Blogging. It sounds like something that only geeks could love. Yet, blogging is now being done by geeks and non-techies alike. This could and should concern you as an employer because blogs have the grave potential to threaten your business as well as your business image and reputation.
Blogs, which is a common term for Internet Web Logs, are being used commonly and frequently by individuals to post information ranging from news and opinions, gossip and photos about businesses. Often, blogs have the air and appearance of professional online journals.
Blogs have become more and more popular because of their simple ease of creation and use. Internet Web Logs have been around for some time. But as is often the case in the world of computers “ease of use “is everything. Anyone at no or little cost can set up and post on Blogs of their choice.
Blogs provide their bloggers audiences as large and diverse as the Internet itself. That is why we are witnessing journalists, political parties, individuals, organizations and even businesses increasingly embrace blogs to communicate their messages to online audiences.
The number of blogs on the Internet ranges widely.
Blogpulse, a blog authority “, indexed the startling count of 30 Million blogs, as of the end of June 2006 while StrokonBlog Research , another blog authority claimed 60 Million blogs counted May 2005.
Interestingly, and perhaps not surprisingly, blogs are appealing to a younger audience. It has been estimated that 60 % of most bloggers are under 19 years of age. It is very safe to say that blogs will become more relevant to businesses as all these younger bloggers come of age and join the work force in the coming years.
Most blogs can be considered quite harmless. In fact the sign of a progressive business is one that embraces blogs and blogging as an effective means to communicate in an interactive innovative manner. As well blogs can be a most useful tool to conduct market research on trends as well as conduct customer research. Remember the rule that 85 % of your business comes from 15 % of your customers. Blogs can be an inexpensive way to target and interrract for that vital 15 % of your customer base.
This makes good sense considering people are reading blogs more and more. Last year the consumer research firm Ipsos-Reid reported that 42 % of the general population gas read a blog at least once. And remember this is a count of the overall general population not those that have computers and general computer skills.
You as an employer however should be concerned about the negative impacts that individuals can mete out on targeted individuals and businesses. That is because some bloggers have used the online platform as effective powerful tools for attacks on businesses and their current or former employers.
Employers should be highly concerned about the blogging activities of their employees. That is because employees, who use blogs can, among other things engage in copyright violations, defamation as well as divulge corporate strategy and trade secrets.
The unbelievable thing about a blog is that once published it remains on the internet until the blog is edited, the whole blog is deleted or the server computer on the other side of the world which is hosting the blog is turned off so to speak.
Being on the internet the blog is both public to anyone anywhere in the world with internet access. Specific information can be easily searched across the internet through the standard search engine tools.
Seemingly innocuous information can be the final link in a competitor's puzzle or can be used for “social engineering “to trick staff into divulging vital corporate information to outsiders pretending to be staff members. One need not have the keys anymore to the plant just information.
Seemingly harmless information on the blog can even be used to guess passwords. It is amazing the percentage of people who use their address, birthday as well as wife's, kids or dog's name for email and security passwords.
Employees who write blogs in the course of their employment activities are easier to manage with company policies and procedures. Employees that write their own personal blogs, outside of their work hours, can raise more challenges for employers.
Here are several steps you as an employer can utilize to protect your business from damaging employee blogs and bloggers.
1) Create a work environment where ideas can be freely exchanged
2) Reference blogging in employee policy and handbooks
3) Insist that employees place disclaimers on their personal blogs
4) Require employees to sign a non-disclosure contract as a standard in employment. And ensure that older employees as well as new hires are required to sign this form.
As part of this policy make it clear that release of confidential corporate information is legal grounds for immediate dismissal from the firm.
5) As part of the firm's policy manuals and guidelines prohibit employees from publishing defamatory blogs about your business, co-workers or clients.
Blogs are an emerging reality in the workplace. Progressive businesses would be well advised to take note and take steps to protect their vital business, employees and customers as well as their vital image and reputation.
Blogs are a powerful tool in today's business climate which can be used for good or bad. Remember it can only take one blog entry to destroy your business image or customer base that took 20 years to develop and nature.
Senin, 31 Januari 2011
Amazing Trackback Tips For Successful Blogging!
Trackback is a system used to associate posts on different blogs and, in a greater sense, it allows blogs to “share” readers.
An example! Just as a simple example of how Trackback works: If you have just posted an article discussing Admiral Byrd's second Antarctic expedition and then happen to run across a similar or related post on another blog, you could use the trackback mechanism to notify the other poster of the existence of your post. When your trackback notification (which is the permalink to your post and, possibly, some basic information about your blog) appears on the post in the other blog that blog's readers will also be notified that you have something to say on the subject and they may pay you a visit.
Everyone can have it but not everyone does! Some blogs have this Trackback capability built in and others do not but the good news is that Haloscan, a very popular comment tracking program, now offers a trackback feature for those who don't have it and the better news is its FREE! If you are interested you can go to http://www.haloscan.com/members/join.php to sign up. Note that signing up for Trackback (if you don't already have it) will give YOU a trackback capability but you will still not be able to Trackback to a post on a blog that does not have Trackback.
Trackbacks vs. comments! Normally you will see a post you have something to say about and comment on it. Using a Trackback when you don't have an honestly related post -- one that adds something relevant or clarifies the subject post -- is not an accepted practice. If you become known as a “trackback spammer” by sending unrelated trackbacks you may be banned from the offended blogs.
How it works! Trackback works by sending a “ping” (an electronic notification) from your blog to another blog to notify them of your post. This ping also notifies their Trackback program to list your post. Some bloggers moderate their trackbacks, i.e., they manually review each trackback notification and verify that it is indeed a related post -- this prevents spammers from relating their junk posts to real blogs. If the blogger reviews your post and finds it relevant he or she can permit the trackback and your post will then be listed as a trackback on the other blog.
The first step in creating a trackback is getting the “Trackback URL” from the post where you want to send your Trackback notification. If the post does not have a Trackback URL, they either don't have a Trackback capability or they have it turned off.
Next, copy that URL into the appropriate place on your blog's post. This will usually be identified by some reference to “Trackback URLs“ or ”Trackback pings.”
Next, republish your blog -- your trackback software will automatically send the Trackback ping to the target blog's post.
That's all here is to it, your trackback, featuring a permalink to your post, will be sent to the target post and, after being approved (if the blogger is moderating trackbacks) your Trackback will be listed.
Other functions! On some systems it is possible to send simultaneous Trackbacks to more than one target posts. Another capability of Trackback allows you to send a trackback ping to yourself, linking a post on another blog -- this lets your readers know that the other post is out there and can be considered a “recommended reading” type function.
Just a review of four important Trackback points!
Not every blogger has a Trackback capability and some that have it do not have it enabled.
Some bloggers moderate their trackbacks to avoid unrelated posts being linked. Some however do not moderate or even monitor their Trackbacks, so trackback spammers can sneak in. Don't be a Trackback spammer and don't tolerate them.
Haloscan is now offering Trackback capability packaged with their commenting program (both are free).
Installing Trackback on your blog will not allow you to send Trackbacks to blogs without that capability.
More information on Trackbacks! Wikipedia has a very comprehensive entry on Trackbacks you can find it at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trackback. Wikipedia articles are always comprehensive and will provide you with information you can rely on.
An example! Just as a simple example of how Trackback works: If you have just posted an article discussing Admiral Byrd's second Antarctic expedition and then happen to run across a similar or related post on another blog, you could use the trackback mechanism to notify the other poster of the existence of your post. When your trackback notification (which is the permalink to your post and, possibly, some basic information about your blog) appears on the post in the other blog that blog's readers will also be notified that you have something to say on the subject and they may pay you a visit.
Everyone can have it but not everyone does! Some blogs have this Trackback capability built in and others do not but the good news is that Haloscan, a very popular comment tracking program, now offers a trackback feature for those who don't have it and the better news is its FREE! If you are interested you can go to http://www.haloscan.com/members/join.php to sign up. Note that signing up for Trackback (if you don't already have it) will give YOU a trackback capability but you will still not be able to Trackback to a post on a blog that does not have Trackback.
Trackbacks vs. comments! Normally you will see a post you have something to say about and comment on it. Using a Trackback when you don't have an honestly related post -- one that adds something relevant or clarifies the subject post -- is not an accepted practice. If you become known as a “trackback spammer” by sending unrelated trackbacks you may be banned from the offended blogs.
How it works! Trackback works by sending a “ping” (an electronic notification) from your blog to another blog to notify them of your post. This ping also notifies their Trackback program to list your post. Some bloggers moderate their trackbacks, i.e., they manually review each trackback notification and verify that it is indeed a related post -- this prevents spammers from relating their junk posts to real blogs. If the blogger reviews your post and finds it relevant he or she can permit the trackback and your post will then be listed as a trackback on the other blog.
The first step in creating a trackback is getting the “Trackback URL” from the post where you want to send your Trackback notification. If the post does not have a Trackback URL, they either don't have a Trackback capability or they have it turned off.
Next, copy that URL into the appropriate place on your blog's post. This will usually be identified by some reference to “Trackback URLs“ or ”Trackback pings.”
Next, republish your blog -- your trackback software will automatically send the Trackback ping to the target blog's post.
That's all here is to it, your trackback, featuring a permalink to your post, will be sent to the target post and, after being approved (if the blogger is moderating trackbacks) your Trackback will be listed.
Other functions! On some systems it is possible to send simultaneous Trackbacks to more than one target posts. Another capability of Trackback allows you to send a trackback ping to yourself, linking a post on another blog -- this lets your readers know that the other post is out there and can be considered a “recommended reading” type function.
Just a review of four important Trackback points!
Not every blogger has a Trackback capability and some that have it do not have it enabled.
Some bloggers moderate their trackbacks to avoid unrelated posts being linked. Some however do not moderate or even monitor their Trackbacks, so trackback spammers can sneak in. Don't be a Trackback spammer and don't tolerate them.
Haloscan is now offering Trackback capability packaged with their commenting program (both are free).
Installing Trackback on your blog will not allow you to send Trackbacks to blogs without that capability.
More information on Trackbacks! Wikipedia has a very comprehensive entry on Trackbacks you can find it at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trackback. Wikipedia articles are always comprehensive and will provide you with information you can rely on.
Minggu, 30 Januari 2011
Secrets to Successful Blogging
Blogs have become very successful and popular lately, and SEO consultants say that they can be very profitable if they are managed and marketed the right way. Generating profits from a blog doesn't require selling anything. Profits can be from ad placements, banners, or contextual advertising. The best blogs draw the attention of a large audience and keep them coming back for more.
There are many types of blogs available. The most common types are:
- Professional blogs: These blogs are focused on discussions about professions, job aspects and career building
- Personal blogs: These blogs take the form of an online diary and contains thoughts, poems, experiences, and other personal matters
- Topical blogs: These blogs focus on a certain topic or niche, discussing specific aspects of the chosen subject
- Business blogs: As its name suggests, these are discussions about business and/or stock market
Other types of blogs include but are not limited to science blogs, cultural blogs, educational blogs, and photo blogs.
In order to have a successful blog that attracts a lot of visitors and keep them coming back, you need to follow some simple rules. Here are some tips from SEO consultants:
Before you begin blogging, carefully consider what you are going to write about in your blog as there are lots of interesting topics out there, waiting to be discussed. You can find them in every day life, in the media, in the news - anything that attracts attention and a loyal following is good. You can look for blog subjects in many places, the most important being the Internet of course.
Put quality content in your blog. If you have quality content people like to read, they will return to your blog and tell other people about it as well. Posting articles containing useful information on your blog is very beneficial for attracting more traffic. Make sure you add your URL address below your posted article! If other web site owners find your articles useful and decide to include them within the content of their web pages, the added link will contribute to increasing your popularity every time it is hyperlinked.
Update the blog on a regular basis. If you don't do this, visitors will not return and they will move on to reading another blog that is updated more often. You should try to update your blog daily. Many newcomers have blogging fear, fearing their inability to update it daily. If your blog is interesting enough, offer your readers the ability to keep it updated by posting their own personal thoughts and share stories so you won't have to do all the updating work yourself.
Listen to what your readers have to say. Always pay attention to the readers' suggestions and try to find out what people were actually searching for when they found your blog. Try to focus on that theme and even consider developing it by encouraging the visitors to discuss new aspects of that particular theme.
Keep it short and concise - You don't need material that takes hours to read, people usually like to quickly skim a blog for quick tidbits of useful information and if you post materials that are difficult or take a long time to read, you will most likely drive them away.
You can also include some artistic work or pictures in the blog, to make it more visually appealing. Blog picture managers such as Picasa are freely available on the Internet to accomplish this.
If your blog has interesting, original content, bloggers might decide to add links to it on their web sites and comment on your suggested topic. By gaining back-links to your blog from other web sites, your web site will place higher within search engine queries, thus boosting your link popularity.
Announce the launch of any new blog with press releases. Free publicity through press releases are powerful tools for increasing incoming traffic. Search engines love press releases and it gives them a good reason to spider and to index your site quickly.
Include free downloadable viral reports on your blog to turbo-charge visitor traffic and build a subscriber/viewer base quickly.
In order to simplify the creating and updating process of a blog, take advantage of the many blogging tools and software readily available, a number of them are free. Blogging software such as WordPress or Movable Type helps you update a blog easily. There are even free blog generators such as Blogger which allow you to host your content on Google’s servers without having to install any software or obtain a domain and host content.
Offer to inform readers of your blog with free email management services like Feedblitz (if you don’t have an email list management solution) in addition to offering RSS feeds for subscription. Readers and visitors can be kept updated of any new information being added to your blog without having to check the site constantly.
Utilize blog and ping to get sites indexed quickly by the search engines. By notifying popular ping servers monitored by blog search services such as Google Blog Search, you attract search engine spiders to a blog. A blog can automatically be setup to ping certain web sites. An easy method of doing this is by adding the Pingomatic service to the sites to ping in the blog software which pings many popular ping servers at once.
Finally, remember to submit to popular, high quality blog directories such as Feedster, Technorati, Blogstreet, and Best of the Web Blog Directory to boost your web traffic and link popularity!
If you respect these rules you will most likely have a successful blog, and you will be rewarded in the process. Ask a SEO consultant for further information and assistance if you are stuck for ideas to promote your new blog.
There are many types of blogs available. The most common types are:
- Professional blogs: These blogs are focused on discussions about professions, job aspects and career building
- Personal blogs: These blogs take the form of an online diary and contains thoughts, poems, experiences, and other personal matters
- Topical blogs: These blogs focus on a certain topic or niche, discussing specific aspects of the chosen subject
- Business blogs: As its name suggests, these are discussions about business and/or stock market
Other types of blogs include but are not limited to science blogs, cultural blogs, educational blogs, and photo blogs.
In order to have a successful blog that attracts a lot of visitors and keep them coming back, you need to follow some simple rules. Here are some tips from SEO consultants:
Before you begin blogging, carefully consider what you are going to write about in your blog as there are lots of interesting topics out there, waiting to be discussed. You can find them in every day life, in the media, in the news - anything that attracts attention and a loyal following is good. You can look for blog subjects in many places, the most important being the Internet of course.
Put quality content in your blog. If you have quality content people like to read, they will return to your blog and tell other people about it as well. Posting articles containing useful information on your blog is very beneficial for attracting more traffic. Make sure you add your URL address below your posted article! If other web site owners find your articles useful and decide to include them within the content of their web pages, the added link will contribute to increasing your popularity every time it is hyperlinked.
Update the blog on a regular basis. If you don't do this, visitors will not return and they will move on to reading another blog that is updated more often. You should try to update your blog daily. Many newcomers have blogging fear, fearing their inability to update it daily. If your blog is interesting enough, offer your readers the ability to keep it updated by posting their own personal thoughts and share stories so you won't have to do all the updating work yourself.
Listen to what your readers have to say. Always pay attention to the readers' suggestions and try to find out what people were actually searching for when they found your blog. Try to focus on that theme and even consider developing it by encouraging the visitors to discuss new aspects of that particular theme.
Keep it short and concise - You don't need material that takes hours to read, people usually like to quickly skim a blog for quick tidbits of useful information and if you post materials that are difficult or take a long time to read, you will most likely drive them away.
You can also include some artistic work or pictures in the blog, to make it more visually appealing. Blog picture managers such as Picasa are freely available on the Internet to accomplish this.
If your blog has interesting, original content, bloggers might decide to add links to it on their web sites and comment on your suggested topic. By gaining back-links to your blog from other web sites, your web site will place higher within search engine queries, thus boosting your link popularity.
Announce the launch of any new blog with press releases. Free publicity through press releases are powerful tools for increasing incoming traffic. Search engines love press releases and it gives them a good reason to spider and to index your site quickly.
Include free downloadable viral reports on your blog to turbo-charge visitor traffic and build a subscriber/viewer base quickly.
In order to simplify the creating and updating process of a blog, take advantage of the many blogging tools and software readily available, a number of them are free. Blogging software such as WordPress or Movable Type helps you update a blog easily. There are even free blog generators such as Blogger which allow you to host your content on Google’s servers without having to install any software or obtain a domain and host content.
Offer to inform readers of your blog with free email management services like Feedblitz (if you don’t have an email list management solution) in addition to offering RSS feeds for subscription. Readers and visitors can be kept updated of any new information being added to your blog without having to check the site constantly.
Utilize blog and ping to get sites indexed quickly by the search engines. By notifying popular ping servers monitored by blog search services such as Google Blog Search, you attract search engine spiders to a blog. A blog can automatically be setup to ping certain web sites. An easy method of doing this is by adding the Pingomatic service to the sites to ping in the blog software which pings many popular ping servers at once.
Finally, remember to submit to popular, high quality blog directories such as Feedster, Technorati, Blogstreet, and Best of the Web Blog Directory to boost your web traffic and link popularity!
If you respect these rules you will most likely have a successful blog, and you will be rewarded in the process. Ask a SEO consultant for further information and assistance if you are stuck for ideas to promote your new blog.
4 Key Ways To Keep Visitors Coming To Your Blog Site!
Blogging is a perfect way for people to share their thoughts with others. When people blog, it means they keep an updated online journal or diary. Weblog and blog are the same things. Companies might also blog to help increase the amount of business on their web sites. For many bloggers, increasing traffic to their blogs is not the only goal. Most people that blog want to keep their visitors coming back for more. The following are four ways to keep visitors coming to your blog site.
Blogging is a relatively new phenomenon. Some blog writes choose to keep their blogs personal and do not share their thoughts with others. These are more like online diaries. Other wants to share with everyone what he or she has to say. Blogging is a big business and many websites offer free blog hosting. In addition, many companies choose blogging as an inexpensive way to advertise their products or services. Blogging on the Internet is often much cheaper than maintaining a web site and is usually more interesting for readers and clients.
Update your blog: The easiest way to keep visitors coming back to your blog site is to update your blog on a regular basis. Readers will stay loyal to blogs that are updated daily. Some blog writers even updated several times a day. Readers will tend to loose interest in your writing if they have to wait several days for new material. Be loyal to your readers and your readers will be loyal to your blog. Also, there are literally thousands of blogs available on the Internet. If your blog is not updated on a regular basis, you will loose your readers to another blog site. Another fun way to update your blog and keep your readers interested in your site is to include something fun for your readers to enjoy. That could be as simple as a joke or maybe a link to a humorous story you have found on the Internet. You might also try including a trivia game or polls for your readers to enjoy on a regular basis.
Participate in web communities: Participating in web communities or discussion forums and mentioning your blog whenever possible will help keep readers coming back to your site. In addition, you can gain new readers when doing this. You can also be loyal to the blogs of other writers and ask them to visit your site. Leave nice comments about their site and invite them to your site. If you have mutual interests and the same type of readers, you can even share your blog links on your site. This helps everyone. Your reader will appreciate interesting reading while you benefit from readers from the other site.
Understand who reads your blogs: Another great way to keep blog readers coming back for more is to understand who reads your blog and write content that is directed towards them. This does not mean that you have to write on only one particular subject, though. If you are a stay at home mom and write about your life at home with the kids, your loyal readers may not appreciate it if you write about cutting edge topics or use a lot of foul language in your writing. If you generally write humor, do not bog your readers down with sorrowful woes and tales. Your readers will be interested in the things that attracted them to your site in the first place. That is usually what you are more interested in writing about. You can gain a better understanding of your readers interested by including places for comments and encouraging your readers to contact you by email.
Include keywords: You can gain readership and help keep your current readers by including certain keywords in your blog. If you have entered your blog on a search engine, these keywords that point to your blog will come up after a search. This is a great way to get readers interested in your blog. This is also a good way for companies to increase the traffic to their blog.
Blogging is the new way to keep a diary or journal online. Blogging is increasingly popular for companies as well. If you want to make your blog stand out against the thousands of other blogs, keep your readers interested and coming back for more everyday by updating your writing, participate in online communities, understand your readers and include keywords.
Blogging is a relatively new phenomenon. Some blog writes choose to keep their blogs personal and do not share their thoughts with others. These are more like online diaries. Other wants to share with everyone what he or she has to say. Blogging is a big business and many websites offer free blog hosting. In addition, many companies choose blogging as an inexpensive way to advertise their products or services. Blogging on the Internet is often much cheaper than maintaining a web site and is usually more interesting for readers and clients.
Update your blog: The easiest way to keep visitors coming back to your blog site is to update your blog on a regular basis. Readers will stay loyal to blogs that are updated daily. Some blog writers even updated several times a day. Readers will tend to loose interest in your writing if they have to wait several days for new material. Be loyal to your readers and your readers will be loyal to your blog. Also, there are literally thousands of blogs available on the Internet. If your blog is not updated on a regular basis, you will loose your readers to another blog site. Another fun way to update your blog and keep your readers interested in your site is to include something fun for your readers to enjoy. That could be as simple as a joke or maybe a link to a humorous story you have found on the Internet. You might also try including a trivia game or polls for your readers to enjoy on a regular basis.
Participate in web communities: Participating in web communities or discussion forums and mentioning your blog whenever possible will help keep readers coming back to your site. In addition, you can gain new readers when doing this. You can also be loyal to the blogs of other writers and ask them to visit your site. Leave nice comments about their site and invite them to your site. If you have mutual interests and the same type of readers, you can even share your blog links on your site. This helps everyone. Your reader will appreciate interesting reading while you benefit from readers from the other site.
Understand who reads your blogs: Another great way to keep blog readers coming back for more is to understand who reads your blog and write content that is directed towards them. This does not mean that you have to write on only one particular subject, though. If you are a stay at home mom and write about your life at home with the kids, your loyal readers may not appreciate it if you write about cutting edge topics or use a lot of foul language in your writing. If you generally write humor, do not bog your readers down with sorrowful woes and tales. Your readers will be interested in the things that attracted them to your site in the first place. That is usually what you are more interested in writing about. You can gain a better understanding of your readers interested by including places for comments and encouraging your readers to contact you by email.
Include keywords: You can gain readership and help keep your current readers by including certain keywords in your blog. If you have entered your blog on a search engine, these keywords that point to your blog will come up after a search. This is a great way to get readers interested in your blog. This is also a good way for companies to increase the traffic to their blog.
Blogging is the new way to keep a diary or journal online. Blogging is increasingly popular for companies as well. If you want to make your blog stand out against the thousands of other blogs, keep your readers interested and coming back for more everyday by updating your writing, participate in online communities, understand your readers and include keywords.
Sabtu, 29 Januari 2011
3 POWERFUL Ways To Profit From Your BLOG... Starting TODAY!
Cyberspace has a NEW marketing tool, even though they've been around for quite some time, yet, ONLY recently have been recognized as a Powerful communication tool for Internet marketers.
If you've been following the latest Internet marketing trends like I have, then you've definitely heard of them.
What's this new marketing tool I'm taking about that every Serious marketer should have in place?
BLOGS! ...(A.K.A. Web-Log).
Now, just for those of you who aren't quite sure what a BLOG is, here's a quick definition:
A BLOG(A.K.A. Web-Log) is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating(usually on a daily to weekly basis) a blog is called "Blogging" and someone who keeps a Blog is a "Blogger".
There you have it, quick and to the point.
If you want to read up more about "Blogs", here's a link to an article I wrote earlier that goes more in depth.
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/blogsexplained.htm
Okay. For the rest of this article I want to focus on how ONE can $$Profit$$ from having there own Blog.
I'm going to list three ways that I think are the Best and most Powerful ways to get the most out of your Blog.
So, with that said, let's go to Profit Tactic #1.
Profit Tactic #1. Writing "Articles".
Writing "Articles" are a very Powerful way to profit from your Blog.
There are many reasons why "Articles" are valuable to your Blog, but, for the purpose of this article I'm going to give you the most important part, and that's your "Resource Box" at the end of your article.
Your "Resource Box" is like a classified ad and holds critical information about You, your websites and what you have to offer them after they've read your article.
The links within your "Resource Box" could lead to your own Product or Service you have to offer, or they could lead to a Affiliate Product related to the content of your article.
This is a great way to give them something of "Value", which is the information within the article, and a great way to get them to take action by way of getting them to click on one of the links within your "Resource Box".
That's "Profit Tactic #1".
Profit Tactic #2. Writing "Product Reviews".
Writing "Product Reviews" is a great way to profit from your Blog simply because they allow you to Soft-Sell your potential customer by way of giving them your personal opinion on the product you are recommending and then providing them with a link if they wish to look into it further, instead of throwing a Sales Pitch at them.
Nobody likes to be sold, but, offering them your insight on a Product and/or Service that could help solve the problem they're dealing with is yet another great way to profit from your Blog and make you look like a Hero.
That's "Profit Tactic #2".
Profit Tactic #3. "Text Ad" Programs.
"Text Ad Programs" like Affiliate Power Ads or Google Adsense are yet Another great way to profit from your Blog.
I've listed these two "Text Ad" programs for a reason, One is a Pay-Per-Click(Google Adsense) and shows related ads to the content on that particular webpage and the other one(Affiliate Power Ads) makes You up to $60 to $100 dollars in commissions on a single click.
Here are the links for you to check them out further if you wish.
Google Adsense --
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/googleads.htm
Affiliate Power Ads --
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/powerads.htm
They are both FREE to join and only take you minutes to set-up depending on your experience.
Here's an example of how mine looks if you were to set-up your Blog through Blogger.com -- http://www.blogger.com with both of these programs. http://theiwe.blogspot.com
The great thing is... they'll be displayed on every page of your Blog when you make a post.
I also provided a link below that shows you How-To set this up "Step-By-Step", making it Easy for you to get started.
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/help.htm
Now, I'm sure there are many other ways to $$Profit$$ from your Blog, but these ones in my mind are the most Powerful.
Well... there you have it, "3 POWERFUL Ways To Profit From Your BLOG... Starting TODAY!".
If you haven't started a BLOG, maybe it's time you considered it since NOW you have some incentive.
I truly hope this article helped you realize the $$Profit$$ potential your Blog could have and how you can start incorporating it... Starting TODAY!
If you've been following the latest Internet marketing trends like I have, then you've definitely heard of them.
What's this new marketing tool I'm taking about that every Serious marketer should have in place?
BLOGS! ...(A.K.A. Web-Log).
Now, just for those of you who aren't quite sure what a BLOG is, here's a quick definition:
A BLOG(A.K.A. Web-Log) is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating(usually on a daily to weekly basis) a blog is called "Blogging" and someone who keeps a Blog is a "Blogger".
There you have it, quick and to the point.
If you want to read up more about "Blogs", here's a link to an article I wrote earlier that goes more in depth.
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/blogsexplained.htm
Okay. For the rest of this article I want to focus on how ONE can $$Profit$$ from having there own Blog.
I'm going to list three ways that I think are the Best and most Powerful ways to get the most out of your Blog.
So, with that said, let's go to Profit Tactic #1.
Profit Tactic #1. Writing "Articles".
Writing "Articles" are a very Powerful way to profit from your Blog.
There are many reasons why "Articles" are valuable to your Blog, but, for the purpose of this article I'm going to give you the most important part, and that's your "Resource Box" at the end of your article.
Your "Resource Box" is like a classified ad and holds critical information about You, your websites and what you have to offer them after they've read your article.
The links within your "Resource Box" could lead to your own Product or Service you have to offer, or they could lead to a Affiliate Product related to the content of your article.
This is a great way to give them something of "Value", which is the information within the article, and a great way to get them to take action by way of getting them to click on one of the links within your "Resource Box".
That's "Profit Tactic #1".
Profit Tactic #2. Writing "Product Reviews".
Writing "Product Reviews" is a great way to profit from your Blog simply because they allow you to Soft-Sell your potential customer by way of giving them your personal opinion on the product you are recommending and then providing them with a link if they wish to look into it further, instead of throwing a Sales Pitch at them.
Nobody likes to be sold, but, offering them your insight on a Product and/or Service that could help solve the problem they're dealing with is yet another great way to profit from your Blog and make you look like a Hero.
That's "Profit Tactic #2".
Profit Tactic #3. "Text Ad" Programs.
"Text Ad Programs" like Affiliate Power Ads or Google Adsense are yet Another great way to profit from your Blog.
I've listed these two "Text Ad" programs for a reason, One is a Pay-Per-Click(Google Adsense) and shows related ads to the content on that particular webpage and the other one(Affiliate Power Ads) makes You up to $60 to $100 dollars in commissions on a single click.
Here are the links for you to check them out further if you wish.
Google Adsense --
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/googleads.htm
Affiliate Power Ads --
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/powerads.htm
They are both FREE to join and only take you minutes to set-up depending on your experience.
Here's an example of how mine looks if you were to set-up your Blog through Blogger.com -- http://www.blogger.com with both of these programs. http://theiwe.blogspot.com
The great thing is... they'll be displayed on every page of your Blog when you make a post.
I also provided a link below that shows you How-To set this up "Step-By-Step", making it Easy for you to get started.
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/help.htm
Now, I'm sure there are many other ways to $$Profit$$ from your Blog, but these ones in my mind are the most Powerful.
Well... there you have it, "3 POWERFUL Ways To Profit From Your BLOG... Starting TODAY!".
If you haven't started a BLOG, maybe it's time you considered it since NOW you have some incentive.
I truly hope this article helped you realize the $$Profit$$ potential your Blog could have and how you can start incorporating it... Starting TODAY!
Jumat, 28 Januari 2011
Effective Blogging - How to Get Wealthy Blogging
"THERE are two kinds of knowledge. One is general, the other is specialized. General knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money."
Web Blogs are online diaries made up of short frequently updated posts. In addition, they are inexplicably popular.
Steve Pavlina's Blog, dedicated to helping you make conscious decisions in your personal development and courageously follow through on them is a good example of a very popular Blog. In February 2005, this site received about 86,000 visitors, in January 2006 about 715,000, and today Steve's Blog receives over 1 million page views each month and is ranked by Technorati as one of the Top 500 Blogs in the world.
It is listed in nearly every search engine because of spider food. New content is added almost every single day. We will discuss that later.
One key advantage of Blogs is that they are easy to update. The other side is that surfers will expect you to update your site very frequently. If you do not they will go somewhere else.
When you sign up for a Blog or create one on your own site use part of the name or a similar name to the name of the sponsor program you are promoting unless it is against the sponsors T.O.S.
This blog, Marketing-Tipps.blogspot.com, showed up in the Search Engines in 3 days. It is not even in the top 10 for most search engine terms yet it consistently produces income, mostly AdSense.
But when you create your Blog or Blogs it is really important that you pick a niche that you know and understand. Ask yourself: Would and does my Blog appeal to me? Is there something about it that excites me?
If not, you need to go back to the drawing board.
When you create your Blog, let us say about "mp3 players", and its posts use the galleries and Urls from your sponsors. If they come with a description, use them. If you have a choice between short or long descriptions use the long ones. This is your spider food.
However, do not add them all to the Blog at one time. Add them 7 to 10 at a time. Set you up a schedule. Every second or third day add more. If your sponsor does not have a lot of galleries to use you're going to have to use several sponsors for each of your Blogs to keep them updated on a regular basis. After 10-15 days when the first posts are buried well out of site repeat them. You are after surfers coming from Search Engines and you are laying down spider food. It is a lot like fishing. You are putting out bait both for the surfer and for the spiders or bots from the Search Engines
Moreover, it is very important that you think about Spider Food. Use descriptions for each of your content with your Blogs name in them. If for example you are promoting Asian content, use many related names in the entries you make on your Blog. This is very important.
Go to Google and type in for example "mp3 players"
Write down all the related key words you find on your notepad and as you make entries in your Blog weave these words into your entries. Over the next few weeks, when you do entries work these keywords into your posts. Repeat them. Yes, repeat them. Repeat them and often. When the search engine surfer comes to your Blog looking for an mp3 player he is not going to set there for the most part and read your posts. He is going to go for the links that lead to mp3 player. Therefore, what you really need to keep in your mind is getting him there.
The quality of Search Engine Traffic is high. Although at first you will not get a large quantity of traffic from Search Engines the traffic the quality of the traffic you do get is very high.
When you get your Blog up on the web, there are three places you need to submit it to. The two major search engines Google, Yahoo, and BLOGGERNITY.COM, which is a Blog Directory. Hand Submit your Blog to these three places. Once BLOGGERNITY listed your Blog, go there and vote for yourself. Sign up there for a free account and write a review of your Blog. It does not have to be anything fancy. Just write how you want the surfer to feel about and see your Blog.
Networking!
Make a list of the other Blogs at BLOGGERNITY and contact the owners of those sites (as many as you can). Write them a short email and ask them to do a link exchange with you. Most of them will.
It is very important that you use careful strategy and monitoring in promoting your blog. Use the referrers' script so that you will know what is going on. Keep a paper record of what you are doing.
By now if you have followed the examples I have given, you know how to set up your Blog and how to get traffic to it. If you follow it, you can make money.
Again Steve Pavlina: His Blog, http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/, is making $4,700/month with AdSense solely based on the following ten principles:
1. Create valuable content.
2. Create original content.
3. Create timeless content.
4. Write for human beings first, computers second.
5. Know why you want a high-traffic site.
6. Let your audience see the real you.
7. Write what is true for you, and learn to live with the consequences.
8. Treat your visitors like real human beings.
9. Keep money in its proper place.
10. If you forget the first nine suggestions, just focus on genuinely helping people, and the rest will take care of itself.
This business model is fascinating. I obviously did not invent it, but I am certainly enjoying the ride. It is incredibly simple, much simpler than running any other business is. The risk is virtually zilch, and there is no overhead aside from web hosting (assuming you already own a computer and have internet access). There is no selling, no products, no customers, no order processing, no fraud, no inventory, no shipping, and no deadlines. And yet you earn income 24/7.
Web Blogs are online diaries made up of short frequently updated posts. In addition, they are inexplicably popular.
Steve Pavlina's Blog, dedicated to helping you make conscious decisions in your personal development and courageously follow through on them is a good example of a very popular Blog. In February 2005, this site received about 86,000 visitors, in January 2006 about 715,000, and today Steve's Blog receives over 1 million page views each month and is ranked by Technorati as one of the Top 500 Blogs in the world.
It is listed in nearly every search engine because of spider food. New content is added almost every single day. We will discuss that later.
One key advantage of Blogs is that they are easy to update. The other side is that surfers will expect you to update your site very frequently. If you do not they will go somewhere else.
When you sign up for a Blog or create one on your own site use part of the name or a similar name to the name of the sponsor program you are promoting unless it is against the sponsors T.O.S.
This blog, Marketing-Tipps.blogspot.com, showed up in the Search Engines in 3 days. It is not even in the top 10 for most search engine terms yet it consistently produces income, mostly AdSense.
But when you create your Blog or Blogs it is really important that you pick a niche that you know and understand. Ask yourself: Would and does my Blog appeal to me? Is there something about it that excites me?
If not, you need to go back to the drawing board.
When you create your Blog, let us say about "mp3 players", and its posts use the galleries and Urls from your sponsors. If they come with a description, use them. If you have a choice between short or long descriptions use the long ones. This is your spider food.
However, do not add them all to the Blog at one time. Add them 7 to 10 at a time. Set you up a schedule. Every second or third day add more. If your sponsor does not have a lot of galleries to use you're going to have to use several sponsors for each of your Blogs to keep them updated on a regular basis. After 10-15 days when the first posts are buried well out of site repeat them. You are after surfers coming from Search Engines and you are laying down spider food. It is a lot like fishing. You are putting out bait both for the surfer and for the spiders or bots from the Search Engines
Moreover, it is very important that you think about Spider Food. Use descriptions for each of your content with your Blogs name in them. If for example you are promoting Asian content, use many related names in the entries you make on your Blog. This is very important.
Go to Google and type in for example "mp3 players"
Write down all the related key words you find on your notepad and as you make entries in your Blog weave these words into your entries. Over the next few weeks, when you do entries work these keywords into your posts. Repeat them. Yes, repeat them. Repeat them and often. When the search engine surfer comes to your Blog looking for an mp3 player he is not going to set there for the most part and read your posts. He is going to go for the links that lead to mp3 player. Therefore, what you really need to keep in your mind is getting him there.
The quality of Search Engine Traffic is high. Although at first you will not get a large quantity of traffic from Search Engines the traffic the quality of the traffic you do get is very high.
When you get your Blog up on the web, there are three places you need to submit it to. The two major search engines Google, Yahoo, and BLOGGERNITY.COM, which is a Blog Directory. Hand Submit your Blog to these three places. Once BLOGGERNITY listed your Blog, go there and vote for yourself. Sign up there for a free account and write a review of your Blog. It does not have to be anything fancy. Just write how you want the surfer to feel about and see your Blog.
Networking!
Make a list of the other Blogs at BLOGGERNITY and contact the owners of those sites (as many as you can). Write them a short email and ask them to do a link exchange with you. Most of them will.
It is very important that you use careful strategy and monitoring in promoting your blog. Use the referrers' script so that you will know what is going on. Keep a paper record of what you are doing.
By now if you have followed the examples I have given, you know how to set up your Blog and how to get traffic to it. If you follow it, you can make money.
Again Steve Pavlina: His Blog, http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/, is making $4,700/month with AdSense solely based on the following ten principles:
1. Create valuable content.
2. Create original content.
3. Create timeless content.
4. Write for human beings first, computers second.
5. Know why you want a high-traffic site.
6. Let your audience see the real you.
7. Write what is true for you, and learn to live with the consequences.
8. Treat your visitors like real human beings.
9. Keep money in its proper place.
10. If you forget the first nine suggestions, just focus on genuinely helping people, and the rest will take care of itself.
This business model is fascinating. I obviously did not invent it, but I am certainly enjoying the ride. It is incredibly simple, much simpler than running any other business is. The risk is virtually zilch, and there is no overhead aside from web hosting (assuming you already own a computer and have internet access). There is no selling, no products, no customers, no order processing, no fraud, no inventory, no shipping, and no deadlines. And yet you earn income 24/7.
Blogs’ Way With Words Adds To Success Almost Immediately!
There are many ways to make your blog a successful one. Blog writers put a lot of work in their writing and for the most part, want readers to visit. But, there are thousands of blogs available for readers online. If you want to make your blog successful then you must consider what your reader wants.
A blog is an easy and instant way to share your thoughts and feelings with readers. It is easy to build readership to your blog when you are ready to share your writing with others. Because there are so many other blogs on the Internet, if you want your blog to be a successful one, it is important to help your blog stand out from the thousands of other blogs that are available to readers. A few simple tips can help make your blog add up to success.
Allowing your readers to leave comments is a great way to make your blog more successful. Even if you are posting random thoughts about your day, you will feel more accomplished if you know someone is reading your work. A successful blog will enable their readers to contact them either through email or through comment boxes on the site. In addition, a successful blog writer can gain more readers by doing the same for other writers. By visiting other blog sites and posting comments, a writer can encourage others to read their blog. In addition, your readers will feel important and included when you respond nicely to their comments. Even if someone responds negatively to your writing, a successful blogger will still thank the reader for his or her opinion. Communication is a great way to a successful blog.
Another way to make your blog writing successful is to look into track backs. A track back is the system used to notify a writer when another writer writes about their blog. It sounds confusing, but it is really simple. If you read a blog by someone else and decide for whatever reason to write about that blog in your own blog, a track back will tell the other writer about your blog. Usually, this will lead to that writer reading your blog and can evolve into communication. Over time, you can even link the blogs together and share readership. Track backs can help start communities of like-minded individuals and get others who might not have otherwise found your blog, to read your blog. Track backs can also increase the amount of traffic to your blog site.
Successful blog writers also make good use of tag boards. Tags are the links that help a reader navigate quickly through a site. Using keywords, a blog can list all entries containing certain keywords together. When a reader wants to read about that one subject, they only need to look at the tag board and select what they are interested in reading. Tagging is highly recommended for blog writers that want to increase their traffic to their site. This is also an important feature for business. Not all blog-hosting sites will offer this feature, but it can be downloaded to most blog sites. When you use this feature, or any feature that involves links to other blogs or websites it is always a good idea to check the links to make sure they work. Readers will become frustrated when the links available on your site are no good.
Another way to a successful blog is to write about what your reader wants to read. This can be done easily when you are able to link with other people with similar interest. For example, if you are a stay at home mom and want to write about your life with a two year old, do not try to get readers that are only interested in pet care. Visit parenting boards and communities and get others with the same interests to visit the site. In addition, make sure that your site is edited for spelling and typing errors before publishing and that you have updated your site frequently. Not updating your blog on a regular basis will lead you to lose readers to other sites that are kept up to date. Also, look into blog hosting sites that eliminates annoying ads or screen pop-ups. Most of the time, you might have to pay a small monthly fee for these ad-free sites, but if you want to build readership, this can be a small price to pay.
A blog is an easy and instant way to share your thoughts and feelings with readers. It is easy to build readership to your blog when you are ready to share your writing with others. Because there are so many other blogs on the Internet, if you want your blog to be a successful one, it is important to help your blog stand out from the thousands of other blogs that are available to readers. A few simple tips can help make your blog add up to success.
Allowing your readers to leave comments is a great way to make your blog more successful. Even if you are posting random thoughts about your day, you will feel more accomplished if you know someone is reading your work. A successful blog will enable their readers to contact them either through email or through comment boxes on the site. In addition, a successful blog writer can gain more readers by doing the same for other writers. By visiting other blog sites and posting comments, a writer can encourage others to read their blog. In addition, your readers will feel important and included when you respond nicely to their comments. Even if someone responds negatively to your writing, a successful blogger will still thank the reader for his or her opinion. Communication is a great way to a successful blog.
Another way to make your blog writing successful is to look into track backs. A track back is the system used to notify a writer when another writer writes about their blog. It sounds confusing, but it is really simple. If you read a blog by someone else and decide for whatever reason to write about that blog in your own blog, a track back will tell the other writer about your blog. Usually, this will lead to that writer reading your blog and can evolve into communication. Over time, you can even link the blogs together and share readership. Track backs can help start communities of like-minded individuals and get others who might not have otherwise found your blog, to read your blog. Track backs can also increase the amount of traffic to your blog site.
Successful blog writers also make good use of tag boards. Tags are the links that help a reader navigate quickly through a site. Using keywords, a blog can list all entries containing certain keywords together. When a reader wants to read about that one subject, they only need to look at the tag board and select what they are interested in reading. Tagging is highly recommended for blog writers that want to increase their traffic to their site. This is also an important feature for business. Not all blog-hosting sites will offer this feature, but it can be downloaded to most blog sites. When you use this feature, or any feature that involves links to other blogs or websites it is always a good idea to check the links to make sure they work. Readers will become frustrated when the links available on your site are no good.
Another way to a successful blog is to write about what your reader wants to read. This can be done easily when you are able to link with other people with similar interest. For example, if you are a stay at home mom and want to write about your life with a two year old, do not try to get readers that are only interested in pet care. Visit parenting boards and communities and get others with the same interests to visit the site. In addition, make sure that your site is edited for spelling and typing errors before publishing and that you have updated your site frequently. Not updating your blog on a regular basis will lead you to lose readers to other sites that are kept up to date. Also, look into blog hosting sites that eliminates annoying ads or screen pop-ups. Most of the time, you might have to pay a small monthly fee for these ad-free sites, but if you want to build readership, this can be a small price to pay.
Kamis, 27 Januari 2011
Get Your Business Noticed with Blogging
Blogging has become an incredible online marketing tool for businesses of all sizes. A business can save thousands of dollars in paid advertising expenses while gaining valuable exposure and traffic. Blogs are a user-friendly, customizable and flexible medium for effective positioning of your products in the market. Businesses using blogs to promote their business have a definite edge over their competitors and are seeing a number of advantages. To get that advantage, however, they do require careful planning and effective marketing.
Blog postings are appearing in search engine results faster than other website content. Post submitted through blogging tools like Blogger and WordPress are being fast tracked to search engine results. This means more backlinks for your business website and quicker, more up to date search engine placement for your business' marketing message.
Blogs support and even encourage word of mouth viral marketing. According to a recent survey, there are currently 90 million blogs with 80,000 more being added each day and 30 percent of internet users are blog readers. The very nature of the blogging space with sites such as Technorati and Digg, quickly spread blog posts to the widest audience. Posts that become popular can quickly spread across hundreds or thousands of other blogs and social interaction sites.
Customer awareness and loyalty are enhanced. Having a open dialogue with your customers creates trust and loyalty among them. The ability to respond, almost in real time, to customer questions and comments makes them all the more willing to try your products and services.
Feedback can be instantaneous. Businesses can use blogs and their related comments for product research and to solicit reviews. This rapid feedback mechanism could allow a business to make product decisions based on almost real time observations of their customers’ thinking and behavioral patterns.
Businesses can gain a halo-effect because the 'blogosphere' has the reputation of being a place for reasonable, friendly, helpful and most importantly, personal interactions. Businesses that can embrace the culture of the environment can help assign the same characteristics to their products and services.
Notwithstanding the benefits, like any other business website, it is important that the content be well planned and thought out. Even with the informal nature of many blogs, it is important to remember that they still reflect on the business' image, positively or negatively. The blog should reflect the values and objectives of the business as well as be reflective of the overall marketing efforts of the business.
Blogging is relatively straightforward, but to be done correctly does take effort and learning. There are several blogs dedicated to teaching people the do’s and don’ts of blogging. Be aware that blogs may have themes or be community based so make sure you aware of these before putting your business name out there. The easiest way, of course, to become familiar with the tone of the blog or social community is to spend time reading posts.
Like any website there are a number of things to keep in mind. Testing, testing and testing are important to make sure the blog meets business objectives. The tone of blogs may be more subtle to detect than standard websites, requiring frequent tweaks to get it right.
Be prepared in advance for a much higher level of content posting than normal with a more static website. Blogs, to be effective, need regular, even daily, infusions of fresh content to stay relevant and keep visitors' attention.
As with a standard website, be aware of legal issues, disclaimers, notifications, copyright issues or other issues relevant to the business. The informal nature of blogs, as well as the higher volume of updates can create compliance issues if not carefully monitored.
Finally, once a business decides to invest in blogging, there are great ways to spread the word about the new blog. To get the best marketing results, it is essential to actively promote your business blogs through blog search sites and directories. Promotion and submissions should be consistent with your products, services or the theme of the blog to be most effective. Adding exclusive or member's only information can also increase the likelihood that casual browsers will invest the time to follow the business' postings.
Promotion of the blog can be almost automatic be creating and promoting Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds in conjunction with the blogs. Individuals and other, related, websites can view and display blog postings directly from their own websites or personal news readers. This allows the blog poster to essentially push posts to reader's desktops instead of relying on them to visit the originating blog site.
Since search engine placement is essential for traffic volume the blog should make effective use of keyword phrases. Blogs are by definition very content heavy website, which afford amble opportunity to generate keyword rich copy. Keywords should be selected to ensure that relevant traffic is directed to the business blog.
In summary, a blog is a great way to promote a business. A number of advantages can be gained as long as the business plans well and takes the steps to properly promote its new blog.
Aubrey Jones is President and founder of Riverbank Consulting, Inc. Through Webs 4 Small Business he is able to bring SEO and other internet services to Small Business owners. He has been in the technology and internet industry for over 10 years building and managing large commercial internet services.
Blog postings are appearing in search engine results faster than other website content. Post submitted through blogging tools like Blogger and WordPress are being fast tracked to search engine results. This means more backlinks for your business website and quicker, more up to date search engine placement for your business' marketing message.
Blogs support and even encourage word of mouth viral marketing. According to a recent survey, there are currently 90 million blogs with 80,000 more being added each day and 30 percent of internet users are blog readers. The very nature of the blogging space with sites such as Technorati and Digg, quickly spread blog posts to the widest audience. Posts that become popular can quickly spread across hundreds or thousands of other blogs and social interaction sites.
Customer awareness and loyalty are enhanced. Having a open dialogue with your customers creates trust and loyalty among them. The ability to respond, almost in real time, to customer questions and comments makes them all the more willing to try your products and services.
Feedback can be instantaneous. Businesses can use blogs and their related comments for product research and to solicit reviews. This rapid feedback mechanism could allow a business to make product decisions based on almost real time observations of their customers’ thinking and behavioral patterns.
Businesses can gain a halo-effect because the 'blogosphere' has the reputation of being a place for reasonable, friendly, helpful and most importantly, personal interactions. Businesses that can embrace the culture of the environment can help assign the same characteristics to their products and services.
Notwithstanding the benefits, like any other business website, it is important that the content be well planned and thought out. Even with the informal nature of many blogs, it is important to remember that they still reflect on the business' image, positively or negatively. The blog should reflect the values and objectives of the business as well as be reflective of the overall marketing efforts of the business.
Blogging is relatively straightforward, but to be done correctly does take effort and learning. There are several blogs dedicated to teaching people the do’s and don’ts of blogging. Be aware that blogs may have themes or be community based so make sure you aware of these before putting your business name out there. The easiest way, of course, to become familiar with the tone of the blog or social community is to spend time reading posts.
Like any website there are a number of things to keep in mind. Testing, testing and testing are important to make sure the blog meets business objectives. The tone of blogs may be more subtle to detect than standard websites, requiring frequent tweaks to get it right.
Be prepared in advance for a much higher level of content posting than normal with a more static website. Blogs, to be effective, need regular, even daily, infusions of fresh content to stay relevant and keep visitors' attention.
As with a standard website, be aware of legal issues, disclaimers, notifications, copyright issues or other issues relevant to the business. The informal nature of blogs, as well as the higher volume of updates can create compliance issues if not carefully monitored.
Finally, once a business decides to invest in blogging, there are great ways to spread the word about the new blog. To get the best marketing results, it is essential to actively promote your business blogs through blog search sites and directories. Promotion and submissions should be consistent with your products, services or the theme of the blog to be most effective. Adding exclusive or member's only information can also increase the likelihood that casual browsers will invest the time to follow the business' postings.
Promotion of the blog can be almost automatic be creating and promoting Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds in conjunction with the blogs. Individuals and other, related, websites can view and display blog postings directly from their own websites or personal news readers. This allows the blog poster to essentially push posts to reader's desktops instead of relying on them to visit the originating blog site.
Since search engine placement is essential for traffic volume the blog should make effective use of keyword phrases. Blogs are by definition very content heavy website, which afford amble opportunity to generate keyword rich copy. Keywords should be selected to ensure that relevant traffic is directed to the business blog.
In summary, a blog is a great way to promote a business. A number of advantages can be gained as long as the business plans well and takes the steps to properly promote its new blog.
Aubrey Jones is President and founder of Riverbank Consulting, Inc. Through Webs 4 Small Business he is able to bring SEO and other internet services to Small Business owners. He has been in the technology and internet industry for over 10 years building and managing large commercial internet services.
Blogging For Bucks – How To Start Making A Real Living With Your Blog And Gain Freedom...
There are many bloggers who make incomes of several thousand dollars per month from their blogs. These are not casual bloggers who only want to see their words and their name online or who just want to put forth a point-of-view, these are serious bloggers who have made blogging into a full-time (or nearly full-time) job.
Here are some of the ways they make money from their blogs and ways you can also blog for bucks:
Advertising! There are many advertisers waiting for you to approach them, these are programs such as Google's Adsense (https ://www.google.com/adsense/) where you allow companies to place their ads . . . ads related to your topic . . . on your blog. Each time one of your readers clicks on an ad on your blog, you earn a small amount of money (a predetermined amount). A slightly different approach is used by companies such as CrispADS (http://www.crispads.com/). With this type of service, you tell them how much you want to charge for advertising space on your blog and they will attempt to find an advertiser who will pay that price (plus a commission for the go-between company). These are just two of a large group that is expanding daily.
Blog Feeds! RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and ATOM Feeds are two of the dominant blog feeds. The object of a blog feed is to distribute every new post you add to your blog to a list of subscribers; you make your blog posts available to RSS or ATOM, people who want to read your stuff on a regular basis can subscribe to your posts and read them on a newsreader. The latest trend is to include advertising to these blog feeds and, as before, if your subscriber clicks on an ad that is included with your feed, you get some money. There are no BIG bucks here yet but its a rapidly growing field.
Affiliate Programs! Online companies have been offering affiliate programs to bloggers for years, some of the big ones are Amazon, Linkshare and Clickbank. They work by providing you a unique URL that you add to your blog. Any readers that click through to the company and buy something are providing you with a commission. Another version of the affiliate program is the “mini-mall” concept offered by companies such as Chitika eMiniMalls. The mini-mall works (like the affiliate program), through a link on your blog that takes your reader to a page with a variety of merchandise -- all sales earn you a commission.
Sponsors! Large corporations are very aware of the blogosphere and of the growing number of people who read blogs and, in response, they are using blogs to advance their business interests -- blogs may never replace the Michael Jordan-type superstars for corporations but blogs are already gaining many fairly lucrative corporate sponsorships. If you have a blog that is dedicated to a particular topic, e.g., digital cameras, that is published on a regular basis, that has a good readership and is recognized as an authoritative source for digital camera information, your blog may draw the interest of a corporate sponsor and you may be approached to run their advertisements for new products on a long-term basis. If and when you reach that point you know you've made it to the big time, professional blogger's league.
Your Product! The methods mentioned above are just a few of the very many ways you can start making money from your blog . . . but there is a catch!
As you probably noticed every scheme mentioned and every other money-making blogging scheme you'll find requires a great blog . . . a blog that draws hundreds of readers (as a minimum) on a regular basis. To reach this stage of readership you need a blog that offers the reader some type of unique, quality content.
If blogging is to be a money making business for you, you'll need to treat it like a business by dedicating your time, energy and creativity to its success. Also, like any successful business, you need a product or service that is a 'customer magnet.' Your “product” is your content: it could be news or information or entertainment but whatever it is, it must be unique and interesting.
Here are some of the ways they make money from their blogs and ways you can also blog for bucks:
Advertising! There are many advertisers waiting for you to approach them, these are programs such as Google's Adsense (https ://www.google.com/adsense/) where you allow companies to place their ads . . . ads related to your topic . . . on your blog. Each time one of your readers clicks on an ad on your blog, you earn a small amount of money (a predetermined amount). A slightly different approach is used by companies such as CrispADS (http://www.crispads.com/). With this type of service, you tell them how much you want to charge for advertising space on your blog and they will attempt to find an advertiser who will pay that price (plus a commission for the go-between company). These are just two of a large group that is expanding daily.
Blog Feeds! RSS (Really Simple Syndication) and ATOM Feeds are two of the dominant blog feeds. The object of a blog feed is to distribute every new post you add to your blog to a list of subscribers; you make your blog posts available to RSS or ATOM, people who want to read your stuff on a regular basis can subscribe to your posts and read them on a newsreader. The latest trend is to include advertising to these blog feeds and, as before, if your subscriber clicks on an ad that is included with your feed, you get some money. There are no BIG bucks here yet but its a rapidly growing field.
Affiliate Programs! Online companies have been offering affiliate programs to bloggers for years, some of the big ones are Amazon, Linkshare and Clickbank. They work by providing you a unique URL that you add to your blog. Any readers that click through to the company and buy something are providing you with a commission. Another version of the affiliate program is the “mini-mall” concept offered by companies such as Chitika eMiniMalls. The mini-mall works (like the affiliate program), through a link on your blog that takes your reader to a page with a variety of merchandise -- all sales earn you a commission.
Sponsors! Large corporations are very aware of the blogosphere and of the growing number of people who read blogs and, in response, they are using blogs to advance their business interests -- blogs may never replace the Michael Jordan-type superstars for corporations but blogs are already gaining many fairly lucrative corporate sponsorships. If you have a blog that is dedicated to a particular topic, e.g., digital cameras, that is published on a regular basis, that has a good readership and is recognized as an authoritative source for digital camera information, your blog may draw the interest of a corporate sponsor and you may be approached to run their advertisements for new products on a long-term basis. If and when you reach that point you know you've made it to the big time, professional blogger's league.
Your Product! The methods mentioned above are just a few of the very many ways you can start making money from your blog . . . but there is a catch!
As you probably noticed every scheme mentioned and every other money-making blogging scheme you'll find requires a great blog . . . a blog that draws hundreds of readers (as a minimum) on a regular basis. To reach this stage of readership you need a blog that offers the reader some type of unique, quality content.
If blogging is to be a money making business for you, you'll need to treat it like a business by dedicating your time, energy and creativity to its success. Also, like any successful business, you need a product or service that is a 'customer magnet.' Your “product” is your content: it could be news or information or entertainment but whatever it is, it must be unique and interesting.
Rabu, 26 Januari 2011
Teens And Blogs - Internet Safety Wake-Up Call
In November of 2005, I read that a Roman Catholic high school in Sparta had ordered its students to remove personal blogs from the Internet, in the name of protecting them from cyberpredators. Which brings me to an important question, just how can you keep your child safe online?
The Internet is a "gateway" which leads the adult predator to your child. Parents need to recognize the need to better monitor their children’s online activity. I believe that websites like xanga, myspace, and livejournal, make it all too easy for sexual predators to prey on our children.
Children are vulnerable and they don’t realize that anyone can and most likely is reading their blog entries. Both my children have blogs, however they are under moderation by both my husband and I. Frankly, as a parent of two teenagers I believe that it is up to us as parents to educate our children about the online dangers.
Children's blogs are a pedophile’s playground, because of the easy ability to look into a child’s world. As parents we can help our children stay safe while using a blog. For information about blogging safety please visit http://BlogSafety.com and http://SafeTeens.com
Regarding sites like hi5: I've received several invitations from hi5, but I never signed up until November 2005. It wasn’t long before I was removing my account. I should have read the privacy policy before I registered.
It reads: hi5 collects personal information when you register, when you use hi5, when you visit hi5 pages or the pages of certain hi5 partners. hi5 may combine information about you that we have with information we obtain from business partners or other companies. Once you register with hi5 and sign in to our services, you are not anonymous to us. hi5 collects information about your transactions with us and with some of our business partners. hi5 automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser.
Basically, they have spyware.
Hi5 collects your Hotmail or yahoo address lists and contacts. Once you register there is an e-mail that is sent to everyone in your address book. This e-mail is sent without your permission.
The website also requests, your hotmail and yahoo password. I never gave my password, I was not that gullible. However hi5 was still able to gather my information and contact those listed in my address book. I finally was able to delete my account, through the instructions in their help file.
In my opinion, hi5 is even worse than xanga and myspace.
I encourage all parents, whose children have an account on hi5, to log into hi5 and delete their children’s account.
Too much personal information is being revealed on these websites, making it a haven for sexual predators. Parents need to wake up.
I for one, am very concerned with websites like hi5, MySpace, Xanga, DeadJournal, Blurty, etc that encourage children to post their photos and personal information.
I strongly suggest that if your child uses the computer and you have not been monitoring their activity, it is time that you found out just what they are doing.
A report aired Dateline Friday, Jan. 27, at 9 p.m. by Rob Stafford, a Correspondent of NBC News, tells parents why they should mind MySpace. If you have not seen this report, I suggest you take a moment to view it at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11064451/
You owe it to your children.
Which brings me to my next concern, the Internet is a scary place, filled with all kind of strange people. I believe that when you post your child’s picture on the net, you put them at risk.
Did you know that your personal information, such as your home phone number and address can easily be found on the internet?
If this isn’t one reason to make you reconsider posting your child’s picture on the internet, how about that in this day and age, photos can be digitally altered and appear on porn sites.
According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children more than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the internet every week.
Donna Rice Hughes of http://Protectkids.com states, “… the demand for pornographic images of babies and toddlers on the internet is soaring.” (Prof. Max Taylor, Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe, March 2003). More babies and toddlers are appearing on the net and the abuse is getting worse. Images are more torturous and sadistic than they were was before.
The typical age of children found on pornography sites is between 6 and 12, but the profile is getting younger (Prof. Max Taylor, Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe, March 2003).
The U.S. Customs Service estimates that there are more than 100,000 web sites offering child pornography - which is illegal worldwide. Red Herring Magazine, 1/18/02)”
I don't consider myself paranoid, but I don't post my children's pictures on the internet and I believe that you shouldn't either. We all have cute children and are proud of them. But parents, please use some common sense. Keep your child safe and out of the arms of child predators. A good website to check out is: http://members.tripod.com/~Seadooer/sayno-contests.html
Say no to children's pictures on the web and for goodness sake, monitor your child’s internet activity. Our children are our most valuable asset, love them and protect them.
The Internet is a "gateway" which leads the adult predator to your child. Parents need to recognize the need to better monitor their children’s online activity. I believe that websites like xanga, myspace, and livejournal, make it all too easy for sexual predators to prey on our children.
Children are vulnerable and they don’t realize that anyone can and most likely is reading their blog entries. Both my children have blogs, however they are under moderation by both my husband and I. Frankly, as a parent of two teenagers I believe that it is up to us as parents to educate our children about the online dangers.
Children's blogs are a pedophile’s playground, because of the easy ability to look into a child’s world. As parents we can help our children stay safe while using a blog. For information about blogging safety please visit http://BlogSafety.com and http://SafeTeens.com
Regarding sites like hi5: I've received several invitations from hi5, but I never signed up until November 2005. It wasn’t long before I was removing my account. I should have read the privacy policy before I registered.
It reads: hi5 collects personal information when you register, when you use hi5, when you visit hi5 pages or the pages of certain hi5 partners. hi5 may combine information about you that we have with information we obtain from business partners or other companies. Once you register with hi5 and sign in to our services, you are not anonymous to us. hi5 collects information about your transactions with us and with some of our business partners. hi5 automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser.
Basically, they have spyware.
Hi5 collects your Hotmail or yahoo address lists and contacts. Once you register there is an e-mail that is sent to everyone in your address book. This e-mail is sent without your permission.
The website also requests, your hotmail and yahoo password. I never gave my password, I was not that gullible. However hi5 was still able to gather my information and contact those listed in my address book. I finally was able to delete my account, through the instructions in their help file.
In my opinion, hi5 is even worse than xanga and myspace.
I encourage all parents, whose children have an account on hi5, to log into hi5 and delete their children’s account.
Too much personal information is being revealed on these websites, making it a haven for sexual predators. Parents need to wake up.
I for one, am very concerned with websites like hi5, MySpace, Xanga, DeadJournal, Blurty, etc that encourage children to post their photos and personal information.
I strongly suggest that if your child uses the computer and you have not been monitoring their activity, it is time that you found out just what they are doing.
A report aired Dateline Friday, Jan. 27, at 9 p.m. by Rob Stafford, a Correspondent of NBC News, tells parents why they should mind MySpace. If you have not seen this report, I suggest you take a moment to view it at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11064451/
You owe it to your children.
Which brings me to my next concern, the Internet is a scary place, filled with all kind of strange people. I believe that when you post your child’s picture on the net, you put them at risk.
Did you know that your personal information, such as your home phone number and address can easily be found on the internet?
If this isn’t one reason to make you reconsider posting your child’s picture on the internet, how about that in this day and age, photos can be digitally altered and appear on porn sites.
According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children more than 20,000 images of child pornography are posted on the internet every week.
Donna Rice Hughes of http://Protectkids.com states, “… the demand for pornographic images of babies and toddlers on the internet is soaring.” (Prof. Max Taylor, Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe, March 2003). More babies and toddlers are appearing on the net and the abuse is getting worse. Images are more torturous and sadistic than they were was before.
The typical age of children found on pornography sites is between 6 and 12, but the profile is getting younger (Prof. Max Taylor, Combating Paedophile Information Networks in Europe, March 2003).
The U.S. Customs Service estimates that there are more than 100,000 web sites offering child pornography - which is illegal worldwide. Red Herring Magazine, 1/18/02)”
I don't consider myself paranoid, but I don't post my children's pictures on the internet and I believe that you shouldn't either. We all have cute children and are proud of them. But parents, please use some common sense. Keep your child safe and out of the arms of child predators. A good website to check out is: http://members.tripod.com/~Seadooer/sayno-contests.html
Say no to children's pictures on the web and for goodness sake, monitor your child’s internet activity. Our children are our most valuable asset, love them and protect them.
Blogs vs. Websites: What’s The Big Difference?
Online journals, better known as blogs, are becoming more and more popular. When the Internet was first getting started, users rushed to build personal web sites. Web sites are still very popular among web users, but many are now turning to blogs. What’s the difference? This article will examine the main similarities and differences between a Weblog and a website.
While blogs and website are intended to be different, there are a couple of similarities in blogs and sites. Mainly, they are both found on the Internet using a URL or a web address. Both also must have some sort of host to keep the information online. Another similarity of the two is that they both can be maintained by virtually anyone from individuals to companies. Both Weblog and websites can also contain information, pictures, link and keywords, as well. These two types of sites will target readers.
With a blog, information that is entered on the site is generally updated very frequently depending on the writer. Sometimes blog writers even update several times a day. Usually with a website, information is not updated regularly. Websites generally contain information about something that does not change often. When a website is updated, usually the entire page is altered. With a blog, just one entry at a time is updated. After a website has been changed, that information is gone and cannot be seen again by the reader. On a blog, new entries are added, but the old ones are not deleted from the site. Instead, they are stamped with the date and time that they were created, given a title and indexed on that blog page. It makes it easy for a blog reader to go to a certain blog page and read past entries without having to search.
Another main difference between and blog and a website is that a website is generally a little harder to maintain and oftentimes requires a solid understanding of the way the Internet works. With a blog, almost anyone can easily and quickly update a blog. It does not require any special working knowledge of the Internet. In addition, there are many sites that offer blog features and most of the time these can be used for free.
Blogs also encourage people to communicate with each other much more so than with a website. A websites primary function is to provide some sort of information to a reader. While there may be a place to leave a comment or an email address for writing that is not why that site was created. Blogs are used for communication. Writers may choose to make their site private, but most choose to publish their blogs making them public to any one who wishes to read. Most blog hosting sites offer options to add to the site so readers and the writer can leave comments to each other on the site. In addition, there are entire web communities built just for blogs. Blogs encourage those who have similar thoughts, interests or even businesses to share their blog site so readers can find them easily. Blogs offer guest tracking, keyword tracking, hit counters, comment areas, and even tag boards for both the reader and the writer to use.
Blogging is extremely popular right now. As more people begin sharing their thoughts with others, there are more blogs created each day. Blogging gives writers, journalists, professionals, moms, dads and even teenagers an instant way to publish their thoughts on a regular basis. For those who enjoy writing, blogs give a unique opportunity to practice writing skills and experiment with what others want to read. Businesses use blogs to show off their expertise and knowledge in their fields, whereas websites do not always get this type of message out to the readers.
Blogging and websites do have some similarities. They are both found on the Internet and contain information. However, blogs give a writer the unique opportunity to communicate with their reader and update their entries on a frequent basis. Anyone who tries blogging will love the instant gratification of getting their opinions and thoughts out on the Internet right away and getting instant feedback from readers that visit their site.
While blogs and website are intended to be different, there are a couple of similarities in blogs and sites. Mainly, they are both found on the Internet using a URL or a web address. Both also must have some sort of host to keep the information online. Another similarity of the two is that they both can be maintained by virtually anyone from individuals to companies. Both Weblog and websites can also contain information, pictures, link and keywords, as well. These two types of sites will target readers.
With a blog, information that is entered on the site is generally updated very frequently depending on the writer. Sometimes blog writers even update several times a day. Usually with a website, information is not updated regularly. Websites generally contain information about something that does not change often. When a website is updated, usually the entire page is altered. With a blog, just one entry at a time is updated. After a website has been changed, that information is gone and cannot be seen again by the reader. On a blog, new entries are added, but the old ones are not deleted from the site. Instead, they are stamped with the date and time that they were created, given a title and indexed on that blog page. It makes it easy for a blog reader to go to a certain blog page and read past entries without having to search.
Another main difference between and blog and a website is that a website is generally a little harder to maintain and oftentimes requires a solid understanding of the way the Internet works. With a blog, almost anyone can easily and quickly update a blog. It does not require any special working knowledge of the Internet. In addition, there are many sites that offer blog features and most of the time these can be used for free.
Blogs also encourage people to communicate with each other much more so than with a website. A websites primary function is to provide some sort of information to a reader. While there may be a place to leave a comment or an email address for writing that is not why that site was created. Blogs are used for communication. Writers may choose to make their site private, but most choose to publish their blogs making them public to any one who wishes to read. Most blog hosting sites offer options to add to the site so readers and the writer can leave comments to each other on the site. In addition, there are entire web communities built just for blogs. Blogs encourage those who have similar thoughts, interests or even businesses to share their blog site so readers can find them easily. Blogs offer guest tracking, keyword tracking, hit counters, comment areas, and even tag boards for both the reader and the writer to use.
Blogging is extremely popular right now. As more people begin sharing their thoughts with others, there are more blogs created each day. Blogging gives writers, journalists, professionals, moms, dads and even teenagers an instant way to publish their thoughts on a regular basis. For those who enjoy writing, blogs give a unique opportunity to practice writing skills and experiment with what others want to read. Businesses use blogs to show off their expertise and knowledge in their fields, whereas websites do not always get this type of message out to the readers.
Blogging and websites do have some similarities. They are both found on the Internet and contain information. However, blogs give a writer the unique opportunity to communicate with their reader and update their entries on a frequent basis. Anyone who tries blogging will love the instant gratification of getting their opinions and thoughts out on the Internet right away and getting instant feedback from readers that visit their site.
Selasa, 25 Januari 2011
HOW-TO Set Up Your Own BLOG and RSS Feed In Less Than 5 Minutes...
I have a quick question to ask you... "do you know How-To set up your own BLOG and RSS Feed so you Too can take advantage of all the benefits Blogs and RSS(Real Simple Syndication) have to offer you and your business?"
If you answered NO, your not alone.
I didn't either at one time, but that didn't stop me from finding out How-To on my own.
So basically, what I'm trying to say is by the time you finish reading this article you'll be a master at setting up your own Blogs and RSS Feeds in a matter of minutes by simply following my simple 'Step-by-Step' instructions below.
With that said, Buckle Up, put your thinking cap on, grab yourself a beverage and get ready to learn...
"HOW-TO Set Up Your Own BLOG and RSS Feed In Less Than 5 Minutes..."
Know lets go to Step #1.
Step #1. Go set-up an account with Blogger.com.
This is probably the easiest part of all, which is simply setting up an Blogger.com account at http://www.blogger.com.
Go there right now. It will take you to Blogger.com's homepage.
Once there, you'll see an orange arrow pointing to the right that says..."Create Your Blog Now" ... click on it.
That's Step #1.
Step #2. Creating your account with Blogger.com.
If you thought Step #1 was easy than Step #2 will be a breeze.
Simply select a Username and Password that you'll remember followed by your Email Address.(You don't have to use your primary email address, you can use a Free web-based email account like Hotmail or Yahoo! if you like. Your choice.)
Then check the box that says "I accept the Terms of Service".
Now proceed by clicking on the orange arrow that says... "Continue".
That's Step #2.
Step #3. Naming your Blog.(Very IMPORTANT!)
Now, depending on what your Blog is about your going to want to use your target 'Keywords' within the name of your Blog, its description and the URL.
And there's a good reason for this simply because this is what the Search Engine spiders are going to see first.
They'll first see them within your Blog name which is at the top of your Blog that your visitors see, they'll see them within your description of your Blog and then they'll see them within your Blog URL that you choose.
Why is this SOoooo important?
By using your 'Target Keywords' within those areas I just outlined, thats what the SE's will use to index your Blog under so when someone does a search for those target keywords, guess whose Blog will pop-up within the results depending on your competition?
That's right, Yours!
The SE's will also use those area's I outlined for your SE listing within there results index.
Here's an example for a quick 'Case-Study' for you.
This is one of my Blogs I have.
Go to: http://internet-marketing-tactics.blogspot.com
You'll notice my Blog title, description and URL all have the 'Keyword Phrase'... Internet Marketing Tactic.
To take this a step further, I want you to go visit these search engines MSN, Yahoo! and AlltheWeb and type in "internet marketing tactics" within there search boxes so you can see where my Blog sits within those SE's so you can see the importance of having your Target keywords within those area's I mentioned earlier.
MSN
http://www.msn.com
Yahoo!
http://www.yahoo.com
AlltheWeb
http://www.alltheweb.com
In the MSN SE results my Blog is #1 for that keyword phrase, in Yahoo! I'm #11(not bad) and in AlltheWeb I'm #18.
Of course these positions will very in time but just as long as you get the point of WHY you need to use your Target keywords within those 3 areas.
Lets move on.
Now, your last step for Step #3 is to simply type in the 'Verification Code'.
Once you've done that, click on the orange arrow below that says... "Continue".
Step #4. Choosing your template.
If everything went well in Step #3 and that Blog name you chose isn't taken you should be looking at a bunch of Blog templates Blogger.com offers.
Simply select the one you like most and then click "Continue".
CONGRATULATIONS!
You just created your first Blog and completed Step #4.
You should now be looking at an orange arrow that says... "Start Posting". Click on it and it'll take you to where you can start posting whatever it is you want.
Now that you have set-up your Blog your probably wondering... "where does RSS fit into this formula?"
Step #5. Locating your RSS Feed URL.
What can I say, I always leave the Best for last.
Assuming your still within the Blogger.com 'Posting' area you'll notice a bunch of tabs at the top labelled, Posting, Settings, Template and View Blog.
Click on the 'Settings' tab.
This will take you to a sub-menu with a bunch of other options.
Out of all those options click on the one that says... "Site Feed".
And there it is.
It should look something like this:
http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/atom.xml
This is the URL you'll want to use to promote your RSS Feed with to the RSS search engines and directories so that everytime you make a post, the RSS SE's and directories will be 'Automatically' notified and updated with your latest information bringing your Blog more exposure to your target audience.
That about sums it up for this tutorial, but, just before I go I'll leave you with a few articles I wrote earlier on RSS promotion to help you get the Most out of your Blogs and RSS Feeds.
Here are the links:
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/article_13.html
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/article_14.html
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/article_16.html
Now that you are armed with this information that I just revealed to you, you should have no problem setting up and getting the MOST out of your Blogs and RSS Feeds.
If you answered NO, your not alone.
I didn't either at one time, but that didn't stop me from finding out How-To on my own.
So basically, what I'm trying to say is by the time you finish reading this article you'll be a master at setting up your own Blogs and RSS Feeds in a matter of minutes by simply following my simple 'Step-by-Step' instructions below.
With that said, Buckle Up, put your thinking cap on, grab yourself a beverage and get ready to learn...
"HOW-TO Set Up Your Own BLOG and RSS Feed In Less Than 5 Minutes..."
Know lets go to Step #1.
Step #1. Go set-up an account with Blogger.com.
This is probably the easiest part of all, which is simply setting up an Blogger.com account at http://www.blogger.com.
Go there right now. It will take you to Blogger.com's homepage.
Once there, you'll see an orange arrow pointing to the right that says..."Create Your Blog Now" ... click on it.
That's Step #1.
Step #2. Creating your account with Blogger.com.
If you thought Step #1 was easy than Step #2 will be a breeze.
Simply select a Username and Password that you'll remember followed by your Email Address.(You don't have to use your primary email address, you can use a Free web-based email account like Hotmail or Yahoo! if you like. Your choice.)
Then check the box that says "I accept the Terms of Service".
Now proceed by clicking on the orange arrow that says... "Continue".
That's Step #2.
Step #3. Naming your Blog.(Very IMPORTANT!)
Now, depending on what your Blog is about your going to want to use your target 'Keywords' within the name of your Blog, its description and the URL.
And there's a good reason for this simply because this is what the Search Engine spiders are going to see first.
They'll first see them within your Blog name which is at the top of your Blog that your visitors see, they'll see them within your description of your Blog and then they'll see them within your Blog URL that you choose.
Why is this SOoooo important?
By using your 'Target Keywords' within those areas I just outlined, thats what the SE's will use to index your Blog under so when someone does a search for those target keywords, guess whose Blog will pop-up within the results depending on your competition?
That's right, Yours!
The SE's will also use those area's I outlined for your SE listing within there results index.
Here's an example for a quick 'Case-Study' for you.
This is one of my Blogs I have.
Go to: http://internet-marketing-tactics.blogspot.com
You'll notice my Blog title, description and URL all have the 'Keyword Phrase'... Internet Marketing Tactic.
To take this a step further, I want you to go visit these search engines MSN, Yahoo! and AlltheWeb and type in "internet marketing tactics" within there search boxes so you can see where my Blog sits within those SE's so you can see the importance of having your Target keywords within those area's I mentioned earlier.
MSN
http://www.msn.com
Yahoo!
http://www.yahoo.com
AlltheWeb
http://www.alltheweb.com
In the MSN SE results my Blog is #1 for that keyword phrase, in Yahoo! I'm #11(not bad) and in AlltheWeb I'm #18.
Of course these positions will very in time but just as long as you get the point of WHY you need to use your Target keywords within those 3 areas.
Lets move on.
Now, your last step for Step #3 is to simply type in the 'Verification Code'.
Once you've done that, click on the orange arrow below that says... "Continue".
Step #4. Choosing your template.
If everything went well in Step #3 and that Blog name you chose isn't taken you should be looking at a bunch of Blog templates Blogger.com offers.
Simply select the one you like most and then click "Continue".
CONGRATULATIONS!
You just created your first Blog and completed Step #4.
You should now be looking at an orange arrow that says... "Start Posting". Click on it and it'll take you to where you can start posting whatever it is you want.
Now that you have set-up your Blog your probably wondering... "where does RSS fit into this formula?"
Step #5. Locating your RSS Feed URL.
What can I say, I always leave the Best for last.
Assuming your still within the Blogger.com 'Posting' area you'll notice a bunch of tabs at the top labelled, Posting, Settings, Template and View Blog.
Click on the 'Settings' tab.
This will take you to a sub-menu with a bunch of other options.
Out of all those options click on the one that says... "Site Feed".
And there it is.
It should look something like this:
http://yourblogname.blogspot.com/atom.xml
This is the URL you'll want to use to promote your RSS Feed with to the RSS search engines and directories so that everytime you make a post, the RSS SE's and directories will be 'Automatically' notified and updated with your latest information bringing your Blog more exposure to your target audience.
That about sums it up for this tutorial, but, just before I go I'll leave you with a few articles I wrote earlier on RSS promotion to help you get the Most out of your Blogs and RSS Feeds.
Here are the links:
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/article_13.html
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/article_14.html
http://www.internetwondersezine.com/article_16.html
Now that you are armed with this information that I just revealed to you, you should have no problem setting up and getting the MOST out of your Blogs and RSS Feeds.
What’s The Best Blogging Software For You And Your Business?
With blogs seemingly showing up all over the internet, many people want to jump on board as fast as they can. You may be one of those people. You may just want a way to polish your writing skills, or perhaps you even have thoughts of some day putting a little extra walking around money in your pocket. No matter what your reason, you likely want to know where it is you should start in your blogging. Well, first of all you are going to need some sort of blogging platform or software to create your blog in the first place. There are hundreds of options out there, so what you need to do is choose the blogging software that is best for you. Here are some tips on what to look for to get the best blogging software for you.
First of all you have to make a decision on what the reason for your blogging is. Are you doing it to try and earn some extra money, to record your own daily reflections, to polish your writing style, or for some other reason? The reason you are doing it will have a lot to do with what you want to accomplish with the site. For instance, if you are doing it only for personal reasons, then you may just want to seek out the first free blog hosting website you can find that you like. On the other hand, if you are doing it to earn money you may be much pickier about what you want in terms of blogging software. You might want the blog on your own site, or on a site where they help you promote it. No matter what the reason ends up being, it is that which will most affect your choice of blogging software and which one is best for you.
Secondly, once you know why you are blogging, you need to figure out exactly which features are going to be most important to you on your blog. Are you going to want to be able to post pictures? Or are you just going to be typing text as your content? You may also want to look at what tools are available like the ability to link, or to archive your posts. Once you know why you are blogging and what type of blogging you want to do you are that much closer to knowing what you need in blogging software. Keep in mind, though, that the more features that you are getting with your blogging software the more you will likely pay for that software. So, you must decide early on what you need and don’t need.
Third, once you know why you want to blog and with what features you want to blog, it is time to start seeking out software. It is available all over the internet and even in computer stores now. You may first want to do a search because often times you can find web hosting and domain name registration software that will include blogging software applications with it. If you want to blog just to blog, then you may want to look at some of the free applications that allow you to just create a free account and then immediately begin blogging. On the other hand, if you want something on a website you have already established, and then look at software that may exist directly on your computer or through your hosting company. Much of it goes back to the first tip: know why you want to blog.
Blogging is so popular now that many people feel like they are on the outside looking in if they don’t have their own blog. The problem is that you may not know how to get started in the world of blogging. Obviously you cannot have a good blog until you have figured out the blogging software you want to use. There are a few types out there including blogging platforms at websites, purchased packages, and some that even come with website hosting and allow you to include a blog on your website. No matter what type you use, you need to make some decisions to help you figure out which blogging software is for you. If you decide why you want to blog, what blogging features you want, and how much you want to spend on it, this will help in the decision making. Once you have done all of that it is just a matter of sifting through the various blogging software packages out there and deciding which fits your needs the most. The search for blogging software that is best for you will become obvious.
First of all you have to make a decision on what the reason for your blogging is. Are you doing it to try and earn some extra money, to record your own daily reflections, to polish your writing style, or for some other reason? The reason you are doing it will have a lot to do with what you want to accomplish with the site. For instance, if you are doing it only for personal reasons, then you may just want to seek out the first free blog hosting website you can find that you like. On the other hand, if you are doing it to earn money you may be much pickier about what you want in terms of blogging software. You might want the blog on your own site, or on a site where they help you promote it. No matter what the reason ends up being, it is that which will most affect your choice of blogging software and which one is best for you.
Secondly, once you know why you are blogging, you need to figure out exactly which features are going to be most important to you on your blog. Are you going to want to be able to post pictures? Or are you just going to be typing text as your content? You may also want to look at what tools are available like the ability to link, or to archive your posts. Once you know why you are blogging and what type of blogging you want to do you are that much closer to knowing what you need in blogging software. Keep in mind, though, that the more features that you are getting with your blogging software the more you will likely pay for that software. So, you must decide early on what you need and don’t need.
Third, once you know why you want to blog and with what features you want to blog, it is time to start seeking out software. It is available all over the internet and even in computer stores now. You may first want to do a search because often times you can find web hosting and domain name registration software that will include blogging software applications with it. If you want to blog just to blog, then you may want to look at some of the free applications that allow you to just create a free account and then immediately begin blogging. On the other hand, if you want something on a website you have already established, and then look at software that may exist directly on your computer or through your hosting company. Much of it goes back to the first tip: know why you want to blog.
Blogging is so popular now that many people feel like they are on the outside looking in if they don’t have their own blog. The problem is that you may not know how to get started in the world of blogging. Obviously you cannot have a good blog until you have figured out the blogging software you want to use. There are a few types out there including blogging platforms at websites, purchased packages, and some that even come with website hosting and allow you to include a blog on your website. No matter what type you use, you need to make some decisions to help you figure out which blogging software is for you. If you decide why you want to blog, what blogging features you want, and how much you want to spend on it, this will help in the decision making. Once you have done all of that it is just a matter of sifting through the various blogging software packages out there and deciding which fits your needs the most. The search for blogging software that is best for you will become obvious.
Senin, 24 Januari 2011
Explode Your Google Adsense and Affiliate Commissions Through Niche Blog Content Sites
Content as we know it is the Life-Blood or FUEL, if you will, of the Internet.
That was and still is the Internets sole purpose, except only now it's commercialized, giving the online entrepreneur the world at their fingers tips.
And the facts are that usually when people first come online it's not to go purchase something, it's to look for Information that will answer a question they might have about a particular product they're interested in and/or to a problem they are dealing with and are searching for a solution.
Ask yourself this, "Why do I go online?"
Does it resemble anything like what I just stated?
Only you can answer that.
These are simply the facts with out a doubt... Period!
Now that you have an idea of WHY people come online, I'm now going to explain to you how you can...
"Explode Your Google Adsense and Affiliate Commissions Through Niche Blog Content Sites"
Did you notice the last two words within the quotations?
That's right, Content Sites.
What are Content Sites?
I think it's pretty self explanatory but the basic definition of a Content Site is this - it's a site that contains targeted content that targets a particular niche or many niches.(niche examples: cars, fitness, hobbies, etc.)
Not quite up to speed on what a blog is, here's a quick definition of a blog - a blog(A.K.A. Web-Log) is simply a place to go and post your personal thoughts that you can share with your subscribers and/or readership and receive feedback.
Now that you know the basic definitions of a Content Site and a Blog lets continue.
Content Sites can contain Hundreds-to-Thousands of pages of keyword rich content, which by the way is exactly what the Search Engines love and will come back for if New content is added on a frequent basis giving the owner of that site lots of opportunity to benefit from the Free traffic inwhich the content pages, or what I like to call Feeder Pages, generate.
So, now that you have an idea of what a Content Site and a Blog is it's now time to tell you how you can build your own Niche Blog Content Site Empire, no matter what your niche is, using Blogs, Google Adsense and ClickBank affiliate products.
Bare in mind that the steps outlined below are only going to be a summarization of the actual process involved.
So, with that said, here it is.
Step #1. Set up a Blog.
The first step is quite simple. All you have to do is set up a Blog either through...
Blogger.com - http://www.blogger.com
or...
Wordpress.org - http://www.wordpress.org
This blog your setting up is going to be the foundation of your Niche Blog Content Site and is where the rest of the pieces of the puzzle are going to be added to once you've set it up.
(Quick Tip: Make sure you use your Target Keywords within your URL of your niche blog and in the Title and Description. VERY Important!)
Once you have your niche blog set up move on to Step #2.
Step #2. Adding your Google Adsense code.
Depending on your experience with scripting and html, it's now time to add your Google Adsense code to your new niche blog in 3 strategic places.
Google allows you to add 3 Google Adsense blocks only to one page, no more than that, so I recommend one at the Top, one in the Right or Left sidebar depending on the template you choose and one at the Bottom of your blog.
By doing this your almost forcing your reader to click on a link within the Google Adsense block, which is of course, is exactly what you want and where your going to make the money.
The other great thing about Google Adsense is the ads are targeted to the content that you post, giving the reader even more reason to click through.
Here's a few resources for you that will show you how to add the Google Adsense code to your blog using the services I mentioned above if your not sure how to yourself.
Blogger.com: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=964
Wordpress.org: http://www.acmetech.com/blog/adsense-deluxe/
Simply follow the instructions and you'll have Google Adsense installed on your niche blog in no time.
Step #3. Find a related ClickBank product.
Now it's time to go shopping at ClickBank.com - http://www.clickbank.com - for a related information product that targets your niche.
Once there click on the link Earn Commissions at the bottom.
This will bring to to their directory where you'll find many products to choose from that will target any niche your blog is about.
(Quick Tip: The first 10 listed under each category are the TOP converting programs, meaning... their the ones making the most money.)
If you don't have a ClickBank.com nickname you'll have to sign up for one. It'll only take you a few minutes.
From there, once you've chosen a program to join your going to want to collect all the affiliate materials available, like Articles, Banners, Text Links, etc., because your going to place these on your NEW niche blog site with your affiliate link linked to them so when your reader clicks on them and decides to buy the related information, you get the commission.
Well... there you have it, 3 steps to "Explode Your Google Adsense and Affiliate Commissions Through Niche Blog Content Sites".
Now the only thing left for you to do is to start building an audience by promoting your Blog.
Here's a few resources for you to get started with.
Ping-O-Matic - http://pingomatic.com
RSS Top 55 - http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55
Remember this is just a summarized version and is only going to give you the basic steps, so good luck to you and your Niche Blog Content Site Empire.
That was and still is the Internets sole purpose, except only now it's commercialized, giving the online entrepreneur the world at their fingers tips.
And the facts are that usually when people first come online it's not to go purchase something, it's to look for Information that will answer a question they might have about a particular product they're interested in and/or to a problem they are dealing with and are searching for a solution.
Ask yourself this, "Why do I go online?"
Does it resemble anything like what I just stated?
Only you can answer that.
These are simply the facts with out a doubt... Period!
Now that you have an idea of WHY people come online, I'm now going to explain to you how you can...
"Explode Your Google Adsense and Affiliate Commissions Through Niche Blog Content Sites"
Did you notice the last two words within the quotations?
That's right, Content Sites.
What are Content Sites?
I think it's pretty self explanatory but the basic definition of a Content Site is this - it's a site that contains targeted content that targets a particular niche or many niches.(niche examples: cars, fitness, hobbies, etc.)
Not quite up to speed on what a blog is, here's a quick definition of a blog - a blog(A.K.A. Web-Log) is simply a place to go and post your personal thoughts that you can share with your subscribers and/or readership and receive feedback.
Now that you know the basic definitions of a Content Site and a Blog lets continue.
Content Sites can contain Hundreds-to-Thousands of pages of keyword rich content, which by the way is exactly what the Search Engines love and will come back for if New content is added on a frequent basis giving the owner of that site lots of opportunity to benefit from the Free traffic inwhich the content pages, or what I like to call Feeder Pages, generate.
So, now that you have an idea of what a Content Site and a Blog is it's now time to tell you how you can build your own Niche Blog Content Site Empire, no matter what your niche is, using Blogs, Google Adsense and ClickBank affiliate products.
Bare in mind that the steps outlined below are only going to be a summarization of the actual process involved.
So, with that said, here it is.
Step #1. Set up a Blog.
The first step is quite simple. All you have to do is set up a Blog either through...
Blogger.com - http://www.blogger.com
or...
Wordpress.org - http://www.wordpress.org
This blog your setting up is going to be the foundation of your Niche Blog Content Site and is where the rest of the pieces of the puzzle are going to be added to once you've set it up.
(Quick Tip: Make sure you use your Target Keywords within your URL of your niche blog and in the Title and Description. VERY Important!)
Once you have your niche blog set up move on to Step #2.
Step #2. Adding your Google Adsense code.
Depending on your experience with scripting and html, it's now time to add your Google Adsense code to your new niche blog in 3 strategic places.
Google allows you to add 3 Google Adsense blocks only to one page, no more than that, so I recommend one at the Top, one in the Right or Left sidebar depending on the template you choose and one at the Bottom of your blog.
By doing this your almost forcing your reader to click on a link within the Google Adsense block, which is of course, is exactly what you want and where your going to make the money.
The other great thing about Google Adsense is the ads are targeted to the content that you post, giving the reader even more reason to click through.
Here's a few resources for you that will show you how to add the Google Adsense code to your blog using the services I mentioned above if your not sure how to yourself.
Blogger.com: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=964
Wordpress.org: http://www.acmetech.com/blog/adsense-deluxe/
Simply follow the instructions and you'll have Google Adsense installed on your niche blog in no time.
Step #3. Find a related ClickBank product.
Now it's time to go shopping at ClickBank.com - http://www.clickbank.com - for a related information product that targets your niche.
Once there click on the link Earn Commissions at the bottom.
This will bring to to their directory where you'll find many products to choose from that will target any niche your blog is about.
(Quick Tip: The first 10 listed under each category are the TOP converting programs, meaning... their the ones making the most money.)
If you don't have a ClickBank.com nickname you'll have to sign up for one. It'll only take you a few minutes.
From there, once you've chosen a program to join your going to want to collect all the affiliate materials available, like Articles, Banners, Text Links, etc., because your going to place these on your NEW niche blog site with your affiliate link linked to them so when your reader clicks on them and decides to buy the related information, you get the commission.
Well... there you have it, 3 steps to "Explode Your Google Adsense and Affiliate Commissions Through Niche Blog Content Sites".
Now the only thing left for you to do is to start building an audience by promoting your Blog.
Here's a few resources for you to get started with.
Ping-O-Matic - http://pingomatic.com
RSS Top 55 - http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55
Remember this is just a summarized version and is only going to give you the basic steps, so good luck to you and your Niche Blog Content Site Empire.
Why Are Blogs So Popular? Here's Why From The Beginning...
When trying to research when the blog began, you may come up a little short. While it is widely known the blog is one of the most popular forms of posting on the web, there is really not a lot of history to it. Some will argue that the first blogger came to us across the television screen. The hit show Doogie Howser, M.D. always included a few shots of the teenage doctor typing in his computer diary, which many see as the world’s first blog. While it is not exactly clear whether Dr. Howser was posting his thoughts on his hard drive or the web, it is unlikely the character even knew what the word “blogger” meant. According to the history books, the word “weblog” was copy written by Jorn Barger in 1997. A list of others followed him in creating their own versions of the original weblog.
Although there is not much information on the beginning of the blog, there is a lot of information leading to the fact that the blog phenomenon is growing rapidly and is not likely to downsize anytime soon. Everyone is blogging these days. With sites offering free blog space, why wouldn’t they? Everyone wants a chance and a forum to express their thoughts, and a blog allows them to do just that. Expression is one of the most precious traits and it should be practiced often. With that being said, you are probably wondering what a blog is, if you don’t already know.
A blog, which is actually short for a weblog, is a lot like an online journal. It is a personal website (or posting space) that is updated frequently. With each posting, the blog is essentially updated. Blogs can include anything the blogger wants it to include. You can write about personal experiences, political views, gossip, books, television, or music. There are really no limits on what you can write about on your own blog. Today’s blogs are allowing bloggers to post photos or little profiles telling their readers more about themselves. Many blogs are so popular that readers will visit them each day in order to see what is new in the blogger’s life. These readers may or may not personally know the blogger, which makes the phenomenon that much more interesting and unexplainable.
The most notable thing about a blog is that it is the first online journal type that offers a place for reader comments. These comments can be helpful to the blog and draw interest to it, or they can be useless. Some advertisers are using blogs today to get their website link or product information out to more people. This can be annoying to bloggers, but the fact is that the advertisers are using other people’s blogs to advertise for free. Although it is annoying, you have to admit, it is a pretty smart idea on the advertising side of things.
It is assumed that blogs are so popular for two main reasons. The first reason is simply because everyone wants to be heard. By posting your opinions, views, or experiences on the web, you are essentially being heard by anyone who reads your post. With more and more people reading blogs, you can count on more and more people reading yours as well. Expressing your opinions allows you to be free from any stress they may cause when you keep them inside. A blog is a socially safe way to express your views without having to worry too much about a reaction from someone else.
The other main reason the blog is so popular is because due to amazing blogging software, it is so simple to do. When personal websites came onto the scene, everyone wanted one. The problem was that the good ones were very difficult to construct unless you had programming experience. Many people hired professionals to create their personal spaces. Blogs on the other hand, are very easy to create. Software allows you to post your thoughts in a typing box and the system automatically updates itself when you are done. It could not be any easier. Because of these two reasons, people absolutely love blogs. They love to post on their own blog and they love to read other blogs. The phenomenon is one that is so well loved it will likely continue to grow and grow.
Although there is not much information on the beginning of the blog, there is a lot of information leading to the fact that the blog phenomenon is growing rapidly and is not likely to downsize anytime soon. Everyone is blogging these days. With sites offering free blog space, why wouldn’t they? Everyone wants a chance and a forum to express their thoughts, and a blog allows them to do just that. Expression is one of the most precious traits and it should be practiced often. With that being said, you are probably wondering what a blog is, if you don’t already know.
A blog, which is actually short for a weblog, is a lot like an online journal. It is a personal website (or posting space) that is updated frequently. With each posting, the blog is essentially updated. Blogs can include anything the blogger wants it to include. You can write about personal experiences, political views, gossip, books, television, or music. There are really no limits on what you can write about on your own blog. Today’s blogs are allowing bloggers to post photos or little profiles telling their readers more about themselves. Many blogs are so popular that readers will visit them each day in order to see what is new in the blogger’s life. These readers may or may not personally know the blogger, which makes the phenomenon that much more interesting and unexplainable.
The most notable thing about a blog is that it is the first online journal type that offers a place for reader comments. These comments can be helpful to the blog and draw interest to it, or they can be useless. Some advertisers are using blogs today to get their website link or product information out to more people. This can be annoying to bloggers, but the fact is that the advertisers are using other people’s blogs to advertise for free. Although it is annoying, you have to admit, it is a pretty smart idea on the advertising side of things.
It is assumed that blogs are so popular for two main reasons. The first reason is simply because everyone wants to be heard. By posting your opinions, views, or experiences on the web, you are essentially being heard by anyone who reads your post. With more and more people reading blogs, you can count on more and more people reading yours as well. Expressing your opinions allows you to be free from any stress they may cause when you keep them inside. A blog is a socially safe way to express your views without having to worry too much about a reaction from someone else.
The other main reason the blog is so popular is because due to amazing blogging software, it is so simple to do. When personal websites came onto the scene, everyone wanted one. The problem was that the good ones were very difficult to construct unless you had programming experience. Many people hired professionals to create their personal spaces. Blogs on the other hand, are very easy to create. Software allows you to post your thoughts in a typing box and the system automatically updates itself when you are done. It could not be any easier. Because of these two reasons, people absolutely love blogs. They love to post on their own blog and they love to read other blogs. The phenomenon is one that is so well loved it will likely continue to grow and grow.
Minggu, 23 Januari 2011
How to Write Effective Copy for Your Company’s Blog
Weblogs, more commonly known as blogs, are spreading feverishly across the Internet. According to Robyn Aber of Cisco Systems Inc., about four million blogs populate the Web. Though most private individuals maintain blogs, many companies are beginning to launch company blogs to communicate and interact with their clients, customers, and the public.
How can you create a company blog that outshines and outlasts every other blog? And how do you hypnotize readers to keep coming back? This article provides tips to write effective, attention-arresting blog copy and shows how you can develop reader and customer loyalty.
1. WRITE CONVERSATIONALLY.
The most engaging blogs speak to their audience in a casual and conversational tone. A big benefit of a blog is its ability to speak to readers in a way that is personal, candid and straightforward. Write your blog the same way you’d speak to your audience, face to face. The personal element is almost always what attracts people and keeps them coming back to your blog.
Amy Joyce of the Washington Post says, “Web logs—or blogs—started as a way to talk about new technologies, vent about life and interact in a no-holds-barred forum. Since blogs became the next big thing, an increasing number of companies have come to see them as the next great public relations vehicle—a way for executives to show their casual, interactive side. But, of course, the executives do nothing of the sort. Their attempts at hip, guerrilla-style blogging are often pained—and painful.”
To avoid this pitfall, simply be yourself. The best blogs reveal the interests, opinions, and personality of the writer. Your perspective, personal and professional, is unique in all the world. Let it shine through, and your blog will automatically be one-of-a-kind. An interesting blog will bring back customers again and again and will generate priceless interest in your company.
2. TELL STORIES.
Readers want to know things they already don’t know about your company. They want to know what the products, services, people, challenges, and innovations in your organization are really like. If you give them a glimpse of the inner workings, express your opinions boldly, and tell engaging stories, you will foster reader interest and loyalty. In a biography, both interviews and quotations usually are the most intriguing parts. Think of your company blog as a business biography. Personalize it with your unique thoughts and perspective.
3. MAKE IT PERSONAL.
Write about what you know. Draw from your expertise to inform the public about the finer points of your business. Detailing development ideas, setbacks, successes, and reactions reveals the human element and engages the reader. It’s fine to talk about new products and innovations, but blogs devoted mostly to marketing and promotion are the most boring and least popular of company blogs. Make these topics more appealing to readers by framing such announcements with personal impressions and insights. Customers want to feel a kinship with the brand. Letting them in on the details of your business will make them feel part of your company culture and increase the chances of their lifetime loyalty.
4. UPDATE FREQUENTLY.
Once you have established a good reader base, offer new insights regularly to reward surfers for coming back. Not only does this provide more information and exposure, but it also reflects that your company is active and on top of things. Link to current articles from other sources to keep readers abreast of developments in your sector. A rarely-updated blog feels stale and tired. This is not the reputation you want your company to have!
5. ADHERE TO COMPANY RULES.
You are personally responsible for whatever material you publish on your company blog. Respect the confidentiality of your organization and employees. Though you may express disagreements or concerns, do not make personal attacks or use the blog to air petty complaints. Do not reveal proprietary information; and avoid discussing revenue, share price, or other financial statistics. Observe copyright law, and quote sources as you would in any other document. Make sure what you write in the company blog reflects the company’s goals. Keep in mind the ultimate goal of most company blogs is to increase visibility and promote the exchange of information. While most companies allow and encourage blogging on company time, you should avoid letting your writing time interfere with your regular workload.
6. WRITE GRAMMATICALLY.
Finally, make sure that what you write is grammatical. Your blog entries reflect your company, and you want to give the best possible impression of the organization and its personnel. The Internet is rife with bad English. Though blogs tend to be relaxed in tone, it is no more appropriate to ignore standard English than it is to wear flip-flops and swimming trunks on casual Friday. Use a program like StyleWriter ( http://www.StyleWriter-USA.com ) or White Smoke ( http://www.WhiteSmokeSoftware.com ) to find and fix embarrassing grammar mistakes and help you write like a pro.
A company blog is an excellent tool for promotion, communication, and information. The tips outlined here will help elevate your blog and generate traffic and interest. Good luck, and welcome to the wonderful world of blogging!
For more articles on business writing and writing for blogs, visit http://www.ElectronicWritingCourse.com or http://www.ReadabilityFormulas.com and click on “Free Articles.”
How can you create a company blog that outshines and outlasts every other blog? And how do you hypnotize readers to keep coming back? This article provides tips to write effective, attention-arresting blog copy and shows how you can develop reader and customer loyalty.
1. WRITE CONVERSATIONALLY.
The most engaging blogs speak to their audience in a casual and conversational tone. A big benefit of a blog is its ability to speak to readers in a way that is personal, candid and straightforward. Write your blog the same way you’d speak to your audience, face to face. The personal element is almost always what attracts people and keeps them coming back to your blog.
Amy Joyce of the Washington Post says, “Web logs—or blogs—started as a way to talk about new technologies, vent about life and interact in a no-holds-barred forum. Since blogs became the next big thing, an increasing number of companies have come to see them as the next great public relations vehicle—a way for executives to show their casual, interactive side. But, of course, the executives do nothing of the sort. Their attempts at hip, guerrilla-style blogging are often pained—and painful.”
To avoid this pitfall, simply be yourself. The best blogs reveal the interests, opinions, and personality of the writer. Your perspective, personal and professional, is unique in all the world. Let it shine through, and your blog will automatically be one-of-a-kind. An interesting blog will bring back customers again and again and will generate priceless interest in your company.
2. TELL STORIES.
Readers want to know things they already don’t know about your company. They want to know what the products, services, people, challenges, and innovations in your organization are really like. If you give them a glimpse of the inner workings, express your opinions boldly, and tell engaging stories, you will foster reader interest and loyalty. In a biography, both interviews and quotations usually are the most intriguing parts. Think of your company blog as a business biography. Personalize it with your unique thoughts and perspective.
3. MAKE IT PERSONAL.
Write about what you know. Draw from your expertise to inform the public about the finer points of your business. Detailing development ideas, setbacks, successes, and reactions reveals the human element and engages the reader. It’s fine to talk about new products and innovations, but blogs devoted mostly to marketing and promotion are the most boring and least popular of company blogs. Make these topics more appealing to readers by framing such announcements with personal impressions and insights. Customers want to feel a kinship with the brand. Letting them in on the details of your business will make them feel part of your company culture and increase the chances of their lifetime loyalty.
4. UPDATE FREQUENTLY.
Once you have established a good reader base, offer new insights regularly to reward surfers for coming back. Not only does this provide more information and exposure, but it also reflects that your company is active and on top of things. Link to current articles from other sources to keep readers abreast of developments in your sector. A rarely-updated blog feels stale and tired. This is not the reputation you want your company to have!
5. ADHERE TO COMPANY RULES.
You are personally responsible for whatever material you publish on your company blog. Respect the confidentiality of your organization and employees. Though you may express disagreements or concerns, do not make personal attacks or use the blog to air petty complaints. Do not reveal proprietary information; and avoid discussing revenue, share price, or other financial statistics. Observe copyright law, and quote sources as you would in any other document. Make sure what you write in the company blog reflects the company’s goals. Keep in mind the ultimate goal of most company blogs is to increase visibility and promote the exchange of information. While most companies allow and encourage blogging on company time, you should avoid letting your writing time interfere with your regular workload.
6. WRITE GRAMMATICALLY.
Finally, make sure that what you write is grammatical. Your blog entries reflect your company, and you want to give the best possible impression of the organization and its personnel. The Internet is rife with bad English. Though blogs tend to be relaxed in tone, it is no more appropriate to ignore standard English than it is to wear flip-flops and swimming trunks on casual Friday. Use a program like StyleWriter ( http://www.StyleWriter-USA.com ) or White Smoke ( http://www.WhiteSmokeSoftware.com ) to find and fix embarrassing grammar mistakes and help you write like a pro.
A company blog is an excellent tool for promotion, communication, and information. The tips outlined here will help elevate your blog and generate traffic and interest. Good luck, and welcome to the wonderful world of blogging!
For more articles on business writing and writing for blogs, visit http://www.ElectronicWritingCourse.com or http://www.ReadabilityFormulas.com and click on “Free Articles.”
The Blog Factor: Everything you need to know to start blogging - today!
So what is this "blog factor"? Well, what a few thought was a novel idea some years ago has now morphed into something no one expected. There are currently nine million blogs out there with 40,000 new ones being added everyday. Some are informative and some are just downright a waste of your time. And while we hear a lot about blogging these days, what is blogging *really*? Blogging in its simplest term is like an online journal but much, much more powerful. Blogs (short for Web log) is a place where surfers can get up to the minute information on a topic or voyeur into someone's life. Some blogs are nothing more than a daily glimpse into someone's life, while others are so sophisticated, it's hard to tell them apart from an online news service.
Why Blogs Matter
Google, the #1 search engine on the net, loves blogs. So much so that if you do it right Google will spider the heck out of your site. What does it mean to "spider"? Well spidering is when Google, or the like, searches your site’s content to establish ranking, and the more content you have (i.e. fresh content) the more Google will do its magic and push your site up the search engine. Another reason blogs matter is that they are interactive and, if you blog on your book’s topic, it will help to further your expert status on a particular issue. When we plan "Virtual Tours" for our authors, we include as many blogs as we can into a tour. Why? Because if you can get into a good blog that's seeing a lot of traffic, you can really start to gain some exposure for your book.
What Would You Talk About?
This is the question we get asked most often. "If I start a blog, what on earth would I talk about?" Well if your book is non-fiction it's pretty easy to figure out what your topic would be, but if your book is fiction it could get a bit tricky - but not impossible. An author I work with has a series of books starring one character - a private detective. I recommended that he "blog" this character, meaning that the character (not the author) would have the blog. It could be the character's diary or adventures and stories - a glimpse into the life of a private detective. This would give the reader (and fans of this character) a reason to return to the blog for an update on this ongoing adventure or story.
In another instance, I work with an author who wrote a fiction book about right and wrong with a new age/spirituality spin. I advised him to blog on issues related to that - right and wrong in our society and his own personal "spin" on these issues. Some of his blogs might be controversial but that's okay, you want to create your own "voice," your own take on a certain issue and if that opinion is controversial, all the better for exposure and for getting people to interact on your blog. Getting readers to respond to your posts is a great way to gain interest and momentum for your blog and (more importantly) getting people to talk about it will grow your blog like nothing else!
How to Start a Blog
Starting a blog is super easy. All you have to do is register at a blog site (like http://www.blogger.com) and get started. It's that easy. The blog service will link to your site; you'll need to ask your Webmaster to add a button to your home page so people can find your blog.
How to Blog Effectively
The best bloggers know that the more you add to your blog, the more traffic you'll drive there. Some bloggers I know post daily, sometimes even multiple times a day while others post weekly. How much you post will probably depend on how much time you have to dedicate to this. The challenge will be that if you want to keep driving people to your blog, you'll want fresh content. This doesn't mean you have to create this all yourself, in fact you can invite people onto your blog and interview them, or you can just post a one paragraph "thought" on your topic. It doesn't have to be complicated or long, it just has to be fresh. Also be innovative, as we discussed earlier, be different with your blog, have fun with it. It might seem complicated at first but once you get the hang of it, you'll quickly become a blog expert!
Why Blogs Matter
Google, the #1 search engine on the net, loves blogs. So much so that if you do it right Google will spider the heck out of your site. What does it mean to "spider"? Well spidering is when Google, or the like, searches your site’s content to establish ranking, and the more content you have (i.e. fresh content) the more Google will do its magic and push your site up the search engine. Another reason blogs matter is that they are interactive and, if you blog on your book’s topic, it will help to further your expert status on a particular issue. When we plan "Virtual Tours" for our authors, we include as many blogs as we can into a tour. Why? Because if you can get into a good blog that's seeing a lot of traffic, you can really start to gain some exposure for your book.
What Would You Talk About?
This is the question we get asked most often. "If I start a blog, what on earth would I talk about?" Well if your book is non-fiction it's pretty easy to figure out what your topic would be, but if your book is fiction it could get a bit tricky - but not impossible. An author I work with has a series of books starring one character - a private detective. I recommended that he "blog" this character, meaning that the character (not the author) would have the blog. It could be the character's diary or adventures and stories - a glimpse into the life of a private detective. This would give the reader (and fans of this character) a reason to return to the blog for an update on this ongoing adventure or story.
In another instance, I work with an author who wrote a fiction book about right and wrong with a new age/spirituality spin. I advised him to blog on issues related to that - right and wrong in our society and his own personal "spin" on these issues. Some of his blogs might be controversial but that's okay, you want to create your own "voice," your own take on a certain issue and if that opinion is controversial, all the better for exposure and for getting people to interact on your blog. Getting readers to respond to your posts is a great way to gain interest and momentum for your blog and (more importantly) getting people to talk about it will grow your blog like nothing else!
How to Start a Blog
Starting a blog is super easy. All you have to do is register at a blog site (like http://www.blogger.com) and get started. It's that easy. The blog service will link to your site; you'll need to ask your Webmaster to add a button to your home page so people can find your blog.
How to Blog Effectively
The best bloggers know that the more you add to your blog, the more traffic you'll drive there. Some bloggers I know post daily, sometimes even multiple times a day while others post weekly. How much you post will probably depend on how much time you have to dedicate to this. The challenge will be that if you want to keep driving people to your blog, you'll want fresh content. This doesn't mean you have to create this all yourself, in fact you can invite people onto your blog and interview them, or you can just post a one paragraph "thought" on your topic. It doesn't have to be complicated or long, it just has to be fresh. Also be innovative, as we discussed earlier, be different with your blog, have fun with it. It might seem complicated at first but once you get the hang of it, you'll quickly become a blog expert!
Sabtu, 22 Januari 2011
BLOGS! What They Are... And WHY They're Becoming A POWER TOOL For Internet Marketers
BLOGS! What a crazy name for the "NEWEST" Internet marketing trend to hit the Internet.
But, I like it.
It makes this new form of communication kind of mysterious in a way, though, BLOGS have been around for quite some time and only recently have been recognized as a VERY valuable asset to Internet marketers.
Recently, I was visiting some Internet marketing related Forums and noticed many of the threads having similar "Subjects" saying... "What the heck are BLOGS?"
So, I did a little research and this is what I came up with since I was Very curious myself.
I think it's best that I clearly define to You exactly what a "BLOG" is so that as I go through this article with you, you'll have a clear picture in your head of what a Blog IS and so there won't be any confusion.
A "BLOG"(A.K.A. Web Log) by definition is:
A combination of online diary and/or guestbook. You sign up for a blogger account and then you enter the information You want on your Website. Then you can set it so that only you can place entries on it or so that anyone can. Then you can either keep a private journal or you can have a place where your readers can get together and place entries to each other or to you.
So... there you have it in a nut shell.
To simplify it even more let's just say BLOGS are a place to go and post your personal thoughts that you can share with your subscribers and/or readership and receive feedback.
Now, for the purpose of this article, now that you know the true definition of a "Blog", I'm going to share with you some reasons WHY they're becoming a widely recognized "POWER TOOL" for Internet marketers around the world.
So, with that said, lets go to Reason #1.
Reason #1. Great way to stay in touch with your subscribers.
Blogs are a great way to stay in touch with your subscribers and/or readership and builds regular readership Traffic to your little community where you can interact with them.
It also helps build rapport, which in turn, will help develop that TRUST in You, Your Products and/or Services that You recommend.
Reason #2. It's a great way to get "Feedback".
Blogs are a great way to get Feedback from your subscribers/customers simply because they have the ability to leave comments on each "Post" you make which will then help you find what it is they're looking for making YOU look like a "Hero" in there eye's and putting $Money$ in your pocket.
Reason #3. Can be managed by ONE individual.
Blogs require NO "HTML" experience, making it easy for ANYONE to get started.
Most "Blog" communities online use what is called a "WYSIWYG" HTML editor.
Did I lose you there with the "WYSIWYG" abbreviation. That simply stands for... "What You See Is What You Get".
It's one of the easiest HTML editors to use, making it easy for You to get started right away.
Reason #4. Your able to list your "Main" website details.
When you sign up for your Blogger account you're given an area to set-up your "Personal Profile" where your able to list your Main website and URL, plus, any other personal information you wish to share that will be displayed on your Blog.
Reason #5. A great way to publish "Information".
This is probably ONE of the Biggest benefits to Blogs because you have the ability to post informative information in the form of "Articles and/or Reviews" for your subscribers and/or readership which will make you look like an Expert on the subject and giving you INSTANT credibility in the eye's of your reader.
Reason #6. You get your own URL.
That's right, you get your own URL you can use in all your promotions and/or on your personal website if you have one.
This feature is great, especially for people just starting out and don't have there own website up and running yet.
-----------------------------------------
Here's my Blog for you to take a look at.
It's called... The Internet Wonders Blog.
http://theiwe.blogspot.com
-----------------------------------------
Reason #7. Search Engines love them.
Search Engines love Blogs because they are so "Content Rich" and are always being updated on a Daily to Weekly basis.
When you compare a regular static website, which might be updated on a monthly basis, to a Blog, which is updated on a Daily to Weekly basis with NEW content, you'll gain favor with the search engines with your Blog.
The S.E. "Spiders" will then gladly stop by to munch down on whatever NEW content you posted and Index your website more often since that is what Search Engines love and are constantly looking for.
Reason #8. The ability to use RSS with Blogs.
A powerful feature about Blogs is the use of RSS(Real Simple Syndication) that allows you to Instantly send your Blog highlights to your readership upon publication which will keep your reader up to speed on your business and your Products and/or Services.
Not only that, RSS also gives your Blog more exposure to a wider audience of subscribers building a bigger readership in less time.
By simply adding an human element to your business through the use of a "Blog", IS a great way to build rapport and gain the trust of your subscribers and/or readership, which in turn, will turn them into buying "Customers".
Well, there you have it, "BLOGS! What They Are... And WHY They're Becoming A POWER TOOL For Internet Marketers".
I hope this article clearly answered the questions you once had about "Blogs" and the benefits of starting one of your own.
But, I like it.
It makes this new form of communication kind of mysterious in a way, though, BLOGS have been around for quite some time and only recently have been recognized as a VERY valuable asset to Internet marketers.
Recently, I was visiting some Internet marketing related Forums and noticed many of the threads having similar "Subjects" saying... "What the heck are BLOGS?"
So, I did a little research and this is what I came up with since I was Very curious myself.
I think it's best that I clearly define to You exactly what a "BLOG" is so that as I go through this article with you, you'll have a clear picture in your head of what a Blog IS and so there won't be any confusion.
A "BLOG"(A.K.A. Web Log) by definition is:
A combination of online diary and/or guestbook. You sign up for a blogger account and then you enter the information You want on your Website. Then you can set it so that only you can place entries on it or so that anyone can. Then you can either keep a private journal or you can have a place where your readers can get together and place entries to each other or to you.
So... there you have it in a nut shell.
To simplify it even more let's just say BLOGS are a place to go and post your personal thoughts that you can share with your subscribers and/or readership and receive feedback.
Now, for the purpose of this article, now that you know the true definition of a "Blog", I'm going to share with you some reasons WHY they're becoming a widely recognized "POWER TOOL" for Internet marketers around the world.
So, with that said, lets go to Reason #1.
Reason #1. Great way to stay in touch with your subscribers.
Blogs are a great way to stay in touch with your subscribers and/or readership and builds regular readership Traffic to your little community where you can interact with them.
It also helps build rapport, which in turn, will help develop that TRUST in You, Your Products and/or Services that You recommend.
Reason #2. It's a great way to get "Feedback".
Blogs are a great way to get Feedback from your subscribers/customers simply because they have the ability to leave comments on each "Post" you make which will then help you find what it is they're looking for making YOU look like a "Hero" in there eye's and putting $Money$ in your pocket.
Reason #3. Can be managed by ONE individual.
Blogs require NO "HTML" experience, making it easy for ANYONE to get started.
Most "Blog" communities online use what is called a "WYSIWYG" HTML editor.
Did I lose you there with the "WYSIWYG" abbreviation. That simply stands for... "What You See Is What You Get".
It's one of the easiest HTML editors to use, making it easy for You to get started right away.
Reason #4. Your able to list your "Main" website details.
When you sign up for your Blogger account you're given an area to set-up your "Personal Profile" where your able to list your Main website and URL, plus, any other personal information you wish to share that will be displayed on your Blog.
Reason #5. A great way to publish "Information".
This is probably ONE of the Biggest benefits to Blogs because you have the ability to post informative information in the form of "Articles and/or Reviews" for your subscribers and/or readership which will make you look like an Expert on the subject and giving you INSTANT credibility in the eye's of your reader.
Reason #6. You get your own URL.
That's right, you get your own URL you can use in all your promotions and/or on your personal website if you have one.
This feature is great, especially for people just starting out and don't have there own website up and running yet.
-----------------------------------------
Here's my Blog for you to take a look at.
It's called... The Internet Wonders Blog.
http://theiwe.blogspot.com
-----------------------------------------
Reason #7. Search Engines love them.
Search Engines love Blogs because they are so "Content Rich" and are always being updated on a Daily to Weekly basis.
When you compare a regular static website, which might be updated on a monthly basis, to a Blog, which is updated on a Daily to Weekly basis with NEW content, you'll gain favor with the search engines with your Blog.
The S.E. "Spiders" will then gladly stop by to munch down on whatever NEW content you posted and Index your website more often since that is what Search Engines love and are constantly looking for.
Reason #8. The ability to use RSS with Blogs.
A powerful feature about Blogs is the use of RSS(Real Simple Syndication) that allows you to Instantly send your Blog highlights to your readership upon publication which will keep your reader up to speed on your business and your Products and/or Services.
Not only that, RSS also gives your Blog more exposure to a wider audience of subscribers building a bigger readership in less time.
By simply adding an human element to your business through the use of a "Blog", IS a great way to build rapport and gain the trust of your subscribers and/or readership, which in turn, will turn them into buying "Customers".
Well, there you have it, "BLOGS! What They Are... And WHY They're Becoming A POWER TOOL For Internet Marketers".
I hope this article clearly answered the questions you once had about "Blogs" and the benefits of starting one of your own.
Succeed By Swapping Links With Other Blog Owners...
Most everyone who has Internet access has heard about blogging. Blogging is the new way to keep a journal, record thoughts, or just ramble about life or events on the Internet. A blog is updated frequently and on an ongoing basis. Weblog and blog is the same thing. Link swapping, or linking similar web sites or blogs together can be a great way for your blog to succeed.
When you blog or record your thoughts online, you have the option of making your blog site private or sharing your site with others. Some choose to use a blog more like a personal diary, while other people want to get as many readers on their site as possible. One easy way to increase traffic on your blog site is to link swap. Link swapping is fairly simple and only requires that you have an agreement with other bloggers or websites to put your link on their site in exchange for the same from them. Link swapping is a perfect way to help increase the readership on your blog.
Most of the time, link swapping on blogs will have links to other web sites with similar content. For example, a blog about pets may have several links to web sites that relate to pet care or topics in addition to other bloggers web sites that write about pets. There are two types of blogs, a personal blog or a business blog.
Small businesses can benefit a great deal from regular blogging and swapping links. As a matter of fact, many companies pay writers to blog for them. Companies, media outlets such as television stations, radio stations and newspapers are all getting into the blogging craze. The media can use a blog to give their readers up to the minute updates about stories and events from around the world.
Business blogging gives a company an inexpensive means for sharing their knowledge with other businesses and consumers. Blogging can also help businesses better communicate with their employees with time spent emailing and sending out frequent memos. Also, when a business swaps links with other businesses, those links can help increase traffic to their site. This a great form of inexpensive advertising for a company. There are many online companies that offer free or low cost blog sites to anyone who wishes to use them. Some companies may opt for a more professional blog site and hire web designers for this type of job.
Other benefits of link swapping and blogging to the business are that these types of sites offer ways to show up on search engines. When a web site has more links from link swapping, one keyword search may produce several results leading straight to the company’s blog page. Blogging for businesses is becoming increasingly popular and is proving to be a very good way for business to get the word out about their company.
For anyone who wishes to start blogging and to join in link swapping, there are many free blog sites available for personal use. Most blogging web sites offer easy set up and most can be easily customized to fit the personal tastes of the blogger. In addition, most of these blog sites make it very easy to include links for the specific purpose of link swapping.
Blogging for personal can vary a great deal from person to person. Some choose to use their blog as a way to record their inner most thoughts and feelings. Sharing a blog is optional and many people choose to keep their thoughts private. For those who are not afraid to let the world read their writing, public blogging is also popular. Blogging and link swapping is also an ideal way for large families to stay in touch with each other. Most blog sites even offer picture-hosting options to share not only your writing, but your photos as well. Link swapping provides an easy way for those wishing to share their stories to get the message out.
Whether you want to blog for pleasure or for business, you can use your blog along with link swapping to get the word out about what you have to say. Blogging and link swapping offer a beneficial way for personal users and businesses to share their world with others.
When you blog or record your thoughts online, you have the option of making your blog site private or sharing your site with others. Some choose to use a blog more like a personal diary, while other people want to get as many readers on their site as possible. One easy way to increase traffic on your blog site is to link swap. Link swapping is fairly simple and only requires that you have an agreement with other bloggers or websites to put your link on their site in exchange for the same from them. Link swapping is a perfect way to help increase the readership on your blog.
Most of the time, link swapping on blogs will have links to other web sites with similar content. For example, a blog about pets may have several links to web sites that relate to pet care or topics in addition to other bloggers web sites that write about pets. There are two types of blogs, a personal blog or a business blog.
Small businesses can benefit a great deal from regular blogging and swapping links. As a matter of fact, many companies pay writers to blog for them. Companies, media outlets such as television stations, radio stations and newspapers are all getting into the blogging craze. The media can use a blog to give their readers up to the minute updates about stories and events from around the world.
Business blogging gives a company an inexpensive means for sharing their knowledge with other businesses and consumers. Blogging can also help businesses better communicate with their employees with time spent emailing and sending out frequent memos. Also, when a business swaps links with other businesses, those links can help increase traffic to their site. This a great form of inexpensive advertising for a company. There are many online companies that offer free or low cost blog sites to anyone who wishes to use them. Some companies may opt for a more professional blog site and hire web designers for this type of job.
Other benefits of link swapping and blogging to the business are that these types of sites offer ways to show up on search engines. When a web site has more links from link swapping, one keyword search may produce several results leading straight to the company’s blog page. Blogging for businesses is becoming increasingly popular and is proving to be a very good way for business to get the word out about their company.
For anyone who wishes to start blogging and to join in link swapping, there are many free blog sites available for personal use. Most blogging web sites offer easy set up and most can be easily customized to fit the personal tastes of the blogger. In addition, most of these blog sites make it very easy to include links for the specific purpose of link swapping.
Blogging for personal can vary a great deal from person to person. Some choose to use their blog as a way to record their inner most thoughts and feelings. Sharing a blog is optional and many people choose to keep their thoughts private. For those who are not afraid to let the world read their writing, public blogging is also popular. Blogging and link swapping is also an ideal way for large families to stay in touch with each other. Most blog sites even offer picture-hosting options to share not only your writing, but your photos as well. Link swapping provides an easy way for those wishing to share their stories to get the message out.
Whether you want to blog for pleasure or for business, you can use your blog along with link swapping to get the word out about what you have to say. Blogging and link swapping offer a beneficial way for personal users and businesses to share their world with others.
Jumat, 21 Januari 2011
Problogging: Making Money From Blogs Starting Now!
A weblog (or simply blog) is a website that 'publishes' or features articles (which are called 'blog posts', 'posts', or 'entries'), written by an individual or a group that make use of any or a combination of the following:
· Straight texts
· Photographs or images (photoblog)
· Video (videoblog)
· Audio files (audioblog)
· Hyperlinks
Usually presented and arranged in reverse chronological order, blogs are essentially used for the following purposes:
· Online journal or a web diary
· Content managament system
· Online publishing platform
A typical blog has the following components:
· Post date -the date and time of the blog entry
· Category - the category that the blog belongs to
· Title - the title of the blog
· Main body - the main content of the blog
· RSS and trackback - links the blog back from other sites
· Comments - commentaries that are added by readers
· Permalinks - the URL of the full article
· Other optional items - calendar, archives, blogrolls, and add-ons or plug-ins
A blog can also have a footer, usually found at the bottom of the blog, that shows the post date, the author, the category, and the 'stats' (the nubmer of comments or trackbacks).
There are numerous types of blogs. Some of them are the following:
1. Political blog - on news, politics, activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).
2. Personal blog - also known as online diary that may include an individual's day-to-day experience, complaints, poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends.
3. Topical blog - with focus either on a particular niche (function or position) that is usually technical in nature or a local information.
4. Health blog - on specific health issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features medical news from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases.
5. Literary blog - also known as litblog.
6. Travel blog - with focus on a traveler's stories on a particular journey.
7. Research blog - on academic issues such as research notes.
8. Legal blog - on law (technical areas) and legal affairs; also known as 'blawgs'.
9. Media blog - focus on falsehoods or inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a television network.
10. Religious blog - on religious topics
11. Educational blog - on educational applications, usually written by students and teachers.
12. Collaborative or collective blog - a specific topic written by a group of people.
13. Directory blog - contains a collection of numerous web sites.
14. Business blog - used by entrepreneurs and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their work.
15. Personification blog - focus on non-human being or objects (such as dogs).
16. Spam blogs - used for promoting affiliated websites; also known as 'splogs'.
Blogging is typically done on a regular (almost daily) basis. The term "blogging" refers to the act of authoring, maintaining, or adding an article to an existing blog, while the term "blogger" refers to a person or a group who keeps a blog.
Today, more than 3 million blogs can be found in the Internet. This figure is continuously growing, as the availability of various blog software, tools, and other applications make it easier for just about anyone to update or maintain the blog (even those with little or no technical background). Because of this trend, bloggers can now be categorized into 4 main types:
· Personal bloggers - people who focus on a diary or on any topic that an individual feels strongly about.
· Business bloggers - people who focus on promoting products and services.
· Organizational bloggers - people who focus on internal or external communication in an organization or a community.
· Professional bloggers - people who are hired or paid to do blogging.
Problogging (professional blogging) refers to blogging for a profit. Probloggers (professional bloggers) are people who make money from blogging (as an individual blog publisher or a hired blogger).
Below are just some of the many money-making opportunities for probloggers:
· Advertising programs
· RSS advertising
· Sponsorship
· Affiliate Programs
· Digital assets
· Blog network writing gigs
· Business blog writing gigs
· Non blogging writing gigs
· Donations
· Flipping blogs
· Merchandising
· Consulting and speaking
The following are a few things that you need to consider if you want to be successful in problogging:
1. Be patient. Problogging requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention a long-term vision.
2. Know your audience. Targeting a specific audience or group is a key to building a readership.
3. Be an 'expert'. Focus on a specific niche topic and strive to be the "go-to" blogger on that topic.
4. Diversify. Experiment with various add and affiliate programs that enable you to make money online (aside from blogging).
5. Do not bore your readers. Focus on the layout. White spaces, line spacings, and bigger fonts make a blog welcoming to read.
Certainly, it is possible to earn money from blogs. One just needs to take risks, the passion, and the right attitude in order to be a successful problogger.
· Straight texts
· Photographs or images (photoblog)
· Video (videoblog)
· Audio files (audioblog)
· Hyperlinks
Usually presented and arranged in reverse chronological order, blogs are essentially used for the following purposes:
· Online journal or a web diary
· Content managament system
· Online publishing platform
A typical blog has the following components:
· Post date -the date and time of the blog entry
· Category - the category that the blog belongs to
· Title - the title of the blog
· Main body - the main content of the blog
· RSS and trackback - links the blog back from other sites
· Comments - commentaries that are added by readers
· Permalinks - the URL of the full article
· Other optional items - calendar, archives, blogrolls, and add-ons or plug-ins
A blog can also have a footer, usually found at the bottom of the blog, that shows the post date, the author, the category, and the 'stats' (the nubmer of comments or trackbacks).
There are numerous types of blogs. Some of them are the following:
1. Political blog - on news, politics, activism, and other issue based blogs (such as campaigning).
2. Personal blog - also known as online diary that may include an individual's day-to-day experience, complaints, poems, and illicit thoughts, and communications between friends.
3. Topical blog - with focus either on a particular niche (function or position) that is usually technical in nature or a local information.
4. Health blog - on specific health issues. Medical blog is a major category of health blog that features medical news from health care professionals and/or actual patient cases.
5. Literary blog - also known as litblog.
6. Travel blog - with focus on a traveler's stories on a particular journey.
7. Research blog - on academic issues such as research notes.
8. Legal blog - on law (technical areas) and legal affairs; also known as 'blawgs'.
9. Media blog - focus on falsehoods or inconsistencies in mass media; usually exclusive for a newspaper or a television network.
10. Religious blog - on religious topics
11. Educational blog - on educational applications, usually written by students and teachers.
12. Collaborative or collective blog - a specific topic written by a group of people.
13. Directory blog - contains a collection of numerous web sites.
14. Business blog - used by entrepreneurs and corporate employees to promote their businesses or talk about their work.
15. Personification blog - focus on non-human being or objects (such as dogs).
16. Spam blogs - used for promoting affiliated websites; also known as 'splogs'.
Blogging is typically done on a regular (almost daily) basis. The term "blogging" refers to the act of authoring, maintaining, or adding an article to an existing blog, while the term "blogger" refers to a person or a group who keeps a blog.
Today, more than 3 million blogs can be found in the Internet. This figure is continuously growing, as the availability of various blog software, tools, and other applications make it easier for just about anyone to update or maintain the blog (even those with little or no technical background). Because of this trend, bloggers can now be categorized into 4 main types:
· Personal bloggers - people who focus on a diary or on any topic that an individual feels strongly about.
· Business bloggers - people who focus on promoting products and services.
· Organizational bloggers - people who focus on internal or external communication in an organization or a community.
· Professional bloggers - people who are hired or paid to do blogging.
Problogging (professional blogging) refers to blogging for a profit. Probloggers (professional bloggers) are people who make money from blogging (as an individual blog publisher or a hired blogger).
Below are just some of the many money-making opportunities for probloggers:
· Advertising programs
· RSS advertising
· Sponsorship
· Affiliate Programs
· Digital assets
· Blog network writing gigs
· Business blog writing gigs
· Non blogging writing gigs
· Donations
· Flipping blogs
· Merchandising
· Consulting and speaking
The following are a few things that you need to consider if you want to be successful in problogging:
1. Be patient. Problogging requires a lot of time and effort, not to mention a long-term vision.
2. Know your audience. Targeting a specific audience or group is a key to building a readership.
3. Be an 'expert'. Focus on a specific niche topic and strive to be the "go-to" blogger on that topic.
4. Diversify. Experiment with various add and affiliate programs that enable you to make money online (aside from blogging).
5. Do not bore your readers. Focus on the layout. White spaces, line spacings, and bigger fonts make a blog welcoming to read.
Certainly, it is possible to earn money from blogs. One just needs to take risks, the passion, and the right attitude in order to be a successful problogger.
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