Skip links

Performancing

Main navigation

ryancaldwell

Get Free, High-Quality Content Custom Written For Your Blog

by

I’m a big fan of guest posting high-quality content on high-quality blogs. Guest articles are one of those win-win transactions that take place all the time on the Internet without the transaction of money. The writer of the article gets the benefit of exposure and branding (assuming the article is good). The blog owner gets the benefit of a unique perspective and interesting content that wouldn’t otherwise be seen by his or her readers.

I’m offering to do 10 free guest posts over the next month for high-quality blogs (as determined by me). Every guest post that gets done will be custom written by me and I will strive for professional quality. Here are some samples of my guest posts from the past:

If you are interested, please contact me at the following email address [email protected] so that I can look over your blog.

Finalists Announced In The Blogger Appreciation Awards

by

The 30 finalists have been announced for the Blogger Appreciation Awards contest. These 30 bloggers were selected out of thousands of nominations after they had survived a semi-finalist round in which the judges initially narrowed the field down to 200. These blogs were selected for their compelling content and active readerships: the two aspects of a great blog.

If you’d like to show your appreciation for one of the finalist bloggers, please make sure to participate by voting at the The Blogger Appreciation Awards voting page.

The finalists are:

Blogger Appreciation Contest – Call For Nominations

by

Bloggers pour their heart and soul into their blogs and often get very little in return. As a whole, I think it’s safe to say that we’re an under-appreciated group who work very hard and what we do. Most of us blog for free and the only thing that keeps us going is the thrill of interacting with our readers or the rare time when we break a big news story or get recognized by other blogs for an insightful commentary.

But the fact is that even the most popular bloggers barely make enough money to scrape by. There are really only a handful of people who actually make a full wage off blogging.

Cell Phones .org thinks that bloggers don’t get enough appreciation and for that reason they are running a Bloggers Appreciation Contest. The contest will reward the three winners with some really cool prizes:

First Prize: a full year’s worth of your cell phone bill (up to $1000)
Second Prize: free cell phone (does not include plan)
Third Prize: $100 gift certificate to use at Cell Phones .org

Nominations for the contest will be accepted until February 28th 2009. Blogs that have been nominated will then ask their readers to show their appreciation by voting for them over the next few weeks. Voting will be held from March 1st until March 17th. Each visitor can vote once per day during the voting period.

To nominate your blog or any other blog, go to the Cell Phones.org nomination page.

Free Social Media Buttons For Your Blog

by

Have you ever wanted options when it comes to the social media buttons you put on your blog or website? I know I have. Normally I wade through oceans of junk in a Google Image search to find the ones that I really love. Then they all need to be edited down to size. And sometimes I can’t even find ones that match.

Well, the good news is that my friends Randa and Char have addressed this problem with their new site MySocialButtons.com which offers some really unique, interesting and high-quality social media buttons that are free to use. And the good news is that since they come from the same designers, you can find buttons for multiple social media sites that match each other. Once you’ve found the style you like, you can normally find the same style for the other sites.

Here are three of my favorite social media buttons from MySocialButtons.com –

facebook button twitter bird button stumble upon button

A Request For Google’s Webmaster Tools – Fight spamlink hacking head-on

by

For at least the last six months, one of my blogs has been hacked and I didn’t know about it. For all I know, it is still hacked.

As Aaron Wall pointed out over at SEO Blog, there is a sophisticated new method of link cloaking that hackers are using where only GoogleBot sees the hacker’s spammy xanax links.

I had guessed that my site was hacked around last August because the site was de-indexed from Google. However, I went to Google’s webmaster tools at the time to look at “What Google Sees” and didn’t see any spammy keywords. Then, I checked all the files on my webserver and didn’t find any obvious changes. Then I scanned the database for common spam hacker tactics. Nothing. So as a last resort, I simply deleted all the WP files off the server and re-installed a fresh installation of WP.

In the past, this methodology has solved all my spamhacks. But not this time. And to this day I still don’t know if I’ve solved the problem. What I do know is that the site has actually been hacked because now when I go to Webmaster Tools “What Google Sees” and look at the cache of pages on my site, I see lots of spammy phrases.

So, 6 months later, I’ve gone ahead and rechecked everything. I’ve run the Exploit Scanner plugin and it doesn’t see a problem. I’ve looked through the theme files, including functions.php and still don’t see the issue.

What makes the problem especially tough to identify is the cloaking aspect. Because it’s impossible to test whether you’ve fixed the issue in real time. Instead, you are left waiting for the next time Google caches a page on your site.

So here’s the request for Google’s Webmaster Tools…

Let’s tackle spamlink hacking head on. Let’s make Webmaster Central’s Webmaster Tools really, really useful by meeting these specs:

  • Provide immediate email notifications if spamlink hacking is detected on a site.
  • Because of the cloaking issue, allow a webmaster to request an immediate site review (just like you do for initial site authentication)
  • Provide webmasters a robust toolkit of actions that they can take to remove the specific spamlink hack that’s detected on their site.

The fact of the matter is that spamlink hacking has gotten too sophisticated for even the average webmaster to keep up with. With widely distributed CMS software like WordPress and sophisticated attack methods, web security is not as simple as it used to be. It’s time for Google to help us out. And this post is my plea for help

Gawker Media: No Time For Subtlety In A Troubled Economy

by

It can’t be a coincidence that in the last week Gawker Media properties have blatantly stolen the titles and ideas proposed in two articles that appeared on my web properties early this year. And surely it’s not a coincidence that both of those articles appeared on the front page of Digg.

You see, I can’t help but think that Gawker Media has clearly instructed it’s writers to go into the backlogs of successful front page Digg stories, and to start copying concepts.

To be honest, this is not a new thing. Everyone studies the backlogs of Digg to learn and adapt. However, what is new is the blatant copying of titles and concepts that Gawker seems to be using:

Compare:

http://www.ridelust.com/10-cars-that-are-guaranteed-to-get-you-laid-on-a-budget/
http://jalopnik.com/5139493/the-top-11-cars-of-2009-most-likely-to-get-you-laid

and

http://www.businesspundit.com/give-windows-7-away-for-free
http://gizmodo.com/5141443/why-microsoft-should-give-windows-7-away

Now, if it happened to me twice in one week, I can only infer that it’s the new Gawker strategy: no time for subtlety in a bad economy.

Performancing Blog Awards 2007 Winners

by

The Performancing Blog Awards recognize excellence in blogging. With help from our readers, Performancing chose 28 awards categories (one half of our collective brain wishes we could have done more, the other half wishes we had done less;-) and nominated six candidates per category.

With over 61,000 votes in one week of voting (Readers’ Choice) and ongoing behind the scenes deliberation (Editors’ Choice) we’ve selected the winners of this year’s Performancing Blog Awards.

In some cases, the Readers and the Editors selected the same winners. However, more often than not, the Readers and Editors selected different winners. In those cases, it’s for you to decide who made the better choice;-)

While putting these awards together was a labor of love (and I mean labor in both senses of the term!) it was well worth the effort. What we have here is a solid collection of the best blogs in the world in some of the most important categories there are. It was no easy feat, but we sure hope you like the final product:

The Best Overall Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Zen Habits

Zen Habits entered the blogosphere by storm, offering up a unique and fresh perspective on life, health, productivity and finance. It has not only gained the admiration of professional bloggers but also managed to gain a huge readership outside the average blog reading demographic. This can be partly attributed to to the fact that, with a clear and captivating writing style, Zen Habits offers smart and productive people an alternative, simpler way to live their lives.

Runner Up: Mashable

Voting results: Best Overall Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: TechCrunch

Everyone in the industry hangs on TechCrunch’s every word. While the site has it’s ups and it’s downs, there’s no denying the fact that the writers at TechCrunch put out an incredibly large amount of exceptional content day in and day out.

Runner Up: Ars Technica

The Most Influential Blogger of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Darren Rowse (ProBlogger)

In what turned out to be the closest poll of this year’s Performancing Awards (only five votes separated first and second place), Darren Rowse pulled out the victory. Darren has been a pioneer of the problogging world and is consistently looked to as a role model for blogging consistency and success. His ability to continually generate new and useful ideas never ceases to amaze us.

Runner Up: Seth Godin (Seth’s Blog)

Voting results: Most Influential Blogger Poll

Editors’ Choice: Brian Clark (CopyBlogger)

The best bloggers will all tell you the same thing: the key to a successful blog is writing attention grabbing headlines and copy. And no one has influenced the art of copywriting like Brian Clark. His blog CopyBlogger has made the blogging community stronger with tips on writing engaging posts and headlines, and it’s safe to say we’d see less engaging content without Brian’s huge influence.

Runner Up: Darren Rowse (ProBlogger)

The Best Blog Design of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Copyblogger (designed by Chris Pearson)

The reader’s spoke loud and clear on this one. Connoisseurs of WordPress themes know that Copyblogger was not only one of the most widely adopted WordPress theme of 2007. But even more importantly, it’s got ultra-optimized code (e.g. the left sidebar shows up in the source code after the middle content) and beautiful typography. Name recognition certainly helped on this one, but it’s pretty clear that users of the Copyblogger theme love it, and that’s all that matters.

Runner Up: Veerle’s Blog 2.0

Voting results: Best Blog Design Poll

Editors’ Choice: Pearsonified

It’s a shame Chris Pearson doesn’t blog a little more often, but the infrequent posts don’t take anything away from the awesome design at Pearsonified. Chris Pearson is one of the best WordPress designers working today, and it shows with his personal site.

Runner Up: Veerle’s Blog 2.0

The Best Blog Typography of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Freelance Switch

Freelance Switch features big, thick headline fonts and font layout that’s easy on the eyes. It’s easy to see why the readers’ picked this one (no pun intended, of course).

Runner Up: Graphic Exchange

Voting results: Best Blog Typography Poll

Editors’ Choice: Freelance Switch

In our opinion, Freelance Switch has set a new standard for great typography. Blog Designers take note.

Runner Up: 4-Hour Work Week

The Best Blog Name of 2007

Readers’ Choice: John Cow

Playing off the popularity of blogging rockstar John Chow, John Cow has become a household name. And the cow metaphor is priceless.

Runner Up: Get Rich Slowly

Voting results: The Best Blog Name Poll

Editors’ Choice: Velveteen Rabbi

We just couldn’t resist. The most beautiful play-on-words we’ve seen in a long time.

Runner Up: John Cow

The Best New Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Freelance Switch

Freelance Switch managed to burst onto the scene and gather an amazing, dedicated crowd in a very short amount of time. In the world of freelancing, Freelance Switch is now the big kahuna.

Runner Up: Snarfd

Voting results: The Best New Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Snarfd

While we certainly love Freelance Switch, for this award we wanted to pick the blog with the widest appeal…the one that keeps drawing us back…like addicts. And Snarfd is it.

Runner Up: Freelance Switch

The Best Blog Community of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Freelance Writing Jobs

Freelance Writing Jobs has a passionate community of freelance writers, and they sure have spoken this time.

Runner Up: Twitter

Voting results: The Best Blog Community Poll

Editors’ Choice: Metafilter

A vibrant community blog where the comments are often better than the posts. Our Editor’s were tightly split between Metafilter and Twitter, though, so definitely give the microblogging runner-up a shot.

Runner Up: Twitter

The Most Improved Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Mashable

Just take a look at the 3 year Alexa graph and you’ll see that our readers are quite the omniscient crew.

Runner Up: Get Rich Slowly

Voting results: The Most Improved Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: DoshDosh

The originality and quality of posts at DoshDosh have just continued to go up since Maki launched it back in November of 2006. And we couldn’t resist the draw of anime… just too cool.

Runner Up: Get Rich Slowly

The Best Blogs You’ve Never Heard Of 2007

Readers’ Choice: The Astonishing Adventures of Lord Likely

An original, quirky blog chosen by some original and quirky readers;-)

Runner Up: Bluehat SEO

Voting results: The Best Blogs You’ve Never Heard Of Poll

Editors’ Choice: Dear Rockers

We love the concept of this site: resolve your music-stealing guilt by writing letters to rockers and sending them $5. Not sure if it gets you off the hook, but the letters are sure fun to read.

Runner Up: Wise Living Journal

The Best Use of a Corporate Blog in 2007

Readers’ Choice: Prosper’s Official Blog

Prosper is a group blog run by its users. We’d love to see more corporations go in this direction, instead of weaving the typical corporate spin.

Runner Up: Southwest Airlines

Voting results: The Best Use of a Corporate Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Matt Cutts/Google Guy

Sure, we know the official line. But this year Matt was caught between a rock and a hard place trying to justify how his employee Google gets to link to their own partners editorially while the rest of us get penalized (thanks to graywolf for this insight). Matt deserves mad props for taking one for the Corp.

Runner Up: Dreamhost

The Best Blog Podcast in 2007

Readers’ Choice: Freelance Switch

The guys at Freelance Switch put together a quality operation, topped off with a popular audio podcast.

Runner Up: CalacanisCast

Voting results: The Best Blog Podcast Poll

Editors’ Choice: On The Pod

We can’t say enough good things about what Duncan Riley is doing with On The Pod. As an operating principle, Duncan tries to introduce the listener to lesser known people with important things to say…if only Google would do the same thing with their semantic analysis;-) On The Pod works as a podcast because it not only introduces you to new ideas and new people, but also because it’s great conversation that covers topics that stretch beyond tech and blogging.

Runner Up: Random Bits

The Best Video Blog in 2007

Readers’ Choice: Daily Idea

Daily Idea didn’t start until the 2nd half of 2007, but it has already acquired a massive following, thanks in part to it’s regular mix of humor and tips.

Runner Up: The PopCrunch Show

Voting results: The Best Video Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: 1938 Media

When 1938 Media started out, we were skeptical…and sometimes put-off. But collectively we’ve become fond of Lauren’s passion, candor and (even when he doesn’t intend it) dry humor. 1938 Media is unlike anything else out there…but that’s not why we like it. We like it because it’s got value…real value.

Runner Up: Ask a Ninja

The Best Writing/Blogging Blog in 2007

Readers’ Choice: Copyblogger

When it comes to writing copy and blogging, the place to start is Copyblogger. Hands down.

Runner Up: Freelance Writing Jobs

Voting results: The Best Writing/Blogging Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Daily Blog Tips

This might surprise a lot of you, and many of you might object, but in 2007 we found ourselves soaking up Daily Blog Tips. Simple, straightforward, practical tips that every blogger can use.

Runner Up: Pro Blogger

The Best Science/Technology Blog in 2007

Readers’ Choice: Pharyngula

In terms of community response and total traffic, there is no doubt that Pharyngula is the most influential science blog on the planet.

Runner Up: Bad Astronomy

Voting results: The Best Science/Technology Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Ars Technica

Ars Technica is always on top of every tech story, with thorough analysis. The blog is constantly on the front page of Digg, and for good reason. We believe that, hands down, no question, Ars Technica is the most interesting and sophisticated technology site out there. It’s also a real candidate for best website on the ‘net.

Runner Up: Pharyngula

The Most Controversial Blog in 2007

Readers’ Choice: John Chow

Speaking of controversy, anyone else think this vote was rigged? Over 99% of the votes were submitted for John Chow. The crazy thing is that an IP analysis doesn’t reveal any obvious screwing around. Controversy? No controversy? John Chow’s the winner.

Runner Up: Pharyngula

Voting results: The Most Controversial Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: 1938 Media

Loren Feldman has never been one to shy away from controversy and 2007 was no exception.

Runner Up: Perez Hilton

The Best SEO Blog in 2007

Readers’ Choice: SEOmoz Blog

SEOMoz is the company that every aspiring white-hat SEO looks up to. Rand Fishkin and gang have managed to create something very special and signs are that they’ll keep it up despite last year’s organizational changes.

Runner Up: Seo Book Blog

Voting results: The Best SEO Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Seo Book Blog

Aaron Wall runs one of the most thought provoking blogs out there. He’s always at the leading edge of SEO and it’s a good idea to think deeply about what he is saying, whether it’s SEO he’s discussing or something else altogether.

Runner Up: Graywolf’s SEO Blog

The Best Celeb/Style Blog in 2007

Readers’ Choice: Go Fug Yourself

Go Fug Yourself strikes the perfect balance between fashion and celebrity, taking a snarky attitude towards both. While giving props to the stars with good fashion, the Fuggers are at their best when they rip into the poor style and lifestyle decisions that celebs make.

Runner Up: Perez Hilton

Voting results: The Best Celeb/Style Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Oh No They Didn’t

As a group blog, Oh No They Didn’t often manages to break news before TMZ, Perez Hilton or any of the billions of other celeb blogs out there. And because it’s a community, ONTD covers a much wider variety of news…in other words, it doesn’t get old with the same joke, over and over and over.

Runner Up: WWTDD

The Best Business/Money Blogs in 2007

Readers’ Choice: The Simple Dollar

The Simple Dollar is a crowd favorite, giving simple, practical financial advice for the average person in today’s modern world (you know, the kind who actually have real jobs and not enough time in the day). It’s no coincidence that The Simple Dollar has over 23,000 feed subscribers.

Runner Up: Get Rich Slowly

Voting results: The Best Business/Money Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: The Simple Dollar

The Simple Dollar is a great read for anyone interested in personal finance, but it’s also a great read for someone looking for a blueprint on how to explode into a niche extremely quickly. The site is only a little over a year old, but Trent Hamm has quickly established himself as one of the premier bloggers around period, not just in the personal finance community.

Runner Up: Get Rich Slowly

The Best Photo Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: I Can Has Cheezburger?

I Can Has Cheezburger has been one of the most successful viral experiments of all time. And it’s no wonder. With a perfect mixture of cute animal pictures and funny captions, this blog is going to be a mainstay of Internet folklore for years to come.

Runner Up: Stuck in Customs

Voting results: The Best Business/Money Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Photopreneur

Photopreneur is a great resource for the amateur photographer looking to make a little extra cash with their work. Wins for community and operating principle.

Runner Up: Daily Dose of Imagery

The Best Sports Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: True Hoop

True Hoop features the best coverage of NBA basketball on the Internet. Now with ESPN, Henry Abbott built True Hoop from the ground up just like the rest of us…

Runner Up: Sunday Morning QB

Voting results: The Best Sports Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Joe Posnanski’s Blog

Joe Posnanski (a Kansas City sports writer) started blogging this year to promote a book he had written, and he very quickly created something special. One of the best blogs we’ve ever read on any topic.

Runner Up: Fire Joe Morgan

The Best Blog WebHost of 2007

Readers’ Choice: WordPress.com

WordPress.com is the easiest to use, most configurable, hosted blogging solution out there. And WordPress.com users love the variety of themes available to them. A tightly nit community has emerged between its users.

Runner Up: Blogger

Voting results: The Best Blog WebHost Poll

Editors’ Choice: Mosso

While Mosso is not in everyone’s price range, it is a massively scalable web hosting solution and currently hosts some of our Editor’s sites, some of which get as many as 500k pageviews per day. For high-traffic blogs that don’t want to run a dedicated server, we think it’s a steal for only $100 a month.

Runner Up: A Small Orange

The Best Family and Parenting Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Parent Hacks

Real tips from real parents for real kids. Parent Hacks is a great community blog where parents help each other with parenting.

Runner Up: Ask Moxie

Voting results: The Best Family and Parenting Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Dooce

Dooce pretty much singlehandedly created the entire “Mommy blogging” genre, and while the site has certainly changed over time it is still a great read.

Runner Up: Amalah

The Best Political Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Daily Kos

Daily Kos is the grassroots voice of the progressive left and allows anyone to contribute, with the best content featured on the front page. It is one of the most popular group blogs on the Internet and has made tangible political impact.

Runner Up: Huffington Post

Voting results: The Best Political Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Huffington Post

An excellent all around blog that puts out an incredible amount of good content drawing from a large pool of talent. A great example of what a well funded blog can be.

Runner Up: Firedoglake

The Best Food/Health Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: The Girl Who Ate Everything & 101 Cookbooks (tie)

It was a tie. That means they are both worth your time…and they are…really. Especially if you like food.

Runner Up: The Food Pornographer

Voting results: The Best Food/Health Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: 101 Cookbooks

If you are up for exploring in the kitchen it is tough to find a site better suited for the task.

Runner Up: The Food Pornographer

The Funniest Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: The Sneeze

Everyone who runs across the blog tags it an instant classic. So do we. Don’t miss out on the “Steve don’t eat it” posts. Classic rofl comedy.

Runner Up: Waiter Rant

Voting results: The Funniest Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Violent Acres

There aren’t many blogs we could honestly recommend going through the archives and reading every single entry, but this is one. But if that is too much for you, just check out her most popular posts. You won’t be sorry you did.

Runner Up: The Dilbert Blog

The Best Travel Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: The Cranky Flier

If there are travel pundits, The Cranky Flier is one of the best. With snarky, critical and sometimes humorous comments about the airline and travel industries, The Cranky Flier is a crowd pleaser.

Runner Up: Travel Rants

Voting results: The Best Travel Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Gridskipper

Gawker’s travel blog is one of the leaders in the niche, and delivers the excellence and originality you’d expect from a Gawker property.

Runner Up: Gadling

The Best Education Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: Study Hacks

Cal Newport offers simple tips aimed at demystifying the secrets of successful college students. Based on our polls, his readers find the tips useful and worth voting for.

Runner Up: Teaching Generation Z

Voting results: The Best Education Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Eduwonk

Eduwonk is an excellent site that features heavy discussion and analysis on issues facing the American educational system.

Runner Up: HackCollege

The Best Entertainment Blog of 2007

Readers’ Choice: /film

/Film is a movie lovers blog. In addition to your standard Hollywood movie news, the site also covers cult movies and directors. An emphasis is placed on scifi and fantasy movies.

Runner Up: Television Without Pity

Voting results: The Best Entertainment Blog Poll

Editors’ Choice: Firstshowing.net

Firstshowings.net is a very slick and comprehensive site that is always on top of the movie industry.

Runner Up: Stereogum

A huge thanks to Randa Clay for her wonderful design services (Randa created the awesome award images)!

YouTube Monetizes Music Videos With In-Video Buy-Now Option For Apple’s iTunes

by

Today I was watching Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up video over at YouTube and guess what popped up:

So you were wondering how YouTube was going to monetize? Seems like iTunes integration is a sign of things to come. Think about it. If people are watching a YouTube video that’s associated with some product, it makes sense to give users the option of buying that product. Since many of the videos on YouTube are available for purchase at iTunes, this seems like a great partnership.

I imagine we’ll be seeing more partnerships like this from YouTube in the future. Imagine the option of buying the specific tools needed for a project from Amazon.com in a video about How To Install A Door Frame. Or, what about the option of immediately buying the exact product featured in a music video product placement.

In any case, the possibilities are limitless, and you could ask for a better compulsive buying scenario. It’s just like putting handbags, jewelry and shoes at the front of a Target store.

Note: My friend Andrew tells me that it looks like Google is auto-detecting the audio and that this is all automated.

Ryan Caldwell blogs his thoughts on culture and the Internet at Thrive and is a co-founder of Web Site Host Review.