How to use your own domain with a TypePad blog
Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 by Catherine in Blogging
TypePad lets you use your own domain name for your blogs so that when someone types in www.yourdomain.com they actually see the content at yourdomain.typepad.com while still thinking they are at www.yourdomain.com. To do this, you need to do something called “mapping” your domains.
We recommend using NameCheap.com as they are cheap and reliable. They also have a good reputation for being ethical. We will be using NameCheap in these instructions. We will also just be showing you how to map a normal domain that is not currently hosting anything, not subdomains.
Step 1: Access the Domain Mapping Section (more…)
How to use your own domain with Blogger
Posted on 07. Oct, 2009 by Catherine in Blogging
There is a certain amount of insurance about having your blog at your own domain, rather than at somedomain.blogspot.com. If for whatever reason, Google decides that Blogger doesn’t fit into its business model and isn’t making enough money, it could decide to wind down the service. Unlikely, but possible. If this happens after your blog has generated heaps of backlinks to the blogspot.com address, you’ll lose all those backlinks. It is also possible that Google might remove your account if it thinks you’ve breached its terms and conditions. Having your own domain can also look more professional.
Theoretically, you can have the ease of having a Blogger blog and still use your own domain using a technique called “mapping” where your domain name is made to point to your Blogger blog. So any posts at your Blogger blog will look like they are being hosted at your domain.
We say “theoretically” because we haven’t found Google’s redirect service to work that well, and a quick search of Google will confirm that this is quite a common problem. We did manage to get it to work, but after a few different attempts.
We’d recommend that you make the choice to use your own domain early on because if you can’t get the mapping to work, you can just use another blog service and you don’t have to worry about losing audience.
There are two ways of doing the mapping, you can purchase your domain directly from Google and they will do all the setting up of the mapping for you automatically or you can purchase your domain separately and do the changes yourself. We’ll go through both options.
30+ Idea Sources for HubPages and Articles
Posted on 15. Sep, 2009 by Catherine in Content and Copy
As part of a Hubpages content creation challenge, I put up a huge list of ideas for articles for places like HubPages and Squidoo and Ezine Articles. It’s a good source of ideas for not only article marketing but blog posts.
Here is a small selection:
- Idea Source 14: Archives of big blogs and websites: Look through the archives of websites/blogs in your niche that are massively prolific. Examples are http://Mashable.com, http://Gizmodo.com, http://www.bhg.com – they are an ideas goldmine.
- Idea Source 17: Email Newsletters: Look through any email newsletters that you subscribe to (if you don’t have any, you should subscribe to a number in your areas of interest – make sure you set up a filter so that they bypass your inbox – this is purely for reference when you need it not to make your inbox more unmanageable): the tips and advice can be idea starters for Hubs.
- Idea Source 28: Twitter Search: Type your keyword or niche into Twitter Search and you’ll get a list of recent conversations that feature that word. Often there will be links but what I love is looking for questions or problems – these you can answer in a Hub.
For more go to my hub: 30 Sources for Ideas for the Hub Challenge – A Cheat Sheet.
Adoption as a Business Model (and Marketing Idea)
Posted on 08. Sep, 2009 by Catherine in Business Ideas, Marketing
No I’m not suggesting that you go out and start doing something illegal – I’m talking about how virtual adoption can be a really great idea to connect people with your product or service (and donate funds!).
While Miro (a pretty cool video service that is definitely worth checking out) claims to be the first to allow “adopting” code – this is hardly a new business model – you see it a lot in charities like environmental groups that allow you to adopt a tree that you don’t actually physically own but you’ve sponsored; or aid groups that let you sponsor a child and be able to send letters to them.
Through beautifully rendered graphics charting the anthropomorphised growth of your code, Miro creates a real sense of connection between you and what effectively is a bunch of characters.
Remember how successful Cabbage Patch Kids were in the 1980s? Yes, they were adorable – but the killer marketing move was in giving each Kid its own birth certificate – it was no longer just a doll, it was your child. Miro gives you an adoption certificate that you can even post on your blog and “watch yours grow”.
And one day, your code will grow up to be “a little buddy like these”…
This has a place outside charities and open source software like Miro, I’ve seen apple farmers let you sponsor an apple tree for a year and you get all the apples it produces sent to you.
Can you think of something in your business that can be “adopted”?
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