The Contextual Partnership Plugin For WordPress Provides Free Advertising To Help Promote Your Blog & Get You Noticed…

If you’re looking for an effective solution to help get your blog noticed then the Contextual Partnership Plugin for WordPress bloggers could be well worth consideration. Perhaps the most attractive aspect is that there is no cost involved.

According to the developers the plugin is designed to;

Drive more targeted visitors to your blog (or blogs) by strategically linking your blog to and from other bloggers participating in the network. The exact method used to achieve this remains confidential but apparently it’s not a basic reciprocal link exchange – nor the more common 3 way linking arrangement often seen between bloggers.

Enhance the user experience for your blog visitors by providing them with links to other high quality blogs for further information on subjects of interest (and it can do this without you actually loosing the visitor which is a great feature).

Indirectly increase your search engine rankings by building highly relevant incoming links to your blog for keyword terms you define, related to your own niche market.

Not a bad indirect benefit at all.

To better understand how the network works, first you need to know what a “contextual link” actually is. A contextual link is simply a link “within content” of a blog post and “within context” of specific keyword terms in that post. For example the term “dog training” found within a blog post becomes a link out to another blog (related to “dog training”) within the network. Contextual Links are found all over the internet – bloggers interlink their own pages contextually, there are paid advertising programs that allow you to place contextual advertising links and earn per click, and bloggers naturally link out to other websites they find useful “contextually” as well.

This is the key to the “Contextual Partnership”. When you install and setup the WordPress Plugin, you’re asked to provide the URL’s you wish to advertise on other partners blogs, and the keyword terms you want those blogs to use to link back to your own. When a match is found within the network for the keyword terms you provide (and assuming it meets with the Contextual Partnership’s strategic linking methodology), a link back to your blog is assigned, and your account has a credit removed.
The amount of credits your account holds appears to be directly related to the number of links you’re providing to other partners in the network for the keyword terms they themselves are looking to use to advertise. Apparently for every link you provide for another partner, you earn 1 credit. That 1 credit is then “cashed in” to assign a link back to your own blog from other partners whenever a match is found for your own keyword terms. So if you already have 100 posts in your blog, and each of those pages finds a match to provide a link to another partner, then technically you could receive 100 incoming links to your blog as soon as you’ve been approved to participate in the partnership. You also continually earn more points and incoming links as you continue to blog and add more posts just like you usually do.

That’s the basic overview and you’ll find more specific information on the plugin website including details of many features not mentioned here (like the ability to select specifically which blog posts you want to include – or nor include in the network)...

http://www.contextualpartnership.com

Uptake by the blogger community seems to have been extremely good and this new service looks to become very popular. In the first two weeks of launch the partnership already had over 54,000 individual places to place links throughout the network, and within the first 4 weeks over 10,000 advertising links had been allocated between network partners. This is most likely a result to how easy it is to actually setup the plugin and participate – it literally takes 5 minutes to install and setup – although approval can take anywhere from 24-72 hours depending on the moderation queue as only high quality blogs are accepted to participate to keep out the splogs and spammers.
This seems to be one of those services worth giving a shot for a few months, and by the looks of things the developers have some exciting new features in the pipeline to make things even more effective for partners in the future.

You can find out full details and download the plugin below…

http://www.contextualpartnership.com

Or alternatively you can download the plugin directly from WordPress…
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/contextual-partnership-link-exchange-plugin/

With the announcement that JOAB beloved Jeremy Wright stepped down at B5Media we are sad to report that good ol’fashioned Jack of All Blogs died in the same breath.

Back in the days JOAB was snark blog par excellence, mainly excelling in it’s offensive style. Ran and edited by a snark master who we rather prefer to ignare and totally blank nowadays, JOAB was feared and every problogger or A-lister in the ‘about blogging’ scene became the victim. But times have changed and all these bloggers have become a snorefest. With Jeremy’s change in position the last of the failbloggers has died and taken down Jack of All Blogs at the same time.
Before I dive in to an identity crisis after yesterday’s event, I would love to thank JOAB’s preferred victims.

More →

The thing with blogging is that people tend to overshare. Even in today’s people tend to share way too much online, on their blog.

For probloggers there’s another issue: disclosure. Here at JOAB we obviously couldn’t give a rat’s a$$ about disclosure. Proud we are about it as well, because imagine how silly things are if you become one of those people who really tell everything they are not supposed to even share with their friends, unless they really want to. Today I stumbled on one of these examples. TUAW’s Robert Palmer has since a long time been running a series about His Dad, the switcher and recently bought his dad’s switch mini Mac. Now he hooked it up to a new TV and tis is where the all telling comes in:

Thin skin? Then don’t even think about becoming a successful blogger.

I’m not sure if this is a true story or not, but somewhere along the way I picked it up and have remembered it ever since…

Baseball player Jeff Kent was once mired in a dreadful slump while on the New York Mets. Fans, who can be relentless when players don’t perform up to their standards, decided to share their displeasure with Kent. How? They got personal. After getting wind that Kent’s dog Gunnar has passed away they broke into a sing-songy chant. “Gun-nar…”

Ouch.

Kent might be a millionaire and part of a fraternity of several thousand professional baseball players, but he’s human. And not deaf.

Shortly after the cruel chant, Kent was traded away, vowing to never play for a New York team again.

It’s easy to be super-critical of public figures. After all, we expect great things from them since they make great money. The misconception that they are immune to criticism is foolish. They might be more used to it than us ‘regular folks,’ but that doesn’t mean the daggers don’t hurt.

And speaking of us, the same goes for blog writers and blog commenters. The more I blog, the more I realize that blog commenters are more likely to leave a comment if they disagree or take issue with something you write. That’s cool. But there’s no need to get personal.

Before you pull the trigger on that comment asking ‘who the heck I think I am’ – let me tell you. I’m a hard working, regular guy who likes to blog as a therapeutic outlet. I enjoy writing and need the few extra dollars (literally) that this hobby affords me. Slicing and dicing my writing style, pointing out typos or arguing with my angle on something just for the sake of arguing sucks. Comments make blogs great – just don’t get personal. Think before you post.

When I plop down my hard-earned cash to attend a concert, I do so in order to hear the glorious band and the soaring voice of the vocalist. I do not attend to hear YOU sing. That’s right, I’m talking to you, fellow concert attendees.

There’s an alarming trend that is taking place at venues around the globe: massive audience sing-a-longs that drown out the real thing.

There is a similar movement within the blogosphere. Your favorite blogger begins to drift off into the distance, as “guest” bloggers start to fill the space. Before you know it, you rarely hear from the person who was your entire reason for reading in the first place.

Building an ensemble cast is nice, but if your favorite character goes away, you might not be as inclined to read or watch. Imagine LOST without Jack. You would probably still watch, but if he was your favorite character, you might lose interest.

A blog is an even more personal experience. Writers build bonds with their audience, and should be very careful when phasing themselves out of the equation.

I’m not fooling myself, I realize every blogger is replaceable. But keep in mind that your visitors are there to hear you sing – not the audience. Before you pass the mic to another performer, make sure you’re not damaging your overall product.

As a New York resident, the news that Willie Randolph was axed as the manger of the Mets, created a media firestorm. In fact, the move has landed the baseball club on the front and back page of every New York daily.

Despite employed PR experts, media mavens and so-called ‘baseball minds,’ the team managed to botch the firing so bad, that they turned Public Enemy No. 1 into a sympathetic figure.

First, they allowed Randolph to make the trip to the West coast. Then, they allowed him to finish a game (which the team won). The ax fell at around 3:12am ET. Lame.

Yesterday, at a team press conference, General Manager Omar Minaya, who claims the decision was his and his alone, tried to confidently work his way out of this mess.

He failed. In fact, his verbal communication skills were quite weak, bordering on offensive. Apparently Minaya has attended the school of ‘repeat it and they will believe it.’

So what’s missing for the equation?

A BLOG.

I could be simply missing it, but I was unable to dig up a team blog. One that could address Randolph’s dismissal and the thinking behind it. One that could have addressed the news in the middle of the night. This is , after all, the Internet Age – and we have a 24/7 news cycle that can’t be ignored. You can’t run and hide from it. Not even at 3am on another coast.

Major League Baseball does allow team’s fans set up personal blogs thanks to MLBlog. But in cases like this, I am looking for a blog that comes from the top down, offering the type of transparency that makes criminals shutter.

Forget the new stadium. Forget the new manager. The New York Mets need a blog. It certainly couldn’t make them look any worse and it’ll cost a whole lot less.

I love books. I love learning. But I’d also like to remind bloggers who aspire to great heights the importance of beating to their own drum and ‘arriving’ on their own path.

The self-help aisle at the local book store chain grows everyday. Is anyone really getting better at anything?

How-to blogging guides can be useful in giving you a fundamental understanding of the conventional ways one could achieve success. SEO basics, monetization, the power of headlines, etc. – all good stuff. But I’m willing to bet that the blogosphere has become so saturated, that the next big thing – and I mean REALLY big thing – will be someone who breaks all the rules.

The path to success has more roads then we can imagine. Why not dream up a new one?

I also think there’s something wickedly ironic about the recent glut of bloggers inking book deals. Sure, I’d sign one in a heartbeat. But at some point, recycled content is just getting recycled once again, no?

The announcement of ProBlogger the book is sure to get people’s attention, and will undoubtedly make a ton of money. And I respect the authors immensely. I know you WILL learn from the book! I’m merely suggesting that you ask yourself if you’re playing the game by yours – or somebody else’s rules. I don’t want to keep up with the pack – I want to take the lead.

I have not seen or previewed the book. And am admittedly speaking in generalities. But let me ask you this:

What would you expect to read in a book on blogging that you haven’t already read on a “pro” blogging Website?

Just a thought.

The New York Times has sent a wave through the blogosphere, the way only old media can, by suggesting that the endless news cycle bloggers face is a serious health hazard.

I’ll concede the fact that striving to produce fresh content and cover a 24/7 beat is far from easy. However, I argue that, all things considered, bloggers are the least likely to croak because of their profession.

LOVE. We often hear, ‘Do what you love and never work a day in your life.” Since blogging is a labor of love for 99.9% of the people who do it, isn’t it fair to assume that the act of blogging is not taking a dramatic toll on their bodies.

Let’s take a pro baseball player, for instance. They are forced to perform while under great duress. Yet, (and correct me if I’m wrong), I don’t think they tend to die any younger then an electrician or used car salesmen. Athletes love what they do (you have to to make it to the pros). Therefore, stress and the toll it takes on your body, is instantly reduced. Don’t believe me? Next time you have to do something against your will that you don’t agree with, monitor your body and how it feels. Of course, stress is relative to the individual, irrespective of profession.

NO BOSS. Ask anybody who has ever collected a paycheck; one of the most sickening aspects of work is reporting to the dreaded boss. With the birth of large blog networks and corporate blogging, many bloggers are experiencing the pinch of somebody else’s editorial process. However, the bulk of bloggers report to one person: themselves. And unless you really hate yourself, it’s easier than reporting to some random douche bag.

Keeping yourself motivated and holding yourself accountable is not easy work. But it’s highly unlikely that it will send you to an early grave.

HOME. Full-time blogging is generally considered a work-from-home type job. Last time I checked, travel-related deaths (auto crashes, etc.) were a main culprit in snuffing out youth.

POOR. Despite a few money-making, A-list bloggers, the majority of us do not make good money. This can be the gateway to poor eating habits, something that actually can shorten your life. Long hours and low pay are a recipe for fast food, no exercise and poor sleeping habits – the trifecta for disaster.

I will give the New York Times credit: bloggers across the world are chatting this article up. But a few words of caution…

A New York Times reporter (who does their job well), is three times more likely to die young.

Hey, are you guys hiring?

We live in a world of opinion, yet when it comes to sharing how we REALLY feel, there’s an innate tendency to self-censor. Even when using the world’s only true unfiltered medium: the Internet.

Your humble blogger fully admits he’s just as guilty as you.

What is it that keeps us from sharing how we truly feel? Probably the same thing that keeps us from kicking open an ATM machine: the fear of getting caught.

Terrorists can hand-deliver threatening videos to television stations, but we can’t say what we really think about people, politics, religion, and death – at least not without the fear of serious ramifications.

One minute we’re sounding off on Hillary Clinton, and the next we’re being escorted from our desks holding a cardboard box.

Rather then break into a full on rant on why most of us are fearful of serious backlash for writing about controversial topics, I’d like to ask the bloggers out there a question:

When you self-censor your blog, are you being an upstanding human being or you just scared?

And don’t tell me you don’t self-censor. We all do. Even me, right now, in this post…

Copying other people’s blogs, and posting the content on your own blog, does not make you an authority on a given subject. In fact, you shouldn’t even consider yourself a blogger.

If you’re a chronic Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V kind of guy, there’s a good chance you think I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth. After all, you’re kind enough to attribute the story to the blogger. Or, if you’re super generous,you’ll only copy half of a story, sending people to my blog to read the rest.

If my wife cooks dinner, and I move the steak from the stove to my plate, it doesn’t give me the right to claim myself an Iron Chef. Even if I add salt.

Imagine if you will, that Pepsi decided to sell Coke. Oh, it’s in a Pepsi can, just filled to the brim with Coke. If you look closely at the bottom of the can it tells you that it’s Coke inside.

One more comparison for these blog leechers.

Here in New York, how would the New York Times feel if the Daily News started to publish their stories – without permission – in there entirely. Even with proper attribution, it’s illegal and would never fly.

Tell me why we give these so-called self-proclaimed bloggers, who are nothing more than human content aggregators, the license to steal. The Internet might be the Wild Wild West, with enforcement impractical. However, I urge you, dear readers, to take the law into your own hands. Do not give these copy and pasters your business. Just go to Google and research the topic you’re interested. Cause at the end of the day, that’s all these bloggin’ wannabes are doing.

If you’re going to take the bulk of my post, I don’t want your click-throughs. I hope other authentic bloggers agree.

It’s called creativity. Go find some.