Business Blog

Benefits of Business Blog From My Point

2008-07-06T16:34:00.003+07:00

Blog is a medium for self-expression on web. Blogs are in the form of few paragraph entries. Blogs are created by both individual and companies, which are in the form of personal and commercial blogs. It provides an option to make the articles interactive in the form of comments. Wiki is another type of blog which is similar to web page with contribution from more then one people.

Business blog helps companies or an individual to reach out to new audiences. If you have any information to share with people then blogs are the best and easiest way to publish it online and share it with your customers.

The business blogs could be categorized into many ways. It could help a company to communicate with its people who are stationed at different location. The employees could update themselves about the happenings in the company from miles away. Companies could also use them to exhibit their skills, which will eventually carve a niche for them.

Now we will look at how a business could benefit from a blog:

Business blogs helps to build a community and a trusted group of follower online
More effective then emails
Improves public relation both inside and outside of the company.
Best medium for communication with a benefit of being interactive
Less encroachment of privacy
Better then press releases and helps in creating brand
Permanent
No/partial expertise needed to maintain it.

RSS, It's Really Simple To Grow Your Blog

2008-07-06T16:21:00.004+07:00

I have 'Googlebot' coming to my site every day since a month ago I put up my first news feed, since then I have put up yet another.

I never used to see 'Googlebot' much before, so it goes to show that if you want to be noticed by the search engines, you need to put up a 'news-feed'.

All this re-submitting to search engines every month nonsense is just that, nonesense! I don't really think the search engines care for you to submit to them in the first place, I think that now they like to find your site on their own. Some pundits have claimed that nowadays to submit your site at all to the search engines is counter-productive and you should not do it. They say that there is much better value in allowing the search engines to find it via a 'link-back' from somewhere else.

'News Feeds' are now providing that 'link back' that every site owner needs. If you run a web site and you have still not got a 'news feed' you are being left behind in the race, first to get listed by search engines and secondly to get a higher ranking - my sites ranking has gone up very much higher in Yahoo and Google, since putting up my first news feed, and guess what, it was within about 36 hours of putting up that first 'news feed' that Googlebot discovered it was there! It did not take it long! The same with Yahoo, but a little bit later, like two days after Googlebot.

'News Feeds' are readable in a software called a 'News Reader', these are usually free to download and use right away to look at some of the feeds that are out there. There are directories for feeds which you can visit and get some addresses of some suitable ones to read each day, some of these feeds are more like 'blogs' in that, they change the contents several times a day, which gives a feed a 'fresher' feel to it, and which the search engines like to see. They also would like to see web site owners re-freshing there web site contents on at least a daily basis, it does help with ranking.

It has been slated that the next incarnations of browser will be 'feed' compatible, they will be reading 'news feeds' as well as viewing web sites. When this does happen the 'information revolution' will be really turned full on! Any one, even you, can set up a 'news feed', it really is simple, and if you don't set one up, you are going to be like the only person in your street who does not have television or radio, you are going to miss out on the 'information revolution', big time!

Promote any Product or Service With Your Blog

2008-07-06T16:16:00.003+07:00

People start blogs for all kinds of reasons. Ego. Political comment or agenda. Staying in touch with family and friends. Marketing. Why did you start your blog?

If you want your blog to get read, and your readers to be loyal followers, you had better structure it to their liking. Here are some tips for better blogging and basic blogging advice for anyone who wants to promote a product or service using blogs and RSS.

Write in a conversational tone. Forget what you learned in school, and just write the way you'd speak. Think of yourself as talking to a friend, or writing a letter to a friend when you compose the entries to your blog.

Check your spelling and grammar. In spite of what I just said above, use your spell checker, and a grammar checker if you have it. You'll have zero credabilatee if you can't even spell it!

Pick an interesting topic, and stick with it. People don't want to know what you ate for breakfast, or who broke your heart lately. They read your blog looking for information, and they won't stick around long unless they perceive you as a credible expert on whatever topic you are writing about.

Stay informed. Especially if your blog is of a business nature, do enough research to be informed of the latest trends and information. If you expect to maintain your credibility, you had better know what you're talking about. Be prepared to write about the latest developments and hot new trends. Don't just "rehash" old stuff that has been around forever, and blogged to death.

Be yourself. If you're naturally funny, or opinionated, many of your readers will love you for it. They want information, but they also want to be entertained. If you can combine the two, you have a ready-made formula for success.

Keep it short. Blog readers aren't looking to read a novel on your blog. Keep your entries short and to the point. A couple of hundred words is more than enough. If you have more to say, split it into a series of entries, or write it up as an article and post it somewhere, and then link to it from a shorter entry in your blog. By the way, that's a great way to use natural links to get both links and traffic to a website.

Update frequently, but don't burn yourself out. Many of the blogs I've visited seem to contain a few entries, and then go stagnant for months. Others will have a flurry of entries, and then nothing. In both cases, they're going to die. You need to update with some regularity, to keep your readers coming back. It seems to me that a couple of times per week ought to do it, but I'm not aware of any studies that would back that up. Blog every day, or every hour, and you'll burn out quickly.

Don't post nonsense. If you have nothing new to say, keep your fingers off that keyboard! Better to have some really gritty commentary on an irregular basis, than to fill your blog up with fluff and drive away your fans.

Don't turn your blog into a blatant sales pitch. If you're using your blog as a marketing vehicle, be subtle about it. People hate the feeling they are being subjected to a sales pitch. You can weave references to your product, or affiliate links, into solid, informative content, which is what people will read your blog looking for. Give them what they want!

Happy Blogging!

Business Blogging - How To Smash Your Business

2008-07-06T16:00:00.004+07:00

It's inevitable. Everyone hits the wall. Whether you've been blogging ten weeks, ten minutes, or ten months, eventually you'll find yourself with absolutely nothing to say.

Or so you think.

So what in the world do you do when you're stumped?

1- Talk about what you've already talked about

Pick a topic you've gone over before and give it some spin.

Try a new angle, like playing devil's advocate. For example, if you are a search engine journalist, and last week your position was that most mainstream sites need Google traffic to survive, try proving your point from the "con" perspective, instead of the "pro" position.

There are dozens of ways to write about the same thing. By putting your point another way, you might give someone in your audience what a client of mine referred to as an "Ah-ha!" moment. That's when they realize the true value of the items for sale at your site to them and their business.

2- Talk about what someone else is talking about

If you want to have a popular blog, find other bloggers in similar areas, and talk about what they said in their posts. Friendly debate can often spark the soap-opera like drama that will have both your audiences visiting both blogs to see what "the other fella" had to say.

As an added bonus, if both of you are using Trackback in your blogs, you've got yourself a mini-link party that other people who are speaking on similar topics will want to join..

3- Have yourself a good rant

The intimate nature and voice of blogs lends itself well to the opinionated, angry ramble. But as a professional, don't let yourself get too unfocused, and remember to back up your opinion with facts.

4- Feature someone, something or somewhere

I like to call mine "of the Day".

As I zip around the Net conducting my business and research, if my attention is called to a resource or tool that my audience might find useful, I hit my blog bookmarklet and save that bad boy for later.

Then when I get too busy for a full blown tip, I'll crown the resource, feed, tool, download or freebie the featured "Deal of the Day", changing the word deal to something else more appropriate as needed.

After a while, my audience started to look for it as a feature, as opposed to being upset at the interruption in my mad, mad rambles.

5- Let someone else talk for a change

Invite a guest blogger, or post an article that offers free reprint rights, the same way you would in a newsletter. Of course you want to leave the resource box intact, or let the guest promote their site, which brings me to the most common complaint about this tactic.

"But I don't want to send people away from my site."

Guess what? You'll never believe what I found out. Ready?

In a recent startling discovery, I've found that 100% of my visitors eventually turn off their computers or take otherwise drastic measures that cause them to leave my site. Apparently this is beyond prevention, though you can stall them for hours sometimes with good content.

Of course you don't want to send them on their way prematurely, but if you're a good blogger, and have done what you can to make sure they sign up to your blog email updates or site feed, they'll be back. Just be sure that you're giving them a good enough reason.

In the meantime, since they're going to leave anyway, it might as well be somewhere that gives you some direct or in-direct benefit.

So there you have it - enough material for five more days of posts.

Happy Blogging!

Advantages Of Using Blogger For Blogging

2008-07-06T15:57:00.001+07:00

As you may be aware, Google's Blogger is one of the most popular blogging tools available. Not only is Blogspot free, it offers virtually unlimited space, and is easy to use. Because Blogger easily integrates with Google's search engine and Adsense platforms, it is as ideal for people that want to use blogging for financial gain. At the same time, the ability to create multiple blogs with one account means you can also dedicate other blogs to non-financial interests.

Even though high speed internet access is becoming more available, many people still cannot afford it. As a result, consumers that use dial-up services will look for pages that load the fastest. Unlike less popular blog hosts, Blogger is housed on servers that are designed to handle a great deal of traffic. As a result, you can be assured that people trying to access your blog will be able to do so in a timely manner.

Blogger also has the advantage of being reliable. Even if you decide to house a Wordpress blog on your own computer, or an independent host, you will have to consider hardware down time. On the other hand, if you use Blogger, you can be assured that your blog is housed on a reliable server that has enough resources to keep your blog available to readers.

When you start blogging, two of the most important issues are affordability and convenience. Because of Blogger's popularity, they offer unparalleled ease of access, as well as security. Considering Blogger is also a free service, it is also affordable.

How To Profit From Your Home Business Blog

2008-06-23T18:10:00.005+07:00

A blog is a simple tool which all affiliate marketers should be utilising to explode their affiliate sales.

I set up my blog in about 15 minutes at http://www.blogger.com it's a completely free service, and it's really easy to set-up. I followed directions on an excellent article on getting a new website listed in Google in 48hrs check it out here, http://businessandblog.blogspot.com. I just followed the advice in the article and got started with no problems in no time.

Blogs provide a very simple, quick and easy means to add fresh content to your website. As I'm sure you've heard many times over 'content is king' in the search engines eyes and if you can provide high quality, regularly updated content your website should benefit with regards to your search engine ranking.

By providing fresh, high quality relevant content you will gain an increase of both first time visitors and repeat visitors, they will come back to check out your new content. Providing it's interesting, relevant and useful to them. You will begin to build relationships with your readers, increasing your credibility and building their trust in you.

These repeat visitors will be exposed to your messages more and begin to trust you and your recommendations. This in turn will fuel sales and referrals. Just make sure you don't recommend a product you haven't tried because if it is bad you will lose all credibility!

Never recommend something you haven't tried and tested your self.

You want to send traffic directly to your blog, do it through multi-dimensional strategies. Have a subscriber box for your newsletter to build your list from your blog. Use it as an exit pop-up from your main site or thank you page for new subscribers, directing them to relevant content immediately. As once your prospects have got to know you through the blog they are much more likely to explore your website and check out whatever you are offering.

Whenever you sign-up for an affiliate program or buy a product, review it in your blog and be brutally honest, your readers will love you for it. Take a completely unbiased view point and talk about both the positives and negatives of each product. In essence you are providing more of an insight into the product than the sales page itself, almost a sample, this will help convert those prospects that are 'sitting on the fence' so to speak. Obviously when you review your affiliate products, make sure that you use your affiliate links.

It has been shown that prospects are 7-10 times more likely to buy from a blog recommendation than from other sources!

Other ways that you can generate extra income through your blog are through the Google ad sense program, selling banner/link space as your traffic increases or as I mentioned earlier by adding you own opt-in sign up form to which you send your newsletter or other targeted offers.

Your blog can be syndicated using RSS, which I won't go into here, that's another article. But savvy webmasters can use your blog content on their web pages. This benefits them as they have regularly updated fresh content for their website and benefits you through increased exposure and free targeted traffic.

Be passionate about your blog, love your blog. If you do not then it will become obvious through your posts and you are unlikely to be anywhere near as successful as you could be.

Add to your blog regularly provide good quality content and reviews and you will be on your way to blogging success.

Get that blog started today!

Blogs: Why, Where and How

2008-06-23T18:05:00.005+07:00

So you have heard about the blogs or you are sure you are now going through one of the blog. You might have seen blogs in the search results and would not have noticed it.

Yes blogs are now making news but still a large number of people consider them as online diaries or a political mouthpiece.

What about the business blogs that is lately surfacing on the web sphere? Top companies like GM's Fastlane blog is there to prove the point that blog works. The problem is that regular media is not accepting it as one of the most promising medium, which could be as powerful as the newspapers, or tv channels in the future.

Thanks to RSS, blog contents could be read via email as and when it is published.

Now the point is that why you should opt for a blog if you have a full-fledged website. How a blog will raise the profile of your business or could enhance brand of your organization. Lets look at the broader picture of the business blogs and why Internet marketers are so interested in this.

Search engine is still a mystery to most and blogs are ranking well in search engines without going into intricacies of the search engine optimization.

You have a small business and no budget to make your company's online presence.

No problem, signup for a free blog account at blogger.com without any prior knowledge and you are ready to go. This is the power of blog, inexpensive, fast and simple with minimum efforts on optimization.

You just created a blog and posted your first article. You want to optimize your blog. Just submit it to blog directories, which are very friendly and accept the submission within few days. Just remember to post 2-3 articles per week to get the search engine spiders to your blog regularly. If you write quality articles then you have to just wait for a month or so and free backlinks will start pouring in.

Major things you should remember for your blog success are:

2-3 blogs per week
Write on only one specific Industry of your interest
Concentrate on one keyword per posting
Remember pinging your RSS feeds to major blog search engines and feed directories
Give quality to your visitors

Once your blog is famous, signup for adsense and earn for the time you spend on bloggging.

Ask Yourself BEFORE Staring A Business Blog

2008-06-23T17:57:00.007+07:00

Blogging is the latest buzzword in online marketing and PR.

But with so many marketers jumping on the blogging, few people are giving a thought to whether blogs are really up their alley, or taking the time to consider the best ways of going about it.

If you are planning to start a business blog, ask yourself these questions before you take the final turn.

1. Are you really need a blog?

Writing and maintaining a blog takes a certain degree of commitment, as well as a passion (or at least a liking) for stringing words into a decent sentence. If you don't enjoy writing that much, you could always create an audio or video blog.

But would your business objectives really be served by starting a blog? Or could other methods of online marketing - like SEO, ezine advertising or newsletter publishing work just as well, if not better?

2. To Who do you want to reach with your blog?

The first step to reaching your audience is understanding where they go to find information about your products.

If your audience largely consists of people who live in your town or use products that they search for in the newspapers, offline advertising might be more suited to your purpose.

If however, your target audience belongs to one or more of these segments, a blog might be just the thing to boost your business.

- Internet users

Does your target audience really use the internet? If not, then starting a blog (or any online activity, for that matter) will just be a huge waste of time and effort.

- Blog readers

Does your target audience read blogs? Or do they prefer to get their information in their inbox? If the latter is true, then an email newsletter might be a better option than a blog.

- Search engine users

A blog is an excellent way to boost your search engine rankings and get listed for a lot of your target keywords. If you know that your audience uses search engines to find information, a blog will increase your chances of getting their attention.

3. What do you want to achieve with your blog?

There are a lot of things that a blog can do for your business. Blogs can help you -

- Increase your visibility and search engine rankings
- Brand yourself, your products, your services, your company
- Build a community and network with people who have similar interests
- Expand your reach to those outside your current sphere of influence
- Establish your credibility as an expert or thought-leader in your field
- Put a human face on your business
- Reach out to potential customers and stakeholders

Deciding exactly what you want to achieve with your blog can help you get focused, so that you can spend your time and effort in activities that help, not hinder your business objectives.

4. How much time can you spend on your blog?

Serious business bloggers not only spend time writing their own blogs, but also spend a great deal of time reading up on current events and browsing other blogs in their field for information.

If you are prepared to put in the time and effort required to do that sort of research, your blog will serve as a good branding tool for your business.

If not, you should either hire someone to do the research or seriously rethink your decision to start a blog.

5. What blogging platform will serve your needs best?

Deciding your blogging platform is an important step that you should take only after becoming familiar with the features and benefits of each option.

The reason it is so crucial is because it can be extremely difficult to migrate an established blog to a new platform once you have started it. Moving your blog can result in you losing your data, search engine listings and readers, so don't take this decision lightly.

Decide which platform will best meet your marketing objectives, time constraints and personal preferences before you make your first post.

If, on the other hand, you're a control freak (like me) and don't mind spending some time and effort to customize your blog, then a server-installed software, like Wordpress, b2Evolution or Movable Type might be just right for you.

6. How do you plan to promote your blog?

Why is it good to know this before you start your blog? Because it will help you decide where best to invest your time and effort when you need to build traffic to your blog.

You'll learn more about the methods to promote your blog when you subscribe to the email course below. Some of these tasks can be outsourced, while others you would have to do yourself.

Decide what you want to take on and look out for service providers to handle the other functions so you can start building traffic to your blog as soon as possible.

7. How will you assess the success of your blog?

To determine how successful your blog is in boosting your profile or profits you will have to measure your blog traffic and track sales or leads that have come through it.

Planning this in advance will help you take more informed decisions about your blogging metrics, choice of blogging platform and degree of customization you require on your blog.

Understand that blogging is not for everyone. It's just another form of communication.

Don't get so hung up on the technology that you end up ignoring more appropriate ways of communicating your message.

Taking Benefit From Business Blogs

2008-06-23T17:52:00.007+07:00

Blog is a medium for self-expression on web. Blogs are in the form of few paragraph entries. Blogs are created by both individual and companies, which are in the form of personal and commercial blogs.

It provides an option to make the articles interactive in the form of comments. Wiki is another type of blog which is similar to web page with contribution from more then one people.

Business blogs helps to build a community and a trusted group of follower online
More effective then emails
Improves public relation both inside and outside of the company.
Best medium for communication with a benefit of being interactive
Less encroachment of privacy
Better then press releases and helps in creating brand
Permanent
No/partial expertise needed to maintain it.

Blogging for Business Beginner Guide

2008-06-23T14:43:00.005+07:00

Not long ago a blog was simply an online diary. Initially, people decided that blogging was describing, in excruciating detail, how their day went, what they had for dinner last night, and why they spent the whole weekend doing laundry.

Since then, blogging made the transition into the business arena. Now blogs are frequently being used as business journals, tools that can help keep your customers and web site visitors up to date with what is going on with your company. A business blog is an excellent tool to toot your own horn, let the world know about your new products, and tell your target customers why they should do business with you, rather than your competitor.

Don't have a blog for your business yet? No problem! Here is how you can start blogging in just five easy steps:

* Set up a blog for your business. If you don't want to have to set up things on your own, visit Blogger.com. Blogger will host your blog on its server, so that you don't have to add anything to your own web site.

On the other hand, if you'd like to set something up on your own, get blogging software from WordPress.org

* Make your blog an extension of your business identity. The look and feel of your blog should match that of your business web site. Don't forget to include your logo!

* Don't make the blog into a giant ad. Your readers will immediately recognize that ruse and stop reading the blog. Instead, post the items that are of interest to your current and potential customers. Use the blog to post tips and ideas, articles, information about new products, etc.

* Strike a balance between personal and business stuff. While customers like to read the blog to learn about the person behind the business, don't use the blog as a tool to vent, complain and discuss the details of your personal life. You use the blog to converse with your customers, so the blog should be as professional as your newsletter and phone conversations with customers.

It is great to post a story about how you helped a client get an important product out on time, and how proud that made you feel. It might not be appropriate to post a story about an argument you had with a video store clerk over the weekend.

* Leverage your Blog. When you are in business, you realize that many customers have similar questions/concerns. Address these concerns in your blog, and when another customer has the same concern, link directly to the blog entry that answers these concerns.

A blog is an excellent tool to reach potential customers, rank higher in search engines and generate more of the ever-important visitor traffic to your web site.

Blogging For Business How To Start..??

2008-06-23T14:24:00.003+07:00

Business blogs are primarily used to improve a company's communication both internally and externally. Business blogs are a type of communication channel that could be used effectively in product launches, team interaction internally within the company or interaction between clients and company. With the level of interactivity blogs provide, clients feel more confident in the company. Not to mention the amount of traffic it brings to the main site.

Personal and business blogs: What is difference between two?

There is not much of difference between personal and business blogs visually but there is a fine difference between them in terms of reputation and brand attached.

Business blogs should be well planned before hand. Companies can't afford to just walk away after launching their blog. Business blog has to be successful. Constant and consistent posts are the rule of the game.

Blogsphere is full of best writers and faster one learns their rule, better for them. Companies can't just rely on the fact that they are market leaders in their business so they will be successful with their blogs too.

The postings on business blog should be open and should portray personality of the writer and the company. The postings on business blogs should be very informal, and should be written in first person voice. Posts should be informative and relevant with an expert touch to it.

Business Blogs and it content:

According to search engine optimizers, "Content is King". Indeed this is true for websites but not for a blog. Blog is all about writing with a particular voice and personality. A lot of people would like the style and would stick to the blog with regular visits. A lot of them will hate it and would never return.

Content for a business blog should be written in a strong voice with high consistency in quality. It becomes somewhat difficult to maintain quality with regular postings, but no choice. A few bad or substandard posts and regular visitors to the blog will fly off.

Important

Don't hammer your visitors every time with posts like how great is your product and so on. Add some funny incidences or bit of humor to your postings. Talk something about how employees enjoyed drinks in a party organized at particular department. Add some lighter moments in between posts.

Should My Home Business Have a Blog?

2008-06-23T14:18:00.003+07:00

It's fair to say that blogging has taken the Internet by storm over recent years. And it's no surprise that today there are hundreds of thousands of new blogs being launched every day.

But as a home-based business owner, should I have a blog?

To put it bluntly, if you conduct any part of your business over the internet, then Yes, you should have a blog.

So what is a blog?

Wikepedia describe a blog as ..... a weblog (usually shortened to blog) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order). Although most early weblogs were manually updated, tools to automate the maintenance of such sites made them accessible to a much larger population, and the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging".

You might be thinking that to set up a blog is far too advanced for me, but that is furtherest from the truth. Blogger.com is a Google-owned hosted blogging platform that is 100% free to use and literally takes only minutes to set up and start posting.

Secondly, you might be thinking it's going to cost too much. Wrong! The only cost is your normal web hosting. You don't even have to purchase a new domain for your blog. It can be easily attached as a sub-domain to your current business website eg: http://blog.MyBusiness.com or as a directory: www.MyBusiness.com/blog/.

So why should your home-based business have a blog? Will it benefit me?

The truth is, a blog is just one part of your marketing strategy, although it can quite easily end up being the most valuable and cost-effective way of marketing your business to new and existing clients.

Come to see your blog as a means of getting closer to your intended market.

With a blog, you are giving your home business a personality. You are chatting informally with your market and building that much sought after long-term relationship and trust.

With credibility and trust being what separates successful home business to those that fail, a well-delivered blog can help build a strong rapport with your customers, via you offering insights into your business and your industry. In a low-pressure setting (ie: there should be no hard selling at all), you are networking with your customers in a way that humanizes your business.

So how can a blog work for my home business?

Let's take an example. Your business (which by the way, you run from home) sells PDA add-ons.

By including a blog as an addition to your e-commerce site you could deliver news, facts, figures, views ... in fact, anything to do with your industry.

You can have your rant and raves on topics close to you. You could offer inside tips on using PDA's. You could provide links to other sites of interest that your customers would appreciate.

Your market will love you for your openness and willingness to chat informally, and in time you become perceived as an expert in your field.

But a word of warning. Don't start up a blog just to push sales, offering little but mere "buy from me now" posts. This is a sure-fire way of actually losing credibility.

If you view a blog as a way of communicating better with your customers (ie: talking 'with them' rather than 'to them') then you are well on your way to blogging success and more importantly ... business success.

The Reasons Why You Really Need a Blog for Your Business

2008-06-23T14:14:00.003+07:00

Many online markerter using blog to represented online business strategy right now, many useful and many chance you will get money from your blog, if you don't have a blog, take this reason why online marketer have blog, the reason is :

1. It is perfect for creating a web presence for independent professionals who have something to say and who need people to get to know them and what they can do for them.

2. Having your own business blog gives you credibility and a forum where you can show your expertise.

3. Readers can comment directly onto your blog, creating interaction and interest.

4. No more waiting for your web designer to update your web site.

5. You can post to your blog yourself, about any issue, daily if you wish, and get it broadcast into the blogosphere instantly.

6. The search engines love blogs and will pick up your keywords easily, boosting your rankings, making it easier for people to find you on the web.

7. You can network and build up a community of like-minded readers. You blog, people comment. Others blog, you comment. Before you know it, more people have heard of you and your business because the buzz gets passed around.

8. You can test out new ideas and get instant feedback. Get your customers and prospects in on the act now and let them help you help them - invite them to talk back! Let them see how you develop your products and services and they can show you how to best to serve them.

9. You can use your blog side-bars to promote your products, your affiliate products, run blog ads, sell books, and any other product or services you have. You don't have to include this in the body or content of your article; therefore your posts - your writing - can remain content rich and free of promotional hype.

Finally, email marketing and electronic newsletters are struggling because of over-crowded inboxes, spam problems and filters.

Business Blogging: Where Do I Start?

2008-06-23T12:17:00.003+07:00

The new hot commodity is a blog for your small business so you've decided you must have one.

Before you begin think about it long term. Where do you think the blog is headed? What is the objective? Do you want it to be found by the search engines for specific terms? How often will you post? Who will the audience be? What will it look like a year from now? Five years from now?

If you think you may have this blog for a long time, consider hosting it with your own domain name. Blogger provides you with a free domain name (name.blogspot.com), or the option of ftp to your own domain.

If, at some point in time in the future you want to move the blog and you've been using the blogspot name, you won't be able to take it with you. This means that all of the people who have your blog in their reader will "lose" you. It also means that you'll have to start from ground zero with the search engines.

Once you're ready to go, what are you going to write about? Make sure you've brainstormed ideas so you don't run into the inevitable writer's block. You can always start with what you've written before.

Do you have a newsletter? Look through your archive and "refresh" some of those old topics as a blog posting. How about your website? Do you have content you can turn into a blog topic? Do you participate in online forums or discussion lists? Find some advice you gave to someone there and turn it into a blog post.

This should get you started. Remember that small business blogging is a long term activity. Be ready.