Link Building With Blogs

It’s been said time and time again that links are the currency of the web. Without links, your odds of achieving significant online traffic (either from other websites or search engines) without big ad bucks are slim to none.

Without links, no one knows you exist online. The Technorati search engine ranks the popularity of blogs by the number of incoming links. And Google’s search engine algorithm thinks you’re more important when you have links aimed at you from important people.

It’s not enough anymore to just get people talking… they need to be linking. It’s more important these days that they spell your URL right, rather than your name.

It can be awfully lonely on the web when no one stops by.

If you’re trying to do business online, lonely equals poor. Whether you’re selling products, services or advertising, you need visitors who not only stop by, but return again and again.

First of all, you’d better be blogging. You’ve got to join the conversation and have something valuable to say before anyone will bother acknowledging you.

In the excellent business blogging book Naked Conversations, authors Robert Scoble and Shel Israel envision a day when a business that doesn’t blog will be viewed with suspicion by the public. Blog marketing has been dismissed as fad and reviled as fanciful, but the denial stage is over, and everyone is getting in on the action.

Want to build links? Get yourself a blog and join the conversation.

About the Author:
Brian Clark is the founder of http://www.tubetorial.com which provides free Internet Marketing video tutorials for effective online business. He also writes about online copywriting techniques at his blog Copyblogger.com.
Copyright 2006 Brian Clark
Article Submitted On: September 09, 2006
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Make Money Blogging with Affiliate Programs

Blogs are the perfect method to quickly and easily make money on the Internet. A lot of people have caught onto this concept, and it’s not surprising that blogs on everything from knitting to compost gardening have sprung up online. However, most people trying to make money from blogs are doing it wrong. For this reason, a lot of people fail to realize the money making potential of blogging and write it off as another Internet fad. This belief is far from the truth.

First, you need to understand the power of Affiliate Programs and how they can take a blog from a hobby to a money making machine. Affiliate programs are one of the most important factors in making money with blogs. An affiliate program will pay you anytime someone purchases a product through your affiliate link. These programs are perfect for anyone wanting to run a home-based business without a lot of hassle. You don’t need to carry inventory, handle the money transaction or deal with customer support issues. You simply send traffic to the sales page for the given product and let that page do the selling. And there are affiliate programs for every type of product imaginable.

You can sign up for an affiliate program directly or you can join through an Affiliate Program Provider (APP). APPs are a third party provider that collect payment and provide reporting for affiliate providers and their affiliates. AAPs are completely free to join and once you sign up you can promote ebooks and other products immediately.

Clickbank is an affiliate program provider that only sells downloadable products, like software and ebooks. Clickbank remains one of the most popular APP because of its ease of use and the popularity of information products. The Internet is fueled by people’s search for information on specific topics. Ebooks are a natural tie-in to the blogging. When you blog, you are providing information and by offering Clickbank products you allow your readers to get even more information on the same topic. After you’ve picked the topic of the blog (hopefully a profitable topic!), look to Clickbank (www.clickbank.com) for ebooks that you can sell as an affiliate.

The Clickbank site has many helpful statistics that can assist you in determining which products are the most profitable. There are products listed in nine different categories to allow you to narrow down your search. Each product listed has a set of statistics underneath that give you information about the profitability of the product. There is a figure titled “[Earn %]” that lets you know how much an affiliate will receive from each sale. The “$/earned per sale” cues you into the average amount that affiliates earned per sale. This is the net amount and includes any refunds that the ebook provider may have had to give out. The “% referred” reveals how many of the products were sold through affiliates. “Gravity” tells you how many affiliate have sold the product in the last 60 days. The higher the number, the better. Although you’ll want to avoid products that are flooded in the market, it is important to pick something that is selling well and selling consistently.

Using affiliate programs with Clickbank can be one of the fastest ways to make money through blogging. With a little planning, you can tap into the money making power of blogs and be on your way to Internet riches.

About the Author:
Want to learn how some people are making large amounts of money through blogging? Let the blogging for money expert, Danny Warner, show you how. Visit Danny at his website by Clicking Here: http://TheBloggingCashMachine.com
Posted: 18-07-2006
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

3 Reasons To Publish An E-Newsletter AND A Blog

With spam filters on high alert, delivering a newsletter by email is not as easy as it was even one year ago. Should it reach your subscriber's inbox (without getting siphoned into a junk folder), it still has to vie for attention amongst dozens ? or even hundreds ? of new messages.

1. A blog is not "email"

A Weblog or blog, on the other hand, is a page on your site that can be updated several times a week with fresh content. If a reader has ?subscribed? to your blog, he or she gets an alert (consisting of the headline and brief summary) every time you post new information.

I.e., much the same way you can include a teaser paragraph in your e-newsletter with a link back to the full article on your site.

If you're thinking that subscribers have to proactively "visit" your blog (a "pull" tactic) vs. having an ezine or e-newsletter delivered to them (a "push" approach) there's good news.

You can subscribe to a blog using downloadable software called a newsreader. NewsGator www.newsgator.com is a popular one as it integrates seamlessly with Outlook. There are lots of newsreaders to choose from, many of them free. Once installed on your desktop, the newsreader (also called a news aggregator) grabs the latest updates to your blog via an RSS feed.

No need to worry what RSS is (it stands for Really Simple Syndication). Just have faith that RSS is a new way to publish and distribute content on the Web without using email. And that?s the point. No email. So, no worries about spam filters or delivery problems.

2. A blog is an instant publishing tool

A blog is an easy-to-use content management tool. When you ?blog,? you are instantly adding new content to your site via a Web interface. No technical or programming skills are necessary. Anyone can update the copy and content on your site. In fact, think of a blog as just another page on your Web site.

Key point: a blog doesn't have to be ?cool.? A steady stream of short tips with links to other sites or articles can be extremely useful. (See my article 5 tips for a useful resource blog.) In fact, this is the same kind of useful information you may be cramming into each issue of your newsletter. With a blog, you can parcel it out in digestible bits - with more impact.

3. A blog makes your site search engine friendly

Search engines love blogs and will index individual entries (no matter how short) if you've got your blogging software configured to create a separate page for each new post. In other words, think of each blog post or entry as a Web page with its own title.

By incorporating a blog into your site you are creating multiple new mini pages. Search engines crawl sites which are updated regularly with fresh content. So ?blogging? raises your site?s rankings in search results.

OK, but are blogs a fad or a trend?

I love this question. Here's my answer:

Newsletters or ezines are still the e-vehicle of choice for most marketers. Two things are slowing the adoption of blogs as a channel for business communication:

1. The term blogging is associated with online journals; personal, unedited writing; and, er, needless bloviating.

2. Most folks don't know what a news reader is and why you need one to subscribe to a blog or any other RSS feed. (Again, don?t fret over RSS. Visit www.newsgator.com for a good explanation and to see how easy it is to download a newsreader.)

Use a blog to extend the reach of your e-newsletter

My advice for now is to continue publishing an e-newsletter. If you're sending it in HTML, trim your design down to the bare minimum and make the file size as small as possible. This will give you a better chance of getting past the spam filters and other blocking tools being used by major ISPs like AOL.

Of course, don't forget to link back to your blog through each issue of your e-newsletter. You'll probably need to explain to your newsletter readers what your blog is, where to find it and how to subscribe to it.

If you think your email subscribers are not ready to embrace ?newsreaders,? then don?t mention this downloadable software - or RSS for that matter. Simply include a prominent link to your blog in the layout of your newsletter and remind readers to ?visit? often for updates between issues.

Bottom line, consider adding a blog to your site for two reasons: as an instant publishing tool and as an adjunct to your email marketing efforts. You may find you can use a blog to trim down the extraneous information that's clogging the regular issues of your newsletter and making it less effective.

Useful Resources
Good explanation of RSS
Using RSS Feeds to Promote Your Website by Ralph Wilson
Quick explanation of RSS (from my article "5 key questions about business blogs")

Popular Blogging Tools
Blogger (free tool; now owned by Google)
Movable Type (software you install; it powers many professional-looking blogs)
TypePad (hosted version of Movable Type; easier to set up)

About the Author:
Debbie Weil is the publisher of award-winning WordBiz Report, read by close to 15,000 subscribers in over 80 countries. She is also an Internet marketing & communications consultant.?She sells special reports & award-winning starter kits, and produces audio conferences?on topics related to?marketing with e-newsletters or ezines... as well as blogs. Download your free copy of her mini guide to online copywriting (value $10) instantly when you subscribe to WordBiz Report. ?expert=Debbie_Weil
Article Source: Blogging Articles

Using Blog PR To Promote Your Site

The recent trend of using the press release to promote an online business has emerged with good reason – good press costs very little and can do more for a business than thousands of dollars of marketing. Most businesses use press distribution services like PR Web or PRFree to get the word out about their news. While distribution services certainly can be effective, they tend to miss out on arguably the most influential group of the press – bloggers.

Bloggers mold and shape the opinions of their readers, who are normally the most important in their particular industry, many of whom are also bloggers. Not long after a post from an influential blogger, your news has been picked up by several other bloggers and within days you are all over the blogsphere. Before you know it your site is getting more attention than it would if a story ran in the local newspaper! So how do you get the influential bloggers in your industry to run a story about your business?

Why Would Anyone Do a Story About Your Business?

Are you a new company? Did you just launch a new product that they could review? Did your business win an award? Are you a group of college kids who started a company on savings from your summer jobs? You get the idea. There needs to be a reason that someone would want to read about you. Bloggers take pride in the content they feed their readers. You don't stand a chance of getting a blogger to write about you if you don't have a story that their readers will be interested in.

Research Bloggers in Your Industry

More is less when it comes to contacting bloggers. Buy a list of 1,000 bloggers and send out a generic email to all of them and you'll likely get no response. But send a small amount of personalized emails to the appropriate bloggers and you'll be shocked at how many positive responses you get.

The first step is to make a list of the bloggers that would be interested in your story. You can generally get a feel for whether or not a blogger would be interested in your story by reading a couple of posts and checking out their bio. If they've done a few similar stories in the past or they are heavily involved in your industry, there is a good chance they'll want to hear your story. If not, leave them off your list and move on.

The single best method that I have found to research blogs is the Technorati Blog Directory http://www.technorati.com/blogs/. You can peruse blogs in your industry in order of “authority” - how important Technorati thinks a blog is. This is extremely useful. For example, if you are in the travel industry, you can view a list of the most influential blogs in the world of travel.

Another great way to find the right bloggers is to search through your competitors press sections on their websites to see what blogs have mentioned them. You can also find out who has mentioned your competitors by looking at the sites that have linked to them (type in “links:www.theirsite.com” on Yahoo!). There's a good chance that if they found your competitors story interesting, they'll find your story interesting as well.

Compose Your Email

The best way to contact bloggers is by email. The good news is that most bloggers make themselves easy to access and provide their email addresses on their blogs. The bad news is that most people don't know what to do with said email address once they get it. Use the following outline for your email and you'll see amazing results:

- Have a simple subject. You probably won't get many responses by treating your email like a press release and writing RELEASE in the subject line. Try something simple like “fan of your blog” or “comment about your blog.” You want to make sure they actually read your email and don't mentally mark it as SPAM when they see the subject.

- Start by complementing them. Since you've read their blog and learned about them from their bio, you know quite a bit about them. Use it to your advantage. Complement them on your favorite post, or how cool it is that they worked for XYZ company.

- Request them to post about you (be direct). In three sentences or less, tell them your story, why you think it would be of interest to them and their readers, and respectfully ask that they write a post about it. Be direct and to the point. They will respect that.

- Offer something in return. You have something that could help them. Maybe it's a link back to their blog from your personal blog, or maybe you could provide them with a free product or service that could help them or their business. One way or another, there's something you have to offer them in return for the time spent on a post about you.

- Close with something nice. Thank them for their time and wish them luck with their blog and/or business ventures.

Notice that of the five components of the email, only one is about your story. The rest of the email is spent complimenting them and offering them something. Your chances of getting a positive response have just gone through the roof. Every blogger, no matter how large, likes to hear that people are enjoying their posts.

Respond Promptly and Respectfully

Not everyone is going to agree to run your story. Some will say that they don't do that type of thing or that they don't have time. Since you have been so nice as to compliment them, they will still usually reply either way. Regardless of the response, be sure to thank them for their time and wish them luck with their ventures. You never know when they will encounter someone who needs your product or service in the future (remember, they are in your industry) and if they have a positive image of you and your company they will undoubtedly give you a good recommendation.

Sit Back and Watch the Traffic Roll In

Over the course of the next few weeks you will see post after post appear about your business. Be sure to send another thank you email to the blogger after the post and also be sure to promptly provide whatever you offered them in return. At this point you have developed a mutually beneficial relationship with someone important in your industry that can become invaluable over time.

That wasn't that hard was it? With a little research and a carefully crafted email, any business can effectively use blog PR to drive traffic to their site.

About the Author:
Adam McFarland owns iPrioritize - simple to-do lists that can be edited at any time from any place in the world. Email, print, check from your mobile phone, subscribe via RSS, and share with others.
Content Provider: http://www.my-articles.com

All About Blogging and Blog Hosts

Blog is short for the word weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for the consumpution of the general public. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site. Blogs/ weblogs/blogging are the newest gift of Internet technology to people all over the world. For most, a blog is a personal, unedited, and authentic journal meant to be shared in an online community. A blog site is a place where bloggers can publish anything; their thoughts, feelings, photos, special events, experiences, comments etc. It is like an online diary with videos, links, documents, newsletters and opinions on just about any topics you are interested.

Blogs can be used in the business world as well. Blogs started in the late 90s and have increased in popularity over the past months. Apart from the chat rooms, instant messengers and electronic mails created for communication and dialogue are the emerging innovations that help man build opportunities for interaction. The need for a personalized and human face in online communities is slowly changing the technological landscape of the Internet.

Blogs are made to welcome the insights and opinions of all and therefore, should not be written to sound intimidating and too formal. A conversational tone is the most appropriate way to reach the desired audience. Blogging is all about individuals reaching out to other individuals. Having a blog has its own set of advantages: Freedom of Expression. If you want people to hear you out and give their own opinion, this is the best way to create a line of communication;

Internal communication. This will help your company to build a knowledge-based community of employees. Also good for harnessing employee relations and identifying human resource issues in advance.

Networking at its best. Having a blog is a good platform for exchanging genuine ideas from consumers to you as marketer of a certain product. Sound opinion and point of view is better than just showing the price quote;

Advertising platform. Blogging is a new way to advertise products, a refreshing change from the traditional advertising outlets and it is cost-effective.

Gauging public opinion on products and services. The key is nice and catchy titles with new ideas presented in your content. This is an assurance of quick and repeated responses from your readers. Blogs is an excellent spot for the exchange of ideas between the seller and the consumer. Good for measuring public opinion regarding services and other benefits like search engine optimization (SEO) will help your blogs to be seen often by as many people as you wish. This is very good exposure for your products and services.

There are many blog hosting services are available on the Internet. But the basic question is which one of the services will be the best to start off your business blog program? Business people are usually clueless to recent technological innovations which would help them maximize their marketing potentials. For these beginners, it is best to study first the services offered by blog hosts.

An ineffective business blogging program may damage marketing opportunities instead of enriching them. A company may decide to do the following depending on its capacity and needs: 1) Host their own blog service, 2) Pay someone else to host the service, or 3) Setup a blog aggregator page and ask the employees to select their blog hosting services individually. There are paid and free services available for individuals. For business blogs, they are required to have the latest blogging features; if not, this will prevent them from maximizing their marketing, public relations and SEO potentials.

Keep in mind that blogs should have the following basic essentials:

Comments. Welcoming comments provide opportunity for dialogue. In business blogs, they are a good customer feedback mechanism. This helps develop better customer relations based from loyalty and trust. Blogging is an innovative way to converse with your customers.

Categories and Tags. These oth help in classifying blog searches for ease of navigation and on site search. Categories act as libraries because it classifies posts by subject matter such as business, distance learning, e-commerce, online auctions, etc. Tags, help in the classification, especially in the blog search engine Technorati. Possible customers and new clients locate blogs about certain topics of interest by just clicking the tags.

RSS FEED. Really Simple Syndication is the feed from your blog that is sent out over the internet, and collected through the various newsreaders and aggregators.

Trackback. This helps in maximizing company and product exposure. Through this service, consumers can get back to you for more posts and updates without the difficulty of locating you. If your blog is popular in a specific online community chances are links going back to your blog site are everywhere online, other blog sites or even websites.

You will want to choose a business blogging program with considerable options made available by the hosting companies shortlisted for the services. Free blog hosting services are popular but they are more appropriate for individual online journals. Paid blog hosting services offer unlimited packages best for your companys needs. You may want to suggest checking out some blogs that use the host first, read and examine their layout and design. Another important thing to consider is a reliable technical support the host has.

After, choosing the blog host, a team should be ready to plan the design and structure of the blog as follows:

create a style that meets the needs of the audience;

include weblinks of other website and blogs;

establish an open, credible tone;

blog posta should be in the first person;

schedule weekly updating of blog - ideally, a few times a week;

focus on the business blog objective; and, maintain an honest, engaging conversational quality.

A blog can be a great way to get your products and services out there in the Internet world. A blog should be well designed and the content well thought out. Remember a blog is a reflection of you and your company.

About the Author:
David Mclauchlan
For more articles by this author on this subject and the most effective methods of using blogs for profit, visit his site at http://www.Blog-Cash.com
Posted: 05-08-2006
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

Yahoo Adds Blog Content to the Largest Business Website

The birth of the blog has led to an explosion in content on the Internet. Many blogs are receiving millions of hits, adding hundreds of articles and getting unbelievable exposure every single day. The attention some of these blogs are receiving has led to many larger companies paying for and adding the blog content to their website. This idea of using someone else’s content for your own publishing purposes is referred to as Micro-publishing.

Yahoo Finance, the largest business site on the Web, on Tuesday began carrying content from SeekingAlpha.com, a financial blog aggregator started two years ago by an analyst who was laid off during the worst of the bear market.

The move illustrates how financial blogs are rapidly maturing into a business that's starting to interest large media companies. More than 12 million people visit Yahoo Finance every month.

The founder of Seeking Alpha states, “As the founder of Seeking Alpha, I want to provide some personal perspective on this event.”

"The impact of stock market blogs has only just begun," said David Jackson, the former Morgan Stanley telecommunications analyst who founded SeekingAlpha. "Micro-publishing will fundamentally change the face of financial publishing."

He then goes on to explain how micro-publishing will change the face of financial publishing, “Stock market blogs have reached the point where traditional financial media companies can no longer ignore them. TheStreet.com, MarketWatch and even The Wall Street Journal now frequently link to blog posts from their websites. But the impact of stock market blogs has only just begun; micro-publishing will fundamentally change the face of financial publishing in two key ways:

1. Bloggers and direct submissions to Seeking Alpha will now provide analysis of thousands of stocks that were previously neglected.
2. Investors write differently than journalists.

Since its inception, SeekingAlpha has grown into a considerable operation that now publishes nearly 100 articles a day on a host of stock-market related matters, from the outlook for Chinese shares to whether Vonage will ever generate enough cash to survive. It also provides conference call transcripts and analysis of recent filings for initial public offerings, among other things. Many of the site's 200 contributors are professional money managers who have their own blogs and want wider exposure for their views. SeekingAlpha employs a crew of approximately 10 editors to ensure the articles read well.

Financial terms of the deal were unavailable.

About the Author:
Daryl H. Bryant
At Hudson Horizons, we provide website Content Management conversion for the small to mid-sized business to easily allow our clients the ability to manage the data of their website on a day-to-day basis.
Hudson Horizons is an e-business product, solution and marketing company specializing in creating highly sophisticated customized websites, web-based software applications and providing e-marketing services for small and mid-sized businesses.
Our vision and ultimate ambition as a company is to always strive to be "The New Light for e-Business."
By offering new, innovative and extremely competitive products and solutions to our customers, we provide better ways to run and operate their business online.
Article Submitted On: September 13, 2006
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Blogs for Kids

Flush out the writer in children. Blogging could draw out a young writer and open doors to their future. Consider encouraging your child to start blogging!

Children love having an audience. The instant recognition and approval that comes from a crowd just can't be beat. Employing blogs to help develop good spelling habits, grammar skills, and develop a love for writing at a young age is an innovative concept that has potential benefits:

Benefits
1.) Responsibility/Commitment - Daily Posts
Regular updates require children to be disciplined and responsible.

2.) Communication - Increased Communication with Friends and Relatives
Blogging or journaling gives children the opportunity to connect with relatives who might live some distance away, communicating important timely issues.

3.) Technology - Exposure to Internet Technologies
Children are growing into technology-laden world. Exposure to innovative Internet technology will help them with communication skills and résumé-building.

4.) Improved Writing Skills
When presented with an audience, children will want to present their "best" work.

5.) Improved Editing Skills
Proofreading is an important skill that is difficult to teach. Editing of daily entries will help children learn how to present their ideas clearly and professionally.

6.) Improved Spelling
Automated spell-checking helps children be aware of spelling errors when they occur.

7.) Typing
Getting children acquainted with keyboards at a young age will help them become familiar with their layout and function, quickly making them proficient typists.


Resource for Blogging Information - http://www.blog-connection.com

Because blogging involves the Internet, parents and teachers should also take the opportunity to educate youngsters about the dangers of the Internet. The Internet is global in its reach and developing safe Internet habits at a young age is critical. Remind children not to disclose personal information including names, addresses or location of events they plan to attend.

Staying Safe Online - http://www.small-business-software.net/staying-safe-online.htm

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com product lines. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and http://www.small-business-software.net
Article Source: www.iSnare.com

The Art of Using Blogs to Their Full Marketing Potential

As an Internet entrepreneur, you're more than likely aware of the ability of blogs to increase the bottom line of your e-business. Most everyone who sells online, either their product or someone else's, or runs a blog that they have monetized with ads from Google Adsense or some other source does some kind of blog advertising because it is free and eventually gets indexed by the search engines, especially when using Blogger.com blogs. However, there are a few ways that you can really use blogs to enhance your business online, and these tips can be used whether you are selling products on your own site or simply running your own monetized blog.

The first thing you need to think about when generating new blog entries is "how do people know that I have any/new content available here?" Luckily, most blog servers and software automatically create RSS site feeds (in the form of a file called atom.xml) that can be sent to the many RSS feed servers available online. Think of it is an announcement to the world through Really Simple Syndication that an update has been made to your blog and everyone should come and check it out. These updates are then posted on thousands of other websites and seen by people who are watching the site feeds for up to date news. This benefits you in two ways: First, it gets automatic traffic flowing into your site (you posted your web address in your blog post, didn't you?), and second many sites will carry your blog post creating one-way links to your web site. And just in case you don't know, one way links are the most powerful types of links to have.

However, doing so manually can be slow and extremely time consuming. There are many major RSS feeds available online, and posting your blog to each one each time can take forever. Fortunately, there is an easy way to automate it; a little piece of software called RSS Announcer. (http://www.easyrssannouncer.com) To use this software all you do is point it to the URL of your atom.xml file (which is created automatically with virtually all blog software and can be found in your setup), choose which RSS feeds you want to post to, and hit a button. The rest is taken care of for you automatically, and your blog posts are then syndicated across many thousands of web sites. Do you think that might make a difference in the number of visitors to your site?

The next important part of running a blog is always having new and fresh content for visitors to check out. When someone comes to your site or your blog, you want them to keep coming back, and one of the best ways to do that is to constantly update content. The problem is that even the most prolific of writers can't write more than one or two articles a day, and if you start running several blogs the amount of writing can quickly become overwhelming. I have run as many as 18 blogs at a single time and there's no way I would ever be able to create enough new content to keep users coming back. This is especially important if your blogs are monetized with Adsense advertising. Let's say, for instance, that you run a blog about Home Mortgages because it is a subject you know a lot about and are passionate about. In order to produce income you include Adsense on your site, and visitors to your blog read not only your content, but also see ads relating to Mortgages. Some of these visitors are going to click on your ads and generate income for you. In fact, if you're really good, 20% or more of your visitors will click on an advertisement and put money in your pocket. Soon some money starts coming in and you decide to put up another blog about Refinancing. After a while the blog starts to take off, and more Adsense revenue starts rolling in. At some point, you will find yourself trying to run so many blogs that there is no way you can write enough content for each of them.

Fortunately, there's an answer for the problem as well. It comes in the form of a piece of software called RSStoBlog. (http://www.dimasenterprises.com/rsstoblog.html) RSStoBlog will automatically, on a schedule that you decide, post relevant content to your blogs either from News sources, RSS Feeds, or search engines. If you're running a blog about Mortgages, instead of constantly writing new content for your blog, you can automate the posting of Mortgage information to your blog every day, several times a day. How does this benefit you as a blog owner? First, it relieves the burden of having to come up with so much original content by yourself. Second, it will send a "ping" to all the blog directories on every new post alerting them of new content at your blog. Third, if you are running a website relating to your blog, you can post the URL's of different pages of your website in your blog content, and those pages will quickly be indexed by the various search engines.

Have you seen those advertisements about "get your site indexed in 3 days for only $XX"? That's how they do it: add your page to a blog and ping the directories. If you're unfamiliar with this technique it is called Blogging and Pinging, and it is great for getting sites quickly indexed. RSStoBlog lets you do this quickly and easily. For all that it does, RSStoBlog is very under priced. It is definitely worth checking out if you are serious about marketing your websites or monetizing your blogs.

The last problem I'd like to address is that of link building. We all know that one of the keys to a long term search engine optimization strategy is high quality link building. This can include reciprocal links, purchased one-way links with related web sites, or even free links with unrelated websites. Many search engine experts agree that having some links, even if they're from sites totally unrelated to your own, are better than no links at all. Links to your site are like "votes" that the search engines see as your site containing real content. I assume that the people who run search engines feel that someone who takes time to build links to their site actually wants the site to stick around a while. However, as usual, link building can take a long time if it is not automated in some way.

Now, you're probably scratching your head and wondering "what does that last paragraph have to do with blogs?" Well, once again a piece of software comes to our rescue to automate our link building. It is called Blog Link Generator (http://www.cheapbloglinkgenerator.com), and can be used to quickly create hundreds or thousands of one-way links from blogs relating to your website (or even your own blog). It does this by searching for blogs relating to keywords that you input, and automatically posting to those blogs with a message from you and a link to your website. Let's say, for example, that you have a website or blog about Car Insurance. You enter the keywords "car insurance" into the software, and it will search through many thousands of blogs relating to car insurance and on each of those blogs post a message from you saying something like "I really enjoy car insurance blog. I have a website relating to car insurance you may find interesting at http://www.whateversite.com. Please come and visit when you have a chance." This is a piece of software you can use as little or as much as you want. There is no shortage of blogs on just about any topic imaginable, so creating one-way links to your site or blog on nearly any subject becomes extremely easy. Believe me when I say that you will quit before the software does.

So as you can see, there are several ways you can add to the power of blogs to bring more revenue to your e-business. Whether it is getting more people to know about your site or simply automating tasks that would normally consume too much time, software products are available to free up that time so you can get to the business of doing more business.

Suggested Resources:
http://www.cheapbloglinkgenerator.com
http://www.dimasenterprises.com/rsstoblog.html
http://www.easyrssannouncer.com

Yours in Success,
Peter Dimas

About the Author:
Peter Dimas is a full time Internet and Affiliate marketer living in Las Vegas, NV. He also runs a Search Engine Optimization company which specializes in all types of SEO including White, Gray, and Black Hat tactics. If you would like more information, please contact him at seo@dimasenterprises.com and ask him how he can flood your site with targeted visitors.
Article Source: ArticleToGo.com

Specialty Web Hosting For Blogs

Specialty web hosting is an option many people don’t even realize they have, but for websites that have a very specific purpose or goal it’s a choice worth considering. Bloggers, in particular, may find it very beneficial to sign up with a specialty host that caters to the precise needs of the blogging world.

As you probably already know, blogs allow anyone on the Web to publish thoughts and ideas on a subject one entry at a time – it works like an online journal or diary. But not everyone uses a blog just for personal writing. In fact, people use blogs to publish photos, collaborate with colleagues, and keep in touch with family and friends.

Compared to other forms of web publishing, blogs are known for a simple publishing process, tools that make it easy to create posts, and a system that allows the user to link to related sites and blogs with little hassle. It’s meant to be a straightforward and painless process so that the writer can concentrate on what he/she has to say. It’s truly the fastest and easiest way to update a website and get content out there for the world to read – no wonder blogs are fast becoming the most popular way to publish online.

Although setting up a blog is relatively uncomplicated, for some people going it entirely alone is not an option. Setting up and maintaining blog software all by yourself is a feat not everyone is able to easily accomplish. The procedure is similar to setting up a website because you have to locate some web space, download and install a blog software package such as Movable Type, and finally, develop your own templates. The entire journey is not necessarily a simple one, and requires a decent amount of technical understanding to complete successfully.

Luckily for the avid blogger, new web hosting services that exist solely for blog hosting are coming into the limelight. Making it simple to create and maintain a blog, these companies provide a ready-to-go system that takes the difficulty out of publishing and storing an online blog. Also, many companies that already sell hosting services are branching out, in order to take advantage of the popularity of blogs, and offering separate blog publishing services.

Hosting companies that offer packages targeted toward bloggers simplify blogging by providing drag and drop layout, as well as editing and digital photo management tools. Oftentimes you are even given the option to limit who views your blog and protect any sensitive or confidential information you have on your site. Syndication is another option that many blog hosts are putting on the table for consumers. RSS, OpenReviews, and OPML are just some of the options available to today’s bloggers.

Another great reason to sign up with a specialty host for your blog: these companies make it easy, not just to share content, but also to choose a publishing medium. For instance, you may be able to publish to email or mobile devices. And if you select a company that supports a wide range of desktop applications, publishing is a snap. You don’t have to be an experienced Webmaster, spend endless grueling hours learning HTML, or download and install special software – everything gets published right away.

The business blog is a form of corporate communication that’s also on the rise. Traditional web hosts have recognized this new phenomenon and many now offer blogging services to their business customers. Business blogs are the perfect way for small and medium-sized businesses to keep website content up-to-date without possessing intricate knowledge of HTML.

Another option, for those who already own enough hosting space with a provider is to choose a blog service that will publish the blog for you on their existing site. This type of service lets users edit entries and publish updates directly through their website. All you have to do is define FTP information about your hosting service and select pre-made design templates. Once you complete those two steps, with the click of a button your blog will be published instantaneously. The bonus is that blogging services such as these are very inexpensive to implement, with prices ranging between $5.00 and $20.00 per month for about 5GB of transfer and storage.

When researching a good company to host your blog, keep in mind that blogs can be demanding applications, especially if you include access to syndicated website content on a regular basis. This type of content in particular can place a heavy load on servers, and if your blog becomes popular, you want a company that won’t let you down when a lot of traffic comes your way.

No matter what your blog is for – posting photos, expressing your personal thoughts, or keeping clients up to date on your company’s latest news – look for specialty web hosting that accommodates the blog format. It will definitely make blogging a hassle-free experience.

About the Author:
By Katerina Mitrou sponsored by www.webcinch.com/ . Webcinch offers reliable and affordable web hosting: www.webcinch.com/ Please link to this site when using this article.
Content Provider: http://www.my-articles.com

Blogging Directory

Have you looked at your website traffic lately? How much visitors actually visit your site everyday. One of the best ways to attract the visitor to your site is by writing informative blogs. A blogging directory with a high page rank can do wonders to lift the traffic of your site. Thousands of people are already successfully blogging to create better relationship with their prospects, increase client loyalty and enhance their visibility and brand recognition.

If someone takes the time to get word our there about themselves and their services or products then they are serious about business. If you are one of these people then you need to get max exposure for your blogs and just writing a blog is not enough anymore. The competition is fierce so find blog directories as some of them offer a free listing. A Blogging directory is a perfect solution to people who are in search of new information online.

Submitting your blog in an effective blogging directory can
· Boost your website traffic
· Increase the size of your email list
· Build trust with prospects and clients
· Can you earn you huge money online

If you are looking for a great business idea then submitting your blog to a directory like Surreal blog can generate lots of traffic to your website. Surreal has created a blogging directory for anyone who are interested in posting their blogs. We have additional features to help your blog get more exposure. The benefit to this is great as you get your blog listed and you can post articles.

Surreal blogging directory in a short period of time has been able to achieve a page rank of 5. Submitting your blogs to a higher Pr site can do wonders to increase your website page rank. Moreover we offer a chance to list on our directory for no fees. The purpose of this blog directory is to help our many blog writers get more exposure for their original content. As Surreal Blog works daily to make the site a high traffic area these services will only bring more exposure each month.

About the Author:
Darren Dunner write for Surreal Blog Directory,
offering information about Blogging. Visit today http://www.surrealblog.com
Posted: 26-07-2006
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

Should You Get A Blog?

A blog is a type of website. It allows the website owner to easily write messages that get posted to the site automatically, often in a journal or diary-like style. A particularly appealing thing about blogs is that your readers can comment back to your posts fairly easily, and a continuous stream of fresh conversations result. (This is a good thing.)

Here are three reasons to consider getting a blog:

1.To Replace Your Ezine

If you currently publish an ezine, you may wish to consider replacing it with a regularly published blog. This means using your blog to publish journal entries, and then when it comes time to communicate with your subscriber list, you excerpt some items from your blog, and send those out as your ezine.

This saves you from creating special articles only for your ezine. In many cases it becomes easier for you to write in blog format (short and sweet) so you save time. Readers enjoy the practical, "reporter-like" nature of blogs instead of ezines, and gradually come to feel that they are in conversation with you on a daily basis. You become part of their everyday circle of friends and associates, which leads to you becoming their natural resource on the topic of your expertise.

2. To Create a Quick and Dirty Learning Environment or e-Campus

For those of you who offer TeleClasses or other programs that want to have a web page of learning resources, links, class notes and audio, etc., a blog can be a great way to bring together an e-Campus.

If you offer a workshop, coaching/consulting, or even a software solution, and you want to instantly add value to your clients, create a "client/student resource page" using a blog. This becomes an environment that the students can play in, study more, and soak up your materials. Your clients continue to benefit from your expertise even though you're not physically there; they do it at their pace, and at little cost to you.

Once again, because blogging makes it easy for you to continually update your website without mucking around with FrontPage or DreamWeaver, you will save time and energy publishing to the Internet.

3.) Just For Fun, And To Be Cool

Let's face it, a large part of the reason you're wondering about blogs is because it sounds cool, right? And new stuff is fun. So why not try it just because? Sometimes it's enough to try something because it stretches you, keeps you limber and awake to possibilities. There's nothing wrong with playing, UNLESS you fool yourself into thinking your business is improving, or you're somehow paying the mortgage while you play.

Rest easy, there's no pressure to get a blog. Not getting one won't negatively impact your bottom line. So although the technology can be entrancing, stay focused... what are you selling to who? How is it going? That said, do stay curious about new technology. Part of your chosen profession as an online biz owner means modeling for others by staying abreast of new things.

With that in mind, see some fun blogs at the blog search engine: http://www.blogsearchengine.com/

About the Author:
Andrea J. Lee coaches entrepreneurs and online business owners. As Thomas J.Leonard's General Manager, she helped build and manage the largest network and trainer of personal and business coaches in the world. Now the CEO of Andrea J. Lee Group of Companies, she writes, speaks and consults on Marketing, Internet and Business systems. For more helpful tips, visit www.39lessons.com ?expert=Andrea_J._Lee
Article Source: Blogging Articles

Why Blogs Matter for Your Nonprofit

You probably have heard more and more about nonprofit use of blogs over the last year. And you may have read my article, "Should your nonprofit launch a blog?, " last fall. It's a great introduction to blogging for nonprofits.

A quick reminder – a blog is a website that takes the form of an online journal, updated frequently with running commentary on one or many topics.

Why blogs matter

There are few who will discount blogs' role as a key component of online culture. If anything, blogs are quickly becoming popular with established users of the Internet, according to a late 2004 study on blogs by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Pew conducted two telephone surveys of nearly 2,000 Internet users, and found that 32 million Americans, or 27 percent of Internet users, say they read blogs -- a 58 percent jump from the prior year (with a huge growth in readers 30-49 years old). More than 8 million Internet users have created a blog or web-based diary. Twelve percent of Internet users have posted comments or other material on a blog.

Nonetheless, the blogging concept is still evolving among the majority of Americans. Sixty-two percent of online Americans do not know what a blog is, according to the Pew study.

Other results found by the Pew organization indicate the blogging community is still far from average, even among Internet users. Blog creators are more likely (82 percent) to have been online for six years or more and have broadband (70 percent) at home.

This study, paired with a prior Pew report indicating 59 percent of Americans access the Internet as of 2002, begs the question: What, if any, impact do blogs have on how the public gets their news and information?

The answer, not surprisingly, appears to be mixed. But what's clear is that blogging (writing and reading), like Internet usage, is growing at a phenomenal rate. Even if your nonprofit isn't blogging, organizations that are competing for the same donors, members, volunteers and participants are likely to be doing so. As a result, it's a venue you can't ignore any longer.

When to launch your nonprofit blog

Okay, so blogging is a growing phenomenon and definitely something you have to keep your eye on. But when does it make sense for your nonprofit to take the plunge? Here are just a few motivations and models:

• Your CEO or subject expert has a distinctive point of view and/or news to share on a very regular basis. Teagle Foundation CEO Bob Connor, an expert in liberal (arts) education, blogs to share his thinking and responses to news in the field. Take a look at: http://www.teaglefoundation.org/president/liblog.aspx

• Your organization wants to disseminate news to, and facilitate conversation among, key audiences (it helps if they have an interest or experience in common). Coro, a leadership development program, launched a blog to enable its 11,000 alumni and friends to share observations, analysis, and opinions regarding public affairs. http://coro.blogs.com/coro/nonprofit/

• Pulling together news and perspectives on a particular subject area is your nonprofit's specialty, and you want to get the info out quickly and broadly. Green Media Toolshed, which builds and strengthens the communications infrastructure for the environmental movement, publishes a blog on the latest and greatest resources. http://greenmediatoolshed.blogs.com/gmt/network_advocacy/

These are just a few of the ways in which blogging can make a difference for your nonprofit. There are many more out there which I'll highlight in future issues of Getting Attention.

But don't wait for me. Get online and start reviewing the blogs mentioned above and others even closer to your organization's needs. This process will help jump start your blog strategy and give you some concrete examples to show colleagues who may be less familiar with blogs.

About the Author:
Nancy E. Schwartz
Article Submitted On: September 16, 2006
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Easy Ways to Make Money Blogging

Now that blogging seems to be in full swing, there's a predominant question in every blogger's mind - how do I make MORE money blogging?

The blogging world is a gold mine for the person who knows what he is doing. Tips and techniques can be shared and methods learned for making money with blogs , however, you cannot make money Blogging until you start trying. So, the first thing to do is plunge straight in and start trying to monetize your blog.

Ads ads and more ads: If your blog is catering to a niche market and you are providing valuable content, there is an easy way to make money blogging - sell ad space! Even large corporations are on the lookout for ad space on blogs that have a good following. After all, Blogs are all about public opinion. If you let others advertise on your blogs with banner ads, sponsor ads, solo ads and classifieds, you can start earning money by blogging.

Google AdSense is another attractive option if you want to make money blogging. Google's Adsense program makes it easy to advertise on your Blog. You get paid for every time someone click on an adword campaign located on your blog - not a bad way to subsidize your blogging income!

Endorse, promote and link: 'You rub my back, and I rub yours'. Joint venture marketing is a powerful marketing strategy. By entering into joint venture, you basically promote or endorse certain products. The profits from these sales are split. If you have a loyal following a joint venture is easy because people want to JV with you.

Affiliate marketing is another way in which you can make money blogging. When you come across a product that is related to your blog recommend the product to your readers by linking to it. If they click the link and a sale takes place, you get a percentage of the profit. Some products can really make you a lot of money.

The membership model: If you own a blog that provides quality content, you can think of converting it into a membership based blog. Once you have hooked your readers on your blog content, they will find it difficult to stop reading your blog. If you make your blog a paying member's only blog they will pay to gain access. However, this can be done after you have established your blog and convinced readers that your blog is worth paying for.

Convert Blog into E-Book: Sell your blog content in more ways than one by converting them into e-books. If you cater to a niche market, there usually is a great demand for an ebook on the topic. Converting your blogs into content that can be sold will help you earn extra money blogging.

Ask for money: You do not have to pound away at your keypad for free. If you have a blog that caters to a need or fights for a cause, do not hesitate to ask for a little monetary appreciation.

Recently, one blogger was able to leave his day job for 'uniterrupted Blogging' by cashing in on donations sent by his supportive readers.

If you have decided that you are blogging for money, do so whole heartedly. Place your Ads where people can see them, not in some half-hidden corner. If you are asking for a donation, ask loudly, don't just leave an add or donation button sitting on your blog half-heartedly. There is no need to feel apologetic or defensive about making money from your blogs. After all, if you have started a blog that gives people something they want, you have every right to get paid.

About the Author:
Why are some people making a lot of money online? Let the blogging for money expert, Danny Warner, show you how. Visit Danny at his website by Clicking Here: http://TheBloggingCashMachine.com
Posted: 18-07-2006
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

Blog, Blogging and Blogger - The Hottest Trend in the 21st Century

The Buzz word in the internet industry today is the word “Blogging”. If you have not heard of it, read on to find out the hottest trend that is happening across right now in the 21st century. The word “Blog” could be the next craze that is sweeping across the world ever since the Internet took the world by the storm.

Accordingly to Dictionary.com, the word ‘Blog’ is defined as followed “an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a web page; also called a Web log.” It goes on further to state that the “blog is typically updated daily, blog often reflect the personality of the author”.

Traditionally back in the past, people penned down their private thoughts into a diary book. The content in the diary book would be considered private and exclusive to the author only. In fact, if you attempt to read somebody’s diary without permission, you would be labeled as “Very Rude”. However, with the introduction of “Blog”, it is set to change all that.

People started to chronicle their private life details into an online diary called blog. What started to change is that people not only started to discard away their hard copy diary book for online blogging, but in fact, they started to pen down their private thoughts in world wide web for the public to read. What a drastic change in the Trend!

In fact, soon after, blog started to take a life of its own. Gradually, blog started to evolve into marketing blog, business blog and customer service blog. There is even one blog AsianHottestBlogger.com where blogger contestants are voted by the readers as the hottest blogger for the month after reading the interesting blog post that the blogger contestant has posted.

The entire “Blog” Craze is happening all over the world right now. If you are still not into it, it’s time to jump into the bandwagon right now to capitalize the opportunity before it’s over.

About the Author:
Jeff Wang is a freelance writer whose articles have appear in most major ezine. You can find more of these at: http://www.asianhottestblogger.com (Vote Asian Hottest Blogger And they are not Just a Pretty Face)
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as the bylines are included.
Article Source: ArticleToGo.com

Why Are Blogs So Popular, And Why Do I Need One?

Blogs have become almost as popular as websites. They have their own search engines, ad directories, and forums. Blogs have gained in popularity, and for good reasons.

First, Blogs work great in connection with your website. Your website is more on the business level, where your blog is more on a personal level. You can give thoughts on your current promotions or products, or comment on how you business is doing. Many people add what they are currently learning about, making their blog seem like a journey. Always put a link to your website on your blog and vice versa. This will allow customers to see both sides of you if they want to. Remember consumers want to know who they are buying from, and what is a better way to learn about a webmaster than through a blog. This gives them a sense of comfort. They will be less likely to think that you might be scamming them.

Another reason blogs have gained in popularity is-they are free! More and more people are using blogs to earn an income instead of paying for a website. You don’t need to pay for hosting or a domain names with a blog. You can put all your affiliate programs on your blog to earn an extra income. You can also ad Google Adsense to your blog which will give you an additional source to profit from. It is free, and there really is no reason not to do this. It is also very easy to make changes to your blog, and even an amateur computer user can maintain one. Just read the tutorial that is provided to you, and you will be on your way.

There are many non-business blogs as well. It is a perfect way for family and friends that may live far apart to keep in touch. It is a way to share your passions with others who may have the same passion. For instance, my daughter loves animals. She would probably want to link to other animal site blogs and have them link back to her. Finally, even your children are learning to create their own blogs. Not only is this a great project to help teach children about the Internet, but it also gives them a way to express themselves. Some even make a diary out of their blog. Just be sure to teach your children Internet safety. Never put personal information such as address, phone number, complete birth date, or social security number, on any site or blog. There are too many people who would use that information for the wrong reason. So be safe, and happy blogging!

About the Author:
Alicia Bodine, a work from home specialist, is a stay at home mom and website owner. She has compiled a work at home directory full of online business opportunities that are legitimate and profitable. To get more information about home based businesses visit www.homebusinessesthatprofit.com. Alicia also works part time teaching others.
Content Provider: http://www.my-articles.com

Is It Possible To Make Money From Blogging?

Do you have a Blog or Personal Online Journal? If the answer is yes, did you know that it’s possible to earn money from your Blog? I earn plenty from my own Blogspots – maybe not enough to think of retiring in the near future, but enough to allow me some extra luxuries in life and who knows how much I’ll be earning in a few years or even just a few months!

I love writing Blogs because I love passing on information that I’ve researched myself. Best of all, I only spend a couple of hours each week writing on my blogspots – I spend several more hours researching information because I also love to learn and believe that no matter how much I think I know about a subject, there’s always new stuff to learn – I’m a bit of an information junkie!!

If you already know plenty about a particular subject then it won’t take long at all to write a few paragraphs about it and have your blog up and running. Obviously, writing about what you love helps because, in the beginning, the money you earn is a bonus rather than an income that will allow you to give up your day job. Mind you, I’ve read about many people that earn fantastic incomes from their blogs so maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones that can give up the day job in the very near future.

Search engines visit blogs so your site will probably get listed quickly – Google actually own www.blogger.com so if you want traffic this is a good site to start your blog on. It’s a good idea to also insert GoogleAdSense and even a Google Search box because you’ll also earn money when any of your visitors decide to click an ad or do a search – more bonus cash for little effort. Blogger also has a tool that you can use to notify all the search engines when you update your site. Make no mistake, this is a very powerful tool because the search engines take a look at your blog and follows the links to other websites. This makes getting listed on the top search engines like Google a breeze.

Another way to make cash from your blog is to add a few affiliate links – find products that fit in with the theme of your blog, sign up as an affiliate, put a link on your blog and hopefully watch some more bonus cash roll in – again, it’s simple but effective! If you’re not familiar with affiliate marketing then let me tell you right now that this is an extremely good earner. I usually get my affiliate links at www.cj.com, www.clickbank.com and www.affiliatefuture.com so pay them a visit and get some links to get started.

I recently set up 2 new blogspots and you are welcome to take a look by visiting www.mindpowersuccess.blogspot.com and www.jibechick.blogspot.com. These are 2 completely different subjects but I’m really interested in both so enjoyed creating them.
I also post my monthly JC Newsletter at www.jugglingmumsclub.blogspot.com and always invite people to take a look at the current JCN before signing up.

I’m not worried about getting competition from anyone looking at my blogs – there’s more than enough blogs, niche markets, etc. to go round and if it helps you get ideas then that’s great. Remember I’ve already stated that “I love writing Blogs because I love passing on information that I’ve researched myself.”

Another way to get traffic to your blog is to ask visitors to sign up to your own newsletter and then send them a link each time you make a new post. – once a week is plenty otherwise they may get fed up with you bombarding their inbox.

That’s about all there is to it – it’s quick, it’s easy and it has the potential to earn you a fairly decent income. If you have the time to spare then don’t stop at one blog because the more sites you have the more visitors you’ll get and the more money you’ll earn.

There are many people earning a very good living writing their blogs. The biggest tips are to find niche areas that not many others are promoting, get some affiliate links and some good quality content information. Remember to add GoogleAdSense and possibly a Google search box to your site and then just check your visitors and earnings each day.

Copyright 2005 Jugglingmum

About the author:
Jugglingmum earns a living online from affiliate marketing, blogspots and Google. She runs a popular monthly Newsletter that you can sign up for by sending a blank email to jugglingmumsclub@getresponse.com See the latest JC Newsletter at http://www.jugglingmumsclub.blogspot.com
Circulated by Article Emporium