Blogging for Bribes

Posted on 02.05.08 in Blogging and there are 23 comments.

About six months ago we did a little thing here called The 40 Day Fast.

Forty bloggers shared for forty days about the needs of others.

It was incredible. It far exceeded my expectations. I was amazed at how you all rallied around the idea and really took ownership of it. A few things that happened as a result of The 40 Day Fast:

1. We raised hundreds dollars to buy goats for needy families.
2. Compassion kids were sponsored.
3. Inspiredtoaction.com was launched.

During those 40 days many of us had our eyes and hearts opened to the needs of the poor and I believe that there has been an even greater residual change that has caused us to live and love differently.

Moving On Up

Now if God can do all that through us, a relatively small community of bloggers, imagine what He can do through this upcoming blogging trip to Uganda sponsored by Compassion International.

(Go ahead. Imagine.)

This blog averages a couple hundred readers every day.

Those blogs average THOUSANDS of readers every day.

Children’s lives can literally be transformed.

Thousands of children’s lives can be transformed.

Start Talking

But we need to get the word out.

There are widgets and banners that you can post on your sidebar.

There are interesting facts that you can blog about to create interest not only in the trip but in the country and people of Uganda.

Wherein I Try To Bribe You.

So...since we’ve already seen what people will do for an iTunes gift certificate, I’m throwing out another one.

Make that two.

Just put one of these banners on your sidebar or write a blog post about the trip and then post a link to your blog in the comments here.

On Feb. 10 I’ll select two winners who will each get a $10 iTunes GC.

(Disclaimer: This contest is in no way associated with Compassion or any of the Uganda Bloggers. Any questions or comments should be directed here.)

Just Remember

Today, you can write a post about your new job, how cute your kids are, what music you like or your favorite bean pie recipe.

Or you could do something that could change a child’s life. Forever.

This whole Uganda trip isn’t about Compassion, Anne, Los, Shaun or any of the other bloggers.

It’s about Akello and a thousand other children just like her.

Do something that matters today.

Click here to get a banner, widget or info about Uganda for your blog.

(Go ahead. Click.)

(Don’t forget to comment here if you add a banner or write a post so you’ll have a chance to win one of those iTunes gc’s.)

The Comments:

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Great minds think alike!  I wrote my first post about this yesterday.  Thanks for helping to spread the word!

http://www.tracyedwards.wordpress.com

Good stuff! Just put up a Compassion widget, and here are two links to posts of mine.

http://seatongarrett.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/compassion-international-trip-to-uganda/

http://seatongarrett.wordpress.com/2008/01/29/compassion-international/

I guess I am not eligible for the itunes gift cards!  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Your ideas on the rss feed sparked much of what is now floating around the blogosphere for this trip.  You are a great friend of Compassion and it is very appreciated.

Compassion is also giving away a free scrapbook to anyone that blogs about Compassion and links to their site.  It’s available to the first 500 people that respond.  You can learn more about it at http://www.compassion.com/share/free-scrap-book.htm.

I don’t know what it is about the widget, but after about 30 seconds it makes my browser freeze.  This is on IE6 and Firefox, and at work only, so it probably has something to do with website restrictions here.  We are blocked from MySpace, Flickr and Photobucket, YouTube, and most anything streaming here.  Does the widget try to access anything like that?  If so, that’s probably why my browser freezes.  If not, I don’t know why.  In any case, I can no longer visit most of my blog haunts during work breaks because of the widget.  Is there anything that can be done for this?  I am pretty sure it is not a java thing.

http://www.jmcq.blogspot.com

Thank you for keeping us aware of others besides ourselves.

Just added the widget. Posted about http://www.jesusgreaterthan.org
We are selling t shirts stating Jesus>Poverty with all proceeds gong to compassion International.
Huge heart for compassion!
Shalom.

I did it! I love what you guys are doing and pray that many, many kids get sponsored through this effort.

asianchocolate.typepad.com

Okay, I’m working around the widget.  I’ve loaded an addon that blocks all flash from running when I load a page.  Now I can visit my normal blogs, but cannot use the widget.  It’s not just Shaun’s widget - anything from Sprout kills my browser.

Hey, at least I’m here, now.

I added the widget a few days ago and had planned to post about the Uganda project today.  Just came over here looking for inspiration.  http://winslowscalling.blogspot.com/2008/02/blogging-for-compassion.html

Thanks for the tip, Euphrony, I was having the same problem.

I blogged about Compassion last Friday and will continue to do so every Friday this month.  If you visit and leave a comment, you may get the chance to decide where a special contribution to Compassion goes.

Please come visit, if you are so inclined.
http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/2008/02/id-like-you-to-meet-shampa.html

Oh and Kat, please don’t enter me into your contest.

Kat - great idea. Think i will do the same with some signed books.

I added a couple widgets a few days ago. So excited to see how the trip will go with the bloggers and the work that God will do!

Kat,
I can’t get the widgets to work on my blog either (wordpress with firefox).  Please help!  Let me know if I need to give you admin rights or something.

Beth

I can’t get the widget on my wordpress blog either (w/ Firefox), but I posted your Uganda Facts and a link to Compassion here:

http://redcedar.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/heres-an-idea/

Thanks everyone! I’m so glad to see so many people are promoting the trip. I really do think it’s going to be incredible.

Euphrony,
I’m not really that familiar with Sprout. I do know it’s pulling the info from their servers, so I imagine you’re on track thinking it’s your employers site restrictions that’s causing the issue.

Glad you found a work around. Thanks for sharing the info.

Beth,
Are you able to add one of the graphic banners to your blog? Are you only having trouble adding Shaun’s Sprout widget - or are you having trouble adding all of them?

Annie,
I was thinking about the issues you and Beth are having with the widget and I think it may have something to do with Wordpress.com not allowing scripts because of security issues. I’m not sure if that’s still the case, but it certainly sounds like that may be the issue.

Thanks for writing that post!

count me in!

Good news, bad news…

BAD NEWS:
I talked to Sprout today and their widgets don’t work well with Wordpress because Wordpress has some strict security in place.  Sprout has told Wordpress they will remove Wordpress from their widgets as an embed option if the issue isn’t resolved.  No resolution yet. Sorry, Wordpress users.

There’s also an issue with Facebook.  These widgets are flash and Facebook doesn’t allow flash anything to load without it being clicked first.  So a blurry image appears on your Facebook page and then, when it’s clicked, it clears up and becomes the beautiful widget it was made to be.  Sorry, Facebook users.

GOOD NEWS:
At Kat’s urging, I made these widgets run faster.  They load in about three seconds for me.  I was using image files that were way too large and didn’t realize it. Have I mentioned lately I’m a singer guy and not an IT guy? Yep, it’s true.  Sorry for the hassles.

Thanks for spreading the word.

Just posted a banner and a few thoughts, and said a prayer for the children waiting for sponsors.

http://www.myccm.org/post/markgeil/blog/compassionate.html

Just wrote a post and am thankful for the opportunity to spread the word.  If just one child’s life is changed from all of this, it’s worth it, isn’t it?

http://milkinthecloset.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/be-a-hero/

Hi. I’m Jordan. Nice to meet you.
I blogged about Compassion! Pick me to win!

http://www.xanga.com/SoulGirl247/641599234/secrets-part-1.html

FYI: Albert aka seaton garrett and mark geil won the iTunes gc’s.

Thanks everyone for promoting the Uganda trip!

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