As much as I use iTunes, I might as well add it to my startup folder. I love blogging and generally working to music. Of course, I sometimes get off on a tangent when I like a song and look up what it is, then wind up looking up lyrics, other songs from the album, related music.

So yeah: I’m a music hound. How about you?

What is it about your preferred CMS that you love so much? And if you had to pick one feature that makes you choose it as your blog publishing platform, would would that feature be?

For me, my answer is without a doubt WordPress. My favorite feature? The ease of the templates. They’re incredibly easy to manage and edit, which makes it very easy and enjoyable to create new looks. If I can’t easily manage templates and thus create layouts, I would not be swayed to keep a CMS around for very long.

When it comes to writing paid blog entries, there are generally two choices of disclosure available: per-post (or in-post) disclosure, or site-wide disclosure.

With per-post disclosure, you include a blurb somewhere within the actual blog entry (sometimes at the beginning, but more commonly at the end) that discloses the fact that the blog entry has been sponsored, or that you have been compensated for the post.

With site-wide disclosure, you have a static page that outlines the fact that you are compensated in some manner for certain posts.

There are also some advertisers and third party paid blogging companies that request or even require that there be no disclosure whatsoever. With a complete lack of disclosure, visitors may not know if you are linking to black diamonds because you like them, or because you have been paid to do so. The same could be said for links to other blogs, such as thesocalledme.net, or links to message boards, such as Lavish.nu.
Personally, I feel that this is rather misleading, and that my visitors deserve to know that I do publish sponsored content. I think that it is important for my visitors to understand that in some instances, I am presenting information to them that I do not necessarily endorse or personally recommend. I simply put it “out there”, and it is up to my visitors to decide to explore that content.

Site-wide disclosure is easy because it’s not something that you have to think about all of the time. But per-post disclosure seems to be more acceptable in blog society. I personally prefer to use per-post disclosure wherever possible, particularly if I am devoting a lengthy blog entry to a specific subject.

(Inspired by my current location. Hah!)

The nice thing about paid blogging is that there is almost always an opportunity to earn some extra money. I do paid blogging through several companies, so starting in September I began figuring out future paychecks and payouts from the various companies I work for. PayU2Blog pays on a bi-weekly basis, so I don’t have to plan too far in advance for them. Plus, since they assign me the work, all I have to do is login and check my inbox every few days. But PayPerPost pays out only monthly, and I have to check and snap up available opportunities through their online interface, so I really have to put some work and a bit of time into making sure I’ll have money coming in every day, thirty days ahead.

Another nice thing about paid blogging is that it’s relatively easy. Depending on the company you work for, simply inserting a link like Asgi shoes somewhere in the body of your blog entry is enough to earn a few bucks.

Do you plan on doing paid blogging as a way to subsidize your holiday spending?

I used to blog late in the morning and early in the afternoon. But for the past six months, most of my blog entries come in later during the day, or even at night. This is simply because having children keeps me very busy during the daytime.

As far as morning blogging, that’s something I rarely do, simply because I am not a morning person. If I do get up early in the morning, it’s because I have to do something, in which case I may not have the time to blog.

When do you prefer to blog?