Julie's Journal

If you haven’t signed up for IZEAFest yet, there are still 47 tickets left to purchase on the IZEAFest 2009 Early Bird Registration page for just $179.00.

I just got word this morning that I will be moderating the panel Social Media Promotion on Saturday, October 3rd. The panel participants haven’t been finalized yet, but once I find out I’ll be posting about it, of course.

I’m going to need your help here, so I want you to throw out some questions for me in my comments. Please answer the following question:

If you were listening to a panel speak about Social Media Promotion what kind of questions would you want answered?

I attended my first Beer and Blog event last night at Freakin’ Frogs. They had well over 30 people attend, and it was a really great social networking event. I connected with followers on Twitter, and made some new friends as well.

They are heading in the direction of having notable bloggers, and experts in the industry, to stop in and give small brainstorming sessions. This move will be a wonderful addition, and I’m excited to hear who they have lined up for this.

Beer and Blog is held every Thursday night at Freakin’ Frog‘s at 6:00PM here in Las Vegas. They are welcoming all bloggers, and people who want to learn about blogging, to come out and network. I hope to see you there next week!

Press: Las Vegas Weekly: Beer and Blog Las Vegas

Make sure to check out my Beer and Blog – Las Vegas pictures.

Pictured left to right: @toddhuish @vegasgeek @JustJulie @Sara_Mooney @nothus @dwax

As always, my Xshot was a hit, and if you’d like to purchase one I’m going to throw out my affiliate link for you to get your own Xshot. Just click on the image below. How’s that for transparency?

[tags]Beer and Blog, bnblv, Las Vegas, Freakin’ Frogs, social networking, blogging, Xshot[/tags]

I’ve written about the Web Hosting Geeks before on my blog, but I need to feature them again. They should be the first site you look at when you are considering webhosting for your website or blog.

They’ve added a new feature on their site called Green Web Hosting, and you all know how much I’m into the green technology movement. They are featuring Eco-Friendly Host, Solar/Wind Powered Host, and Carbon Neutral Host. How cool is that??!!

As a blog owner I’m sure you’ve come to a point where you need to find a new host for it. Either it’s because you’ve ran out of space, or you’re just out looking for a better deal. The first thing you should do is to ask your blogging friends about what hosting service they use. But then you need to double check their recommendation on Web Hosting Geeks.

They offer reviews of different hosting companies, and they also give you a chance to review/rate them directly on the site. They also include a section called Web Hosting Awards where they feature hosting companies in categories such as Best Budget Hosting, Best PHP Hosting, and Best Multiple Domain Hosting. They truly are that one-stop-shop type of place that you need to have bookmarked.

[tags]best web hosting, hosting packages[/tags]

I think just about everyone on the blogging planet uses Andy Bailey’s CommentLuv Plugin For WordPress, but I am noticing that more and more people haven’t actually set up an account on the site, so you can track all the luv you give and receive.

Once your account is set up, people can hover over the CommentLuv Heart icon and see all the blogs that you last commented on. It shows you how many times your link has appeared and how many times your link has been clicked. It also has a list of your last 5 blog post.

If you haven’t set up your CommentLuv account yet, now is the time. Andy is preparing for a big contest next week, but you must have your account setup to be eligible to win gadgets and cash prizes.

These prizes will be awarded to comment authors on the CommentLuv enabled blogs (mine and yours if you use the plugin) only for registered users, so go register now. Then every time you comment on my blog you will be eligible to win the prizes! Did I mention CASH prizes? LOL!

Let me know in my comments when you are all registered, and I will make sure you are in the running for the prizes. Have fun!

[tags]CommentLuv, WordPress plugins, blogs, blog promotion, blog comments, blog comment plugin[/tags]

So you love to blog, and you love to use Twitter. Now it’s time to combine the two together to increase your blog traffic and readership. With Tweet My Blog there is no more dealing with third-party sites that constantly don’t seem to work. Tweet My Blog is a plugin for WordPress that you just install like any other plugin. In the settings you just add your Twitter name and password and click save. Then when you publish your blog post it publishes immediately to Twitter!

[tags]TweetMyBlog.com, Twitter, blog promotion, blog traffic[/tags]