Moose and His Passion in Photo Journalism

Skinny Moose Media blogger, Moose, of Moose Droppings has always had a passion for photography. Moose has been traveling around shooting pictures of “Wild America”.

Therefore, Moose has decided to dedicate a new blog to his passion for photo journalism. You can visit his new blog at Moose’s Wild America!!

Go check it out!!

New NASCAR Blogger Joins Skinny Moose Media

Eddie Griffin of Weslaco, Texas is now blogging at the Rubbin’ is Racin’ blog, where he will be keeping us up to date and educated on NASCAR. So head over to Rubbin’ is Racin’ and welcome Eddie to the Network.

Here is a quick bio of Eddie:

My name’s Eddie Griffin, and I’m 22 years old. I was born and raised in West Point, Mississippi, went to school at Florida State, and now live in Weslaco, Texas.

I’ve been a sportswriter for the last three-plus years, but I’ve been a sports fan for most of my life. I first started following baseball when I was in elementary school, and my life as a sports fan-atic took off from there. I follow most sports (well, minus badminton and curling). I’ve been a fan of NASCAR since I was about 10 or so, and yes, I do have a favorite driver. Hint: You either love him, or you hate him.

I’m still relatively new to blogging, but I currently run CowboysHub.com, a blog dedicated to the Dallas Cowboys. I also write for Dawgsbite.com (a Mississippi State fan site), SteelersFever.com, and SouthernCollegeSports.com.

I have a lovely fiancee, Iris, and we have a little black cat named Bean, who has my nose and ears.

Skinny Moose Media Toolbar

We have just released our Skinny Moose Media toolbar which you can load onto Firefox. It literally takes 10 seconds to install. What’s on our toolbar?

1) Google Search
2) List of all of our blogs in the Network and their last 10 blog posts. Click on any of them and it will take you straight to them. This can save you time trying to search all the blogs for new posts. You can just look in your browser.
3) Link to the Chat Room
4) Email Notifier. This let’s you know how many new email messages you have. It can track any account on GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo, and POP3
5) Radio button. You can listen while you browse. Right now there are a couple Country and Rock stations to listen to. In the future we will be adding more options and probably some Skinny Moose Media podcasts.
6) Weather. You can see your current temperature and what the forecast is in your area.

This toolbar can be used by anybody. You don’t have to be a Skinny Moose blogger to use it. If you enjoy reading some of our blogs this will work out well for you. This toolbar was created with people like you in mind, to be able to access any of our blogs easily.

We also will be providing updates to this as we see the need to modify things and make it better. There is no need to keep checking in to see if there are any updates. Any updates we release, the next time you open your browser you will be asked to update the Skinny Moose toolbar. Click yes and it will install it in a matter of a few seconds.

Click Here to Install the Skinny Moose Toolbar

And enjoy! We are looking for feedback so let us know how you like it.

Interview With Shai Coggins of b5media

As some of you may be aware, I spent a short time as a blogger at b5media. While I was there I met a good handful of people. b5media is one of the largest blog networks on the web. Shai Coggins is Co-Founder and VP of the Network and has agreed to a short interview. Shai is also an experienced blogger and offers up good advice on how to stay on track and even possibly making a career out of it.

But I would like to thank Shai for taking time out of her busy day and answering some questions. Enjoy!

1- Shai, how many blogs do you have and how long have you been blogging?

My one big addiction is starting blogs. I probably have over a dozen floating around. However, as part of my 2007 online clean-up act, I started archiving most of my blog projects.

So, right now, I only really have 2 active blogs - http://shaicoggins.com and http://justmakemoneyonline.com.

Other than these two, I have http://chrysaliscreativity.com, which I try to update every few weeks or so. And, I have my video blog, http://freshwavetv.com, which gets updated a few times a year.

And, as co-owner and VP (community) of b5media, I also blog at http://b5media.com occasionally.

2- As long time blogger and co-founder of b5media what would you say is the most rewarding part of blogging?

Community, hands down. And I say that not just because it’s my official job scope at b5media.com. I’ve always loved blogs and blogging because of the connections we are able to make. It’s amazing.

3- In your opinion can any person make a living as a blogger?

Short answer: Yes.

But, of course, you know that I have to qualify that answer.

Anyone can make a living as a blogger - but it depends on a lot of factors. Where you live, the lifestyle you lead, your personal expectations, etc.

For example, if you live in a country where the dollar exchange rate is massive compared to your local currency, then making $200-500 a month can make such a big difference.

To those who may not have the same situation, then yeah, it will depend on how much money do you actually spend on your day-to-day life. For some, making a decent living means $500-1,000 a month. That’s certainly doable. For others, anything less than $2,000 is not enough. For these people, it’ll take a lot more work to “make a living off blogging.”

4- For someone who is an expert in the blogging industry, what would you tell a first time blogger if you had the opportunity? What should the blogger focus on the most to really make that blog excel?

Every time someone comes to me for advice in blogging (and probably applicable in other things too!), I always say the same thing: Go ahead and create something that you love. Something that will make your heart sing and dance. Something that will add that extra zing in to your life.

Once you’ve got that part down, then your blog will shine no matter what. It will draw the right kind of readers in to your life. It will resonate with the kind of people that you wish to connect with. And from there, all sorts of wonderful things can - and will - happen.

Now, if you want to take a step ahead by attracting more readers, making money off your blog, etc. - then, you will need to equip yourself with other blogging strategies like SEO, marketing, and such.

5- If you had to think back on your time blogging, can you remember any mistakes you made as a blogger or something you wish you could go back and fix?

Mistakes come part and parcel with attempting anything in life. I wish I can re-do a lot of things in my past! But then, I consider it all part of my learning experience, so I consider it all good in my blogging history.

However, having said that, I did go through a patch of my blogging life where I decided to be a recluse of some sort. I didn’t turn on IMs. I wasn’t answering all comments in my blogs. I didn’t leave enough comments on other people’s blogs.

Not good at all.

If I were given a chance, I would’ve chosen to be a lot more sociable. Make more connections. Then again, I needed that space at that particular time in order to learn a few things in life. I’m just going to have to make up for lost time now.

6- What are the top 5 blogs you personally read every day?

Seriously, I follow so many blogs that I really don’t have the time to follow anything on a daily basis. If I did, I won’t have a life outside my computer.

What I do try to read as regularly as possible:

http://b5media.com - Not only because it’s part of my job!

http://problogger.net - A good way to stay in touch with the world of professional blogging.

http://the-parody.com - My sis is the most regular online connection I have with my family who live overseas.

http://karencheng.com.au - She inspires me on a personal and creative level.

http://lifehacker.com - It’s overwhelming to read it on a regular basis; but I love it anyway.

7- Blogging has evolved in the last year or so. Do you have any predictions as to what blogging will be like in 3 years time?

Growth is still happening in the world of weblogs. There is still so much scope to breathe and grow!

I’m not really one to ‘predict’ things, but I have a wishlist of things to happen in the next few years:

- faster, better, cheaper Internet connections worldwide (dial-up will be phased out slowly, as more people move to broadband); which will introduce blogs to more people
- more use of multimedia, especially videos and even more photos
- more people using blogs professionally, not just as a quick way to make money off adsense and affiliate programmes, but as a way to enhance their working life
- better way to stamp out spammers and sploggers
- most people will know what a ‘blog’ is, without a lot of explanations and blank stares.

Other Blogs in Your Niche; Friend or Foe?

This post is inspired by the recently written post at problogger.net. Please head over and read the article. It is something we should all strive to understand, as the nature of blogging is about forming allies and ultimately being on the same side.

In an article I wrote last month called Blogs Are Roads; Intersections, I address the fact that other blogs in your niche are not necessarily competitors but sites you actually “want” to be associated with. The realities of blogging is that associating yourself with other blogs like your own will actually bring you more traffic.

I see too often where bloggers remove a blogroll from their sidebar in fear of linking out to competitors. I understand the fear but the blogger fails to understand and grasp the true nature of the beast… The beast is the overwhelming and not yet tamed blogosphere. What is it they need to understand? Other blogs can be competition when it comes to writing styles, voice, etc. But blogs allow you to be who you are and be the best at it. It comes down to what you are selling, and in a sense, it is YOU. Essentially linking to other bloggers is a good thing as it opens doors to your blog. But linking to off topic blogs can hurt. Linking to relevant blogs will help.

Most bloggers get it backwards. They link to off-topic blogs more frequently because there is no fear of competition. The trick is to link to other blogs that are doing the same things you are. But what else can be done besides linking out to other related blogs? Why not email them and get acquainted? It’s all about Networking isn’t it?

So you need to ask yourself whether or not other bloggers in your niche are Friend or Foe…? Ally or Competition?

If you can honestly see other bloggers in your niche as friends and allies you are one step ahead in your blogging career.

Skinny Moose Media Gets Interview With Quality Deer Management Association

Skinny Moose blogger, Rick, from Tails and Trails is at it again. Rick has been diligent about getting interviews with people in the industry. Late last week he was able to get an interview over the phone with Mr Mathew Ross, New England/Canada Regional Director of the Quality Deer Management Association (QDMA).

Below is the interview…

First off I want to show what the Quality Deer Management Association is all about.

The QDMA promotes:

• Safe and ethical hunting.
• Adherence to wildlife and trespass laws.
• Adequate harvests of adult does.
• Restraint in harvesting young bucks.
• Hunter involvement in education and management.
• Cooperation with wildlife biologists and enforcement officers.
• Education of hunters and non-hunters toward a better understanding of wildlife management.
• Stewardship and appreciation of all wildlife.

Rick - Today I had the honor of speaking with the New England/Canada Regional Director of the QDMA Mr. Mathew Ross who lives in the great state of New Hampshire and who graciously took time to answer a few questions even though he was getting ready to leave for Quebec, Canada to do a seminar on Food Plots. I appreciate your time and your willingness to preserve our hunting heritage and promote Quality Deer Management.

Matt - You are very welcome and I am pleased to answer whatever questions that you may have.

Rick - First I would like to ask How long have you been working for the QDMA?

Matt - I started working for the QDMA back in May of 2006

Rick - What would you say is the most favorite part of your job?

Matt - I would have to say meeting new hunters and talking with them about quality deer management, doing what we can to create a healthy balanced deer herd and talking about our environment and what we can do to preserve it.

Rick - That leads me to my next question and that is What type of seminars do you do?

Matt - I travel all over New England doing seminars about wildlife habitat, forestry, food plots, managing what is already in your habitat area. I have four basic categories that I talk about and that is 1.) Habitat Management, 2.) Herd Management, 3.) Herd Monitoring and 4.) Hunter Management. I also like to talk about aging live deer and helping hunters to determine if that deer is old enough to harvest or young enough to leave alone.

Rick - I understand the philosophy that the QDMA lives by and it’s importance of balancing the deer herd. Do you feel the QDMA’s approach is working?

Matt - I feel it is working even on a national scale. The QDMA has over 17 million acres that are practicing Quality Deer Management across the country. That includes working with food plots enriching the existing habitats and deer management, which is having hunters concentrate on harvesting more Doe’s and letting the younger buck’s grow to full maturity.

Rick - I see you are also a Wildlife Biologist and a Licensed Forester, How long have you been doing that?

Matt - For about four years now. Before I came to work for the QDMA I was working as an apprentice for a Forestry and Wildlife company and some of my duties work supervising logging operations, marking timber so as not to destroy or endanger wildlife habitat. All that was working toward my degree.

Rick - I was reading about the “REACH” program and it sounds very interesting. Can you tell me how long that has been in effect and how it has been working?

Matt - It is a brand new program which has taken some time to put together, as a matter of fact the last couple sections of the program which are Certify and Hunt we just implemented to past month. As you know “REACH” stands for,

• Research – Fund whitetail research projects related to Quality Deer Management.
• Educate – Expand educational activities for QDMA members and the general public.
• Advocate – Increase the QDMA’s involvement in whitetail hunting and management issues.
• Certify – The QDMA’s individual and property QDM certification programs.
• Hunt – The QDMA’s National Mentoring and Hunting program.

Rick - Do you have any other programs that you have coming up in the future?

Matt - We have a program that has not started yet but will be soon which iscalled Cyber Deer for hunter education. It will be like shooting in 3 dimensional which can teach shot placement and shot trajectory. More will be mentioned in the days to come.

Rick - What would you say attracts hunters and non-hunters alike to the QDMA?

Matt - I would have to say two things in particular stand out. 1.) This would be that people enjoy the aspect of creating food plots for the deer and wildlife in general. 2.) It is creating a overall healthy and properly managed deer herd.

Rick - Last question I have is as a Wildlife Biologist and Regional Director for the QDMA how would you say the deer population is in New England?

Matt - From what I have seen in all my travels the herd in New England appears to be healthy and on a gradual rise in numbers. It appears to be as good if not better than twenty years ago.

Rick - Well Matt it was nice meeting you and I want to Thank You for taking the time to talk with me and I wish you and the QDMA luck in your adventures.

Matt - It was my pleasure and I hope to meet you in person when I come to Connecticut for a Deer Management seminar on Sunday August 26, 2007 at the Nutmeg State Branch of the QDMA in Oxford, Connecticut.

New Blog - Hunting News Daily

Skinny Moose Media is happy to announce another news blog to the Network. This time the author is myself, Steve Remington. I have decided not only to keep you up to date on the latest happenings here at Skinny Moose Media and providing blog tips, but also to keep up a hunting news blog that will provide readers with links to several media sources on the web. You can see the new blog at: Hunting News Daily.

I just launched it last night so please come over and check it out. Thanks.

Be An Authority On Something

Blogging can be tricky. What I mean is you can probably do a lot of things right but you have to stop and ask yourself what it is that separates you from the rest of the bloggers in your niche. I think you can do the same stuff, write about the same topics, and be just as good as all the other blogs in your niche, but if you really want to excel you have to provide your readers with something that they just can’t find any where else. So how do you determine what that something is?

1) Strengths - In order to determine what you can provide your readers with that is unique, you must look inward at your own strengths. Are you good at writing? Maybe you aren’t so good at writing but you are an excellent researcher. You have this ability to dig up information quickly and effectively. Or maybe you have a strong personality. It only makes sense to offer up one of your strengths. To determine your strengths you have to be honest with yourself. It is crucial if you want to assess things properly. You don’t want to claim you know everything about a certain subject and really not.

Sometimes if you have a new love for something, passion can carry you a long way but you have to provide something to your readers that goes well beyond how you feel about a subject. An example would be… I love music but I can’t sing worth a darn. I might be able to tell you everything there is to know about music and provide daily news about the music industry but when it comes to singing in a podcast it would drive readers away all across the continent. So be honest with yourself, find your strengths, and blog it.

2) Opportunities - Another way to help determine what you can offer your readers that is different from all the other blogs in your niche is to constantly look for opportunities. If your niche is saturated, and you offer the exact same thing that other blogs offer, even if it is your #1 strength, you are not really offering a whole lot different. Not that you can’t stick to your #1 strength, but this is when you have to look for opportunities to help find that cutting edge.

Be first. An example of an opportunity is to be first at something. You have to constantly scan what’s happening out there in your niche and be on top of it. Be the first to post on late breaking news. Back in June was Father’s Day. Next year be the first to provide a top 10 best father’s day gift ideas list. Email other bloggers with your list. So being the first is a great way to take advantage of opportunities.

Be creative. Another example of taking advantage of opportunities is to create something. How about a contest with a prize? Keep your contest relevant to the subject of your blog and provide a small prize. People love getting prizes but most importantly people love getting recognition. This will keep your readers interested. And hopefully others will link to your contest. But don’t be shy. Got something going on and you have faith in it… why not email other bloggers and let them know.

Be personable. I email other bloggers all the time. Some never reply to me and think I’m nutso and others really warm up to me. You have to take some risks. If not, you will probably have the same 3 readers on your blog for the rest of your blogging career. But be personable. Try not to harass other bloggers with daily news tips. This can get irritating and may cause an adverse affect. But make friends in your niche, and spend time in your emails. Like I have mentioned before blogging is more than just writing. There are many other parts to it.

Be reliable. This is definitely an opportunity that is probably something that you should have a strength in. No matter what you blog about, and no matter what your strengths are, you have to come across to your readers as reliable. So what does that mean exactly? It probably comes in different forms. Posting every day for 2 weeks and then not posting for 2 weeks is not a good habit to get into if you want to build reliability with your readers. There are ways to get around this if you are on vacation, on the road, or lost on Mount Hood.

The issue at hand is you now have a personal relationship with your readers. If every day when your spouse or significant other walks through the door in the evenings after work and sees you there preparing dinner or if you expect your significant other to be home every evening after work because they have always been there and then one day find them not there. What then? 5 or 6 days go by and they have yet to show up. You can’t trust them in the future to be there. Once they come back for a while you begin to wonder each day when you come home if they will be there. Your significant other is not reliable.

That is a bit extreme, but I got my point across. Blogging is the same way but with not such a personal impact. It may take a week before readers begin to get bored and wonder. But the key is consistency. Consistency builds reliability. For instance if you consistently post to your blog once per week and have done that for 3 years then you are reliable. But if you blogged once per day for a year and then started posting once per week and then once per day when you feel good, and then when you get tired you take a 2 week break, your readers will begin to feel the unreliability. So, as an opportunity… be reliable.

Be partisan. I can’t stand reading blogs when it is obvious the author is not really being honest. Everyone has a bias, and everyone needs to not be afraid of it. I don’t mean you have to be rude and nasty, but let’s have a backbone. You can’t please everyone with your opinions but you need to actually appeal to a certain group. If you are to be an authority on something, and be different from all the other bloggers, you have to take a side somewhere. Too many bloggers sit in limbo and don’t want to offend people. I don’t want to offend people either but I still need to stick up for what I believe to be true. It is our right as citizens to stand up for what we believe in and by doing this on a blog we are exercising our freedoms. Don’t be afraid to say global warming is for the deceived, or eating meat is disgusting. Either side you are on, make that distinction. All successful blogs have a voice, have an opinion, and stand by it.

Be passionate. There are a lot of people who are passionate and it may not be your #1 strength, but it will be the passion that will get you through. When you write, readers should be able to see the passion you have for the subject.

3) Competition - Another important thing to look at when you have to separate yourself from other bloggers is your competition. Some niches are completely saturated and finding that cutting edge is nearly impossible. Other niches have a lot of room for growth. Look at the hunting blogosphere. The fishing niche still has room to grow but there are a lot more fishing blogs than hunting. Hunting seems to be real slow. I just talked to an old time buddy of mine who books hunts for other people who are looking for a reliable guide service. I told him he needs to really think about setting up a blog for his business. He came back at me and said he was embarrassed to ask but he wasn’t really sure he knew what a blog was. And I see a lot of this in the hunting industry. Blogging is good for the hunting industry and we are always telling others that they are misinformed about the sport. Blogging is a great and inexpensive way to get the word out about hunting. It is a new way to tap into the younger kids and show them how awesome the sport is by reaching them online through blogs.

So make sure you know your competition and try to find a way by using your strengths and your opportunities out there to become different than all the other blogs. You should ask yourself, “why would someone want to read my blog?” You want readers to say the reason why they read your blog is because, “There is no other blog out there like it.”

Simple as that. So you need to determine why and how your blog is the only one of its kind.

Lance Dutson on Net Neutrality - Podcast

For those who are interested in furthering their business, or themselves, on the Internet should be following the concept of Net Neutrality. You can learn more about Net Neutrality by watching this video. Also check out more here, here, here, and here.

Last year (2006) seemed to be the rise (peak?) of Net Neutrality and has since fizzled. But how much? There isn’t as much talk about it these days but I think the threat is still out there. As our society finds ways to control the ever growing and wild nature of the Internet, the urge for large Internet businesses to select what they provide their clients grows.

Anyway, I would like to provide a podcast that Lance Dutson, Skinny Moose Media blogger, over at Maine Web Report posted a year ago. He covers the concept of Net Neutrality after there was a 3 count multi-million dollar federal lawsuit filed against him for speaking his mind about Maine’s tourism industry.

When you are done listening take time to read an article Lance wrote in the Portland Press Herald called Technology alone won’t fix Old Media.

As you can see, the Internet… and blogs in particular, are one big influential monster.

Community Blogger Award, August 9th

Last week I handed out Skinny Moose’s first Community Blogger Award to Rick at Tails and Trails. Well I think it is that time again to hand out another award. This is something new we are doing and the award shows that the blogger has taken that extra step… and has gotten out into the community.

Now, this can be done in many ways. People can put together interviews with other people, visit local businesses and do a story on them, or attend a show and come back and blog about it. There are unlimited things one can do to reach out into the community and make that connection.

This week’s Community Blogger Award goes to Rex at Deer Camp Blog. Rex is always getting involved in the community, going to fun events and blogging about them. One of the coolest things I have seen recently was when Rex attended the Watermelon Carnival. You can see pictures of some outstanding watermelon carvings.

And of course there is the biggest watermelon contest. If you get a chance to visit Rex’s blog you will see he is always blogging about the community by getting out there, taking pictures and bringing back a story.

So Rex has the option to place the following badge on his blog somewhere.

Congrats Rex and keep up the good work.

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