If you are planning on becoming an online writer, you should be planning to have a blog as well.
Now I know you might be wondering why you should write for nothing when you can be paid by clients to write for them instead. But the truth is that you WILL be paid for writing your blog - it just won't happen in quite the same way.
Let's look into this a bit more closely so you can understand what I mean. It must be eighteen months now since I started my blog. For the first year or so I honestly felt like I was blogging out there on my own. I had the odd - very odd - comment that someone would leave, but for the most part I just got out there and blogged for the love of it. I didn't really worry too much about traffic or building a readership.
Then I finally decided to make the leap to my own domain name and self hosted Wordpress blog. To begin with everything felt pretty much the same - I was blogging quite happily and hoping to start building up a readership.
And that's exactly what started to happen. The thing was though, I started getting comments and emails from people who had been following my old free blog (quietly it would seem!) for months. But now they were starting to say thank you for the information and advice I had given them.
My idea has always been to make it easier for other people to get started in online writing than it was for me. And I didn't exactly find it too difficult to get going in that respect. But I did it on my own, through sheer hard work. No advice and no support in that sense either.
I haven't mentioned money yet though. And yet other things have occurred through my perseverance with my blog too. I've had clients contact me out of the blue - via my blog - asking me if I could do some work for them. And as I am starting to make more and more connections with people and commenting on their blogs in return, so I am finding that the pay off from my blog is starting to happen.
For the record I don't have any AdSense on my blog at the moment. I have a couple of affiliate links - literally two I think - and that's about it. They have brought in a trickle of money. But by far the best result of all has been to actually find new clients through it.
And of course, I can also apply for jobs and point them towards my blog to show them what I can do. I have several month's worth of posts on there now and I hope it gives people a good feel for my writing style.
It certainly seems to have helped with my online writing job applications. I applied for a dozen in the last week and all but one have come through for me. It can be a busy time ahead when you have a blog behind you to support you.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Could an Anxiety Blog Help You?
If you suffer from anxiety, do you think that an anxiety blog could help you?
When it comes to blogs, you either love them or hate them!
Yes, blogs! It's all you seem to hear about these days!
If you've got left behind and don't know what they are yet, don't worry. It's really easy.
A blog is quite simply a type of journal that is available to view online. It can be a collection of personal thoughts (a bit like a diary) or a collection of information, whether in text, pictures, audio or video. Or of course a combination of all of them.
The main thing is that a blog is updated regularly, just as a written diary would be.
Derived originally from the words "web log" a blog is usually written by just one person (the "blogger") and it will usually have a chronological order to the "postings" or "blog entries".
When it comes to learning about an "Anxiety Blog", in my opinion, there are two different types of blog:
1. An Anxiety Blog that is full of information on anxiety and is aimed at being helpful and educational for the readers.
2. An Anxiety Blog that you write yourself, perhaps as a diary of how anxiety is affecting your life.
Let's look a little closer at these two different examples, continuing with the theme of an Anxiety Blog.
The Informative Blog
This type of blog would typically be used to pass information onto the readers, who would most likely be anxiety sufferers. It's an ideal way of passing on snippets of information, making it easy on the eye to read and easy for the mind to absorb.
The writer invariably has a strong desire to help others and an anxiety blog is an ideal way to be able to pass on as much specific information as possible.
Quite often there is an area where the reader can leave a comment after an entry and this can open up the way for the writer and reader to interact with each other. It also leads it to have a more personal feel to it rather than just reading print from a screen.
I write a weekly email newsletter for anxiety sufferers and I use my blog as a reference tool for my readers. Each week, after the newsletter has been sent out, I then upload the contents of that newsletter to my blog pages. That way the newsletters or articles are always there in one place should any of my readers want to access them for further reference rather than them having to search back through their email inbox.
The Personal Blog
This type of blog would be very much written in the style of a diary. It could be a day-to-day record of how anxiety is affecting the life of the writer. It could also track the progress of the writer as they work through various processes or exercises to get their anxiety more under control.
The thing to remember is that blogs are written to be read. If you want to keep your thoughts and progress private then a blog is not for you. However, if you choose to write a blog about your anxiety so that others can read it then this can sometimes be very helpful to other sufferers.
They will be able to follow your journey, with its many ups and downs along the way, and perhaps take some hope from the fact that you are going through similar things to them. Better still, if you find that you are finally starting to break free from anxiety's hold on you, it's a wonderful feeling to be able to share that with the world and give hope to others by showing them what you have achieved and how you did it.
So that's all about an Anxiety Blog, in brief!
It looks like blogs are very much here to stay now so, if you're an anxiety sufferer who wants to share your thoughts with the world or if you have information that you feel would be helpful to pass onto others, why not give blogging a go? You might find it fun!
When it comes to blogs, you either love them or hate them!
Yes, blogs! It's all you seem to hear about these days!
If you've got left behind and don't know what they are yet, don't worry. It's really easy.
A blog is quite simply a type of journal that is available to view online. It can be a collection of personal thoughts (a bit like a diary) or a collection of information, whether in text, pictures, audio or video. Or of course a combination of all of them.
The main thing is that a blog is updated regularly, just as a written diary would be.
Derived originally from the words "web log" a blog is usually written by just one person (the "blogger") and it will usually have a chronological order to the "postings" or "blog entries".
When it comes to learning about an "Anxiety Blog", in my opinion, there are two different types of blog:
1. An Anxiety Blog that is full of information on anxiety and is aimed at being helpful and educational for the readers.
2. An Anxiety Blog that you write yourself, perhaps as a diary of how anxiety is affecting your life.
Let's look a little closer at these two different examples, continuing with the theme of an Anxiety Blog.
The Informative Blog
This type of blog would typically be used to pass information onto the readers, who would most likely be anxiety sufferers. It's an ideal way of passing on snippets of information, making it easy on the eye to read and easy for the mind to absorb.
The writer invariably has a strong desire to help others and an anxiety blog is an ideal way to be able to pass on as much specific information as possible.
Quite often there is an area where the reader can leave a comment after an entry and this can open up the way for the writer and reader to interact with each other. It also leads it to have a more personal feel to it rather than just reading print from a screen.
I write a weekly email newsletter for anxiety sufferers and I use my blog as a reference tool for my readers. Each week, after the newsletter has been sent out, I then upload the contents of that newsletter to my blog pages. That way the newsletters or articles are always there in one place should any of my readers want to access them for further reference rather than them having to search back through their email inbox.
The Personal Blog
This type of blog would be very much written in the style of a diary. It could be a day-to-day record of how anxiety is affecting the life of the writer. It could also track the progress of the writer as they work through various processes or exercises to get their anxiety more under control.
The thing to remember is that blogs are written to be read. If you want to keep your thoughts and progress private then a blog is not for you. However, if you choose to write a blog about your anxiety so that others can read it then this can sometimes be very helpful to other sufferers.
They will be able to follow your journey, with its many ups and downs along the way, and perhaps take some hope from the fact that you are going through similar things to them. Better still, if you find that you are finally starting to break free from anxiety's hold on you, it's a wonderful feeling to be able to share that with the world and give hope to others by showing them what you have achieved and how you did it.
So that's all about an Anxiety Blog, in brief!
It looks like blogs are very much here to stay now so, if you're an anxiety sufferer who wants to share your thoughts with the world or if you have information that you feel would be helpful to pass onto others, why not give blogging a go? You might find it fun!
Blogging For Your Home Business - How Can Your Home Business Blog Help You Get More Clients?
Blogging for your home businesses is sometimes considered as a tedious and time consuming task and does not produce an immediate return on your time investment. If you set up your blog correctly with a long term goal in mind it can be the powerhouse of your attraction marketing platform producing amazing results many more years to come. Having a blog is like owning piece of real-estate on the internet, which can bring results for many more years.
How your home business blog can help you get more clients?
People do business with people who they know, like and trust. Your blog is the best place that your visitors can get to know you.
People are more likely to visit a blog than a web site because it is a safe place for anyone to visit. It is like your home and only difference is that it is open 24/7 for your visitors.
The trick is that you need to provide valuable content to your target audience so that they are likely to hang around longer and come back again for more information.
Make your blog the centre piece of your marketing funnel. Your home business blog is the best place to direct your friends from your social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. At your blog, your social networking friends can get to know you better unlike sending them to a sales page. When they develop trust, then they are more likely to do business with you.
Affiliate marketers can use blogs to direct their prospects from sites that do not support affiliate links on the articles submissions.
Search engines like Google love blogs because you are consistently updating the content. This will help you with higher ranking on Google organic search.
You can use your home business blog in your Pay Per Click Campaign and be able to get a better quality score with all the relevant content you will have on your site.
Once you get visitors to your blog you can
* Get them to subscribe to your list. - Building a list of targeted prospects is the primary goal of any business. You can do this by providing a valuable offer to your readers in exchange of their contact information. Once you build a list you can sell to that list over and over again.
* Direct your visitors to sales pages where they will be able to purchase the products and services you offer & become clients.
Start blogging with your long term goal in mind and do not expect to get an immediate return. Blogging for your home business can be a tedious task at the beginning, but if you have a schedule and start posting consistently it will become second nature to you. Finally do not forget that blogging is one of the free or very low cost options available to you to attract more clients to you.
How your home business blog can help you get more clients?
People do business with people who they know, like and trust. Your blog is the best place that your visitors can get to know you.
People are more likely to visit a blog than a web site because it is a safe place for anyone to visit. It is like your home and only difference is that it is open 24/7 for your visitors.
The trick is that you need to provide valuable content to your target audience so that they are likely to hang around longer and come back again for more information.
Make your blog the centre piece of your marketing funnel. Your home business blog is the best place to direct your friends from your social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. At your blog, your social networking friends can get to know you better unlike sending them to a sales page. When they develop trust, then they are more likely to do business with you.
Affiliate marketers can use blogs to direct their prospects from sites that do not support affiliate links on the articles submissions.
Search engines like Google love blogs because you are consistently updating the content. This will help you with higher ranking on Google organic search.
You can use your home business blog in your Pay Per Click Campaign and be able to get a better quality score with all the relevant content you will have on your site.
Once you get visitors to your blog you can
* Get them to subscribe to your list. - Building a list of targeted prospects is the primary goal of any business. You can do this by providing a valuable offer to your readers in exchange of their contact information. Once you build a list you can sell to that list over and over again.
* Direct your visitors to sales pages where they will be able to purchase the products and services you offer & become clients.
Start blogging with your long term goal in mind and do not expect to get an immediate return. Blogging for your home business can be a tedious task at the beginning, but if you have a schedule and start posting consistently it will become second nature to you. Finally do not forget that blogging is one of the free or very low cost options available to you to attract more clients to you.
Will Blogging Help Your Home Based Business Income Opportunities?
Blogging is one of the most powerful ways that you can use to promote your home based business income opportunity. Bloggers constantly add content, which search engines like, content gets your site indexed faster and more often. Blog marketing is sweeping the internet world.
This provides niche marketers a great starting point in achieving search engine ranks through sharing in the online blogging experience. Blogs are simply one of the best kind of websites for increasing your natural search engine rankings. The authors almost always use "authority" platforms like Wordpress or Blogger which are recognized by the search engines.
You can enter the keywords "link building" and the search results will show you a lot of blogs related to your keywords. If you already have a blog for your home based business income opportunity, that's great you are ahead of the game. If you currently are not getting a lot of traffic to you blog; don't panic, there are some very simple fixes we can help you make to turn your blog into a lead generating machine.
You can visit most popular bookmark sites, for example digg, and use their search to find what you want to write about. It is important to note that there is a big difference between a blog search engine and a blog directory. A blog search engine's main focus is on finding blog entries that match specific keywords and blog entries that link to whatever website addresses were entered by the person requesting the search.
Technorati classifies its blog postings by assigning tags to each one. Many websites offer blogging where you can add a discussion about your website and products. This is a perfect opportunity to increase exposure for your home based business income opportunity. As it continues to move forward, online advertising has tapped into the blog's true potential.
What I simply mean here is for you to look at another person's blog and see what they do to make their blog interesting and what they do to hold the reader's attention. Do not copy their content, simply use it as a basis to create your own content. Many popular blogs are written like a magazine informing readers of the latest trends. There is a blog for almost any topic you can imagine as well as a variety of authors.
This provides niche marketers a great starting point in achieving search engine ranks through sharing in the online blogging experience. Blogs are simply one of the best kind of websites for increasing your natural search engine rankings. The authors almost always use "authority" platforms like Wordpress or Blogger which are recognized by the search engines.
You can enter the keywords "link building" and the search results will show you a lot of blogs related to your keywords. If you already have a blog for your home based business income opportunity, that's great you are ahead of the game. If you currently are not getting a lot of traffic to you blog; don't panic, there are some very simple fixes we can help you make to turn your blog into a lead generating machine.
You can visit most popular bookmark sites, for example digg, and use their search to find what you want to write about. It is important to note that there is a big difference between a blog search engine and a blog directory. A blog search engine's main focus is on finding blog entries that match specific keywords and blog entries that link to whatever website addresses were entered by the person requesting the search.
Technorati classifies its blog postings by assigning tags to each one. Many websites offer blogging where you can add a discussion about your website and products. This is a perfect opportunity to increase exposure for your home based business income opportunity. As it continues to move forward, online advertising has tapped into the blog's true potential.
What I simply mean here is for you to look at another person's blog and see what they do to make their blog interesting and what they do to hold the reader's attention. Do not copy their content, simply use it as a basis to create your own content. Many popular blogs are written like a magazine informing readers of the latest trends. There is a blog for almost any topic you can imagine as well as a variety of authors.
Will Blogging Help My Small Business?
The standing of the blog within Web 2.0 circles has diminished recently. Many social media experts and internet marketing professionals have even started to dismiss the blog as an industry relic. It's an interesting position, and one that does have some theoretical grounding to it.
But for a number of reasons, the blog is still a very important part of a successful online marketing strategy. Not necessarily the traditionally-defined blog, but the 'blog' that has emerged from within the context of Web 2.0 as it exists today.
How exactly do blogs contribute to an effective web marketing portfolio?
1. Blogs are the internet equivalent of expert credentials. Maintaining a blog sends a message to readers that the author holds a wealth of knowledge over the subject matter and provides the company with credibility and authority. By maintaining a blog, your company can prove that it's an expert in its field.
2. The old adage still holds true today: content is king. Content will grab new readers who are searching for information on a given topic and bring them right into your website. Your content will bring new readers into your sphere of influence and get them to associate your brand with expertise on your subject. A blog allows you to share information and simultaneously distribute your brand. Your blog is your corporate research team - your website is your sales team.
3. Blogs drive traffic through search engine optimization. The internet's leading search engines love blogs because they often contain useful, informative content - and maintaining a blog on your website lets your brand reap the benefits of that added search exposure. Updating your corporate website daily with new information is impractical, if not impossible. But updating your corporate blog daily is easy, and it's a great way to hook new readers and increase your search engine market share.
4. A blog is like your company's vacation home. Increasing the amount of information about your company on the internet only increases the number of ways that potential customers can become familiar with your brand. If you think of potential customers as potential house guests, then owning a vacation home only helps you accommodate even more.
5. A blog lets you not only facilitate discussions about your company's products and services, but it also lets you lead those discussions. Social networks are great for spreading the word about your company, but once those discussions are being hosted elsewhere, your company has very little control over what they're based upon. Nurturing a community about your brand through your blog lets you keep the noise to a minimum. Why let a third party site control the information that gets posted about your company?
Sure, blogs are a great way for a company to increase its exposure to new internet traffic and maintain the quality of the information available about it on the internet. But blogs, like anything else, need to be approached in a sensible way. Here are some tips for maintaining your company's blog:
1. Keep the marketing to a minimum! A blog isn't an advertisement - it's an online discussion. Treat readers like adults and they'll respect you for it. You can't use a blog to issue press releases.
2. Keep your blog in a subdomain of your company's website - like blog.company.com. Don't use an external site to host your blog, or the great content you're posting won't help your company website's search engine optimization. Remember, you want all of that great insight associated with your company's website.
3. Keep company-related keywords in mind when writing blog post. Your content should be comprised of rich keywords by about 3 to 5%. Come up with a list of keywords that you'd like your company to be associated with and use them effectively in your blog posts. This will help search engines associate your site with the phrases that drive your business.
4. Personalize your blog! If a potential customer reaches your blog and thinks it was written by a corporate drone in a business suit, she's not likely to stay for long. Put pictures of real employees next to their names when they write posts, and let them communicate a unique, honest "voice." Customers trust people, not corporations.
5. Promote your blog! A great way to get the word out about your company's blog is to announce it using social networks. Let viral marketing do the heavy lifting so you can focus on the content. A blog is useless if no one is reading it.
6. Let readers respond to your words. A great way to facilitate this is through comments on blog posts. This not only produces even more content to be picked up by search engines, but it sends the signal that your blog is a place for honest, sincere discussion to take place. You want to create a community around your blog that brings people back.
But for a number of reasons, the blog is still a very important part of a successful online marketing strategy. Not necessarily the traditionally-defined blog, but the 'blog' that has emerged from within the context of Web 2.0 as it exists today.
How exactly do blogs contribute to an effective web marketing portfolio?
1. Blogs are the internet equivalent of expert credentials. Maintaining a blog sends a message to readers that the author holds a wealth of knowledge over the subject matter and provides the company with credibility and authority. By maintaining a blog, your company can prove that it's an expert in its field.
2. The old adage still holds true today: content is king. Content will grab new readers who are searching for information on a given topic and bring them right into your website. Your content will bring new readers into your sphere of influence and get them to associate your brand with expertise on your subject. A blog allows you to share information and simultaneously distribute your brand. Your blog is your corporate research team - your website is your sales team.
3. Blogs drive traffic through search engine optimization. The internet's leading search engines love blogs because they often contain useful, informative content - and maintaining a blog on your website lets your brand reap the benefits of that added search exposure. Updating your corporate website daily with new information is impractical, if not impossible. But updating your corporate blog daily is easy, and it's a great way to hook new readers and increase your search engine market share.
4. A blog is like your company's vacation home. Increasing the amount of information about your company on the internet only increases the number of ways that potential customers can become familiar with your brand. If you think of potential customers as potential house guests, then owning a vacation home only helps you accommodate even more.
5. A blog lets you not only facilitate discussions about your company's products and services, but it also lets you lead those discussions. Social networks are great for spreading the word about your company, but once those discussions are being hosted elsewhere, your company has very little control over what they're based upon. Nurturing a community about your brand through your blog lets you keep the noise to a minimum. Why let a third party site control the information that gets posted about your company?
Sure, blogs are a great way for a company to increase its exposure to new internet traffic and maintain the quality of the information available about it on the internet. But blogs, like anything else, need to be approached in a sensible way. Here are some tips for maintaining your company's blog:
1. Keep the marketing to a minimum! A blog isn't an advertisement - it's an online discussion. Treat readers like adults and they'll respect you for it. You can't use a blog to issue press releases.
2. Keep your blog in a subdomain of your company's website - like blog.company.com. Don't use an external site to host your blog, or the great content you're posting won't help your company website's search engine optimization. Remember, you want all of that great insight associated with your company's website.
3. Keep company-related keywords in mind when writing blog post. Your content should be comprised of rich keywords by about 3 to 5%. Come up with a list of keywords that you'd like your company to be associated with and use them effectively in your blog posts. This will help search engines associate your site with the phrases that drive your business.
4. Personalize your blog! If a potential customer reaches your blog and thinks it was written by a corporate drone in a business suit, she's not likely to stay for long. Put pictures of real employees next to their names when they write posts, and let them communicate a unique, honest "voice." Customers trust people, not corporations.
5. Promote your blog! A great way to get the word out about your company's blog is to announce it using social networks. Let viral marketing do the heavy lifting so you can focus on the content. A blog is useless if no one is reading it.
6. Let readers respond to your words. A great way to facilitate this is through comments on blog posts. This not only produces even more content to be picked up by search engines, but it sends the signal that your blog is a place for honest, sincere discussion to take place. You want to create a community around your blog that brings people back.
How Can Blogging Help My Company Grow?
It is an indisputable fact that the world's economy is moving more toward the online model of exchange. Amazon and Google stand as icons of companies that began as small projects, only to grow into massive successes, largely due to the successful marketing of their services. The question then arises, how can a small business take advantage of the opportunities presented by the Web in order to make a profit?
Same as it Ever Was
At its core, online marketing follows the same principles as any other means of marketing - a provider has a product or service they wish to sell, so they advertise in order to draw potential customers' attention to the information they've put together. Just like television commercials, online marketing has to be creative and informative to truly catch the attention of the discerning customer. We've all heard of popup and banner ads that do nothing but hog resources and annoy potential customers rather than attract them to the product, and that result is hardly healthy for any business.
And Now for Something Completely Different
One method that sidesteps the click-away tendency is the use of a blog to market the product. Blog is a shorthand term for web log, and refers to a serial, online journal or record intended for regular viewing. Examples of blogs include noncommercial ventures such as personal diaries posted to Livejournal, the daily record of campaign events for the more tech-savvy politicians, and 'hobby' blogs that cover an activity such as cooking or model airplanes. However, they can also include outright commercial ventures, such as a blog intended to promote a new product, consisting solely of video posts explaining the various advantages to the new product.
It's Easier Than Herding Cats
Some blogs strike a balance between these two extremes. Consider the highly successful LoLCats website. This site began solely as a hobby, posting humorous images of cats. However, due to effective word of mouth promotion among people with similar interests, the site grew quickly, spinning off additional sites and generating an extraordinary amount of advertising revenue. The site has grown so much that Time magazine reported the company was purchased for two million dollars in 2007.
Now, this result is obviously not the norm. For every cheeseburger success story, there are thousands of blogs that toil on in obscurity, accomplishing nothing at all. The differences can be many, but they can be boiled down to concerns relating to effective marketing.
Give it the Old College Try
Let's say that a user named Ron has a passion for low budget college cooking, and wishes to make money writing about it. Ron starts a small blog, using the popular WordPress blogging system, and begins posting two or three times a day. He posts recipes, money saving ideas, and 'bet you didn't know' material, building a decent sized archive. To get an audience, Ron begins visiting and participating in cooking and college related forums, mentioning his blog and its goals to his audience, gathering new users with patient, active efforts.
Eventually, Ron takes two steps toward commercial success when he monetizes the blog through an advertising revenue program (such as Google's AdSense), and by using the blog to promote his new eBook, "Collegiate Cuisine". To hook readers, he promises not only recipes he's already included on the site, but special tips on inexpensive ways to get cooking tools and a few new recipes he hasn't shared yet.
Will this model work? Perhaps. If Ron is too pushy, he might turn people off to his product before they ever come to his site. If he's too timid, his message will get lost in the tide of the Internet. If he chooses poorly in the ads he allows on his site, users won't click and the ads will generate no money. So the second key is research and careful attention. Ron and other blogging marketers have to study the market, pay attention to peoples' needs and input, and adjust their presentation accordingly.
But is There Any Money in it?
To return to the point that there is money to be made in blogging, one would be remiss not to pay attention to the successful Problogger. In the classic 'make money teaching others to make money,' tradition, this is a blog that makes its revenue by teaching users how to make money through professional blogging. Many other sites, such as FreelanceWritingGigs, swear to Problogger's integrity and efficacy and the site does provide a great deal of information. So there clearly IS money to be made in the blogging-as-marketing world.
Back to the Basics
The key to blog marketing is the same key to any business venture, appropriateness. The savvy businessman will evaluate their entire business, and do the research to determine if blogging is a vital addition to what they're trying to accomplish. Blogging allows for a wider audience than local advertising, which could lead to expanding into nearby cities, or shipping to distant locales. It is an option that should seriously be examined, and approached with the same degree of research and caution as any business venture or proposal.
Same as it Ever Was
At its core, online marketing follows the same principles as any other means of marketing - a provider has a product or service they wish to sell, so they advertise in order to draw potential customers' attention to the information they've put together. Just like television commercials, online marketing has to be creative and informative to truly catch the attention of the discerning customer. We've all heard of popup and banner ads that do nothing but hog resources and annoy potential customers rather than attract them to the product, and that result is hardly healthy for any business.
And Now for Something Completely Different
One method that sidesteps the click-away tendency is the use of a blog to market the product. Blog is a shorthand term for web log, and refers to a serial, online journal or record intended for regular viewing. Examples of blogs include noncommercial ventures such as personal diaries posted to Livejournal, the daily record of campaign events for the more tech-savvy politicians, and 'hobby' blogs that cover an activity such as cooking or model airplanes. However, they can also include outright commercial ventures, such as a blog intended to promote a new product, consisting solely of video posts explaining the various advantages to the new product.
It's Easier Than Herding Cats
Some blogs strike a balance between these two extremes. Consider the highly successful LoLCats website. This site began solely as a hobby, posting humorous images of cats. However, due to effective word of mouth promotion among people with similar interests, the site grew quickly, spinning off additional sites and generating an extraordinary amount of advertising revenue. The site has grown so much that Time magazine reported the company was purchased for two million dollars in 2007.
Now, this result is obviously not the norm. For every cheeseburger success story, there are thousands of blogs that toil on in obscurity, accomplishing nothing at all. The differences can be many, but they can be boiled down to concerns relating to effective marketing.
Give it the Old College Try
Let's say that a user named Ron has a passion for low budget college cooking, and wishes to make money writing about it. Ron starts a small blog, using the popular WordPress blogging system, and begins posting two or three times a day. He posts recipes, money saving ideas, and 'bet you didn't know' material, building a decent sized archive. To get an audience, Ron begins visiting and participating in cooking and college related forums, mentioning his blog and its goals to his audience, gathering new users with patient, active efforts.
Eventually, Ron takes two steps toward commercial success when he monetizes the blog through an advertising revenue program (such as Google's AdSense), and by using the blog to promote his new eBook, "Collegiate Cuisine". To hook readers, he promises not only recipes he's already included on the site, but special tips on inexpensive ways to get cooking tools and a few new recipes he hasn't shared yet.
Will this model work? Perhaps. If Ron is too pushy, he might turn people off to his product before they ever come to his site. If he's too timid, his message will get lost in the tide of the Internet. If he chooses poorly in the ads he allows on his site, users won't click and the ads will generate no money. So the second key is research and careful attention. Ron and other blogging marketers have to study the market, pay attention to peoples' needs and input, and adjust their presentation accordingly.
But is There Any Money in it?
To return to the point that there is money to be made in blogging, one would be remiss not to pay attention to the successful Problogger. In the classic 'make money teaching others to make money,' tradition, this is a blog that makes its revenue by teaching users how to make money through professional blogging. Many other sites, such as FreelanceWritingGigs, swear to Problogger's integrity and efficacy and the site does provide a great deal of information. So there clearly IS money to be made in the blogging-as-marketing world.
Back to the Basics
The key to blog marketing is the same key to any business venture, appropriateness. The savvy businessman will evaluate their entire business, and do the research to determine if blogging is a vital addition to what they're trying to accomplish. Blogging allows for a wider audience than local advertising, which could lead to expanding into nearby cities, or shipping to distant locales. It is an option that should seriously be examined, and approached with the same degree of research and caution as any business venture or proposal.
Realtors and Blogs - Can Blogging Help To Position You as an Expert in Real Estate?
In today's world you will need to set yourself apart from others whether you are just starting out or if you are starting over. A great way to do this if you are in real estate is through blogging.
A blog is a web log. It is also a web site. Several years ago, when blogs were first around, most people used them as online journals or diaries. Today there are more than 7 million blogs around the world, or blogosphere, as it is affectionately called. There are many people who run their businesses entirely from a blog and others that use a blog as an addition to an offline business. Real estate is the perfect business to set up with a blog in addition to a traditional website. A real estate blog can take any form that you decide will work for you.
You may want to let your clients know more about who you are and what you do away from the world of real estate. You could make posts about your family and the community events you are involved in. It is probably a good idea to stay away from political or religious topics so that you do not alienate any part of your readership. Have links between your blog and business website so that people can see both. Add the web address of your blog to your business card.
There are many platforms available to set up your blog. The one that I have had great success with is called Typepad. This site offers many advantages over the free blogging platforms but has a small fee depending on the level of service you choose.
Blogging as a realtor will set you apart from everyone else. More than likely you will be the only person in your office to set up and maintain a blog, unless you are in a very large office. Try to post something new on your blog at least three times each week. An added bonus is that you will be more easily found in the search engines if you continue to blog regularly. You will be able to position yourself as an expert with the writing you post on your blog. Decide if you will be providing information or opinions to your readers, or a combination of both. Give your blog a distinctive name and purchase that as a domain. Make it something that is easy to remember so that people will visit your blog regularly. You can easily set up a form on your blog so that your readers can subscribe to it. Every time you make a post they will receive an email alerting them to what you have written. This will keep your name fresh in their mind.
Because blogging is still relatively new to the internet you will need to educate your clients on how to get the most from it. Encourage them to make comments and teach them how to do it. Comments make for lively interaction between you and the other readers.
Blogging is a great way for realtors to get to know their clients in a new and different way. Don't be afraid to experiment with your blog until it feels just right. Your readers will let you know what they want and which direction you should take.
A blog is a web log. It is also a web site. Several years ago, when blogs were first around, most people used them as online journals or diaries. Today there are more than 7 million blogs around the world, or blogosphere, as it is affectionately called. There are many people who run their businesses entirely from a blog and others that use a blog as an addition to an offline business. Real estate is the perfect business to set up with a blog in addition to a traditional website. A real estate blog can take any form that you decide will work for you.
You may want to let your clients know more about who you are and what you do away from the world of real estate. You could make posts about your family and the community events you are involved in. It is probably a good idea to stay away from political or religious topics so that you do not alienate any part of your readership. Have links between your blog and business website so that people can see both. Add the web address of your blog to your business card.
There are many platforms available to set up your blog. The one that I have had great success with is called Typepad. This site offers many advantages over the free blogging platforms but has a small fee depending on the level of service you choose.
Blogging as a realtor will set you apart from everyone else. More than likely you will be the only person in your office to set up and maintain a blog, unless you are in a very large office. Try to post something new on your blog at least three times each week. An added bonus is that you will be more easily found in the search engines if you continue to blog regularly. You will be able to position yourself as an expert with the writing you post on your blog. Decide if you will be providing information or opinions to your readers, or a combination of both. Give your blog a distinctive name and purchase that as a domain. Make it something that is easy to remember so that people will visit your blog regularly. You can easily set up a form on your blog so that your readers can subscribe to it. Every time you make a post they will receive an email alerting them to what you have written. This will keep your name fresh in their mind.
Because blogging is still relatively new to the internet you will need to educate your clients on how to get the most from it. Encourage them to make comments and teach them how to do it. Comments make for lively interaction between you and the other readers.
Blogging is a great way for realtors to get to know their clients in a new and different way. Don't be afraid to experiment with your blog until it feels just right. Your readers will let you know what they want and which direction you should take.
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