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January 25 10

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Enabling Email Subscriptions for Your Blog

We get a lot of requests to implement email subscriptions for blogs. It’s rather simple and once you do it once, it’s even easier to replicate on other websites. This article is designed to walk you through it.

First, your blog must output a RSS feed. 99.9% of blogs do, and if your blog does not, then it is time to switch blogging platforms. Figure out what your blog’s RSS URL is and copy it. For example, most RSS URL’s are either yourdomainname.com/rss or yourdomainname.com/feed.

Next, you need to open/have an account with Feedburner.com. Feedburner, which is owned and operated by Google, is the standard for enhancing the capabilities of your RSS feed.

Once you have logged into your Feedburner account, you will need to paste the RSS URL of your blog. For this example, I am using my personal website. (see screenshot below).

The next screen will then ask you to name your RSS feed, which can be anything you want, and name the last portion of your new Feedburner RSS URL (see screenshot below).

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January 4 10

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Well, I’m a Tumblr

A couple years ago on a blog that no longer exists, I wrote a “Tumblr 101” post that seemed to be rather useful to others. Since that time, I continue to love the blogging/community engine that powers over 2 million blogs today.

What is Tumblr?

According to their website,
Tumblr lets you effortlessly share anything. Post text, photos, quotes, links, music, and videos, from your browser, phone, desktop, email, or wherever you happen to be. You can customize everything, from colors, to your theme’s HTML.

By pure luck, I became an early adopter of Tumblr back in December 2007 so I do consider myself somewhat of an expert on the platform. I am also living proof that the quote above is no lie. If you are thinking about starting a blog and don’t want to worry about hosting, upgrades, plugins, theme compatibility, or widgets, then you should start with Tumblr.

As you may know, I am also a big fan of WordPress and my company does a fair share of WordPress consulting, implementations, and custom theme work. I believe strongly in using WordPress as a CMS for a full-blown website. However, if I were asked which platform to use for purely blogging, it would be a tough call. Either way, you can’t go wrong in my opinion.

Tumblr is very easy to use, and for many that’s all they need to make Tumblr their blogging platform of choice. For me, it’s about three other things:

1. The people behind the platform
2. The community
3. The Theme options and API

Over the next three days, I plan to dive into each topic in more depth. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a much better “Tumblr 101” overview than the one I wrote two years ago. It’s a presentation from Tumblr’s Community Director, Marc LaFountain. Marc spoke at Social Media Club Charlottesville in August. I encourage you to watch the video and give Tumblr a spin if you were planning to start a blog, regardless of the topic!
December 22 09

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- Blogging
Stick With It

Blogging is not easy. While I often recommend blogging to clients as a form to connect with their audience on a regular basis, I also caution them on the pitfalls. I too often have fallen into those pitfalls. If you are going to blog, you need to be committed to it. You are not going to build an audience over night. But if you are consistent in your posting, and develop a regular schedule, your readership will grow regardless of the topic. The key is to determine a schedule for blogging and stick with it. I have too often failed with my own blogs on this point.

It’s so simple to start off a blog with a bang and have it end on a whimper. You think you can post every day or every other day or maybe just once a week, but work and life prohibit you from achieving these lofty expectations. I hope I have learned from my failures in the past in coming up with my schedule for this blog. Only time will tell, but it’s okay to miss a post here and there. Just don’t consistently change the schedule. Be consistent and communicate to your readers why you had to miss last week’s post. Keep them engaged.

So if you are thinking of starting a blog that you hope will attract an audience, then I advise you to think long and hard about your posting schedule. It needs to be something you can achieve in the long run.

My goal is to post every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday and I hope you can come to expect that in the future.

N. Todd Wickersty
Director of Sales & Operations

Todd has 15 years of management, marketing, information technology, and business development experience from major corporations, startups, and the public sector. Todd founded Business Bullpen in July of 2005 and is currently responsible for business development, operations, and account/project management.

Todd has spent most of his career helping sales and operations teams get the most out of technology at Accenture, America Online, and Live Nation/Musictoday. His ability to bridge the gap between business and technology has enabled him to successfully grow Business Bullpen into a web solutions firm that clients can trust and rely upon.

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H. Graham Blevins
Director of Technology

Graham has 10 years of information technology and management experience working with many public and private sector businesses. At Business Bullpen, Graham is responsible for solution architecture, development, technology strategy, and provides operational and business development support.

Prior to Business Bullpen, Graham led development projects for data management pioneers Data Blueprint. In this capacity, he was responsible for designing solutions to aid ERP implementations, data migrations, and data quality engineering efforts; and built a strong record creating solutions to complex business problems. Graham also served on Data Blueprint's Board of Directors.

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Wyndsor Hug
Designer

Wyndsor Hug has over 10 years experience providing design solutions in traditional print media and over 8 years working in web and UI design.

Prior to working with Business Bullpen, Wyndsor worked with music industry startup, Musictoday, in Charlottesville, Virginia for 6 years. In 2000, she was promoted to become the company's first Art Director and 4 years later was promoted to Creative Director where she served until leaving the company. While at Musictoday, Wyndsor developed, implemented, and led the creative vision and brand of the company helping to build a base of over 500 clients in 6 years. Since leaving Musictoday, she has worked as a freelance designer and consultant. In addition to her work for Business Bullpen, Wyndsor has worked in a variety of industries for clients including Dave Matthews Band, ATO Records, AutoMax, Food Network and pro bono work for the School District of Philadelphia as well as Charlottesville, Virginia non-profits, Piedmont CASA and Community Children's Theatre.

Wyndsor comes from a traditional art and design background and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design from the University of Texas at Austin. She has won awards for both her print and web design solutions.

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Gary Cope
SEO & Online Marketing Specialist

Gary has more than 18 years of experience in communications including broadcast and print media, corporate communications, and online marketing. At Business Bullpen, Gary conducts search engine optimization (SEO) audits and implementation; consults with clients regarding their search marketing strategies; and develops social media plans designed to help clients take full advantage of online marketing.

Prior to Business Bullpen, Gary provided Web design and online marketing services through his company, CWI Media & Marketing. He also served as an in-house SEO professional for Luna Innovations Incorporated. Gary regularly attends search marketing conferences and from 2007 to 2008, he sat on the In-House SEO Committee for SEMPO, the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization.

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Wendy Wertz Schuyler
Intra-disciplinary Graphic Designer

Wendy Wertz Schuyler is an intra-disciplinary graphic designer living and working in Roanoke, VA. She started her design career in Warsaw, Poland at the McCann Erickson advertising agency, one of the world's largest and most influential, after earning a B.S. in Advertising/Communication Arts with a minor in Dance from Appalachian State University. Ms. Schuyler worked for several years in traditional publishing prior to leaping into her current project, upUPperiscope, inc; a revolutionary, intra-disciplinary design firm, created with love by she and mini think tank, Beth Deel. Their most exciting and ambitious project to date is myScoper.com, a dazzling interactive event-centric website for Roanoke and beyond.

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