Kirk Thoughts

I noticed that a few Plone bloggers registered their blog at Technorati, having read Mr. Topf’s recommendation to do so. I agree wholeheartedly. Technorati is the largest directory of blogs, and offers increased exposure to your blog through its directory, tag and search features. And hey, it’s free, so why not take 10 minutes to claim your blog?

In addition, here are 5 free things worth doing to promote your blog that I’ve done:

1. Provide a site feed on your blog. Ok, so you’ve done that, but do you know how many subscribers you have, and whether that is going up or down? Register your feed at Feedburner and take advantage of the free feed stats and ways to publicize your feed. We really need a way to integrate Feedburner feeds into Plone easily, and something I commented on this PLIP. Add your voice if you think this is a good (or not) idea.
2. Offer email subscription to your blog for people who aren’t comfortable with site feeds (yet). Feedburner has such a feature that takes minutes to set up. Just copy / paste the html form code, or use a subscription link instead.
3. Gather statistics using Google Analytics. If you aren’t monitoring and measuring traffic, how will you know what interests people the most? Discover most popular posts and what external links people are clicking on.
4. Promote your online presence by adding a link to your LinkedIn and / or Facebook profile (you do have one, don’t you?). Give people a chance to find and learn more about you via other social networks. Conversely, you can promote your blog through your profiles. Add your site address to your profiles. In Facebook, auto-import your blog feed via the Notes application.
5. Point to your blog by building a Squidoo lens. A lens is an organized directory that makes it easy for people to find your good stuff. It’s free and you should have one… it will bring you credibility and traffic. You could list your top postings, as well as a bio of yourself and your blog feed. I don’t have one on my blog (yet), but you can learn from me about all about ultimate frisbee!

There are lots more ways to promote your blog, but those are 5 you can do easily and costs you only your time.

Feedburner, LinkedIn, Technorati, blog promotion, facebook, google analytics, marketing, plone, squidoo

My family moved into its first home just over a year ago. The previous owners weren’t concerned at all about energy conservation, judging by the excessive use of track lighting. We also discovered a lot of extra “air conditioning” around windows, doors and the attic. Sadly, I didn’t have much time to deal with the air leaks before winter arrived as we were pre-occupied with moving in before our twin boys arrived in November. Needless to say, there was no time after their arrival for anything but survival.

A lot has changed in the past year to cut down on our energy costs. These steps were easy to do, and didn’t cost much:

1. All bulbs inside and outside the house replaced with compact fluorescent lights (CFL). Replacing five standard incandescent light bulbs with CFLs will typically save around $30 every year here in Ontario.
2. Hot and cold water pipes are wrapped with insulation.
3. All doors and windows are sealed with caulking and weather stripping. There were some gaping holes behind window and door frames and underneath one door I could fit a screwdriver through the worn out rubber that was supposed to be sealing the gap. All baseboards on main and top floor have been caulked also.
4. Electrical outlets on the inside and outside of exterior walls have insulation gaskets sealed with caulking to restrict air flow. Basically, any where there is a hole in the wall, air can get through!
5. Installed programmable thermostats for the electric baseboard heaters. I don’t have time to run around to every room and change the settings for when we’re there and when we’re not. Now the heat comes on a little before we get up and goes down around bedtime.

Save $$$ on doing the work

I am taking advantage of rebate programs to save hundreds of dollars making these upgrades. In our area, there are rebates to buy CFLs, water pipe insulation, programmable thermostats and many other energy saving products. The everykilowattcounts.com site has more information on rebates for purchasing these items.

Another program every home owner in Canada should take advantage of is the ecoENERGY Retrofit grant. An approved inspector comes and does an energy evaluation of your home. In return you get a report telling you what you can do to reduce energy use, and what money you’ll get if you do it. There’s some good money to be had, considering the provincial government is matching the federal grants. For instance, I’ll get $300 back for improving air leakage, and another $150 if I exceed the standard by 20%. Nice! There are grants for improving insulation ratings of the attic, basement, even getting a more water efficient toilet, plus several others. I like knowing exactly what I need to do, how to do it, and then getting paid for doing work that will cut my energy costs. Even part of the evaluation cost is covered. Highly recommended.

This post was written as part of a global effort called Blog Action Day to raise awareness and get action on climate change.

Climate change is front and centre in the news again today, with the announcement of the Nobel Peace prize being awarded to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

This Monday, October 16, 13,734 bloggers at latest count including myself reaching an audience of nearly 12 million will unite together to put the issue of climate change on everyone’s mind. It’s all part of Blog Action Day.

If you write a blog, it’s easy to take part, and I encourage you to do so. Climate change affects all of us. The fact that the Nobel Peace committee considers climate change a real threat to world peace underlines that we all need to commit to changing how we live - right now.

I’ll be writing about ways I’m improving the energy efficiency of my home, which helps both the environment and my pocket-book, especially during those cold Canadian winters. I’d like to keep enjoying those cold winters, too, but climate change is already diminishing the snow levels here in Northern Ontario. Our last Christmas was a green Christmas. Snowmobile tourism is dying out.

On Monday, be part of the solution.