Blog To Great Feed

E Mail Blog Tips and Marketing in the Twitter, Facebook Age

2010-08-03T17:43:35-04:00

BLOG TIPS - Marketing your blog, business or business service through email is a great method to communicate with your costumers (and gain new ones). With so much effort devoted to marketing using social media like Twitter and Facebook, don't forget the proven email method! And just like any other marketing campaign, email marketing needs to be used appropriately for the maximum impact. Be ready to adjust your campaigns and review the data to make the most of your marketing effort. Email campaigns can give you many benefits to help grow your your business. How?, well...

Cost Effective- Email marketing is so much cheaper than typical mass media print advertising, and is also cost-effective due to the lower cost of acquiring new costumers / blog readers. Email also allows you to retain your existing customers while getting new ones. There is a cost to obtaining the email marketing software or an email marketing service provider if you make the decision not to manage mailings on your own yourself.

Global Reach - With email marketing you are able to send promotional messages, content, special deals to your customers and audience anywhere around the globe, certainly a big benefit compared to mass media advertising.

Fast Response- When you send out your email blast and campaign, many of the recipients will see/read your message in 24 to 48 hours and of that group many will take immediate actions if they have interest in the topic. Your promo "call to action" must be clear and simple, so that the readers know what they can expect when they click on the links: "click here to learn more", "click here to share this offer with friends", "shop know", "click to activate your account", "order this item" etc sums it up. Your call to action helps and encourages your email readers to take the step, and improves your conversion rate.

Targeted Audiences - Your email campaigns will be more effective when you target to the right prospects that are most likely to make a purchase or action decision. Gear your message to the audience and make sure you recipient list is appropriate for your offer, blog, etc.

Improve Client Relationships - When you send emails out periodically you're able to remain in contact with your blog's readers, and potential customers, by keeping your business and blog/site at the front of their minds. This way you can build a loyal customer base and improve relationships with your reader/customer.

Market Segmentation - Email marketing allows you to determine who receives You're able to ensure that your message is received by the individuals that are most likely to be interested in your offer by segmenting your email list using criteria like age, sex, region etc.

Mail Forwarding - Get new readers, and new business by encouraging your recipients to forward your emaisl to their friends, family and business associates. What a great, and easy way to increase your following / customer base / readership by getting recommendations from current business associates.

Tracking Abilities - You can keep track of who opened your email and when they did and which links they clicked on, who forwarded it to a friend thru the system tracking capabilities. Email tracking reports will help you decide if your email strategy is working appropriately and supplies you the necessary data to improve your blog / site / business.

All in all, email marketing is a cost effective business tool for any business.

Blog Posts Tags and Categories, Great SEO Help!

2010-08-02T09:10:48-04:00

BLOG TIPS - SEO for your blog is very important to make sure that your blog posts show up in Google and rank well. A simple but important blog SEO tool is to include both blog post tags and categories with each of your blog posts. Nearly all blog platforms allow you the option to add categories and tags to each of your blog posts, take advantage of this option. Simple to do? Yes! But I'm amazed at the number of blog posts I read that fail to include tags and categories, or fail to use the most effective and appropriate tags and categories.

There are several reasons why both tags and category listings are important; they help create an internal link structure to your blog, so all blog posts with the tag “Search engine optimization” are placed in one single category, and then can be seen in that category and searched by your blog readers. And, many blog platforms show top categories and tags in a number of locations other than your blog, so when you add appropriate post tags and categories on your blog posts, you may also get strong referral traffic from your blog platform and from other blogs and websites that index categories and tags of your blogging platform.

Need a domain name? Try

1 and 1.

SOCIAL NETWORKING Scams See Increase

2010-08-01T20:59:27-04:00

No such thing as a new scam, right? Scammers just keep updating age old bogus tricks and most of the scams have always involved giving money to people you don't know, nowadays online of course..

The interest and activity in social media has given us many innovations, and this includes innovation by clever scam artists and crooks. One of the most basic is burglars keeping an eye on social network users to figure out when homeowners will be away from home. Our great social networks are especially suited for con men and identity thieves, who use humanities inherent sense of trust and affection between friends to scam unsuspecting users. From a new report from the New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and the state's Acting Consumer Affairs Director Thomas R. Calcagni, who say they have seen an increase in the number of social media scams on Facebook , Twitter or other sites, often using hijacked accounts.

Continue reading @ mediapost.com

Social Networking Tips, Especially to Reach the Female Audience

2010-05-29T13:35:11-04:00

Blog Tips- With both men and women using the many social networks, several studies indicate that female users far out number the guys. And, the ladies are using it right now. Recently a great report in AdAge said, “Social networks such as LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are not the wave of the future. They’re the wave of the now. Especially in marketing and advertising, you simply cannot afford to be left behind as more of your colleagues, audience and, yes, competitors reach out through social networks as part of their routine strategies.”

So, how to reach the women to promote your blog or website and increase readership? Don’t just dive into the social networks without a plan. Do sufficient research about social networks, their functions and benegit and consider discussing with a marketer that knows the ins & outs of the networks and their huge audiences.

The main point is to not come across as an advertiser that's simply looking to promote a product / service. We also advise you to be very careful not to-

Become a Spammer- Find readers that are really interested in your opinion, service andwhat you have to say.
Be a stranger- Develope relationships. Like in real life, you'll have to work at it. Social networking is the most successful when you have relationships. And, the more, the better.
Become Noise- When you have the reader's attention and interest, say something meaningful. Don't just fill space on your blog or site, Do focus on adding value to the readers experience.
Become lazy- As I stated above, you'll have to work on the relationship and participate to get anything productiveout of social networks. A profile and account won't get you anywhere. No one will simply find you, go out and introduce yourself, your blog, your brand.
Rely on One Network!- Diversify! Don't spread yourself too thin, but do use several social networks and especially search out social networks that specialize in your field or interest.
Be fake- Readers can tell when you're pretending and forcing it. Don’t be tempted to try - So, no fake comments, glowing reviews, etc. When it's discovered, kiss your credibility (and audience) goodbye. Be in it for the long term and legit growth!
Become Selfish- The basic core of social networking is the value of the community, and not about one specific user, expecially you.

Please comment with your social network advice and tips---

Blog Giveaway Promo Tips

2010-04-12T15:45:00-04:00

BLOG TIPS - Running a giveaway promotion on your blog is great way to market your it, create some excitement for your current readers, and attrack a new audience to your blog or website. Remember, promos are the first way many readers will learn about your blog, so give it your all...

Here are some tips to make your giveaway run smoothly and maximize participation.

1. Use the Right Item - Don't be stingy. Be generous and give away something that represents you and your blog well. Don’t pick something because it's cheap or you have excess inventory. You’ll get more interest, excitement and results if the item is of value and really represents what you and your blog are about.

2. "Sell" Your Free Item- Even though you're giving away the item, you should make sure you're marketing it appropriately to your blog readers. Use the best photo you have of the item, with a stellar discription. And make sure you have inventory to sell to your customers. You're telling folks how great the item is, so why not have it for sale for those that won't win.

3. Keep It Simple - Don't make it too difficult for your readers to enter. Why? Because make folks won't bother and you could do more damage than good. You've see many blog giveaways that require readers to leave a comment in order to enter. I've seen requirements like blogging or tweeting about the giveaway, becoming a follower or putting a “badge” on their blog. website. Many readers will see all the requirements and decide it’s not worth the effort to enter.'

4. Make Sure Your Rules are Clear - On your blog, clearly list all the rules to participate. List the deadline and specify who is eligible; age limits and whether it's USA only. Tell readers when and how the winner will be selected, and specify that a new winner will be chosen if the initial winner does not respond within a set time frame (such as; “if the winner doesn't respond within 10 days, a new winner will be chosen.”). Also check to make sure all applicable local, state and federal laws are adhired to.

5. Pick an Appropriate Contest Deadline - Don't run the promo for too long (folks will lose interest) or too briefly (you'll get little impact). One to two weeks is plenty, and you should alert readers in advance that a promo is "Coming Soon" so that they keep checking back.

6. Spread the Word on Your Promo - Ask fellow bloggers to help spread the word, list on niche forums and as giveaway sites to list. Blog Giveaways is a great one.

7. Properly Notify Your Winner - When you chose your winner, it's key that you to treat the winner like a king (queen). Respond to the winners e-mails quickly, ship out the prize right away, and let the winner know that the item has been shipped. Add a thank you note.

TWITTER's New Location Sharing Service

2010-03-14T16:09:46-04:00

BLOG TIPS - This week Twitter introduced a new location-sharing feature, which gives you the opportunity to include the location from where you're sending your tweets. Have you signed on? Do you want your readers to know your location?

Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder and CEO said on the company's blog."A recent burst of interest in location sharing applications, games and services has many Twitter users excited about appending geographic data to some of their tweets," He added that "not everyone wants to add their current location to a tweet," fortunately Twitter has turned the feature off by default, meaning you'll have to turn it on to use it.

Consider signing on if you're blogging on local issues or using your blog to promote your indie cafe / shop / etc. It's a good way to reach those nearby and help them find your location.

Your thoughts?

Links Are Great for Traffic, But Avoid These Mistakes

2010-02-25T14:37:01-05:00

BLOG TIPS- We agree that linking with other bloggers is an effective way to gain blog traffic and readership but gain your links properly. Read our list of tips below (and comment to add your advice) to avoid link problems-

1. Avoid unnatural links for your blog. Years ago it was acceptable to link to, get links from any source. This is now longer the case as Google and others weigh the appropriateness of your blog's links. Nowadays, bad or inappropriate link can do more harm and in fact, lower your page ranks. Stick with reliable blogs and sites that are in or related to your blog's niche.

2. Basic reciprocal links aren't effective. Usually, obvious reciprocal from links.php pages or similar reciprocal scripts don't work, so save your time and efforts and don't try. You could end up with some link partners, but the ones you'd get you should avoid anyway!

3. Be Professional and Polite When Requesting from Other Bloggers- Remember that your both busy, be concise and accurate in what you say to prospective link - ers. Don't BS on your #s and don't bother approaching blogs or sites that are not appropriate for your blog !

4. Buy posts and links cautiously- Make sure you're getting what you pay for and know who you're dealing with before paying anything. You need to get some background on the seller and determine how established they are. And we don't recommend buing 1 or 2 month links. Once you're confident in the selling, make the deal of 6 months or a full year. The key, of course, is to be sure the websites and blogs you get on can really give you traffic thru natural looking links.

5. DON'T SPAM (or use Blackhat techniques) !!! - It doesn’t work and again, will work against you. Do it and you'll pay the price by likely being kicked out of Google's index. And those that still use Blackhat techniques are pros at it and somehow stay ahead to the SEO police. Your not, so don't try. Keep your blog clean and respectable to gain links and traffic.

You may already have some link horror stories; let us know what's worked for you thru commenting below.

Would You Like More TWITTER Followers? Here's One Way...

2010-02-23T13:37:38-05:00

BLOG TIP - With Twitter dumping its Suggested User List, now anyone has a shot at picking up followers more equally. And, Tweetmeme has offered you some help in gaining more Twitter followers with its new Follow Me button. Place it on your blog or Website similar to Tweetmeme’s very popular ReTweet button. The Follow Me button says, guess what?, “Follow” instead of “Retweet.” By clicking the Follow button, your readers will get a new window that pops up and lets them sign into their Twitter account to now follow you! Easy, huh?

It, of course comes in different shapes and sizes and shows how many followers you have. It's also tied into analytics services like TwitterCounter, Twitalyzer, and TwitterGrader.

Thanks, TechCrunch for alerting us!

My Blog Guest, New Community to Find Guest Bloggers

2010-02-21T08:25:29-05:00

Blog Tips - As we've mention, blogging communities and forums are plentiful, but as a great way to gain more blog traffic, you need to participate. Some are generic ones where people discuss all things blogging, while others are more focused and targeted such as, Blogher (which unites blogging women) and 20 something bloggers which pulls together bloggers between 20 and 30 years of age.

Blogger Ann Smarty recently created another community and it's specifically for folks looking for guest bloggers and / or guest blogging opportunities. She's named it My Blog Guest and if you're interested in guest blogging and plan to do it often, you should check it out. Gest blogging is a good tool to help gain more traffic to your blog and to monetize a blog by gaining you more readers and establishing yourself as an expert in your blog niche.

Check it out and read more by Ann at her SEOsmarty.com blog.

Help Your Blog Gain More Traffic and New Readers

2010-02-19T09:07:04-05:00

Blog Tips- As blogging continues to remain popular, despite the growth of Twitter and Facebook, and new blogs are created by the thousands each day, you need to use all at your disposal to continue to reach new readers and gain more traffic.

To help you, here are 10 easy and quick tips to assist you in gaining more traffic for your blog-

Tip 1- Blog Comments : You realize that your comments left at other blogs have the ability to generate targeted traffic to your blog and is an effective, legitmate linking plan. Just locate find a blog that's related to your niche and leave worthy, positive comments. You should include a link back to your blog, so that readers who are interested can visit your blog to read more from you. Just don't spam other blogs.

Tip 2- Reciprocal Linking: One of the most effective ways to gain appropriatem targeted traffic is by exchanging links with other bloggers or websites. It doesn't take much effort, a simple email request for a link exchange, then follow up with the blog owner, and the results are worth it. Or, you can buy software and services tod the job, just do a search and you'll find sources.

Tip 3- Blog Directories: Blog directories are like search engines but are viewed by readers searching for blogs. Make sure you submit your blog to the major directories. There are also many blog services where you turn to to "ping" your blog. Pinging informs the service that you've updated your blog with new content. The service then publish your new posts and you'll get some traffic from readers interested in the topic and from search engines.

Tip 4- Writing Articles : One of the best ways of gaining targeted, reliable and long-term traffic for blogs. When you write your own articles and placing them with article directories, you can gain a significant number of visitors at your blog. To get traffic, you have add your resource box at the end of each article you've written.

Tip 5- Submitting Press Releases: Press releases are an effective way of gaining instant traffic at your blog. Keep in mind that press releases only gain you short-term traffic so it's up to you to keep the new readers that find you. As long as you write and submit new press releases often you should see a stead y flow of new blog traffic. PRWeb.com is one of the most established distributors out there. Make sure you set up an account. There are also several automated press release services available for your use.

Tip 6- Maintain a Blog Mailing List: Knowing that it's easier to keep a customer than to get a new one, you have to keep a list, and contact with your existing readers. To be successful on line with a blog send news and content updates to your subscribers. You can ask for suggestions and comments to improve your blog.

Related to this is the importance of having your blog readers subscribe to a ‘blog update’ list which you'll use tell them when you have updated your blog. .

Tip 7- Publishing an Ezine for Your Blog : Compile your best conctent and give your subscribes content exclusive to the ezine, or online magazine. As publisher you can include whatever you'd like, even include "guest authors". This is all attract new readers your blog and drive more traffic!

Tip 8- Pay / Advertise for Traffic - Especially if you're already monetizing your blog through affiliate marketing programs, Google Adsense and sending email blasts to your subscriber list, consider using paid advertising to draw blog traffic. Start with similarly themed blogs and ask about ad buttons of banners.

Tip 9- Issuing Free Reports: Distribute free reports to readers, subscribers, anyone to market your blog! Consider re-capping your ezine and send out a concise report of the data to attrack attention to your blog. Make sure to co-ordinate with your press release activities

Tip 10- Discussion Boards /Forums: Participate in your niche's / theme's community to spread news on you and your blog. It will have a two-fold effect, position you as an authority in your field and it will help promote your blog to people that are already interested in your topic. Just make sure you add something to the conversation that is accurate and new! Remain active in these forums to maintain new traffic flow.

With all these tips, the key is to operate your blog consistently. It is important that you are truly committed to your, and your blog's success, and that you continue to build on each previous step while building traffic thru strategic moves as part of a long-term blog plan !

Affiliate Marketing, Great Revenue Techniques for Your Blog

2010-02-15T09:00:00-05:00

BLOG TIPS - Certainly a popular method for bloggers to make money, affiliate marketer is one of the most effective ways to advertise online and is one of the easiest ways for you to make a profit online. Affiliate
Marketing is a simple agreement between a merchant and a blogger, the affiliate, to allow the use of the blog for the promotion of the merchant’s products. It's accomplished by a simple link to the merchant’s website.

For that, the merchant will pay you a commission on all of the sales generated by your blog / site. Every time a reader clicks on the link on your blog and makes a purchase you'll earn your commission.

Affiliate marketing programs are said to be win-win situations for both the merchant and the affiliate (blogger) because of the pay-for-performance arrangement. Both the merchant and the affiliate get some benefits in the affiliate marketing deal. For the merchant, they get a wider market and more prospective customers for their product or service. The more affiliate sites a merchant has, the higher the traffic their product / service gets which may become actual sales.

The affiliate (you) get benefits too, the first being a chance to earn some revenue. The affiliate can earn money by placing an ad or link to the merchant and their website. If the product or service is one your reader has interest in, they'll more likely click on the ad and make an actual purchase. So make sure you're not swamping your blog with too many affiliate ads and ones that your reader has no interest in.

Once the customer clicks on the ad on the affiliate’s site, he/she is redirected to the merchant’s website and makes the purchase, you earn! The more referrals you send, the more chances of actual sales.

Affiliate programs are usually all free to join, so you don't have an start up or initial costs and there are thousands of products & services that you can choose from that are appropriate for what you blog about.

But the right product and the right affiliate program is not a guarantee. You still need to properly update and maintain your blog and promote it to gain more readers. You can narrow you marketing and ad campaigns to focus on the products your affiliated with. By reaching more more prospects, you'll continue to increase your potential to earn commissions with no risk.

As you just read, affiliate marketing is one of the simplest and most effective business opportunities for you and your blog. For more reading pick up the "Practical Guide to Affiliate Marketing" (available above thru BtG) and check out Affiliate Future. They're a good place to start and have many effective programs. Good luck.

Blogging Isn't All Good, Sometimes It Sucks

2010-02-14T15:32:13-05:00

Blog Tips - We've all read the numerous but great Top Ten lists with tips on how to blog better and most important, more profitably. The lists keep coming and the top bloggers keep blogging and advising others. Rarely do people address the other side of blogging - how boring, difficult and tiring it can be. In fact, blogging often sucks!

If you've been blogging long enough in order to earn some money from it, you've noticed that it can easily be a drain on your life. But like any new business, long hours and little money are the best you can expect at the beginning of your venture. As a good blogger you feel the pull of your blog and the need to consistantly post new content. This is good for your blog and for your future as a pro blogger, but can negatively impact the other areas of your life (you still have a life, right?).

You may also find your spending way too much time coming up with ways to promote your blog. Great, get the word out and promote your blog but use your time wisely and target where you can have the most impact.

Keep your goal to have your blog stay natural. By this I mean not to force your blog too hard. Readers can tell thru your writing and blog design and friends will fall away from you if you're only "about the blog". If you're not careful any success you gain won't be worth the price.

Ben Barden' recently posted on the Top Ten Reasons why Blogging Sucks, check it out @ TopTenBlogTips.com.

Blog Opportunity- MakingMoneyOnLine.com For Sale !!

2010-01-23T17:58:46-05:00

Blog News- Wow!, one of the best and catchiest domains (and blog); MakingMoneyOnLine.com is for sale! Doug Dillard and partner Mark Smith recently made the decision to unload MakingMoneyOnline.com and the entire package of .net .org that they own. It's rare that such a powerful domain/blog becomes available, so check into if you want an established blog that's ready to go. Doug recently said about the decision: “Instead of just letting this beautiful website and domain name just sit here and get stale, we have decided to sell it and let someone else build it to its potential”. Read Famous Bloggers interview with Doug at NewMediaBloggers.com.

If You're Considering Buying MakingMoneyOnLine, this is what you'll get-

A premium, established (12 year old) domain name and the dotnet and dotorg extensions
Great content
Wide range of readers
Newsletter subscribers (# tbd)
Well designed and professional theme
A profitable blog already earning money!

More @ MakingMoneyOnLine.com and FamousBloggers.com

Article Marketing Tips to Increase Your Blog's Traffic

2010-01-17T12:43:01-05:00

BLOG TIPS - One very effective way to increase your blog's web traffic is through the use of article marketing. Hundreds (maybe more) article database websites are available to you. They're filled with articles on any topic that you can think of, so finding content approprite to your blog or website is easy, and conversely, you can place your article for distribution. You should consider leveraging article marketing to help your blog or website build your web traffic and increase your status as an "authority" in your niche.

The top article websites have solid pageranks, so if your article is written properly it can get a good listing and distribution. This way, it will get a higher listing in search engine results because of the site's rank. But if your keyword or niche is too competitive or if many high ranking blogs are out there, and you won't likely rank high enough, so using article websites can help you get an improved listing in search engine results.

Bear in mind that when you write blog content for article marketing don't copy your original article or blog post (or any other author's). Search engines and many of the article websites care able to catch this and you will be penalized. Re-writing articles is a common practice, we don't recommned this, but at the very least add something new and extra while re-edited the original content. Readers knowledgable on you niche will give you greater respect and notice (thru social media, or by re-post your content) if your article adds something to the topic's subject. Submit each article written on your blog or website to article directories in order to build more traffic. Keep this in mind as you write, you want your best work circulated and outh there representing your blog.

One of the most popular, and best, article directories is Ezine Articles. Very user friendly and simple to use; write your articles, pick out several accurate keywords or tags, list your source of information or website link, then submit. Your article will be reviewed and you'll be notified whether it is accepted or rejected. The decision is based on several factors.

With nearly all solid article directory websites they have a high pagerank and considerable influence at search engines. This way, you may be able to have one of your articles receive a prime search engine result spot that your post or article would not have gotten on its own. This way your article is building awareness for you and web traffic for your blog, as readers coming from the search engine reading your article will be informed who the source is (you) and see a link to your site or blog at the end of your article. Since they will likely be interested in the topic (they read the article, right?) they may want to read more from you and see your other work and posts. With every new click from the article marketing site to your blog, you get a new reader on your blog that would have probably never been exposed to your blog. It's now your job to maintain a productive, informative blog or website to turn this new reader into a regular reader!

You can also make use of article marketing with the article directory websites to create / expand you and your blog's brand. By exposing yourself, your blog and your content to a new audience, you have the chance to strengthen your standing in the niche. Once readers see more content from you on a particular topic, and that you have several articles listed at a top article directory, they will began to accept you as a an authority in that niche. This gives you a better reputation and blogger credibility so that readers know who you are and what you know. So stay on topic and write about what you know!

Article directory submissions is certainly one of the best ways to promote yourself and your blog or website. It can helps increase web traffic to your website and improve your status as an expert on a particular topic. By continuing to write more content on your topic, and share with readers outside of your blog or website, you will see an increase in readership and improvement in your work. Give article marketing a try, and let BtG readers know how it worked for you.

If you're doing it already, let us know your tips.

Check out Allegretto Publishing Ltd. And, here's a list of some other top Article Marketing sites.