3 Tips for Creating an Effective Blog

Blogs are effective marketing tools that a smart entrepreneur should take advantage of. Of course, there are some who find the initial step of creating a blog to be quite difficult. This is because many do not know how to begin. This article answers some of the basic questions about blog creation.

Decide on your Blog's Topic

The first step to blog creation is deciding on what your blog will be all about. This is the first stumbling block that many potential bloggers face. Having 'nothing to write about' is always the problem. Of course, this cannot be farther from the truth. Every one of us possesses a wealth of knowledge and experience which was accumulated through the years. The problem faced by the blogger, therefore, is the question of tapping into this personal database.

Mind mapping is an effective process for coming up with an idea. It takes only a few minutes, but it lets you narrow down the possible topics for your blog. The process is as follows: you write your name on a piece of paper and encircle it. Then you write any ideas that pop into your head, all of which are branching out of the main circle. After this, arrange your ideas into categories and sub-categories. You can further develop these ideas by developing new mind maps. Finally, choose the category which is the most developed or is the most interesting for you. Follow that quick process and you will surely have a topic for your blog.

Blog Hosting

Now that you know what you want to blog about, you now have to decide the question of hosting. You can choose to go for free hosting or you can choose to pay for it. There are a number of options available depending on what you want to do with the blog itself. You can choose between a number of Content Management Systems such as WordPress or Blogger. The difference lies on the degree of control that you have with the blog itself. Personally, I'd recommend hosting the blog yourself.

Choose the Appropriate Theme

Once you have decided on the problem of blog hosting, you now have to think of the blog's appearance. There are a number of themes available online. You have to choose carefully and make sure that the theme you choose is appropriate to the blog that you are running. You also have to consider the functionality and the responsiveness of the theme itself.

These are just a few of the things one has to consider during the blog creation process. Content, distribution, and frequency are the core components of a blog that one has to maximize. However, these three elements are simply not enough to ensure the blog's success. You have to make sure that your blog has an individual voice that makes it stand out in the blogosphere.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7583318

How to Create a WordPress Blog For Your Internet Business Opportunity

A blog is a type of website maintained by means of regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, graphics and or video. A blog is a very simple method for promoting your individual internet business opportunity with practical and valuable content; content that can be applied to any business whether online or offline.

The written content you post on your blog is referred to as a "blog post." Your blog posts can show up in the search engine results of Google for specific keywords that are in your posts. For example, if you wrote a blog post about "the difference between top tier direct sales and MLM," your blog could show up in Google's results when someone searches for "top tier direct sales". Blog post entries are generally displayed in reverse-chronological order.

Blogs provide commentary on a particular subject or can function as more personal online diary. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments is an important element of many blogs. Most blogs are generally text, although most will also include photographs and videos. Micro blogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

The following list provides some incredible statistics and the significance of a blog for today's internet marketer.

Blogosphere Stats
133,000,000 - Number of blogs indexed by Technorati since 2002
346,000,000 - number of people globally who read blogs (COM Score March 2008)
900,000 - Average number of blog posts in a 24 hour period
There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written. The following are only a few examples:

Personal Blogs
The personal, traditional blog is the most common form of blog. It is an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual. Few personal blogs rise to fame but some personal blogs quickly acquire a widespread following. Microblogging is form of a personal blog which is extremely detailed and seeks to capture a moment in time. Sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow bloggers to share thoughts instantaneously with friends and family and are much faster than e-mailing or writing.

Corporate and Organizational Blogs
A blog can be private or it can be for utilized for business purposes. Blogs used for marketing, branding or public relations purposes are called corporate blogs. Similar blogs for clubs and societies are called club blogs, group blogs, etc.; typically used to inform members and interested parties of club and member activities.

By Interest
Some blogs focus on a specific subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs, house blogs, fashion blogs, education blogs, music blogs, legal blogs, etc. Two common types of genre blogs are art blogs and music blogs.

By Media Type
A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog. Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs.

A blog is primarily a website that allows you to quickly and easily add fresh content whenever you wish. Blogs are easy to publish (you only need to know how to type, easy to find (your audience can easily find your content), social (a great way to build a presence in the online community), viral (your blog posts can be virally distributed), and easy to link to and from. Blogs do require frequent and ongoing maintenance as the addition of fresh content - writing, photos, video, etc. - is necessary in order for a blog to remain effective. The content should be relevant, informative, thought provoking, etc...

There are many different blogging platforms. If you are new to blogging WordPress.com is a very simple platform for ease of setup. WordPress provides flexibility, tutorials and support and you can easily migrate your content from one blogging platform to another should you choose to switch platforms in the future. Do be aware WordPress.com can place ads on your website. However, this can be avoided if you choose to use WordPress.org By paying for you hosting, which is very minimal in cost, you gain total control of all your content without unsolicited advertisements. And most importantly you avoid the risk of never being suspended.

Now the following are a few basic action steps to start you blogging experience:

1. Sign up for a WordPress Account
2. Select a theme
3. Select a hosting account (this can be done at a late time)
4. Write Your First Blog Post

Easy Ways to Get Blog Post Ideas:
• Write down 5 things you learned today, and post it on your blog.
• When you learn something new, post it on your blog.
• When you do something fun, post it on your blog.
• When you make a video, post it on your blog.
• When you take new pictures, post them on your blog along with a description of what you did.
• When you have a strong opinion about something, post it on your blog.
• When you submit a new article or press release, post the link with a brief summary on your blog.
• If you have the solution to a common problem in the industry, make a blog post.

5. "Ping" It
When you "ping" your blog you are notifying the search engines that you have new content on your blog.
• Step One: Go to Pingomatic.com
• Step Two: Enter the name and the URL of your blog.
• Step Three: Click all blog services to Ping.
• Step Four: Make sure you ping every time you update your blog with new content.

6. Manage Comments
Comments are good; it means you have active readers. Make a point to respond to your readers who take the time to leave a comment. If someone makes a general comment you can always respond with "Thanks for your comments. They are valued." If you disagree with a comment one of your readers let them know WHY you disagree. Don't be defensive or confrontational. Be open to joining the conversation and supporting your opinion in a rational effective manner. Remember, you want to give your readers a reason to regularly return to your blog.

You are now on your way to becoming a professional blogger. Here are several basic tips and tricks.

• Don't ever plagiarize. If you are quoting content from another source be sure to cite your references and include any appropriate links.
• Always be yourself and be original.
• Share your opinions.
• Avoid clichés.
• Provide Fresh Content
• Provide real content, not just sales' pitches. Your blog posts should not sound like sales' pitches. You should be sharing valuable thoughts, ideas, and opinions with your readers. As a general rule in blogging and in marketing in general, you want to provide 80% content for every 20% sales pitches.
• Engage in meaningful dialogue with your readers through comments. Your audience will increase as your readers share your blog with their circle of influence and they'll be more likely to do this if you take the time to acknowledge their interest in your blog.
• When sharing your opinions, consider framing your thoughts in such a way where you acknowledge that you could be wrong. If you come across as being close-minded to new ideas or other viewpoints you run the risk of turning your readers off. However, if you pose your opinions from a "here's what I'm thinking right now" perspective, you could encourage some healthy debate in your comments. With that said, some of the most successful blogs are highly controversial and unapologetically opinionated.
• Check out other blogs. Examine other blogger's styles and discover what you like and what you don't like.

The following are several more advanced suggestions:

1. Blogging Etiquette
When you include a link to another site in your blog post WordPress will automatically "ping" that site letting them know you just linked to them. If both blogs are on the same platform you should see a reference to your trackback link in their comments section. When someone links to your blog you should always go check out their blog and then leave a thoughtful, intelligent comment on their blog. Include your blog's URL with your name in the comment and this will not only foster two-way communication between you and the other blogger, but will also encourage their readers to also check out your blog.

2. Submit Your Blogs to Web 2.0 Sites
You can get ranks to specific keyword posts with the keyword by submitting your post to all the Web 2.0 sites with a service called Socialmarker.com. After you input your title, URL, descriptions and your username and password to each site, Socialmarker will submit your post to 20 to 30 Web 2.0 sites for you with one-button simplicity.

3. Optimize Your Blog for Search Engines
If you have a post that you want to push up in the search engine results you will want to have your keywords in the title of your post, in the first paragraph and in the closing or concluding paragraph.
A simple trick to include your keyword or keyword phrase in your title is to create a title such as "How to find/do (insert keyword)".

As you become proficient with blogging you might want to consider advertising on your own blog. To accomplish this you will have to setup a self hosted blog i.e. WordPress.org. This will allow to place your own text or banner ads on your site or to take advantage of an advertising network such as Google AdSense. A self-hosted WordPress.org site will also provide you with much more flexibility with the layout, design and advertising options on your blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4435840

How to Start an Effective Blog If You Are an Author

If you are an author, by now you probably know that the easiest part was writing your book, the hardest part is getting an agent or publisher to read it. It's up to you to do a lot of marketing to get the word out about your book. Everything is about marketing these days, and if you want to be successful building a blog for your book is an excellent idea - whether it's an eBook or one of those old-fashioned paper things!

The easiest part will be registering your domain name, it should be the name of your book, which is more than likely unique. If you are a published author you might also register the pen name you use too, that way you can link your book's sites to your main author site.

Writing a blog should not be a chore for a truly dedicated writer, the trick is knowing what to write about and when you start to get a trickle of readers, how to keep them engaged. The answer is to treat your book blog just like any other kind of blog or niche website.

If you are confident that your book will be published, the trick will be to post tantalizing pieces of the book, not verbatim, without giving the entire plot away. One of my friend recently wrote a historical novel, and he is going to be posting a lot of background information about the countries visited, the religions of the people involved in the story, and their beliefs and practices, what they ate and the clothing they wore at the time, and how they lived. There will be a description of the ships they traveled on and the people they met. Think outside of the dust jacket and get people interested! When you apply to publishers and agents, there is a chance they will click through to your website and get a much better idea of the background to your book - they don't know everything!

Saying that, and going back to treating your blog/website like any other, you will have to optimize your pages so they get found on Google. After all, publishers and agents wander around on the internet like the rest of us, therefore increase your chances by doing thorough keyword research for every article you write.

Post regularly and if you are a published author, have an opt-in box so you can give folks updates on how your sales are going, and perhaps other books within your genre that you recommend. On that note, you can also put those books on your site for sale, by becoming an Amazon affiliate.

Other authors will be interested in your site, especially unpublished authors, as they may want to see how you are progressing in marketing your book and getting an agent or publisher. Participate in forums and other blogs on the subject of writing and you will increase your readership. Obviously everything you write because you are an author will be scrutinized by all your budding author readers, so make sure everything you post is top quality, spell-checked and grammatically correct. Make your articles around the standard 500-600 words, leave more words for the next post and don't bore people.

Allow others to leave comments easily. If your book or ebook has been published, write about it in directories and create a landing page, with a strong call to action, for people to purchase your book. You can add a PayPal button and you will get 100% of the sale, minus PayPal's commission.

Google always looks for an "About Me" page, you need to give people a detailed background of who you are, what you write and why.

Add your blog to directories, under the appropriate heading.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6402825

Beginners Only - How to Create a Product Funnel

Launching a product funnel is a lot of work. You will need to develop several different products, identify the best marketing tools to use, and learn the various ways on how you can effectively promote repeat business among your customer base. Despite all of these, there are still hundreds or even thousands of marketers from all points of the globe who are using this marketing technique. Why? The reason for this is very simple; this product funnel creation is proven effective and it can help you grow your ebusiness exponentially without burning your pockets.

Here's how you can explode your product funnel creation:

1. Establish your expertise online. The first thing that you need to do in order to convince online users to buy from you is to let them know that you are truly knowledgeable on your chosen niche and that you can offer them with great, quality products. Share a slice of your expertise through Webinars, ezine publishing, blogging, and forum posting. Offer your potential clients with information that they can use in resolving their pressing issues, understanding their areas of interest, or getting answers to their most frequent questions.

2. Run advertising gimmicks. Convert your potential clients to buying customers by convincing them to take advantage of your low-end products. To make sure that they will swipe their credit cards, offer them with irresistible deals. You can give them huge discounts, offer them with vouchers, or amazing freebies. Ensure that you run limited time offer so you can create a sense of urgency. This will help you get your customers to act right away so you can easily move them to the first level of your funnel.

3. Promote repeat business. You need to get your customers to come back for more so you can move them further down to your funnel. You can easily do this by giving them great experience each time they buy from you. Ensure that they will get only top quality products for reasonable prices. Don't give them any reason to switch providers and always keep them happy and satisfied with your offerings.

4. Add to your product line. Keep yourself updated with the emerging needs of your potential clients and don't stop creating new products that can effectively address these. Remember, the more products you create and sell, the higher your chances of making a sale.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1471920

How to Achieve an Effective Web Design

Is your website performing very poorly in terms of generating sales and traffic? You can easily fix that issue by creating a new web design that's highly efficient and effective. Follow these four simple tips below to help you achieve a layout that can give you better results.

Consider What Your Clients Want
Your users are the most important aspect of your business because without them, you won't be making profits. Therefore, it is only right that you learn about their preferences and give them what they want. Find out what kind of services, information and website features they're like to see and be sure to incorporate them into your web design. Make customer satisfaction your number one goal and more users will be availing of your products and services.

Simplify the Design
One of the things that can really turn off potential clients is the appearance of your website. If the design is too complex, unorganized and all over the place, your users will become annoyed and uninterested. Aim for a simple and suitable layout that matches your company's image. Use readable fonts, soothing colors, lighter backgrounds, and quality images for a full effect, but avoid too much graphic effects that can complicate the design.

Make the Website Easy to Browse
Work on the navigation of your website as well. It must be easy to browse so that visitors won't have a hard time getting around the site. Add complete menus, search boxes, site maps, blog post categories, help information and other tools that will make browsing an incredible experience for your users.

Be Straight-forward
Lastly, make sure you clearly send out the message to your potential clients right away. Provide relevant and precise information regarding your products and services; point out the benefits, descriptions and prices in one single web page so that your visitors won't spend too much time looking for information. Remember that users have very low attention spans and they truly dislike searching and reading long contents. So you must always get to the point immediately to keep clients interested. Don't forget to include call-to-action statements as well to encourage your visitors to avail of the offers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5128707

Backlinks - How to Create Them Effectively

I am sure you have heard about baklinks before, but what are backlinks and how do they help your site ranking?

Backlinks are something every internet marketer is very aware of and working at very hard. Linking back to your website will improve the position of the site one Google's Page Rank, and therefore improve its authority as well.

The authority of a website depends on its keyword optimization. As a matter of fact keyword authority is the result of keyword optimization. Relevance of backlink will help you build more Authority for your website.

The best way to build good backlinks that will give high Authority for your website is to make sure that you link to relevant websites. For example if you link your site about "plants" to a site about "computers" that wouldn't give you much help at all to build authority to your site. If you linked your site about "plants" to a site about "gardening" that would really help your site build good Keyword Authority, because it would be linked to arelevant site.

How to find relevant sites to link to?

There are several ways to do this, but a very simple easy way is to browse forums of your niche. Once you found those forums become a member and browse the signatures. When you click on the links of those signatures you will most likely end up on a site that is relevant to your niche, and most of them will probably be blogs.

Become a regular reader and participant to those blogs and build relevant backlinks.

The other way that I use every day to build backlinks to my sites is writing good content articles. Good articles should never focus on selling your product, but rather informing your readers and give them real tips that they can use for their own benefits.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4944514

How to Create an Effective Small Business Marketing Plan

A well-thought out marketing plan is essential to the long-term viability of any business. However, many entrepreneurs and small business management teams are left in the dark as they seek to increase their promotional efforts.

It's unnecessary for business owners to feel completely lost, however. The best marketing strategies are straightforward and logically implemented. Following are some tips for building and executing a solid marketing campaign.

Identifying specific marketing goals

Every business has particular marketing needs that can be met with careful study of and attention to market realities. In order to be competitive in the information age, your goals should include the following:

· Developing your online presence through a company website and social media

· Reaching out to target markets by identifying their online habits and focusing marketing efforts accordingly

· Understanding advertising trends and consumer behavior in your specific market

· Achieving brand recognition for your company and its services

Think about what your needs are and present them to your colleagues. Identifying such needs is the first step in creating a plan that will actually meet them.

Identifying your marketing and media mix

Closely observe how your ideal customers are currently meeting their wants and needs. Do they go to brick-and-mortar stores to buy the products you sell? Do they turn to the internet and search for detailed reviews before they make purchases? Use that information to determine the best media to focus on. A strong mix might include the following:

· An email newsletter through which you build relationships with prospects and provide special offers

· A social media presence (e.g. through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other specialty services) through which you offer exclusive benefits to customers

· A blog that garners the interest of prospects and pre-sells them on your service

· The writing and distribution of press releases to increase potential exposure to mainstream media outlets

Develop a list of media that is most relevant to your prospects and can be targeted without overwhelming your resources.

Creating a budget

Think about the marketing campaigns of your competitors and what will it take to either outshine them or hit segments of the market that they're missing. If they're investing in traditional marketing avenues such as radio or print advertising, you may also choose to go that route. Or, if your budget is limited, you may choose to focus a majority of your efforts on cost-effective internet marketing and social media outreach.

In order to visualize the budget, a spreadsheet detailing activities (such as website hosting and promotional events) and the amount of money spent monthly on each will be very helpful. Use your intuition and best judgment, weighing immediate needs against long-term ideals, to create a budget that best serves your enterprise.

Implementation of the marketing strategy

Allot a specific amount of time towards daily marketing activities and make sure that they are implemented in a step-by-step manner. The work should be accounted for daily and efforts should be consistent across the days, weeks and months following the launch of the campaign. The ideal implementation strategy will carve out sufficient time for marketing without significantly cutting into day-to-day operations, sales and customer service.

Measurement of marketing success

After implementation, it's important to periodically measure the success of your promotions. Once you know how well the strategy is panning out, you'll know how to modify your current campaign and where to focus future efforts. If your current marketing efforts target the internet and social networks, for example, measurement may include the following:

· Looking at the number of people who have signed up for email newsletters

· Evaluating metrics concerning Facebook, Twitter and Google+ followers (total number of followers, number of "shares" and "likes" on Facebook and "tweets" on Twitter, number of followers who have made purchases or responded to promotions, etc.)

· Tracking website visitor behavior using free or low-cost analytics tools

· Split-testing aspects of your website such as aesthetics, layout and copywriting

· Calculating overall increase in sales as a result of the campaign

It's also important to figure out your return of investment (ROI). This can be calculated as:

(Gross Profit - Marketing Costs) / Marketing Costs

Bear in mind that gross profit is your revenue minus the cost of production or services, not just the revenue itself. Keeping this in mind will help you produce an accurate assessment of how successful your marketing has been.

Creating and implementing a marketing plan requires research and trial-and-error, but it remains a straightforward process. Take the time now to develop a marketing plan that suits your business, and you will give yourself the best chance of reaching and exceeding expectations.

Douglas Hutchings is an entrepreneur and small business owner with a passion for saving costs and eliminating inefficiencies. Douglas founded his first company while finishing his engineering PhD at the University of Arkansas and was immediately hooked on building companies.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6772572

How to Create an Effective Marketing Strategy That Makes You Money

I am often asked, "Sydni, how do I figure out a marketing strategy that will be broad enough to allow me to address a wide array of issues and ideas from a variety of viewpoints? I need it to be narrow enough that I have a niche and people feel I will adequately answer their questions."

Let's first define what a strategy is. Simply put, a strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a major or overall aim. You might also think of it as a checklist of steps that will lead you directly to achieving your goals.

For example, perhaps your goal is to attract 5 new clients within the next 60 days. You happen to be comfortable speaking in front of a group of people and really enjoy connecting with your audience that way. You also have specific solutions to share that can help your target market achieve a specific result or goal.

In that case your strategy might look like this:

1. "I'm going to develop a signature talk. I will get myself booked in front of audiences that cater to my ideal client."

2. "I will deliver a content-rich presentation that is focused on solutions."

3. "At the end of my talk, I'll extend an offer for a private consultation for a specific dollar amount to assist individuals in applying what they've learned."

4. "I will over deliver during that consultation and upsell the client to ongoing support."

5. "To those who don't purchase the consultation after my talk, I will be sure to gather their contact information and stay in touch with them regularly (i.e. weekly) to learn more about their needs so in the short-term I can present another paid offer that meets their needs."

The steps highlighted here is a well thought out strategy, with a built in follow-up process, that caters to what your ideal client wants and needs.

You have now positioned yourself as an expert. In the process, you also created your own proprietary system for how you enable your clients to move from problem to solution.

Even if you don't think you have a "system", believe me, you do!

If a client comes to you with problem A, what steps will you take them through to get them to solution Z.

THAT is your system.

Obviously there will be a number of different steps involved. Each step can be an angle of your marketing that you focus on to showcase why you are the best solution for your ideal clients.

Avoid confusing an effective strategy confused with your methodology. The two work together, but they are entirely different.

Your methodology (which is a particular procedure for accomplishing something) will address a variety of specific issues your ideal client may be facing, depending on how long they've been dealing with the problem you solve.

Your strategy will allow you to connect with ideal prospects, highlight your ability to assist them and create awareness for how you and the client can work together to solve the problem.

How you choose that strategy depends on what specific goals you have. Once you've defined your S.M.A.R.T. goals, you want to choose specific marketing techniques that enable you to accomplish them. Then you want to commit to working on ONLY those few strategies until you've achieved what you set out to accomplish. For example:

• If you're looking to enroll more clients, you might consider, networking, speaking and asking for referrals.

• If you are looking for more visibility, you might choose hosting a live workshop, a virtual event (such as a teleseminar or webinar), blogging and social media.

• If your goal is to increase your income, you might launch a class, an information product or an event.

The point is that the strategies you choose are specific to the exact goal you want to accomplish. You can tackle one goal at a time, using appropriate strategies. In a short period of time you will help your target market to address a variety of issues that are currently challenging them.

Begin with the end in mind. Determine what your specific goals are. Choose your marketing strategy based on your goals. Implement your plan each day, each week and each month.

Remember these words, 'if you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.' The same is true with marketing your business. If you don't know the results that you want to attain, no marketing strategy will be of service to you. Make this process simple. To accomplish specific goals, choose specific marketing strategies that will lead you there.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7520015

How To Create An Effective Biography On Your Web Site

Do you have an effective biography on your web site?

Because when people visit your web site, it is vital that you establish your credibility. As quickly and as convincingly as possible.

This can be done through testimonials, before-and-after pictures, seals (Better Business Bureau, Ethical Business Pledge, etc.) - but you can also add to your credibility by writing a short but informative biography of who you are.

The important thing to remember here is that - just like with all areas of your web site - you should only include information in your biography that will help you sell your product or service.

Your biography should include:

1. Specific information about your background. In other words, what makes you qualified to sell your particular product or service?

2. Some information on any relevant education you have. Particularly if you're in the medical or legal profession. Or one that requires certification, like the accounting profession.

3. Information about your hobbies - but only if it serves to make a connection with your readers. (For instance, I'm a huge fan of the San Francisco 49ers. So if I'm on a sporting goods site and the owner writes about the glory days of the 49ers, I'll feel a personal connection with him that I wouldn't feel with, say, a Dallas Cowboys fan.)

4. A pleasant, non-threatening photograph of yourself - so that your customers will know that you're a real, breathing person. And, more importantly, that you're a person they can trust.

When you're done, read your biography out loud and take out any information that a) doesn't pertain directly to the product or service you're selling, b) makes you sound arrogant or boastful, or c) sounds like it was written by a second-grader.

Then have somebody neutral - meaning not your spouse, your boy- or girlfriend, or your mother - read your biography and give you their honest opinion.

If more than one person has a problem with a specific section of your biography, consider taking it out.

Don't get sentimental about your biography just because it's about you. And always keep in mind that the only goal of your web site should be to sell your product or service.

If you really have the need just to ramble on and on about how great you are, start a blog instead.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/406964

How to Create Your First Blog

I've been blogging now for about 2 years, and I'm amazed at the amount of traffic that I get from my blog and the number of people who tell me that they first heard about me from my blog instead of my website. The word blog is derived from the term "web log", or an online diary or journal. If the HBO series "Sex and the City" were being filmed today, Carrie Bradshaw would be a blogger as well as a columnist, I think. Why? As she experiences her revelations about life, love, and relationships, she could post them to her blog for the world to see and comment upon.

Blogging has opened website creation to almost everyone, as it takes very little know-how to get a blog up and running. In fact, many service business owners are using a blog platform as their primary website, with some of them creating static pages as you would find on a traditional website, while others are using the platform as a blog and are posting updates regularly.

There are several advantages to using blogs instead of ezines or traditional websites:

1. Search engines love blogs. The strategy that seems to be attractive to search engines today is regularly updated content. I can log-in to my blog at the beginning of a day and submit a post. Within 24 hours I'll get a notification from my Google alerts account that Google has indexed that post.

2. Content can be distributed quickly. If you instruct your visitors to subscribe to your blog via updating services like Bloglines or Feedblitz, they'll be notified within hours of any new posts on your blog.

3. Little web programming knowledge is required. Once your blog is set up, it's simply a matter of logging into your account, typing the info for you post, adding graphics or photos as needed, and publishing your post to your blog.

4. Reader feedback. Your readers can give you comments and feedback about your posts almost immediately after you log an entry. Blogs are a great way to engage your audience.

Are ezines and traditional websites dead? No, because people consume information differently. Some are auditory learners and prefer to hear the info (great audience for podcasting, an audio form of blogging), some prefer to receive updates as they are published (blog readers), while others like a stable, stationary medium to which they can refer when they're ready (readers who archive ezines or bookmark web pages).

How do you begin to blog? Here are 10 simple steps you can follow:

1. Blogging platform. The easiest way to get started is to use the free service found at Blogger.com or Wordpress.com. The ability to customize your blog is limited with the free services, so I urge my clients to subscribe to Typepad.com, which will host your blog for you on their servers, or purchase a hosting account where WordPress can be installed. The downloadable version of WordPress is located at Wordpress.org and is free of charge if you need to install Wordpress yourself on your hosting account. I use Typepad for my blog, so many of my examples will relate exclusively to blogs hosted on that platform.

2. Name. What do you want to call your blog? Blog names tend to be attention-getting and off-beat. However, for service businesses, I encourage my clients to use keywords important to their business when naming their blog. You will also want to acquire the .com version of your blog's name or your blog's name with the word "blog" attach as your blog URL. After you have set up your blog, your blog provider can give you more info about how to map your domain to your blog. (Note: You don't want to simply forward your blog to your domain name, as that impacts the URLs of your individual blog pages).

3. Look and Layout. How many columns do you want to display? Do you want links to static pages? What colors do you want to use? How about a signup box for a free giveaway? Should you use one of the templates provided or have something custom designed? Do you want your blog archives displayed? Do you want to be the only author or do you want to permit others to make posts, as well? There are many questions you'll be asked in the startup phase about the look of your blog. A Typepad blog permits you to change your mind about your layout at a later date. The best way to determine the look of your blog is to look at the layout of other blogs and determine what appeals to you.

4. Widgets. There are a number of widgets, or add-on programs, that you can incorporate into your blog. Check your blog software's site for more info about what features you'd like add to your blog. At a minimum you'll want to give visitors a couple of ways in which they can receive blog updates through various updaters, or feeder services, as mentioned earlier.

5. Comments. The newest sp*am making its rounds online is comment sp*am. Don't these guys have anything better to do? Set your comments to moderated, which means that you have to approve any comments to your blog before the post goes live. You'll save yourself a great many headaches and time by choosing to moderate the comments.

Once you've gotten this far, you should have a basic blog established and are ready to begin to blog.

6. Blog content. The time has arrived -- your blog is ready to accept posts. What do you write about? You can post content rich articles of interest to your target market, comment on a current event, answer questions from your visitors, present a before and after case study outlining how your business helped someone, etc. Keep your eyes and ears open for information relevant to your audience. I use my blog to bring forth info that doesn't fit well into my newsletter format or something that arises between newsletter issues. I post my ezine content to my blog, as well.

7. Posting frequency. Blogs are just like gardens -- they need watering regularly and require some care and attention. For maximum effectiveness, you need to post several times a week to your blog. I try and post 4 times per week in my blog -- 2 posts are items I run across or comment upon as noteworthy in the moment, and the latter 2 are the contents of my ezine posted over 2 days. And, respond to reader's comments when they arrive -- blogs provide a great forum for ongoing discussions.

8. Blog traffic. In the same way that you publicize your website URL on everything that you do, you can similarly publicize your blog. Submitting your blogs to blog directories is another way to get traffic. A very comprehensive list of blog directories, RSS Top 55 has been compiled by Robin Good, http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/. Searching out blogs that appeal to your target market and making comments to those posts will also drive traffic to your blog. Another trick is to post your blog on social bookmarking sites like Reddit, Digg, StumbleUpon, and del.icio.us.

9. Measure the results. Some blog programs, like Typepad, have built-in statistics so you can view details of your blog traffic. Some of the feed/updater programs have built-in statistics as well, or you can install a metrics program as an add-on to your blog. Review your statistics regularly to determine how much traffic your blog generates.

10. Rinse and repeat. Don't let the novelty of blogging wear off. Blogging is effective only if you continue your blogging efforts regularly over a long period of time. I know of several individuals who have gotten book deals from their blog and radio and TV interviews as well. Just think -- your blog might be your ticket to fame!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/488788

How to Create Your First Blog - WordPress Or Blogger?

Creating your first blog!

First what does blog stand for? Blog means web-log: blog. So your hearing how exciting it is and important to have a blog? Well I was in your same shoes not to long ago and have become a true believer of blogging.

So, Why did I not get into blogging a long time ago? Well honestly I just didn't see the importance to do it for myself. While I constantly blogged for the companies I worked for, just never did my own. So I am here to let you on in a few insider tips and tricks to creating a successful blog, the corporate way and the professional way.

This tutorial will give you all the basics to creating a blog and some advanced techniques.

Chapter 1: Blog Introduction
Chapter 2: Setting up your Blog
Chapter 3: Customizing your Blog
Chapter 4: Blog SEO
Chapter 5: Before you publish
Chapter 6: Spread the word
Chapter 7: Navigating the blog Chapter 8: Conclusion

Chapter 1: Blog Introduction

1.1 - Find out what blog is best for you! There are many different types of blogs. I would recommend whichever you feel comfortable with and even try both of them, if one does not work as well for you, drop it and stick with the one that you are comfortable with.

1.2 - A great blog has a nice but clean and easy to read design. What is a blog for? a blog is for a user to post topics that he feels led to share. What if your readers have a heard time reading the post, this is why a nice easy clean design is a must for a new blog.

1.3 - Have an idea of what the blog is about. Are you going to be doing "how-to" for people or is your blog just something to post ideas you have? Maybe your blog is a place for you to post information about whats going on in your family so that your entire family can view and make posts.

1.4 - Find a good theme that fits you and what you are trying to accomplish. There are flash themes which require a little bit of flash knowledge and then some themes that you should be able to just "plug and play". That means, your theme will give you the look and feel you want and that's all you have to do. I am a strong believer in creating a customized theme. I can help you with this or you can find many people to help you with this. Usually a custom theme will cost $80-$100.

Chapter 2: Setting up your Blog

2.0 There are many online blogs out there. You need to find one that fits your needs best and works well with what you are trying to do. There are many blogs out there are free and some cost money but submit your blogs to other linking blogs.

Chapter 3: Customizing your blog

3.0 From chapter 1 you should have found a blog theme that is setup for whichever product blog you have chosen. Much of these can be found for free while some people look for a more custom specialized blog template that usually costs around $50-100.

3.1 Every page is built with php, xml and CSS. You do not need to change any of the php or xml!! If you do not know anything about php or xml do not touch it!! your blog will not work if you do. Although changing CSS is easy and ok! I would say though to watch some YouTube videos on CSS if you do not know much about it.

3.2 In WordPress under Appearance, click on Editor. You will have to find the style.css file. This is where you are going to be able to do some changing. If you want to change colors just find the tag that controls the color you are interested in changing and change old color (#242123) to your new one (#ffffff). Again, a good idea is to have a strong grasp on CSS, and I recommend having the "web developer" plug-in for firefox. You can edit the CSS for ANY web page in the world and see what happens when you change things in the CSS without it saving when you close the editor.

Chapter 4: Blog SEO

4.0.Somethings are very easy to change while other things you may not understand. To change some SEO you will have to download a bunch of plug-ins. Do a little research and download some that people recommend.

4.1 The key to Blog SEO is doing everything right, and think about EVERYTHING. A lot of things need to be changed for a blog to be optimized! Although I find that the biggest thing left out in a blog is people being lazy and simply just not "optimizing" the page or post. Fill out all the info. Make sure your tags are there and that the post is keyword rich.

4.2 Quickest effects most important?

Permalinks Optimize your Titles for SEO Optimize your Descriptions Optimize the More text Image Optimization

Chapter 5: Before you publish

Every Blogger should have a checklist before he posts onto the web. Here is the best checklist to use.

Bloggers Checklist.

Chapter 6: Spread the Word

6.0 Get involved in social networks and article submission sites such as this one. Find a group that is related to your blog and join and be ACTIVE! Many people will enjoy reading about what you have to say so share share share.

6.1 Facebook - Facebook is an excellent source to spread the word and find people to share your ideas with. I will be creating a Advanced Facebook article for users later, but if you are already on Facebook, use it! Groups are a great resource to share ideas and keep up on new things within your category. Every post on Facebook or MySpace should be informational and interesting to read. Also do not just always post about the same topic or subject. Change it up.

6.2 Twitter - A recent article showed that twitter has been the fasted growing social network on the web. Why is twitter growing so rapidly? Because it is easy to use. All you have to do is create an account, then post topics about what your doing. Although a lot of people say, "why do I want to read what someone is doing every minute." Twitter should not be used to post that you are reading on the deck. Twitter should be used to post links to your last blog article. Twitter should be a tool you use to spread the word about something really cool that is going on, or maybe something really bad if it has a purpose.

Chapter 7: Navigating your blog

7.0 This should be a whole post by it self but I am going to dab on each part of how to navigate through your blog on WordPress.

7.1 Dashboard - sends you to the main page of the blog admin panel.

Posts - where you edit, add and delete posts. You can also add or change categories here

Media - Add images and videos here that can be put into your posts

Links - always link to your friends and other great blogs. They will return the favor and it will help you out in the long run.

Pages - If you have an important post sometimes its better to create a page than just add as a post. This is where you add edit and delete pages for your blog.

Comments - If you want to see all the comments that have been made on your blog this is the place to do so.

7.2 Appearance - Add new themes, edit themes or delete themes through the appearance panel. Distinct Design specializes in theme customization.

Plug-ins - Plug-ins run WordPress. Make sure you use lots of plug-ins for SEO and any other tool you may need. Plug-ins are free and an excellent source for your blog.

Users - If you are going to have multiple writers or admins you will need to setup an account for each person. This is the place to do it.

Settings - Change the blog URL or tagline, timezone, date format, and much more. This changes how the posts will look in the blog.

Chapter 8: Conclusion

8.0 Some of the most important features in a blog is having fresh content. Juicy Content is what the SEOs call it. Have 1-3 posts per week and keep up with whatever your blog categories are about. If you are running posts about new cooking recipes, have a recipe every week or every other day.

8.1 Make sure your blog is optimized for the web as best as possible.There have been some great SEO articles. Follow their advice and the search engines will find you blog!

8.2 Submit your articles. Just because you posted on a blog, doesn't mean that people will find it. Post articles in article submission sites. If you need help with this contact Distinct Design. Digg.com is a good resource for this.

8.3 Good bye! I hope you enjoyed reading my article on creating a blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3244165

Freelance Writer Tips - How to Create an Effective Web Site and Blog

If you want to be a successful freelance writer, there are many things you will need to know. One of the most important steps you can take to taking your writing seriously and encouraging others to do the same is to create an effective Web site and/or blog.

Here are some things that complete a freelance writer's Web site:

· Secure a domain- they are cheaper than ever before and it's important to distinguish yourself as a serious writer and a professional. You may use your first and last name if that is available or if you write on a specialty, you may include this in your domain (i.e. Foodreviewsbygloria.com). Try to keep it short and simple and easy to remember.

· Bio or About the Author- you need to describe who you are. This doesn't mean you need your fill resume or life story on the site but some personal details about who you are, why you write and what you write are helpful.

· Credentials- any past experience, writing experience, life experience, degrees and diplomas, and other helpful credentials should be included.

· Samples- no writer's Web site is complete without samples of the work you have done. If this is online work, the best method is to link to it so the potential client can see it directly on the site it was published on. Try to avoid just pasting a writing sample in with no links or identifying info about where it was published or why.

· Contact info- don't forget to make it easy for them to contact you. A link to email or contact form work best. Be cautious of directly writing your email on the site as spammers and bots pick this up and you will get loaded up on spam mail. A contact form will protect you from this.

· Make it yours- give the visitor something they would not have known had they not visited your Web site. This is your "signature" online and it's how you make it truly yours.

· Don't oversell- many amateur writers' Web sites spend more time promising what they can do and less time actually showing the visitor what they can do. Allow your work to speak for itself and don't oversell on the promises of how great you are.

When it comes to your blog, many of the same rules apply. If this is going to be used for business, you want to give a professional image. Creating a theme that merges well with your Web site is important to brand recognition. A photo of yourself or your logo is also helpful. Include a bio section or page that tells who you are and also have a link back to your Web site from the blog.

If you have a Web site and a blog, then there should be a significant difference between the two, although they may contact some of the same content. You don't want to repeat everything word for word due to repetition in the search engines and for the potential clients that follow both. However, there are some people who may visit your blog and not your Web site and vice versa so the two should intertwine.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3686687

How to Create a Successful Blog Post

Any well-written successful blog begins with an idea. You never know when inspiration will strike, it could be on your way to work or waiting in the dentist's office; but once you have an idea you have the most important part of the puzzle. The important thing to remember is to write that idea down as soon as possible, whether it's on a napkin or a note on your iPhone, if you do not write down that idea when it strikes you may be sorry later.

Now that you have an idea it is time to start writing. There is a strategy that many writers follow which begins with the headline. Many writers spend hours developing the perfect title for their blog and then work from there. Others may begin writing the introduction first and wait for a title to strike them, while others will take the time to map out the entire structure of the blog they are planning on writing. There is no right or wrong place to start, it's just important that you start writing and see the process through to the end.

Once you begin to put your ideas into sentences, you may find yourself surprised at how easy the process is proceeding. In many cases the hardest part of writing is simply getting started. Once you overcome that obstacle, the words surprisingly begin to flow effortlessly and you soon realize that your blog has taken on a life of its own. After you have successfully written a title and introduction, your next focus should be the body of the blog. This is where you will place the meat of your blog. A well written body should contain enough information, written in a manner in which your audience will be interested and informed. Including some amusing anecdotes or facts is also a great way to grab the attention of your readers.

If you are writing your blog with the intent of SEO you also need to ensure that you have included carefully chosen keywords. These keywords will be picked up by search engines when someone conducts a search using those keywords. Blogs are a great SEO method to use when you are trying to improve your existing search engine ranking.

After you have sufficiently expressed your main idea in the body of your blog, your next step will be writing a closing. When writing a closing paragraph you should include verbiage that will tie up all of the ideas that you presented in the body. A well-written closing will leave readers feeling as though they have gained all of the information that you had to offer. Readers should also walk away feeling as though they have learned something or read something that amused them. If you can do that you can write a successful and effective blog each time.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7933688

How to Create Higly Effective Teams

Throughout his career, an entrepreneur faces many challenges. One of the biggest tasks for an entrepreneur is to build an effective team and keep it intact. In this real world, teams come together and break, sometime due to inefficiency of the system within the organization, and sometime due to team players not getting along well. Undoubtedly, there will be ups and downs, but an intelligent entrepreneur will always try to make the most of his team.

An interesting blog posted at Harvard Business Review written by Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor Business Administration at Harvard Business School. Kent Lineback spent many years as a manager and an executive in business and government. They are the coauthors of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives for Becoming a Great Leader. In this post, they raise a valid question:

Are the people who work for you a real team?

Managers would agree with their view that most teams are just bunch of people working individually in a group, but not every group is a team! The reason given by Linda and Kent is that entrepreneurs and managers do not pay attention to collective performance!

The second question asked by the authors is:

What is a team and what makes it potentially such a valuable instrument of leadership? And the explanation to this question is: A team is a group of people who do collective work and are mutually committed to a common team purpose and challenging goals related to that purpose.

Having said above, the question remains - What are the key ingredients that help an entrepreneur build good teams and keep them intact?

Perhaps the most important ingredient is the creation of "Teamwork Culture". This can be done by creating collective work plans and objectives. So instead of starting at an individual level, these two should be developed based on a bottom-up approach. This will encourage individuals to look at the bigger picture and place their contribution in creating this "Picture".

The other most important ingredient is "Team Rewards". Instead of rewarding individuals for their performance, consider adapting a team reward approach. Some would argue that this approach discourages "Start Performers", but they often forget that the share meaning of teamwork is the utilization of individual capacities to achieve common objectives.

Linda and Kent in their blog say, "It's easy to extol teamwork, but not every group is a team. In fact, most teams we see, aren't - because their managers focus on building the most effective relationships they can with each individual who works for them. They spend their time managing person by person, paying little attention to collective performance. They rarely use their groups to diagnose or solve problems. And when issues arise that clearly affect the group as a whole, they tend to handle them one on one."

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6733018

How to Create an Effective Marketing Plan

Marketing is the soul of your business, it means anything you do for the promotion of your business comes under marketing. However, without a plan or strategy your marketing campaign will not deliver the desired results. Therefore, creating marketing plan for any business is vital.

Now the question arise; how to create an effective marketing plan for a company? We all know the format of a marketing plan. Whether you make a formal or informal proposal, a plan should be such which touches all the essential points to deliver the targeted goal.

To make an effective plan, there is a famous rule called 4P's. Here, P's stand for Price, Product, Promotion and Placement. In this another P is added called People. Today while doing digital marketing or the traditional marketing one should understand people or the customers you are dealing with. It's important to figure out what is significant for the business, and later make a plan accordingly.

Generally, in a marketing plan the following points are considered -

• Market Analysis: First analysis your broader market, where are the opportunities that you can look for? What are the scopes in the current market? After analyzing the broader scope of the market; target on the niche values.


• Identify the Target Customers: Unlike the broader analysis of the market; here you aim on the targeted customers. You look for the scopes where you can promote or market your product to get the higher returns and acceptance. Here from targeted customers to clients, you also find out the needs and demands of the audience. Once you know, who all are your customers and what exactly they are looking for then you can jump to next step.


• Marketing Plan: In this you perform, precise activities which helps in achieving the goals and objectives you are targeting at. Here, you plan how you will promote the product/service? What are the specific areas of promotion? What would be the budget of this plan execution? Etc. Plus, you also estimate the ROI of this marketing strategy.


• Competitive Edge: It's important to define your competitors too. One should know, what strategies are being used by the competitors to reach to the potential customers. If you know what your competitors are doing, you will be able to modify the plan and maybe your marketing analyst will come with something more innovative that can capture the mass attention.


• Sales and Strategy Forecast: If you have a target to achieve you can plan out your work according. It's just like keep the figures real and amenable. Unrealistic figures would not help you ever to get the target on time. Secondly with these forecast, you can compare your marketing strategies and come up with the best solutions for future activities.

These above tips are vital or the stepping stones for any business, but in reality, companies need to incorporate multiple web channels for their business marketing plans. Below are popular web channels that business uses for their planning and strategies:

• Social Media Marketing: One of the most promising way of marketing in today's date. From LinkedIn to Facebook and from Twitter to Google+, companies use these platforms to target the right set of customers. From a survey by social media - 93% of marketers use social media for business.


• Mobile Marketing: Another most prompting way of marketing which is used in today's digital world. The acceptance of smartphones and tablets has helped to change the way companies used to target their customers earlier; these days they implement strategies that reach customers on their devices itself. From a survey via Our Mobile Planet, 89% of smartphone users notice mobile ads.


• Email Marketing: The marketing plan via email is quite an old one. It is an effective and popular way of promotion for many small business owners. Get the email data of your possible customers and send them your customize business emails to let them know what you are offering.


• Blog Marketing: Blogging is a big focus when it comes to content marketing. Blog provides a personal touch and advantage to your social media marketing too. Here you have a freedom or control over the product or service you are marketing for. Companies are hiring full-time bloggers for this job. Although, 62% of marketers blog or plan to blog in 2013, only 9% of US marketing companies employ a full-time blogger.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8042787

How to Use Facebook to Promote Your Website

Are you using Facebook to promote your business; if your not you're missing out on a potential gold mine? As of 2012 Facebook has grown to 845 million monthly active users making 100 billion connections on the web; that's a lot of potential customers. Facebook users upload 250 million photos daily to their pages and Like 2.7 billion times each day. There are 37 million pages with 10 Likes or more with an average time per visit of 20 minutes per page. How can you get some of those users to your website?

Theirs a two-step approach to using Facebook to promote your website. The first step is to get as many Fans as possible to visit your Like page and give it a Like. Second, as the number of Likes builds you start sending as many of those Fans as you can to your website. This whole process requires you to have a Facebook Like page; there are several articles on this topic so I won't be discussing it here.

50/50 Rule

The first method is called the 50/50 rule. You will spend 50% of your time on your own Like page filling it with quality content relative to your niche. The other 50% of your time will be spent on other Like pages that are in your niche; you'll need to spend at least 30 minutes each day on this method. Facebook is social so you need to interact with people, get involved in discussions and ask questions that encourage a response. Post videos, articles, pictures and links to your page and other pages. Do not sell on your Like page or any other Like pages; use your website for selling. You're trying to get Likes and earn credibility with your Fans in an attempt to get them to sign up to your e-mail list; then sell to your e-mail list.

Create a Welcome Page

A welcome page is an application that you create on the Facebook Developers site; it's basically another page added to your Like page, it's also known as a landing page. The welcome page can and should include your e-mail list opt-in form. If you use video this is a great place to include one about your site. The welcome page can be set to be the fist page a NEW visitor sees when visiting your Facebook Like page; this is a very powerful feature. While your visitor is on the welcome page you can encourage them to Like your page and even sign your opt-in form.

Edgerank

Did you know that not all of the content you post to your wall will get posted to your Fans News Feed? This is because Facebook wants quality, engaging content to ensure social interaction; edgerank is used to ensure that quality. Edgerank determines what content will appear in the News Feed. Edge refers to any content that appears in a News Feed. There are three factors to consider with edgerank:

1. The affinity score. Shows how often you and your Fans have interacted.

2. Weight. This shows whether your content has been Shared, Commented on, or Liked.

3. Time Decay. The older the content the less important it becomes.

To make sure your content always gets seen you need to post often; once a day and encourage people to respond to your content.

Add a Like Button

Adding a Like button to your website is another great method to promote your site. This small button will put the power of Facebook right on your website. Every time a visitor Likes your website all their Friends will get a notification saying that your site has been Liked; if the visitor has many Friends this process will compound resulting in hundreds or thousands of Likes.

The main point to remember about Facebook is you need to be interactive and engaging with other people. Post good quality and relevant content on a daily basis and Facebook will reward you with more traffic to your site than you thought possible. I have a few more methods that I could explain but this article is getting long; heck for more articles on this topic in the days to come.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6914610