It’s time for a new freebie release! Here is Feedsessive, a free, simple and elegant RSS icon pack for you to use however you wish, in either personal or professional projects, with no restriction.

These days I’ve been working on a new project and I needed an RSS icon that is simple and elegant, and after designing one to use in my project, I decided to create a few variations and release them as a pack for those who might need it.

Feedsessive features 50 free RSS icons, split into 2 two design styles (basic and outlined), each with 25 color variation.

All the RSS icons are available in 3 formats:

• EPS (vector) format
• PDF format
• Transparent PNG format at 300dpi

* Packed size: 2.22 Mb
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All blogs are written so that others could read them. This statement is true for both personal and business blogs. Otherwise bloggers wouldn’t take their diary online. So from the moment you publish your first post, you’ll be waiting for your soon-to-be readers and their take on what you have to say.

While waiting for readers to discover you might be a choice for some, the more impatient ones of use will approach readers proactively. And by far the most effective way to get them to read your writings is to bond with them, so them you’re worth exploring.

While most of us would like to think we’re great at it, there are quite a few tricks we can and should learn and there’s always room to improve. So what does building relationships (a phrase I actually prefer to “networking”) take?

Who do we bond with?

Both what you write and who you want to network with depend on your intended audience. Besides their interests and background, you need to think of what they like to read. You’d then of course start with blog readers. And where else would you find them if not on other blogs in your niche or on related niches?

Sure, there’s social media, from bookmarking and news sites to forums and everything else out there. There also magazine and portal readers, but all of these are not directly interested in blogs. This is how we bloggers discovered networking with bloggers has the best impact on our own readership.

Consequently, the better known the bloggers we network with are, the more exposure we get. Having your comments seen by a few dozens is not the same as having a few hundred see it. That is why we’re all drawn to those more famous than us, with more readers and more comments. Sure, the competition is tougher, but here’s where the art begins!

Where and how to approach bloggers?

First of all, their blogs. Most bloggers allow comments and that’s the first place to reach out. The idea is to find an angle when commenting that allows you to add something personal and valuable to the conversation. Showing your appreciation for a blogger and his post works once, maybe a couple of times, but if you don’t actively contribute to the conversation, both the author and his/her readers will ignore you.

There are bloggers such as Liz Strauss who place great value on replying to all comments. That will help you get the conversation started and possibly keep it going, as there’s that little option allowing you to get replies to your comment via email.
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It’s a proven fact that a blog post’s footer is a “pause zone”. That’s why, people encourage you to place ads there, because you have more chances of catching the eye of your readers.

But, if it is a good place to place ads, why not take it one step further. Sure, some bloggers placed links to social media websites or to related blog posts in that are, but not giving it its deserved design attention minimizes its impact on readers.

Why not treat that area as a separate element of your blog’s structure? Why not take advantage of any of its effects:

• Encourage further reading;
• Promote featured content;
• Traffic growth;
• Bounce rate reduction;
• Social media exposure;
• Encourage subscription and many more.

As a reader of Blogsessive you must have noticed each post’s footer, and from my experience as Blogsessive’s webmaster, I can confirm that the results are amazing.
Click here to read the full blog post!

This post has been edited but kept for those coming here from different links.

The reason why I edited this post was to prevent the idea of it turning into a personal vendetta. It was not my intention and I’m only interested in helping out my community.

After rethinking the situation I decided that from this moment on, Blogsessive will focus solely on providing helpful advice and resources to its community and I’ll let aside any other matters that are not of interest to you, my loyal readers and companions in my online journey.

Once again, I apologize if you came here expecting to read something else, or if reading the original article has created a discomfort with you.

Thank you for being here during the past, the present and hopefully, the future of Blogsessive.

Alex

The 9Rules Network has opened up Round 8 and it’s now accepting entries. If you would like to join their network, make sure your submit your blog for review quickly as you’ve only got a 24 hour window to do so.

Here’s the official announcement from Scrivs, and a few words by Tyme, just before the 8th round started.

Also, before submitting, you could take an objective look at your blog and compare it with the information Tyme has presented in this blog post. It should prove useful if you wand to secure your chances.

Does this sound familiar?

Your StumbleUpon account has been frozen.

If not, don’t worry, you might get that email soon, because StumbleUpon is on a witch hunt.

I’ve received a lot of emails from friends and messages on Twitter from people that have been recently banned by StumbleUpon.

I too got my account frozen 3 weeks ago, and initially I did not want to make a big deal out of it. But, since it already involves too many people, and 3 weeks have passed since I’ve sent my email to Walter, StumbleUpon’s community manager and got no response yet, I decided to write this post and share my views.

Dear StumbleUpon

What you’re doing is not wrong. It’s more than wrong. It’s a stab in the backs of those that made you who you are today. Yes, I’m sure you’re going to quote the ToS again, and say that “common users” made SU what it has become, but I’ll disagree.

It was the bloggers, the internet marketers, those spreading the word about StumbleUpon and it’s benefits. And yet, you still think of them as spammers.

Even now, I did not understand why my own account was frozen, but I managed to come up with 2 theories.

1. Either the fact that my profile page contained links to Blogsessive and my other site, CreativEurope, and you considered it “promotion”.

2. Or perhaps the fact that I’ve sent and received votes to and from my network.

Either way, your way of dealing with this is wrong. If you don’t want links in profiles, turn of the HTML tags. If you don’t like people voting on friends’ stories, make that clear and then, step out of the “social websites” pack.
Click here to read the full blog post!

2 o’clock in the morning. 10 long hours of work, productive but tiresome. I needed to do something to get me out of this state, so I decided to go out.

I’m pretty much a night bird. At night I work best, at night I seem to have the best fun, and at night I’m a totally different person than during daytime. Ha, I know what you’re thinking. No, I’m no vampire, sorry to disappoint you, but me and Count Dracula are not relatives.

I simply enjoy the dim lights on the streets. I love to take walks in the dark and see wherever my feet carry me, and tonight I’m going to do just that.

Got out of the home and started walking. Turning left. Going ahead. Turning right. Ahead again. And there I was. I’ve never been to this club before. “The Atmosphere”. Sounds interesting, and judging by the crowd waiting to get in, it seems pretty popular too.

After a few moments I managed to get in. Loud music, loud people, lots of smoke and disco lights. But the people, they caught my attention. In my whole life, I’ve never seen so many different people in one place, all talking about things with such passion that would make you think it was the most important thing since Big Bang.

I went to the bar and asked for a drink. To my surprise, the bartender said:

Hey, don’t I know? Oh, yeah, you’re that guy, the one with the blog! How is it called… Oh right, Blogsessive!

Is this for real? When did I get so “popular”?

Man, it’s so nice to meet you. I’ve been reading you blog regularly. You know, I’m a blogger myself. Cocktail recipes. Big surprise right? Ha, ha! Mate, this drink is on me!

Still a bit shocked, I thanked the bartender for his kindness and took off to find a place to sit.
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Welcome to another episode of “Blogosphere News”. What’s interesting, what’s new in the blogosphere? Let’s find out!

Darren Rowse launched TwiTip.com

The mastermind behind ProBlogger.net, Darren Rowse embarked on a new journey. Being a long time Twitter user, Darren has gathered enough experience and has learned so many things about this wonderful microblogging platform. He’s now ready to share that experience with you, on his newly launched blog, TwiTip.com.

Good luck Darren!

WordPress 2.7 Beta 1 goes public

On November 1st, the folks at WordPress.org announced that the first beta version of WordPress 2.7 is publicly available. This is said to be a turning point in WordPress’ history, just as 2.5 was.

If you want to give it a try, you can download WordPress 2.7 Beta 1. I’d advise you not to test it on your live server though. After all, it’s still a beta.

Rapid fire news and links

• Fresh New Look for Words of a Broken Mirror (redesigned by yours truly)
• BlogRush Shutting Down
• The Revolution Theme Goes Open Source
• 7 Blogging Tips from David Ogilvy
• Why Web Design Matters (for SEO)

About a gazillion people have blogs today. Devoted to anything from garden gnomes, celeb’s plastic surgery to the life of living in Papa New Guinea, blogs have become an easy way for average Joe to share his daily contemplations with the world. But with so many blogs, at least a couple of hundred per niche, you might need some help in sticking out.

As you can see we have taken the liberty to list five things that will help your blog reach great heights. All tricks below are equally useful and are hence not listed by worth.

1. Update with weekly content

A common expectation on a blog website is frequently updated content. Popular blogs normally have a high percentage of returning visitors through personal bookmarks or RSS feeds. If that is your ambition, you have to make sure to give your visitors reason enough to come back. New spaced out blog posts normally do the trick.

2. Create unique interesting content

Mentioning the importance of quantity and frequency above it is only fair to list quality as yet another important blog preference. And much like this article you should focus on bringing unique, practical and useful information to the reader. Internet users also normally tend to go mental over “How To”-guides and “Top 10″ listings. Quality blog posts will generate more RSS feeds and loyal visitors.
Click here to read the full blog post!

With blogging turning into such an amazingly popular activity, it was only the next logical step that some people would position themselves as tutors for the blogging novices. Internet marketing blogs, SEO blogs, design, writing and blogging tips blogs emerged and some of them became leaders of opinion in the blogosphere.

The advantage they had over other blog was their information. The quality, the relevance and the applicability of their guidelines finally secured their path to world wide awareness, authority and eventually success.

But, while everything works well from their point of view, readers trying to implement their guides and tips might encounter a few problems, or might have a hard time deciding on the most viable solution for their blog.

We need to dig deeper

How many times have you encountered this advice?

Comment on other blogs in your niche.

I’d say that you’ve seen it on probably every single blog tips blog. But how many of them go deeper, telling readers how to select those blogs that will deliver the best results? How many will tell them what to stay away from and what kind of discussion to engage in?

How many blogs talk about branding yourself and your blog without explaining to the common user what branding means and a difference between a poor logo, for example, that will most definitely position you as a “wanna be”, instead of a professional?

I’m not trying to point fingers here! I’m just saying that we need to go deeper when approaching certain topics, and not expect our users to be internet savvy people. We have the advantage of years of experience behind, so the best thing to do is to put that experience to use for those that need it the most.

Now, let me share my point of view over a few commonly misunderstood blog tactics, and I’m not talking from a “tips” blogger’s perspective, but from the reader’s side. From that side where I’ve been and where I had to learn things by the “trial and error” method.
Click here to read the full blog post!