By: Noel Swanson, 2007-12-29
After going through several blogs and books on blogging, making money out of your blog or website and marketing on the internet, it has been my observation that all bloggers agree on certain things that each successful blogger has religiously followed throughout the years. Here are the principles I observed:
1.) It's all about passion - Articles you write in your blog should be something that you are passionate about. Topics that you have somewhat achieved a level of expertise in, topics that puts you on fire, topics that makes your eyes wide open when discussed about, topics that awes and amazes you and opens your mouth wide.
2.) Blog for people - Although search engine optimization is something that should be seriously considered by all bloggers, it should not take precedence over people. Blogs should not be all about keywords, tags or any other gimmick out there in order to make sure that we all each get a higher search engine. What is important that people keep coming back to your site because your post actually helps them or is relevant to them. I believe it was legendary marketer John Chow who said "People First before Google."
3.) Its not how long are your posts, its how many times you post. - What is important about a blog is that it is frequently updated. The length of your post will depend on the topic discussed. It does not matter how long the post are. What is important is how frequently you post.
4.) Blog anyway - Don't worry about your site statistics or that you still do not have comments on your site. This is especially true for new bloggers. It will probably take a while for search engines to index your site. Traffic will just flow if you don't stop writing good posts for people.
5.) Be a studious blogger - Bloggers are serious students. They should not stop learning about their craft. You must force yourself to learn more about topics on how to be effective on your blogging, how to bring traffic to your site etc. Remember this, if you stop learning, you stop blogging.
6.) Read, Read Read !!! - What can you possibly blog about if you do not read ? You must have a voracious appetite for learning. You must also have a passion to tell your readers what you have learned.
7.) Be organized, schedule the topics you blog about - Having a blogging schedule will force you to come up with something to blog about. Others may disagree with this idea as they just write on whatever they feel about writing. For me personally, I work best when I submit myself to an organized way of doing things. In addition to that, following a blog schedule will help me have a balanced number of posts on the categories that I blogging on.
8.) Be personal - Inject some humor if you have to ! Your readers must feel as if you they are talking to a pal when they read your blog. The language and words you use should be so understandable that your readers should not have to resort to a dictionary before they could understand what you are trying to say. Explain things in layman's term as much as possible, even if the subject matter is so technical.
9.) Aim for the best ! - Aiming for the best does not only apply in school or at work, it very much well applies when it comes to blogging. Among other things, you must go over and edit your posts. You must make sure your presentation and layout are user friendly and not an eye sore.
10.) Be a life blogger- Plan to blog for the rest of your entire life. Although there may be monetary considerations, it should only be secondary. Blogging should not be something that you only do temporarily just because you don't have anything to do right now or something which you do in order to achieve a certain level of richness and afterwards you will then stop blogging since you have already arrived there. As you go about your life, having an attitude of blogging for life will make you further appreciate the suprises that life brings since you will always be looking forward to writing about it and letting the whole world know that this is what life is all about.
Zigfred Diaz blogs regularly about internet marketing, blogging law, leadership, management, finances, investments, technology & faith.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Who Needs T.V. News, Newspapers and Radio News? “Not I!” Says The Happy Human Living In The New World
Who Needs T.V. News, Newspapers and Radio News? “Not I!” Says The Happy Human Living In The New World
by: M6.net
T.V. and radio News got you down? On-line current events and News blogs make being informed a much more enjoyable experience. For many the News on television has become a trying time of the day. Focused mainly on negative events, you may have to wait through the whole program just to hear the one story you were waiting for. If you miss the 6:00 p.m. show, waiting until the late night segment can be a real drag, especially if you’ve got a lot to do, or have to wake up early the next morning.
My friends, there is an answer to this problem: News blogs or on-line current events. You can find all of your favorite broadcasters (E.g.: CNN, BBC) on the Internet, getting up-to-date information at any time of the day or night. You can even read personal journal entries written by multiple correspondents out in the field reporting on several different stories down to the current minute. Instead of hearing all News from one voice (often an irritating one), now you can read different human opinions straight from the scene of interest.
Often News on-line has a section called “themes” which allows the reader to only hear about the specific areas that interest them. No more waiting through several wars to get to the positive story about the current medical breakthrough that could mean a cure for disease, or the technological idea that might mean the end to extreme pollution levels. Like a newspaper, you can go straight to the “jobs” theme and search through all the current employment vacancies available. If you are obsessed with the negative, themes such as “Disaster and Tragedy” and “Crime and Punishment are still readily accessible.
As the News is now on the Internet it has also become an interactive experience in numerous ways. First of all now you can send News stories straight to the News companies yourself! If the story is deemed worthwhile and verifiable, you may even be published. This is also the case with photographers who have pictures of important events. It really means anyone can become a part of the action as a freelance consultant. Some News on-line have “witness” sections where you can tell your story if you happen to have been in the right place at the right time. This option means that we can hear many different views on contentious issues giving a wider perspective to the ‘big picture’.
Some News sites also have interactive sites within. For example, on the BBC News Blog there is a learning site (BBCi Learning) that involves interactive activities and over half a million pages of factual information and resources available for children, adolescents, and adults. There are competitions and all sorts of games to help educate people in any and every area of interest imaginable.
Another great aspect of these on-line News sites is the ability to access archival information. You can watch video and listen to audio recordings of famous historical stories right on the computer. If the day is Feb.3, you can read articles from Feb.3’s from fifty years ago. Looking up any date and year recorded is as easy as pushing a few buttons.
Some services have subscriptions where instead of looking up the website, the News you want is sent straight to your email. Being in the know, and being in the now, has never been such an objective, enjoyable, and simplistic experience as in the 21st century. Partaking in a new perspective on life is what on-line current events and News Blogs are all about.
About The Author
By Jesse S. Somer
M6.Net http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer is a human hoping to help other novices like him see the magic of the world of the Internet.
priyankaa@m6.net
Article Source :
http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/who_needs_tv.shtml
by: M6.net
T.V. and radio News got you down? On-line current events and News blogs make being informed a much more enjoyable experience. For many the News on television has become a trying time of the day. Focused mainly on negative events, you may have to wait through the whole program just to hear the one story you were waiting for. If you miss the 6:00 p.m. show, waiting until the late night segment can be a real drag, especially if you’ve got a lot to do, or have to wake up early the next morning.
My friends, there is an answer to this problem: News blogs or on-line current events. You can find all of your favorite broadcasters (E.g.: CNN, BBC) on the Internet, getting up-to-date information at any time of the day or night. You can even read personal journal entries written by multiple correspondents out in the field reporting on several different stories down to the current minute. Instead of hearing all News from one voice (often an irritating one), now you can read different human opinions straight from the scene of interest.
Often News on-line has a section called “themes” which allows the reader to only hear about the specific areas that interest them. No more waiting through several wars to get to the positive story about the current medical breakthrough that could mean a cure for disease, or the technological idea that might mean the end to extreme pollution levels. Like a newspaper, you can go straight to the “jobs” theme and search through all the current employment vacancies available. If you are obsessed with the negative, themes such as “Disaster and Tragedy” and “Crime and Punishment are still readily accessible.
As the News is now on the Internet it has also become an interactive experience in numerous ways. First of all now you can send News stories straight to the News companies yourself! If the story is deemed worthwhile and verifiable, you may even be published. This is also the case with photographers who have pictures of important events. It really means anyone can become a part of the action as a freelance consultant. Some News on-line have “witness” sections where you can tell your story if you happen to have been in the right place at the right time. This option means that we can hear many different views on contentious issues giving a wider perspective to the ‘big picture’.
Some News sites also have interactive sites within. For example, on the BBC News Blog there is a learning site (BBCi Learning) that involves interactive activities and over half a million pages of factual information and resources available for children, adolescents, and adults. There are competitions and all sorts of games to help educate people in any and every area of interest imaginable.
Another great aspect of these on-line News sites is the ability to access archival information. You can watch video and listen to audio recordings of famous historical stories right on the computer. If the day is Feb.3, you can read articles from Feb.3’s from fifty years ago. Looking up any date and year recorded is as easy as pushing a few buttons.
Some services have subscriptions where instead of looking up the website, the News you want is sent straight to your email. Being in the know, and being in the now, has never been such an objective, enjoyable, and simplistic experience as in the 21st century. Partaking in a new perspective on life is what on-line current events and News Blogs are all about.
About The Author
By Jesse S. Somer
M6.Net http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer is a human hoping to help other novices like him see the magic of the world of the Internet.
priyankaa@m6.net
Article Source :
http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/who_needs_tv.shtml
Writing Good Blogs
by: Jesse S. Somer
‘Bad blogs have got to go, blogging could be really cool if done properly, maybe even with a pinch of love.’
There’s a lot of blogs out there on the Web, most of which don’t entice one to go back regularly to read updates. What is missing from these on-line journals that would essentially make them ‘good’ blogs? Well, the answers in life usually come down to simplicities. So let’s look at the problem like we were children. Children don’t complicate life with miscellaneous information, and when they speak they tell you straight to the point exactly how they feel and think about a subject.
First of all, we should ask the questions,” Why do blogs exist? And what are they here for?” Well, in an ideal world ‘good’ blogs would help people connect, sharing knowledge and feelings about issues in life. As they are journals written by individuals we would hope that they’d be readable and open to comment by all other people, not just a select group of friends. The key is speaking in a way that is understandable by the masses, get rid of acronyms and local slang that only few will comprehend. Keep the sentences grammatically simple and generally short and concise.
Try to write in your blog as often as possible because if people enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas they’ll want to communicate or at least be filled in regularly on ‘your world’. Ask questions, comment on other blogs of similar content, start communities with others you’ve never met, based on your interests. Keep focused; if your blog is about thoughts on war and peace, keep your thoughts on the latest movie and how hungry you are for somewhere else. The idea is to incite intelligent communication so that in time our collective stockpile of knowledge and wisdom will gradually grow like a tree in fertile soil.
I think of most importance is the fact that you want this journal to be ‘good’ reading. Of course we all have ideas about what genres and styles we like, but writing from your heart and soul is imperative for the connection with others that you’re looking for. Share yourself; don’t hide behind walls of fear of ridicule and judgment. In real life relationships trust, respect, intimacy, and unity are all necessary for a bond to form. It’s the same in the ‘virtual’ world; people want to hear from real people-not just one-sided, highly opinionated arguments from egos that don’t want to hear the ‘other side of the coin’.
Now, in my last article I really tore apart most writers out there, and here I’m giving some pretty complex ideas on how to fix the problem of ‘bad’ writing. In my next article I’ll attempt to go back to the simple basics of how to write for beginners. I hope I haven’t come across as too judgmental, I just truly believe the ‘blog world’ could become a real asset to humanity, and at the moment it’s missing the mark.
Ideas about sentence structure, grammar, paragraphing, using a thesaurus (varying terms used so as not to sound repetitive), whether or not your blog is suitable for a personal or professional approach, are all important to creating a simple and enjoyable read for the blogging visitor. If you are a beginner, please check out my next article on the basics.
About The Author
Jesse S. Somer is a writer hoping to help potential bloggers to write interesting and informative on-line journals.
Jessesomer@hotmail.com
Article Source : http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/writing_good_blogs.shtml
‘Bad blogs have got to go, blogging could be really cool if done properly, maybe even with a pinch of love.’
There’s a lot of blogs out there on the Web, most of which don’t entice one to go back regularly to read updates. What is missing from these on-line journals that would essentially make them ‘good’ blogs? Well, the answers in life usually come down to simplicities. So let’s look at the problem like we were children. Children don’t complicate life with miscellaneous information, and when they speak they tell you straight to the point exactly how they feel and think about a subject.
First of all, we should ask the questions,” Why do blogs exist? And what are they here for?” Well, in an ideal world ‘good’ blogs would help people connect, sharing knowledge and feelings about issues in life. As they are journals written by individuals we would hope that they’d be readable and open to comment by all other people, not just a select group of friends. The key is speaking in a way that is understandable by the masses, get rid of acronyms and local slang that only few will comprehend. Keep the sentences grammatically simple and generally short and concise.
Try to write in your blog as often as possible because if people enjoy reading your thoughts and ideas they’ll want to communicate or at least be filled in regularly on ‘your world’. Ask questions, comment on other blogs of similar content, start communities with others you’ve never met, based on your interests. Keep focused; if your blog is about thoughts on war and peace, keep your thoughts on the latest movie and how hungry you are for somewhere else. The idea is to incite intelligent communication so that in time our collective stockpile of knowledge and wisdom will gradually grow like a tree in fertile soil.
I think of most importance is the fact that you want this journal to be ‘good’ reading. Of course we all have ideas about what genres and styles we like, but writing from your heart and soul is imperative for the connection with others that you’re looking for. Share yourself; don’t hide behind walls of fear of ridicule and judgment. In real life relationships trust, respect, intimacy, and unity are all necessary for a bond to form. It’s the same in the ‘virtual’ world; people want to hear from real people-not just one-sided, highly opinionated arguments from egos that don’t want to hear the ‘other side of the coin’.
Now, in my last article I really tore apart most writers out there, and here I’m giving some pretty complex ideas on how to fix the problem of ‘bad’ writing. In my next article I’ll attempt to go back to the simple basics of how to write for beginners. I hope I haven’t come across as too judgmental, I just truly believe the ‘blog world’ could become a real asset to humanity, and at the moment it’s missing the mark.
Ideas about sentence structure, grammar, paragraphing, using a thesaurus (varying terms used so as not to sound repetitive), whether or not your blog is suitable for a personal or professional approach, are all important to creating a simple and enjoyable read for the blogging visitor. If you are a beginner, please check out my next article on the basics.
About The Author
Jesse S. Somer is a writer hoping to help potential bloggers to write interesting and informative on-line journals.
Jessesomer@hotmail.com
Article Source : http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/writing_good_blogs.shtml
Blog Problems
by: Jesse S. Somer
The real bloggers must come from another planet. I can’t find any here on Earth.
What in the world is up with the world of blogs? Blogs are meant to be this great new technology where people can share their ideas and interests with others around the globe. As far as I’m concerned the state of blogs is one of chaos, confusion, and anti-interactivity. The other day I decided to do some research on the Web and try to connect to some blog writers out there that interested me. Let me tell you it was not an enjoyable task as I had envisioned. I spent four painful hours surfing through around a thousand on-line journals, and I found only a few that interested me. What are we doing out there people?
First of all, just getting to a blog can be a pain in the arse. For example, you type in the words ‘Philosophy blogs’ and a whole bunch of sites come up. Some are conglomerate sites with thousands of journals, but the area you’re searching for may have only one blog in it! This is because they separate the blogs into a million different categories, like ‘love’, ‘lovers’, ‘lovable’ etc. Why not have just a few main categories to choose from?
The next problem is the content. People with ‘philosophical’ blogs are having personal chats with their mates about the local dance competition on Tuesday! Why not go to a chat room if you just want to talk to your friends? Blogs are supposed to be a personal viewpoint expressed to the whole Web community. Wouldn’t you actually like to meet more people like yourself? How is this going to happen if you talk in strange uncommon slang and acronyms that you and your friends can only understand? Please stick to the subject at hand, and take it at least half seriously.
Another major problem is the fact that you can find a really cool blog that sparks an interest, but then find that the writer hasn’t added an entry in over a year! What’s it doing on the Net? Have these people passed away? I seriously doubt it, as there are so many blogs in this ‘lost’ state. Having a blog is a responsibility; it’s a shared diary for the whole community. How can someone form a relationship if you only write in your blog once a millennium?
Back to the subject of content: These on-line journals are a real chance to communicate regularly with others with similar views to yourself. We can learn a lot from each other, as each human is an individual with special traits and skills that only they have. So why do we see so many blogs just talking about trivial nonsense like ‘Who the coolest movie actor is.’ Humanity is an intelligent species evolving everyday towards a higher consciousness. So where are all the thinkers out there, the people who have taken us to the next levels of spirituality and scientific exploration? I’d really like to hear what you’ve got to say, but all I can find are philosophical beliefs on why died pink jeans express one’s true inner self.
The issue of making comments on someone’s blog is also a controversial one. Why have comments sections if you’re not going to reply to people who have expressed an interest in what you’ve had to say? How is this community going to function if all the conversation is one-way! Come on people, wake up and smell the onions! Let’s change the blogging community into the awesome structure of shared knowledge that it was intended for. Please don’t let it turn into the small-talk world of chat rooms.
About The Author
Jesse S. Somer is a concerned human attempting to inform his fellow people of the real possibilities hidden in the Internet.
www.thepowerofeverythingthatis.com
Article Source :
http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/blog_problems.shtml
The real bloggers must come from another planet. I can’t find any here on Earth.
What in the world is up with the world of blogs? Blogs are meant to be this great new technology where people can share their ideas and interests with others around the globe. As far as I’m concerned the state of blogs is one of chaos, confusion, and anti-interactivity. The other day I decided to do some research on the Web and try to connect to some blog writers out there that interested me. Let me tell you it was not an enjoyable task as I had envisioned. I spent four painful hours surfing through around a thousand on-line journals, and I found only a few that interested me. What are we doing out there people?
First of all, just getting to a blog can be a pain in the arse. For example, you type in the words ‘Philosophy blogs’ and a whole bunch of sites come up. Some are conglomerate sites with thousands of journals, but the area you’re searching for may have only one blog in it! This is because they separate the blogs into a million different categories, like ‘love’, ‘lovers’, ‘lovable’ etc. Why not have just a few main categories to choose from?
The next problem is the content. People with ‘philosophical’ blogs are having personal chats with their mates about the local dance competition on Tuesday! Why not go to a chat room if you just want to talk to your friends? Blogs are supposed to be a personal viewpoint expressed to the whole Web community. Wouldn’t you actually like to meet more people like yourself? How is this going to happen if you talk in strange uncommon slang and acronyms that you and your friends can only understand? Please stick to the subject at hand, and take it at least half seriously.
Another major problem is the fact that you can find a really cool blog that sparks an interest, but then find that the writer hasn’t added an entry in over a year! What’s it doing on the Net? Have these people passed away? I seriously doubt it, as there are so many blogs in this ‘lost’ state. Having a blog is a responsibility; it’s a shared diary for the whole community. How can someone form a relationship if you only write in your blog once a millennium?
Back to the subject of content: These on-line journals are a real chance to communicate regularly with others with similar views to yourself. We can learn a lot from each other, as each human is an individual with special traits and skills that only they have. So why do we see so many blogs just talking about trivial nonsense like ‘Who the coolest movie actor is.’ Humanity is an intelligent species evolving everyday towards a higher consciousness. So where are all the thinkers out there, the people who have taken us to the next levels of spirituality and scientific exploration? I’d really like to hear what you’ve got to say, but all I can find are philosophical beliefs on why died pink jeans express one’s true inner self.
The issue of making comments on someone’s blog is also a controversial one. Why have comments sections if you’re not going to reply to people who have expressed an interest in what you’ve had to say? How is this community going to function if all the conversation is one-way! Come on people, wake up and smell the onions! Let’s change the blogging community into the awesome structure of shared knowledge that it was intended for. Please don’t let it turn into the small-talk world of chat rooms.
About The Author
Jesse S. Somer is a concerned human attempting to inform his fellow people of the real possibilities hidden in the Internet.
www.thepowerofeverythingthatis.com
Article Source :
http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/blog_problems.shtml
Blog Construction
by: Jesse S. Somer
Blogs like all forms of writing are an art form that takes knowledge and practice to do well.
Writing…Blogs…Blogs are on-line journals where people express themselves through writing. Writing…Writing is the process where one puts down words of a language on a format that others can read. This process has not been around very long, to use one of my writing teacher’s favorite sayings, “Writing has only existed for one day in the one year that humanity has existed.” Speaking and thinking come much easier than writing. These processes just flow out naturally like a river of consciousness; sometimes we hardly have to think about doing them. Anyone and everyone can write words down on paper but that doesn’t mean it’s ‘good writing’, myself included. Like most things in life, our society already takes writing for granted which is proving to expose more of our ignorance. Writing is a new form of expression, and if we want to do it in a way that the masses can connect with our ideas, we have to think much more simply and clearly about this art.
Now that was quite a big paragraph, you’ve got to wonder if I really needed to say as much as I just did to introduce this article on the best way to write your blogs on the Web. I didn’t even mention this main idea, and that’s what an introduction paragraph is meant to be for. This is a common mistake in many blogs out there. We try to get too many ideas across in one paragraph, sometimes even in one sentence! The key, as in all things in life-is to keep it simple. Simplicity means that readers won’t get confused about what your journal entry is actually about. Introduce your main general topic at the start, and use the subsequent paragraphs to discuss separate ideas that relate to this topic. Try to tie everything up in the concluding paragraph, your main argument and the reason why you’ve written in the first place.
Grammar and sentence construction are not easy systems to master, especially if you come from a school system that spent more time telling you about historical battles and quadratic equations than on how to read and write. This is a real problem. When we speak we can get messages across to others easily, but if we put these words down on paper, the writing just isn’t interesting and doesn’t connect with people’s curiosities and fascination. When you write you are not talking to a close friend. You can’t use slang and colloquialisms that only your local community can understand. The aim is to connect with all the people in the world, so let’s make it crystal clear and enjoyable to read.
Your computer has spelling and grammar checks, as well as access to a thesaurus. Use them, but remember that the machine can’t decipher all the intricacies of language. Language is a world in itself, and much of its territories are undiscovered by the masses. So, again keep it simple. Short, precise sentences with single ideas are great. Many words in the English language have the same meanings (synonyms). Use the thesaurus so you don’t repeat the same word over and over throughout the text. It keeps the story fresh and doesn’t turn the reader off. There’s nothing more boring than repetition. Using different words can be a lot of fun and a learning experience, just make sure you use a dictionary (also on the computer/Internet) to make absolute sure of the word’s definition.
Readability…Simplicity…Make your blog accessible by all people. You can even take into consideration that many readers will have learned English as a second language. As I’ve said in previous articles, keep to the point-don’t go on tangents. Stick with the article’s topic, and definitely stay within the realms of your blog’s main area. If your blog is entitled “Jazz music”, people who go there don’t want to hear about how your football team won on the weekend! Please be consistent. How irritating is it to visit a blog that hasn’t been written on in months or years?
I hope these little tips will help you on your quest to producing ‘good’ writing that brings new friends and acquaintances of similar outlooks into your world. If you want people to read, the aim is to produce an emotional reaction in your reader. Pretend you are writing to another form of yourself, if it were not readable, interesting and fun…would you stick around?
--
About The Author
Jesse S. Somer is a ‘grasshopper’ writer attempting to inform other beginner writers on how they might one day become masters or ‘sensei’s’.
Jessesomer@hotmail.com
Article Source : http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/blog_construction.shtml
Blogs like all forms of writing are an art form that takes knowledge and practice to do well.
Writing…Blogs…Blogs are on-line journals where people express themselves through writing. Writing…Writing is the process where one puts down words of a language on a format that others can read. This process has not been around very long, to use one of my writing teacher’s favorite sayings, “Writing has only existed for one day in the one year that humanity has existed.” Speaking and thinking come much easier than writing. These processes just flow out naturally like a river of consciousness; sometimes we hardly have to think about doing them. Anyone and everyone can write words down on paper but that doesn’t mean it’s ‘good writing’, myself included. Like most things in life, our society already takes writing for granted which is proving to expose more of our ignorance. Writing is a new form of expression, and if we want to do it in a way that the masses can connect with our ideas, we have to think much more simply and clearly about this art.
Now that was quite a big paragraph, you’ve got to wonder if I really needed to say as much as I just did to introduce this article on the best way to write your blogs on the Web. I didn’t even mention this main idea, and that’s what an introduction paragraph is meant to be for. This is a common mistake in many blogs out there. We try to get too many ideas across in one paragraph, sometimes even in one sentence! The key, as in all things in life-is to keep it simple. Simplicity means that readers won’t get confused about what your journal entry is actually about. Introduce your main general topic at the start, and use the subsequent paragraphs to discuss separate ideas that relate to this topic. Try to tie everything up in the concluding paragraph, your main argument and the reason why you’ve written in the first place.
Grammar and sentence construction are not easy systems to master, especially if you come from a school system that spent more time telling you about historical battles and quadratic equations than on how to read and write. This is a real problem. When we speak we can get messages across to others easily, but if we put these words down on paper, the writing just isn’t interesting and doesn’t connect with people’s curiosities and fascination. When you write you are not talking to a close friend. You can’t use slang and colloquialisms that only your local community can understand. The aim is to connect with all the people in the world, so let’s make it crystal clear and enjoyable to read.
Your computer has spelling and grammar checks, as well as access to a thesaurus. Use them, but remember that the machine can’t decipher all the intricacies of language. Language is a world in itself, and much of its territories are undiscovered by the masses. So, again keep it simple. Short, precise sentences with single ideas are great. Many words in the English language have the same meanings (synonyms). Use the thesaurus so you don’t repeat the same word over and over throughout the text. It keeps the story fresh and doesn’t turn the reader off. There’s nothing more boring than repetition. Using different words can be a lot of fun and a learning experience, just make sure you use a dictionary (also on the computer/Internet) to make absolute sure of the word’s definition.
Readability…Simplicity…Make your blog accessible by all people. You can even take into consideration that many readers will have learned English as a second language. As I’ve said in previous articles, keep to the point-don’t go on tangents. Stick with the article’s topic, and definitely stay within the realms of your blog’s main area. If your blog is entitled “Jazz music”, people who go there don’t want to hear about how your football team won on the weekend! Please be consistent. How irritating is it to visit a blog that hasn’t been written on in months or years?
I hope these little tips will help you on your quest to producing ‘good’ writing that brings new friends and acquaintances of similar outlooks into your world. If you want people to read, the aim is to produce an emotional reaction in your reader. Pretend you are writing to another form of yourself, if it were not readable, interesting and fun…would you stick around?
--
About The Author
Jesse S. Somer is a ‘grasshopper’ writer attempting to inform other beginner writers on how they might one day become masters or ‘sensei’s’.
Jessesomer@hotmail.com
Article Source : http://www.blogwidow.com/articles/blog_construction.shtml
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Make Money Online - The Basics On How To Start
Author: Kaushik
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=211879&ca=Internet
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=211879
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=211879
I believe most of us came here to look for ways to make money
online. So here I am, revealing ways to make money online!
Make Money Online with Google Adsense:
Google AdSense is the only way to make real money online.
Google AdSense, commonly just AdSense, is a powerful ad serving
program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program
to enable text, image and video advertisements on their sites.
All you have to do is places some code on your website and ads
will be displayed that are relevant to the content on your
webpage. These ads are administered by Google and generate
revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis.
Make Money Online with Affiliate Marketing:
Affiliate Marketing is one of the best ways to make money
online. An affiliate program on the internet is simply where a
website is selling a product and they will pay you a commission
on every sale you generate from the traffic you send them. So
all you have to do is send your visitors to another web page.
Popular websites like ClickBank and CJ serve the purpose to help
you do affiliate marketing by finding the right product. There
are a lot of techniques needed to do affiliate marketing so a
lot of ebooks are available online.
Make Money Online with Google Adwords:
Google Adwords is another pay-per-click advertising company run
by Google. In Google Adwords, you can put advertisements at
their search engine and get quality traffic. But the
conversation depends on well is your landing page. Imagine you
pay $0.10 for each quality visit and you got one sales of $30 in
every 100 visits. You are making a profit of $20.
Make Money with Online Auctions:
Make money online with online auctions is one of the 20th and
21st century's most reliable, true and tested, home businesses.
Simply buy low, sell high and take the difference to supplement
your income. Millions of people sell on eBay or other online
auctions web sites as a full time job and make well over 6
figures.
Make Money with Paid Surveys:
While not one of the most profitable of home businesses, Paid
Surveys are simple and easy to do and Yes, you can make money
online with them. You can make four or five dollars a pop, which
can add up especially if you do a few paid surveys each day in
your spare time.
Make Money Online Freelancing:
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Neither is there an
easy way to make money, especially from home. To make yourself
employable, you need to ensure that you have the required skill
sets as well as good marketing and interpersonal skills. A sound
portfolio (for aspiring writers, editors, photographers,
designers, etc.) is a must.
Today several private companies and MNCs are employing people
who prefer working out of their homes. A host of opportunities
exist for home employment in areas as diverse as telemarketing,
selling insurance, data entry, typing, data conversion,
copywriting, accounting , writing (academic and journalistic
writing), editing and proof reading, web design, content
development, Internet-based research for companies, graphic
design and desktop publishing, programming, audio and video
editing, translation work and etc is available.
With a fair bit of technology skills (typing and word
processing skills, being PC literate), entrepreneurs can use the
worldwide web to start companies and work from the convenience
of their homes.
Before you get into the home employment groove, make sure you
have the requisite qualifications, hardware, and time management
skills to convince potential employers that you are the right
person for the job.
There are a lot of ways to make money online, so you do not
need to limit yourself with just one way. Explore more ways that
you can to make money online.
About The Author: Kaushik is an Internet Marketer who has been
reviewing online money making opportunities for many years and
webmaster of http://www.manomanju.com ...He finally is making
$500/day! See how he does it by visiting
http://www.manomanju.com
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=211879
For more free-reprint articles by Kaushik please visit:
http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Kaushik
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=211879&ca=Internet
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=211879
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=211879
I believe most of us came here to look for ways to make money
online. So here I am, revealing ways to make money online!
Make Money Online with Google Adsense:
Google AdSense is the only way to make real money online.
Google AdSense, commonly just AdSense, is a powerful ad serving
program run by Google. Website owners can enroll in this program
to enable text, image and video advertisements on their sites.
All you have to do is places some code on your website and ads
will be displayed that are relevant to the content on your
webpage. These ads are administered by Google and generate
revenue on either a per-click or per-thousand-impressions basis.
Make Money Online with Affiliate Marketing:
Affiliate Marketing is one of the best ways to make money
online. An affiliate program on the internet is simply where a
website is selling a product and they will pay you a commission
on every sale you generate from the traffic you send them. So
all you have to do is send your visitors to another web page.
Popular websites like ClickBank and CJ serve the purpose to help
you do affiliate marketing by finding the right product. There
are a lot of techniques needed to do affiliate marketing so a
lot of ebooks are available online.
Make Money Online with Google Adwords:
Google Adwords is another pay-per-click advertising company run
by Google. In Google Adwords, you can put advertisements at
their search engine and get quality traffic. But the
conversation depends on well is your landing page. Imagine you
pay $0.10 for each quality visit and you got one sales of $30 in
every 100 visits. You are making a profit of $20.
Make Money with Online Auctions:
Make money online with online auctions is one of the 20th and
21st century's most reliable, true and tested, home businesses.
Simply buy low, sell high and take the difference to supplement
your income. Millions of people sell on eBay or other online
auctions web sites as a full time job and make well over 6
figures.
Make Money with Paid Surveys:
While not one of the most profitable of home businesses, Paid
Surveys are simple and easy to do and Yes, you can make money
online with them. You can make four or five dollars a pop, which
can add up especially if you do a few paid surveys each day in
your spare time.
Make Money Online Freelancing:
There is no such thing as a free lunch. Neither is there an
easy way to make money, especially from home. To make yourself
employable, you need to ensure that you have the required skill
sets as well as good marketing and interpersonal skills. A sound
portfolio (for aspiring writers, editors, photographers,
designers, etc.) is a must.
Today several private companies and MNCs are employing people
who prefer working out of their homes. A host of opportunities
exist for home employment in areas as diverse as telemarketing,
selling insurance, data entry, typing, data conversion,
copywriting, accounting , writing (academic and journalistic
writing), editing and proof reading, web design, content
development, Internet-based research for companies, graphic
design and desktop publishing, programming, audio and video
editing, translation work and etc is available.
With a fair bit of technology skills (typing and word
processing skills, being PC literate), entrepreneurs can use the
worldwide web to start companies and work from the convenience
of their homes.
Before you get into the home employment groove, make sure you
have the requisite qualifications, hardware, and time management
skills to convince potential employers that you are the right
person for the job.
There are a lot of ways to make money online, so you do not
need to limit yourself with just one way. Explore more ways that
you can to make money online.
About The Author: Kaushik is an Internet Marketer who has been
reviewing online money making opportunities for many years and
webmaster of http://www.manomanju.com ...He finally is making
$500/day! See how he does it by visiting
http://www.manomanju.com
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=211879
For more free-reprint articles by Kaushik please visit:
http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Kaushik
Monday, December 17, 2007
Why Blogs are Beating out Ezines and Matter so much to your platform
by Suzanne Falter-Barns www.getknownnow.com
I was all set this morning to write about something totally different in this issue ... but thanks to the power of blogs, I'm here to deliver a totally different message. Namely the ascendance of blogs over ezines.
First of all, you may notice that you're not getting a whole lot of issues of this ezine from me. Why? Because I've come to understand that blogging is faster. It's more immediate. It's got a wonderful airstream of energy that follows each post. And because it's less formal, it's less work -- but still communicates just as effectively as an ezine ... perhaps even more so.
This point was made wonderfully clear for me just this morning by Stacy Brice, who runs the noteworthy VA training program, AssistU. Stacy sent up a very thoughtful comment to my 'Painless Self Promo' blog, under the header 'The Future of the Ezine'. Which led to an email, which led to a lengthy ph�ne call. Stacy and I had a real heart to heart about this ezine vs. blog thing ... and here's what I've decided is the state of things at the moment.
1. We're in a transitional shift from ezines to blogs. This has mostly to do with people being reluctant to give up old comfy ways for a few minutes of learning new technology, downloading RSS desktop applications, etc.. It was like this just before we traded in vinyl for CD's, telepathy for cell phones and to-do lists for Palm Pilots. And some of us have nev�r moved forward. Those of us who did are pretty happy.
2. Blog technology has finally leapt up to the plate. It's happening; it's here; it's on the cover of Business Week. Blogs can no longer be dismissed as fringe techie territory. They've gotten so easy to use, and read, that there is simply no denying them. Blog creation software du jour is typepad and wordpress. Typepad blogs exist on their website for a small monthly fee.
Wordpress blogs exist on your own site for fr�e. Typepad's more elegant. Wordpress is more basic and functional. I'm running a test to see which will eventually work better for me.
3. It's no longer all about the list. I am still an advocate of ezines, but I believe the list/email connection is rapidly unraveling. My own lists have declined in size as have those of every Net marketer I know. Ezines have peaked and crested in their usefulness and appeal. Meanwhile, blogs are hot. AND you can capture names on them. (See my blog for details on how to do that.)
4. We're no longer happy with passive activities. Maybe as a culture we've grown completely sick of sitting around doing nothing ... all those hours of reality TV? We've n�w begun to expect to participate in our entertainment, even when it comes to reading websites. So blogs -- which allow comments from readers -- are the perfect medium. (This is also why my current theater project, at serenityhawkfire.com, is an entirely interactive theater piece.)
5. We've become a less formal culture. These days, our world is all untucked; clothing is big and slouchy, coffee is slurped in paper cups on the run. Even TV has let down its defenses, showing us as we 'really' are. So it makes sense that blogs, which feature faster, less formal entries more in the style of a diary, are becoming bigger than ezines. Blogs are casual. Ezines take planning, layout, require regular entries and take a lot more time.
6. Blogging is faster. How long does it take to make an entry? Five to ten minutes, I'd say. My ezine, meanwhile, takes 1-2 hours. Yes, you need to do more blog entries, but they're hardly brain surgery. Instead, they are quick insights you offer up from your life on the go. And so they are read in the same spirit.
7. Blogs are beloved by the media. This is where a majority of all media research on who's who and what they're up to is n�w done. It used to be that your credibility as a media subject was evaluated strictly by your site; that's where the media looked first to get a beat on you. Know they want to know what you're posting on your blog -- even if it doesn't have a 'media room' like your site (hopefully you'd have that linked somehow in your margins.) And they want to know what kinds of posts and comments your getting.
If you're still working on building up your ezine list, I recommend you beef it up by including a blog in your offerings. It will energize your website, attract Google and Yahoo ranking and generally create more buzz.
If you have a blog but have not maximized it by setting up a name capture tool, or do not post frequently, give that a whirl, too. You'll be am�zed at who stops by!
And if you have thoughts on the tender blog-ezine dynamic, email them to me -- or even better, drop by my blog and post them on the most recent comment. Then we'll all be able to see them and add comments of our own.
Here's to the continuing discussion. May your blog bring your platform, and set people talking!
Suzanne Falter-Barns' website at getknownnow.com offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her fr.ee ezine, Expert Status, and receive her fr�e report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents."
To reprint this article, please use with this bio box in tact. Thanks!
©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns LLC.
I was all set this morning to write about something totally different in this issue ... but thanks to the power of blogs, I'm here to deliver a totally different message. Namely the ascendance of blogs over ezines.
First of all, you may notice that you're not getting a whole lot of issues of this ezine from me. Why? Because I've come to understand that blogging is faster. It's more immediate. It's got a wonderful airstream of energy that follows each post. And because it's less formal, it's less work -- but still communicates just as effectively as an ezine ... perhaps even more so.
This point was made wonderfully clear for me just this morning by Stacy Brice, who runs the noteworthy VA training program, AssistU. Stacy sent up a very thoughtful comment to my 'Painless Self Promo' blog, under the header 'The Future of the Ezine'. Which led to an email, which led to a lengthy ph�ne call. Stacy and I had a real heart to heart about this ezine vs. blog thing ... and here's what I've decided is the state of things at the moment.
1. We're in a transitional shift from ezines to blogs. This has mostly to do with people being reluctant to give up old comfy ways for a few minutes of learning new technology, downloading RSS desktop applications, etc.. It was like this just before we traded in vinyl for CD's, telepathy for cell phones and to-do lists for Palm Pilots. And some of us have nev�r moved forward. Those of us who did are pretty happy.
2. Blog technology has finally leapt up to the plate. It's happening; it's here; it's on the cover of Business Week. Blogs can no longer be dismissed as fringe techie territory. They've gotten so easy to use, and read, that there is simply no denying them. Blog creation software du jour is typepad and wordpress. Typepad blogs exist on their website for a small monthly fee.
Wordpress blogs exist on your own site for fr�e. Typepad's more elegant. Wordpress is more basic and functional. I'm running a test to see which will eventually work better for me.
3. It's no longer all about the list. I am still an advocate of ezines, but I believe the list/email connection is rapidly unraveling. My own lists have declined in size as have those of every Net marketer I know. Ezines have peaked and crested in their usefulness and appeal. Meanwhile, blogs are hot. AND you can capture names on them. (See my blog for details on how to do that.)
4. We're no longer happy with passive activities. Maybe as a culture we've grown completely sick of sitting around doing nothing ... all those hours of reality TV? We've n�w begun to expect to participate in our entertainment, even when it comes to reading websites. So blogs -- which allow comments from readers -- are the perfect medium. (This is also why my current theater project, at serenityhawkfire.com, is an entirely interactive theater piece.)
5. We've become a less formal culture. These days, our world is all untucked; clothing is big and slouchy, coffee is slurped in paper cups on the run. Even TV has let down its defenses, showing us as we 'really' are. So it makes sense that blogs, which feature faster, less formal entries more in the style of a diary, are becoming bigger than ezines. Blogs are casual. Ezines take planning, layout, require regular entries and take a lot more time.
6. Blogging is faster. How long does it take to make an entry? Five to ten minutes, I'd say. My ezine, meanwhile, takes 1-2 hours. Yes, you need to do more blog entries, but they're hardly brain surgery. Instead, they are quick insights you offer up from your life on the go. And so they are read in the same spirit.
7. Blogs are beloved by the media. This is where a majority of all media research on who's who and what they're up to is n�w done. It used to be that your credibility as a media subject was evaluated strictly by your site; that's where the media looked first to get a beat on you. Know they want to know what you're posting on your blog -- even if it doesn't have a 'media room' like your site (hopefully you'd have that linked somehow in your margins.) And they want to know what kinds of posts and comments your getting.
If you're still working on building up your ezine list, I recommend you beef it up by including a blog in your offerings. It will energize your website, attract Google and Yahoo ranking and generally create more buzz.
If you have a blog but have not maximized it by setting up a name capture tool, or do not post frequently, give that a whirl, too. You'll be am�zed at who stops by!
And if you have thoughts on the tender blog-ezine dynamic, email them to me -- or even better, drop by my blog and post them on the most recent comment. Then we'll all be able to see them and add comments of our own.
Here's to the continuing discussion. May your blog bring your platform, and set people talking!
Suzanne Falter-Barns' website at getknownnow.com offers tips and tools that help you build your platform and get known as an expert in your field. Sign up for her fr.ee ezine, Expert Status, and receive her fr�e report, "25 Top Self Help Literary Agents."
To reprint this article, please use with this bio box in tact. Thanks!
©2005 Suzanne Falter-Barns LLC.
Blog Your Way to a Successful Private Practice
What is a Blog?
Blogs are a type of website often defined as an on line journal or diary. Although there are many blogs where the blog author keeps a log of their own thoughts, experiences and ideas, bloggers also frequently share and discuss information from other sources.
Blogs typically focus on a certain topic and have frequent (sometimes daily) posts (or entries). Posts often link to other blogs or websites that discuss a similar topic. Many blogs are set up so that readers can add comments below each post.
Blogs have been around for about 8 years or so. Business blogs have become increasingly popular in the last couple of years, and especially in the last year.
Why Use Blogging To Market Your Practice
Counselors, therapists and other healing professionals often shy away from using technology when marketing their practices. While there are many effective ways to market your practice that don’t involve technology and the web, the Internet increasingly becomes an essential method to utilize when starting and marketing a practice.
Furthermore, if you market your practice on the Internet in addition to using offline techniques, you are creating a lot more exposure for your services. Blogs are just one more method of marketing your practice.
Fortunately, much of the technology involved in setting up and managing a blog is very simple. This makes it easy for you to manage and update content on a blog by yourself. You can get a blog up and running in a few minutes without having any technical skills whatsoever.
Blogs also are way to connect with your target market more personally. Because blogs are updated frequently, they allow “your voice” to come through more easily than a static website.
Finally, search engines love blogs because of their numerous and frequent posts as well as the common linking that occurs amongst those in the blogosphere (the blogging community).
How to Use Blogs To Market Your Practice
There are several ways you can utilize a blog to market your practice. You can start by posting interesting information on your blog that is valuable to your clients and potential clients.
There is nothing like quality, fresh content to keep your visitors coming back to your site. Building relationships with your target audience is key to having a successful private practice.
You can also market your practice through your blog by linking to other websites or blogs that provide information that your target market wants or needs.
You can be the filter for your clients and potential clients, posting up-to-date information on your area of specialization so they can keep up-to-date with their areas of interest.
Posting comments on other blogs related to your topic can increase back-links to your website which is important for your ranking in the search engines.
If you have a newsletter, you can have a sign-up box on your blog and/or you can put up a sign-up form so visitors can subscribe to receive notification when your blog has been updated.
Just like a website, you can also sell your services and products through your blog.
Blogging as a method of marketing your practice can be an effective method for building your reputation, gaining credibility, attracting more clients, and gaining more exposure.
It can be a great compliment to a traditional website-- or if you don’t yet have a website, a blog can be a first step towards getting one.
If you decide to blog as a marketing strategy for your private practice, you might want to peruse the blogosphere (the community of blogs on the web) so you can get a better feel for blogging and the types of blogs that exist.
© Juliet Austin, 2005
Bio of Author
Juliet Austin is a Marketing Coach, Consultant and Copywriter who assists counselors, therapists, alternative health professionals, and socially responsible businesses in marketing their businesses. She helps her clients overcome resistances to marketing, learn no or low-cost marketing strategies, create compelling promotional materials, and write effective website copy.
Juliet can be reached at: http://www.julietaustin.com or through one of her marketing blogs: http://www.marketingaprivatepractice.com or http://www.websitedesignandpromotion.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
Blogs are a type of website often defined as an on line journal or diary. Although there are many blogs where the blog author keeps a log of their own thoughts, experiences and ideas, bloggers also frequently share and discuss information from other sources.
Blogs typically focus on a certain topic and have frequent (sometimes daily) posts (or entries). Posts often link to other blogs or websites that discuss a similar topic. Many blogs are set up so that readers can add comments below each post.
Blogs have been around for about 8 years or so. Business blogs have become increasingly popular in the last couple of years, and especially in the last year.
Why Use Blogging To Market Your Practice
Counselors, therapists and other healing professionals often shy away from using technology when marketing their practices. While there are many effective ways to market your practice that don’t involve technology and the web, the Internet increasingly becomes an essential method to utilize when starting and marketing a practice.
Furthermore, if you market your practice on the Internet in addition to using offline techniques, you are creating a lot more exposure for your services. Blogs are just one more method of marketing your practice.
Fortunately, much of the technology involved in setting up and managing a blog is very simple. This makes it easy for you to manage and update content on a blog by yourself. You can get a blog up and running in a few minutes without having any technical skills whatsoever.
Blogs also are way to connect with your target market more personally. Because blogs are updated frequently, they allow “your voice” to come through more easily than a static website.
Finally, search engines love blogs because of their numerous and frequent posts as well as the common linking that occurs amongst those in the blogosphere (the blogging community).
How to Use Blogs To Market Your Practice
There are several ways you can utilize a blog to market your practice. You can start by posting interesting information on your blog that is valuable to your clients and potential clients.
There is nothing like quality, fresh content to keep your visitors coming back to your site. Building relationships with your target audience is key to having a successful private practice.
You can also market your practice through your blog by linking to other websites or blogs that provide information that your target market wants or needs.
You can be the filter for your clients and potential clients, posting up-to-date information on your area of specialization so they can keep up-to-date with their areas of interest.
Posting comments on other blogs related to your topic can increase back-links to your website which is important for your ranking in the search engines.
If you have a newsletter, you can have a sign-up box on your blog and/or you can put up a sign-up form so visitors can subscribe to receive notification when your blog has been updated.
Just like a website, you can also sell your services and products through your blog.
Blogging as a method of marketing your practice can be an effective method for building your reputation, gaining credibility, attracting more clients, and gaining more exposure.
It can be a great compliment to a traditional website-- or if you don’t yet have a website, a blog can be a first step towards getting one.
If you decide to blog as a marketing strategy for your private practice, you might want to peruse the blogosphere (the community of blogs on the web) so you can get a better feel for blogging and the types of blogs that exist.
© Juliet Austin, 2005
Bio of Author
Juliet Austin is a Marketing Coach, Consultant and Copywriter who assists counselors, therapists, alternative health professionals, and socially responsible businesses in marketing their businesses. She helps her clients overcome resistances to marketing, learn no or low-cost marketing strategies, create compelling promotional materials, and write effective website copy.
Juliet can be reached at: http://www.julietaustin.com or through one of her marketing blogs: http://www.marketingaprivatepractice.com or http://www.websitedesignandpromotion.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/
Blog Your Way out of Oblivion
I market coaches. One of the most successful ones really had her practice take off when she started a blog. It got 42,000 hits within the first 3 months, quite a bit more than her main websites. However, at the same time, traffic to her websites picked up. That's because her blog has many links to her main websites, and pitches her products and services, along with great content she changes daily. In fact it's so interesting, I check it out every day too.
Some blogs, it's true are personal indulgences, sometimes for ranting and raving, emotional hemorrhaging, political issues and so forth, but your blog is what you make of it. I have a blog. Of course I have several main websites as well. They're the cornerstones of my practice.
They've been up for years, and of course I've loaded them to place on the SEOs, but what if you've got a new website and Google has "sandboxed" it?
"What's that?" you ask. Your website will rank at first, and then suddenly it doesn't appear. Google places it in some kind of holding tank, maybe to check it for content, or for legitimate links or to avoid spam sites. Maybe they just want to see if it will be around for a while - which is going to hard if you don't get exposure, right?
For an excellent article about "sandboxing," go here: http://www.globalise.com.au/internet-marketing/google-sandbox.shtml
What can you do if this happens besides wait it out and hope for the best? Submit to other search engines (www.submitexpress.com is one), keep adding rich content, get some help with your meta tags, use other promotional means such as writing articles, and get more quality links. Or put up another website, only call it a BLOG! I've sold services and products from my blogs, and yes, that's plural. Why stop with one? They're fun to do, and can be extremely informative for other people.
Be sure they include links back to yur website(s) and to each other, and ads for your products and services. Make them dynamic, with entries daily, to keep people interested returning. Be sure and enter its URL on the search engines too.
You can build a blog free at www.blogger.com . It's about as simple to do as a thing can be on the Internet.
Research some of the blogs out there (google it), and get going. You want to give people every chance to find you and purchase your great products and services, don't you?
©Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach, http://www.webstrategies.cc. Marketing consultation, implementation, website review, SEO optimization, article writing and submission, help with ebooks and other strategies. Susan is the author or "How to Write an eBook and Market It on the Internet." Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for information and free ezine. Specify "Checklist."
Some blogs, it's true are personal indulgences, sometimes for ranting and raving, emotional hemorrhaging, political issues and so forth, but your blog is what you make of it. I have a blog. Of course I have several main websites as well. They're the cornerstones of my practice.
They've been up for years, and of course I've loaded them to place on the SEOs, but what if you've got a new website and Google has "sandboxed" it?
"What's that?" you ask. Your website will rank at first, and then suddenly it doesn't appear. Google places it in some kind of holding tank, maybe to check it for content, or for legitimate links or to avoid spam sites. Maybe they just want to see if it will be around for a while - which is going to hard if you don't get exposure, right?
For an excellent article about "sandboxing," go here: http://www.globalise.com.au/internet-marketing/google-sandbox.shtml
What can you do if this happens besides wait it out and hope for the best? Submit to other search engines (www.submitexpress.com is one), keep adding rich content, get some help with your meta tags, use other promotional means such as writing articles, and get more quality links. Or put up another website, only call it a BLOG! I've sold services and products from my blogs, and yes, that's plural. Why stop with one? They're fun to do, and can be extremely informative for other people.
Be sure they include links back to yur website(s) and to each other, and ads for your products and services. Make them dynamic, with entries daily, to keep people interested returning. Be sure and enter its URL on the search engines too.
You can build a blog free at www.blogger.com . It's about as simple to do as a thing can be on the Internet.
Research some of the blogs out there (google it), and get going. You want to give people every chance to find you and purchase your great products and services, don't you?
©Susan Dunn, MA, Marketing Coach, http://www.webstrategies.cc. Marketing consultation, implementation, website review, SEO optimization, article writing and submission, help with ebooks and other strategies. Susan is the author or "How to Write an eBook and Market It on the Internet." Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for information and free ezine. Specify "Checklist."
Top 10 Blog Writing Tips
© Patsi Krakoff and Denise Wakeman
Most of the "rules" about writing for ezines and newsletters apply to writing posts for your blog, but there are some important differences.
Keep these 10 tips in mind and you'll be publishing great blog content that attracts prospects and clients in your niche market.
1. Write with the reader in mind. Remember WIIFM? It's marketing jargon for What's In It For Me? That's what you should be keeping in mind. Your reader will read your post looking for what's in it for them.
2. Make it valuable and worthwhile. Don't waste people's time. If you don't have anything to say, no problem, plenty other people do. So share their articles, do an interview, review a book.
3. Proof-read for typos and glaring grammatical errors. You wouldn't go out of the house with dirty hair or missing a sock, so why would you publish spelling mistakes? Respect your readers by polishing up your stuff.
4. Keep it short and simple, sweetie (KISS). Most people are scanners. You may have a lot to say and think it interesting, and it may be. But people are reading online and out of time. Get to the point quickly. Publishing short posts more frequently is a better format than publishing lengthy articles every few weeks.
5. Keep it lively, make it snappy and snazzy. Even if you aren't a natural born writer, you can write for your blog. Just write like you're speaking to your friend.or to yourself! Remember though, get to the point quickly. Keep in mind the journalist's rule of 5 W's in the first paragraph: who, what, why, when and where.
6. Link often. This builds credibility and positions you as an expert in your field. People don't have time to know what others are doing, you should tell them. Linking to other blogs and websites also helps you build a network of associates who will in turn link to your blog.
7. Use keywords often. This will help you stay on purpose, and the search engines will love your blog. Your rankings will go up. This is one of the reasons we haveyou write out your purpose statements before beginning your blog. The clearer you are about your purpose, the more consistently you will deliver messages that are on target. And the more often your keywords show up, the better your search engine results.
8. Write clearly (short sentences, only one concept per sentence). No double speak or jargon; no more than one idea in one sentence- don't make your readers have to think about your meaning. Spoon feed them. Use commas and dashes liberally.
9. Write like you talk. It's okay to use common expressions from speech. Examples:Go figure.Don't even go there.Now, I ask you.Gotta love it.(And, remember the age group of your readers.)
10. Use a clear headline, and don't be afraid to make bold statements (but don't mislead people either). Make it snazzy and use key words. Example: Ex-Techno-Weenie Masters HTML Code
BONUS: After you write a post and BEFORE you hit the save button Use this checklist to ask yourself a few questions as you are reading through for typos and grammar:
Is the topic clear to someone who only reads the headline?
Does the lead paragraph tell who and what the story is about and why the reader should care about it?
Is the angle you've used likely to seem newsworthy?
Would someone who knows absolutely nothing about this topic understand this post?
Is the post free of jargon?
Is it written in journalistic style and does it make an effort to be objective?
Have you peppered the headline and the post with keywords and phrases that will be attractive to search engines?
Did you remember to ask your readers a question at the end, or something to stimulate readers to comment?
Did you remember to write with the reader in mind, always keeping in mind WIIFT? (What's in It for Them?)
Patsi Krakoff of Customized Newsletter Services, and Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership, have teamed up to create blogging classes and marketing services for independent professionals. You can read and subscribe to their blogs at http://www.coachezines.com, http://www.bizbooknuggets.com and http://www.biztipsblog.com
Most of the "rules" about writing for ezines and newsletters apply to writing posts for your blog, but there are some important differences.
Keep these 10 tips in mind and you'll be publishing great blog content that attracts prospects and clients in your niche market.
1. Write with the reader in mind. Remember WIIFM? It's marketing jargon for What's In It For Me? That's what you should be keeping in mind. Your reader will read your post looking for what's in it for them.
2. Make it valuable and worthwhile. Don't waste people's time. If you don't have anything to say, no problem, plenty other people do. So share their articles, do an interview, review a book.
3. Proof-read for typos and glaring grammatical errors. You wouldn't go out of the house with dirty hair or missing a sock, so why would you publish spelling mistakes? Respect your readers by polishing up your stuff.
4. Keep it short and simple, sweetie (KISS). Most people are scanners. You may have a lot to say and think it interesting, and it may be. But people are reading online and out of time. Get to the point quickly. Publishing short posts more frequently is a better format than publishing lengthy articles every few weeks.
5. Keep it lively, make it snappy and snazzy. Even if you aren't a natural born writer, you can write for your blog. Just write like you're speaking to your friend.or to yourself! Remember though, get to the point quickly. Keep in mind the journalist's rule of 5 W's in the first paragraph: who, what, why, when and where.
6. Link often. This builds credibility and positions you as an expert in your field. People don't have time to know what others are doing, you should tell them. Linking to other blogs and websites also helps you build a network of associates who will in turn link to your blog.
7. Use keywords often. This will help you stay on purpose, and the search engines will love your blog. Your rankings will go up. This is one of the reasons we haveyou write out your purpose statements before beginning your blog. The clearer you are about your purpose, the more consistently you will deliver messages that are on target. And the more often your keywords show up, the better your search engine results.
8. Write clearly (short sentences, only one concept per sentence). No double speak or jargon; no more than one idea in one sentence- don't make your readers have to think about your meaning. Spoon feed them. Use commas and dashes liberally.
9. Write like you talk. It's okay to use common expressions from speech. Examples:Go figure.Don't even go there.Now, I ask you.Gotta love it.(And, remember the age group of your readers.)
10. Use a clear headline, and don't be afraid to make bold statements (but don't mislead people either). Make it snazzy and use key words. Example: Ex-Techno-Weenie Masters HTML Code
BONUS: After you write a post and BEFORE you hit the save button Use this checklist to ask yourself a few questions as you are reading through for typos and grammar:
Is the topic clear to someone who only reads the headline?
Does the lead paragraph tell who and what the story is about and why the reader should care about it?
Is the angle you've used likely to seem newsworthy?
Would someone who knows absolutely nothing about this topic understand this post?
Is the post free of jargon?
Is it written in journalistic style and does it make an effort to be objective?
Have you peppered the headline and the post with keywords and phrases that will be attractive to search engines?
Did you remember to ask your readers a question at the end, or something to stimulate readers to comment?
Did you remember to write with the reader in mind, always keeping in mind WIIFT? (What's in It for Them?)
Patsi Krakoff of Customized Newsletter Services, and Denise Wakeman of Next Level Partnership, have teamed up to create blogging classes and marketing services for independent professionals. You can read and subscribe to their blogs at http://www.coachezines.com, http://www.bizbooknuggets.com and http://www.biztipsblog.com
Blogging for Dollars
Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show or some new drinking game, but it's the latest craze to hit the Internet. Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off.
Whether a blogger's focus is to communicate with customers or just to have fun, they have begun looking at ways to earn revenue from their blogs. The most popular ways for bloggers to earn some added cash for their pet projects are:
1. ) Google Adsense in BlogsGoogle AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content-relevant advertisements in blogs. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the blog, the website owner is credited for the referral. Webmasters need only to insert a Google-generated java script into the blog or blog template. Google's spider parses the AdServing blog and serves ads that relate to the blog's content. Google uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis to determine what ads should be served.
2. ) Affiliate Programs (Product Endorsements)Affiliate Programs work when an affiliate web site receives income for generating sales, leads, or traffic to a merchant website. Generally, bloggers will mention or endorse specific products and if site visitors purchase the product, bloggers will receive a portion of the sale.
3. ) Product Promotion Businesses use blogs to detail how specific features or product add-ons can increase functionality and save time. Content-rich product promotion will help with search engine placement.
4.) Banner AdsWhile less popular than in the past, websites with high traffic levels can still earn decent revenue by selling banner space.
As the Internet evolves bloggers will continue to seek out ways to monetize their opinions and thoughts. Daily journals and online blogs have become more than just a communication means to many.
About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com product lines. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.small-business-software.net
Whether a blogger's focus is to communicate with customers or just to have fun, they have begun looking at ways to earn revenue from their blogs. The most popular ways for bloggers to earn some added cash for their pet projects are:
1. ) Google Adsense in BlogsGoogle AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically serve content-relevant advertisements in blogs. If the visitor clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the blog, the website owner is credited for the referral. Webmasters need only to insert a Google-generated java script into the blog or blog template. Google's spider parses the AdServing blog and serves ads that relate to the blog's content. Google uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis to determine what ads should be served.
2. ) Affiliate Programs (Product Endorsements)Affiliate Programs work when an affiliate web site receives income for generating sales, leads, or traffic to a merchant website. Generally, bloggers will mention or endorse specific products and if site visitors purchase the product, bloggers will receive a portion of the sale.
3. ) Product Promotion Businesses use blogs to detail how specific features or product add-ons can increase functionality and save time. Content-rich product promotion will help with search engine placement.
4.) Banner AdsWhile less popular than in the past, websites with high traffic levels can still earn decent revenue by selling banner space.
As the Internet evolves bloggers will continue to seek out ways to monetize their opinions and thoughts. Daily journals and online blogs have become more than just a communication means to many.
About the Author: Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com product lines. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.small-business-software.net
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Increase Your Blog Traffic by Article Marketing
Article Marketing is defined as that art of marketing by which we get a
lot of traffic due to submission of quality articles to article directories.
Each article contains a resource box. 3 urls are permitted in the
resource box. Here is a sample resource box which gets me traffic
Article by G Kumar, astrologer, writer and programmer of
http://www.articlewisdom.com/ He has 15 years research experience in
Stock Market Astrology and other in various other branches of
Astrology. Recentlyhe was awarded a Certificate by the Planetary
Gemologists Association as a Planetary Gem Advisor. To subscribe
to his Free ezine,the Z Files, click here
mailto:info@eastrovedica.com?subject=ZFiles . Free blogtipping at
Blog - http://blog2wisdom.blogspot.com/
First url is my main website url. Second one is the free subscription
to my Zine. And the third is the blog url.
This is the resource box used when I submitted an 'Blog Your Way to
the Bank' article to article directories.
Now the Zine publishers and website owners are looking for quality
articles. They can get these articles from the article directories. They
visit the article directories and download articles of their choice.
They publish these articles in their Zines/ Websites.
The readers read these articles and click on these hyperlinks. And
what do you get ? Traffic, which is Internet Gold !
Normally you can submit a 3 url resource box. Putting more than 3
urls in the Resource box is risky.
Here is a list of Article Directories. I used to submit articles to these
directories, which has given me good traffic.
http://www.indiaonline.in/articles/post-article.asp
http://www.articlenetworks.com/
http://www.article-content-king.com/
http://www.articles-submit.com/
http://www.newfreearticles.com/
http://www.articlenexus.com/
http://www.articlealley.com/
http://www.a1articles.com/
http://www.contentarticles.com/
http://www.kokkada.com/
http://www.article99.com/
http://www.articlefinders.com/
http://www.articledepot.co.uk/
http://www.articlesfactory.com/
http://www.article-spot.com/
http://www.articlesymposium.com/
http://www.articleteller.com/
http://www.articlewheel.com/
http://www.bigarticle.com/
http://www.christiannotepad.com/
http://www.dognewscenter.com/
http://www.easyarticles.com/
http://www.e-calc.net/
www.contenttycoon.com
http://www.articlewisdom.com/
http://www.articlecity.com/
www.articlehub.com
www.ezinearticles.com
www.articlestop.com
www.articledashboard.com
www.goarticles.com
www.articlewebdirectory.com
www.articlebiz.com
www.articlefever.com
www.contentfueled.com
http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com
www.articlesender.com
www.articlerich.com
www.articlesphere.com
www.articles-submit.com
www.articlemaniac.com
www.postarticles.com
www.upromote.com
http://www.freezine-articles.com/
http://freezinesite.com/
http://www.hotlib.com/articles/
http://www.ideamarketers.com/
http://www.internetarticledirectory.com/
http://www.klienwachter.com/adarticles/
http://www.mainstreetmom.com/
http://www.media13.com/
http://www.mydolittle.com/
http://www.myfamilyliving.com/
www.freearticles.com
www.articles.co.nz
www.articledatabase.com
www.article-warehouse.com
www.authorconnection.com
www.articleempire.com
www.articlecircuit.com
www.articlecrazy.com
www.writeyourarticles.com
www.articlemailbox.com
www.articlestack.com
www.articlestogo.com
www.articlebiz.com
www.articles_galore.com
www.add-articles.com
www.spiritualminds.com
http://hotlib.com/articles/submit.php
www.book-of-thoth.com
www.drualtys.com
www.bharatbhasha.com
If you want furthur the names of article directory sites, here is the link
http://www.eastrovedica.com/html/articlesubmissioncenters.htm
My main site, http://www.eastrovedica.com/ has got more than 384 K
hits and my main blog, recently started, http://zodiacastrology.blogspot.com/
has got more than 10 K hits, mainly due to Article Marketing !
All my 22 blogs have got good traffic. Also my five websites and I
attribute all this to Article Marketing. I blog regularly about the
subjects I love - cricket, marketing, blogging, philosophy, astrology,
gemology, numerology etc. Many come to my office to learn blogging.
I have also monetised by blogs and sites & am getting monthly checks
from Google & Adbrite, thanks to Article Marketing !
May you increase your blog traffic with Article Marketing
lot of traffic due to submission of quality articles to article directories.
Each article contains a resource box. 3 urls are permitted in the
resource box. Here is a sample resource box which gets me traffic
Article by G Kumar, astrologer, writer and programmer of
http://www.articlewisdom.com/ He has 15 years research experience in
Stock Market Astrology and other in various other branches of
Astrology. Recentlyhe was awarded a Certificate by the Planetary
Gemologists Association as a Planetary Gem Advisor. To subscribe
to his Free ezine,the Z Files, click here
mailto:info@eastrovedica.com?subject=ZFiles . Free blogtipping at
Blog - http://blog2wisdom.blogspot.com/
First url is my main website url. Second one is the free subscription
to my Zine. And the third is the blog url.
This is the resource box used when I submitted an 'Blog Your Way to
the Bank' article to article directories.
Now the Zine publishers and website owners are looking for quality
articles. They can get these articles from the article directories. They
visit the article directories and download articles of their choice.
They publish these articles in their Zines/ Websites.
The readers read these articles and click on these hyperlinks. And
what do you get ? Traffic, which is Internet Gold !
Normally you can submit a 3 url resource box. Putting more than 3
urls in the Resource box is risky.
Here is a list of Article Directories. I used to submit articles to these
directories, which has given me good traffic.
http://www.indiaonline.in/articles/post-article.asp
http://www.articlenetworks.com/
http://www.article-content-king.com/
http://www.articles-submit.com/
http://www.newfreearticles.com/
http://www.articlenexus.com/
http://www.articlealley.com/
http://www.a1articles.com/
http://www.contentarticles.com/
http://www.kokkada.com/
http://www.article99.com/
http://www.articlefinders.com/
http://www.articledepot.co.uk/
http://www.articlesfactory.com/
http://www.article-spot.com/
http://www.articlesymposium.com/
http://www.articleteller.com/
http://www.articlewheel.com/
http://www.bigarticle.com/
http://www.christiannotepad.com/
http://www.dognewscenter.com/
http://www.easyarticles.com/
http://www.e-calc.net/
www.contenttycoon.com
http://www.articlewisdom.com/
http://www.articlecity.com/
www.articlehub.com
www.ezinearticles.com
www.articlestop.com
www.articledashboard.com
www.goarticles.com
www.articlewebdirectory.com
www.articlebiz.com
www.articlefever.com
www.contentfueled.com
http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com
www.articlesender.com
www.articlerich.com
www.articlesphere.com
www.articles-submit.com
www.articlemaniac.com
www.postarticles.com
www.upromote.com
http://www.freezine-articles.com/
http://freezinesite.com/
http://www.hotlib.com/articles/
http://www.ideamarketers.com/
http://www.internetarticledirectory.com/
http://www.klienwachter.com/adarticles/
http://www.mainstreetmom.com/
http://www.media13.com/
http://www.mydolittle.com/
http://www.myfamilyliving.com/
www.freearticles.com
www.articles.co.nz
www.articledatabase.com
www.article-warehouse.com
www.authorconnection.com
www.articleempire.com
www.articlecircuit.com
www.articlecrazy.com
www.writeyourarticles.com
www.articlemailbox.com
www.articlestack.com
www.articlestogo.com
www.articlebiz.com
www.articles_galore.com
www.add-articles.com
www.spiritualminds.com
http://hotlib.com/articles/submit.php
www.book-of-thoth.com
www.drualtys.com
www.bharatbhasha.com
If you want furthur the names of article directory sites, here is the link
http://www.eastrovedica.com/html/articlesubmissioncenters.htm
My main site, http://www.eastrovedica.com/ has got more than 384 K
hits and my main blog, recently started, http://zodiacastrology.blogspot.com/
has got more than 10 K hits, mainly due to Article Marketing !
All my 22 blogs have got good traffic. Also my five websites and I
attribute all this to Article Marketing. I blog regularly about the
subjects I love - cricket, marketing, blogging, philosophy, astrology,
gemology, numerology etc. Many come to my office to learn blogging.
I have also monetised by blogs and sites & am getting monthly checks
from Google & Adbrite, thanks to Article Marketing !
May you increase your blog traffic with Article Marketing
55 Essential Articles Every Serious Blogger Should Read
June 4th, 2007 by Matt Huggins
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
After blogging for some time now, I’ve encountered countless articles that have truly helped to refine many aspects of my blog. This includes the visual structure, layout and types of advertising and affiliate programs utilized, plug-ins implemented for ease of use, search engine optimization and overall productivity, and much more.
Many of these articles would have been helpful before starting my own blog, but I also doubt that I would have been successful in putting most of these tips to use right away. Like me, I’m sure many of you are always looking for ways to improve your blogs. And since blogs are constantly growing and changing, it’s always a good time to do whatever you can to make your blog the very best.
With that said, here are 55 essential articles I’ve come across that have positively influenced my blog decision-making and will undoubtedly help you too. I’ve also included a select few of my own past articles that are of relevance in order to “pay it forward.”
Blogging Basics: Getting Started
Can You Make a Living Blogging? (Graywolf SEO)
Five Beginner’s Blogging Tips (John Chow)
The First 7 Days of Blogging (Pronet Advertising)
Put on Your Game Face (Pronet Advertising)
How to “Announce” a Blog (Blog Traffic School)
Building Meaningful Content
How to Use Social News Aggregators as a Source for Content Ideas (Dosh Dosh)
5 Ways to Building a Better Blog (Pronet Advertising)
Bring Your A-game to Write for Blogs (Freelance Switch)
What Are You Learning from Leading Edge SEO Bloggers? (Graywolf SEO)
How Great Headlines Score Traffic (Copyblogger)
10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas that Work (Copyblogger)
Declaring War on Blogger Apathy (ProBlogger)
Increasing Traffic & Retaining Readers
How to Market Your Blog in 2007 (ProBlogger)
21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic (SEOmoz)
Five Steps to a Truly Unique Blog That Attracts Readers and Revenue (Copyblogger)
10 Simple Ways to Retain Blog Readership (Matt Huggins)
How to Get Traffic for Your Blog (Seth Godin)
10 Effective Ways to Get More Blog Subscribers (Copyblogger)
How to Develop “Stickyness” to Your Blog (Blogging Tips)
A Very Simple Way to Increase Your RSS Subscribers & MyBlogLog Community Members (Dosh Dosh)
Linkbaiting, SEO, & Social Networks
12 Different Types of Links and How to Get Them (Stuntdubl)
101 Ways to Build Links in 2006 (SEOBook)
66 Ways to Build Links in 2007 (Brandon Hopkins)
Getting Noticed by A-list Bloggers vs. Getting on Digg Front Pages (Digital Inspiration)
Do You Digg This Headline? (Copyblogger)
Why Too Many Little Icons Can Easily Distract Your Visitors (Pronet Advertising)
How to Generate Targeted Site Traffic Without Search Engines (Scoreboard Media Group)
Linkbait, Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exagerated (Graywolf SEO)
SEP Advice: Linkbait and Linkbaiting (Matt Cutts)
Blogging SEO Basics (Matt Huggins)
Search Engine Optimization for Blogs (ProBlogger)
8 Simple SEO Tips for Blogs (JohnTP)
How to Enhance Your Blog’s SEO and Attract Relevant Traffic in One Easy Step (Technosailor)
Is it OK to Write for Digg? (Copyblogger)
Get Your Blog Out of the Google Supplemental Index (Not So Boring Life)
Building a Community
5 Simple Ways to Encourage Blog Participation (Matt Huggins)
10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog (ProBlogger)
10 Quick Methods to Increase Blog Comments (Legal Andrew)
Top 5 WordPress Plugins That Help Increase Comments (JohnTP)
Blog Monetization
8 Tips to Optimize AdSense Units (Daily Blog Tips)
Google AdSense Tips, Tricks, and Secrets (Graywolf SEO)
Why AdSense is Not Suitable for All Blog Topics (ProBlogger)
Make Money from Your Blog (Matt Huggins)
Six Powerful Blog Strategies that will Rapidly Increase Your Affiliate Referrals (Dosh Dosh)
10 Tips for Using Affiliate Programs on Your Blog (ProBlogger)
10 Ways to Make Your Blog More Attractive to Advertisers (ProBlogger)
Miscellaneous Blogging Advice
27 Lessons Learned on the Way to 3000 Visits a Day and 2200 RSS Subscribers (Pick the Brain)
10 Ways to Become a Better Blogger (TechRepublic)
101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger (LifeHack.org)
The 5 Deadly Sins of Blogging (Pronet Advertising)
10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid (John Chow)
10 Reasons Why Blogging is Like Dating (Romance Tracker)
6 Lessons Britney Spears Can Teach You About Blogging (Kumiko’s Cash Quest)
Why Everything You Think You Know About Blog Architecture is Wrong (Pearsonified)
Help! I’m Addicted to Checking My Blog’s Stats! (ProBlogger)
Article Source : http://www.matthuggins.com/55-essential-articles-every-serious-blogger-should-read/
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
After blogging for some time now, I’ve encountered countless articles that have truly helped to refine many aspects of my blog. This includes the visual structure, layout and types of advertising and affiliate programs utilized, plug-ins implemented for ease of use, search engine optimization and overall productivity, and much more.
Many of these articles would have been helpful before starting my own blog, but I also doubt that I would have been successful in putting most of these tips to use right away. Like me, I’m sure many of you are always looking for ways to improve your blogs. And since blogs are constantly growing and changing, it’s always a good time to do whatever you can to make your blog the very best.
With that said, here are 55 essential articles I’ve come across that have positively influenced my blog decision-making and will undoubtedly help you too. I’ve also included a select few of my own past articles that are of relevance in order to “pay it forward.”
Blogging Basics: Getting Started
Can You Make a Living Blogging? (Graywolf SEO)
Five Beginner’s Blogging Tips (John Chow)
The First 7 Days of Blogging (Pronet Advertising)
Put on Your Game Face (Pronet Advertising)
How to “Announce” a Blog (Blog Traffic School)
Building Meaningful Content
How to Use Social News Aggregators as a Source for Content Ideas (Dosh Dosh)
5 Ways to Building a Better Blog (Pronet Advertising)
Bring Your A-game to Write for Blogs (Freelance Switch)
What Are You Learning from Leading Edge SEO Bloggers? (Graywolf SEO)
How Great Headlines Score Traffic (Copyblogger)
10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas that Work (Copyblogger)
Declaring War on Blogger Apathy (ProBlogger)
Increasing Traffic & Retaining Readers
How to Market Your Blog in 2007 (ProBlogger)
21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic (SEOmoz)
Five Steps to a Truly Unique Blog That Attracts Readers and Revenue (Copyblogger)
10 Simple Ways to Retain Blog Readership (Matt Huggins)
How to Get Traffic for Your Blog (Seth Godin)
10 Effective Ways to Get More Blog Subscribers (Copyblogger)
How to Develop “Stickyness” to Your Blog (Blogging Tips)
A Very Simple Way to Increase Your RSS Subscribers & MyBlogLog Community Members (Dosh Dosh)
Linkbaiting, SEO, & Social Networks
12 Different Types of Links and How to Get Them (Stuntdubl)
101 Ways to Build Links in 2006 (SEOBook)
66 Ways to Build Links in 2007 (Brandon Hopkins)
Getting Noticed by A-list Bloggers vs. Getting on Digg Front Pages (Digital Inspiration)
Do You Digg This Headline? (Copyblogger)
Why Too Many Little Icons Can Easily Distract Your Visitors (Pronet Advertising)
How to Generate Targeted Site Traffic Without Search Engines (Scoreboard Media Group)
Linkbait, Reports of My Death Are Greatly Exagerated (Graywolf SEO)
SEP Advice: Linkbait and Linkbaiting (Matt Cutts)
Blogging SEO Basics (Matt Huggins)
Search Engine Optimization for Blogs (ProBlogger)
8 Simple SEO Tips for Blogs (JohnTP)
How to Enhance Your Blog’s SEO and Attract Relevant Traffic in One Easy Step (Technosailor)
Is it OK to Write for Digg? (Copyblogger)
Get Your Blog Out of the Google Supplemental Index (Not So Boring Life)
Building a Community
5 Simple Ways to Encourage Blog Participation (Matt Huggins)
10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog (ProBlogger)
10 Quick Methods to Increase Blog Comments (Legal Andrew)
Top 5 WordPress Plugins That Help Increase Comments (JohnTP)
Blog Monetization
8 Tips to Optimize AdSense Units (Daily Blog Tips)
Google AdSense Tips, Tricks, and Secrets (Graywolf SEO)
Why AdSense is Not Suitable for All Blog Topics (ProBlogger)
Make Money from Your Blog (Matt Huggins)
Six Powerful Blog Strategies that will Rapidly Increase Your Affiliate Referrals (Dosh Dosh)
10 Tips for Using Affiliate Programs on Your Blog (ProBlogger)
10 Ways to Make Your Blog More Attractive to Advertisers (ProBlogger)
Miscellaneous Blogging Advice
27 Lessons Learned on the Way to 3000 Visits a Day and 2200 RSS Subscribers (Pick the Brain)
10 Ways to Become a Better Blogger (TechRepublic)
101 Steps to Becoming a Better Blogger (LifeHack.org)
The 5 Deadly Sins of Blogging (Pronet Advertising)
10 Blogging Mistakes to Avoid (John Chow)
10 Reasons Why Blogging is Like Dating (Romance Tracker)
6 Lessons Britney Spears Can Teach You About Blogging (Kumiko’s Cash Quest)
Why Everything You Think You Know About Blog Architecture is Wrong (Pearsonified)
Help! I’m Addicted to Checking My Blog’s Stats! (ProBlogger)
Article Source : http://www.matthuggins.com/55-essential-articles-every-serious-blogger-should-read/
How to Write a Better Weblog
by Dennis A. Mahoney
Published in: Community, Writing
There’s been a recent retread of the weblogging phenomenon following a few articles at PC Mag, Time, and The Morning News. After posting my own short list of things that ought to be banned from weblogs, I realized that a list of things to be encouraged would be more useful. Some people are new to weblogging. Others want to raise the bar. In the end, everybody wants better sites, and some of these suggestions might help.
The bulk of this advice focuses on writing, which is generally at the heart of weblogs. All of them are obvious yet often ignored, to the detriment of both the readers and the writers. They’re aimed at people trying to improve the general appeal of their weblogs, but folks writing privately for friends and family might also find them useful. We’ll begin with an example.
Professional vs. Amateur
The professional writer writes:
New York is magnificent in spring.
The amateur writer writes:
I know this is a cliché nowadays, especially after 9/11, but I live in New York, which is much cleaner and safer now because of Giuliani, who really ought to be president after handling the crisis so well, and I know I’ve had some issues in the past with the mayor’s handling of the NYPD in regard to African Americans and his war against art involving sacred religious icons and feces (hello!? freedom of expression!?), but when all is said and done, New York, as maybe the best example of the ‘melting pot’ etc. etc., is a great city, especially when it starts getting warmer and people go outside more, like around March or April.
The amateur reads the professional and cannot bear the understatement. The professional reads the amateur, gives up after the word “nowadays,” and decides that he/she has been video–gamed to idiocy; the amateurs are hopeless; this new wave will be the last.
Not true. Amateurs are writing as they’ve always written. Self-consciousness, self-doubt, awkwardness, and overcompensation are perennial hallmarks of the beginning writer. The reason today’s amateurs seem more profoundly un–profound could be a simple matter of exposure.
There used to be impenetrable gatekeepers. Now, CNN roundtables, documentaries, independent films, MTV, and the web—which has no gatekeepers in most countries—are broadcasting every poorly crafted phrase and half–cooked idea imaginable. Patience, readers. All is not lost.
Great writing can’t be taught, but atrocious writing is entirely preventable.
The Rules
There are, in fact, rules—even online. Rules are not restrictions. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, rhythm, focus, syntax, and structure aren’t especially romantic terms, until you get to know them. Writers want to make sense. They want to move the reader. It ain’t never gonna happen if you got busted paragraphs, mistaken punctuation and, bad rhythm, not to mention kreative spelling: see? Clarity is key. Learn the rules. Break ’em later.
The best rules can’t be stated, but you can learn them by reading excellent writing. Develop an ear. If you know what works, you’ll start to emulate it. Conversely, it’s good to study truly horrendous language, stuff that makes you embarrassed for those responsible. You’ll find yourself mortally afraid of—and automatically avoiding—the same mistakes in your own writing. Hemingway said, “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built–in shock–proof shit-detector.” (They’re cheap if you haven’t already got one.) This is especially important for web writers, most of whom are publishing without the benefit of editors.
Declarative sentences are good. Web readers demand pith.
Bold statements are dangerous, but they won’t kill you. Timidity will—or at least your traffic. Everyone has a hazy opinion or two. The writer’s goal is clarity. Vague feelings or ideas don’t have to be vaguely written. Imagine two sites with similar descriptions of an indescribable sensation. Which would you remember:
A: “Her physical affections made his world feel somehow different and indescribably alive.”
B: “She kissed him with her tongue until the leaves on the trees, the soles of his shoes, and even his thoughts, felt like happy tongues.”
First–person point of view is not the only point of view. I should be necessary, or else avoided. This is not to condemn first person, but to suggest that it needn’t be the default choice. If first-person perfectly suits your subject matter, use it. But maybe second– or third–person is more effective. Consider your options.
The advice “write only what you know” increases the likelihood that you will know the same things forever.
Offer Something New
And are you attempting to produce quality material, or just killing time? If you’re killing time, O.K., but don’t be startled when your audience is small and no one links to you. Instead of publishing disconnected diversions (by the way, look at this, check it out, here you go, really cool), connect the dots or offer a full opinion.
Better yet, take The Nick Hornby Challenge. In High Fidelity, the narrator is described as a professional critic. He’s good at it. Music criticism is what he does. Then he starts an independent label and produces a record made by a couple of talented, shoplifting skate punks in order to, as his girlfriend says, “put something new into the world.”
The web is a tremendous hodgepodge of media. There are sites about books, sites about music, and sites about sites. Plenty of weblogs center on consuming and critiquing other people’s work, and all this recycling and redistribution has its place—a very important place that we’ll make note of later on. But why not make something new? Instead of linking to a few articles every day, write one. Instead of showcasing and discussing the latest designs, design something. You’ve got this absolutely batty opportunity of instant global publishing. Publish! The world is your oyster!
Amuse Your Readers
If you want to share an anecdote or story from your life, pretend the readers weren’t there. Because they weren’t. “You had to be there” never makes a joke funny.
Readers crave your anecdotes and stories. They really do. So give ‘em the whole megillah. Instead of, “The party was a riot!” or “I’m depressed today,” carefully explain why. Elaborate. Parties and depression are perfectly good writing subjects. The Great Gatsby, for instance, has plenty of both.
Anything makes a good subject, as long as you take your time and crystallize the details, tying them together and actually telling a story, rather than offering a simple list of facts. Do readers really want to know how miserable you are? Yes. But they’re going to want details, the precise odor of your room, why you haven’t showered in a week, or how exactly somebody broke your heart. One–liners won’t suffice.
At the same time, you don’t want to over–explain yourself. Understatement can be thunderous, or humorous, or heartbreaking. Or all three.
Have a sense of humor. Everything is funny. Being gay is funny. Being straight is funny. Being American is funny. It’s OK to laugh at things. Making light of serious situations or emotions doesn’t have to be disrespectful or hurtful. And just because something is funny doesn’t mean it has to be light. Example: “When the kidnapper called the blind woman, he told her that she’d never see her son again.” Some of the best humor is heavy.
Being a writer is funny. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Have a thick skin. If your site gets singled out for attack by some malicious web devil, relax. You’ve gone public and you have to expect both rational and irrational criticism. Listen, people rag on Shakespeare all the time. If you’re a genuine talent, there’ll be plenty of people complimenting your efforts. If someone has a bona fide gripe with something you’ve produced, pay attention—it’s worth considering. If someone has a petty gripe or simply gets nasty, let it go. Get back to producing your site. If novelists spent their time responding to negative reviews, we’d be fresh out of novels.
Beyond Wired
One popular complaint about weblogs is that they all link to the same sites, over and over and over. Sometimes that’s true and sometimes it isn’t. But if you do find yourself linking to a Wired article that’s already been noted on ten other sites, you might consider finding something else.
Sharing great discoveries is largely why weblogging got so hot and sultry in the first place. Big, heavily funded sites weren’t acknowledging the grace notes and hidden talents of the web, so it was up to webloggers. For some webloggers, it still is. Wired doesn’t need your help as much as undiscovered sites, which may be offering equally good (or better) material.
Successful Weblogging
Producing a successful weblog, however you define that, is tough. Instead of money, fame, and Jacuzzis full of sexy nude readers, you’ll probably feel like you’re shouting in outer space. And you probably will be. In 1994, you could hook a thousand readers if you wrote about the mold underneath your refrigerator. Now, you’re lucky to get a hundred regulars, even if your work is excellent.
No matter what your audience size, you ought to write as if your readership consisted of paid subscribers whose subscriptions were perpetually about to expire. There’s no need to pander. Compel them to re–subscribe.
As the beginning of this article noted, a big audience isn’t everybody’s goal, and most of these suggestions are intended for people working to expand their readership. As for actually achieving that expansion, it’s back to the hard sell.
The days when simply having a website equated to visibility are over. The average person doesn’t even know to look for weblogs. When someone does, there’s an array of choices so endless that finding your site will largely be a stroke of luck.
Links and word of mouth can go a long way, but don’t expect a big following right off the bat. You might never get a following. More than ever, you’d better be doing this to satisfy yourself, because it could be your only reward. But if your goal is to satisfy readers, satisfying yourself is a good start.
Learn More
Related Topics: Community, Writing
About the Author
Dennis A. Mahoney writes daily at 0(zero)format.
Article Source : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writebetter/
Published in: Community, Writing
There’s been a recent retread of the weblogging phenomenon following a few articles at PC Mag, Time, and The Morning News. After posting my own short list of things that ought to be banned from weblogs, I realized that a list of things to be encouraged would be more useful. Some people are new to weblogging. Others want to raise the bar. In the end, everybody wants better sites, and some of these suggestions might help.
The bulk of this advice focuses on writing, which is generally at the heart of weblogs. All of them are obvious yet often ignored, to the detriment of both the readers and the writers. They’re aimed at people trying to improve the general appeal of their weblogs, but folks writing privately for friends and family might also find them useful. We’ll begin with an example.
Professional vs. Amateur
The professional writer writes:
New York is magnificent in spring.
The amateur writer writes:
I know this is a cliché nowadays, especially after 9/11, but I live in New York, which is much cleaner and safer now because of Giuliani, who really ought to be president after handling the crisis so well, and I know I’ve had some issues in the past with the mayor’s handling of the NYPD in regard to African Americans and his war against art involving sacred religious icons and feces (hello!? freedom of expression!?), but when all is said and done, New York, as maybe the best example of the ‘melting pot’ etc. etc., is a great city, especially when it starts getting warmer and people go outside more, like around March or April.
The amateur reads the professional and cannot bear the understatement. The professional reads the amateur, gives up after the word “nowadays,” and decides that he/she has been video–gamed to idiocy; the amateurs are hopeless; this new wave will be the last.
Not true. Amateurs are writing as they’ve always written. Self-consciousness, self-doubt, awkwardness, and overcompensation are perennial hallmarks of the beginning writer. The reason today’s amateurs seem more profoundly un–profound could be a simple matter of exposure.
There used to be impenetrable gatekeepers. Now, CNN roundtables, documentaries, independent films, MTV, and the web—which has no gatekeepers in most countries—are broadcasting every poorly crafted phrase and half–cooked idea imaginable. Patience, readers. All is not lost.
Great writing can’t be taught, but atrocious writing is entirely preventable.
The Rules
There are, in fact, rules—even online. Rules are not restrictions. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, rhythm, focus, syntax, and structure aren’t especially romantic terms, until you get to know them. Writers want to make sense. They want to move the reader. It ain’t never gonna happen if you got busted paragraphs, mistaken punctuation and, bad rhythm, not to mention kreative spelling: see? Clarity is key. Learn the rules. Break ’em later.
The best rules can’t be stated, but you can learn them by reading excellent writing. Develop an ear. If you know what works, you’ll start to emulate it. Conversely, it’s good to study truly horrendous language, stuff that makes you embarrassed for those responsible. You’ll find yourself mortally afraid of—and automatically avoiding—the same mistakes in your own writing. Hemingway said, “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built–in shock–proof shit-detector.” (They’re cheap if you haven’t already got one.) This is especially important for web writers, most of whom are publishing without the benefit of editors.
Declarative sentences are good. Web readers demand pith.
Bold statements are dangerous, but they won’t kill you. Timidity will—or at least your traffic. Everyone has a hazy opinion or two. The writer’s goal is clarity. Vague feelings or ideas don’t have to be vaguely written. Imagine two sites with similar descriptions of an indescribable sensation. Which would you remember:
A: “Her physical affections made his world feel somehow different and indescribably alive.”
B: “She kissed him with her tongue until the leaves on the trees, the soles of his shoes, and even his thoughts, felt like happy tongues.”
First–person point of view is not the only point of view. I should be necessary, or else avoided. This is not to condemn first person, but to suggest that it needn’t be the default choice. If first-person perfectly suits your subject matter, use it. But maybe second– or third–person is more effective. Consider your options.
The advice “write only what you know” increases the likelihood that you will know the same things forever.
Offer Something New
And are you attempting to produce quality material, or just killing time? If you’re killing time, O.K., but don’t be startled when your audience is small and no one links to you. Instead of publishing disconnected diversions (by the way, look at this, check it out, here you go, really cool), connect the dots or offer a full opinion.
Better yet, take The Nick Hornby Challenge. In High Fidelity, the narrator is described as a professional critic. He’s good at it. Music criticism is what he does. Then he starts an independent label and produces a record made by a couple of talented, shoplifting skate punks in order to, as his girlfriend says, “put something new into the world.”
The web is a tremendous hodgepodge of media. There are sites about books, sites about music, and sites about sites. Plenty of weblogs center on consuming and critiquing other people’s work, and all this recycling and redistribution has its place—a very important place that we’ll make note of later on. But why not make something new? Instead of linking to a few articles every day, write one. Instead of showcasing and discussing the latest designs, design something. You’ve got this absolutely batty opportunity of instant global publishing. Publish! The world is your oyster!
Amuse Your Readers
If you want to share an anecdote or story from your life, pretend the readers weren’t there. Because they weren’t. “You had to be there” never makes a joke funny.
Readers crave your anecdotes and stories. They really do. So give ‘em the whole megillah. Instead of, “The party was a riot!” or “I’m depressed today,” carefully explain why. Elaborate. Parties and depression are perfectly good writing subjects. The Great Gatsby, for instance, has plenty of both.
Anything makes a good subject, as long as you take your time and crystallize the details, tying them together and actually telling a story, rather than offering a simple list of facts. Do readers really want to know how miserable you are? Yes. But they’re going to want details, the precise odor of your room, why you haven’t showered in a week, or how exactly somebody broke your heart. One–liners won’t suffice.
At the same time, you don’t want to over–explain yourself. Understatement can be thunderous, or humorous, or heartbreaking. Or all three.
Have a sense of humor. Everything is funny. Being gay is funny. Being straight is funny. Being American is funny. It’s OK to laugh at things. Making light of serious situations or emotions doesn’t have to be disrespectful or hurtful. And just because something is funny doesn’t mean it has to be light. Example: “When the kidnapper called the blind woman, he told her that she’d never see her son again.” Some of the best humor is heavy.
Being a writer is funny. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
Have a thick skin. If your site gets singled out for attack by some malicious web devil, relax. You’ve gone public and you have to expect both rational and irrational criticism. Listen, people rag on Shakespeare all the time. If you’re a genuine talent, there’ll be plenty of people complimenting your efforts. If someone has a bona fide gripe with something you’ve produced, pay attention—it’s worth considering. If someone has a petty gripe or simply gets nasty, let it go. Get back to producing your site. If novelists spent their time responding to negative reviews, we’d be fresh out of novels.
Beyond Wired
One popular complaint about weblogs is that they all link to the same sites, over and over and over. Sometimes that’s true and sometimes it isn’t. But if you do find yourself linking to a Wired article that’s already been noted on ten other sites, you might consider finding something else.
Sharing great discoveries is largely why weblogging got so hot and sultry in the first place. Big, heavily funded sites weren’t acknowledging the grace notes and hidden talents of the web, so it was up to webloggers. For some webloggers, it still is. Wired doesn’t need your help as much as undiscovered sites, which may be offering equally good (or better) material.
Successful Weblogging
Producing a successful weblog, however you define that, is tough. Instead of money, fame, and Jacuzzis full of sexy nude readers, you’ll probably feel like you’re shouting in outer space. And you probably will be. In 1994, you could hook a thousand readers if you wrote about the mold underneath your refrigerator. Now, you’re lucky to get a hundred regulars, even if your work is excellent.
No matter what your audience size, you ought to write as if your readership consisted of paid subscribers whose subscriptions were perpetually about to expire. There’s no need to pander. Compel them to re–subscribe.
As the beginning of this article noted, a big audience isn’t everybody’s goal, and most of these suggestions are intended for people working to expand their readership. As for actually achieving that expansion, it’s back to the hard sell.
The days when simply having a website equated to visibility are over. The average person doesn’t even know to look for weblogs. When someone does, there’s an array of choices so endless that finding your site will largely be a stroke of luck.
Links and word of mouth can go a long way, but don’t expect a big following right off the bat. You might never get a following. More than ever, you’d better be doing this to satisfy yourself, because it could be your only reward. But if your goal is to satisfy readers, satisfying yourself is a good start.
Learn More
Related Topics: Community, Writing
About the Author
Dennis A. Mahoney writes daily at 0(zero)format.
Article Source : http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writebetter/
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Using RSS to Make Money Online
By Giles Blackwell
E-mail:g.blackwell@dsl.pipex.com
Most of you have seen those little buttons on websites labeled RSS or XML. If you are wondering what they are, RSS means Really Simple Syndication. Really simple because when you subscribe to a site that has this feature, you keep up-to-date with new information without having to check the site every day. This is really good news because you can use it to get newsfeeds from major news networks, news on new movies, even your favorite musician's tour dates or CD releases.
This new twist to the Internet is very valuable to you as a Internet marketer too. Imagine replacing email marketing with RSS marketing. People actually subscribe meaning they want your information updates, similar to opt-in newsletters. With newsletters you have to write them and your site content. With RSS, when you update your content, all subscribers are notified by their newsreaders.
Newsreaders are special software that read RSS feeds. To get started, download a free RSS reader.
If you use a Windows PC, go to http://www.rssreader.com
For Mac users, see http://ranchero.com/netnewswire
Once you are set up, here's all you or your customers have to do...
Right-click (control-click for Mac users) on any RSS button on a site, blog or news source that interests you. Select Copy Shortcut ("Copy Link to Clipboard" for Mac, "Copy Link Location" for Firefox browsers), and paste that URL into your RSS Reader. And that is it, you are subscribed. Once you get started, your favorite parts of the Web come to you. No need to go out and check for updates all the time. If you do not want to download software, subscribe to your favorite feeds through My Yahoo or My MSN.
So how does any of this make you money?
More traffic means more money. By placing RSS on your website or your blog, anyone can subscribe automatically and know when a new product or service is available. This new breed of Internet shopper is not to be ignored. To take advantage of the traffic you have to make your RSS feed available to website visitors and submit your feed information to RSS, blog and XML type directories.
Here's how you get RSS for your site!
Go to http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss for the best source of RSS and Blog information. There are several file types for RSS and here you learn which is best and why. The easiest and fastest way to learn more about this technology and see it in use is to go to http://rss.sitesell.com where you find all you need to know about RSS, including solid marketing ideas.
There is no need to become a techie, no need to know all the ins and outs of RSS and XML. There is huge need for you to know enough about this newest technology to use it. Once you do, it comes easy to see how you make money online with RSS. In the same way newsletters and opt-in email are used for successful marketing, RSS is much easier, faster, and a much less intrusive way to communicate with potential or existing clients and customers.
It's very critical to provide exactly what people want to make money online. How can there be a better way to do that than to allow people to subscribe to their wants and wishes? Start using RSS and XML technologies to make money online now before it too becomes the jungle email marketing is. To add fuel to your marketing fire, use optimized content for frequent updates to your blogs and web pages and deliver it with RSS.
To fing the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: www.Home-Earning.com To fing the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: www.Home-Earning.com
Article Source : http://www.articlebar.com/Article/1290.html
E-mail:g.blackwell@dsl.pipex.com
Most of you have seen those little buttons on websites labeled RSS or XML. If you are wondering what they are, RSS means Really Simple Syndication. Really simple because when you subscribe to a site that has this feature, you keep up-to-date with new information without having to check the site every day. This is really good news because you can use it to get newsfeeds from major news networks, news on new movies, even your favorite musician's tour dates or CD releases.
This new twist to the Internet is very valuable to you as a Internet marketer too. Imagine replacing email marketing with RSS marketing. People actually subscribe meaning they want your information updates, similar to opt-in newsletters. With newsletters you have to write them and your site content. With RSS, when you update your content, all subscribers are notified by their newsreaders.
Newsreaders are special software that read RSS feeds. To get started, download a free RSS reader.
If you use a Windows PC, go to http://www.rssreader.com
For Mac users, see http://ranchero.com/netnewswire
Once you are set up, here's all you or your customers have to do...
Right-click (control-click for Mac users) on any RSS button on a site, blog or news source that interests you. Select Copy Shortcut ("Copy Link to Clipboard" for Mac, "Copy Link Location" for Firefox browsers), and paste that URL into your RSS Reader. And that is it, you are subscribed. Once you get started, your favorite parts of the Web come to you. No need to go out and check for updates all the time. If you do not want to download software, subscribe to your favorite feeds through My Yahoo or My MSN.
So how does any of this make you money?
More traffic means more money. By placing RSS on your website or your blog, anyone can subscribe automatically and know when a new product or service is available. This new breed of Internet shopper is not to be ignored. To take advantage of the traffic you have to make your RSS feed available to website visitors and submit your feed information to RSS, blog and XML type directories.
Here's how you get RSS for your site!
Go to http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss for the best source of RSS and Blog information. There are several file types for RSS and here you learn which is best and why. The easiest and fastest way to learn more about this technology and see it in use is to go to http://rss.sitesell.com where you find all you need to know about RSS, including solid marketing ideas.
There is no need to become a techie, no need to know all the ins and outs of RSS and XML. There is huge need for you to know enough about this newest technology to use it. Once you do, it comes easy to see how you make money online with RSS. In the same way newsletters and opt-in email are used for successful marketing, RSS is much easier, faster, and a much less intrusive way to communicate with potential or existing clients and customers.
It's very critical to provide exactly what people want to make money online. How can there be a better way to do that than to allow people to subscribe to their wants and wishes? Start using RSS and XML technologies to make money online now before it too becomes the jungle email marketing is. To add fuel to your marketing fire, use optimized content for frequent updates to your blogs and web pages and deliver it with RSS.
To fing the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: www.Home-Earning.com To fing the best home based business ideas and opportunities so you can work at home visit: www.Home-Earning.com
Article Source : http://www.articlebar.com/Article/1290.html
5 Ways to Make Your Blog a Failure
By Rob Wood On January 23, 2006
Article by Rob Wood
E-mail:info@jamdo.com
There are many things that a blogger should do when they start a new blog, but there are also a few things that will almost ensure failure. Here is a brief list of a few things that will almost ensure that your blog never gets off the ground.
Don’t post regularly – this is a great one if you want your new readers to never return to the site and to make sure that the search engines take their time indexing you. Posting once a week or less ensures that your readers rarely find anything new on your site and makes them go to others sites to find what they are looking for.
Post About Anything You Feel Like – People will read sites because they are interested in a niche. There are not many people who can draw and keep and audience by writing about their private musing on life. Sites that stick to a tightly defined niche or category will usually outperform sites that have more general themes.
Don’t Post on Related Blogs – If you avoid commenting constructively on similar blogs to your own then you abandon one of the best ways to draw traffic that is already interested in your topic. By creating a sense of community with bloggers in a similar niche you are helping grow that niche together – there are very few niches that aren’t big enough for more than one blog.
Steal Content – So it’s difficult to always come up with your own stuff for your new blog – yup, that’s just part of blogging. But taking other’s content from their blogs (even ones with creative commons licenses) will get you a very bad name in your niche very quickly. You need to come up with your own stuff. Sure, you can quote other blogs, but make sure you add your own value to the story.
Don’t Worry About Search Engine Optimization – Sure some people were lucky enough to draw massive amounts of traffic from search engines without ever having heard of Search Engine Optimization, but they are a minority. You need to know at least the basics, which means putting keywords in your titles, in your first sentence, bolded, italicized and then throughout your stories. Lots of incoming links don’t hurt either. Do all of this and you will start to get traffic from the search engines.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are many things you can do to damage the chances of success for your blog. But these are some of the main ones that you need to avoid. For more tips on blogs don’t forget to check out http://jamdo.com
Article Source : http://www.articlebar.com/Article/1134.html
Article by Rob Wood
E-mail:info@jamdo.com
There are many things that a blogger should do when they start a new blog, but there are also a few things that will almost ensure failure. Here is a brief list of a few things that will almost ensure that your blog never gets off the ground.
Don’t post regularly – this is a great one if you want your new readers to never return to the site and to make sure that the search engines take their time indexing you. Posting once a week or less ensures that your readers rarely find anything new on your site and makes them go to others sites to find what they are looking for.
Post About Anything You Feel Like – People will read sites because they are interested in a niche. There are not many people who can draw and keep and audience by writing about their private musing on life. Sites that stick to a tightly defined niche or category will usually outperform sites that have more general themes.
Don’t Post on Related Blogs – If you avoid commenting constructively on similar blogs to your own then you abandon one of the best ways to draw traffic that is already interested in your topic. By creating a sense of community with bloggers in a similar niche you are helping grow that niche together – there are very few niches that aren’t big enough for more than one blog.
Steal Content – So it’s difficult to always come up with your own stuff for your new blog – yup, that’s just part of blogging. But taking other’s content from their blogs (even ones with creative commons licenses) will get you a very bad name in your niche very quickly. You need to come up with your own stuff. Sure, you can quote other blogs, but make sure you add your own value to the story.
Don’t Worry About Search Engine Optimization – Sure some people were lucky enough to draw massive amounts of traffic from search engines without ever having heard of Search Engine Optimization, but they are a minority. You need to know at least the basics, which means putting keywords in your titles, in your first sentence, bolded, italicized and then throughout your stories. Lots of incoming links don’t hurt either. Do all of this and you will start to get traffic from the search engines.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There are many things you can do to damage the chances of success for your blog. But these are some of the main ones that you need to avoid. For more tips on blogs don’t forget to check out http://jamdo.com
Article Source : http://www.articlebar.com/Article/1134.html
Blog Your Way to Success - What a "Blog" is?
Article by Pavel Lenshin
Internet enterpreneur, marketer and writer
Blog is a short of "weB LOG" or a method of storing any kind
of information online. Such organized informational posting
and archiving was named "Blog".By the form Blog represents
an updated web-site of current and archived posts. A
dead-simple concept turned out to be extremely powerful in
terms of satisfaction of Internet community needs.
People online look for fresh, relevant information on a
certain topic and this is where Blogs come into arena and
win that battle for a visitors' attention hands-down.
They give you exactly what you need - targeted, updated
information on any given topic, with an access to archive,
search functions and even some sort of interactive
experience as you can usually read comments of other
visitors and participate in a small discussion like on a
message board.
Why Blog can be just the perfect solution you have been
looking for and how it can solve massive publishing problems
at once. Here is why Blog can be your website and
money-making system in one:
1. Blog is a simple CMS (Content Management System). It
helps you solve hundreds of little hassles webmasters were
forced to waste months before in order to solve each of them
such as means of easy creating new pages with automatic
cross-linking and archiving functions, installing visitor
feedback script, managing and updating navigational menu,
republishing RSS feeds and creating own feed and so on.
2. Built-in promotion. RSS feed is also a great viral
marketing tool by itself. You don't have to stuff your head
with "how-to-make-my-content-viral" problems any
"traditional" website webmaster faces.
As a Blog publisher you use the same RSS feed as a way of
syndicating your Blog content for any other websites. What
they need is adding your RSS feed to their Feed rendering
software. The technology is highly popular, so you will not
have any problems with that.
Just add your RSS feed to a number of Blog Directories, ping
(notify) Blog servers each time you make a new post (a
common built-in feature for almost all Blogs) and in 90%
case it will be enough to start your marketing ball rolling
plus reassure fast search engine indexing.
3. Built in RSS (Atom) feeds are considered by many to be
the ideal solution for all SPAM and filters problems of
"traditional" email marketers.
RSS feeds are updated automatically as soon as you make a
new post to your Blog. No more troubles with managing "email
lists", subscribers, unsubscribers, email filters, HTML
forms, SPAM complaints, follow-ups and so on and so forth.
Forget about it. RSS will help you do everything, including
follow-ups and even email courses publishing.
The difference, and many consider it to be the true benefit,
is that RSS uses so-called "pull" method of delivering a
message. Unlike "traditional" email, you don't have to send
(push) anything to anybody. When you publish a new post,
your RSS feed updates automatically, pings syndicating
websites with a new Blog post and notifies (or not) your RSS
subscribers about your new post, so they can load (pull) it
and read.
That is how RSS solves SPAM emails and SPAM filters problems
with one stone. Your subscribers just don't receive anything
to be complained or worried about. They just personally
subscribe to your RSS feed (no one can subscribe for them)
with their special RSS reader program (RSS aggregator,
available free everywhere on the net). Then they
periodically and mostly automatically load your new Blog
posts. If they don't like it, they just remove your RSS feed
from their RSS feed aggregator software and that's all.
Unlike email you cannot "push" your post to their RSS soft
without their wish. Depending on set options, they need to
manually, semi-automatically or automatically load your Blog
post themselves.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against email. Quite the
contrary, at some point, when you feel that you have a lot
of spare time because of advantages that RSS brings, I
strongly advise you to add email marketing to your arsenal.
It does help you out in some special occasions. It is just
you won't rely on email as the only money-making resource
and will use it professionally as a great add-on instrument,
limiting its possible negative effects.
From what you can see, blogs are perfect and simple software
machines to run and maintain your informational business.
They proved their efficiency in small niche markets as well
as multilevel blog systems generating stable income for
their glad owners. You can be one of them.
Pavel Lenshin is an Internet entrepreneur. Discover how to
use blogging for deep and fast website indexing and maximum
profits by reading the $47 "Blog N Ping" online tutorial at
ebooks/blog-n-ping-tutorial/">http://FortuneService.com/ebooks/blog-n-ping-tutorial/ for Free.
Article Source : http://www.articlebar.com/Article/285.html
Internet enterpreneur, marketer and writer
Blog is a short of "weB LOG" or a method of storing any kind
of information online. Such organized informational posting
and archiving was named "Blog".By the form Blog represents
an updated web-site of current and archived posts. A
dead-simple concept turned out to be extremely powerful in
terms of satisfaction of Internet community needs.
People online look for fresh, relevant information on a
certain topic and this is where Blogs come into arena and
win that battle for a visitors' attention hands-down.
They give you exactly what you need - targeted, updated
information on any given topic, with an access to archive,
search functions and even some sort of interactive
experience as you can usually read comments of other
visitors and participate in a small discussion like on a
message board.
Why Blog can be just the perfect solution you have been
looking for and how it can solve massive publishing problems
at once. Here is why Blog can be your website and
money-making system in one:
1. Blog is a simple CMS (Content Management System). It
helps you solve hundreds of little hassles webmasters were
forced to waste months before in order to solve each of them
such as means of easy creating new pages with automatic
cross-linking and archiving functions, installing visitor
feedback script, managing and updating navigational menu,
republishing RSS feeds and creating own feed and so on.
2. Built-in promotion. RSS feed is also a great viral
marketing tool by itself. You don't have to stuff your head
with "how-to-make-my-content-viral" problems any
"traditional" website webmaster faces.
As a Blog publisher you use the same RSS feed as a way of
syndicating your Blog content for any other websites. What
they need is adding your RSS feed to their Feed rendering
software. The technology is highly popular, so you will not
have any problems with that.
Just add your RSS feed to a number of Blog Directories, ping
(notify) Blog servers each time you make a new post (a
common built-in feature for almost all Blogs) and in 90%
case it will be enough to start your marketing ball rolling
plus reassure fast search engine indexing.
3. Built in RSS (Atom) feeds are considered by many to be
the ideal solution for all SPAM and filters problems of
"traditional" email marketers.
RSS feeds are updated automatically as soon as you make a
new post to your Blog. No more troubles with managing "email
lists", subscribers, unsubscribers, email filters, HTML
forms, SPAM complaints, follow-ups and so on and so forth.
Forget about it. RSS will help you do everything, including
follow-ups and even email courses publishing.
The difference, and many consider it to be the true benefit,
is that RSS uses so-called "pull" method of delivering a
message. Unlike "traditional" email, you don't have to send
(push) anything to anybody. When you publish a new post,
your RSS feed updates automatically, pings syndicating
websites with a new Blog post and notifies (or not) your RSS
subscribers about your new post, so they can load (pull) it
and read.
That is how RSS solves SPAM emails and SPAM filters problems
with one stone. Your subscribers just don't receive anything
to be complained or worried about. They just personally
subscribe to your RSS feed (no one can subscribe for them)
with their special RSS reader program (RSS aggregator,
available free everywhere on the net). Then they
periodically and mostly automatically load your new Blog
posts. If they don't like it, they just remove your RSS feed
from their RSS feed aggregator software and that's all.
Unlike email you cannot "push" your post to their RSS soft
without their wish. Depending on set options, they need to
manually, semi-automatically or automatically load your Blog
post themselves.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not against email. Quite the
contrary, at some point, when you feel that you have a lot
of spare time because of advantages that RSS brings, I
strongly advise you to add email marketing to your arsenal.
It does help you out in some special occasions. It is just
you won't rely on email as the only money-making resource
and will use it professionally as a great add-on instrument,
limiting its possible negative effects.
From what you can see, blogs are perfect and simple software
machines to run and maintain your informational business.
They proved their efficiency in small niche markets as well
as multilevel blog systems generating stable income for
their glad owners. You can be one of them.
Pavel Lenshin is an Internet entrepreneur. Discover how to
use blogging for deep and fast website indexing and maximum
profits by reading the $47 "Blog N Ping" online tutorial at
ebooks/blog-n-ping-tutorial/">http://FortuneService.com/ebooks/blog-n-ping-tutorial/ for Free.
Article Source : http://www.articlebar.com/Article/285.html
7 Tips to Building Your Blog's Readership
By Mike Seddon
E-mail:mike@moneyforblogging.com
Attracting traffic to a blog or a web site is challenging enough. So from the very beginning, when you start to see visitors coming to read your blog, be sure that they feel comfortable to stick around. And there are a number of ways you can help them to do just that.
Here are seven vital ingredients for building a successful blog with a loyal following.
1. Publish Regularly.
As your readers become familiar with the frequency of your posts, it will influence their visiting behavior. If your readers know that you post fresh content every day, they will probably come every day to read it. If they know you post on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, that's when they will come.
2. Stay on Topic.
Stick to your niche. If your blog doesn't have a niche, give it one. Readers like blog's that are focused on a particular theme or topic. If you have no theme and just post about anything, then readers are less likely to become passionate about your blog and will probably move on to somewhere else.
3. Use Meaningful Titles in Posts.
This not only announces clearly what the post is about, but it will help people navigate your blog and also influence your ranking with search engines.
4. Interact With Your Readers.
Think of your blog like a conversation. You post. Readers comment. Be active and be positive as you interact and converse with your readers.
5. Highlight Your Best Posts.
Don't let your best posts get lost in your archives. It’s always a good idea to link to your best posts from a ‘best posts’ category on the main page.
6. Provide Good Navigation to Popular Pages
If you help people find the key pages within your blog, their visit will be a much more enjoyable experience.
7. Avoid Not Posting for Extended Periods.
If someone visits your blog and discovers that the last post was three weeks ago, they will probably be disappointed. If you don't post, people may give you the benefit of the doubt and come back on a few days to check, but you better believe they will lose interest quickly if you fall out of your regular schedule and stop posting.
There you have it. Seven little tips that will make a big difference to your blog's readership. It's not rocket science. It's just using some common sense when posting and interacting with your readers.
Mike Seddon is a writer, entrepreneur, and webmaster. He is the author of the popular e-book, ‘How to Build a Money Making Blog’, available from http://www.MoneyForBlogging.com
Article Source : http://www.articlebar.com/Article/516.html
E-mail:mike@moneyforblogging.com
Attracting traffic to a blog or a web site is challenging enough. So from the very beginning, when you start to see visitors coming to read your blog, be sure that they feel comfortable to stick around. And there are a number of ways you can help them to do just that.
Here are seven vital ingredients for building a successful blog with a loyal following.
1. Publish Regularly.
As your readers become familiar with the frequency of your posts, it will influence their visiting behavior. If your readers know that you post fresh content every day, they will probably come every day to read it. If they know you post on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, that's when they will come.
2. Stay on Topic.
Stick to your niche. If your blog doesn't have a niche, give it one. Readers like blog's that are focused on a particular theme or topic. If you have no theme and just post about anything, then readers are less likely to become passionate about your blog and will probably move on to somewhere else.
3. Use Meaningful Titles in Posts.
This not only announces clearly what the post is about, but it will help people navigate your blog and also influence your ranking with search engines.
4. Interact With Your Readers.
Think of your blog like a conversation. You post. Readers comment. Be active and be positive as you interact and converse with your readers.
5. Highlight Your Best Posts.
Don't let your best posts get lost in your archives. It’s always a good idea to link to your best posts from a ‘best posts’ category on the main page.
6. Provide Good Navigation to Popular Pages
If you help people find the key pages within your blog, their visit will be a much more enjoyable experience.
7. Avoid Not Posting for Extended Periods.
If someone visits your blog and discovers that the last post was three weeks ago, they will probably be disappointed. If you don't post, people may give you the benefit of the doubt and come back on a few days to check, but you better believe they will lose interest quickly if you fall out of your regular schedule and stop posting.
There you have it. Seven little tips that will make a big difference to your blog's readership. It's not rocket science. It's just using some common sense when posting and interacting with your readers.
Mike Seddon is a writer, entrepreneur, and webmaster. He is the author of the popular e-book, ‘How to Build a Money Making Blog’, available from http://www.MoneyForBlogging.com
Article Source : http://www.articlebar.com/Article/516.html
3 More Reasons To Read Other Niche Blog
Written by Ramkarthik from Blogging Tune on December 8, 2007 | 3 Comments
Sara wrote a few days ago the three great reasons to read other niche blogs. The post was a good one and covered these three points:
To Increase Your Knowledge
Improve Your Writing
New Tactics And Methods
I started to think on why I read other niche blogs and came up with the following reasons:
1. Become A Freelance Writer
Having knowledge in other niche will help you a lot. You can do freelance writing on that topic if you have good knowledge about it. I read technology blogs everyday and this has helped me in gaining good idea about the niche. Though I don’t do freelance writing on that topic, I do guest posts in blogs with high traffic which has in turn got new readers for my blog and also familiarity. There are many bloggers who are interested in two or more niche. So why not get new readers by writing guest posts for other niche blogs?
2. Write A Guide On That Niche Topic
Indeed you can write posts of other niche on your blog if it very in depth. If you write short posts about other niche in your blog, then your subscribers might unsubscribe. But if you write an in-depth article or a guide on other niche topic, you will not lose your existing readers. If your blog is about blogging, you can write a guide to SEO and your blog readers might also be pleased to read it. There may be many bloggers who have interest in both SEO and blogging and those people will also subscribe to your blog by arriving to your article through social sites or other blogs.
3. Get New Contacts
By not just reading but by commenting in other niche blogs, you can get new contacts who might turn to be a great help for you in the future. You might get him/her to write a guest post in your blog and you can post in his/her blog. If you help them, then they might help you in return. I have had friends who have helped me in return for a backlink in my blog for certain time period. And when it comes to other niche blogs, your tough works might get simple. Say you are an SEO blogger and you have a got a web design blog friend by reading his/her blog, then you can get a custom design for your blog in exchange for a SEO analysis of his/her blog.
Start reading other niche blogs now and get more things done for you easily. Do you read other niche blogs? Do you have any good friends who have helped you at the time of need? Please share it in the comments.
Posted by Ramkarthik from Blogging Tune | Filed Under Blogging
Article Source : http://www.bloggingtips.com/
Sara wrote a few days ago the three great reasons to read other niche blogs. The post was a good one and covered these three points:
To Increase Your Knowledge
Improve Your Writing
New Tactics And Methods
I started to think on why I read other niche blogs and came up with the following reasons:
1. Become A Freelance Writer
Having knowledge in other niche will help you a lot. You can do freelance writing on that topic if you have good knowledge about it. I read technology blogs everyday and this has helped me in gaining good idea about the niche. Though I don’t do freelance writing on that topic, I do guest posts in blogs with high traffic which has in turn got new readers for my blog and also familiarity. There are many bloggers who are interested in two or more niche. So why not get new readers by writing guest posts for other niche blogs?
2. Write A Guide On That Niche Topic
Indeed you can write posts of other niche on your blog if it very in depth. If you write short posts about other niche in your blog, then your subscribers might unsubscribe. But if you write an in-depth article or a guide on other niche topic, you will not lose your existing readers. If your blog is about blogging, you can write a guide to SEO and your blog readers might also be pleased to read it. There may be many bloggers who have interest in both SEO and blogging and those people will also subscribe to your blog by arriving to your article through social sites or other blogs.
3. Get New Contacts
By not just reading but by commenting in other niche blogs, you can get new contacts who might turn to be a great help for you in the future. You might get him/her to write a guest post in your blog and you can post in his/her blog. If you help them, then they might help you in return. I have had friends who have helped me in return for a backlink in my blog for certain time period. And when it comes to other niche blogs, your tough works might get simple. Say you are an SEO blogger and you have a got a web design blog friend by reading his/her blog, then you can get a custom design for your blog in exchange for a SEO analysis of his/her blog.
Start reading other niche blogs now and get more things done for you easily. Do you read other niche blogs? Do you have any good friends who have helped you at the time of need? Please share it in the comments.
Posted by Ramkarthik from Blogging Tune | Filed Under Blogging
Article Source : http://www.bloggingtips.com/
Do You Have an Emergency Contact for Your Blog?
Written by Deborah Ng from Freelance Writing Jobs on December 9, 2007 | 3 Comments
This week at Performancing, I asked “What will happen to your blogs if something happens to you?” Stuff happens and we need to be prepared. While I won’t rehash the whole piece, I will ask another question. “Who will you entrust your blog to if something happens?” For some the answer is simple, while others have to think long and hard of someone they can trust to see out their visions.
Who Shares Your Vision?
If you care about what happens to your blog in the event of illness…or worse, you’ll want to seriously consider your replacement. When I was getting my blogging affairs in order a couple of months ago, I wondered how many people I knew who would continue to keep Freelance Writing Jobs going as the active writers’ community it is today if I found myself in the hospital or bedridden. I came up with two people, both regular contributors. They both know how I feel about FWJ and also have the same passion for writing, community building and blogging. I also gave my passwords to my oldest sister who I knew could convey to my readers what happened, and how much my blogs meant to me, if it came to that.
Get Your Affairs in Order
It may sound silly to worry about something like this, but all business owners take the necessary precautions, and blogging is my business. Besides, blogging is my life. Do I want to see my blogs:
Languish in cyberspace, collecting dust like an old car in someone’s garage?
In the hands of someone who is only interested in making money, and cares nothing about my community?
Run by someone who knows nothing about writing?
If I was no longer of this world, I’d want my family to sell my blogs, but hopefully to someone equally as passionate. I have a list of bloggers to approach first.
If you haven’t already, I recommend you:
Prepare your blog for any eventuality. Store all of your passwords and logins on a disc and put them in a fireproof box or safe deposit box.
Advise a trusted family member of what you would like done in your absence.
Appoint a guardian for your blog until you’re ready to take over again, or your family is ready to sell or pass on the torch
.
Knowing a trusted colleague or relative will handle things in my absence gives me peace of mind. Who will take care of your blogs if something happens to you?
Posted by Deborah Ng from Freelance Writing Jobs
Article Source : http://www.bloggingtips.com/
This week at Performancing, I asked “What will happen to your blogs if something happens to you?” Stuff happens and we need to be prepared. While I won’t rehash the whole piece, I will ask another question. “Who will you entrust your blog to if something happens?” For some the answer is simple, while others have to think long and hard of someone they can trust to see out their visions.
Who Shares Your Vision?
If you care about what happens to your blog in the event of illness…or worse, you’ll want to seriously consider your replacement. When I was getting my blogging affairs in order a couple of months ago, I wondered how many people I knew who would continue to keep Freelance Writing Jobs going as the active writers’ community it is today if I found myself in the hospital or bedridden. I came up with two people, both regular contributors. They both know how I feel about FWJ and also have the same passion for writing, community building and blogging. I also gave my passwords to my oldest sister who I knew could convey to my readers what happened, and how much my blogs meant to me, if it came to that.
Get Your Affairs in Order
It may sound silly to worry about something like this, but all business owners take the necessary precautions, and blogging is my business. Besides, blogging is my life. Do I want to see my blogs:
Languish in cyberspace, collecting dust like an old car in someone’s garage?
In the hands of someone who is only interested in making money, and cares nothing about my community?
Run by someone who knows nothing about writing?
If I was no longer of this world, I’d want my family to sell my blogs, but hopefully to someone equally as passionate. I have a list of bloggers to approach first.
If you haven’t already, I recommend you:
Prepare your blog for any eventuality. Store all of your passwords and logins on a disc and put them in a fireproof box or safe deposit box.
Advise a trusted family member of what you would like done in your absence.
Appoint a guardian for your blog until you’re ready to take over again, or your family is ready to sell or pass on the torch
.
Knowing a trusted colleague or relative will handle things in my absence gives me peace of mind. Who will take care of your blogs if something happens to you?
Posted by Deborah Ng from Freelance Writing Jobs
Article Source : http://www.bloggingtips.com/
Articles Build Blog Readership
By Wayne Hurlbert
Writing internet articles is a powerful way to add visitor traffic to your blog.
Articles provide tremendous personal and professional benefits as well.
Articles are in demand all over the internet. Many traditional websites want them for additional content, and will seek out the services of a good writer.
If you know your subject matter, you will have no shortage of takers for your writing efforts.
All you have to do is be on topic. In fact, if you want to write articles on almost any subject under the rainbow, all you have to do is contact several of the webmasters in your topic area. They will gladly place your articles prominently on their websites.
The great thing about the articles, is they are usually on subjects, that you write about all the time anyway. You don't need to do extra research, as you already have the knowledge required to a great job, right at your fingertips.
When a website owner publishes your article on the website, be certain to get a live link back to your site. Most website owners will be more than happy to have you provide a brief biography of you, a photograph of your smiling face, and information about your blog and your business.
As you place a number of articles on several websites, you will accomplish more than one goal.
You will obviously receive a few more visitors to your blog, as a result of your incoming link. The extra traffic will be from people who are already interested in your blog's subject matter.
You will establish yourself as an expert in your field, and other people will call upon your ideas and information. The recognition of others, who are interested in the same topics and site themes as yourself, could lead to some paying business in other ways.
The writing credits help to build a writing portfolio, that will serve you well, in the employment market. A series of published articles provides added power to your resume. In a highly competitive job market, the publication history could tip the balance in your favour.
You can also land freelance writing jobs on traditional websites. The ability to write interesting copy, on any topic, is a skill that is constantly in high demand.
Copywriting for sales and marketing, in particular, have an almost unlimited market. Every internet e-commerce website owner, or at least all of the ones that I know, want to increase their overall sales and profits.
If you can write sales and marketing copy, that will increase their sales numbers, you will never be short of writing assignments. You might even have to raise your writing fees.
Your blog will move higher in the search engine rankings. Google in particular, values theme and topic related incoming links. MSN Search and Yahoo also give high marks to incoming links, but to a slightly lesser degree than Google.
In any case, your blog will move higher in the search rankings for your most important keywords, as a result of those links. The end result of higher search engine placement is more visitor traffic for your blog.
Writing articles helps your blog in more ways than one.
It's time to add article writing and sales copywriting to your list of accomplishments.
Your business and your blog will benefit greatly.
About the Author: Wayne Hurlbert provides insigtful information about marketing, promotions, search engine optimization and public relations for websites and business blogs on the popular Blog Business World.
Writing internet articles is a powerful way to add visitor traffic to your blog.
Articles provide tremendous personal and professional benefits as well.
Articles are in demand all over the internet. Many traditional websites want them for additional content, and will seek out the services of a good writer.
If you know your subject matter, you will have no shortage of takers for your writing efforts.
All you have to do is be on topic. In fact, if you want to write articles on almost any subject under the rainbow, all you have to do is contact several of the webmasters in your topic area. They will gladly place your articles prominently on their websites.
The great thing about the articles, is they are usually on subjects, that you write about all the time anyway. You don't need to do extra research, as you already have the knowledge required to a great job, right at your fingertips.
When a website owner publishes your article on the website, be certain to get a live link back to your site. Most website owners will be more than happy to have you provide a brief biography of you, a photograph of your smiling face, and information about your blog and your business.
As you place a number of articles on several websites, you will accomplish more than one goal.
You will obviously receive a few more visitors to your blog, as a result of your incoming link. The extra traffic will be from people who are already interested in your blog's subject matter.
You will establish yourself as an expert in your field, and other people will call upon your ideas and information. The recognition of others, who are interested in the same topics and site themes as yourself, could lead to some paying business in other ways.
The writing credits help to build a writing portfolio, that will serve you well, in the employment market. A series of published articles provides added power to your resume. In a highly competitive job market, the publication history could tip the balance in your favour.
You can also land freelance writing jobs on traditional websites. The ability to write interesting copy, on any topic, is a skill that is constantly in high demand.
Copywriting for sales and marketing, in particular, have an almost unlimited market. Every internet e-commerce website owner, or at least all of the ones that I know, want to increase their overall sales and profits.
If you can write sales and marketing copy, that will increase their sales numbers, you will never be short of writing assignments. You might even have to raise your writing fees.
Your blog will move higher in the search engine rankings. Google in particular, values theme and topic related incoming links. MSN Search and Yahoo also give high marks to incoming links, but to a slightly lesser degree than Google.
In any case, your blog will move higher in the search rankings for your most important keywords, as a result of those links. The end result of higher search engine placement is more visitor traffic for your blog.
Writing articles helps your blog in more ways than one.
It's time to add article writing and sales copywriting to your list of accomplishments.
Your business and your blog will benefit greatly.
About the Author: Wayne Hurlbert provides insigtful information about marketing, promotions, search engine optimization and public relations for websites and business blogs on the popular Blog Business World.
How To Build Traffic To Your Blog
Copyright © 2004 Priya Shah
With the growing interest in blogging as a means of online promotion and branding, a lot of marketers are starting blogs to promote their opinions, products, books and services.
But a blog is like a website. "Write and they will come" isn't exactly a magic formula to bring in traffic by the boatload.
If you need to promote your website in order to build traffic to it, you need to promote your blog as well.
Here are some ways you can become a well-read and influential blogger.
1. Write Posts That People Will Want To Read
This should be common sense, but many marketers tend to forget that their readers are real people and that you need to use the principles of online copywriting to make your headlines and copy interesting to your readers.
If you write posts that people enjoy reading, they will reward you by returning to your blog regularly.
Make your posts conversational, pithy and topical. Keep them short and stick to one topic per post.
Write often and regularly so that both readers and search engines visit your blog more often.
2. Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines
I cover this topic in detail in my article on "Search Engine Optimization For Blogs"
But here are the most important rules to follow to get your posts listed for keywords of your choice.
Make sure your blog URL contains the primary keyword you want to optimize for
Use your primary keywords in the title of your post
Use your secondary keywords in the body of your post
Use your keywords in the anchor text of links in the body of your posts
3. Submit Your Blog and RSS Feed To Directories
If you publish a blog you should submit your blog and RSS feed to big directories like Yahoo and Dmoz, as well as the numerous blog directories and search engines.
Here is the best list I've found of places to submit your feed or blog, compiled by Luigi Canali De Rossi, who writes under the pseudonym Robin Good.
Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites
Another list of sites to submit your Blog
4. Ping The Blog Services
There are a number of services designed specifically for tracking and connecting blogs. By sending a small ping to each service you let them know you've updated your blog so they can come check you out.
Bookmark the Ping-O-Matic ping results page so you can visit it and quickly ping a number of services with a single click.
5. Build Links To Your Blog
I recommend the methods here as the best ways to get links pointing to your blog.
Link to your blog from each page on your main website
Trackback to other blogs in your posts
Post legitimate comments on other blogs with related topics
Offer to exchange links with other similarly themed blogs and websites
6. Edit Your Blog Posts Into Articles
One of the best methods for promoting your website is to write articles and submit them to article directories.
The suggestion for extending this to edit your blog posts into articles and submit them to directories came from the coach at "Explode Blog Traffic" who also has other noteworthy suggestions at his blog.
You'll find an extensive list of article directories here
7. Create Buzz About Your Blog
Creating a buzz about your blog posts and topic in the local and online media will give your marketing a viral component.
Create a controversy around your blog or it's topic.
Distribute bumper stickers or other merchandise with your blog's URL and tagline.
Write a press release about something newsworthy and tie it in with your blog topic.
8. Capture Subscribers By Email
It may seem strange for a blogger to send out updates by email, but email is still the #1 choice of most people who want to receive news and information.
Using a free service like Bloglet to manage your subscriptions is easy and it allows your subscribers to manage all their subscriptions from one interface.
However, if you want more control over your list and don't mind mailing out the updates yourself, you can use an autoresponder system to capture and follow-up with subscribers.
RSS Responder is a new script that allows you to keep in touch and follow-up with your subscribers without the hassle of email.
These tips should give you a good start to building your blog traffic.
Priya Shah is CEO of the blog publishing firm, Connect10. Subscribe to her free Marketing With Blogs email course. Request the whitepaper Boost Your Search Engine Visibility With Blogs And RSS here.
This article may be reprinted as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.
With the growing interest in blogging as a means of online promotion and branding, a lot of marketers are starting blogs to promote their opinions, products, books and services.
But a blog is like a website. "Write and they will come" isn't exactly a magic formula to bring in traffic by the boatload.
If you need to promote your website in order to build traffic to it, you need to promote your blog as well.
Here are some ways you can become a well-read and influential blogger.
1. Write Posts That People Will Want To Read
This should be common sense, but many marketers tend to forget that their readers are real people and that you need to use the principles of online copywriting to make your headlines and copy interesting to your readers.
If you write posts that people enjoy reading, they will reward you by returning to your blog regularly.
Make your posts conversational, pithy and topical. Keep them short and stick to one topic per post.
Write often and regularly so that both readers and search engines visit your blog more often.
2. Optimize Your Posts for Search Engines
I cover this topic in detail in my article on "Search Engine Optimization For Blogs"
But here are the most important rules to follow to get your posts listed for keywords of your choice.
Make sure your blog URL contains the primary keyword you want to optimize for
Use your primary keywords in the title of your post
Use your secondary keywords in the body of your post
Use your keywords in the anchor text of links in the body of your posts
3. Submit Your Blog and RSS Feed To Directories
If you publish a blog you should submit your blog and RSS feed to big directories like Yahoo and Dmoz, as well as the numerous blog directories and search engines.
Here is the best list I've found of places to submit your feed or blog, compiled by Luigi Canali De Rossi, who writes under the pseudonym Robin Good.
Best Blog Directory And RSS Submission Sites
Another list of sites to submit your Blog
4. Ping The Blog Services
There are a number of services designed specifically for tracking and connecting blogs. By sending a small ping to each service you let them know you've updated your blog so they can come check you out.
Bookmark the Ping-O-Matic ping results page so you can visit it and quickly ping a number of services with a single click.
5. Build Links To Your Blog
I recommend the methods here as the best ways to get links pointing to your blog.
Link to your blog from each page on your main website
Trackback to other blogs in your posts
Post legitimate comments on other blogs with related topics
Offer to exchange links with other similarly themed blogs and websites
6. Edit Your Blog Posts Into Articles
One of the best methods for promoting your website is to write articles and submit them to article directories.
The suggestion for extending this to edit your blog posts into articles and submit them to directories came from the coach at "Explode Blog Traffic" who also has other noteworthy suggestions at his blog.
You'll find an extensive list of article directories here
7. Create Buzz About Your Blog
Creating a buzz about your blog posts and topic in the local and online media will give your marketing a viral component.
Create a controversy around your blog or it's topic.
Distribute bumper stickers or other merchandise with your blog's URL and tagline.
Write a press release about something newsworthy and tie it in with your blog topic.
8. Capture Subscribers By Email
It may seem strange for a blogger to send out updates by email, but email is still the #1 choice of most people who want to receive news and information.
Using a free service like Bloglet to manage your subscriptions is easy and it allows your subscribers to manage all their subscriptions from one interface.
However, if you want more control over your list and don't mind mailing out the updates yourself, you can use an autoresponder system to capture and follow-up with subscribers.
RSS Responder is a new script that allows you to keep in touch and follow-up with your subscribers without the hassle of email.
These tips should give you a good start to building your blog traffic.
Priya Shah is CEO of the blog publishing firm, Connect10. Subscribe to her free Marketing With Blogs email course. Request the whitepaper Boost Your Search Engine Visibility With Blogs And RSS here.
This article may be reprinted as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.
How to Explode Blog Traffic
by The Coach
Rule #1. Write an article on "how to explode blog traffic!!!"
Rule #2. Read on
To be very frank there are quite a bit of so called tried and tested ways to increase you blog traffic, but these merely focus on increasing hits on your blog, but do not focus on the main reason why you want more traffic viz. to read what you write and keep coming back for more.
Sites such as Blogexplosion.com do deliver on their hits, but sadly most of these hits stay for a maximum of 30 secs only, after which they click on the next blog to increase their traffic. That brings us back to the topic, What can really be done? Is there a way out? How do i make myself heard above the din?
Well, here are some tips for starters.
1. Write. Write stuff. Write stuff people like to read.Most often blogs end up being abused by people who think the world is waiting to know what happens to them every second (I don't deny them this right...they have it!), however the same thing can be presented in a way that forces the reader to continue reading. Simple check! read as though you didn't write it. Funny? worth posting? go ahead post.
2. Make friends. I don't mean going around shaking hands with people and expect a sudden spurt in your traffic, instead post reciprocal links on your blog. Yes people do read others links and if you are there, people will visit your blog. Its an easy way to piggyback on some good blogs.
3. Articles!!!! Take some of your posts, tweak them a bit, add a snazzy caption and Presto! you have your own article ready. Now take that article and post it all around you (on the net please....i don't expect people to walk around with faces stuck with paper muffling away....thish is smy aaarticle!). There are quite a list of websites that do this.
4. Check your Site title and description (I think this should have come in second in order....lets just forget the order for now)Get a cool title something that makes people go, "oooohh thats hhhhhhooooootttttttt" (if not that much atleast.......a "i think this might be interesting"). And remember to give a matching description (the funnier the better). This will also help you get better results on search engines.
5. Submit to Blog Search engines. Most people search for blogs not on the major search engines, but on blog search engines. So make sure your blog has been submitted to these engines. The more the merrier. Search on google for blog search engines and submit your blog to all of these.
6. PHOTOS ROCK!!!! Face it, most people do search blogs to see something interesting and what best but a photo to give them a 24million color view of something. Yes photos rock, and they do bring in traffic. It kinda gives a coolness to your site. Its like wearing colors while everyone else is in uniform. Most blogging providers support photoblogging, but if you need a place to host photos photobucket.com is a place as good as any.
7. Get original! Showing others content may bring people to your site, but it would not make them stay. all they would say is . ...."another smartass trying to keep his blog updated by somebody else's work". So keep the blog original with what you would like to say.
8. Publicize!!! I am not talking about banner exchanges ( not only do give free advertising on your site, you also have to put up with ugly graphics that can be out of place on your beautiful site.) Think up creative ways. Get a bumper sticker on your car, your boss's car, your company delivery truck...the works. Another easier option, get it on your company's email signature or atleast on yours.
9. Evangelize!!! No i am not a religious nut and i'm not expecting you to be one. Write stuff that would make people go on and talk about you without you threatening them or paying them. And refer to "the blog" in common discussions, parties etc.... wherever you find people.
10. Ok so you got so far.......on more important thing. Don't expect to find any of the above on my blog, the only reason being, i don't need to explode my blog traffic !!!!
About the Author
The Coach, Bangkok, Thailand
yourcoach @ bluebottle.com
http://bloghit.blogspot.com
For everything blog, your expert.... The Coach. Apart from being an avid blogger and a SEO expert, the author is focussed on helping others gain from the common pool of knowledge. more at http://bloghit.blogspot.com
Rule #1. Write an article on "how to explode blog traffic!!!"
Rule #2. Read on
To be very frank there are quite a bit of so called tried and tested ways to increase you blog traffic, but these merely focus on increasing hits on your blog, but do not focus on the main reason why you want more traffic viz. to read what you write and keep coming back for more.
Sites such as Blogexplosion.com do deliver on their hits, but sadly most of these hits stay for a maximum of 30 secs only, after which they click on the next blog to increase their traffic. That brings us back to the topic, What can really be done? Is there a way out? How do i make myself heard above the din?
Well, here are some tips for starters.
1. Write. Write stuff. Write stuff people like to read.Most often blogs end up being abused by people who think the world is waiting to know what happens to them every second (I don't deny them this right...they have it!), however the same thing can be presented in a way that forces the reader to continue reading. Simple check! read as though you didn't write it. Funny? worth posting? go ahead post.
2. Make friends. I don't mean going around shaking hands with people and expect a sudden spurt in your traffic, instead post reciprocal links on your blog. Yes people do read others links and if you are there, people will visit your blog. Its an easy way to piggyback on some good blogs.
3. Articles!!!! Take some of your posts, tweak them a bit, add a snazzy caption and Presto! you have your own article ready. Now take that article and post it all around you (on the net please....i don't expect people to walk around with faces stuck with paper muffling away....thish is smy aaarticle!). There are quite a list of websites that do this.
4. Check your Site title and description (I think this should have come in second in order....lets just forget the order for now)Get a cool title something that makes people go, "oooohh thats hhhhhhooooootttttttt" (if not that much atleast.......a "i think this might be interesting"). And remember to give a matching description (the funnier the better). This will also help you get better results on search engines.
5. Submit to Blog Search engines. Most people search for blogs not on the major search engines, but on blog search engines. So make sure your blog has been submitted to these engines. The more the merrier. Search on google for blog search engines and submit your blog to all of these.
6. PHOTOS ROCK!!!! Face it, most people do search blogs to see something interesting and what best but a photo to give them a 24million color view of something. Yes photos rock, and they do bring in traffic. It kinda gives a coolness to your site. Its like wearing colors while everyone else is in uniform. Most blogging providers support photoblogging, but if you need a place to host photos photobucket.com is a place as good as any.
7. Get original! Showing others content may bring people to your site, but it would not make them stay. all they would say is . ...."another smartass trying to keep his blog updated by somebody else's work". So keep the blog original with what you would like to say.
8. Publicize!!! I am not talking about banner exchanges ( not only do give free advertising on your site, you also have to put up with ugly graphics that can be out of place on your beautiful site.) Think up creative ways. Get a bumper sticker on your car, your boss's car, your company delivery truck...the works. Another easier option, get it on your company's email signature or atleast on yours.
9. Evangelize!!! No i am not a religious nut and i'm not expecting you to be one. Write stuff that would make people go on and talk about you without you threatening them or paying them. And refer to "the blog" in common discussions, parties etc.... wherever you find people.
10. Ok so you got so far.......on more important thing. Don't expect to find any of the above on my blog, the only reason being, i don't need to explode my blog traffic !!!!
About the Author
The Coach, Bangkok, Thailand
yourcoach @ bluebottle.com
http://bloghit.blogspot.com
For everything blog, your expert.... The Coach. Apart from being an avid blogger and a SEO expert, the author is focussed on helping others gain from the common pool of knowledge. more at http://bloghit.blogspot.com
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