Blog Your Way to the TOP
So you’ve heard that having a blog is a good idea for your business, but are you sure WHY it’s important? Understanding how blogs operate and how to use them for your business will give you great payoffs for your investment of time and energy. Not using your blog effectively will simply waste this fantastic resource.
WHY SHOULD I ‘BLOG FOR BUSINESS’?
Blogs are a great method for giving your business credibility. Whether you post about industry news, recommend links to related topics or post valuable inside information or experiences, your audience will view you not only as a commercial venue but as a business interested in its community.
You can also use your blog to build traffic to your commercial site and to build a list of interested prospects. All of these issues are solid tools for marketing your product or service online.
WHY BLOGGING IS GREAT FOR CUSTOMERS
Blogs are not viewed the same as a typical website or sales page. The postings are often less formal or are presenting readers with interesting tidbits that entertain or inform about your topic or industry. Regular postings that draw the attention of your target market will build interest in your product and establish you as an ‘expert’ as well as create a good relationship with your prospects.
Your prospects can easily receive notice of your recent postings right in their email inbox. By regularly posting relevant information your prospects will look to you first when needing the service or product you provide.
Since many blogs offer readers the ability to post comments you immediately provide an opportunity for feedback or questions. This can clue you in to what your market needs or thinks, which can quickly be responded to in your next post.
BLOGGING FOR TRAFFIC
There are several methods of traffic buildings with blogs. One method is through the blog provider. Often the provider offers readers the option of searching for blogs with a word or phrase. Using that phrase in your blog or title will bring interested visitors.
The other method is through search engines. Search engines love fresh content and blogs make this easy. Simply ‘ping’ your blog to other media (this announces your update) and the search engines will pick it up. Using commonly searched words and phrases may give you the top ranking you were looking for. You can also link to your business website with the phrase and increase traffic directly to your sales page.
Finally, you can add an RSS feature to your blog. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows other websites to run the content from your blog. Every time you make a post the information will be automatically updated on sites featuring your RSS. This is attractive to sites with topics related to yours since they will benefit from the fresh content and you will benefit from the exposure.
If you haven’t jumped on the blogging bandwagon yet you’ve been missing out on one of the cheapest and smartest marketing tools available. Creating a blog is easy and profitable – so make yours today!
5 Brand-Building Secrets Through Blogging
Technorati recently completed its 2008 State of the Blogosphere report, which contains some interesting information about the correlation between blogs and brand building. The report shows that bloggers are interested in talking about brands. So if you’re looking for ways to build your brand, make friends with some bloggers!
Blogging is, at its heart, a place for people to share information about themselves and about their lives. If people have good experiences, they blog about them. If they have bad experiences, they blog about those, too. This includes experiences with businesses both online and in real life. If bloggers encounter a product or service that they find phenomenal, they will blog about it. Same goes for products or services that they find abysmal. In fact, nearly 80 percent of bloggers talk about brands and/or products that they love or hate, and 37 percent of them do so on a frequent basis. Many businesses have taken advantage of this publicity. In fact, one-third of all bloggers have been asked to act as brand advocates.
This may seem silly given that anyone can maintain a blog. Why should internet users trust a blog over any other source of information? Why are bloggers any more credible that anyone else? The truth is that bloggers primarily look to blogs for information rather than to other sources. In fact, 49 percent of bloggers believe that blogs are just as reliable as mainstream media for getting information.
The point here is that blogs are a great resource to explore when you are trying to build your brand. Here are 5 things to keep in mind regarding blogs and brand-building.
1. Blogs are Credible. Some marketers are concerned about the possibility of having their brand show up on a blog because they are afraid that the blog might not be credible. Rest assured that, although they are often informal, blogs are often seen as legitimate sources of good information. In fact, many large corporations include blog-mentions among the press included on their websites.
2. Blog Discussions are Natural. If a brand or product makes an impact on a blogger, he or she will probably mention it on a blog. Some companies even ask bloggers to review products and introduce new products. Many bloggers already include ads on their blogs, so they will probably be happy to include information about your product or service as well, given that they find it worth mentioning.
3. Bloggers are Bright. As a whole, bloggers are both educated and affluent. In fact, 75% of bloggers also graduated from college and 42% have attended at least some graduate school. More than half of them are part of a household than brings in over $75,000. These are good people to know from a marketing standpoint. They’re savvy and they have a lot of money to spend. These are people you want on your team.
4. Bloggers Read Other Blogs. Bloggers get most of their information from other bloggers; so if you want to get noticed, you need to make sure that you become visible on a blog. Keep in mind that, not only do bloggers read other blogs regularly, bloggers also use blogs as their primary source of information about brands and products. This is obviously a great way to make yourself visible and to attract the attention of potential customers.
5. Your Competitors are Doing It! Since so many companies are already asking bloggers to act as brand advocates, chances are that your competitors are already among those taking advantage of blogs as brand builders. Do yourself a favor and start using blogs to build your brand or you could find yourself out in the cold!
If your image of a blogger is a pimply-faced teenager sitting in his basement writing about his latest conspiracy theory, you need to update your perceptions. Bloggers are a bright group who look to each for information. Use them in your brand-building efforts and you’ll see results!
Wordpress Knocks Out Google’s Blogger In Building Niche Blogs
When it comes to building and creating profit pulling niche blogs Wordpress really shines and really beat Blogger.com heads down.
If you didn’t know, Blogger is a free blogging software owned by Google. You can set up a blogging account in three easy steps and start blogging.
On the other hand, Wordpress is a very popular blogging software. The easiest way to install and set up Wordpress would be to do a one click installation from the Cpanel of your hosting account.
Now, Wordpress is more than just a blogging software.
In the past when blogging first evolved, marketers did not give it much thought…until they discovered the power of syndication through RSS feeds.
With Rss feeds, they can now reach out to a target markets they normally would not have been able to.
You can liken the Rss feeds to the different channels on the radio station. It allows your message to be broadcast to targeted groups of people. For example, classical channel appeals to classical music lovers an so on.
You can create Rss feeds with Google’s Blogger, however additional setup is required.
Wordpress has an in-built syndication function, unlike Blogger.com where it still needs some configuration.
In addition, Wordpress has some powerful features that make it a marketer’s dream tool:
(a) Automatic Pinging
Wordpress will automatically ping the blog directories listed each time you publish a post.
This notifies the blog directories of your blog updates, and can bring more traffic and visitors to your blog.
(b) Categories
It might not seem like a big deal, but when you realize that you can name the category using keywords you want to target, then BAM!
It hits you like a rock. You can have multiple categories named using keywords you want to target, and write your post under that category. With proper planning and carefully spreading the same keyword in your post, you can achieve higher Search Engine rankings easily.
This is where Google’s Blogger lose out.
Google’s Blogger does not provide any category support. If you want to target selected keywords, you need to manually create the links and manually tweak the Blogger template.
As you blog gets bigger and you post more often, this can become a nightmare.
(c) Plugins
Plugins give Wordpress additional functions and features. All you need to do is upload the Plugin file, Activate the plugin file and you’re set to go.
Example plugins would include Google Adsense plugins where you can insert Adsense plugins with the click of a button. Or Chitika Ads plugins, again to display contextual ads and let you make more money with your blog.
(d) Easily change the theme of your blog (site)
With Wordpress, everything is just point and click (or plug N play). You can easily change the theme and layout of your Blog without having to learn about web design.
Design is important since a good design can appeal, attract and keep your readers coming back. Changing your blog design also keeps your niche blog ‘refreshing’ in terms of look and feel.
This is why Wordpress knocks out Google’s Blogger when it comes those serious about building long-term profitable niche blogs.
Wordpress Knocks Out Google’s Blogger In Building Niche Blogs
When it comes to building and creating profit pulling niche blogs Wordpress really shines and really beat Blogger.com heads down.
If you didn’t know, Blogger is a free blogging software owned by Google. You can set up a blogging account in three easy steps and start blogging.
On the other hand, Wordpress is a very popular blogging software. The easiest way to install and set up Wordpress would be to do a one click installation from the Cpanel of your hosting account.
Now, Wordpress is more than just a blogging software.
In the past when blogging first evolved, marketers did not give it much thought…until they discovered the power of syndication through RSS feeds.
With Rss feeds, they can now reach out to a target markets they normally would not have been able to.
You can liken the Rss feeds to the different channels on the radio station. It allows your message to be broadcast to targeted groups of people. For example, classical channel appeals to classical music lovers an so on.
You can create Rss feeds with Google’s Blogger, however additional setup is required.
Wordpress has an in-built syndication function, unlike Blogger.com where it still needs some configuration.
In addition, Wordpress has some powerful features that make it a marketer’s dream tool:
(a) Automatic Pinging
Wordpress will automatically ping the blog directories listed each time you publish a post.
This notifies the blog directories of your blog updates, and can bring more traffic and visitors to your blog.
(b) Categories
It might not seem like a big deal, but when you realize that you can name the category using keywords you want to target, then BAM!
It hits you like a rock. You can have multiple categories named using keywords you want to target, and write your post under that category. With proper planning and carefully spreading the same keyword in your post, you can achieve higher Search Engine rankings easily.
This is where Google’s Blogger lose out.
Google’s Blogger does not provide any category support. If you want to target selected keywords, you need to manually create the links and manually tweak the Blogger template.
As you blog gets bigger and you post more often, this can become a nightmare.
(c) Plugins
Plugins give Wordpress additional functions and features. All you need to do is upload the Plugin file, Activate the plugin file and you’re set to go.
Example plugins would include Google Adsense plugins where you can insert Adsense plugins with the click of a button. Or Chitika Ads plugins, again to display contextual ads and let you make more money with your blog.
(d) Easily change the theme of your blog (site)
With Wordpress, everything is just point and click (or plug N play). You can easily change the theme and layout of your Blog without having to learn about web design.
Design is important since a good design can appeal, attract and keep your readers coming back. Changing your blog design also keeps your niche blog ‘refreshing’ in terms of look and feel.
This is why Wordpress knocks out Google’s Blogger when it comes those serious about building long-term profitable niche blogs.
e interested in getting your message out to the masses on the Internet, using a blog is one of the better ways for you to do so. Because of the ease with which you can post your message and because of many of the things that are built into the back end of the blog, you typically have a wider audience in a much shorter time than with using a conventional website. Of course, it always helps if you are using the best blogging sites for this purpose as this will help you to overcome many of the pitfalls that are generally experienced by using a substandard service. If you have your own domain name and are interested in using software in order to build your blog, Wordpress is by far the most popular of the services that are available. It is free to use and there are many different enhancements that can easily be added with a simple upload and the click of a button. That is one of the reasons why it is considered to be one of the best blogging sites that is currently available. Of course, there is other software that can also be used but for the most part, Wordpress will help you to be successful with your blogging efforts. It is also possible for you to use some of the best blogging sites that are outside of your server as a way of attracting attention to your website. For example, Blogger is a very popular service that is run by Google and you can either have your content directly on the Blogger service or you can point it to your name servers and use their software on your own website. This is a great way for you to kickstart your traffic because of it being directly related to Google. Of course, some caution should also be used because if Google should happen to drop the blogger service, your blog would be dropped along with it. Choosing from the best blogging sites is not something that you should take lightly. Your blog is quickly going to become the lifeblood of your business and you should make sure that you choose wisely from the start so that you do not regret your choice later down the road. By going with something that is popular, such as Wordpress or Blogger, you will easily be able to stick with it for the long term.
http://www.google.com
So, you want to make your blog into a cash machine do you? Well, your in luck because I am about to let you in on the important steps you need to take in order to rake in 100% pure profit from your blogs. So, we all know how powerful a blog can be in creating a lot of money for someone.
Sometimes blogging can even get someone recognized and possibly even famous! Trust me; if you have heard of YouTube, the place where you can basically blog over video, then you know how many people are becoming famous off of their videos.
Well, the same with blogs. Here are the Essential 10 Steps you need to take in order to create a profitable blog:
1. Create a Blog from at the site Blogger, don’t worry it is totally free.
2. Create a Blog by choosing the name and the template.
3. Next, sign up for Google Adsense. (Free As Well)
4. Once you have your Google Adsense approval you can ad these Google Ads to your Blog which you will profit from every time they are clicked.
5. Choose a specific Niche that you are familiar with. One that you can talk about that you already know about.
6. Research Organic Keywords for your Niche and optimize them through your blog. Using the same keyword 6 times through your blog is plenty. Feel free to ad multiple Keywords.
7. Drive Traffic to your blog!
8. Create Back links to your blog in order for it to get ranked in Search Engines.
9. Always Ping your blog whenever new posts are added.
10. Always update your blog with fresh and new content. Search engines love it when information is always being updated that way they can deliver reliable updated information to their searchers.
So there you have it! Get started right always on these essential 10 steps and you should be on your way to making lots of money from your blogs.
If you need a boost on getting your blogs making money quickly this course helped me build a Blogging Empire
http://www.google.com
Blogging allows you to do several things with affiliate programs: build an easy website, create multiple streams of income, and add value to the product by offering more information.
You don’t need to be a webmaster to build one either. Sites like Blogger and Wordpress.com allow you to build simple blogs that look good and are search engine friendly. Because these sites also rank well in the search engines (Google owns Blogger), you may have high page rank for your site as well as high rankings in the search engines for your topic.
Below are some easy ways for you to get more from your affiliate blog:
1. Write product reviews.
Readers love product reviews. The reason is that product reviews provide more information on the product or service you are offering. It’s also an opportunity for you to create a greater desire for the product or service you’re offering. You have an opportunity to really show how the product can solve a problem.
2. Offer additional information/articles on your topic.
You don’t have to write product reviews all of the time. In fact, that would be boring for you and boring for your readers.
Other types of information you can use are articles and news about your industry. Google Alerts is an easy way to find out what is happening in your industry, and you’ll never have writer’s block.
3. Add ads to your blog.
Ads are an easy way for you to generate an additional stream of income. Once you add the ad code to your site, you don’t have to bother with it anymore unless you change the template for your blog. Then you may want to change your ad colors.
4. Start a conversation with other blogs.
There are two ways to market your blog through other blogs: trackbacks and comments. Trackbacks are where you comment on something that is being said on another blog. Through the trackback link, you “notify” the other blog you have commented on a post.
With comments, you actually go to the blog and add a comment. If you don’t have your own website, this is an easy way to promote affiliate links.
Avoid what I call “ditto comments”. When you post comments on another blog, have something to say. Don’t post ads, especially if the ad isn’t related to the topic of the blog. They will only get deleted.
5. Use the same techniques that work to promote other types of websites.
Linking, search engine optimization, articles, and free classified ads are just some of the ways you can promote your blog. Promoting your blog is really no different than promoting any other kind of site.
In fact, blogs are easier to promote because you can submit your RSS feeds to RSS and blog directories. (RSS is a type of code that updates and lists your latest posts.)
If you want to build an easy website, or you want to get more from affiliate programs, blogs are the easiest way to do it. They’re fast, fun, and free.
http://www.google.com
Are you interested in learning how to blog for money? If you would like to build a blog for money, one of the first things you will want to do is increase your blog’s ranking in the search engines. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to build back links.
What is a back link? A back link is just a link that is incoming from someone else’s site to your site. The more back links you have, the more traffic you will get to your blog, and this is what gets you a better SEO or higher search engine ranking.
Here are 5 easy and simple ways to get back links to your blog.
1. Write articles and submit them to articles directories (like this one). Remember to include a link to your blog in the your author resource area. There are many article directories you can submit to, just don’t use the same article content in all of them. Change your title and your content up a bit.
2. Go to Squidoo and create a lens. Remember to include links back to your blog. Squidoo lens is one of Google’s favorite sites, which means greater visibility for your blog.
3. Post to forums and focus groups that focus on your blog’s niche (example: if your blog is about bike riding, research "bike riding forums" on Google or Bing). Be sure and include your blog link in your signature line.
4. Visit other people’s blogs in your niche and leave comments (example: if your blog is about cake decorating, research "cake decorating blogs"). Just be sure to actually read what the author of the blog had to say in the post you are reading and respond back with a sincere comment and your link. You will more than likely find some really good information and get a visit back from other readers.
5. Write on Hub pages and leave a link back to your blog.
There is a lot you can do to build a better blog for money. Learning to get back links should be at the top of the list and there are many things you can do to get back links. However these top 5 ways will get you started and if you implement them on a regular basis, they will help you rank higher in the search engine. This will result in more traffic, but more importantly, it will be traffic that is targeted to those who are most interested in the content of your blog. And this targeted traffic will increase your chances of success on your path to blogging for money!
Want to learn more about how to blog for money? Go to: how-to-blog-for-money-now
http://www.google.com
Is it possible to make money off blogging?
Let me just start with, unless you have horseshoes up your butt, you are not going to make money off your blog right away. I’m not saying it’s not possible, you might find a niche with no competition and high traffic…but the odds are against you. Most people who start a blog, give up quickly.
They either never initally launch it or worse, because it doesn’t make money they give up. Most successful blogs have been around for two years or more. And when you speak to these bloggers it’s taken them that time to get traffic and a huge readership. They did not start over night as a success.
In fact when you talk to people like Darren Rowse at Problogger, he will tell you that he started his blog as a hobby. He also says that you shouldn’t build a blog to make money initially, but as a hobby. If you are expecting to make money, you are going to be disappointed. I’m not saying you can’t make money on a blog.
But the odds are against you. It’s a constant battle of promoting your blog, and getting traffic to it. That and having highly valuable content. If your blog is just filled with google adsense, and ads, but no real content, you may get the traffic, but they won’t come back.
To make money from a blog, you need to build foundation articles; reasons that people want to come to your blog. You add a value that they need, you give your readers hope. You provide them with something they are looking for.
Some bloggers say having pillar articles aren’t important, but I differ. I think it’s important to build a blog with a few strong articles. Hopefully these articles will create some link backs with other sites. Bigger bloggers might see your article and want to put it on their site.
By doing this, they will give you a lot more traffic, and a market of readers you might not have gotten. Another great way to get more traffic is to network. Join forums, groups, comment on other blogs with similar subjects. The more you publish your url on sites, the more linkbacks you create, the more you are increasing your page rank. I think submitting your link on popular blogs via comments is a great way to go.
Even if they have no follows. (No follow means your link is not a trusted source and google won’t trust that link back, which doesn’t help your page rank. Some blogs do have follow, which means when you link to them, your link is treated as a trusted source and helps your page rank.)
Why I think commenting on no follow blogs is a good thing, because if 3,000 people are reading that blog article, that’s 3,000 people reading your comment. And lo and behold, you are getting traffic you might not have originally gotten. Some people actually try to be one of the first comments by a popular blog author, that way everyone who reads that article and wants to comment on it, is going to see that first comment.
And the important thing is, to actually read the post you are commenting on, and offer something on value. If your comment is generic and dull, you might not get the traffic you would if your comment added value, or was interesting. The odds that people are going to click on your link are increased when you appear intelligent and informed.
Writing an article and submitting them in free article databases is another great way to get yourself out there. Write 3 or 4, 300-500 word articles and submit them to as many free sites as you can. Just be careful to make your article informative and not a sales letter. If it’s nothing but promotion, your article might be rejected.
Also keep in mind when submitting articles, it takes them a bit of time to be published. Well that’s a few ways to get you started on making money. Remember to never give up, and at least once a day concentrate on promoting your blog.
Submit links to everything you can, and always blog. The more blog posts you have, the more important google is going to think you are. How do you think some of the popular blogs got that way? They offer pages and pages of content. For you to build a readership, you need to do the same.
Tressa
http://www.google.com
Whether you have your own business, your own product, or you’re an affiliate marketer… absolutely everyone should have a blog. A blog is a great tool for getting traffic to your website, gaining credibility with your visitors, building a list of subscribers, building your name and brand, and more.
Another reason you should have a blog is because the search engines love them because they are full of fresh content. Also, a blog is much more susceptible of getting good rankings in the search engines than a website is and even showing up on the front page in many cases. That’s all the more reason why you should continuously add posts to your blog. When you do so, the search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN take notice and check it out therefore increasing your chances of moving higher in the natural (free) rankings.
It is a known fact that some of the highest paid affiliates make their money by using blogs. Websites like Wordpress, Joomla and Blogger are all places where you can go to build a free blog. And they all make it pretty much as easy as point and click. Truthfully, anyone can build a blog with these easy to use programs.
Once you get your blog up and running, which can literally be in minutes… you will naturally want to get traffic coming to it. And one easy way to do that is by writing articles and posting them to your blog.
Once you have posted your article you will want to write a short email to your list of subscribers telling them about your article. Be sure to include a link to the article at your website and encourage them to visit your blog to read and comment on your post.
NOTE: If you don’t have a list yet then you will definitely want to be working on that.
The reason?
I’ll answer that with a fact… the highest paid internet marketers is that they ALL believe that EVERYONE should have a list. As a matter of fact, you should be building your list with everyone that visits your site.
Anyway, you can learn how to get started building your list immediately through the tutorials and videos at myonlinesuccess.com.
So let’s get back to where we left off:
You can also submit your articles to article directories to build inbound links and credibility. This can also help to drive more traffic to your blog as well. I would suggest that you post fresh content to your blog at least a couple or more times a week. It you are thinking that this sounds like a lot of work, then remember, your posts don’t have to be long.
Tell me this… how many sales do you think you could make if you could show up on the first page of Google for the products that you promoted? I can surely say that would be very powerful.
Another great things about blogs is that it allows people to interact which is part of the new wave of the internet. People can visit your blog, read your articles or product reviews and comment on them as well.
The good thing about this is that it allows you to see what your visitors are thinking and wanting. And by you knowing this, you can give it to them as well. Also, if you are good about continually adding fresh content to your blog, then you will build a following of people that keep coming back over and over and over again… which in turn also increases your chances of selling to them over and over and over.
As you continually add to your blog and provide good and informative content, you will establish yourself as an authority in your field. People will then also be more likely to keep returning to your blog to see what products you have recommended in the past as well as those that you recommend now.
And keep in mind… the more traffic you get to your blog and the more links pointed to your blog, the better rankings you are rewarded with in the search engines. Even if you have a website, it is absolutely necessary that you have a blog.
As I stated before… everyone should have a blog!!! EVERYONE!
http://www.google.com
