds you is speeding up rather quickly, then you can assume that they are about to switch lanes, or you can assume that they are in a rush and need to get somewhere quickly. Mead refers to this as taking another individuals role.

Another important theory that is related to social behaviorism is the looking-glass self. This is basically like mirroring what we think others think of us. If we think others view you as being good looking, then you will see yourself as being good looking, or if you think people think that you are fat then you will have that image of yourself. People take the roles of other people during development. Infants have very little knowledge so they tend to mimic others. Children often have creative minds and take on roles of other significant others or people such as parents that have a special importance in their social development. For example, children will play house in which someone will take the role of a mother while another take that of a father. As they age children will learn to take various roles and adjust to their surroundings. As we continue to age we will continue to see changes in our social life. There are a lot of critics of Meads theories and some claim that he focus too much on the society in developing an individuals behavior. Another sociologist Erik H. Erikson stated that unlike Freud who believed that personality was pretty much set in stone in the first couple of years of an individuals life, that personality changes in stages and occurs all the way up to death. His theory is not all that accurate as well, because people experience changes in different orders and time.

Through all of the disagreements, sociologists generally agree on this main idea, and that is that the family has the greatest impact on an individuals socialization abilities. When an individual is an infant they have no control and usually rely on their parents and family members to help nurture them. Through family they learn several of communication techniques such as trust, culture, and beliefs. Dont get me wrong, not all learning comes solely from family; they can come from the environment as well because in a lot of cultures they use the environment to help raise a child. I guess the saying is true in which it takes a village to raise a child. It may not be surprising to you that different social classes tend to raise their children differently. An interesting survey that happened in the United States compared what a lower class family would want in a child compared to that of an upper class family. A lower class family would usually favor obedience and conformity while an upper class family would tend to favor creativity and good judgment (NORS, 2003).

Have you ever wondered why? Well the reason is lower class workers tend to have jobs that they must be very obedient in and are highly supervised. Subconsciously they are gearing their children towards that route and will even use physical punishment to achieve it. In upper class workers they tend to have jobs that inspire individuality and creativity which is very similar to the traits they would like to have in their children. School also has a large effect on an individuals personalities. If you think about it you spend a huge chunk of time each day at school. Its also interesting to note that children tend to play with people as the same race and gender, and that boys are more physical and aggressive while girls are more well behaved. Boys also tend to find abstract activities more interesting like video games and girls tend to be more artistic.

The same thing follows when they get to college because boys tend to major in physical sciences, and computing while girls usually major in humanities and arts. In school is where children discover peer groups or individual that has similar interest as themselves. People tend o indemnify more with their peer groups and can have conversations about things they understand like clothes, music, and style. Peer groups are a way for individuals to escape adult supervision, and people are usually more out spoken in peer groups. During the adolescent years people tend to identify more with their peer groups because they identify themselves as an adult and that is also a time in which parents are concerned about who their children hang around because they know that who they hang around influence their behavior deeply. During these years the mass media heavily affects individuals as well. Studies have showed that television have made people more passive and lesson their creativity. In the United States we spend he most time watching television and own the most T.V sets per household.

Solutions To Discrimination And Stereotyping At Work

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Typecasting and stereotyping individuals is a common human error. Constructive relationship building is reliant on a person’s ability to learn from others differences. Failing to notice diversity in the workplace and not approaching this with an open mind is a fundamental error we all make. It is important for employees to identify ways to remove stereotyping from their work environment.

While you may not be directly involved, if you are in an environment that is conducive to social labeling consider yourself warned. Stereotyping inhibits social development and group learning. Work typecasting will directly hamper an individual’s ability to develop personal relationships and networking skills.

Prejudice is an immediate by-product of social stereotyping. Prejudiced behaviour leads to discrimination in the workplace which is less than favourable. The labelling of people at work is a way in which we categorise chunks of information. The less familiar the information and the more complicated it is to disseminate, the more we are prone to assigning a ‘general’ label to it.

In an attempt to remove workplace stereotyping the best approach to start with is by defining this. Stereotyping or labeling is explained as being the social categorisation we assign to those we meet. It is a human instinct to literally label people as we meet them. In essence stereotyping is a ‘lazy’ social habit we have developed. Consider the disaster stereotyping has in a place such as South Africa, where the diversity in culture is vast and complex.

When human beings are faced with new information we look for the fastest and simplest way to make sense of it. When bombarded with vast differences and hordes of information the easiest way through is to put miscellaneous matter into a stereotype box. When faced with information we don’t understand a kind of mental meltdown ensues. Systems crash and the sheer mystery of such information lead to assumptions.

Prejudice as a Result of Stereotyping at Work

Prejudice behaviour and discrimination is a direct result of stereotyping. Discrimination is an immediate by-product of refusing to accept other for their individuality. Such behaviour is both deconstructive and primitive. As the name explains, to be prejudice is to pre-judge an individual. Instead of awarding people the equal opportunity to prove their personal worth we assign a predefined label to them. Based on assumption, we place individuals into groups of relevancy. Prejudice behaviour in the workplace instills negativity and unfair criticism.

FIVE SOLUTIONS: Remove Stereotyping form the Workplace

1. Learn to interact with people on a more personal level

– Personal relationships are one of the most insightful clues to your own emotional maturity.
– Expand your perceptions and open your mind to diversities.
– Personal relationships are based on your ability to interact with others and harmonise the disclosure of personal information

2. Interact with diverse professional contacts

– Open yourself up to learning about different cultures in business.
– Develop valuable business contacts as a result of mutual sharing and respect.

3. Commit to expanding your knowledge.

– Apply effort to you endeavour to learn from things you don’t understand.
– Exercise commitment and patience in your quest to remove stereotyping from the workplace.

4. Keep an open mind.

– Put your feet in others shoes.
– Consider their experiences based on their situation.
– Conceited behaviour is counter-productive.
– Practice humility

5. Make it your goal to remove type casting from your workplace.

– Display conviction to your cause and you will not fail.
– Setting objectives is the best way to motivate yourself.
– Make it your goal to succeed.

Learning from each other’s differences and having a slice of humble pie is all that is required to eliminate stereotyping. There are so many things that we can learn from each other’s differences. We cannot expect to move forward if we continue to refer back to past stereotyping.

Copyright (c) 2008 Camilla Patten