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Let’s resume this series today with links from 9 cool blogs:

Litemind

Luciano’s content is so good that it’s hard to pick only one of his articles. Today I’ll go for Litemind Readers’ Project: Send Your Best Personal Excellence Tip (US$800 in Prizes). It’s not too late to participate. In case you read this post after the deadline is over, you can at least use it as a model for similar projects of your own.

ReveNews

If you’re into Internet marketing, you’ve probably been to ReveNews at least once. And if you’re into networking via Twitter, you don’t want to miss Twitter Directories for Networking. By the way, if you don’t find my name on those directories, just click on @karenzara to meet me at Twitter.

Into Healthy Living

Though this isn’t exactly news anymore (the post was originally published over a month ago), I do recommend that you read Fantastic news: Zappos stops selling real-fur products!, because this is a topic I’m concerned about—and you should be too.

Business is Personal

I’ve read several articles on the supposed death of direct mail, but I don’t agree with their authors. It seems Mark doesn’t either, because he’s taken the time to write Do you make these 5 direct mail mistakes? and other related posts that you’ll find at the end of his article.

Unity Home Fitness Blog

I don’t know whether the email shared at How To Not KILL Your Family (and Waistline) These Holidays is real or made out—it doesn’t look totally natural to me—, but it certainly is amusing and can give you some training ideas.

A Way to Garden

I guess you’ll like the pic posted at doodle by andre: oh yeah, sure. right. even if you aren’t particularly interested in gardening.

Connecting Ideas

Marina Cilona wrote about her general life, career and relationship Goals. You should read her comment on her own post before you draw any conclusions from her 2nd general life goal.

TheSquigglyLine

Although the post Innovation Systems is written from an Aussie businessperson perspective, I’m sure that entrepreneurs from other countries will be able to relate to its content in some way.

At Home Mom Blog

The motivational article When Failure is a Good Thing contains simple lessons that none of us should forget. After all, failure doesn’t necessarily equals “end of the world.”

That’s enough for the time being. But of course I’ll be back for more. Subscribe to a1-fan-fun to make sure you’ll never miss a single post in this series.

Some minutes ago I took three hilarious quizzes and I was about to post their respective results here. I’ve copied and pasted their codes on a text file, and then I’d copy and paste them all here. Much to my annoyance, my computer froze and I had to restart it. When I could log on the internet again, I tried to visit the quizzes’ page, but… it wasn’t there anymore! Well, I won’t go on bothering myself. I’ll just forget about it.

I’m pretty sure that during my English course I learned a phrase that stood for “anyway”. But I totally forgot what it was, so I keep on using “anyway” in many sentences. I think that phrase started with “all”. Not sure though. If I was sure, I wouldn’t use “anyway” this much, of course.

Today I’m bringing to you 15 new links on a variety of subjects. Have fun!

Champagne Living

Zipporah writes about dancing and giving yourself permission to be who you are on I Am a Dancer & So Are You.

Dave Mora Content and Network

Because I love Chespirito’s creations—especially “El Chavo del Ocho”—, I can’t help but link to System of a Down and Chespirito, a post containing 3 YouTube videos created by Brazilian fans.

Spiral Scratch

I have mixed feelings about Liz’s post Don’t Stop Believin’…in Web 2.0?, so I’ll just invite you to read it and draw your own conclusions.

LaurieWrites

Laurie shares two pics from her trip to Vietnam on a post appropriately named Hanoi. It works as a teaser for her related Flickr album, which features much more images.

The Inspired Room

If you spend hours a day in your kitchen, you may want to get some Inspiration for a Creative & Unique Kitchen. The article contains several beautiful photos.

Razzball

On the post Diamond Mind Baseball Draft, Lou Poulas writes about fantasy league ATB (All Time Baseball), which is based on Diamond Mind Baseball’s simulation technology.

11 Minutes

The blog features an 11 minutes interview with Vladimir Oane, the creator of upcoming social media conversation tracker uberVU.

Girlfriend Celebrations

If you’re a girly type and enjoy parties, you’ll love the blog and will want to try their celebration ideas, such as the ones described at Dance Your Girls Night Away!

Rock&Roll Mama

Lindsay writes about catching up with Old Friends and also pays homage to her grandmother.

Ant

The author proves you can survive to the death of your blog. Read his story at What I Learnt from my Blog FAIL.

Idaho Wood Sheds Blog

The Idaho Wood Sheds team gave away nearly 1,000 balloons during Western Idaho Fair, and they share a video at 1000 balloons = 1000 smiles from Idaho Wood Sheds to show how they made children smile with their action.

Internet Submitter

From the post Blogging For Years and Years:

Its funny to me that something that’s been around for so long can be redesigned in a way to look fresh to the masses of people everywhere. What I mean by that is questioned in this following sentence. How long have people across the world been writing?

Mom-101

The blogger posts a letter to her children at Broken Promise Number X. Many moms will relate to her feelings for sure.

Pencils and Parakeets

Leave a comment on Planning an art tutorial post, Suggestions welcome to answer Crystal’s questions and tell her how you’d like her tutorial to be.

Fig & Cherry

Christie teaches you How to make Vegemite caramel. The recipe serves 4 people.

This was my longest post in this series so far. Let’s hope the next ones will be as long. *crossing fingers*

Today I’ll share only 3 links with you. I’d love to write longer link posts, but so far it hasn’t been possible due to severe time constraints.

You didn’t come here to see me whining about lack of time, right? Ok, here are the next places you’ll want to visit:

Faith Family Homeschool

I can’t write (good) poetry. So the post 30 Days of Poetry immediately caught my attention and was chosen to be part of this list.

TimmyJohnBoy.com

Tim is totally right: cats aren’t only for girls. My dad is a huge cat lover. And Tim certainly is so too, as you’ll see when you read Peanut: the personification of unconditional love and affection.

Drive Away Holidays

Unfortunately, many of have had our cars stolen—and others who haven’t so far will someday. The blogger explains how it feels like at You Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s…Stolen.

Let’s see if my next post in this series will be a bit longer. Meanwhile, the links above—and those posted on the previous parts—will keep you busy and happy.

Today I’m going to recommend 12 posts. Let’s begin right now:

Wasabi Bratwurst

Mayonnaise used to be a very popular sauce in my country… two decades ago. Anyway, the post The Beauty of Homemade Mayonnaise brought back too many childhood memories to be ignored, thus my choice.

Miapella

The blogger explains how she takes care of 7 (!!!!!!!) children on the post Supermom?, complete with photos.

Sunriver Real State

Thesa gives home renters a relevant warning at Do You Know Where Your Rent Is Going?.

Blog Design Blog

I’m sure many of my readers would love to read a good article on How to Design for Ads in Blog Design. Now you can go ahead and thank me for the link. Nah, save your “thank you” messages for the author.

Three Boys, One Mommy

Many of us are slaves to traffic stats. Sometimes the only way to cure ourselves is to take radical measures, like the one described at Feedjit Can Suck it and Fandango Bucks Take Two.

IN SEARCH OF MY SIX PACK

Dimitri Nosarev has written a great post on wrong eating habits entitled Eating for six pack – Part 1.

Thrifty Jinxy

I’m afraid most–if not all–of this blog’s posts are useless to those who don’t live in North America. Incidentally, that’s my case. Anyway, as an old magazine lover I can’t help but recommend this: Best Deal Magazines – Subscriptions Less than $5 for a Full Year.

Gorgeous & Home

You’ll find an amusing post on knitting–and unrealistic expectations–at Knit Two, Drink Two.

Postcards From Myself

Testing The Waters is a thought-provoking entry. Read it and tell the blogger what you think about the subject. I’ll also leave a link to Making The Break, because I somehow relate to the situation described on it.

A Blogger Blog

The blog has a cool concept: it’s structured as an online course for bloggers. I must highlight the Lesson 10: Quality Content because it can never be stressed enough.

Art for the Web

Instead of selecting an article–and this blog contains several good ones–I chose to link to their Web Designers Directory. If you’re looking for professional design services, that is a place where you can find what you need.

Die Toon Die!

This blog is so cool and funny that I couldn’t choose a single post to highlight. Go see the pics and then tell me which your favourite ones are.

All being well, I’ll be back tomorrow with more links. See you!

As promised in the introductory post, here is this series’ first part. I’m going to start with a tiny link list, but you can be sure this will be an exception. I plan to feature much more blogs and posts per part.

Without further delays, here are my initial recommendations:

Dog Halloween Costumes

I chose Dog Halloween Costume Cape Fights Storm Fears Barking because this is a cool mix of sales pitch and useful tip. Besides, I love dogs.

Five Blondes

A blog written by five blonde sisters. The post Thoughts on a Monday Night contains some Halloween pics and a lovely cat image.

Mortgage Advice – Wisconsin

This is how the article 5 Ways To Avoid PMI or Lower Your PMI Payment begins:

Below are 5 ways to avoid PMI if you have less than a 20% down payment or less than 20% equity in the home for a refinance.  This is quality information that most people don’t write about, so I won’t keep you waiting…

la’ Matriarch

Gina describes her experience with a diet on Diet Number 785, Post Script. I’m not into this diet thing, but the post is amusing.

North Shore Style

The author writes about a decision making process applied to both business and personal situations on Lets peruse some of my essentials of cool: Decisions Decisions…

Daily WordPress Tips

Im’ going to be very obvious now and recommend their featured post 20 Tips To Optimize WordPress – A Checklist. Beginners will find it helpful.

Time to call it a day. More links will come tomorrow!

“What? 1000+ posts?! This blogger must be crazy! No one can read over 1,000 posts in a single day.”

If that was your reaction to this post’s title, take it easy. I’m not going to list all of those posts at once. In fact, I’m still to select them. All I’ve done so far was to choose the source from which I’ll get plenty of blogs to review. Here it is: Tell us about Your Blog in 140 Characters or Less.

Why did you choose Darren’s experiment as your source of blogs?

Because I want to give my fellow bloggers some additional exposure. After all, very few readers would be brave enough–and/or have the time–to visit all of the 1,400+ blogs linked in that post’s comment section.

So, I’m going to make things easier on my readers and better for the bloggers: every day I’ll pick one or two good posts from some of those blogs, until I’m done with the list.

Will you really promote a post from each and every blog listed on that page?

The short answer is “no.”

The not so short answer is that I reserve the right to skip any blog for any reason and even without reason. There are topics I don’t feel like promoting, anyway. Bloggers who don’t get a backlink from me shouldn’t take it personally. Conversely, the fact that I recommend someone’s articles doesn’t mean this person is “superior” to anyone. My choices will be influenced only by my own tastes and preferences, nothing else.

Ok, I’m ready to read your recommended blog posts. When will the fun begin?

Tomorrow! Or so I hope.

The best way to ensure you won’t miss any cool links is to subscribe to a1-fan-fun’s feed.

Geez, I just got a bajillion whiny emails saying I have not updated this since petrol was cheaper than a bottle of Grange!… You would not believe how terribly tardy the Victorian Internet can be. Apologies to my regular readers! Even the little blue ones!

I am flat out like a lizard drinking with curling my hair, hoping you haven’t found other blogs, just generally being asleep, dreaming and chancing to society in general. My day drifts aimlessly from mid-morning to well after sun-down. I am plotting and planning. I need some perspective.

I will try to remember I promised you I will update you with my nefarious activities as soon as I get a chance. Go with God, good friends. Don’t hold your breath though, you’re likely to turn blue.

*************

After finding this post — which led me to this hilarious tool –, I couldn’t help but update this blog. And instead of writing a long post about the advantages of being an amusing blogger, I’ve chosen to show you a practical example.

The piece above may look rather awkward, but nevermind. As I spend more and more weeks away from this blog, I’ll have to reuse that generator several times. With more practice, I’ll be able to make it generate better excuses for me.

Below is the final list of submissions to the StumbleUpon / YouTube / MySpace Group Writing Project, which is part of the Social Media Mega Project. Many, many thanks to all of the bloggers who kindly wrote and submitted articles to this project.

* Promoting Older Posts With Social Media, by Steven Snell:

The common thought for bloggers is that new content should be created and promoted to get things moving. This isn’t always necessary.

* A Guide to StumbleUpon: Understanding and Beating The System, by Tibi Puiu:

My clear favorite out of the bunch of social giants is none other than the user friendly StumbleUpon and at over 4 million registered users, I’d say I’m not the only one.

* StumbleUpon: My Story So Far…, by Simon:

You heard it from many people before, they all claim to get hundreds if not thousands of page views a day, I was a little skeptical to start with but now after 3 weeks I can truly say it works.

* Why StumbleUpon is Better Than Digg, by Tejvan Pettinger:

I have used various social bookmarking. In my own experience I have had a much better experience with StumbleUpon than Digg.

* Frozen Pea Friday: Breast Cancer Info on StumbleUpon, by Isabella Mori:

In 1989 Jan Adrian became one of the 1.8 million women in this country diagnosed with breast cancer. Treatments recommended to Jan focused on the physical body, leaving psychological, social, and spiritual needs unmet.

* What is the best social media website? Digg, SU, Delicious, Reddit … or?, by Jacob Cass:

Usually SU users do not click on ads, so this is a bit tough, try using a CPM (Cost Per Mile) advertising solution, something I am going to try soon.

The following articles have been written by yours truly:

* My Current Views on StumbleUpon

* Networking At MySpace

* Silent Interaction With YouTube Users

And that’s about it.

One might argue that this post’s title is rather misleading, as there are several articles on StumbleUpon only. YouTube and MySpace have been totally ignored by other bloggers. Of course I couldn’t ignore those sites myself because I was this group writing project’s hostess. Anyway, I’m really not surprised at this outcome. I’m going to discuss this subject — along with the final results of the Social Media Mega Project — next week. Stay tunned by subscribing to a1-fan-fun.

Many 640-802 and 640-822 professionals become like this, hard. Blogging and web 2.0 go together for 70-649 as well as 640-863 only. In fact even 70-293 could recognize it.

This is the end of my Social Media Marathon. It took me around 4 hours to write 10 posts. Considering the many interruptions that took place while I was at it, it hasn’t taken me that long after all.

Next Monday I’ll publish the final list of posts submitted to the StumbleUpon/MySpace/YouTube Group Writing Project. When the whole Social Media Mega Project is over, I’ll probably post an article containing my analysis of it.

What’s the best way to interact with YouTube users? I guess many would give some obvious answers, such as “leave comments on their videos” or “send them private messages.” However, I’ve realised that there’s another way and this one may be as good as the others — or even a bit better.

In order to try this method, I’ve opened an account with another nickname and created a silly short video. It’s a mere slide show with only four frames and no soundtrack nor special effects. It lasts no more than 25 seconds. Yes, it’s totally trashy and it’s gotten the worst rates you can imagine. I don’t mind, though, because it was intended to be just a tool for my test.

After creating and uploading my trashy video, I visited my Account page and made sure that “Active Sharing” was turned on. Then I started watching other people’s videos. My video’s view count slowly increased afterwards. That’s about it.

As you must have guessed, “Active Sharing” is the key here. If you turn it on, whenever you watch a video on YouTube your username will be listed among others under “Also Watching Now.” Ideally, you’ll want to watch the videos featured on the site’s main page, because those are viewed by many people simultaneously. Therefore, they increase your chance of having your username seen and clicked on. But I’ve also gotten some good results when viewing stuff not listed on the main page.

When I first read about the “Active Sharing” feature and how it could help you get more views for your own videos, I was a bit sceptical. After trying it myself, I had to agree that it is a nice tactic. Apparently, YouTube users are rather curious about each other. Perhaps they think: “Well, if this girl or guy is watching the same video as me, maybe we have similar tastes. Let’s see if he/she has also some cool stuff to show.” Right away they click on the person’s username and take a look at their channel. If they find a title or screenshot that catches their attention, chances are they will click on it and watch the corresponding video.

Can you just imagine the possibilities? If I’ve managed to attract a few hundred visitors to my little piece of garbage just by playing that trick, guess how much interest a good, viral video might have generated?

Youtube mostly uses email marketing. I personally think that this is far better an internet marketing strategy than pay per click and all.