Web 2.0 Assist

I’m not totally sure. But you can look for yourself.

Go to their website and try to add their RSS feed. Take a look at the HTML source code.

http://www.businessweek.com/search/rssinterstitial.html?target=www.businessweek.com/topStories/rss/topStories.rss?campaign_id=bw_extras

On Firefox, press a Control-U.

On IE, navigate to View -> Source.
Take a look at the HTML code. You will notice several class=”stupid” tags throughout the code. Might that be us?

One for PC Users. One for Mac Users. One for Yahoo users, etc… You get the idea.

<h5 class=”stupid”>For PC Users</h5>
<h5 class=”stupid”>For Mac Users</h5>

OK. So I might need an RSS reader to read this page, but does that make me a “stupid” user?

Are we all members of the class of “stupid” users?

Stupid people need to be told to “Click to subscribe“, I guess.

Other “stupid” people may opt to use “My Yahoo” which I find to be an OK RSS reader that I use for some feeds.

Some people have told me that I was “stupid” for using Microsoft Vista, but never for using a PC or a Mac.
BTW, Vista has gotten a little better over the last year or so after several updates.

But, I’m not sure what the BusinessWeek web developers have in mind here

I’m sure they will blame it on some “stupid” toolkit that they used to create their RSS feeds and pages.

Anyone want to venture a guess?

Join us at our new room on FriendFeed…

http://friendfeed.com/rooms/blogmedian

BlogMedian.com

The Blog Index Reader for Mobile devices!

BlogMedian is a web based service that enables iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Treo, Centro and other wireless users to easily scan Blogs for updates in large text.

Once a Blog has been added to this service, the Blog feed may be read using a URL like:

http://blogmedian.com/go/100000

Add these URL’s to your Bookmarks and you will always stay up to date with your favorite Blogs. The easy way to browse Blogs updates from any wireless device or smart phone!

BlogMedian.com

The Blog Feed Reader for Mobile devices!

BlogMedian is a web based Feed Reader that enables iPhone, iPod Touch, Blackberry, Treo, Centro and other wireless users to easily scan Blogs and Bookmarks for updates in large text.

Once a Blog, Feed or Bookmark page has been added to this service, the Feed may be read using a URL like:

http://blogmedian.com/go/100000

Add these URL’s to your SmartPhone Bookmarks and you will always stay up to date with your favorite Blogs. The easy way to browse Blogs updates from any wireless device or smart phone!

Add your favorite Blogs to this service and make it easy for other people to see them on their wireless devices!

BlogMedian.com

Be sure to add a link to your BlogMedian URL on your Blog to increase your visitors and traffic.

Invite your fellow Bloggers to join us so that people can easily read their blogs from any wireless device!

It’s FREE!

Imagine a network where thousands of Bloggers come together to sell products and services! Add to that an Auction Portal, Directory and eStores with tons of Internet traffic from other Blogger’s in the network! And with a low, fixed monthly cost, you can start earing real money today from your blog and stay within your budget.

eBay on steroids? You got it!

http://www.blogs2c.com/blog-auctions.html

Blogs2c.com hosts the Blog Auction Network where Bloggers come together to increase sales and traffic. Plus, the monthly cost for your eStore and Auction account is only $4.95 per month! And, there are no final value fees, commissions or listing fees, ever! You can even import you eBay listings into your eStore too.

Join us today and start making money from your Blogs…

With the advent of major blogging sites, social networking and business networking portals, many small business owners and managers are looking for ways to leverage this low cost marketing opportunity.

Why? Because it is cost effective and a great way to find new customers. Ideal for products, services and niche marketing. Ideal for Blogs, Social Networks and Business Networks too.

As part of the Blogs2c Partner Program, you can share in this unique marketing and advertising network. Draw traffic to your auction listings and your eStore listings. Customize your eStore and link it to your Blog. Exchange links and let other Bloggers send traffic to your listings too!

Subscribe using PayPal for only $4.95 per month to cover the cost of your eStore and Auction listings. After your payment is received, we will email you a link to setup your eStore and begin the process. Add links to your Blog and start selling today using BuyNow and Auction listings.

Once you have subscribed, we will email you a sign-up link to get your eStore created and we will add your Blog and eStore to our Diretory for you. You can then begin listing items for sale or auction. Sell any “family friendly” items just like you can on eBay and other auction sites. You can even auction ads on your Blogs, sell domain names and much more!

The Blogs2c.com Directory is holding a contest for Mother’s Day and you can join in the fun. Plus, you could win 1,000 dollars just by posting a link to your blog or website.

How does this work?

Visit http://blogs2c.com/Moms

Then click on “Add My Link” to add your Name, Blog or Website URL.

Each person can enter up to 10 times using 10 different zip codes near your home city!

Note: Your link must be added on or before Mother’s Day, 2008 to be entered.

Starting after Mother’s Day, our computers will begin generating 5 digit random numbers. These numbers are actually zip codes. Each of these “special” zip code pages will be updated with a “Special Mom” link.

Check your zip code pages daily starting after Mother’s Day. If your zip code page has a “Special Mom” link on it, then click on that link to see if you are the “Special Mom” for the Blogs2c.com website!

All of the unused USA zip code numbers will be mapped to Country names, for the benefit of our International Members!

New zip codes and links will be added each day until the “Special Mom” purse is claimed. So, it may take a few days before the “Special Mom” link appears on your page in the directory!

It’s fun and easy to join in. Invite your friends to join in too.

Inviting your friends and family does NOT decrease your chance of being picked as the “Special Mom” link in this directory, since a computer picks the number at random.

Team Leads: Invite all of your downline to register and they can add links to their Direct Sales pages!

Watch the forum and follow our Twitter for more details.

http://www.twitter.com/blogs2c

Here is a service that we are seeing more and more of recently and is gaining popularity on many Blogs and Websites.

It is called SpicyPage and it is worth a look.

Based on the website name, you might think that this directory would have a great deal of adult content and links. However, it does not. In fact their advertising page specifically indicates “No adult content” is permitted.  You may find a few links to some Dating Blogs, but these types of links are common on almost all free directory sites.

On SpicyPage, you can add blogs, post a story, edit news, add articles and create groups. You will also get a Profile page where you can upload a photo and add sites and friends. Currently, you do not get a static URL link, but you will get a “redirect” URL with an index number that links to your profile page. That URL will work fine at most of the places that you post it.

http://www.spicypage.com/search.cfm?section=search&segment=profile&profile_id=9198

You can easily add your SpicyPage URL to your Assist Network account, if you want to draw more traffic to your SpicyPage profile and hide the geeky looking URL from visitors.

The SpicyPage homepage features a very nice “Take A Tour” walk-through of the site that describes some features and shows you how to navigate around. The site is not complicated to use and the “Tour” will make it very easy to understand the steps that you need to take.

The service will also add a snapshot of your HomePage when you add a Blog or Website. You can also upload your own snapshot if you don’t like what they generate for you. Plus, you can post a story, add article titles and descriptions, edit news, etc.

Members can also “vote” for sites and add friends which is a good way to grow your network and your readership.

SpicyPage offers a good selection of buttons and widgets that you can add to your Blog. You can also create Groups for friends that want to follow you and your sites.

We have added the widget to the Blogs2c.com Directory if you want to see what they look like. Don’t forget to vote for us

We also created a Group for Blogs2c.com members so that you can become a part of our Community on SpicyPage. Be sure to vote for Blogs2c.com when you get there and you’ll get many additional free links in the Blogs2c Directory after we validate your vote.

While not exactly a Social Network, the SpicyPage site offers many of the same benefits without all the overhead of a social networking site. Although sometimes a little slow in responding, the site makes use of some good software to make it easy for you to join, add sites and add photographs.

All in all. SpicyPage is a good place to get listed (no cost) and another way to grow your network.

Check it out… SpicyPage

Technorati Profile

Over the years, I have installed several “Live Chat” buttons and services on various websites and blogs that I manage. Some of these services are free and some are paid monthly services.

I’ve used BoldChat, LiveChat, Meebo and a few other services that are no longer in business. While each of these services work fine, you can now get a similar service from Google using GoogleTalk at no cost.

For example, We have added a “GoogleTalk Chat” widget to our Blogs2c.com site. Try it out…

http://www.blogs2c.com/gchat.html

All that is required on the server side is a small widget in a frame. On the client side, your visitors will need Flash version 9, but most people probably have that installed with their browser already.

To create your GoogleTalk widget, you will need a Gmail username. These are free to setup at the Gmail.com site if you don’t have a Gmail account already. Unlike other services, your visitors do NOT need to have a username or password to chat with you.

To create your widget, go to…

http://www.google.com/talk/service/badge/New

And create a widget for your Blog or Website. Add this widget to your site and you now have a “Live Chat” option at no cost.

Don’t worry about the widget exposing your Google username or email address. This information is encrypted within the widget code, and can not be seen by your site visitors.

Enjoy!

Our Blog Directory became so popular so quickly that we have launched a new site.

The site is called Blogs2C and is at:

http://www.blogs2c.com

Be sure to stop by and add your Blog and include our graphic button on your Blog.

Your listing area will increase automatically in size as we get more clicks and visitors from your Blog! So, this is a great way to build viral traffic to your Blog.

Plus, it shows us that your Blog is active and enables us to keep our Directory updated with fresh contact and feeds.

Getting more quality, viral traffic to your blog has never been easier… or cheaper

You can add links to your Blog and Profile pages at:

Assist Network, ApSense, Atom Feeds, Bebo, Blogger, Blogspot, Del.icio.us, DirectMatches, Ever.com, FaceBook, FeedBurner, Flickr, Hi5, LiveJournal, Microsoft Live, MySpace, Ning, Ojeez, Orkut, Plaxo Pulse, Podcasting sites, RSS Feeds, Ryze, Slide.com, Squidoo, StumbleUpon, Swicki, Technorati, Tumblr, Twitter, Virb, Yahoo! 360, Yahoo! Mash, YouTube, Yuwie, WordPress and other sites.

The primary purpose of the Assist Blog Network is to “assist” people in learning more about people, places and things in a geo-graphical area. This is to serve both residents and visitors to a community.

Bloggers often write about various events, attractions, restaurants, businesses and other services in a geographical area.

The best way to get traffic to your blog is a add a link to the Assist Blog Network Directory whenever you post something to your blog that is of interest to people that live in a community, or for potential visitors to a community.

For example, if you just ate at a restaurant in Schenectady, New York, and you are writing about it in your blog, you can post your link in two places.

http://www.assistdir.com/Blogs/12345

-and-

http://www.assistdir.com/Restaurants/12345

Likewise, let’s say that you visited the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and you wrote about your vacation in your blog. You would simply add your link (or permalink) to,

http://www.assistdir.com/Blogs/86023.htm

Which is the directory for Grand Canyon, Arizona. Should you need help in finding the zip code tag, you can visit,

http://www.assistdir.com/zip/map.htm

While our directory index is organized by zip code, it is not real important for you to add your link to the “exact” zip code in all cases. Any zip code for a given city and state will get your content syndicated to that city and even to cities near that area .

It is always good to use the exact zip code if you can, but it is not required. Don’t let that stop you from posting if you do not know the exact zip code.

The only time that an “exact” zip code is required is when you post an address and we include a map to the location. We do want to “assist” people in finding the correct location, so please try to use the correct zip code when listing a postal address.

The Assist Blog Network is growing very fast, as you might imagine. And many of our visitors come from referrals and blog posts from other Blog masters. That said, we encourage you to add links to your Blog and invite your friends to join us.

There is no cost to include your Blog listings, and it is like a “Link Exchange” for Bloggers. And one that delivers “real” traffic from people looking for “real” information. You can assist them.

It only takes a minute to add your link, but you will get return traffic and new visitors very soon. That is why we call it a “Network”