by jeffc
Over the past two weeks, I’ve seen a large increase in the number of spam comments that look similar to this one:
Just wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same sort of spam? The good news is that Akismet has done a great job catching the messages before they go live.
by jeffc
For the next two weeks (11th to 26th October), Soccerlens.com will be accepting new article submissions for the contest. Your entry must meet the minimum criteria. Articles will be published on Soccerlens and will be considered part of the contest. During the last week of the month, the Soccerlens team will evaluate all published entries and pick a winner which is to be announced on Friday, October 31st.
Click here to read the rules and criteria for the contest.
Soccerlens.com is headed by Ahmed Bilal, a past contributor to Performancing.
by jeffc
Another week has come and gone and with it, more blogging jobs. Here are the latest entries on the Performancing job board.
Feature Writer for Flagship web sites – Wired Rhino, Inc is looking for a few excellent free lance writers to write flagship content for our various websites.
Tech bloggers for mobiletopsoft.com – Mobiletopsoft.com is looking for new blogger/s. If you are familiar with latest trends about windows mobile, symbian, palm and android powered mobile phones and devices and want to turn this knowledge in money feel free to apply.
Seeking Photography Enthusiast and Pro Bloggers – PictureMyCamera is currently hiring PictureMyCamera editors for a variety of topics of interest to phographers and enthusiasts. Official PictureMyCamera editors receive a 50-50 share of Adsense revenue like all PictureMyCamera writers do, but they also get some great fringe benefits such as a free banner ad in the sitewide rotation and access to demo items to review.
If you are looking for a blogging job or you’re an employer looking for somewhere to place your job ad, be sure to check out the Performancing Job board. There are no fees for publishing jobs.
by jeffc
Talkshoe.com is an online web service that enables anyone to easily create, join, or listen to Live Interactive Discussions, Conversations, Podcasts and Audioblogs. The service has been around since 2005 and since then, has continued to make it as easy as possible for users to create their own podcasts. Membership to Talkshoe is free. Besides being free, what else do they have to offer?
Although there are many other podcasting services around that provide similar functionality as Talkshoe, I have yet to leave the service based on a number of circumstances. For starters, show hosts can schedule episodes at any time they’d like. There are no specific time blocks which limit when you can produce a show. Talkshoe gives hosts the ability to manage an email list that is used to invite people to your show as it is scheduled. You can either maintain your own mailing list or direct Talkshoe members to click on the FOLLOW button that is registered to your show. This will automatically place them on the INVITATION list. Anytime you schedule an episode, an email will be sent out to these people providing the necessary information regarding the next episode.
Each host on Talkshoe receives their own dedicate show page. This page highlights a countdown to when the next episode will air, a media player for specific episodes that can be embedded into blog posts, various subscription options, and a list of scheduled episodes on top of a list of past episodes. This page also gives listeners a chance to review and then comment on your show.
Unfortunately, show hosts can not manage the FOLLOW LIST. If someone on the follow list ends up changing their email account or fails to remove themselves from the list, sending out invitations can result in bounce back messages polluting your inbox. This issue has been brought up to Talkshoe in the past but has yet to be corrected.
Maybe you’re not too keen on the audio quality Talkshoe provides but you are content with their distribution system. The good news is, you can upload MP3’s to Talkshoe which will take the place of your recorded show. This means you can use Talkshoe as a distribution channel while staying in charge of the podcast audio quality.
Talkshoe provides a myriad of ways in which people can interact with shows. The first method is similar to AM Talk Radio where listeners can call into the show via SkypeOut or a landline/cellphone. Talkshoe provides one central number to call but provides each show host with their own unique call ID. The call ID is used to differentiate the large number of shows being hosted on Talkshoe. Users can opt to configure a SIP Client as well such as Project Gizmo or my favorite, X-Lite. This allows me to call into Talkshoe with my PC similar to using SkypeOut, but for free. The last way of interacting with the show is through two different clients that Talkshoe provides.
There is the Talkshoe Pro client which requires installation on an end users system while the web client can be executed through a browser window. The pro client contains features that the web client does not such as color coded conversations, easier show administration, and more. However, the web client is fast to load and provides an IRC like chat interface. Those who are brand new to Talkshoe hate the fact that the chat in the Pro Client scrolls from right to left. However, after getting used to it, people begin to see why it’s setup that way.
The major difference between the web and pro clients is that the pro client has a built in SIP client called ShoePhone. However, anytime I have listened to someone call into a show using this SIP client, they have sounded terrible. It sounds as if the caller is speaking through a fan. Based on what I have heard through the grapevine, Talkshoe is going to be reworking the Shoephone from the ground up. Almost anything you can think of would be better than using the Shoephone, even tin cans and string.
As show host, you contain access to some options that no one else does. Show hosts are not able to join their room until 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time. Once you are allowed in the room, hosts are then able to click on a START button which will initiate the recording. Keep in mind that Talkshoe does not automatically start a recording, this is a manual process. Show hosts contain the ability to mute a persons audio while also being able to block someone from chatting in the room. Talkshoe does not contain the ability to ban users from entering a specific room. So although you can block their chat, and their voice, they can still sit in the room and listen to the show but I can only imagine how boring that must be.
When hosts are done recording a show, they can press the STOP button which will stop the recording but not terminate the call. This is great because after the recording stops, you can keep the show open for an after show where people can still call in and congregate. Only after you hit the TERMINATE button will the show and the room be terminated. Termination will hang up any caller that may still be on the line. You can still chat in the room however.
While I am a big fan of Talkshoe, not everything is as great as it seems. For instance, Talkshoe has been known to suffer major outages from time to time thanks to power outages and other mishaps at their data centers. This can screw things up if your show happens to be scheduled during the same time Talkshoe goes offline. I must admit though, Talkshoe did a good job of getting things back up to speed in no time flat. Also worthy of note is that Talkshoe supports anonymous callers. A great idea at face value until you realize that there is no call screener. I’ve participated in a number of shows which have had a (podcrasher) or two show up and try to destroy the show. This is why I really don’t accept calls from anonymous users.
Talkshoe like many other web services that have a chat server appears to suffer from the same problems of connections timing out. This leads to increased frustration by everyone as you have to refresh the browser if you’re using the Web Client to reconnect or, you need to close the pro client and reopen it. This issue has seemingly become worst as time moves on.
Last but not least, you will not receive studio quality sound from your podcasts if they are produced on Talkshoe. But, calling into Talkshoe.com via X-Lite has enabled me to have great audio quality, at least thats what the listeners have told me. You can’t control an individuals audio quality so although I might sound great, the callers may sound terrible. However, if the show contains great content, I think there are many people who are willing to forgive the audio quality.
I have been a member of Talkshoe since early 2007 and have never reached a point where I got up and left the service for something else. I have given BlogTalkRadio a look through but I am not pleased with their host page layout. Talkshoe has plenty of things it can do to improve its service as well as the site itself but only time will tell if they put these improvements into place. If you are looking for a service that practically does everything for you minus the talking, give Talkshoe a try.
by jeffc
In episode seven of Perfcast, David introduces us to his new website, BrandingDavid.com. We get a report of what David learned at WordCamp Toronto. We dive into the b5 Media Rate cuts and discuss its possible impact while also highlighting the article published by ReadWriteWeb pertaining to the what the 20 top tier bloggers income levels are. Last but not least, we discussed an article which I believe provides a good amount of food for thought and that is, what is the most important blog metric. The answer may surprise you. All that and more in this gobblygook packed episode of Perfcast.
STORIES DISCUSSED:
Blogger and Consultant Pay
Big Blog Pay Cuts at b5media
Revolution Going Open Source
Most Important Blog Metric
WordCamp Toronto wordcamptoronto.pbwiki.com
Project Launchpad on Performancing?
LISTENER FEEDBACK – We cover reader feedback from the previous episode. You can give us your feedback by shooting us an email at, [email protected]
BLOGGING JOB OF THE WEEK – Contributing writers for Devlounge, preferably on a weekly basis. Thord Hendergren is interested in posts and tutorials that goes well on a web development site. It could be content in any of these topics:
* PHP
* Flash
* WordPress
* Drupal
* vBulletin
* PhpBB
* Javascript
Interested? They pay $20 for every published post.
Get in touch with Thord Hendengren at: hi at tdhedengren . com
BLOGGING CHALLENGE ENTRIES FROM THE PREVIOUS WEEK: David and I are both eligible for the FAIL blog as we both failed to accomplish the challenge. The bar was set pretty high but this week, the bar is even higher. (Be sure to thank David for that!)
BLOGGING CHALLENGE – Might be difficult with the way things are currently, but good bloggers are like great debaters. They should be able to take any side of an issue and see things from all angles. So this week, I’d like to see people post, in a positive way, about the economy making sure to integrate it into your normal topic.
The blogging challenge is provided as a means of challenging yourself with a specific duty each week. David and I will be participating in each challenge and will be highlighting various entries from the previous challenge. To have your entry viewed by David and I, leave a comment with a link to your entry on this blog post. You may be the entry we review on the next episode.
LENGTH OF EPISODE – 1 Hour 2 Minutes
NEXT EPISODE – Thursday October 16th, 2008 at 7 P.M. EST
ITUNES – Click here to subscribe to the show via iTunes
DOWNLOAD THE SHOW: PerfcastEpisode7.mp3
LISTEN TO EPISODE 7 OF PERFCAST:
by jeffc
Here on Performancing and on various other blogs about blogging, the idea of making a good living from blogging has been described as fiction more than fact. Not to say that it isn’t possible however, the chances of it happening are not good.
ReadWriteWeb published the results of their own survey today in which they contacted 20 top-tier bloggers and social media consultants to figure out just how much money they are making. The survey figures out what the pay rates are for these individuals while also having them confirm what their counterparts make. The results should continue to provide hope for those looking to make a living from this field of work but keep in mind that the top 20 people in virtually any field of work will probably be well paid.
According to the survey, rates for bloggers who were paid per post ranged anywhere from $10.00 to $200.00 for long form writing. In-house/Full time bloggers reported being paid between $45k and $55k per year with benefits all the way up to the $90k a year bracket. RRW breaks down these annual rates:
Based on our experience and conversations in the industry, we can say that all of the people doing this work full time are putting in at least 50 to 60 hour work weeks, often longer. That means most are making the equivalent of $20 to $35 dollars per hour.
There are of course, a few bloggers in the wild who are making a six-figure salary. Naming those people shouldn’t be difficult. In fact, Walt Mossberg who writes for the Wall Street Journal is rumored to make seven figures per year.
Last but not least, those who are authorities are making a good living through consulting work. Based on the survey results, hourly rates ranged from $150.00 up to $300.00 per hour. Some consultants reported rates of $2k to $4k per job. To illustrate just how much of a disconnect there is between companies that get it and those that don’t, RRW reports that these consultants are probably doing one or more of the follow:
What are these people doing? They are advising companies on how to set up and run blogs, how to reach out to and relate to bloggers, how to use Twitter (seriously) and how to make advanced use of RSS. The SEO work is probably the most technical, but degrees of technical challenge are all relative. A lot of this work is about communication skills.
I’m currently making over $1,000.00 per month by producing podcasts and blogging for others. I can’t tell you how many hours I put in a week into blogging but I can confirm that it’s not just about writing the articles. There are many variables which I believe fail to be entered into the payment equation. For instance, administering the website, comment moderation, social media promotion, social interaction via Twitter or Friendfeed, conversations on Skype with people within your niche, conducting show notes for that next podcast episode, reading books in your off time that deal with the niche you write about, etc.
The bottom line is, it is entirely possible to make a living blogging for others or for yourself. However, it is a very tough road to travel and that is why here at Performancing, we will continue to provide tips, tricks and useful information to help turn the dream of making a decent income from blogging into a reality. Just be prepared to lay down a ton of elbow grease.
What are your thoughts on the RRW survey?
by jeffc
Thunderbird, which is my email client of choice is starting to become the most used application on my system. Therefor, I am thankful for any productivity tips I may come across to make reading and archiving emails faster. A little convenience never hurt either. Thats why I have to say thanks to Ryan from cubegames.net for pointing out how easy it is to thread emails.
Before using this feature, email discussions with individuals would appear as separate emails. After enabling the threading option, emails are displayed under one subject with the ability to press a button to show the threaded conversation. Not only does this help in keeping tabs on the conversation at hand, but it also keeps my inbox organized.
Here is how to enable threading in Thunderbird. Simply click on the icon as seen in the following screenshot.
Now, all emails under the same subject will be threaded. You can tell if a series of emails are threaded if you see the following icon to the left of the subject header.
This little productivity tip has already helped me out in terms of managing all of the emails I participate in. Threaded emails is especially useful for those who participate in mailing lists as it would be nearly impossible to keep up with the conversation otherwise.
Have any more Thunderbird productivity tips? Be sure to share them in the comments.
by jeffc