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| Tuesday, February 17, 2004 |
| Do You Want to Know Why Blogging is so Popular? |
- By: Jason DeVelvis
If you haven’t heard of blogging, you are probably living under a rock. There are many reasons why blogging is so popular these days, but the biggest reason is probably that blogging is so simple, and so accessible to everyone. Everybody wants to be heard – no matter who they are or what they think. We all have thoughts and opinions – and we are finally able to express those thoughts and opinions!
In the past, only people who understood the in’s and out’s of creating a website were able to get their thoughts, opinions, feelings, or interests in print. Now, anyone with access to a computer with an Internet connection can be set up and blogging in five minutes flat. If you don’t have a computer in your home, you can visit your public library and blog. You can visit your friend’s house and blog. You can go to an Internet café and blog. Students even blog from their computer classes during school hours! Everybody can blog, and that is why blogging is so popular today.
Blogging does not require a website. A domain name is not required. You do not need to know how to set up a webpage. All you need to know is how to type – and if you can even do that with two fingers – ‘search and peck style’ – you can blog. It really is that simple. If you want to set up a blog, just visit a site like Blogger at http://www.blogger.com and set up a free account. It takes less than five minutes.
The wide variety of uses of a blog is another reason why blogging is so popular. If you want to keep a personal journal, you can do so with a blog. If you want to set up a way to keep family members in touch, a blog provides the answer. If you need to keep employees up-to-date on projects or company news, again a blog can provide you with a very simple, very fast way to do it. Visit Blogger and surf around and take a look at the things that people blog about! Every topic that you can imagine is there!
Blogging has become what newsgroups used to be – only instead of being accessible only through a newsreader or email blogs are accessible with any web browser, on any computer system that has an Internet connection – no membership required, and no fees to pay – unless you choose a blogging service that is fee based.
People who were unknown and unheard yesterday have a huge following today. People are interested in other people’s thoughts and opinions – and even in the day-to-day events in their lives. As a global society, blogs offer us yet another method for sharing and exchanging information – no matter what the topic is.
Individuals have even learned to make money with their blogs. You can sell ad space if your blog is popular. You can also sign up with some of the blog advertising networks to find advertisers. Google AdSense is a popular way to profit from blogs. Another option is to promote affiliate products and services that are related to the content of your blogs. Some people have even figured out how to earn a living with their blogs! Is it any wonder why blogging is so popular?
If you haven’t heard of blogging, you are probably living under a rock. There are many reasons why blogging is so popular these days, but the biggest reason is probably that blogging is so simple, and so accessible to everyone.
Jason frequently gives tips like this to the subscribers to his newsletter. Visit Adventures In Internet Marketing and subscribe to his newsletter today! |
posted by birdflu2006 @ 11:48 PM  |
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| Sunday, February 15, 2004 |
| What's the Difference Between Websites and Weblogs? |
- By: Gregg Hall
More and more, people don't have traditional websites: static things where pages can be added, updated or taken away. Instead, they write new material for their website when they feel like it, and then put it up on one page, with the most recent writing first. These people are running weblogs.
How Did Weblogs Start?
Many people say that there have been weblogs (or blogs, as they're sometimes called) for as long as there has been a web. Back when there were only a few thousand websites, the 'What's New' page that announced each new one (yes, there really was such a thing!) worked in just the same way as blogs do today.
Early weblogs included Scripting News, Robot Wisdom and Camworld, which all started in 1997. To begin with, blogs mostly consisted of often-updated lists of useful and amusing links to other websites, but it gradually became clear that the format was just as good for distributing longer articles. Blog software started to be developed, and their popularity quickly exploded. By 1999, everyone was talking about blogs.
Why are Blogs So Popular?
In recent years, the blog format has very much taken over from the 'personal home page'. People seem to find it much easier to just put a kind of public diary online, instead of putting up a little biography of themselves and a collection of articles. It's more personal, more fun, and more interactive day-to-day.
Businesses have started to open blogs too – in many ways, they're like a replacement for newsletters. A regularly-updated blog gives customers a great sense of what a business is like, while giving the business a great way to keep communicating with its customers and being useful to them, even when they're not buying anything right this minute.
In my opinion, the biggest reason for blogs' popularity is that they make publishing to the web very easy. You don't really have to know anything about what's happening behind the scenes: blogs finally make publishing your thoughts for everyone to see as easy as posting to a forum or sending an email. In a way, blogs fulfil the original promise of the web.
Weblog Software.
Today, there's a lot of blog software out there – if you want a blog, you're spoiled for choice. What you get will depend on how comfortable you are with technical stuff, and whether you want it to be part of your main website or not.
Movable Type. This is software that you install on your web server. You simply log in and type your post, and it creates your pages for you. Movable Type can be a little complex to set up, but you can use a version called Typepad that is hosted by its creators instead of using your server.
Blogger. You don't install Blogger on your server – instead, you give it your FTP password and let it upload files to your web server for you. If you don't have any hosting, you can also host blogs for free at Blogger's Blogspot. Blogger is owned by Google.
WordPress. WordPress is a free alternative to blogging software. It works in basically the same way as Movable Type, but without the restrictive licensing and with nicer-looking default templates. Many people have switched to WordPress out of frustration with Movable Type and not looked back. You have to host it on your own server, but it's very simple to set up – don't be scared!
LiveJournal. LiveJournal is a completely online service, meaning that it has nothing to do with your website, except that you can link to your LiveJournal if you want. LiveJournal is more social than most blogging, allowing you to join communities relating to your interest.
There are plenty of other online services, but they're all pretty much the same: MSN Spaces, AOL Journals, and so on. You're unlikely to get taken very seriously if you have a blog at any of these places, although it'd be easy. In the end, it's all about power versus convenience: the more work you put in to get your blog working, the more likely that it's going to be what you really wanted it to be. If you're creating a website anyway, you'd be silly not to put a blog on it.
More and more, people don't have traditional websites: static things where pages can be added, updated or taken away. Instead, they write new material for their website when they feel like it, and then put it up on one page, with the most recent writing first. These people are running weblogs.
Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. For web hosting go to http://www.webhostingservicesplus.com |
| posted by birdflu2006 @ 11:52 PM |
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| Tuesday, February 10, 2004 |
| Why Your Marketing Plan Should Include A Blog |
- By: Gregg Hall Blogging is a great way for a business to effectively market their product or service without spending a lot of money. There are many benefits of business blogging. Businesses that keep up with a blog can introduce their products or services to consumers and can better communicate their customers. In addition, businesses that blog can understand what their customers want and serve them better.
A blog, sometimes called Weblog, is defined as a web page that serves as a journal or diary for individuals. Most blog writers update their blog on a regular basis and writers often share what most interests them. Individuals are not the only ones that have found blogging beneficial. Businesses have learned that this new way to communicate is a good marketing tool for their products and services.
Every company should consider have a regular blog for their businesses. Larger businesses may opt to hire a several special writers with certain areas of expertise to update their blog. A smaller company may have one writer that can effectively write about their product. The idea of blogging for any size business is to get the word out to readers. A reader who frequents a certain blog is more likely to share the blog with others. Also, blogging is a great marketing tool because it allows consumers to be better informed.
When a business chooses to blog, it allows them to introduce their product or service to consumers. Keywords and search engines help consumers quickly find the blog they are looking for with ease. For example, if a company specializes in making handmade jewelry and keeps a blog that is on a search engine, then that search engine would list their blog on a search. Blogging allows customers to research the product they are looking for with ease.
Companies that keep a regular can also use their blog to communicate with their readers and customers. There are many features that a blog site can offer that will allow a reader to enter comments and contact the writer. Companies that encourage their readers to leave comments can take the comments and improve their services and products. In addition, companies can email their customers back and let them know that they are interested in what they have to say. In addition, a company that uses blogging to market their service or product should always rely on an experienced writer to update the blog. Business blogs should be polished and easy to read.
Another good reason why businesses and companies should include a blog in their marketing plan is because a blog provides a unique way to understand what customers want. Companies that are in tuned with their customer’s needs and wishes can better serve them. Keeping an updated blog will initiate more customer communication that can help a company know right away how to improve. Blogs provide good public relations and are generally much cheaper to maintain than a regular web site. Also, a business that keeps a blog can reach out to other complimenting companies and link those blog sites together. This will help build readership and customers.
When setting up a blog for business purposes it is important to look for a blog-hosting site that can offer the right kind of features. Most businesses will use a site that can offer them more search engines and options to add links and URLs on their page. Free blog sites may not have the capabilities to offer as many features as the ones that charge a monthly fee. The search engine option is very important for a company that keeps a blog. This will ensure that readers can easily locate the company’s blog page. Also, a company setting up a blog should always keep the links and contact information within the blog current. A customer will not want to continue using a blog page that is full of broken links or outdated contact information. If a company relies on their customers to read the blog, then those customers will always rely on the company to make their blog experience a positive one.
Blogging can be a great marketing tool for any size business. It is important for businesses to realize that blogs are not a passing fad, but a unique way to interact with customers and gain recognition in a particular field. Blogging is a great way for a business to effectively market their product or service without spending a lot of money. There are many benefits of business blogging. Businesses that keep up with a blog can introduce their products or services to consumers and can better communicate their customers. Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida. See more articles on blogging and internet marketing at http://www.theinternetmarketingsecrets.com |
| posted by birdflu2006 @ 10:07 PM |
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| Thursday, February 05, 2004 |
| Internet Marketing By Blogging |
- By: Jo Han Mok
Blogging has been practiced for years. But it's just recently that it has been considered as one of the addicting fads. Many people have resorted to blogging as an outlet for their emotions, a little online nook where they can blurt out whatever just bugs them or whatever makes them feel elated. Savvy marketers have also discovered that blogging is one of the best Internet marketing methods that won't break your bank account.
Just what exactly is blogging? Blog is the widely used term that refers to web log. In a nutshell, a blog is like an online journal. A blog could be set up to no cost at all, and can be used for just for the fun of it or most importantly for business reasons.
Blogging for your Internet business is one surefire and easy way to boost the visibility of your products and services. Here are a few ways to boost your internet advertising with the help of a blog:
1. Make your clients or customers abreast on your website's alterations. Your new services, products and affiliate websites could also be announced through your blog.
2. Share your opinions, advice or reviews on specific services or products that are related to your business. Publishing is a very easy process with blogging.
3. Keep track of your business objectives and plans through open writing. Your blog content can be easily stored through archives. What could be better than searchable information that could be easily accessed by anyone browsing the web, right?
4. Include links that will fetch back links and subsequently improve your ranking on search engines. This could be better executed through putting well-written articles in your website. Affiliate links could also be included in your blog to earn additional income.
5. Collect response through the ability of blogs to fetch comments from your blog readers. You can learn and improve your products and services through the comments and feedback left by your readers.
6. Connect easily with other bloggers. When other bloggers notice that you have something good in your blog, they will put you in their favorite lists that will automatically link you to their blogs.
So, how do you set up a blog? Here are some of the options you can make use of to take advantage of this fun way to advertise your Internet business.
Either you load a blogging software or let a blogging hosting service do it for you. Host services such as LiveJournal and Blogger.com are the most popular in this field. Those hosts will provide you with easy instructions on how to put up your blog easily.
Jo Han Mok Shares How Blogging Can Be Used For Internet Marketing.
Jo Han Mok is a frequent guest and featured speaker at Internet Marketing bootcamps and conferences on subjects such as copywriting and Joint Venture Marketing. Visit his website to find out how he can help you turn mere words into cash!
http://www.MasterWordsmith.com |
| posted by birdflu2006 @ 11:57 PM |
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| Tuesday, February 03, 2004 |
| How Blogging Can Help Your Business – Ways to Use Your Blog |
- By: Jason DeVelvis
As a business owner who likes to stay up-to-date on the latest marketing methods and technology, you probably already know how blogging can help your business. There are many benefits of having a company blog, and a great many business owners have already discovered the advantages that are to be had. But if you aren’t sure how to use your blog for your business, here are some ways that your blog can be used.
Customer relations are one use for a company blog. Opening up the lines of communication with your customers is the first step to excellent customer service – and you can learn a great deal from your customers. Print the URL for your blog on receipts, business cards, and brochures to build interest. You can also use your company blog to get customer feedback about your products or services. Again, you can learn a lot from your customers, and use the feedback to improve your products or services and give customers more of what they want in the future.
Company blogs are great research and development tools. You can ask your customers questions about what they want or need. Tell them what you have in development, and what it will do, and ask them how you can make it better. You can even run contests for your customers through your blog, offering the product in development as a prize to the person who comes up with the best idea.
Once you have developed new products or services, you can use a company blog to introduce your new product lines. Keep your customers up-to-date on what is developing or changing at your company. Past customers should be your first customers for your new products and services – and this will happen if they have had a positive experience with you in the past. A blog adds to that positive experience.
You can also use your company blog to teach customers how to use products or services. You can use the blog to answer technical support issues as well. Many companies turn their blogs into a series of how-to articles that are to be used primarily by their current customers. This method has also been found to increase interest – and sales – for products as well. People always want to know how to improve something in their lives, and you should use this need to your advantage!
You can drastically improve employee relations with a company blog. Your employees have private lives, and often, they have happy news that they want to tell the world. Allow them to tell their fellow co-workers their happy news on the blog. Some companies hire a person to maintain and up-date the company blog. People within the company contact the blogger with their news, and the blogger blogs it. This is a great way to boost moral at your place of employment. You can also use the company blog to keep employees up to date on projects, new products, training sessions, or company policy.
If you will be allowing your employees to add entries to the company blog, it is a good idea to implement a blogging policy. There is a great deal of controversy today about company censorship of blogs, so even if you don’t have a company blog, you might want to implement a policy concerning any mention of your company in personal blogs as well.
Get your company blog set up and operating today.
As a business owner who likes to stay up-to-date on the latest marketing methods and technology, you probably already know how blogging can help your business. There are many benefits of having a company blog, and a great many business owners have already discovered the advantages that are to be had. But if you aren’t sure how to use your blog for your business, here are some ways that your blog can be used.
Jason frequently gives tips like this to the subscribers to his newsletter. Visit his blog at Adventures In Internet Marketing and subscribe to his newsletter today! |
| posted by birdflu2006 @ 11:58 PM |
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| Monday, February 02, 2004 |
| How to promote your blog for free online |
- By: Chileshe Mwape
11 Ways to Promote Your Blog
1. Ping weblogs.com and other search engines. When you ping a blog, you are telling the search engine that you have updated your blog content and that your listing should be refreshed. Weblogs.com is a blog update notification service that many individuals and services use to track blog changes. Pinging your blogs to the search engines is the fastest way to get the search engine robots to visit your blog. Also, many people browse these sites to find something new.
2. Submit your blog address to blog search sites and directories. You can submit your blog's url to websites such as Technorati, Daypop, Blogdex and Popdex. For a complete list of websites where you can submit your url, go to http://www.guidetorss.com
3. If you have some cash you can promote your blog using pay per click search engines such as Yahoo Search and Google Adwords.
4. Set your blog to display RSS feeds and submit your blog's RSS feed to the major RSS feed directories online. A good place to start is http://www.guidetorss.com which provides a list of the top RSS directories.
5. Put your blog URL in your email signature. If you’re a regular at any online discussion forum, you can also add your url to your signature line at the bottom of each message you post.
6. Install a blogroll. A blogroll is a collection of links to other weblogs. Services such as Technorati spider your links to tell who’s linking to you and who you’re linking to. If you show up on someone’s Technorati link list for their site they’re likely to visit your site to see what you said, increasing your exposure. Blog owners can also visit your site to check it out if you show up on their referral logs.
7. Be an active commenter. Try to leave comments on the blogs that you regularly visit. Most comment systems also provide a way for you to leave a link back to your blog which begs a visit at the very least.
8. If you plan to have anything printed up, put your blog’s web address on it. You can print your blog URL on business cards, stickers, leaflets, etc.
9. Take advantage of blog software features that help to promote your Blog. For example, if you're using Blogger, you can do this by turning on: "Email This Post", "Post Pages" "Site feed" and the Blogger Navbar. These features will help attract new visitors to your blog.
10. Exchange Links with other Bloggers or blog owners. This is another effective strategy for generating targeted traffic to your blog for free. It involves contacting other blog owners for a possible link exchange partnership. All you have to do is locate blogs that are related to yours and contact the webmaster to swap links.
11. Write articles or free reports for other webmasters to publish and put your blog url in the byline. The ‘byline’ is the short paragraph that goes at the bottom of each article and describes who the author is and what they do. If you write good content, your articles will be published by other webmasters and many readers who like your article will go on to visit your blog. You can submit articles for free at: http://www.going-platinum.co.uk/
This article features 11 methods that you can use to promote your blog on the online and offline.
Copyright © 2005. Chileshe Mwape writes for Debt Consolidation Loans UK: http://www.best-debt-consolidation-loan.co.uk/ and http://www.secured-homeowner-loan.co.uk/ . Visit these sites to consolidate debts and apply for a loan online. This article may be reprinted as long as all the above links are active and clickable. |
| posted by birdflu2006 @ 11:58 PM |
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| Sunday, February 01, 2004 |
| How to Get Your Blog Noticed Quickly and Widely |
- By: Greg White
1. Submit your blog to all of the directories listed on http://pingomatic.com/. Pingomatic will ping 15 services all at once.
2. Ping your blog after every post at http://pingomatic.com/
3. Here's a real gem: Submit your blog to http://www.pingoat.com/ Pingoat will ping over fifty blog ping services all at once. So you don't have to hunt for ping services and manually ping them. Pingoat pings over fifty blog ping servers (growing) with just one click.
4. Ping your blog after every post at Pingoat at http://www.pingoat.com/
5. Sign up for a free account at BlogExplosion.com and register your blog there: http://www.blogexplosion.com/
6. Submit your blog to all of the directores listed at http://www.rss-feeds-directory.com/blog_lists.html
7. Sign up for a "My Yahoo" at http://my.yahoo.com/ and attach your blog to your own "My Yahoo" account. This will get your blog included in Yahoo very quickly. This is worth the effort to stop what you're doing right and do it, since Yahoo has a PR 9.
8. Use this code: "http://add.my.yahoo.com/content?url=http://www.yourblog.com/urblog.xml" in your blog to allow others to put your feed on their own "My Yahoo" account.
9. Sign up for a "My MSN" at http://www.my.msn.com/, and attach your blog to your own "My MSN" account. This will get your blog included in MSN very quickly. This is also invaluable because MSN has a PR 8.
10. Use this code: "http://my.msn.com/addtomymsn.armx?id=rss&ut=http://www.urblogfeedaddress.com/urblog.xml" in your blog to allow others to put your feed on their own "My MSN" account.
11. Place the link and description of your blog in your signature, so that any posts to Forums, Outgoing Emails, Autoresponder Courses, etc, will promote your blog.
12. Post a link and description of your blog on each of your sites.
13. Place your blog on all the major search engines. AddMe.com will submit your blog free to the top 14 Search engines here:
http://www.addme.com/submission.htm
SubmitExpress.com will submit your blog free to the top 20 Search engines here:
http://www.submitexpress.com/
14. Use Article Directories as a resource for articles to post on your blog. Here are a few:
http://ezinearticles.com/
http://goarticles.com/
http://www.knowledge-finder.com/
http://www.informit.com/articles/
Also check out Article Marketer at http://www.articlemarketer.com for a quick and easy way to reach article directories and ezines.
15. Locate blogs with a lot of traffic and place useful comments in their comment box. Be sure the blog and your comments are relavent to both your blog and theirs. Senseless posts won't help you, they'll hurt you.
16. Once you get around 5 to 10 posts on your blog, start a PR campaign and announce it to all relevant channels.
17. Make a blog post as often as possible. More than once a day is not really necessary. Remember, if you can't write that much, go to step # 14.
Blog Marketing Tactics, Tips, and Tricks That Help You Build Your Business.
Greg White, Internet Marketer, Author, and Proj Mgr has run successful web projects since 2001. |
| posted by birdflu2006 @ 11:59 PM |
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