Feel like you want to create a new logo or just want to doodle?

This is just a quick post. I have doodling and my mind is not really in good condition to make proper post, but i decided to share you some sites where you can play around for your Logo or header.

Most of the Blogger really settled already for their site logo or header but some are still looking for great resource and at the same time easy to use too!..



That word should be "This is my very first ART, Not Bad" but hey i didn't notice it, sorry about that.



The links that i will share are the sites that you can use in quickie way. You can play around and once you are happy then that is the time you save them and use them as you logo or header.

1. Acme Label Maker - Just type the text and click then you will see the result, very quick.


2. Scribbler - Scribble any text you want, or do some doodling then click done drawing from there do some setting and you good to go...it's fun.


3. 3dtextmaker - I love this one, you have a great control and a lot of text design to choose from.


4. image Reflection Generator - This is when your done and you want more -- then put some reflection. I have seen a lot of bloggers using reflection in their text logo, try it you might like it. You can even use it for images.


5. Picassohead - I am having fun with this one, make a head in a very artistic way.

There so much more but i need to find them, i am sure they are just there somewhere buried in my bookmarked sites, they are too many and i need to do some cleaning in my bookmarks including my toolbar Folders.



I hope you find this useful and if you have additional which am sure you have some resources aswell, please do share them.

Big Contest Mania is over or at least slow down a little bit

Are you glad? I am. Contest is not bad at all in fact it is great exposure, bring traffic to your site and helps you increase your feedburner count (Because those who would like to join will subscribe), you're technorati rating will increase too.

But...for me one after another and another and another is too much, you know there something called too much. I have received a few request if i want to sponsor and for me i really don't mind but another blog, after another, after another blog is too many and what i don't like is that they actually don't really think of who they want to become sponsor.

The contest that i really like and i think very organized and have done it right is Marcus big party it's about he's alexa ranking and it only happens once for a long time -- but for some other blogs i experienced they approached me and i said yes i would like to sponsor this and that etc...then they replied okay i will book you and the next thing i know they sent me another message asking if i want to be one of the sponsor from the same blog so i did not replied anymore because i got it this is one of those contest that is not organized and just i don't feel right about and i received a lot of message from other blog contest and so i ignor them because i am not happy of to many contest anymore.

If you run a contest make sure that you pull it right, start it right and make sure that your contest is unique. One contest that i really like is Julians Library contest, she run it perfectly the top commenter from all of her blog will win $100 the second commenter will win $____ and so on... another constest that i like is amanda's competition from bloggerbuster.com, her method is unique and very well thought... there might be other bloggers that worth mentioning but this are just a sample. I am glad that the Big Contest Mania is over or shall i say at least it slow down a little bit, have not seen much about it.

I am sure that it is not just me who is sick of reading about contest, i don't get sick if it is unique. If you are thinking to run a contest think of them many times, ask yourself if who have done it if someone have done it already think of something else, something unique so that it's not sickening.

Ditch your old comment system, replace them with Intense Debate

Most of the bloggers are are using Blogspot.com that for obvious reason it's easy and user friendly but one that i really don't like is the comment system. Today, i was about to comment on one of the blog, i click comment then the pop up comes as expected but it's very slim it only shows the half of the window (I don't know if that's my computer or what) and i cannot see the capatcha to finish my comment and i left without posting my comment, It's frustrating and i am not happy.

I have tried many comment system because i want to have a better comment system for my blog and for my readers which i valued the most, i want to create a discussion type where i don't need to say @carol (that's to address my respond to carol or @dave) and that is not what i like for my comment system, i don't want it to stay that way and i am not going to wait for Google to do something about it because i don't know if they will. I have read a lot of blogger that are complaining about the comment system and it's truly is frustrating including the hard to read capatcha that turn off your commenter's. Today, i would like to share my new comment system - Intense Debate, i am happy using it because it looks great, it's easy to integrate and i can reply to the comments or questions who need my response individually and have a discussion which is really great.

What is Intense Debate?
It is a replacement to your standard blog comment system, intense debate is packed with complete new tools to spice up the conversation.

What are the Feature of Intense Debate?

1. Comments Tracking and Notification - Friends comments and your post comments sent to your email to notify you that one of your post have comments need moderation or even if someone replies to your last reply and so that the conversation can continue.
   
2. Structure - This is what i like, i can reply to the individuals -- the comments are threaded and can easily follow the conversation.
   
3. Profiles - You can upload your own avatar so that everything you make a comment it shows your brand. Your profile have the list of your friends, your social networking sites.
   
4. Reputation.Comment Voting - Every Identity have it's own reputation attached. You can rate the comment of your commentators and shows some value of their comment.
   
5. Social Traffic Drive - Intense Debate link you to your social networks sites, expose you more and connects to you completely
   
6. Widget - you can place the cool widget to you site to show your number of comments, latest comments, top 10 commenter's and more.

My Experience with Intense Debate:
To be honest, after i integrate intense debate to both of my blog my other site, clickdtalk went really smooth i never have any problem opposite with this blog thebuzznutter. The comment counts is not showing, it remains zero even though i have say 3 comments anyway, after a few emailing back and forth it was resolved and now it's running smoothly and i have a really great comment system.

If you think that it's time for you to move on and take your comment system to the next level try intense debate. I remember when i left a comment to LisaC of how frustrated i am at that moment with intense debate (I am so impatient! that's what it is) and see respond that Intense Debate is like "Love and Hate relationship" and it's true i hated it at first and now i love it.

If you want to know more and want some help to decide about integrating intense debate to your site, read the FAQ and watch the video; When your ready, just place your url, follow the instruction and you're ready to ditch your old comment system.

What's wrong with sub-domain?

How many times you read this? "If your serious about blogging then you should get your own domain and self host your blog" i also read some response from other bloggers where they cannot understand why other bloggers are pushing you to buy your own domain and self host your site instead of sticking to Dot blogspot or Dot wordpress; There's one commenter wondering and ask why, What's wrong with the sub domain?...some really did not understand at all.

I have asked myself this kind of questions too! honestly what's wrong with using the sub-domain? Does it change the way i blog? Does it make me a better blogger? Does it attract more readers and subscriber?

Still using sub domain but recognized and Popular?
Yes! you heard me right, there are bloggers that are still using Dot blogspot, Dot Wordpress, Dot Typepad etc... and become one of the world's 50 most popular blogs. I will give some example below, this are the sites that are "Powerful" and yet still using dot blogspot sub domain.

1. thesartorialist.blogspot.com - Hey! look blogspot user, number 20 form the list.
2. girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com - Girl with a one track mind, interesting and yet another blogspot user. Number 24 from the list, even made it above mashable.com
3. bean-sprouts.blogspot.com - Happy Meal, Happy blogger. Sitting in the 34 from the list.
4. angryblackbitch.blogspot.com - Bitchitude!? number 47 from the list.

This are blogspot users still and manage to pull their name and become one of the worlds most popular blog. Blogging is all about how you make yourself towards success, not by domain, or hosting.

If your main reason for blogging though is to make money then the subject is going to be really different because their are advertisers who hired bloggers to promote their sites where they want a site with much higher PR, they don't care if you are using sub domain from free hosting, but some are very strict and want their site to be seen only from sites or blogs that have their own domain, with PR, lower Alexa ranking including technorati and most of all subscribers.

I understand that when you buy your own domain and have your own hosting, you get the full control over your blog, you get much more credibility (does it?) your site looks more professional and more but....you still can, with free hosting and sub domain.

My Conclusion:
This is my point of view and my bottom line: You don't need to listen to what other blogger have said like "If your serious or not" it's all up to you, domain name cannot change anything, the way you blog or anything at all. Just look at the site above, they are happy with what they got and recognized as one of the most popular blog, some have written there own books and even spent much time on bestseller lists; Listen to your self instead, make some effort of creating a great content.

What's wrong with sub-domain?
For me here is nothing wrong at all, i don't see the difference. But to those that can pin point why not share it. I am an open minded blogger.

So what do you think?
You might have other view about sub domain...why not share that, it helps a lot for those who don't understand, start the discussion.

Are you stuck of being a noob

Ilove tweaking and because i love doing this i have done a lot of big problem with my site, but it a part of learning -- you make mistakes to learn something new and i am glad of those mistakes i made because i grow and i become a better blogger but you know sometimes it become too big to handle and gives me major headache just like this past days. I tried to use new comment system, but it didn't work properly with my template structure, i am really desperate to make it work because i really love the system but still not working even i got some help; maybe it's because of me being a total noob or what?

Anyway, talking about a noob; you know When we first enter the world of blogging this is what we usually call ourselves a newbie, a noob or any other terms associates of being a new bloggers? then after a few year you are tossing of calling your self the same or do you need to move on and take the next level of blogging.

Stuck of being a noob?
Do you feel that you are stuck of being a noob? I hope not, you know after a year of blogging -- we meet a lot of pro-bloggers where we look up to and wish we can be at the same position they are at the moment (Successful pro-bloggers) then we read there blog hoping we can learn something, follow their tips and apply it with our blog, this are the act of a newbie, a noob and still learning. This are all fine and a great step toward success, but if we still doing this and have not seen even a single changes with the way we blog then i say that we are stuck of being a noob.

Everyday we learn something new
I am a big believer of this phrase "Everyday we learn something new" and i love to see the way i grow, my improvements even as little as sesame seeds that is important improvement for me. Have you noticed something changed the way you blog when you first started and after a few year? or even the way you place the widget on your site, the template you are using, the way you value your blog? if so then you are growing and cannot consider yourself as a new person in the world of blogosphere. You see, when we just started blogging, we don't have any idea, we just place any widget anywhere, we put anything on our site (I have a little laugh at myself looking back those years, but that's normal of being new) now we learned, we grow...I have posted about abused sidebar - List of todays important widget for your sidebar, Here, i tackled about how i abused my sidebar and i included the list of what i see an important widget we can place in our sidebar because it is important that we only place the widgets that we think are important and can help us, our readers and our site.

It's okay to be a noob sometimes
I don't know if you agree with me but for me it's okay to be a noob sometimes, i feel this every now and then especially when i make mistakes but i look this as "Hey! i am growing again" i learned something new again, and it's my highway to be a better blogger and a bonus point for this is that it keep our feet on the ground (I don't know of you feel being looked down when you just started, but we don't want to look down the newbie either) we learn to respect the new bloggers because we been there.

Bloggers: Take the next level
Have you noticed in the Entrecard we have the drop rank? This is a motivation for me; When we first joined Entrecard we are ranked as "Just here for the view" then we drop and reciprocate we move our rank to "Consistent dropper with the hint of addiction" until you get to top ranked as a "Drop Master" does it sounds cool? i think it is, imagine you are ranked as a master? we can apply this with our blogging aswell, of course we cannot be called as master but we can master the art of blogging how about that! we don't want to be stuck at the bottom, we want to move up as high as we can so that our effort and our time can be justified.

My Conclusion:
If you want to be a noob (A new person in the world of blogging) then that's fine stay there, but if you want to grow, if you want to take the next level then get out from your comfort zone and take the risk, make mistake and make your blogging a new highway towards success and i know everyone have the potential, it's just a matter of how we play our own game.

So what do you think? Are still a noob or you have moved on and have taken the step to become a successful blogger?

Why is it important to leave blog comment

Before, when i just started blogging i don't bother leaving any comments. I am so busy looking at my site. I have read a lot of blog but i did not bother leaving a comment i couldn't be bothered "Why bother anyway?". There are times where i type a comment but i change my mind and leave the site without posting it, this happens many time.

I have posted about "your post don't get comments, should we blame droppers?" last week and the response are incredible. I have read a lot of reasons why our fellow blogger not leave a comment, i supposedly will post all the great comment but i have a little problem at the moment with my comment system and i cannot locate the rest of the comments; I am hopeful that it will be fixed soon, i am glad i have one comment from Rachel of bakedblog.com which i would like to share -- this is what she say:

Rachel: I don't drop and comment on every blog I visit. Either one because their latest post doesn't offer me a good chance to post a comment. On some topics I have nothing to say, or because I just don't have the time.

However if I find a blog to be useful and have good content I usually stop and say something such as yours. I even made a post about this on the entrecard forums called drop and comment.

I would rather have a comment from someone who has something to say instead of someone who just feels obligated. I don't really care too much what entrecard does to my bounce rate, although it hasn't been good. I just like the fact that my blog is getting out there more.

I totally agree with Rachel. This is just an introduction because i want to share how i get people commented in my site and i hope that this will work with you aswell, i don't see why this can't. Aside from posting a post that are worth reading, we also need to go out and promote our blog.

Why is it important to leave comment?
This is important, in this world give and take still exist and still very useful tool. I am not saying to be oblige of leaving a comment because that contradict with what i just agreed from Rachel's comment "On some topics I have nothing to say", but be sure you leave comment everyday. When you comment even just one blog everyday this leaves a trail of you. Most of the time i noticed when i leave a comment, the blog owner visit my blog as well and leave a comment not a crappy one but genuine comment (They return the favor sort of thing) although we all know it does not work that way but it's a good gesture and good start of good relationship with your readers and vice versa.

Although, there are times some blogger where you leave a comment in there site and have not returned the favor that is because of some reasons, they might have nothing to say (Been this situation too!).

U comment, I follow
Many blogger have now removed their no follow code, you can read my post about "Now that no follow has been removed, Sip that link Juice" this explains that when you leave a comment you get a little bit of that juice which is a big help for your PR and Technorati Authority. Most blogger laterally follow their readers to their site and do the same, they leave their comments.

It's a Blog Promotion
When you leave a comment, you are leaving a trail. Most of the comment system now will automatically grab your latest post, and that is another exposure of your post. Usually, when i leave a comment i read the comment of others, i learned from other comments too! and sometimes i click their names to know who is behind the great comment, i am sure i am not the only one doing this because i have read some discussions and that shows that other commenter's are reading someone Else's comments too, and this is another exposure.

One important reason why we leave a comment to other blog is the same reason why we drop our Entrecards to get traffic, to get known and to get readers. This is just a simple way of promotion. We even read almost every bloggers tips to do this and that! and yet we still under estimate and did not take advantage the power of leaving comments.

You Benefits, I Benefits
My practice is this, Since i drop card and open blog site's why not read there blogs and leave a comment (This is to the blogs that i find interesting), i benefited and the blog site where i read the post and commented gets the benefits as well -- It's a win, win situation.

I can say that the comments we get in our site depends on the comments we left in the other sites. I don't know if you agree with me, but if not please say your mind and start the discussion.

Bloggers: Change your comment system for better

How much do you love discussion? What about reading and answering comments? I love reading comments...i am always excited to see if someone commenting on my post, sometimes when i am reading someone else's post i read the comments of other people aswell but there's one thing that attract my attention most of the time especially the WP users and would like to have in my blog and that is the comment form.

I was trying the hack that jackbook have in he's blog but i have problem looking at the code in my html, i cannot place the code. While dropping i came across one blog, i can't remember anymore what site is that, if i can, then i can give the site a link love for bringing me to Disqus.com

What is Disqus?
This is a third party comment system. At the moment you are probably using the comment system of Blogger or WP; Disqus.com can make your comments more interactive to your readers, they are not just leaving a comment but instead as participant of the discussion, there are few extra widget that you can add to your site to give an additional information to your reader and so they can join your community, That's right your own community.

How it work?
Disqus.com will take your comment and save it to Disqus.com, they will then create a profile of your commenter. You commentators have an option aswell to claim it and so that they can have there own identity etc...but for better understanding i would like you to take a little tour, it's not going to take long but surely will give you the full idea.

There is an option of blog integration, you have an option to what platform is your blog belong to, WP, Bloggers, Typepad, Movable Type, Tumblr. or if you have the full knowledge of custom integration you can just copy the Javascript code, i choose the other option though it's less complicated. You can look at the buzz community page to give you the full idea and see if you like to switch your comment system to Disqus.com

Widgets to add to your blog:

• Recent Comments - which gives you an option to show their avatar or not; X-small (24px) to X-large (128px)
• Popular Threads
  
• Top Commenters - Again an option of avatar and orientation which if you want them vertical or Horizontal.
• Combination Widget - This is look like a view tab all the widgets are combined.
  

It's worth a try if you ask me. I love the system and Jason and Daniel Ha (Both founders are very approachable) I have some issue and they communicate professionally.

Panic buying in the Entrecard

Entrecard just released the new modification to the pricing system, the most awaited is now unveiled. The advertising prices is now completely changed, the price of your advertising depends with the demand of your ad spot. I can say that it is now showing the real value of your site, When people buy and ad on your site the price gone up, once the one ads finishes you ad price will down halves, It's basically up and down. If you want to advertise on a certain site, just wait until one ads finishes because the ad spot will down half price.

According to Graham:

all blogs start at a base of 2, and prices double for each ad that someone purchases, and halves for each ad that completes.

It's like we are waiting for the price to go down and grab the bargain....Let's go shopping. At the moment people in the entrecard are panic buying, some are saving for a certain blog where they want to advertise.

Here's the calculation:

Star at 2 credits, and double it for everyone waiting for an ad on your site. For example, if you have: 5 people approved and 5 people waiting for approval, Calculate 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 2, or 2 to the power of 10, which equals 1024 credits. And then in 24 hours, when an ad has completed running, their price would go down to 512.

"If no one bought an ad that day, tomorrow it would go down to 256. And then if someone bought an ad for 256, the price would go back up to 512"

I think now with this new price modification changed, people are no longer using their credit for a crappy advertisement for two reason:

1. Credits are now limited...especially those bloggers that have more than 3 blogs in one household.
2. Ad Spot are expensive especially the popular sites.

This is a supply and demand....truly marketing.

Positive and Negative Impact? according to Graham's:

Positives:
1.) You can buy an ad on any one, at any time, as long as you have enough credits.
2.) Prices will be more fair. ProBlogger and John Chow won’t hover around 200. They will quickly be bid up to a more respectable price, simply because people are willing to pay more.
3.) You do not need to be drop-intensive to preserve a decent price.

Negatives:
1.) The prices are going to be VERY screwy for a few days. The most expensive person will be 500,000 credits!

This is crazy, i am sure you have notice them already. I am not sure if i am going to like it and if you are going to like it either, at the moment it's mixed emotion.

But Graham forewarned everyone and say's

"once the prices settle down, we’ll all be able to get a handle on exactly how useful and advantageous the new system is. The first few days might be a little crazy though, so be forewarned"

Entrecards have a lot going on ... they have some modifications which it makes us hate them or love 'em...honestly i love some additional features but lets see how this go.

Share your thoughts.

Source and full explanation Visit: Entrecard’s new pricing finally unveiled!

Your Post Don't get Comment, Should we blame dropper?

Do you drop and run? oh! your a bad, bad wolf; but wait, is that where really -- the problem is, if you don't get comments on your blog? This is what i asked to myself awhile ago, i desperately like some comment...i envy those bloggers that have even at least 5 comment i even wonder it their common friends and they commenting each other -- Should i join blog catalog, mybloglog or other social networking?

Why, I don't get comments? maybe, because my post did not interest my visitors? so what should i do? I don't want to play blame game "blame game is not fun" therefore instead of looking of where to blame, i start making a content that will interest my general visitors (We can't please everyone, it's hard to please everyone) but at least 5 comments out of 300 visitors you get is a good start.

If you're going to look at my dashboard, i have improvement (Nothing to brag about) but what i am showing here is that it's possible.Experiment, look at what your visitors and readers like to read, Are your post informative and interact with your readers. Listen to what is happening, what's going on, what's the talk of the town.

This is to share what i have learned, my observation from other bloggers, the one's that i have modeled and have stalked (lol!). I question myself, why i love to read there post? Why i follow them? the solution is quite simple -- the content and we can do that too. I love to grow with my blog as well as with other bloggers. Don't limit your self, open yourself to a more broader horizon or better yet get out from your comfort zone because that is where success comes.

Please add you're do you blame me....i know you have something to say.

• Do you blame me, if you're post doesn't interest me?
• Do you blame me, if you're joke doesn't tickle my bone?
• Do you blame me, if you're news is old?
• Do you blame me, if i don't understand what you're posting?

Let us not assume that those bloggers that have dropped 300 to 600 a day do drop and run, there might be some but we cannot generalize though, but if we start finding the reason our own blog maybe we will see that it's still depend with our effort and how we choose our topic, and if we really don't get comment to that topic try again next time, but this time make it better.

Do you feel the limit? 600ec per ip

Are you happy with the new rules 600ec per ip address with entrecard?

I understand fully the side of Entrecard, they want to eliminate or minimize the abusive use of the system, penalize those people that are spamming the system that's good! but limiting those bloggers that are genuinely using entrecard for traffic and not for financial gain is a torture.

I have two blogs, i religiously drop 300 each blog, i read and comment on every site that "interest" me, i meet a lot good bloggers along the way...i love the traffic that i am getting especially when i am at the top 3 of my category, my husband has 1 blog too! meaning it's 900ec we drop each day using the same ip address which did not pass the new rules.

New Rules Stinks
Spamming is always a problem -- oh! i wish we can just shoot them, there, that kills the problem but we can't maybe in our dream. I find the new rules stinks, it affects the honest droppers, the genuine people that rely and believe in their system to generate traffic.

Money is the root of all evil
Spammers join Entrecard not for traffic but to earn money, they use and abuse Entrecard for financial gain -- maybe if Entrecard will remove the money value of EC that will eliminate the problem, i know it's so easy to say but many will not agree with me because there are some that are genuine droppers that are enjoying the little amount that they earned for selling credits but sometimes we need to sacrifice something isn't it traffic is the main purpose of Entrecard?

Cause and Effect
Cause - Eliminate the cause of the problem; The amount valued on each EC causes spammers to create many dummy blog and entrecard account for financial gain...the result SPAM the system.

Effect - Then, Entrecard thinks of best way to deal with the spammers is to limit the drops per IP to 600ec a day, ouch!

Two head better than one
Okay in this case they might be more that one, but If Entrecard asked for some suggestion before implementing the new rule this might end up a better and good system than 600ec per ip.

We are not sure if this is going to change yet after some bloggers commenting and dis-agree with this new implementation but as per phirate:

We will not be changing this policy, it was a necessary change as the result of a number of users creating large numbers of inactive blogs then dropping 300 for each in order to "earn" credits.

All of us who genuinely use Entrecard to gain traffic and not for financial gain will feel the pain of limitations, not enough freedom to promoting our site.

Options
The only option for those that genuinely use Entrecard for traffic and have more than 2 site in their ip address is to think of which blog do you want to prioritize and sacrifice the other blog, this is big sacrifice if you ask me or alternate the site to promote each day, all we have to do is make an adjustment in our part, forget about this 600ec per ip and move on, big sigh!.

What about you? have you noticed the new rules? do you feel the pain of less freedom? or you just want to move on and see what happens next hoping it will benefit us.

Google Analytic VS Entrecard - Do we have to compare?

Traffic Result is what i am meaning here. Do you compare your Google Analytic traffic result with your Entrecard result?

I am so popular with Entrecard today it's my most successful day so far, i am even at the top 30 Popular Entrecarder; oh! i am so excited to see my Google Analytic and see what it say's -- then your analytic traffic sources overview the result is shocking it's below than what you expected; Sounds familiar?

Why does the Google analytic result is different?
In comparison with entrecard, Google analytic have a very different method of tracking visits to your page.

In Analytics, if a user comes to your site twice within thirty minutes without closing their browser, they'll register as one visit. Other web analytics solutions may treat this behavior as two visits, depending on their definitions.

Entrecard is per card drop.

I myself questioned this, i thought that Google analytic will be way more higher result since they track the whole visit including referring sites, search engine visits etc...but to my surprise it even have lesser than what's expected.

I have not deeply research the comparison about the two, but this explains that we cannot compare the result of our Entrecard result to Google Analytic, they used a very different methods of tracking our visits.

Your input is really important, if you want to add more please do so and start the discussion.

I have problems with my site; but, before i fixed it (Which is a very simple solution, argggh!) i made a lot of additional problem which ended me of changing template. Anyway, to credit my commenter about this topic i decided to post it here aswell so that the rest can follow the discussion.

Comments:
Jude: Google counts both, but if someone has several accounts and you are on all of their drop lists then however many times that person comes and drops they will be counted as only 1 unique visitor and they also lag behind other counters such as sitemeter and get clicky.

Haney: One thing I dont like about Entrecard is that, most visitors are not quality ones. That means most of them just skim through, not bothered to read or comment on what you had posted, and just drop their cards. That's how some can drop 300 cards per day.

Michael Aulia: That is something new to me :| I thought just by looking at the Entrecard traffic source in Analytics, will be equal to the total of Entrecard traffic that you got?

Guys, i am really sorry i lost the link to your site, if you can please give me your URL (Haney and Jude) so i can link to your site. I appreciate your time of commenting on my site and that is all i can do at least.