Here’s how you do it:

• Download the popularity contest plugin
• Open the associated PHP file (popularity-contest.php)
• Look for akpc_most_popular function it will look something like below:

function akpc_most_popular($limit = 10, $before = ‘<li>’, $after = ‘</li>’)

{
global $akpc;
$akpc->show_top_ranked($limit, $before, $after);
}

• Now copy the above function and make a copy let us call it akpc_most_popular_get_post, something like below and change the show_top_ranked also to say show_top_ranked_get_post

function akpc_most_popular_get_post($limit = 0)

{
global $akpc;
$akpc->show_top_ranked_get_post($limit);
}

• Let us now create the show_top_ranked_get_post, look for this function and copy it to something like shown below:

function show_top_ranked_get_post($limit)

{
if (empty($m) && is_archive()) {
global $m;
}
if (empty($m)) {
global $post;
$m = get_the_time(’Ym’);
}
if (empty($m)) {
return;
}
global $wpdb;
$temp = $wpdb;

$join = apply_filters(’posts_join’, ”);
$where = apply_filters(’posts_where’, ”);
$groupby = apply_filters(’posts_groupby’, ”);
if (!empty($groupby)) {
$groupby = ‘ GROUP BY ‘.$groupby;
}
else {
$groupby = ‘ GROUP BY ‘.$wpdb->posts.’.ID ‘;
}
$posts = $wpdb->get_results(”
SELECT sum(pop.total) as total,$wpdb->posts.ID
FROM $wpdb->posts
LEFT JOIN $wpdb->ak_popularity pop
ON $wpdb->posts.ID = pop.post_id
$join
WHERE
post_status = ‘publish’
AND $wpdb->posts.ID = ” .intval($limit).
“$where
Group By $wpdb->posts.ID
ORDER BY sum(pop.total) DESC”
);
if ($posts) {
foreach ($posts as $post) {
$postviewcount = round($post->total/10); //to correct the count number
print($postviewcount);
}
}
else {
print($before.’(none)’.$after);
}
$wpdb = $temp;
}

}

• That’s it, now you can call this function anywhere you want by passing the post ID. e.g. <div><?php akpc_most_popular_get_post($post->ID); ?></div>

Hope you find this useful.

Popularity Contest Plugin credit: Alex King

The ten “Must Sign Ups” that I highly recommend are as follows (in no order).

1.  Facebook – www.facebook.com
2.  Twitter – www.twitter.com
3.  Linked In – www.linkedin.com
4.  My Space – www.myspace.com
5.  MyBlogLog (www.mybloglog.com)
6.  Digg - (www.digg.com)
7.  Stumble Upon (www.stumbleupon.com)
8.  Technorati (www.technorati.com)
9.  Del.icio.us – (http://delicious.com)
10 Yahoo Buzz – (http://buzz.yahoo.com)

I have deliberately left out Orkut, thinking most of you would have already signed up. I personally don’t like Orkut from a user standpoint. That said, it can be very well used to let your friends’ circle know about IndiaSpecial.net. Facebook is a much better tool to
get viral traffic.

A few things to remember while playing with these tools.

•   Most of these sites are there to be used. Use it effectively. Never spam !
•   Do not overdo submissions. For example, Digg.com doesn’t allow you to Digg your story more than once. You could Digg others.
•   One way to get traffic to your site is to recommend others as well – So go ahead and recommend all articles you write and like.

Having said that this is the guideline that I typically follow

1. Article Title

I write this at the very end, but always convey the message in one simple sentence

2. Article Body

This will include

• Introduction paragraph - My message, in a nutshell
• Facts and figures - People love statistics, numbers, percentages etc
• Some good references like links to related articles, news stories etc
• A couple of good relevant quotes from some well known people
• A couple of supporting paragraphs

3. Article Conclusion

I like to leave it open ended so that it initiates a discussion, comments etc

This was a quick one - Hope it made some sense. Do let me know !

1. Not being frequent

If you have started blogging, then pick up a frequency and stick to it. If you don’t maintain your frequency, might as well forget about blogging.

2. Not responding to comments

I have covered this earlier. Saying it again – Not responding to comments by readers who have taken the effort to post comments is the biggest mistake that you can commit. Its more like saying “no service after sales” - and you know what happens, then

3. Blogging only for money

If you are blogging only for money, then you’re in for a shock. Yes, You can make good money through blogging but if you are not passionate about what you write, then you are in for some very unpleasant surprises.

4. Not reaching out to other bloggers

You are writing articles continuously. But there are several hundreds like you in the blogosphere. If you don’t reach out to them, they will never reach out to you. Go get them !

5. Being in a hurry

Don’t be in a hurry to publish as soon as you hear about an idea or a news story. You might forget your basics before you publish it.

6. Not writing for people

It’s great being strategic, having a lot of keywords in the blog. But if you are not writing for the people, then you are not Connecting. Write for people, not for Google !

7. Not being personal

If your articles don’t give a personal touch, then readers might shy away from it. Remember we are not a CNN IBN or an NDTV. People would read our article for our opinion and our point of view. Give it to them !

8. Being a copycat

There are plenty who talk about the same idea. How different are you is what counts. Never ever copy. Period !

Now that you’ve read the 8 common mistakes, time to reflect upon. It is never too late to start writing but always keep the above in mind.Hope to see more articles coming through.

Happy Blogging !!!

How many of us actually use it to the fullest extent ? Very rarely, right ?…

Well, if you are a blogger and you write well and you are seeking traffic to the articles you publish, you simply can NOT ignore Social Networking sites. If you’ve never done, here is the time. You will do a world of good to yourself, believe me !

One word of caution though. In the eagerness to get a ton of traffic, don’t spam. Once you have been termed as a spammer, it will be difficult to get your reputation back. Just don’t overdo it.

While it is important to be socially networked, it is also important to maintain that. You don’t want your friends lose out on you. Do you ?

Comments – Giving and Receiving

All of us, after we write an article, wake up each day to check if we have received any feedback– whether good or bad. Sometimes we are lucky, other times not. The fact is that most of the comments are given by people who know us. The beauty lies in getting honest
feedback from people who do not know us.

So the question is how do you get feedback from others ?

Simple. As much as you’d like others to read your article, you should also give importance to people who write on the blogosphere. Everyone has an opinion and it is important that we acknowledge and respect that.

One of the ways to attract good traffic for your article and your blog is to leave comments on similar article or a blog that you have found on the net, of course besides Indiaspecial.net

Here is a strategy that I highly recommend

a) Go to the directory of Indian bloggers – Find the directory here

b) Select bloggers who write on your subject of interest

c) Subscribe to their feeds through RSS. Even better subscribe through Google Reader…makes your life easier

d)Check their latest posts

e)If you find their post interesting, Comment on them.

f) Even if you don’t find it interesting, do leave behind a candid feedback .

g)While commenting, please give your pen name, your email id and the URL of your articles on Indiaspecial.net…Example - Since I write with the pen name Kandamangalam, my articles can be located on the URL - http://indiaspecial.net/author/kandamangalam/ . I will put this as
my URL

g) Always comment in a balanced manner - Appreciate if the article is good, Criticize if it is not and aim at providing constructive criticism.

If you leave some quality feedback, you’d also start getting reciprocal feedbacks from those bloggers for sure.This way, you start building a community around your subject of interest and each article you publish will start creating a lot of interest in the blogosphere.

Another very important point to be noted :  If someone leaves a “comment” on your article, please make sure to reply to that comment even if it means saying those two magic words
“Thank You”.

Remember – Writing article is only 20% done. 80% is marketing it – and Marketing it right !!!

Enjoy Commenting – Giving & Receiving !

As you may guess by now this can be done using a plugin called “WP RSS Images”.

1. Download and install this plug-in into Wordpress from the admin console
2. Go to the settings page under Setting-> WP RSS Images
3. Choose the appropriate image size
4. Choose which feeds you want to update, preferably both RSS and RSS2.0

That’s it. Your RSS with images is active!

Go ahead give it a try.

The article title should be able to deliver the promise that has been made to the reader. The title is a snapshot of your article in one small sentence. Below are the five key aspects of choosing the right title

1. Your article title should build interest and it should be motivating to read.

2. As soon as the reader reads the title, he should get an idea as to what is coming next and within a few seconds he should be able to understand that you’ve given justice to the title

3. Never try to overpromise and under deliver. You might loose loyalty

4. A short title is good if you can define your article in a concise manner. If you are new to writing articles, always start with long titles. You’ll observe that as you gain experience, you will know exactly where to cut the fluff.

5. Lastly, make it catchy.

Ask yourself: “Does my article body deliver on the promise made in my article title?”

When you can answer that question with an absolute “YES!”, you know you have the makings of an excellent article.

At India Special, whenever you submit the article we usually tend to tweak the article title if we think it will attract more readership.

Irrespective of what writing for you is, as you live the journey with us you will realize that you will also start earning additionally. How much and how often, we can not tell - totally depends on you.

If you are earning an additional income, it is likely that your employers might have an objection. But since this is just a passion that you are pursuing during your part time, there are high chances that your employer will be Ok for you to write.

But there are always exceptions, right ?

In order to overcome this dilemma, I have a few suggestions here

1. Pick up your employment contract and check if there are any clauses that hinder you from writing. Usually there would be none. But still if you want to be certain, it might be a good idea to get this verified by any lawyer friend of yours

2. Speak to your manager and just inform him, casually. Usually blogging is considered to be a hobby and no one objects to it.

3. Write articles using a Pen Name. This will avoid any issues / confusions and will put you in good stead, always.

4. Maintain privacy - As you start writing several articles, there could be several readers/ fans who will write to you. Avoid giving them your main email address or any contact details e.g. phone number or house address.

5. Create alternate identity i.e. a dummy but active email id in your pen name. For example, I have two email ids that I use actively besides my regular id – kandamangalam@indiaspecial.net , kandamangalam@yahoo.com

6. Select Pen Name very carefully – Avoid any identifiable connections to your original name. In my previous tip I had talked about one Rahul Dutta….I was giving an illustrative example. It needn’t be that way. But ensure that the name that you give sounds genuine, though.

7. Never blog about your employer, your company’s products or services- nor name any of your colleagues as well

Happy Blogging!

Readers come to a website for a specific interest – could be you, your choice of topic, your writing style etc. Now, if you write on subjects which are not your areas of expertise, your loyal readers might shy away.

That said, should you shy away from writing other subjects where you think you have an opinion ?

No, definitely not.

While you have to satisfy your creative urge, you also need to take care to avoid brand erosion

To avoid personal author brand erosion and solidify your expertise in front of the target niche that you write about, you must come up with a strategy to separate your various article topics.
A solution is to create multiple versions of your name or pen-names that you write under so that each one is locked in on a particular area of expertise.

Here’s a fictitious name I picked out of the air to illustrate an example as to how many separate author names could be created out of a single person’s name:

Rahul Dutta

R Dutta

Rahul D

Or any other pen name that you like – totally unrelated names..

In my case, I write by two pen names for India Special

· Kandamangalam – General articles, issues, updates etc

· Suraj – Finance, Timepass etc

You get the idea, right ?.

Each of these author names is STILL the same person, yet you can choose to lock each variation of the name to a separate topic to write your articles about. When using this strategy, a person reading your article may attempt to read others that you’ve written, but they will only see your other articles about the same topic.  There will be no author brand erosion.

In the offline world, this multiple author brands issue is also a factor, but it is even more important for the online world where a reader can quickly identify other articles you’ve written when they are hungry for more. Give them more of the same quality original articles that they are already reading, but isolate their attention by only writing about one topic of expertise under one single author name or variation of your author name. This will strengthen your message and your author brand at the same time.

Additionally, it will be easier to track your articles by each unique variation of your author name that you used, instead of finding all of your articles of every topic under one author name.

On a different note - We at India Special highly recommend using your pen name. This is to avoid any backlashes from your employment contracts, if any. In the following tip - I will give you some suggestions about finding good pen names…

Hope you found this useful…