Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes

I had first read about BlogRush on problogger.net, but hesitated to use it. A few minutes about Sensei sent me a invite to begin using it. I figured why not. I’ll give it a try.

problogger.net had a few tips on using blogrush:

1. Optimize Your Titles – there are a number of things that will increase the chances of getting someone to click on a link appearing in someone else’s blog – but the title of your post will be most important. You have around 40 characters only to play with (before the widget cuts off your title) so think carefully about what you’re communicating about your post – particular in the first few words.

2. Choose the Right Category for Your Blog - when you sign up you’re given a list of categories to assign your blog to. My hope is that BlogRush will add more (as the more focused they become the more relevant ads will be). If your blog spans a couple of categories run with one for a few days and then swap to the other. I suspect that some categories will out perform others significantly due to the type of readers that they have and their tech savvyness.

3. Promote it Early on - this system is one that will be most beneficial to early adopters. While some are already spamming their referral links out to other bloggers via mass emails – one way to promote it and possibly pick up a few extra referrals is simply to place it in a reasonably prominent position on your blog and even to draw attention to it in a post. If some of your readers have blogs they’re likely to check it out too – which will exponentially increase the benefits for you. Just be aware that if you get spammy with your promotion of this (or any) service you could actually do more harm than good to your blog.

Read the full review of BlogRush:

Find New Readers for Your Blog – BlogRush First Impression Review

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

Many times I’ve come across videos, directors, and works, that are worth mentioning. Today I’ve created a spotlight category for these types of things.

First spotlight post goes to: Taron Lexton

I was going across YouTube and found myself watching a series of video on human rights and attaining happiness. I followed it to their main website where I found “meet the director”

TARON LEXON

Twenty-one-year-old Taron Lexton’s passion for film began at a very young age and has blossomed into a full-blown — and already successful — filmmaking career. After graduating from Los Angeles Film School in 2004 he asked his mother (YHRI’s president, Mary Shuttleworth) what he could do to help her teach the basic principles of human rights to youth. Says Taron, “She suggested I create a human rights music video that would touch people from all walks of life and in every corner of the world,”

Taron then joined Mary on a 45,000 mile YHRI world tour to 13 countries where he captured footage that then became a center-point for his inaugural video project. Joined by a 150-strong multi-ethnic cast who donated their time and talents to the project, Taron immersed himself in the creation of “UNITED,” an emotionally riveting hip-hop music video released in August 2004 at the United Nations in New York. UNITED has since won film festival awards around the globe and is used broadly today as an educational tool for youth.

His next major human rights project was the production of 30 and 60 second Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that depict the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since their release last June, the PSAs have aired on 2,800 TV stations in a total of 60 countries with an estimated viewership of 100 million. They have run internationally on CNN, and on ABC, NCB, CBS and FOX in the USA. In addition to the use of these PSAs as a teaching tool in schools, by youth clubs and at seminars, conferences and training sessions, they also reach thousands at a multitude of public venues, including airports, bus lines, fashion shows, concerts, sports stadiums, restaurants, fairs, department stores, malls, exhibitions, film festivals and even gas stations.

“Film making is the most powerful means of broad scale communication,” says Taron when asked what drew him to a filmmaking career. “You can speak to people who might not otherwise listen to you. They might not read a book or listen to a speech, but nine times out of ten they’ll sit down and watch a film.”

The following are his works:

• United
• Youth for Human Rights
• Way to Happiness

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My personal feedback…

…I’d love to bring Imam Nawawi’s 40 hadeeth to screen in that manner

Reading time: < 1 minute

DiY Life made an excellent post about DiY camera rigs and mounts, most of them under $50. Its definitely worth checking out.

DIY Film School: Rigs and mounts by Dan Chilton

Reading time: 2 – 2 minutes

The following is a client project I had done back in may. It started off as a commissioned work to do graphic design, and later to a video. I’ll post a link to the video once the DawahCorps website goes live.

One of the things that DawahCorps has up is a dawah website that uses professional photography to spread Islam. Check it out: http://www.qislam.com/

Here are some of the client cards I have made for DawahCorps:

• Rising Son — A card about Isa (as) in Islam
• 325 After Hours Doctrine – I — Brings the origin of “trinity” into prespective
• 325 After Hours Doctrine – II — Same as abov, but different design
• Elvis Has Left the Building — A reminder about the inevitability of death

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You can see their website here: http://www.dawahcorps.com

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Reading time: 1 – 2 minutes

In July I had made a post titled “Documentary Sneak Peak” showcasing the first trailer made for my film “Tufaan.” Some people over at Islamic Relief saw it and commissioned me to do some work for them with footage they had recorded while they were doing their relief work there.

Below is the video that made the cut:

Some lessons/reflections I took from this project:

• I think it’s time that I put together a team of editors and/or small 2-3 computer editing studio. One computer for capturing, another computer for editing, and the third computer for audio mixing. This way different aspects of post production can be delegated, and make my time easier.