Tags, depending on how you look at them, can be both very beneficial to your blogs and a pain. Some bloggers really enjoy being able to categorize their posts in laymens terms, while others think they’re just a cheaper version of categories. I’m not claiming there’s a right or wrong way to run a blog, but looking at both aspects is key in deciding whether you should use the tagging system.

Tags have been around for much longer than blogging, if you consider how some social networking sites such as Delicious and Technorati have been using them since originally launching.

I’m going to point out the straight facts about running tags on your blog. I don’t want to push a certain idea one way or the other – I’m just discussing facts about the tagging system, and having you, the reader, question whether you think you should be using it on your blog.

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Blogging can be very rough, I’m not going to lie. There are some nights which you must stay up until the wee hours of the morning promoting your articles, writing new content, blasting out e-mails.. whatever you’re business may be. Time efficiency is extremely important, and I’ve come to understand some very keen and insightful uses for time management.

As a blogger you need to put your work first, always make sure your content is posted at certain dates for your readers to expect. You also need to make sure that your content isn’t just keywords thrown together – actually engage your reader! Try and bring them into what you’re writing about. This will help them relate better to your blog, and thus continue to read more of your posts in the future.

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Tutorials have become an abundance in today’s web 2.0 world. New blogs are springing up each and every day with new tutorials on web design, graphic, design, Photoshop, Illustrator… nearly every piece of software and programming language you can think of! Now the levels of usefulness and professionalism in these tutorials varies from blog to blog, but I do hold my prejudices on certain blogs.

Web Designer Wall is one of these blogs, hosting tons of really useful and great tutorials. I have collected 30 of my personal favorite tutorials on graphic and web design, and hopefully they can help you with honing your digital artistic skills.

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There are many social news and social media sites popular for submitting your news articles. Digg and Reddit are the first 2 that come to mind, but there are tons more without thinking too hard. Some rank higher with PR9 and PR8 settings, while there are easier places to hit the front page ranking PR5 and PR6.

One site I’ve worked with is IndianPad, and I have had some ups and downs here. Overall I wouldn’t suggest using IndianPad for your social media and news submissions. It’s ultimately a waste of time and your articles may not even get published, and I’ll give you the low-down in this post.

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There are so many Freelance Job Boards on the web today, it seems like a viable option for many to earn a little extra cash. There are so many hired professionals on these boards, some having net earnings upwards of 6 figures! This isn’t too hard to believe when you consider some of the larger projects being sent through these boards, but what are the odds that a single freelancer can earn money competing with larger design firms out of India?

It can be difficult fighting for work against Indian web design firms and outsourced companies, but it’s not impossible! I’m going to be talking about one specific job board today, ScriptLance. I know many people who started their freelancing career finding jobs through here, and earning some decent money as well. And with jobs ranging from marketing, web design, banner graphics, blogging and article writing and web development, there’s bound to be something here for you.

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For the technical savvy, internet web forums are the coolest places to hang out. You get to meet tons of new people, share ideas openly with intelligent comments, and you can express yourself in many different ways than you would be able to in real life. Common among these expressive areas, especially with vBulletin Forums, are avatars and forum signatures.

Many of you know I also run a Kingdom Hearts social network while still holding true to be a huge fan of the game. Well I also frequent a site called KHInsider, and love hanging out on their forums. They have a contest called Signature of the Week, showcasing the best signature that week voted on by the members.

I’ve collected around 20+ great signatures that showcase talent in Photoshop and graphical arts, and really shows how impressive and inspirational these signatures can be. If you’re a fan of graphic design or signature creation, check out KHInsider’s contest for even more inspiring forum signatures!

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I can’t count how many times I’ve been to Template Monster for design inspiration. They have a collection of very highly-trained and skilled designers and developers, and their gallery of templates is not only huge but also very inspirational. I’ve collected a handful of useful and creative premium templates from TemplateMonster.com, in hopes of passing some of this inspiration to designers everywhere!

And just to clarify, none of the links below are affiliate links for sales. I have only linked back to the original Template Sales page to give credit to Template Monster and the creator of the design, plus to show the template download links and everything. Of course, you don’t need to check out the sales pages to get inspired by these great templates, and TM’s collection of Premium templates really takes the cake!

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Tips on blogging professionally and making money online blogging are frequent on blogs today, though not all of them good. I have seen many great blogs in my time, but none quite as good as Blogussion. Ranging from Wordpress blogging, making money with affiliate sales, customizing themes and plug-ins: there’s tons of great articles to be shared!

Alex Fraiser, the owner of Blogussion, has created some amazing posts and has also hired some really impressive and talented writers to write for the blog. I have cataloged 29 of my personal favorite blogging articles from the site, and have decided to share them! Blogussion has helped me grow immensely as a young blogger, and I hope it will influence some of you as well.

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I feel like the term “branding” is tossed around too little when it comes to blogging, or even creating a website. This is a sad truth, as creating a memorable and creative brand for your site is a determining factor in the overall success of your blog.

Visitors will come back to websites the can remember. Not just sites they remember, but site’s they remember as being well designed, standing out from the crowd. Gaining RSS subscribers and Twitter followers isn’t just an automated task, you have to work for it! Bringing up branding confuses a lot of bloggers, leaving many scratching their heads with blank stares. I hope to calm some woes here, and explain just how important branding can be to your blogging success.

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There are over 200 million blogs on the internet, and that number is increasing dramatically! More and more people are finding out about just how great the internet is, sharing ideas and spreading knowledge has never been easier. Some people enjoy blogging as a hobby, some do it for personal interests or use a blog like a journal, while a small few are able to blog professionally and make money from their blogs.

It isn’t an easy task to become a “professional blogger”, as there is so much competitions with blogs and websites. Finding traffic, repeat visitors, coming up with unique and helpful content… it all applies to how well your blog works and ranks. What I believe, though, is that the single most important factor of your blog is your niche.

How do you know which niche to choose, or which is right? How do you even define what a niche is? Keep reading, we’ll go over a few key terms and ideas for getting started in becoming a problogger!

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