Blog Content – Keep It Interesting and Relevant

Monday, April 12, 2010 8:32
Posted in category blogging

So you’ve set up your blog and have been posting regularly, maybe even built a considerable readership. Great stuff! So what do you do when you run out of ideas to blog about?

I came across a blog yesterday that offers some great advice on planning content.

Rowan Stanfield, in his post Blog Planning: Using Content Trending and Social Analytics to Overcome Writer’s Block, suggests the following guidelines for blog content:

  • PRACTICAL: Deconstruct industry practices, offer advice/recommendations
  • EVENTS: Identify and write about key industry events/conferences. Live tweeting from events can also be made into post-event blog posts
  • CASE STUDIES: Interviews with key customers/clients – this could be via an embedded video or podcast, or a plain old-fashioned written piece
  • CHALLENGES: Respond to common industry problems, encourage customers/potential customers to interact
  • NEWS: Staying on the pulse of related online content and commenting on high profile news pieces/articles, adding your own thoughts on a subject via blog posts/tweets
  • SURVEYS: Encourage customers and general public to participate in area/event/topic focused online surveys and use the results to create blog posts and stimulate conversation
  • STAFF: Individual blog posts by employees with more personality (i.e. ‘The team recommends’, opinion pieces, fun stuff)

Dependant upon the industry, target audience, and focus of your blog not all of the above will apply.

Rowan also shared a useful slideset on this topic:

So keep it interesting and relevant, and consistent in terms of how often you post, and you’ll be on the right track.

Happy blogging!

Photo blogging

Saturday, April 18, 2009 9:18
Posted in category blogging

Just like vlogs, photo blogs are born from the need to communicate and integrate in a community that has reached international dimensions. A photo blog mainly relies on photo sharing and publishing, while also using textual support as well. Nevertheless, when you visit a photo blog you’ll understand where the focus really lies; the phenomenon deviated from blogging with the advent of the cameraphones that allow the instant photo sharing between web users. The big advantage of such pages is that they are very dynamic in nature as compared to traditional sites. There are photo blogs that belong to individual domains and others that use larger collective services such as Blogger.

Widely accessible all over the web, photo blogs are managed with the help of specific software systems that enable content control. Thus, photo bloggers are able to upload materials and manage all posts without any restriction; the same unrestricted form is maintained for the access to photo blogs, since all that is required is a browser and direct online access. There are cases when the transition from text to photo blogs is made with the use of plugins and even code rewriting; thus a combination of text and image is possible when a blogger selects a daily entry option.

Usually photo blogs have a single author, nevertheless it is not uncommon that two or three people contribute to the same web page. The posts display depends on chronology, with the main page showing the most recent entries, but you may go back to the archives any time you want. Photo blogs are highly interactive too since users may leave any comments they want for a special entry. The presence of friendly links is also important in the photo blogging community, given the fact that creators come to move freely between sites.

It is totally incorrect to take pictures galleries for photo blogs; while the former is a simple collection images, the latter is a chronological log that uses categories allowing the user to navigate among them from older to newer materials and vice versa. It is not uncommon to also have photo blogs and moblogs as one and the same unit; though they may also function separately as well. A photo blog that can be updated from a mobile location such as camera phones could be labeled as mob logs. Nevertheless this latter concept could well function without pictures as well. In a nut shell, the composite character of the Internet allows the happy existence of hybrid blog types that enrich the puzzle even more.

Now that you know all about photo blogging what if you could get paid for your digital photos? Well it’s possible and you could be a complete amateur with basic equipment.  Click here to learn more.

Business blogging

Friday, April 17, 2009 9:10
Posted in category blogging

Many large and small businesses alike have recently discovered the great advantages of blogging in maintaining good communication relationships with both employees and customers. It is obvious that for some people, blogs have become a means of sharing information and expertise at very advanced levels and this can only mean increased profit for the company. It is a common knowledge by now that small businesses profit the most from blogging. Why? Because a highly specific web page such as a blog, successfully substitutes an extensive online presence. Instead of a static page, you offer a very dynamic blog where feed-back is encouraged and various issues get tackled with.

Many Internet experts consider blogs a very informal, yet popular way of developing business contacts, since, the informational content receives a different approach than in the case of classic promotion sites. Business owners can definitely enjoy great recommendations from users, but there are also dissatisfied customers who could review the products or services unfavorably. You’ll have to be prepared to handle such situations with the utmost diplomacy in order to avoid a worsening of the situation. On the other hand, a business blog provides the opportunity to run market research and avoid hiring employees that don’t fit requirements.

Business blogs also function as the right tool to spread news to all the employees at once; this kind of blog application is usually preferred by larger companies who can reach the staff in a more comfortable way and on a daily basis. Statistics claim that blogging significantly contributes to team building and communication between the departments of the same company; hence, there has been an increased preference for blogging over newsletters. Nevertheless, we also have to mention the more difficult aspects of business blogging as well.

For instance, maintaining an updated blog requires quite a lot of time and work, it may even be necessary to have someone perform all the operations on a regular basis. Then, the e-commerce possibilities are fewer when it comes to using a blog over a regular site; you may find it very advantageous to start blogging when you just initiate your business online, but then, you may choose to use it in parallel with a regular promotion site, once things get to look brighter. If at the beginning you take advantage of the minimal costs required by a business blog, later you need to monitor efficiency first and foremost.

Personal blogging

Friday, April 17, 2009 9:07
Posted in category blogging

The variant of the online diary, which we are all used to call blog, goes sometimes well beyond the boundaries of simple communication: there are great articles, essays and a lot of interactive stuff that create a very entertaining environment for any Internet user. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to even find future brilliant writers who shape their skill online; it all begins with the regular recording of personal thoughts, ideas, comments on books, films or music. Personal blogs also allow limitless space for the expression of critical opinions from various domains, not to mention that they preserve a record of one’s development.

Nevertheless, what most Internet experts advise is that one should keep personal and business blogging as separate activities, since mixing them can be detrimental particularly for the special online promotion of some products or services. Many analysts argue that personal blogging is often characterized by an ascending evolution since steady writing develops good thinking and synthesis skills. However, there are a few rules you must follow into making sure that your personal blog is a good, yet trustworthy mirror of yourself. The first thing you need to work on is the topic of the articles, essays that are responsible for the overall image of the blog.

There are not few the examples that include very poor personal blogs, with uninteresting topics, grammar and punctuation mistakes and very few substantial links. Keep in mind that there should be a so-called self-censoring when it comes to exposing all sorts of personal details in the pages of your blog. Unfortunately, there have been cases of stalking or stolen identity; keep in mind that you can be personal, without revealing anything from your intimate life. Why this precaution? Because, some of the comments you’ll receive on the blog may truly hurt your feelings and even change your life.

Some bloggers have chosen to limit access to their pages by the use of a digital password; thus, only family and friends are allowed to log in. People actually consider this a good means of protecting their families from possible external threats when the virtual world may overlap with the real one. Things will stay bright as long as you are able to monitor blog content and information quality on a regular basis. The good thing about blogs is the fact that you can always go back to a formal entry and make some changes or analyze things from a different perspective and this stays valid for bloggers and users alike.

Blogging – making it pay

Saturday, April 11, 2009 9:04
Posted in category blogging

Maybe the starting point of a profitable blog is a great topic, but there is definitely more to the business than that. There are two options a blogger has when trying to make the page generate revenue from advertising: either to stay on top of other blogs or provide good-quality material that ensures a high readership. Though the former option may look like the true Internet promise, things are slightly different when you have to achieve a high ad click rate. Let’s see the dos and don’ts of blogging when it comes to making money from advertising.

First of all, you need to consider the number of readers you target with the blog articles, and set an average or modest click rate in case the domain you’re dealing with is not a very common one. You may get valuable clicks, but they may not be enough to generate the income you need; therefore, always try to maintain a balance between the advertising rate you set for the blog and the amount of traffic you manage to draw by well-researched, informational content. The best Google program to use here is definitely Adsense, but keep in mind that the ads are relevant for the site material and vice versa, hence, focus on quality not quantity.

One of the smartest ways to attract traffic and therefore increase the chances to get more ad clicks is by the use of continuation links. All you have to do is post a link with an excerpt from the blog article and post it on the main page. The whole point is to make it catchy: the reader sees it, interest rises and he or she clicks on the link to get to the body of the story. If you only post the title of an article within the link, you risk that the visitor leave the page without actually minding the post.

Don’t make the mistake of linking your blog only to top pages in the business. Yes, there are sites that are considered reference points in the field, and you actually risk of orienting the reader’s attention towards a competitor. Links are great tools, but they are not everything for a blog: first comes nice, unique information, and only then should you focus on directing the reader to other similar pages. The best links to use are those that take the visitor to a detailed explanation of the information on your blog, while also allowing the return to the initial page. Good luck!

Blogging 101

Wednesday, April 8, 2009 9:02
Posted in category blogging

Once the secret of blogging was out, the interest in special tips and tricks to make it profitable soon knew a remarkable upsurge. The 101 revealed secrets for highly profitable blogs has actually become a common notion online, since the competition is tight, and achieving good blog traffic becomes crucial for the survival online. If you make a top ten list of the best ways to improve traffic and you simply post it on your blog, you could soon realize there are plenty of people who take it as a rule of the thumb and pass it on like a hot potato.

One such blogging 101 trick is to get links or profiles on very popular websites that have already got a great name in the business. How can you convince them to accept your request? Well, sometimes it pretty much depends on good fortune, but usually, you’ll have to email them an intention letter with a detail description of your blog. It would probably be a good idea if you looked for some online marketing tips before presenting the hot features of your web page. Don’t worry if you don’t get results from the first attempts, try with others, since once you get a link on their site, your blog will profit immensely.

We cannot avoid mentioning the fact that there are all sorts of “hidden” tricks that are nevertheless used to attract traffic and increase rankings. For instance, blog popularity often comes when links to your pages are added multiple times on other sites, not to mention that the creation of a large number of accounts also leads to a higher ranking thanks to the bonus points that are usually offered in return. Some bloggers have used innovative, yet doubtful, methods, such as Google, Yahoo or Microsoft site purchase to increase their traffic and the list of examples could easily go on.

In order to spread the word about your blog, you can always turn to RSS; this is probably one of the best ways to make a special intro for a new blog on the web. Most blog services are also RSS feed generators, in case you lack this tool, you can always turn to FeedForAll software to create the feeds. A site such as www.feedforall.com will definitely be a good starting point for a novice of the blogging adventure, since, presently the RSS is the best means of making your blog popular.

Review of WPRemix – Blogging Master Theme

Sunday, April 5, 2009 8:53
Posted in category review

In my search for a new look to my blog I’ve come across a very interesting website that offers a master theme called WordPress Remix 2.0.

Now this theme is not like other WordPress themes. It allows you to create over 50 themes giving you color and layout options. It also allows you to build a full site using WordPress which is awesome news for any serious bloggers and internet marketers.

Now, I’ve been searching for a couple of weeks and WPRemix 2.0 seems to be just what I’m looking for. It’s the only Blog theme on the net I’ve seen with…

  • WYSIWYG Page editor. No more mess up with code. Insert and edit page template directly from visual editor. A complete CMS experience!
  • Over 50 Page Templates. Choose from over 50 pre-structured, strategically built page templates that covers almost every layout possibility.
  • Flexibility. Create different pages and have same sidebar for all pages or you can have them different for each of them!
  • Smart Drop Menu. The smart drop menu in WPRremix 2.0 remembers exactly where you are and where you came from!
  • Dynamic Codes. You can even insert and execute PHP and Java script codes from visual editor following WP Remix code guide.
  • Add-on modules. Built in such way, it accommodates add-on modules that you can use to empower WP Remix. such as shopping cart, dynamic gallery…

I’m sure you’ll agree that this is more than any other theme. There’s tons of other stuff and I recommend to visit their site and see the demo for yourself: WPRemix 2.0 .

The advantages of having a blog

Friday, April 3, 2009 8:51
Posted in category blogging

Why do some create blogs and why do others read them? This is actually a ten points question since its answer covers the very working principle behind the entire phenomenon. First of all, we are not far from the truth when saying that bloggers are very much like journalists or columnists, and that the material we find on blogs is very often much more interesting than that in the media thanks to the personal touch writers include in their articles. Furthermore we cannot ignore the interactive dimension of blogs, which is probably the greatest advantage in itself: comment boxes for instant responses, links to documented materials, videos and pictures turn the blog into a magic puzzle.

Blogging is trendy: no comment to that! Not only is it popular with people of all ages but it also makes one feel like blending in. You get an idea of what people appreciate in your writing, you get to comment and actually live some events of public interest, and you have the chance to speak up your mind. Everything you post on the blog, every piece of original material is achieved and easily accessible when you need it; many would-be writers actually take blogging very seriously since they are offered the opportunity of getting things into print without the intermediary of another publication.

Many blogs offer the advantage of a debate area where you’ll find all sorts of opinions: don’t get angry if the feed-back is not always the one you’ve hoped for, points of view are personal and they should not hurt feelings. It’s within your power to take things like that. Then, we should also mention the popularity and promotion advantages that are specific to a blog; just like niches, small business blogs create the proper environment for the easy reach of targeted Internet users.

Many business owners have discovered that blogs are the perfect way to regularly keep in touch with customers and even employees, since these web pages function as online journals that are very frequently updated. The advantage that blogs clearly have above other sites is that they express something peculiar in the most active or dynamic of ways whereas the other “classic” web sites are definitely static. Without any shade of a doubt the voice of the writer is the element that makes a blog unique and interesting at the same time!

Is blogging profitable?

Monday, March 30, 2009 8:49
Posted in category blogging

For anyone eager to make some extra money, the Internet is probably the richest source of business opportunities, and blogging is one such great chance to generate income with low costs and little effort. How is that possible? At the beginning blogging started as the modern online diary, but it evolved towards new forms that presently provide both personal expression and money making advantages. Let’s take a look at two main ways to turn a blog into a home-business. The starting point for any online commercial action is the creation of a highly interesting web page.

Anyone running some form of business that could benefit from online promotion may choose blogging as a great form of advertising. A blog targets a special audience segment: those people interested in the products and services you offer. A blogger should therefore create a highly specific web page with content that is relevant for his or her field of activity. There may be references to the promoted products, or just links to them. Most business owners who take advantage of the profit blogging brings, choose to include various options on the pages.

First and foremost, you have to make web search possible directly from your blog; hence, you’ll need to use one of the Google programs that enables such facilities. Then, any blog visitor should have a minimum degree of independence once he or she has accessed your site, meaning that they should be allowed to perform actions: download pictures, documents and files, post comments or simply subscribe for regular updates. In order to make blogging profitable, try to keep a close watch over the traffic the blog receives, and constantly monitor how well it appears in search engine rankings.

Last but not least, blogging is also profitable for those who don’t have a business to promote: you may actually make money by allowing ads and banners related to your domain appear on the site. By the intermediary of the Google advertising programs, Adwords and Adsense, you will be paid for each click a visitor makes on a specific ad, or every time somebody performs a certain action on the blog. You’ll just have to follow the Google Adwords or Adsense instructions and apply them to the blog pages; the best way to generate revenue under such circumstances is to make sure your blog appears on the first result page of the search engines.

Blogging to the Bank 3.0 – Honest Review

Sunday, March 29, 2009 9:11
Posted in category review

Blogging has been around for a few years now. Most people use blogs to record their thoughts and lives, while the select few use them as a free way to make a fortune.

One guy who uses this to his advantage is Rob Benwell. In 2006 he dished the dirt on the tips and tricks to making a fortune using blogging. But as time passes the old systems become obsolete and new techniques are required. This is where his brand new, fresh off the press Blogging to the Bank 3.0 system comes into play.

For those who know who Rob Benwell is like me, you’ve probably made a killing using blogs.

For those who don’t, he’s the story:

Back in 2005 he was struggling to make any profit online, had dropped out of college and was getting deep into debt. He was trying all the techniques the gurus tell you and wasn’t getting anywhere fast. All of that went in the bin and he started using his own techniques and started making more and more money using simple blogs. In early 2006 he shared this with the world and had a great ebook called blogging to the bank. Tons of people got rich from using these techniques (including me). He then spoke at Online Marketing Legend Yanik Silver’s underground Seminar where he revealed even more of his underground strategies. Then July 2007 he released Blogging to the Bank 2.0 which showed users his new methods to creating online wealth using blogs. In total both versions have been read by over 50,000 people across the world.

But as I said earlier, the techniques used in these ebooks are now showing there age. Some of them are not even working in the slightest! This is where blogging to the bank 3.0 comes into play.

Check out Blogging To The Bank 3.0 here.

It’s full of great new techniques that work online right now! Everything’s explained in plain English with all the fluff cut out. I got hold of an advanced copy of the book for a much higher price than what it actuallyTsells for and it has been worth every single cent! I got it in the afternoon and by the evening I was creating new profitable blogs. Within a couple of hours of them being active I had made a nice little profit.

Blogging To The Bank 3.0 teaches you Robs new step by step blueprint to creating highly profitable long term niche blogs using the newest optimization techniques. There’s even a section on advanced Search Engine Optimization. Most people think SEO is difficult but Rob explains this nice and simply so even the blogging newbie will understand it.

Blogging To The Bank 3.0 is a breath of fresh air and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to make easy money online.

Click below for more information about this system:

Visit Blogging To The Bank 3.0.