Blogging
In July, I learned about blog “challenges” and was curious about them. From what I’d heard, website owners were having extraordinary success by participating in them. These results ranged from increased traffic, more subscribers to their lists, invitations to be guest bloggers on well-known sites, interviews for other business owners, etc. It sounded too good to be true…and like a lot of work! While I WAS blogging, I tried to be active about 2-3 times a week, not daily!
And so when a colleague of mine launched a blog challenge and invited me, I was skeptical that I could participate, though based on what I’d already heard about the benefits, I knew that I should. And I did.
The results were powerful! I’ve had a 72% increase in overall traffic to my website and a 70% increase in new visitors to the site. And this was in 31 days! But it was a bit daunting until I discovered a few “tricks” for making it easier on myself, so that I could stay excited about blogging daily.
If you’re ready to take on the challenge and increase traffic to your website, as well as explode your visibility to potential clients, then use these tips to help you leverage a blog to grow your business.
Tip #1 – Plan out some topics you’d like to talk about
Take 10 -15 minutes, sit down and just do a “brain dump” of all the things you could share with your readers. It could be lessons learned from your client interactions, questions you get from prospects and how you respond or how your clients get incredible results by taking the first step, etc.
Once you have the list, then take one, each day, to blog about. You’ll get the opportunity to teach more people and have them follow you to learn more. And where else will you find a platform to demonstrate how much you know and want to share with others – and they in turn will share what they like about it with others!
Tip #2 – Sharing is caring…
I don’t mean to get mushy here, however, sharing other people’s knowledge with your readers demonstrates that you care enough to help them learn “beyond” you. It’s natural to want to know it all and share it all so that people come to you. But your value grows exponentially when you expand THEIR knowledge by sharing more from other sources. Then you’re viewed as the “go to” resource to help people learn more and grow more. In addition, when you share someone else’s content, they will likely return the gesture. Now more people get to know who you are and what you offer.
Very cool!
Tip #3 – You can accomplish more than you think…
I was a little concerned about the 31 days of blogging and immediately began thinking of what I could “re-purpose” vs. create from scratch. And even then, I was nervous about “repeating” myself. And it didn’t help that I had a birthday and some travel in the midst of the 31 days! But you know what? As we all do, I rose to the occasion. You become more creative and committed when you start to see that you ARE blogging for 10 days, 20 days, etc. — consistently! It’s quite the feeling to look back and see what you’ve accomplished…so much so, that you’re committed to “not going back”. Not blogging will begin to feel unusual for me now.
Of course you should link your blog to the social media sites you participate in, like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, so that more people become aware of all the great information you have to share with them!
Good luck and happy blogging!
P.S. – Here is why blogging is so cool…I re-purposed part of my post for this article…cool huh?
Chris Makell, marketing mentor/coach, is particularly skilled at guiding her service professional clients to “Think Big…Play Bigger” and successfully create 6 & 7 figure businesses. Claim your free report “5 Critical Steps to Get High Paying Clients, Today” at radiancemarketing.com/specialreport/
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting Blog
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If you are an online entrepreneur – or any kind of entrepreneur for that matter (offline, bricks and mortar, professional, whatever) you may have wondered if you should start a blog to promote your business. Should you start a business blog, and how should you approach it if you do?
In this article I want to suggest what an effective business blog is, and the attitude you should have when you consider creating one. This may help you decide if you should put in the effort to create and maintain one.
Business Blogging is Marketing
Starting and maintaining a business blog can be a lot of work, so it is important to know why you are doing it. Almost without exception, people in business have blogs for some marketing objective. They don’t blog because it is good for their health or they have a lot of spare time on their hands. They blog because they are trying to “sell” a message.
That doesn’t necessarily mean your business blog should be constantly hawking products or talking about special deals. But it does mean that it should reflect your business objectives and offer relevant information to your primary target market – your customers and prospects.
Sometimes the “marketing” objective of a blog is not very obvious. To take a fairly extreme example, let’s say you are a writer or a “commentator” type – you know, the kind of person who likes to express opinions, “rant”, or just hear him or herself talk.
Put yourself in this person’s shoes for a minute. Having a blog gives you a platform for getting exposure and enhancing your professional persona. It doesn’t have to be your only soapbox – you may also want to post videos on Youtube or start a radio program on BlogTalkRadio.
Or you may already be one of those popular opinionated radio talk show hosts. Having a blog can be the focus for your empire – the thing that ties it all together and helps you establish a consistent presence.
Business Blogging is about Publishing
Second, business bloggers should view themselves as publishers. Publishing is different from just writing things occasionally. Publishing is done in an organized and focused way with the intention of appealing to specific readers – your audience, your community, your people.
Unlike a diary, or even a traditional blog (which is sort of like a diary) you are not primarily writing for yourself in a business blog. A diary is not meant to be read by others. A business blog is the opposite. A primary objective is to give as many readers as possible something interesting to read, watch or listen to. And, of course you want to create a tie-in with your company products or services at the same time.
There is a parallel here with book publishing. Traditional publishers will only publish a book if they think it has a chance of recouping costs and (hopefully) making a profit. When you submit a written work to a traditional publisher you are subjecting your work to the evaluation of a somewhat detached third party. Their primary concern is not to spread your message, but rather to sell your book in order to stay in business.
On the other hand, when you self-publish you pay the costs up front and are not willing to accept some third party’s opinion of the marketability of your writing. This is often called the vanity press because people who self-publish are prepared to pay to have works printed that have no hope of making a traditional publisher any money.
Blogs have been compared to the vanity press because they are self-published, have virtually no cost of entry, and often have no chance of getting a lot of readers.
But business blogs – at least as I have described them here – are more akin to traditional publishing. It is only worth doing if it is marketable – if people want to read it – and if it can give your business some fairly tangible benefit. You should not waste your time and effort on a business blog if it has no chance of giving you some kind of return.
In other words, as a publisher you should be prepared to do what it takes to make your business blog a worthwhile investment. First, that means evaluating your target market and coming up with a game plan. Second, it means creating content that has a chance of getting readers. And third it means promoting your blog because you recognize that without readers you are basically wasting your time and the resources of your business.
Rick Hendershot is president of Linknet Promotions and publishes a marketing blog called Linknet Forum. It focuses on SEO, social networking, blogging strategy, link building and other online business marketing topics – < a href=”http://www.linknetforum.com”>www.linknetforum.com
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting’s Blog
Maintaining a blog is a great way to bring in traffic to a website. It is considered by many to be among the greatest ways to get attention by the search engines without having to study algorithms or anything else. You will be able to create the kind of organic SEO material which search engines love and your visitors will find most appealing. The problem some people run into is making sure the content on their blog remains as fresh and inviting as possible even after they have been blogging for an extended period of time. There are a few different ways in which you can accomplish this.
When blogging to gain traffic for your site, it is important to make sure your site is being trusted by those who visit it. You can maintain this position of authority by inviting experts to post on your blog often. You can also offer your visitors the ability to enter blog posts on your blog. If you cannot think about anything new to write or you simply do not have the time, hire a freelance writer. You can also hire a professional to revamp the look of your blog. Marketing your blog through affiliates can also help to maintain freshness. Use the ideas which work best for your particular business.
Invite Experts as Guest Bloggers
It is important that you have the ability to get the most out of the blog that you have. You can make sure that your blog is taken very seriously by inviting experts to enter content on your blog. You do not have to enter their names into your payroll services. Simply make sure that they are being paid or receiving some kind of compensation for the content that they provide. Many experts will be glad to post on your blog if you have good recognition. They will enjoy the kind of exposure they will receive by posting on well-known sites.
Allow Visitors to Add Blog Posts
Your visitors might be something of an expert themselves. Allow them to submit blog posts to your site. You can often get good content from others by offering to allow them to create links to their sites. Other bloggers and other businesses will jump at the opportunity to post on your blog if they will get something out of it. Others enjoy simply spreading the knowledge they have to others. Make sure that you look over content before it is posted. You do not want to risk others submitting content which will get your website banned or result in less people wanting to visit your site.
Hire Freelance Writers
You can always get fresh ideas by bringing in new talent. Look into hiring freelance writers from different sites around the internet or from forums. They can add content to your site and you will not have to pay a lot of money to get the content you are looking for. The great thing about hiring freelance writers is that they will be able to provide the kind of information you are looking for without having to do the research or work on your own. Hire based on writing skills and understanding of the kind of content you are looking for.
Revamp Your Look
Staying fresh is easiest when the look of your site is fresh. Make sure that you are changing the look of your blog often so that it will be as inviting as possible. Change everything from the background to the orientation of the material which is on the blog. The easier you make the blog to use and the more appealing the appearance is the more likely you are to attract more people to the blog. Pay attention to what other sites in your niche are using as a look. You can pick up ideas from these different sites, but pay attention not to copy them. If your site looks just like another, it will make your site look like a copycat and you will lose some of your credibility. Maintain a fresh look by staying ahead of the curve as much as possible.
Affiliate Marketing
Linking with other sites can also help your blog to remain fresh. Look for other sites in the same niche as yours and offer to create affiliate networks which pay one another for the traffic that you receive. The mutually beneficial agreement will help to bring in traffic to your site as well as to theirs. When you are linked with affiliates, you also have the opportunity to bring in advertisers with banners and other kinds of advertising schemes. Make sure you are not linked to anything which will offend your visitors or the visitors you get from other sites so traffic stays high.
Resource Nation provides free tools, tips, and purchasing advice for business owners and entrepreneurs in over 100 business categories ranging from payroll services to credit card processing. Whether it’s connecting businesses with local and national pre-screened vendors, or offering easy service comparisons on a small business payroll service, Resource Nation empowers business decision makers by providing the information they need to make smart choices.
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting’s Blog
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Blogs take commitment and time to build, without traffic it can be a lonely uphill struggle. Implement these tricks to increase blog traffic on your site.
So you’ve got your blog running, but you are waking up day after day to no traffic. What has gone wrong? This is a common complaint for many website owners. Read on for methods to increase blog traffic.
There are many methods to apply to increase blog traffic. Two mistakes that newbie bloggers will make, for example, is not providing top notch quality posts and not spending time building relationships. Without good content, there is not much reason for people to hang around, and without relationship building, people aren’t so likely to return.
Here are some actions to take that will improve your traffic flow.
1. Good content takes time to research and to write. Build time into your weekly to do list for this purpose.
2. Spend time networking. This can be done via social networking tools such as LinkedIn or Facebook. Alternatively you can network by commenting on other blogs. By adding pertinent and relevant comments that add value, you can build up a presence on other blogs in your niche and the readers of your comments will click on your link. If they don’t, you have at least built a back-link to your site, to help with your search engine marketing.
3. Offer free giveaways. Again, these need to be of good content that people want to read. The best giveaways provide unique and useful information that cannot be found elsewhere. You can create this content by running a survey, by offering your unique opinion on your industry (stay polite).
4.Learn about SEO. Yes, SEO takes time. It’s not even so much the application of it. It needs to be learned, then you need to stay on top of the latest changes and methods, as it isn’t something static with Google changing their ranking criteria at least a couple of times a year. This is essential to increase blog traffic.
5. Apply SEO. This might mean optimizing graphics, titles and tags on your blog. Spend time researching each keyword up front for the best results. Use SEO plug-ins and URLs to aid your blog in getting found.
6. Invite guest posters. Guest bloggers will often pull some of their own audience over to your blog for their post. If you invite bloggers from your niche, you will have access to the same market.
7. Don’t advertise. By adding adverts all around your blog, it can often lower the tone. Wait until you have a popular blog until you start adding them.
8. Keep comments closed. That is until you have got several RSS subscribers and regular readers. Nothing looks more sad and lonely than a blog without any comments. Keep your anonymity private until you are popular.
9. Share as much as you can. This might even mean revealing some of your own business secrets. The more you share, the more you will be rewarded with links and traffic.
10. Write pillar posts. These are the posts that really are worthy of getting a lot of attention. Perhaps a major list or a post that describes step-by-step procedure on how to do something. These are generally unique and take more than an hour to create. Make the most of them by bookmarking them on Digg and promoting them on your social networking accounts.
With so much competition out there, blogging does need to planned and implemented with quality posts. Before you know it, you will have implemented the steps required to increase blog traffic on your site.
Combine your blog and podcast into one
Andrew Holtom is an experienced and accomplished online marketer. Andrew enjoys introducing newcomers to the profits of internet marketing. To read more about blogging and other online marketing methods visit Andrew’s blog at www.webmarketinginformation.com
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting’s Blog
It seems as though many blog readers still prefer to get blog updates via email, despite the popularity of RSS feeds, I have 21,000+ unread blog posts in my Bloglines account, so I’m definitely one of those. Since there’s no real way to track numbers through an RSS reader, I have no idea of how many people read my blog through an RSS reader. Consequently, I began to do some research on how to better harness my blog subscribers and increase my subscriber base.
Here are the 4 strategies you can implement to double the number of blog subscribers to your blog:
1. Blog newsletter.
Your blog’s success depends largely on your ability to drive visitors to it to read your posts, click on your ads, and purchase your products and services.
When you have a blog ezine, you can combine the best of email and RSS and then covert the RSS feed of your blog automatically to an ezine. You can schedule your blog newsletters to publish on a regular basis, or as you publish new posts. You can also track web site clicks using your own domain name, and see who clicks your links and opens your messages. The most powerful feature is the ability to segment subscribers based on who clicked (or didn’t click) on a link and send followup emails.
2. Blog subscribe page.
Just like the subscribe (or squeeze) page for your ezine, your blog needs a squeeze page, as well, to sell visitors on the value of your blog.
Some visitors will get to your subscribe page from one of your posts, and others will arrive there from your signup form, where you link to your subscribe page for people who want more info before deciding to subscribe. Throw in a free gift for subscribing.
3. Opt-in form at end of each post.
At the end of each post, place an opt-in form for added effectiveness. If someone reads to the end of an article, she must have been particularly impressed with the content. So, why not make it easy for her to subscribe at the end of the post?
4. Share function.
When you ask your current subscribers to share your blog, you’re likely to get new subscribers just like your current ones, who then share your blog with other people in your target market. A quick way to do this is to have a sidebar in your blog newsletter asking your readers to share the post, and then request readers to visit your blog squeeze page to receive future posts.
Those who have used these four strategies have experienced great increases in their blog subscriber numbers, even though these strategies aren’t widely discussed. Discover how your blog readership grows by implementing just one of these strategies today!
Here’s how you can discover how to increase your online visibility in this free ecourse, Introvert Marketing Toolkit: 9 Strategies to Make a BOLD Impression Online, at ==> www.IntrovertMarketingToolkit.com
This article courtesy of SiteProNews.com for MayonWebHosting Blog
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