Blogoholica: Bloggers, Design, & Digital Music Service Updates!

As usual, I’m getting drunk on blogs and sharing the digital music and online marketing world’s recent greatest hits.

Problogger discusses finding bloggers on the top social media sites. It’s important to network with bloggers who regularly use these sites because they play an integral role in getting your site picked up and blogged about. They also are heavily engaged in these communities and are constantly looking for content to submit to these networks or add to their own blog’s content.

Darren does it again with a great post on Twitter for beginners. It took me awhile to “get” Twitter, and these 5 things will help you figure out how to connect to the raving masses that are using the micro-blogging service and how to make sure your tweets provide the right amount of value.

Rand from SEOMoz (the defacto-source for no-bullshit SEO tools and information discusses some innovative design elements you just need to check out to make your site more friendly.

Looking for designers? In case you don’t have the time to learn the language that is web design, Freelance Switch shows you where designers tend to hang out.

Mack from the Viral Garden has a neat analysis of the SubPop blog. One important paragraph stood out, which every goddamn musician should burn into their memory, because it sums up the mantra of blogging for artists in a nutshell.

The content does a decent job of letting us learn more about the artists, and has a few ‘interview’ type posts. I like these, but I think the readers would respond better to more ‘behind the scenes’ info. Instead of posting about the new MudHoney release, why not give us pictures and info on what it’s like to be backstage at a MudHoney performance? Tell us what happens during a soundcheck, and what a ‘Day in the Life’ of a rockstar is REALLY like! This is the type of content that’s unique, and would get readers excited and talking about the blog. Additionally, this type of content gives us a deeper connection with these artists, and makes it more likely that we will become fans of their work (which results in us buying more of their stuff).

Thank you for summing this up Mack!

Smashing Magazine’s Small Study of Big Blogs and it’s sequel Further findings should point you in the right direction about choosing the look and layout of your blog. While you still have to stand out in your design, it’s also good to see what the big boys are doing to see what layout options, fonts, and sizes are working.

Hypebot clues us into iLike’s new features, including it’s targeted advertising platform, and news that Tunecore has it’s own Billboard chart! Both of these services should be in every DIY musicians toolboxes, and their capabilities continue to develop.

photo credit: FOTO FOOD

This weeks Blogoholica brought to you by DJ Scribble!