Disqus - Latest Comments for Matt

Re: Can Social Networks Destroy Blogging?

Matt — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 09:59:03 -0000

I tried Facebook recently and I got sick of it very quickly. It really seems to bring the very worst out in people. They amass a horde of "friends" and they think that they're celebrities or something! It's a bit of a fad at the moment but I think people will wake up to it in time and start to get tired of Facebook and similar sites.

Blogging is a far superior medium. You have to do some work when you write a blog. And they are much more useful sources of information.

While blogging may seem threatened by social networks at the moment I think it will weather the storm and come back stronger than ever in the long run.

Re: Paid Comments – They Can Be 100% Ethical

Matt — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:09:36 -0000

This seems to be a similar moral dilemma to writing sponsored posts on your own blog. I would say that sponosred posts are not unethical, as long as there is disclosure.

Dfference with comments is that there is no disclosure. No room for it, apart from anything else!

Re: Paid Comments – They Can Be 100% Ethical

Matt — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:09:36 -0000

Re: Stock Watch: Google

Matt — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 11:13:03 -0000

Woah! This is scary.

Shows the immense power that Google has.

You could drive yourself crazy trying to satisfy those myserious algorithms, only to discover that they've all been changed.

Best not to worry about them.

Re: Stock Watch: Google

Matt — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 11:13:03 -0000

Re: Monica’s Ex-Boyfriend’s Wife For President

Matt — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:06:33 -0000

It's amazing that it was that long ago. Seems like yesterday.

It is scary that Hillary is running -- and doing well. I hope that she loses and that Barack Obama wins the Democrat nomination.

The thought of having Hillary (and by extension Bill) back in the Whitehouse is too terrifying for words!

Re: Controversy surrounding The Dark Knight and the late Heath Ledger

Matt — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 06:42:03 -0000

Of course the scene should remain as it was intended.

To be honest, I'm sick of all the weeping and whaling that's gone on over his death.

Sure, the bloke was a good actor. And it's sad when anyone kicks the bucket that young, and in such a way.

But life goes on. People should just get over it.

Re: Beat Writer’s Block By Reading and Commenting More

Matt — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 08:51:19 -0000

I think that points 5 and 6 are spot on. Each blog comment is like a mini-blog post. It's a way of generating an idea that you can elaborate on later (but not too much later!).

And you can look on a blog post in a similar way. It's like a mini-article, which you can grow, and then submit to directories, etc.

All "grist for the mill", as they say ...

Re: 7 Anti-Worry Hacks During This Financial Crisis

Matt — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 01:17:35 -0000

I think that point 5 is a particularly good one nowadays. I suspect that as so many companies have to cut advertising costs and find new ways to promote their products, people with expertise in web marketing could benefit greatly.

Actually, I suspect that jobs of the kind you describe could actually increase in number quite dramatically over the next year or so.

Re: DNA Dating Services - Would You

Matt — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:09:04 -0000

I wouldn't try this method. Firstly, there's no way I could afford it! But also it seems a bit cold and clinical for my liking.

Sure, there's a very strong biological, genetic component to relationships. That "chemistry" is exactly that.

But we are also thinking, spiritual beings. I'd like to think that we connect as much - or more - on these levels.

Re: Cage is out and Rourke is for The Wrestler…

Matt — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 22:28:45 -0000

Sounds like this was a good casting decision. Just heard a report on the radio about Rourke winning some international award for this role.

<abbr>Matts last blog post..Urban joke latest</abbr>

Re: 10 Reasons You Are Not Getting Comments

Matt — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:02:46 -0000

I have several blogs running, and for some reason the one that gets the most traffic has comparatively the least comments.

It might be because I have a somewhat facetious, tongue-in cheek writing style and perhaps people think I might insult them or something.

As you mentioned, replying is a good tactic. I have been doing this and it does help a little.

I think the number of comments is important. Once people see quite a few comments on a blog already, they are more likely to join in. It's getting to that point that's the hard part ...

Re: How to promote a blog for free

Matt — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:52:12 -0000

Thanks for this good roundup.

I have found many of these methods to be effective, though I certainly haven't used all of them.

Though I haven't spent a cent on promotion, I now get around 600 hits a day to one of my blogs. Haven't made much money off it, however it's definitely raised my profile, so I can leverage that to get writing work.

A blog is the best free publicity without a doubt!

Re: It’s Official: Blogs Are Media

Matt — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 06:51:51 -0000

A sign that blogs are seen as media is that down here in Australia, the ABC's Media Watch program has poured scorn on the contents of some popular blogs and their commenters.

Something is really happening when a vast publicly funded institution feels the need to pick on some guy in his pyjamas!

Re: PayPerPost Secures $10M Prepares Launch of "Argus"

Matt — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 11:10:23 -0000

I know this whole paid post phenomena is quite controversial. My own attitude to it is that if you disclose that the post is paid, then that's fine. And if you're doing more paid posts than free ones then I think you are losing your blogging soul. (But then it's up to the blogger him or herself to make that decision, of course.)

What amazes me is the continuing growth of this industry. I thought this was just going to be a temporary thing that would boom until Google found a way of penalising blogs with paid posts, and/or readers got sick of it and left in droves. But it looks like neither of these things has happened -- and maybe never will! -- since PPP is going from strength to strength.

Re: Planning to start a blog? Don’t plan it, just blog it!

Matt — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:18:44 -0000

I think it's true. The best way to approach blogging is just do it.

It will take shape as you go. The problem with planning everything and spending ages setting it all up is that you may well change your mind about it down the track. For instance, you might start a blog about eBay, say, and tailor it for that. Then you find a more lucrative and enjoyable field to blog about, which renders a lot of that initial work worthless. Also, you might even get stuck with a dodgy host, or one that suddenly goes belly up.

I'd say it's a good idea to not just get cracking on one blog. Start a few, and see which one becomes the most successful. Then focus on that in particular.

Re: Speeding – No one thinks big of you

Matt — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 05:42:04 -0000

It's a clever approach, I think. And it might have some small positive effect.

But the sad reality is that there are still many young women who are impressed by leadfooted, risk-taking hoons.

Maybe an evolutionary psychologist could explain why ...

Re: CNN Secretly Endorses Barack Obama

Matt — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 02:05:14 -0000

We have exactly the same stuff going on down here in Oz. We've got an election coming up, and the ABC desperately wants Obama equivalent Kevin Rudd to win. News LTD (Murdoch) papers want incumbent John Howard to win.

Both say they're balanced. But we know that's not true. I think they should all just wear their biases on their sleeves and duke it out openly!

Re: CSI Actor Gary Dourdan busted for drugs in Palm Springs with the tri-fecta

Matt — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:05:30 -0000

These celebrity DUI cases seem to come up with monotonous regularity. I should have become cynical about them ages ago, but they just never cease to amaze me.

I just can't get my head around why such talented people who have worked so hard for their success and have the world at their feet end up abusing drugs -- and not just dope and other soft drugs, but hard drugs like heroin.

The drug culture must be all pervasive in Hollywood. It has a really strong hold now, and I don't think it's ever been worse.

Re: How to Make Money Blogging

Matt — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 02:35:20 -0000

I have tried all the different methods outlined above. I'd say the best earnings have come from affiliate programs.

If you get a good, popular, and most importantly high paying affiliate program the money does slowly pile up over time.

I've earned a few bucks from Adsense, but I'd say that you'd have to have huge traffic before you get an appreciable income from that.

Re: This Is The End My Friend … The End of the Blog that is

Matt — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:30:42 -0000

I agree that it's depressing that there are so many of these sites now.

But blogging is still worth it, I reckon. People will have their flirtation with those sites but will get sick of all the crap in them. They'll come back to quality, consistent blog content in the end.

The best approach is to just keep plugging away, writing good unique stuff.