How To Ease the Pressure of Blogging

A Guest Post by David Turnbull of Adventures of a Barefoot Geek
After the initial excitement of launching a new blog fades most bloggers are a few steps away from being overwhelmed with the pressure of blogging to the point that they quit, losing the momentum they were building up and all the progress they’d made. This is an unfortunately common occurence.
Writing. Guest posting. Commenting. Responding to emails. Continuous learning. It’s a lot to take in and if you’re not adequately prepared to face challenges as they appear there’s a likelihood that one day you’ll choose not to publish another post and then you’re back to square one.
Recently, just a fornight ago in fact I became conscious of these feelings as my most recent blog was reaching the 6 month mark. I’d surpassed all the goals I’d set for myself but there was stilll that worry of being locked into my work instead of having control over it. I have no problem with hard work, but when it hits the point of dominating my life I prefer to step back and ask myself “How can I make this easier on myself?”
And that’s what I really want to share in this article. This is not about escaping the work of blogging (because I do honestly enjoy it, just not when it causes imbalance in my life) but to relieve yourself of the constant worry and uncertainty that blogging entails.
Set smaller goals
I’m an advocate of thinking big in most areas of life. If […] Read more »

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44% of Bloggers Sell a Product or Service Of Their Own From Their Blog

The last poll here on ProBlogger examined a growing trend among bloggers trying to monetize their sites – to sell their own products from their blogs rather than just relying upon advertising and affiliate revenue.
Whether it be by selling an E-Book, training program or some other kind of learning program or whether it is selling one self as a consultant or promoting a product from a business that the blogger owns – more and more bloggers do seem to be exploring this as a way to make money.
The poll results were as follows:

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Google Publishes 5 Privacy Principles

In honor of yesterday’s International Data Privacy Day, Google published its five privacy principles. They are:

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Delicious Updates Viewing Options; Adds StumbleUpon-Like Feature

Social bookmarking site Delicious has updated the ability to filter viewing options - plus added a new way to browse your bookmarks that is very StumbleUpon-like.
First up, there’s a new display options menu tucked into the top right corner of your bookmarks display. This is for when you’re viewing “My Bookmarks” - not on the main page. Here’s what it looks like:

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6 Google Updates to Read this Weekend

Whether you’re snowed in or enjoying sunny weather this weekend, take some time to read up on these Google updates:
Google Custom Search has made some changes to the hosted home page.
Google Analytics has made annotations available for all accounts.
Google Maps now offers personalized suggestions.
Google Image search for mobile has added Popular Image browsing.
The Google Research team blogged about building cluster applications.
Google Books updated their Home Page and Library.

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Scour Launches Local Social Search

Social search engine Scour has launched a new local feature. Simply click on the new “Local” tab over the search box. Then, type in what you’re looking for and the location you’re interested in, and click “Search.”
The results page features listings down the left side and a map on the right. As you scroll down, the map travels with you - very handy.
Here’s a couple screenshots. Click on either image to enlarge or head to Scour to try it out for yourself.

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Google Brings Click to Call to Mobile Ads

If you have an AdWords campaign set up to reach searchers using Google’s mobile search, you’ve got a new feature to enhance your efforts. Google is enabling click-to-call phone numbers in the ads that appear on mobile web browsers.
Smartphones allow users to click on phone numbers and a call is automatically generated. If a smartphone user is searching for a local pizza place on their mobile device, then they can now simply click on the phone number and order up their favorite pie.
Google’s mobile click-to-call ads are generated based on location. So if your company is a chain, an ad will be served up with the closest location to a user - and will contain the appropriate phone number.
In order to add click-to-call in mobile AdWords ads, simply set up location extensions and add your business phone number. Then make sure your campaign is set up to appear on mobile devices with full Internet browsers. The video below shows you how it’s done so you’ll know what to do when you’re in AdWords:

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Microsoft Online Division Revenues Improve, But Remain at a Loss

Microsoft has reported its Q2 2009 earnings (Q4 for many other companies) and the news is mixed for their online services division. Revenues improved over the previous quarter, but came in at a 5% loss year-over-year.
Specifically, online revenues for Q2 came in at $581 million, compared to $609 million the year prior. Q2 losses came in at $466 million compared with $320 million in Q2 2008.
The loss was blamed on a decrease in overall online advertising revenues. However, the silver lining was that Bing brought a growth in search revenues for Microsoft.
If Bing continues to grow, then Microsoft will do well to capitalize on its strengths to build a stronger online services division. Of course, the deal with Yahoo! should help as well.

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Bing Launches New U.S. Stocks and Funds Feature

Bing is making it easier for you to keep up with your portfolio and the U.S. stock market. Their new stocks and funds pages offer in-depth data on most U.S. stocks. The pages include an Instant Answer snapshot of what’s going on for a stock at the time you search.
Let’s see how Apple’s stock is doing a day after the iPad was unveiled. Type in the stock code AAPL and you’ll get the Instant Answer in the main search results:

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Interview with Six Figure Blogger Pat Flynn Available for ProBlogger Newsletter Subscribers

A couple of weeks ago I hooked up on Skype with a great blogger by the name of Pat Flynn who has a fantastic story to share.
Pat was working as an architect and was about to get married – life was good – but unexpectedly he was laid off from his job and was left wondering what to do.
It turns out that getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened to Pat – he took a small blog about an architectural exam (the LEED exam) that he’d been using to help himself study for the exam and turned it into a six figure income generation machine.
He launched an E-Book off the back of his blog and in its first month he made $8000. That was just the beginning though – in his first year of business the site generated over $200,000!
You can check out Pat’s blog at Green Exam Academy and his newer site at Smart Passive Income.
My chat with Pat was both inspiring and informative and today I’m sharing it with those who have subscribed to the ProBlogger Newsletter and will be adding it as a free bonus to anyone who subscribes in future.
Sign up below to get access to our weekly newsletter and this free Podcast with Pat Flynn.

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