I have some exciting news and a very worthwhile cause to tell you about today. Three very wise and humble bloggers have come up with a formula for helping the afflicted in Darfur, a region in Western Sudan.

In case you are not aware of the situation, over the past five years, 200,000 civilians have died due to violence, malnutrition, and disease in Darfur and an additional 2.2 million people have been displaced. These three bloggers want to do something about it.

I was introduced to Mark Hayward by way of this article – Pardon me, is that an arrow in your head? – whilst I was training for the Kokoda trek. Mark served in Papua New Guinea in the Peace Corps as a volunteer and has many stories to tell of his two year stint there.

Mark has teamed up with fellow bloggers Leo Babauta from Zen Habits, Dan Clements from Escape-101 and Andrew Flusche in this unique launch of an online non-profit humanitarian organisation:

TrainforHumanity.org – getting fit + social media + blogging = social good.

The three pilot project athlete-bloggers, Mark Hayward, Dan Clements, and Leo Babauta are hoping to raise awareness for the current crisis in Darfur and funds for the organization Darfur Peace and Development. All three are training for endurance events of varying distances ranging from a triathlon to a marathon.

You can help by:

• Spreading the word of this project by blogging about it – they do have a sample post which you could copy and paste if you wish to or write it your way.

• Sponsoring one or all of these athletes is another way to help. Their aim is to raise $50,000 for the cause as they train for their respective endurance events.

• Displaying a Train for Humanity badge on your site to raise awareness like the one in my far right sidebar.

Please consider doing what you can to help these gentleman reach their goal whether it be by raising awareness or sponsoring them and THANK YOU for taking the time to read this post.

This post was inspired by Janette Toral of Influential Blogger Dot Net. Janette Toral is a writer, SEO consultant, trainer, blogger, policy lobbyist, and entrepreneur from the Philippines and has a myriad of sites ranging from personal thoughts to successful business models. You can find a full list of her sites here, on her blogger profile (if I have missed some, please comment Janette )

Janette is always finding ways to promote new and existing blogs so that they may find their way to you the reader and she has asked for help in that bloggers take part in this writing project and name some blogs which have gained readership and have a following. The blogs must also be no older than July 1st 2007, so look out bloggers that are not even one year old!

My list that I have come up with to date is as follows and please note that I can name up to ten blogs and edit this post as I add to it so here goes:

I know you have heard me mention Sean Rasmussen from Sean Rasmussen Dot Com a few times on this blog already and the reason why is because he truly writes a great blog! He’s motivating, inspiring, walks the talk and has gained a good readership since starting his personal blog in September last year.

Durano Lawayan aka Brad Spit, is another blogger who has a great following. The Spitting Vessel is a place where you can spit your mind out, in disgust or in jest, so long as you feel it is a wrong that must be corrected, as the tag line suggests. Great reading for anyone.

Carole Fogarty from the Healthy Living Lounge has many tips for exactly that – Healthy Living – and a must to see and read. Carole also runs women’s retreats in Bali and has extensive knowledge in Yoga and all things alternative to keep your body, mind and soul at peace. Well worth the read.

For now I will leave it at that and update as I come across more outstanding blogs. There are so many and I have to be wary of their start up dates as there is a restriction as to how old your blog can be. Janette will add these blogs to a list on her site as she updates on a weekly basis. If you would like to take part, please feel free to get the word around so that other great blogs may be discovered. Thank you Janette for running this project.

As a founder on the Go Smell the Flowers blog, I have been privileged to be able to hand out these lovely Flower Smeller badges. These are to be presented to bloggers and non bloggers who are smelling the flowers in their own way.

Smelling Flowers means different things to different people. It could be that you are 100% happy with your life and you wouldn’t change a thing. Or perhaps you are working with what you are most passionate about and sharing your knowledge with the online and offline community. It could be that you have had a major re-direct in your life, or writing a book, or already written one with the result ending in it being published. It could even be because you are running a household with a family, working a job, taking care of everyone and still find time to spend with your hobby or passion.

Well today I would like to present this badge to five people (who are bloggers in this instance), who I think will enjoy the Flowers blog and have all achieved milestones in their lives and are heading for more. The badge up at the top of this post takes you to the origin of this award and you are most welcome to come and enjoy Go Smell the Flowers which has a community not of just flowers, but thorns as well… you will see when you get there

So without further ado… and oh… btw… I will be doing this once a month so please leave me a comment to let me know of your blog as I will be seeking out new blogs for this award… this month however, I would like to share it with:

My Aussie mate Allan over at Coffee with Allan Cockerill who is always around to give me a hand if I need it. Allan is also the only male in a household of four teenage daughters and any man who can live under those circumstances deserves a flower smelling badge!

Pearl who writes her thoughts on Interesting Observations and is always a pleasure to read. Having recently lost her father suddenly, Pearl is slowly making her way back into the online community showing her strength of character and I look forward to reading her blog.

Michaela, my niece, who introduced herself here a few weeks ago writing a guest post and then went on to start up her own blog called Michaela, Plainly Me so of course, I would like to encourage her.

Cory over at Dental Plan and Dental Care Tips who gives great dental advice for your pearly whites and offers some great dental plans if you happen to be over in the USA so check out his blog… I found some very funny dentist visit videos there… a word of warning though, if you get queasy visiting the dentist, watch out!

Doc KC is a professional psychotherapist who recently came into the blogosphere and is sharing her vast knowledge with the online community.  She writes in depth articles that make you think and offers advice both publicly and privately and is very approachable so please stop by Doc KC’s Blog and welcome her.

Please enjoy all the above blogs who are all making a contribution in there own way and you are all welcome in the garden at GO! Smell the Flowers any time.

]]> http://angesbiz.com/contribution/smell-the-flowers-with-me/feed/ 8 http://angesbiz.com/pay-it-forward/yesterday-was-blogger-appreciation-day/ http://angesbiz.com/pay-it-forward/yesterday-was-blogger-appreciation-day/#comments Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:37:14 +0000 angesbiz http://angesbiz.com/pay-it-forward/yesterday-was-blogger-appreciation-day/

Yes, I am one day behind and it’s always better late than never. Blogger Appreciation Day [Unofficial] began with Darren Rowse from Problogger and as I received some love from Derek Semmler at Derek Semmler Dot Com (thank you for reminding me Derek) I wanted to join in and give my own bit of link love away to my readers who have commented on Buzzing with Ange (not original I know), and also to some random peeps I come across on a daily basis online on one social network or another. I would like to acknowledge you as without you, the conversation wouldn’t go on, and please know that I do appreciate your thoughts and support recently regarding my Dad who will be home in a day or two! He is doing extraordinarily well.

Like Darren, I also receive from time to time, emails and messages from people who have appreciated something I have said or written about and I have to tell you that I feel very blessed to have this opportunity of meeting and sharing with you online and I do enjoy our dialogue so keep them coming!

Now to a list of bloggers who all have something to contribute in their own way so if you haven’t already visited them, please make a point to check out their wonderful sites.

Kate

Durano Lawayan

Alice Seba

Jim and Emma

Mike French

Mr Grudge

Peter McCartney

Jamie Le Souef

Rod Sherwin

Paul Burman

Sandra

Jyoti Mukhia

Allan Cockerill

aussiecynic

Heidi

Iconic

Saul Maraney

Carole Fogarty

Zack

Dan B

Swubird

Jack Payne

Lia

Tondy

Pearl

Soa

Jessie

Allison Reynolds

Janette Toral

Rob

Marc

Camilla Ricketts

Yasmin

Sean Rasmussen

Aaron Wakling

Jonathan

Bridget Jones

WAHM Tara

Diane Aldred

Lunes

Oza Meilleur

Megan from Imaginif

Shane Vander Hart

George Kedourie

Alexander Alaric

John Harmon

Bec Le Souef

Bambi

Nez

Nadine Touzet

Thank you for making my experience online a positive one.

How many times have you considered what it is that you actually want to achieve with your blogging or your website? Are you here just for fun or are you here to mark your territory in amongst the millions of daily online bloggers? Do you want to be a voice that is heard and what are you willing to do to be one?

As most of you know, I took part in the Thirty Day Challenge and came across such a great network of newbies as well as experienced IM’s that I am still part of the team today. I will let you into a secret. The support hasn’t stopped. One of the suggested requirements of the Challenge was to develop a profile in Facebook where we could then split into teams and mini teams in order for us to work closely with one another.


What is TaggZilla

If you don’t already know about TaggZilla, you had better get on over there and register while it is still free to do so. If you are serious about getting your site ranked and your niches found, then this is the way to do it. Register and become one of the team where you can receive your link love.

The Love Link: TaggZilla’s innovative concept utilizes the exploding social phenomenon on the Internet . Each member will benefit from a social support team that will help supercharge their exposure allowing them to climb page ranks quickly and steadily.

The strong Taggzilla community is also open to JV’s and exchange services. The online forum is already open and being utilised for team building and support. At this pace, it won’t be long before TaggZilla is going to be the place for all of you IM’s to get your negotiating and building of your businesses to an incredible level of success!

Here is a glimpse of some of the resources you will find inside the Taggzilla site:

• Writing Articles
• An article directory is on the way which will human review articles
  
• Editing Your Site Posts
• What Platforms are Available and How to Choose One
• Broader Search of Keywords and Keyword Phrases in your Niche
• Steps and Questions to Answer When Building Your Site
• Forums are Tools
• Video uploads and downloads (upload your video about your product or service)
• Video streams from top marketers in every field to learn from
• Free live events and webinars
• Up to date IM research posted on site
• Download useful tools and resources
  

With this many resources and more all in the one place, this is a one-stop-shop for all your needs in regards to making your voice heard in cyberspace. Register now and rub shoulders with the some of the best developers and marketers on the Internet today. Be a part of history – don’t just watch it go by. Grand opening is over the next couple of weeks where you can register for free so don’t miss this opportunity.

To Our Success

Ange