Ten Blogging Hacks

Since my last three “hack” posts on bookmarklets, RSS and Technorati were so popular, I thought I would follow up with my ten favorite blogging hacks. Don't ask me why, but I like the number 10. These work on most if not all of the major weblog platforms, including TypePad, Blogger and Wordpress. (This post is in memory of Ben Hammersly's killed book, Blogging Hacks, may it RIP)

1) Blog Alone or Together with Writely
Writely is one of my favorte Web 2.0 apps. It's a full-fledged web-based word processor that you can access from anywhere. Think of it as Microsoft Word for the Web - except with just the parts you need!

Using Writely you can draft blog posts, spell check them and then with one click - boom, post to Blogger, Moveable Type/TypePad, Wordpress and others. Even better, you can collaborate on a blog post with a friend and upload it once it is baked. This works better on some blogging platforms than others. The only downside is, you can't add trackbacks (definition). You can always add them later. Writely also generates blog-friendly HTML if that's what you'd prefer. Writely is still in beta so give it a test or two first before relying on it all the time for blogging.

2) Automatically Post Your Daily del.icio.us Links
Regulars here know that everyday I run once-a-day posts stuffed with a bunch of links. I know from conversations with readers that some of you think that I stay up half the night painstakingly compiling all these links and tags into a blog post. I don't. I spend a ton of time online throughout the day. As I find things to share, I use my del.icio.us bookmarklet to file it away on the bookmark sharing site. Then around midnight eastern time, del.icio.us automatically takes the day's links and turns them into a new blog post. Fred Wilson describes how to set this up on TypePad. Instructions for other platforms are all over the Web.

3) Auto-Insert Technorati Tags Using ecto
If you're a blogger and you're not using ecto, stop reading this post right now and go download it. I'll be here when you come back. ecto is a desktop blogging application for both Mac and Windows. It has tons of features, but my favorite is the ability to automatically insert Technorati tags. This ensures that your blog post is amassed with other bloggers' posts under the same tags. Technorati explains this here. ecto can also ping all of the major search engines that you have updated your blog. This makes you easier to find more quickly. Alternate pinging tools include Pingoat or Pingomatic.

4) Blog from Your Cell Phone
Sometimes you want to get something up on your blog instantly, no matter where you are. Well, you can blog from any email-capable phone on both TypePad and Blogger and perhaps others as well. Each platform provides instructions how to accomplish this. Read this article in PC Today for a thorough overview.

5) Get a Cool Icon for Your Blog
Many people run photos of themselves on their blogs. Here's another idea. Get your own custom icon from iconize me! For $50 iconize me will custom create a color charictacture from one of three different artists for all of $50. You get to pick the photo. The artists will send you your line drawing in several formats, including blog-friendly jpegs. Be prepared to wait two-three weeks for your image. Mine is on order.

6) Tell the World Where They Can Find You
Where's Waldo? Who cares. Where's Stowe Boyd? Ah, I definitely care about that. Normally it would be hard to know when this blogging legend is actually in a town near you. But Stowe, being the enterprising guy that he is, he has a map on his blog that gives us his coordinates. You can add one to your blog using Plazes. Here's a related bonus hack. You can find other bloggers who live near you using feedmap.

7) Meet Your Blog Neighbor
Every once in awhile you meet one person who you say, damn, we're separated at birth. Why wait for that moment when Findory can tell you who your blogging neighbor is. This helps you hang out with fellow birds of a feather.

8) Make Money with Your Own Blog Schwag Store
Most bloggers know that you can make some money by signing up for AdSense or BlogAds, but there are other ways. For example, the simplest is to add a tip jar. However, there's another. You can build your own store of blog-branded merchandise using Cafe Press. Slacker Manager, for example, sells some cool schwag. It helps to have a cool name for your blog that people will want to wear. In other words, Nevon works. Welcome to Joe Blogs' Blog, well?

9) Create a Blogroll in One Click
Both Newsgator and Bloglines make it a snap to convert your existing RSS reading list into a blogroll that you can share with the world. Instructions for Bloglines can be found here. An overview for Newsgator subscribers is located here. Everyone else can try Blogrolling, which accepts OPML.

10) Give Readers the Option to Subscribe to Updates via Email
As much as we love RSS, for some, old habits never die. There are people who like to receive their news via email and that's that. The good news is that you can give these people what they want using FeedBlitz. Simply follow the instructions on their site and integrate the HTML code they give you into your sidebar and you're good to go. Feedblitz recently partnered with FeedBurner. This means all you need to do is add one modification to your Feedburner feed and you're golden.

Technorati Tags: Blogger, Bloglines, Blogs, Cafepress, ecto, Feedblitz, Feedburner, Feedmap, Hacks, lifehacks, Newsgator, Pingoat, Pingomatic, Plazes, TypePad, Wordpress, Writely

Comments

[Bren]

Thanks, Steve... I'd forgotten about that store. :-)

[Brad]

I find Spreadshirt to be a more versitile blog store than cafe press. Check them out.

[Joe]

So what's the difference between a "hack" and a "standard feature"?

[Henry Abbott]

Great stuff. Looks like it's time for this dog to learn some new tricks.

[Marshall Kirkpatrick]

I suggest also looking into the following:
*Add one-click subscribe options for the major feedreaders (http://tinyurl.com/c5u64)
*Add links at bottom of post-template for "save this post in furl or del.icio.us" (http://tinyurl.com/dkasz)
*Include a ClusterMap to show readers where other readers live (http://clulstermaps.com)
*Use http://FeedDigest.com to post items you give any particular tag automatically into a section of your sidebar
*Consider running a Blog Alert box from the Committee to Protect Bloggers, to offer solidarity with bloggers facing state repression around the world (http://tinyurl.com/7n6ky)

There are so many awesome ways to use this medium!

[Markus]

I like the Writely thing. I put it in my del.icio.us links to write post while not able to use my blogging-tool. thanks for that list!

[Martin McKeay]

Great article, Steve. I think my two favorite suggestions were blogging from your phone and showing the world where to find you, though Ecto will probably be the one that is really the most worthwhile for me. I can't wait to get home this afternoon and check it out. I only recently signed up for Feedburner, though I've been with FeedBlitz for months, and already I'm seeing a significant increase in traffic.

Martin

[Chris Young]

One Great way to distribute your rss feed is to create a Klip.

Simply create a klip, and post to Klip Farm and it is ready to read.

Visitors to your site simply dl the klip folio app. and they can read your info as it is updated.

Check out Klip Farm

[Adriaan Tijsseling]

Thanks for the compliments about ecto! Don't forget the quickest way to tag an entry:
http://ecto.kung-foo.tv/archives/001368.php

[The Meatriarchy]

I was excited to hear about this "ecto" thing since anything that makes blogging easier.

However I when I downloaded their sw it advised me upon install that I needed something called .net framework which I have never heard of before.

I went to Microsoft's .netframework website and it was all greek (or should that be geek) to me.

It looks like some kind of .net programming tool.

I got to ecto's FAQ - surely I am not the first person to encounter some confusion about this.

Sure enough there is a question: "Is the .Net Framework really necessary?"

Great I thought this will clear up any confusion.

Nope, here is the answer:

ecto for Windows is developed entirely in Visual Studio .Net 2003 using C#. This allow rapid development of new features and debugging.

Uhh? I guess this is ecto thing is useful for people with some programming skills. But for bloggers who are little better than typists (like me) I can't see why I would use it if I can't even understand the answers to their FAQ questions.

[Adriaan Tijsseling]

Meatriarchy: ecto for Windows requires the Microsoft .Net Framework which is pretty much standard with newer Windows versions. If you require support installing .NET, please drop a request in the ecto support forum at http://bb.infinite-sushi.com/index.php?c=6

[Lawsy]

I agree with Joe here, these aren't really hacks they are tools and services designed for personal websites and blogs - on another note great list, and I would really like to set up a store on my site!

[Jayme Maultasch]

Thanks for this great post. I've implemented some of your suggestions:
Using writely to blog was inspired
I'm so glad to finally have one of those daily del.icio.us upload posts

ecto - I downloaded and installed it but dont see much value so far - time will tell

[Ozdachs]

I would like to get excited about ecto, but found their site pretty low on information. Three clicks into "what is ecto?" and "features for windows..." I got a dead link when I wanted to see if LiveJournal is supported. Working backwards I couldn't find a better path for information. Maybe they're great, but I need a seeing eye dog to navigate their site for the information.

[Bruno]

Nice article.

Although, I would have called it Ten Blogging Tools or Tips. "Hacks" is not quite the word for it as you're not really hacking anyting.

Good tips none the less.

Bruno

[Keith P. Stieneke]

Steve, until yesterday I had never encountered your blog before. Great article. I have posted a summarized version of it at my blog at http://www.blogsmart-resources.com/news.html and I hope more people find you because of it.

Keith

[Mitch]

Steve, Thanks for all the great tips lateley. It's been a while since I've blogged, and your tips have helped me get back in the game. Keep it coming!

[Matthew Smith]

Steve, that's awesome. Thanks for jogging my memory / suggesting new ideas. Time to get to work! Thanks!

[suzuki]

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