Blogging Realty

The Basics of Blogging and Web Site Creation - Part Two: Introduction To Keywords

2007-12-27T03:50:00.001-08:00

Okay so now we know content is king. And of course since we are creating our own blogs, (remember blogs is short slang for Weblogs - which is what their "formal and official" name is), most of our information is going to be "unique" and "Original". Yet every now and then, since we are only human, and since we simply cannot "create" more and more information, we will copy information from other web sites. That is cool. There is no problem with that, UNLESS, you decide that "copying" and/or "linking" is simply better and forego writing anything.

Now let me make this clear. If you are offering a service to people, where your main business is to offer out links to other places where people can get information, in other words you are a repository where people come to get links, because you already did all the research - that is fine. Because what you will loose in content, you will make up in "eyeballs" and "hits". Remember the end result of good search engine listings is just that. MORE HITS - MORE EYEBALLS - MORE PEOPLE VISITING. And content is not the only parameter an Search Engine looks at. Not by a long shot.

This is a critical point to keep in mind. Everything we will talk about, every method, from content to email to lists to whatever, (hehe my most unfavorite word in the English language pops in - Whatever - see my post on that word in my blog), has but one goal in mind. To consistently and constantly increase and build your website "hits". To make sure you have an ever-growing "fan" club "motivated" because of the service you are offering, to come back. So please differentiate between the end goal and the methods. Content (discussed in our first article) is a method towards the goal of getting listed in a good position on a search engine, and the goal is to have people use and come to your web site or blog, and create a "buzz" about it. (We will talk about this much later in our series.)
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

Let us go back to content for a moment. Here we are talking about something that all writers know about and are familiar with. Text, words, phrases. Original, unique text.

So in order to continue on our own fairly logical path, we will now concentrate on the "text" and what has to be in it. Which brings us to the subject of "keywords". Before explaining just what these are and either their importance or total invalidity and worthlessness these days, (and this is up for debate) let us define keywords more carefully.
Tip! Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

If you have a website selling hair beauty aids, you will want to sell your material writing content around what you are selling. Obviously if you write something about the difference between different models of dishwashers, this is not going to relate to the "subject matter" and content of your site. So you will write articles around your hair supplies. You will write articles on good hair care, on how to dye your hair, how to get rid of split-ends, how often to shampoo etc. etc.

Our magic hair website is called "Hair Is Not Forever", and it is at www.hairisnotforever.com (I have no clue if such a site exists so please don't try that link!) But this is our site for now and we will keep it as we go along. hairisnotforever also has a blog. This blog we will call "SilkyFairHair" and we will put it, for the sake of our example in blogger.com under the name of the proprietor who is aptly named Mr. Nor Hair. So now we have as follows:
Tip! Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

1. Web Site - Hair Forever @ www.hairisnotforever.com (this URL is fictional) 2. Blog - SilkyFairHair @ http://norhair.bl.com (this URL is fictional)

These names ARE important and so are the URL's. (URL stands for Universal Resource Locater). So keep them in mind as we go along through these articles especially when I get to the article on the importance of finding the right name.

So Mr. Nor Hair and his wife, Mrs. Purple Hair work together. They create the site, get all the necessary stuff to sell something on it, write a couple of articles about hair and sit back and wait for the people to come beating their "virtual" door down. Well as we say in Hebrew, "Boker Tov" (which literally means "Good Morning"), or as you say in English, "Knock. Knock. Good Morning! Anyone Home?"
Tip! Submit Your RSS Feed - Regardless of which blogging platform you choose, you'll have an RSS feed included. After making your initial blog post, submit your RSS feed to blog and feed directories.

Okay the Hair couple know about keywords. So they create articles in which EVERY sentence has the word hair in it (or balding). But hair is the name of the game. They make sure their content is original, and once they have written two HTML pages of hair articles, strategically placed by their cousin the graphic artist (who is bald) around the advertisements for hair products and now they think they are done!

Woah! Not by a LONG SHOT! And here is where it gets depressing for the uninitiated and non-dedicated people.

Let us deal with the "keyword" issue. Keywords are like indices or if you wish, categories. A keyword is something that the search engine will look for and validate (in our day), to use as one of the parameters as to how to list your site.

The keywords we refer to are in two distinct and totally different places. The first in the page header of the site. in what is known as the section for "meta" tags. We will deal with meta tags in a different article, however let us just say these are the keywords most search engine look for (with their "bots") when visiting your site. An example meta tag for keywords on our site may look like this:
Tip! It is essential that corporate seek legal counsel to develop blogging policies such that information shared and posted in blogs can be informative without too much censor as well as comply and conform to the Sarbanes-Oxley rules and other regulations that govern information exchange.

< BLOCKQUOTE>< META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="hair, hair products, hair grooming, baldness, going bald, shampoo, conditioner, hair color, dying hair, split-ends, split ends, hair life, beautiful hair, luxurious hair">

Again in our article(s) on meta tags we will discuss these keywords, and meta tags, but for now take it as a given these are some of the keywords that will be in the meta tag.

When the Search Engine technology first became popular and meta tags were implemented, the keywords tag was critical. Search Engines looked at the keywords in the meta tag and assumed that was what the site was about and listed the site under those keywords. This was caught on to immediately, and humans being the crafty devils they are, began listing keywords that had nothing to do with their sites in order to drive traffic to the site. (Remember - the end result is the oh-so-important one: Hits & Eyeballs)
Tip! Clean, powerful interface- This blogging software has simple interface that makes it easier for new users to get started and offers advanced users the power and control they need. Customization of interface is possible by adding links.

So porn sites especially, adopting this as yet another "fool the engine" technique, would put keywords like "hair", "technology" etc. into their meta tags, and give the site an innocuous name and voila, more traffic.

So in the never-ending battle Search Engines caught on, and did a few things. They deprecated the importance of the keywords in the meta tags according to their algorithms, UNLESS the content on the site actually did match the keywords. Of course, this was not enough as porn sites will put "real" content around their stuff. I will give you a REAL example which I find funny, but it is very serious.

In one of my posts on my blog, you can see my bio which is picked up by search engines. The other day I received an email from an old flame of mine saying "I freaked out. I googled you, under Ted Gross Writer, and you are connected with a site about tushy's!" So I go and Google it, and sure enough in like the fifth position is this: "Ted Gross's Unofficial Bio - The Real Version by Tushy" and of course I click and get led to another site (no url here as I do not want to publicize that site for obvious reasons) and I come to a porn site which ripped off, out of all the content on the internet, MY profile to place around their porn adverts. UGH! But you see that is how crafty people are!
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

(Here we are not going to talk about "splogs" - meaning "spam blogs" yet. But keep it in mind.)

Okay now what happens - not in theory but in practice.

Two scenarios:

1. You have keywords in your meta tag (and you should have them!) The little Search Engine "bot" (that is a software program whose job it is to travel around the Internet, never sleeps and never eats and gets into all those porn sites too!, and picks up information on ALL sites so the information can be categorized), comes to our site of hairisnotforever and reads the keywords on the page. Then this little bot makes a snapshot of the web page. Then the algorithms take over and match the keywords in the meta tags to the text and stuff on your site. (Remember Search Engines don't "see", they are NOT visual (males are visually oriented not Search Engines!) so graphics are not taken into account unless you use the alt tag.) The algorithms get more and more sophisticated as time goes on and they look for content, keywords, phrases etc. (Remember original content!)
Tip! Create blogging policies. In any medium where an employee is sharing information, there is the possibility of leaking trade secrets or financial information.

2. You have no keywords in your meta tag so the engine just looks at your content.

So our happy couple figures okay lets put the word hair say, in every sentence at least three times. NO! Don't do that. Overuse of a keyword is a red-flag to a Search Engine and you will be penalized for it! It should be used and used frequently, but NOT overused.

Now when you Google for hair products using the word "balding", the Search Engine has the keyword, and based upon a million parameters decides what position for that specific keyword, hairisnotforever will have, and feeds it out.

So our couple figures what the hell. We will also sell mascara, and they put in a picture advert and the word mascara in their keywords, without having any content for it. Well then www.hairisnotforever.com will probably be listed as the last of the last of the last for anyone looking for "mascara". So for this lesson the formula is:
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

"Content+Keywords in the content+Keywords in Meta tag."

Copyright 2006 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.) Ted W. Gross's very popular blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind contains daily updated posts and articles on technology and writing. He also owns Amor Enterprises which maintains Virgin Earth Article Submissions which is designed to accept articles about any country or place in the world. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.

10 Tips to Better Business Blogging

2007-12-27T03:49:00.002-08:00

Blogging opens up a new way of communication, but having a blog is just the beginning of a journey to the exciting blogosphere. Owning a business blog is entirely different than a personal blog. If you are just starting out, expect to make mistakes, but don't give up!

It helps to think about the growth of a blog as exponential. Well, not all of them end up like that. But especially if your company is not a popular brand, your blog will grow somewhat slowly in the first few months or even a year. The good news is, if you stick at it for long enough, it will snowball and bring great impact to your marketing.

First time bloggers need to understand this: business blogs which are here for the long haul require a lot of work and time. Consistency and frequency are two most important keys to building a great blog and attracting an audience. A blogger who underestimates this will more than likely be throwing all their efforts down the drain.

Here are 10 tips to use and promote your blog:

1) Write like you talk. Don't talk at your readers, but in a personal tone like you talk to a friend. A good trick to do this is by defining a clear target market and then takes it down further to an individual. Every time you blog, write to the person as if you are talking to him/her.

2) Choose the right person to blog. A blogger should know your company or the topics you want to blog about inside out. No one knows your business and market like you, but if for some reason you can't do it, delegate to one - or a group of bloggers - who know your business. The right person may not even be somebody in marketing, but possibly could be in customer support or a technical person.
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

3) Post regularly. Frequency matters, after some time as you establish an audience, readers expect you to post content often. That's the reason they come back to your blog or subscribe to your RSS feed. Consistency creates stickiness.

4) Bloggers are generous linkers. Do link to other posts, news resources, authority sites and give credit where credit is due. Doing this appropriately can help you in building relationships with other bloggers in your industry. Bloggers appreciate the links and will often link back.

5) Encourage feedback and conversation. Commenting is one of the most unique features of a blog. If you keep people for writing comments on your blog, they will do that on their own blog. Use trackback when necessary to continue the conversation.

6) Know your keywords. Having the right keywords can help your ranking and is one of the important on-page factors for search engine optimization. A keyword or key phrase is basically what people enter into search engines like Google and Yahoo! to find you. Common places search engine robot look for keywords are in the title, various heading tags, body copy, text formats, and link texts.
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

7) Add supporting pictures. Visual content improves a blog, but should enhance what you write in the post. Using a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) blog editor, you can do this without having to know any HTML code, and are very easy once you begin.
Tip! Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

8) Promote your blog consistently. Renew your signature file to point to your blog, tell your newsletter readers about it, promote it in your presentations, talk about it on the next networking event, and so on.

9) Encourage RSS/Atom feed subscription. There are always people who like your blog on the first visit, but forget about it tomorrow. If you hook them with your blog's RSS/Atom feed, your content will be syndicated automatically the next time you update your blog and chances are better they will remember you.

10) Socialize. Blogging is essentially a social tool. While you can involve in discussion across multiple blogs, networking propels your efforts to the next level. Bloggers tend to link to other blogs they know.
Tip! Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

No one can build a successful blog overnight, unless he/she is a very influential or a famous person. Don't blog just because your colleague says that it is going to be the trend.

Blogging requires a lot of resources, but if done properly, can be a great marketing medium from which you can reap later. A blog extends your marketing reach to the next level, but remember, it should be used in addition to other marketing strategies.

Hendry Lee helps business owners integrate technologies into their marketing. He actively blogs about Small Business Blogging. Subscribe to Blog Tips for Business to receive short and practical tips to start and get the most out of your blog.

The Basics of Blogging and Web Site Creation - Part One: Content Is King

2007-12-27T03:49:00.001-08:00

My fellow writers at the Absolute Writers Forum (known lovingly as the AW Water Cooler or just Cooler) are the reason for these next series of articles so I wish to thank them.

In the next few series of articles, I will try and deal with some of the very basic technical jargon and skills that one needs when facing this daunting world of web-site creation, blogging and getting listed and noticed by the Search Engines. Some of this I take from things I posted at AW and others from my own articles on Web Creation and still others from my own blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind (see resource for URL).

Let us start with the few important factors that are required today on the web. There are quadrillions of articles on this, most very poorly written, but the message is always the same.

On the web today, "content is king". But that is not all their is to that rule. Let us change it a bit to fit the reality of the web, search engines, and the sophisticated algorithms being deployed by the search engine trinity of: Google, Yahoo & MSN.

"Content is King, but Original Content is the King of Kings."

Okay - that is the first cardinal rule you MUST understand about the web today. Now what does this mean?

There are essentially three factors in this equation:

1. You must have content - words, phrases, information - on your web site.

2. You should have "original" content on your web site. This is content which either you have created or have gotten permission to reproduce on your web site. It should be "original". Copying content from a web site, and putting it in your blog, where that content has been reproduced in thousands of other web-sites, is not going to help your Google ranking (and you may even be penalized for it.) This does NOT mean that everything, every single phrase and post and article you put up on the web has to be original and not repeated elsewhere. What it does mean though, is that the majority of your web site or blog should be just that - YOURS.
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

3. Your content should constantly grow. You should be adding to it on a daily or bi-daily basis. Stagnant blogs and web sites are noticed for being stagnant - dead. They drop so fast in Search Engine (search engine) rankings you have no clue! Web sites demand nurturing and work. They do NOT run on auto mode. (Just look at how much time you spend with your blog!)
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

Now as to why and how.

Search Engines look for content. They have developed very sophisticated algorithms to check content. To see if this content is original, or they are coming across the millionth time they have seen the same thing. This is all mathematical btw. And this is NOT the only thing they look that. (We will get to those other things in our next posts). However, Content is critical. Lets give two examples.
Tip! Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

1. Ever notice how fast some popular Forums get indexed in the Search Engines. This is due to the fact that they have an incredible amount of page hits, and that they exist for POSTS. Posts on forums are ORIGINAL for the most part. So engines look for the Content, forums have this, they list them, they see original content - the forum moves up the list, and thus more people find the forum in the search, more people hit the forum pages, more "hits" and "eyeballs" are registered back on the Search Engine servers, and the forum keeps on moving up. The more hits - by mathematics - the more posts. The more posts the more original content. The more original content the better the listing. The better the listing - the more people find the forum. Getting the picture? A never-ending circle of success.
Tip! First and foremost blogging is easy! The easiest way to get your thoughts or information onto the internet is through blogging. No particular skills are necessary beyond the ability to type and construct an intelligible posting.

2. For those of you in doubt as to whether Search Engines can "read" content just take a look at Adsense and Adwords. When you go to a site with them, adverts are fed out based upon the: 1: Content of the page you are on, and 2) Your IP address to determine which country and language you speak. Since I am in Israel, I am never surprised if I hit a site say that is discussing a topic and has adsense, and though this site is totally in English and geared to people in New York City, some of the adsense adverts are in Hebrew based upon the content of the page I am on. The algorithm finds key words (more on those later) and feeds out the adverts.

So our first lesson on Search Engines and ranking and all that good stuff is about Content. Remember the rule.
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

Copyright 2006 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.) Ted W. Gross's very popular blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind contains daily updated posts and articles on technology and writing. He also owns Amor Enterprises which maintains Virgin Earth Article Submissions which is designed to accept articles about any country or place in the world. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.

Blogging - Part Seven: Article Submission As A Tool To Extend Your Reach

2007-12-27T03:48:00.004-08:00

I submit this article in this series, with more than a bit of trepidation. This discusses article submissions, and I am submitting it to ezinearticles. The question is do I fluff it up or be honest? Sometimes brutally honest. I will go for the honesty. We are dealing with positive and negative factors in all aspects, and this means the article submission process as well.

Okay we now know about content, keywords, tags, categories, bots, back-links, hot-links, a bit about the psychology and have an inkling to what viral technology and systems are. Before we get to the nitty-gritty technological stuff, (yes, you do have to know that as well and it is really fascinating at times), we are going to discuss tools to make your blog more well known and your URL all that more important and hit by those inquiring eyeballs.

I choose to start with the Article Submission process as it does incorporate almost everything we discussed until this moment in time. Like all the tools and possibilities discussed on here, keep in mind that Article Submission is only ONE possibility, and may not be for you. It is work, and sometimes a great deal of it, even if you are a writer, and it also takes a keen eye and watching the market.

One point I wish to make at the outset, that will probably upset a lot of Article Submission site owners and possibly members. Lately, article submission sites are getting very picky with what articles they will take and not take. For some really good reasons, and some let us say some "not-so-good" reasons. If you are an author or writer, like I am, and have published, then you cannot approach article submission in the same way you approach writing your book or novel or short story. I have never had an article turned down due to any such reasons, but Article Submission sites are NOT publishers as authors know them, are NOT literary agents, are NOT literary minded. And you should NEVER submit your literary work to them as you loose first publication rights immediately not to mention the possibility of it getting ripped off. Do not confuse articles with actual literary works.
Tip! Clean, powerful interface- This blogging software has simple interface that makes it easier for new users to get started and offers advanced users the power and control they need. Customization of interface is possible by adding links.

Articles are just that. Articles that you write, almost about any subject under the sun with a plus for you, which we will get into. And this is not the Pulitzer Prize stuff either. Do not be upset or take to heart any article submission site that thinks they now are "real" publishers or think they can determine what is a good piece of literary writing and what is not. (Some of the lesser known ones are doing that now.) For the most part the articles presented at article submission sites are written with an eye to presenting an idea or opinion or knowledge and to get the URL's into the resource box so the author can drum up business for his web site. This is legitimate and why article submission sites are so successful. It is indeed why I use article submission sites. However, article submission sites serve a purpose in the game of symbiotic internet relationships. Just don't think when you are writing an article, that this is something you are going to present to your literary agent.
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

Remember as well, what is of interest to you, may not be of interest to the masses. (The tired, the poor, the downtrodden, the bored - they too make up the internet and they too surf!). I am going to, like usual, give a real life example, before getting into the nitty-gritty of article submission sites.

I usually post articles at Ezinearticles.com. They work hard at the business of article submissions, as they should, because they make a great deal of money from it (I will explain how as well). Ezinearticles does lead the market as well where according to Alexa.com it is ranked as of the date of this posting at 622, which means they are the 622 most popular site on the Internet. That people, translates into MILLIONS of page views a day! Powerful influence. (We will discuss Alexa and Google Page Rank in another article.)

A while back ezinearticles.com sent out an email saying that their article entitled "Want to Try on That New Hair Style Before You Get It?" had 108,898 page views! Now if you would have asked me which article would get such page views, I would certainly have NEVER even considered an article about "hair". And that is only page views on their site! Remember that.
Tip! It is essential that corporate seek legal counsel to develop blogging policies such that information shared and posted in blogs can be informative without too much censor as well as comply and conform to the Sarbanes-Oxley rules and other regulations that govern information exchange.

You can only write about what you know, BUT you have to write about what other people WANT TO KNOW. That is a lesson for blogging as well. You must offer something in return for someone spending the minutes reading your blog. Otherwise no one will read it. Period.

The Internet is full of surprises. ONLY because the human condition is full of surprises. Only because it reflects who we are and what our society is like. With all that said - let us explain just how this Article submission process works for you.

Mr. Nor Hair (remember him from our previous articles in this series?) wants to get more free publicity for his site. So he sits down and writes a 750 word article on how to prevent hair loss. Mr. Hair does NOT, I repeat does NOT sell any of his products in the body of the article. This is a big NO-NO, and most article submission sites will refuse to publish an article promoting a product within the body of the article. In other words - Self-Promotion - is NOT allowed within the body of the article. (And this is a very good thing!) Mr. Hair writes about the effects of hair loss on ones self-esteem. He actually spell checks it too! He then goes to an article submission site and becomes a member. All this is for FREE. (Do not ever pay any service or for any program that will submit articles for you! That is just pure malarkey and simply put, if you do, you are a sucker! Remember Article Submissions are Viral, and being so they should be Viral for you as well.)
Tip! Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

When he is asked to input his article, he has to adhere to certain guidelines in HTML and text format. He must put in keywords (remember those folks?) and an article summary. He also chooses a category for his article which in this case would be "Hair Care" or "Body Care" or something along those lines. All cool. Then at the bottom is a resource box. That is for you dear author. It is in this box you put your copyright and your URL's etc. (You can see the resource box and an example at the bottom of the article here.)

Usually you are limited by the amount of URL's you can put into the box. I use the maximum which is three. Mr. Hair has two. His website and his blog and he inputs them into the box. Voila, he previews and then submits his article on hair loss. In a few hours he gets an email that it was accepted. So far so good. Now what happens?
Tip! First and foremost blogging is easy! The easiest way to get your thoughts or information onto the internet is through blogging. No particular skills are necessary beyond the ability to type and construct an intelligible posting.

The article goes up on the site. Now don't ask me if anyone will read it. Obviously sites with millions of page views a day, someone is reading something. But the plus for Mr. Hair is not from the normative person coming to read his article, even if they do click on his link on the bottom. Nope the big plus comes when a Webmaster or Ezine owner comes to the site, and picks up the article (a fairly easy process), and puts it on their web site for content. Now if you were good students you can see right away what you got.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

You now have your article and its text on two other sites at least, and you now have a live back-link INTO your blog! And if an Ezine owner picks this up and send it out to 2500 members of the Ezine, you now have bona fide email links BACK INTO YOUR BLOG. And all the time that article sits on other web sites, it is indexed by the Search Engines, with YOUR URL IN IT! And all the time it sits at the article submission site, people are reading it and picking it up for content for their sites. And that is the name of the game!

What does the Article Submission site get from this? Simple. They have Google Adwords up and people DO click on those adverts. They have affiliates and people DO click on the affiliates and buy. Do you know why? Cause like I wrote in the article on Viral Systems, the people on the site are loyal members. They are getting something for nothing so they return the favor. (We will discuss stats as well in another much later article). All sides win in this symbiotic relationship. Again some real examples:

I wrote a series of 13 articles on RSS technology and put them up here a while back. Lo and Behold one day I discover that there are two web sites wholly devoted to mine and a few other articles on RSS. How did I find this out? I Googled my name and discovered they had picked up these articles and placed them on their site. More back-links for me.

There is no doubt that article submission works. It may not be for you, it may take too much time. It may simply not let you be the author you truly are, as you may have to swallow "pure quality" for article demands. BUT it is a way, and for free, to increase your hits to your blog. Seriously consider it.
Tip! The blog should be created carefully as it is primarily designed to retain existing customers as well as develop interest in the products and recruit new customers. It should develop a community of bloggers who actively participate in blogging, hence the content has to be written by some one experienced and knowledgeable, and they can include links of other blogs that relate to the product or subject of the blog by asking permission from the owners of those blogs.

Back-links is the name of the game. Search Indexing is the name of the game. And Article Submissions is one way to achieve to it. If you can, use the article submission route for more exposure for your blog.

(Part Six of this series is already published at Ezinearticles.com Viral Systems & Technologies - What Are They?)

Copyright © 2006 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.) Ted W. Gross's very popular blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind contains daily updated posts and articles on technology and writing. He also owns Amor Enterprises which maintains Virgin Earth Article Submissions which is designed to accept articles about any country or place in the world. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.

Blogging - Part Seven: Article Submission As A Tool To Extend Your Reach

2007-12-27T03:48:00.003-08:00

I submit this article in this series, with more than a bit of trepidation. This discusses article submissions, and I am submitting it to ezinearticles. The question is do I fluff it up or be honest? Sometimes brutally honest. I will go for the honesty. We are dealing with positive and negative factors in all aspects, and this means the article submission process as well.

Okay we now know about content, keywords, tags, categories, bots, back-links, hot-links, a bit about the psychology and have an inkling to what viral technology and systems are. Before we get to the nitty-gritty technological stuff, (yes, you do have to know that as well and it is really fascinating at times), we are going to discuss tools to make your blog more well known and your URL all that more important and hit by those inquiring eyeballs.

I choose to start with the Article Submission process as it does incorporate almost everything we discussed until this moment in time. Like all the tools and possibilities discussed on here, keep in mind that Article Submission is only ONE possibility, and may not be for you. It is work, and sometimes a great deal of it, even if you are a writer, and it also takes a keen eye and watching the market.

One point I wish to make at the outset, that will probably upset a lot of Article Submission site owners and possibly members. Lately, article submission sites are getting very picky with what articles they will take and not take. For some really good reasons, and some let us say some "not-so-good" reasons. If you are an author or writer, like I am, and have published, then you cannot approach article submission in the same way you approach writing your book or novel or short story. I have never had an article turned down due to any such reasons, but Article Submission sites are NOT publishers as authors know them, are NOT literary agents, are NOT literary minded. And you should NEVER submit your literary work to them as you loose first publication rights immediately not to mention the possibility of it getting ripped off. Do not confuse articles with actual literary works.

Articles are just that. Articles that you write, almost about any subject under the sun with a plus for you, which we will get into. And this is not the Pulitzer Prize stuff either. Do not be upset or take to heart any article submission site that thinks they now are "real" publishers or think they can determine what is a good piece of literary writing and what is not. (Some of the lesser known ones are doing that now.) For the most part the articles presented at article submission sites are written with an eye to presenting an idea or opinion or knowledge and to get the URL's into the resource box so the author can drum up business for his web site. This is legitimate and why article submission sites are so successful. It is indeed why I use article submission sites. However, article submission sites serve a purpose in the game of symbiotic internet relationships. Just don't think when you are writing an article, that this is something you are going to present to your literary agent.
Tip! Submit your blog to blogging lists and syndicate it so that it becomes a viral marketing machine. When you have a blog that stands out in your niche people will be walking over each other for every new post you make.

Remember as well, what is of interest to you, may not be of interest to the masses. (The tired, the poor, the downtrodden, the bored - they too make up the internet and they too surf!). I am going to, like usual, give a real life example, before getting into the nitty-gritty of article submission sites.

I usually post articles at Ezinearticles.com. They work hard at the business of article submissions, as they should, because they make a great deal of money from it (I will explain how as well). Ezinearticles does lead the market as well where according to Alexa.com it is ranked as of the date of this posting at 622, which means they are the 622 most popular site on the Internet. That people, translates into MILLIONS of page views a day! Powerful influence. (We will discuss Alexa and Google Page Rank in another article.)
Tip! Clean, powerful interface- This blogging software has simple interface that makes it easier for new users to get started and offers advanced users the power and control they need. Customization of interface is possible by adding links.

A while back ezinearticles.com sent out an email saying that their article entitled "Want to Try on That New Hair Style Before You Get It?" had 108,898 page views! Now if you would have asked me which article would get such page views, I would certainly have NEVER even considered an article about "hair". And that is only page views on their site! Remember that.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

You can only write about what you know, BUT you have to write about what other people WANT TO KNOW. That is a lesson for blogging as well. You must offer something in return for someone spending the minutes reading your blog. Otherwise no one will read it. Period.
Tip! Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

The Internet is full of surprises. ONLY because the human condition is full of surprises. Only because it reflects who we are and what our society is like. With all that said - let us explain just how this Article submission process works for you.

Mr. Nor Hair (remember him from our previous articles in this series?) wants to get more free publicity for his site. So he sits down and writes a 750 word article on how to prevent hair loss. Mr. Hair does NOT, I repeat does NOT sell any of his products in the body of the article. This is a big NO-NO, and most article submission sites will refuse to publish an article promoting a product within the body of the article. In other words - Self-Promotion - is NOT allowed within the body of the article. (And this is a very good thing!) Mr. Hair writes about the effects of hair loss on ones self-esteem. He actually spell checks it too! He then goes to an article submission site and becomes a member. All this is for FREE. (Do not ever pay any service or for any program that will submit articles for you! That is just pure malarkey and simply put, if you do, you are a sucker! Remember Article Submissions are Viral, and being so they should be Viral for you as well.)
Tip! Submit Your RSS Feed - Regardless of which blogging platform you choose, you'll have an RSS feed included. After making your initial blog post, submit your RSS feed to blog and feed directories.

When he is asked to input his article, he has to adhere to certain guidelines in HTML and text format. He must put in keywords (remember those folks?) and an article summary. He also chooses a category for his article which in this case would be "Hair Care" or "Body Care" or something along those lines. All cool. Then at the bottom is a resource box. That is for you dear author. It is in this box you put your copyright and your URL's etc. (You can see the resource box and an example at the bottom of the article here.)

Usually you are limited by the amount of URL's you can put into the box. I use the maximum which is three. Mr. Hair has two. His website and his blog and he inputs them into the box. Voila, he previews and then submits his article on hair loss. In a few hours he gets an email that it was accepted. So far so good. Now what happens?
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

The article goes up on the site. Now don't ask me if anyone will read it. Obviously sites with millions of page views a day, someone is reading something. But the plus for Mr. Hair is not from the normative person coming to read his article, even if they do click on his link on the bottom. Nope the big plus comes when a Webmaster or Ezine owner comes to the site, and picks up the article (a fairly easy process), and puts it on their web site for content. Now if you were good students you can see right away what you got.

You now have your article and its text on two other sites at least, and you now have a live back-link INTO your blog! And if an Ezine owner picks this up and send it out to 2500 members of the Ezine, you now have bona fide email links BACK INTO YOUR BLOG. And all the time that article sits on other web sites, it is indexed by the Search Engines, with YOUR URL IN IT! And all the time it sits at the article submission site, people are reading it and picking it up for content for their sites. And that is the name of the game!
Tip! It is essential that corporate seek legal counsel to develop blogging policies such that information shared and posted in blogs can be informative without too much censor as well as comply and conform to the Sarbanes-Oxley rules and other regulations that govern information exchange.

What does the Article Submission site get from this? Simple. They have Google Adwords up and people DO click on those adverts. They have affiliates and people DO click on the affiliates and buy. Do you know why? Cause like I wrote in the article on Viral Systems, the people on the site are loyal members. They are getting something for nothing so they return the favor. (We will discuss stats as well in another much later article). All sides win in this symbiotic relationship. Again some real examples:

I wrote a series of 13 articles on RSS technology and put them up here a while back. Lo and Behold one day I discover that there are two web sites wholly devoted to mine and a few other articles on RSS. How did I find this out? I Googled my name and discovered they had picked up these articles and placed them on their site. More back-links for me.
Tip! First and foremost blogging is easy! The easiest way to get your thoughts or information onto the internet is through blogging. No particular skills are necessary beyond the ability to type and construct an intelligible posting.

There is no doubt that article submission works. It may not be for you, it may take too much time. It may simply not let you be the author you truly are, as you may have to swallow "pure quality" for article demands. BUT it is a way, and for free, to increase your hits to your blog. Seriously consider it.

Back-links is the name of the game. Search Indexing is the name of the game. And Article Submissions is one way to achieve to it. If you can, use the article submission route for more exposure for your blog.

(Part Six of this series is already published at Ezinearticles.com Viral Systems & Technologies - What Are They?)
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

Copyright © 2006 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.) Ted W. Gross's very popular blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind contains daily updated posts and articles on technology and writing. He also owns Amor Enterprises which maintains Virgin Earth Article Submissions which is designed to accept articles about any country or place in the world. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.

Blogging - Part Five: Trying to Understand the Psychology Behind It All

2007-12-27T03:48:00.001-08:00

For many years while in high tech as a CTO, I was fascinated by the development and progression of chat systems from their very first appearance in Internet land. Though this was not part of my normal everyday running of any of the companies that I worked with, it became a hobby of mine. I also gave seminars around the world, entitled, "The Technological Advance and Psychological Effects of Chat Systems". These led me to use the term "viral technology". (This has nothing to do with computer viruses - though the way it works is somewhat the same.) The seminars then advanced to "Understanding The Nature of Viral Systems on the Internet".

In the next few posts I am going to try and explain all this, and why it is so important to understand that in such seemingly simple things as getting a blog up, working and making it popular. Viral Technology, is an important factor here. We have until this point have only "scratched the tip of the iceberg" as the cliche goes. And there are so many things to understand and deal with. However, being a writer and author, first and foremost, my mind works on different very illogical connections at times. What I am going to try to get at in the next couple of posts is an understanding of how the circle of content-SE's works, and what is important here. I think by way of examples and using "real life" understanding on the virtual Internet, we can get a better grasp of what is going on and what it is not.
Tip! Create blogging policies. In any medium where an employee is sharing information, there is the possibility of leaking trade secrets or financial information.

It is critical to understand that we are not only dealing with technology here. We are dealing with psychology and the Internet has a way of digging deep down into individual motivations and actions. Let me first give you an example I found to be incredibly interesting and totally revealing.

On one of the forum boards I sometimes log into, which is populated by a serious and highly intelligent (for the most part) group of people, there are threads for just joking or ranting, as there are on all other Forums. Since many are "virtual" friends these threads are populated by people who banter, give and take, and joke around from time to time to take time off from the vicissitudes of life. Sometimes members ask for serious advice in regard to family and children etc. Now one such member, discovered that her young son had developed an incredible interest (or so she thought) in her "boobs". She wanted to know if this was normal, for a child of that age to discover the difference between sexes. So she began a thread on the topic. And the thread developed. At first serious, but of course, since everyone there are "virtual" friends the joking started. What was interesting to follow, is that both Males and Females started in joking ways of course, to describe either the size of their chests and/or how they liked or disliked the male population looking at them of if they wanted their breasts smaller or larger etc. The males revealed the size of their wives and girl-friends chests and other such what one might call normally "intimate" knowledge. Some even said: "My (wife or husband or boyfriend or girlfriend) would not be happy if they knew I was writing about this". All of this was done in a semi-serious and joking manner.
Tip! Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

What was interesting is that I am 100% sure, some people would type out a response, post it, and then say to themselves, "Did I really say that in PUBLIC???" I am willing to bet, based upon experience and studies, that many of these people would NEVER consider SAYING out loud what they typed - say at a party of friends or a dinner or a social gathering.

The Internet makes us free with our thoughts. It allows us freedom that we don't otherwise have, to reveal our "other-side". The reasons for this are many, not the least of which that we are behind a screen. No on can see our facial expressions (not talking about cams here - a whole different subject) or our body language. Most important - we cannot be physically touched. There is always that barrier. And it would be well to keep that in mind.
Tip! First and foremost blogging is easy! The easiest way to get your thoughts or information onto the internet is through blogging. No particular skills are necessary beyond the ability to type and construct an intelligible posting.

To be sure there is the downside of all this. Fakers, charlatans, people acting as someone from the other gender - horror stories galore. However, one thing cannot be denied: (This is not the place to discuss this issue. It is worthy of probably a few hundred articles in and of itself. So I will leave it for now with just the chapter heading.)

The Internet has created a whole new psychological study of the human mind and the way it works. And this is CRITICAL to understanding why some things, some sites, some blogs - make it, while others, seemingly so much better and so much more savvy fall by the wayside. Obviously we want our blog to "make it".

One of the greatest original "pull" and "attractions" of blogs is the ability for many to get out their "private" thoughts to the world at large in a journal or diary manner. They can reveal what they would be too scared or too shy to reveal with words and lips and mouth in a public setting of individuals all sitting around a table. Though, I for one, do not enjoy or visit blogs of this nature, it remains true that most blogger's are doing just that. And what is more important to understand, is that many of the blogger's do not care how many hits they get. It is the catharsis of getting it out. The act of putting it "out there:" that is all important.
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

Since we are dealing with technology and the desire to build a blog that WILL GET A FOLLOWING and hits, we must understand what motivates and interests people to come to and read what we are posting and saying. We must understand the WHY? as well as the How? This certainly will lead to a much more comprehensive understanding of the motivations of our members and visitors to our blogs.
Tip! Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

The next article in this series deals with a definition of "Viral Technologies" and from there we will have a greater understanding as to how to begin to spread the word of our blogs with methods that apply the technological and psychological. Remember though this is not mathematical science. It is just one of the ways to understanding what is going on. It is not foolproof nor does it always work. But it will possibly give us a deeper understanding of the "virtual world" we sometimes live in, and probably more importantly, a better understanding of ourselves.

This article is already published here at ezinearticles.com and you can read it by going to: Viral Systems & Technologies - What Are They?

Copyright © 2006 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.) Ted W. Gross's very popular blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind contains daily updated posts and articles on technology and writing. He also owns Amor Enterprises which maintains Virgin Earth Article Submissions which is designed to accept articles about any country or place in the world. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.

Blogging & Website Basics - Part Four: So How Do I Get Bonafide Links To My Blog?

2007-12-27T03:47:00.002-08:00

Since we are on the subject of linking to and from your blogs, and ostensibly this whole series was started with the discussion on links on our minds, (due to the discussion about Technorati rankings), it is not far-fetched to now devote an article or two on the effects of linking and bona fide strategies to get more links without being penalized or worse by the Search Engines.

It is necessary to understand that there are certain "linking strategies" which are no longer looked upon kindly by the Search Engines (and even many surfers). On the by-and-by I will mention these "bad" strategies in my articles. However, right now we will just mention the most blatant ones. And we will begin with the negative.

It is often the case that when we are starting out and looking for links, that we consider "link banks" or "link farms". The ones that particularly a waste of times and money are those that will "for a small fee" charge you money to use them. Here is how they work.

You go into a link-farm and they maintain a database full of customers just like yourself. If they are halfway tech-savvy they will also categorize their links so that you can link to other web-sites that are within your "sphere". You go to the categories that interest you, and you click on those web-sites that seem to be related in content to yours. The system then sends out an automated email to the webmasters of those sites telling them of your link-exchange request. The webmaster can either approve or decline. This is fairly simple. What is supposed to happen then, is that you and the Webmaster of the chosen site put up "reciprocal links". You link to them - they link to you. You give them a "hot-link/back-link" to their site they give one to you. Sounds simple doesn't it? Well... First and foremost you have just bled out another link. Okay not so bad, unless you constantly do this. A site with too many "bleeding links" and almost no content is marked as a spam site. One which simply puts links up to other sites, adds the keywords, some junk content and tries to move up in the Search Engine ranking. BTW..this works. It works and works well. For a couple of weeks until the Search Engines get around to actually botting, caching and running their algorithms on your site. Then you are penalized or simply thrown to the back of the line.
Tip! Submit Your RSS Feed - Regardless of which blogging platform you choose, you'll have an RSS feed included. After making your initial blog post, submit your RSS feed to blog and feed directories.

But there is a very cagey thing these link-farms do as well. What they offer you is either free link exchange or for a few bucks more you get the PRO edition. The Pro edition allows you to put all your reciprocal links into a database and whenever someone accesses your site these links are fed out in pages. Lots and lots of people, newbies usually, go for the PRO option. After all for $30 every couple of months, they don't have to add to their HTML every time a new link is agreed upon. They just add it to the program database which takes care of the rest. The thing is then they are not bleeding links as the information is held on a central server (not on their own servers) and I challenge anyone here who knows of these farms to Google search your link on their site. You just won't find it. So while you being conservative, and you don't pay that extra "small" charge, add a link to your HTML every time your request is approved, most of these people are just adding a link ostensibly coming from their site, into a centralized database. They get your link, you get almost NADA. And since there is no overhead for them, they willingly and happily will add thousands of links. Go find YOUR site among those thousands of links in one web site. Who do you know, is going to flip through a few hundred link pages reading every one?
Tip! Clean, powerful interface- This blogging software has simple interface that makes it easier for new users to get started and offers advanced users the power and control they need. Customization of interface is possible by adding links.

That is just one of the negative aspects. So the rule here is: "Stay away from commercial link-farms and link-exchanges - they are a NO-NO!"

Okay so how do you get "good" and "valid" links into your Blog?

1. Lots of Hard work

2. Technorati as we have already discussed is one way. (No need to repeat - read articles 2 and 3 in this series)
3. Links between friends - this works there is a give and take here, and it spreads. You would be surprised how good this option works. My AW friends do this routinely, and we are all writers. I gladly link to fellow AW sites even if they don't give me a "reciprocal" link. Cause that is what friends are for and that is the community.
4. Targeted Email - This we will discuss in one of our next articles and I think you will be surprised as to how well this works. For now let me say these few things about Email - Targeted Email. A) I own quite a few web sites and deal with blogs. I can tell you that based upon real-time statistics if a targeted email to a targeted audience goes out, the hits on the site I am targeting, jump in the hundreds of percents within the next 24 hour period. People who WANT email will read it. B) How do you get a targeted email list? First off you must spread the word. Forums, article submission sites (a very good option), friends, family, the stunning woman next door who you were always to shy to talk to, (hey don't laugh I am SHY!), Internet buddies. Remember you are starting from scratch here. You are new to this whole world, its lingo, its etiquette and its rules. Take anything you can get and keep it and treasure it as if it were gold. C) NEVER THROW AWAY AN EMAIL ADDRESS. D) NEVER SELL YOUR LIST OR LET SOMEONE ELSE BORROW IT. AND GUARANTEE THAT TO YOUR READERS AS WELL! E) Targeted Email lists take time and effort but they are your best option. Your BEST option for new sites.
5. Implementing RSS feeds - we will discuss these later (but if you are impatient you can read my series of RSS articles here at EzineArticles, just click on here or on my Name to see my articles on RSS.)
6. Word of Mouth - if it spreads it works... PERIOD (No email no nothing. Just BUZZ. Create the buzz. You must market your own site, cause if you don't no one is going to come to it!) This is a lot like writing and having your first book published. Once it is published, the real work begins. You have to market the book. Sell it. Autograph it. Talk about it. Until you are nauseated from it and wish you never learned how to write. But you have to do it!
7. Offer something that is WORTHWHILE for your audience - and make sure you update it constantly and consistently. Take my blog for example. I made it generic. BUT I wanted to get out some thoughts on writing and living etc. And I do that and continue to do that. However, my background gives me some fairly good expertise in a few other areas as well. This is also great practice in writing. So I combine that expertise with my writing.. and voila. Don't only write about some events in your life. As much as that is important to you, very few people will want to read it. Give people knowledge, something they want something that ONLY you can give them. And be damn good at what you do. On one hand the famed phrase goes from P. T. Barnum: "A sucker is born every minute" on the other hand "Never underestimate the intelligence of your audience". Most people are a hell of a lot smarter and more intuitive than we give them credit for.
8. Work hard on Good Search Engine listing and ranking Use the options, tools and ideas you read here and elsewhere. Pick and choose what is good and works for you. Don't discount anything, until you tried it. Works, that is great. Don't work - dump it like a rotten tomato.
9. Advertise with Google Ad Sense and Yahoo (Overture) One of the few times I will actually suggest spending money. But be careful and wary. Keep close track on what works and what does not work. Follow your budget closely. Change your adverts to meet demand and what works and what does not work. Use catch phrases - be savvy. People come to the site - deliver on your advert. You have less than 5 seconds to get their attention. Use those 5 seconds to the maximum!
10. Offering Freebies - Sometimes this works sometimes it is just garbage. Depends on your site and what you are selling or offering. E-Books are almost passe, I would not go that route. I know an incredible amount of people, and I have yet to meet one person, who has told me they actually read those free e-books which are basically personal blogs in PDF format. Most of them are simply snares and pitches, full of the worst writing and junk imaginable. They tell you how to get rich in 10 minutes or how to make a million bucks on the net - if only you send them another $100 bucks for their secret! Like I said before "a sucker is born every minute!" However e-books on health, herbal remedies etc. are all the rage. They offer INFORMATION or KNOWLEDGE. You may want to consider those if they fit into your site's content and genre.
11. An Incredible Amount of Patience - Be patient. You dont gain 1000 links to your site in a week!
12. More Hard work - need I say more?

Tip! Submit your blog to blogging lists and syndicate it so that it becomes a viral marketing machine. When you have a blog that stands out in your niche people will be walking over each other for every new post you make.

I am sure I left out a few things (or maybe more than a few), which I will get to in the future.

Copyright © 2006 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.) Ted W. Gross's very popular blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind contains daily updated posts and articles on technology and writing. He also owns Amor Enterprises which maintains Virgin Earth Article Submissions which is designed to accept articles about any country or place in the world. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.

Blogging Correctly

2007-12-27T03:47:00.001-08:00

With now more then 35 million blogs on the internet or as it is now called the blogosphere or blogscape, it is time to work out how to blog correctly.

If you don't know the advantages of running your own blog I suggest you read my other article "The Power of Blogging". It has an insight into the pros and cons of running your own blog.

So let's get to it! You have got your self a blog, it might be from my company (Able Net Design) or from somewhere else. You have been making regular posts but you just don't seem to be getting any traffic.

Well there are two reasons for not getting traffic. One is easily fixed and the other well is quite difficult.

Ok so the two reasons why you are not getting traffic are. Know one can find your blog, and the other know one is interested in what you are writting. Which do you think is the easy one. My company can help with both but there are some steps you can take to increase your visibility.

The first thing is to use Tags. These tags describe the post that you have written. It is almost like a category so when your blog is submitted to blog directories then it is easy for your latest posts to be picked up by the blog surfer.

The next thing is RSS feeds. If you have a look at my blogs (Snow Extreme, Able Net Design Diaries, iBlab) you will notice that I have a numerous amount of little buttons which are different applications that people use to subscribe to your blog.

Last but not least blog directories. Submit your blog to them, the idea is to get other websites to pick up your posts and display them on their site.

As a little example if you type in "Tristan Jud" in google I take up at least 5 of the first pages of results with a few exceptions. Alot of these are blog postings I have done that are now being picked up by other websites.
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

Write for your audience as well as search engines. That means include keywords that you want search engines to pick up on. This could be done in the title of your post. I have found that the title of my posts on Snow Extreme Blog are one of my main sources of search engine traffic

Of course if all of this doesn't start to increase your traffic then you might need to look at what topics your are blogging about. If you have nothing interesting to say, then I doubt people will be interesting in reading your blog.

This is just as insight into blogging correctly, but it should get you on the right path.

If you require more help please don't hesitate to contact me.

Adsense Blogging: Focus On Keyword Content

2007-12-27T03:46:00.004-08:00

With the growth of blogs of past several years many people have been jumping on the bandwagon trying to get a piece of that internet money pie. The Google Adsense has provided bloggers the opportunity to capitalize on the traffic generated at their websites and another industry has emerged often referred to as Adsense blogging. Adsense blogging is a great way to earn income online if done correctly.

When developing an Adsense blog one of your main focuses should be on the selection of profitable and targeted keywords, and then on developing informative and original content around those keywords. Keyword selection is not that difficult you just need to know where to look.

It's important to create content around keywords that people search for. One free keyword tool that you can use to generate a list of keywords is GoodKeywords. This program will allow you to input a general keyword and then spit back a bundle of variations of that keyword or phrase.

When selecting a keyword phrase to use don't go for the one with the highest number of searches as those keywords are highly competitive. Shoot for the keywords that are lower on the list as those will give a better chance for getting on the first page when someone searches for that particular phrase.

Once you have selected a keyword you wish to develop content around start creating your own variations of that keyword by adding additional words or phrases to it. This will ensure that you are highly optimized for that particular phrase.

Once you're done developing your list of keywords, come up with a list of titles for each of those phrases and start writing. The selection of keywords is crucial in order to maximize your Adsense blogging efforts so don't take this advice lightly. Do your research and happy blogging!

© Copyright Chris Monato.

Adsense Blogging: Simple Tips To Maximize Your Blogging Revenue

2007-12-27T03:46:00.003-08:00

Maximize your Adsense revenue is something that every Adsense blogger has in the back of their mind. It is important to do everything that you possibly can to maximize the number of Adsense clicks on your blog.

For many Adsense blogging affiliates there main objective is to generate as much keyword targeted content as they can to their Adsense blogs. This is probably the most important thing to ensure that steady streams of people are coming to your website everyday. However it is equally important to make sure that you take advantage of every opportunity to get them to click on your ads. Here are just a few tips that you can use to help increase the number of clicks on your Adsense blog.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

The first thing that you want to do is to try to blend your ads in with them color theme of your blog. It's important that your ads look as much like the other links on your website. I don't know why this works but it is something psychological in the brain that makes people not want to click on stuff that looks different form the rest of the page. So try to blend your ads as closely as possible.

Ad placement is also very important. You want to try to place ads where people will see them. I place my directly at the top so when people pop on to the website that's what they see. I also use the sidebar for ads so as people scroll down there are additional ads along the side. These are the places that have worked best for me.
Tip! Create blogging policies. In any medium where an employee is sharing information, there is the possibility of leaking trade secrets or financial information.

These are just a couple of strategies that you can implement to ensure maximum clicks at your Adsense blog. Hope this helps.

© Copyright Chris Monato.

Adsense Blogging: How To Generate Lots Of Content For Your Adsense Blog

2007-12-27T03:46:00.001-08:00

The Google Adsense program provides a way for bloggers to generate passive income from their blogging efforts. In order to maximize your Adsense blogging efforts it's important for you to generate as many visitors as you possibly can to your Adsense blog. This is accomplished by creating informative and original content that people are actively searching for and delivering it to them via your Adsense blog.

So how can you generate lots of original content for your Adsense blogging enterprise? There are several ways you can do this. One of the first ways is to hire someone to do it. There are thousands of web content writers who will produce original content for your Adsense blog for a fee. These people will write the content and all you have to do is copy and paste the content to your blog. This however can become very expensive for some people as these writers may charge anywhere from $6-$20 per content piece.
Tip! Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

Another simpler and less expensive way to do and the way that I recommend is to write the content yourself. Writing content for an Adsense blog is not that difficult. All you really have to do is come up with some keywords you wish to target, develop some interesting titles around those keywords, and then start writing. This method takes both time, effort, and a little bit of dedication but the long term pay off is immeasurable.

These are just a couple of ways to start generating content when building your Adsense blogging empire. The Adsense program provides a simple way for webmasters to monetize the traffic they receive at their websites. It simple to install

© Copyright Chris Monato.

7 Habits of Highly Effective Business Blogging (Well Actually 8)

2007-12-27T03:45:00.003-08:00

Blogging, it's all the rage. The biggest problem with becoming a successful blogger is time and content management. Blogs are cool. Blogs are fun. Blogs are addictive. Blogs are time vampire and energy suckers.

Steven R. Covey's masterful 7 Habits of Highly Effective People started a trend of listing better ways to do things. Even though cheating isn't on his list, I'll go ahead and borrow a page from his book (a great read by the way) and make a list!
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

1. Write a blog post everyday. This can become a daunting task. It doesn't have to be. At least one thing happens everyday that makes you think about how you do things in your area of expertise.

For example, today I was going to post on my blog about how it's important to watch what you say.

The article came to me after I realized that I was naming our revised custom blog pricing packages "Basic BM", "Bronze BM", "Silver BM", "Gold BM" and "Platinum BM". If you haven't figured out why these package names aren't really great for branding unless you're selling some sort of colloidal or metallurgical solution for folks who don't eat enough bran, then you may want to have someone edit your blog posts and help you with branding!

Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

Every day at least one "Hmmmm" relative to your blog topic will come up. At least write yourself a note when it happens so when it comes posting time you'll have a topic.

2. Create a "series" of posts. This is sort of a follow on to point 1 above. Hopefully your blog provides valuable information that keeps readers coming back for more, or even better subscribing to your RSS feed. If you have a "hot topic" that requires more than 1,000 words to get through, think about creating a series. For example: "Creating a WordPress Blog: Step by Step" could be your series. This could easily be a 10 part series on one topic.

3. If applicable add some personality to your blog. Ideally your blog is "information for information seekers", but the fact of the matter is that your readers are people too and will identify with you as the author if you "humanize" your blog posts with some humor, anecdotes or day-to-day experiences.
Tip! Submit Your RSS Feed - Regardless of which blogging platform you choose, you'll have an RSS feed included. After making your initial blog post, submit your RSS feed to blog and feed directories.

4. Use real world applications to demonstrate to your readers the expert advice or information you're passing on. Given that most of your blog postings are going to be 100% test try to help your readers "visualize" the benefit of heeding your advice by demonstrating a real world example or actual application that you or one of your existing clients have encountered. Try for the "Hey, man, that would solve our problem, too" reaction from your reader.

5. Incorporate graphics into your blog posts. If you have graphs, charts, image examples or any visual or audio aid that can help your reader get the most out of your post, use it. The more enjoyable you can make the user experience the more valuable they will find your blog, the more they'll come back, and the better chance you have to convert that reader to a customer.

6. Utilize the resources at Ezinearticles or GoArticles to add additional relative content to your blog. Make sure you give attribution (don't delete the links). You're not the only with good ideas, so don't hesitate to add other author's valuable content to your blog. It's only fair to give them the link back, it won't really hurt your SEO rankings like a traditional website linking strategy. Ezinearticles is a great cure for writer's block!
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

7. Don't forget to throw in calls to action for your reader to contact you. Hopefully your posts are valuable and you, the author, are becoming regarded as a "goto guy (or girl) by your readers. Don't forget to remind them that you are a resource and provide them with effective calls to action to reach you. If you're unsure about how to make the most effective use of your blog and specific calls to action, or aren't getting the traction you want on the search engines get in touch with me I'll be happy to help you out. (see how I snuck that one in!)

8. Make friends with your competitors, utilize your colleagues and encourage your employees or partners to write articles for your blog. Again, give them the benefit of the link. You'll be surprised what comes out of sharing your blogspace with those around you, and it'll provide your readers with a better mix of writing styles. Encourage your readers and customers to propose article topics and submit questions. Great for writer's block.
Tip! First and foremost blogging is easy! The easiest way to get your thoughts or information onto the internet is through blogging. No particular skills are necessary beyond the ability to type and construct an intelligible posting.

Well, there you have my 7, no make that 8, Habits of Highly Effective Blogging. Get yourself a copy of Stephen Covey's book, don't forget to write down tomorrow's blog topic and blog away!

The Blog Mill - Main The Blog Mill

Basics Of Blogging Series - Part Eight: Using Email As An Advertising Tool

2007-12-27T03:45:00.001-08:00

Email - we take it for granted. We use it almost every day. We use it for business, pleasure, fun and work. We use it and abuse it. We say things that are taken the wrong way. We express hate and love, likes and dislikes in our email. We fall in love, fall out of love, send virtual flowers, send postcards, send presents, send protests, send hate mail. We do business and sign contracts on it. We transfer funds with it. We type with it, hate it and love it. We often cannot live without it.

Email is so ingrained in our daily lives, we no longer appreciate its power or possibilities. We use it as if it were an extension of ourselves and actually tend to reveal a lot more about our own minds, hearts and souls then we would ever reveal if we had to sit and write out each and every email with pen and paper. Email is most definitely a powerful tool, if not the most powerful tool in the arsenal of spreading word and popularity about your blog or web-site.
Tip! Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

On one other thing about Email. It is FREE. Totally and completely FREE. You don't even have to an email account with your web account provider. All you need is a few Yahoo or Gmail accounts.

However, there is a BIG caveat here. If you are anything like me, you have come to hate "spam" mail. Garbage mail. Junk mail. Spam email. All of it is crap. All of it steals precious time and clogs up your system. We hate spam. We ignore it. We sift through it to get to our "real" email. And here is the rule of thumb. Email that we want - WE READ.

How do you put email to use for you and your blog and web site?

Well first some things you do NOT do.

* You do not purchase lists off the Internet that are non-targeted lists (even if they are opt-in lists). What is non-targeted? Non-targeted means that you will be sending out millions of emails to people whose inbox and spam box are totally full and crowded with junk as it is. Your email will be between some idiot that is sending out emails promising larger breasts and another offering males a great time in bed with a new and great product combining viagra, cialis and some homespun remedy for a longer, more powerful male organ. Trust me. You do NOT WANT your email stuck there.

* You do not purchase lists off of some fly-by-night company on the Internet, even if they do promise 2.5 million email addresses for $29.99.

* You do not "farm" email addresses off of Internet sites using a program dedicated to this practice.

* You do not offer to purchase or borrow your best friend's or lovers email address list (in most cases not in all!).

What you can do:

* You create a guest book on your blog or an email opt-in list. You save each and every one of those emails as if they were GOLD. For these things all you need to do is Google for them. Bravenet is one of the largest, most respected and offers an incredible amount of FREE utilities for this purpose. You do not need to be a techie to use this stuff.

Tip! The blog should be created carefully as it is primarily designed to retain existing customers as well as develop interest in the products and recruit new customers. It should develop a community of bloggers who actively participate in blogging, hence the content has to be written by some one experienced and knowledgeable, and they can include links of other blogs that relate to the product or subject of the blog by asking permission from the owners of those blogs.

* You ask everyone you know (including the grocer and butcher) to get on your list! (NO! I will not get up enough courage to ask that beautiful woman next door for her email address. I can't even get enough gumption to say "Hello" to her. sheesh...)

* You consistently and constantly put out emails to your membership but you do not badger them. Once a week is really enough, unless you have this incredibly special announcement to make or deal to offer. You ask them to forward these emails as well.

* On your web-site you allow people to decide how often they want an email from you. Blogs do not have this capability and it would be incredibly difficult to build it in without using a third party extension. (Again companies like Bravenet are the answer here.)

* Your email is professional, straightforward, and if possible offered in both HTML and plain text.

* Your email address - the email address where your membership email is coming from - is memorable, even if you are using gmail. I have for instance my own domain email for my stuff, and I use a gmail address for my blog which is the name of my blog. That address is simply cobwebsofthemind which associates in the persons mind with my blog. It is also good advertising and a way for someone to remember your blog even if they forget the url. Which is unique enough for here. On my web sites, for instance it is all xxxxx@mywebsite.com. Then when the recipient wades through tons of email they know immediately your email is something they want and they will read it. So for the Hair blog their address would be something with the word "hair" in it or better yet "silkybeautifulyounghair"!

Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

Why is Email so important?

It is an excellent question, despite the fact that some techies may snicker at such a simple question. The answer is easy, yet can get incredibly complicated. The great thing about email that a person wants is that it gets at least skimmed. It keeps you in touch and lets the person that signed up know that the web-site is active and doing things. The other "more important part" of email is that little "forward" option. If Sally seems something that she may think Jane and Bill want, she is going to forward the email with a couple of clicks. Viral. It gets spread. People get to know about it. NEWS SPREADS. And with email it can spread like wildfire! Do not ever underestimate this. You may send out 100 emails from your site, and on the 101'st for no specific reason you can discern suddenly the hits go up. Suddenly the "word" is spreading. Never give up on the email option.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

Don't overuse it either. Don't badger. Don't spam. Don't do your best friend a favor by sending out emails to your list for them. (I would, of course, send out a 100 emails to my list for a date with the lady next door!) Seriously, your email list is your gold. Your ace in the hole. Don't abuse it!

Okay lets now discuss Email and some "real" examples:

When someone arrives at a blog, unlike a web site, there is no need to "register" or "sign in". Thus it is much harder to get an individual to "sign-up" for a feed from your blog or to be on your email list. You have less than 7 seconds (that is not a typo, 7 seconds) to interest the person, which includes loading of your page. So use it well. Remember, OFFER WHAT THEY WANT - NOT WHAT YOU WANT. If you cannot do that than perhaps numbers is not what you need. Just the pleasure of having your own blog.
Tip! Submit your blog to blogging lists and syndicate it so that it becomes a viral marketing machine. When you have a blog that stands out in your niche people will be walking over each other for every new post you make.

Send out a thank you IMMEDIATELY. You can use an auto-responder, or lacking that, have a template in your email draft box, and once a day check for new sign-ups and send out a thank you SEPARATELY to each one. No CC's or BCC's. Bad, BAD idea.

If you have a web site that requires registration, make sure you send out a thank you automatically. Make sure you explain again what the site is about with your URL at least twice in the page. Make it nice. Make it simple. Make it good. Market yourself and your web site and your product.

When you send out emails to your entire list you have many options. You can make them yourself, or go to a place like Vertical Response which takes all the hard work from you. Vertical Response is good, but not free. There are others in the market, reputable good sites who can help you along. But if you serious about marketing bear this in mind if you email list grows too large or unwieldy.
Tip! Submit Your RSS Feed - Regardless of which blogging platform you choose, you'll have an RSS feed included. After making your initial blog post, submit your RSS feed to blog and feed directories.

Whenever I send out an email from any one of my web sites the hits on that web site go up immediately and for the next 24 hours. By the way, it is important to understand, that your email will have a shelf-life of 24 hours on a good day. This means that if the member does not respond, visit, or otherwise act on the email within 24 hours, it probably just won't happen. Don't sweat it though. There is always the next email, and the next and the next...

One of the best and free ways to make your blog work for you is to use feedblitz. This takes care of subscribers and RSS feeds. It works for the most part and is good. Use it on your blog.

In summary, Email is a tool that should be used to the maximum but not abused or overused. Used and manipulated correctly it can increase your members and keep those who did sign up coming back. Loyal membership is your key to Viral marketing.
Tip! First and foremost blogging is easy! The easiest way to get your thoughts or information onto the internet is through blogging. No particular skills are necessary beyond the ability to type and construct an intelligible posting.

Copyright © 2006 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.) Ted W. Gross's very popular blog, Cobwebs Of The Mind contains daily updated posts and articles on technology and writing. He also owns Amor Enterprises which maintains Virgin Earth Article Submissions which is designed to accept articles about any country or place in the world. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works.

Communal Blogging - Who Will Win?

2007-12-27T03:44:00.002-08:00

My recent quest to understand and implement trackback on my blog has left me with more questions than answers. It seems that in an attempt to bring relevant blog entries together, there are (surprise, surprise) competing technologies.

First there is the issue of bringing relevant blog entries together. What's the point and should we bother?

I believe that although blogging is primarily a sole pursuit, the ability for people to comment, refute, correct, or admire a blog entry more deeply than a simple commenting system allows is the next step in making blogging more meaningful, and possibly more accountable.

So how do we do it?

The three main players (it seems, feel free to add someone if I've missed them) seem to be Technorati (http://www.technorati.com), Haloscan (http://www.haloscan.com), and native blog commenting systems.

Technorati seems to be popular amongst the established blogging community - the users who understand the Technorati 'Cosmos' and what it means. I think that Technorati is deliberately vague about what their system does and how it does it as there is no documentation that I can find on the Technorati site (other than an 'About' page obviously written by a marketer). I assume that the name Technorati is a play on the word Illiminati which perhaps gives us a hint to Technorati's lack of explanation on how they work. Maybe we're just supposed to 'get it'. While Technorati seems solid and has a large subscriber base, I think (again, no documentation) that only Technorati subscribers are considered part of the 'Cosmos'. There are millions of blogs out there that aren't participating in, and therefore not accounted for by, Technorati.
Tip! Submit Your RSS Feed - Regardless of which blogging platform you choose, you'll have an RSS feed included. After making your initial blog post, submit your RSS feed to blog and feed directories.

I just ran across Haloscan yesterday and implemented their trackback system into my blog. Haloscan offers a central commenting and trackback facility for any type of web page, not just blogs. The idea is that the comments and trackbacks of a page are kept in one central repository rather than scattered all over the blogsphere on each individual blog. When considering blogs specificially, I don't see the logic in this. Since all comments must reside somewhere - what's the difference between having them reside on my blog or on some other server? Unlike trackback, I think all blogware supports comments.

The trackback part is interesting because it actually provides a service to people (like me) who don't have trackback available natively on their blogware. It works well, has some features such as moderation, and generally provides what it promises. The only change I would like to see is the ability to implement the trackback code right into my page rather than having it in a pop up window. I really like the commenting/trackback ping layout of Blizza Blizza (http://www.chrislawson.net/blog).
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

I also ran across a somewhat related technology called Gravatar (

Finally, the last little bit of magic is Google. Google has many 'operators' and one of them is the 'link' operator. Typing 'link: www.somesite.com' into Google will reveal all the sites on the Internet that link to somesite.com. The data returned by Google for my site is much more extensive than Technorati, but it is also very out of date. I know I am linked to (by using Technorati and by discovering it through surfing) yet many of these links do not show up on Google.
Tip! Submit your blog to blogging lists and syndicate it so that it becomes a viral marketing machine. When you have a blog that stands out in your niche people will be walking over each other for every new post you make.

So which technology will win, if one does at all? I'm in favour of trackback. It's easy, all the big blog platforms support it, and it has a good format. By that I mean that a typical trackback entry contains a 200-ish word summary of the entry so a visitor can decide whether they want to bother reading the whole entry before clicking on it. As well it breeds inter-linking between blogs of a like nature, or at least between blog entries of a like nature.

Just because I like it doesn't mean trackback is going to win, there are problems with it. Roy - the administrator of a large blogging site called Tabulas (http://www.tabulas.com) - for example, feels that even if he were to implement it natively on Tabulas that very few users would have the technical savvy to figure out how to use it properly, and most users wouldn't bother with it at all. Roy knows his stuff when it comes to blogging, so perhaps he's not only correct - but also echoing the sentiments of many blogware authors.
Tip! Create blogging policies. In any medium where an employee is sharing information, there is the possibility of leaking trade secrets or financial information.

I guess only time will tell, but for now I'm hoping for trackback as the victor in this little skirmish.

About The Author Jon is an Internet observer and technology enthusiast. He holds a diploma in Computer Information Systems, has spent time sailing the world in the Canadian Navy, and has been actively web developing and blogging for several years. http://www.theheatsinkbbs.ca

Make Money Blogging Without Having To Get More Web Site Traffic

2007-12-27T03:44:00.001-08:00

Many people blogging do not make any money from their efforts because they have no idea that they can achieve a lot long before they can get more web traffic for their sites.

If only the millions of people currently blogging could understand that they do not need high traffic to make money, it would make a huge difference. But first and foremost, it is important to understand that you will need to completely change your approach. The whole idea is that there is stuff that is best suited only to high traffic sites, just like there are things that work best work with low traffic sites only. There are also certain things that work well with both low traffic and high traffic sites. The tricky part is getting to recognize them.

Let me give an example here of an affiliate program that usually works quite well for both low traffic blogging sites and high traffic sites. This is the Google Adsense program. By focusing on high value Adsense keywords a low traffic site can do just as well as a high traffic site that really doesn't bother so much about attracting high value Adsense ads on their sites using the right keyword phrases in their content.

There are many more affiliate programs that will work well enough with low traffic blogging and web sites to make you some money. To find them you will need to study various affiliate programs that are best suited for the audience covered by your site, and then you will need to do intensive and careful testing until you find the right one. Your chances of success are much higher when you start off knowing exactly what you are looking for. In this case an affiliate program that will work for a low traffic blogging site so that you can start to make money long before you can find more traffic.

Read the rest of this article at the writer's online marketing blog

Niche Blogging - New Marketing Approach

2007-12-27T03:43:00.004-08:00

Setting up your blog to target a niche market is one of the best things you can do with your blog, provided you know the craft and have the requisite skills to run it successfully to start generating instant traffic (through syndication or Rss) and possibly start earning as well.

Niche blogging, has it own silver lining. With people suffering from information overload, specific information dissemination through niche blogging will attract instant attention as more and more people will subscribe to your Rss feeds and would love to syndicate with such informative blog. Thus with the power of blogging software like Wordpress and your niche marketing skills, you can earn handsome profit.

With Wordpress, setting up a blog is easy and in few minutes of point and click you can have the most powerful tool to make money online. You can instantly start publishing your contents and let the world know of your blog through the Rss feeds. With Wordpress, your syndicating tool-Rss feed, is automatically created. No sweat!

To promote your niche blog and generate instant traffic, submit your Rss feeds to top search engines and Rss directories meant specifically for Rss feeds. Allow readers to subscribe to your Rss feed and send our news reads as well.

You can also promote your Wordpress blog though activating search engine promoting functions. Nothing can replace good and killer contents on your blog, after all readers are going to

To generate revenue though niche blogging, you can follow simple steps.

Most popular ways through which you can earn money is from Google AdSense. Subscribe to Google AdSense and start earning profits through Google Ads, being published on your blog. You can also become Amazon Affiliates. Select the product you want to display on your blog and start earning profit.

There are varieties of plug-ins developed for niche blogging especially if you are using Wordpress. Adding Google AdSense in your posts to protecting your bog from being spammed or hacked, you can download and easily install little programs and make your job easy.
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

To add Google AdSense ads in your post, you can download the Phil Hord plug-in and in few minutes of working, you have the money minter in your blog.

Rakesh Ojha is a SEO specialist and Online Marketing Consultant with over 5 Years in SEM Industry. Contact him at rakesh@searchengineoptimization4u.com or visit his website at http://www.searchengineoptimization4u.com.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

Read latest SEM and SEO articles on his blog at http://semblog.searchengineoptimization4u.com

Childcare Providers and Blogging - How It Can Help Your Business

2007-12-27T03:43:00.003-08:00

Several years ago, the word "blog" was barely even a commonly used word. Now it seems that everybody has a blog. For those that don't know, a blog is an online journal where an individual can write about whatever they like, as often or as infrequently as they like. They can be used for many reasons, including as a helpful tool for childcare providers. Here are some guidelines for how to set up a blog, how it could help your business, and some safety precautions.

Blogs have become so popular that there are numerous sites that allow you to set one up for free. Search for the term ‘blog' and you should discover many sites to choose from. You need minimal computer knowledge since the sites make the initial set-up and adding posts to your blog very easy. Even adding pictures is not that hard. You'll need to come up with a name for your blog. Using your childcare business name will make it easy for parents to remember.

Once you have your blog set up, how you decided to use it is up to you. You may want to use it mainly to communicate with parents who currently have children in your care. Let them know what you are doing each day, what is coming up, and any announcements they should know about. A blog is a nice way for parents to know what their children do each day, and is a good way for childcare providers to communicate information to all the parents at once. If you do write about specific children in your care, for safety reasons do not use their full names. Consider using just their initials, or some other way to identify them. Do not post pictures that show children's faces. Again for safety, post only pictures that show the children from the back, or other poses in which they cannot be identified.

A blog can also be a powerful tool to let parents looking for childcare to know about the care you provide. They can get an idea of what average days are like at your childcare. The more information you have in your blog, the more likely it is to come up in searches, so parents looking for care may find you by finding your blog in a search.
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

No matter how you use your blog, remember that it is a representation of you and your business, so keep it professional. Whether you add a post once a day, or once a month, a blog can be a quick and easy way to communicate with both the parents who currently have children in your care, and those who are looking for childcare.

Melissa Newby, MSW, has worked as a therapist and in marketing, but her most rewarding job has been to raise her son. Frustrations with available childcare resources led her to co-found http://www.daycarematch.com with her husband.

Blogging For Money: The Four Step Process To Success

2007-12-27T03:43:00.001-08:00

So you want to make money with blogs? Good decision! Blogging for money is a simple and enjoyable way to build a presence online and make some cash while you're at it. Actually, blogging for money is the bread and butter of internet marketing in this day and age, and there are millions of people making a small fortune doing it.

The first thing you need to do is make a decision as to whether you wish to blog about a subject that deeply interests you (hobbies, sports, politics, pop culture, yourself!), or whether you wish to build a blog which is primarily designed to be a money maker. If you choose the latter, you will need to identify a niche market that you can blog to. This can be almost anything, from horticulture to antiques, but the more targeted the better. For example, instead of targeting the general antiques market, aim for 19th century French ceramics.

After you've decided the subject of your blog, you will then need to register with a blogging host. The most popular blogging hosts are Blogspot and Wordpress, both of which offer their service for free. Just go to their websites, follow the instructions and get your blog up and running. You can then spruce up the look of your blog by choosing between pre-designed templates, colours, fonts and designs.

The penultimate stage is to monetise your blog. There are two main ways in which to do this. The first is to add Google Adsense to your blog, and the second is to add affiliate links. Google Adsense is an advertising scheme in which advertisers pay a pre-determined sum of money to have their adverts placed across Google search pages and websites; as a blog publisher, you can add the advertising from Adsense on your blog and get paid every single time a visitor clicks on one of the ads. Google Adsense is absolutely free to sign up to. The second method of monetisation is affiliate links, which are simple text links or banners from vendors who are selling products. Typically you can expect a 50 - 60% commission on sales of digital products. Go to Clickbank to sign up for affiliate sites.
Tip! Clean, powerful interface- This blogging software has simple interface that makes it easier for new users to get started and offers advanced users the power and control they need. Customization of interface is possible by adding links.

The final stage is to actually drive traffic to your site! If you're blogging for money, then you're going to need actual visitors to help make your blog an active cash machine. Getting traffic to any website is an art in itself, and there are many methods you can try out. One free method you can use is to post in related internet forums and message boards with a link to your blog in your forum signature. Another method is to submit articles to directories which, again, have a link to your blog.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

This really is a general overview of blogging for money, which is a big picture. But do be reassured of its relative ease. The most important thing is just to make a start. Identify what you wish to write the blog about, register a free blogging account at Blogspot or Wordpress, and then start posting! After that, you will surely pick up hints and tips about monetisation and driving traffic along the way. Many internet marketers will confirm that blog optimisation is a lifelong learning process, so do not feel you have to get it right first time. Blogging for money should be fun, so ensure you enjoy the process.

Jack Silver is an internet marketer based in the U.K.

He only started internet marketing earlier this year, but has already quit his job to work at home full-time. The lure of wearing pyjamas and drinking limitless coffee during the daytime proved irresistable.
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

Jack has published his rags-to-riches story for free public viewing at http://www.moneyinpyjamas.wordpress.com.

1 - Blogging: Let's Get You Started!

2007-12-27T03:42:00.004-08:00

So what is blogging really all about? First off, let me tell you that it's a lucrative business to blog and that blogs are easy to set up and manage. Imagine getting paid to write about subjects that interest you, whenever you want, wherever you are! The flexibility involved allows you to maintain your blog at your own pace, and with Internet cafés easily accessible all over the globe, even your vacation won't get in the way of your blogging... Or should I say: even your blogging won't get in the way of your vacation?

In this article, let's take a look at the profitability of a blog and set up one of our own, free of charge! Interested? Read on!

First, you need to get yourself a blog. There are several options - host a blog on your own domain or get a free one. For starters, let's talk about the free blogs. You can obtain one at http://www.blogger.com or the newer (and better!) http://www.wordpress.com. WordPress is a free blog engine that is robust and infinitely expandable.

Blogger is actually owned by Google, so it will be detected by Google's radar faster and you will be indexed more quickly. WordPress.com, however, is a relatively new option so I have no comparison on the speed of getting indexed by search engines. However, WordPress is better in the sense that it has more advanced features such as Trackbacks and Categories. You can also manage your sidebar links more efficiently (more about this later).

Get a free blog at either Blogger or WordPress. Then, familiarize yourself by publishing your first post on your blog and tinkering around with the options and templates.

Here are some words to start expanding your blogging vocabulary:

Permalink - Permalink stands for permanent link, which is a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that leads to an individual post that you make in your blog.

Trackback - When you post about someone else's blog post elsewhere, your post will show up in their "trackback" section. This feature, however, is not available with a Blogger account.
Tip! Submit your blog to blogging lists and syndicate it so that it becomes a viral marketing machine. When you have a blog that stands out in your niche people will be walking over each other for every new post you make.

Pinging - Blogging seems to be paired with pinging almost every time either one is mentioned nowadays. Pinging is actually the action where a certain aggregator is notified whenever your blog is updated, so that the aggregator may show the newest post of your blog on their website. This is a useful way to gain traffic, which I'll discuss in a future article.

Content

Next, let's look at the type of content that's suitable for your blog in order to make it profitable. You need to understand that there is no fixed scope that your blog should have, which means you can write about whatever you're interested in. Mind you, the difference between a profitable blog and a non-profitable one is the way you write. What would you prefer: reading your university professor's lecture notes or the latest novel by your favorite author? People prefer to read "light" items most of the time. When they check out your blog, they are not only looking for information, but they are also looking for information that they can access easily.
Tip! Clean, powerful interface- This blogging software has simple interface that makes it easier for new users to get started and offers advanced users the power and control they need. Customization of interface is possible by adding links.

So, to attract more visitors as well as to keep your current readers coming back for more, it's very important to add a personal touch to your blog posts. This can be done by simply imagining that you're talking with your personal friend. An extra bonus for your readers would be a great sense of humor, so try to add funny comments in your articles where relevant.

Another important point is to avoid addressing your reader as a plural unit. Don't write as if you're preparing a speech. Instead, write as if you're having a conversation with a single person, an equal friend, because this will make your reader relate to you more easily.

Besides that, it's also very useful to establish your own personality through your words. We're very curious creatures, so naturally your visitors would want to know as much about you as the information you're offering them.

Having a distinctive personality in your blog will make a world of difference between your blog about gadgets and all the other blogs about gadgets out there. This is a lot like creating your own brand name, where people immediately remember your blog's name when they need information about gadgets, just like how people immediately think of McDonald's for fastfood or Nike for sportswear.
Tip! It is essential that corporate seek legal counsel to develop blogging policies such that information shared and posted in blogs can be informative without too much censor as well as comply and conform to the Sarbanes-Oxley rules and other regulations that govern information exchange.

There will be more on the subject of content the next time.

When word gets around about your command of blogging, others who need to know about blogging will start to actively seek you out!

About the author: Chonticha Marijne runs several Internet ventures, including http://www.e-Abundance.com , http://www.e-AbundanceTools.com and http://www.e-AbundanceSystem.com. She is based in the Netherlands and particularly enjoys publishing for newcomers. This article is copyright © 2006 by Chonticha Marijne and may be reprinted in its entirety as long as both byline and copyright statement are included.

The Importance Of Debt Consolidation Blogging

2007-12-27T03:42:00.003-08:00

As blogging continues to grow in power and influence, the power and importance of debt consolidation blogging continues to grow as well.

It is important for those in need of debt consolidation and financial advice to carefully consider their needs, and to find a debt consolidation blogging site or sites that best meets their own needs.

Ordinary People Consulting With Other Ordinary People

One of the best things about debt consolidation blogging is that it allows ordinary people to consult easily with other ordinary people in the same type of situation.

These days, of course, there is nothing unique about being in debt, and using resources like debt consolidation blogging to work your way out of a problem with debt can make a great deal of sense.

Qualified People Help Those Who Need Help

Of course it is important to choose a debt consolidation blogging site that is truly independent, and one that is run and staffed by those who have been there.

After all, the whole idea behind a concept such as debt consolidation blogging is that those who have been there and gotten out of debt are uniquely qualified to offer advice to others who find themselves in the same situation.

Every Debt Situation is Different

For that reason and others, it is important for those looking at the power of debt consolidation blogging to look at the past experience of the bloggers and to make sure that the situations are similar.

Even if the two financial situations are similar, however, it is important to remember that every financial situation is unique in its own way. This means, of course, that the advice offered on the debt consolidation blogging site may or may not be directly applicable.
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

It is important as well to remember that a slightly different approach will be needed for each situation.

Using Blogging To Find Impartial Advice On How To Handle Debt

Even though every situation will be quite different, it is important to keep in mind that debt consolidation blogging can be a powerful tool and a great way to address a serious debt situation.

Finding the best and most impartial advice on how to handle a debt problem is not always easy, but debt consolidation blogging is a powerful step in the right direction.

Shaunta Pleasant is a professional writer and editor on debt consolidation topics. Visit my site to learn more about planning the perfect wedding at http://www.debt-consolidation-help-services.com/debt-consolidation-help-services-blog.html

Making Money Blogging: Your Guide to Blogging Profits

2007-12-27T03:42:00.001-08:00

Blogging is all the rage at the moment, and its popularity will continue to surge. It's free, easy and fun to do. But suddenly there's an even better reason to start your own blog - making money blogging is now possible. It's not difficult to make money from blogging, and this article will give you a few pointers to help you get started.

Firstly you want to sign up to a good blogging host. Blogspot (http://www.blogspot.com) is a Google-run host, and wonderful for beginners. Wordpress (http://www.Wordpress.com) is another free host, and because of its design flexibility is considered preferable to blogspot by many advanced marketers. Typepad (http://www.typepad.com) is a paid service which offers a very slick product.

Secondly, you have to decide what your blog will be about. You have two main choices here. The first is to write about a subject you're passionate about and generate a cult reading audience. The second is to be somewhat calculating and pick a niche subject you know would be lucrative for advertisers (e.g. the latest games console).

The advantage to the first method is that you can post passionately, regularly and with great ease. You won't have to contrive your prose. The downside is that it could take a while to build your audience, but if you do succeed in this, then you'll have a set fan base for the life of the blog.

The advantage to the second method is that it is easier to target a niche group of people and drive traffic to your blog by frequenting their likely hangout (e.g. if your blog is on flower arranging, then you could hit the appropriate forums with a link to your blog in your signature). The downside to this method is that you will have to write good posts on the subject, so if you're not familiar with it, then it will require research and perseverance.

Now you have a blog and you've chosen what to write about. The third step is to monetise your blog. Making money blogging is dependent on incorporating two main monetisation methods into your blog. The first method is to use affiliate links, advertising products relative to your niche (e.g. an ebook on flower arranging). The second is to insert Google Adsense text advertising onto the template of your blog.

Affiliate products can be sourced at popular sites such as Clickbank (http://www.Clickbank.net) or Commission Junction (http://www.cj.com). By inserting a simple link to the product you are affiliating for, you will be entitled to a healthy commission any time someone purchases the product after being directed to it through your link.
Tip! It is essential that corporate seek legal counsel to develop blogging policies such that information shared and posted in blogs can be informative without too much censor as well as comply and conform to the Sarbanes-Oxley rules and other regulations that govern information exchange.

Google Adsense is Google's own advertising programme. After signing up for a free account (http://www.google.com/adsense), you will be given a snippet of code. If you go to your blog account and open up the Source page, you can paste in the code in the relevant spot and Google adverts will start running on the page. Every time a visitor clicks on a Google advert, you will get paid a sum of money, based on what advertisers value the click to be worth.

Making money blogging really is easy in technical execution, so much so that even a relative technophobe could do it. The real key is to attract enough targeted traffic to your blog on a regular basis to ensure that you're getting the hits on your affiliate links and Google Adsense advertising. You'll find plenty of advice on how to charge traffic to blogs through internet forum searches. Just be persistent and display a willingness to learn.
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

Finally, ensure you don't lose potential visitors by short-changing them with your blog's content. Content truly is king, and if you want to develop a solid fan base of visitors to solidly monetise your blog, then you have to give them good material.

Making money blogging is the best way to dip your toe in the internet marketing waters. It is absolutely free to do, and if you become proficient at it, then there is no reason why you can't be making many hundreds of dollars a month, if not four figures. And if you've successfully done it once, you can successfully do it again with another blog. Rinse, repeat and watch your online income double.

Michael Stimpson runs the Internet Cash Picks website. Internet Cash Picks shows internet marketing newbies the easiest and most efficient products to help them make money online. You can get more information about Internet Cash Picks at (http://www.InternetCashPicks.com).

What Blogging can Do for Your Business

2007-12-27T03:41:00.004-08:00

There is certainly nothing new about the concept of blogging, and yet many business owners and Internet entrepreneurs don't seem to grasp the power of this simple strategy. This is evidenced by the fact that many business websites do not include a blog.

If you run a business site, but do not currently have a blog, there is a great chance that you are leaving money on the table. Regardless of what kind of business you are in, a dynamic and interactive web log will improve customer response and add profits to your bottom line.

Consider this:

When you use a web log as the platform for your newsletter or ezine, you can post each of your promotions to the web, and then invite your subscribers to your blog to view your most recent update. When readers follow the link from your email to your latest blog post, they will not only have the opportunity to respond to the current promotion, they will be able to browse your blog and take action on offers you made last week, last month, even last year.

Quite often when I mail my list about my latest blog post, I end up making new sales on a promotion I did some time ago. And since my blog is linked to all of my other web sites, it's easy for me to generate traffic for multiple products and services with just one mailing.

And blogging is a great way to generate new web traffic for your domain. By setting your blog software to ‘ping' search and directory portals each time you make a post, you can alert a large number of people about your new content with the single click of a button.

Also, search engines are more likely to spider your site on a regular basis if you update your content frequently. With blog software, making changes to the text on your web pages is as simple as sending an email; you just fill in a subject line and post body, and then click ‘submit'.
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

You can even configure your blog so readers are able to leave comments and questions about your articles. They don't have to take the time to send you an email, they can just click on the comments link and post their feedback right there on the spot. This is one of the easiest ways possible to encourage productive interaction among your prospects and customers.

Blogging requires no special technical knowledge. Sure there is an advanced side to this marketing strategy, but just adding a web log to your domain and making posts on a regular basis can improve your traffic flow and customer response tremendously.

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Tim Whiston is a full-time entrepreneur and internet marketer. For more quality content, be sure to check out his Internet Marketing Blog.

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Blogging Tip

2007-12-27T03:41:00.003-08:00

Nobody likes a copycat! Remember this as you read this article on blog tip. If you are going to take the time to build a blog don`t waste it by taking other content. There are some very educated people who take time to write these articles to actually help the reader accomplish things that otherwise would be a mystery. So don`t steal their thunder by taking credit for such things.

Most of us know what a blog directory is. Most of us have some knowledge that everyone who has an online presence needs an online blog. Most of us do not realize that blogging in the wrong way is a waste of your time!

Today you can search and find blogs everywhere on the net, it seems when you search the major directories that blogs show up in top positions. Is your blog appearing in these places? If not, then maybe you don`t know something that these other bloggers do know.

Install your blog directly on your site Make sure you are using full search engine friendly urls with these blogs Do not copy other blogs and post them on your blog as this is duplicate content and will hurt you Add at least 1 post a week if not more If you are unsure about these mentioned above contact us for assistance.

Now let's get to the good tip.

· Key word relevant content: Meaning, stay focused on 1 subject and about 2 - 4 related keywords or phrases. Decide ahead of time what you will write about, do research to see if the topic has keywords that match and use those keywords. · With those keywords or phrases spread them out so they appear within every 100 words or so. · Add your URL in the first sentence & approx every 100 words using it about 3 times max. Don`t do more then this as it won`t help at that point · Make sure after you have written your article to do a spell and grammar check. · Install your blog on your own URL. You will find that your links from your blog going to other sources will count more if these are installed directly on your site · Notify Blog Servers by pinging them.
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

Don't waste time on this anymore, get your blog, get listed on directories and increase your page rank. So what are you waiting for make up your own blog and start blogging.

Copyright 2006 Darren Dunner

Darren Dunner writes for http://www.surrealblog.com , offering the latest information about different stuffs, visit them today for more infromation on blogs. Visit today: http://www.surrealblog.com

How To Make Money Blogging

2007-12-27T03:41:00.001-08:00

After you create a blog that is interesting, now it is time to start making money. The second step of getting visitors is the most important, if you plan on making money. The third step is choosing how you will make money from your blog. You should try to keep your blog on the same topic on all your post, being that you can have an unlimited number of blogs, you can have a blog for any and every topic you choose. Make sure to start a new blog if you are totally off the main subject of the blog that you are posting to.

Blogger and several other free blog companies make it very simple to have a brand new blog up and running in a matter of a few minutes. Try not to post an article about dogs on a blog about golf. Once you have an interesting blog on one particular topic, the best place to start making money is Google AdSense. Blogger has made it very simple to add AdSense ads to your blog. The ads that show up on your blog will be targeted towards the topic of your blog, which means if you have a blog about dogs, the ads that show up on your blog will deal with pets. It's like Google is paying you to advertise on your blog.

Another way to make money with your blog is with affiliate programs. Companies will pay you good money to advertise their products, and all you have to do is put a link or banner on your blog leading to that companies web site. Once a sale is made the company gives you a commission. That is the reason you should pick one topic for your blog. If you want to have a blog about your life, by all means do it, but have other blogs about specific topics if you want to make money.

Once you find a topic that interest you, look for affiliate programs for that particular topic. With the dog blog example, there are several dog training products that you can have links and banners to on a dog blog that will make good money. ClickBank is the top company when it comes to affiliate products, they have over 10,000 products to choose from. Browse their products to see which ones you would like to promote. Obviously you want to pick something that fits the topic of your blog, but don't limit yourself to just one, you can change a product you are promoting with a few clicks.
Tip! Clean, powerful interface- This blogging software has simple interface that makes it easier for new users to get started and offers advanced users the power and control they need. Customization of interface is possible by adding links.

The internet is the essence of marketing, by that I mean, every word in an ad matters, every color, where the ad is located on your blog, whether is is blinking or not, and the color of the text. It might not seem like all of those things matter, but the fact is, everything that you decide matters. The good thing is you can experiment with how your blog looks as much as you want. There are several e-books written on how you should place and where you should place them, in the beginning, just go with the basic blog set-up until you get the hang of things.

Create a Blog

Todd C. Robinson is Blogger for http://create--a--blog.blogspot.com

Blog Entrepreneur: Blogging Is the Perfect Internet Business

2007-12-27T03:40:00.002-08:00

If someone were to tell you that you could create a global business, completely for free, with nothing more than the tools you already have, and the investment of your time, you'd question their sanity.

Nevertheless, it's true. If blogging appeals to you, you can create a viable Internet business within a few months: for free.

Blogging is a new development in online businesses. Essentially, it's instant publishing. Because entrepreneurial blogging is so new, you have a great opportunity to build your business before others copy what you're doing, so get started now, and start building your own online empire.

Let's look at five business models for your new Internet blogging business. These five models can be combined if you wish - there are no rules in blogging. You can change the business model of a blog at any time, to a model which generates more income.

Each of these models has the potential to earn you a six-figure income. They are:

• Affiliate blog(s)

• Web publisher blog(s)

• Sales blog(s)

• Service blog(s)

• Blog network(s)

Let's look at these models one by one.

Affiliate blog(s)

Many businesses develop affiliate programs, because they can recruit a sales force of thousands of people, with little expense. The appeal of affiliate programs for affiliate marketers is that you don't need a product or service - you can start selling others' products, on commission.

If you intend creating an affiliate blog, select the products that you'll be selling before you create the blog. This is because you want to be sure that there is a wide range of products that you can promote. There's nothing worse than developing a blog, and finding out that the well is dry: you've picked a niche where products rarely change, and in which the products are so standardized that there's nothing new to write or podcast about.

Web publisher blog(s)

In this model, your blog is the online equivalent of a magazine. Just as a magazine has features and advertising, so does your blog. In this business model, your content is vital, because you're counting on your content to attract advertisers.
Tip! It is essential that corporate seek legal counsel to develop blogging policies such that information shared and posted in blogs can be informative without too much censor as well as comply and conform to the Sarbanes-Oxley rules and other regulations that govern information exchange.

If you choose to develop a Web publisher blog, you've got great models - the thousands of magazines which are published each year. Check out a couple of your favorite magazines. Usually a monthly magazine will have a theme for each monthly issue, with two or more stories devoted to this theme. The magazine publishes its editorial calendar a year in advance, so that advertisers can line up their advertising for a specific issue.

Sales blog(s)

In the sales model, you devote a blog to a single product, or range of products. When offline companies start blogs, their blogs are sales blogs - they're using their blogs to sell their products. If you have products that you want to sell, a sales blog is an excellent business model. You could sell a product that you've created - an ebook, a DVD, or art work - or products that you buy from others, and resell.
Tip! Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

If you're already running a business, you could start an entrepreneurial blog to act as the marketing arm of the business.

On the other hand, if you don't have a business, look into having products created for you, or buy products which you can resell on your blog. Look in your local Yellow Pages for manufacturing companies: you may be able to find products that you could resell at a profit. Of course, there are many wholesaling companies online, but the benefit of dealing with a local supplier is that you can inspect the products that you're selling, to ensure quality. Your shipping costs will also be low, resulting in more profit for you.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

Service blog(s)

While the sales blog sells products, the service blog sells services. If you have a service that you sell, then you could create a blog to generate customers for your services. Or, you could sell the services of other people, via a blog.

If you're selling a service, you know that it's hard to differentiate yourself from the thousands of others who are selling the same service. A blog is a way to do that. If you're a dance coach, for example, you've got plenty to write about. You'll attract lots of new business, and you can bring in additional income when you solicit your equipment suppliers to advertise on your blog.

Blog network(s)

Blog networks are groups of Web publisher blogs formed into a network. There can be half a dozen, or hundreds, depending on the ambitions and interests of the owner of the network. Blog networks usually derive their income from advertising.

If you want to develop a blog network, your aims will be to: develop a mission for the network, as well as a clear idea of where and how you'll add blogs to the network, and where and how the revenue stream will be built.
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

So, there you have it. Five different business models for your blog-based Internet business. Now all you need to build your new Internet business is enthusiasm, inspiration, and time.

Copyright 2006 Angela Booth

Angela Booth is a copywriter and veteran career blogger. Her new ebook, Blogging For Dollars, helps you develop a lucrative blogging career, and gets you started as a blogging entrepreneur. The ebook will be available from August 2006. Read the book's blog at http://www.dollars2blog.com/blog/

5 Biggest Blogging Mistakes

2007-12-27T03:40:00.001-08:00

1.You have your own domain name and web hosting but you decide to host your blog elsewhere. Why? If your website is www.anythinghere.com then your blog should be hosted at www.anythinghere.com. There is no reason for you to use an external blog service. First of all you are putting the control of your blog in their hands- what happens when they decide to erase it? - Believe me, it happens. The second reason this is silly is because you should want to brand yourself and your business. Using another company's domain is great for their branding but not yours.

2. Long blog entries bore people. Don't be afraid to break up entries, you don't have to post the whole story in one day. Also, make use of bullet points, numbered lists, and pictures.

3. Save the long words for your doctoral dissertation. We know you are smart, we know you have a nice vocabulary but we don't want to read "magnanimous" when "noble" will do. Keep it simple.
Tip! Start blogging and complete 20 posts before going to marketing.

4. A RSS subscription option is very important. Don't be afraid of it. Don't run from it. If you want people to read your blog on a regular basis then you have to make it easy for them to do so. Having an "enter your email here" box is a nice start. But if I have 25 blogs I read, I am not going to want 25 different emails coming to me each time someone updates.

5. Writing for search engines and contextual advertising is not the best way to make money. Sure, you may get a few adsense clicks here and there but do you really think that people will come back for more if your sentences read like "I think you should make money with your financial payday loan so you can work at home and be rich with this banking information that I will give you for more money." To put it simply, write for people-not for machines.
Tip! Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

Donyell (DJ) Nelson is an entrepreneur, writer, and speaker who gives people the inspiration and information to create successful online businesses. She is the host of Bold Business Talk and the author of Jump Start Your Success: 9 Insider Secrets to Running an Online Business. Find out how to jump start your business at http://www.Donyell.com

How To Generate Income From Blogging

2007-12-27T03:39:00.002-08:00

Blogging is a relatively new term that has just begun to make its rounds through the Internet world. You may have asked yourself in the past "what is blogging and why is everyone talking about it?" And the answer is relatively simple. Blogging is nothing more than a website that is updated on a regular basis with the newest entries being displayed at the top. A blog is pretty much an online journal where anybody can go and type their thoughts for the rest of the Internet world to read.

If you like to write, and are looking for a new place to display your work, blogging may be the answer you have been searching for. There are a couple of blogging tips that you should keep in mind before starting. First off, there are many blogging sites that will allow you to have your own web page for free. These free blogging sites can be found through a simple Internet search. Of course, if you want to get more serious about your blog you can register your own domain name and compile your blog their. Another tip to keep in mind is that if you do not want to write about your personal life, blogging for business may still be right for you. There are thousands of businesses that also run blogs as a way for their customers, and prospective customers, to stay informed. Blogging for business has taken off in the small business sector over the past year, and it is surely going to reach a wider audience as word gets around.

If you had to ask yourself "what is blogging", you probably are not aware that you can make money off of it as well. Many people start blogs as a way to make money. The best way to do this is by signing up for a Google adsense account. This has been proven as one of the best ways of making money with a blog. When you sign up for an account, Google will place targeted ads on your blog that will earn you money every time somebody visits your site and clicks on them. So, if you have a lot of traffic on your blog you will definitely be able to make some extra money.
Tip! Create blogging policies. In any medium where an employee is sharing information, there is the possibility of leaking trade secrets or financial information.

There are plenty of blogging tips that are available by searching the Internet. It is important to read these blogging tips so that you know exactly what you are doing, and where to start. Making money with a blog is also very possible if you can garner enough traffic to your site. Even though blogging is still relatively unknown to a lot of the world, it is sure to pick up more steam over the next couple of years and become even more popular.

Copyright © David E Nettey

David E Nettey is the webmaster of http://www.sourceneeds.com and http://www.LyecryNet.com and operates a successful home based business and coaches others to successfully start their own home based business. For Internet Business Ideas and Opportunities visit his website http://www.Profits-Web.com

Affiliate Marketing, Blogging and Adding Meat to Bones

2007-12-27T03:39:00.001-08:00

Every morning that I awake the internet is one of the things that I give God thanks for. Never has it been so easy to start your own business and you can even market it for free with the right techniques.

Anyone from my farmer Grandmother to the beggar on the street can have their own online business. The easiest way to start one's own internet business is to sign up as an affiliate and sell a company's services or wares for a commission. Commissions can ranged from a measly 5% (Old Navy) to a generous 75% (Mysurveysjob.com).
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

The best way to get started is to head on over to Blogger.com and build a blog. Now, don't back away just yet, this is the easy part. You don't have to know any technical hogwash to create your own blog; there are pre designed templates for you to choose from. Just pick one which suits your taste and in no time you are ready to start adding some meat to the bones of your blog via content.

If you are not into writing, there are thousands of articles sites that you can get free reprint information. Say you want to be an affiliate in the lucrative poker industry, Ezinearticles.com, Isnare.com and many others have hundreds of poker articles for your perusal. All you need to do is follow the strict reprint rules and soon your blog's collar bones will begin to come out of that hole.

Now that you are beginning to get familiar with your niche you will be researching and learning more and more. Then you may begin to compose your knowledge and share it with others in the form of articles.
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

As your blog's jawbones stop protruding with the nourishment of content, you may feel to start networking with others. Forums are great to meet others with a similar interest and to get solutions to your problems and to help others solve theirs.

To make your blog have those swinging hips you need to feed it with a list. What kind of list? A list of email prospects that is supplied with valuable information on a regular basis via email. You can subtly send them directly to your affiliate links or boldly direct them to your blog with your affiliate links strategically placed to ensure maximum exposure and click through.

Your commissions should be reinvested into PPC ads and ezine advertising especially Solo ads. The urge to get your own domain name and hosting may start to grow and this is strongly urged. But if you choose to remain on Blogger like me then no problem; it's not what you have but what you do with it that counts.
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

Now for the burning question? How soon will your blog go from skin and bones to having those swinging hips? A few months to a year would be a good time frame. If you add just two posts a day to your blog in six months time you would have hundreds of pages with traffic generating keywords intact. Still don't want to wait that long? Look at this way. Even Popeye knows that Olive could not be bouncy like Oprah in two months time. So why would you expect your affiliate business to accomplish that goal?

by Nicholas Dixon Copyright ©2006

Nicholas Dixon built his mini online empire without owning a PC. If he can do it then so can you. Make major money instead of pocket change. Find out more @ http://Majormoney.blogspot.com.

Does Blogging Help Attract Network Marketing Prospects? Oh Yes

2007-12-27T03:38:00.001-08:00

A Blog Helps Your Prospect To Get To Know You

Even though you can market this business entirely online, your prospects are still people. Your prospects seek business partners with integrity and they know choosing the right sponsor determines the dynamics of their business.

Your prospects want to know about you and what you might have done. More importantly how you can help them achieve what they want.

Every communication tool you employ becomes another channel for your prospects to determine your ability to lead and the more you can position yourself as the potential candidate for the sponsor, the better your prospects see that you should have the privilege of working with them.

You might not need to be an expert in network marketing, but the more you can articulate the advantages you bring in the mind of the prospect, the better you can attract wide range of prospects. But your prospects need to get to know you and it helps when you can properly communicate with your prospects about your personality, style, values and philosophy through writing.

But what becomes important is that you don't want to just blog about anything. Nobody wants to spend time reading your random thoughts and your prospects are too busy to care why you are in the business.

Instead, what you need to write is what kind of problems you can solve and what advantages you bring to their self-serving needs better than anyone else your prospects deal with.

Those are the things your prospects want to hear from you and not really what you think about the ORAC value within a particular fruit or why you brag on and on about why you think how great your organization may be.

Show your face and be a human and communicate as much as you can with your prospects through your blog so that it pre-sells your opportunity on your behalf.

A Blog Helps You Position Yourself As An Expert

Blogging about a particular topic helps you position yourself as the expert in the field.

Why? Because you are writing!

You might say, "How does writing make me an expert?"

Have you ever met authors who are regarded as experts because they took time to write about something?

Have you ever seen experts whose expertise may be unimportant to you but you looked at them to be the authority in the field?

It's because most of these people write. Experts are not always prolific writers but they write while others don't.

It doesn't matter if you write a book on "how to drink water properly" or "10 ways to speed dial phone numbers" .

As long as you are in the business of solving other people's problems, you have the expertise to position yourself as the authority in that field — that's if you write about it.

Yes, you heard me right. That's if you take time to write about what you know.

You see, I never consider myself as an expert of anything but some people look up to me as an expert in for example… promoting network marketing online.

It's because I write while many other marketers don't. As a matter of fact, there are so many people out there who know the business better than I do and who know how to market it better than I do.

But if you don't take time to write, your prospects don't know that you have the expertise. And if all you say is how many downline members you have had in your previous organization or how many years of experience you have had, you are not explaining all of the benefits that your prospects should experience by getting to know you.

I'd say that 95% network marketers who use the Internet use the web the wrong way.
Tip! The blog should be created carefully as it is primarily designed to retain existing customers as well as develop interest in the products and recruit new customers. It should develop a community of bloggers who actively participate in blogging, hence the content has to be written by some one experienced and knowledgeable, and they can include links of other blogs that relate to the product or subject of the blog by asking permission from the owners of those blogs.

Majority of the websites I see in so many organizations market the business the same way — that is they "advertise" their businesses.

However, statistics show that 92% of the entire internet users go online to look for information and not a sales pitch.

But prospects and consumers come online to look for information about an opportunity and they need more information about it. They need editorial content rather than advertisement so that they can figure out what's most important to them without being sold.

"People Hate To Be Sold, But They Love To Buy"

The same thing applies to network marketing. Your prospects don't want to be sold, but they are always looking for ways to solve their problems and they need to know how network marketing (or Amigo Health in the case of my business) can meet their pressing need and how you can personally be a solution to their self-serving needs.

You see, English is my second language but I am not afraid to use it market the business. For this obvious reason, I am not the most grammatically correct writer available, but that doesn't stop me from writing.
Tip! Submit your blog to blogging lists and syndicate it so that it becomes a viral marketing machine. When you have a blog that stands out in your niche people will be walking over each other for every new post you make.

A Blog Helps You Rank High In Search Engines

The reason why you are reading this page is because you found me on the Internet. And the reason why I am getting your attention is because you found me probably through the search engine result.

I am not the most technical person but my website ranks high in the search engine result. It's because my content is unique and relevant and search engines see that they should include the pages I write.

I used to belong to a MLM company called Everyday Wealth. That's when I started writing on the Internet and I saw my pages getting indexed whenever I wrote about the company until that company stopped operating the business through multi-level marketing.

But my website always ranked high and that picked up lots of free leads without having to pay for advertisement. I never saw that it was very duplicatable because not many people took time to write, but their prospects did find the ones who practiced the same marketing.
Tip! Powerful community management- This blogging software helps people connect to their weblog and to each other, using comments or Track Backs. A powerful Junk Folder automatically keeps the feedback on-topic and constructive without imposing a management burden on the blog owner.

But now it's 2006, anyone can build a website if they just use a blog tool. It doesn't matter if you use Blogger, Typepad, or Wordpress, if you just follow the instruction, you can easily open up an account and start writing it today.

Since what you write is original and unique, search engines will find your web pages and will start indexing you. This can be done all free of marketing cost.

I love using blogs to market my network marketing. I get to meet prospects every week that have questions and they find me online because I take time to write.

I get to help solve their problems and answer their questions. Without necessarily having to advertise the business, but having to pre-sell the opportunity by being the guy available to help meet their needs.
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

Takuya Hikichi, A distributor for Amigo Health network marketing specializes in education-based network marketing, consultative marketing and customer focused marketing. Visit http://www.squidoo.com/amigo_health for more detail.

Blogging for Candidates 101: Nuts and Bolts

2007-12-27T03:35:00.000-08:00

When my friend, Jim Larsen, sends me articles like the review of a Lancet paper from April 2005 where the authors tell their audience that they should abandon their calcium and other nutritional supplements in favor of pharmaceuticals I get my hackles up (my wife thanks you Jim. The paper he sent me is so poorly done that my 9 year old would be scolded for writing it, I have to wonder whether some people's drive for money has so clouded their thinking that any semblance of morality was dropped off somewhere far away from their homes. The participants in the study from the Lancet had a incredibly high drop out rate (over 1/3rd) which in and of it self should have thrown it out but it also did not look at levels of Vitamin D (critical in calcium metabolism), did not look at hydrochloric acid levels which are necessary for proper absorption of calcium and they use too low of a dose! Many of the studies putting down calcium also used the wrong form, calcium carbonate which is a cheap but very poorly absorbed form.

When you look at the advertising in journals like the New England Journal of Medicine (I commonly refer to it as the NEJ of Aggravation) and The Lancet, you can see why they consistently whore themselves to Big Pharma. You may think my words are harsh but the distortion and lying is of such a catastrophic nature, that I should be accused of being too mild in my characterizations of these people.

Now to turn my focus to the other side of nutrition, the hucksters and sales sharks who tout things like horny goat weed as the solution to all male sexual dysfunction, or some self-proclaimed health truth tellers from some dark corner of the Amazon who claim they are the only bastion of truth yet when you disagree with them (with good cause), they call you Nazi's (yes I have been accused by one such lunatic as having opinions reminiscent of the perpetrators of the Holocaust) and big Pharma shills. These are the ones that allopathic medical practitioners point to as the model of alternative minded people. They do such a disservice to nutritional health that I feel some of them may really be the big Pharma shills.
Tip! Clean, powerful interface- This blogging software has simple interface that makes it easier for new users to get started and offers advanced users the power and control they need. Customization of interface is possible by adding links.

While not all blogging is filled with truth sayers, by sharing our ideas and thoughts, we allow people to hear all sides of a story, not just the side that advertisers want you to hear. We blog not just to see ourselves on the net but to allow you to see what the truth might be. As for me, I will continue to blog as long as I see deceit, disinformation, falsehoods and shills.

Mark Schauss is the President of Carbon Based Corporation a company dedicated to diseminating health information, especially when it comes to laboratory testing. He has lectured the world over on subjects as far ranging as environmental health, nutrition, lab testing and childhood neurological conditions, especially epilepsy a condition his oldest girl is afflicted with.
Tip! Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

Mark has also been involved in the alternative health community for over 20 years. His opinions have often times struck a controversial note not because of outrageous claims but because of his strident fervor of finding the truth. Hucksters, marketers and the dishonest are his life goal targets.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

Highly respected in the community, his talks spark numerous "ah ha" moments as well as a deeper understanding of the important health questions of the day.

Blogging for Candidates 101: Nuts and Bolts

2007-12-27T03:34:00.000-08:00

A "blog" is simply an internet (web) log. Blogs are created for personal or professional use. They may promote a product or service, or merely serve as a personal online journal. There are currently just over four million blogs today, with a new blog born every seven seconds.

The problem of cocooning candidates

Today, we work and live in an era of heightened cynicism and secrecy. Isn't it much harder than it used to be to call into a company and attempt to speak with a candidate by telephone? Central voice mail systems have grown more sophisticated and guarded. And even when recruiters are able to finally speak with an actual live person, it's often a reluctant administrative assistant or receptionist. Finally, if you are fortunate enough to be transferred to your candidate, more often than not you are greeted with that person's individual voice mail recording. It has become de facto practice by many professionals today to simply leave their "do not disturb" function turned on for most of the work day. Later, they will screen and return external calls at their discretion.
Tip! Fine Print. Blogging can lead to legal issues.

To address these changes, in recent years legitimate e-mail and web site marketing was considered a non-threatening (and somewhat successful) way to reach these "cocooning candidates." These are in fact still viable tools, but there costly learning curves associated with them. Some recruiters have gone back to launching traditional direct mail campaigns. However, this can be an expensive and time consuming proposition to undertake with regularity. Success may be mixed until you find just the right combination of style and timing.

Moreover, most outreach marketing attempts essentially are competing for a candidate's attention today. Consider this:
Tip! Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.

• Only 29% of eligible job seekers visit the "Big Three" (Monster.com, Hotjobs.com, CareerBuilder.com) • The average consumer is exposed to about 3,000 marketing messages per day.) • 85% of people conducting research are using the internet.)

What can blogging do for you?

Recruiters (or researchers) who seek candidates for open positions, or to profile candidate requirements for the purpose of building a network pipeline, there are two ways we can use blogs:

(1) The first way is to start your own blog and attract top talent to your blog site. This is not an overnight marketing cure-all, and it will require some patience. But cultivating a readership of professionals in your niche field is a highly effective means of reaching candidates who would have never otherwise learned about your career openings. The key to making this work is to learn to attract a specialized readership to your blog, just like a beacon in the night. You don't need millions of readers…Just hundreds of the right readers.
Tip! Submit Your RSS Feed - Regardless of which blogging platform you choose, you'll have an RSS feed included. After making your initial blog post, submit your RSS feed to blog and feed directories.

(2) The second approach is to search other existing blogs and develop contacts and relationships. This is a perfectly legitimate means of networking, as any internet page is essentially public domain information. Based on posting activity and interactions you initiate, you can easily develop in-roads and find more candidates in less time. Let's talk about both approaches.

You want to start your own blog. Now what?

How much time do I need to spend on my blog? What do I write about? By their very nature of being near real-time, dynamic logs about life, blogs are frequently published mediums. I publish my blog at least three times per week (sometimes more often if I have more to say). If you are going to take the time to create an effective blog, and develop a regular reading audience, I suggest blogging at least twice every week.
Tip! Create blogging policies. In any medium where an employee is sharing information, there is the possibility of leaking trade secrets or financial information.

How do I decide what to blog about?

Who is your audience? What message are you trying to convey? Are you recruiting for new business clients? Looking for joint venture relationships? In need of candidates who are in short supply in your market place? Are you selling products or services, or promoting your company brand?

The first step you should take is to decide on what your intended focus will be. If you write about what's wrong with our political system one week, then the following week write about outsourcing IT services to India, then in week three prattle on about how beautiful your home town is in the fall, your readership will not feel a sense of community or predictability about you. This completely defeats the purpose of building trust and credibility! You would be better off making cold calls if you continue on this path.

One of my blogs (The Hiring Insider, www.hiringinsider.com) shares tips and tools to help line managers, corporate recruiters, human resource professionals, etc. learn to make better hires faster (or so I hope). Week in and week out, I try to maintain a specific, consistent thread of helpful information that builds upon previous week's blog entries. However, a new reader should be able to jump in without any trouble at any time, so remember this as you plan your writing agenda. My other blog (http://jobsblog.blogspot.com) provides tips to job seekers in the life sciences field who are confused about who to trust in the pharmaceutical job market, and what practices to engage in and avoid in order to land the best possible job for their skill set. As you craft your blog entries, constantly think about who, what, why, where and how. Be sure to ask yourself where you are headed over time with your blog topics. Try to stay theme-related.
Tip! It is essential that corporate seek legal counsel to develop blogging policies such that information shared and posted in blogs can be informative without too much censor as well as comply and conform to the Sarbanes-Oxley rules and other regulations that govern information exchange.

How do I choose a service to blog on?

There are many services available. For beginners, I recommend using blogger.com (Pyra labs). Google acquired blogger.com in February of 2004 (http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor/archives/000802.shtml) and is really enhancing its features. It's also FREE. Yep, you can register for an account in less than ten minutes and be up and blogging. Other great tools include Typepad (http://www.typepad.com/) and Movable Type (http://www.movabletype.org/).

Again, the most important ingredients are publishing good content, and establishing and maintaining a base audience.

However, you aren't done yet. Now that you've come this far, you need to promote your blog and get yourself out of the starting gate. Begin by submitting your blog to the blog search engines. There are several hundred of these, and they are growing by the day. It is somewhat arbitrary which ones you choose to register with. However, at a minimum, I recommend that you register your site with at least the following:
Tip! Several blogs are dedicated to teaching people the do's and don'ts of blogging, READ them! Include in your reading materials blogs that are consumer-based too to give you an idea. 2.

www.technorati.com www.daypop.com www.blogarama.com www.blogtree.com www.bloglines.com

What if I don't want my own blog?

If you decide instead that you want to search other blogs to source candidates, you can do any or all of these three steps: First, search for blogs based on what skill sets you are seeking (Oracle blogs, copywriting blogs, programmer blogs). Secondly, read the blog entries and see who is posting comments. Third, most bloggers have "blog-rolls" on either the left or ride side of the page. These cite other blogs that they like, and are usually related to the subject matter on their own blog. Resourceful recruiters will take advantage of these links and research them as well. You will also find blogs they may like or recommend which are unrelated.
Tip! Choose Your Weapon - There are two blogging platforms that I would recommend using, either will work just fine so it is entirely up to you. The first is Blogger.

While I generally post relevant blogs, I also try to have a little fun. After all, recruiting is challenging work…Why not take a break and see what Dave Barry is up to? http://weblog.herald.com/column/davebarry/

© Lucia Apollo Shaw, HireWorks, Inc. 2004 HireWorks, Inc. helps small to midsize organizations in the life sciences recruit and retain top talent. http://www.hire-works.com

Visit our blog at http://www.hiringinsider.com

7 Tips for Successful Blogging

2007-10-29T12:12:00.001-07:00

So, you have a blog! Do you have traffic? Do you know how to build traffic to your weblog? There are seven proven methods for building readership of your blog. They start with defining the purpose, or life, of your blog. Then, after you have a blog worth promoting, driving traffic is crucial to your ongoing success at blogging.

Here are seven tips to help you build and hold an audience for your blog:

Tip #1: Provide quality content.

On the Internet, whether you are talking about websites or blogs, a lot of space is given to content. Everyone directs you to provide quality content. But, what is quality content? The quality of your blog’s content is directly related to how well you have defined your ideal audience.

A successful blog is written with a distinct audience in mind. In this way, you can provide content that is unique to your audience’s issues, needs, or desires. If you create content they like and wish to return to read, you have quality content.

The second issue is to stay true to your audience and tone of your blog. If people are reading your blog, it’s because they like your topic and tone. Try not to stray from your typical topics and style too much. This will give your readers a reason to link back to your blog on an ongoing basis, as will posting on a regular basis.

Tip #2: Blog regularly

If you don't update your blog often enough, blog readers will move on to other blogs. There are too many blogs out there competing for attention. Blog readers will go where they can get enough of what they want.

Successful blogging takes a commitment of your time. When you begin blogging and wish to capture an audience, you should be prepared to blog every day. In this way, you can develop an audience who counts on you to help them begin or end their day.

This means you should also try to post at the same time each day. Your readers will get accustomed to your schedule and check your blog at the appropriate time. The time of day is not as crucial as the consistency in your posting.

Since you now have quality content and a regular posting schedule, it’s time to drive traffic to your blog. Your readers will do a lot to promote your blog just by telling their friends. Don’t count on this alone! You need to do some additional work.

When you post, make sure you set your blog to “ping” blog tracking sites every time you add a new post. Think of this as a means to get their attention. The ping says “Hey, we just added a new post”. An alternative to automatically pinging from your blog is to use pingomatic.com. This is a one-stop place to automatically ping everyone you should notify of your new post and only takes a couple of minutes to accomplish.

Tip #3: Mention your blog wherever you can

Mention your blog’s address in your email signature line, in forums where you post, on your business cards, on address labels and in conversations with anyone you meet. Use a tag line under your blog address to further entice them to visit. Mine reads:

Michele Schermerhorn
http://www.imarketblog.com
A sassy little marketing blog

Beyond just mentioning your blog in writing and conversation, you must actively participate in the blogging community too.

Tip #4: Participate in the blogosphere

Get involved in other people's blogs. Visit blogs that interest you and are in line with the general topic of your blog. Then, leave thoughtful comments. Almost every comment option on someone else’s blog will allow you to post your blog URL and your email address. Help other bloggers out with traffic and they will help you.

If a blogger really likes your site, they will add you to their blogroll. A blogroll is generally found on every blog which understands linking to the rest of the blogosphere helps drive traffic. A blogroll is a listing of other blogs. Think of it as a “recommended reading list”. Don’t be stingy with your blog roll either. Add those blogs that you read and enjoy to your blogroll too.

Tip #5: Think keywords when you post

Think about keywords with your use of titles, links and blog posts. Search engines, like Google and Yahoo, like keywords. The more targeted your keywords, the better the chances of your blog appearing in search results. Search results can drive that extra traffic you want.

To increase the value of the key words in your content, make certain keywords are part of the hot link in your posts. Don’t use “click here” as the hot link. You will be wasting valuable real estate in your post. Instead use the relevant keywords for the hot link, like “a great marketing idea. This gives the keywords added emphasis with the search engines.

One last thought on keywords for driving traffic; if you want a real leg up in the traffic game, in your linking code add rel=”tag”. This helps Technorati, a major blog resource, index your blog for their directory. But don’t stop there! It’s time to submit your blog to blog directories.

Tip #6: Submit your blog to blog directories

In addition to submitting your blog to the major search engines, make certain you submit the blog to exclusively blog directories like blogwise, blogcatalog, or bloghub. Many people find blogs through these online directories.

When you do submit your blog to these directories, remember to add a description that will entice your targeted audience to check your blog out. For instance, when I post my blog in blog directories, under description I put “General musings, rants, advice and strategies from a battle-worn veteran of the Marketing Wars, online and off”. Your description should help the potential reader understand your blogging topic and the flavor of how you write.

In addition to submitting your blog to blog directories, join a few of the free or inexpensive traffic exchange sites like blogexplosion or blogclicker.

Tip #7: Use free and inexpensive blog traffic exchange communities

There are many sites which can be termed “traffic exchange” sites for the blogging community. It won’t cost you anything to sign up. At the very least, join blogexplosion, blogclicker, and blogazoo. Once you sign up, you have two options to help drive traffic to your blog. Use both of them!

The first method is to earn credits (guaranteed visitors to your site) by using the “surf member sites” function. As you surf through those sites, you will be earning credits (visitors to your blog). When you find an interesting post, leave a comment as discussed above. When you find a blogger you like, add them to your blogroll and let them know you did.

The second method to drive traffic is to purchase credits. The cost is very cheap for the traffic you will drive to your blog. The more traffic to your blog, the more customers you’ll have. The more happy customers you have, the more they will tell others. The more they tell others, the more customers you get. Don’t you love this dance!

In summary, blogging may not be for everyone. However, it can be a great method for bringing your unique perspective to the Internet. You will surely find others who think the same way you do. Some bloggers will entertain you, some will inform you, and some will drive you to tear your hair out. Decide what type of blogger you want to be and be the best you can. See you in the blogosphere!

About the Author

Michele Schermerhorn calls herself a “Corporate Freedom Fighter” dedicated to freeing cubicle prisoners. She has over 30 years experience in the business world. She is President of Online Business Institute Inc. (www.obinstitute.com), authors a sassy marketing blog (www.imarketblog.com), and regularly conducts free online seminars. Online Business Institute Inc. exists to “Create Successful Online Business Owners One Person At A Time”.

13 Steps to Successful Blogging

2007-10-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

Blogs can be a very marketable and very profitable tool if used correctly. Profiting from blogs is just a matter of grabbing the attention of an audience and not doing any actual salesmen selling. In this article you will learn the 13 most essential steps to successful blogging.

1) Where to start?

You should begin your blog with a free blog hosting service such as Journal Home or Blogger. Starting with a free blog hosting service allows you to begin blogging instantly without having any advance knowledge of scripts, hosting, or programming. It allows you to focus on your content and not the internal maintenance of the blog. The best benefit of starting with a free service is, in the case your blog doesn't become successful you do not lose any money or are you left holding the bill. The great thing about a blog is that they are organized in chronological order, your latest entry is displayed first. When your blog traffic grows greatly and you are ready to upgrade to your own domain then you can simply make your last blog entry the announcement of your "move". Simply add a last entry stating that your blog has "moved" and type the new blog URL address. Which directs visitors to your new blog site, keeping your following, without a major inconvenience to anyone. Upgrade as you need to...but only when you need to!

2) Niche

A niche is a targeted product, service, or topic. You should first decide on a product, service, or topic which interest you. Choose an area which you can enthusiastically write about on a daily basis. You can use keyword research services like Google Zeitgeist or Yahoo! Buzz Index to find popular searched topics. It does NOT matter if your topic is popular as long as there is a audience for your topic and the topic is precisely focused then your blog should be successful. Anything can be considered a niche as long as it has a target audience no matter how large or how small the audience is. A blog about your cat can be a niche or a blog about the species of the cat family can be a larger niche market, if there are people who are interested in hearing about your cat or the species of the cat family...you can even choose to build your audience for a market which an audience does not exist, but first you must build your blog.

3) Update Daily (nothing less)

This step is a must and not a suggestion. Updating your blog daily not only keeps your blog more interesting to readers, but it also gives your blog fresh content on a day to day making it more appealing to search engines. Not updating your blog on an occasional holiday or one day here and there is understandable to most, but missing days at a time or weeks is unacceptable and will most likely result in your blog being unsuccessful. To keep your blog traffic and retain your visitors interest it is a must to update your blog daily with multiple entries. You should try to update your blog everyday with at least 3 or more daily entries. The best way to accomplish this is to set aside 1-2 hours a day for tending to your blog and adding new entries. It may even be wise to schedule a set time which you dedicate to your blog each day. Give yourself work hours and treat your blog as a job, what happens if you don't come to work for days or weeks...you lose money or worse you get fired! Same applies here...if you don't update your blog for days or weeks you'll lose visitors.

4) Traffic

It's no secret. You must have traffic to profit from blogs. There are numerous ways to build traffic. Paid advertising, free advertising, viral marketing, search engine marketing, RSS/XML feeds, and word-of-mouth. You should always use your blog URL address in the signature of your email, forum discussions, message boards, or any other communication media. You should submit your blog URL address to search engines and blog directories. You should submit your RSS/XML URL feed to blog ping services like Technorati, Ping-O-Matic, and Blogdigger. You should confidently share your blog with family, friends, co-workers, associates, and business professionals when it relates. Many blogs can be considered as a collection of articles, for this purpose you should submit your blog entries (those that are valuable and lengthy articles) to content syndicators like GoArticles.com or ArticleCity.com. Once submitted your articles can be picked up and published by others. The trick is to make sure you include your Blog URL address in the "About the Author" passage. What this does is create link popularity and backlinks for your blog, when someone picks up your article from the syndication then publish the article on their website the "About the Author" passage is included with each publication and the link you included is followed, crawled, and indexed by search engines. Imagine if your article is popular enough or controversial enough to produce 10,000 publications across the web. The search engines is bound to find your site in no time with that many publications and credit you a authority on the topic, in return increasing your rank on search engines. The small effort of writing a well written article is rewarding. You should try to write at least 1 full length article every week for syndication and submit your article to at least 10 article syndicators.

5) Track Your Blog

How do you know if your blog has traffic? Just because no one is leaving comments doesn't mean your blog isn't growing. Many visitors do not leave comments but they are returning visitors. I know it sounds crazy but with blogs people are more interested in what "you" have to say! Many visitors do not comment their 1st, 2nd, or 3rd time. Some do not comment at all, but are active daily visitors.

Tracking your blog does not have to be overly sophisticated usually a simple free page counter like StatCounter.com or Active Meter will do the trick. Install (copy/paste) the code into the html of your blog template and start tracking your visitors. Its better to use a service which gives you advanced traffic analysis, such as keyword tracking information, referral information, and search engine information. Visitors, returning visitors, and unique visitors should be standard for any page counter service you choose.

6) Listen to Your Audience

When using the proper page counter you should begin to see how others are finding your blog and if through search engines then which keywords are being used to find your blog. If constantly your blog is being found by 1 or more keywords then focus your blog around those keywords to make it even more powerful. When writing entry titles and entries use the keywords as often as possible while keeping the blog legible and interesting.

7) Multiple blogs

Use multiple blogging accounts to attract more people. This means you should have a blog with JournalHome.com, Blogger.com, LiveJournal.com, Blog-City.com, tBlogs.com, etc. The more blog accounts the better. You can copy/paste from 1 blog to all others. Having different blog accounts is like having a publication in different newspapers. This enables you to attract more visitors and this also increases the chance that 1 of your blogs will be in the search engine results for your focused keywords.

8) Short & Concise

Aside from the lengthy article a week for syndication and publication your blog entries should be short & concise (if you can help it). Sometimes there are exceptions to the rule and you have no choice but to blog lengthy entries, but try to avoid this as much as possible. You do not want your blog entries to become hours of reading. Visitors like to easily find information and skim through your entries. It is good to be detailed and provide useful information, but do not include useless information or run away sentences that veer away from your topic.

9) Digital Art

Try to include non-advertising graphics, pictures, photos, and art in your blog entries. Not too much. Once a week is fine. Graphics can sometimes bring your blog to life. Of course, the content of the blog is the most important aspect and you do not want to overshadow your content with graphics, but displaying graphics can add a bit of spice to the blog. Be choosy about your graphics and make sure they fit your entry topic. You should add content with the graphic, at least a caption. Original graphics, photos, pictures, and art is recommended.

10) Keep it Personal

A blog is most successful when it is kept personal. Try to include personal experiences which relates to the topic of your blog entry. Stay away from the business style of writing. Write with a more personal style and use first-person narratives. Do not write any of your entries as sales letters, instead share product reviews and personal endeavors.

11) Interact With Your Visitors

You now have the traffic you deserve. You should begin interacting with your visitors. Create a regular theme such as: "Monday Money Tip" or "Picture of the Week" which entices your readers to look forward to each week.

Give your readers advance notice about a product, service, or topic which you are going to review and then talk about later. If the President was scheduled to give a speech then in your blog you should state that you "will discuss the speech and give your opinion after the speech airs. Comments will be appreciated".

Try your best to find exclusive information that not many have. Do not disclose any confidential or secret information which is deemed illegal or can potentially get you into trouble, but try to get the scoop before everyone else does. Such as: If your blog was about Paris Hilton (the socialite) and you had a blog entry about "Paris Hilton Getting Married" then it would be interesting to your readers if you had a actual picture of Paris Hilton engagement ring. Give your best effort to dig and search the internet for exclusive information and you will possibly come up with something useful. Your readers will appreciate this and they show their appreciation through word-of-mouth referrals. Imagine how many readers will tell their friends, family, and others about information they only can find at your blog.

12) Make Money

Once your blog has gained some real momentum and your blog traffic is increasing then it is time to start thinking about turning your traffic into profit. You should use contextual advertising, like Google Adsense or Chitika. Contextual advertising is usually text links which use the content of your blog to publish targeted ads on your blog. The payout is usually based on a pay-per-click model, meaning for ever click an ad receives you are paid a small percentage of the profits. In addition to contextual advertising it is good to also use graphical advertising such as: BlogAds.com, Amazon.com, MammaMedia, or General Sponsored Advertising.

13) You're a Professional

You're a professional now! What are you still doing with that free blog hosting service? It is time to upgrade to a domain hosted solution. You need to get a web host and choose a domain name for your blog then check its availability. Select the blogging software you wish to use, such as: Squarespace.com, WordPress.org, MovableType.org, etc. When you have your new blog domain setup and ready for traffic then it is time for you to announce your move on all your previous blog accounts. Your last entry to the blog should be a "move" announcement. The title should be "Moved" and the blog entry should state something like "Old Blog has been moved to New Blog please follow and bookmark this link for future reference: http://www.YourNewBlogDomainName.com". This way all returning visitors and new readers should not have any problem finding your new blog domain.

At the level of a professional blogger you may want to team up with 1 or more other bloggers. This will create a more interesting and more powerful blog. The old saying "two heads is better than one", more authors mean more advertising and exposure because each author will have a vested interest in the blog. The idea of a team blog is to make it profitable and rewarding for all authors, while continuing to target the blog topic and keeping the blog interesting for visitors.

Following these blogging techniques should make your blogging experience much more rewarding. There is no guarantee that your blog will become popular or a household name, but the effort should at least put you one step closer. Making money online is not an overnight experience like many may think, but making money online is definitely a foreseeable possibility. As well, growing popularity on the web is not an overnight experience, but through time, dedication, and persistence you will be rewarded with all the royalties of blogging.

About the Author

Ant Onaf is the owner and founder of www.JournalHome.com He is an online internet marketer, content writer, and IT consultant. Ant Onaf has years of IT-related experience and Internet-related experience. His ingenuity, dedication, and passion for technology, internet marketing, & writing have made him a monumental icon in the World Wide Web. His blog can be visited at http://www.journalhome.com/AntOnaf