Trip Around the Blogosphere – June 29, 2008

I have skipped many trips in a row so I’m going to try to get back on track with this week. I think this is an important feature of Pajama Professional because it is a win-win-win situation. I get readers, my readers get great information, and the bloggers providing great information get some link love. So here we go…

• The Guide of Writing for Money posted a useful article this week entitled How to use Heatmaps to Improve your Income. The writer, Liviu Moldovan, gives a basic overview about how heatmaps can help you identify the prime sections of your blog or website and then she discusses Crazy Egg a bit. But the real value in this article (at least for those of you who already know a little about heatmaps) comes in the form of four short reviews/explanations of other free services that provide heatmaps. I love Crazy Egg, but it sounds like each of the sites Livia mentioned does things a little differently. I can’t stress enough that multiple sources of input are invaluable when you are testing anything related to your site or blog.
• Daily Blog Tips offers up 5 Blogging Goals Worth Chasing After. These aren’t pipe-dream superblogger goals, these are the basic goals you want to reach to keep yourself on track. With all the choices we have about how to use our time (Should I be Tweeting? Do I need to make videos? Is my Linked-In profile up to date?), it is very easy to forget the most important goals we should be meeting if we want to become and stay successful as bloggers.
• Webware has a review of an interesting new link aggregator: Track Best Sellers with SmashBuys. Basically it grabs information from many of the top online stores and creates top ten lists of the very most popular selling items. This could be great for those of you looking to set up online stores or profitable niche sites.
• Cash Quests discusses Twellow, the new Twitter tool. It allows you to search for Twitterers and Tweets by category. I am really excited to start using this tool. This is great stuff for those of you looking to expand your social marketing for specific niches.
• Liz Strauss outlines the 4 Keeper Traits of Productivity. It seems like every blogger or online businessperson I encounter online has a ton of great ideas. What I have noticed is that the chief difference between those who find success and thsoe who flounder in mediocrity or fail completely is the level of productivity you can reach. Liz has some great advice on sustaining a high level of productivity while still giving yourself time to discover and develop new ideas.
• I want to end this week’s Trip Around the Blogosphere by talking about a charity called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Educational Services. I learned about this organization because their spokesperson is one of my very favorite actresses, Gabrielle Christian (Horchler). She is best known for her role as Spencer Carlin on the groundbreaking television series South of Nowhere. Not only is she mind-numbingly adorable, but a great actress as well. No, this is not going to turn into a gushing fan letter where I profess my undying love and devotion. It seems that, although she’s totally queer-supportive and has no problems playing a lesbian on television, she is in fact straight in real life. So I’ll skip the marriage proposal and get to the point.
  
  Gabrielle’s mother, Joani Horchler, started SIDS-ES after losing her only son, Christian (Gabrielle uses it as her professional surname in his honor) to SIDS. The purpose of the organization is to provide comfort and information to families affected by SIDS and other types of infant deaths. SID-ES has published two highly praised books: the SIDS and Infant Death Survival Guide and Dancing on the Moon, a beautifully illustrated book to help children learn to deal with the grief that accompanies the death of a loved one. SIDS-ES is a small organization and, as such, can use all the financial help it can get. If you are looking for a good charity to support, have been affected by the sudden death of an infant or are just in the mood to give back, you can donate directly to SID-ES by clicking on the “Make a Donation” button on SIDS Survival Guide Dot Org or you can purchase one of their books through the SIDS-ES Online Store. If you read through the website you find that you can also support SIDS-ES by using a special link to purchase items you would normally purchase anyway.

I hope you have enjoyed this week’s Trip. My plan is to get this series back on its weekly schedule. So I will see you next week. As always, if you have a blog or specific article you would like to see here (either your own or someone else’s, doesn’t matter.), just leave a comment and I will check it out. Charitable organizations and events are also welcome now as well – more about that in tomorrow’s post.