Monthly Archives: January 2012

The “Brady Bunch Update” is scheduled

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You might have read in this blog last week that some updates are being made to Areavoices.

In a nutshell, Areavoices users will see security enhancements and the implementation of a search function, which will enable readers to more easily find information.

But the biggest change is what you’ll now be seeing on the homepage of Areavoices.com. Right now if you go to www.areavoices.com  you see a list of our featured Areavoices blogs. But after the update, you’ll see some featured blogs displayed in a square, grid-like pattern. I’ve referred to it as a Brady Bunch kind of look (you know what I mean, right? Kind of like the open to the beloved ’70′s show where the faces of the main characters were displayed in boxes, one atop the other. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I insist you spend some quality time on Nick at Night.)

I was happy to hear today that the developers working on this update have actually adopted my Brady Bunch reference, calling this “The Brady Bunch Upgrade.” (It’s nice to feel like I’ve made a difference in the world.)

To make this happen, the crew here at FCC interactive will have to take the site down for awhile. And it’s happening TONIGHT.

The upgrade is scheduled to start at 11:59pm tonight. It shouldn’t take too much time. But it will mean you will not be about to go on Areavoices.com for about 2-3 hours. We should be up and running again by early morning.

I will tell you the list of featured blogs will remain under the directory tab. Not all of the featured blogs will appear in the new “Brady Bunch” squares. To start we’ll be displaying the most active/popular 40 or so blogs in the squares. That’s just a nice place to start. I will be adding new blogs to the squares in the future. If you’d like to make sure your blog is featured in the square layout, just shoot me an email at tracy.briggs@fccinteractive.com

But again, all of your blogs will still be found on the directory the way they are now.

Because some of the blogs will now be displayed in a square, I would like to ask some of you to add a featured image to each post. It’s really easy to do. I will do a video tutorial of how to do it, later this week after you get a chance to see the new design. Adding the featured image is entirely optional, but will make your blog stand out a bit more.

So again, the update starts at 11:59pm tonight. Areavoices.com will be down for a couple of hours. Might be a good chance to catch up on some Brady Bunch reruns.

 

Areavoices bloggers: The World is Taking Notice!

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Congratulations Areavoices bloggers! You’re attracting a lot of attention!

According to data from Quantcast, more than 300,000 people around the world are reading Areavoices blogs every month. Our audience extends from the United States and Canada all the way to The Netherlands, Australia, India, The Russian Federation and more.

If you click on the Quantcast link, you can see the blogs are gaining about 100,000 new readers every year. (100,000 in January 2010, 200,000 in January 2011).

What’s the reason? Well it helps that many Areavoices blogs are featured on the 36 news websites of Forum Communications from Minnesota to Wisconsin to North and South Dakota. If you write a blog and you’d like to see it featured on our news websites please send me an email at tracy.briggs@fccinteractive.com. Make sure to include your blog address so I can check it out.

But the bottom line for Areavoices popularity is simple: Great content.

Areavoices bloggers are writing about hundreds of topics. Just go to our directory to see the wide range of subject matter. You can guess what some of the most popular topic areas are.

Okay, I’ll give you a few seconds to think about it.

(Play Jeopardy music here)

That’s enough. Our most popular topic areas are sports, arts and entertainment and food. Makes sense right? People love their football, movies and grub.

But people are often surprised to know that our most popular individual blogger is Bob King or Astrobob. His blog about astronomy attracts between 30 and 40,000 readers every month. So it just goes to show you there’s an audience for everything. If you want to write about it, someone will want to read about it.

So I’ll say it again, if you’d like to blog on Areavoices, just shoot me an email or better yet look at the tutorials and FAQ’s on this blog. Learn how easy it is to start your blog at www.areavoices.com .

And congrats to all of you Areavoices bloggers who are building an audience around the world!

 

Areavoices Upgrade Coming: Why it’s better for you

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Really. I promise.  This is good stuff. Starting sometime next week you’re going to be seeing a new and improved Areavoices homepage. The crew here at Forum Communications Interactive Division is hard at word on a theme and software update for Areavoices.

It’s going to do a couple of things:

1) It’s going to make it easier to find featured blogs. Instead of just listing all of the featured blogs, it’s going to compile a few of the most active blogs into a square grid-like pattern (I’m sure the tech geniuses here are cringing at my lingo.) Think about the open of The Brady Bunch. It’s a little like that. Each square will contain the most up to date blog from our highly active featured list. We’ll still keep our traditional directory list as well. You should be able to find all featured Areavoices blogs on this directory and many of them in the grid-like part of the page. Again, a featured blog is one that is featured in at least one of our FCC-owned news websites.

2) It will enable a greater search of blogs. The new search function will allow you to type in a keyword which in turn will bring up any Areavoices blog that used that word. It should help you narrow down and find blogs that might interest you.

The upgrade also provides security enhancement.

So what do you need to know now?

Not much really.

Just know that sometime next week, we’ll have to take down the Areavoices site for a couple of hours. It’ll probably happen in the middle of the night, so it shouldn’t affect many of you – unless you’re an insomniac who writes blogs in the wee small hours of the morning.

I’ll keep you posted on when the update will be coming.

Also, next week I’ll tell you more about how to put a featured image into your blog dashboard. These featured images will be suggested for blogs that will be appearing in the new grid layout.

If you  have any questions. Just let me know.

 

Areavoices Digest #61

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Here is this week’s list of recommended blogs. Enjoy!

Healthy Lifestyle

http://healthylifestyle.areavoices.com

Better health through nutrition

While you were in

http://fun.areavoices.com

Duluth News Tribune arts and entertainment reporter Christa Lawler covers “a hodgepodge of nonsense, including overflow from interviews with rock stars, reviews, and links to things you should read/watch/hear.”

Minnesota Sports Shorts

http://louiestgeorge.areavoices.com

An overview of Minnesota’s often vexing sports scene with Duluth News Tribune copy editor Louie St. George III.

North Dakota Outdoors and Beyond

http://dougleier.areavoices.com

Outdoors, hunting, fishing, trapping and more.

Fargo School Talk

http://fargopublicschools.areavoices.com

The official blog of Fargo public schools. Great pictures! Great info!

Top 10 Ways to Avoid Blog Burnout

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Not long ago, I received a call from a blogger who was sick to death of writing his blog. This is not a picture of him. This is Jimmy Buffett. I’ll get to him in a minute. But first the blogger…

“I just sit at my computer, staring blankly at it, feeling like I have nothing to say. I’m just so sick of writing.”

A classic case of blog burnout. So what should this once prolific blogger do?

Relax, take a deep breath and read my “Top 10 Ways to Avoid Blog Burnout.”

If this doesn’t work don’t say I didn’t try.

Enjoy! And feel free to leave your own tips for avoiding and dealing with blog burnout. And be sure to watch my electronic newsletter posted below from Smilebox. If you’d like me to email you this newsletter, just leave a comment here and I’ll get you on the mailing list.

TOP 10 WAYS TO AVOID BLOG BURNOUT:

10) Focus on quality not quantity. Never write just for the sake of writing. It’s better to have 2 good posts in a week, than 5 mediocre ones.

9) Read other bloggers posts. And not just blogs that you normally read. Go outside your comfort zone and read posts from many different bloggers. They might inspire you in ways you wouldn’t expect.

8) Get a little help from your friends. The Beatles might have said it best. Get a little help from a guest blogger. Or just interview an interesting person in your community.

7) Look at your blog stats and see what’s resonating with people. If you know what topics have hit with your readers, you might get that boost you need to write more.

6) Read and reply to your commenters. You might get inspired by one of their observations. Or not.

5) For heaven’s sake don’t obsess! Perfection is overrated. If you’re stressing out over every word in every blog post, you’re taking this whole blog thing way too seriously. Make it good, but it doesn’t need to be perfect.

4) Rework a favorite old post. Maybe you didn’t have enough time to really get into a topic that you loved. Well do it now. Find a new angle. Start a new conversation about a favorite old topic all over again.

3) Remember, short blog posts are generally more popular than long ones. If you feel like you’re running out of time to post, maybe you’re posts are too long. Consider breaking subject matter into 3 or 4 shorter blog posts. That’ll help your blog traffic and make you feel less overwhelmed to produce a lot of content.

2) Put yourself on a schedule. Make a certain couple of hours every week as your “blog time.” Write several posts and post date them so they’ll publish whenever you’d like them to. It puts less pressure on you to post everyday and it helps you stay focused.

And the Number One Way to Avoid Blog Burnout is…..

1) Embrace it then move one…..
There’s a reason bosses like vacations. Workers come back refreshed, inspired and more productive. The same can be true for blogging. Take a break. Go to the islands, drink margaritas and listen to Jimmy Buffett. Maybe, it’s just the break you need. Your blog isn’t going anywhere. You can take a break for months at a time and your Areavoices blog will be waiting for you. (And really if you’re in the islands drinking margaritas with Jimmy Buffett, you’ll probably have a lot to write about when you come back!)

Happy Blogging! (and/or say “hi” to Jimmy!)

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A Big Birthday for a Big Guy…A Very Big Guy! – Areavoices Digest #60

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Happy Birthday Paul and Babe!

Bemidji, Minnesota is celebrating the 75th birthday of their own Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Big Blue Ox statues. To commemorate the big guy’s big day, the Bemidji Pioneer has started a blog to share news, historical legend and personal stories about Paul and Babe. Readers are asked to contribute their own memories.

It should be a fun year!

It’s just one of our featured blogs in this week’s digest.

NDSU Extension Service
http://ndsuextension.areavoices.com
Useful tips and advice on living from the agriculture extension service in Fargo, North Dakota.

The Advocate
http://msumadvocate.areavoices.com
The student-run newspaper of Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Latest Tour Dates and Concerts
http://tourdates.areavoices.com
Find out the latest tour dates for all of your favorite events.

Paul and Babe
http://paulandbabe.areavoices.com
Celebrating 75 years in Bemidji, Minnesota.

Minnesota…More to Explore
http://exploreminnesota.areavoices.com
News and events from the Minnesota Department of Tourism.

Areavoices Digest #59 – Welcome MSUM Dragon Athletics!

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We start this week’s digest with a big welcome to the athletics department at Minnesota State University Moorhead. They’ve been blogging for awhile, but can now be found on Areavoices.

We look forward to hearing all of their news in the coming months!
MSUM Dragon Athletics
http://msumdragons.areavoices.com
The latest news and events from the athletic’s department of Minnesota State University Moorhead

To Fargo with Love
http://tofargo.areavoices.com
Writer, newlywed, social media enthusiast and self-proclaimed Fargo girl Katie Hutton shares her thoughts on her new blog.

Kindness is Contagious
http://kindness.areavoices.com
Columnist Nicole Phillips tells stories of “random acts of kindness” throughout our community and beyond.

Health with a Healing Touch
http://healingtouch.areavoices.com
Dr. Tiffany Johnson will be bringing you the latest natural wellness information and commentary on health headlines making news.

Living Empowered
http://livingempowered.areavoices.com
Tap into your power, realize your potential, and achieve your dreams.

A victim of our own success

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Okay, maybe that headline is a bit of a cliche’ but in this case it’s true.

I wanted to provide an explanation to you regarding some changes you’re seeing on Areavoices. Thanks to those of you who have sent me emails wondering what’s going on.

First, to say it in hockey terms, I’m happy to tell you the Areavoices directory is skating at full strength again. Sometime, late last week a majority of blogs on the directory vanished. Poof! We’re not sure what happened. They took an early spring break or the last train to Clarksville? Not sure. But we realize their absence made it harder to find hundreds of our blogs. We’re so sorry for the inconvenience. But our crack staff of developers got to the bottom of the problem and now all of the blogs are back where they should be and they’ve been punished accordingly.

Second, (and this is where the victim of our own success thing comes up) I’ve received some emails from those of you concerned about the loss of the Areavoices activity feed. That is the feed in which you can see the latest blog posts from your friends and from others in the Areavoices community. It was a nice way to quickly see what other bloggers are writing about. Unfortunately, with the massive growth of Areavoices in the last year (more than tripling our traffic) the traffic on the activity feed was slowing down our server which in turn was slowing down our 36 news websites across the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Also, the number of spammers coming on the site has grown and that’s slowing things down a bit as well. Our resources were stretched trying to manage the activity feed and the news websites. That being our dilemma, we chose to keep our news sites running quickly and to suspend the activity feed until we can figure out how to manage it more effectively. We’re sorry for those of you who were active users.

Just remember you can still find other bloggers activity by clicking on their blogs found in the directory or just by going directly to their blog address. You can also find many of them on the news sites in which they’re featured and by accessing our blog roll at http://areavoices.com/blogs. That site shows you the most recent posters on Areavoices.

The good news is, that crack staff of developers who fixed the directory problem is now working on solving the activity feed problem. I tried to take a picture showing them hard at work, but they ran away from me. Trust me, they are working hard.

In the meantime, thanks for your input and emails. I’m so sorry for the problems and appreciate your patience as we go through our growing pains.

Areavoices Digest #58 – Food, family, photography and BISON!

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After a week away, it’s time for another Areavoices Digest of recommended blogs.

Not everyone was taking a break during the holidays.  It looks like quite a few people were busy setting up Areavoices blogs for the new year. Four of the five blogs this week are brand-spankin new to Areavoices and they’re definitely worth checking out!

The 5th is bound to generate a ton of interest this week. Maybe, even a stampede of thundering blog traffic (get it?). That’s right. If you haven’t yet read it, this might be the week to check out the Bison Media blog written by Jeff Kolpack of The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and Dom Izzo from WDAY-TV.  As anybody in Fargo could probably tell you, the North Dakota State University Bison football team is in Frisco,  Texas this week to prepare for their national championship game against Sam Houston College. Dom and Jeff will be busy bringing us their news and analysis in print, on television and in their blog.

Check out all of our recommended blogs of the week:

 

Bison Media Blog
http://bisonmedia.areavoices.com
WDAY sports director Dom Izzo and Forum sports columnist Jeff Kolpack with the latest news from North Dakota State University athletics.

Like a Fish out of Fargo
http://fishoutoffargo.areavoices.com
A lifelong resident of the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan area now finds herself in  Fargo, ND, where she often feels l like a fish out of water.Read her food adventures in the most populated city in the fourth least populated state.

Through the Lens
http://lens.areavoices.com
Mitch Highman is a successful and popular photographer in the region who gives readers tips and advice on taking great pictures.

Citizens on Parking Patrol
http://copps.areavoices.com
News and information from the Metro Area (Fargo-Moorhead) Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities.
Our Lily Tree
http://walkingtowardthelilytree.areavoices.com
Erin is a mother of two who writes about family and coping with her son’s recent diagnosis of Lissencephaly, a rare genetic brain deformation that is terminal.