Mike's All About Blogging

More Reasons Why You Need A Blog

2008-02-26T04:56:00.000-08:00

Blogging used to be just a method for stating your opinion, but now blogs are used to opine, to review, and to sell. In fact, many Internet marketers base their entire business around blogging.

Here's why.

Blogging is really just basic communication. All it takes is a computer and an internet connection and you can set up a free blog on one of the many blogging services.

Its flexibility is also one of its outstanding features. There are numerous platforms to blog from, from Wordpress to Joomla to Drupal, and dozens more in between. And even if you don't want to host your blog, you can set one up at one of the many free blog services like Blogger or Wordpress.com. And even if you use the free services, you can always take your blog to your own server at a later date.

Many people also feel that blogs create an intimate atmosphere for learning and research. A blog can create a simple credibility that can help sell your products because it helps create an "Everyman" aura, that is, a stripped down, hype-free way to talk about products.

If your opinions get read and respected, you might find that your credibility will begin to increase around a particular subject. People will begin to look to you to offer your opinions on forthcoming issues. And once you are established and considered an expert in a niche, your ability to sell from your blog will increase dramatically.

Once you are established, don't be afraid to ask people to sign up to your list. This will be a list where you can reach your readers at a moment's notice. A great way to utilize this list is to send a message to it when you have made a new post to your blog, and encourage your readers to not only read your new article but comment on it.

By using your list in this manner, your subscribers won't feel that you are using your list merely to sell to them. Of course, you can sell to them from your blog, and if your readers begin to comment on your posts, you are helping to enhance your blog's stickiness.

Blogging is a terrific tool for any Internet marketing business. Done in the correct manner (meaning that if you intend to build your credibility, you should blog in the most personal manner possible), you'll be blogging your way to success in no time.

Mike Batey
http://www.firstforinfo.com/blogging/
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673/

What Is the Simplest Web Business You Can Create?

2008-01-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

If you really want to start a Web-based business, but really don't know where to start, then listen up. If you have no product of your own, the best thing that you can do is investigate affiliate programs.

What is an affiliate program? It's basically a commission-only sales arrangement. Someone with a product or service will offer to let you sell it for them in exchange for a cut of the selling price. Typically with a hard product you'll be lucky to get 10% commission on sales. The good news is that downloadable products such as ebooks and software will often pay you 50% of the sales price as an affiliate - you can even find deals where you get 75%.

If you're just starting out you are certainly advised to begin your affiliate selling career by selling downloadable products because they are the ideal in our 'instant gratification' society. Your customers don't have to wait around after paying their money they can immediately download their purchase over the Internet. If you go to www.clickbank.com, you'll find they have several thousand different downloadable products you can sell as an affiliate, and the majority offer you at least 50% commission. Signing up is a simple one-time process and you'll then be able to use your Clickbank ID to sell any of the products in their online catalogue.

You can browse the Clickbank catalogue by subject area to find something that interests you. In any given subject area you will usually find that there are several related products that you could sell from a tightly-focused Website where you could set up pages to pre-sell the products you have selected and then place a link that your customers can click on which will take them to the affiliate site to place their order - and if they do that, you get your commission.

One of the best types of site you can build using the above ideas is a review site. Set up some simple pages on your Website comparing and contrasting the features of several related products that you've picked out to sell. All you really need to do is go along to the vendors Website which will basically be a sales page for their product. Here they'll list the features and benefits of their product. You can adapt this information to highlight the similarities and differences between two or more of the products to help your customers to choose which product would be the most suitable for their own particular circumstances.

What is the easiest type of Website you can set up to achieve the above? You've probably heard the buzz by now surrounding blogs and blogging. One of the main reasons blogs are recommended for setting up tightly-focused niche topic Websites is that they are usually easier to get traffic to from a standing start than conventional Websites.

Another good reason for choosing a blog as your site-builder of choice is that they are comparatively easy to set up if you're a Website building novice. Once you've carried out some pretty basic setting up, the software behind the blog handles most of the major house-keeping chores, like making sure all of your pages are properly linked together. All you have to do is to keep adding on-topic content regularly.

Two good choices if you want to experiment with blogs for your niche affiliate review sites following the above model are WordPress and Blogger. WordPress is free open source software that resides on your own Web server - so you'll need some hosting of your own if you want to go this route. This is certainly the preferred way to go because if you've got your own domain name and hosting you'll present a more professional image to your customers. You will also have more control over the look and feel of your site.

If you are a complete novice and you just want to test the waters to see if this niche marketing with affiliate sites thing is for you, then the cheapest (free) way to get involved is to go to www.blogger.com, sign up for a free account and make use of the free Blogspot hosting.

Whichever blogging route you choose, once you have your blog set up, just put your review articles on it comparing and contrasting the affiliate products you've chosen, as detailed above. To bulk out the content on your blog, just look around the Net for news items and information on the subject area you've chosen and write some articles based around these.

Once you have one blog set up with a decent amount of content on it, just rinse and repeat. Find some more subject areas that interest you and put more blogs together on these subjects, based around more good affiliate products that you can promote.

There are people out there right now who are making very good money using nothing more than these, and similar, ideas. How will you know whether you could join them if you don't give it a try?

Mike Batey
http://www.firstforinfo.com/blogging/
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673/

Getting started with videoblogging

2007-12-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

Videoblogging is the next generation of posting ideas and products over the internet. Everybody knows about textblogging. Now they use videos for a better way of expression. This form of communication may entail a lot of resources, but it is all worth it. If pictures say a thousand words, videoblogging exceeds that by far.

A videoblog requires larger disk spaces on websites, a faster server, and a whole new set of programs to support it. Videoblogs can be fed through RSS. This is technology of syndicating your website to other RSS aggregators.

Videoblogging works with people on the internet expressing their selves. Now if you put this on a business prospective, you are up to a lot of benefits. Think of it as a powerful tool in making showing your prospective customers your line of products or your services. It’s just like showing a commercial all for free. And if you videoblog through RSS, then most probably you are getting your target market.

People like to see what they are going to buy. Some would like to see proof and be sure that they are getting their money’s worth before shelving their dimes on it. All of us know the influence of a thirty second commercial. The effect of videoblogging is similar to that. You show your product, people watch it. If they like it, they buy it. If you present it good enough, they’ll buy the product even if they don’t need it.

Now on the web, things are pretty much static, unlike in television in which all are moving. If you post something that is mobile, it would most likely catch attention. Now imaging your product parading in all it’s royalty through videoblog. You’ll get phone call orders in no time.

If your business is just starting up, you can create a videoblog right at your own home. All you need is your web camera, microphone, video software, and lights. For as long as you know how to use your camera, then you can create a videoblog.

Invest in a good web camera. The higher its resolution is the better the output. And you like to present your goods in the optimum way so get the best one possible. Make a short story, or just capture your goods in one go. Just make sure you are getting the best profile for each. Get those creativity juices flowing.

Lights are important in a production. Make sure you illuminate entirely the area you are going to use to create videoblog. The brighter the area, the crispier the images will be. You can also use lighting effects for added appeal to the presentation.

Should you require sounds for your videoblog, you need a microphone. Record you voice as a voice over for promoting the product and its benefit to consumers. Sounds are as important as videos on a videoblog. It is advisable to make your sound effects as enticing as the video.

Your video editing software can be any program. You need this to finalize your work. You can add sounds, delete some bad angles, or insert some still pictures in there too. Some programs are user-friendly and can be used even with zero knowledge on video editing. Even simple video editing programs should do the trick. Select your background carefully too. The light affects the presentation so make sure that the background and the light complements each other.

Videoblogging is a great tool but it also has it downside. It may slow down the computer so other may steer clear of it. Download time may also be time consuming especially if customer is still on a dial- up connection.

But don’t let those stop you. Let videoblogging be an alternative for you, though it is best to still keep the text and pictures present in your presentation to accommodate all possible viewers of your site.

Nowadays, the more creative you are in presenting your product to the market, they more you are likely to succeed. Videoblogging offers an interactive way of selling. You involve the customers. You instill in them the advantage of your goods. And at times, those are enough to make a sale.

Mike Batey
http://www.firstforinfo.com/blogging
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673

Why Start a Business using a Blog?

2007-11-15T03:05:00.000-08:00

Almost everyone has heard of blogging these days. Simply put a blog is a web page that is made up of posts and is updated regularly. That is the simple definition however, a blog can be much more then that. If you are starting a business with a small budget then there are so many ways blogging can help.

First, with a click of your mouse you can put your thoughts, sale pitches, articles and various web page links out to the world by publishing it on your blog. This is especially great if you have started your business using any type of affiliate marketing. The blog owner registers with any affiliate program of choice and then puts various links, banners and products on the blog site. When visitors click on these links and purchase a product, the blog owner is paid a commission for generating the sale. How much easier can that be?

The second way a blog can help in starting your business is that it is a whole lot cheaper then getting a web site. You can usually set up a blog site for free. Compare that to buying a domain name and paying for the cost of designing a web site. Add to that the monthly cost of web site hosting and the cost starts adding up real quick. A blog is a great alternative until the money starts coming in from your business.

Third, less technical knowledge is needed so it is easier and faster for the beginner to start on the web. There is no need to learn html or programming because the software is already there for you to use. Also most successful marketers agree that to get traffic to your site you must update the content often and consistently. With a blog you can add or update the content whenever your want without hiring someone else to do it for you.

Also, blogging can give your business an edge over the competition because it is in real time and there is no waiting. Customers and visitors of your blog can easily join in and post their own comments and suggestions to your site and your products. It is a good tool to have testimonials about your product or service on your blog. Also be sure to post answers to any questions or problem in a quick and complete manner. It shows that you like to reach out to prospective customers and you will quickly gain repeat customers and acquire a following. Customers always prefer personalized attention.

In summary, blogging should not be overlooked as a great business tool. It is especially helpful to the beginner Internet marketer because it is cheap and it has no boundaries. Add to that your own creativity and you are well on your way to establishing a successful business.

Mike Batey
http://www.firstforinfo.com/blogging/
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673/

Your Blog: An Easy Alternative to a Website

2007-10-29T13:43:00.000-07:00

These days, it is much easier to create a website than it used to be. In general, website-creation programs are much simpler to use - and you also have the option of signing up with an online web host with easy-to-use page creation tools.

But the biggest change has to be the advent of the blog.

"Blog" is short for 'web log'. Blogs started off as a way for people to create an online diary. Bloggers would simply log on, tap out a paragraph or two giving their thoughts on life and the universe (and everything in between); click 'publish' and that was that. Their words were live on the Internet for anyone to see. The big appeal of a blog was that it was interactive: readers were welcome to add a comment on any post, with a link back to their own blog or website.

Gradually, bloggers started to want more. They wanted easy ways to upload photos, and extra pages on the site - just like a 'real' website. They wanted a range of themes, to better express their personality or business.

Programmers everywhere came to the party, particularly with WordPress, a well-known open source. Now, if you want a website/blog, it's possible to:

* Sign up with a web host with CPanel for a low monthly fee

* Install WordPress with just a few clicks of the mouse, using Fantastico on your website's CPanel

* Either use one of the pre-installed themes, or browse the various themes available at WordPress (and on many other sites) to choose one that suits your personality or business

* Upload the theme you want to the wp_content folder, using a simple FTP program (such as WS_FTP or Cute FTP)

* Start posting your articles or comments

* Add extra pages to your site (if you want to)

Now that you can add separate pages to blogs - just as you can with a standard website - many people are turning to them as their preferred way of building a website. By using various plugins, it's possible to do pretty well anything you want.

=== What Are "Plugins"? ===

Plugins are extra features available for your blog to make your life easier. You can get plugins, for example, that will:

- help you block spam

- make it easy to upload and sort your photos

- ping the search engines so they know when you've added new content

- insert Adsense blocks so you can earn money from your blog

There are quite a number of plugins available now - take some time to find out what they will do.

=== Help With Using Wordpress ===

While Wordpress is not the only blog software available, it is an excellent choice because (a) it's free; (b) it's relatively easy to use; (c) it's open-source, and therefore has a lot of people working on it constantly to make it better, and (d) there are quite a few 'how to' sites on the Internet showing you how to make the most of your Wordpress blog.

One of them is Guido Stiehle ("The Jungle Marketer") who offers an excellent free tutorial (with video tutorials) that will show you, step by step, how to set up and use your blog. You can find other providers by simply typing 'how to use Wordpress' into a search engine.

Spend an hour or two browsing, and you'll see why a blog is a very viable option for establishing your presence on the Internet.

Mike Batey
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673/

Blogging Revisited

2007-10-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

“Blogging, Blogging everywhere, not a penny in my account”. Some people are able to earn a handsome amount of money from blogging, but for some people, earning from blogging is a far-fetched dream. If you are among the few who are yet to know what blogging means or if you do not know how to earn from your blog, here is an attempt to present a road map to start earning from your blog.

Blogging is defined as “A frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links”. Simply speaking blogging means writing and publishing your thoughts and views. Blogs attract lot of traffic as they have a casual approach of presentation of views and they provide an excellent platform for discussion.

Blogging usually begins with selecting a topic for your blog. Though you can create a blog for your random thoughts, it will not earn you money. You will find lot of articles on how to choose a profitable niche for your blog. You might even be tempted to look for ways of finding the most profitable keywords that will help fill your bank accounts. The most important aspect to look for when selecting a topic for your blog is whether you really know anything about the selected topic. After all you are the one who would be writing on the blog. Certain keywords like Mesothelioma are supposedly good paying keywords on Google Adsense, but would you be able to write on this topic on an on going basis? If the topic is on something that interests you, you will find yourself writing new articles and eventually providing a lot of interesting content for your readers.

You should always remember that just because you like to gossip about your neighbor and you can write about it, does not mean you will have a lot of readers visiting your blog. You need to be imaginative and creative when selecting a topic for your blog.
Lots of search engines and keyword research sites provide ways to see recent searches done by their users along with the search frequency. If you find any such search terms interesting and relating to your favorite hobby, you can be assured of having good traffic to your blog.

You can set up your blog on one of the free blog sites like WordPress, Blogger, and Typepad etc. For those who are pretty new to blogging, the blog sites provide simple and easy to understand setup instructions. When setting up your blogs you need to select a relevant name and URL for the blog. Having a relevant URL is considered as one of the factors in search engine optimization and will ensure your pages rank well in search engines, for searches related to your blog topic. If you already own a domain name and hosting space, you can setup your blog on your own server. Setting up the blog on your own space provides you lot of flexibility in terms of the design, control and plug-in setup.

Once you have set up your blog, you need to ensure you get regular traffic to your blog. You will never earn from your blog if it has no traffic. You need to plan well on getting regular traffic. You should begin by submitting your blog to various blog directories. Some directories will ask for a reciprocal link while some will be paid. If you can afford it, you can opt for the paid directories. You should submit your blog to at least one directory per day. You should also take care to submit your blog to the most relevant category. Blogs submitted to irrelevant directories are considered spam and will not be accepted. Usually directories take 2-3 months to approve submitted blogs.

Any Blog software you use will provide RSS feed. You should submit your blogs RSS feed links to various RSS directories. Such directories are a good source of return traffic. Some sites also provide ways to earn money from your feeds by putting in advertisements. Sites like FeedBurner will help you earn money once you have certain number of readers subscribed to your feed. You should also consider bookmarking your blog on sites like Digg, Technorati, Yahoo, Google, MSN. Bookmarking of your blog on the various bookmarking sites will get your blog indexed quickly by the search engines and will help you get organic traffic. You should also add your blog link in your profile on various social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook. One of the quickest ways to get traffic is to create and submit a video to sites like YouTube. This will get you a good source of traffic. You need to ensure that the video is related to the blog topic.

The quickest way to earn money from your blogs would be from placing content relevant ads in your blogs. Google Adsense, Yahoo, and Auction ads are some sites which allow bloggers to publish content relevant advertisements on their blogs and earn money when someone clicks on these ads. You can also look at affiliate marketing on your blogs. You can review and provide your feedback on the products sold through affiliate networks like Commission Junction, Revenue Gateway. Such affiliate network sites allow you to select the product you want to endorse on your blog. You earn money when someone clicks on the product link on your blog and buys the product. These commissions usually are in certain percentage of the product price. If you have a niche blog and are able to provide the user all information on the topic, you would be seen as an expert on that topic and any visitor would buy products recommended by an expert.

If you are not technology savvy and hate to maintain blogs, you can always register yourself with sites like PayPerPost or iBibo, where you are paid per blog post that you write.

Today’s Internet provides lot of opportunities to earn some extra money. It’s up to you how you use the opportunity.

Mike Batey
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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New Study Shows Americans' Blogging Behaviour

2007-09-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

Five Quick Tips for Getting Your Blog on the First Page of Google

2007-09-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

It is so easy to make money with a blog. Whether the purpose of your blog is to get traffic to your sales page or to sell affiliate products or to get Adsense clicks, getting your blog onto the first page of Google can be done quickly and easily.

Using the following quick tips you could get listed on the first page of Google for some keywords within a month or two, depending on how competitive your niche is. A video game site that followed these tips got on the first page of Google, in the fifth spot, for a popular search term when the site was less than one month old.

Here are the five quick tips for getting to the first page of Google:

1. Put some original content on your blog. Post at least once a day but not more than every two to three hours. It doesn't look good if you are posting every few minutes. Continue adding new content regularly. Some of the content can be duplicate content (from an article directory or private label rights articles) but the more original content the better.

2. When you have at least five posts with original content then submit your blog to Google's sitemap. It's not hard, and it only takes a few minutes. As long as you have a blog that looks authentic and is not filled with scraped content, this is a good start to getting noticed by Google.

3. Write some original articles and submit them to article directories such as EzineArticles.com, GoArticles.com, ArticleAlley.com, and SearchWarp.com. Do not submit more than one a day since it is better to not inundate the article directories or they might think you are spamming them. It is very important to have a good resource box with links back to your site.

4. Submit your RSS feed to at least fifty sites. This can be done in less than a couple of minutes using RSS Submit (RSSFeedsSubmit.com), a great piece of software that automatically submits your feed to more than fifty sites. The price is very reasonable (less than $50) but if you don't want to spend any money and would rather do it by hand, Robin Good sells a list of 55 RSS submission sites for a very small fee.

5. Get your URL link listed in as many places as possible. Submit your site to directories like DMOZ. Answer questions at answers.yahoo.com and include your URL with your signature. Leave comments on blogs that are in a related niche to yours, again including your URL in the signature. Do a search with the phrase "keyword add url" and add your URL at sites that allow you to do it for free. "Keyword" would be replaced by one of your keywords for your niche. Submit your blog to Technorati. Submit your original posts to social bookmarking sites like Digg, Netscape, Redit, Plugim, and so on. Be sure to tell friends to vote for your submissions at the social bookmarking sites.

These five quick tips will give your blog a powerful boost and get your blog on the first page of Google in a very short time. Within days you should be getting traffic from Google as you rise in the search engines. And you did it with spending little or no money.

Mike Batey
http://maximumheavytraffic.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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The Bad Side of Blogging

2007-09-02T04:10:00.000-07:00

How many blogs do you suppose there are on the Internet? Whoops another one was just started, and another, and another and..

There are millions of blogs online today and everyone is practically tripping over each other to start their own. My question is why?

You can answer that in word. Money! People think blogging is the magic bullet they have been missing to make money for the first time in their life. The other thing is blogs are so simple to start that a child of 10 could do it.

Of course after a few days the new blogger begins to realize that the money is not flowing in and this is going to become work. They sure are spending a lot of time working on their new blog and they have not made one penny off of it yet.

This is the bad side of blogging. It takes a lot of work to get traffic to your blog and it takes even more work to convert some of that into a paying customer.

If you value your time you lose money every time you set down and post in your blog. Let's say you spend 30 minutes writing a 400-word blog post and you do that everyday for 1 month. You have just spent 15 hours and you may not have even made any money yet.

That's the rub right there. First of all most people will never write 30 posts in the first month or maybe ever. The Internet is cluttered with blogs that were started with good intentions and abandoned like an orphan.

Someone should start a blog orphanage for abandoned blogs that we could adopt and offer tender loving care to. The bad side of blogging is you may be the next victim of “blogging is work” syndrome. Another blog started and abandoned because blogging is work and is not the easy road to riches you hoped it was.

A really good blog is one that is started by someone who would keep it up if they never made any money at it. The reasons for this are that the topic of the blog is a passion for the blogger. They have an interest in the subject matter. They may even be an expert in what they write about and their expertise shows.

The reader comes back over and over to see what the blogger will say next. They pull out their credit card to buy a product the blogger recommends. They click on a Google ad or subscribe to a newsletter. It is all so easy when the blog is kept up to date with useful information. The blogger has avoided the bad side of blogging.

Mike Batey
http://universalwebserver.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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Blogging Takes Center Stage In Web Sites of the Future

2007-08-20T04:21:00.001-07:00

If you conduct any business online or maintain a website to compliment your offline business, then blogging is quickly becoming a mandatory part of your future. And if you are not currently blogging, chances are after realizing the potential of these traffic enhancing goldmines, you soon will be!

Blogs, derived from the words "web log" were originally thought of as simply online diaries. A place for people to record their thoughts and inspirations. At first, no one took blogging very seriously and these collections of online thoughts were simply passed off by many as hobbies or creative outlets and nothing more.

But then Google came along and started to recognize the unique and original content that these trite little sites presented and the rules of the game suddenly changed. After all, unique content is what makes the Google world go round, and what better way command the attention of Google than by creating a dynamic environment with content that is solely your own.

At this stage, a whole new SEO world emerged and in the process, brought with it traffic opportunities like never before. People began blogging on more than what they had for dinner last night. They started to blog about new products, exciting travel adventures and all things related to online commerce.

The evolution quickly continued and today, with RSS feeds, sites like pingoat.com and many other content clearinghouses, blogging is big business and not to be overlooked by hungry entrepreneurs looking to establish a web presence.

What currently makes blogging so attractive is the sheer speed with which blogs and blog posts are able to get indexed in the search engines. It is a simple matter of static versus dynamic and the search engines love the dynamic.

Let's take two different scenarios to see how traditional websites and blogs differ in their index-ability:

Scenario One:

One person creates a website to advertise gardening products and services. Each page of the site contains the traditional information about the company, it's founders, the services they offer and the products they sell. Maybe, at best, the site has articles and content that is updated with some small frequency that are relevant to the avid gardener. When visitors arrive at the site, they have the option of signing up for the company newsletter and receiving valuable tips and new offerings.

In this scenario, the webmaster or business owner will need to tend to many SEO related tasks in order to get and maintain high search engine ranking for a tight list of selected keywords related to the gardening niche. Not only will this activity require great skill, it will also involve many hours to achieve the intended results.

Scenario Two:

The same business owner as above also creates a blog to supplement their company website. Now, instead of focusing on simply one set of tightly selected keywords, the blog itself remains a broad overview of the gardening niche, while each individual post reflects a drilled down topic within that same niche.

So when the business owner writes a blog post about the benefits of "organic vegetable gardening in backyard containers," this individual post becomes a keyword rich, targeted wonder and when indexed by the search engines has a far greater opportunity to bringing highly targeted traffic to the blog based upon that single post.

Through time, the blog expands with many similar posts that are targeted to sub niches within the broader gardening niche and can even be categorized from inside the blog structure itself. What has now been created in Google's eyes is an extremely dynamic, naturally evolving site that is content rich and niche specific.

When properly constructed and promoted, each time the business owner posts to the blog, that individual post can get indexed in anywhere from two to twenty four hours on average. This opportunity is far greater than any options available at the static website.

Additionally, when the business owner endeavors to have a visitor signup for a newsletter, further segmenting can occur and subscriber lists can be refined and targeted. And because the blog is the front end showcase to the original website, each blog post has the opportunity to link back to specific and relevant products at the main site.

When properly structured, blogs are the biggest SEO asset to a website that currently exists. The wise business owner will recognize these benefits and when implemented, will enjoy many opportunities that do not currently exist with traditional websites alone.

Mike Batey
http://firstforinfo.com/blogging
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673

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Blog Software: Blogs vs Content Management Systems

2007-08-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

In the blogging world, choosing the right type of software and/or web application is very important. There are hundreds of products to choose from. This article will summarize the main considerations for any blogger who is torn between a normal blog and a content management system.

There are two many types of applications that are used for blogging: blog software and Content Management Systems (CMS). The main difference is that a CMS is much more robust than blog applications.

If the goal is to simply publish day-to-day content on the 'Net, look no further than a blog. For the beginner, a basic blog is highly recommended over any CMS. With incredible web applications like "Blogware" and "Typepad", someone who knows very little about computers or the Internet can be up and running in no time. The better blogging system (such as the two mentioned above) is not free. Google's Blogger is one of the best free blogging services. WordPress is arguably the best of the best (free or not) blogs on the 'Net. WordPress features the most support (without geek speak), the most design templates (this is important), and it is free.

For those who want a Swiss Army knife of web applications, the content management system can’t be beat. The typical CMS allows everything the average blog can do and much more. A CMS has traditional Date/Time blog entries & creation of static web page that blogs like WordPress offer. User logins can be found in blogs but not accessories like photo galleries and user profile managers. Joomla and Drupal (two of the most popular CMSs) offer scores of add-ons that go WAY beyond a blog. As in some open-source blogs, a good PHP/SQL programmer can even create their own devices, modules and hacks to a content management system with relative easy. The Robust nature of the CMS allows large companies and organizations to use them as their entire web site. Many content management systems allow users to create blogs and web pages even add pictures, music and video. MySpace, Facebook, Friendster and other social networks are run on extremely robust content management systems backed with industrial sized databases.

List of popular CMSs:

With most CMSs, along with some PHP and SQL skill, the systems are easy to manage. However, here are some notes for everyone else.

Drupal: Although Drupal is ready to a layperson "out of the box" it is best handled by someone with patience willing to learn what is under the hood. The Drupal forums are written for geeks, by geeks.

Joomla: Joomla is very pretty and more user friendly than Drupal. It will only get the non-techie in trouble when they start adding modules and having to upgrade.

Expression Engine: Although it is not as versatile as Drupal, it is a web designers dream come true. After reading the Expression Engine manual, it is much more user friendly than Drupal and Joomla. The only drawback is that the more robust versions come with a price tag, where Drupal & Joomla are free.

The bottom-line is that day-to-day online journals with no frills need nothing more than a normal blog. For those with robust needs that will likely expand, a CMS is much better (but be prepared to learn the technology at least a little).

Mike Batey
http://maximumheavytraffic.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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Blogging for Business - Should You?

2007-08-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

So you've heard that having a blog is a good idea for your business, but are you sure WHY it's important? Understanding how blogs operate and how to use them for your business will give you great payoffs for your investment of time and energy. Not using your blog effectively will simply waste this fantastic resource.

WHY SHOULD I 'BLOG FOR BUSINESS'?

Blogs are a great method for giving your business credibility. Whether you post about industry news, recommend links to related topics or post valuable inside information or experiences, your audience will view you not only as a commercial venue but as a business interested in its community.

You can also use your blog to build traffic to your commercial site and to build a list of interested prospects. All of these issues are solid tools for marketing your product or service online.

WHY BLOGGING IS GREAT FOR CUSTOMERS

Blogs are not viewed the same as a typical website or sales page. The postings are often less formal or are presenting readers with interesting tidbits that entertain or inform about your topic or industry. Regular postings that draw the attention of your target market will build interest in your product and establish you as an 'expert' as well as create a good relationship with your prospects.

Since you can offer subscriptions to your blog through services like Bloglet.com, your prospects can easily receive notice of your recent postings right in their email inbox. By regularly posting relevant information your prospects will look to you first when needing the service or product you provide.

Since many blogs offer readers the ability to post comments you immediately provide an opportunity for feedback or questions. This can clue you in to what your market needs or thinks, which can quickly be responded to in your next post.

BLOGGING FOR TRAFFIC

There are several methods of traffic buildings with blogs. One method is through the blog provider. Often the provider offers readers the option of searching for blogs with a word or phrase. Using that phrase in your blog or title will bring interested visitors.

The other method is through search engines. Search engines love fresh content and blogs make this easy. Simply 'ping' your blog to other media (this announces your update) and the search engines will pick it up. Using commonly searched words and phrases may give you the top ranking you were looking for. You can also link to your business website with the phrase and increase traffic directly to your sales page.

Finally, you can add an RSS feature to your blog. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) allows other websites to run the content from your blog. Every time you make a post the information will be automatically updated on sites featuring your RSS. This is attractive to sites with topics related to yours since they will benefit from the fresh content and you will benefit from the exposure.

If you haven't jumped on the blogging bandwagon yet you've been missing out on one of the cheapest and smartest marketing tools available. Creating a blog is easy and profitable - so make yours today!

Mike Batey
http://universalwebserver.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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The Buzz about Blogs

2007-08-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

The “blogosphere” is continuing to grow at an amazing pace. In fact, the number of published blogs is expected to double about every five months.

Right now, there is a new blog published every second, according to Technorati, the search engine that keeps track of Weblogs. In March there were over 7 million blogs, that number is now over 14 million.

Weblogs have become the homepages of the 21st century and are used for everything from sharing recipes, personal opinions and travel adventures, to the latest in political and economic news.

Blogs are also facing their share of controversy and praise. Reporters Without Borders recently published their “short list” of the seven best blogs out of 60, which won the “Freedom Blog Awards” for defending freedom of expression.

Winners (who are chosen by the public who vote for their favorite blogs) included “Shared Pains” which describes life in Afghan, and Mojtaba Saminejad, an Iranian whose blog is published in the Farsi language. (He received a two-year prison sentence in 2005 because of his blog). Another winner, Jeff Ooi, publishes the Malaysian blog “Screenshots” which is in English. Because he allowed a comment on his blog back in 2004 which reportedly “insulted Islam” according to authorities, he was also threatened with imprisonment.

This award marks the first year for the event, but Reporters Without Borders hopes to make it an annual one. The organization follows and reports on freedom of the press around the world.

In oppressive countries, such as Iran (which shut down almost all independent newspapers in 2000), blogs have provided a way for journalists and others to express themselves and share the latest news and happenings. But speaking up in such places often has serious consequences, such as one blogger in Iraq who was jailed by authorities after speaking up about what was simply a local problem.

China is another repressive area. Recently Chinese authorities declared that all bloggers had to register their blogs with them, or risk being shut down.

To help combat these and similar problems around the world, organizations are being set up to provide global support among bloggers for those who are being repressed.

One of the biggest controversies right now, is whether bloggers should receive “journalistic” status. Some people see blogs and bloggers as a kind of counterbalance to what they see as media arrogance, while others call them vigilantes. Recent events with Newsweek, CBS News and others have caused a division between the main stream media (MSM) and bloggers who feel the “truth is out there” and they want it told.

One thing both bloggers and the mainstream media agree on, is that things have been forever changed. The tools of mass media are no longer the property of the press alone, they’re also freely available to the people. What that means to us in the future, or what changes blogs will bring about to the way we receive and act on the news we get, no one really knows.

Not as controversial, blogs have also become a mainstream tool of large and small businesses everywhere.

Blogging provides a simple and low-cost method for businesses to stay in touch with their customers, get free publicity and build a business brand.

As technology continues to evolve, and the number of blogs continues to rise, it remains to be seen whether blogging will remain an effective business and marketing tool. But one thing is for certain – blogs are here to stay.

Mike Batey
http://universalwebserver.com/mikbat673/

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Blogging - some thoughts for the beginner

2007-07-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

The derivation of the word blog comes from web logging, as it used to be known. It has changed a lot in its development and now blogging is a front line tool in the Internet promotion tool box. It is now used to promote products and services and presents another platform to to communicate with the visitor and develop a lasting relationship with them.

Having created the the business blog you can then monetize it as well as personalize it to your own requirements. Once created, you can make money out of the blog by syndicating it through RSS to your business website. If you have decided that you will set up a blog for business, below are a few tips on how to make it one of the more interesting and popular blogs.

1 - Your audience.
You are writing your blog post for your audience to read, so don't forget that what you write is of interest to them. They have searched for through a keyword, or keyword phrase, and arrived at your blog. So, make sure they are happy with what they find and even interested enough to look a little further into your blog, and maybe visit your website.

2 - Words fail - see sketch.
A large block of text can become very boring when reading, especially online. A picture or graphic or two placed within the text breaks up the strict framework of the post and keeps the reader interested through to the end. It is especially true if the picture is relevant to the subject of the post.

3 - The content needs to be relevant.
The posts made to your business blog need to be relevant to the subject of the blog. In other words the blog is set up around your niche market and with keywords and keyword phrases that are relevant to the subject. The intent is to draw traffic to your blog based on those keywords and keyword phrases. The business blog needs to create a special relationship with its visitors with the aim to sell products or services/ If you consistently write good quality posts to your blog the visitor will return for more of the "good stuff", and will eventually trust that you know what you are talking about and buy one of your recommended products or services.

4 - Keep things simple.
The art of good communication is to keep things simple. Keep away from the technical jargon unless absolutely necessary and try to keep the sentences short and to the point.

5 - Make it interactive.
Audio and video are very good interactive methods, but all blogs come with a "comments" facility for each post made. Make sure that this feature is not turned off, and all comments must be approved before publishing them.

Before starting out with your blog you will need to do some pre-planning as to how you will personalize and monetize the blog, as well as how often you will post to it. An important fact to resolve is where will the content for each post come from. A good business blog needs a steady stream of interesting and relevant content in order to become a profitable venture - how will you complete this task? Remember that no plan is a plan to failure.

Mike Batey
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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Why Blogging is Essential to Your Business

2007-07-28T02:49:00.000-07:00

In the 'good old days' - about three years ago - you used to keep in-touch with your customers using phone calls, email messages and face to face meetings. Nowadays the world has changed. People expect even more frequent updates, yet it's nearly impossible to meet with every business contact on a regular basis.

Thankfully, blogging has come to the rescue. Setting up a blog on your web site - and having an associated RSS feed - means you can keep in constant touch with your clients and potential customers. Plus you don't have to email them and they can get your latest news without having to visit your web site.

So how does this all work? A blog is really a fancy name for a web page that gets updated regularly. It's nothing special. There are several methods of writing 'blogs', but they are nothing more than computer programs which allow you to easily update a web page. Far and away the easiest way to start a blog is with a website called blogger.com.

However, for keeping in touch with your customers, RSS is the key. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. What this means is that your blog can be automatically delivered to people who want to read it - you don't have to send it to them and neither do they have to come and collect it. All they need is the address of your RSS Feed and their RSS Newsreader can do the job for them. There are several RSS readers available and new web browsers incorporate the ability to read RSS feeds and keep them updated.

Whenever you add new content to your blog, the RSS Feed automatically gets updated in everyone's Reader program or web browser. That means you are guaranteed to be able to keep in touch with clients and prospects. You don't have to do anything other than produce the content. Equally, you don't face the problems of email filters and anti-spam programs blocking your email. Furthermore, people tend to read RSS Feeds because they have subscribed to them whereas they tend to ignore non urgent emails.

As you can see, there are several advantages to Blogs and RSS Feeds. But it doesn't stop there. Search engines love them. That's because blogs provide fresh and new content - precisely what searchers are looking for. Hence the search engines are actively pushing blogs higher up the search engine ranking. This means if you don't have a blog for your business, you are seriously reducing your chances of a high search engine ranking. You need a blog nowadays to get noticed by the search engines.

So, blogging is essential. Not only does it improve your web presence, it also means you can keep in touch with clients and prospects more easily. And all the marketing research you can find will tell you that keeping in regular touch with your customers is an important component in gaining new business. So get blogging!

Mike Batey
http://itsmyfranchise.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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How a Blog Can Improve Your Well Being

2007-07-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

Most people would probably have a personal blog if they understood the power that a daily release of rants or raves could give them. There are many choice words that you want to say to someone, like a boss, or even some thing, like a car that refuses to start in the morning. In many cases, blurting out those choice words to these people and things just might not be appropriate! If you speak your mind to your boss you could very well regret that outburst once you are handed a pink slip. If you start screaming obscenities to your car, your neighbors just might start avoiding you all together.

Years ago many people recorded their deepest, most personal thoughts within a small private book called a diary (or journals for the guys). Thoughts and expressions from the day, whether good or bad, were revisited in a personal diary that quickly became the most sacred possession for many. The diary has moved into the technology-age and has become quite acceptable for both women and men now that it has a new name – a blog. A blog is the same record of thoughts except words are now displayed electronically instead of with paper and ink. Let's take a look at a how a blog can be a method of recuperation from the day's events.

A Blog to Tell Your Problems To

Everyone has problems they just cannot be avoided. Whether these problems are due to finances, health or relationships – everyone has them. The "experts" always say that you have to talk about your problems. But talking about personal issues to others can be difficult. You might want a chance to complain and even hear what other people think about what you are going through, but sharing personal issues with friends and family is tough. Your blog can be that special friend that is always there to lend an ear.

Your blog will not ridicule you, make jokes, lecture you or tell you "I told you so!" By blogging about your problems you are able to formulate and express what you cannot tell someone close to you; you are able to organize your thoughts; you are able to record your feelings on a daily basis; and you are able to see the progress you make as you work through your issues.

Of course when we express our deepest concerns, we quite often want some type of feedback. Even if it is simply a friendly voice saying, "I understand." While a blog cannot talk back and give you words of encouragement, those who read your blog can. Since your blog is published on the internet for millions to view, you a very much in a position to receive the kindness of strangers in the form of encouraging comments and funny anecdotes about themselves that let you know you are not alone with your problems.

The key to being successful with blogging for your mental health is to make it a new habit. Writing your thoughts and feelings daily will allow you to get a better grasp of your situation. Instead of sitting and thinking and pining and complaining to yourself about your problems everyday, sit down at your computer and write away!

Mike Batey
http://nehoma.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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What Is Blogging?

2007-07-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Blogging is a method of sharing information over the internet for work, pleasure or both. 'Blogs' are often described as an online diary, with dated posts displayed chronologically. 'Blogging' is the action of posting a message on a blog. A 'blogger' is the person posting the message. Many blogs also allow you to post pictures and receive comments from readers.

Blogs can be about anything. They are usually based on a particular topic or an individual's personal thoughts and opinions. They often contain links to other related sites and are commonly free to operate. They require little knowledge to set up and are simple to update.

WHO USES A BLOG?

Who DOESN'T use a blog? Teenagers have blogs, celebrity clubs have blogs, news agencies have blogs, businesses have blogs - even your aunt Sophie could have a blog.

The wonderful thing about blogs is that there are virtually no restraints on what it could be used for. This means that while it's an easy way to share news among family members and post the latest baby pictures, it's equally well suited for a business to post updates and data to inform the public, employees or other interested parties.

IS A BLOG GOOD FOR MY BUSINESS?

If you want to develop a rapport with your customers, make regular postings about your business and gain interest from other media outlets or potential customers you would certainly benefit from starting a blog.

Because blogs by nature are considered a source of information rather than a commercial advertisement it makes perfect sense for a business to use blogs as a means of establishing a reputation in their market.

Posting information about their industry or field will create a sense of community involvement that potential customers will appreciate. Using links to your business page will create traffic from search engines and blog readers. You can even add a subscription form to your blog so that interested readers can immediately be emailed when you make a post.

HOW DO I START A BLOG?

You can create a blog for free. There are many free blog hosting sites you can locate by searching for 'blog' in the search engine. Blogger.com is a popular one.

Blogs are the simplest form of creating an online presence. You do not need any experience in website design as most blog hosts will provide you with pre-made templates. They also provide easy to understand instructions for creating your posts along with options such as allowing comments from readers or uploading photos.

Whether you want to post your personal thoughts on a world crisis, share your poems with appreciative readers or start an online business, your blog could be set up and people could be hearing what you have to say - today.

Mike Batey
http://universalwebserver.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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How to Blog Like a Pro & Profit Like a Guru

2007-07-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

How many times have you heard the words blog or web log or how about online diary? If you have been active online for the past few years, you’ve probably heard it thousands of times.

What you might not realize is that blogging is not only one of the fastest and easiest ways to get indexed in search engines but it is also a huge source of income that is just waiting for you to grab your share.

Blogging has actually been around for quite a while but only up until the past few years have online as well as offline marketers, become aware of how powerful this medium is.

You can find plenty of free to very inexpensive places to start a blog. A few of the top rated blog hosting services are Blogger, which is owned by Google, Wordpress and Moveable Type. If you already have a web hosting account somewhere, that runs cPanel & Fantastic, then you're in luck, because Wordpress blog software is just a couple of mouse clicks away from installing on one of your domains.

The easiest to get started and set up would have to be Blogger.com, since they are not only free, but they have a very simple step by step process for creating your blog. The only downside to Blogger is that the features that they offer are very limited. The upside to Blogger is that it's owned by Google, which is not a bad thing at all, if you know what I mean.

The most common ways that most Internet marketers are making a profit from blogs is by integrating Google Adsense into their blog. This is very simple to do and Blogger makes it even easier for you. You can also insert many other contextual advertisements into the blog such as Yahoo, Kanoodle, Chitika and many others as well as any other affiliate links you may have.

The other benefit to blogging is also the ability to add back links to your blog that point to your other websites. This is very important since the more back links that you have coming inbound to your websites, the better you will rank for the keywords you are promoting. You will also have to setup the proper keyword anchor links in your blog and on the pages of your websites that the links are pointing to.

Let's look at a summary of what needs to be done in order to take advantage of blogging.

First, you need to setup a blog either at Blogger or one of the other online services mentioned earlier or create a blog on your own domain name & web hosting account.

Once you have your blog setup, it's time to start monetizing it by adding in contextual advertising such as Google Adsense and or affiliate links. Now add in some targeted keyword anchor links that point back to your other websites.

All you have to do now is post to your blog a couple times per week and make sure that you are pinging after you make your new post. Sending out a ping is a way to let the search engines know that you have new content on your blog. The search engines will come to crawl your blog and start indexing your new content and follow all those targeted links that point back to your other websites. Are you starting to see how powerful this is?

Now just keep posting to your blogs and if you keep up with it and continue to add new content on a regular basis, you'll start reaping the rewards of blogging.

Mike Batey
http://homeincomeportal.com/mikbat673/
click here for The Most Trusted Name in Home Income

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