The Good, The Blog & The Ugly: Make Your Business Blog a Success
July 29, 2008
Blogging started off as a fun way to share about yourself and showcase your personal passions. Now it is becoming more common to use blogs as tool in business to further your marketing or public relations strategy. There are ways to do this well and there are certainly pitfalls to avoid when using Blogs.
This article will show you how to do that so you can make sure your Blog is one of the Good ones, not one of the ‘Ugly’ or downright commercially dangerous ones.
Principle 1: Blog Responsibly
Be careful that employees don’t reveal sensitive company information on your blog. You don’t want one of your employees blogging about an upcoming marketing strategy to one of your competitors. This could spell disaster for your business.
Principle 2: Know thyself and thy blogging
Once upon a time, blogs were like online diaries with notes, entries, comments and questions. These days there are some groundbreaking blogs out there using very innovative multi-media strategies. As well as knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, stay in tune with what other people are doing and incorporate some new ideas into your own blogging.
(General Motors’ blog is a great example: http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/).
Principle 3: Know thy enemy blogger
Knowing your own abilities, limitations and the available technology is good, but not good enough. You need to also know who you’re competing with. You should therefore follow the advice of Cory Miller when he suggests that we “study the great blogs and learn what makes them great.” By studying successful competitor blogs, we learn why they are successful, how we can adopt their strategy and how to improve upon it, thus drawing more attention to ourselves. It’s dog eats dog out there, or rather, blog eat blog.
Principle 4: Blog effectively
Get clear on when a blogging strategy is effective and when it is not the most optimal approach. Thomas Nelson Publishing recommends that employees host company blogs themselves rather than hosting at the company level. This strategy creates separation between the company and individual blogs. However, especially in a smaller workplace, it may be better to allow employees to blog directly on the company site as it projects more of a ‘family feel’. In this instance, employee education as to what is and isn’t appropriate would be a necessity.
Principle 5: Blog with Vision
Keep your eyes on the broader picture when blogging. Where is blogging heading? What are the future trends? How can your business take advantage of them? When you do this and implement new strategies, you can be leader not a follower in the world of blogging.
Principle 6: Blog with Depth
The 6th principle is to blog with depth. This means to blog with your marketing strategy and purpose firmly in mind. Remember, a blog is there to serve your marketing and overall business strategy and is only a tool to do that- it is not an end in itself. When you look at it from this perspective you will know what to do, what not do, and what to definitely avoid.
Principle 7: Keep note of blogging details
The more attention you pay to what is happening on your blog, the more effective it will be. It’s just like a pot plant - the more energy and attention you give it, the better it will grow.
Principle 8: Avoid blog overuse
Don’t’ blog just for the sake of it. Make sure you are blogging with purpose and in conjunction with other effective marketing strategies. Remember, there are a host of other internet marketing strategies that are equally effective and can be used in conjunction with blogging. Explore them all and create a multi faceted strategy that clearly makes your company the preeminent force in your field.
The main trick to successful blogging is to understand what is happening in the world of blogging, what you think is going to happen and also to use your blog carefully so as to avoid any negative outcomes. Following the 8 Principles will help to ensure your blogging is successful.
If you’re thinking about starting an external blog for your company, you might want to lay down a few rules for employees regarding safe blogging, since it can be read by anyone. Examples range from avoiding slander to divulging sensitive company secrets and product information.
Many people set up their blog with a free blogging service such as www.blogger.com. I suggest that you use your own domain to operate your blog using Wordpress or Movable Type. This gives you much more power and flexibility when creating your blog.
http://www.wordpress.org http://www.movabletype.org/
Both these services provide an abundance of help and support materials. You’ll be a successful blogger before you know it!
Staying Updated With Blogs
July 29, 2008
Now that most people have the internet, the local news doesn’t do it for them. We would like to see local stories covered in more depth that local TV news can provide. Alternatively, perhaps you enjoy being aware of local events but you despise having to adhere to a time schedule. In order to get information about the new story you have to hear forty minutes of bad reviews that you have viewed previously.
It is fortuante that so many can keep informed through the numerous blogs that are now available online. When you are online, you can also find broadcasters from your favorite TV stations. Since many news blogs are categorized by topic, they are a great resource for those who want to learn more about a certain topic. There has been a recent flood in the United States of blogs dedicated to political opinions. American politics of today are largely influenced by political opinion and blogs.
But blogs aren’t limited to just politics. You can even find bloggers commenting on recent news events. When the US was bombing Iraq bloggers of Iraqi citizens were very popular. This is where blogs really give the reader the real information from someone who is there at the scene. It’s pretty obvious that traditional media like the news on TV is controlled by big business. Content is very filtered before it gets to you. I don’t know about you but I don’t like my news filtered by anyone.
In order to stay on top of the latest events and posts, you are able to utilize a blog RSS feed. Get all your favorite blog updates at once for free with Google Reader.
People who have set up an account at google have access to their favorite RSS feeds on their personalized google home page. This same service is offered by Yahoo. This is probably the most convenient way to get your favorites blogs. Viewers that provide a variety of options to show and filter what you have selected to view can be downloaded and installed on your computer.
If you prefer you can receive your feed by email too. Most blogs offer this kind of service and you will get an update daily (or as often as the author updates it) on your inbox. This is too a good way to stay at the top of the news of the themes that most interest you. Personally this is my favorite way to receive updates, since I always check my email several times during the day.
You can contact the blogger to request that he supply some of these options on his blog, if they’re not already there. This type of service is normally generously offered to their readers. However, you just need to activate these options since most blog software have these as defaults.
Presently, I am more inclined to read blogs than to watch the news because I like to be informed without having to sit through commercials.
David Parnell’s 3 step system to a lifetime of residual income
July 29, 2008
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The GDI Residual Wealth Factor Marketing System Blog is for you! Use it as a tool to build your GDI downline tree business. Remember you can earn income for life with Global Domains International. Even though this blog is geared to help your GDI downline grow it will have invaluable material to help your mlm businesses explode!
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Money Blogs: How to Start a Blogging Business
July 29, 2008
People become bloggers for various reasons. Financial rewards, the desire to share knowledge and news or simply to tell people about their own personal interests are some of the more obvious reasons fuelling many bloggers. In fact, there are plenty of who have made big money and there are a multitude of others aspiring to achieve the same results.
Today, the blogger will have many choices how he wishes to monetize his or her blog. Selling ad spaces or placing affiliate links are just two of the thousands of creative ways you can make money. There is potential to make money from new ways to monetize a blog if you are creative. However, without the affectionately referred to ‘big T’, these monetization options will definitely not work. So what is the mysterious big T? You probably guessed it right - traffic!
If you have enough traffic coming to your blog, you can start using some of these suggestions to make money from it. PayPerPost and ReviewMe are two good ways to start making money. These are easy to start since they do not require you to have a certain amount of traffic before you can get started. They are excellent programs for busy bloggers Try writing review for others, for a charge, as another way to make money from blogging option.
This is a tried and tested method to earn money fast. Do take care of these important points before you start. One mistake is to post only when you have a review to make. A lot of sponsored posts often lead traffic away, make your website less attractive, and reduce your credibility; make sure that you accept only the reviews related to the blogs that you’re making.
You will have more options if the revenue is based on the reader’s actions, purchases, and participation. Affiliate programs are good example of this principle in action. With this option, you should have the ability to incorporate the existing contents of your blogs with the offers that let you earn money. If you blog on credit repair, then use anchor links to link to products that are relevant. You can expect great results in a short time. Check out NeverBlueAds, AzoogleAds, Share-a-Sale, and Commission Junction for some great offers; you can find one that is right for you by checking out their websites.
Opt for content based advertising if you prefer a less intrusive form. This program will use the contents to generate ads. The Yahoo advertising and Google Adsense are good examples of ad networks using such systems.
You can join into the league of successful people making a regular income through this system. It means that every time a person visits your blog(s), you have a chance of earning; large amounts of cash are possible if you incorporate them into your site. You will also be able to provide your audience with related content they may find quite useful.
Start right now and investigate a few of the money making ideas you like the best and find one that fits the bill. You can notice some similar qualities in all successful bloggers. Your talent can be turned into a money making opportunity online. Start blogging today and make some good money from your effort.
Is SEO Blogging Software All It’s Cracked up to Be?
July 29, 2008
If you want your website to be optimized to the max then you should consider SEO blogging software. It really does work. There are three primary things with blogging software that can help your site become more successful. These things include a statistical analysis tool, the ability to integrate RSS feeds, and social bookmarking. When you use your blog software for these three purposes your site will be effective and generate the traffic you were hoping for.
Blogging software might take a lot of time to learn and seem frustrating and difficult. It might even seem a little out of your budget because your business didn’t plan for the cost of something like this. SEO blogging software shouldn’t be left out of the mix when you are planning and designing your website. It is worth the cost.
One of the best things integrated into SEO blogging software is a statistical analysis tool. This lets you track how successful your blogging efforts are. You can also find these tools on the Internet. If you implement this tool into your blog, you’ll have a counter and an analyzing tool that will tell you how well your blogging efforts are being recognized, thus increasing the visibility of your business.
When you use SEO blogging software it will also help you integrate RSS feeds into your blog. This is popular today. RSS feeds put a live feed for a user on the desktop of their computer and whenever the business makes changes to their site then the users get a live notification on-the-fly. This makes it easy for the users not to have to log into the site every hour or so if they are watching a site closely. Readers favor RSS feeds over logging into email continuously and other methods because it is very convenient.
When you’ve used your SEO blogging software to integrate analytical tools for your site and to incorporate RSS feeds into your site, too, you’ll need to utilize and social bookmarking. What this means that you need to be active about your site and basically “blog” about your blog.
Think about your blog posts and put your software to use generating more readers. This will give you the ability to promote your blog posts to other bloggers as well, which will in turn generate more traffic for your site. Social bookmarking is imperative, because it will get other bloggers talking about your site. This, in turn, will give you surprising results.
When you integrate analysis tools in your blog through SEO blogging software this will allow you see the results of your blog. You can analyze what methods work best for you and which methods of blogging don’t work at all. This will help you optimize your site for maximum traffic and success.
RSS feeds also need to be integrated into your website so that your readers can have instant updates as to what’s going on. People like to be notified to a live feed rather than having to check their e-mail or to go into your website because it’s much more convenient for them.
Anything & Everything - Blogging Makes It All Fun
July 29, 2008
Web publishing has a new face because of the blogging art. Just a few years ago, producing websites were considered to be extremely technical and couldn’t be done by a novice. But today, it’s a whole different story. Even an amateur who has very little knowledge about the web can create websites and publish them easily, because of blogs.
With blogging came the ability to make maximum use of the internet. Online democracy took on a whole new meaning and increased interactivity, social networking and communication among global communities. The introduction of RSS feeds contribute further to this, by broadcasting and making use of the direct advertising and promoting opportunities.
The simplicity of blogging reached new heights with email marketing and network building. The previous need for mass mailing software, auto responders and direct online adversing took a backseat with the introduction of blogging. A blog owner can even find subscribers and plenty of backlinks without resorting to the countless link exchange techniques and newsletter offers.
Blogging is now a way to make money, both through affiliate marketing and actual product placements. Currently, most businesses maintain blogs to promote their specific industry and get visitors to their sites to sell products and services.
A blog is a place to express thoughts. Anyone can maintain a blog and talk about anything they feel like. Choosing a topic for a blog is easy, especially if you know what you would like to talk about. Some individuals prefer to write for blogs which talk about just about anything. These blogs are highly interesting and engaging to a reader, because the content is varied and the shared ideas keep flowing all the time.
Some blogs are specialised, such as travel, business, advertising, computer technology etc. These are enjoyable when you are interested in that exact field. A blog with anything and everything is very appealing to everyone, because the content is varied and anyone can join in at some point.
There are blogs which allow guest authors to contribute interesting write-ups. General readers are also enticed to participate in blogging, to make it more lively and conversational. Comments, suggestions and forums are commonly available, in relation to blogs. Such blogs are able to increase the worldwide community participation to great heights.
You can write a blog for money or just for fun and you can be a blogger regardless of who you are and what you do. Blogging can be done throughout each day or just a few hours every week. It gives some simple joy, encourages online socialising and provides information. Blogging is the new way of getting the global communities together and the introduction of audio and video blogs have made blogs even more popular.
What is Blogging and How Do Get Started?
July 29, 2008
A blog is a lot like an online journal, but it can be written by a number of people, or by just one person. Each post is written on a website in chronological order, but usually displayed in reverse order. The term ‘blogging’ or ‘blog’ can also be used as a verb to imply an action - in other words, that of posting a comment on a blog.
The term ‘blog’ is derived from Jorn Barger’s term ‘weblog’ and is said to have sprung into being when Peter Merholz separated it into the two words ‘we blog’ on his site as a joke.
When people communicate using a blog, they are likely discussing a specific subject of interest for them. So, if anyone wishes to learn what’s the best red widget to buy for his boat, others will write in with their comment on how that particular widget worked - or didn’t work. Blogs are ideal for uncovering what other folk’s experiences have been with whatever you can think of.
If some person is knowledgeable on some topic with plenty of experience that other people can benefit from, then he may start up a blog about it and offer advice. They may also offer links to other websites that promote items applicable to the area of expertise. Also he may offer links to other blogs or other articles about the same topic.
Blogs utilize both images and text, even so, some blogs emphasize art (artblog), videos (vlog), photographs (photoblog) and audio, that is, podcasting or MP3. Blogs can be short or long, but those that are very short are referred to as micro-blogging. Blogs are usually updated several times a day and the technology utilized today allows people who understand very little about it to become confident bloggers with just a brief learning curve.
In the early days of blogging, bloggers referred to themselves diarists, journalers, or even escribitionists. An article or comment placed on a blog is called a post, a blog post or an entry. Old blogs on a topic are sometimes referred to as ‘archives’ and may be maintained on a different page or pages that can be accessed via a hyperlink. There are occassionally a variety of links - like the index at the end of a book and they are located on the right or left of the blogging page.
The nice thing about blogging is that persons who have the same interests can all join together and talk about, getting familiar with each other (so to speak) at the same time.
Express Yourself Through Blogging
July 19, 2008
The freedom of speech and expression has a new facet now - blogs. No matter what you have on your mind, you can talk about it and have discussions, through your blog. Whether you want to talk about current affairs, have debates or discussions, talk about your favourite books or movies - no matter what you want to talk about, a blog is a great way to talk about it.
People may see you as opinionated or biased, but that’s partly the fun of having a blog to get things off your chest. An annoyance you had to face the day before or how you simply dislike having to wait in a queue, that blog is your place to say it. You’ll be surprised how many people tend to agree with what you have to say.
There are plenty of blogs that deal with serious topics and issues and might be opinionated. There are also blogs that will make you laugh, because they look at things you find every day with a completely new perspective. There are others that you might not agree with at all, but still might be true.
Comparatively, there are blogs which talk about daily incidents in a ‘reader-friendly’ tone, which visitors can participate in, pitch in with their opinions and generally make the blog lively and interesting.
Of course, keeping your blog updated and interesting is not easy - you will have to work at it. This is especially true if you deal with current affairs and hard news. This usually makes such blogs take second place to personal ones.
Most conversations in the real world consist of what happened to whom, where and how it effected others and all types of other gossip. These same conversations can be held through an interesting blog on the web. So, whether you want to express your opinions on world politics or simply complain to the world about how noisy your neighbour is, you can rave about it to your heart’s content in a blog.
You can even be a guest blogger on a blog that already gets hits. Or you can just jump into discussions with what you have to say. Inputs are usually welcome from everybody on blogs. Setting your worries outside and expressing yourself freely on a blog can be a great experience.
Personal interest blogs are making their mark in the vast web world and don’t miss out on the opportunity to get a dose of satisfaction by joining in on the fun.
Make Money Online With Your Own Wordpress Memberships Sites
July 17, 2008
Use totally free Wordpress plugins to create and start your own profitable Wordpress membership sites. Wordpress Membership Videos teach you how-to do it.
Wordpress is by far the easiest way to create your own income generating membership sites. A new set of videos have been created to show you, step by step videos show you how to create Wordpress membership sites in minutes. More information is available from the Wordpress Membership Videos website at http://WordpressMembershipVideos.com
Your main job is to create and provide quality content to your subscribers. Provide a great value and people will stay members for the long haul. There’s no easier and better way for you to make a steady income on the web than through membership sites. What you do is make a sale once and you get paid for the lifetime of each customer. Membership sites are very profitable.
The main problem many people encounter is getting started, ie. putting a membership site together. A lot of people have great ideas for a service or product but they get stuck on the membership angle. Wordpress Membership Videos solve that problem.
Some membership software that exists currently is quite expensive and complicated to use. From speaking with a number of beginners, I have found out that they are looking for something that doesn’t cost that much (below $40) or is free. They need something that will do the job for them and is easy to implement. That’s where Wordpress rises to the top.
Wordpress is great as a content management system (CMS). When you add the correct free plugins to Wordpress you will transform a simple Wordpress blog into turn it into a powerful membership site in just minutes. Wordpress is a powerful blogging system that can be used in many ways and as a membership site is just one of them.
A 4-part video series takes you by the hand through everything. One step at a time. Wordpress membership Videos takes the hard work out of creating membership sites. The hard works has already been done for you. The Wordpress Membership Videos package includes an important crucial plugin that transforms your Wordpress blog into a paid membership site. You have nothing more to buy.
In these videos you will learn everything from “How to install Wordpress using Cpanel and manually” all the way to “How to set up a single level recurring membership site.” You get flash videos, resale rights (so you sell the videos and make profits) and lots more. More information is available from the Wordpress Membership Videos website at http://WordpressMembershipVideos.com
They’ve been hiding the truth about copy writing
July 1, 2008
Whether you have a website to launch, an ebook to publish, or affiliate scheme to promote website copy writing is one of the most essential skills to have. If you’re promoting anything online you will need to create compelling copyto form articles, press releases and website content. But they’ve been hiding the truth from you!
They say you need a copy writer - they are wrong! Using a copywriter would spell disaster for your website! Their copy would be hollow and empty. Although punctuation perfect it would lack all your knowledge and passion that makes you unique and interesting.
They say your writing will never be professional - they are wrong! Professionals use writing tricks and tools that you can learn use in your own writing that same day.
They say you can’t write - they are wrong! If you’re struggling with writing content for your website, finding writing a business report a nightmare or would love to create a newsletter but don’t know how to start then don’t worry - it’s not your fault! There is a silent conspiracy working against you and it means that “they” make money because you can’t write as you would want to.
They don’t want you to know how to write so that you keep going back to them.
They are the dusty academics and academics that like to make you feel stupid when you make mistakes and they just love pointing them out. There may not be an official conspiracy with a secret HQ but it’s just as effective. For example, when have you ever heard a copywriter say “Here’s a better way of doing it that will save you time and money”?
The answer is probably never because they don’t want you to know how to write, they don’t want you to realise that you are the best person to create your copy and they don’t want it to be quick and easy. Then they bill you. Not only do they bill you they then keep you in this trap so that you go back for more and more.
It’s time to fight back and break free from this writing trap and start creating your own compelling copy. This will help you build a unique bond with your customer built on your passion and knowledge and their growing trust and respect in you. So fire that copy writer and take control of your own website!
