Mom Central Blogger University

How to get more inbound links to your blog: blog carnivals

To rise in page rank and get more search engine traffic to your blog, you need more inbound links (links from other blogs and websites to your blog and posts). So how do you know how many inbound links you have?

The easiest way is by going to Google.com and entering link: www.yourblog.com and seeing what the results are.

You should also try link: yourblog.com as well as  the URL of some of your more popular posts just to see who is linking to you.

You can also do this using Google Webmaster Tools. Here’s how.

How to increase inbound links

One way to increase your inbound links is by guest blogging, but that requires a lot of work. First you have to find someone interested in hosting your post, then you have to write it. (Chris Garrett's Guest Posting Workbook can help you streamline this process.)

You can also bookmark your posts at sites like Digg, Kirtsy, Facebook or StumbleUpon. Some of these sites use nofollow links (they don’t pass on “Google Juice”). To find out if a site uses nofollow links, use a Firefox tool extension like SearchStatus. It will highlight all the nofollow links on a web page.

A quick and easy way to get inbound links is by participating in blog carnivals. A few years back, blog carnivals were very popular. It seemed that at least once a week, a favorite blogger was hosting them on her site. When that was the case, it got kind of boring. After all, who wanted to read link roundup posts that much? Well, maybe it’s time to buck the trend!

Cleaning up your online profiles

Now that you have a new headshot, it’s time to update all your online profiles. Of course, there are the places you’re at every day like Twitter and Facebook, but where else are you?

One way to find out is to Google yourself. Try searching on – YOUR NAME profile, “YOUR NAME” profile, and “YOUR NAME profile.” Do the same thing at Bing.com and Yahoo.com, too. Then start clicking away and updating your profile.

Warning: if a site you don’t recognize comes up in a search make sure you have good virus protection software installed on your computer before clicking on it. Or just leave it alone.

(I clicked on one of those phishing links just to check it out. Virus protection shields immediately went up and put whatever it was trying to download into quarantine. I ran my virus protection software again, and the next time I started the computer, Windows cleaned up some corrupted files on my drive. Scary!)

Creating a perfect social networking profile

Besides your picture, what else should you have in your profile? Depending on what the site lets you do, here are some basics:

• Your name or how you want people to know you. If you’re professionally blogging, writing or consulting, you should use your full name. (On Facebook you may want to include your maiden name, so your high school friends can find you. If you’re blogging anonymously, call yourself by your blog name or a shorten version of it. For example, if your blog is Weight Loss Yoga Mom, maybe you want to use “WLYogaMom” or “YogaMom” instead.
• Location. We’re all concerned about privacy, so instead of putting your town, you may want to use the nearest big city or your general region. That’s why I often use Rocky Mountain High, Colorado instead of my town’s name.
• Contact information. Again, consider privacy and spammers. Many social networking sites let you keep your email hidden. If people want to get hold of you, they can direct message you on the site.
• Your blogs, Twitter and Facebook pages. List all the places you are at online. Some sites will pass “Google juice” via links to your blog. How can you tell? Use a program like Quirk Search Status, a Firefox extension that highlights the No Follow links on a website. Ning sites don’t pass on Google juice, but BlogHer.com does.

Your online profile: how to get a good headshot

Recently, I had a new headshot taken by Aimee Giese of Greeblemonkey. My last professional photograph was taken in 2006 and I had been using a picture a friend took two years ago in all my online profiles. I was way overdue for an update.

What makes a good headshot

Your picture is part of your personal brand - what does it say about you? For example, if you’re blogging to support your accounting business, you should look smart and professional. (Keep those reading glasses on!) If you’re running a personal blog, your photo can be more casual. Think about what you want convey – friendly, funny, serious, professional, geeky, adventurous, etc.

The next step is to find someone to take your picture. You may have a friend or relative who’s a good amateur photographer. Try some shots indoors and out. Remember to keep the backgrounds simple and use natural lighting when possible. Smile, have fun, act natural and be yourself!

Editing your portrait

You can use a photo editing program to get rid of redeye, blemishes, glare and shadows. I used an online picture editor, Picnik ($24.95/year for the upgrade) to smooth out the uneven skin tone in my headshot. (And to get rid of a few laugh lines as well, if you really must know.) Finally, make sure that your photo looks good as a small avatar. If you’re barely visible it may mean that your photo has to be cropped to show just your face.

Hiring a professional photographer

You may decide hiring a pro is the way to go. Ask around to see where business people in your area have their portraits taken. You can also use BetterBusinessShots.com to find photographers nearby. Ask if they have a studio or will meet you at an outdoor location if that’s what you’d prefer.

The cost for a typical headshot will start in the $150 to $200 range and go even higher. Inquire about sitting fees, getting digital copies loaded on a disc or jump drive, having  prints made, and touch ups. Also, don’t forget to include the cost of a trip to your favorite salon for professional styling and makeup – or having your stylist and a makeup artist come to the shoot.

Portraiture ownership

Find out before the shoot if you can purchase full rights and ownership of your headshot to use in any manner that you like. According to the Local Focus Photography blog,

…typically the photographer retains all rights to the image…and that includes all associated fees and costs.

Unless you have specified in a contract that you are purchasing exclusive rights to the photo and, the odds are…you don’t actually own the image.

Full rights may be too expensive. Instead, find out how much it will be for a low to medium resolution digital copy that you can use online. You may also want to purchase a few prints for your husband and mom. Make sure that all charges are specified in writing before you have your portrait taken. That way there aren’t any surprises or extra costs.

If you have purchased rights to make additional prints from a digital file, make sure you have a release form from the photographer. Believe me, the clerks at Walgreens will ask for it, so bring a copy with you when you pick up your photos.

More on getting a professional portrait taken:

• Projecting the right image: 5 tips for having a great professional portrait taken (cached version of the article)
• Why All Business Women Should Have a Professional Portrait of Themselves
• Are Professional Headshots in Social Media a Bad Idea?
• Professional Business Portraits Portraits of Distinction – some good tips from a professional photographer

2010 social media conference guide for mom bloggers

Blissdom is just over and many bloggers are getting ready for Mom 2.0 Summit next week. What other conferences might be of interest to moms who blog? Here’s a list of social media conferences in the US and Canada that I’ll be updating throughout the year.

Email me if you’d like to add another conference to the list.

JANUARY

Chicks Who Click
January 23, 2010 in Boulder, Colorado

FEBRUARY

Social Media Week
February 1-5, 2010 in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Sao Paulo, London, Toronto

Blissdom
February 4-6, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee

Evolving Influence Fashion Blogger Conference
February 15, 2010 in New York, New York

Mom 2.0 Summit
February 18-21, 2010 in Houston, Texas

WordCamp Miami
February 20, 2010 in Miami, Florida

MARCH

Chicks Who Click
March 6, 2010 in Omaha, Nebraska

Bloggy Bootcamp Baltimore
March 6, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland

South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive
March 11-16, 2010 in Austin, Texas

Fitbloggin for healthy lifestyle bloggers
March 19-21, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland

WordCamp Toronto
March 27–28, 2010 in Toronto, Ontario

APRIL

BlogPaws for pet bloggers 
April 9-10, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio.

WordCamp Real Estate
April 12, 2010 in Denver, Colorado

WordCamp Orange County
April 24, 2010 in Orange County, California

SOBCon 2010
April 30-May 2, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois

MAY

Bloggy Bootcamp Phoenix
May 1, 2010 in Phoenix Arizona

WordCamp San Francisco
May 1, 2010 in San Francisco, CA

Camp Blogaway for food bloggers
May 14-16, 2010 by Angelus Oaks, California  (by Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains)

WordCamp Raleigh
May 22–23, 2010 in Raleigh, North Carolina

Casual Bloggers Conference 
May 28-29, 2010 in Sandy, Utah

WordCamp Fayetteville
May 29–30, 2010 Fayetteville, Arkansas

JUNE

WordCamp Chicago
June 5–6 in Chicago, Illinois

WordCamp Vancouver
June 12, 2010 Vancouver, Canada

EVO ‘10 – The Evolution of Women in Social Media
June 24-26, 2010 in Park City, Utah

JULY

WordCamp Denver
July 10, 2010 in Denver, Colorado

Savvy Blogging Summit
July 8 – 11, 2010 in Breckenridge, Colorado
(Application due April 1, 2010)

AUGUST

Blogher '10
August 6-7, 2010 in New York, New York

Bloggy Bootcamp San Francisco
August 21, 2010 in San Francisco, California

SEPTEMBER

Bloggy Bootcamp Philadelphia
September 11, 2010 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

WordCamp Kelowna
September 25, 2010 in Kelowna, Canada

OCTOBER

Blogher Food
October 8-9, 2010 in San Francisco, California

Blogalicious
October 8-10, 2010 in Miami, Florida

The Relevant Conference
October 21-24, 2010 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Bloggy Bootcamp Austin
October 23, 2010 in Austin, Texas

DECEMBER

WordCamp Louisville
December 3, 2010 in Louisville, Kentucky

TBA:

• Type-A Mom Tentative dates: September 24-26 and November 5-7 in Ashville, NC
• Blog World Expo (October?)
• Izeafest (October?)
• FoodBuzz Blogger Festival (November?)

Thanks to Jennifer James at Mom Bloggers Club and Wendy at Mommy Bloggers Guide for inspiring this list.

Updated 3/17/10

Fighting the advertising/affiliate program tax in your state

I’ve had a couple of busy weeks emailing my state representatives about Colorado HB-1193, the advertising tax that affects bloggers and website owners who work with affiliate programs like Overstock.com or Amazon.

Even if you’re not a Colorado blogger, you should pay attention because other states are planning to enact similar bills: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota and Tennessee.

Colorado HB-1193 mandates that out-of-state retailers will be required to collect sales tax if they have a single affiliate in the state. (If you use Amazon.com affiliate links and earn even a penny, you’re an affiliate.) Since affiliate sales are a small part of their business, it’s easier for big companies like Amazon to stop working with affiliates than to deal with collecting sales tax.

If those companies stop working with bloggers and website owners, not only will no sales tax be collected but many people will lose their income. No (or reduced) income means that the state will collect less income tax, too. Bills like these are nothing but a lose-lose proposition.

According to Jeanine Crooks, a Colorado blogger and podcaster, “Two companies have already terminated all their Colorado affiliates, seven more have announced their intentions, and many more are expected today.” This repeats what happened when similar bills passed in New York, Rhode Island, and North Carolina.

For more details on what’s going on in Colorado, see Colorado House Passes Bill that Threatens to Devastate Affiliates. Make sure you read the comments, too.

What can I do to help?

If you’re a blogger who works with affiliate programs in Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota and Tennessee, sign the Help Fight the Advertising Tax petition on the Performance Marketing Association (PMA) site. Make sure to sign up to receive advocacy updates from so you can be notified on what’s happening in your state.

More on affiliate taxes:

• Amazon tax has not generated revenue from the Providence (RI) Business News
• Affiliate taxes don't work, states continue to pursue them from Econsultancy.com
• Amazon buyers, beware: State has it in for you by Vincent Carroll, columnist for the Denver Post (Make sure to read the comments.)
• PMA blog on state legislation
• @PMAssociation
• Melanie Seery of Affiliate Advocacy (This blog covers affiliate program legislation all over the US.) and @AffAdvocacy on Twitter
• Colorado Internet Tax blog
• Keep Speaking Out in Opposition to Advertising Tax
• Twitter search on #advertising tax

Spring cleaning your Twitter account with UnTweeps

Have you noticed that you’re following people you haven’t heard from in awhile – like all those people who are tweeting as Mad Men characters? Well, UnTweeps is a Twitter application that lets you unfollow those dead accounts.

This free service has you log in via Twitter, which will then bring you back to the UnTweeps site. After you enter the number of days in the past you want to check (the minimum is 15), click on the “Check stale tweets” button. For example, if you enter 30, then anyone who hasn't updated their tweeted in the last 30 days will show up on your list.

All of the stale Twitter users are automatically check marked as ones you want to unfollow. If you don’t want to unfollow them, just un-check mark them.

When you’re ready to clean up your account, click the "Unfollow Selected Tweeps" button. UnTweeps sends the list to the Twitter API, which does the actual unfollowing. There is a lag time, so have patience if the users you just unfollowed still show up in your Twitter follow list.

Creating a whitelist

If you’re like me and have friends who don’t tweet very often, you may want to continue to follow them even if their account is inactive. To do this, add them to your whitelist.

Enter a number of days. Then check mark the ones you want to keep off the UnTweeps list. If you are doing this operation after you have already made a whitelist, anyone already on the list will have a check mark. Just check the additional ones you want. Anyone on the whitelist will not appear when you run your UnTweeps list.

UnTweeps Pro

If you want to use UnTweeps more than three times per month, or check for slightly stale Twitters, periods under 15 days, you can purchase an UnTweeps Pro account. The cost is $1.37 for 3 days or $5 per month subscription.

For more ways to clean up your Twitter account, see Keeping it clean at Twitter.

How to copyright your blog

We’re 20 days into the new year. Have you changed the copyright date on your blog yet? (I just did it yesterday on both my personal blogs and the blogs here at Mom Central. Oops.)

According to Brad Templeton in his post, 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained, “almost all things [including blogs] are copyrighted the moment they are written, and no copyright notice is required.” Still, it looks more professional if have a copyright notice somewhere on your blog – either in the sidebar and/or on your about page.

You should also license you blog with Creative Commons and display the badge in your sidebar. While licensing your blog with Creative Commons does not give you the same protection as registering your copyright, it acts in addition of your existing copyright. (See the Creative Commons FAQ page for more information.)  Also, if you use Feedburner, make sure to display the Creative Commons badge in your RSS feed. (Go to How to set up your Feedburner account to learn how.)

Filing a copyright

If you are concerned about someone stealing your work (for example, if you’re trying to get a book or movie deal based on your blog) you should consider registering the copyright for all your blog’s content. 

According to Denise Wakeman at Biz Tips Blog, “Blogs are considered literary texts and can be registered as such. But, what about the fact you're adding new content all the time?  You can register new content every three months to protect it.”

The U.S. Copyright Office is your best resource to learn how to do this. They offer information on What Does Copyright Protect? (website, domain name and recipe), Copyright Registration for Online Works (PDF) and Copyrighting Recipes (PDF).

Online filings with the U.S. Copyright Office are only $35 per filing and you can pay by credit or debit card or electronic check. Most online filers receive a certificate within nine months, and many receive their certificates earlier.

Before using the service, the Copyright Office recommends you first read eCO Acceptable File Types, eCO Tips, eCO FAQs, or eCO Tutorial (PowerPoint) eCO Tutorial (PDF). For recently added features, see eCO Updates.

More resources

• License your work at Creative Commons
• Bloggers' FAQ on Intellectual Property – Questions about Copyright from the Electronic Frontier Foundation
• What to do when someone steals your content? from Lorelle on Wordpress
• Live blogging of the Blogher07: Business of You: Professional Blogging: Art and Commerce session from the Write Spot, LLC
• 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained and Introduction to Copyrights from Brad Templeton
• Copyright Crash Course
• More on Recipe Copyrights from Food Blog S’cool
• Copyright and Blogs - 14 Guidelines and Keeping it Legal from Problogger

$30 can make you a better blogger and help you build traffic

If you’re going to make an investment in your blogging this year, you should check out two ebooks being offered by a couple of top bloggers – Darren Rowse of CopyBlogger and Chris Garret of ChrisG.com

Darren Rowse’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog

Starting today and for 1 week only, Darren is releasing three bonuses for all previous and all new owners of his 31 Days to Build a Better Blog workbook.

The downloadable workbook gives a series of 31 tasks to help bloggers get their blogs going or revitalized. Usually this is offered as an online course over a month, but this way you have it all in one ebook.

Each day you get:

1. A Task – something to DO.
2. A Lesson – each day you’ll be given instructions on both the WHY and HOW of the task of the day.

This week only, Darren is bundling it with these bonuses:

1. 9 Things to Do to Get Your Blog On Track in The New Year – This short piece gives you an extra nine exercises to help get you focused on blogging for the New Year.
2. A podcast interview with Leo Babauta of Zenhabits.
3. A podcast interview with Neil Patel, the traffic generating and personal branding genius from Quicksprout.

The workbook is available for you to purchase and download now for just $19.95. It has a 30 day money back guarantee to ensure that this is the right purchase for you.

You can purchase it directly here or get more information on the workbook and bonuses here. It’s such a great deal that I’m going to buy a copy myself!

muvee Reveal version 8 half off until December 30, 2009

muvee Reveal is an easy to use video editing program that comes with editing tools like automatic brightness, color correction, rotate image, and red eye reduction. You can also create captions, voiceovers, and add end credits.

I originally reviewed it in my post,  Make your home movies look professional with muvee Reveal. Since then muvee Reveal version 8 has been released. It has special features that bloggers will love including the ability to directly upload your finished muvees to YouTube and Facebook. (Before you had to use shwup.com) You can also branding your muvees with your blog’s logo. Plus, they’ve added music trimming and style control options, making syncing video and still pictures with music even easier.

I have used it several times and found it to be fun and easy to use. Plus, it’s easy to share your finished work not only on YouTube and Facebook, but you can burn DVDs to send to grandparents or even export your movies to your iPod, iPhone, mobile phone and PSP.

muvee Reveal a terrific tool for bloggers, but it is also a great way to make muvees for class projects, workplace presentations or video presents for friends and relatives. You can try muvee Reveal for a free 15-day trial or purchase it for $38.95 (50% off!) until December 30, 2009. After that it goes back to it's original price of $79.95. (And yes, muvee Reveal is windows 7 compatible for all you folks who got new computers this holiday season.)

You can learn more at the muvee Reveal website, the muvee Facebook Fan page or on Twitter @muvee

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Disclosure: I received a copy of muvee Reveal to try out the program for this review.

Amazon Associates affiliate program now integrated with Blogger blogs

Last week, Amazon announced their new program Amazon Associates for Blogger, a direct integration between Amazon Associates, their affiliate program, and Blogger. This new collaboration makes it easier for bloggers to monetize their content by adding relevant Amazon product links to blog posts without interrupting the blog editing process. Amazon Associates for Blogger is now available on the Associates Central webpage.

Sign up is easy

If you already have an Amazon Associates affiliate account, you can use your current Associates ID. If you’re new to Amazon Associates, you can sign up and get your ID right away.

The sign up process for current Associates takes less than a minute and is instantly added to your Blogger blog under the Monetize tab. You also have the ability to turn the Amazon Product Finder off if you don’t like it for some reason. If you’re new to the Amazon Associates program (and yes, it’s worth signing up even if you only make a few dollars a month) you’ll need to give them contact and banking information.

How to use Amazon Associates for Blogger in your posts

The new tool allows you to easily to add Amazon affiliate links and images to you blog posts in just two easy steps:

1. Just type and highlight the relevant text into your blog post. The Amazon Product Finder, which shows up in your posting screen, searches Amazon’s millions of products and recommends the ones that are most closely associated with the text you highlighted.
2. You can then insert a link or image (or both in a badge type ad) to that product, which will include you Associates ID. (When you add an image to your post, there will be a blue lined box around it. However, this will not show up when you post.)

If you use a blog editor such as LiveWriter, you may want to write your post first in that program, then post it draft in your Blogger blog, and use the Amazon Product Finder to add Amazon affiliate links and pictures.

Amazon Associates for Blogger sidebar widgets

Signing up Amazon Associates for Blogger also enables you to show dynamic content in your blog sidebar using a new set of integrated sidebar gadgets, such as gadgets for MP3 clips from the Amazon DRM-free music store, an Amazon Deals gadget, and an Amazon Search box. Just go to Layout, click on Add a Gadget and type in Amazon to find all their gadgets.

Warning: some bloggers find that adding Amazon sidebar gadgets to their blogs slows down page/site load time. I’ve had the problem where their gadgets goofed up the code of other sidebar widgets. Also, I noticed that my readers seldom click on Amazon side bar gadgets, so I don’t use them. No point in letting them take up precious real estate on my blog.

I love how the Amazon Associates for Blogger feature helps you save a lot of time when trying to monetize your content. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Amazon is considering adding similar functionality to TypePad and WordPress blogs.