Better Blogging For Bloggers is Looking For A New Owner

Written by Liane. Find out who subscribes to the blog newsletter now.

“The best advice someone ever told me is... you just have to know when to leave the party…” –Simon Cowell on his farewell speech to American Idol.

To my friends, readers, followers, critics, and everything in between…

After three years (yes, I’ve reached my third year blogging), countless of written posts, a product, an ebook, a report, and lots of critic services given, I’m finally deciding to leave Better Blogging For Bloggers and pass it on someone who may have that energy, time, and optimism as that once 15-year old blogger that I’ve been.

If you think you’re that person, I’m very much eager to hear you wanting to take this opportunity.

The (brief) story of Better Blogging For Bloggers

You may have heard this countless of times (I make it a point to remind every now and then. Haha), even so, let me at least share this one last time.

Better Blogging For Bloggers was a blog established by a 15-year old back in the summer of 2007 (I was bored, and I love to write… so it made sense to devote my whole summer to this). Blogging for me, was something I considered, not just a passion, but learning playground.

Time and time again, I see people complaining… “Liane, why do you have such a very long domain name?” Actually, I forgot. I just remembered having that name since time in memorial, and of course I don’t want to do away with it. My domain name is more than just a name, it’s a message. That everyone, anyone, can be and will be a better blogger.

Right now actually, I realized it’s a pain in the head memorize by a split-second, but I guess due to three year’s worth of socialization and keeping in touch with the blogosphere, it now has something Seth Godin calls a ‘brand’.

Why am I leaving Better Blogging For Bloggers?

And this perhaps, is the part you’re so curious to hear.

The truth is, I am NOT leaving on my own free will. I am simply forced by circumstances to do so.

It's a long story  actually. But in summary, it's this...

This year, and the year before that have been a very crucial point in my life. I left home, and basically my carefree days and went to college. I knew at this point, it’ll be hard to manage both my undergraduate studies and blogging, but nevertheless, I pursued, thinking I really could..

I’ve had some long blogging pauses here and there, but in general, I believe I still carried a balance between my studies and this blog. Of course last summer, I made it a point to be extra active. Which I did with the release of the Blogging Blunders report and even of the newsletter.

Then came my second year in college.

After just mere 2 weeks, the academic readings that I need to finish (not including other subjects) have covered my entire desk. I barely had the luxury to sleep, much more blog. Before, even with a busy sched, I still had the time to clear up for 1-2 hours a day and check on Better Blogging For Bloggers. Now, no matter how hard I try, I just couldn't.

And believe me, I tried. This blog meant a lot to me than you can imagine.

When and Why Did I Decide to Leave?

I never wanted to. Truly.

First week in class, I already predicted the stressful months lying ahead of me. But I tried to hold on thinking I can still blog. Then came the second week and I started to feel the futility of trying to balance blogging and school. On my third week, I finally decided to do what’s best for me blog.

I’m deciding to leave because I don’t want Better Blogging For Bloggers to turn stale and inactive like most blogs do. I know this blog holds potential. Since the time I gave it it’s name, I imagined it to run alongside credible and trustworthy blogs (doesn’t every blogger do?).

I realize at this moment, Better Blogging For Bloggers still hasn’t reached it’s maximum potential. But I know, with those 3 years of effort, the race to success could be close.

The bottomline is, I decided to leave because I don’t want to stand in the way and drag my own blog down (which is what I’m doing right now). It’s sad. I know.


Sometimes, you have to now what’s good for your blog. Even if it means taking yourself out of the picture.

That’s the extreme case. Unfortunately, that’s the case I’m facing right now.

Liane is Looking For a New Owner of Better Blogging For Bloggers

Now comes the big announcement.

I am looking for someone who’d be interested to buy this blog and take over. It’s much preferable if I know you, a reader, or a friend perhaps. But as long as you have a good track record for blogging, and you’re determined to push Better Blogging For Bloggers upwards, then I’d be more than grateful to pass the ownership to you.

Bare minimum requirements:
• Must be a blogger for (at least) 1 year
• Must have at least one blog above PR2
• Must have good grasp of the English language
• Must be dedicated and willing to maintain this blog

Those are the bare minimum requirements. It’s particularly important that you satisfy the 3rd and 4th items. The first two items can be negotiated as long as you show good proof of your skill as a blogger.

What do you get when you buy Better Blogging For Bloggers?

Obviously, you will get the blog and the domain (with the additional .info subdomain too if you want.

Below is the complete list:
• The Better Blogging For Bloggers Blog
• The .com and .info domain of this blog
• All the branding materials/images
• All accounts associated with the blog (RSS feeds, Technorati, etc.)

Beyond the obvious things, you will also get:
• The 70 Ideas For Your Next 70 Posts product (yes, a product. Selling price of $14.95 per copy)
• The Blogging Blunders report (free report as of now but I’ll give full rights should the new owner decide to sell it)
 • The BlogStarted ebook (a blogging tips ebook I created 2 years ago. I haven’t released this yet but I’m willing to pass the full rights of this ebook too)

So as you can see, the new owner, whoever he or she is, will already have a product and giveaways at his/her disposal.

The Brandability of Better Blogging For Bloggers

This blog may just have a PR3 (or is that high already?). But with three years of social networking and connecting/partnering with a lot of bloggers and readers, the brand of this blog has grown steadily over the years.

If you market it to some A-List bloggers, you’d see that it’s recognized too.

Interested to be the next owner? Please Contact Me to get more details

Email Liane (me) at webloggr@gmail.com or you can use this contact form.

I would not be selling this at a buy and sell market since I want to personally talk to interested people. The next owner would be determined by two main factors. First, 50% goes to the amount one is willing to pay for this blog. Second, the remaining 50% will be determined by the expertise of the interested buyer.

This is the fairest thing I could come up with (I just don’t want the next owner to be the highest payer), it must be balance. He or she needs to have what it takes too. With me leaving, I at least want to leave it in good hands.

(Interested to have Better Blogging For Bloggers? Go here.)

To everyone,

Please see watch out for my next (and last) post.

This is not my goodbye yet. I plan to write a dedicated post for that. I at least owe a decent good bye to you right? 3 years. Sigh. Hopefully by my next post, there will be a new owner. And I’d like to have the pleasure of introducing that person to you.

Whoever that is, I wish you’d support him/her as much as you’ve supported me.

Thank you very much. This is still not the end. At least for now.

-Liane

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My Adventure On Using the MailChimp Newsletter (and why it’s not Aweber)

Written by Liane. Find out who subscribes to the blog newsletter now.

Sorry I can’t just help putting the word ‘adventure’ like this is some part of Indiana Jones’ diary. But it does sound better to go with MailChimp right?

If you’ve read my last post, you would’ve already known  the people who subscribes to my newsletter If you still haven’t read it, bet I can convince you.

Anyway, today, I want to share to you my experience on using MailChimp’s email newsletter services. I know most of you guys are nuts about Aweber (that hegemonic company). Don’t get me wrong. I am too. It was definitely sitting in my number 1 spot of an email service provider, but I decided last minute to go with MailChimp.

I’ll tell you why, and on the process, I’ll share to how MailChimp made an impression to me.


Aweber Versus MailChimp

To tell you the truth, I really vouch for these two companies. Whether you choose Aweber or MailChimp, it doesn’t matter for me. Both companies have excellent service, with excellent track record and excellent support.

Of course, there’s a little bit of a difference.

Most people who’s inclined to internet marketing, business stuff would choose Aweber. Meanwhile, those people who need more social media function (and integration) would opt to go for MailChimp. There’s got to be a reason why Mashable choose MailChimp as a powerful social media tool right?

Yeah, the chimps definitely got their groove on.

But still, in the end the choice would be up to you. If you like Aweber (and it’s $1 free trial), go for it.

So why exactly did I choose MailChimp?

For practical reasons I find their free trial version more economic than all email providers.

Stay under a subscriber list of 500 or below and you don’t have to pay a cent. This appeals to people who’s on a. on a budget, b. just using a list for a small number or c. is just trying out for a newsletter without having to give in credit card numbers and upfront payments.

With the free trial account, you also get 3,000 email sends per month. Well, even if it’s limited in a sense, 3,000 seems to be more than enough for one month’s worth of campaign

Of course you get the perks too of using the services of a great, reputable company (and the security that comes with it). Companies like Mizilla and Fujistu use it.

All in all, those are the reasons why I choose MailChimp

(note: you'd understand this better if you've read Who Subscribes To My Newsletter)

My Adventure With MailChimp

Well, I think I should rename the above subheading to “the adventure of a total newbie to newsletters”.
I honestly had a hard time starting my first newsletter list. There’s just so much to learn and so much to do. Of course I don’t really blame MailChimp, I bet I’d have the same frustrations with any other similar companies because of my pure lack of experience on using it.

But anyway, there are the reasons why I love MailChimp all the more is because it’s Idiot-compatible.



Pure newbies (like me) would get less of the headscratchin’ because of the easy to use (and understand) interface as well as the simplicity of the applications. And speaking of the apps, there’s lots in MailChimp. My fave so far are the integration of social media tools (so while you send your emails, it’s automatically posted on your social media account too).

Though honestly it took me more than an hour to discover that. LOL

The “Oops” Moment

I had this funny and really embarrassing story to share.

So there I was, trying to set up everything that’s needed for my first list. After that, I went to write an autoresponder email to welcome the new subscribers.

At first, I didn’t actually know how to do it. I found this button that says write in plain text message, clicked on it and figured that’s maybe the spot to write my welcome email. I finished it of course and was happy with what I composed. A day later (when it’s set to be received), my inbox got the welcome email (I subscribed to my own so I can check the newsletters).

Instead of the email I wrote, I received instate a template email. As in an email with sample texts and all. Later on, I went to find out that after you write in plain text email, you should also follow-up to write an html email (just a copy-paste job actually) because the email that the subscriber receives depends on what feature he has activated (as for me, I had html activated that’s why I haven’t seen the plain text email).

Still Getting The Hang Of It

If you’ve been among the first who hopped into my newsletter, apologies for that template email you received (embarrassing I know. haha). I promised to be better on writing my emails. And to be more aware of the features in my admin panel ;)

So for now, that’s a wrap on why I use MailChimp. And oh, that reminds me to remind you why you need to be a part of this!

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Who Subscribes to the Better Blogging For Bloggers Newsletter?

Written by Liane. Find out who subscribes to the blog newsletter now.

And yes, this blog now has one. A newsletter ;)

I don’t plan to install one of those pesky pop-up opt-in scripts that I’m so fond of closing as soon as I see them (I’m annoyed at them honestly). Nor am I going to place tons of banners and arrows that lures your eye to a subscription box. There’s really no begging that’s going to happen (something like “please, please, please subscribe to my newsletter!”). Oh no, there’s none of that.

That being said, you’d ask, how o I gain subscribers to my newsletter? More than that, WHO are those people that is, and will be, a part of it?

These are the people who subscribes to the Better Blogging For Bloggers Newsletter

The people who are subscribed gets the Blogging Blunders report for FREE

The Blogging Blunders is a special report I created to spread the lessons that I believe can save your blog. Packed with almost 3 years worth of experience, I concentrated all the golden rules that I’ve learned in blogging and compiled them into a fast-read report totaling only to 18 pages- straight-to-the-point, simple yet powerful.

If you feel that you’re blog needs a push, if you’re fed up with blogging, or even if you’re just starting out, The Blogging Blunders Report will help you see a new light in blogging. You can learn more about it here.


The people who are subscribed gets a staggering 50% off coupon code the 70 Ideas Poster

What’s the hardest part about blogging? Getting new ideas to blog about definitely is the hardest.

Realizing that one great problem, I created the 70 Ideas For Your Next 70 Posts – Poster Edition.

Once a blog post compilation of blogging ideas, I developed it into a much useful tool that so many bloggers began to love (and use with so much ease!). What’s more simple, yet inspiring than an ‘idea poster’ you can see everyday at your workspace right? With the 70 Ideas Poster (yep, that’s the nickname), you can do that! And oh, did I mention it has idea categories (from promotion to monetization) that can help you? You can learn more about it here.

The people who are subscribed gets a chance to be featured in a special blog review

Yes, that’s right. If you are one of those who subscribes to the blog newsletter, you get a chance to get yourself (and your blog of course) reviewed here. I will randomly draw subscriber names each month and the lucky winner will get his or her review published (written by me of course!).

But it’s not just that. See the next reason.

The people who are subscribed gets promotional and consultation privileges from this blog

I’m pushing a blog newsletter is to reach out and have constant contact to people like you. That being said, I figured the best way to make that possible is to help you out with anything (blogging-related) that you’re up to. Got a new product or service? Let me know about it and I might drop a line in my post (and share in my tweets!). Frustrated over something? Send over an email and I’ll see what I can do a.s.a.p.

The things above defines the people who subscribes, and will subscribe, to the Better Blogging For Bloggers Newsletter.

If you are one of those people, you know what to do.




Join The Newsletter
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Oh wait, there’s one more thing.

The people who are subscribed gets realizes that’s not all, there more

There’s future reports to give, blogging tools and resources that you’ll gain access to, great books to give away, more promotion benefits to you, and a regular dose of blogging happenings and what nots.

Of course, there’s my rants too ;)

So if you want all those things, get back up on the box above and make sure you’ve signed up for you access.

Looking forward to see you inside the newsletter!

Best,

Liane
p.s. see, no begging at all!

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