Over the last day or two I have gotten numerous emails about a new WordPress plugin that will reward your commenters. Have actually been to sa site that uses it and then got an email with a gift (bribe) along with a note that when I reached 5, 10 and 20 comments on that blog that I would receive more gifts.
Now my question is this something that is good or bad for your blog?
This is one of those questions that has no correct answer but my initial reaction is not to use something like this. Here is why…
I am not against rewarding commenters. I do it all the time here through using comment luv and do follow. It rewards those that add to my content but does increase the amount of bogus comments I end up moderating.
This type of incentive works well in my opinion because those that get the most from the reward are likely to be valuable resources in my niche for this blog. What links they are leaving are likely to be of value to my readers creating a win – win – win. My favorite conclusion where everyone gains.
Now this plugin while increasing comments is a draw to those looking for something free and they are less likely to add value to my blog.
The worst part is that because it comes with 4 gifts to give away the vast majority of users will not add in their own gifts to replace what they get. This could very well end up being a negative and hurting your recommendation.
For these reasons I can not get excited about this new product.
All of that being said I can see how a good marketer could use this with their own gifts to improve their business. The vast majority won’t go to the bother as it is marketed as an easy button solution.
That is my opinion what is yours?
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
It is time again for me to start getting your input. Every so often I like to run a poll or two to allow me to improve the way in which I am helping you. So here are a couple of surveys where you can help me to understand what would help you the most. Greatly appreciate you adding your input to them.
The first covers topics and the second covers how you prefer your information. In each of the polls you can vote for more than one answer. If you choose other please fill in exactly what you would like in the text box.
Tinu Abayomi-Paul has just released a new product that you need to grab today and block out the time to go through it Google Social Search Secrets. It covers Buzz and some other things Google is doing. She released is at just $7 and it is worth much, much more.
You will need to block out about 2 hours and get a pad and paper and go through all of the videos.
Now who is Tinu and why should you listen to her.
Tinu is one of the people that I follow regularly and when I first started blogging her products really helped me. Then she disappeared from the internet for a few years because of health problems.
She works mainly with companies but her free traffic tips blog has been in my reader since she returned.
At $7 and 2 hours of your time (which is much more valuable than the $7) this is something that you want to grab and understand.
Tired of the look on a couple of my blogs and as I have been changing parts of my business since the first of the year it is now time to think about changing themes on a few of them.
Really interested in what you, my reader likes when you visit a blog and more importantly what turns you off.
Time for me to step up my game on some things and your input would be helpful. Leave a comment below with your input. It will definitely be appreciated.
Look for more shortly on Google Buzz as I have been testing some things and may be running a survey on that quite shortly. In the mean time let me hear what you like and don’t when it comes to themes.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
a problem where logged in users can peek at trashed posts belonging to other authors. If you have untrusted users signed up on your blog and sensitive posts in the trash, you should upgrade to 2.9.2.
The majority of readers here are probably not effected but you should be aware.
Added the video on upgrading if you need it below.
The method of upgrading has not changed so even though it says 2.7.1 it is still valid.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
Well I had a feeling that the fact that Google Buzz was tied into Gmail would give it some quick traction but in less than a week there are numerous plugins available to connect your self hosted WordPress blog with Buzz. Did a quick search for plugins inside the dashboard for the term Buzz and came up with a full page of results.
One of the questions asked when I first mentioned Buzz has been answered. There are plugins to integrate them together easily.
Now it will take some time and playing to find out which one’s are good and which one’s are to be avoided. I will start some testing and if you are on the update list the guide I created “Quickly And Easily Get More From Google Buzz” will be updated and you will get the latest version via email.
If you have not gotten the report just click the link above and download it. No opt in to get it needed.
To start I am trying WP-Google Buzz which gives you a button under the content to Buzz It. Try it with this post.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
Google Buzz looks like it may be something that will take off and has the potential to challenge some of the existing social networking sites down the line. I did not feel this way about Wave because it was too complex.
Because of how I feel I have put together a short report you can grab – “Quickly And Easily Get More From Google Buzz’. You can grab a copy for free, not even an opt in needed. Not sure how long I will give it away like this so get yours now.
On another note Dr Mani will be launching his 47 Hearts book tomorrow and is offering a digital copy of his book “Think, Write and Retire” (a $39.95 retail value) for those that either buy the book from Amazon or donate at least $10 to a Heart Group. All funds go to help under-privileged children with heart defects for corrective surgery.
He will also be doing a 24 hour blogathon tomorrow to help raise funds for this. Please support this if you can. You can find information at
If you are a Gmail user I am sure you have seen the new Buzz link on your Gmail account. It is relatively easy to use and a great way to share information.
Will it be th next bestest thing since sliced bread? I don’t know but Google is the 800 pound gorilla in the market place and although they are late to the party when comparing them to Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.
I have no idea how many Gmail users there are but it is in the millions if not billions. This gives them an unprecedented advantage and they have automated a lot of it. If you talk to people regularly whether through Gmail or G chat they probably have already connected you.
As a blogger the big advantage I see is the ability to add your new content into the Buzz stream. You can add your Twitter and Facebook too. The problem is that it automatically picks up your Blogger blogs but will not pick up any of your self hosted blogs.
To get the ability to add then to your Buzz stream you will need to register the site with Google Webmaster Tools. Now this is something you should be doing anyhow because there are some statistics and warnings there that can help you get indexed better and see how well you are doing in Googles eyes.
Once you have verified your site at Google Webmaster Tools it will show in your connected sites where you can then decide to add it.
By the way feel free to follow me on Google Buzz and you can see what I am up to and even talk back to me there. Still make sure to comment below if there are enough comments I may put together a quick tutorial to help you get the most out of Buzz. It’s all up to the number of comments and retweets.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
Twitter can be a great source of traffic to your blog and with plugins it has become very easy to integrate the two. Integration makes it easier and saves you time because it automates things leaving you free to do what is most important on your blog – Create Great Content.
Here are 3 plugins that can make your blog more interactive and save you time.
Tweet My Blog – This will automatically tweet each time you add a post and allow you to display your latest tweets on your blog. This lets your Twitter followers know about your latest post which can draw extra visitors depending on the size of your Twitter followers. Having your tweets displayed in your side bar helps you to always have fresh content for the spiders if you are active on Twitter.
Tweet Meme – This will add a button to your posts (you can see it above right here on the blog) that allows your readers to retweet your post with a single click if they are signed into Twitter.
When this happens your new post shows up on all of their followers timelines. Now at the time I am writing this I have over 18000 followers so if I click this on your blog it goes out to all of those people.
Now it is very easy for me to click that button if I like your post (back to having great content) but the odds of me telling my followers about it if I need to do it manually are slim and none unless you really wowed me.
Twitterlink Comments – This will allow you to reward your commenters. It adds a box where commenters can add their Twitter id and it will add a link to their Twitter page. This is another way of helping your commenters and as long as they are adding to the conversation. Anything I can do to reward those that take the time to add valuable content to my blog and get them to comment more is a plus.
These 3 plugins will definitely help you integrate Twitter with your blog but it is only valuable if you are adding good content and active on Twitter. Two things you should be doing anyhow.
Your questions and comments are always welcomed.
About the author
Mike Paetzold got started blogging in 2003 and has become an expert on using WordPress. He has become known as The WordPress Guy.
After being an under ground niche marketer using his blogs he has surfaced to share some of the ways he uses blogs to enter various niches profitably.
If you would like help in building your business check out my coaching offer.
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