It's baaaaaaaaack!

I'm sure many of you remember the first Blog Tag that was circling the blogsphere in late 2006. Heck... even I took part (Dang! I've been tagged by Kim!, 12/19/2006)! According to the "blog tag rules", I was supposed to tell you five things about myself that most people didn't know and then tag 5 new people to be "It".

The new version of Blog Tag appears to have grown up a bit. In this version, if you get tagged you're supposed to list things you do on a daily basis to become or remain successful at what you do. Then you, once again, tag 5 new people to be "It".

To be honest, it's a bit more beneficial for me to know what Shawn Collins and Linda Buquet do on a daily basis to remain successful, than to know that Schmuly lost a spelling bee in elementary School by misspelling "misspell"!

While Blog Tag 1.0 was fun in a goofy sort of way, I think Blog Tag 2.0 will be more beneficial.

I came across this yesterday while browsing BUMPzee.com. The story was on Earners Blog.

Virtually everyone in our country knows about the horrific tragedy that took place at Virgina Tech on Monday, April 16th. A solitary gunman opened fire, killing 32 students and professors, before turning the gun on himself.

Someone started a blog that provided details and photos from the shootings. I won't weigh in on what I think about a site like that, other than to say that I believe the news reporting should be left to the major networks. Anything else seems like gossip and rumors. I also won't link to the blog, not because of the topic, but because of what else I found.

What REALLY caught my attention on this blog was a post that was nothing more than a plea for readers to send flowers to the families and loved ones of those lost on Monday.

You guessed it. The author was kind enough to provide affiliate links to several different online florists!

Since the story about this blog and its links has spread like a wildfire across the blogsphere, the author has removed the links and posted an explanation. His explanation is that all proceeds raised would be sent to the victims' fund.

What we're supposed to believe is that the author was asking readers to send flowers to the victims' families, and then he would take the money earned through these sales and send it to the victims' families. I don't buy it! Here's why...

The final sentence of the post asks readers how what he did is any different than the Chicago Tribune or any other news blog that has ads on its pages. The difference is that the other news blogs are just that... news blogs. Those ads he refers to are also there for reports on everything from the Super Bowl to child geniuses to national and local politics. They weren't created specifically to take advantage of a tragedy.

Shawn Collins (founder of Affiliate Summit) and Lisa Picarille (Editor-in-Chief or Revenue magazine) host Affiliate Thing on Webmaster Radio weekly at noon Eastern on Wednesdays. It features commentary on the week's big stories in affiliate marketing, plus interviews, news and tips. Brian Middleton of ShareaSale.com was the inaugural guest.

Shawn and Lisa are entertaining, and I found the program to be informative. Be sure to tune in this Wednesday!

I ran across a new blog today, and I can't believe I've never heard of it before. Well... maybe I don't have my finger on the pulse of the internet, and more specifically search, as much as I'd like to believe. The blog is called the

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog

And if that weren't scary enough, here's the tagline below the title: "Official news on crawling and indexing sites for the Google index". Yes. I'm serious. That's what it says.   I think this blog may be a bit deeper than my Daily Dilbert comic strip.

I'm no webmaster, and I don't know much about crawling and indexing, but I decided to take a look. Amazingly, I found most of the postings to be interesting. Did I understand everything? Absolutely not! I'm a marketer. I'm the type of guy Nick Burns would push out of the way with a disgusted "Move!" But... I did feel I was learning. That's when I thought it might be a good idea to tell the Blair.com Affiliates about this Blog. Maybe you already knew about it, but if not, I'm sure some of the information provided can help you with your site rankings on Google.

I don't know if Google has any other "official" blogs, but I felt "official" and "central" were almost a bit redundant. I''ll be on the lookout for the Official Google Web Marketer Central Blog. If anyone runs across it (or something similar) please let me know.

Ok, all you Blair.com Affiliates out there. Do you have Blair product links on your website? Is it a little difficult to decide what products to feature? I'll bet it is! And that's why you look forward to my blog posts where I list the Top 20 Blair.com products.  But, since I only post the "Top 20" about once a month, wouldn't you like to find out what products Blair.com shoppers are looking for whenever you wanted? Well... there's a way you can do that, now, due to our upgraded and expanded onsite search capabilities.Go to the Blair Homepage. If you scroll all the way to the bottom and look to the right, there is a tiny link that says "Popular Search". Click on that link, and it takes you to a page listing the Top 20 Keyword Searches at Blair.com. Right now, it looks like Blair.com shoppers are searching for Vests, Sweaters and Sweatshirts.  Next time you're trying to figure out what Blair products to feature on your website, take a peek at this page, first, for some inspiration.

Over the past couple of months, Blair.com began allowing customers to review/recommend the products they purchased. The reviews are placed on the product pages, so other shoppers can benefit from the comments. Here... take a look! Below is a review for the women's Zip Front Fleece Top (Product #39165).

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Cozy Half Zip Fleece, December 9, 2006 By Jeannie
Fit: 5 out of 5
Fabric & Construction: 5 out of 5
Value: 5 out of 5
"Very nice, soft, medium weight half-zip fleece. Great with turtleneck underneath for extra warmth if needed. A casual yet classy feel. Comfy!"

Though it's still early, and not all products have reviews, I've noticed that many of the top selling Blair products are products that already have customer reviews.