Some blog trivia

The word “Blog” is derived from “Weblog”. It was Jorn Barger, who first coined the term weblog, on 17 December 1997.

In April or May of 1999, Peter Merholz, came up with the word “blog” after breaking the word weblog into the phrase “we blog” in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com

I obtained this information from DrWeb's Domain.

Though some authors argue that the word is not a portmanteau of the words 'web' and 'log,' the terms ‘blog’, ‘weblog’ and ‘web log’ are often used interchangeably.

There are several definitions of the word blog and most refer to it as a “personal online journal”. However, this may not be correct considering the fact that blogs are “public” and interactive in nature. Lot of blogs are collaborative and we must also consider the fact that corporate blogs are all the rage now.

So what would be the most appropriate definition of a "Blog"?

Crissy is giving away $50

Crissy who blogs at 'Dear Crissy' is holding a contest, she calls the 50 for $50 Contest!. The rules are very simple. All you have to do is write a 50 words post and put up some links and you stand a chance to win $50.

I really like her simple and neat blog template, with a cool original banner on the top. That's something I have been planning to do for my own blog as well but have been putting off for quite sometime now.

Do check out her photographs as well. Really artistic.

WAHMs leading the blogging brigade

Blogging is a movement, a phenomenon, a revolution or a combination of all. A good example of something that has resulted in paradigm shifts or the way we think. It has changed and is still in the process of changing how everything works. No institution has remained untouched - families, communities, the press, businesses and even governments. They all had to figure out how to adopt and adapt to this new "thing". A few years ago people used to exchange telephone number. Then it was emails and now it's blog urls. Best of all you don't need to be a very tech savvy person in order to join in this new wave.

In fact, I can say that it has been very empowering to the common people - to you and me. I don't need to write to a newspaper to complain about a bad service or product any more . I can do it right here on my blog. Governments cannot suppress unfavourable news any more. Among the most empowered have been the "Work at home mums" or WAHM. Many creative and talented women who gave up their careers to care for a family (voluntarily or otherwise) have finally found their voice again.

I may be wrong but according to feedback from several lady bloggers, even though it was initially the social networking that motivated them, now it is the opportunity to make money online through their blogs, that has become a stronger motivating force. Of course money has always been a good motivator and with the rise of the importance of consumer generated advertising, money is pouring into this new medium.

Two main reasons make blogs an ideal medium for advertising. First of all, it is consumer generated and as we know word-of-mouth is the best advertising of all. Blogging is an advanced version of the 'word of mouth' transmission of information. Next, it an interactive medium where everyone can participate and discuss - where not only the blogger but visitors to their blogs as well, can voice their opinion (to some extent).

I cannot fully explain why, but women have taken to blogging for money in a big way. Just take a look at the top earners at PayPerPost, all of them are women and almost all are WAHMs. There are some "Work at home dad" bloggers as well (including myself) but we are outnumbered by the ladies.

Some say that it's effectiveness as an advertising medium is not proven as yet. However, many companies are slowly but steadily embracing the fact that consumer generated advertising through blogs may be actually the next big thing. Maybe it already is but people just don't realise it.

Write a post and win $2500

UPDATE: Was later revealed to be a scam. I have removed the links and advise all of you who linked to him to do the same as well.

Holding competitions are a great way to increase traffic to your site. I have entered a few and even won a t-shirt once. After looking at the results of some competitions and having organized one myself, I can safely conclude that the popularity of a blog contest, which is measured by the number of entrants, is directly proportional to the value of the prize. In other words, the bigger the prize, the higher the number of people entering the competition.

So what do you say when I tell you that one blogger is offering $2500 as the prize and all you have to do is copy and paste the following into your blog:

Over at Ashwin’s blog, you will find one crazy blog owner!! You can win $2500!! To enter just copy this text and paste it in your blog!! But hurry, this competition will not last long! So get posting!

Crazy but it's true. It's got to be the mother of all Blog competitions so far. However, I am just wondering how's Ashwin is going to choose the winner because the blog doesn't say anything. Anyway, I am joining in all the same.

I can see that it is definitely attracted a lot of attention as there were 178 responses to his post when I last checked.

FYI, Ashwin Khanna is only 18 year. He's from the UK and just started his blog.

Malaysians crossing the $10K mark in PayPerPost

Malaysians are doing quite well in PayPerPost. First was Emily who goes by the online name of Cyberpartygal and has a blog with the same name - Cyberpartygal. She crossed the $10,000 earnings mark on Jun 23, 2007. Next on the list is Chan Lilian, who is better known as 5XMom. I thought she had already crossed the mark yesterday but found out that she is just $81 short of reaching it (when I last checked).

Another lady fast reaching the same is Amy. The PPP dashboard shows that she has earned $7,766.35 so far (as of writing this).

A few things I noted:
1. All of them are ladies
2. All of them have multiple blogs. For example Amy has got 8 blogs.
3. They are highly productive, writing several posts a day.
4. They are highly creative and have a way with words, especially Lilian.

I too am following in their footsteps and hope to cross the $10K earnings mark on PPP soon myself.